Seeking an official is not an easy task. It is necessary to show your talent in front of the superiors as much as possible within a certain period of time, and at the same time leave a deep impression. The methods used on different occasions are certainly different, but in general, it is necessary to revolve around four words: do what you like.

Xie Jin joined the East Factory, not to stay in the East Factory for a lifetime, but to use the East Factory as a springboard to return to the court and return to the center of power, of course, it doesn't matter what kind of price needs to be paid in this process.

On the day Zhu Yuanzhang died, he knelt in front of Xu Ruyi and put forward his wish expectantly. originally thought that Xu Ruyi would shirk it, but he didn't expect the other party to agree, but he was left with a question: How do you want to face the saint?

This question is really difficult to understand Jin, the first genius of the Ming Dynasty. Jin Dianjuan is right, others recommend it, these are ready-made methods, but none of them are what Xie Jin wants, he prefers to be able to become a minister close to Zhu Yunwen, rather than the kind that casually gives him an official position and then sends it aside.

After some inquiry, Xie Jin got an important message from Ye Yuze, the head of the inspection department, three days ago: The emperor seems to like to go to a certain teahouse to listen to books?

The news gave him great inspiration, and after a day and a night of thinking, he finally came up with a plan that he realized was complete. After reporting to Xu Ruyi, I also got his reply: "Very good, just do it, I will arrange it for you tomorrow, and the rest is up to you." ”

。。。。。。

Ten taels of silver.

Xie Jin bought a chance from the teahouse owner to speak for half an hour before the fastmouth fish came to power.

The owner of the teahouse thinks Xie Jin is very stupid, where is there a gentleman who sticks money to the stage to tell a story? But the left and right fast mouth fish are only on the stage, there is no one on the stage, he doesn't care, ten taels of silver have been paid, even if he says it's okay, if he doesn't let him come tomorrow, won't it be over?

As for Xie Jin, not to mention ten taels of silver, it is one hundred and two thousand taels plus two kidneys, as long as he can take it out, he will never hesitate.

At noon, Xie Jin stood on the stage and began to tell the story, but the main owner did not come, so he casually said some small stories, or folk scripts. Killing time, he doesn't expect tips from the visitors anyway.

Finally, seeing that it was almost time, three young tea guests walked into the teahouse.

The son headed by him was dressed in a light blue Wensheng robe, wearing a square scarf on his head, and a beautiful jade hanging from his waist. Holding a folding fan in his hand, although he is not handsome and chic in appearance, his momentum is full of luxury.

The two behind him, the one on the left has a white face and no beard, and his appearance is immature and a little feminine, while the one on the right, with a squinting expression, a handsome face is almost a demon, and a pair of Danfeng eyes are blazing, which seems to be glowing, it is the Dongchang factory father, his benefactor Xu Ruyi. Needless to say, the son standing in front of him must be the current saint Zhu Yunwen?

Xie Jin glanced at Xu Ruyi inquiringly, and the other party nodded slightly, affirming his thoughts.

"Son, you haven't been here for a while. The teahouse owner took the time to shout, "Make tea." He hurriedly greeted him, with a smile on his face: "The fast mouth fish is Shen Shi who opened the book, and now the time has not arrived, and others have not yet come." ”

"He didn't come?" Zhu Yunwen showed a disappointed look on his face, and seemed to have some distraction.

Xu Ruyi said quietly: "Son, I'm here, I just finished eating, and I just drank some tea to eliminate my food." Stretched out his hand and pointed at Xie Jin on the stage: "Although the fast mouth fish didn't come, isn't there a storyteller on this stage? ”

The owner of the teahouse on the side also persuaded: "Yes, Childe, you listen first." It's not even an hour to say whether it's good or not. When the fast mouth fish comes, I'll immediately ask him to go up and replace him, what do you think?"

Zhu Yunwen is a rare high roller, every time he comes, he has to leave a silver of ten taels or eighty taels, and he doesn't have to look for money, the boss is reluctant to let him go.

Zhu Yunwen thought for a while, nodded and said, "Okay, then let's listen to it." ”

Sitting down in the middle of the front row of the stage, the three of them ordered a pot of flower tea, two or three snacks, and looked at Xie Jin on the stage.

Xie Jin remained silent, ended the small paragraph he was saying in his mouth between three words, and then slapped the poor and began to talk about the "Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms" that he had carefully prepared.

The story of "The Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms" is about a rebellion of the vassal states during the period of Emperor Jing of the Western Han Dynasty in history, and the seven princes surnamed Liu participated in the rebellion: Liu Bi, King of Wu, Liu Wu, King of Chu, Liu Sui, King of Zhao, Liu Piguang, King of Jinan, Liu Xian, King of Zichuan, Liu Ang, King of Jiaoxi, and Liu Xiongqu, King of Jiaodong, so it is also known as the Rebellion of the Seven Kings.

