The First Gongsheng of Ming Dynasty

Chapter 303

Inside the Imperial Academy.

Li Dongyang came to Wang Hua and told Wang Hua that his son Wang Shouren was going to be awarded a noble.

In order to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings, Li Dongyang specially met Wang Hua alone in the room of the Hanlin Bachelor, and even Wang Jia, the Hanlin Bachelor, was not invited to come over... a bit like a magpie's nest.

"Your Majesty wishes to use the merits of the battle of Weininghai and the battle of Mao'erzhuang to give Ma Yi, the deputy commander of the Xuanfu and the commander of the Wanquan left guard, the rank of Ping Rubo and Bo'an as Xin Xin."

Li Dongyang told Yu Wang Hua what Xiao Jing had told the cabinet earlier.

Wang Hua probably understood as soon as he heard it.

Is this to congratulate my Wang family for producing talents?This is obviously a matter of asking me to represent my son to the emperor to refuse the title.

Wang Huadao: "Gouzi first entered the officialdom. Before he went to the northwest, he was just watching politics. Even if he was the head of the military department, he was not really short. There are people in the army. I really dare not take credit for it."

Compared with Wang Shouren's aggressiveness, Wang Hua has always been a low-key figure in the Imperial Academy.

He is not young, even older than Li Dongyang and Xie Qian, but he was late in the Jinshi, and he never wanted to compete in the Imperial Academy, and he rarely had the opportunity to show himself.

It was not easy for the cabinet minister to come to find him, and he made it clear that he should refuse credit, he knew that he had to be ignorant.

Li Dongyang is still very satisfied with Wang Hua's knowledge and interest. He smiled and said: "Bo'an is a young talent who has made achievements in martial arts. Take good care of the court affairs, I would like to ask His Majesty to let him serve in the Six Departments, what do you think?"

Wang Hua didn't quite understand Li Dongyang's meaning for a while, so he didn't answer right away.

But Wang Hua's political thinking is there.

He probably understood that the traditional forces represented by Li Dongyang wanted to use this to unplug Zhang Zhou's wings.

Didn't you, Zhang Bingkuan, develop Jinshi who was born in the same year in our traditional civil service system into a right-hand man?It's inconvenient for us to let him go back to court directly, so let his father do it. A son can't be rebellious, can he?

Without Wang Shouren helping you, do you expect traditional civil servants like Ma Zhongxi to help you manage military affairs?You want to fly to the sky, but you also broke your wings, so that you can understand what seniority is based on in the world.

Turning you from an eagle into a poultry, even if you find someone else to replace Wang Bo'an as your wings, you won't be able to flutter.

Wang Hua said with sincerity and fear: "How can a dog have such virtue?"

He had to show that he agreed with Li Dongyang's arrangement, and even was very grateful, but he was muttering in his heart.

It took my son a month to accomplish something that no one else could accomplish in a lifetime. How can I, as a father, obliterate my son's achievements?The son doesn't hate himself, does he?

and also……

Not only did his son benefit from Zhang Zhou's care, but he also benefited from it.

Because Zhang Zhouxiu compiled the "Da Ming Hui Dian", so that those who have lived a hard life in the Imperial Academy and had no good chance of being promoted for more than ten years suddenly have "credit", and he is naturally included in the military merit medal as the lecturer of the Imperial Academy Son.

Both father and son are about to be promoted in official positions because of Zhang Zhou's favor, but just because Zhang Zhou is not tolerated by the civil servant system, together with Zhang Zhou's credit, even his father and son will be affected?

Not reconciled!

Li Dongyang probably also knows that it is a bit too much for someone to directly promote a super-grade earl title, so he has to do a good job of communication and appeasement, he said: "After Bo'an returns to the court, he should at least be a member of the sixth department. He can even be a doctor in the Six Departments, and it won’t be too late for him to go out to the northwest of the town after he has experience in working as an official.”

"As for you, Dehui, His Majesty previously promised to replace a Hanlin bachelor among the many people in the Hanlin Academy, and the cabinet will also recommend you."

Wang Hua said: "It doesn't have to be like this."

He is very clear that even if the cabinet wants to recommend him as a Hanlin bachelor, it is not because the cabinet really regards him as the best candidate. After all, when the cabinet selected the Hanlin bachelor before, Yang Tinghe and Liang Chu were the first, and the emperor recommended him and was finally elected. Wang Jia, he, Wang Hua, didn't even make it to the finals.

Now you suddenly say that I am the best candidate... Who will believe this?

It is unnecessary to come to appease me just because I refuse my son's title.

