My father is Jiajing

Chapter 489: The Court Trial Begins

Zhu Zaigui had just finished discussing the management methods of toll roads with Hai Rui, and before he had time to drink a sip of water, Huang Jin arrived at Prince Yu's Mansion.

Huang Jin's arrival forced Zhu Zaigui to take the initiative to stand up and go to the front hall to greet him.

After all, whether it was a private or official matter, Huang Jin represented Emperor Jiajing, and he had to be given enough respect out of both reason and emotion.

So not long after Huang Jin arrived at the front hall, Zhu Zaigui also came over from the study courtyard.

"Is the father-in-law free again today?"

Zhu Zaigui asked with a smile when they met.

Huang Jin saw Zhu Zaigui coming out and laughed, "What are you talking about, Your Majesty? I came here today with an imperial decree."

When Zhu Zaiqi heard the imperial decree, he also cried out in surprise and said quickly, "Please take a seat, eunuch."

But Huang Jin did not move. He stood there and said to Zhu Zaigui, "It's called an imperial decree, but it's not really an imperial decree. The Emperor just thinks that your duty as regent is a little too easy, so he asked me to come and inform you that you have to preside over the imperial decree in Huangji Palace later."

Zhu Zaiqi was stunned for a moment when he heard this. "Aren't these court recommendations all presided over by the cabinet? What use would I have in going there?"

Huang Jin smiled and said, "Your Highness is the Prince Regent. It is the grace of the Emperor that the Cabinet can preside over the court recommendation. Now that the Emperor wants to hand this responsibility over to Your Highness, there is naturally no need for the Cabinet to be the referee and host. So, I will trouble Your Highness to preside over it."

Zhu Zaigui said, "But I have no experience in this matter. What if something goes wrong?"

Huang Jin said: "Your Highness, please relax and just stand high under the throne of the Huangji Palace and look down at the ministers. For the rest, just listen to the officials' arguments in court."

Zhu Zaigui suddenly realized with an "oh", it turned out that the court recommendation was not a vote taken directly, but required some reasons.

Zhu Zaigui said, "Well, after I change into my court robes, I will personally go to the Huangji Palace to preside over this important event."

After hearing Zhu Zaigui's reply, Huang Jin also hummed, "Well, I will go back and report back first."

Hearing that Huang Jin was about to leave, Zhu Zaigui also hurriedly told Meng Chong beside him: "Go and see the eunuch off."

Meng Chong replied yes, and then politely escorted Huang Jin out of the palace.

At the same time, Zhu Zaigui also went back and asked someone to find his court robes.

Looking at this set of royal uniform, Zhu Zaigui was also filled with emotion. As far as he could remember, he had only worn this set of clothes a few times. Most of the time, he still wore ordinary casual clothes.

Now he suddenly had to dress so formally to go to the Huangji Hall to show his presence, which really made Zhu Zaigui feel a little flattered.

But Zhu Zaigui soon adapted to the situation. Although he could not guess what the Emperor Jiajing was thinking, he was very clear that he was the only future that the Emperor Jiajing could rely on.

Even if the Jiajing Emperor had mastered the art of ruling a kingdom, it was impossible for him to play tricks on and scare his son as a daily routine. Moreover, after Zhu Zaigui knew that Zhu Zaizhen was a mule that couldn't lay eggs, he no longer worried about the Jiajing Emperor.

Just do what you should do with a normal mindset. Anyway, you will never be worried because you can't guess what Emperor Jiajing is thinking.

Therefore, with this mentality, to put it more seriously, Zhu Zaigui actually had some contempt for the imperial power.

However, this kind of contempt would not be easily noticed.

After all, Emperor Jiajing did not like attending court, and he also firmly believed in the prophecy that "two dragons should never meet."

Therefore, even if Zhu Zaigui had the intention of despising the imperial power, he had no chance to show it in front of Emperor Jiajing.

Therefore, to those who saw him, his behavior was just the expression of a calm and confident superior. They would never have thought that Zhu Zaigui no longer took Emperor Jiajing seriously in his heart.

After changing into court clothes, Zhu Zaigui moved his body a little uncomfortably. This complicated ceremonial dress was indeed not as comfortable as everyday clothes.

And because the weather is still cold in the twelfth lunar month, it is inevitable that you will feel a little cold when you are close to your body.

But these are all minor situations. After all, Zhu Zaigui has practiced "Xiantian Gong" for so many years. Although he has not yet reached the level of being immune to cold and heat, at least in terms of resisting cold and heat, his endurance is better than that of ordinary people.

So even though this court dress was not that warm and close-fitting, Zhu Zaigui did not feel cold at all.

"Your Majesty, the carriage is ready."

After Zhu Zaigui was ready, Meng Chong also went to Zhu Zaigui's dormitory to remind him.

Zhu Zaiqi hummed, "Then let's go."

