I am a temporary worker in Jinyiwei, how did I become a powerful official?

Chapter 45 Hu Zongxian, Zheng Michang, and He Maocai

This fight between two thousand thugs was all about a purple dot.

Lin Shisan was disappointed: "What? Purple dots?"

Pigeon Liu pointed to a pigeon cage on the stone bridge railing and said, "That's it."

Lin Shisan looked carefully and saw a white pigeon in the pigeon cage, with its head, tail and beak being purple-brown. It was indeed a purple dot.

The white bow-tailed pigeon is both a carrier pigeon and a trophy pigeon, while the purple-spotted pigeon is only a trophy pigeon and cannot be used as a carrier pigeon to deliver messages.

The one in front of you is an extremely rare mandarin duck beak among the purple dots, with a head like a plate and eyes like gold.

What is even more difficult is that its color is pure and rich, which is called "colorful" in the pigeon industry. The white feathers and purple feathers of the pigeon tail are clearly distinguished as if cut by a knife.

Lin Shisan thought to himself: Purple dots are extremely rare. This kind of top-grade purple dots is even rarer. It would be worth at least 1,800 taels on the market. No wonder the two sides fought so hard.

Lin Shisan suddenly had a bold idea.

He asked Pigeon Liu: "Is this purple dot for the word '和' or '镇竹斜'?"

Pigeon Liu replied: "I won't give it to anyone. I'll put it on consignment. The money I get will be divided equally between them."

Lin Shisan said, "Can you give me three days? I might have an acquaintance come to buy it in three days."

Lin Shisan's idea was that if the white feather bow tail could not be found, he would suggest that Hu Zongxian buy the purple dot and give it to the Prime Minister Yan Song.

Although the purple-spotted one is not as precious as the white-feathered bow tail, the one in front of us is also rare in the world.

Pigeon Liu waved his hands: "You know my rules. I keep pigeons for five days before selling them. This is to avoid trouble if the owner comes looking for them. Three days is too short."

Lin Shisan lowered his voice and said, "The purple dots are bought as gifts by the buyer. If the gift is powerful enough to overthrow the government, who would dare to cause trouble for you?"

Pigeon Liu was a very smart man, and he understood immediately: "You asked the nobleman to buy this purple dot as a replacement in case the white feather bow tail cannot be found?"

Lin Shisan nodded.

Pigeon Liu was a little embarrassed: "But please let me think about my rules."

Lin Shisan said, "Okay. Just think about it first. If I can find the white feather bow tail in these three days, I won't have to embarrass you."

Lin Shisan came up empty-handed at the mass grave, so he hurried back to the city to attend the insect-watching party at Luo's mansion.

The living room of the Luo Mansion.

Lin Shisan keenly noticed that there were three new faces today. One was Hu Zongxian. The other two were middle-aged men in their forties, one fat and one thin. Because they were wearing casual clothes instead of official uniforms, their ranks were unknown.

Sitting at the top of the living room were still Zhao Wenhua, Yan Maoqing and Luo Longwen.

Luo Longwen coughed and said, "As usual, let's discuss the matter first. Zhao Bu Tang, please."

Zhao Wenhua was very proud: "Thanks to the emperor's blessing of respecting heaven and loving the people, Zhao won a small victory in the southeast. I am very ashamed that the emperor showed mercy and the elders promoted me to the governor of Zhejiang."

"Everyone present here is a well-known figure in the government offices in Beijing. If there is any trouble in the southeast in the future, you are all requested to help us."

The Governor-General of Zhejiang and Zhili was a special position created during the Jiajing reign. In terms of power, he was the first governor of the Ming Dynasty. He governed not only Zhejiang and Nanzhili, but also Fujian, Shandong, Guangdong, and Guangxi.

It is no exaggeration to say that half of the Ming Dynasty was in the hands of the Governor-General of Zhejiang.

Zhao Wenhua became the first frontier minister of the Ming Dynasty. How could he not be complacent and beaming with joy?

A group of officials began to flatter Zhao Wenhua: "Now that Minister Zhao has been promoted to the Governor-General of Zhejiang, he will surely achieve great things and return to Beijing to join the cabinet in just three to five years. By then, we will respectfully address him as Elder Zhao!"

