When he thought of Cai Bian, a hint of complexity appeared in Sima Guang's eyes.
But now that he is in the Gongyuan, I am afraid that the connected Tingtui will not be able to participate.
"That's fine..."
Sima Guang sighed softly. If he were outside, he probably wouldn't know what to do. He would be in a dilemma.
So it would be nice to go into the Gongyuan and escape from all this...
~~
(change first and then change)
The third-grade minister is already a core member of the court. At this point, he has touched the bottom line of court promotion.
Their selection can no longer be decided by the edict of Zhongshu Sheng or the Ministry of Personnel alone. This requires public selection by many ministers of the imperial court.
The imperial city was extremely noisy today, and the officials were disturbed by the noisy movers for another day. At the same time, an anxious atmosphere was also brewing in the undercurrent of the capital.
The next day, we went to Qianyang Hall early in the morning.
The door of the palace was closed tightly, and a few rays of faint morning light filtered in from the window, but it could only illuminate a small area on the periphery.
The depths of the Qianyang Hall are still dim and dull, except for the red-gold dragon chair, which has a subtle golden glow even in the darkness due to its special craftsmanship.
The ministers raised their heads and faintly saw the figure of His Majesty the Emperor sitting firmly above him, with his face almost completely hidden in the darkness.
At today's court meeting, another minister proposed the election of a Minister of the Ministry of Husbandry and the Ministry of Rites.
"Your Majesty, the Ministry of Husbandry and the Ministry of Rites are the busiest places in the Shangshu Province. We cannot live without a minister for a day. Your Majesty, please let the Ministry of Personnel take charge of court affairs as soon as possible. Too many affairs in the court have been delayed these days..."
Many ministers looked coldly at the person who made the remarks, but most of them remained expressionless and ignored him at all.
You don’t need too many speeches like this without knowing what they are called.
But the ministers did not expect that His Majesty the Emperor, who usually did not respond at all, would actually respond to him.
"What Liu Qing's family said makes sense."
Li Qianze nodded slightly and motioned for the minister who was speaking to sit back. Then he turned his attention to Wang Mang and Guan Peng.
"Now that the imperial examination has begun and the imperial court is no longer so busy, it is time to put the matter of imperial examination on the agenda."
The ministers were shocked when they heard this.
Didn't you say we have to wait? What does it mean now?
The members of Cai's party were even more caught off guard. If the presidential election is really held in these days, I'm afraid they will suffer a moderate loss.
Li Jing, the Secretary of the Ministry of War, was locked up in the Gongyuan as a judge of tribute, and in the court selection, his vote will probably go to the candidate of the Cai Party.
The minister's vote is still very important, and it may be able to influence the two ministers below, and one vote can attract three votes.
But now this situation...
"Your Majesty, the examination is being held now. Is it inappropriate to hold the test now?"
Gao Xun couldn't help but cupped his hands and said: "As His Majesty said a few days ago, there is no need to rush the selection. Why not let the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Households be busy for a while, and then conduct the selection after the examination is over?"
Li Qian pondered for a moment, and Gao Xun used his words to kidnap him, but Li Qian had no choice.
He can't admit that what he said before was just fart, right?
"What Gao Qing's family said does make sense. The National Examination is now underway. The court can't let go of the National Examination, right?"
Li Qian turned to look at the ministers below, and said apologetically to Guan Peng and Wang Mang: "Wang Zongbo, Guan Shilang, how about you just stay busy with the yamen affairs and wait until the trial is over before adding more?"
The ministers all felt something was wrong. This attitude was clearly wrong!
Wang Mang was silent for a moment and then said: "Your Majesty, I am willing to take care of your Majesty's worries. I have been in charge of all the errands of the Ministry of Rites in recent days."
"It's just that the selection of the right minister of the Ministry of Rites must be done early. If it is delayed until after the examination, it will be too late."
Li Qian nodded expressionlessly and said nothing more.
This ambiguous attitude seems to be confusing at first glance. It seems that everything has been said, but nothing has been said.
A bit of dissatisfaction flashed in the eyes of Cai's party, but at this time, they naturally couldn't say anything. After all, Wang Mang didn't owe them anything, but they still owed Wang Mang a favor.
Moreover, this kind of behavior of seizing power in public is very dangerous and can easily arouse the suspicion of others.
The Minister of Rites is originally the top leader of the Ministry of Rites. He has the power to control the Ministry of Rites in name, and since the two ministers of the Ministry of Rites are absent, he is likely to gradually exclude dissidents and turn the Ministry of Rites into his one-manner.
