bookrandom Chapter 1250 You can go ahead
Chapter 1250 You can go ahead
Chapter 1250 You can go ahead
A comet is flying in the sky.
According to the theory of the correspondence between heaven and man, the emperor would have to issue an edict of repentance, or there would be some powerful minister or treacherous official in the court.
When the officials saw the comet flying in the sky, they were all terrified and thought something big was happening.
Therefore, this memorial impeaching Zhang Yue was timely.
It was like a thunderclap that shocked everyone.
As for the memorial impeaching Zhang Yue, it was widely circulated among the people in tabloids and official newspapers within a day.
This memorial has several thousand words and was written by Liu Bojun, who had previously impeached Han Zhongyan.
Why did Liu Bojun impeach Zhang Yue?
No one knows.
However, it is an indisputable fact that this memorial can ruin Zhang Yue's reputation.
What did the memorial say?
In addition to the previous discussion.
There are also direct accusations that Zhang Yue formed a clique for personal gain.
From ancient times to the present, what everyone from emperors to common people hate most is powerful officials forming cliques for personal gain.
Said in the memorial.
Among the officials in the court today, members of Zhang’s party account for one third. Most of them are of the same age, surname, hometown, classmates, and officials as the same officials. They are scattered across the court and the country. Their party is entrenched in both China and abroad and controls important roads.
Zhang Yue's theory borrowed the name of Wang Jinggong's reform, except for the matter of opening up the frontier, which was in the same vein. Later, he imitated the story of the Regulations Office and established the Detailed Regulations Office of the Secretariat as a way to seize power.
Zhang Yue made use of the official system to divide the Detailed Determination Office into the three parts: Supervisor, Detailed Determination, Candidate, and Review.
Zhang Yue appointed his trusted aides Cai Bian, Su Zhe and Chen Guan as supervisors.
There are also more than ten people who have been carefully selected, and they are also young talents among the current officials to fill the party, such as Chao Buzhi, Huang Tingjian, Lin Xi, Zhang Kangguo, Wang Hanzhi, Li Kui and so on.
As for the review and examination, it was used to win over the scholars who had not yet been released from prison. Even people like Huang Shang, Qin Guan, and Fan Zhixu who served as Yuanshun in Zhang's mansion were all in the Detailed Review Department in order to win over people's hearts.
If it is said that one-third of the memorials submitted to the court were from one party, then the Secretariat for the Detailed Determination of Official Regulations was a party within a party.
The Office for Detailing the Official System of the Secretariat used the name of detailing the official system to recruit its own cronies. In addition to doing so, it also exceeded its authority and participated in the formulation of matters concerning royal family, redundant officials, national expenditures, fiscal revenues, commerce and travel, salt lakes, state administration, supervision, and even rites, music, schools, and medicine.
The Zhongshu Guanzhi Xianding Si almost acted arbitrarily and was all-encompassing.
This impeachment memorial was extremely detailed. The court officials were dumbfounded when they read it in the official gazette. It blatantly exposed the fact that Zhang Yue had formed a clique in the court, and directly pointed to the core of this official system reform, the "Zhongshu Guanzhi Xidingsi".
Let's get this matter clear and clear
There were so many factions in the Secretariat alone, so it goes without saying how many factions there were in the court.
……
At Zhang Yue's residence, this impeachment letter, which was directed at Zhang Yue and named him, also caused a stir.
The two brothers Cai Jing and Cai Bian were sitting in the mansion at this time, both to express their attitude at this critical moment and to wait for Zhang Yue's decision.
At the same time, dozens of officials were sitting in the hall outside. Some were whispering to each other, some were drinking tea, and some were pacing with their hands behind their backs. The atmosphere was filled with restlessness. They were all the Zhang Yue mentioned in the impeachment memorial.
People who have been climbing up the tree of Zhang Yue in recent years.
Their food, clothing, honor and disgrace all depended on Zhang Yue.
Among them was a father and son named Huang Haoqian and Huang Shi. They were Zhang Yue's in-laws and fellow townsmen, and had held high positions in recent years.
However, although everyone was a little noisy at the moment, the atmosphere seemed depressing, as if a storm was about to come.
At this moment, everyone in Zhang’s party is waiting for Zhang Yue’s next statement.
Cai Bian lifted the curtain and looked outside, frowning and said, "With so many officials gathered here, doesn't this justify the accusation of forming a clique?"
