Fang Yuan ordered Zhu Cihuan to propose cabinet candidates, first, to test Zhu Cihuan's true thoughts; First, because there are indeed several cabinet members, there is no suitable candidate for the position of Shangshu; The third is that Zhu Cihuan is the prince of Jianguo after all, and if there is no one in the cabinet, it will cause him doubts, and there will be crusades from public opinion.

Zhu Cihuan thought for a while and said, "Gao Changshi has always served as the appointment and dismissal, examination, promotion, and transfer of officials in Nanjing, and it is most suitable for him to be the secretary of the ministry." ”

Because the officials have the power to promote officials, they are the heads of the six departments. For such an important position, how could Fang Yuan appoint an outsider who had a heart for the imperial court and had an old relationship with the Donglin Party? In case Gao Hongtu quietly, forming gangs and supporting party members, the entire officialdom will fall into chaos.

Zhu Cihuan made this suggestion, obviously wanting to install his own people in the cabinet and the six ministries, but there was no one to use, so he wanted to support Gao Hongtu, who was not close.

"King Wu Yue's move, this is too short-sighted!"

Fang Yuan sighed secretly, causing outsiders such as Gao Hongtu and Jiang Yueguang to retreat, and then said lightly, "Elder Wang Ge of the cabinet took the lead in supporting us, and his loyalty is commendable. Over the years, he has worked hard and made great achievements, and he is the first civil official. Wang Bingjian was the first assistant to the cabinet, and then concurrently served as the secretary of the ministry. ”

Fang Yuan personally designated Wang Bingjian as the first assistant of the cabinet and the secretary of the ministry, Zhu Cihuan had nothing to say, so he could only approve the appointment and dismissal, and said, "Jiang Zhan was the Zhan Shi of the Nanjing Hanlin Academy before, in charge of the imperial examination in Nanjing, and is familiar with etiquette such as the code system, so he can be appointed as the secretary of the Ministry of Rites." ”

Before the imperial examination in the Ming Dynasty, there was generally a tradition of apprenticeship and recruiting students. The purpose is to form a teacher-student pair in advance, and then in the imperial examination, the teacher can give students cheats and help students in high school, forming a strong 'teacher-student friendship'.

Therefore, those who pass the imperial examination are either nerds who memorize by rote or small bureaucratic groups formed by gangs and factions in advance, and this is not beneficial to the development of the social productive forces.

Fang Yuan was bound to carry out a major reform of this outdated and indynamic imperial examination, and now the main promotion is to divert most of the literati students to the Jiangnan University Hall to engage in the study of engineering disciplines in all walks of life, and not to crowd the imperial examination, a single-plank bridge for liberal arts.

Regardless of Jiang Yueguang's loyalty, the set of imperial examination procedures he is familiar with cannot enter Fang Yuan's eyes at all, and the Ministry of Rites Shangshu, who can really adapt to Fang Yuan's new policy, is obviously the head of Jiangnan University, risking the frontier.

Fang Yuan said slowly, "Lord Wang, what outstanding political achievements did Jiang Yueguang make during his tenure as the Zhan Shi of the Nanjing Hanlin Academy?" ”

Zhu Cihuan thought about it, but he didn't think of any political achievements that Jiang Yueguang had made, so he was speechless.

Fang Yuan continued, "I don't comment on whether Jiang Yueguang has real talent or not. However, Mao Gongzi has run Jiangnan University Hall well over the years, and the number of students enrolled each year has grown from more than 100 at the beginning to 2 or 3,000 per academic year today. The disciplines studied have developed from five or six before to more than 20 today, covering all walks of life. ”

"In the past three or four years, more than 5,000 professionals have been trained in water conservancy engineering, road surveying and mapping, military casting, ship manufacturing, accounting, woodwork, ironware and other handicraft manufacturing industries for the functional departments of the government, the workshops of major merchants, the Taihu Shipyard and the Changshu Arsenal. With such outstanding political achievements, he should be more suitable for the position of secretary of the Ministry of Rites than Jiang Yueguang! ”

Zhu Cihuan's proposed candidate was rejected by Fang Yuan again, his expression was both embarrassed and embarrassed, and he lowered his eyes and said, "It turns out that the teacher has already arranged for the candidates for cabinet members and six books, so I'd better ask the teacher's opinion first!" ”

Fang Yuan heard the resentment and dissatisfaction in his words, which was obviously the dissatisfaction of Fang Yuan's arbitrariness, and persuaded him earnestly, "King Wu Yue, between you and me, you and I can be honest about everything. I can fully understand that you are about to take up a new post and are anxious to cultivate your own power. ”

Zhu Cihuan looked up at him and said bluntly, "Why does the teacher repeatedly reject my proposed candidate?" Isn't this a desire for monopoly? ”

His questioning tone was as stern as it was direct. But he has admitted the anxiety in his heart, which shows that at least until now, he still regards Fang Yuan as a teacher who can be close to him. Otherwise, it's too late to cover up, where would you dare to make trouble with Fang Yuan in public?

Fang Yuan wasn't worried that he would ask sharply, what he was worried about was that he was the same as Zhu Cizhi, he was honest on the surface, but behind his back, he smiled with satisfaction and said, "King Wu Yue, you asked well!" At least with your current ability to manage government affairs and the perspective of knowing people, I must have the power to do it alone. The so-called jade is not cut into a weapon, and the prince is still owed. ”

Zhu Cihuan was young and vigorous, and said unconvinced, "Teacher, why don't I have the ability to govern affairs, know people's vision, and owe fire?" ”

Fang Yuan said unhurriedly, "Gao Hongtu and Jiang Yueguang are obviously not sincerely obedient to the prince, but to protect their evil intentions!" But the prince led him as a confidant, and also won high-ranking officials for him, isn't this still ignorant of people? ”

Zhu Cihuan was taken aback and said hesitantly, "Teacher, where do you start with this?" ”

Fang Yuan said in a deep voice, "If they are truly obedient to the prince, with their sophistication, they should persuade the prince to bear with them and not to go against the governor's mansion, they do the same on weekdays." But today in the Governor's Palace, they jumped out together and quarreled with me, clearly deliberately instigating the prince to oppose me and separate the relationship between you and my master and apprentice! ”

Zhu Cihuan was sweating like rain when he heard it, and in terms of feelings, he was still willing to trust his teacher Fang Yuan, rather than Gao Hongtu and Jiang Yueguang.

Fang Yuan said again, "Today, who is provoking our master-apprentice relationship, is it not only Gao Hongtu and Jiang Yueguang? Commander Hu, you say yes! ”

As soon as Hu Qi heard that Fang Yuan was directly aimed at him, he saw through his mind at a glance, and fell to his knees in fright, unable to speak, "Governor Fang, this, this, I ......"

Fang Yuan said in a cold voice, "Commander Hu, you know the balance very well on weekdays, but this time you have repeatedly targeted King Wu Yue, you are also provoking the relationship between me and King Wu Yue!" Let's be honest! Who instructed you? ”

Hu Qi hurriedly bowed to the ground and confessed to Fang Yuan and begged for mercy, "Governor Fang, yes, it's the princess." ”

Fang Yuan sighed deeply, sure enough, as he expected, it was Princess Kunxing! The princess's thoughts, Fang Yuan could also guess a thing or two. In the princess's opinion, she and Zhu Cihuan are just half-siblings, and the relationship is obviously a lot stranger.

What she hopes most is of course that Fang Yuan reconciles with the imperial court in the capital, even if she wants to establish a virtual monarch and a real system, what the princess wants to establish is also her father Emperor Chongzhen, or her brother Zhu Cihong. If Zhu Cihuan takes the throne, Fang Yuan's behavior is a complete rebellion in the eyes of her mother and brother, and there will be no buffer room for the two sides, and the war is imminent, no matter who wins or loses, she does not want to see.

In her heart, she didn't want to see Zhu Cihuan take the position, but she couldn't directly deny Fang Yuan's decision, so she adopted a roundabout tactic, so that Hu Qi took the evidence of Zhu Cihuan's bribery and went to Fang Yuan to break up the relationship with Zhu Cihuan.

"This damn girl! It's ridiculous! ”

Fang Yuan secretly scolded, stepped forward to help Hu Qi, and said in a deep voice, "Commander Hu, the fourth child is involved in the backyard battle and was punished to Guangdong, you also want to repeat the mistakes of the past?" ”

Hu Qi sighed and said, "Governor Fang, I don't want to either!" But the princess is the master of the backyard, and her explanation can't help but be executed, and it's hard for me to be caught in the middle! ”

Fang Yuan could feel his helplessness, the princess was deeply favored by Fang Yuan, if he disobeyed the princess's idea, the princess would give him a small shoe to wear at any time, he couldn't stand it. In the final analysis, Hu Qi is only a secondary responsibility, and the main responsibility lies with Fang Yuan, who has not managed the harem well.

Fang Yuan patted Hu Qi on the shoulder, and said slowly, "Commander Hu, don't do this again in the future, wait and get the cane and take fifty of them!" ”