Ever since the gossip about the replacement of the first assistant came out, Zhai Luan and his son were eager to see what happened at home.
Although Zhai Luan knew that even if he became the first assistant, it would most likely be just for show. But the first assistant is the first assistant, and which civil servant can refuse the position of first assistant?
It is a pity that Mr. Zhai Ge was full of expectations and only responded to the old saying "good things come in hard times". First, Mr. Yan Ge returned the draft of the edict several times, and then Qin Dewei left the completed edict for two days in a row.
From the incense table to the wedding coins to the family temple sacrifices, everything had been prepared long ago, but Qin Zhongtang, who was responsible for delivering the edict, just didn't come.
If he were a well-respected minister, he could go directly to the emperor to accuse Qin Dewei of being "disrespectful and rude".
But Zhai Luan didn't have any face with Emperor Jiajing. The emperor didn't care if Zhai Luan became the first assistant a few days earlier or later.
The restless father and son could only sigh at their parents, and they couldn't help complaining to each other.
Zhai Rujian, who once went to see Qin Dewei, complained: "Why did my father ask me to test Qin Dewei two days ago? This move must have made Qin Dewei feel disgusted, so he deliberately delayed the time."
Zhai Luan in turn accused his son: "How can you rest assured if you don't test it? It's obviously you who are pretending to be clever and playing tricks that aroused Qin Dewei's dislike!"
Zhai Rujian argued again: "Facing a person like Qin Dewei, how can we find out his true thoughts using ordinary methods?"
Zhai Luan said angrily: "The worst I can do is take the initiative to resign and don't want to be the chief assistant, so as not to be restless all day long!"
Anyone with a discerning eye knows that with Yan Song in the cabinet and Qin Dewei in the Wenyuan Pavilion military aircraft department, it is very difficult to be the chief assistant, and he will definitely be criticized often.
Brothers Zhai Rujian and Zhai Ruxiao quickly tried to dissuade him: "Father, please be calm! This first assistant must at least wait until next year's examination!"
They finally tasted the sweetness, and the rumor that their father was the chief assistant spread out, and within a few years, they both won the election.
You can fantasize about taking the exam next year. If you both get Jinshi again, then your life will be complete. Of course, the prerequisite for realizing your dream is that your father is still the first assistant.
Just when the father was loving and the son was filial, suddenly a servant rushed to the door of the hall and reported to the father and son: "Qin Dewei came out of the left gate of Chang'an!"
The Zhai family was local to the capital and had a large business and many servants, so they sent people to guard the right gate of Chang'an, the left gate of Chang'an, and the Donghua gate.
As long as Qin Dewei comes out of the palace, he will definitely be seen by the Zhai family servants.
Zhai Luan looked at the sun and judged: "Qin Dewei came out of the palace at this time. He probably didn't go back to his home, nor went to Yiwu Yamen through Donghua Gate. Could he be coming to our house to issue the imperial edict?"
The father and son immediately became excited, and suddenly a second servant rushed back, "Qin Dewei went to the Ministry of Works!"
Zhai Luan: ""
It’s another day of vain expectations and vain happiness. This world is not worth it.
After the father and son looked at each other, Zhai Rujian sighed and said to his father: "We can't sit back and wait for death, we must take the initiative!"
Zhai Luan asked with waning interest: "How can we take the initiative? How can we afford to take the initiative against Qin Dewei now?"
He thought that his son was planning to attack Qin Dewei, and he was completely out of his mind.
Zhai Rujian suggested: "Qin Dewei is indeed difficult to deal with, but we can attack the people around Qin Dewei!
I heard that there is a man named Fang You from Zhongshushe who is Qin Dewei's right-hand man in Wenyuan Pavilion. We can pay a lot of money to ask Fang You to give Qin Dewei advice."
Zhai Luan just waved his hand: "You do it now!"
It's really unkind. I want to be the chief minister as soon as possible, but I have to bribe the people around Qin Dewei.
In addition, Mr. Zhai Ge just couldn't figure out why Qin Dewei would rather go to the Ministry of Industry than come to issue the imperial edict? The Ministry of Industry is Mr. Yan Ge's most stable territory, so wouldn't Qin Dewei be afraid of getting himself into trouble if he went there?
Not to mention the Zhai family father and son, few people could have imagined that Qin Zhongtang would go to the Ministry of Industry, including Gan Weilin, the minister of the Ministry of Industry.
