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When Zhao Junchen followed the eunuch Zhang Xiu into the palace, he found that the chief assistant Zhou Shangjing, the cabinet minister Cheng Yuandao, the official minister Song Qiwen, and the military minister Wang Shou were already waiting outside the Yangxin Hall. 【Read full text】
Because Emperor Deqing summoned the elders of the cabinet and the six ministers to have an audience together, but they haven't come yet, so they can only wait outside the Yangxin Hall.
At this time, Zhou Shangjing and Song Qiwen were talking softly about something, with both expressions of indifference and calmness; while Wang Shou maintained a low-key attitude as always, standing aside silently without knowing what he was thinking; as for the newly promoted Pavilion Elder Cheng Yuandao still looked aloof, and his position was far away from the other three.
After seeing Zhao Junchen appear, the four of them also had different expressions.
Song Qiwen smiled kindly at Zhao Junchen, Wang Shou also nodded to Zhao Junchen, Cheng Yuandao did not hide his disgust for Zhao Junchen at all, and let out a cold snort. As for Zhou Shangjing, after smiling slightly, he turned in the direction of Zhao Junchen Come.
As the chief minister of the dynasty, Zhou Shangjing did not dare to neglect Zhao Junchen even though Zhao Junchen was in the limelight and rushed to meet him.
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"Junior has met Mr. Chief Assistant."
"Junchen, you don't have to be polite." Zhou Shangjing still looked like he admired Zhao Junchen extremely. After helping Zhao Junchen up, he smiled and said: "I am very close to Junchen, but Junchen, you are always so polite. , but you are meeting me outside."
"Master Chief Assistant, you are serious. You are a senior, a superior officer, and a model for the younger generation to learn from. It is a natural duty for the younger generation to be more polite and respectful." Zhao Junchen still said respectfully.
Zhou Shangjing couldn't help but shook his head and sighed: "Junchen, you are good at everything, but you are just too stable. If Junchen, you are as old as an old man, being stable is naturally a benefit, but Junchen, you are not yet twenty-five." Years old. He is already so stable, but he lacks some of the frivolity that young people should have, which is a bit too much."
Zhao Junchen also sighed and said: "This junior has been too frivolous in the past. I have offended many people between the government and the public. Now I want to reverse it, but I have to go too far."
Seeing Zhao Junchen's appearance, Zhou Shangjing looked at Zhao Junchen with more admiration, but no one could guess the mood behind the admiration. He just changed the topic and got to the topic: "Speaking of which, Your Majesty, he is so This time, all the cabinet ministers and the six ministers were suddenly summoned to meet at Yangxin Palace. We haven’t seen this scene for a long time, and I’m afraid it’s not a trivial matter. In your opinion, Junchen, what is your Majesty’s plan?”
In the officialdom, hypocrisy is often the most common, and everyone is hiding their secrets. Never tell anyone all your thoughts.
Now, the same is true for Zhao Junchen. He has indeed guessed some of Emperor Deqing's thoughts, but he will not tell Zhou Shangjing everything - although Zhao Junchen also knows that with Zhou Shangjing's sophistication, Zhou Shangjing will definitely be able to guess the things he can guess. Guessed. But this does not mean that Zhao Junchen will be open and honest with Zhou Shangjing and hide nothing.
Therefore, Zhao Junchen pretended to frown and thought for a moment, and then slowly replied: "Heaven's heart is unpredictable, and juniors can't guess too much. However, now that the imperial examination and the southern tour are approaching, they are both major events that attract the attention of the world. Your Majesty, he also We need to gather those of us together and give you a few words of advice, so that we can feel at ease. In addition..."
Speaking of this, Zhao Junchen smiled bitterly and shook his head: "In recent days, due to the unhappiness between the juniors and Mr. Huang Ge, there have been many quarrels in the court. This has also made the situation in the court seem a bit chaotic. Your Majesty, in order to be able to An Anxin is on a southern tour, and I am afraid I will take this opportunity to warn Mr. Huang Ge and the younger generation so that they can be more at ease."
After hearing Zhao Junchen's analysis, Zhou Shangjing smiled half-heartedly and asked again: "Oh? With your intelligence, Junchen, you only guessed this?"
He sighed secretly in his heart, knowing that he could not hide it from Zhou Shangjing. After a moment of hesitation, Zhao Junchen said: "Also, due to the turbulent situation in the DPRK these days, many officials in the major yamen have been demoted. , or were dismissed from their posts, thus leaving a lot of official positions vacant. Official positions below the third rank are relatively easy to say. As long as the respective yamen discuss with the staff, the replacement candidates can be determined. However, the changes of officials above the third rank are not Small matters need to be decided after careful discussion between His Majesty and us. According to this junior, this should be the main purpose of Your Majesty summoning us this time."
