Chapter 179 Li Gan: Cai Jing is good! He is good because he is good
Li Qian sat back on his seat again, and looked at Qin Hui's expression as if he was becoming more and more appreciative: "Prime Minister Qin, if all the officials in the world were as dedicated to the public as you are, with sincere loyalty and willingness to share my worries, how could Da Gan be like this? Trouble?"
Qin Hui humbly cupped his hands and said: "Your Majesty, I am just relying on your Majesty's grace. As long as your Majesty sends you, I will do whatever you want."
Hearing this, Li Qian waved his hands with a smile: "It's not really an errand, but I have another good thing for you."
He said with emotion: "It's you, Prime Minister Qin. If it were anyone else, I wouldn't even be able to say it."
Seeing His Majesty the Emperor's expression of "You've made a lot of money", Qin Hui couldn't help but feel his heart skip a beat.
It's just that he has been trapped by the words now, and he can't refuse directly if he wants to.
Li Qian chuckled and said: "Prime Minister Qin, it's a pity that you can't serve as the chief examiner of the general examination. In this case, I can only choose a minister of Zhongshu to serve as the deputy examiner of the general examination."
Qin Hui was startled when he heard this, and the words he subconsciously wanted to refuse stopped on his lips.
Li Qian was still sighing: "It's a pity. If Prime Minister Qin also serves as the examiner, and you both serve as examiners, I can feel completely at ease about this examination."
"His Majesty……"
Qin Hui's face looked a little heavy: "According to convention, the examiner for this year's examination should be Mr. Cai Jing and Mr. Cai. Isn't it possible that His Majesty is worried about Mr. Cai?"
Li Qian shook his head: "Of course I'm not worried."
"The Cai Qing family is a very good person. He handles government affairs very well. He can handle the complicated affairs of the six departments of Shangshu Province by himself. He never causes me any big trouble."
"Moreover, he is frugal and never takes bribes or bends the law, nor does he abuse his personal power on people close to his clan. In addition, he is good at promoting underachievers..."
Qin Hui was sweating profusely when he heard this, and thought to himself how much His Majesty the Emperor is annoying Cai Jing.
"The above are not the best."
Li Qian talked for a long time, then pondered for a moment and said: "The best thing about the Cai Qing family is that they have a wide network of contacts. Whether they are in the government or in the vassal states, they all have friends of the Cai Qing family. "
He sighed and said: "With such an honest minister here, how much effort and trouble can be saved in the court's affairs?"
Qin Hui nodded and expressed his approval: "What your Majesty said is absolutely true. I also think that Mr. Cai is really a great official. He has many things to do with the princes and states. Without Mr. Cai, it is really impossible."
If you don’t apply eye drops now, why wait?
Li Qian nodded: "Well, that's why I'm a little hesitant."
He said with some worry: "Mr. Cai interacts with friends and treats others with sincerity and openness. He is a complete gentleman. This is good in any place, but only in the position of examiner in this examination... it is not good."
Qin Hui was startled and instantly understood what His Majesty the Emperor meant.
Make friends and treat others with sincerity. Doesn't this mean that Cai Jing may be in cahoots with others and mess around in the interview?
Qin Hui secretly praised Li Qian's vision, Your Majesty, your vision is so accurate.
In fact, in the past, when a new emperor ascended the throne, ministers would avoid playing tricks in the examination.
When a new emperor ascends the throne, he will definitely be very fresh and pay more attention to his first imperial examination and palace examination. If he wants to cause trouble inside at this time, the risk of being discovered will definitely increase greatly.
If you want to do it, you have to wait until your Majesty the Emperor loses the novelty after the first trial!
It's just that this unspoken rule was slowly changed later.
Maybe it's because of the greed in my heart.
If you do it when it's everyone else's turn, but you don't, then you won't suffer a loss?
The general examination is held every three years. According to theory, the four examiners can take turns every twelve years. Even if in practice it takes six or nine years, it is still long enough.
If you don’t do it this time, you will be sure that you will still be in this position after six or nine years?
This is true for the chief examiner, let alone the deputy examiner. They are more uncertain than the chief examiner. Even their positions are bloody fought among a number of competitors. Is it okay not to do this? Who is willing?
To take a step back, even if you can still achieve it three years later, six years later, or nine years later, will the result be the same?
In places like officialdom where seniority is considered, if you are admitted as a Jinshi three years in advance, you can pass one more examination and gain three more years of qualifications.
By then, other people's students will be office directors, and your students will still be section officers when they first pass the exam. Is that the same?
Therefore, after someone committed a foul at first, gradually more and more people started making small moves.
Many of them were leaked, and then something went wrong, but the temptation to try was too great, and the officials couldn't help it!
