The next morning coincided with the fifteenth, according to the rules to hold a large pilgrimage in the Hanyuan Palace, the purpose was to reflect the majesty and domineering of the Son of Heaven in the grand ceremonial music, and the general number of participants was large, including foreign envoys, and the main thing was to go through the motions without meeting. But as soon as Xue Chongxun got up, he asked people to wait outside the palace of Concubine De to prepare to greet the eunuch Yu Liben, and said to him: "The road of Hanyuan Hall is too far for me to go, you go to spread the word of mouth, and call the people who come to participate in the Great Dynasty to go back to their respective doors, what should they do; Let the government hall and cabinet officials go to the Zichen Hall as usual to discuss matters. ”

Xue Chongxun is more inclined to pragmatism, just as he doesn't like all kinds of banquets, and he is also not very interested in that set of etiquette, so the sentence "the road is too far" pushed the important dynasty. Here's what he thought: Some emperors can still sit firmly in the court after decades of not going to the court, and it is not a big deal for me to return to the court a few times.

At this time, there was no clock, and the palace often used hourglass timing, but the hourglass was not very accurate, and generally the sunny day was to see the sun start working time. When the sun shines on the steps of the gates of the palaces, everyone goes to the place where they need to go to start their day's work. A total of 10 ministers from the government hall and cabinet ministers had to walk a long way to the Zichen Hall to face the saint and attend the regular imperial meeting...... I'm going to see the two pines at the door again.

Among them, six people in the political hall did not seem to have a good atmosphere. Because yesterday they quarreled when they were discussing the affairs of the Northeast, and the result was not discussed; Originally, I planned to continue the discussion after today's dynasty, and there was usually no imperial discussion on the days when there was a dynasty, so there was a day to prepare for an agreement, but Xue Chongxun suddenly issued an order to cancel the dynasty...... The soldiers are not ready to fight, let alone the temple, it is no wonder that their faces do not look very smooth.

Now, after the cabinet has joined the decision-making body, there has been a subtle change in the pattern, and a few people in the government hall cannot quarrel in front of the emperor, and no matter if there are internal disagreements from time to time, they should reluctantly reach an agreement before talking about things, otherwise they will be in an extremely passive situation in the face of the cabinet's views.

The early morning sun shines on the two pine trees outside the gate of the Zichen Palace, stretching the shadows long, the sky is very blue and cloudless, and the northern region at this time is neither industrial pollution nor far from the coast, and there are more sunny days. The situation under the two pine trees was also extremely interesting, as the people from the government hall and the cabinet were standing in a pile. If it is changed to the usual time under the tree in the political affairs hall, it is more lively, first, because there are six people and there are many people, and second, the prime ministers of the political affairs hall are much older, and some of the lords who have been mixed in the officialdom for decades will come with all kinds of anecdotes and anecdotes, and they will be very lively one after another. Today, however, they look very dull, and there are already differences of opinion on the affairs of the Northeast, and it is obviously too late to discuss them at this time.

Li Shouyi's point of view is at odds with Zhang's opinion, Zhang said that he is still a little worried about Cheng Qianli's thoughts, Cheng Qianli met his niece Concubine Shu in the greenhouse hall yesterday afternoon, and he has not heard Cheng Qianli mention this until now, and he doesn't know what to say. This Daming Palace is said to be big and big, covering an extremely wide area, like a city, with a population of tens of thousands; Saying that it is small and small, people often think about it, there are only a few people, they are all doing things in one place, and they can't hide anything from everyone, Cheng Qianli saw the concubine of the harem, he didn't say it, but his colleagues knew it very well in their hearts.

After a while, Cheng Qianli, who was silent, finally spoke: "Zhongshu Ling, colleagues, I have a word, recommend the position of the head of the Northeast Army, Cheng is not competent, and he doesn't want to do something that he is not sure of." ”

Zhang said that when he heard it, a horse's face was stretched longer: "The Analects say: Do it when you know what you can't do; Mencius said: Who else should I be? If you can't do the heavy task, how can you retreat? ”

Cheng Qianli said: "Today, in response to the mandate of heaven, the south is coming, and he must be a wise man who can choose and employ people." If I also think that I am the best person who can support the affairs of the Northeast, I will naturally take the lead; If this is not the case, it will be in vain for us to fight, and it will be detrimental to the country. ”

Zhang said that he still had something to say, and then the eunuch who delivered the decree came and asked the ministers to enter the palace immediately. He had to give up, and he couldn't say too much for the time being.

Today's meeting place is in the main hall of Zichen Palace, maybe Xue Chongxun had a pleasant night last night, and he is still in good spirits this morning, and his mood can be seen in the place where he is meeting. The ten ministers went first to find their seats and sit down, kneeling, and furniture such as chairs and stools were rarely seen in more formal occasions. After a while, seeing Xue Chongxun walk in the door, everyone changed their posture and knelt on the seat to salute, and when he walked up to the throne and sat down and said "flat", everyone still sat down.

Sure enough, as soon as Xue Chongxun sat down, he said straight to the point: "Yesterday, the cabinet Du Xian wrote a letter about the Northeast and put forward the policy of aggressively attacking Yingzhou. ”

After he brought it up, he didn't express any attitude, just sat on the throne and listened to a group of people cite scriptures and arguments, and the content of nonsense was very large. This can't be helped, if it is not necessary to be arbitrary, his best way is to let the ministers discuss and finally reach an agreement, only in this way can it be more conducive to implementation, after all, the central government must implement the decision to be implemented with the cooperation of the following six departments.

