In the Qianqing Palace, Wang Dehua bowed down to Zhu Youzhen, the Son of Heaven, and said: "Holy Lord, the King of Qi put forward the condition that Cui Changwu should be sent to serve as the first assistant of my Ming cabinet, and then he will support the Jiangnan policy of the Son of Heaven and send troops to Jiangnan to deter the crumbs!" ”

"Cui Changwu is the brother-in-law of Li Zhi, the king of Qi."

Hearing this, Zhu Youzhen sat on the chair a little unhappily, his face sinking like water.

Wang Chengen looked at the Son of Heaven, then at Wang Dehua, and said, "Li Zhi is so bold, he wants to control the imperial court!" ”

"If Li Zhi's person is made the head of the cabinet, won't the Son of Heaven have to discuss everything with Li Zhi?"

"This court, isn't it going to be surnamed Li?"

Wang Dehua looked at the face of the Son of Heaven and said: "However, now that the civil officials are collectively disobedient, if they don't rely on the King of Qi, the world will be decided by the civil officials." Rather than letting the civil officials make their own decisions, it is better to consult with the King of Qi. ”

"At least the King of Qi sent only a cabinet chief, the first assistant only has the right to vote, and it is the Son of Heaven who makes the final decision."

The Ming Dynasty governed the world with a cabinet system, and after the pieces of music from all over the country were sent to the imperial court, they first went to the cabinet. The scholars in the cabinet discussed the countermeasures, and finally the first assistant wrote down the cabinet's proposal on a piece of paper and pasted it on the opposite side of each note, and presented it to the Son of Heaven. This procedure is called ticket preparation.

After the Son of Heaven received the vote from the cabinet, if he felt that there was no problem, he asked the eunuch to copy the proposal with a red ink pen as the final decision. Of course, if you feel that the cabinet vote is not good, the Son of Heaven will also write the final decision. This is called batch red.

Therefore, although the cabinet has the right to make suggestions on major affairs in the world, the final decision-making power is still in the hands of the Son of Heaven. As long as the Son of Heaven is diligent and personally reads all the important chapters, the "relative power" of the first assistant of the cabinet is still relatively limited.

Therefore, Wang Dehua thinks that since he has to rely on the power of Li Zhi, the king of Qi, at this time, it is nothing to let Cui Changwu be the first assistant of the cabinet. Even if Cui Changwu put forward various suggestions that were problematic, the Son of Heaven changed it when he approved it.

And as long as the King of Qi supports the Son of Heaven with the Tiger Ben Army, the Son of Heaven will be able to control the entire Ming Dynasty.

Wang Chengen said: "Although the ticket can be changed, it is difficult to accept the hearts of the people in the world!" ”

"The King of Qi is already a big tail, and his local strength has surpassed that of the imperial court. Now that the first assistant of the imperial court has also asked King Qi's people to do it, what will the people of the world think? ”

Wang Chengen bowed to Zhu Youzhen and said: "Let the people of King Qi be the first assistant, the Son of Heaven is not afraid, but the people of the world are afraid." The slave and maid are afraid that the talents of the world will be thrown into the door of the King of Qi like a hundred rivers and seas, and the world will only know the King of Qi at that time, not the court! ”

Zhu Youzhen looked at Wang Chengen and took a breath. Obviously, the Son of Heaven is really worried about this issue.

After all, this is the head of the cabinet, the head of the cabinet who is in charge of the world, not the secretary of the ministry.

Wang Dehua thought for a while and said, "Since the Holy Lord is worried that Li Zhi is too powerful, it is better to discuss with the King of Qi, and the person sent here will not be the first assistant, but the second assistant of the cabinet." ”

"The position of the first assistant will be vacant in the future, and it will not be set up."

According to the rules of the Ming Dynasty, if the first assistant is there, the cabinet will be headed by the first assistant. If the first assistant is absent, the second assistant consul. Therefore, Wang Dehua said that he would no longer appoint the first assistant, and that handing over the position of the second assistant to Cui Changwu was to give Cui Changwu the power of the first assistant, but not to give him the title of the first assistant.