"Yes, yes, yes. Mr. Zhao really won honor for Mr. Yan." "Mr. Zhao must give me more support in the future."

Zhang Jing and Li Tianchong, who actually planned the military strategy and won the battle, lost their heads. Lu Tong, who led the charge, was dismissed and punished. Zhao Wenhua, who had made no achievements, was promoted step by step.
The court is like this, full of cruelty and injustice.

As Chang, the chief manager of the Jinyiwei during the Hongzhi and Zhengde dynasties, warned others: Don't underestimate the cruelty of the court; don't underestimate the shamelessness of the literati; don't underestimate the ignorance of the people.

Zhao Wenhua pressed his hand, signaling everyone to be silent: "Yan Duyuan has worked diligently in the salt administration, and has raised funds for the anti-Japanese war. He has also been favored by the emperor. He has been promoted from Left Assistant Censor-in-Chief to Left Deputy Censor-in-Chief, and he is still in charge of salt affairs."

Everyone was full of praise again.

After the good news, Zhao Wenhua told the bad news: "However, the emperor has another decree today. From now on, the Governor of Zhejiang will no longer govern Shandong, Guangdong, and Guangxi."

As soon as these words were spoken, the hall fell silent.

It was obvious that the scheming ancestor Jiajing, who lived in the West Garden, was playing a balancing act again. He was not at ease handing over half of the Ming Dynasty to the Yan Party.

Luo Longwen broke the silence: "In short, it is a cause for celebration that Zhao Butang has been promoted to the Governor-General of Zhejiang."

The officials continued to flatter the emperor, and soon the living room was filled with a happy atmosphere again.

Zhao Wenhua said, "Everyone, I have something confidential to tell you. Military officers and civil officials below the fifth rank, please move to the Waterside Pavilion and go to appreciate the insects first."

When Lin Shisan heard this, he prepared to leave the living room.

Luo Longwen shouted at him, "Master, please stay for a moment."

Lin Shisan understood: It seems that Zhao Butang wanted to let Governor Lu know the "confidential information" he mentioned. That's why he left me here to pass the message.

After the Yan Party officials left, Zhao Wenhua pointed to the three new faces of the insect appreciation club and introduced them to everyone: "This is Zheng Michang, the governor of Nanzhili; this is He Maocai, the deputy envoy of Zhejiang Province; and this is Hu Zongxian, the inspector of Zhejiang Province."

Needless to say, everyone exchanged pleasantries.

Zhao Wenhua said: "I will govern the southeast for the emperor, the court, and the cabinet ministers, and the first place is Zhejiang. The appointment of local officials in Zhejiang is extremely important. I plan to recommend the three of them for important positions."

After saying this, he pointed at Zheng Michang and said, "This is the future governor of Zhejiang."

He pointed at He Maocai and said, "This is the future provincial governor of Zhejiang."

Finally, he pointed to Hu Zongxian and said, "This is the future governor of Hangzhou."

Luo Longwen asked: "What about the governor of Zhejiang?"

Zhao Wenhua smiled slyly: "The elder said that the governor of Zhejiang should be left to the emperor to decide."

The appointment of local governors had long become a transaction between the emperor and his ministers. It was impossible for all positions to be decided by the Yan Party, so some positions had to be left for Emperor Jiajing to decide.

Zhao Wenhua looked at Wan Cai, the Langzhong of the Ministry of Personnel's Selection Department.

Among the six officials of the Ming Dynasty, the position of the official of the Ministry of Civil Service was the most important. Although it was only the fifth rank, all the appointments and dismissals of civil servants in the court had to be recommended by the official, and issued with an official certificate and seal.

The Yan Party firmly controlled the power of the court. Wan Cai, the civil official of the Ministry of Personnel, and Fang Xiang, the military official of the Ministry of War, were also called Yan Song's "civil and military stewards" by outsiders.

Zhao Wenhua said: "Brother Wan, I want to use these three people, do you support me?"

Wan Cai said: "The elders informed me about the promotions of Zheng Canzheng and He Fu Nie. But the elders did not mention this Hu Yushi as the prefect of Hangzhou."

Lin Shisan was secretly shocked: How come these people under Lord Yan treated the court positions as if they were the radishes and cabbages in their own vegetable garden? They would give it to anyone they wanted.

(End of this chapter)