Chapter 200: Selecting Talents Without Avoiding Enemies
Ministry of War.
Wang Yiqi was on duty in the room.
Wu Hua had a furious look on his face and drank cup after cup of tea.
But Ranshou just sat quietly.
Wang Yiqi was looking at the documents, but 30% of his attention was on the two assistant ministers.
Earlier, Jiang Qingzhi sent someone to pass on a message: The Jinyiwei went to Wu Hua's house, and I went to Lan Shou's house.
Wang Yiqi immediately called the two of them over and told them the matter very frankly.
"This is slander!" Wu Hua was furious.
Lan Shou said calmly: "The innocent will be innocent, why worry?"
Lan Shou was known as a gentleman, while Wu Hua was criticized for being narrow-minded. The two were naturally sworn enemies.
Wu Hua sneered, "Who doesn't know how to pretend? But I don't bother to do that."
Lan Shou frowned slightly, "The Shangshu is here, why bother to fight?"
"I just can't stand hypocrites like you!" Thinking of the Jinyiwei who were searching his home at this moment, Wu Hua was furious. "I have done a lot of official business, and I have done nothing wrong. I can't say that I have been loyal to my duties, but I have been conscientious.
You, Lan Shou, may look like a gentleman, but you are actually very steady in doing things. You avoid difficult things and focus on good things.
Damn it, I was called narrow-minded for doing the hard things, but you were regarded as a gentleman for doing the good things. What a bullshit gentleman! "
The door of the duty room was not closed, indicating that there was no conspiracy between the three people.
The officials heard the quarrel and came out one after another.
"It's the two assistant ministers who are arguing."
"It's Minister Wu who's throwing a tantrum."
"What did I just hear...The Royal Guards searched his house?"
"He's probably in a hurry, but there's no point in being in a hurry. The Royal Guards will come to arrest him later. You'll see if he can still roar."
"Minister Lan is indeed a gentleman like jade. He remained calm even after being humiliated like this."
"Minister Lan is an incorruptible person, how could he argue with a... greedy villain like Minister Wu!"
"You are crazy. If Minister Wu finds out that you said he was greedy, be careful of retaliation."
"The Imperial Guards have come to search the house. Do you think Wu Hua will still be here tomorrow? He is most likely in the Imperial Prison."
Suddenly there was a bang from inside, and it turned out to be Wu Hua slamming the table.
"Mr. Wu just can't stand hypocrites like you. Why?"
Lan Shou said leisurely, "Chang Wei Bo also sent people to search my house. Do you think I panicked? If you don't do bad things, you won't be startled by ghosts knocking on your door in the middle of the night. Minister Wu, what are you panicking about?"
"well said!"
Everyone couldn't help but cheer for Ranshou's counterattack.
There was a sound of footsteps.
"It's Long Wilbur here."
Jiang Qingzhi came with a few men from the Eastern Depot.
"Why not Jinyiwei?"
Everyone is puzzled.
Jiang Qingzhi walked to the outside of Wang Yiqi's duty room.
The three of them slowly stood up.
"Lanshou." Jiang Qingzhi didn't go in.
Lan Shou frowned, "What's the matter? Chang Wei Bo is so aggressive, could it be that someone in my Ministry of War is involved in the case? I always say that officials should not be greedy, and should control themselves before fame and fortune, and never forget their original intentions.
But he is from the Ministry of War after all, if you can... give him a lighter punishment, please let him go. That's all."
Lan Shou smiled bitterly, "Look, why am I saying this? The law is as strong as a mountain, how can we be partial to one's own interests?"
Wang Yiqi felt something was wrong... Jiang Qingzhi had been looking at Lan Shou as if he was watching a monkey performing.
"Ran Shou."
Jiang Qingzhi said slowly: "You have so much money in your hands, but you don't spend a penny. Why do you commit corruption?"
Lan Shou was stunned, "What corruption are you talking about, Long Wei Bo?"
"Good acting skills." Jiang Qingzhi felt that this guy could at least be the best supporting actor in the future. "You live in a shabby house and wear tattered clothes. People who don't know the truth think that all Ming officials are beggars and secretly complain that Your Majesty treats you badly. But the old man who guards the money next door wears clothes that cost 500 coins each..."
How could it be Ranchu?
Wang Yiqi was about to ask the reason, but he saw Lan Shou's legs go limp and he collapsed to the ground.
"you!"
Wang Yiqi looked at his deputy in disbelief, "You...it's you?!"
Jiang Qingzhi walked in.
"Just next door to the Lan family, dozens of boxes of valuables were seized, with a value of more than 200,000 strings of cash."
