The Ming Dynasty's Spokesperson

After returning home, Lin Tailai finally received a piece of good news. His retainer Gu Bingqian reported: "We have bought both houses at a reasonable price."

This time, Lin Tailai brought more than 200 servants to Beijing. The original house only had three entrances and more than 40 rooms, which was definitely not enough for them.

Most of the servants could only rent somewhere else temporarily, but this was not a long-term solution.

So either they had to buy a bigger house or buy all the neighbors and merge the three houses together.

I didn't expect Gu Bingqian to be so capable that he actually bought all the neighbors, especially at a "reasonable" price.

"How did you do it?" Lin Tailai was busy with court affairs recently and didn't pay much attention to family affairs.

Gu Bingqian replied: "There has been no major incident recently, so there are enough people. I sent dozens of servants every day to hang around in front of the neighbors' doors and in the alleys all day long.

So they took the initiative to sell the house, otherwise the family members and women and children would not even dare to go out, how could they live here?

As the saying goes, peaches and plums do not speak, but people walk under them."

After thinking it over, Lin Tailai decided to give a compliment, so as not to discourage the enthusiasm of his subordinates.

Besides, he really didn't want to move away. First, the location here is good. It is located in the core of the high-end community of officials' residences, and it is convenient to go anywhere.

Second, he is already familiar with the terrain nearby. If he changes places, he will have to adapt to the environment and build a sense of security again.

Third, the name of Li Ge Lao Hutong, where he currently lives, has a good meaning, while the names of other alleys in the capital are mostly not very good.

The specific settlement and servants' scheduling were all handed over to Gu Bingqian to handle, and Lin Tailai still focused his main energy on government affairs.

Two days later, Lin Tailai went to the Ministry of Personnel to take office with no choice but to curse.

The first thing he did after taking office was to call Zhao Nanxing over and scold him: "I have repeatedly ordered you to submit a memorial to request the court to restore the performance evaluation system. Have you written it?"

Zhao Nanxing's attitude remained firm: "I will not accept random orders!"

Anyone who wants to write such a memorial can write it, but Zhao Nanxing is determined not to write it and is firmly opposed to it.

However, Lin Tailai's repeated urging made Zhao Nanxing feel a little bit of a desperate situation.

Sure enough, he heard Lin Tailai angrily say: "Since you don't write it, I will write it myself!"

Zhao Nanxing felt that he had won in this game again.

Lin Tailai wanted to force himself to "submit a suicidal memorial", but it was impossible!

So on the first day of taking office in the Ministry of Personnel, Lin Tailai submitted a "Reform Memorial on the Official Assessment Method".

The main content is two points, the first is the standardization of the examination language, and the second is to restore the performance evaluation system, which is very exciting.

After seeing the memorial, the cabinet elders were completely expecting it.

As expected, as previously "speculated", the significance of Lin Tailai's secret report to the cabinet was limited to "informing".

As for what the cabinet thought, Lin Tailai would not listen; whether the cabinet agreed or not would not affect the subsequent public memorial.

Although the performance evaluation system was the power that the cabinet threw away six years ago, it did not mean that they were willing to see it picked up by others!

So the cabinet certainly did not want to agree, even if Lin Tailai's well-intentioned plan was to take all the power away and not have to "take responsibility" for the cabinet.

Under normal circumstances, hundreds of memorials were sent to the palace every day.

Unless the emperor was a workaholic, it would be impossible to read them all in detail, and the cabinet plus the Silijian could complete most of the work.

Only some special memorials would be really noticed by the emperor, such as direct remonstrances, wars, disasters, civil unrest, Taicang money and grain, the advancement and retreat of important ministers, etc.

If there was nothing special, Lin Tailai's memorial would only be mixed in with the hundreds of memorials that day.

If you can approve a "got it", it would be like giving you a face like a Nine Yuan True Immortal.

However, in the end, Lin Tailai's memorial was specially sent to the emperor by Zhang Cheng, the eunuch in charge of the Silijian.

Emperor Wanli looked at the title of the memorial and the summary of the first few sentences, and asked the eunuchs of the Silijian in confusion: "What's special about it?"

To be honest, there are not a few memorials from ministers requesting improvements to a certain work.

For example, recently someone petitioned to reform the "Zongfan Shili" to allow clan members without titles to work freely.

So if you only look at the title, Lin Tailai's "Memorial on the Reform of the Assessment Method" is not surprising and not worthy of the emperor's special attention.

Zhang Cheng, the eunuch in charge of the Silijian, reminded him: "The memorial talks about Zhang Juzheng and the performance evaluation system."

A memorial that calls for reform is not a sensitive memorial; but if it talks about Zhang Juzheng, it is a sensitive memorial that must remind the emperor to pay attention to.

If the Silijian cannot help the emperor pick out such memorials, it is a major failure of responsibility.

Therefore, the work of the eunuchs in the Imperial Household Department was not just to approve the memorials. They read the memorials every day to filter out such sensitive memorials.

