The most reckless man in the Ming Dynasty

Huang Xizhai.

In the 14th year of Chenghua, he became a Jinshi, was selected as a Shujishi, and was awarded the title of editor and editor of the Hanlin Academy.

During the Hongzhi period, he was transferred to the Imperial Academy and served as a scholar in Jiangxi and Guangxi. Later in the Jin Dynasty, he studied in Nanjing Hanlin Academy, promoted Nanjing Imperial Academy to offer wine, promoted Shao Zhan repeatedly, and was promoted to Hanlin bachelor.

This is a well-known scholar, especially after being promoted to Hanlin bachelor, he is a well-deserved literary master.

In order to select the best among the best, the Ming Dynasty established the Shujishi system, which is called the selection hall. Among the new scholars of that year, those who are at the top, have potential, are young and have outstanding talents are selected and take a second examination to determine the best.

The specific process is that the new scholars first study in the Hanlin Academy for three years. During this period, they are taught by experienced people in the Hanlin Academy and are taught various knowledge. Then they take the exam again. Those who pass the exam stay, which is called staying in the academy, and work in the Hanlin Academy. He may also walk in various ministries and yamen, and have responsibilities such as explaining scriptures to the emperor. He is known as the "preserver prime minister" and is one of the important sources of assistant ministers in the Ming Dynasty cabinet.

The remaining unqualified ones are released as local officials. Generally speaking, their grades are not too low. They are more common as prefects or a slightly lower level. Therefore, after the establishment of the shujishi system, whether they stay in the officialdom after becoming a Jinshi has become a very important issue. Glorious experience.

Some Hanlins can enter the Wenyuan Pavilion, coordinate with the cabinet, station in the administrative center, participate in machine affairs, advise on government affairs, and prepare for the emperor's consultation.

For example, the former Chief Assistant of the Cabinet Liu Jian and the current Chief Assistant of the Cabinet Li Dongyang both followed this path. They entered the Hanlin Academy through the imperial examination, and then selected the best from the best to enter the Wenyuan Pavilion to coordinate the cabinet to handle government affairs. By the way, they joined the Eastern Palace and became the prince's close minister. After Emperor Hongzhi ascended the throne, he could immediately move from deputy to full-time position, officially enter the cabinet as a bachelor, stationed in the administrative center, participate in machine maintenance, and advise on government affairs.

Especially for Liu Jian, the Imperial Master of the East Palace, his administrative route has been forcibly planned from the moment he became the Imperial Master. The highest position is the Chief Assistant of the Cabinet, just like Yang Tinghe who has just entered the Cabinet.

Therefore, although the Hanlin was an idle civil servant with no real administrative power, the eldest Hanlin, a scholar of the fifth grade, was responsible for compiling books and writing histories, drafting edicts, serving as readers for the royal family or serving as literary attendants to the emperor, serving as imperial examiners, etc.

However, the Hanlin Academy is close to the emperor and is a close official in the center of power. He can quickly become a noble minister and even join the cabinet. His status is extremely noble. In addition, those who can enter the Hanlin Academy are all talented and learned people who have read poetry and books. They were also selected through scientific examinations, so the Hanlin Academy had a respected status and was regarded as the center of scholarship.

Although the power of Hanlin bachelors was seized by the cabinet, their status and status were still there, and no one dared to despise them.

As soon as Huang Xizhai made a statement, he immediately wanted to separate the authority of Li Dongyang, the chief minister of the cabinet.

Li Dongyang was only a bachelor of Wenyuan Pavilion before, but because he was also in charge of the Hanlin Academy and a leader in the literary world, not even Zhu Houzhao dared to dismiss him directly.

In fact, academic officials such as Hanlin bachelors will basically not participate in court battles.

They are also suppressed by the cabinet's bachelors. Furthermore, they have no real administrative power, and there is no need for any struggle.

The only possible fight may be between their own people within the Hanlin Academy, in order to choose a good future, to enter the East Palace, etc., but when it comes to the court, they really have no say.

However, Li Dongyang, who colludes with eunuchs, must not be in charge of the Hanlin Academy anymore.

Huang Xizhai couldn't afford to lose face like this, and all the noble Hanlin in the Hanlin Academy couldn't tolerate this kind of thing!

So Huang Xizhai had to speak. Even if Li Dongyang is now the chief minister of the cabinet, so what?

Since you dare to do it, are you still afraid of being criticized by others?

What's more, Huang Xizhai is not criticizing!

Just go with the flow.

When Da Ru opened his mouth to express his position, others naturally couldn't sit still.

Xie Qian, the great scholar of Jinshen Palace, also said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, what Huang Xuesheng said is true."

"Since Academician Li has been ill for a long time and is quite busy with cabinet affairs, it is indeed inappropriate to continue to take charge of cabinet affairs."

