Since ancient times, those who have become famous at a young age are most afraid of being complacent. Especially Shen Yichen acted erratically in Shandong and was quite unscrupulous.

Cheng Jing was also worried that when he returned to the capital, he would not be able to change his thinking and identity for a while, and would become arrogant in front of the emperor. Now it seemed that he had worried too much. Shen Yichen was an old man who wanted to seek the country, and was born to be involved in officialdom.

"I still remember what Shen Aiqing said on the day she came out of Shandong to live up to the emperor, live up to what I have learned below, and take all people as my responsibility."

"Looking back, you really lived up to my expectations."

Zhu Qizhen's tone was a bit sad. The scene where Shen Yichen spoke righteously more than a year ago seemed like yesterday.

Now that he has returned again, he has already made extraordinary achievements.

"Without His Majesty's trust, I would not be able to achieve the important task of water control."

Shen Yichen still did not take the credit solely to himself, and always brought Zhu Qizhen into his words.

"good!"

Sure enough, after hearing Shen Yichen's words, Zhu Qizhen shouted a good word.

"This is what I said when I appointed you as the number one scholar, and the relationship between the king and his ministers will surely usher in a prosperous era of the Ming Dynasty!"

Zhu Qizhen's heart was surging. Shen Yichen was the first number one scholar appointed by him after taking office, and he was also the unprecedented leader of the third and sixth prizes.

It can be said that Zhu Qizhen had high expectations for Shen Yichen, hoping that he could assist him in establishing great achievements that surpassed those of the late emperor. Now it seems that his vision was right, and Shen Yichen has shown the demeanor of a capable minister in governing the world!

"I have received great love from His Majesty, and I must never forget it. I will do my best until I die!"

When Shen Yichen said this, his eyes were slightly red, and he looked very moved.

This look can be described as half-true and half-false. It really shows Zhu Qizhen's trust and love for him.

People are not just grass and trees, so they can be ruthless. In a sense, Zhu Qizhen was kind to him. And Shen Yichen also believed that the emperor's words were sincere, and he wanted the emperor and his ministers to work together to create a peaceful future. prosperous age.

But an emperor is an emperor after all. Thunder, rain, and dew can happen in a moment. Whenever you forget this, it means that you will live until your end.

Accompanying the emperor is like accompanying a tiger. No matter when and where, one can only be half-truthful and half-false to the emperor.

This is why the emperor has been called a loner since ancient times. In addition to showing his nobility, he also has unspeakable loneliness.

After expressing his emotions, Zhu Qizhen controlled his emotions and his expression returned to normal.

Now there is no need for Wang Zhen to stand beside him, reminding Zhu Qizhen that as an emperor, he should be upright, empty-hearted and calm.

In more than a year, Shen Yichen has grown up in his career as an official, and Zhu Qizhen has also grown up in his imperial skills.

"Xiang Bei, now that you have successfully controlled the flood and returned to Beijing, and passed Prime Minister Cheng's river engineering inspection, you will naturally be rewarded for your merits."

Zhu Qizhen looked at Shen Yichen and said with a smile. Perhaps because he was in a good mood, he even changed his title from Shen Aiqing to Xiang Bei, who was closer to him.

"I received two memorials this morning, one of which was submitted by the Literary and Selection Department of the Ministry of Civil Affairs. The Ministry of Civil Affairs rated your achievements in water control in Shandong as the best and believes that you should be promoted accordingly."

"And the other one was submitted by the cabinet. Mr. Ma Ge, together with the Imperial Academy, recommended you to be a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy."

"I wonder how you want me to reward Xiangbei?"

Before Shen Yichen went out to control the floods in Shandong, he was given the title of Imperial Inspector and Imperial Censor of the fourth rank. However, this title was a temporary official title and was not recorded in the official records.

Therefore, theoretically speaking, Shen Yichen's real official position after returning to Beijing was that of Zuo Chunfang Zhongyun of Zhan Shifu, who was in the sixth rank, and he also worked as a compiler in the Hanlin Academy of the sixth rank.

According to the regular promotion process of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, if Shen Yichen's political performance is rated as the best, he has to be promoted step by step. In other words, Zuo Chunfang Zhongyun, who is in the sixth rank of Zhanshifu, can be promoted to Zhanshifu, who is in the fifth rank.

Zuo Chunfang Yude.

This promotion path was placed among the Hanlin civil servants of the Ming Dynasty and was one of the conventional routes to the cabinet.

After all, the official positions in the Hanlin Academy are not like the six departments, where you can stuff a few radishes into a hole. There are no free official positions, so you can only be promoted from Zhan Shifu, and finally join the cabinet with the official position of Zhan Shi, the highest official of Zhan Shifu.

However, compared with the orthodox Hanlin Academy route for promotion to the cabinet, this route is obviously slightly inferior. After all, false posts cannot compete with actual duties.

Ma Yu combined with the recommendation of the Hanlin Academy is a better road to Qingyun!

In the Ming Dynasty, in addition to official selection, officials at the middle and high levels would be promoted through joint selection, and even the emperor could not "make a single statement".

To be precise, the middle-level officials of each ministry were recommended by the ministry itself, and later extended to the Hanlin Academy and Jiuqing. The second and third-rank officials further up were recommended by the Ministry of Personnel and the officials of third-rank and above to determine the candidates for their posts.

The results of court nominations are often dominated by cabinet academicians and ministers of various ministries, and it is basically difficult for the emperor to interfere. Of course, there are a small number of officials who are parachuted in with special orders, but such officials will be looked down upon by civil and military officials, making it difficult to carry out their work.

For example, Zhang Cong, the chief minister of the Jiajing Dynasty's cabinet, was in and out of the cabinet four times without being recommended by the court, and could never gain the respect of his subordinates.