Today was a normal working day, and Shangshu Gan was conducting official business in the main hall at the back.
Although the Ministry of Industry has the lowest political status among the six ministries, it involves a lot of human and material resources, and the affairs are also very complicated. It ranks among the top two or three among the six ministries.
When he heard that Qin Zhongtang had broken into the gate of the Ministry of Industry, Shangshu Gan was stunned. At that time, a sentence came into his mind: if something goes wrong, it is a monster.
Qin Dewei, who has never been to the Ministry of Industry in the past year or two, actually came to visit on his own initiative this time. There must be something wrong!
With Qin Zhongtang's political status, he has already walked to the gate, so it would be rude to deliberately avoid seeing him.
Gan Shangshu was not as hard-charging as Xu Tianguan, so he could only invite Qin Dewei in, and at the same time ask the servants to call Yan Shifan over.
Anyway, the meeting is just a meeting. If there is anything else to say, Gan Shangshu, as the elder of Yan Ge, does not need to be too groveling.
When Qin Dewei sat down, he politely greeted the servants to serve tea, and asked Qin Dewei directly: "Qin Zhongtang came to the Ministry of Works today, why did he come?"
As the saying goes, if we have different ideas, we should not seek each other's will. If we don't talk about each other in half a sentence, we are not in the same way, so we don't even need to exchange pleasantries.
Qin Dewei said arrogantly: "I want to use the Ordnance Bureau of your Ministry of Industry! It's convenient for you, Sir!"
Gan Shangshu asked: "What is the purpose of using the Arms Bureau?" Qin Dewei replied: "Trial production of a huge cannon."
It is not unusual for Qin Zhongtang to build cannons, and it is not that he has never built cannons before. It was also a strange news that the number one scholar built cannons back then.
But no one knew what a giant cannon was. Gan Shangshu continued to ask: "What is a giant cannon?"
Qin Dewei made a few gestures and said: "A cannon that can weigh up to several thousand kilograms."
For people at that time, this kind of artillery that weighed several thousand kilograms was unheard of. If it hadn't come from Qin Dewei's mouth, others would have just thought it was crazy and talking nonsense.
From his own standpoint, Shangshu Gan was obviously unwilling to support Qin Dewei.
If it succeeds, won't the credit be in vain? It's not like Qin Dewei has no precedent for success. He succeeded in imitating the Fo Lang machine gun back then.
As for agreeing to Qin Dewei first, and then waiting for an opportunity to steal credit from Qin Dewei, forget it. Gan Shangshu admits that he does not have this ability, and he has never seen anyone succeed, so he will not bother with it.
So after listening to Qin Dewei's request, Shangshu Gan replied in a very decent manner: "This is a serious matter, so I would like to ask Qin Zhongtang to write a note to the Ministry of Industry first."
Qin Dewei, who has been a man in his entire life, has heard this kind of cliché a lot, and said impatiently: "Let's not talk about the details for now. I just want to ask Da Sikong if he supports it?"
Shangshu Gan declined and said, "I will not make a decision until I see the terms and conditions and discuss them in detail with my colleagues in the department."
Qin Dewei said aggressively: "I need to know Da Sikong's opinion first, and then I know whether the article needs to be written, otherwise it will be a waste of my time!"
You, Qin Dewei, are not wasting your time now! Shangshu Gan also became angry, and he waved his sleeves and contradicted: "This is the Ministry of Industry, not the Ministry of Household Affairs, the Ministry of War, and the Ministry of Rites!"
It’s not your territory, so just say it nicely!
At this point, he felt very stiff and could not continue the conversation. Qin Dewei was just thinking about saying a few harsh words and then leaving.
Suddenly, someone outside the door shouted: "Our Ministry of Industry has agreed!"
The voice was very familiar, and Qin Dewei immediately recognized who it was. Moreover, besides Yan Shifan, who dared to be so arrogant as a Ministry of Industry official in front of the Minister of Industry?
Qin Dewei turned around and said sarcastically to Shangshu Gan: "How many ministers do you have in the Ministry of Industry?"
Shangshu Gan really doesn't know where Qin Dewei, who controls three ministers, got the courage to say what he just said? Why don't you take a pee and take care of yourself before talking about others?
Then Gan Shangshu repeated Yan Shifan's words: "Our Ministry of Industry agreed!"
At this time, Yan Shifan, a member of the Ministry of Works, strode in and expressed his position again: "No matter what Qin Zhongtang wants to build, we at the Ministry of Works all agree to it and will accompany you to the end!"
