At the end of the summer, the first court push for the next cabinet member to be selected for the roster ended.

After the results of the court vote, the preliminary range of the next cabinet members was delineated.

Except for a few people such as Chen Cong, who no longer appear on the list, the members of the second cabinet are still largely listed. For example, Liu Dezhao, Wang Huizu, Xiong Bingzhang, Zheng Wen, etc. There are forty or fifty other second-grade officials connected with their names, and this famous list includes almost the entire Nanjing central boss and local senior governors, such as Zheng Hongyu, who has been completely tied to Chen Ding, as well as Pang Zhenkun, Xie Hu, Yan Xishen, Shen Guozhen, etc.

Zheng Hongyu's ability is good, and his experience over the years has also yielded results, and he is even more loyal, but his character is flawed. Even if it's too clever, it's too lively to do things. As a result, he seems to be very unassertive.

The 'code of conduct' of a cabinet minister, or the head of a central yamen, is very different from that of a local official.

In general, one is responsible for the overall situation, and the other only needs to focus on one side. One is to focus on oneself, and the other is to consider all aspects.

The important ministers of the cabinet and the chief officials of the central yamen all set the tone by themselves, but the local officials have much more to consider. The former should focus more on the interests of the whole, while the latter will certainly focus on 'selfishness'.

Zheng Hongyu is too lively, easy to be affected by all aspects, and always wants to take into account the interests of all aspects, hello, hello, everyone, so he is not a qualified central member.

But there are nine people in the entire cabinet, and there are five to seven people in each position, which is a lot of numbers. The candidates on the list account for almost a quarter of the group of second-class officials. 【Contains positive slave】

Zheng Hongyu has old qualifications and a wide range of personal networks, so he is naturally on the list. It's just that an official like him, who is 'qualified', is logically the role of accompanying the prince to study.

However, it is difficult to say whether there will be a miracle, you must know that the third cabinet minister is Liu Dezhao. Behind him stood not only Liu Guifei in the palace, but also the prince and princess born to Liu Guifei.

However, Zheng Hongyu's granddaughter was engaged to the emperor's eldest son, and it was difficult to guarantee that the emperor would not be a little biased towards the emperor's eldest son, so his hands trembled, and Zheng Hongyu was also sent to the cabinet list. Therefore, Zheng Hongyu's probability is not small, but quite large.

But he had to make sure his name appeared in the top three of the positions where his flaws were the most weakened.

For example, the Minister of Mail, Transport and Sports, who was shortlisted for the first time in the third cabinet, is completely at the bottom of the ranking of the nine elders in the cabinet. However, the ministers of transport, water and water construction in the previous two cabinets were abolished and replaced by the postal, transport, and sports departments, which are becoming more and more important in the country's daily life.

Of course, the reason why the construction of water and land transportation, farmland water conservancy projects, sand prevention and soil fixing projects, and soil erosion control projects have all come to an end.

Also canceled was the Minister of War, a position previously held by Zhang Chi, the secretary of the Ministry of War, who was the military's representative in the cabinet. However, the following year, Zhang Chihui quit the cabinet and chose to leave the Ministry of War, which was renamed the Ministry of National Defense. In the place of Minister of War is the newly emerged Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries.

And all the rights of the army were thus vested in the Grand Governorate.

Chen Han's cabinet has a total of nine members, in addition to the first and auxiliary ministers of the cabinet who personally hold the ministry, there are also eight members of the postal and transportation departments, sports, agriculture, animal husbandry, forestry and fisheries, judicial supervision, culture, education and news, finance, internal affairs, civil affairs, and foreign affairs.

In addition to the Metropolitan Governor's Office, excluding the military power, the power of the cabinet ministers is not small.

Whether it is the Minister of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, Forestry and Fisheries, who is in charge of agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, and aquaculture, or the Minister of Judicial Supervision who is in charge of the judicial and supervision system, or the Minister of Culture, Education, and Information, who holds the power of publishing the Ministry of Culture and Education and the publication of news books, they are all much stronger than the Minister of Mail and Transportation. The importance of the internal affairs department at a higher level, that is, the general head of the police and the intelligence services such as national security and military intelligence, is undoubted.

