The nomination of Ma Ziqiang, the Minister of Rites, went smoothly. No one stood up to object, and Ma Ziqiang was successfully admitted.
Next was Shen Shixing's admission. Again, no one objected, and Shen Shixing was admitted.
Sitting on the throne, Zhu Yijun watched this scene with a smile on his lips. At the same time, he felt a little sad.
The Emperor was alone, indeed alone. Zou Ji's mockery of Prince Qi's remonstrance made sense!
However, there were too few people in the world who loved you. There were too many people who wanted to beg you or use you to achieve their own goals.
"Minister Wang of the Ministry of War has submitted a letter. The Emperor has given his permission. The new Minister of War is now recommended."
Lv Diaoyang heaved a sigh of relief when he saw that the two of them entered the pavilion without any problems. This matter was arranged by Zhang Juzheng before he left. If he messed it up, Lv Diaoyang felt that Zhang Juzheng would definitely think that he was the one who did it.
Now that there was no more trouble, Lv Diaoyang could also breathe a sigh of relief.
Of course, the position of Minister of War was very important. However, everyone knew who could get their hands on it and who could not.
Everyone knew that the three people who had been recommended were all Minister Zhang's people.
However, even if they were Minister Zhang's men, there were differences. After all, there were small factions within every big faction.
Even Zhang Juzheng could not control them. For example, Fang Fengshi, who was recommended by Wang Chonggu, could be said to be from the same faction.
He was born in a border town in Shanxi and Shaanxi and had been in the border town for a long time. He had worked his way up from the prefectural magistrate.
Liang Menglong was from the Liaodong faction. As for Ceng Shengwu, he came from the south.
Everyone had their own fellow classmates and peers from the same hometown, and everyone wanted to push their own people up to the top.
For example, the current Shanxi Inspector-General, Wu Dui, hoped that Fang Fengshi would be promoted. At that time, not only would he be taken care of in the imperial court, but he would also be able to take over as the Governor.
When Wang Chonggu left, the Inspector-General was Fang Fengshi.
If a local governor has no one in the court, you won't be able to keep your seat steady.
Lv Diaoyang lowered his voice and said, "The Cabinet has decided on three candidates for now: Fang Fengshi, the Governor of Shanxi; Liang Menglong, the Governor of Jiliao; and Zeng Shengwu, the Left Assistant Minister of the Ministry of War.
After saying this, Lv Diaoyang stopped talking and waited quietly for others to speak.
After a moment of silence, Wu Baipeng, the Minister of Justice, said, "Among the three, I think Fang Fengshi, the Governor of Shanxi, is the most suitable.
Fang Fengshi is familiar with border affairs and has been through wars for a long time, so he knows military affairs. "
"Wu Shangshu!"
The Minister of Revenue, Zhang Xueyan, continued, "According to what you said, the Governor of Ji and Liao, Liang Menglong, is also very suitable!"
"All these years, Liang Menglong has made great contributions in the land of Ji and Liao. Be it against the barbarians or the Tartars, he rarely lost.
At the same time, the place is stable and the soldiers are stable. I think he is suitable. "
As soon as Minister of Revenue Zhang Xueyan finished his words, Minister of Works Guo Chaobin also chimed in.
"According to what you said, the Left Assistant Minister of War, Ceng Shengwu, is also very suitable!"
Guo Chaobin looked at Ceng Shengwu and said, "It was Assistant Minister Ceng who led his men to quell the chaos in the south. This is a great contribution."
Other than the three of them, a few more assistant ministers spoke up. Basically, they all had their own supporters.
Zhu Yijun sat on the dragon chair, listening and watching. At first, he thought that the Minister of Revenue, Zhang Xueyan, and the Minister of Justice, Wu Baipeng, were going to fight for the position. But later on, he realized that the two of them were not fighting, but working together to kick Ceng Shengwu out.
The two of them talked about contributions and qualifications. It was obvious that they were setting the bar. They wanted to show that the Governor of Shanxi, Fang Fengshi, and the Governor of Ji and Liao, Liang Menglong, were qualified.
The Minister of Works Guo Chaobin only talked about contributions and did not care about qualifications. He directly brought up Ceng Shengwu's contribution in quelling the barbarians. It was obvious that he was telling the two that no one was inferior in terms of contributions. They should not talk about qualifications. It was fine for officials to talk about contributions, but they did not talk about age.
Everyone had their supporters. Zhu Yijun found this court nomination very interesting.
On the surface, they were arguing and fighting each other. But in reality, they were working together. On the surface, they appeared to be amiable, but the confrontation was really intense.
This was even with Zhang Juzheng suppressing them. If the two factions were to fight, how intense would it be?
For example, the First Assistant Yan Song and the Second Assistant Xu Jie. These two old fellows had been fighting for their entire lives. It was likely that all sorts of schemes had happened in the imperial court.
After a few rounds, Ceng Shengwu's side could not hold on. He really did not have a strong foundation. It had not been long since he was promoted.
The Minister of Revenue, Zhang Xueyan, and the Minister of Justice, Wu Baipeng, were not to be trifled with. They directly led the topic to the contributions of their current positions.
Military contributions were not bad. They could be qualified to be the Minister of War. But this was a promotion. It depended on how well they performed in their current positions.
The Governor of Shanxi, Fang Fengshi, and the Governor of Ji and Liao, Liang Menglong, naturally had something to talk about. Ceng Shengwu was obviously not good enough.
Ceng Shengwu had just been promoted to the position of Assistant Minister of War not long ago. He really did not have any achievements to talk about.
After suppressing Ceng Shengwu, the two factions led by the Minister of Revenue, Zhang Xueyan, and the Minister of Justice, Wu Baipeng, fell out instantly.
The two factions started to fight with their words. They talked about who was stronger and what shortcomings the other party had. But there was no act of exposing the other party.
Even so, Zhu Yijun watched with great interest. This was what he wanted to know.
"Enough!" Lv Diaoyang seemed to feel that the argument was almost over. He opened his mouth to stop the argument.
He turned his head and whispered a few words to Zhang Siwei, who was bending down. Lv Diaoyang then stood up from his chair. He bowed respectfully and said, "The cabinet and the officials cannot reach a consensus. We respectfully request Your Majesty to make a decision."
In reality, there were rules. The court nomination was just a nomination. It was not a decision. The decision was made by the emperor.
The court nomination was to suppress the other party's people and raise up one's own people. It would be best if they could step on the other party. But usually, such a situation would not happen.
Often, the people that the other party brought out had to be equal to the people that one brought out. Otherwise, one would not be able to win.
Although the final decision was made by the emperor, it also depended on the situation. It was fine to make an exception to promote someone, but not always.
After all, everyone had this way of promotion. The emperor would occasionally make an exception to promote an official. But if he always made an exception to promote someone, it was tantamount to cutting off many people's paths.
That way, even if he made an exception to promote someone, he would not do well in his position. There would be many constraints.
Hearing Lv Diaoyang's words, Zhu Yijun sat up straight. This was the emperor. This was the imperial power that made the final decision.
Sweeping his gaze across everyone's faces, Zhu Yijun did not speak. This was also a test for him. Glancing at Wang Chonggu, Zhu Yijun said, "The situation in Jiliao is still unstable. There will always be Tartars causing trouble. Liang Menglong cannot leave for now. Let Fang Fengshi enter the capital!"