Li Dongyang sighed: "The "Hui Dian" has been compiled for many years. You have made a lot of contributions. The imperial court has also seen your contributions, and even His Majesty often mentions you."

Wang Hua said: "This is all the work of others. I just did my duty. I will write the form today, please use your majesty to transfer Bo'an back to the court, and ask your majesty on the grounds that he is young and has no qualifications... Let him practice more."

You don't need to wait for the emperor to issue the imperial edict to confer titles, I will submit a form to resign for my son now, is this considered to satisfy your request?
"Ah."

Li Dongyang didn't expect Wang Hua to be so knowledgeable, and he smiled with satisfaction after nodding.

……

……

Qingning Palace.

Zhu Youtang was being heard by the Empress Dowager Zhou.

"...It was originally said that the two juniors of the Zhou family should go to the northwest to exercise. Bingkuan is so good at using troops, so that they have the opportunity to make contributions to Ming Dynasty. Why didn't they make it in the end?"

The Empress Dowager Zhou didn't understand either.

It was agreed that both Zhou Tang and Zhou Ying would follow Zhang Zhou to fight in the northwest, but in the end only Zhang Lun went with him, and Zhang Lun did not show much in this battle. She shined brilliantly, and of course the Queen Mother Zhou felt that the Zhou family had suffered a great loss.

Zhu Youtang said: "The use of troops was decided by Bing Kuan when he judged the situation in the Xuanfu, and I mostly supported him and let him do it freely. As for who to use and who to use... I will not interfere too much. "

Being an emperor is also a headache.

The old lady took advantage of the problem, so he could only put the blame on Zhang Zhou. Anyway, Zhang Zhou was not in the capital, so your old lady wouldn't bother with Zhang Zhou, could she?
"Furthermore, Grandmother, using troops is too dangerous. Even if you follow Bingkuan, marching and fighting are often risky. Why do you have to pursue military merit? Even if you want to pursue it, when Bingkuan sends troops to the grassland in the future, he will also go to war." Have the opportunity."

Zhu Youtang was also reminding the Queen Mother Zhou.

As long as Zhang Zhou is still in the northwest, or in other words, Northwest affairs are assigned by Zhang Zhou, there will be a lot of military merits, and there will always be opportunities in the future.

We can't ruin our long-term plan just because of our temporary loyalty.

Empress Dowager Zhou smiled and said, "Emperor, do you think Ai's family cares as much as you do?"

No?
Zhu Youtang thought to himself, I almost said it earlier, right?

"The Ai family just thinks that the Zhou family's children are not up to the mark. The elders always want to do something for them, but they always worry about it. The Ai family treats them like this, and it's the same for you."

The Empress Dowager Zhou spoke earnestly.

Of course Zhu Youtang knew what the so-called worrying about him was about.

"The emperor's grandmother taught me well that my grandson will definitely manage state affairs with heart, so that I can live up to the teachings of the late emperor and the ancestors of the Ming Dynasty." Zhu Youtang said.

Zhu Youtang is now in Yemen clear about pretending to be confused.

Empress Dowager Zhou rolled her eyes at her grandson, but turned her gaze to Xiao Jing who was standing at the door, who seemed to come to talk to Zhu Youtang, she said: "Ke Gong, you are all old people in the palace, come in if you have something to do."

Zhu Youtang also nodded to Xiao Jing.

Only then did Xiao Jing come in to salute and said: "Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager, the servants have military matters to mention to Your Majesty."

"Military affairs? Emperor, you go first. Even if Ai's family has something to do, it can't delay your handling of court affairs, especially military and political affairs. But he said that military affairs have come more frequently recently, but you should always spare more time and come more. Look at Aijia, Aijia always misses you in his heart."

The Empress Dowager Zhou just said, don't think I don't know that your master and servant are singing oboe here.

What military affairs are important, it is simply an excuse to leave.

You, the emperor, have also learned badly. Now that you don’t want to come to see him, you just make excuses, and you always use court affairs as perfunctory. You know that Aijia can’t delay your handling of court affairs, right?
……

……

Zhu Youtang and Xiao Jing came out.

The Empress Dowager Zhou really did not misunderstand Zhu Youtang before, it was he who told Xiao Jing that he would come in and call people away later, Zhu Youtang was not avoiding the affairs of the two grandchildren of the Zhou family, but rather that he did not want to be pestered by the old lady anymore Na Fei's business.

Now his idea is that whether to accept a concubine or not should not be decided by the people in the inner palace.

My business, I will do it myself.

