The emperor's expression also seemed to be a little surprised, although it was said that Chen Xun was a peerless horse, but the two behind were in hot pursuit, which also showed that the cabinet of the daimyo was not monolithic, which was undoubtedly the most beneficial to him, the emperor.

Zhu Qizhen agreed to use Hu Hui's method, and he also wanted to see that the ministers in the court were divided into several factions.

Although I don't know who those people voted for, at least it can be shown that these people are not all the way.

The emperor's thoughts, Hu Hu also vaguely guessed, but even if he knew this kind of thing, he understood it in his heart, but he couldn't talk about it.

"Chen Xun......"

The fifth ballot box seems to have made a good start, and this is the first time for Chen Xun to report his name.

Although the boring singing ticket is tasteless, it affects the hearts of many people in the Ming Dynasty, holding their breath, in the entire hall, in addition to the hoarse voice of the small yellow door of the singing ticket, it is the sound of the sealing pen sliding on the blackboard.

The ballots in the fifth ballot box were quickly sung, and the statistics came out, which was clear at a glance, and there was no way to fake it.

Thirty-two votes for Lord Chen Xun, thirty-one votes for Lord Ma Yu, eighteen votes for Lord Gao Gu, and thirty-eight votes for Lord Cao Nai!

Cao Nai's first vote for the first time was 38 votes, even so, he still had a gap of 23 votes from Chen Xun, who was the first, and 14 votes from the second, Ma Yu.

The statistics of the fifth ballot box came out, and Ma Yu won the total number of votes one vote more than Chen Xun.

Chen Xun was still first, with a total of 174 votes, followed by Ma Yu with 165 votes, Cao Nai was still third, with 151 votes, and the bottom of the valley with only 77 votes.

The first five ballot boxes are counted, and Takaya is basically out.

The last box is gone. Who will the god of fate favor?

Chen Xun got the most votes, and although there was a gap between the two in the back, the last box still had a chance to turn around.

Because the last ballot box had one hundred and twenty-four valid ballot papers, the most of the six.

The last moment came, and at this time, in addition to Takaya's calmness, he could still laugh. The other three all looked less calm.

Chen Xun was worried that Ma Yu would break out at the last moment and make a big reversal, while Cao Nai knew his shortcomings and seemed to want to compete for the position of second assistant, and in the current situation, he still had a lot of hope.

Ma Yu, who was in the middle, was the most difficult, his eyes were red, thinking that he could hit the first position, but also to guard against being compared to Cao Nai. The first assistant can't get it, and the second assistant also beats the eggs.

"Cao Nai!"

The sound of the sixth vote rang out, the first vote was actually Cao Nai, although there was some surprise, but I didn't feel anything, except for Gao Gu, Chen Xun and Ma Yu both had the experience of the first vote, and Cao Nai ranked third. Why don't you catch it again?

"Huh!"

The voice of surprise came out, and the next three consecutive votes were all "Cao Nai". It wasn't until the fifth ballot that the "trough" arrived.

Chen Xun and Ma Yu's votes were also reported one after another, and at this time, everyone's suspicions were relieved a lot.

But as the frequency of a name increases, the atmosphere in the hall gradually becomes solemn.

The name is "Cao Nai"!

"Cao Nai's total number of votes has surpassed Ma Yu!" I don't know which official is a good arithmetic, so I couldn't help but call out.

At this moment, the people who felt that Cao Nai missed the top two just now were a little incredulous. One by one, their eyes widened, staring at the ever-increasing word "positive" on the blackboard.

When Ma Yu heard this voice, his body shook involuntarily, his face was extremely gray, and Cao Nai, who was standing beside him, was quick with his eyes. Reaching out to listen, he lifted him up.

"Sex, are you alright?" Sex is Ma Yu's word, Cao Nai asked with concern.

"It's okay, thank you!" Ma Yu reached out and pushed Cao Nai's arm away.

This small action may not be seen by others, but Meng Yan witnessed this qiē, Cao Nai's will was not rampant because he surpassed Ma Yu, but Ma Yu, although it was because of a momentary loss of mind, but his mind was a lot smaller.

It seems that Hu Hu and his choice of Cao Nai as the first assistant of the cabinet are quite discerning.

The votes continued, because Cao Nai's total vote share surpassed Ma Yu's, and the competition for the first and second places fell on these two people, and at this time, half of the votes in the sixth group had passed.

Facing Cao Nai's approaching step by step, although Chen Xun's face did not change at this time, he was also a little nervous in his heart.

Meng Yan saw him hold his hand nervously at least three times, and then release it when he distanced himself from Cao Nai.

One vote has one vote, Cao Nai's votes are catching up fiercely, and the difference between the two of them was 23 votes by the end of the fifth group of votes, and they suddenly caught up with 10 votes, leaving only a gap of 13 votes.

And if you look at the number of votes in the fifth group, there should still be about one-third left, about forty chapters of votes.

Among so many votes, if Cao Nai wants to win, he must at least get more than 20 votes.

This is also a big suspenseful showdown!

I am afraid that Meng Yan, the initiator, or Hu Hu, the executor, as well as the four candidates standing below, as well as the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty and the emperor himself, did not expect it.

