The Prosperous Era of Longwan

Lei Li's gratitude made Emperor Jiajing want to express his gratitude.

This blessing is of course not only due to the completion of the Yongshou Palace project, but also the projects of the three main halls, so they might as well be rewarded.

With this thought in mind, Emperor Jiajing continued to speak: "I am serving all the ministers and assistant ministers at work, Xu Jie, a minor teacher and a minister, and I am still a son of Zhongshushe. The Duke Zhu Xizhong and the assistant minister Yan Song each receive a hundred rice." Shi; Assistant Minister Yuan Wei added Shaobao; Shangshu Lei Li added Prince Taibao, and still Yin had a son in prison to study; Governor Zhu Xixiao added Shaobao, and provided care for hundreds of households; Xu Gao, a great craftsman, was promoted to Minister of the Ministry of Industry, plus Prince Taibao, and Yin One son and one hundred households; servants Liu Boyue and Zhu Heng."

"Your Majesty, no."

At first, seeing that the emperor was happy and wanted to reward him lavishly, it didn't matter whether it was Huang Jin, Xu Jie or Lei Li.

The three main halls are major projects in the imperial court. The Yongshou Palace is also the de facto palace of Emperor Jiajing. In fact, they are all very important. They have to offer sacrifices in the suburban temple. There is no need to come out at this time to disturb the emperor's happy mood.

What's more, this reward seems to benefit everyone in the Ministry of Works, and it can be regarded as a reward for merit. I can't stop others from getting promoted and making money.

The previous ones were all fine. The two brothers Xu Jie and Zhu Xizhong, as well as the first assistant Yan Song, were more or less involved in these projects and contributed to the smooth progress of the projects. However, Xu Gao, the master craftsman, was promoted to the minister of the Ministry of Industry. What the hell?

Like Lei Li, he also added the crown prince as his Taibao, to protect one son and hundreds of households?

Who is Xu Gao?

For a craftsman who has not passed the imperial examination, it is absolutely unacceptable for the Jiajing Emperor to directly appoint him as the Minister of the Ministry of Industry and add the three ministers as soon as he is happy.

Lei Li only thought so in his heart, but his mouth felt bitter and he couldn't speak.

The reason for this was because of his official position. He was the Minister of the Ministry of Industry, and he had just been appointed as the Crown Prince and Taibao. At this time, he heard that the emperor granted Xu Gao the same official position as himself. If he spoke out to stop it, he would naturally be rumored by the outside world. To be jealous of talents.

Even if you know the truth, who knows what people will say behind your back?

Fortunately, at this time, Xu Jie in front of him spoke up.

Yes, Xu Jie didn't want to say anything about Emperor Jiajing's reward, as long as the emperor was happy.

It is only right to be rewarded for your achievements, but what does this Xu Gao award mean?

Emperor Jiajing was not angry when his words were interrupted. He looked at Xu Jie who was speaking out and asked kindly: "Why?"

Your Majesty, this is a reward for merit. Emperor Jiajing didn't understand why Xu Jie stopped him. You don't want a reward, so if you stop it at this time, you won't be afraid of being resented by others?

Xu Jie is not the kind of person who looks down on the current situation.

Emperor Jiajing asked with a trace of curiosity.

"Your Majesty, this Xu Gao is not from the imperial examination. He can be awarded a gold and silver reward and an official position in the Ministry of Industry. However, he has the title of Minister of the Ministry of Industry and the title of Crown Prince and Taibao."

Of course Xu Jie didn't want those behind him to hate him. Who couldn't see that the emperor was happy at the moment. It was obvious that everyone had made contributions and received rewards. If he stopped him at this time, he would offend many people.

After being busy, Xu Jie quickly said that the reason why he stopped him was because of Xu Gao's identity.

After saying this, he felt relieved. He did not object to the emperor's reward for others, but he had an objection to Xu Gao's reward.

He understood that it was difficult for him to speak out about Lei Li's position. Huang Jin was a member of the inner court and could not interfere with external affairs. Only he could speak out to prevent this from happening.

