When Xu Jie saw Jiajing asking him about the recommended candidate, he immediately looked happy. After organizing the words in his mind, he responded without thinking.
"Your Majesty, I would like to recommend Fan Zong, the Minister of War, to take over Hu Zongxian's position!"
"Fan Juan?"
After listening to the candidates proposed by Xu Jie, Jiajing fell into deep thought. He tapped his fingers lightly on the dragon head carved on the dragon chair, making a "dah" sound.
Seeing this situation, Xu Jie felt even more frightened and uneasy. He lowered his head and waited quietly for Jiajing's decision.
Time passed by like this, and Jiajing came back to his senses. He did not make an immediate decision, but turned his eyes to Yan Song aside and asked.
"Yan Song, do you have any candidates you would like to recommend to me?"
Yan Song heard what Jiajing said, and after thinking about it for a long time, he cautiously proposed to Jiajing.
"Your Majesty, how about asking Xu Xuemo, the Minister of Rites, to take over Hu Zongxian's position?"
After Yan Song finished speaking, he was afraid that Jiajing would not agree with this candidate, so he added immediately.
"Your Majesty, this Xu Xuemo was a Jinshi in the 29th year of Jiajing. He was an honest and upright man. When Qiu Luan was ordered to build a fortress to resist the Tatars, there were many corruption and perfunctory aspects in it. Xu Xuemo was responsible for supervising this work and including it All the disadvantages will be eliminated!”
"Later on, Qiu Luan began to hold a grudge against Xu Xuemo. After the project was completed, everyone would receive a reward, except this Xu Xuemo!"
When Jiajing saw Yan Song mentioning Qiu Luan again, he became furious. He slammed the table and gritted his teeth.
"This Qiu Luan, I really took advantage of him back then!"
Xu Jie on the side heard this and secretly thought something bad. Everyone in the civil and military circles of the dynasty didn't know that what the emperor hated the most was the original general Qiu Luan. Even after his death, he ordered someone to open the coffin and kill the corpse.
Yan Song specifically mentioned Qiu Luan at this time in order to highlight Xu Xuemo's glorious image in disguise.
Thinking of this, Xu Jie's face suddenly became extremely gloomy, he clenched his fists and said silently to himself: "Humph, this Yan Song is so shameless!"
Xu Jie knew very well that when Xu Xuemo's mother was seriously ill, Yan Song specially sent famous doctors to treat her. Later, after Xu Xuemo's mother recovered from the illness, Xu Xuemo felt grateful for Yan Song's kindness and followed Yan Song and his son to work for them.
However, this Xu Xuemo was one of the few honest and upright people in the Yan Party. Perhaps to avoid suspicion, Yan Song did not allow Xu Xuemo to participate in many affairs of the Yan Party.
Soon, Xu Jie organized the words in his mind and then admonished Xiang Jiajing.
"Your Majesty, although all the Japanese pirates currently entrenched in the southeastern coast have been wiped out, with the lifting of the maritime ban by the imperial court, Zhejiang locals, as well as those Rakshasa people you mentioned earlier, or the English and French, There is more communication!”
"It's true that those who are not of my race will have different hearts. We must not treat barbarians lightly!"
"Therefore, Wei Chen feels that it is very necessary to send an official who is good at knowing and using troops to Zhejiang to take over Hu Zongxian's position!"
Lu Fang, who had been waiting by Jiajing's side from the beginning, saw this situation and shook his head in a subtle way and said to himself.
"Although the candidates proposed by you two have their own merits, I'm sorry, but the candidate who will take over Hu Zongxian's position has already been decided!"
"His Majesty came to you to inquire about this matter, and it was just a formality!"
Sure enough, after listening to the candidates recommended by Yan Song and Xu Jie respectively, Jiajing pretended to hesitate. After thinking about it for a moment, he looked at Yan Song and Xu Jie, who had already begun to compete with each other and refused to give in to each other, and said slowly.
"Well, the candidates you two proposed to me are very good, but..."
Hearing Jiajing's words, Yan Song and Xu Jie's hearts suddenly thumped, secretly thinking that something was wrong.
"Oops, that's bad. Your Majesty already has a favorite candidate in mind. Asking us about it this time is just a formality!"
After Yan Song and Xu Jie looked at each other, they both saw such thoughts in each other's eyes.
Soon after, Jiajing cleared his throat, turned his eyes to Yan Song and Xu Jie, and asked.
"What do you think of Zhao Zhenji?"
"What, Zhao Zhenji!"
After hearing the candidates proposed by Jiajing, Yan Song and Xu Jie couldn't help but turned pale with shock, and immediately lost their voices.
Immediately, Xu Jie stood up and advised Jiajing after organizing his words in his mind.
"Your Majesty, I think it is really inappropriate to let Zhao Zhenji take over Hu Zongxian's position!"
After Xu Jie finished speaking, he added immediately without waiting for Jiajing to respond.
"Your Majesty, although this Zhao Zhenji is astute and extremely efficient, making him a rare capable official, he really lacks responsibility. He is known as a "non-stick pan" in the court!"
"Because of this, Wei Chen feels that it is not a suitable choice to hand over a prosperous place like Zhejiang to Zhao Zhenji to govern. Zhao Zhenji cannot bear the responsibility of the people of Zhejiang on his shoulders!"
Jiajing was noncommittal to Xu Jie's words, and immediately turned his gaze to Yan Song aside and asked.
"Mr. Yan Ge, what do you think?"
Seeing Jiajing's eyes falling on him, Yan Song was immediately caught in a dilemma. On the one hand, he really didn't want Zhao Zhenji to go to Zhejiang to take over Hu Zongxian's position. He wanted to keep Zhejiang in the hands of officials who obeyed him.
On the other hand, since Jiajing has already proposed his favorite candidate, it means that there is no room for negotiation on this matter. If he continues to persuade him like this, he will only make the emperor disgusted and will not be able to derive no real benefit from it.
After weighing the pros and cons, Yan Song gritted his teeth. After taking a deep breath, he turned his eyes to Jiajing, who was sitting on the dragon chair, and said respectfully.
"Your Majesty, Wei Chen feels that Zhao Zhenji is the most suitable candidate. Wei Chen recommends Zhao Zhenji to go to Zhejiang to take over Hu Zongxian's position!"
Seeing that Yan Song gave in so easily, Xu Jie couldn't help but have a look of surprise on his face, but then, as if he had figured something out, he weakly loosened his fists and lowered his head without saying a word.
Seeing that Yan Song had made the right decision, Jiajing nodded with satisfaction and immediately gave instructions.
"Well, since Mr. Yan Ge recommended Zhao Zhenji to go to Zhejiang and take over Hu Zongxian's position, then the matter is settled!"
"When the next cabinet meeting is held, follow the process and go through it again!"
Seeing that Jiajing had made a decision, Yan Song and Xu Jie could only nod in agreement, even though they were unwilling to do so.
"Your Majesty, Holy Might!"
Seeing that the matter had been settled, Jiajing looked away from Yan Song and Xu Jie, and immediately issued an eviction order.
"Okay, now that the matter has been settled, you can go back and continue your work!"
Upon hearing this, Yan Song and Xu Jie looked at each other, then immediately knelt on the ground and said in unison.
"As ordered, Your Majesty, I will retire now!"
"Um."
Jiajing responded quietly, then looked at Yan Song and Xu Jie and walked out of Qianqing Palace. (End of chapter)