"Your Majesty, the Minister of Hanlin made a speech and proposed to ask his son to return to the imperial court and serve in the six ministries. He also evaded the previous rewards for his military achievements." Xiao Jing mentioned.

The mentioned rewards did not include titles, but only some money, etc., which were personally presented by Zhu Youtang.

Zhu Youtang was also helping Zhang Zhou win over some capable people. Originally, Zhu Youtang thought that rewarding the Wang family with something would allow Wang Hua, father and son, to work for Zhang Zhou at once.

But now Wang Hua obviously wanted to draw a line with Zhang Zhou.

Zhu Youtang frowned and said, "Which king attendant is speaking?"

Xiao Jing was very embarrassed when he heard the words, and there was no second Wang Shi in the imperial court, so I can only say... Wang Hua's sense of existence in the Imperial Academy is too low. The number one scholar in Chenghua for 17 years has also been in the Imperial Academy for 18 years. Up to now, it is just a servant lecture, and the emperor can't immediately remember it when he mentions it...

Just like that, if there is a good opportunity for you father and son to climb up, you still want to refuse?

"It's the father of Datong Governor Wang Zhongcheng. Wang Hua." Xiao Jing reminded.

"he……"

Zhu Youtang got angry when he heard this.

Zhu Youtang believes that Wang Hua has never had a chance to be promoted. He should be a suppressed faction like Cheng Minzheng. He should not stand with the traditional faction. But now he knows what the Hanlin system is.

"The matter of conferring the title should not have been handed down yet, right?"

"Yes."

Xiao Jing hastily responded.

Zhu Youtang said: "Then why is he in such a rush to refuse? He just wanted to tell me that his son's contribution, as Lao Tzu's, he can refuse for him? Wang Weining has been working hard for half his life, and his son has used it for ten months. The time is over, shouldn't he feel honored? What's the matter with him at this time?"

When the emperor felt that he was being teased, he didn't even need to ask if anyone had visited Wang Hua before he knew that Wang Hua must have been under some kind of pressure before he went to play to give credit for his son.

Xiao Jing lowered his head and dared not answer casually.

Zhu Youtang said: "It was Bing Kuan who offered to ask for credit for Wang Shouren. He admired Wang Shouren's ability very much and thought it was an important part of filling the military and political gap in the Northwest. Such a capable young official, I It should be taken seriously, so I rejected his proposal in my name!"

What the emperor means is that even if you, Wang Hua, take the initiative to resign, I will not agree.

I just want to give you titles and official positions, and want to transfer your son back to the capital?I'm sorry, I don't need you as a subject to teach me how to use people.

I want to put useful people in the most suitable position. Even if you, Wang Hua, are afraid of getting into trouble and want to avoid political struggles, don't even think about obliterating your son's achievements in the name of being a father, and don't want me to use him!
Xiao Jingdao: "Your Majesty, do you think this matter can be decided after the court meeting?"

This is to remind the emperor that the matter of ennobling Ma Yi and Wang Shouren has only gone through two links, the cabinet and the Ministry of Rites, and has not been brought to the court for discussion.

If the relationship between the emperor and the ministers is affected by granting knighthoods to two insignificant people, Xiao Jing feels that it is unnecessary to intensify the conflict.

"With the merits of Wang Shouren and Ma Yi, is it wrong for me to give them titles and let the soldiers of the Northwest know the rewards they can get after working hard?"

Zhu Youtang also got angry, "Just based on the precedent of using troops in the Northwest in the past few decades, why can't they win the title? Just because Wang Shouren is the son of an imperial servant, am I going to miss a capable minister?"

"Bingkuan has a good sense of people. Which one of the people he recommended is not a famous person? Even if these people broke the original order of the officialdom, they were all used in preparing for war and in the defense of the nine frontiers. The promotion of officials in the court did not affect the order of the Ming court, so why should I be allowed to back down? This is impossible!"

Xiao Jing didn't expect that the emperor would be so annoyed by Wang Hua's refusal of Wang Shouren's contribution.

He also knew that what he said earlier might have been wrong, and he didn't even raise his personal opinion this time when he was beaten to death.

He also seemed to be able to see that now that the emperor had Zhang Zhou, he was no longer the king who relied heavily on civil servants in every possible way. He even regarded civil servants as resistance to governing the country a little like Zhang Zhou.

This is actually reminding Xiao Jing that he should be more clear about standing in line in the future, and he can't always think about helping those Confucian officials in the court.

……

……

In the name of the emperor, the supervisor of ceremonies first rejected Wang Hua's memorial to his son for refusing credit.

Immediately after the court meeting the next day, Zhu Youtang announced in public that Wang Shouren and Ma Yi would be bestowed with titles.

