Hanlin Academy, Lu Jianying, Ye Mingchen, Yang Jinlong, Zhao Liewen and more than a dozen others sat down. Since Chang Dachun was dismissed from office, they have always been listless...

"Absurd! Absurd! It's only been a few months since I was established, and the emperor is going to tour again. What should I do?" Ye Mingchen sighed and narrowed Lu Jianying with his eyes squinted. This prime minister was too incompetent. Although the emperor was wise, he was a young man in his twenties after all. As the prime minister, he should take on the responsibility of teaching the emperor.

Lu Jianying smiled and said, "I agree with the emperor's inspection of Guangdong and Guangxi. Lord Zuo has been in charge of Guangdong and Guangxi for several years, and his gossip has never been cut off. If the emperor is allowed to inspect it personally, the rumors will be self-defeating and the pressure on us will be less. Otherwise, if Ji Gao is transferred to the post, we will be able to make plans for several years and destroy them. Those Guangxi people will be even more rampant."

Ye Mingchen was secretly angry: Zuo Zongtang is the Westernization faction!

Lu Jianying waved his hand and refused to let Ye Mingchen continue: "Okay, don't talk about these useless things anymore. Lord Chang was dismissed and the balance between the court was broken. We should focus on this. Once the Westernization faction enters the cabinet, the consequences will be unimaginable."

Ye Mingchen sighed: "It is difficult to distinguish between true and false in the Westernization Clan. Many people in our clear stream agree with the Westernization Clan, especially some generals leading troops, and this is even more so."

The implication of Ye Mingchen's words is that people like Zuo Zongtang, Li Hongzhang, and Zeng Guofan are unreliable, and the cabinet candidates must not recommend these people.

Yang Jinlong looked sarcastic and sneered at Ye Mingchen's words. Wouldn't thousands of words give him a chance to gain a place in the cabinet? This is unreliable and that is unreliable, sooner or later it will be said to me.

"Mr. Ye is such a bad statement. The emperor supports the Westernization Affairs. How can we ministers, who are ministers, oppose famously? Didn't you contact the Westernization Affairs when you were in Guangdong?"

Ye Mingchen, whose scar was exposed, turned red. Of course, he had contacted foreigners. Otherwise, foreigners would have to make up the point of being unreasonable in Guangdong. The people hated him deeply. If they did not appease him, Guangdong would have been in chaos long ago.

Zhao Liewen whispered loudly: "We are not here to discuss the emperor's parade or factional disputes. The most urgent task is to discuss the candidates for joining the cabinet. If we fight each other, we will only benefit from outsiders, and it will be too late to regret it."

Lu Jianying nodded and said, "HP is right. There are two people who have vacant cabinets. Please give me any candidates if you have."

"The emperor is here!" The eunuch's unique sharp voice was particularly loud.

Lu Jianying and others had no time to guess why the emperor came out of the palace and came to greet him together.

"I will meet the emperor!"

Li Yunzhi laughed and said, "Dear everyone, please don't have any gifts! There is a happy event today, so I came here in person."

When he entered the house, Lu Jianying still bent and said, "What are the happy events of the emperor? I want to hear them too."

Li Yunzhi hesitated and said loudly: "Yunnan has announced his surrender to the Han Dynasty, and Hunan Xiang Army has also attacked Hubei. Not only that, Guizhou Yang Fuqing's troops welcomed Shi Dakai to enter Guizhou. Ji Wenyuan and Huang Weijiang's troops were incorporated by Shi Dakai. In less than three days, Shi Dakai announced that Guizhou surrendered to Yanjing, and Hu Kuan finally became the governor of Guizhou."

Zhao Liewen was surprised and happy. He was the Minister of War and knew the most about the southwest. He immediately praised: "Congratulations to the emperor. With Shi Dakai's help, the southwest can be settled. Hong Xiuquan of Sichuan did his best and lost all his heart. Shi Dakai's prestige is very high. With Shi Dakai's help, it is much easier than our Han army's attack alone."

Li Yunzhong nodded repeatedly, and after Zhao Liewen finished speaking, he immediately smiled and said, "Yes, worshiping God will be the most confusing to the hearts of the people. Moreover, there are still many believers in the Han army who rashly attacked Sichuan. Success or failure is unpredictable. Shi Dakai is my timely rain."

Yang Jinlong also came up and flattered: "If you want to comment from me, the biggest gain in the southwest is Zeng Guofan and hundreds of thousands of Hunan troops. The emperor can pacify the two lakes without a single soldier. This is like God's help. It can be seen that the emperor is the real true dragon emperor. When Han King Liu Bang took seven years to pacify the world, the emperor only took six years to win over Liu Bang."

Li Yunzhong smiled complacently. He had already compared himself with the founding monarchs of various dynasties. He thought he was still among the best in terms of age and military achievements, except for the monster Li Shimin.

