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"Your Majesty, I recommend Shaobao Zhao Zhenghe to join the cabinet as an assistant minister. Zhao Shaobao has made outstanding achievements over the years, has sufficient ability and experience, and has always had a high reputation among officials. He is the best candidate in the hope of everyone... "
"I recommend Grand Scholar Li He. Grand Bachelor Li's experience, ability, and reputation are all the best choices. He has also had the experience of joining the cabinet, but because of the death of his mother, he returned to his hometown Dingyou for three years, but he has been in the cabinet since His performance during this period is also obvious to all, and now it is natural for him to be appointed to the cabinet again..."
"Your Majesty, I think that Zuo Lanshan, Minister of the Ministry of Industry, is an excellent candidate to join the cabinet. Nowadays, several cabinet ministers in the cabinet are old. It is time to add some young and energetic ministers, and Zuo Shangshu He has just passed the age of knowing his destiny, but he is already rich in experience and has made extraordinary achievements. He is the right candidate to join the cabinet..."
"I support Academician Huo Zhengyuan to join the cabinet to assist the government. Academician Huo is extremely knowledgeable, agile, and familiar with ancient and modern laws, disciplines, and government orders. He is an excellent addition to the cabinet..."
"Your Majesty, I recommend Zhao Junchen, Minister of Household Affairs..."
"Your Majesty, I think..."
As the brief silence ended, endless waves of light and undercurrent immediately arose in the Huangji Palace, and the major factions in the court began to recommend their own candidates.
*
In fact, the political game between various parties around cabinet seats has been quietly unfolding for a long time.
After all, Zhao Junchen, Zhou Shangjing, Shen Changmao and others are all top officials. When Huang Yourong showed signs of collapse, they immediately foresaw the changes in today's situation and took targeted measures. layout.
Therefore, after hearing Emperor Deqing's inquiry, all the major factions were fully prepared and concentrated their efforts on recommending the most promising candidates within their respective factions. There were not many differences.
Among them, the "Shen Party" from Shen Changmao on down were vigorously building momentum for Zhao Zhenghe, the Shaobao, and wanted to recommend Zhao Zhenghe to the cabinet, and Zhao Zhenghe's reputation and popularity made him a more suitable candidate.
Under the leadership of Zhou Shangjing, everyone in the "Zhou Party" recommended Li He, a bachelor, but Li He's reputation and qualifications were even higher than that of Zhao Zhenghe.
In comparison, the "Zhao Party", which has been the most active in recent days, is somewhat silent at this time, and even shows great differences of opinion: such as Zhan Shanchang, the minister of household affairs, Gu Quan, the censor of Youqiandu, Most of the senior "Zhao Party" officials such as Liu Chang'an, the minister of the Ministry of Personnel, recommended Zuo Lanshan, the minister of the Ministry of Industry; such as Lin Youlun, the Shaoqing of Taichang Temple, Situ Han, the right deputy censor of the capital, and Wang Xin, the left Tongzheng. Officials who joined the "Zhao Party" recommended Huo Zhengyuan, a bachelor with a similar background to them; there were even some "Zhao Party" officials who wanted to flatter Zhao Junchen, and were not afraid of attracting ridicule, and actually tried their best to Recommended Zhao Junchen, whose qualifications and reputation were seriously lacking...
As a result, the "Zhao Party" became the only court party that did not have unified internal opinions, and its performance was poor.
In fact, the poor performance of "Zhao Dang" at this time was all intentional by Zhao Junchen.
After all, if Zhao Junchen leads the "Zhao Party" to unequivocally support Zuo Lanshan's entry into the cabinet from the beginning, it means that Zuo Lanshan is deeply trusted by Zhao Junchen, or Zhao Junchen is completely sure to control Zuo Lanshan, so at one point I don't mind if Zuo Lanshan enters the cabinet, and I have no worries that Zuo Lanshan's status will be higher than mine!
In this case, Emperor Deqing will definitely re-examine his plan to use Zuo Lanshan to split the "Zhao Party". At that time, in order to prevent the "Zhao Party" from getting stronger and starting to interfere in cabinet affairs, he may oppose Zuo Lanshan's entry into the cabinet. , in this way, the difficulty for Zuo Lanshan to enter the cabinet will be doubled!