"...In this battle, Bingkuan was the first meritorious service, but the soldiers, Wang Shouren and Ma Yi, both fought for the country. They were brave and fearless and could not be chaotic in the face of danger. They drove straight into the grassland. , citing the consideration of military use in frontier affairs in the past, and taking the two of them as Uncle Ping and Uncle Xinjian, I also think that they should belong to each other."

"As for the two of them in the future, they must stay in the northwest to serve the army, and they cannot be transferred easily. Do you have any objections?"

The emperor first affirmed that the two men carried out Zhang Zhou's tactics, and they were meritorious ministers.

Let me show that don't try to transfer meritorious people such as Wang Shouren and Ma Yi out of the Northwest, they must cooperate with Zhang Zhou to continue to use troops anyway.

This seemed to be blocking the mouth of the civil servants. After all, Wang Hua offered to transfer his son back to the capital for use yesterday. The emperor naturally knew that this was actually the traditional way of civil servants digging holes for Zhang Zhou.

As soon as this remark came out, Liu Jian and Li Dongyang couldn't help but look at each other.

The meaning of the emperor's aim was too obvious, which made them feel that they might have offended the emperor who was once known for his benevolence and righteousness in some matters.

Zuodu Censor Min Gui said: "Your Majesty, if you want to reward many titles with the merits of the first battle, I am afraid that there will be a flood of military titles in the Northwest. After this year, there will be many people who will be rewarded for military merits."

Zhu Youtang said: "What is the meaning of Min Qing's family? After Emperor Taizong Jing Nan, many people were promoted at a time, and they were all based on military merits. Do you think that I give indiscriminate rewards?"

Min Kyu hastily explained: "I don't mean that."

"I think that's what you mean." Zhu Youtang was tit for tat. He probably knew that if he didn't show some momentum, the civil servants would still chatter about this matter. If the influence of the matter was extended from court to civilians The son's discussion is not good.

Therefore, the discussion must be stifled within the scope of the court.

In order to convince the scholars of the world, first of all, we must first stop these people from the court.

"Just like before, I did not directly reward Bingkuan with a title. For Wang Shouren, the current governor of Datong, I still use his current official position to serve in the northwest. After the war subsided, he returned to the capital and rewarded him with a generous title. Ma Yi, the deputy commander of the Xuanfu, I will re-designate him as the commander-in-chief of the Xuanfu, and assist in guarding the surrounding military affairs of the Xuanfu with Ping Lubo."

"As for Duke Bao, I will transfer him to Ningxia. He will be guarded in various places in Ningxia!"

The emperor's words made the ministers present even more confused.

No matter how you look at it, Zhu Hui, as the chief soldier of Xuanfu, helped to win the great victory in Weininghai, and he also made meritorious service.

Why is Zhu Hui suddenly transferred to Ningxia?
Could it be... Zhang Zhou felt that Zhu Hui was out of touch, or did the emperor think that Ningxia's defenses were more important than those around the Xuanfu, so Zhu Hui was allowed to take on the big responsibility?
Zhu Youtang said: "Zhu Fu, the Duke of Cheng, transferred Guyuan, set up a border town in Guyuan, and guarded everywhere!"

Liu Jian hurried out and asked, "Your Majesty, the war in the northwest is still going on, so it's really inappropriate to change the layout of the towns in the northwest."

Although Guyuan is also an important border city in the northwest, it was still not an important town on the nine borders in the 12th year of Hongzhi. At this time, the town of Shaanxi was transferred to Guyuan to strengthen the control of the three borders. Of course, this was the 15th year of Hongzhi After that, Liu Jian now felt that things were too hasty.

Zhu Youtang resolutely said: "Nowadays, the trilateral affairs are mostly based on Yansui Yulinwei, and the defenses of Ningxia and Shaanxi cannot be coordinated. Using the city of Guyuan to increase the dispatch of all parties in the northwest is the result of my discretion. The Ministry of War has also considered the feasibility of this matter in detail before, so there is no need to discuss it again. I ordered Qin Hong, who is in charge of the military affairs of the three sides, to coordinate the reinforcement of the pass and the division of defense."

Liu Jian was very annoyed when he heard this.

I always feel that I am belatedly aware, but even the Ministry of War knew about this in advance?The cabinet knows it together with others?
Zhu Youtang said: "There is no need to talk about the matter of conferring titles. The Ministry of Households drafted a plan to allocate money and grain to various places in the northwest after this year's autumn grain collection to increase military pay. This matter cannot be delayed any longer!"

(End of this chapter)