In order to check and balance the power of the prime minister, the Great Xia State did not set up a separate post of prime minister, but set up an upper study, with a total of five ministers. These five people have prominent status, two of them are from the first rank, and the remaining three people are from the official position of the second grade. Such an official position can already stand proudly as all the officials of the entire Great Xia Kingdom. Further up is the Taishi, the national teacher and other Zhengyipin positions, such official positions only exist in the directory of officials, except for the founding emperor appointed one or two such officials, the later emperors have never appointed such official positions. Therefore, several ministers of the study room became the highest-ranking officials in the Great Xia Kingdom. The reason why the emperor set up the study to act as the prime minister was actually because he was afraid that the prime minister's power would be too great and pose a threat to the imperial power. In this way, it is difficult for the prime minister to have too much power and threaten the imperial power.

On weekdays, the five ministers of the upper study are in charge of their own stalls, and manage the six ministries for the emperor and some yamen of the imperial court, and the daily government affairs and some unimportant matters are handled by several ministers of the upper study through consultation. If something important is encountered, several ministers of the upper study will first come up with a few opinions on how to handle it, and then hand it over to the emperor for a final decision. If he encountered particularly difficult matters, such as diplomatic and foreign conquests and major internal problems, the emperor would also meet with these five ministers to discuss solutions. Therefore, the five ministers of the Great Xia Kingdom are also called prime ministers by many officials, but these five people share the power of the prime minister.

Although the status of the five Shang scholars is not as high as that of the prince and the prince of the county, they are high and powerful, so in front of the emperor Xia Qingtian, what they say is still very weighty, and the opinions or suggestions they put forward are often adopted by the emperor, even if they are not adopted, they will also be valued by the emperor.

Xie Hang is one of the five ministers of Shang Shufang, who is in charge of the Ministry of Officials and controls the evaluation, appointment and dismissal of officials across the country. Xia Muyan's uncle Xia Ziran is related to Xie Hang. Xia Ziran's mother and Xie Hang are cousins and brothers of her aunt, Xie Hang is Xia Ziran's cousin, of course Xie Hang will do his best to help Xia Ziran. If Xia Ziran's elder brother Xia Zicheng can be overthrown, then Xia Ziran will have a chance to take over the position of county king, and he will have a better chance to take over his father's position as prince in the future, so that Xie Hang's weight in the court will be even heavier.

After Xie Hang said that Xia Muyan would not be allowed to serve as the king of the county for the time being, Xia Qingtian nodded and said: "What the Xie Qing family said is reasonable, although Mu Yan has made great contributions this time and retrieved this treasure for me, but among the younger generation of many royal family members, there are also many people who have fought bloody battles in the border pass all the year round and have military exploits. Zicheng, what do you think of this? I will keep the position of the king of the county for him for the time being, and I will not give him the title first, and when he is a little older, and then make new contributions, it will be a matter of course, and I will naturally give him the position of the king of the county. I also did this to train him well, and in the future, I can be entrusted with important tasks, can you understand my hard work?"

Even though Xia Zicheng had a thousand and ten thousand unwillingness in his heart, His Majesty the Emperor had already said it to this point, and if they said anything else, it would be disrespectful.

Xia Zicheng had no choice but to kneel on the ground, pretending to smile and said, "Your Majesty's kindness, our father and son will never forget." ”

Then Xia Qingtian said: "Mu Yan has made a great contribution this time, I still have to reward him well, come here, take 50,000 taels of gold from the inner treasury and give it to Xia Muyan, in addition, I also want him to have a good experience, Xie Qing's family, is there any vacancy in the court, give Xia Muyan an official position, let him have a good experience." ”

Xie Hang was afraid that Xia Zicheng's family would gain power, so he said: "Your Majesty, now the six departments of the imperial court are overcrowded, and there are not many vacancies. There is a position that is now vacant for him to go, and this position is also perfect for him to do. ”

Xia Qingtian said: "Oh, what is the seat, you tell me, if it is suitable, I will make an order." ”

Xie Hang said: "Your Majesty, the Honglu Division of the Ministry of Rites is now lacking a director, and you can let Xia Gongzi take this position." ”

Hearing that Xie Xuan wanted his son to go to the Honglu Division of the Ministry of Rites to be the director, Xia Zicheng was so angry that he almost didn't vomit blood, as we all know, the Honglu Division of the Ministry of Rites is the Qingshui Yamen in the Qingshui Yamen, and when the ancestor worship ceremony is held every five years, the Honglu Division is busy with the affairs of the festival, and he is busy with this matter, and there is not even a in this yamen for several years. Although nominally, the reception of important envoys from foreign countries was also under the control of Honglu Division, but except for the foreign kings who came here and needed a grand reception ceremony, the rest of the foreign officials were received by the Protocol Department of the Ministry of Rites after they came to the Xia Kingdom, and the Protocol Department took over most of the functions and powers of the Honglu Division, so the current Honglu Division has become a very quiet place.

Listening to Xie Xuan's words, Xia Qingtian shook his head and said, "What is there to do in that place of Honglu Division? How can he train people? No, no, no, he must not be allowed to go to that kind of place." In my opinion, it is better to let him go to a busy place to experience the experience, and let him go to the Wenxuan Division of the Ministry of Officials to be Langzhong. ”

The Department of Literature and Selection of Officials is a department with great power under the Ministry of Officials, which is responsible for the promotion and transfer of officials in the imperial court, and the promotion, appointment and dismissal of officials below the fourth grade, such as the prefect, the prefecture and smaller officials such as the county order, are directly responsible for the promotion and dismissal of officials such as the Ministry of Officials. The promotion, appointment and dismissal of officials above the fourth rank are decided by several ministers of the upper study and reported to the emperor for approval. Although the official positions of officials below the fourth grade are not high, they are numerous, so the Literature and Selection Department of the Ministry of Officials is a fat difference among the various yamen, and many officials below have to tie up with the Literature and Selection Department of the Ministry of Officials in order to seek a good position. Even if it is an official of the fourth grade or above, it is easy not to offend the Anthology Division, because when the Minister of the Upper Study wants to inspect a certain official, the official's file and related materials are provided by the Anthology Division. This will directly affect the promotion of this official. Xie Hang, the minister of the upper study, was in charge of the Ministry of Officials, and the chief official of the Ministry of Officials, Wen Xuan Shilang, was also Xie Hang's cronies. So when he heard that His Majesty the Emperor was going to install people here, Xie Hang immediately shook his head and said: "Your Majesty, there is no shortage of manpower in the Wenxuan Division of the Ministry of Officials now, and the current Lang Zhong is an upright person, has always been conscientious, and there has never been any omission. ”

Seeing Xie Hang's opposition to him, Xia Qingtian thought to himself: "I've let you manage the ministry for a few years, and now the ministry is about to become your family." You don't want me to arrange people there, but I want to arrange a Leng Touqing who doesn't know anything there, and stir up and make peace for you. ”