"Master, spare my life." Lan Shou suddenly hugged Jiang Qingzhi's legs and howled, "I didn't spend a penny of that money, not even a penny!"
"This man is quite talented." Jiang Qingzhi said to Wang Yiqi, "Who would have thought that the person next door was not his neighbor, but a place he bought to store his money?"
"I haven't spent a penny!" Lan Shou burst into tears.
"You didn't spend a penny, but those soldiers are starving because of you, their armor is in disarray, and the army has no will to fight..."
Jiang Qingzhi kicked him away, "Someone come here!"
A few guys came in.
Jiang Qingzhi pointed at Lan Shou and said, "I'll leave this man to you. Tell your factory supervisor not to be polite and not to endure the punishment."
Jiang Qingzhi had always felt that beheading was too barbaric, but at this moment he first thought that it was too light a punishment.
"I didn't spend a penny!"
Lan Shou's body was as soft as mud. Anyone who had dragged such mud knew that even if it weighed only a hundred pounds, it was still harder to move than hundreds of dead objects.
"I haven't spent a penny..."
The officials of the Ministry of War watched in silence as the gentleman was dragged away.
"I said this person is a hypocrite! Hahahaha!"
Wu Hua laughed loudly, then bowed to Jiang Qingzhi, "I used to be quite dissatisfied with Lord Changwei. I always felt that Lord Changwei was just a lucky minister, how could he be above me. But Lord Changwei fought two battles in Datong, and Xuanfu set a trap to lure you in... Today, I am even more observant and have seen through Lanshou, the hypocrite."
Wu Hua said seriously: "From now on, if anyone dares to say bad things about Chang Wei Bo in the Ministry of War, I will slap him!"
……
Wu family.
Time passes, but still nothing valuable is found.
Lu Bing had already drunk several cups of tea, and his face became as gloomy as the sky.
"Commander, nothing was found."
A centurion came to report, sweating profusely.
Search and inspection is a physical job. For example, you have to move water tanks and large furniture to see if there is anything behind or underground.
"How could a villain like Wu Hua be so honest?"
The clerk next to him was a little surprised.
I made a mistake in my judgment... Lu Bing looked calm, "How is Jiang Qingzhi doing?"
"Go ask." Someone ordered.
The sound of horse hooves faded away outside the door.
"Lanshou is an honest official. Jiang Qingzhi will surely return empty-handed. In this case, it won't be embarrassing for us." The centurion wiped his sweat, feeling that this trip was in vain.
If they searched the homes of corrupt officials, they could get at least 30% of the spoils. But Wu Hua's family had no money from corruption, so even if they found some property, the Jinyiwei would not dare to touch it.
Otherwise, with Wu Hua's narrow-minded character, he would definitely impeach Lu Bing once he found out that some property was missing from his home.
Being narrow-minded also has its advantages, which is that others will not dare to provoke you for no reason.
The clerk smiled and said, "Since Jiang Qingzhi saw that we were targeting the Wu family, he had no choice but to search the Lan family, otherwise he would be suspected of being negligent. Now he is probably feeling lucky that we didn't gain anything!"
The sound of horse hooves came again.
From far to near.
A small flag of the Jinyiwei came in through the gate and knelt on one knee.
"How?" Lu Bing asked.
"It's Ranshou."
Boom!
There was a thunderclap in the sky, followed by dark clouds and drizzling rain...
……
The drizzle makes people feel cold all over.
After receiving the report, Emperor Jiajing immediately summoned all his ministers to discuss the matter.
"Is this the gentleman praised by all the civil and military officials in the court?"
"Over 200,000 strings of cash. How much blood of soldiers is this? How could that hypocrite drink it?"
"Your Majesty, the money is not less..."
"Give me your salary, and I won't spend a penny. What do you think?"
Zhu Xizhong sneered at the civil servant, "Do you think that this person who doesn't spend a penny is still a gentleman?"
The civil servant coughed dryly. "I didn't say that."
"What exactly do you want to say after you talked for so long?" Zhu Xizhong asked.
The civil servant hesitated and glanced at Emperor Jiajing.
The Taoist priest sat there coldly, with no sign of joy or anger.
Cui Yuan was about to make a move, but was glanced at by Yan Song.
Now that Ranshou has fallen, wouldn't it be a good idea to strike back at the fallen dog now?
Cui Yuan was puzzled.
Yan Song remained as calm as ever.
Emperor Jiajing spoke slowly, "When I came to Beijing from Anlu, I heard along the way that there were many gentlemen in the court. Yang Tinghe and his son were role models among them."
When the emperor and his ministers were wrestling with each other, the leader among the ministers was Yang Tinghe. His son Yang Shen connected with people everywhere, which inevitably reminded people of Wang Anshi's son Wang Pang.