"I think that Yang Tinghe, a scholar of Wenyuan Pavilion, has just joined the cabinet and is not familiar with cabinet affairs. He can also take charge of the affairs of the Hanlin Academy to cultivate his political ability."

Xie Qian's opening was naturally not to gain power for himself.

He himself is not a person who is greedy for power, otherwise he would not have resigned out of anger.

Mr. Muzhai has always hated evil, and Li Dongyang's collusion with eunuchs was clearly exposed. Naturally, he became more and more dissatisfied with him. Recalling the instructions of the boss Liu Jian, Li Dongyang must not be allowed to dominate the cabinet. So at this moment, Huang Xizhai proposed to peel off Li Dongyang. Xie Qian was naturally happy to have the authority, so he seized the opportunity to give the Hanlin Academy to Yang Tinghe first!

After all, there are only three bachelors in the cabinet. Xie Qian took the initiative to recommend Yang Tinghe. Is it possible that you, Li Dongyang, dare to comment on it?

The beauty of Xie Qian's proposal lies in Yang Tinghe's identity.

Why?

Because Yang Tinghe is the master of Emperor Zhengde!

Precisely because he is the imperial master, Yang Tinghe will follow the same official path as Liu Jian, from the Hanlin Academy to the East Palace to the cabinet, and finally promoted to the chief minister of the cabinet!

So, now letting Yang Tinghe take charge of the Hanlin Academy is naturally a very beneficial thing for His Majesty the Emperor!

His Majesty the Emperor will definitely agree, and other civil servants and officials will naturally accept it.

They originally wanted Xie Qian to take charge of the Hanlin Academy, but considering Xie Qian's jealous temper, they were still a little scared. Furthermore, Xie Qian himself recommended Yang Tinghe, so there was nothing much to say.

As long as Yang Tinghe does not make any political mistakes, he will be promoted to the chief minister of the cabinet sooner or later. In this case, why should he have a grudge with others over this trivial matter?

It’s better to have a good relationship!

Therefore, Wang Hao, the left minister of the Ministry of official affairs, Han Wen, the minister of the Ministry of household affairs, Zhang Sheng, the minister of the Ministry of rites, Yang Yiqing, the minister of the Ministry of war, Min Gui, the minister of the Ministry of punishment, Li Shan, the minister of the Ministry of industry, and other important officials in the court all spoke their voices to second the proposal, requesting His Majesty the Emperor to appoint Yang Tinghe to also take charge of the Hanlin Academy. , depriving Li Dongyang, the chief minister of the cabinet, of his authority.

When Li Dongyang saw this scene, he bit his lips, but did not dare to say any words to refute.

In fact, he had nothing to say.

It is the customary rule of the country that one minister should not do two things.

If he, Li Dongyang, dares to refute now, he will lose people's hearts and arouse public outrage!

If we really talk about it, the key issue is still the bad reputation of "eunuch party"!

Tang Hao, the Marquis of Zhongshan, deliberately sounded the Dengwen drum and directly made the recent turmoil in the capital public to the public, just to give Li Dongyang the bad name of an "eunuch", so that he would lose the hearts of the people and be ostracized by the scholar-bureaucrats!

This is Zhongshan Hou Tang Hao's fierce counterattack!

However, even if Li Dongyang figured this out, he couldn't do anything.

The civil and military officials in the dynasty were not fools. The people who could stand in this hall and go to court were all old foxes who had been in the officialdom for decades.

Even if Tang Hao couldn't provide any evidence, how could Li Dongyang and Liu Jin's actions be hidden from these smart old foxes?

If you do it, you do it, if you don’t do it, you don’t do it, it’s clear at a glance!

Liu Jin still ordered Song Yu to fish Li Dongyang's son Li Zhaofan out of the imperial edict, and then planned this good show with Li Dongyang. The ministers were not blind and deaf. Combined with Tang Shaozong's incident, Liu Jin naturally understood What Li Dongyang did!

It doesn't matter whether Tang Shaozong was killed by Tang Hao, the Marquis of Zhongshan, or whether he really committed suicide!

The important thing is that the death of Tang Shaozong is indeed inseparable from Li Dongyang!

Zhongshan Hou Tang Hao wanted to use Tang Shaozong's life to make the secret collusion between Liu Jin and Li Dongyang public, and to label Li Dongyang as a "eunuch"!

Is it illegal to collude with eunuchs?

Of course it is not illegal, so it cannot bring down Li Dongyang, the chief minister of the cabinet.

But this is immoral!

At least in the eyes of civil servants and officials, this was a crime worthy of death by death by a thousand cuts!

Not to mention that the person Li Dongyang colluded with was the goddamn Liu Jin, who had just used the "imperial suicide note case" to humiliate the civil servants and gentry not long ago, causing the heavenly official Ma Wensheng to become seriously ill due to exposure, and causing three senior ministers to suffer from Death from exposure!

