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Due to the vacancy of cabinet seats, the situation in the court has quietly emerged with numerous overt and undercurrents, and all major factions are ready to make moves.
Zhao Junchen had Zhao Junchen's plan, and Emperor Deqing had Emperor Deqing's idea. The "Prince Party" and the chief minister Shen Changmao began to secretly join forces. As for Zhou Shangjing, the most powerful official in the court, he was naturally not lagging behind at this time. Have your own plan.
In the competition for cabinet seats, the hope of the "Zhou Party" rests entirely with the bachelor Li He.
Li He, a bachelor, is only in his fifties, but he already has experience as a cabinet minister. He has a slim appearance, a restrained temperament, and a lot of intelligence. He has always been Zhou Shangjing's right-hand man. If his mother hadn't passed away six years ago, he would have been killed. Because his official career was delayed due to his role in keeping filial piety and Ding You, I am afraid that his reputation will be even higher than that of Huang Yourong, Wen Guanliang and others.
While Zhao Shancai and Shen Changmao were secretly discussing the matter of joining forces, Zhou Shangjing also returned to his house and invited Li He, the bachelor of the university, Song Qiwen, the minister of the Ministry of official affairs, and Zhang Bochong, the minister of the Ministry of punishment, to discuss the matter.
In the living room of the Zhou Mansion, Zhou Shangjing was sitting on the main seat, his expression full of emotion, and he said slowly: "Six years ago, Li He and you were already ministers of the cabinet, and among the ministers of the cabinet, You are the youngest and have a bright future. With your help, I can easily control the situation in the cabinet. Unfortunately, your mother passed away at home, so you had no choice but to return to your hometown to observe mourning, and you have been away for three years... This way Later, I lost support in the cabinet and had to fight alone to support myself. If it weren't for the fact that several ministers in the cabinet at that time, such as Wen Guanliang, Huang Yourong, Shen Changmao and others, were all mediocre and incompetent, I would not have been able to support myself. I may not be able to control the cabinet situation, but even so, I have still spent a lot of effort in recent years, which is quite fortunate..."
As he spoke, Zhou Shangjing shook his head repeatedly and said: "What's even more pity is that Your Majesty deliberately wanted to weaken our influence. This incident also allowed Your Majesty to seize the opportunity. When Ding You finally expires and returns, In the temple, we have lost our position as cabinet ministers and can only serve as a bachelor in name only. At this point, our influence in the temple has also been weakened a lot, and we can no longer influence the temple's policies as easily as in previous years. Toward..."
Hearing Zhou Shangjing's emotion, Li He had a look of guilt on his face, stood up and saluted, "Li He is really ashamed of the Chief Assistant! As before, Mr. Chief Assistant, you spent countless efforts and energy to allow Li He to enter the cabinet and become a minister." However, Li He failed the chief minister's hard work. After his mother passed away, he ignored the efforts of the chief minister and his colleagues to stay, and insisted on returning to his hometown to observe mourning for three years. In the end, he lost the overall situation due to small matters and destroyed the chief minister. The great situation that you have worked so hard to manage... Li He really feels guilty."
As always, in private situations, "Zhou Party" officials will insist on calling Zhou Shangjing "Chief Assistant" because they firmly believe that Zhou Shangjing will regain the position of Chief Assistant sooner or later, while the current Cabinet Chief Shen Changmao is just a minister in their eyes. He's just a clown, nothing to be afraid of.
On the other side, when he saw Li He pleading guilty to himself, Zhou Shangjing shook his head and said: "We, as scholars, pay the most attention to the four words of loyalty, filial piety, benevolence and righteousness. Your mother worked hard to raise you and provided you with education and literacy. When she passed away You are still distracted by court affairs, and it is inappropriate for you not to stay by the bedside to fulfill your filial piety. After her passing, how can I still prevent you from returning to your hometown to observe your filial piety? You have done nothing wrong, so there is no need to feel guilty. It was just bad timing.”
Seeing that Zhou Shangjing understood him so well, Li He's face was filled with emotion, and he was determined to repay Zhou Shangjing's kindness to the death.
Seeing the change in Li He's expression, Zhou Shangjing nodded lightly, but did not express anything. He just said: "However, now is a good opportunity. After Huang Yourong took office, several major factions in the court spied on this cabinet. There is no space, but after all, you have the best hope, but I also hope that you can seize this opportunity and avoid any further setbacks."
After hearing Zhou Shangjing's instructions, Li He first responded solemnly, and then said hesitantly: "Thank you, Mr. Chief Assistant, for your trust. Li He will do his best! But... there are many officials from the 'Imperial Party' recommending the governor of the three sides." Liang Fuchen has returned to the capital and joined the cabinet. Liang Fuchen has guarded the three sides for many years. He has outstanding achievements, high reputation, and second-to-none moral integrity. If Li He competes with this person, he probably has little chance of winning."
Zhou Shangjing didn't care about Li He's worries, and just said slowly: "Liang Fuchen is indeed a capable minister. Over the years, he has guarded northern Xinjiang, and the situation in the three-sided military town has become rotten to the core and is difficult to recover from. It is indeed very rare that he can barely maintain the situation... However, no matter how strong his achievements and his reputation are, his status as an 'imperialist' is his inherent shortcoming! Shen Changmao and the DPRK No matter how openly and secretly the ministers fight, they will never allow His Majesty to interfere in cabinet affairs. I believe they still have this vision! If the factions in the DPRK are in a stalemate due to cabinet vacancies, Liang Fuchen will rely on his merits and reputation. There may be some possibility of entering the cabinet to assist the government, but if the only two candidates left in the cabinet are you and Liang Fuchen, in addition to the "Prince Party", the major factions in the DPRK and China will definitely abandon their prejudices, coordinate their positions, and boycott Liang Fuchen will support you together, so..."