Especially Li Shouyi's various arguments about being the master of the people, there is a lot of nonsense, Xue Chongxun is already a little tired of this person in his heart, but he still has to endure it as little as possible not to be emotional. The imperial court not only needs a hard-working person like Liu An, Liu An is a greedy and lustful lord, but also needs some people who adhere to morality to neutralize the atmosphere, otherwise it is not a good thing for everyone to be greedy.

Fortunately, Li Shouyi's lone battle could not play a decisive role, and most of the people in the political hall supported the strategy of taking Yingzhou. There was no objection from the Cabinet, because the person who wrote the letter was Du Xian, who was a Cabinet Scholar himself, and the other three would generally not disrupt their own people without touching their principles.

So Xue Chongxun asked again: "Who is more appropriate to be the head of the march?" ”

Zhang Shuo turned his head slightly and glanced at Dou Huaizhen, Dou Huaizhen stood up in a hurry, and replied: "If you want to take Yingzhou, you must gather 100,000 soldiers and horses, and those who can take 100,000 soldiers will recommend the military department Shangshu Cheng Xianggong." ”

As soon as the words fell, I heard an unhurried voice say: "Bachelor Du can put forward a strategy, since he has a long-term thought about the situation in Yingzhou, it is more appropriate to choose a candidate or Bachelor Du who proposes a strategy, right?" The person who spoke was Zhang Jiuling, and among the three people in the cabinet except for Du Xianam, it was obvious that Zhang Jiuling had the most thorough view of officialdom, and he reacted quickly and immediately responded.

There was already a disagreement on this matter, but Xue Chongxun was still silent. When making decisions on major events, he often seems to be a dispensable person, as if he has an attitude: you can do what you say, and he doesn't say what is good or bad. Therefore, sometimes the deliberations are in the greenhouse hall, and he does some trivial things or doze off behind the mantle, which does not affect the ministers' decision-making of major matters.

The differences in employing people had long been expected by Xue Chongxun, and he didn't want to get involved, so let's see what results people could fight for in the end. Unexpectedly, something unexpected happened at this time, Cheng Qianli actually stood up and said: "The minister does not dare to take Yingzhou, I am afraid that I will live up to the trust of the imperial court." ”

The cabinet minister was surprised: of course there is nothing to be modest, but it is a little strange that he is so modest in the current dispute.

Xue Chongxun couldn't help but look at Cheng Qianli, and said: "I am also a person who has led soldiers to fight, where is there a perfect strategy on the battlefield, and the method must be taken?" As long as you do your best, you don't have to worry too much about your work. ”

Cheng Qianli said: "Your Majesty treats people leniently, and the minister is even more afraid of losing the grace of the saint, and asks His Majesty to choose another virtuous person." ”

Zhang Shuo's face was very ugly, and he sat in the front without saying a word. Now in this situation, the government hall has fallen behind...... Not only do modern people value people's self-confidence, but also in ancient times, if they say that they can't do it, how can they make others trust him to do things well? Cheng Qianli's remarks are no longer limited to self-humility, that is, he is not competent.

The controversy subsided, and everyone waited in silence for the expected finalization.

Unexpectedly, Xue Chongxun said at this time: "That's the end of today's deliberations, and we will discuss it again tomorrow, so let's disperse." In the future, the government hall will first write a summary of the matter and how to deal with it on a 'sticker', and paste it on the cover of the chapter, and then the cabinet will 'draft' the recital, and after reading it, I will use it. ”

The ministers looked at each other after hearing this, and the result of the deliberations was already obvious, so why should they "discuss it again tomorrow"? Everyone pondered in their hearts, and naturally they would not express their doubts. Zhang Jiuling looked back at Du Xian's face quietly, but nothing could be seen from his face, and he looked relatively calm.

Xue Chongxun stood up, and the ministers bowed down, just like the etiquette at the beginning.

…… Although the Zichen Hall and the Xuanzheng Hall are on the same central axis, the Xuanzheng Hall is adjacent to the Zichen Palace, but because of the large scale of the palace temple, it is not a very short distance to walk. In contrast, the cabinet yamen is located in the inner court, which is much closer.

Several prime ministers were speechless on the way back, what else is there to say?

As soon as Cheng Qianli returned to his study in the political hall, an official from the Ministry of War came in to ask about the results of the deliberations, and after listening to it, he couldn't help but say: "I don't know why my teacher did this, I changed my mind overnight and retreated bravely...... It's just that in this case, I'm afraid that the people in the political hall will have an opinion about you. ”

"They weren't satisfied with Cheng someone." Cheng Qianli threw the elephant card in his hand on the case, stroked the beard on his chin with his free hand, lowered his head and pondered.

The officials of the military department who worshiped him as a division did not dare to disturb when they saw this, so they had to stand aside with their hands down, and in silence, they also pondered Shangshu's thoughts.

At this moment, a eunuch walked to the door, took a breath and said: "Cheng Xianggong is really fast, the emperor sent miscellaneous families to summon him, and he caught up all the way, you have already arrived at the political hall." ”G