Therefore, Zhao Junchen deliberately failed to unify the opinions within the "Zhao Party" and allowed the "Zhao Party" to show great differences in front of Emperor Deqing. All this was to imply that Emperor Deqing - Zhao Junchen did not trust Zuo very much. Lanshan and Lanshan were also worried that Zuo Lanshan would lose control after joining the cabinet, so he could not make up his mind for a long time and caused differences of opinion within the "Zhao Party". After seeing this scene, Emperor Deqing would also be further determined With his confidence in using Zuo Lanshan to split the "Zhao Party", he is more likely to support Zuo Lanshan's entry into the cabinet.
Although, in this way, the momentum of calling for Zuo Lanshan to join the cabinet will be reduced a lot, but as long as Emperor Deqing is deceived and allowed to support Zuo Lanshan's entry into the cabinet, everything will be worth it! As for the differences within the "Zhao Party", as long as Zhao Junchen is willing to express his attitude, they can be unified soon, and Zuo Lanshan's momentum will naturally increase!
Anyway, this political game surrounding cabinet seats will not be settled in a short time. Zuo Lanshan's weak momentum in the short term will not affect the long term, but will make several other factions careless. .
*
Sure enough, after seeing the differences of opinion within the "Zhao Party", Emperor Deqing's eyes flashed with satisfaction, and he felt that his plan to split the "Zhao Party" was promising.
Moreover, Emperor Deqing also secretly observed the changes in the expressions of Zhao Junchen and Zuo Lanshan at this moment.
Under Zhao Junchen's instructions, Zuo Lanshan remained silent and did not express his position, but his expression deliberately showed a trace of resentment, as if he was very dissatisfied that the "Zhao Party" did not fully support him.
Officialdom is like a theater, and Zuo Lanshan was also an old actor, so his performance at this time was lifelike, and Emperor Deqing did not notice anything unusual.
Zhao Junchen, on the other hand, showed obvious hesitation. He occasionally looked at Zuo Lanshan, occasionally at Huo Zhengyuan, and occasionally lowered his head in deep thought. He still seemed to be undecided and didn't know who he should support in the cabinet.
Zhao Junchen's acting skills were equally good, and he also managed to deceive Emperor Deqing.
Therefore, after seeing the performance of Zuo Lanshan and Zhao Junchen, Emperor Deqing became more and more determined to use Zuo Lanshan to split the "Zhao Party".
*
Zhao Junchen did not raise his head to observe the changes in Emperor Deqing's expression, for fear of exposing any flaws.
In fact, when Emperor Deqing was secretly observing Zhao Junchen, Zhao Junchen was also secretly observing several other major factions in the court while acting.
Among them, the attitudes of the "Shen Party" and the "Zhou Party" were quite clear, and the candidates they recommended were also within Zhao Junchen's expectation.
However, the attitudes of the "Prince Party" and the "Emperor Party" aroused Zhao Junchen's attention and vigilance.
When the major factions in the DPRK and China were nominating their own candidates, the "Prince Party" performed unexpectedly low-key and did not compete for this vacant cabinet position.
Of course, this is also conceivable. After all, since Cheng Yuandao entered the cabinet, there are no other suitable candidates within the "Prince Party" who can join the cabinet. Either they are not capable enough or their reputation is not enough. Even if they are reluctantly recommended, they will not be able to join the cabinet. It is absolutely impossible to gain the approval of hundreds of officials.
In addition, the performance of the "Princeling Party" has been low-key these days, so it is expected that they are silent and have not expressed their stance at this time.
However, to Zhao Junchen's surprise, "******"'s silence and low profile were only temporary.
When some officials from the "Imperial Party" began to recommend Liang Fuchen, the Governor-General of the Three Kingdoms, to join the cabinet, everyone in the "Prince Party" suddenly changed their attitude and no longer remained silent. !
After seeing this scene, Zhao Junchen thought thoughtfully: "Interesting, is the position of the 'Prince Party' actively moving closer to the 'Emperor Party'? Well, this should be Zhao Shancai's plan. It is indeed a clever plan... In addition, Officials from the 'Imperial Party' recommended Liang Fuchen, the governor-general of the three sides, is this what Emperor Deqing meant?"
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…(To be continued.)