Having said this, Zhou Shangjing concluded with a conclusive tone: "So, now the major factions in the DPRK are eyeing the vacancies in the cabinet and are throwing out their own candidates. There are really too many competitors. Under such circumstances , inevitably gave Liang Fuchen an opportunity to take advantage of the chaos... The first thing we have to do is to eliminate those competitors who are not qualified. When only you and Liang Fuchen are left to compete, the overall situation has been decided. !”
After saying that, Zhou Shangjing turned his eyes to Zhang Bochong, the Minister of Punishment at the side.
After noticing Zhou Shangjing's gaze, Zhang Boxhong immediately stood up and reported: "Master Chief Assistant, Xiaguan is fully prepared. Whether it is Zhao Zhenghe, Zuo Lanshan, Huo Zhengyuan, or other competitors, they are all ready. Their many scandals and evidence of crimes are just waiting for an order from you, the Chief Assistant, so that the subordinate officials can arrange for the censors to impeach them. By the time they finally get rid of the impeachment, the matter of vacancies in the cabinet will have been settled."
Zhou Shangjing nodded with satisfaction and said: "Don't be anxious, wait for the opportunity, and come one by one, otherwise it will cause public outrage. First... let's start with Zhao Zhenghe."
"yes!"
As Zhou Shangjing finished speaking, Li He, Song Qiwen, and Zhang Bochong all stood up to respond.
Under the leadership of Zhou Shangjing, they are all confident and firmly believe that the "Zhou Party" will be the ultimate winner of this battle for cabinet seats.
However, the three of them did not notice that while they were confident, there was a hint of helplessness in Zhou Shangjing's eyes.
*
As mentioned before, as Zhou Shangjing gets older, his life goals have quietly changed.
In the past, Zhou Shangjing hoped that he could always stand on the top of power. He hoped that he could dominate the whole family and dominate the whole family. Therefore, Zhou Shangjing naturally did his best to fight for power. He only hoped that the greater the influence of his power, the better.
But now, Zhou Shangjing is getting older and is gradually no longer so keen on being a powerful minister. He only hopes that his power and family can continue to be passed down. Therefore, Zhou Shangjing already has the idea of turning enemies into friends with Emperor Deqing.
At this time, Zhou Shangjing actually did not want to further expand his power and further arouse the suspicion and fear of Emperor Deqing, which was not conducive to the reconciliation between Zhou Shangjing and Emperor Deqing!
It's a pity that people often have no control over themselves in the temple. Zhou Shangjing now seems to have all the power in the government and is the sole leader of the "Zhou Party", the largest faction in the court, and has a solid position. But in fact, Zhou Shangjing has become the leader of the "Zhou Party" After that, although he gained the support of all officials of the "Zhou Party", he also became the spokesperson for the interests of all officials of the "Zhou Party" and must fight for the interests of all officials of the "Zhou Party".
If Zhou Shangjing is unable to fight for the interests of the officials of the "Zhou Party", or even hinders the interests of the officials of the "Zhou Party", then even Zhou Shangjing, who has great prestige and stable status, will soon be owned by the "Zhou Party" People throw away.
This is a matter of course, and even with Zhou Shangjing's methods and mentality, he cannot change it.
Nowadays, although Zhou Shangjing does not want his power to increase further, helping Li He enter the cabinet and increasing the voice of the "Zhou Party" in the cabinet is now the common wish of everyone in the "Zhou Party", so Zhou Shangjing can only Choose to obey.
Not only must you obey, but you must also do your best to accomplish it, otherwise Zhou Shangjing will first lose his position as the chief minister of the cabinet. During this period, everyone in the "Zhou Party" has been forced to keep a low profile. If he can no longer help Li He enter the cabinet, Zhou Shangjing's reputation in the "Zhou Party" will also take a huge hit. This is also something Zhou Shangjing does not want to see.
Therefore, after weighing the pros and cons, Zhou Shangjing finally had no choice but to go against his own will and had to fight for power again.
This is probably the helplessness of the powerful ministers. Once they embark on this path, they can never look back. This is the case for Zhou Shangjing, and the same is true for Zhao Junchen!
*
In recent times, the development of "Zhao Party" has been smooth sailing. Zhao Junchen is also the only one in the "Zhao Party". No one dares to challenge Zhao Junchen's prestige.
However, if Zhao Junchen understood Zhou Shangjing's helplessness, he would definitely feel the same way.
Nowadays, with the growing influence of the "Zhao Party", Zhao Junchen feels more and more that he has no control over his own actions. Many times he has to consider the thoughts of his subordinates, and many plans have become much more complicated.
For example, now, in the fight for cabinet vacancies, Zhao Junchen feels the pressure from his own officials.
While everyone in the "Zhou Party" was discussing matters, Zhao Junchen also returned to his mansion.
As soon as he entered the mansion, Zhao Junchen received a report from the steward of the mansion, saying that many "Zhao Party" officials had unanimously requested to see Zhao Junchen. At this time, they all gathered in the living room of the Zhao mansion.
Moreover, after these "Zhao Party" officials met each other, the atmosphere was vaguely discordant, and even meant to confront each other.
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…(To be continued.)
