Chapter 1253: Too strong and easy to break
Lin'an, Plum Blossom House

Looking at the latest memorial sent from Yijing in the study, Ye Mingsheng looked a little gloomy.

These memorials sent from Yijing mainly told three pieces of news. The first piece of news was that Murong Qingwu gave birth to a son. Both mother and child were safe and the child was healthy. Ye Cui also gave the child the nickname Xiaoba according to the order of the children.

The second piece of news was that after discussing with the Censorate and the Dali Temple, the Ministry of Justice came up with a draft of the working law and handed it over to the Cabinet.

As for the draft of this working law, none of the important cabinet ministers have explicitly expressed opposition, but apart from the Minister of Justice Li Jian, no one has clearly expressed their agreement. Anyway, the current situation of this working law is somewhat awkward, and it seems to be in a dilemma!
Ye Mingsheng had actually anticipated this. After all, although the work law did not have as great an impact as the previous tiered tax rate, it did involve the interests of many people. It was normal for some resistance to exist during the stages of proposing, promoting, and finally implementing it.

If the draft was passed smoothly by the cabinet without any resistance, that would be a rare thing that would surprise Ye Mingsheng!

What really disappointed Ye Mingsheng was the third thing. The current member of the Great Zhou Cabinet, the head of the Censorate, the Left Censor-in-Chief Xiao Lingyu, actually asked to retire on the grounds that he was too old, in poor health, and lacked energy to perform the work of the Censorate!
Although Ye Mingsheng had left Yijing for half a year, he did not relax his attention on Yijing·····················
According to the report from the internal security, the concubine that Xiao Lingyu married just at the beginning of the year got pregnant last month. For this reason, Xiao Lingyu was still boasting in the mansion that he was still strong and vigorous, and his heroic spirit was still as great as before!
And for lunch in the Censorate, Xiao Lingyu had one pork elbow and one pound of braised beef in soy sauce every day. He could eat, drink and have children. And you told me that you are not in good health and have no energy. Aren't you simply kidding me?
Because the reason Xiao Lingyu gave was indeed a bit too far-fetched, it also caused some rumors. Among them, some people said that although Xiao Lingyu did not openly oppose the work method, he used the actual action of applying for retirement to show his opposition to Ye Mingsheng.

Others believe that Xiao Lingyu did this based on the internal struggle within the Censorate, saying that Ye Mingsheng wanted Wang Huaiyi to take the position. After Xiao Lingyu realized Ye Mingsheng's idea, he took the initiative to give up his position under the pretext of retiring in order to avoid Ye Mingsheng's intervention.

Some people also said that Xiao Lingyu had been leading the Censorate to demand the splitting of the Coordination Office, so Wang Xuecheng from the Coordination Office held a grudge against him, so Wang Xuecheng had been digging up dirt on Xiao Lingyu in order to bring him down. Now that Wang Xuecheng had dug up evidence against Xiao Lingyu, Xiao Lingyu was scared and wanted to retire, asking Wang Xuecheng to let him go.

These are the three most widely circulated theories in the court. In addition to these theories, there are other theories, but those theories are a bit outrageous. Some say that Xiao Lingyu was secretly collecting negative information about An Miaoyi, preparing to report An Miaoyi, but the news leaked and was discovered by An Miaoyi, so he was threatened by An Miaoyi to retire.

The most ridiculous thing is that some people say that Xiao Lingyu cheated on Wang Huaiyi’s wife and cuckolded Wang Huaiyi. When the scandal was exposed, Xiao Lingyu had to retire and gave up the position of Zuodu Yushi to Wang Huaiyi as a way to compensate Wang Huaiyi···················

In short, because of Xiao Lingyu's retirement, rumors are flying all over the Yijing court, and Ye Mingsheng also has his own thoughts on this.

First of all, Xiao Lingyu must be against the implementation of the work law, otherwise he would not have submitted his idea of ​​retiring to me at this time.

As for the matter of Wang Huaiyi's promotion, it is pure fabrication. The reason why Ye Mingsheng let Wang Huaiyi serve as the Right Censor-in-Chief was entirely to prepare for a rainy day and to make an advance arrangement to deal with resistance to reform in the future. Ye Mingsheng never expected Wang Huaiyi to replace Xiao Lingyu.