This story is actually not very good from the perspective of storytelling and making money, because it lacks the national hatred, family hatred, grievances and hatred that the people like to see. But Xie Jin doesn't care, he doesn't do it to make money, as long as Zhu Yunwen can listen to it, that's enough.

Zhu Yunwen was indeed as Xie Jin expected, and as soon as he opened his mouth to say the name of "Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms", the ease in his eyes receded.

The story of "The Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms" Zhu Yunwen has also read it in the history books. Essentially, this story is just two words: cutting the feudal domain.

Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty adopted the "Cutting Domain" of the Imperial Historian Chao Cuo, and decided to reduce the feudal domain and strengthen the centralization of power. touched the interests of the vassal king of the Liu family. Later, the seven kings rebelled in the name of "Qing Jun's Side", and Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty was weak for a while, and tried to calm the anger of the vassal kings, but he did not expect to make the vassal kings more arrogant. In the end, Zhou Yafu, the general of the DPRK, was ordered to turn the tide and put down the rebellion.

The situation in the court is very similar to that time, the emperor has the intention to cut the domain, the vassal king is ambitious, and the war is about to break out. Since these days, Zhu Yunwen has turned over this history no less than ten times, and he is almost about to memorize it backwards. But he was still deeply attracted by Xie Jin's story.

"Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty has the heart of civil rule, but the wild nature of the vassal kings of the world is untamable. Although they are in the same room as Liu, for the sake of power, they still inevitably fight each other. ”

"Grievances can be resolved, but desires cannot be erased. Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty killed Chao Cuo, which seemed to dispel the righteousness of the Seven Kings' 'Qingjun side', but in fact, from the moment the Seven Kings raised their troops, the righteousness was just an excuse, and it was impossible for them to take the initiative to retreat with any appeasement and grace. The most important thing for the imperial court to do is to strengthen its faith. ”

Any concession will only weaken one's own strength and boost the enemy's arrogance!"

Although the imperial court won the victory in the end, its own losses were also huge, which greatly damaged its vitality. The root of this lies in the fact that the imperial court was unprepared in advance. Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty only thought that the imperial court had an advantage in terms of strength and righteousness, and the odds of victory were slightly higher, and the vassal kings would not resist. But when the vassal kings really started a rebellion, how to deal with it, who was the commander, and where did the soldiers come from? Now it seems that if it weren't for a Zhou Yafu at that time, I'm afraid that the final belonging of the Han family would not be known... ”

On the way back to the palace, Zhu Yunwen seemed to be silent a lot, frowning all the time, looking thoughtful. Xu Ruyi and Liu Xi followed silently and did not speak.

"Ruyi. ”

"Your Majesty. ”

"I'm afraid that the storyteller is not simple, you go and check his origin. Zhu Yunwen commanded seriously.

"Yes. Xu Ruyi bowed his head and promised.

。。。。。。

Palm light time

Zhu Yunwen buried his head in the case, holding a red pen in his hand, and reviewing the chapters. Seeing that there were still a few books about to end, I didn't expect Liu Xi over there to lightly hold a stack of new ones and put them down.

"Where did you send this?" said Zhu Yunwen with some irritation.

"Your Majesty. Liu Xi smiled bitterly: "This is sent by the officials, and the slaves don't know what it is." ”

"No, I don't approve it. Not approved. Zhu Yunwen dropped the pen and threw his head on the table: "Stay in the middle, let's talk about it tomorrow." ”

"Yes. ”

"Your Majesty. Xu Ruyi walked into the hall, looked at Zhu Yunwen's tired appearance, and said softly: "That storyteller, the slave has already found out. ”

"Oh?" Zhu Yunwen raised his head: "Who is it?"

"Xie Jin. Xu Ruyi said, and then handed over the chapter in his hand: "A world-famous talent, he was once a bachelor of Hanlin." ”

Zhu Yunwen looked at the fold in his hand, and then said curiously: "Grandpa Huang asked him to come back in ten years? ”

"Six years. Xu Ruyi continued, and then said: "Your Majesty, this time is different from the past. Now is the time for an eventful season, the time to employ people. The slave felt that there were many words in the story he told today that alluded to the current dynasty, and he did have a lot of humble opinions about the matter of cutting the feudal domain. If you think it's suitable, I'm sure no one will say anything about it. ”

"Arrange the position, where is the right position for him. Zhu Yunwen shook his head and sighed: "Don't talk about him, Grandpa Huang asked me to use Mr. Zhengxue as soon as possible, and it's been more than a month now, and I haven't figured out where to arrange him." If the position is low, it is inevitable that it will be overkill, and if the position is high, I am afraid that Huang Qing's family will be dissatisfied and it will be difficult to deal with it. ”

"That's a problem. Xu Ruyi pondered for a moment, swept his eyes, saw the thick folds on the table, and asked unintentionally: "Your Majesty, seeing that you are so tired, but today's folds have not been approved?"

