The Prosperous Era of Longwan

In the Ming Dynasty, although the government offices were about to open in the early days of the Ming Dynasty, the officials did not take their minds back and were still immersed in the atmosphere of the festival.

Such a leisurely atmosphere will last until the 20th day of the first lunar month, which is ten days after the Lantern Festival. Because there is a three-day holiday during the Zhengdan Festival, but seven to ten days during the Lantern Festival.

The specific number of days to be kept was determined by the Qin Tian Jian, perhaps through some kind of Yin and Yang magic, and was finally reported to the emperor for approval.

The difference between Zhengdan and Lantern Festival is only about ten days, so officials will naturally not stop and handle state affairs seriously.

Of course, important yamen like the Ministry of War will be an exception. After all, military matters are not trivial matters.

Moreover, each yamen will also arrange personnel duties during this period, while others will just go to the yamen to order a meal and then move around freely.

However, this is only true for most yamen. In addition to the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Personnel and the Metropolitan Procuratorate are also very nervous during this period because they are also busy with the inspection of the capital.

Before the establishment of the Beijing inspection system in the Ming Dynasty, the assessment of Beijing officials mainly took the form of full examination.

However, the system of passing the examination focuses on the achievements of officials in the position, and the examination is conducted once every three years, and officials are deposed after three examinations, that is, nine years.

Because the examination period was too long, greedy and undisciplined officials could not be dismissed in time. Officials needed to be inspected regularly or irregularly to ensure the purity of the bureaucratic team. The Beijing inspection system was gradually established.

The Beijing inspection is an examination of the virtues and abilities of all Beijing officials, distinguishing between virtuous and unworthy officials, punishing unjust officials, and rectifying the official atmosphere.

Any new thing has a process of continuous improvement, and the same is true for the Beijing-Cha system pioneered in the Ming Dynasty.

In September of the sixth year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, issued an edict to conduct an assessment for Beijing officials every thirty months. Each examination could lead to one promotion. This was the prototype of the system for Beijing officials to pass the examination.

In December of the ninth year of Hongwu, it was stipulated that one test should be taken every year, and nine years would be completed.

In October of the 14th year of Hongwu, the assessment methods and assessment cycles for Beijing officials were stipulated. For Beijing officials below the fifth rank, the officials of the Yamen Hall where they were located would fill in the evaluation statements.

The assessment results are either competent, ordinary, or incompetent. The three-year cycle is a cycle of nine years.

The appointment and dismissal of officials of fourth rank and above shall be directly decided by the emperor.

In the early Ming Dynasty, it was formulated that "the inspection of Beijing officials will be carried out when the exams are completed." During the Hongwu period, Beijing officials were evaluated in the form of exams. At this time, there was no theory of ten or six years of Beijing inspections.

After a period of no regular inspection of Beijing officials, it was not until the eighth year of Tianshun that an order was issued to inspect Beijing officials once every ten years.

According to the "Da Ming Hui Dian" records: "The eighth year of Tianshun's reign: it is held once every ten years, regardless of appointment, salary, Dingyou, tolerance, recuperation, provincial sacrifices, etc., all are inspected by the official of the Yamen Hall."

The post-examination system stipulates that Beijing officials will be deposed after nine years of examination, while Beijing officials will be inspected once every ten years. Many Beijing officials may have been transferred to other positions during the Beijing inspection, so the inspection of Beijing officials every ten years is imperfect.

So in February of the ninth year of Hongzhi, Huang Bao, a doctor in the Ministry of official affairs, took the lead in proposing that Beijing officials conduct an inspection in every six or nine years.

Emperor Hongzhi did not pay attention to this, and naturally he did not issue an order because of it.

In July of the 14th year of Hongzhi, the Ministry of Civil Affairs reconsidered Lin Han, the Minister of Civil Affairs in Nanjing, and others, and reiterated that the inspection cycle in Beijing was too long, and local officials went to Beijing once every three years to conduct pilgrimage inspections.

Internal and external military officials also have to undergo examinations every five years. Only officials below the fifth rank in the two capitals are inspected only once every ten years. The interval is too long.