This is inconsistent with the imperial court’s strategy of preventing the chief officials of various ministries from becoming powerful!
"Your Majesty, please be considerate of the court officials. The Ministry of Etiquette is so busy, how can it be done by only Uncle Zong?"
"This is the busiest time for the Ministry of Rites. I'm afraid it will be difficult for the eldest uncle to support you alone. Please consider it carefully."
"Uncle Uncle Zong's sincerity is heartbreaking, but Your Majesty must not chill the hearts of loyal ministers..."
Many ministers were aware of the problem and made suggestions to His Majesty the Emperor one by one. At the same time, they were also warning others.
"quiet!"
Under the strong drink of the old eunuch, these people gradually stopped.
Li Qian waved his hand helplessly: "Everyone, please rest assured, I will definitely not wrong the eldest uncle."
Then he turned to look at Guan Peng.
Guan Peng also noticed what His Majesty the Emperor meant, and raised his hands with a bitter look on his face and said: "Your Majesty, the great uncle is the Minister of Rites, but I am only a minister, so how can I assume the important position of the entire household department?"
"What's more, now that the Ministry of Household Affairs is shouldering heavy responsibilities, and Prime Minister Yan is not in the capital, I dare not act without permission. Your Majesty, please ask the Ministry of Rites to recommend the candidate for the right minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs as soon as possible, so that I can have a helper."
Li Qian nodded. This guy was very smart. He only mentioned the Minister of Household Affairs who was related to him, but did not mention the matter of the Ministry of Rites.
The situation in the court was changing rapidly. Just now, almost everyone thought that the official named Liu would return without success, but unexpectedly, the attitude of the Ministry of Rites suddenly changed, and the Ministry of Revenue directly gave a result that was beyond everyone's expectations. !
Why is this?
Is it just because of the emperor’s attitude?
"It seems that it is inappropriate to let the two Qing families support the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Ministry of Rites alone..."
Li Qian said thoughtfully: "The reason why I wanted to wait a few days ago is because the exam is right in front of me and I can't be distracted."
"But after the candidates entered the venue yesterday, I realized that this matter did not involve much energy, so there is no need to delay the nomination."
At this point, Li Qian finally rounded off what he said at the court meeting a few days ago. It was no longer possible for other ministers to find this loophole.
Li Qian turned to look at Wang Danwang from the Ministry of Personnel: "Shilang Wang, the Ministry of Personnel will come up with a list of candidate officials as soon as possible and give it to me and Zhongshu's disciples to review, and choose a good time to recommend them!"
Wang Danwang came out of the queue and responded: "Yes, Your Majesty."
…
Tingtui is actually a very ceremonial event, and some officials even call it the Huitui Ceremony.
Of course, when the court recommends the prime minister, it is called Dadian when the minister is appointed, and it is enough to select a minor minister.
Different from the court meeting and court meeting, this court meeting does not require the emperor to attend.
Not only the emperor, but also the six ministries once wanted to put the left and right prime ministers, Zhongshu, and all officials under the sect on the prohibited list, so that they would not be allowed to attend the court hearings, or in other words, court hearings that had nothing to do with the inner court, and the inner court officials did not need to attend.
Because there are many officials in the outer dynasty, most of the time the vacancies are caused by the vacancies of the outer dynasty officials, and then the court pushes back. At this time, the inner dynasty officials are here to point fingers, which is really awkward for them.
However, in the end, this wish of the Six Ministries was not realized, and the officials of the inner court were not able to be excluded from some court promotions.
A few days before the election is suspended, the Ministry of Civil Affairs will draw up a list of candidate officials, with the number of candidates for each position ranging from seven to ten.
Finally, this list will be sent to the inner court, approved by the emperor and Zhongshu Province, and will be returned to the Ministry of Personnel after review by the Menxia Province.
The Ministry of Personnel then issued a written notice to each official who needed to participate in the trial in advance, telling them the time and place of the trial.
In addition, in order to ensure that adults are prepared in advance, a list of alternate officials, as well as their place of origin and resume, is sent along with the notification document.
Of course, the latter can only be regarded as a bonus and cannot be put on the surface.
After all the preparations are done, the promotion will begin.
In addition, don’t think that the emperor can’t participate in the court promotion just because he wants to make soy sauce. In fact, the emperor plays the final role and has the final decision-making power.
The court usually selects two or three officials, one as the main recommender and one or two as assistant recommenders. The results are submitted to the emperor, who then selects the final result among these people.
"I Have a Picture Book of Ghosts and Gods"
And if the emperor is not satisfied with the selected people, he also has the right to deny it. Simply put, he can push back and re-recommend, and there is no limit to the number of times he can push back. As long as he is still dissatisfied, he can always push back.