Someone once said that meat eaters are despicable and do not have a long-term perspective. This is actually not entirely true.
Perhaps these meat-eaters have a far-sighted vision and see benefits that are unimaginable to ordinary people, and then they are fascinated by these benefits...
This may be part of the reason why Qin Hui wanted to avoid taking the exam.
Cai Jing was unlucky. It happened to be the emperor's turn for the first imperial examination after he ascended the throne. And judging from the current situation, His Majesty the Emperor was obviously eyeing the imperial examination, and he seemed to have noticed something.
Going in at this time... may not be a good thing.
But now that he has said so, how should he refuse?
Seeing that Qin Hui was deep in thought, Li Qian did not disturb him, but sat behind the table and quietly sipped the tea in the cup.
"His Majesty."
Qin Hui suddenly raised his head, frowned and said, "I would like to share your Majesty's worries, but I'm afraid it won't be that simple."
Li Qian's heart moved: "Is there any difficulty with Prime Minister Qin?"
Qin Hui corrected him carefully: "Your Majesty, it's not that I'm in trouble, but that other people may be in trouble."
"The position of deputy examiner of the General Examination has been held by the Minister of the Sixth Department of the Secretariat in recent years. Now if it is changed to the Minister of the Secretariat of Zhongshu, I am afraid they will have a lot of complaints."
Li Qian waved his hand and said with a smile: "Of course, it is not directly changed to the Minister of Zhongshu, but the four ministers of Zhongshu Province and Menxia Province are allowed to participate in the selection of deputy examiners."
"We are all ministers. It is impossible for them to be the only ones who can stand for election every year, and let the four colleagues from Zhongshu Province and Menxia Province do it, right? This is too unfair!"
In this way, the opposition voices of the six ministers will be much smaller.
It's not like we completely stripped away their hopes, we just added four more people. There are twelve of you. Don't be too mean or stingy.
Of course, as for how to choose...the right to interpret the event ultimately belongs to the emperor and the right minister.
Qin Hui had a toothache: "Your Majesty, I'm afraid this matter won't be that simple..."
Li Qian chuckled: "Prime Minister Qin, don't worry too much."
"Don't the four ministers from Zhongshu Province and Menxia Province want to serve as deputy examiners?"
"This..." Qin Hui held back what he was about to say again.
Anyone who thinks with their butt knows, they definitely want to!
Who wouldn't want to be able to get half of the Jinshi scholars as disciples?
Don't talk about being afraid of something happening. Even if you can clearly see the risks involved, who would be willing to ignore such huge benefits when they are right in front of you?
When Qin Hui heard that he was the examiner, his mind paused. If the resistance to being re-elected as the examiner was not too great, he would definitely have fought for it.
How will the ministers react now that they know the news?
Li Qian looked at Qin Hui, who was deep in thought, with a smile.
When you can share the benefits, you are naturally a good boss, but if you block the way of your subordinates, it is not clear whether they will recognize you or not.
Qin Hui suddenly sighed quietly, cupped his hands and replied: "Your Majesty, I understand. I will go back and talk to them about this matter."
Li Qian smiled and nodded: "Okay."
"Prime Minister Qin, you can rest assured. I told you about this matter. If there is any accident, as long as the involvement is not big, it will not affect too much."
Even if something does happen, as long as the servant you send doesn't commit any crimes and doesn't go too far, he won't be involved.
Qin Hui's brows moved, as if he had some confidence in his heart, and he immediately bowed and replied: "Thank you, Your Majesty."
Li Qian nodded: "There is also the Ministry of Menxia. Now that Prime Minister Yan is not here, you can also talk to the two servants of the Menxiamen and let them prepare."
Qin Hui's face turned bitter again, obviously knowing Li Qian's intention.
However, after hearing what he said just now, he still nodded in agreement: "Your Majesty, I understand."
"Okay." Li Qian looked at him with a smile: "I won't waste your time any more. Prime Minister Qin should go slowly."
"Yes, Your Majesty." Qin Hui stood up, bowed and bowed, and then slowly exited the small study.
Wu Meiniang and Lu Zhi came out of the side room and sat down on Li Qian's side.
"Your Majesty, can this be done?"
Lu Pheasant said with some worry: "No matter what, there are twelve ministers in Shangshu Province. If they really work together, Zhongshu and the four men under him may not be able to compete."
Li Qian also sighed: "I have to try it no matter what."
Although he said it lightly just now, this matter is not just a matter of the deputy examiner of the first subject, but also related to the overall interests of the six ministers.
What if something like this happens this time and becomes a norm in the future? There are already many people in the Sixth Ministry of Ministers. Once every three years, twelve people compete for the position. How difficult is it?