There is no need to say much about civil affairs and finances, and even more so diplomacy.

Not to mention Zheng Hongyu, who has been suffering from gains and losses for a while, not to mention the Li family and Chen Ding, who are paying close attention to the next court push, just talking about Chen Ming, he has collected a lot of information that makes him feel interesting for a while.

For example, several companies under the name of the Li family suddenly want to invest in Shaanxi. It is not that it is not a correct and appropriate choice to look at a few industries that have invested a lot of money, not that it cannot make money, but that the risk is too high and the return cycle is too long.

With that money, the Li family invested in the eastern coastal areas, and the benefits were far stronger than throwing them to Shaanxi. But the current governor of Shaanxi is still Wu Xueli, he was already passive, but the salary is on the border, which is not suitable for Wu Xueli. And the other choice is Central Plains Province, which is not at all what Wu Xueli can rank. In the end, Wu Xueli was transferred to the Ministry of Communications as the right attendant, which was slightly degraded by half a level, after all, the emperor was 'frightened' in Xi'an City, and Wu Xueli has been opening his eyes for Qin Zhidao, and falling into the Ministry of Communications is as he wishes. But after Qin Zhidao was restored, he returned to Shaanxi.

Because the governor of Shaanxi at that time made a mistake and went home directly to retire.

And Pang Zhenkun, who has a friendship with Wu Xueli and is more affectionate than Jin Jian, is the emperor's confidant and favorite general, and is currently the director of the chamberlain, and this time he is likely to serve as the minister of culture, education and information.

Pang Zhenkun is not a pure minister, and he is not only Wu Xueli's best friend, as the leader of the chamberlain, his influence in the court is almost not weaker than that of cabinet ministers.

It is difficult to say whether the Li family's sudden large-scale investment in Shaanxi is optimistic about Shaanxi's economic development or a political 'exchange'.

In Chen Han's current climate, it is difficult to have a straightforward money transaction, which is too risky. However, this exchange of 'political capital' and 'economic capital' also made Chen Ming smack.

The Li family threw out 30 or 40 million yuan of investment in several projects such as the Yellow Emperor's Mausoleum, Qinzhi Road and Weishui Gorge Road, and Baoji's trade market. That's definitely a lot of money for a hill.

Although the Li family has developed rapidly economically in recent years, it was able to come up with tens of millions of start-up funds at once, and the total amount of follow-up investment involved exceeded 30 million yuan, which also surprised Chen Ming.

He wasn't worried that Pang Zhenkun would join the Great Prince's Party and serve the emperor's son, how could he be comfortable serving the emperor? At best, the two sides will make a deal, and it may not even be an alliance.

However, according to the power in the hands of the Great Prince's Party, if Pang Zhenkun really reached an alliance with it, it would really be of great help to him.

You must know that the queen can hold a considerable part of the real power of the charity fund in her hands, and Pang Zhenkun is the most suitable minister of culture, education and information in Chen Ming's heart.

And while everything was in progress, the troops returning from North America, Nanyang and Burma were also moving closer to Nanjing.

The Emperor has decided to hold a military parade on February 2 of the following year.

For the participants in several wars, the soldiers were all excited and trembling when they heard the news.

For the Chen Han soldiers, what is the most glorious thing after opening up the territory and expanding the territory?

Not a high reward reward, but the appearance of the medal and itself in the sequence of the big parade.

All the troops were expected to be fully concentrated in Nanking by mid-September, and then the next few months would be the time for them to train hard.

Infantry, cavalry, artillery, army, marines, sailors, militias in North America who responded to the call to rush to the battlefield at a critical moment, and dispatched troops from the mainland to help thousands of miles away.

These soldiers naturally knew their intention to rush back to Nanjing non-stop, and they had already been informed of the news they had read, but many of them couldn't help but shed tears the moment they set foot on the Xiaguan Wharf in Nanjing.

The Metropolitan Governor's Office and the Cabinet prepared a grand welcome ceremony for each of the troops that arrived, and the successive arrival of these troops in Beijing made the city of Nanjing, which was filled with political atmosphere, less unpredictable and more masculine.

At the same time, the intelligence department's investigation is nearing completion, and the final suspect has been circled.