In fact, craftsmen in the Ming Dynasty were not prohibited from serving as officials. It was actually possible for craftsmen to serve as officials in the Ministry of Industry, even if they had not passed the imperial examination. However, these were low-level officials, or professional officials, who were awarded rewards. Minister of the Ministry of Industry, this cannot be justified in any case.

However, Emperor Jiajing looked at Xu Jie with a strange look at this time, which made Xu Jie feel a little frightened. After careful consideration, he realized that he seemed to have said the wrong thing, but he didn't seem to have said the wrong thing. For a moment, he didn't know what to do. How to continue.

"If I remember correctly, in the 25th year of Hongwu's reign, a camp and repair office was set up, and the general's post was changed to the camp and repair office. It was ranked in the seventh rank, and there were two chiefs, two deputy chiefs, and two chief ministers, in order to use the exquisite skills of the craftsmen. For that.”

Emperor Jiajing didn't care about Xu Jie's appearance, but said calmly: "What is meant by 'the best craftsmen of all craftsmen do it'?"

Xu Jie kept silent. He had indeed neglected this matter before. The Ming Dynasty was different from the Song and Yuan Dynasties. During the period of Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang, it was indeed stipulated that craftsmen could also directly become officials.

Note that the "craftsman joining the official position" mentioned here does not mean "craftsman joining the official position". In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, with the opening of the imperial examination to craftsmen, people with craftsman qualifications could also join the imperial examination. The so-called "craftsman joining the official position" refers to It is the craftsman who did not pass the imperial examination and became an official relying solely on his craftsmanship.

"In the Hongwu Dynasty, Xu Xingzu and Jing Gao both served as kitchen servants and were awarded Guanglu Qing. Du Andao and Hong Guan both served as Taichang Qing, the comb engineer officer, and the left minister of the Ministry of Rites. In the Chenghua Dynasty, Lu Xiang was promoted to the stone engineer officer and the left minister of the Ministry of Works."

Emperor Jiajing began to count down the list of craftsmen he could think of at the moment and named them one by one, which made Xu Jie feel ashamed.

"Do you want to learn from Hu Shining and Li Yue?"

After saying this, Emperor Jiajing's tone became unkind. He was originally in a good mood and wanted to give them a reward for their contribution in building the three main halls and Yongshou Palace, but he did not expect this.

Xu Jie was also breaking into a cold sweat at this moment.

Hu Shining and Li Yue were both officials of the Jiajing Dynasty. Hu Shining was the minister of war in the early Jiajing period. In the fifth year of Jiajing period, Zhao Kui and other 54 craftsmen were promoted because they opposed the emperor. It is inappropriate to be promoted if you are loyal and do what you say.”

However, Xu Jie had a vague impression of this memorial. It was rejected by Emperor Jiajing on the grounds that "promoting to an official position is also a story of the first dynasty."

Thinking of this, Xu Jie knew that it was impossible to prevent Xu Gao from becoming Minister of the Ministry of Industry, but he could still talk about the title. After all, nothing happened in the previous dynasty, and Emperor Jiajing would not ignore the facts.

"Your Majesty, I made a mistake. Your Majesty reminded me that I have no objection to Xu Gao taking up the post of Minister of the Ministry of Industry. However, I would like to give him the title of Crown Prince and Taibao. This is something that has not happened in the previous dynasty. Please give your Majesty a clear warning."

Thinking of this, Xu Jie hurriedly spoke.

The prince's Taibao, the prince's Taishi and the Prince's Taifu are all official positions in the East Palace, and they are all responsible for teaching. They are collectively called the "Three Masters", but they have titles but no positions. They are generally given as honorary titles to important ministers and close ministers.

The prince's grand master teaches literature, the prince's tutor teaches martial arts, and the prince's Taibao protects his safety. In addition, there are also the prince's young master, the prince's young tutor, and the prince's young protector who are their deputies. They are the so-called "three ministers and three orphans".

