The study has three rooms, one bright and two dark; the four walls outside the house are covered with vines; in front of the house is a bamboo forest, gracefully swaying in the air, with pine and cypress bonsai in the middle, and lush and verdant artemisia around the steps; in front of the window is a pond with several golden fish scales, full of vitality.
There are three study rooms, two of which are used as library rooms, with thousands of books filling the bookshelves. One is set aside as a reading room, with a carved wooden frame and an inkstone pool by the window. On the wooden board, there are two food boxes, emitting the aroma of food.
The desk where the four treasures of the study were originally placed is now filled with six delicacies and a bowl of soup. Two people sit opposite each other at the desk, looking like good friends. They are Zhu Ping'an and Zhang Siwei. This study is Zhang Siwei's "Bingzhu Study", which means reading at night with a candle, and also highlights Zhang Siwei's pursuit of reading. His nickname "True Scholar" is inseparable from his pursuit of reading at night with a candle.
"Zihou, do you know that your memorial really stirred up the waters of the capital city?" Zhang Siwei said to Zhu Ping'an with a serious look.
"Don't talk nonsense. We are just small officials. What power can we have? If we throw a brick in the capital, we will hit people of higher ranks than us." Zhu Ping'an shook his head disapprovingly, then picked up the wine pot and poured a glass of wine for Zhang Siwei. "Don't talk about me first. Tell me what happened in the capital recently. I just came back today and I know nothing about the capital. Tell me what's going on in the capital now."
Zhang Siwei shook his head and smiled, then raised his glass with both hands and toasted to Zhu Ping'an.
Zhu Ping'an also picked up the wine glass with both hands, held it high, drank it all in one gulp, then put the empty glass on the desk, picked up a piece of crispy on the outside and tender on the inside and put it into his mouth to suppress the strong taste of wine in his mouth.
"The capital has been in turmoil recently."
After drinking, Zhang Siwei put the wine glass on the table, wiped the wine stains on his mouth, then stretched out a finger and began to talk to Zhu Pingan.
"The first and most important thing is that our Master Xu Jie has finally joined the cabinet. Although our Master enjoyed the treatment of a cabinet minister before, he did not join the cabinet. This time, our Master finally joined the cabinet. Ten days ago, the emperor granted the Master a decree to serve as the Minister of Rites and the Grand Secretary of the Eastern Pavilion, and to participate in the mechanical affairs."
The official position of Dongge Grand Secretary is not high, much lower than that of the Minister of Personnel, it is only a fifth-rank official position, but the power is far greater than that of the Minister of Personnel. He is one of the Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet, and is in charge of the power to present rules and regulations, check memorials, draft votes and approve replies, participate in central decision-making, and influence the political situation. He is in a high position and has great power, but of course his power is not as good as that of the Prime Minister of the Cabinet.
Generally speaking, there were six cabinet ministers in the Ming Dynasty, divided into "four palaces" and "two cabinets". The four palaces refer to the Grand Secretaries of Huagai Palace, Jinshen Palace, Jianji Palace, Wenhua Palace, and Wuying Palace; the two cabinets refer to the Grand Secretaries of Wenyuan Pavilion and Dongge. Those who held these positions were all cabinet ministers.
At that time, the Prime Minister Yan Song was the Grand Secretary of Wenyuan Pavilion.
Although they are both cabinet ministers, the chief minister is the most authoritative in the cabinet, equivalent to the prime minister in the past. Although he does not have the title of prime minister, he has the power of a prime minister. In addition to the emperor, the cabinet of the Ming Dynasty is in charge of the power of the government, and the chief minister is in charge of the power of the cabinet. The second and third ministers dare not compete with the chief minister. If the chief minister does not like the second minister, it is easy to squeeze the second minister out of the cabinet. For example, Chen Shan, the second minister in the Xuande period, wanted to compete with the chief minister Nan Yang for the right to speak in the cabinet after only two months in the cabinet. As a result, he annoyed the chief minister Nan Yang and was sent back to his hometown to grow sweet potatoes by the chief minister.
Of course, under normal circumstances, the Prime Minister would not dare to force the Second Prime Minister back home at will, after all, the emperor was still watching him.
Generally speaking, if the imperial examination is the leap of a scholar from a carp to a dragon, then entering the cabinet is the leap of a official from a carp to a dragon. Once you enter the cabinet, you are equivalent to one of the five current standing committee members, an absolutely high position with great power.
Therefore, Xu Jie's entry into the cabinet was the most shocking event in the officialdom.
After Zhang Siwei finished speaking, he looked at Zhu Ping'an, wanting to see Zhu Ping'an's surprised expression, but found that Zhu Ping'an didn't seem surprised at all, which surprised Zhang Siwei very much.
"Zihou, have you heard about the news that our teacher has joined the cabinet?" Zhang Siwei asked curiously. It was such a big news, but Zihou was not surprised at all.
I came from the modern era, so of course I know. Not only do I know that Xu Jie entered the cabinet, I am also well aware of all the major events in the history of the Ming Dynasty. I also know that you will enter the cabinet in the future and even become the prime minister.
Of course, I won’t tell you this, and neither will anyone else.
Zhu Pingan took a sip of tea and replied calmly, "For me, it is not surprising that Master is joining the cabinet. It is just a matter of time. Since the death of the cabinet minister Zhang Zhi two years ago, there are only two people in the cabinet, our Lord Yan and Lord Li Ben. Although Lord Yan is energetic, he is old after all. The cabinet is of great importance and the position has been vacant for a long time, so naturally we need to add a cabinet minister."
"There are only you and me. To be irresponsible, there are no more than five people in this dynasty who are qualified to sit in the cabinet. The number can be counted. My teacher, Lord Xu Jie, is the Minister of Rites. It is customary for the Minister of Rites to enter the cabinet. When Yan Song entered the cabinet, he was the Minister of Rites. Moreover, my teacher stood up during the Gengxu Incident and turned the tide. He left a deep impression on the emperor. Although he did not enter the cabinet, he enjoyed the treatment of a cabinet minister."
"Except for our Master Xu Jie, the one who is most likely to sit in the cabinet is the Minister of Personnel Li Mo. However, I have studied the changes in the government and cabinet of our Ming Dynasty over the years and have never seen a precedent of a Minister of Personnel entering the cabinet. I think this time will be no exception."
"In addition, Lord Li Mo and Lord Yan don't get along very well. It's not an exaggeration to say that they are as hostile as fire and water. If His Majesty wants to choose a cabinet minister, he will definitely ask Lord Yan. I think Lord Yan will not make him unhappy by finding an enemy to join the cabinet."
"Master is different. Before I left Beijing, I went to the Yan residence for a banquet and met Master several times. It can be seen that Master has a much better relationship with Lord Yan than Lord Li. On the way to Beijing, I heard the staff at the post station talking about it. They said that the post station was very busy half a month ago. Many local officials sent gifts to congratulate the Yan residence on the happy event. I asked around and learned that Master brought a niece of the Xu family in Nanchang to the capital and married her to Yan Shifan as a concubine..."
Speaking of this, Zhu Pingan changed his chair to a comfortable position and said lightly, "So it was expected that the master would join the cabinet."
While Zhu Ping'an was speaking, Zhang Siwei sat up straight involuntarily and kept staring at Zhu Ping'an's face.
Shock
He knew that Zhu Ping'an was smart, but he didn't expect that Zhu Ping'an was so keen on politics. (To be continued.) { ( )