As expected, when he heard the name Zhang Juzheng, Emperor Wanli opened the memorial again and read it carefully.

Although it has been six or seven years since the anti-Zhang Juzheng storm was launched and the climax has passed, this thorn still exists in the emperor's heart.

If there was no "Zhang Juzheng" as a gimmick, Emperor Wanli would not pay special attention to Lin Tailai's memorial.

This can be regarded as Lin Tailai's writing "little trick", of course Lin Tailai would not be stupid enough to reverse Zhang Juzheng's case in the memorial.

Later, Emperor Wanli wrote a secret letter to the cabinet in person, the main content of which was "What is Lin Tailai thinking about?"

In the early years, when the Ming Emperor was not so reclusive, when encountering this kind of situation, he would directly summon his cabinet ministers to the Wenhua Palace, where the emperor and his ministers could talk face to face.

But later on, the Ming emperor became more and more "homely", and the form of written communication such as secret letters became more and more common.

After the cabinet ministers received the secret note, they responded in secret. The specific content was not known to outsiders, and they usually said something that was not suitable for public disclosure.

During the Jiajing Dynasty, Emperor Sejong pushed the use of secret codes to its peak, and often issued secret codes of the Riddler nature.

Today's Emperor Wanli admires his grandfather Emperor Sejong the most, and he also imitates him in secret interviews.

However, the Wanli Emperor in history did not know whether it was intentional or sincere. The contents of ministerial secrets were frequently leaked, causing major political accidents many times.

In the original history, the resignations of Shen Shixing, Xu Guo, and Wang Xijue were all related to the leakage of secret content.

But it is said that in the cabinet, after receiving the emperor's secret letters, the ministers wrote secret notes and sent them to the palace. Even the newcomer Zhao Si also wrote one.

Outsiders have no way of knowing what the secrets contain.

Anyway, after Emperor Wanli read the secret exchanges between his cabinet ministers, especially Zhao Si, he approved Lin Tailai's memorial as a "lower council meeting", which seemed to be quite orderly and impartial.

In various yamen, Lin Tailai's memorial attracted a lot of attention. After all, the assessment system is related to the vital interests of every official. Who can not care?

Not to mention that this was specially issued by the emperor, allowing various yamen to express their opinions.

Most officials do not like the imperial examination and are opposed to memorials.

But at the same time, most people rationally stayed put because the author of this memorial was Lin Tailai.

In the next two days, two things happened in Xicheng, where the officials lived.

First, two censors tentatively opposed the reinstatement of the examination law and impeached Lin Tailai for disrupting the government.

What's more important is that these two censors did not suffer Lin's style of revenge!

They were not blocked by the Lin family's servants, nor were their own doors smashed.

Second, the Beijing patrol camp announced that it has entered a "strike hard" period, and has strengthened patrols in the West City to prevent vicious cases such as gang fights, kidnappings, and housebreakings related to officials.

Not only have thousands of troops been deployed in the streets and alleys of Xicheng, they are also working in shifts day and night.

After these two signals came out, the number of memorials against Lin Tailai soared exponentially!

From two books in a single day, it increased directly to more than a dozen books in a single day, and then to dozens of books on the third day!

According to analysis by key politicians in the capital, there are probably two reasons why this phenomenon occurs.

On the one hand, although Zhang Juzheng did not invent the examination method, it is closely related to Zhang Juzheng and is one of Zhang Juzheng's most representative policy measures.

Therefore, opposing the reinstatement of the entrance examination law is absolutely in line with the current political correctness and has no political risks at all.

In this case, Shangshu's opposition became something that he would not do.

Many people are idle at work, and it is good to write a memorial that is absolutely safe to give them a sense of presence, so as to avoid being said to be a vegetarian.

On the other hand, the reason is that Lin Jiuyuan's popularity is really good.

Under the premise of ensuring that he will not be beaten or smashed, the opportunity to oppose and impeach Lin Tailai is really rare.

Even if you can't really do anything to Lin Tailai, you can still enjoy it by following the trend and scolding him safely.

Seeing this situation, Zhao Nanxing, the director of the Examination Department, was in a good mood.

To have provoked such a huge wave of opposition just after taking office is a testament to his incompetence!

He even began to fantasize about whether it was possible for Lin Tailai to lose his official position as a doctor in the examination department?

At this time, Chen Younian, a doctor in the literary and anthology department who had been pretending to be ill for many days at home, also returned to work in the staff department.

It's hard not to go to work. Lin Tailai has already joined the job. If Chen Younian doesn't come back, won't Lin Tailai become the loudest voice in the staff department?

However, Chen Younian regained his calmness and stability after the painful experience of being beaten when he considered himself the boss of the official department a few days ago.

Hearing that his old comrades had returned, Zhao Nanxing came to Chen Younian's apartment and discussed:

"I am considering whether to follow the trend and launch an attack and impeachment against Lin Tailai within the Merit Examination Department."