Zhu Zaigui left the palace, got on the carriage, and headed towards the Forbidden City in accordance with the travel etiquette of a prince.

Since the palace was located inside the imperial city which was closest to the Forbidden City, Zhu Zaigui's carriage and entourage arrived at the Meridian Gate, the main gate of the Forbidden City, in less than a quarter of an hour.

After arriving here, Zhu Zaigui was of course not qualified to enter directly through the main gate. His carriage stopped here, and then he entered through the side door with a few guards.

Walking all the way from the Meridian Gate to the Huangji Hall, Zhu Zaigui actually felt a little hot and wanted to sweat.

The officials who had been waiting in the square in front of the Huangji Palace couldn't help but show expressions of surprise when they saw the unfamiliar Prince Yu arriving.

"Why is Prince Yu here too?"

The officials who saw Zhu Zaigui coming towards the Huangji Palace from afar couldn't help but whisper to each other when they saw Zhu Zaigui coming.

At this moment, several cabinet elders, the ministers and vice ministers of the six ministries, as well as the Chief Censor and Deputy Chief Censor of the Censorate also appeared.

The appearance of these bigwigs also attracted the attention of all officials.

Yan Song was supported by Xu Jie, and the two walked in front, followed closely by Lu Ben and Li Chunfang, and the six ministers and others followed behind.

Yan Song stopped and looked up, and saw Zhu Zaigui coming towards the Huangji Palace. He said in a hoarse voice, "Let's wait for the prince here."

Xu Jie and others had no objection, so they all stood in the square and did not ask anyone to open the door of the Huangji Palace to wait for Zhu Zaigui's arrival.

Zhu Zaigui, who was coming from afar, was surprised to see about a hundred people standing in the Huangji Hall Square.

Originally, he thought that there were only about 10 to 20 officials who were eligible for the imperial nomination, but from the current situation, it seems that the number far exceeded his psychological expectations. At this time, Zhu Zaigui couldn't help but ask the people around him, "Who are the people who participated in the imperial nomination?"

The people following Zhu Zaigui immediately replied: "The people who will participate in the court discussion include the six ministers, the chief censor, the six secretaries, the general secretary, the general justice, and the chief censor. If there are internal matters of each ministry, the ministers of each ministry can also recommend their own candidates, and then report to the cabinet and present them to Your Majesty for consideration."

Zhu Zaigui exclaimed, no wonder there were so many people, it turned out that all the six ministries, the Censorate, and the six departments were here.

It can be seen how much importance the court attached to the selection of the new Minister of Personnel.

Zhu Zaigui looked at so many people waiting for him in the cold wind in the square in front of the Huangji Palace. He felt a little embarrassed and quickened his pace.

When Zhu Zaigui walked to the square of Huangji Hall, Yan Song took the lead and bowed to Zhu Zaigui and said, "Old minister Yan Song greets His Majesty."

The other ministers also bowed to Zhu Zaigui and said, "Your Highness, we pay our respects to you."

Zhu Zaigui looked at the aging Yan Song, who was still waiting for him here in the cold wind at such an old age. He did not think that Yan Song was a certain kind of person because of historical prejudices. After all, some historical facts are subjective.

Moreover, Yan Song is now the Prime Minister of the Cabinet, second only to the Emperor Jiajing. Whenever Emperor Jiajing summons him, he is given the courtesy of a seat. Zhu Zaigui may naturally act like a high-ranking official in front of Yan Song, so he still has to give him the respect he deserves.

After all, the imperial court is a place that values ​​face and rules the most. If a prince is so arrogant that he doesn't even take the court ministers seriously, then this prince is either a rebel or a traitor.

So Zhu Zaigui immediately quickened his pace and directly supported Yan Song's arm, "You are the pillar of the country, there is no need to be so polite."

After helping Yan Song to his feet, Zhu Zaigui looked at the others and said, "Everyone, please stand up. I am late and I am sorry that you are all freezing."

Then Zhu Zaigui immediately ordered the guards to open the door of Huangji Hall.

Then Zhu Zaigui brought everyone into the hall.

Entering the empty Huangji Hall, although the temperature was not much different from outside, there was no cold wind blowing.

And because there were so many people entering the hall, in a short while, the temperature inside the hall had obviously risen by several degrees compared to when they just entered.

Zhu Zaigui looked at the court officials who were standing in order according to their departments. He turned and walked from the small steps beside the Danbi to the right side closest to the throne in the main hall.

When Zhu Zaigui stood on the right side of the throne, all the officials bowed to him again and said, "Your Highness, we pay our respects to the Regent!"

Zhu Zaigui said, "Please excuse me, this is my first time participating in a court recommendation, and I am not familiar with some of the procedures, so I would like to ask the cabinet to temporarily preside over it. I will first listen to your opinions and candidates for the court recommendation."

