Chapter 308: Interrupted Transaction (Part II)

Faced with Wang Xijue's request, Shen Shixing was not very angry. On the one hand, it is because he has a soft personality and knows how to compromise, and on the other hand, at this time, Wang Xijue can face to face with the carriage and horses, at least honestly, which is better than performing intrigues behind his back.

In political life, it is normal to negotiate a deal, and it is very immature to tear your face just because the other party wants something. In Shen Shoufu's concept, only a young man like Fan Hongdao would do such a thing.

Wang Xijue and Shen Shixing are more compatible in official business, and the relationship has always been good, but he also has his own considerations. He is not Shen Shixing's henchman, he is not Shen Shixing's old protégé, and there is no reason to support Shen Shixing unconditionally forever.

In the current situation, Wang Xijue can't see any benefit to him at all in supporting Shen Shixing, and he will even be damaged by supporting Shen Shixing, so Shen Shixing must come up with some chips in exchange for his support. After thinking about it again, Wang Xijue's choice of bargaining chip was the "Ministry of Justice".

Shen Shixing didn't give an immediate reply, picked up the tea and took a few sips, silently sorting out his thoughts. The current situation is that he, the first assistant, is facing two forces joining forces, the Qingliu force based on the Kedao Yanguan, and the Hongren Jinxing force led by Li Zhi.

And the celebrity Li Zhi wanted to recommend the teacher Wang Xijue as the spokesperson to impact the position of the first assistant, but Wang Xijue didn't seem to be too willing to act as the "leading brother" of the Jinxing forces, so he found himself and asked for an exchange of interests, and replaced Yang Wei with Wu Shi as the secretary of the ministry.

As long as he agrees to Wang Xijue's request, he will gain Wang Xijue's support, avoid the situation of being attacked by the enemy, and concentrate on dealing with the siege of the Kedao Qingliu forces. What is lost is the control of the ministry, and the rise of another power in the cabinet in the future.

It is difficult to measure between gains and losses, and it is difficult for Shen Shixing to make a choice for a while, but this does not prevent Shen Shoufu from bargaining with Wang Xijue. Sometimes, bargaining in a negotiation is not necessarily about getting a result, but rather a process of testing at the wrong time. In this process, you can gradually refine your ideas and make final decisions.

In this sense, the cabinet boss is no different from the market vendor. The two of them immediately said a word, and finally the focus of the negotiations was on the arrival of Wu Shi, the imperial capital of Zuodu.

Wang Xijue proposed that Wu Shilai replace Yang Wei as the secretary of the ministry with the most real power, and Shen Shixing said: "I can let Yang Wei retire and discuss with you the replacement candidate, but Wu Shi is not allowed to come to be the secretary of the ministry." ”

Wang Xijue thought about it for a while, Yang Wei was Shen Shixing's pawn, and Shen Shixing's agreement to let Yang Wei leave his post and retire was equivalent to giving up his exclusive control over the Ministry of Officials, and agreeing to discuss with him the future candidates for the Ministry of Officials, which was to give himself some right to speak.

But this is not enough, if Wang Xijue wants more, he must promote Wu Shilai to replace the official Shangshu, rather than choosing another person, so he still insists on directly promoting Wu Shilai to the throne.

"Anyone can do it, but Wu Shilai can't!" Shen Shixing was very tough on this point.

As we all know, Wu Shilai has always been a fellow party on Shen Shoufu's side, but this time he joined forces with Wang Xijue in private, which is tantamount to betraying Shen Shoufu. Therefore, Shen Shoufu must be seen by others, and turning his back on himself will not lead to good results, or in other words, he can't let others see it, and he can go to the next level by turning his back on himself.

And if you think about it more deeply, if Wu Shilai, as a betrayer, is in charge of the ministry, he will be the worst candidate for Shen Shoufu. Very simple reason, the traitor treats his own people the most ruthlessly, after Wu Shilai took charge of the Ministry of Officials, out of various concerns, he absolutely wanted to exclude Shen Shoufu's influence on the Ministry of Officials, and at the same time he must continue to maintain a close alliance with Wang Xijue.