"Don't mention it. Zhu Yunwen waved his hand and said, "Let's go out for two hours, and today's recital has been saved again." I haven't eaten dinner yet, and I guess if I want to finish all these folds, I don't need to sleep today. ”

"That's it... Xu Ruyi thought for a while and asked with a smile: "Your Majesty, the minister has an idea." ”

"What's the idea?" Zhu Yunwen said curiously.

"This is not a good idea," Xu Ruyi scratched his head, and then said in a deep voice: "The slave maid asks Your Majesty first, can you trust Mr. Fang?"

"Of course I can trust it. Zhu Yunwen said without thinking: "Mr. Fang is the minister who left the humerus for me by the emperor's grandfather, and you and I have also seen the strategy in my chest, how can I not trust him." ”

"Then can you trust that Xie Jin?" Xu Ruyi asked again.

"This... Zhu Yunwen pondered for a moment and replied, "Reluctantly." But since the imperial grandfather asked him to come back ten years later, maybe he was also a capable minister left to me?

Moreover, many of his opinions on the policies of the vassal king today are deeply understood, saying that he is loyal and I am not sure, but there should be no big problem. What the hell are you going to say?"

Xu Ruyi smiled and pointed to the book on the bookcase: "Your Majesty, are you tired of reviewing these notes every day? Imagine that every day in the future, you will have to face only a lot of twists and turns, do you hope that someone can help you?"

"Ruyi. Zhu Yunwen's face suddenly became serious, and he said in a deep voice: "You must know that when the imperial grandfather abolished the post of prime minister, he said that the prime minister should not be reinstated in the future. If I do, I'm afraid I'm going to be in big trouble!"

"Your Majesty, how dare the slave ask you to reinstate the prime minister, you have misunderstood. Xu Ruyi explained unhurriedly: "The prime minister is the first of the hundred officials, helping the Son of Heaven to deal with the political affairs of the world. It is indeed a great threat to the authority of the emperor. But the meaning of the slave is to let many people divide the power of the prime minister. ”

"Differentiation?" Zhu Yunwen looked at Xu Ruyi with some puzzlement.

"Yes, differentiation. Xu Ruyi nodded and said, "You can ask Fang Xiaoru, Xie Jin, or one or two more to read the pieces presented by the hundred officials first and write suggestions." Then Your Majesty will review and approve the red seal, and if you don't like it, you can change it directly, won't the time be saved?

At the same time, their rank was set lower. This way, they can make the most of their talents without compromising your authority.

Moreover, their rank is very low, so the high-ranking officials of the six ministries will not obey their orders. Even if they obey, they are not one or two, and they will inevitably fight with each other. Everything is inseparable from Your Majesty's power, you only need to manage a few of them well, and you can know all about the political affairs of the world, isn't it a good thing to kill multiple birds with one stone?"

"This... Zhu Yunwen hesitated.

If there are later generations here, it should be seen at a glance that the idea Xu Ruyi said is the cabinet system of the Ming Dynasty. The cabinet system was created by Zhu Di, the ancestor of the Ming Dynasty, because after Zhu Yuanzhang abolished the prime minister system, there were too many official performances every day, so much so that Zhu Di was really busy, so he thought of finding a group of "secretaries" to help him deal with government affairs. This system is actually very well formulated, and as long as the king is not too unreliable, there will be no major problems.

But the ideal is very plump, and the reality is very skinny. However, the kings after Zhu Di were too few reliable, so they gave the cabinet scholars the power far beyond the prime minister.

The reason why Xu Ruyi proposed the cabinet system was to be able to insert Xie Jin into the civilian bureaucracy, so that he could have a certain degree of control over the situation, and the deeper reason was to pave the way for the creation of another monster institution. And the name of that monster organization is called the celebrant of ceremonies.

In the first few years, Xu Ruyi indirectly proposed to Zhu Yunwen and Zhu Yuanzhang that the eunuchs should be taught to read and read etiquette. After that, although Zhu Yuanzhang was still very wary of eunuchs, he accepted this point of view to a certain extent. In the twenty-eighth year of Hongwu, when Zhu Yuanzhang dealt with the case of Lan Yu, he once issued a secret decree to ask the celebrant to select talented young eunuchs in the palace and teach them to read and read books. But no matter what, this is a batch of seeds, and Xu Ruyi is going to give them the soil to germinate now.