In any case, the authority of the deputy cabinet assistant is still much lower than that of the first assistant. In this way, it can make Li Zhi's power look less dazzling.

Zhu Youzhen thought about it, turned his head to Wang Dehua and asked, "What kind of character is this Cui Changwu?" ”

Wang Dehua arched his hand and said: "Cui Changwu is Li Zhi's brother-in-law, and he is currently the head of the discipline inspection team in Tianjin. I'm said to be a sensible person. ”

"The head of the discipline inspection team?"

"King Qi's discipline inspection team is in charge of discipline and discipline, and it is the same position as the imperial history of the left capital of the Metropolitan Procuratorate."

Zhu Youzhen pondered for a while and said, "It turned out to be an imperial history. ”

After thinking about it, he said: "This matter is very important, and it is not allowed to be sloppy. ”

"Let Cui Changwu come to the capital, I want to meet him in person! to make a decision. ”

####

In the Yining Palace of the Qi Palace, Cui Changwu sat on the chair in front of Cui He and said with a smile: "Sister, don't worry, this is a good thing." ”

Cui He hugged his youngest son Li Rong, touched Li Rong's sideburns, and said: "A good thing is indeed a good thing, but I heard that the rules in the capital are very different from those in Tianjin." Pay attention to your background and seniority, you are just a show talent after all, and the officials in the capital are all old jinshi, I am afraid that you will be excluded by people when you go there. ”

Cui Changwu smiled and said, "Sister, don't worry, although the foolish brother is just a showman, behind the foolish brother is the prince." On this basis, those civil officials also have to come up one by one to scold the foolish brothers. The foolish brother was only worried that he would steal the prestige of the Son of Heaven too hard when he got to the limelight in the capital, but he was not worried that he would be excluded by others. ”

Cui He said: "I'm afraid that you are afraid of you, but there is also rejection of you in my heart." I'm afraid that at the critical moment, those civil officials will stumble on you. ”

Cui Changwu thought for a while and said, "Sister, don't worry, the foolish brother will be careful." ”

Cui He thought for a while, and then said, "Brother, you didn't go to the court this time to shake your majesty. You must conform to the will of the Son of Heaven in everything, and you can't target the Son of Heaven everywhere for the benefit of Tianjin. ”

"Over the years, your brother-in-law has made steady progress and developed Tianjin's business into such a large town and nine provinces, and now even Nanyang has been defeated. The only thing my sister has been worried about over the years is the relationship between Tianjin and the imperial court. ”

"This king with a different surname is unseemly after all. Your brother-in-law can sit still today, but I don't know if my son Li Huan can sit still. ”

"Your brother-in-law is a star descending from the earth, and people everywhere are turned against him. When he was there, all the people of the world were looking towards him, and he was naturally carefree. However, if he is gone, will the imperial court make a comeback and abolish Tianjin? Will you hate the Li family's arrogance? Will they hunt down our mother and son? What I'm worried about every day is whether your brother-in-law will be able to maintain the hearts of people in Tianjin after a hundred years. ”

"So when you go to the court this time, you have to give more benefits to the ministers in the court, respect the Son of Heaven more, and make the court look decent. If you can establish some foundations in the court and win over some ministers to follow you sincerely, your nephew will be regarded as someone in the court after inheriting the throne in the future, and it will be a great help! ”

"When the time comes, Tianjin will have the help of his uncle Li Xing internally, and the support of your uncle externally, and Li Huan, a different surname who does not fit the Ming system, will be able to sit on the throne."

"Otherwise, when the people's hearts are scattered, they will all go to the Son of Heaven, and Tianjin will collapse."

Cui Changwu looked at Cui He, and felt that although his sister didn't care about anything on weekdays, she even looked a little confused, but she was actually a person who understood big things.

On weekdays, I don't care about anything because I don't have to worry about it, it's because Li Zhi has already done things well. But for key things, my sister is as careful as a hair.

Cui Changwu arched his hand and said: "Sister, don't worry, Cui Changwu took Tianjin's resources to the capital this time, and he must break out for his brother-in-law and Li Huan." ”