Chapter 1629 Zhao Si
In the next few days, the situation in the capital changed suddenly.
On the 21st, Mr. Zhang wrote a letter to resign for the fifth time, even asking to retire on the grounds of being seriously ill. His words were so resolute and decisive that nothing could be said.
Then the beating in court on the 22nd was temporarily cancelled, which disappointed the crowd who were looking forward to watching the fun.
On the same day, the imperial newspaper published a confession letter from Deng, Xiong, Zou, and Shen. All four admitted that they were instigated and used by others, and that their good intentions led to chaos. They also expressed their willingness to accept any punishment to atone for their sins.
On it, Emperor Wanli wrote in his imperial edict: "It is the greatest virtue to know one's mistakes and correct them. The chief culprit must be punished to correct people's hearts!"
Although it was not stated explicitly, even a blind man could see that all the responsibility lay with Ai Mu.
What’s intriguing is that no one came to rescue me this time…
This was a clear signal that the officials accepted the compromise plan proposed by Minister Zhao on behalf of Prime Minister Zhang.
From Zhang Juzheng to Zhao Shouzheng, from Empress Dowager Li to the Grand Princess, everyone felt relieved.
On October 25, Emperor Wanli finally issued an edict, agreeing to let Zhang Xianggong return home, but "he would not be buried in mourning, and he would not be relieved of his salary but would not leave his position."
Moreover, the emperor felt sorry for Mr. Zhang, the prime minister, and resigned his salary. He was honest and incorruptible, so he ordered the Guanglu Temple to send a table of wine and food every day, and each government office to send 10 dan of rice, 300 jin of sesame oil, 30 jin of tea, 100 jin of salt, 100 yellow and white candles, 20 loads of firewood, and 30 bags of charcoal every month, until the day of service.
Wow, that’s more than normal.
However, this time, the officials in the capital did not get angry again, but calmly accepted the decision, which once again surprised the common people who were always looking for trouble.
There were some noises in the local area. Some scholars wrote letters to request Zhang Juzheng to observe a genuine period of mourning. Someone else pretended to be Hai Rui and wrote a "Memorial Criticizing Zhang Juzheng", which was widely circulated among the people.
At first, when Zhang Juzheng heard that Hai Rui was going to kill him, he was so nervous that his hemorrhoids got worse. But he ordered people to inquire about the Northern and Southern Tongzheng Offices and found that they had not received any memorials from Hai Rui. Zhang Juzheng was relieved and realized that it was a false alarm.
Although he disliked Hai Rui very much, he also knew that Hai Gangfeng was an upright person. If he wanted to scold him, he would definitely file an impeachment petition directly and would never write an article privately and spread it everywhere.
These rumors and noises from the people had almost zero impact on him. Without Zhang Xianggong's order, the prefects and county magistrates in various places would punish them severely, and they would not cause any waves at all.
On the last day of October, the results of the handling of the Five Gentlemen came out.
Deng Yizan, Xiong Dunpu, Shen Sixiao and Zou Yuanbiao were considered to have good intentions but were young and ignorant and were used by sinister people, so they were only given light punishments and sent away to hone their skills and focus their minds.
Ai Mu was accused of instigating the petition due to personal grudges and was sentenced to 100 strokes of the cane and exiled to the frontier. He would not be pardoned even if pardoned.
However, Empress Dowager Li issued a special decree to exempt him from the imperial caning and only sent him to Yunnan as an exile to atone for his sins. Both the government and the people praised the Empress Dowager for her kindness.
However, Ai Mu never made it to Yunnan. In the spring of the following year, he died suddenly on his way to exile.
But once the hype died down, no one cared about the life or death of an old scholar anymore...
~~
In the blink of an eye, it was winter, and the pale light of the great comet was still shooting straight to the northeast.
After Zhao Hao stopped letting Pang Xian do anything, Zhang Xianggong's health also improved. After all, it was just a hemorrhoid. Wouldn't it arouse suspicion if it was delayed for too long?
However, Zhang Juzheng did not leave the capital, because the emperor ordered him to wait until the spring when his wedding came before setting off, so that he could maintain good health and withstand the long journey.
This gave Zhang Xianggong the opportunity to calmly arrange and firmly control the court situation...
