All the ministers were in an uproar.
"Are you two crazy? Zhao Lin is just a prefect. Even if he has made military achievements, it was only to eliminate a group of rebels. And you want him to be a circuit censor and a minister of rites?"
"Li Xingye, Fu Chengwang, what benefits have you received from Zhao Lin that you would say such things on his behalf?"
"Your Majesty, I request a thorough investigation of these two individuals. They must have accepted bribes from Zhao Lin..."
Many ministers stood up and severely criticized Li Xingye and Fu Chengwang. Some radical ones even wanted to send them to the Sky Prison.
Cheng** was also a little surprised.
Li Xingye's suggestion was a good one, assigning Zhao Lin the position of Censor-in-Chief and Circuit Censor. Censor-in-Chief was a fourth-rank official, while Circuit Censor, though only a seventh-rank official, had the power to investigate and impeach local officials, adjudicate major matters, and make decisions on minor matters. This was a low-ranking but powerful position, but it was also extremely easy to offend people, and only those who were close to the emperor and extremely loyal could take it.
Letting Zhao Lin do this will only benefit Cheng** and not harm him. Moreover, based on the ability Zhao Lin has demonstrated so far, Cheng** also believes that Zhao Lin can do a good job in this position.
But the suggestion put forward by Fu Chengwang was surprising.
Minister of Rites!
This is a real third-rank official.
How many officials in the entire Daqi court are of the third rank?
Apart from the important cabinet ministers and the Minister of Rites, there are the vice ministers.
Zhao Lin was only 18 years old, and it was shocking that he could become a prefect. This made the ministers very dissatisfied, but they gave face to Cheng ** and could not stop it.
Now Fu Chengwang actually proposed that Zhao Lin be made the Minister of Rites. Unless everyone is crazy, who would agree?
Even though Cheng** was so satisfied with Zhao Lin, he would not agree.
Cheng** hesitated and said, "Minister Fu, isn't the position of Minister of Rites too much? Zhao Lin is only eighteen years old."
Fu Chengwang complained, "When did Your Majesty become someone who judges people by their age? If Zhao Lin were not so young, I would have given up my position to him and made him the Minister of Rites."
Cheng** asked in confusion, "Minister Fu, wait a minute. Aren't you very dissatisfied with Zhao Lin? Why are you promoting him so much? Is it because he's your son-in-law?"
Fu Chengwang angrily said, "Your Majesty, why do you look at me like this? When have I ever put personal interests above public interest?"
Cheng** said hurriedly: "I said the wrong thing. But as far as I know, you were very dissatisfied with Zhao Lin before, saying that he had bad character and was not a good person..."
Fu Chengwang said, "I don't know Zhao Lin well enough to make a judgment on his own. I will simply speak from what I know so far. Zhao Lin governed Qingzhou and quelled the rebellion, demonstrating both civil and military achievements. But even more commendable is his understanding of the causes of the rebellion. I believe the frequent rebellions across the country prove that something is wrong, and that the problem lies at the root of the problem. We need wise men like Zhao Lin to help rectify the situation."
Fu Chengwang's eloquent speech shocked everyone.
Shao Yutang immediately jumped up and said, "Fu Chengwang, what do you mean? Is the rebellion our fault?"
Fu Chengwang said calmly: "I didn't say that, but Master Shao is willing to take this responsibility, and I have no objection."
"you?"
Shao Yutang was furious and said angrily, "Fu Chengwang, I think you are using your power for personal gain. You have lost all your dignity for the sake of your son-in-law."
Fu Chengwang remained calm and not angry at all: "Whether I am using my power for personal gain or what, Lord Shao, you can tell me what you want. Anyway, we all have eyes and can see clearly."
"cough!"
Li Chengqian coughed dryly and said, "Master Fu and Master Shao, please be patient. Although I am also optimistic about Zhao Lin, he is still too young. It is too early for him to become the Chief Censor or the Minister of Rites. He needs at least another ten years of training."
Ten years later, Zhao Lin was only 28 years old. It was shocking enough that he could become the fourth-rank Censor-in-Chief or the third-rank Vice Minister of Rites.
Although Li Chengqian already knew that Zhao Lin had joined the Prince's Party and became a member of their group, he did not want Zhao Lin to be promoted so quickly.
Are you kidding? He is only 18 years old and he has become a third or fourth rank official. What will he do in the future?
What about my sons and grandsons?
So even though he was already one of them, Li Chengqian decided to suppress Zhao Lin.
It was rare for the Prince's Party and the Prince Yu's Party to stand on the same front, especially since Li Chengqian was the leader of the Jiang Party. Almost two-thirds of the entire court opposed Fu Chengwang and Li Xingye's proposal, so basically this proposal had to be abandoned.
But Xiao Weilun, the Minister of War, spoke up, "Your Excellencies oppose Lord Fu and Lord Li's proposal because Zhao Lin is young and you're worried he's incompetent. Why not give him full responsibility for suppressing the rebellion? If he can quell all the rebellions, that would be enough to prove he's qualified for the position you two proposed. Otherwise, he can continue to hone his skills as the Qingzhou prefect. How do you think that is?"
Cheng** immediately nodded and said, "Good idea, I think it's okay."
Zhao Lin easily put down all the rebellions in Qingzhou. If he were responsible for all the rebellions in the country, he would definitely be able to put them all down.
At that time, he can be promoted to the position of Chief Censor or Vice Minister of Rites according to the suggestions of Li Xingye or Fu Chengwang.
Shao Yutang quickly said, "No. Zhao Lin is the prefect of Qingzhou, responsible for governing the entire region. How can he leave so easily?"
Li Chengqian followed suit, saying, "Suppressing the rebellion is a matter of great importance, and there are rebellions happening in many places. Even if Zhao Lin had extraordinary abilities, he wouldn't be able to handle them all. It would only waste time and cause the rebellion to escalate."
The other ministers all agreed.
Are you kidding? Zhao Lin’s contributions are already great enough. If he is put in charge of suppressing the rebellion, how will others survive if all the rebellions in the country are suppressed?
In a word, Zhao Lin should just stay in Qingzhou and do nothing else.
Cheng ** was a little unhappy and said, "Right now, there are many rebels in various places. You can't suppress them, and you don't agree to let Zhao Lin go. What do you want to do?"
Shao Yutang said, "I recommend a man. He is a descendant of a military family and well versed in military tactics. If we send him into battle, we will surely be able to easily quell the rebellion."
Cheng** became interested and asked, "Who?"
Shao Yutang said, "The son of the Marquis of Zhenbei, the heir of the Marquis of Zhenbei, and a member of the Hanlin Academy, Zhao Chenhan."
Cheng** hesitated for a moment.
This Zhao Chenhan is not good at anything. Not only did he lose an ear, but he also indirectly killed Ma Dada's brother. Is it okay to let him go?
Li Chengqian quickly said, "Zhao Jingzhou was the foremost general at the time. His son must be well versed in military tactics and would be a capable commander in battle. I agree to let him be the general to quell the rebellion."
Everyone looked at Li Chengqian and secretly cursed this old fox.
It is not that easy to quell a rebellion, otherwise there wouldn't still be rebels everywhere.
Shao Yutang recommended Zhao Chenhan to lead the troops to quell the rebellion because he saw that if Zhao Lin could do it, Zhao Chenhan could do it too. This would help reverse Zhao Chenhan's image in Cheng**'s eyes and also help him win an army for Prince Yu's party.
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