Emperor Jiajing thought about it at this time and remembered that this seemed to be the case.

Although the craftsman has also been to the Six Ministries and Nine Ministers, it seems that he has never been to the Three Gongs and Three Solitaries.

Thinking about it just now, it seems that I was just talking smoothly. I thought that since I was promoted to Minister of the Ministry of Industry, I would be given a Taibao by the way, but I forgot about this.

He was promoted from craftsman to minister, and he suddenly ascended to a high position. He was promoted to an unusually high level, and Emperor Jiajing stopped arguing.

He nodded slightly, thinking about what he had just thought, and continued: "The great craftsman Xu Gao was promoted to Minister of the Ministry of Industry, and Yin's son was a member of hundreds of households; the ministers Liu Boyue and Zhu Heng were each promoted to one level of salary, and Hengyin's son was sent to prison to study; Secretary of General Affairs Liu Ji and Gou Tong were promoted to Shaoqing of Taipu Temple; Xu Fan, the chief minister of Shangbaosi, was promoted to Shaoqing of Taichang Temple."

Emperor Jiajing didn't want to spoil everyone's mood. He saw that there was a large group of people behind Lei Li who were looking expectantly, waiting for him to give them rewards.

There are many things I want to cultivate, and I will need these people in the future.

Emperor Jiajing was known for being mean and ungrateful, and extremely selfish. These were the evaluations given to him by foreign officials, but he didn't care about them.

However, he dared to make exceptions for the talents he liked, and this gave Xu Gao this rare opportunity.

The scene that happened in Xiyuan quickly spread outside the palace and was known to the courtiers.

At first, these Jinshi who passed the imperial examination and passed the exam heard that there was a master craftsman from the Ministry of Industry who actually won the appreciation of Emperor Jiajing for his extraordinary skills and rose to prominence. He was directly awarded the title of Minister of the Ministry of Industry. It is conceivable that What kind of mentality is it.

That was an explosion, with people clamoring for impeachment and scolding Emperor Jiajing.

Regardless of whether it was to deceive the emperor, there were quite a lot of officials clamoring for trouble.

But soon, under the patient explanations of some quick-responsive officials around them, they gradually realized that they seemed to have lost their composure just now.

As for the official system of the Ming Dynasty, the system of six ministries, one minister and two assistant ministers seems to be the norm, but in fact it is not necessarily the case.

In fact, a few years ago, there were two ministers in the Ministry of Industry, namely Ouyang Bijin and Lei Li. However, at that time, Ouyang Bijin was in charge of the ministry, which was the official minister, while Lei Li was in charge of the Ministry of Industry. He has the title of minister, but he travels to various construction sites of the Ministry of Industry to inspect and guide work. This is a mission.

It is hard to imagine that one person should not only be responsible for ministry affairs, but also travel to various places to inspect work. With the transportation conditions of Ming Dynasty, this is simply not possible.

It wasn't until Ouyang Bijin became an official and Emperor Jiajing asked Lei Li to take charge of the ministry that Lei Li, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, was considered corrected.

As for why no one raised this matter, it is not because of Yan Song's great influence. It is because this is actually a rule handed down from the Hongwu period. In fact, it also reflects that there are too many affairs in the six ministries. According to the configuration of one minister and two ministers, they are busy Don't come, so add more officials.

During the Hongwu Dynasty, the Ministry of Revenue had a grand occasion of having seven ministers at the same time, and each of them was responsible for their own government affairs without interfering with each other.

Moreover, in the Ming Dynasty, it was actually normal for several people to hold an official position. Some of them were false titles, used to improve the official's grade and salary.

For example, cabinet ministers, in addition to holding the official position of bachelor of a certain palace, and having the title of Prince Shaobao, etc., will also have the title of minister, which means that the rank of the cabinet minister will be forcibly raised.

It is true that there are some positions that the original manpower is too busy, so it is not uncommon in the Ming Dynasty to add some additional officials with the same position to work together.