When all the officials in the hall heard Zhu Zaigui's words, they all returned the greeting.

Then, under the gaze of everyone, Xu Jie bowed slightly to Yan Song in front of him, and then stood up.

Xu Jie bowed to Zhu Zaigui and said, "Please give your instructions, Your Majesty. I will first announce the agenda for this court election."

Zhu Zaigui said: "Yes!"

After Xu Jie received Zhu Zaigui's "yes", he took out the court agenda document that the cabinet had prepared long ago from his sleeve.

Xu Jie read out, "On the 25th day of the twelfth lunar month in the 39th year of the Jiajing reign, the Cabinet led all officials to recommend the candidate for the Minister of Personnel in accordance with the Emperor's order. The candidates included the six ministers, the Chief Censor, the Six Departments' Secretaries, the Minister of Public Administration, the Minister of Justice, and the Chief Censor, a total of 131 people."

"The cabinet plans to recommend new candidates for the position of Minister of Personnel. One of them is Minister of Criminal Affairs Ouyang Bijin, and the other is Vice Minister of Revenue and Chairman of the Ming Federal Reserve Gao Gong. These two people have met the qualifications for recommendation after discussion by the six ministries of the cabinet."

"I hope that all the ministers can understand the principle of selecting virtuous and capable people, and recommend them carefully for the use of the country, so that the virtuous and capable people can be in office, and work together to make the country prosperous, and prevent flatterers from usurping power."

After Xu Jie finished reading this passage, he stepped aside.

Then Ouyang Bijin and Gao Gong stepped out and bowed to Zhu Zaigui under the throne, and then bowed to the cabinet and other ministers in the hall.

Officials whose ranks were lower than the two men also returned the greeting slightly after they bowed, appearing to be very polite and knowing how to respect each other.

Zhu Zaigui also found this scene very novel.

It was the first time for him to see the Ming Dynasty court nomination scene. However, in addition to being curious, Zhu Zaigui also noticed an obvious phenomenon, that is, there seemed to be no votes in the court nomination. Could it be that they also voted by raising hands?
You have to know that voting by raising hands is an act of loyalty that carries a psychological implication. When everyone raises their hands or when an important person raises his hand, the rest of the people will be forced to follow suit even if they are reluctant. Otherwise, they will stand out and be easily targeted.

So generally speaking, this form of recommendation by raising hands is more or less coercive and does not leave much room for personal expression.

However, the imperial recommendation has not officially started yet, and Zhu Zaigui doesn't know whether they will use this method, so let's just wait and see.

Even if this was the case, Zhu Zaigui would not think there was anything wrong with it. At least this method could make the most direct decisions at the lowest cost when dealing with major issues, thus avoiding long-term wrangling and internal friction due to disagreements within the organization.

Therefore, no matter what the final form is, Zhu Zaigui will not be too self-righteous about how "advanced" and "fair" his method is.

Moreover, even if these people unanimously recommended Ouyang Bijin or Gao Gong as the new Minister of Personnel, it would still depend on the final imperial decree of Emperor Jiajing.

If the final result was sent to Emperor Jiajing and he did not even look at it or circle it, it would be tantamount to declaring the result of this imperial recommendation invalid.

Of course, this situation rarely happens, unless there is an emperor like Emperor Wanli who is passive and lazy. Otherwise, most of the results of such court recommendations can be approved by the emperor.

After Ouyang Bijin and Gao Gong stood up and bowed.

Xu Jie came out and said, "Because of the participation of Minister Ouyang in the recommendation, the position of Minister of the Ministry of Justice may be vacant, so this time the court will also recommend a candidate for the Minister of the Ministry of Justice based on the result of the court recommendation of the Minister of Personnel."

"Therefore, after the cabinet discussed the candidate for the Minister of Personnel, it proposed two candidates for the Minister of Justice, one of which was..."

Xu Jie had just said this when Zhu Zaigui, who was standing on a high place, sensed something unusual. If Xu Jie really said what he said, wouldn't that mean he was telling all the officials in the palace that Ouyang Bijin was the sure winner?
In this case, does Gao Gong still have a chance?
So Zhu Zaigui interrupted directly, "Wait!"

Xu Jie's words were directly interrupted by Zhu Zaigui, and all the officials looked up at Zhu Zaigui in astonishment.

Zhu Zaigui also looked at the crowd, and said calmly, "The issue of recommending Lord Xu can be discussed after the recommendation of the Minister of Personnel. Isn't it a bit hasty to recommend the Minister of Justice, who is currently held by Minister Ouyang, now?"

"What if Minister Ouyang doesn't get the unanimous recommendation of all officials? Wouldn't the candidate you've proposed for the Minister of Justice just be a pie in the sky?"

"So until the new Minister of Personnel is selected by Your Majesty, we will not assume the position of the vacant Minister of Justice."

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Asking for a monthly ticket~~
(End of this chapter)