Chen Mengyan, director of the Treasury Department of the Ministry of Finance and the director of the Archives Management Division of the Ministry of Finance, who was acting by Zhou Tiancai, walked into the director's office with a nervous mood, and saw several people sitting in the room, in addition to the director Zhou Tiancai, there were two people he didn't know, but one of the older people looked a little familiar, but he couldn't remember who it was.

"Chen Mengyan, do you know these two adults?" Zhou Tiancai, who had a wooden face, pointed to the two strangers and said to Chen Mengyan. Director of the Fifth Division of National Security, and the head of the Internal Confidential Section of the Ministry of Finance. The former is a little lower than Zhou Tiancai, and the latter is at the same level as Zhou Tiancai.

"If you go back to your lordship, you don't know it." Chen Mengyan spoke, very calm on the surface, but in his heart he seemed to be squeezed tightly. He has done bad things, and what he is afraid of is that the ghost knocks on the door. Two strangers with a serious attitude, still adults, so scary.

Zhou Tiancai's cold face made Chen Mengyan's heart beat even more.

Hearing this, Zhou Tiancai's face stiffened even more, obviously he was seriously dissatisfied with Chen Mengyan, "Chen Mengyan, your face is really big." Let me introduce you to you, this is Master Gao Shida of the Fifth Department of National Security, and this is Master Wen of the Confidential Department of our Ministry, I think you have heard of it. The two adults are responsible for the anti-intermediary work in the country. ”

National Security, Confidential Section, Anti-Intermediate!!

The three nouns were like three thunderbolts that suddenly exploded in his ears, and Chen Mengyan's brain was really booming, and his face was white.

"At this time, you know that you are scared?" Wen Sheng put the tea cup in his hand heavily on the table, and the tea cup collided with the table, making a loud noise. There was still a penetrating sneer on his face, "Chen Mengyan, since you dare to do it, you must dare to do it." Since Director Gao and I have come to you today, we have completely grasped the facts of your crime. ”

There was endless anger in his voice, and his teeth creaked. If he could, he would like to devour the traitor in front of him alive.

Shame, the Ministry of Finance has lost adults this time.

"Director Zhou, you can get busy first. Just leave Chen Mengyan to 'chat' with us. Gao Shida looked at Zhou Tiancai's serious and gloomy face on the side, and said a word to support him, easing the embarrassment of the faceless Ministry of Finance.

"Shameless stuff. The face of the Ministry of Finance has been lost to you! Zhou Tian knew that he was leaving, but when he stood up, he couldn't help but roar, pointing his finger at the trembling Chen Mengyan, a pair of eyes glaring at Chen Mengyan, almost breathing fire. You are here to be honest and lenient. Otherwise, you know the consequences. ”

After Chen Han established the country, he abolished the law of joint sitting and punishment, except for the crime of treason. Murder and robbery are all borne by the perpetrator alone, but only for the crime of treason, it is a family that has to pay.

Treason carries a heavy sentence, but if you are brought to court, you will die for life. Zhou Tiancai didn't think that Chen Mengyan still had a chance to live, and he didn't pity this damn guy at all. As the head of the Archives Management Office of the National Treasury Division, this guy has almost too many secrets in the hands of the Ministry of Finance. He is also too harmful, and if he dies, his family will be severely punished.

There was an espionage case in the National Treasury Division, Zhou Tiancai was annoyed, and he was responsible for negligence. And he didn't understand why Chen Mengyan would be so spineless to work for Westerners? Zhou Tiancai, who is deeply proud of Chen Han's strength, hates the scum most in his life is the scum who forgets his ancestors, and this matter is more related to his future, and he hates Chen Mengyan in his heart.

The people of national security are not good people, but the facts of the past few years have proved that this intelligence agency, which has changed in officialdom, is similar to Zhu Ming's Jinyiwei and Dongchang's power departments, but there are very few unjust cases. Before, they asked Zhou Tiancai to say that there were three suspects in the National Treasury Department, and even Zhou Tiancai himself had just cleared the suspicion, and after such a long time of careful surveillance, investigation, and investigation, since they were eyeing Chen Mengyan, he must have a problem. And with Chen Mengyan's position and level, as soon as this guy commits a crime, he will definitely lose his head.