You, Li Dongyang, dare to collude with such a crazy eunuch who is causing trouble for the country. What are your intentions?

Are you, Li Dongyang, still a human being? Do you still want to lose face?

Based on their hatred for the eunuch Liu Jin, the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty also hated Li Dongyang!

If it weren't for the fact that Li Dongyang had not been the chief minister of the cabinet for a few months, all the ministers would have wanted to directly pull him down!

However, crazy criticism and impeachment are definitely inevitable. At least Li Dongyang cannot be allowed to be the chief assistant of his cabinet in peace!

Liu Jian, an old Xun official who only knows how to make friends, the civil servants and gentry seized the opportunity and wanted to drive him out of the court. Why do you, Li Dongyang, an eunuch who colludes with eunuchs, want to sit in the position of chief minister of the cabinet? ?

In fact, the best solution is for Li Dongyang to be wise, take the initiative to submit his resignation after going to court, and then return to his hometown after returning to his official position, so that each other can leave some dignity.

But will Li Dongyang do it?

Is he willing?

Of course he was unwilling to do so!

He had been ups and downs in the officialdom for decades, dragging his body and lingering on his last breath, hoping that one day he could succeed Liu Jian as the chief minister of the cabinet so that he could realize his political ambitions.

As a result, now that he is the chief minister of the cabinet, but his butt is still hot, he is asked to take the initiative to resign and take up the post. How is this possible?

Besides, based on what Li Dongyang has done over the years, and the sworn enemy of Tang Hao, the Marquis of Zhongshan, once he resigns and becomes an official, his end may be miserable!

Therefore, Li Dongyang could only look at the scene in front of him with a pale face at this moment, but he gritted his teeth and remained silent.

As long as the official does not take the initiative to resign, even the emperor cannot remove him live.

For example, Liu Daxia, the Minister of War, could not withstand the pressure, so he took the initiative to resign, and was dismissed by His Majesty the Emperor.

As long as Li Dongyang doesn't speak, he can continue to sit on the top of the cabinet!

Zhu Houzhao glanced at Li Dongyang with cold eyes. It's a pity that this old guy is very ignorant!

You have been ill for a long time, and you have already served as the chief minister of the cabinet. Why don't you know how to let go, kneel down and resign, so that everyone can respect each other?

Do I have to force you to resign and get out?

After watching for a long time, Li Dongyang still remained silent, and Zhu Houzhao's eyes began to become colder.

good!

very good!

It's really good!

Give me something shameless!

You really thought there was nothing I could do against you, right?

Zhu Houzhao instantly turned to look at Tang Hao, his eyes full of anger.

Tang Hao met Zhu Houzhao's gaze and roughly understood what His Majesty the Emperor was thinking.

In this case, let's add another fire!

Tang Hao knelt down directly on the ground and shouted loudly: "Your Majesty, I was assassinated first and suffered unjust injustice. Please make the decision for me!"

"If I can't prove my innocence today, then I won't be alive anymore. I might as well just hit my head on this pillar and die..."

Just as he was talking, Tang Hao stood up and wanted to hit the pillar, but fortunately, Mou Bin stopped him in time.

"No!"

"Zhongshan Hou! Absolutely not!"

Mou Bin hurriedly comforted him: "The Marquis of Zhongshan is like this, doesn't he just fulfill the traitor's wishes?"

"Then how do you want me to live?" Tang Hao was full of grief and anger, "You actually falsely accused me of being a barbarian, expelled me from my clan, and forced me, a descendant of the Tang family, to commit suicide to apologize. Doesn't this great Ming Dynasty have no justice? Is it okay?”

"The sky is clear!"

"The sky is shining brightly!"

Looking at Zhongshan Hou Tang Hao who was "dead or alive", Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth.

This damn savage's acting is too poor.

If you really want to "hit the wall", with your endless energy, Mou Bin can still stop you!

Let's talk about it, let's talk about it, don't make fun of Ming Dynasty laws and regulations!

Zhu Houzhao immediately became "livid" and started clapping the case.

"Scholar Li, don't you have anything to say?"

When Li Dongyang heard this, he knelt down on the ground with a pale face.

Didn't he know that this was His Majesty the Emperor's message to him, and he had the sense to take the opportunity to resign and become an official. The matter ended here, the Marquis of Zhongshan was comforted, and the matter was over.

But the problem is that Li Dongyang does not dare to become an official, and he is not willing to do so!

So Li Dongyang gritted his teeth and spoke bravely.

"Your Majesty, I have nothing to say!"

"If you want to incriminate someone, why bother?"

As soon as these words came out, the whole place was in an uproar!

No one expected that things had reached this point, and that Li Dongyang was unwilling to resign and wanted to continue to be the chief assistant of his cabinet!

