"You, Lord Xiao, don't know anything about your own affairs, yet you dare to vouch for the prince?" Zhao Yu sneered, "Then let me ask you, what kind of goods have your Yanyun County freighters shipped to Haining Bay these days? Why? Entering the military port directly without passing through Haining Mansion? You can hear horses neighing in the middle of the night. What's going on?"
"Oh, Mr. Zhao doesn't know something." Lu Jing said, "Our Ministry of War worked with Prince Xuanping to form the Haining Navy. Because there was a Marine Corps establishment, we needed some war horses, so we bought them directly from Yanyun County. , it would be too cumbersome to go through the civilian dock, so we went directly to the military port."
"It doesn't matter whether I know this or not. I only know that this is not war time. All materials purchased by the imperial court, including armaments, should go through normal procedures and pay taxes according to regulations! Otherwise, Mr. Lu, you will buy the goods today. Ma wants to save trouble, and Lord Ma wants to save trouble when he buys a donkey tomorrow, so why not just save the tax system as well?"
Zhao Yu either didn't say anything, but whenever he spoke, he offended a large number of people. Princes, lords, ministers, all were under his attack, and no one could tolerate him.
"Why are you talking about it elsewhere?" Li Wanjiang sighed, "Let's discuss these matters separately. Let's get back to the subject. Let's talk about Jiang Mu Sheng. Zhao Yu, what do you mean by what you have been talking about for a long time?"
"I think that Jiang Mu Sheng can be the prefect of Fengyang, but it is best to be an agent. He will observe for a while first. If he has the ability, it will not be too late to correct him." Zhao Yu's words were tantamount to agreement.
Li Wanjiang asked the other lovers what they meant, and everyone said Jiang Musheng could do it. There were many reasons, such and such, such and such...
"Xiao Chen, what do you mean?" Seeing that Xiao Chen didn't speak, Li Wanjiang took the initiative to seek his opinion.
"I think it's inappropriate!" Xiao Chen's words were shocking, and everyone looked at him sideways.
Gong Shouli said to his heart, Your Majesty, it is completely unnecessary for you to ask him. If everyone agrees, just make the decision and leave him alone. What does he mean? If he gets entangled in this nonsense, this matter might become dirty!
"Oh? Then tell me what's wrong with Jiang Mu Sheng?" Li Wanjiang was willing to hear different opinions.
"I think there is nothing wrong with Jiang Mu Sheng, but it is inappropriate to let him act as an agent for Fengyang Mansion. Fengyang Mansion is located in the center and has many powerful people. If he is asked to act as an official, he will definitely be timid, for fear of accidentally offending him. If a person is taken down, if the emperor officially appoints him as the main hall of Fengyang, he will be able to do things freely." Xiao Chen said.
"Oh, that's it. What you said makes sense, so I won't act as an agent. When you get back to Anbang, your officials will issue a document to officially appoint Jiang Musheng as the main hall of Fengyang Mansion." Li Wanjiang said.
"Your Majesty, I'm afraid this is inappropriate." Xiao Chen said again.
"What's wrong?" Li Wanjiang asked curiously. "Your Majesty, everyone in Fengyang Mansion is of the third rank, and Jiang Mu Sheng is only of the fourth rank... Why don't the emperor just show mercy and promote him to the third rank, and get it done at once, which will save a lot of trouble."
"Then according to your instructions, Anbang and your officials will handle it this way." Li Wanjiang said.
It sounds like the emperor gave Xiao Chen special face, but everyone obeyed when he was told.
In fact, these are all matters that have almost been decided. Zhao Yu said that letting Jiang Musheng act as his agent was to leave room for extra favors from the emperor.
As for promoting Jiang Mu Sheng to the third rank, it was a matter of time or later. Xiao Chen didn't say anything, and he also handled it this way.
He could have remained silent, but he decided to say it in public. It felt like he was deliberately trying to show his goodwill to Li Shi, because Jiang Musheng was Li Shi's person and Li Shi was the first to bring it up...
But it's not surprising that everyone did this to Xiao Chen, because he and Li Feng almost had a quarrel just now, and now he clearly supports Li Shi, which actually makes Li Feng look good.
This boy has always retaliated for his anger. He had this temper. He was like this when he was a eunuch, and he still has the same virtue as a marquis! It's easy to change a country but hard to change one's nature.
"I am also fifty years old. Although I am not tired of politics, I deal with dozens of various affairs every day and review hundreds of memorials. I was fine back then, but now I feel quite powerless... Wen Qi , I heard that the former Han Dynasty had something called a cabinet department, what happened?" Li Wanjiang said suddenly.
"Back to the emperor, the so-called cabinet is composed of some Hanlin bachelors and capable officials personally selected by the emperor. They are usually on duty in the palace and help the emperor deal with various complicated affairs. They are regarded as the emperor's advisors and personal attendants, a bit like senior staff officers in the army. Scholar." Chen Wenqi said.
"Well, I also want to establish a cabinet. What do you all think?" Li Wanjiang said.
"My son thinks this is excellent!" Li Qiu was the first to support. "Firstly, it can share many chores for the emperor, saving the emperor a lot of hard work. Secondly, it will make people understand when they listen. The more people speak, the clearer the truth will be." , Thirdly, with the cabinet, everyone can come to them first if anything happens in the future, and there is no need to disturb the emperor for everything."
"Well, Li Qiu said it clearly, and I mean the same thing." Li Wanjiang nodded repeatedly after hearing this.
"Then the affairs of our six ministries also have to go through this cabinet?" Ma Wuming asked.
"Theoretically, this is the case. Not only our six ministries, but also the memorials of the General Affairs Department must be handed over to the cabinet for sorting first, as well as military affairs. Of course, exceptions can be made for urgent and major matters." Chen Wenqi said.
"Isn't this cabinet equivalent to the Prime Minister's Office in the past?" Li Feng said, "In the future, all officials in the imperial court will go to them when they have something to do. If things go on like this, will the imperial power be neglected? Has this big guy thought about it?"
"My lord, I don't know. Although the cabinet is responsible for all matters, big and small, it actually does not have any decision-making power. They just sort out the matters clearly, condense them and present them to the emperor. In the end, it is the emperor who makes the decision." Chen Wenqi said.
Because the cabinet department is a new thing, the Emperor of the Han Dynasty has only implemented it for a period of time. It is said that it is still very effective and the effect is very good. Unfortunately, the Han Dynasty soon perished, and the cabinet naturally disappeared and ceased to exist.
After the founding of the Zhou Dynasty, Li Wanjiang took over the power and had to personally intervene in the decision-making of everything. Although he could firmly control the center, it was also really tiring. It was fine when he was young, but now that he is older, he is really unable to do what he wants. Look at the clues I can be dazzled by what I see, and I can even fall asleep listening to the recital...
Only then did he think of the cabinet organization, and felt that if there was such a department, he could be freed from these heavy government affairs and save his energy to deal with real major issues.
Of course, this decision was made after careful consideration, but it wasn't just mentioned casually.
"So what is the rank of this cabinet?" Lu Jing asked, "And what is the rank of its chief officer?"
"The cabinet itself does not have any level, nor is it a permanent organization in our court. It only belongs to the emperor's personal team, just like the imperial guards. However, the guards are responsible for protecting the emperor's safety, while the cabinet ministers are responsible for helping the emperor handle affairs. , they all follow the emperor." Chen Wenqi said.