This was said with sarcasm.
"Yang Shen instigated all officials to knock on the door and cry at Zuoshun Gate. I was furious and had people punish him with canes. Those who were punished with canes are still called gentlemen by some people today!"
There was a hint of sarcasm in the eyes of Emperor Jiajing. "Lanshou is the same. He has been in the officialdom for many years and has earned a reputation as a gentleman. But secretly he is extremely greedy! Chang Wei Bo..."
Taoist priest, why did you drag me into this... Jiang Qingzhi left the class.
"His Majesty."
Seeing him being lazy, Emperor Jiajing's eyebrows twitched, "What do you think a gentleman is?"
"Your Majesty, this topic is too big..."
"Just say it."
"Yes." Jiang Qingzhi looked at everyone, "A true gentleman acts without saying anything. All the virtues of a gentleman come from within, and do not need to be embellished or modified.
But I think that times change, people are fickle, a gentleman today may become a villain tomorrow. So we should not judge a person’s character by his words and deeds at one time.”
This is not enough!
Jiang Qingzhi thought of the so-called gentlemen in the late Ming Dynasty.
The so-called righteous people fill the court.
"But I feel that the more a person lacks something, the more he will think about decorating it, supplementing it, and flaunting it."
The literati of the Ming Dynasty loved to flaunt themselves as gentlemen like jade.
These words were so vicious that at least 50% of the officials present were slapped in the face like pigs' heads.
Brother!
You are not afraid of angering the public... Zhu Xizhong also despises those hypocrites, but this is the trend! Those who do not pretend to be gentlemen in the officialdom are all idiots.
For example, Wu Hua seems to be sharp-tongued, but in fact he is just a fool in the eyes of Zhu Xizhong and others.
If you can't even pretend, how can you survive in the officialdom?
Moreover, Jiang Qingzhi's words not only slapped the faces of the literati, but also exposed an unspoken rule that had existed for a thousand years.
It turns out that the officials and literati who seemed so majestic in the eyes of the general public were all pretending!
This is like a scholar wearing gentleman's clothes, suddenly finding himself in a busy city, naked...
Damn it Jiang Qingzhi!
Emperor Jiajing glanced at his cousin and said, "Lanshou, punish him severely."
no problem.
Who is Kelanshou's successor?
Lan Shou was the Left Vice Minister, the number one person under Wang Yiqi.
Yan Song had already prepared the manpower.
Lu Bing did the same, but unfortunately, he failed this time...
Lu Bing glanced at Jiang Qingzhi, and seeing that he was looking at him with a half-smile, he couldn't help but feel a chill in his heart.
If he dared to recommend someone to replace Lan Shou, Jiang Qingzhi would definitely spray his face like a pig's head in front of the court.
That's it!
Lu Bing glanced at Yan Song and thought, since that's the case, then he would lend a helping hand and do Yan Song a favor.
But Yan Song did not move.
Standing there like a statue.
Old Yan actually didn’t fight for the position of Left Vice Minister?
When everyone was surprised, Emperor Jiajing asked, "The Ministry of War is missing a left assistant minister. Qingzhi, who do you think can take over?"
Lu Bing was shocked and glanced at Yan Song.
Old Yan is still the same.
This is Emperor Jiajing rewarding merit!
Jiang Qingzhi is young, and if he suddenly reaches a high position, it will inevitably trigger a rebound.
But Emperor Jiajing took a different approach and tacitly allowed him to expand his power.
Today he even took the initiative to pave the way for him.
Everyone thought that Jiang Qingzhi would nominate his own people.
For example, making a deal with Wang Yiqi and getting Xiao Zhuo to the Ministry of War.
Jiang Qingzhi came out and said, "Your Majesty, I think Wu Hua, the right assistant minister of the Ministry of War, is diligent and hates evil, so he can be the left assistant minister."
Isn’t Wu Hua your enemy... Zhu Xizhong’s eyes almost popped out of their sockets.
All the officials knew about Wu Hua's attempt to squeeze Jiang Qingzhi in the Ministry of War last time, so they were all shocked at this moment.
Emperor Jiajing was quite pleased, "He promoted the virtuous without avoiding his enemies. Qingzhi has the manners of a minister."
When the news reached the Ministry of War, everyone congratulated him.
"Your Majesty is so gracious!" Wu Hua choked with sobs.
After leaving the government office that day, a guest arrived at the Changwei Marquis's mansion.
"Minister Wu?" Fu Cheng couldn't help but be a little surprised when he saw it was Wu Hua.
"Is Long Wei Bur here? This nasty guest, Mr. Wu, is visiting and would like a drink."
(End of this chapter)