Cai Jing said: "If it is confirmed, it is confirmed. The current situation is that you will be impeached if you do not form a party, and you will also be impeached if you form a party. Do you still care about the crime?"
Cai Bian returned to sit beside Cai Jing and said, "But if the censors impeach someone by name, even if the person involved is the prime minister, he will resign and wait for the emperor to deal with him."
"That's how old Taishan was back then."
"But considering Zhang Xiang's current momentum, there is no need to do this."
Cai Jing held up the memorial and sneered, saying, "Faction is not a good word, but who among the officials today is not a faction?"
"If you form cliques, you are not a good official. Then does not forming cliques mean you are a good official? That means you are a mediocre official! What about Lu Wenjing (Lu Yijian) back then? Could he have secured his position as prime minister without fostering his confidants?"
After a while, a man came forward and handed Cai Jing a letter. Cai Jing glanced at it and said, "It's not enough. Check it more carefully."
Cai Bian asked: "What is this?"
Cai Jing said, "Nothing, just to prepare for a rainy day. How many people are there in Liu Bojun's family, who are officials in his clan, their resumes and some of their contacts. They will be useful in the future."
"Since he has offended Prime Minister Zhang, he will never have a good life. Neither will his family, relatives, and friends."
Cai Bian said: "I heard that Liu Bojun is a foolish and honest person. Besides, why should we implicate his family?"
Cai Jing said: "If you don't be ruthless now, others will follow your example in the future."
"In this world, if you want to be a good official, you should not be a good person; if you want to be a person, you should not be a good official. If you want to be a good official and a good person, how can you have both?
"You need to have thunderous means to show kindness to others!"
Cai Bian shook his head and said, "If that's the case, just keep it to yourself."
"Don't say what you should do, and don't do what you should say. If you say it too much, your brother will really become like this."
Cai Jing glanced at Cai Bian and thought that his younger brother's style was indeed completely different from his own. He was kind to others and always had a smile on his face, but the means behind it were no less than Cai Jing's.
The last time Cai Bian was entrusted by Zhang Yue to go to Xihe Road to crack down on corruption.
The officials of Xihe Road saw that Cai Bian seemed to be easy to talk to and always smiled at everyone, so they immediately looked down on him. Some even thought that Zhang Yue had sent Cai Bian to rescue them.
After all, Cai Bian's reputation as a wife-fearing man in the boudoir was well known to everyone.
Everyone thought that a man who was afraid of his wife could not be very powerful.
In the end, they were severely punished, and the officials were treated with iron and blood, without mercy. It was because of the rectification of Cai Bian, Sun Lu and Fan Yu that the officialdom of Xihe Road was rectified, which laid a good foundation for the later capture of Liangzhou.
This made all the officials in Xihe Road see Cai Bian's iron fist, so he was nicknamed "Smiling Night Demon". In the history of another time and space, during the Shaosheng period, the demotion of the Yuanyou Old Party was apparently done by Zhang Dun, but in fact it was all Cai Bian's idea. In the end, Zhang Dun took all the blame.
……
While the two were talking, Peng Jingyi suddenly came out and called out, "The Prime Minister invites you two to come in."
Cai Bian and Cai Jing agreed.
After the two entered, they saw Zhang Yue in casual clothes, with his eyes closed and a relaxed look on his face. On the table in front of him were two stacks of official documents, and in front of him was a copy of the impeachment petition.
Zhang Yue opened his eyes, but his face still showed no emotion.
He asked, "Have you found out? Is there someone behind Liu Bojun?"
Cai Jing replied, "Reporting to the Prime Minister, I have not seen anyone presiding over it yet. Liu Bojun never entertained anyone privately when he came to Beijing, and rarely interacted with others. He was originally promoted to be a censor because of... because of the recommendation of Mr. Shugu."
Mr. Shugu was Zhang Yue's teacher Chen Xiang, who had passed away.
Zhang Yue sighed, "Master has always had a keen eye for talent, and all those he recommended over the years have become famous officials of the time."
As everyone knows, Zhang Yue was also appreciated and recommended by Chen Xiang.
Cai Bian and Cai Jing were both at a loss for words. Cai Bian said, "We are all waiting for the Prime Minister's instructions."
Zhang Yue smiled and picked up the memorial on the table again.
He had known Liu Bojun's resume for a long time. When he was in the local area, he was famous for not flattering the powerful and not attaching himself to the officials. This person was originally under Chen Xiang's jurisdiction. Chen Xiang heard of his good reputation and talked with him. After that, he thought this person was capable, so he recommended him as the censor.
