Whether this Emperor is wise or not is unknown, but he is definitely not someone who is easily fooled.
The young Emperor likely never intended to truly grant the Marquis of Huating the title of Grand Tutor from the start; it was all merely to pave the way for that Grand Secretary position.
Zhu Ci knew very well that appointing Fu as Grand Secretary would certainly face opposition; no matter how many resources Fu held or how important he was, his failure to participate in the imperial examinations was a massive shortcoming.
But the problem was, if he wasn't given real power, why would he risk his life for you with so many resources at his disposal?
Seeing that the psychological knot caused by appearance was also about to be untied, wouldn't it be wonderful to declare oneself king under such circumstances?
Even now, Zhu Ci still doesn't understand why Fu would support his succession to the throne.
For someone who would rebel, saying he was loyal to the Great Ming was nothing but a joke; he didn't seem like the type of person to care about his reputation.
In this situation, the only thing Zhu Ci could do was give him power.
In any case, even if Fu held real power, he still had me, the Emperor, on the other side, there was the Censorate; it would be impossible to let him wield such immense power over the court.
In this situation, if one wanted to appoint Fu as Grand Secretary without controversy, the only way would be to first let him serve as one of the Three Excellencies, then, amidst the opposition of the officials, have Fu take the initiative to resign, allowing the Emperor to humbly accept advice and the officials to successfully submit their remonstrances.
Everyone was happy.
At this moment, some people also realized what was happening, looking at Huang Chunyao as they exchanged bewildered glances.
However, this time, Huang Chunyao would absolutely not step forward.
The young Emperor clearly wants to place the Marquis of Huating in the seat of Grand Secretary of the Grand Secretariat; why would he need to step forward?
In any case, there won't be only one Grand Secretary in the Grand Secretariat, the position of Grand Secretary is not fixed. Once the Vice Grand Secretaries and other Grand Secretaries enter the Grand Secretariat in the future, it remains to be seen who will ultimately prevail. For now.. the Marquis of Huating indeed possesses both power and influence, so it is only natural that the young Emperor treats him with such favor.
The Left Censor of the Censorate had already been silenced, so naturally, no one else could say anything more.
Of course, this did not mean they would truly let things slide; some people had already begun contemplating how they would write their memorials to the Emperor once this was over.
After Fu was appointed as Grand Secretary and Minister of Revenue, the next appointment was Huang Chunyao as a Censor of the Censorate.
Immediately following that was Chen Zilong's appointment as Minister of Justice.
This Chen Zilong was also a remarkable man. In his early years, he was a Jinshi of the Chongzhen era and a native of Huating in Songjiang Prefecture. He rose to the rank of Supervising Secretary in the Ministry of War, but later resigned and returned to his hometown due to the court's affairs.
Sigh, I wonder just how many Chongzhen jinshi resigned from their posts due to the court's..
One can only say that the Great Ming's destiny has truly reached its end; unless Li Er is reincarnated as Chongzhen, even if the founding emperor of the Great Ming himself were to come, it would still be difficult.
Chen Zilong was not young, but his rebellious nature remained; after all, Fu's successful rebellion was partly due to his contributions.
With his upright character, he is quite capable of managing the Ministry of Justice.
And Liu Zhaoji was directly promoted to Minister of War.
In a grand imperial assembly, only a handful of people had been decided upon.
The Minister of Personnel is known as the Grand Chancellor and is in charge of appointments; Zhu Ci certainly would not give such a position away easily.
The Ministry of War is equally important; the person in charge must also be his man, or at least a loyal official, if not a dedicated one.
The Ministry of Works currently has a vacancy, only a Vice Minister has been assigned to handle the work. There is no other way; Zhu Ci wants a Minister who knows the trade, but right now, there is truly no one.
As for the Prefects of the various prefectures, they have been arranged; among them, Gu Rouqian was directly appointed to Suzhou, while in Huaian, since Zhu Ci is still here, there is no immediate rush.
Once the major officials were mostly arranged, Zhu Ci couldn't help but smile when he saw the list.
It was no wonder many people in the imperial court held great hostility toward Fu; there was no helping it, as his people occupied more than half of the realm.
Except for Suzhou and Huaian, the Prefects of all other prefectures are his people; the Ministry of Works is his people, the Ministry of War also has his people.
After the first grand assembly, memorials came flying in like snowflakes, all protesting Fu's appointment as Grand Secretary.
Zhu Ci tossed those memorials aside, telling them all not to rush into protesting just yet.
The Tartars have returned once again.
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Author's Note: Zhu Ci: Someone, send the one making the most noise to the front lines! An evil kitty haughtily licks its paws. jpg
Next update tomorrow morning at six o'clock~
Chapter 102
Every civil and military official in the court, as long as they were sane, knew that the Qing Army would come sooner or later.
After all, Huaian is of great significance; to occupy Yangzhou, one must first occupy Huaian. Not only that, but once past Huaian to the north lies Xuzhou, a strategic location that must be contested by any military force.
If one were to use Huaian as a springboard to occupy Xuzhou, then one would directly seize the strategic initiative north of the Yangtze River.
Historically, there have been over four hundred recorded wars in Xuzhou; it is truly a place plagued by misfortune.
Did Zhu Ci want Xuzhou? Of course he did, but the most urgent priority was to hold Huaian first.
After receiving news that the Qing Army was about to launch an attack on Huaian, Zhu Ci immediately turned and said to Zhu Ci, "You should return to Suzhou first."
Zhu Ci froze. "Shouldn't you be the one returning to Suzhou? No, you should go straight back to Nanjing!"
Zhu Ci said with calm eyes and brows, "No, it is most appropriate for me to stay here. You go back; I will write a will, so that if I fall in battle, you shall ascend the throne."
