On June 20, the third year of Shaowu in the Ming Dynasty, Qi Biaojia, the new governor of Jiangnan, brought the same new political envoy Zhang Sunzhen and the envoy Xie Qikun to Suzhou to take office.

Qi Biaojia got off the boat at the canal wharf ten miles away from Suzhou, looking at the Suzhou city wall not far away, and was really full of emotion. Just half a year ago, he was still the governor of Su Song's camp in the Luwang camp, but now he has become the governor of Jiangnan who was the enemy back then, what a fate!

Zhang Sunzhen, who was traveling with him, saw Qi Biaojia looking at the city wall in a daze, and couldn't help but sneer: "Lord Futai, why are you in a daze?" Are you still nostalgic for those old rebellions? ”

Zhang Sunzhen and Qi Biaojia are mortal enemies, Qi Biaojia's dismissal was Zhang Sunzhen's contribution, and now although Qi Biaojia is Zhang Sunzhen's superior, he does not dare to take Zhang Sunzhen's words. If Qi Biaojia admits to missing those old times, it is to cherish the old master, that is, to rebel, Zhang Sunzhen can give the emperor an excerpt tonight, impeaching Qi Biaojia for being undecided.

If Qi Biaojia doesn't admit that you miss the old days, you just came from Luwang Group, and you immediately changed your court, forgetting your former colleagues and friends, which proves that Qi Biaojia is a woman with milk.

Zhang Sunzhen's question was ill-intentioned, but Qi Biaojia is also an old fritter in officialdom, and he can fall into Zhang Sunzhen's trap there. After listening to him, Qi Biaojia snorted coldly and said, "Master Zhang, in terms of official positions and qualifications, you don't need to care about what the official wants, right?" ”

Although Qi Biaojia is about the same age as Zhang Sunzhen, his qualifications are much older, Qi Biaojia was a jinshi in the second year of the Apocalypse, Zhang Sunzhen Chongzhen was only a jinshi in the first year, and Qi Biaojia is now a governor, one level older than you Zhang Sunzhen, so it is no problem to talk to him in this tone.

Zhang Sunzhen was speechless by Qi Biaojia's words, and he flicked his sleeves angrily and stopped talking. The relationship between the two was not good, and the fight was nothing, but it was bitter for Xie Qikun, who was traveling with him.

Xie Qikun is older than both of them, and Xie Qikun is Jiang Yueguang's fellow countryman, and has some relationship with the Donglin Party. Now Xie Qikun saw that the two were going to fight again, so he hurriedly stepped forward and persuaded him: "Two, in the future, you and I will be officials in the same city, and we should work together!" ”

After Xie Qikun finished speaking, he looked at the shore, and a middle-aged fourth-grade official was standing on the dock to greet him, and hurriedly said: "Two, that official should be Chen Zilong, the prefect of Suzhou, come ashore quickly!" ”

Qi Biaojia glared at Zhang Sun Zhen, and then walked on the dock first. It was Chen Zilong, the prefect of Suzhou, who greeted him at the pier, and today he came to greet the three Shangguan. Ma Cheng, as the governor of Jiangnan, has a bigger official position than these three people, so naturally he doesn't need to go to the dock to greet him in person.

Chen Zilong and Qi Biaojia are both Donglin Party, but the relationship between the two is not good, Qi Biaojia was the main soldier Gui Shenshen quickly occupied Nanjing, but Chen Zilong said that he would stay in Suzhou and hold on. If Chen Zilong is a military general, it would be fine, but Chen Zilong is a civil servant and Qi Biaojia's fellow disciple, which makes Qi Biaojia feel that Chen Zilong deliberately dismantled his own stage.

When Chen Zilong saw Qi Biaojia and the others coming up, he hurriedly saluted and said: "Chen Zilong, who knows Suzhou Mansion, meet Lord Futai Qi, Lord Zhang, and Lord Xie of Zhentai!" ”

Qi Biaojia looked behind Chen Zilong, except for the two green-robed seven-rank petty officials, there was no one else, probably these two seven-rank officials were the county commanders of Wu County and Changzhou County in Suzhou City, but what about Ma Cheng?

