The Office of Transmission sounded very powerful, and it really was. The Office of Transmission was one of the Nine Ministers, but that was in the past, not now.
In Daming, everyone knew that the Office of Transmission was just a yamen in name only.
Other than passing memorials, the rest of its power was almost completely taken over by the Bureau of Rites and the Cabinet.
The Office of Transmission was also one of the Nine Ministers in name only.
The one who appointed Hai Rui wasn't the Office of Transmission, but his deputy, Zuo Tongzheng.
It sounded good, but once Hai Rui entered, he would really be idle. He would definitely be worshiped as a memorial tablet.
After hearing Zhang Siwei's words, Zhu Yijun nodded and said, "The Office of Transmission is indeed a good yamen, and Zuo Tongzheng is also a suitable official position. Alright, let Hai Rui enter the capital as Zuo Tongzheng!"
Zhu Yijun didn't care what official position Hai Rui held. He just wanted to get Hai Rui into the capital.
In fact, Hai Rui wasn't young anymore, and he probably didn't have many days left to live.
He had to first check on his physical condition before deciding whether or not to arrange anything for him.
Besides, he was just borrowing his name, and didn't really want him to do anything.
Hai Rui was getting old!
Zhu Yijun pondered for a moment before replying, "I'll leave it to the cabinet to recommend the new cabinet official!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!" Zhang Siwei quickly said.
Zhang Siwei and Shen Shixing returned to the Cabinet, and the news spread quickly. Everyone knew that the two ministers had stopped Hai Rui from entering the Cabinet.
As for Hai Rui entering the capital as Zuo Tongzheng, no one cared. After all, Zuo Tongzheng wasn't an important official position.
This matter had an additional effect, and that was, it greatly increased Zhang Siwei and Shen Shixing's prestige.
Although the matter of Hai Rui was over, everyone's focus shifted to another matter, and that was the fifth candidate for the Cabinet Grand Secretary.
There were many people who were interested in this matter. Entering the Cabinet!
It was a lifelong dream.
Amidst the discussions, the first court meeting after Zhang Juzheng's death finally arrived.
After Zhang Juzheng's death, Zhu Yijun ordered that the court session be suspended for half a month. Now that the day had arrived, Zhu Yijun naturally had to attend the court session.
The newly appointed Minister of Rites, Pan Cheng, had also arrived. This court meeting naturally became the focus of attention.
Early in the morning, Zhu Yijun woke up with a yawn and got dressed with Liu Seol's help.
The day before yesterday, Zhu Yijun had asked for Liu Seol back, saying that he didn't have anyone to serve him. In the end, Empress Wang had grumbled coquettishly. Zhu Yijun was also a little embarrassed. This reason was really bad, but Zhu Yijun couldn't think of a good one.
Empress Wang also knew about Liu Seol's situation. Liu had been with her for the past few years. Now that the Emperor wanted to give Liu Seol a status, she couldn't stop him.
On the night that Liu Seol was returned, Zhu Yijun naturally became the groom.
Zhu Yijun smiled and pecked Liu Seol's face. He said, "I have already asked Zhang Jing to report to the Empress Dowager. Your status will be decided very soon." As he spoke, Zhu Yijun walked outside.
In Zhu Yijun's hands was a memorial. It was Cao Yikui's.
While tapping on the memorial, Zhu Yijun walked into the main hall. After the ministers kowtowed three times and nine times, Zhu Yijun then said, "Rise!"
"If there's something, report it early. If there's nothing, the court session is dismissed!" Zhang Jing, who was hugging his horsetail whisk, shouted loudly.
"I have a memorial!" Imperial Censor Lei Shizhen stood up immediately. "I impeach Cabinet Grand Secretary Pan Cheng!"
Zhu Yijun glanced at Lei Shizhen and nodded slightly. He said, "Say it!"
It was the first day of the court session, and someone was already impeaching the newly appointed Cabinet Grand Secretary. This was a little interesting.
The ministers all had different expressions on their faces. They didn't say anything and waited quietly for Lei Shizhen to speak. They wanted to hear how he would impeach Pan Cheng.
Next, Lei Shizhen explained in detail the reasons why he would impeach Pan Cheng, from asking for bribes to buying and selling official positions.
From extorting money from the village to causing trouble in the local areas, he talked about many things, and he spoke with great certainty.
Zhu Yijun looked at Lei Shizhen. Although he was expressionless, he was unusually angry in his heart. He wasn't angry at Lei Shizhen, but he was angry at these monster trainers for spouting nonsense.
No matter what, they could talk about it, and after saying it, they didn't need to take responsibility.
After Lei Shizhen, another four or five monster trainers stood up, all of them impeaching Pan Cheng.
Zhu Yijun was getting more and more dissatisfied. It was obvious that they were targeting Pan Cheng.
However, Pan Cheng's behavior surprised Zhu Yijun. This old man stood there calmly, as if it had nothing to do with him. It was as if he wasn't the one being impeached.
After the monster trainer finished speaking, Zhu Yijun said calmly, "Hand it over to the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Justice to verify. If it's true, I will punish him heavily.
Pan, you can also write a letter to defend yourself. Wait until we find out if it's true! "
After Zhu Yijun said this, he picked up a memorial from the long writing table and said, "Speaking of impeachment, I have a memorial here. You can discuss it!" After saying this, Zhu Yijun handed the memorial to Zhang Jing. "Read it to them."
Zhang Jing took the memorial with both hands, unfolded it, and read it out loud.
The memorial that Zhang Jing was reading was naturally the one that Cao Yikui had written. It was about the salt administration.
Compared to what Lei Shizhen had said, Cao Yikui's memorial was much more substantial. He had impeached many officials by name.
From the local officials who supervised the salt administration all the way to the Ministry of Revenue. Even the Minister of Revenue was implicated, and he was accused of incompetent supervision.
After the memorial was read, the hall was silent. Everyone was confused by the memorial.
In fact, it wasn't that they didn't know about the salt problem, but that no one was willing to open the lid. Once the lid was opened, it could never be closed again.
"Everyone, how do you think we should deal with this?" Zhu Yijun asked as he glanced at the ministers.
"I think that if it's true, we should punish them severely!" Zhang Xueyan, the Minister of Revenue, stood up and said.
Zhang Xueyan was the Minister of Revenue. Cao Yikui's memorial included him, so he naturally had to stand up at this time.
His stance was within everyone's expectations, so no one said anything.
"Your Majesty, I think we should be cautious!" Zhao Shou, the Imperial Censor of the Left of the Imperial Censorate, stood up.
"Salt is an important matter for the court and concerns the common people. If we end up in a crisis because of the salt administration, wouldn't we lose the big picture for the small?
Once the common people don't have salt to eat, there will be chaos. I think we should take our time to think about this. "
Zhu Yijun looked at Zhao Shou and said playfully, "Zhao, what do you think we should do?"
"I don't have a good idea yet, but with the wise and wise Divine Lord above and the wise colleagues below, I believe we can think of a good idea!" Zhao Shou said unhurriedly, looking very confident.