Chen Xiang's original intention was to correct the atmosphere in the court.
Unexpectedly, I have now become the powerful and official mentioned by the other party in the evaluation: "Not flattering the powerful and not attached to the officials."
Cai Jing said bitterly, "Master, although I can't find anyone who had contact with Liu Bojun before, someone saw that Fan Chunren had a meeting with him after he submitted the memorial. Afterwards, Fan Chunren also visited him at his house."
"This matter must be related to Fan Chunren!"
Zhang Yue said: "We need evidence, let's find out first."
Cai Jing said: "I will continue to investigate."
Zhang Yue wrote a new memorial and thought to himself, what do you mean Zhang's party accounts for one-third of the court? It's obviously less than a quarter.
What kind of clique is this? It's really...
Zhang Yue thought about it carefully and felt that it was not nonsense. There was certainly some truth in the impeachment memorial, it was just slightly exaggerated.
Cai Jing said: "Even if Liu Bojun is not instructed by Fan Chunren, he must be eliminated, otherwise others will follow suit. Where will the prestige of the prime minister be?"
Upon hearing this, Zhang Yue grabbed a handful of melon seeds from the plate.
This thing was still a new thing for the people of Bian Jing, and it was first popular in Youzhou of the Liao Kingdom.
As prime minister, Zhang Yue would occasionally take a bite, but of course the taste was far inferior to that of later generations.
Zhang Yue spat out a few melon shells, then said, "Liu Bojun is a censor, and impeachment is his job. Even if he doesn't say it, there are many people in the capital who think so."
"We need to let people speak, and open up the channels for expression. Even if the heavens change, it will change, but now the complaints from the people and scholars are real, and someone will have to take responsibility in the end. Although I have agreed with Your Majesty that the term is five years, it is not necessary to serve for the full five years. It is better to leave now."
"But things in the world are just like eating melon seeds. Most people like to eat melon seeds, but without this step of eating, where would the melon seeds come from? Let them do what they want. Since there are capable people who can get things done, let them take over."
Zhang Yue's meaning was very clear, which was "If you can do it, go ahead."
Cai Jing and Cai Bian knew that Zhang Yue had planned to submit a petition to resign. This was also in accordance with the usual practice, and Zhang Yue did not choose to fight back strongly.
Zhang Yue smiled and said, "Yuan Chang Yuan Du, after I retire, I will recommend you two to His Majesty. From now on, the world will depend on you brothers."
After Zhang Yue finished speaking, he looked at the expressions of the two men carefully, and saw a flash of joy in Cai Jing's eyes, while Cai Bian was calm as usual.
Zhang Yue smiled slightly when he saw this.
Zhang Yue looked at Cai Bian and asked, "What is Yuan Du's plan?"
Cai Jing knew that his younger brother had a lot of ideas in his mind, but he just didn't say it.
Cai Bian said: "Prime Minister, I think that since you are the prime minister now, you will have to deal with these things. There are many people like Liu Bojun in the past dynasties. Even if we encounter them, we can just deal with them."
"Now that this has happened, we can't hide it, and no one will listen to our explanations, so we might as well make it a big deal."
Cai Jing said, "This is a wise remark. When it comes to abusing power and forming factions, not only in this dynasty, but also in the past and present, every prime minister has done this. Your Majesty knows this, but he is also half-believing and half-doubting, thinking that it is half true and half false."
"Even if he half believed it, he still pretended to be confused. Otherwise, who would be the prime minister in the future? Does he still need someone to govern the world?"
"Of course, the Prime Minister will have to decide what to do."
Zhang Yue looked at the two of them and smiled, saying, "This is your business, I will not advocate it. After submitting my resignation, I will retreat to Dingliyuan."
Cai Jing and Cai Bian left. Cai Bian said to Cai Jing, "Brother, when the Prime Minister left his words just now and looked at us, did you show any strange expression?"
Cai Jing was silent for a moment.
Cai Bian said: "The Prime Minister always likes to use retreat as a pretext to gain control. You have been by his side for many years and you know his methods. What he said just now was deliberately meant to test you and me."
Cai Jing knew that Zhang Yue must have seen his expression just now.
Cai Jing said: "I am appreciated by the Prime Minister based on my ability, so why should I care about these things?"
Cai Bian knew that Cai Jing would not listen to him, so he shook his head and said, "Forget it, let's discuss this matter carefully and decide what we should do!"