Emperor Xiaozong of the Ming Dynasty also agreed with this, but still did not issue an order to change the Beijing inspection system.

It was not until May of the seventeenth year of Hongzhi that Li Ke reported the disaster to Xu Tianci and once again requested Beijing officials to inspect it every six years.

It can also be seen from this that the use of disasters to request adjustments to national policies actually began in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, and it also became an opportunity to change national policies.

Perhaps forced by the repeated suggestions of the ministers in the court, in June of the 17th year of Hongzhi, Emperor Xiaozong of the Ming Dynasty finally issued an order: "Order the civil servants of the two capitals to join the Metropolitan Procuratorate and the officials of each yamen hall to conduct public inspections. From now on, they will conduct inspections once every six years." For orders.”

Since then, the six-year inspection system has been fully established. However, due to the occurrence of special circumstances, the six-year inspection system is sometimes not strictly adhered to.

Either because of the succession of a new emperor, the occurrence of natural disasters, or the need of those in power to eliminate dissidents, temporary inspections of the capital will be held. Such inspections are also called leap inspections.

Runcha began during the Zhengde and Jiajing periods and became a pit where powerful officials fell into the trap of loyal people.

The holding of the Beijing inspection was carried out by the cooperation of various yamen of the government and the public. "The Ministry and the Academy presided over it at the top, and the Department of Civil Affairs, Henan Province, and the Kao Gong Department assisted at the bottom."

The Examination Department is the department directly responsible for the Beijing Inspection and is mainly responsible for the specific work of the Beijing Inspection. The Kedao is mainly responsible for a series of preparatory work before the Beijing Inspection and the collection of artifacts after the Beijing Inspection. The results of the inspection of officials are ultimately "listed to the public." "Discipline", the emperor decides whether the officials under investigation should go or stay.

The inspection of Nanjing officials "should be carried out jointly by the Nanjing Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and has its own topic." The inspection of Nanjing officials was not under the control of the Beijing Ministry or the Institute, but was fully responsible for the Nanjing Ministry and the Institute.

The Beijing Inquisition is headed by the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, and the Shilang of the Ministry of Personnel is responsible for "praising the chief minister" and assisting the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel in his work. His functions run through all aspects of the preparation, conduct and conclusion of the Beijing Inspection.

Unfortunately, the person in charge of the Jingcha launched this year, or the Runcha, was Gao Gong, the great scholar of Wuyingdian who had just returned to the court, and the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel.

After Yang Bo became official, Emperor Longqing did not let the cabinet recommend a new Minister of Personnel, but directly appointed Gao Gongzhang as his decree.

This is why Gao Gong was not eager to retaliate against some people after returning to the court. He had plenty of opportunities to slowly manipulate some people.

The preparation stage for the Beijing inspection began with the pre-inspection suggestions from the Ke Dao official. Later, the officials from the Ministry of Civil Affairs reviewed the content of the Ke Dao official's statement and petitioned to start the preparations for the Beijing inspection.

The subsequent filling out of the testimonials and interview forms is an important task in the preparation stage for the Beijing inspection and is the main basis for the ministry to conduct the court inspection.

The official of the Libu Hall ordered the division chief of the department to make a list of officials who should be inspected. The Mitoko Taoist officials jointly conducted the interview and filled out the interview form based on the income from the inspection and visit, and then reported it back to the hall official.

In addition, the test statements filled in by the officials of each Yamen Hall for subordinate officials, or the evaluations, and the self-reports of the officials who reported themselves were all collected after being notified by the officials of the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

These collected documents will be sealed in the Department of Civil Service Examination, waiting for the emperor to decide the time for the inspection in Beijing.

After the Beijing inspection began, the Department of Civil Service Examination and the Department of Education jointly held a meeting to discuss the initial inspection results of the officials under inspection, so that the officials of the Ministry and Hall could understand the official's basic situation before the inspection.

In addition, more than 20 days before the official start of the Beijing inspection, the officials of the Examination Department need to handle the matters of the Beijing inspection. The general time is "after the 15th of the first lunar month, the Ministry of Examination and Examination will go to the Ministry of Education."