Qi Biaojia glared and asked, "What about Ma Cheng?" Why didn't you come to greet him? ”

Chen Zilong felt bitter when he heard Qi Biaojia ask this, and quickly explained: "Lord Futai, Master Inspector is in poor health, so let the humble post come to greet him!" Invite a few adults into the city! ”

"What? Ma Cheng didn't come? Qi Biaojia said angrily: "Doesn't he know that this official is the secretary of the military department?" Don't know Ben

Is the official in charge of his boss? ”

According to the rules of the Ming Dynasty, the superintendent is the first grade, and the official position is far above the governor of the second grade, and the superintendent is generally concurrently a university scholar, and the governor is only a concurrently serving as a servant of the six departments, so the governor is under the management of the superintendent.

But Ma Cheng is an exception, he is just an empty supervisor, and he does not hold any civilian positions, and there are many military positions, such as the Marquis of Guiyang, the governor of the Chinese army, etc. However, there is a shortcoming in the military position, that is, no matter how big the official position is, it must be managed by the secretary of the military department.

Qi Biaojia's civilian position is the secretary of the military department, although it is a part-time job, but according to the rules of officialdom, it should be possible to manage military generals, and at the same time, there is an unwritten rule at the end of the Ming Dynasty that civilian officials should be three levels older than military generals. So now although Ma Cheng is a genuine product, according to Qi Biaojia's understanding, it should be managed by himself. Now that the direct management Shangguan is here, Ma Cheng, a first-class general, will not come to greet him, no wonder Qi Biaojia is angry.

Zhang Sunzhen is Ma Shiying's hardcore, so he naturally wants to speak for Ma Cheng, and after listening to Qi Biaojia, he sneered on the side: "I didn't expect Lord Futai to be so powerful, do you want to avenge the defeat of the army?" ”

Zhang Sunzhen really doesn't open any pot, the defeat of Lucheng two months ago was the shame of Qi Biaojia's life, and now he is being reminded of Zhang Sunzhen's old things, and the angry Qi Biaojia scolded: "You villain framed the old man back then, see how the old man repairs you!" After Qi Biaojia finished speaking, he was about to rush up and fight with Zhang Sun.

There is a tradition in the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty, that is, ministers fight, and these stinky old nine don't look at all five or six people, in fact, they are not much better than street hooligans. When the reason is exhausted, hands-on becomes the most reasonable way to solve the problem. In the history of the Ming Dynasty, there were several big fights in the court, and those old men such as Ge Lao Shangshu couldn't control their anger, let alone a local official like Qi Biaojia, who was in his forties.

Xie Qikun saw that the governor was about to make a move, so he hurriedly stepped forward to stop him and said, "Lord Qi, don't!" This is the dock, pay attention to the officialdom and prestige, don't let the imperial history catch the reason! ”

Officials can fight in the court meeting and yamen, but it is a little embarrassing to fight in public, Qi Biaojia turned his head and saw the crowd on the dock, and he could only suppress the anger in his heart.

If you don't do it, it doesn't mean that Qi Biaojia is finished, but Zhang Sunzhen is the political envoy of Zhengsanpinbu, and he has no right to dispose of Zhang Sunzhen, so Qi Biaojia has no choice but to get angry with the unlucky Chen Zilong.

"Chen Zilong, the imperial court did not write to let you continue to serve as the prefect of Suzhou, it would be good if you were offended if a criminal like you were punished, go home!"

After Qi Biaojia finished speaking, he threw off his sleeves and left, and Xie Qikun also followed, but Zhang Sunzhen, the political envoy, did not leave. He stepped forward and patted Chen Zilong on the shoulder and said, "Among the people, rest assured, he Qi Biaojia is not a land defender, and he has no right to dispose of officials at all levels in this province, and this official will try his best to protect you!" Chen Zilong didn't know whether offending Qi Biaojia was a blessing or a curse, so he had no choice but to bow down and thank Zhang Sunzhen.

The governor of the Ming Dynasty was different from the governor of the Qing Dynasty, and was not a local official, and the governor of the Ming Dynasty had the meaning of a central inspector who could manage local government affairs, but he did not have the right to dispose of officials at all levels, and the right to appoint officials at all levels in a province was still in the hands of political envoys. However, the governor is a central official after all, and if he really wants to clean you up against Chen Zilong, it is enough for Chen Zilong to drink a pot.

Chen Zilong and Zhang Sunzhen said a few polite words, and immediately went to see Ma Cheng after sending Zhang Sunzhen away. Now Chen Zilong has hated Qi Biaojia, and in order to survive in the officialdom, he can only go to a backer to hug his thighs. Chen Zilong's character and quality are good, but he has also been mixed in officialdom for many years, and it would be a bit unrealistic to say that he has no intention of climbing up at all.