In the ten years after the establishment of the dynasty, strictly speaking, it could not be regarded as a peaceful and prosperous era. Today's Emperor Chen is too good at tossing, just after the establishment of the country began to expand externally, constantly fighting wars and expanding, the expansion made everyone stunned, and the expansion made the Chinese open their eyes to the outside world.

For the 'world' is so big, and the outside is so rich.

This kind of unrest is both in the people and in the officialdom.

The emergence and implementation of immigration and various new policies, as well as the endless emergence of all kinds of new things, have refreshed not only the outlook on life, values, and world outlook of the people of Qianshou, but also the officials.

For the first time, Chinese officials learned what the points system was; For the first time, I learned what a property declaration is; For the first time, I learned what it means to be guilty of the unknown source of a huge amount of property; For the first time, I learned that it is a crime to take bribes, and it is also a crime to give bribes......

The world became innocent in the process of a large number of officials being stripped of their black veils. There are many officials in the new dynasty, but it is difficult to find three-legged toads in the world, two-legged people are everywhere, and there are as many people who want to be officials as there are those two-legged people. Countless officials have lost their heads, and many more have been assigned to the frontier with their entire families. But officialdom has never been an official who can't be beaten by iron.

Just like the soldiers, the iron battalions, the flowing soldiers.

There are too many people in the world who want to be officials, and there are those who have died before and those who have come after.

But corruption is completely incomparable to treason. The latter was extremely hated by the emperor, but there was no room for maneuver when it came to betraying the country, and even if he was not sentenced to death, he could probably only spend his life in prison and labor camp. The criminal law imposes extremely severe sentences for the crime of treason, and very few people can save their lives after the crime.

"Say, you know what I'm going to ask you." Wen Sheng kept a calm face and didn't speak, and Gao Shida asked softly.

"Humble duty, humble duty I don't understand." Chen Mengyan desperately calmed down his panicked mood. His whole body was trembling, but he still didn't admit it. He tried to calm himself down, but his heart was still beating wildly, and it seemed like it was about to pop out of his throat.

"Then you'll take a look at this bag first."

Gao Shida was not surprised at all, he smiled, and threw a document folder at his hand at Chen Mengyan's feet.

Chen Mengyan didn't want to pick it up, but he had to pick it up again. He flipped through the folder and couldn't help but let out a sigh. Streams of blood rushed to his brain, and his entire head was red. If anyone wanted to take a sword at Chen Mengyan's neck at this time and stab him fiercely, I am afraid that the blood would be able to spurt out a foot away.

The file folder contains records of his money stored in the names of his relatives and friends, and the place where he buried his belongings, and even the amount of gold and silver he buried. The main thing is that there is a confession from his upline, with the name and handprint of the Italian on it. His familiar name-

"Leonardo Mastin, you should know this person." Gao Shida opened his mouth and said a name that made Chen Mengyan's bones chill. "You've traded information five times, and you've been back and forth five times, so you've been old friends for a long time. You can't even remember his name, right? ”

Chen Mengyan's legs were weak, and he collapsed to the ground like a puddle of mud. "My lords spare my life, and the two adults spare my life."

Wen Sheng looked down on Chen Mengyan in front of him even more. "What an idiot. I don't know who promoted you to where you are now. "At this time, you dare to spare your life, it's really a shell of pig brains.

"Chen Mengyan, this official can tell you that you are dead. But you can choose how you want to die, and what your family's future life will be like, that can also be chosen. You know how to speak. ”

Gao Shida spoke slowly, "Think about it, are you going to want the entire family to follow you to hell together, and you will never recover?" ”

"You took something out of the place yourself, think slowly, speak slowly, say it all, think carefully, don't forget." It has been more than half a year since Gao Shida was in charge of the counter-espionage signal of the Ministry of Finance, and now he has finally dug up Chen Mengyan, a big rat, which is really not easy.

The weather in Nanjing is still very hot, but if Chen Mengyan suddenly came to the cold winter, he fell into an ice cave, and the biting cold made his whole body collapse.

"I said, I said. The little ones all say. I just hope that the adults can let go of the villain's family. ”