Cabinet ministers during the Zhengtong Dynasty, such as Ma Yu, Cao Nai, Chen Xun and others, actually had the title of bachelor of the Hanlin Academy. They still had the power of internal recommendation, but they did not sit in the Hanlin Academy.

This is why Ma Yu dared to use his official position in the Hanlin Academy as a bargaining chip. They have real decision-making power!

After listening to the emperor's story, normal people would choose the cabinet recommendation. Although the bachelor's degree scholar and Zuo Chunfang Yude of Zhan Shifu were both from the fifth rank, their gold content was far different.

Even Emperor Zhu Qizhen thought so and was waiting for Shen Yichen to tell the Hanlin Academy's answer and then use it as a reward for his success in flood control.

But after waiting for a long time, Zhu Qizhen didn't get Shen Yichen's answer. This made him wonder, does such an obvious choice still need to be considered?

Cheng Jing, who was standing aside, looked at Shen Yichen who was silent for a long time and felt a little anxious in his heart.

Earlier, I secretly praised Shen Yichen for acting calmly and not relying on favors but being arrogant. Could it be that now he is not satisfied with cabinet selection and wants more generous rewards?

Even though he was a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy in the fifth rank, he was only one rank higher than Zuo Chunfang Zhongyun of the Zhanshi Mansion in the sixth rank, but the improvement brought about by his status and power was a world of difference!

The most direct benefit is that you can enter the cabinet from a fifth-grade official position!

Entering the cabinet from a fifth-rank official represents the gold content of the official title in the Hanlin Academy, which is beyond the reach of the other six ministers and nine ministers.

As Shen Yichen is the number one scholar, he should know the difference, so why should he hesitate?

"Why doesn't Shen Aiqing say anything? Is it because she is dissatisfied with my award?"

Zhu Qi Zhendan asked. Shen Yichen thought for too long, which made him feel a kind of indifferent greed.

If the emperor happily accepts a reward from you, then everyone will be happy. On the contrary, if you really go to the extreme and take the initiative to ask for it, the result will be completely different.

"I am extremely grateful to His Majesty for your kindness, but what I want is not a reward."

After saying that, Shen Yichen raised his head and, at the risk of being rude before the emperor, looked directly at the aloof emperor.

"Then what do you want?"

Zhu Qizhen didn't care about Shen Yichen's actions. On the contrary, he looked at each other with burning eyes.

After more than a year of "joining forces" with Wang Zhen to suppress the court ministers, Zhu Qizhen is no longer the young emperor he once was, and there is no need to look for the dignity that belongs to the emperor in these small details.

"I want to pay for my crime with merit!"

When the words "pay for crime with merit" came out, a look of confusion appeared on Zhu Qizhen's face.

Shen Yichen went out to control floods in Shandong and was impeached many times for his flamboyant behavior. If he wanted to get to the bottom of it, the charges were indeed not small. But from the beginning to the end, he did not show any intention of pursuing him. Is it necessary for him to be so cautious?

If Shen Yichen was really so scared, he wouldn't do those unscrupulous things.

Compared to Zhu Qizhen's confusion, Cheng Jing's face instantly turned pale as he stood next to him.

Cheng Jing and Shen Yichen knew exactly what the final outcome would be when they shouldered the emperor's mandate to investigate King Lu's affairs.

Being able to make Shen Yichen say words that would offset his crime with merit in such an occasion, Cheng Jing thought about it and realized that only King Lu's matter could be so serious.

Could Shen Yichen be so naive as to think that relying on his ability to control floods could offset King Lu's mistakes?

Once the old affair was brought up again, even if he had never conspired with Shen Yichen and relied on a tacit understanding, Cheng Jing still could not escape responsibility.

This is a serious crime involving the nine ethnic groups!

"Oh, Shen Aiqing, come and tell me what the crime is."

"I am not doing this for my own sins, but I want to plead with Your Majesty for others!"

If Ma Yu and others were standing in the Huagai Hall at this time, they would probably have a knowing smile on their faces.

This kid Shen Yichen is really on the road, and he plans to settle the matter first before he even gets the benefits.

Cheng Fu has the ability to control floods, so he will be safe and sound.

It's a pity that Ma Yu and others are not here, otherwise the smiles on their faces would probably freeze when they heard the words behind them.

"Who do you plead for?"

"Volume of the family of Liu Qiu, a former lecturer at the Hanlin Academy!"

Shen Yichen Chengruo will uphold justice and clear Liu Qiu's innocence when he becomes the leader of the world.

However, the cunning and deceitful officialdom made Shen Yichen helpless. He could not clear up Liu Qiu's wrongdoing.

Even today, with his ability to control floods, Shen Yichen understands that it is still impossible to defeat Liu Qiu.

As long as Wang Zhen is still in control of the government and the public, Liu Qiu will never be able to make a comeback!

Even if he is unable to uphold justice, Shen Yichen does not want to be a person who breaks his word and watches Liu Waner fall into the dust, carrying the burden of being despised by the world.

He just wanted to use his flood control efforts in exchange for the emperor's forgiveness of the Liu Qiu family, so that they could live the rest of their lives in peace.

Liu Qiu?

Hearing this name, Zhu Qizhen was first surprised, and then he thought about the related memories in his mind.

If it were another Hanlin minister, Zhu Qizhen might have forgotten it in the past few years. But this Liu Qiu and his "Ten Matters on the Study of the Province", even after many years, Zhu Qizhen still remembers Liu Qiu.

The memory is still fresh.

In this letter, he not only reprimanded his husband, but also advised him to stay away from eunuchs, study diligently to correct his mind and virtue, and despise Luchuan and focus on Mongolia.
To be continued...