After Chen Zilong saw Ma Cheng, he told him what happened on the dock today, and Ma Cheng heard that Qi Biaojia actually asked him to meet him, and scolded angrily: "This old Wang Ba actually let the old man."

Son to meet him? Didn't he know that Lao Tzu was an overseer? Is it a genuine product? ”

Chen Zilong saw that Ma Cheng was angry, and quickly explained the rules of Ming Dynasty officialdom, when it came to Ma Cheng, you did not hold a civilian position, Ma Cheng was completely dumbfounded.

"Damn, Qian Qianyi, this old slippery head, Lao Tzu was careful to follow his way!"

Ma Cheng has never been an official in this life or in the future, he thinks that being an official is not simple, isn't it that the court appoints you a few grades, just like those governors and mayors in the news in later generations, I didn't expect there to be so many things to say.

In fact, Ma Cheng does not understand the officialdom system, not only in the Ming Dynasty, but also in later generations of officialdom There are various unspoken rules, a small officer of the Central Organization Department may only be a section-level cadre, but he can decide the appointment and dismissal of senior officials at the provincial and ministerial level at will, this is a strange Chinese officialdom.

Originally, Ma Cheng thought that becoming a supervisor was the biggest official except for the emperor's pavilion, but he didn't expect that this Qi Biaojia would be able to manage himself because he had a part-time job as a military secretary.

Thinking of this, Ma Cheng was a little flustered, and hurriedly asked, "Mr. Chen, what do you say this governor should do now?" ”

The word sir was not called casually in ancient times, and you can only be called sir if you teach karma and solve doubts. Chen Zilong heard Ma Cheng call himself Mr., he was very complacent, thought for a while and said: "This is simple, in fact, Yuanfu has already prepared a candidate for the adult to restrain Qi Biaojia!" ”

"My dad is ready? Who is this person? Please Mr. Chen to solve the boy's doubts! ”

"These are the two people who came with Qi Biaojia, the political envoy Zhang Sunzhen and the envoy Xie Qikun!"

The relationship between Zhang Sunzhen and Qi Biaojia Ma Cheng knows that he will never be able to pee in a pot, but isn't Xie Qikun from the Donglin Party? How can I help myself?

Ma Cheng said what he thought, and Chen Zilong said with a smile: "My lord is wrong, although Xie Qikun was born in Jiangxi, he is not a member of the Donglin Party, but he is not on good terms with those squires who are pro-Donglin when he is in Zhenjiang!" At the same time, adults think about it, if Yuanfu does not agree, how can this Xie Qikun be promoted to the position of inspector? ”

Ma Cheng heard Chen Zilong say this, the Ministry of Officials is under the control of his own Lao Tzu, if there is no Lao Tzu willing to abide by himself, how can the Wen Xuan Division of the Ministry of Officials dare to report Xie Qikun's name? Even if it is reported, it has to be written by the officials and the cabinet, so this Xie Qikun is really the help sent by his own Lao Tzu?

(Write this and talk to you about the election system in today's officialdom, for example, a bureau lacks a deputy director, and if you want to promote one, the organization department will select from many reserve cadres, this ranking is arranged according to the time of becoming a reserve, if no one does the work, that is, the cadre section chief of the organization department has the final say, and it is okay to rank up for your own people, anyway, there are many reserve cadres, and no one will really track them down.) There are generally three candidates, and after being nominated by the Organization Department, they will go to the Standing Committee, and the first step is to make a speech on discipline inspection, and if there is a problem, this step will be thrown out, and the Organization Department is nominating candidates. If all three of them have no problems, discuss them often, and then choose one of them. At this time, it is time for the first secretary to speak, if he prefers the second, he will ask the organization minister if the second has any specialty, then the organization minister will understand what the first leader means, and will naturally say good things for the second, such as strong work ability, strong writing ability, etc., anyway, how to come, so that the candidate is set as the second. If the secretary is the first to do so, he will say that it will be done in accordance with the normal regulations, and everyone knows who the real candidate is, and the next step is to vote, and the Standing Committee will pass it after more than half of the votes. Of course, this is a system of electing officials that can control the situation, and if the number one is not good, it will be troublesome, and it is very likely that several members of the Standing Committee put forward multiple candidates, and in the end no one succeeded, and it is not for nothing that the director of the bureau has become another person. ）