Finally, on the day of the court hearing, the doctor of the examination department is responsible for the "roll call" and other related matters, and the Yuanwailang is responsible for submitting the manuscript. "The doctor is responsible for Charlie, and the Yuanwailang is responsible for the manuscript."

After the officials' evaluation results came out and were documented, the Beijing inspection was not over yet, even though the emperor had given instructions, because there was still a final review by the Department of Science and Technology.

Therefore, after the inspection in Beijing is over, the merit examination department still has to stay in the headquarters to deal with the inspection and review of officials with objections. This is the matter of collecting the remains of the imperial examination.

The Metropolitan Procuratorate was the highest supervisory agency in the Ming Dynasty. It was responsible for impeaching hundreds of officials and supervising various departments. Its own supervisory functions inevitably required joint participation in the inspection work of the capital together with the Ministry of Civil Affairs. .

The Metropolitan Procuratorate is divided into thirteen departments, and of course not all of them will participate in the Beijing Procuratorate. According to the division of functions, the Henan Province Censor is generally responsible for assisting the Beijing Procuratorate in matters related to the Beijing Procuratorate, and impeaching the Beijing Procuratorate officials.

It seems that Gao Gong, the Minister of Civil Affairs, has huge power at this time and can influence the results of the imperial inspection. In fact, this is not the case. The Ming Dynasty did a good job of checking and balancing among officials.

In the whole process of Beijing inspection, the imperial censor mainly plays the role of supervising his subordinate officials, but he also has to directly participate in the court inspection presided over by the Minister of Civil Affairs. In other words, the imperial censor also has crucial rights in the evaluation of the imperial officials. .

Therefore, if Gao Gong wants to attack and retaliate against a group of officials through the Beijing Procuratorate, the first thing he has to face is Wang Ting, the censor of Zuodu, the Metropolitan Procuratorate.

This was also the main reason why Wei Guangde was not worried about Ouyang Yijing and others being retaliated by Gao Gong at the beginning. With Wang Ting here, everyone on their side should be able to escape unscathed.

The Beijing inspection in the fourth year of Longqing was also the last thing Wang Ting had to deal with. After that, he would beg for leave and return to his hometown in Sichuan to retire.

At this time, Wei Guangde was also discussing with Chen Yiqin and Yin Shizhen about the candidates for the Zuodu Censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate.

This position is too important. It can be said that if this official position cannot be controlled by their people, no one can check and balance Gao Gong, and the officials below may be moved at any time.

"After the inspection in Beijing, Gao Xinzheng should understand the importance of the position of Zuodu Yushi. It is probably difficult for the person recommended by Brother Yifu to gain the emperor's approval."

Wei Guangde sighed.

"Dazhou is loyal and majestic, and his opinions are generous. He has the style of Confucius and Wenju, and Su Zizhan."

Of course Chen Yiqin picked it up and said, so he opened his mouth.

Hearing Chen Yiqin say that Zhao Zhenji had the character of Kong Wenju, Wei Guangde couldn't help but think of a joke he saw on the Internet in later generations. It was said to be an American child's view of "giving pears".

That's just unfair.

First of all, it was strange that Kong Rong’s father asked the four-year-old Kong Rong to share the pears. Secondly, why should he share the pears with everyone? If he didn’t want to eat or not, whoever wanted to eat could get it by himself, right?

In the end, all the brothers have to get pears according to Kong Rong's preference. Their opportunity to choose is deprived of them. The brother who gets the biggest pear may happen to not like pears.

What amazed Wei Guangde even more at that time was that Kong Rong had inconsistent and absolutely opposite standards for his elder brother and younger brother. Because the pears he gave to his elder brother and younger brother were both bigger than him, he was questioned for not having principles in doing things.

This makes people suspect that he doesn't like pears, so he picked the smallest one for himself.

Thinking of this, Wei Guangde couldn't help but smile, but it looked very strange in Chen Yiqin's eyes, and he didn't know what he said was wrong.