As for Xu Gao, a carpenter, becoming the minister of the Ministry of Industry, it is actually the former. He is only allowed to enjoy the treatment of the minister. It is impossible to take charge of the affairs of the ministry.

With this consensus, the ministers who had previously wanted to submit memorials and use the inscriptions to kill Emperor Jiajing decided to give up.

As the word spread, these are all "stories of the previous dynasty". How can I put it this way? They just brought out the ancestral system to talk about it.

Sometimes, Emperor Jiajing seemed much more active than them in maintaining the ancestral system.

When the news reached Prince Yu's Mansion, Prince Yu and others were naturally shocked beyond measure.

A carpenter turned into a minister of the Ministry of Industry. Inspirational, truly inspiring.

Speaking of being a farmhouse man in the dynasty and ascending to the emperor's hall in the evening, none of them, Jinshi, could compare with this great craftsman named Xu Gao.

"broken."

Just when everyone was shocked, Zhang Juzheng suddenly shouted.

"What's wrong?"

Wei Guangde and Zhang Juzheng are close. No matter what the reason is, he is with Zhang Juzheng now when he has nothing to do.

Zhang Juzheng's reaction at this time must be that he realized something big had happened.

"Tell me, if it were so easy to build a palace, would Your Majesty continue to build it?"

Zhang Juzheng looked at Wei Guangde and Wang Yu and others who cast puzzled looks and said, "As far as the imperial court's finances are concerned, if they want to build palaces on a large scale.

In the past, ministers used the excuse that large materials were hard to find and tried to prevent His Majesty from carrying out large-scale construction projects. With Xu Gao's technique, how could he stop it? "

"It's a shame that Xu Ge is old."

Wei Guangde naturally understood the meaning of Zhang Juzheng's words, so he opened his mouth and answered.

At this time, everyone in Prince Yu's Mansion realized that Yan Song would soon be in phase, and naturally knew who his successor would be. Wasn't it just a matter of suffering for Xu Jie?

"I guess your teacher will also realize that he made a mistake."

Wei Guangde smiled at Zhang Juzheng.

Zhang Juzheng did not answer, but nodded slightly.

As they said, Xu Jie locked himself in the duty room after returning to the cabinet from Xiyuan, and put aside the matters of drafting the decree for the time being.

I thought that doing great work would be the help to push the mountain of Yansong, but now it seems that I used too much force, which may not make the emperor think again. Thinking that in the future Emperor Jiajing will ask the court to spend money to repair this and that, Xu Jie couldn't help but think A headache.

In the duty room not far away, Yan Shifan, who knew the news, looked at Xu Jie's duty room and sneered.

Knowing that his father would soon be dismissed by Emperor Jiajing, it was too late to make amends at this time. Yan Shifan could handle it clearly, not to mention that Yan Song had already ordered him not to mess around and just wait patiently. He was familiar with Emperor Jiajing, and he knew that nothing would happen to his family in the end, as long as those people didn't pursue him relentlessly.

In fact, Emperor Jiajing would not take it seriously if he simply took money from the court. This emperor knew the virtues of his officials very well.

When Yan Shifan used the methods of the Ministry of Industry to make money, even if it wasn't him, others would still take away the money, but the difference was how much.

Therefore, Emperor Jiajing lost interest in reorganizing the government a long time ago. No matter what he does, it will just replace the old corruption with a new generation.

Furthermore, my family has always been loyal to the king. Those officials believed that the serious crimes committed by the Yan family were actually against the emperor. If this was the case, it would be a gold medal to avoid death.

Punishing the Yan family would mean admitting that he had done something wrong. What else did Yan Song have to be afraid of?

Yan Shifan also knew this, so he was resigned to it now and no longer wanted to struggle. Even if he struggled, it would be difficult to repair the emperor's view of the Yan family in the short term.

Thinking about the wealth he has collected over the years, even if he doesn't become an official anymore, with those connections, he has nothing to worry about. Being a rich man is not bad.

I just didn't expect that Xu Jie, a cunning fox, would one day shoot himself in the foot.