After a few rounds of talks, the two giants of the cabinet could not reach an agreement on the issue of Wu Shilai, and Wang Xijue did not expect Shen Shixing to be so stubborn in this place, and said a little uncomfortably: "At this time of crisis, entangled in such details, can you sit firmly in Diaoyutai? Don't forget that Wu Shilai is now the imperial history of the left capital, and he can slightly restrain the speech official and help your Excellency solve the predicament." ”

Wang Xijue's words are a bit threatening, Wu Shilai is the imperial history of the left capital, if Shen Shixing nods his head and agrees, Wu Shilai can help contain the Kedao forces and reduce the pressure on Shen Shixing.

Shen Shixing is also quite helpless, his shortcomings are here.

He was born in the first place, and he was the most noble Hanlin Academy at the beginning, and then he took the top-level route of the Hanyuan Fang Bureau all the way to the promotion, and entered the cabinet as the emperor's teacher, which is the most coveted promotion route for all Ming literati. After a few years of hard work, Shen Shixing caught up with the fall of Zhang Juzheng and Zhang Siwei's accident, and the position of first assistant fell to his head effortlessly, only in his early fifties at this time, and he was actually young in the cabinet.

Therefore, throughout Shen Shixing's officialdom career, he has been taking the top-level route, and his official position has been promoted extremely quickly, which is his luck and his misfortune. The biggest misfortune is the lack of middle-level network accumulation, or more bluntly, the lack of thugs who charge into battle.

To take the simplest example, when encountering the siege of Kedao Qingliu or Li Zhihong's forces, it is difficult for Shen Shixing to find enough manpower to form a counterattack. Can't the dignified Shoufu lead a few Shangshu squires into battle shirtless, and fight and quarrel with a group of five, six, or seven-grade officials?

Wang Xijue is Li Zhi's teacher, these celebrities are fortunate to sell Wang Xijue's face, Wu Shilai is the imperial history of the left capital, and he also has a certain influence on the imperial history of Yanguan, but Shen Shixing lacks this. That's why Wu Shilai joined forces with Wang Xijue and took the opportunity to seek his own interests.

So Shen Shoufu fell silent again, where is his point of strength?

At this moment, someone from the middle school suddenly reported outside the door: "Dengwen has heard that the drum has sounded, and the drum officer has sent the pleading!"

It is said that since the beating of the drums is called the sue of the emperor, theoretically the case should be directly reported to the Son of Heaven, but in practice, this is obviously unlikely, where can the Ninth Five-Year Emperor manage so many idle affairs? And the role of the cabinet is reflected here.

The main function of the cabinet is to help the Son of Heaven read the recitals and draft the decrees, so the relevant documents of the drumming will also be submitted to the cabinet, just like the recitals of the ministers, but the urgency is slightly higher.

Shen Shixing temporarily interrupted the negotiation with Wang Xijue, took the paperwork and asked, "Who is the drummer?"

The Zhongshu Sheren replied truthfully: "I heard that it is called Fan Hongdao!"

When Shen Shixing heard this name, his hand holding the document couldn't help but tremble. He steadied his mind, hurriedly opened the paperwork and read it, and then he could finally determine that this Fan Hongdao was that Fan Hongdao.

Is this person going to die again and again! Shen Shixing, who was not happy, was suddenly angry, he was still very optimistic about Fan Hongdao in his heart, otherwise he would not have supported Fan Hongdao to be the acting chief bookkeeper for exercise, but he didn't expect Fan Hongdao to have the courage to do such a big thing in front of a ground official who was smaller than a sesame seed.

Is there any mistake, beating the drum as an official is simply hopeless! Shen Shixing had the urge to call Fan Hongdao in front of him and scold him.