Qin Dewei was stunned. He really didn't expect that Yan Shifan would say this.
In Qin Dewei's expectation, due to the hatred between him and the Yan family and his son, as well as Yan Shifan's narrow-mindedness, he would definitely refuse to cooperate with him in the Ministry of Industry and obstruct his development of the giant cannon.
But Yan Shifan actually didn't follow the routine and agreed immediately. How could Qin Dewei continue according to the plan?
For a moment, Qin Dewei didn't think about how to deal with it, so he opened his mouth and yelled at Yan Shifan: "Go down! I am discussing matters with your minister, what's the matter with you, a junior minister!"
Yan Shifan responded to Qin Dewei: "You also know that you are discussing something with Da Sikong? And I was called here by Da Sikong. What right do you, a foreign guest, have to drive people away?"
Qin Dewei, who was in the third rank, disdained Yan Shifan, who was in the fifth rank, and said to Gan Shangshu: "Who has the final say in your Ministry of Works?"
Gan Shangshu didn't want to beat around the bush anymore, and said directly: "Anyway, it's not Qin Zhongtang who has the final say. Since I have agreed to let you use the Ordnance Bureau to develop a giant cannon, what else do you have to say?"
Qin Dewei continued to beg mercilessly: "What's the practical use of just making an empty promise? Developing a giant cannon is a major event, and three hundred craftsmen must be allocated for its use!"
Gan Shangshu was speechless. Nowadays, the situation of craftsmen fleeing is serious, and the construction of palaces, especially the Xiyuan Palace, is very large. Craftsmen are already very nervous.
Just because of Qin Dewei's hobby of giant cannons, three hundred craftsmen are allocated to accompany you? The human resources of the Ming Dynasty capital are not that rich!
Besides, you, Qin Dewei, have hidden dozens of families of fugitive craftsmen, and the Ministry of Industry has not yet approached you to settle the score, so how can you have the shame to ask for help from craftsmen?
Originally, he wanted to refuse sternly, but Yan Shifan next to him suddenly coughed heavily and nodded again.
Gan Shangshu had no choice but to nod his head and said: "Yes! Three hundred craftsmen will be assigned to the Ministry of Works!"
Qin Dewei was shocked again. He even agreed to this request?
Then Qin Dewei said more aggressively: "In addition, we need to allocate 20,000 taels of silver for research and development!"
Shangshu Gan almost spit out the tea in his mouth. Do you, Qin Dewei, really think that all the money from the Ministry of Works was blown by the strong wind?
Although it cannot compare with the Great Gaoxuan Hall under construction, twenty thousand taels is equivalent to the land rent of 400,000 acres of land around the capital!
You, Qin Dewei, want to take away 20,000 taels from the Ministry of Industry with just one sentence? What a dream!
Shangshu Gan still wanted to refuse sternly, but suddenly there was another coughing sound next to him, followed by a slight nod.
Immediately, Shangshu Gan could only nod his head and said reluctantly: "Yes!"
Qin Dewei was quite speechless. He asked people to give money to others. The Ministry of Works was too cooperative. What else could he do? But he really couldn't think of a better excuse.
Qin Dewei could only forcefully question and said: "Although all the promises are good, I doubt that you, Da Sikong, are not the one who can make the decision! In the end, all the promises turned into mirrors."
Yan Shifan next to him sneered and said: "After all, don't you just want to touch the Ministry of Industry's porcelain?
After you leave the Ministry of Industry, you can make a big statement that the Ministry of Industry is preventing you from developing that giant cannon! Am I right in my guess?"
Qin Dewei: ""
This is really what he thought. After encountering "difficulties" at the Ministry of Industry, he turned around and cooperated with the eunuch's war bureau, which would definitely trigger a wave of public opinion and great attention.
A top scholar is actually forced to cooperate with eunuchs, it must be the fault of the Ministry of Industry!
In the future, when the giant cannon is successfully developed, the Ministry of Engineering's face will naturally be swollen, and maybe they can take the opportunity to insert themselves into the Ministry of Artificial Intelligence.
Although the idea was very good, Yan Shifan did not cooperate!
Seeing Qin Zhongtang fall into a brief silence, Yan Shifan suddenly felt a little proud. After so many years, he finally gained the upper hand in a battle of wits!
I couldn't help but added: "Zhongtang, times have changed! Your routines are also outdated!"