On the tenth day of the winter month, the great court that attracted the attention of the court and the public was held.
One hundred and ten officials of the fifth rank and above from the six ministries, the Censorate, the Supreme Court, and the Ministry of Public Security gathered in the East Pavilion to jointly recommend candidates for the Grand Secretary, the Minister of Personnel, and the Minister of War.
Because there are many people recommended in this imperial nomination and their official positions are high, the Ministry of Personnel sent the list of candidates to various ministries and agencies seven days in advance so that the officials participating in the imperial nomination would have time to make their own decisions... Oh no, consider it carefully.
Therefore, everyone already knew who to vote for today. So the voting process in the two ministries ended quickly, and then Zhao Jin, the left assistant minister of the Ministry of Personnel, who was temporarily in charge of the Ministry of Personnel, publicly presided over the vote count.
The final candidates are:
The first person recommended as the Minister of Personnel is Wang Guoguang, the second is Zhao Jin, and the third is Li Youzi.
The first person recommended as the Minister of War is Fang Fengshi, the second is Zhao Jin, and the third is Zhang Xueyan.
Among them, the elder brother Zhao Jin was the runner-up on both sides. Although the result still needs to be decided by the referee, he knows in his heart that he has no chance on either side this time. However, this makes him look better and can also increase his popularity, so that he can get more votes in the next meeting.
Next comes the highlight of today, the election of cabinet ministers!
The list given by the Ministry of Personnel contained a total of ten people, including the Minister of Rites Ma Ziqiang, the former Minister of Rites Pan Sheng, the Nanjing Minister of Rites Tao Chengwang, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel Shen Shixing, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites Mao Dunyuan, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites Zhao Shouzheng, as well as Yu Youding, Xu Guo and others.
Each candidate selects three from the ten candidates, writes their names on a leaflet, and puts it in the ballot box.
The vote count came out. The person with the most votes was Ma Ziqiang, with 83 votes. The second was Zhao Shouzheng, with 80 votes. The third was Shen Shixing, with 78 votes. The fourth was Pan Sheng, with 55 votes. The fifth was Tao Chengwang, with 12 votes. The sixth was Mao Dunyuan, with 10 votes.
The results of the imperial nomination were reported to the court, and soon an imperial decree came down saying, "According to the popular opinion, the correct nomination shall be adopted."
So that afternoon, imperial envoys went to various government offices to convey the imperial decree, appointing the Minister of Rites Ma Ziqiang as the Grand Secretary of Wenyuan Pavilion; and the Right Vice Minister of Rites Zhao Shouzheng and the Right Vice Minister of Personnel Shen Shixing as the Grand Secretaries of Dongke, to enter the cabinet to work that day.
In addition, Wang Guoguang, the Minister of Revenue, was appointed as the Minister of Personnel, and Fang Fengshi, the Governor-General of Xuanda, was appointed as the Minister of War.
~~
When his colleagues warmly congratulated Minister Zhao, he was still confused and could not accept it for a while that he had become a cabinet minister.
He followed Ma Ziqiang in a sedan chair and left the Ministry of Rites in a daze. He met Shen Shixing and the new Minister of Personnel Wang Guoguang at the palace gate and went into the palace to express his gratitude.
As for Fang Fengshi, he was still in Datong and it would take a few days for him to receive the imperial edict ordering him to go to Beijing to take charge of military affairs, so the gentlemen did not wait for him.
After handing over the sign and entering the Meridian Gate, the four of them waited outside the Wenhua Hall.
After the 49th day of mourning, Zhang Xianggong returned to work in a green robe and a ribbon with a corner belt. At that time, he was giving a lesson to Emperor Wanli in the palace.
Wanli waited until he finished his work for the day before ordering the four men to meet him.
In front of Mr. Zhang, Wanli was naturally very polite. After the four people performed the formalities, he encouraged them with warm words and then returned to the Qianqing Palace.
After seeing the emperor off, Zhang Juzheng led four people to Wenyuan Pavilion.
He asked the three cabinet ministers to wait in the main hall, and went into the Prime Minister's duty room with Wang Guoguang first.
The two chatted inside for a while until it was almost dark, and then Wang Guoguang said goodbye and left.
Zhang Juzheng then came to the main hall and met with the three newly appointed cabinet ministers.
