After a round of cold noise, the officials began to sit down one after another.

In addition to the three Shangshu of the Ministry of Industry, the Shangshu of the Ministry of Officials, and the Shangshu of the Ministry of Households, there were also other bigwigs of the DPRK and China, such as the Guozi Priest Wine, the Bachelor of the Hanlin Academy, the General Political Envoy, and the Pingzhang Political Affairs.

If you add the three major Shangshu of the Criminal Department, the Ministry of Rites, and the Ministry of War, the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and the officials of the five temples of Dali Temple, Taichang Temple, Guanglu Temple, Taifu Temple, and Honglu Temple, it is a small court meeting.

But they all knew that these people would not come.

First of all, Yao Jingjun, the secretary of the Criminal Department, is a staunch royalist, and he is most afraid of taking the name of forming a party for personal gain, so he will not easily participate in this kind of civil official gathering.

Although Feng Youming, the new secretary of the Ministry of Rites, is not a royalist, he is an old fritter who is about to return to his hometown, and everything is based on stability, so naturally he will not get involved.

The military department Shangshu has an ambiguous relationship with the second prince, and he should not want to be involved with them, civil officials who generally support the inheritance system of the eldest prince, so as not to cause dissatisfaction among the second prince.

And the Metropolitan Procuratorate itself has the authority to supervise hundreds of officials, and in order to avoid suspicion, it is naturally not suitable to have too close contacts with other officials.

As for the five temples of Dali Temple, Taichang Temple, Guanglu Temple, Taifu Temple, and Honglu Temple, they belong to the departments directly controlled by the saints. Even if these people dared to come, they would not dare to receive them easily.

This time, so many of them gathered together not to drink tea and chat, but to discuss the formation of a cabinet that everyone was most concerned about.

After a few people sat down, Master Zhang, the priest of the country, asked directly to the point, "Gong Yan, you have the most seniority and the most extensive knowledge here, what do you think about the matter of forming a cabinet?" ”

As soon as these words came out, everyone immediately looked at Lord Shang Shuyan, who was sitting in a precarious position, and wanted to hear his opinion.

Lord Shangshu Yan of the Ministry of Officials pondered for a moment, and then said, "As far as the old man is concerned, he is not in favor of forming a cabinet, because there are too many variables in it. But whether we approve of it or not, the matter is a foregone conclusion, and we can only wait for the outcome. ”

Lord Hubu Shangshu Xu smiled and said, "I am contrary to Yan Gong's opinion, I support the formation of a cabinet."

Indeed, the matter of forming a cabinet is very important, and there are too many variables. But there are disadvantages and advantages in everything, and once the cabinet is formed, it will become the easiest place to speak to the saints. ”

"Although Lord Xu has a point, I'm afraid that the people who enter the cabinet don't think so, but have other plans."

Lord Xu said very calmly: "Lord Zhang is too worried. In the previous dynasty, since the establishment of the cabinet by Liang Suzong, all the people who served as university scholars were civil officials from the two ranks. Even if people from other backgrounds occasionally join, it is only a very small number of sandalwood flowers.

I don't dare to say that the cabinet formed by the Holy Lord this time is also dominated by civilian officials, but one or two places should not be able to run away. ”

This statement is agreed by most people. The reason why they did not oppose the formation of a cabinet in the court was actually due to this consideration.

After all, they are all members of the imperial court who are above the third rank, so of course they want to take this opportunity to go further.

Wang Haichao, the general envoy, asked, "Do you have a clue about the cabinet candidates, Lord Xu?" ”

Master Xu smiled and said, "The mind of the saint, how can we and other laymen guess it." However, according to the example of the previous dynasty, most of the cabinet scholars will elect one person from the six ministries to serve as such, and it depends on whether the Holy Lord will follow this practice. ”

Lord Pingzhang agreed, "What Yan Gong said is very reasonable, one of the places may indeed appear in the six departments.

If any of the three of us are elected, that's a good thing. Even if it weren't us, it would be good if this place fell to Lord Yao, the Shangshu of the Criminal Department, and it would be considered a good loss.

I'm afraid that it will fall on the head of Lord Shang Shumin of the Ministry of War, and it will be more troublesome. ”

Although he didn't say exactly what the trouble was, everyone understood it.

The reason why they are so concerned about this matter is because the cabinet is so powerful that it can completely suppress the six ministries.

Especially at this sensitive moment when the rivalry between the two princes is at its most intense, the sudden formation of a cabinet is likely to play a crucial role in the future succession to the throne.

To put it mildly, in case the emperor dies suddenly at this time, in the absence of a decree to pass on the throne, the ownership of the throne will often be influenced or even manipulated by the cabinet, which is why they attach so much importance to this matter.