"Today I have something to discuss with you. The lands in several southwest provinces have just returned to the public and the people are determined, so I plan to send a few civil servants to comfort me."

Lu Jianying was shocked. He was qualified to serve as governor, and there were only a few governors. If they were sent out, wouldn’t they have to give up the cabinet?

Li Yunzhi did not give them time to report, so he announced: "Jiao Liang was appointed as the governor of Hunan, Ye Mingchen was appointed as the governor of Yunnan and Guizhou, Zuo Zongtang was appointed as the governor of Huguang, Yang Jinlong was appointed as the governor of Yunnan, and as for the governor of Hubei..."

Lu Jianying bowed and said, "Your Majesty, Hunan Liu Rong has worked hard and made great contributions. How can the emperor not repay you? I suggest that Liu Rong be the governor of Hubei."

"Okay, it's Liu Rong, I value him very much."

Zhao Liewen bowed and asked, "Can the emperor appoint a military post in the southwest?"

Li Yunzhi lowered his head and walked slowly, worriedly: "The Hunan Army is already deeply rooted in the two lakes. If we continue to appoint these Hunanese as military officers, there may be people who are ill-behaved, so I plan to let people from other provinces take over these positions."

"The emperor is wise!" Zhao Liewen smiled and said, "The Hunan Army should leave Hunan. I suggest that they be transferred to Shaanxi and Gansu to suppress bandits."

Ye Mingchen said solemnly: "I'm afraid there will be no need to use so many people to suppress the bandits. General Li has already defeated the force of Hui**, Ma Hualong and his son have also been killed, and Shaanxi and Gansu have basically been recovered. How can the barren land of Shaanxi and Gansu support tens of thousands of Hunan troops?"

Zhao Liewen replied: "Food and pay can be transported from Jiangnan."

Ye Mingchen just smiled with a profound smile.

Li Yunzhi asked, "Then Lord Ye can make a good plan. I have promised not to voluntarily abolish the Hunan Army. If a word is as good as possible, I cannot break my promise!"

Ye Mingchen smiled proudly and said, "It has been more than half a year since the Russian envoys visited. Now the Russians have withdrawn from the Northeast. Why not organize tens of thousands of elite Hunan troops to form a new army and let them conquer the Northeast."

Yang Jinlong applauded and smiled: "At the beginning, the emperor only promised the Hunan Army not to attack the Northeast, and asked the Hunan Army to organize a new army. It can not only rely on the Hunan Army's warlords, but also guide the Northeast. It has the best of both worlds, wonderful! Wonderful!"

These literati were really insidious. He only asked the Hunan Army to be cannon fodder in Siberia, but he didn't expect that he would come up with the clever plan to change his name and guide the Northeast. After pacifying the Northeast, he let them enter Siberia directly. The Han army then accepted the Northeast. In this way, it would not delay the war in Siberia. It should be the best of all.

Li Yunzhi and Lu Jianying said: "You will immediately draw an imperial edict for Zeng Guofan, first promote him to the first-class viscount, and first his eldest son to the second-class baron. He transferred the Hunan Army Jizi Ying, Ting Army, and Li Xuyi's troops to form the New Second Army, Zeng Guoquan was the commander, Bao Chao and Li Xuyi also served as deputy commander, and transferred Zhang Zhizhi of the Second Army as the chief of staff to form the chief of staff, and let them go to Tongzhou first to adapt."

Since the last mutiny, Tongzhou has been surrounded by several armies and is not afraid of the Hunan Army going in chaos.

Ye Mingchen was secretly happy that the few people who threatened him had been transferred out. The remaining Zhao Liewen, Wang Qinglu and others were too young and could not threaten him. These people were also targets he had won over.

Li Yunzhong said to Lu Jianying: "Ming said that I plan to set off to go south, and I will bother Lord Lu in trouble about the capital."

Lu Jianying nodded unscrupulously, looked at Ye Mingchen with an urgent look, and smiled secretly, "You asked me to recommend you."

"Report to the Emperor, there are still several candidates for the cabinet candidates. Can the Emperor have anyone he likes?"

Li Yunzhong said: "I plan to expand the cabinet. Four cabinet masters will be appointed by the Secretary of State, with a grade of first grade. With three bachelor's secretaries, and a grade of fifth grade or above, what do you do?"

There is a high-ranking official to be a part of it, but everyone agrees in unison.

Li Yunzhi immediately ordered: "The cabinet added Ye Mingchen, Minister of Rites, Minister of Personnel, Zhang Weikun, Minister of Personnel, Shen Baozhen, Hanlin Scholar, Zhao Yali, Inspector Censor, and Hu Mengjun, General of Jiangxi, as the bachelor's secretary."
Chapter completed!