Chen Younian replied without hesitation: "Absolutely not! There are so many people who oppose Lin Tailai now, including you. There is no need for you to put yourself in danger."

Now Lin Tailai is Zhao Nanxing's immediate boss. Zhao Nanxing is extremely uncomfortable with this situation and is a little anxious.

Chen Younian patiently advised again: "Past lessons show that you must be patient when facing Lin Tailai.

When something happens, it is better to wait and see for a while than to rush for success. Just like this time, how could you know that Lin Tailai didn't set a trap waiting for you?

Our comrades have suffered heavy losses in recent years and can no longer suffer any more.

Therefore, it is especially important to stay stable at the moment, take self-protection as the top priority, and put safety first in everything. "

Zhao Nanxing finally accepted Chen Younian's advice, "Then don't do anything this time, and don't give Lin Tailai the opportunity to take advantage of it."

He has been demoted to chief, which is already the lowest-ranking subordinate official among the six ministries. If he is demoted further, he will have to go to other places to become a county magistrate.

It can be said that I have no ability to resist risks at all, so I'd better be honest.

Chen Younian reassured, "It's not that we are doing nothing, but we are moving forward in an upright manner within the institutional framework."

Chen Younian was referring to the upcoming meeting of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and the theme must be to draw up a preliminary list of candidates.

Among the six ministries, the ministry of the Ministry of Personnel is the most important, or the one that attracts the most attention.

Because the personnel trends discussed and decided by the Ministry of Personnel have a huge influence on other departments.

The situation of the Ministry of Revenue is somewhat similar. It also has a huge influence on other departments, so the Ministry of Revenue ranks second among the six departments.

During this special period, there were not many people who participated in the ministry's discussion on personnel issues. There were Right Vice Minister Wang Yongji, Wenxuan Department Langzhong Chen Younian and Wenxuan Department Yuanwailang, and Examination Department Langzhong Lin Tailai.

This was Lin Tailai's first time to participate in the ministry's discussion. It is a pity that his voice was not very important in personnel selection.

After all, this is the main business of the Wenxuan Department, and the Examination Department can only be regarded as an auxiliary department.

All official positions have certain appointment conditions. The more important the official position, the more stringent the appointment conditions.

If you don't understand the appointment conditions and randomly recommend candidates, it will be a big joke.

For example, the court sitting in the Ministry of War, there has been a convention in recent decades that the governor of Xuanda or Ji Liao returned to the court to serve.

If a minister of the Ministry of Works is recommended to transfer to the Minister of War, it is a very unprofessional behavior.

And the Minister of Personnel, according to convention, is generally transferred from the second-rank minister of other ministries, or the same-rank chief censor.

Moreover, they must be senior officials of the second rank in the Ministry of Personnel. Those with less qualifications cannot be considered.

There are also examples of assistant ministers of the Ministry of Personnel being promoted directly to the Minister of Personnel, but this is a rare case and is not considered a common practice.

After Wang Yongji put down his teacup, he said to Chen Younian of the Ministry of Selection: "How many suitable candidates are there for the Minister of Personnel?"

As an old official in the Ministry of Personnel, Chen Younian is very familiar with personnel affairs and immediately answered:

"The suitable candidates who conform to the convention are Lu Guangzu, the Minister of Punishment, Song Xun, the Minister of Works, and Sun Piyang, the Chief Censor of Nanjing."

First of all, these three people are senior officials of the second rank in the Ministry of Personnel. Secondly, they have a lot of experience. They were Jinshi in the 26th, 35th, and 38th years of Jiajing respectively.

In contrast, Shen Da and Wang Ercai of the Cabinet were Jinshi in the 41st year of Jiajing, which was later than the above three people, and Wang San and Zhao Si were even later.

Wang Situ of the Ministry of Revenue was not nominated because of "avoiding suspicion"; Yu Shenxing, the Minister of Rites, was not nominated because of "junior qualifications".

After all, Yu Shenxing became the Shangshu only last year, and his year of examination was the second year of Longqing, which was much worse than the previous few old ministers.

So Chen Younian nominated Lu Guangzu, Song Xun, and Sun Piyang, although it was selfish, but there was nothing wrong with their professionalism.

Wang Yongji asked Lin Tailai again: "Do you have any additional candidates?"

Lin Tailai was deeply annoyed. Compared with the Qingliu forces that had been cultivating for many years, his foundation was still weak.

Among the people on his side, he couldn't even bring up someone with qualifications comparable to Lu Guangzu, Song Xun, and Sun Piyang.

The biggest difference between cabinet ministers and ministers of the Ministry of Personnel and other official positions is that they pay great attention to qualifications.

Those whose qualifications are too far apart can only bring shame upon themselves.

After thinking about it, Lin Tailai only thought of one person, Wu Shilai, the Left Censor-in-Chief, who was also old enough, but he was a member of the party of Prime Minister Shen.