Master Sheng deliberately pretended to be a little worried, and said, "According to the usual practice, one of the three scholars in the cabinet will be elected as the first assistant, and this is the most critical position. If the Holy Lord insists on letting someone who supports the second prince serve as the first assistant, that is the most headache. ”

As soon as these words came out, the atmosphere suddenly froze, and the others immediately looked at Lord Zhang, the priest of the country, intentionally or unintentionally.

Sure enough, Master Zhang frowned, and his expression looked a little solemn.

The people here are all people who have been in the officialdom for a long time, and they naturally know that Sheng Daren has ulterior motives when he says this.

Although they are all civil officials who support the succession of the eldest prince, Lord Zhang is a little different.

He was not so much in favor of the eldest prince as in favor of the eldest succession system.

The primogeniture system is one of the core systems that maintain the patriarchal system, which has been extended for thousands of years and is a clan ritual law recognized by everyone.

This is especially true for the vast majority of readers.

And Mr. Zhang, as an orthodox civil official from the two lists, and a protégé who is a national prince priest all over the world, is naturally a firm supporter of the inheritance system of the elder.

If the identities of the eldest prince and the second prince are reversed, he will definitely support the second prince instead.

It can be said that he is not supporting a certain person, but the system itself.

In fact, Lord Zhang didn't want others to see them as the Great Prince.

But a lot of things can't be explained by trying to explain. As long as he still supports the eldest succession system, others will naturally regard him as the person of the great prince.

Shanda deliberately said such things on such an occasion, which was actually more of a temptation and co-optation.

Seeing Lord Zhang's reaction, Lord Hubu Shangshu Xu couldn't help but sneer in his heart.

If you really want to help each other, you should learn from Master Yao, the secretary of the Criminal Department, or Feng Youming, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, and don't get involved from the beginning.

Now, it's not something he can get rid of if he wants to.

At this moment when the atmosphere was a little solemn, Master Dong, the secretary of the Ministry of Works, who had not spoken up, smiled and said, "Are we considered to be unfounded?" People haven't settled down, and you're starting to worry about this, worrying about that. ”

Lord Hubu Shangshu Xu also smiled and said, "Sure enough, if you care, it's chaotic, I can't imagine that I'm also in love." Master Dong is right, we are really a little worried. ”

Others also chimed in and played the round, allowing the atmosphere to gradually recover.

Five days later, in the early pilgrimage, the Holy Lord announced the list of cabinet members, namely Master Yao of the Criminal Department, Lord Min of the Ministry of War, and Lord Yan of the Ministry of Officials, and announced that there would be no first assistant for the time being, and the three of them would have equal status.

As soon as this list was announced, it immediately caused a lot of speculation among everyone.

……………………

Soon, the list and news of the formation of the cabinet were rushed to various places by various forces, including the northwest, which was engaged in epidemic prevention work.

After seeing that Master Yao, the secretary of the Criminal Department, was on the list, Ning Zhiyuan laughed and said, "Old Yao is proud this time, and he suddenly became a cabinet bachelor." The old fellow must have been so happy that he couldn't even sleep. ”

After speaking, he turned his hand and handed the urgent report to his little son-in-law.

After Chi Fei finished reading it, he asked, "Father-in-law, what does this chess move mean?" ”

Ning Zhiyuan smiled and said, "Only the Holy Lord himself knows." However, judging from this list, it should be to balance the forces on both sides of the eldest prince and the second prince.

Lao Yao won't talk about it, he is a royalist like me, and the two don't help each other.

Lord Shangshu Min of the Ministry of War is himself from a noble background, and he has a close relationship with the second prince, so he can be regarded as a person over there.

As for the Ministry of Officials, Lord Shangyan is a representative of the civil officials, and he is considered to be the person of the great prince.

There was one person on each side of the cabinet, and this time Lao Yao had a headache. ”

Chi Fei thought for a while before he understood what his father-in-law meant.

Now there are three people in the cabinet, one is the eldest prince's person, and the other is the second prince's person, if the two sides have opposite opinions, then Yao Shangshu's opinion as a third party is very important.

If his opinions are often consistent with those of Lord Shang Shuyan, it will give people the impression that he also supports the eldest prince. Vice versa.

Sometimes officialdom is like this, saying that it is right about things and not about people, but often which side of the political opinion is supported, it will be considered by others to be the person on that side, and it is impossible to wash it if you want to.

However, with Yao Shangshu's shrewdness, there will naturally be a way to deal with it, and Chi Fei is not too worried about this.

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