"Cao Nai!"

"Chen Xun!"

……

The last forty votes, almost no one turned their heads to each other, whispered, the more than 200 pairs of eyes in the main hall, and more than 500 pairs of eyes in the square outside the hall, all stared at it, there is also a big blackboard outside the hall, and the content of the blackboard in the hall is updated synchronously, so that it is also convenient for the officials outside to vote to know the situation and results of the votes.

It can be said that although the vote was held in a hurry, Hu Hui, the veteran of the Five Dynasties, still did his work very meticulously, and this person may not be able to think of these details.

Soon, half of the forty votes were removed, and at this time, Cao Nai had already caught up with seven votes, that is, he only had a gap of six votes with Chen Xun, who was the first.

The more this kind of duel you chase after me, the more exciting it is.

"Lord Liu fainted!"

This is just a small wave, this Lord Liu's psychological tolerance is too poor, and he is not choosing the first assistant, watching others choose the first assistant can stimulate the fainting!

This also illustrates the tension of the atmosphere at the scene.

Although Meng Yan is an outsider, he also feels a sense of oppression. Even the air you breathe has a smell called nervousness.

Meng Yan secretly glanced at Hu Hu, and found that this old man Hu was not calm, the corners of his eyes would shake every three seconds, although his eyes were calm, but whenever he reported the name of "Chen Xun", the pupils of his eyes would shrink slightly. This is a manifestation of inner tension, but it is difficult to spot without looking closely.

Meng Yan's angle is very good, the backlight, the distance is relatively close, and his eyesight is good, so he can capture this subtle difference.

Meng Yan did it for him, and the rest depends on the will of God.

You can't just swap all the votes. That's unrealistic, and it can't be done, so you can only replace some in small quantities and take away the replaced votes, so Meng Yan can't guarantee that Cao Nai will win.

Now it seems that there are really a lot of people who support Chen Xun, if Hu Hu and others don't do anything. It's really hard to win this time.

Hu Hu noticed that Meng Yan was looking at him with his peripheral vision, and he turned his head slightly. also cast a glance at Meng Yan.

What does this mean?

Of course, Meng Yan was about to respond, he blinked his eyes, and soon, he passed on a meaning of resignation.

Hu Hui, an old and cunning minister, immediately understood that everything that should be done was done. If it really doesn't work, then it can only be blamed on fate.

If Cao Nai wins the first place with a high vote, he will definitely be suspected, first of all, Wang Zhen's side will definitely be a moth, so it will come. Even if Cao Nai wins, it is difficult to say whether he can become the first assistant of the cabinet in Shun Lì.

After all, it is necessary to appoint the head of the cabinet, and the emperor can nod, and if the emperor does not nod, even if Cao Nai gets all the votes, it will not help.

Therefore, Hu Hui's plan was to let Cao Nai defeat Chen Xun by a slight advantage and win the first place, so that even if Wang Zhen doubted it, he would not find a reason, and the emperor would be at ease, at least in this cabinet, it was not monolithic.

But to let Cao Nai defeat Chen Xun by a narrow margin, and not be able to replace all the votes, this increases the difficulty of the operation, of course, it is unrealistic to replace all the votes, no one can do it.

And this matter cannot be known to more people, so the work of replacing the ballots is only done by Meng Yan alone.

This is very difficult, but with Hu Hui's secret cooperation, it is not an easy thing, so as long as Wang Zhen sees himself, is he not staring at himself like a thief?

Hu Hui has no suitable candidate in his hands, either it is difficult to approach the ballot box, or he does not have that kind of guts, if this kind of thing is exposed, it is a capital crime, and the feasibility of immediate execution is infinite.

Therefore, this is an extremely high-risk matter, and Meng Yan would definitely not agree to do this if it weren't for the possible benefits in the future.

In this officialdom, you help me, I help you, not to say that you form a party, but at least you need a few like-minded friends.

This is the truth of survival, if you want to be a lonely minister, you will die worse than anyone else.

"Cao Nai, Cao Nai......"

In one breath, Cao Nai caught up with three more votes, lowering the distance from Chen Xun to only three votes, and at this moment, there were only seven or eight votes left in the hands of the little yellow door who sang the votes!

The more it came to the end, the more the result became more and more confusing, and even the young emperor's eyes couldn't help but shine, and his white cheeks faintly glowed red.

Obviously, this is the first time he has experienced such an exciting thing!

Boom!

This is someone who couldn't help but squirm in the Adam's apple, swallowed the saliva that was about to flow out, and forgot to close his mouth when he opened his mouth excitedly.

This one was particularly loud, because everyone was silent, staring intently at the statistics on the blackboard.

This official in his forties Meng Yan didn't know him, it seemed to be the Shaoqing of Honglu Temple?

"Chen Xun!"

A vote from Chen Xun widened the distance again, and then Gao Gu and Ma Yu each got one vote.

There are only seven ballots left!

Of these seven votes, Cao Nai had to get six votes by himself in order to win Chen Xun by a narrow margin.

However, this probability is very low. (To be continued......)