As for the third point, about Wang Xuecheng investigating Xiao Lingyu, Ye Mingsheng knew that this was indeed the case. The Censorate had always been the main force advocating the splitting and dissolution of the Unified Coordination Office. Wang Xuecheng was very annoyed by this, and he really wanted to fight back against the Censorate. As the Left Censor-in-Chief, Xiao Lingyu was Wang Xuecheng's number one target.

Wang Xuecheng first investigated what Xiao Lingyu had done in the Censorate, but did not find any major problems. For this reason, Wang Xuecheng also investigated some situations when Xiao Lingyu was the deputy governor of Youyan and in Liaoyang, and did find some problems with Xiao Lingyu.

But these were some harmless minor problems such as eating and drinking excessively, being late and leaving early. Seeing this, Wang Xuecheng had to give up the investigation of Xiao Lingyu························
And it was precisely because Ye Mingsheng was impressed by Xiao Lingyu's style of not being greedy or taking advantage of others that he appointed him to such an important position as the Left Censor-in-Chief!
After all, the main duty of the censor is to supervise all officials. If he himself is not clean, how can he exercise his power and convince others?

After serving as the Left Censor-in-Chief, although Xiao Lingyu did not dare to speak out in the face of powerful people, he generally played a certain restraining role on the officials. Therefore, Ye Mingsheng was basically satisfied with his work and had no plans to replace him for the time being.

However, Ye Mingsheng never expected that even though he didn't want to replace Xiao Lingyu, Xiao Lingyu actually wanted to leave him on her own initiative!

Ye Mingsheng believed that although the work method played a certain role in Xiao Lingyu's retirement, it was not the fundamental reason why Xiao Lingyu wanted to leave.

After all, the impact of the previous step-by-step tax rate was greater and Xiao Lingyu did not retire. Now the impact of the work law is much smaller than the step-by-step tax rate. There is no reason for Xiao Lingyu to choose to retire for this reason!

Although he was somewhat confused about the fundamental reason why Xiao Lingyu retired, Ye Mingsheng had no intention of keeping someone who wanted to leave. Since Xiao Lingyu wanted to leave, then let him go.

However, Xiao Lingyu is an old subordinate who has followed him for many years. He has made great contributions and worked hard. Therefore, Ye Mingsheng plans to ask the Liaoyang Provincial Government to build a big house for Xiao Lingyu in his hometown, and also reward him with some gold and silver as a thank you for his contribution and hard work over the years...

The only thing that is uncertain now is who will succeed Xiao Lingyu as the Left Censor-in-Chief?

The Left Censor-in-Chief is a high-ranking official of the second rank, and as the head of the Censorate, he is responsible for supervising all officials. This is a very important position, and the person who holds this position must be very capable, otherwise it is easy for people to gossip about him!
Although many people in the Yijing court believed that Wang Huaiyi was the first choice to take over as the Left Censor-in-Chief after Xiao Lingyu left, Ye Mingsheng ruled out Wang Huaiyi first!
Ye Mingsheng believed that Wang Huaiyi was a good detective investigator and had a certain political mind, but unfortunately his political mind and political experience were not enough for him to serve as a high-ranking official like Zuodu Yushi, and let him bear the heavy responsibility of supervising all officials!
In addition, Wang Huaiyi had been working in the Internal Security Department before and had no experience in serving in government offices at all levels. Therefore, many people in the court believed that Wang Huaiyi was a spy like Wang Xuecheng, and was Ye Mingsheng's lackey, so they did not like Wang Huaiyi.

When Ye Mingsheng appointed Wang Huaiyi as the Right Censor-in-Chief, many people had complaints, but they did not protest under Ye Mingsheng's orders.

And if Ye Mingsheng lets Wang Huaiyi replace Xiao Lingyu this time, it can be predicted that those civil officials, especially the censors of the Censorate, will jointly submit a memorial to oppose Ye Mingsheng's idea.

Currently, Ye Mingsheng has three choices in his mind for Xiao Lingyu's successor. The first candidate is the current Dali Temple Minister Zhu Xiaowen, the second is the current Ministry of Personnel Left Vice Minister Shen Changhong, and the third candidate is the current Yunbing Censor Chu Zhiyi... Zhu Xiaowen used to be the Liaoyang Censor and later served as the Dali Temple Minister. If he were to be appointed as the Left Censor-in-Chief, the advantage is that Zhu Xiaowen has a good resume, is young and energetic, has relevant work experience, and has a good brain. If he were to be appointed as the Left Censor-in-Chief, he could get started right away.

But the disadvantage is that Zhu Xiaowen is Cui Shao’s student, and his relationship with Cui Shao is too close!