Of course, such power will also be limited.
Although Li Qian could push back the results of the election, he could not decide the outcome. For example, he paid special attention to Zhang San and dismissed everyone except Zhang San.
But if the ministers just don't recommend Zhang San, there's nothing he can do.
After hundreds of years of evolution, the rights of Daqian are now so interconnected. You restrict me, and I restrict you. No one can do anything too outrageous.
After Li Qian left, the court meeting dispersed, and all the courtiers had different expressions.
This confrontation started from the moment of leaving the dynasty.
The first is that many people have already been eliminated at this step. The candidate list is drawn up by the Ministry of Personnel, but the superiors and chief officials who have vacant official positions also have the right to make suggestions.
In addition, the candidate list must be reviewed by the emperor, secretary of state, and subordinates, and any of them can influence the list.
After fierce fighting between all parties, a list was released within three days. Among them, there were nine candidates for the right minister of household affairs and only eight candidates for the right minister of rites, and there were overlaps between the two.
After the list came out, Tingtui also started.
To put it simply, Tingtui is voting. Everyone casts a vote for their favorite target, and in the end, it is calculated who gets the most votes.
The location of Tingtui is in the east room of Guangqing Hall outside Chengtian Gate. This can also be regarded as a small auditorium for officials of the outer dynasty. Most important events of the outer dynasty cannot be separated from this place.
There was no morning court today, and many officials who were qualified to participate in the imperial court got up extremely early and arrived at the court room before Mao hour.
The east court room faces the south and is divided into one large court room and two small court rooms. These are complete facilities and form a system.
Civil servants attach great importance to this kind of thing, because it can reflect their majesty. Not only the court room, but also the posture during court promotion is very particular.
First of all, there are two postures during court push, sitting push and standing push.
When it comes to recommending the Prime Minister, the Minister of Civil Affairs, Pu She, the Prime Minister of Otsuka, or the Grand Sima, he immediately recommends them. This is to show respect for the Prime Minister, the Minister of Personnel and the Minister of War.
As for recommending other ministers, ministers of Dali Temple, general envoys, ministers, etc., there is no need to go to such trouble. You can just sit on the chair and rest.
It's ironic to say that when you were in court, you just had to sit calmly in front of the emperor. Now you just elect a prime minister, but you have to stand up to show respect.
But after all, it was not in front of the emperor, so everyone let themselves go.
The atmosphere here is more relaxed compared to the court meeting. The ministers who came here have already taken their seats. You said that I laughed and started chatting.
"Young Situ, the vote agreed upon last time may have some changes today..." One of the officials in scarlet robes said helplessly to Guan Peng.
"What's the problem?" Guan Peng was startled at first, and then asked with a fierce look on his face.
The people who can come to participate in the court recommendation today are all officials of the third rank or above. Normally, they would try not to offend as much as possible, but today's occasion is different.
It is very bad character to promise something in advance and then regret it at the last moment. Don’t you think about the consequences of doing such a thing?
"Haha~"
The official also knew that he was in the wrong, so he laughed dryly and explained: "It's not that I broke my word and returned temporarily, but Mr. Cai... gave me a new condition so that my brother can reach the fourth rank as soon as possible.
, took office as a county official."
Guan Peng secretly rolled his eyes, you don't mean to be dishonest? Compared with you, Cai Jingdu is a trustworthy person.
"Master Sun, just tell me what you want to do?"
Guan Peng stared at him straightly. There was only a short time before Ting Tui started, and he had no time to quarrel with him anymore.
"Young Situ..."
The official surnamed Sun showed an apologetic smile: "For so many years, my brother has been stuck in the fifth grade and has not been able to make any progress. This has not only become a problem for him, but also for me."
"Now that I have an opportunity, how can I give up?"
Guan Peng's face darkened: "Master Sun, I hope you will think about it again."
The Yan Party was not greedy in this promotion. They only aimed at the position of a minister and wanted to gather everyone's efforts to send Zhao Wenhua to it.
There is no room for failure in such an important matter, but if something goes wrong with this old man, he will definitely have to settle the score.
Master Sun also seemed to feel the threat in Guan Peng's words. With a sad look on his face, he couldn't help but said: "Young Situ, those are my brothers!"
"Then there's nothing to talk about?" Guan Peng's face became more ruthless. He dared to backstab Yan Dang at such a critical time. Have you considered the consequences?
Mr. Sun trembled at what he saw. He turned around and looked around. When he saw that no one was paying attention, he lowered his neck and said in a suppressed voice: