Through the glass window, a lantern quickly approached Pang Zhenkun's study, and in the light and shadow behind the lantern, two figures walked forward quickly.

Soon, a familiar voice came from outside the door: "Master, Master Dai is back." ”

Just when Shen Guozhen was active, Pang Zhenkun was also active, but his purpose was to consolidate his position. The emperor had already built steps for him, and Pang Zhenkun also needed to carve some patterns on the steps made of stone to make it more majestic.

Pang Zhenkun paused for a moment before responding: "Hezhi [Dai Quheng Zi], come in." Dai Quheng, 45, is Pang Zhenkun's secretary and deputy director of the Cabinet Office.

He was originally from Xiuning, Anhui Province, but fled to Dayu, Jiangxi Province because of the war. His father, Dai Yuandi, was an editor of the Manchu Hanlin Academy, so it can be said that even without the Chen Han Revolution, he would not have a great future. Uncle Dai Junyuan and elder brother Dai Xinheng are both Manchu officials who entered the official career from Jinshi, and the Dai family can be said to be a scholarly family and an official family. But Dai Quheng is not ordinary, he is not a Jinshi of the Manchu Dynasty, but a Jinshi of Chen Han, who was only twenty-two years old when he was admitted to the Jinshi of the Chen Han Dynasty, and is the third place in the first class, that is, Tanhua.

Twenty-three years after joining the office, Dai Quheng is now a third-grade official. By the time Pang Zhenkun officially becomes the sixth minister of Chen Hanchao's cabinet next month, Dai Quheng is likely to be promoted one level higher. The cabinet office and the chamber of attendants beside the emperor are of the same level, and the rank of chief officer is higher than that of most of the ministers. Changing to the rabbit era, it is equivalent to being at the deputy ministerial level.

"Xiangye." After Dai Quheng came in, he saluted Pang Zhenkun and handed over a letter: "This is Shen Ge Lao's reply. ”

The elder Shen Ge in Dai Quheng's mouth is Shen Chu, the current minister of culture and education. Of course, after this term, I will also go to the Senior Council.

Shen Chu is also from Jiangsu and Zhejiang, but he and Shen Guozhen are completely different things, they are from Jiangsu and Zhejiang, they are still surnamed Shen, and they are also scholars, but the two of them are not in a relationship with eight poles. The former was sentenced by the Tartars to be enslaved by the armor-clad people, and the latter was a family of officials and eunuchs in Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

Pang Zhenkun is very aware of Shen Guozhen's connections and influence, the Shen family can be called the first in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and when Wang Huizu is in full swing, the name of the Wang family is weaker than Shen Guozhen in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Pang Zhenkun is very necessary to have a relationship with the second Shen.

Shen Chu's family name is even weaker than Shen Guozhen, but Shen Chu's family is also qualified to be ranked as 'Jiangsu and Zhejiang Second Shen' with Shen Guozhen's family.

"Hmm."

Pang Zhenkun's expression was surprisingly calm, as if the letter in front of him was not the reply he had been waiting for for two hours at all, and his expression did not show any eagerness and irritability at all. Stretched out his hand to take the reply letter from Dai Quheng's hand and opened it to read. Soon, a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, and Pang Zhenkun couldn't help but exclaim, "Okay! ”

The notes in the letter fully illustrate Shen Chu's attitude.

Pang Zhenkun has his own calculations in the selection of cabinet personnel, and there is no place for Shen Guozhen in the left and right subordinates he prefers. Now Shen Guozhen is jumping up and down here, which makes Pang Zhenkun very unhappy.

Although, in a way, they should be counted as a country. There is an inexplicable relationship with King Yu, but when it comes to actual things, there are still quite a few differences.

Dai Quheng waited to ask, a smart secretary would not pay attention to the gaffe of his boss.

Pang Zhenkun was excited for a moment, then put down the letter and asked in a harmonious voice, "What else did Elder Shen Ge say?" ”

"Shen Ge Lao agreed with Xiang Ye's view of supporting the French, saying that in European affairs, it is more beneficial for our dynasty to compete for hegemony between the two powers than for one family to be dominant. However, the politics of France is crooked and heretical, and it is contrary to the way of China, and France can be used but not advisable! ”

What Shen Chu said seems to be his view of the situation in Europe, but in fact, he is really praising and belittling the British and French rivalry in Europe, which actually refers to the situation in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Although Shen Guozhen and the outliers of the Neo-Confucian Party have not yet had close contact, they have invisibly approached three points. Shen Chu was firmly opposed to this.

And the Neo-Confucian Party is different, they still have a lot of influence, and when they are mixed with Shen Guozhen, Shen Guozhen's strength will naturally be strengthened again. The Shen family's influence in Jiangsu and Zhejiang is too significant, and it is not very good for the central government. Europe is a two-power competition, and Jiangsu and Zhejiang should also learn from Europe. And Shen Chu's family is willing to be this challenger.

The corners of Pang Zhenkun's mouth twitched slightly, and he showed a mocking smile under the light, officials, natural actors, there is no one who is not hypocritical. But since Shen Chu was so self-aware, he could rest assured.

"It's hard work. Spend the night in your room. This is Pang Zhenkun's praise for Dai Quheng. Not everyone can sleep in the home of the next minister.

Dai Quheng naturally retreated gratefully. Pang Zhenkun took out an account book from the table, opened it, and wrote down the 'transaction' properly.

When Pang Zhenkun could relax and rest, a sense of peace of mind came to his heart.

Brought himself another ally.

Shen Chu has been in the Ministry of Culture and Education for many years, and has personally presided over the construction and preparation of many universities, which can be said to have a great influence in today's society. To be able to pull such a person to his own ship is to add a big ballast stone to the bilge of the ship.

As long as the situation continues in the past few days, Pang Zhenkun will not worry about not being able to intervene at the last moment of Tingtui, and naturally he will not be worried that he will not be able to control the cabinet when the new era comes.

Shen Chu was already seventy years old, and he had long been thinking about his family. Now that he has entered the Senior Administration Yuan, he has almost no conflict of interest with Pang Zhenkun, but his actual status is really weaker than Shen Guozhen's boss.

When a person reaches a certain position, then he does not represent himself, but the interests of a cluster.

Later generations often said that the president of the lighthouse nation was just a puppet in the hands of big business, a toy that was pushed to the forefront. But how can any politician in any country have no support behind him? So they are also puppets of the forces behind them?

Of course not. Because there's a difference. There is a distinction between the primacy of 'self' and the supplementation of 'self'.

Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shen both have powerful economic forces behind them, and the biggest difference between them and the presidents of the beacon countries in later generations is that they themselves are the core of this interest group.

China is still a standard official-based society, and if you want to pull up a force, you want to pull up a mountain, and only after you sit in a certain position can you have such qualifications. 'People take tea to cool' and 'people don't take tea to cool first' is a truth. That 'location' is the key to everything!

Now Shen Chu, the core of Shen Yi Group, is about to fall behind, and Shen Guozhen, the core of Shen Yi Group, can still serve another term, which will have a great impact on the interests of the two groups. In order to maintain its existing interests, Shen Er Group has now climbed to the BOSS Pang Group, trying to counter Shen Yi with this. And the boss Pang Group also needs Shen Er to be a leading party, so that they can enter Jiangsu and Zhejiang more conveniently, and at the same time, they also hope that Shen Er Group can be part of Shen Yi Group as part of them.

Pang Zhenkun is uniting all the forces that can be united.

Shen Chu left the center of the political arena - the Senior Administration Yuan is far from being able to compare with the real government, Shen Er Group has lost its biggest support point in the court, and several juniors cultivated by Shen Chu in the center have been turning to the idea of 'decentralization' early on, but just 'external', there is no real power behind it to shelter the wind and rain, that 'externally; It is likely that it will actually become a local office.

That is, he changed from a Beijing official to a local official, and then I don't know how to be 'adjusted'. To put it bluntly, the Tao is not worth mentioning, but no one dares to ignore it.

Humming an out of tune in his nose, Pang Zhenkun opened a notebook, flipped through the morning, and turned to the page with Shen Chu's name written on it.

These faces detail Shen Chu's life experiences and the network of connections that extend from his upwards and downwards to the left and to the right. And among them, there are the big players who appeared in the process of court pushing, not to mention that 100% of them have been included in Pang Zhenkun's pocket, and there will be seven, seven, eighty, eight.

If you want to step down, then you can't expect all the little brothers to be in the center for a long time. It has always been prevalent in officialdom, and the saying 'people have cooled before leaving tea'. However, the political attributes of officials who have reached the third rank have been solidified to a certain extent, or people whose official positions have reached this point have begun to pay attention to respect and strict tone, and chameleon-like roles like Pei Ju are rare throughout history.

Therefore, these relationships extended by Shen Chu cannot be 100% grasped in Pang Zhenkun's hands, and there is also a seven, seven, eighty, eight.

This is a very good sign. Pang Zhenkun doesn't have more strength in his hands, and he won't have an extra chance of winning when he plays chess in the future.

To be honest, although Chen Han's current court push system has all kinds of restrictions, it is definitely not uncooked.

How many officials are above the third grade of Chen Han? Even if the governors and senior officials of overseas territories who cannot participate are crossed out, the number of officials of the third rank and above in China is added together, and there are not 1,800, but 5 or 600. That's really not a small number.

"It's almost gone." Pang Zhenkun packed everything up and said with emotion.

The time is coming, and the people who should be finalized have already been finalized. If there is no definite news in the next ten years, then there is no need to wait.

Pang Zhenkun thought happily. Among the remaining group of people, Shen Guozhen could not find many supporters.

Twenty-five days from now is the day of the Tingtui, and the list of people who can participate in it will belong to him a little longer than now. Pang Zhenkun firmly believed this, because he was the emperor's confidant, he was the first and auxiliary minister of the cabinet for the next five years, and even China for the next ten years would leave a deep personal mark on him.

This is a grand event in the entire Chinese political arena, a grand event that will wipe out more than eighty percent of the civil officials above the third grade in the entire imperial court.

Within ten days, officials of the third rank or above who can hit a round-trip distance within ten days can all participate in the court push.

How shocking it was when this decision appeared.

Even the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, which was not interested in the development of carrier pigeons, developed a 'pigeon nest' like crazy, including the Tibetan land on the roof of the world.

No one wants to be marginalized in politics. But without Tingtui, the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau and Tibet, as well as Myanmar, will really be automatically marginalized.

If there is a distinction among the governors, the governors of these places are the ones who rank the lowest.

Pang Zhenkun never felt that being the first auxiliary minister of the cabinet was a pie-in-the-sky good thing, if he sat in the position of the first auxiliary minister, but could not effectively integrate the cabinet, Pang Zhenkun would become a big joke of the government and the opposition.

Therefore, these days, Pang Zhenkun is much busier than last year and the year before that.

He wants to suppress Shen Guozhen, and he has to properly communicate with Wang Huizu and Xiong Bingzhang, and they can take one from the left and right, but Pang Zhenkun must personally control one.

There can't be only one voice in the cabinet, but his voice must be the loudest and loudest.

In terms of identity, status, and prestige, Pang Zhenkun is really in the political arena of Chen Han today. Some people represented by Shen Guozhen may work hard, but as long as Pang Zhenkun can visit the door, or just write a few personal letters, he can pull some neutral or even clear important ministers who belong to other mountains to his side, and even if it is not good, it can also play a coercive role. Unless the emperor can clearly express his opposition, others will really bow their heads to Pang Zhenkun under his authority, as long as they show a considerable degree of respect.

But this also requires Pang Zhenkun to make some efforts to do so.

In this world, there is no good thing that can be achieved without effort. Some people are born superhuman, but there are many people in the world who surpass ordinary people, and not all of them can have superhuman achievements.