The hall was silent, until the twenty rods were over, Gou Yushi was dragged far away, and some people felt chills on their bodies.

After a while, Emperor Wanli asked again: "Ladies and gentlemen, do you know what you think of Zhong Aiqing?" ”

It is estimated that all the ministers in the field have the same voice at this time: What else can we think, your mind is so obvious, who dares to brush your mind? Everyone said in unison: "The emperor is sage! ”

"Since that's the case, let's do it according to Xing Shangshu's opinion!" The emperor made the final decision, "Retreat from the dynasty!" ”

"Retreat from the ......" With the eunuch's characteristic shrill voice, the ministers finally breathed a sigh of relief. After sending the emperor to get up and leave, everyone also left in groups in twos and threes, but when they passed by Zhong Nan, who was at the end of the line, they all greeted each other with fists.

No matter when, after the meeting was dismissed, the big guy left first, and the junior officials stayed behind, from Shoufu Shen Shixing to all the Shangshudu and Zhong Nan nodded as polite. Even Cao Weiying, who folded a general, did enough to save face and deliberately said a word to Zhong Nan.

For everyone who greeted him, Zhong Nan responded politely, whether they were true or fake, he had to continue. Xing Jue stayed at the end because he had to wait for Zhong Nan to return to the military department together. When the two of them walked together, Zhong Nan deliberately retreated half a position, Xing Jue was keenly aware of it, and he smiled heartily, "You and I will work together in the military department in the future, so you don't need to be so polite!" ”

"Lord Shangshu is both my boss and my elder, and the etiquette that should be there is still to be done." What Zhong Nan said is the truth, although Xing Jue is younger than the old men in the cabinet, he is still in his early fifties, and he doesn't want to be an elder!

"Hahaha, I can't even refute what you say." Xing Jue doesn't seem to be too dull and pedantic.

After walking for a while, Zhong Nan saw that there were no other ministers around, so he stopped and thanked him, "Thank you, Lord Shangshu, for speaking up for me just now!" ”

"It's easy to say, and I'm just talking about things." Xing Jue waved his hand, and then said, "Don't be too outside, if you don't dislike me as an elder, I will call you by the word in the future, how about it?" ”

Zhong Nan was shocked, and said in his heart: Are you going to pull me into his camp so soon, but I haven't figured out the details of you yet. Xing Jue saw that Zhong Nan was hesitating, and immediately explained: "Don't be careful, didn't you say just now that I am your elder, it's okay for an elder to call your cousin, right?" ”

Don't underestimate this title, in ancient officialdom, the different titles of superiors to subordinates had different meanings. Only between superiors and subordinates who have a strong relationship, the superior will call the words of the subordinate; Or between superiors and subordinates in the same camp, in order to show closeness, superiors can also call subordinates. There is also the same level or close to the level of people, as long as it is not a hostile camp or a grudge, they will also call each other's words.

As for the name, it is rarely mentioned in ordinary interpersonal interactions, because everyone thinks that it is a naked contempt and enmity. Except for the emperor or his parents and elders who can call him by his name, if others do this, the other party will definitely treat it as a great shame and fight with you endlessly.

Therefore, in ancient times, officials in their daily interactions, for those who had an average relationship, they were mostly commensurate with the other party's position. Of course, if the other party is a teacher or an elder or something, you can also call your word, Xing Jue's explanation just now is that he is afraid that Zhong Nan will misunderstand.

Zhong Nan was not disgusted by Xing Jue's behavior to show his closeness, and he didn't think there was anything wrong, so he arched his hand and said: "Since Lord Shangshu is so loving, Zichu is ashamed." ”

Zichu was the word that Zhong Nan had given himself in the original time and space, and the time was urgent, so he had to use it first. In fact, the ancients were very particular about the characters, most of the men were at the age of 20 and the crown, and they were taken by their parents and teachers; There are also people who are looking for advanced knowledge to take it, provided that the other party is willing, because the word is more or less inherited. As for women, most of them are taken when they get married.

With this one just now, the relationship between the two is closer. Returning to the office of the Ministry of War, after Zhong Nan completed the registration procedures, he was officially inaugurated.

Now the main officials of the Ministry of War, in addition to Shangshu Xing Jue, Song Yingchang, the left attendant, and Zhong Nan, the right attendant, there are eight Lang Zhong of the four subordinate divisions. After Xing Jue introduced Zhong Nan one by one, he took his deputy to his office, apparently to discuss something with Zhong Nan.

Sure enough, Xing Jue got straight to the point.

"Zichu, do you know that the position of the chief soldier of Jizhou is still vacant?"

"I know this, but it's just a candidate at the level of the general soldier, so it shouldn't be my turn to express my opinion, right?" Zhong Nan told the truth.

"It stands to reason that the cabinet should decide on the candidates in conjunction with the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Officials, and then report to the emperor. It's just that you, as the former general soldier of Jizhou, can naturally also put forward opinions, and I estimate that the emperor will definitely give more consideration to the candidate you recommend. ”

Zhong Nan doesn't want to get involved in this kind of big thing for the time being, a general soldier of Jizhou, at least a member of the court of Sanpin, has a shallow foundation, and it is the right way not to make enemies for this.