"Greetings, Prime Minister." The three of them all pricked up their ears. As soon as Zhang Juzheng arrived at the door, they quickly stood up and bowed.
"We are all cabinet ministers now, so there is no need to be so formal." Zhang Juzheng waved his hand, walked straight to the prime minister's seat and sat down, and then invited the three others to sit down.
Lu Diaoyang was determined to become a patient, so the assistant's chair opposite him remained empty.
Ma Ziqiang sat down below Zhang Juzheng, while Zhao Shouzheng and Shen Shixing politely argued about who would sit at the last seat.
According to the theory, Mr. Zhao had more votes than Shen Shixing, so he should be ranked higher. But Shen Shixing was two years ahead of him, so it didn't seem right for Shen to be ranked last...
"Grand Secretaries are not ranked by age or official position, but only by the order in which they entered the cabinet." Zhang Juzheng said calmly: "If they enter the cabinet together, it depends on who has more votes."
"Yes, sir." The two 'honest men' quickly responded respectfully, and Zhao Shouzheng sat opposite Ma Ziqiang. Shen Shixing was the only one sitting at the end of the group.
"According to the rules, I should have invited you to have a drink to celebrate." After the two of them sat down, Zhang Juzheng said expressionlessly: "Unfortunately, I am in mourning, so I have to give up. You should go back and celebrate on your own."
The three of them hurriedly responded respectfully. Ma Ziqiang wiped his tears and said, "It's too difficult for the Prime Minister to choose between loyalty and filial piety. I rashly came to embarrass the Prime Minister, which is really unfilial. But the Prime Minister did not hold a grudge, wuwu..."
In order to rescue the Five Gentlemen, Ma Ziqiang followed several ministers to the Prime Minister's residence and disobeyed Zhang Juzheng. He thought that he would definitely not have a chance to be recommended by the court this time, but he was actually recommended to the cabinet and became the first university scholar from Guanzhong in the two hundred years since the founding of the country. Naturally, he was grateful to Prime Minister Zhang.
With mixed emotions, Ma Ziqiang took out a handkerchief to cover his face, choking with sobs and unable to speak.
"Mr. Qian'an, there is no need to do this." Zhang Juzheng waved his hand and said, "Bu Gu recommends talents for the country. He only considers their talents and personalities, regardless of whether they are close or distant."
After a pause, he smiled faintly and said, "Besides, our relationship is not bad."
"Yes, yes, I have been greatly helped by the Yuanfu. Now I am fortunate to be the Yuanfu's whip and stirrup. I will do my best to serve the Yuanfu." Ma Ziqiang stated his position humbly.
"Good." Zhang Juzheng nodded with satisfaction. He unexpectedly let Ma Ziqiang join the cabinet. First, to show that he was not a nepotist. Second, the Shaanxi Gang was very weak and easy to control. There was no need to worry about this person becoming too powerful. Third, the cabinet also needed such a person to do the dirty work...
"It's getting late. There will be plenty of opportunities for small talk later." Zhang Juzheng waved his hand to stop Mr. Zhao and Shen Shixing from continuing to express their loyalty. In his eyes, these two were his lackeys, so there was no need for them to use such tricks.
"Let's talk about your division of labor first," Zhang Xianggong continued with his usual vigorous and resolute manner, "When Bu Gu is away, the second assistant should be in charge of cabinet affairs. But it seems that Elder Lu is seriously ill. If Bu Gu returns home next spring and he still cannot return to work, then Lord Qian'an will be in charge."
"Yes, sir." Ma Ziqiang was one of the three assistants. He was no longer the eldest or second in command, so of course he was the leader.
"In addition, the court's top priority for the next two years will be river engineering. Now that the funds and materials have been raised, we must repair the Yellow River!" Zhang Juzheng said without question: "So the affairs of the Ministry of Works will also be taken care of by Qian'an!"
"How dare I disobey your order." Ma Ziqiang responded respectfully, feeling a little uncomfortable because the Ministry of Works was always in charge of the lowest-ranked cabinet ministers. But since Zhang Xianggong had spoken, he could only obey his orders.
Alas, those two are indeed the relatives, and I am just making up the numbers...
ps. Keep writing...
(End of this chapter)