What he just said was not his comment on Zhao Zhenji, but was given by others, and was believed by most people.

"Shandai, is there anything wrong with what I said?"

Chen Yiqin asked strangely.

"No no."

Wei Guangde waved his hand hurriedly. He thought that he couldn't say it just now. The story of "Kong Rong gave up the pear" is a beautiful story through the ages, and it promotes a spirit of humility and sharing.

"To be honest, I think the person most likely to succeed Brother Zizheng after he returns to his hometown is Liu Tiqian."

Wei Guangde immediately corrected the topic and brought the somewhat skewed topic back to the right track. Today they were discussing the Zuodu Censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate.

The Liu Tiqian he is talking about here is not Liu Tiqian, the current Minister of Household Affairs, but Liu Ziqiang, the censor of Youdu of the Nanjing Metropolitan Procuratorate. He and Gao Gong are both fellows from Henan.

And "Ti Gan" is Liu Ziqiang's character.

Wang Ting's decision to leave was no longer a secret in the court, so after Chen Yiqin introduced Zhao Zhenji as his successor, Gao Gong also introduced Liu Ziqiang, hoping to transfer him to Beijing to serve as the censor of Zuodu of the Metropolitan Procuratorate.

Of course, Chen Yiqin and Yin Shizhen would definitely not be mistaken about what Wei Guangde said, and they naturally knew who he was talking about.

Regardless of whether it is Zhao Zhenji or Liu Ziqiang, whoever sits in that position represents who the emperor Longqing's heart favors more.

Chen Yiqin actually knew in his heart that his status in the emperor's mind was definitely not as good as Gao Gong's, but he was unwilling to give up.

"Shandai, Zhengfu, is there anyone else you can recommend? Or has Uncle Shu proposed any other candidates?"

After Chen Yiqin was silent for a moment, he suddenly said.

"It may not be a good thing to muddy the waters at this time."

Wei Guangde frowned, and then said, "We can't recommend it. We should choose to support Meng Jing, but Uncle can ask if there are any candidates.

After all, His Majesty may not consider a candidate proposed by Uncle Shu to take over the post of Zuodu Yushi. "

After such a long time, Wei Guangde actually understood that what Emperor Longqing wanted was a court with a relatively balanced strength.

Since balance is required, whether it is Gao Gong or them, it is definitely not the best choice for one family to dominate.

Li Chunfang is old and has no drive. In other words, he is a veteran who is prudent and not prone to making mistakes. He is basically excluded, but he can stabilize the cabinet.

The other family, Xu Jie's successor Zhang Juzheng, is currently the weakest. It is difficult to balance whether it is the right to speak or actual power in the court.

Proper support should be what Emperor Longqing wants to do.

In Wei Guangde's opinion, the current cabinet has some flavor of the Three Kingdoms.

Because of the emperor's status, Gao Gong had the most say, so he was naturally "Wei", and the rest of the group and Zhang Juzheng were naturally "Wu" and "Shu".

A single family cannot compete with Gao Gong, but if they join forces, they may be able to compete.

It is difficult to get Zhang Juzheng to support them, just as difficult as getting Zhang Juzheng to support Gao Gong.

But if it is someone recommended by Zhang Juzheng, the emperor may consider it for the sake of balance. They can unite with him by supporting the person recommended by Zhang Juzheng and fight against Gao Gong.

Wei Guangde expressed his thoughts, and both Yin Shizhen and Chen Yiqin also felt that it made sense. The key was that they could use this to test out Emperor Longqing's true thoughts.

Previously, Wei Guangde suspected that the emperor wanted to balance the court, so he chose to recall Gao Gong, but the two still had doubts.

If the emperor chooses Zhang Juzheng instead of Gao Gong this time, the emperor's idea will basically be confirmed.

"Uncle never mentioned it to me."

Yin Shizhen said with a frown.

"Don't look at me. I did ask, but my uncle said there was no candidate."

Wei Guangde also said immediately.

"Shandai, please ask again when you have time. I have recommended candidates, so it's really hard to ask."

Chen Yiqin said.