Lao Xuan has let this happy event get carried away these days, on the one hand, her daughter has a home, climbing the dragon and the phoenix to climb the high branches of the King of Liang, on the other hand, she is killing two birds with one stone, she is not what it used to be, but she is no longer the lamb with blank eyes, dark in front of her, and there is no foundation and no connections in this great court. With the big tree of King Liang, it can be said that it is smooth sailing in this court, calling for wind and rain.

After this period of observation, Lao Xuan seems to have seen some eyebrows, there are many factions in the imperial court, openly and secretly, fighting endlessly.

In particular, Duan Zhe, the first and auxiliary minister of the cabinet, is the most powerful, and this person has won the trust of the emperor.

As early as Lao Xuan just took office, Duan Zhe ordered someone to prepare a generous gift to come to congratulate, which means to win over and come to his own team, he knew that this Ministry of Rites Shangshu is a fat shortage, huge power, just a imperial examination, so that the people who use money and things are countless, the officials in this position, like sitting on a cash tree, gently shake, the gold and silver will fall down.

Duan Zhe thought that this Lao Xuan should be familiar with the so-called people in the court and understand the ratio of input and output, but he didn't want to observe for a period of time, but this Lao Xuan didn't take his cabinet chief assistant in his eyes at all, and he didn't make any moves, and he was farted and eaten alone.

It seems that if he doesn't give him some color, he doesn't know how powerful he is, just at this time, he heard that Yuanyu, the son of King Liang, married Lao Xuan's daughter, so he thought, this Lao Xuan actually climbed the high branches, no wonder the tone of his speech has changed these days, but it is not like before, low, groveling.

In fact, since Lao Xuan took office, he has been a breeze on his sleeves, and he has devoted himself to the complicated affairs of the Ministry of Rites. Although many people gave him gifts and silver, they were politely declined, after all, he came from a hard life and had long been accustomed to the life of hunger and cold.

In his consciousness, he felt that this rich day was nothing more than eating better, dressing better, no matter how big the palace mansion was, it was just standing in that small place, sleeping on that small bed, it was nothing more than satisfying his vanity, and he would always remember the wise words of Yasheng Mencius in the book, born in sorrow and died in peace. This person can't be too blessed, once he is too superior and too happy, then something is going to happen. He wished he had suffered more. It's contentment, and it's easy to be satisfied.

Of course, Duan Zhe, the first assistant of the cabinet, would not have such an idea as Lao Xuan, he thought that Lao Xuan was insatiable, and the rest of the Shangshu of the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Rites all paid tribute to him from time to time! And they did not dare to get more, and they gave away seventy percent of the silver taels they received, and they only kept three percent of them personally, and the same was true of the former officials of the Ministry of Rites! Why is this Lao Xuan so different? Could it be that King Liang really failed to support him. It seems that if he doesn't give him something powerful, he really doesn't know how high the sky is and how thick the ground is! Thinking of this, Duan Zhe summoned the officials department, the military department, the criminal department, the industry department, and the household department to come to discuss the matter.

Duan Zhe, as the first assistant of the cabinet, is in charge of the six ministries, and it can be said that the power is very huge, except for Lao Xuan of the Ministry of Rites, who does not buy it, the rest of the ministries are still obedient to their words, and they are pointing to where they are fighting.

Duan Zhe lowered his face, "Everyone, I called everyone here today to discuss important matters! What do you think of Master Shang Shuxuan of the Ministry of Rites?"

As soon as these words came out, these Shangshu were full of discussions. What is the reason? These Shangshu have all visited Lao Xuan when he took office, and these people have also prepared heavy gifts to come to Lao Xuan to do things, of course, all for their children and nephews to get fame, and can let the examiners of the Ministry of Rites take care of them, and the exam questions can be revealed in advance, of course, all of this needs Lao Xuan's nod, but Lao Xuan politely declined, and returned the gifts one by one, which really made these colleagues lose face.

In the eyes of these colleagues, this Lao Xuan is like an alternative, doing things in the imperial court, and the sophistication of human feelings still needs to be talked about, and this is convenient for others and for himself, and these six major departments do not exist in isolation, they are all related to each other, and no one will inevitably be useful to anyone. Therefore, these colleagues were already holding back the fire in Lao Xuan's belly, and when they were about to use Lao Xuan to use them, they wanted to give him some color to see.

I never thought that today's cabinet chief assistant Lord Duan recruited them for this matter, listening to Lord Duan's tone of inquiry, it seems that he also has a lot of opinions about this old Xuan!

This household secretary is flexible, and he is familiar with the power of seeing the wind and making the rudder and tending to the flame. The things in front of him, especially the things he can do, are the first to speak: "Master Duan! This old Xuan is too ignorant of lifting! He doesn't buy anyone's account! Let's treat him correctly! At the beginning of his tenure, we were courteous! He gave him enough face, and as a colleague, he can be said to have done his best to the fullest. But what did he do? Relying on the power of this King of Liang, he flaunted his might in this court, was ruthless and unjust, and lived alone! The most infuriating thing was that he only cared about himself and greedy for money. There is no one in his eyes, and it is just a matter of not taking his colleagues in his eyes, and even not even taking our Lord Liang in his eyes, it is really a bit bold to do it! He doesn't have anything to bother me, I have to give him some color when I see the opportunity!"

