There were three ways to elect officials in the Ming Dynasty.

They are respectively recommended by the association, recommended by the department and regularly selected.

Huitui, also known as Tingtui, is mainly aimed at official positions above the third rank.

At that time, the Ministry of Personnel will work together with the Nine Ministers to recommend officials to fill the vacancies.

The official vacancies include those for officials in Beijing and those outside the capital.

The official positions in the capital include the left and right vice-ministers, the left and right assistant censors, the minister of public administration, and the minister of justice; the official positions outside the capital include the governor, governor-general, provincial governor, and provincial judge.

The Ministry of Recommendation is aimed at officials above the fifth rank and below the third rank.

The Ministry of Personnel is fully responsible for this.

The selection of officials below the fifth rank is called regular selection.

Regular elections are divided into general elections and emergency elections.

The selection of these officials was ostensibly the responsibility of the Ministry of Personnel, but the final list was decided by the emperor himself.

Now that the crown prince is regent, the power to appoint and dismiss officials naturally falls into his hands.

There was a general election and several ministerial elections yesterday, and there are many officials to be selected and appointed.

Thinking of this, Shi Kefa asked Huang Daozhou: "Who are Ma Shiying's close relatives?"

"Yue Qijie, Yang Wencong, Tian Yin."

"Yue Qijie and Ma Shiying were close relatives, Yang Wencong was Ma Shiying's brother-in-law, and Tian Yin was Ma Shiying's best friend."

Shi Kefa thought for a moment and said: "It is not necessary to avoid relatives when selecting talents, and the court is in need of talents..."

Huang Daozhou shook his head like a rattle, "Yue Qijie, Yang Wencong, and Tian Yin all held some official positions before, but were later impeached and dismissed by the censor."

"How can we reuse someone who has such despicable behavior?"

"What positions were they recommended for?" Shi Kefa asked.

Huang Daozhou replied indignantly: "Yue Qijie was nominated as the governor of Henan, saying that he would work with Ma Shiying to recover Henan; Yang Wencong was nominated as the right assistant censor-in-chief; Tian Yin was nominated as the doctor of the Ministry of Revenue."

"Why didn't anyone tell me about this before the promotion?" Shi Kefa was also a little annoyed.

The nomination of officials has always been led by the Ministry of Personnel, which has very strict assessment requirements for candidate officials.

If what Huang Daozhou said is true, these three people are not qualified to participate in the nomination.

Huang Daozhou smiled bitterly: "They were only dismissed from their official positions, not abolished. The court was in urgent need of personnel, so the officials in charge of the review did not investigate further."

Shi Kefa frowned and sat down on the chair, having a bad feeling.

He knew that Ma Shiying would make arrangements in the court, but he didn't expect that he would act so quickly.

If they are not restrained, once the court is filled with Ma Shiying's people, Shi Kefa and the Donglin Party will lose power.

"Has the list of nominations been handed over to His Highness?"

"Not yet, but all the parts have been signed and cannot be deleted or modified." Huang Daozhou sighed again.

Shi Kefa's brows were twisted into a knot, and he stood there thinking for a long time.

"Minister Huang, can we add someone to the list?"

Since it cannot be deleted or modified, it is better to add a few names.

Ma Shiying's method of organizing the court was to place his confidants in the court.

The solution to the problem is simple: give the person a taste of his own medicine.

Now that he holds great power, it should be no problem for him to arrange a few people.

"Of course I can, but all the vacancies in the various ministries have candidates. Even if I want to add a position, there are no more!"

"Yes, according to the law, the Ming Dynasty needs four left and right assistant censors in Nanjing. I remember that there is still a lack of a right assistant censor."

Huang Daozhou thought about it and realized that it was true.

"Who do you want to nominate, sir? To nominate the Right Assistant Censor-in-Chief, an official from the Censorate must be present to accompany the assessment and sign his name after passing the assessment."

"I'm afraid no censor is willing to sign..." Huang Daozhou looked worried.

The Censorate is a department specializing in impeachment.

It is against the rules to add a name to the list temporarily, and the censor will not take the risk of signing.

"Signature is not a problem. Right Censor-in-Chief Zhang Shenyan has always been at odds with Ma Shiying, so he will sign. But the matter is urgent and I don't have a suitable candidate." Shi Kefa thought about it but couldn't find a suitable candidate.

The relationships in the Nanjing court were complicated, and the candidates for Jinshi and Juren in the city all had different relationships behind them.

If you are not careful, you will choose the wrong person.

Lu Daqi suddenly thought of someone and said, "Sir Shangshu, I would like to recommend someone."

"Oh? Who do you recommend?"

"A few days ago, Qian Sule, a deputy minister of the Ministry of Justice who was inspecting the prison in Ningbo, wrote a letter to his subordinates. In the letter, he mentioned a person, saying that this person was a talent with both civil and military skills."

"Tell me your name quickly!" Shi Kefa was a little anxious.

"Zhang Huangyan!"

"Zhang Huangyan?" Shi Kefa tilted his head. "Why don't I have any impression of this person?"

Lu Daqi introduced: "Zhang Huangyan is from a famous family. His distant ancestor is Zhang Zhibai, the prime minister of the Southern Song Dynasty. By the time of his father Zhang Guizhang, the family had fallen into decline. Zhang Guizhang was a juren in the fourth year of the Tianqi reign. He served as a judge in the Shanxi Salt Transport Department and later as a deputy minister of the Ministry of Justice."

"Zhang Huangyan was a juren, not a jinshi. According to the previous dynasty's practice, the highest position a first-time official could hold was a fifth-rank prefectural governor, and the right assistant censor-in-chief was a fourth-rank official position. Zhang Huangyan was not qualified..."

"Oh, I remember him!" Shi Kefa finally remembered this person. "In extraordinary times, extraordinary things should be done. I will personally explain this matter to Your Highness. Where is he now?"

"In Ningbo."

"That's great!" Shi Kefa put his heart back in his stomach.

If Zhang Huangyan was in Nanjing, he would not promote him.

After all, the relations in Nanjing are too complicated.

I feel much more at ease in Ningbo.

"Send an urgent message and ask him to come to Nanjing to serve as the Right Censor-in-Chief. Let this descendant of a famous family stir up trouble in the Ming Dynasty court."

"I'll do it right away!" Lu Daqi turned around and walked to the table, picked up a pen and started writing quickly.

Shi Kefa told Huang Daozhou to add Zhang Huangyan's name to the list and asked him to go back to the Ministry of Personnel and wait.

My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It’s even more exciting later!