Zhou Shangjing finally nodded with satisfaction and said slowly: "As Junchen said, there are now many vacancies in the major yamen of the imperial court. Let's not mention those vacancies below the third rank, but above the third rank, there is still a Ministry of Works. There are a total of three vacancies for the minister, a minister of punishment, and a deputy inspector. In addition, Feng Po, the minister of punishment, is now too old to be reused. He is also implicated because of Yan Pengfei's affairs. Your Majesty may ask him to retire and return to his hometown. As soon as he comes, there will be another vacancy for a second-grade Minister of Punishment."
"Master Chief Assistant, you understand clearly." Zhao Junchen nodded in agreement.
Zhou Shangjing smiled slightly and asked again: "But there are so many official positions vacant, and they are all positions of real power above the third rank. I am afraid that all the factions in the court will be jealous and will fight for them, so no one can get them all." The good thing is, if you don’t have a clear goal before the competition, it will only be nothing. But I don’t know, Junchen, which position is your goal? "
Without waiting for Zhao Junchen to answer, Zhou Shangjing said with a smile: "Let me guess, Junchen, you don't have any goals this time. You will not fight for those empty positions for your subordinates. Instead, you will try your best to keep Feng Po, the current Minister of the Ministry of Justice. , so that he will not retire and return to his hometown immediately, am I right?"
Zhao Junchen's eyes flashed, but he remained silent and did not answer.
He did not admit what Zhou Shangjing said, but he did not deny it either.
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In fact, Zhou Shangjing did not guess wrong.
This time, although Zhao Junchen was jealous of these vacant official positions, he had no plans to fight for them.
It's not that Zhao Junchen is not greedy, but because Zhao Junchen's power has expanded too fast these days, but his background is still insufficient. Unlike several pavilion elders who have disciples and old officials all over the world, there are not many talents who can be trusted and reused by his subordinates. There are not many, and there are even fewer talents who are qualified to serve as third-rank officials in the DPRK. Now even if Zhao Junchen is determined to fight for these vacant official positions, there are no suitable officials under his sect to fill these positions.
In a way, this is already a bottleneck for Zhao Junchen's further development.
This situation makes Zhao Junchen very helpless, but Zhao Junchen also knows that there is no rush to accumulate information, so he can only slowly save money.
Therefore, Zhao Junchen had no choice but to give up on the vacancies in front of him.
But Zhao Junchen is not completely without goals. As Zhou Shangjing said just now, Zhao Junchen's goal is also very clear, that is, to do his best today to keep Feng Po, the Minister of Punishment, so that he will not retire and return to his hometown immediately.
This is because Zhao Junchen plans to let Li Lide, the Minister of Punishment, take over the position of Minister of Punishment. However, Li Lide's qualifications are slightly insufficient after all, and he has not made any achievements in the Ministry of Punishment in the past few years. Even with Zhao Junchen's full support, Li Lide can become Shangshu of Punishment. The possibility is still very small.
However, there is also an advantage for Li Lide now - because Feng Po is old and no longer important, and Yan Pengfei, another minister of the Ministry of Punishment, has also been dismissed pending trial. Now there is only one person left in charge of the Ministry of Punishment, Li Lide, so as long as Give Li Lide time, he can easily make some achievements, and can also take the opportunity to control the middle and lower-level officials in the Ministry of Justice. At that time, Li Lide will naturally become the best candidate to be the next Minister of the Ministry of Justice.
What Zhao Junchen has to do now is to buy time for Li Lide! So at this time, Feng Po must not retire and return home!
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Unfortunately, Zhao Junchen's thoughts could not be hidden from the scheming Zhou Shangjing, and they were exposed by Zhou Shangjing's words.
Zhao Junchen didn't know how to respond for a while, so he simply remained silent, neither admitting nor denying, and waited for Zhou Shangjing to reveal his true intentions - Zhao Junchen believed that Zhou Shangjing would never say this to him for no reason. matter!
Sure enough, when Zhao Junchen was silent, Zhou Shangjing suddenly smiled and suggested to Zhao Junchen: "It seems that I guessed it right. In that case, Junchen, how about you make a deal with me?"
"You are the chief minister of the dynasty, how can this junior dare to trade with you." Zhao Junchen considered his words and said slowly: "If you have any orders, just give them directly to this junior. As long as this junior is within his ability, I will never refuse." .”
Zhao Junchen's words seemed respectful and obedient, but the key point was the words "within one's ability".
Zhou Shangjing naturally understood what he heard, but he didn't care. He just continued with a smile: "I also want to fight for the position of Minister of the Ministry of Justice... Can Junchen not fight with me? Of course, I also know that Junchen, you have already Taking the position of Minister of the Ministry of Punishments as something in my pocket, I will naturally not let you, Junchen, suffer in vain... Now, the term of Zhang Bochong, the governor of Shandong Zuo, is approaching, and I also plan to let him take over the position of Minister of the Ministry of Punishments, so this I will give the position of the Chief Envoy of Zuo to Shandong to you, Junchen, what do you think, Junchen?"
After hearing Zhou Shangjing's proposal, Zhao Junchen raised his eyebrows and immediately understood what Zhou Shangjing meant.
But I have to say that Zhou Shangjing’s proposal is very tempting to Zhao Junchen!
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