But now we have to add four more, wouldn't it be more difficult? I'm sure they won't want to.
Li Qian said solemnly: "I know that the ministers of the Six Ministries will not accept it easily, so I asked Prime Minister Qin to step out first and see how the situation goes."
Wu Meiniang also nodded her head somewhat heavily: "Your Majesty, even if the deputy examiner this time is really the Vice Minister of Zhongshu, he may not be able to defeat Cai Jing in the examination room.
Li Qian sighed softly and fell on the back of the chair with his hands on his pillow: "So it's difficult to talk about this..."
~~
On the other side, Qin Hui, who had left the small study, did not stay long and rushed all the way back to Wenyuan Pavilion.
"Prime Minister Qin."
"Prime Minister Qin..."
All the officials he met along the way bowed and saluted. Qin Hui just nodded lightly and walked past them.
In the duty room on the second floor, the windows are closed, and fine silver charcoal is slowly burning in the charcoal basin, releasing blazing heat.
Qin Xi was wearing a cotton robe and was helping Qin Hui sort out the documents. When he saw Qin Hui coming back, he looked happy and pointed at a food box on the table and said: "Father, just now Guanglu Temple sent another fish, but it was just anchovies." Changed to mullet.”
Qin Hui loves to eat fish. Many people know that, but in this winter, where can the shad come from?
However, mullet is only slightly inferior to shad. This thing is also a tribute to the palace, but shad are mostly produced in summer, while mullet is produced in winter.
Qin Hui opened the food box on the table, took a few hasty bites, then sighed softly and put down the jade chopsticks in his hand: "Take it down."
"Yes." Qin Xi responded with some confusion.
Qin Hui suddenly said: "By the way, I will invite the two ministers here."
"Yes, father." Qin Xi walked out quickly holding the fish.
After a while, the door to the duty room was opened, and two officials wearing scarlet robes and black gauze on their heads walked in.
"Prime Minister of Qin." The leader had a gray beard and a relaxed smile on his face. This was Wang Ciweng, Zuo Shilang of Zhongshu.
The other person has a square face, a short beard, and a yellow complexion. He is the right minister of Zhongshu, Wan Qi Xiè (mo qi xiè).
"Prime Minister Qin." Wan Qixi followed suit and saluted.
A smile appeared on Qin Hui's face: "It's getting colder and colder these days. Are all the charcoal at home lighting up? Remember to put a basin in the room to avoid getting poisoned by coal."
This coal poisoning is not syphilis, but refers to gas poisoning.
Almost every year in the capital, people die of coal poisoning. Most of these people are not ordinary people, but dignitaries.
Common people's houses are not very well-sealed, and they sometimes leak air. Such houses naturally have no risk of poisoning. However, the houses of noble families are different. They have good sealing and are prone to poisoning.
What Qin Hui said about placing a water basin in the room is a preventive method recorded in the "First Aid Prescription": "Put a basin of water in the room and make the windows ventilated. Even though the coal smells bad, it will not cause harm."
Of course, if Li Qian were here, he might help him point out his mistakes.
Gas poisoning is carbon monoxide poisoning, and carbon monoxide is insoluble in water. It is generally useless to set up a basin. Instead, it is useful to provide a ventilated window.
As for Wang Ciweng and Wan Qixi, they naturally regarded Qin Hui's words as a guideline and said with a smile: "Don't worry, Prime Minister Qin, the family has already prepared everything."
Qin Hui smiled and continued: "Just now when I went to Ziwei Hall to meet the Holy Spirit, I asked Your Majesty for a favor on your behalf."
This "you have taken advantage of me" expression is exactly the same as that of Li Qian in the Dong Nuan Pavilion just now.
However, Qin Hui is not Li Qian, and the two guys in front of him are not Qin Hui. Wang Ciweng and Wan Qixi's eyes lit up, but the former still pretended to be helpless and said: "Prime Minister Qin, why bother waiting for me?"
Qin Hui smiled and shook his head: "Qing Zeng, what's the point of not even asking?"
Wan Qixi smiled at the side and added: "It must be a great benefit to be able to alarm Prime Minister Qin."
Qin Hui smiled softly: "It's not terrible, but it's not bad."
"The assignment this time is to be the deputy examiner for the National Examination."
As soon as the words came out, the room was quiet for a moment, and Qin Hui could clearly hear the slightly rapid breathing of the two people across the table.
Wang Ciweng's hand trembled, and even a few drops of tea came out. Wan Qixi subconsciously leaned forward a little: "Qin Xiang, is this really the case??"
Qin Hui sighed in his heart, it was exactly what he thought.