You are so heartbroken!

Tang Hao stopped pretending and didn't bother to act anymore. He patted Mu Bin's hand to signal him to let go, and then knelt down on the ground again.

"Your Majesty, please re-capture Li Zhaofan and other officials involved in the case, and strictly investigate the assassination case of the Japanese deputy envoy!"

"Since Li Xueshi has repeatedly emphasized that he has no knowledge of this matter, I have reason to suspect that these are all the actions of his son Li Zhaofan. Please send him to prison and torture him!"

Hearing this, Li Dongyang suddenly raised his head and stared at Tang Hao with blood-red eyes!

If looks could kill, he would have wanted to cut the Marquis of Zhongshan into pieces with a thousand knives!

Tang Hao's words seemed to be defending Li Dongyang, but in fact they were extremely vicious!

Tang Hao took the initiative to put all the blame on Li Zhaofan, and wanted to use Li Zhaofan, Li Dongyang's stepson, to take the blame!

If he, Li Dongyang, had not spoken, then Li Zhaofan would have been tortured to death by the Jin Yiwei. How would the world view him, Li Dongyang?

It was obviously you who colluded with the eunuch Liu Jin to do the good deeds, but you asked your son Li Zhaofan to take the blame and die for you. Why is it so cold-blooded?

Even if your stepson, Li Dongyang, is not your biological son, he is still your nephew anyway. In addition, he has been serving you as a sick man all these years. Doesn't he have no emotion at all?

Nature has emotions.

Li Dongyang attaches great importance to Li Zhaofan and has long regarded him as his own flesh and blood to train and teach.

However, Li Zhaofan had no intention of pursuing an official career, so he did not take the scientific examination, just because he was granted some false positions.

The relatives around Li Dongyang died of illness one by one, including his nephew. Now only Li Zhaofan is left!

If Li Zhaofan was tortured to death because of this incident, not only would he, Li Dongyang, be accused by thousands of people, but the old Li family would also be cut off from the line of succession!

Li Dongyang stared at Tang Hao with blood-red eyes. There was a battle between heaven and man in his mind, and even his lips were bitten with blood!

He was unwilling to resign and become an official, and he was even more worried that he would suffer bloody revenge from Tang Hao, the Marquis of Zhongshan!

However, if he doesn't speak now, then the Marquis of Zhongshan will torture his only son to death!

This choice is too difficult!

All civil and military officials in the court were staring at Li Dongyang, waiting for his decision.

In fact, many officials were already shaking their heads secretly, completely disappointed with Li Dongyang.

How greedy are you for power that you hesitate at this moment?

Hesitating for one more second would be disrespectful to Li Zhaofan’s life!

He is the only adult direct male in your old Li family, and he has served you for so many years. How can you bear to have him take the blame for you for no reason, and then be tortured to death in prison?

This Li Dongyang's cold nature is really eye-catching!

In other words, you must not offend this kind of person, otherwise you won’t even know how he was tricked to death!

But since he has offended him, he must go to death to offend him and drive him out of the court directly to avoid retaliation afterwards!

Li Dongyang still gritted his teeth and refused to speak, and all the ministers could not sit still.

The General Constitutional Officer of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, Zhang Fuhua, added fuel to the fire and said loudly: "Your Majesty, the Imperial Censor of Huguang Road of the Metropolitan Procuratorate has recently petitioned for impeachment. The Chaling Li family has occupied an excessive amount of land, resulting in a large number of people becoming homeless and homeless. Rely on, I ask your Majesty to order a strict investigation into this matter!"

The Chaling Li family is naturally the clan behind Li Dongyang.

During the Hongzhi period, due to the inaction of Emperor Hongzhi, the Huguang Township Party rose up day by day and annexed land to seize the people's interests. Li Dongyang, the cabinet minister, and Liu Daxia, the minister of the Ministry of War, should bear full responsibility for this!

Zhang Fuhua stabbed Li Dongyang in the heart as soon as he opened his mouth!

Which gentry in the world does not annex land, and which does not farm and study to pass on the family?

Why do you have to target my Chaling Li family in public?

Li Dongyang could no longer bear it, and suddenly spit out a mouthful of old blood, and his eyes went black and he fainted.

Now, everyone was done for.

What a cold-hearted person!

He, Li Dongyang, did not resign after all!

He also used this drama of vomiting blood and fainting to try to get away with it!

But the person fainted, and he was nominally the cabinet chief minister, so His Majesty the Emperor would have to be concerned about it.

So Li Dongyang was immediately sent to the Imperial Hospital for treatment, but he was fine, but his family and his clan would suffer because of it!

"Investigate!"

"Throw Li Zhaofan into the imperial prison and torture him!"

"Send the imperial censor to Chaling to investigate the Li family's occupation of farmland!"