Zhu Ci gave a bitter smile. "Me, ascending the throne? What use would it be? If you are gone, the Great Ming is gone too!"
No matter how outsiders speculated whether the Emperor was a puppet installed by the Marquis of Huating, in reality, everyone in Huaian knew that the Emperor was the backbone of all of Huaian.
When Huaian was suffering through hardships, he arrived and drove the Tartars away.
When the Tartars invaded again, he led his men to defend Huaian to the death.
The people of Huaian believe in him, they believe in him alone.
As long as Zhu Ci is here, the people of Huaian are firmly convinced they can win; replacing him would deal a blow to morale.
Zhu Ci knew that Zhu Ci could not leave, he did not want to leave.
Zhu Ci said helplessly, "You should at least try to struggle a bit."
Zhu Ci shook his head. "That is not my forte."
He truly was not skilled at warfare; if it were a matter of governing the country or balancing the imperial court, he might actually be quite capable.
Zhu Ci saw that he could not be persuaded, so he simply stopped trying and instead began to arrange for the court officials to evacuate.
Anyway, some people are purely scholars; there is no use in them staying here.
Before he had even finished making the arrangements, he received a large number of memorials, all of which urged him to take care of his health and return to Nanjing first.
Zhu Ci looked at these memorials and sighed.
Fu Zheng sat below him handling official affairs, hearing him sigh, he couldn't help but look up and ask, "Has Your Majesty encountered a difficult matter?"
He found it somewhat extraordinary; since ascending the throne, although Zhu Ci did not handle every matter with ease, he would certainly never stumble over the same obstacle twice.
Most importantly, Zhu Ci had a very clear mind; his personality was firm, yet he was not stubborn to a fault, knowing exactly where to hold his ground and where to compromise.
He was also quite skilled at winning people over and soothing their hearts; as long as people from all walks of life didn't try to lecture him with pedantic scholarship, he could generally handle them, making him seem nothing like a fifteen-year-old boy.
What could possibly trouble such a young emperor?
Zhu Ci pushed the memorial aside and said, "Look, they all want me to return to Nanjing. If I wanted to return to Nanjing, I would have done so long ago. Do you really think I'd hold the enthronement ceremony in Huaian?"
He was annoyed by his subordinates, who only knew how to try and guess his intentions, he was also quite annoyed by these stubborn, blockheaded people.
Fu took a glance and said, "Just leave these memorials to me to handle."
Zhu Ci suddenly became interested upon hearing this and leaned over the imperial desk, asking curiously, "How do you intend to handle them?"
Fu smiled faintly and simply said, "I have something to present to His Majesty."
Hmm?
A gift for him?
Zhu Ci was somewhat puzzled, immediately after, he saw Lu Zheng approach while carrying a wooden tray, which was covered with a red cloth.
After he pulled back the red cloth, he saw a set of armor primarily in black and gold, with the heart-protecting bronze mirror on the chest crafted in the likeness of a Yazi.
Fu saw his eyes light up and said, "Your Majesty always leads the charge in every battle, it is truly dangerous without armor. Therefore, I had someone modify a suit for Your Majesty; I wonder if Your Majesty will like it."
"I like it, I like it." Zhu Ci touched the armor, a rare, clear smile appearing on his face.
Fu was seeing his expression, which was so appropriate for his age, for the first time.
Actually, Zhu Ci had previously felt that he should have a set of armor, but he was so stingy with his money that he wanted to split every single coin into four pieces to spend it. Getting a set of this kind of armor would cost at least a thousand or eight hundred taels of silver.
After his joy subsided, Zhu Ci turned to Fu and said, "They all advise me to leave Huaian, yet only the Grand Secretary sends me armor. Does the Grand Secretary not intend to advise me?"
Fu did not answer, but instead asked, "Will Your Majesty retreat to Nanjing?"
"No." Zhu Ci replied very decisively.
Fu smiled: "Then I shall no longer cause Your Majesty any more trouble."
He knew Zhu Ci; even if it were himself, he wouldn't be able to retreat back to Nanjing at this time.
Zhu Ci chuckled, as his eyes darted around, an idea came to him.
The next morning during the imperial court session, Zhu Ci's appearance left everyone stunned; he was not wearing official court robes today, but instead wore a black cloak, underneath the cloak, it didn't look like official court robes either.
Zhu Ci walked up to the imperial throne, flicked his cloak, sat down.
It was only at this moment that the assembled officials realized the Young Emperor was wearing a suit of armor.
To be fair, once he put on that black and gold armor, their young Emperor immediately took on the air of a young general who had won a hundred battles, but the problem was that he was the Emperor; what was he planning to do?
Zhu Ci sat down amidst the surprised gazes of the crowd, ignoring all standard protocol, raised his chin to declare, "I have decided to take the initiative and lead the imperial expedition myself!"
Fu smiled slightly upon hearing this, Zhu Ci nearly choked on his own saliva. As for the others.. everyone else was stunned.
After the confusion subsided, Huang Chunyao immediately stepped forward: "Your Majesty, you absolutely must not!"
After speaking, Huang Chunyao couldn't help but feel somewhat distressed.
Since the Emperor ascended the throne, it feels like this is the sentence he has said most often.
Can the young Emperor stop acting on every whim?
Before, he had been worried that the young Emperor would be sidelined and turned into a puppet, but now he found that being a puppet would have been better.
If the Crown Prince were merely a puppet emperor, he would have no say in matters, Huang Chunyao would only need to deal with the Grand Secretary as issues arose. Now, he must be wary of both the Grand Secretary and the Emperor, which is extremely exhausting!