Although Shen Changhong, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, was not an old member of the Fengwu Army when it was first established, and was selected from the Qilu Provincial Administration after the Fengwu Army captured Qilu, he has always been a capable person that Ye Mingsheng admired.

Shen Changhong has extensive experience in grassroots work, and has always enjoyed a very good reputation in the Yijing court. He is also not very old, being only 45 years old this year, which is the golden age in officialdom. He is experienced and in his prime.

But Shen Changhong's shortcoming is that he is sometimes too smooth-talking and seems to have good relations with everyone. On some key issues, he is sometimes too cautious and calculates the pros and cons, lacking the uprightness that a Left Censor-in-Chief should have!

The third choice is Chu Zhiyi, who is an old subordinate of Gu Sansi and also Gu Sansi’s direct subordinate. When Gu Sansi was the director of the Personnel Bureau, he also promoted Chu Zhiyi to deputy director!
When Ye Mingsheng was forming the Yijing court, according to the original plan, Gu Sansi was the Minister of Personnel, Shen Changhong was the Left Vice Minister of Personnel, and Chu Zhiyi was the Right Vice Minister of Personnel. However, due to the later joining of Zhang Xiong, Chu Zhiyi was squeezed out························
However, Gu Sansi took good care of his old subordinate and requested Ye Mingsheng to transfer Chu Zhiyi to Yunbing to serve as the Censor. In the post of Yunbing Censor, Chu Zhiyi and Ye Hao, who served as the Governor, cooperated very well.

Chu Zhiyi's advantage is that he is very capable. When he was the deputy director of the Personnel Bureau, some people wanted to honor him, but he not only did not accept it, but reported the person. He basically did not attend some social gatherings of his colleagues.

Although his salary was not low when he was the deputy director of the Personnel Bureau, the housing and commodity prices in Yijing were high, and Chu Zhiyi brought his parents, two brothers and their sisters-in-law over to live with him. This resulted in twenty or thirty people relying on his salary alone, so life was still a bit tight. They even rented a house, and some people called him Hai Zhiyi behind his back for this.

Honestly speaking, although Chu Zhiyi is honest, he is a bit out of touch with the crowd in official circles. If it weren't for Gu Sansi's appreciation of his talent and his constant protection, he would never have made it to where he is today in official circles and would have been ostracized and marginalized long ago!
Therefore, judging from his style of doing things, Chu Zhiyi is suitable to be the Left Censor-in-Chief. He has the integrity that a censor should have, and is able to speak out and make suggestions regardless of gains and losses!

But his problem is that he is too upright and can hardly tolerate any injustice. Being too upright can easily lead to failure. Letting him serve as the Left Censor-in-Chief may be a double-edged sword for the entire Yijing court...
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Yijing, the royal palace

"Hey, isn't this our Director Wang?"

"What's the wind that brought you, Director Wang, here today?"

In the room, Wang Xuecheng faced the sarcasm of his original wife Ye Ling. He suppressed his unhappiness and came to Ye Ling and said with a smile:

"Ling'er, what are you talking about! This is my home!"

After saying this, Wang Xuecheng suppressed his nausea and tried to hold Ye Ling's hand. However, Ye Ling didn't buy into Wang Xuecheng's kindness at all and directly shook off Wang Xuecheng's hand and said:

"Wang Xuecheng, do you still know that this is your home?"

"Tell me how long it has been since you came back? Where has Wang been?"

Faced with Ye Ling's vulgar words, Wang Xuecheng felt very regretful in his heart. He wondered why he married such a village woman in the first place!
However, thinking of his purpose, Wang Xuecheng still said with a smile:

"Ling'er, I'm the director of the Coordination Office. Not only am I responsible for the Marshal's security, but I also have a lot of other work to do. So I hope you can understand me a little. I do all this for you and for our family!"

Facing Wang Xuecheng's words, Ye Ling didn't buy it at all. She put her hands on her hips and cursed:

"Bah! Wang Xuecheng, you are such a heartless bastard, you are lying without any shame at all!"

"Do you really think I don't know how you and those stinky little devils have been fooling around? And your mistress Hongyun is using your name to make money outside. Is this all for me, for our family?"

"None of you are a good person! I was so blind to find a bastard like you who abandoned his wife and children!"

“Just go ahead and mix it up! I want to see if you can get a good result. The guy named Huo has someone named Wang Xuecheng waiting for you in front of you…”

(End of this chapter)