"Lord Shangshu, I haven't thought of a suitable candidate for the time being, do you have a recommendation in mind?" Zhong Nan planned to probe the wind first.

"You also know that I was only promoted to the secretary of the military department, and I am not very familiar with many frontier generals. However, I heard that Shi Changting, the deputy chief soldier of Shandong, is a person who is both civil and military, I don't know what Zichu thinks? ”

Zhong Nan didn't believe that Xing Jue didn't know that he had been a soldier under Shi Changting, but what did he mean by recommending Shi Changting?

Give yourself a favor? But Zhong Nan felt that his face was not so big.

Could it be because Shi Changting is from the same camp as Xing Jue?

Or is there something else? Zhong Nan doesn't know. He paused for a moment before replying, "I used to be an errand boy under Deputy Chief Shi, and at that time I thought he was quite talented. ”

"We all know that Deputy Chief Shi used to be your boss, so I think it might be more appropriate for you to be the recommender." Xing Jue explained.

However, Zhong Nan was not convinced by this explanation, and he politely refused the request of his boss. Xing Jue was not surprised by this, he patted Zhong Nan on the shoulder, and said in a sincere tone: "Zichu, Enci does have a good relationship with me, but I have just been promoted to Shangshu, if I promote someone from my own family again, I will be gossiped about by others." However, if you had proposed this candidate, and because you had served as a soldier under Enci, I believe they would have nothing to say. ”

The words of grace are Shi Changting's words, and Xing Jue gave the truth so bluntly, which made Zhong Nan a little difficult for a while. To be honest, Zhong Nan had a good impression of Shi Changting, and he also felt that it was a good choice for him to take over as the chief soldier of Jizhou, but he just wanted to let himself be this "rising bird", and he always felt that he was calculated.

After thinking about it for a while, Zhong Nan asked: "I don't know what other candidates there are besides Deputy Chief Shi?" ”

"The other candidates are not to be worried, that is, Qiu Wu, the deputy chief soldier of Henan, is the person nominated by the cabinet Wang Ge, and the energy behind him should not be underestimated!" The Wang Ge mentioned by Xing Jue is Wang Jiaping, another bachelor surnamed Wang in the cabinet, although it is only a "group auxiliary", but the energy of the other party should not be small. In addition, the name Qiu Wu seems to be a little familiar.

"This Qiu Wu ......" Zhong Nan was about to ask, and Xing Jue immediately solved the mystery.

"It was Qiu Wu, the deputy commander-in-chief of Shandong when you were a guerrilla in Dongchang at the beginning of the year, and he was later transferred to Henan, and he was still serving as the deputy commander-in-chief."

Zhong Nan suddenly felt that this world was too small, and all he heard recently were the names of old people, but for himself, this Qiu Wu was different from Shi Changting. Although Qiu Wu has no direct relationship with himself, Zhong Nan beat a Huang Gongzi in Dongchang, and Huang Zhiqiang, the son of Huang Gongzi, is Qiu Wu's friend, and it seems that there is still a bit of a relationship with relatives. It is estimated that this Qiu Wu should not have a good impression of him, if he is allowed to take over as the chief soldier of Jizhou, I don't know if it will have an impact on Liu Hu and other subordinates.

Xing Jue didn't disturb Zhong Nan's thinking, although he very much hoped that Shi Changting could take over the post of Jizhou's commander-in-chief, but it was not to the extent that it was necessary. I just feel that this opportunity is rare, if I don't fight for it, Shi Changting will not be easy to explain.

After thinking about the stakes in the middle, Zhong Nan still couldn't make up his mind. It's not that I'm afraid of offending Qiu Wu and Wang Jiaping and others, but I'm worried that my recommendation won't have much effect; If Shi Changting was recommended, but he didn't get the position of Jizhou General in the end, wouldn't he have offended many people in vain?

In the officialdom, Zhong Nan doesn't care about offending others, he just has to take some corresponding benefits, don't do something like "the mutton is not eaten, but it will cause a commotion", it will be too much to lose. Fortunately, the matter will not be settled in a day or two, and he still has time to think about it.

Zhong Nan replied to Xing Jue that he would consider it again, and Lord Shangshu was not dissatisfied. Although Xing Jue is a superior, judging from the age and favor of the two, Zhong Nan's future should be brighter. In case Zhong Nan enters the cabinet to pay homage to him one day, maybe Xing Jue will have to rely on the other party, so there is naturally no need to rely on the old and sell the old at the moment.

Back at the residence, Zhong Nan settled down and thought about things, he didn't want to know, and he was really taken aback when he thought about it carefully. At this time, he realized that after he entered Beijing to take up his post, there were not many "legacy problems" left behind. In addition to the successor of the Jizhou General Army, there is also the issue of the ownership of the "Zhong Family Army", and he cannot ignore Liu Hu, Jing Tianchu and other subordinates.

These big and small problems, it is impossible not to solve them, but no matter which problem, Zhong Nan feels that it is difficult for him to influence the final decision. But if you can't even deal with these problems, I'm afraid that not many people will be willing to do things for themselves in the future, right?