As soon as these words came out, the scholars of other departments echoed them, and this did speak to Duan Zhe's heart, and among these books, this Qianyi was the most clever. It is also the one he appreciates the most, this person is like a roundworm in his belly, he can guess his thoughts every time, so his face inadvertently shows a very appreciative look.

The other scholars were filled with joy when they saw Lord Duan's expression, and they all said that they wanted to give Lao Xuan some color.

Seeing the attitude of these scholars, Duan Zhe was also very happy, he thought that these scholars would cooperate together, so Ren Laoxuan had great ability, and he couldn't get along in this court.

Lao Xuan is busy with the affairs of the Ministry of Rites day and night, and the preparations for the imperial examination are also in full swing, from the questions, the layout of the examination room, the confirmation of the identity of the candidates for the examination, the arrangement of the seats to the appointment of the examiner, the review of the examination questions, the evaluation of the examination papers, the ranking of the results, the drawing and posting of the list, everything is in detail, and everything is big and small. This expedition requires a lot of manpower, material and financial resources. He spent a few days and nights sorting out a list of belongings, and arranged for someone to report to the household department for review and appropriation of money as soon as possible. However, nearly a month has passed, and there is still no news, Lao Xuan can't help but feel anxious, so he arranges for people to urge repeatedly, but there is still no news, how to arrange the scientific examination if the money is not in place, no matter how well this series of work is planned, there is no money to implement, it is just a bubble.

Lao Xuan's side was so anxious that this household department just didn't allocate silver taels, how could this be good? He suddenly remembered that Shangshu Qianyi of the household department came to him a while ago, and he also prepared a generous gift, intending that his son and nephew could take care of him when they participated in the examination, but Lao Xuan politely refused. Could it be because of that time, the household secretary was offended? Therefore, it affected the allocation of this money, and after suddenly realizing it, Lao Xuan decided to personally visit this household department secretary Qianyi, who was known as the god of wealth of the imperial court.

However, when he arrived at the Shangshu Mansion of the Ministry of Households, the people of the family said that Lord Qian was not there, but in the early days, he could see this God of Wealth, but the Lord Qian was like not seeing Lao Xuan, and chatted with those colleagues hotly, Lao Xuan was cheeky and stepped forward to ask about the preparation of the scientific expedition.

Qianyi is good, but once it passes, Lian Meng bluffed again and said that the money and silver of this household are tight, and there is no money to approve, but without waiting for Lao Xuan to continue to ask, this Qianda just flicked his sleeves and left freely. It's really funny. Clear-eyed people know that the appropriation of those ministries is smooth, but this Ministry of Rites, just like the stepmother's raising, does not even approve half a tael of silver.

Lao Xuan really couldn't withstand the pressure, so he had to find Lord Duan Zheduan, the first assistant of the cabinet, to react to the situation. The preparation funds for this scientific expedition were reported to the Ministry of Rites, and the matter of its delay in appropriation was completely explained to Lord Duan.

Duan Zhe was very surprised and said: "If this is the case, this scientific examination is the most important thing, shouldn't this Qianyi not know its importance? He dares to delay the allocation of funds for the scientific examination? What a bold and reckless act! I will thoroughly investigate this matter, and you go back and listen to my news." ”

After hearing this, Lao Xuan hurriedly bowed down to give a salute, and his heart couldn't help but be extremely happy, he was relieved to have the words of Lord Duan, the first assistant of the cabinet! After all, this scientific examination is the biggest thing in the Ministry of Rites, and it is also the most important thing for the emperor, and the importance of this talent to the country is self-evident, after all, it is related to the future rise and fall and success or failure of the country, so all dynasties and dynasties, the emperor has regarded this scientific examination as the most important event. If the scientific examination is delayed, not only will he not be able to do his job as a scholar of the Ministry of Rites, but whether this life can be saved is another matter. Fortunately, the first assistant of the cabinet attaches great importance to it. This gave him some comfort in his heart.

However, more than ten days have passed, and there is still no news, Lao Xuan is a little flustered, this cabinet chief assistant Lord Duan obviously promised to investigate the matter thoroughly, so many days have passed, why is there still no news? However, after thinking about it, he is the head of the cabinet in charge of the six ministries, and in the past, it was the position of the prime minister, it can be said that there are many opportunities in the day, and the affairs are busy, so he has to allow his lord Duan to take time out to deal with it! My heart became more and more impatient. I waited anxiously for more than ten days.

Lao Xuan realized that something was wrong, something must have gone wrong! He went to the door again to visit Lord Shoufu Duan.

Lord Duan was still calm and abnormal, he was reading in the study, and when he saw Lao Xuan coming in, he also greeted him very warmly: "Lord Xuan! Why are you so free today, come and play chess with me? Last time I lost your game, I have been pregnant for several days! Come on, come on, let's play two more games." ”

Lao Xuan didn't have the heart to play chess with him! He was so anxious that his eyebrows burned, but he had to say politely: "My lord! It's rare for you to have this Yaxing! But today I have something important to react to you!"

Master Duan was as if he was frustrated, "What's so urgent?

"My lord, I'm here today for the last incident! You said you want to investigate thoroughly, I don't know if there will be a result?" Lao Xuan unconsciously showed an anxious expression.