The arrival of Emperor Xuan Shun meant that the entire dynasty meeting and the meeting of important ministers officially began.
The meeting agenda has already been set, starting with cabinet nominations.
According to the rules, candidates who are nominated by cabinet ministers, supported by five important ministers, and approved by the emperor can participate in the voting as a candidate for chief minister.
Gu, Guan, and Qiao naturally have no problem. They are nominated by cabinet ministers. They are all cabinet ministers, so they naturally have the qualifications. Five important ministers seconded the proposal. In addition to himself, the Huguang scholars where Guan Yingzhen is located also have the qualifications.
There are six Huguang scholars, not to mention.
Because Gu, Guan, and Qiao were all candidates for the first assistant position in the current cabinet, the meeting was postponed and was presided over by Feng Ziying.
"Everyone, everyone has witnessed the nomination process just now. Please ask the two censors of Qiandu to notarize whether there are any errors."
The two censors stood up.
Liu Sijie, the censor of Zuoqiandu, was the magistrate of Fengrun County a few years ago. He had dealt with Feng Ziying, who was the magistrate of Yongping Prefecture at that time, because of the refugee crossing, and he was an acquaintance.
However, Liu Sixue was from Jiangxi. He later joined the Imperial Procuratorate as the censor, and was promoted to Zuo Qiandu censor the year before last.
Needless to say, the censor of Youqiandu is Ma Shiying.
The only regret is that the Censor of Qiandu is only a fourth-rank official, two ranks shy of the Deputy Censor of the Capital, and is not considered an important minister. He can only attend meetings of important ministers and does not have the right to vote.
However, in this vote at the meeting of important ministers, the censors of the left and right capitals acted as scrutineers.
Both Liu Sijie and Ma Shiying came out to confirm that the nomination procedure complied with the regulations, and asked the senior ministers below if they had any objections. The senior ministers below also smiled and shook their heads, indicating that they had no objections.
"Okay, everyone, after following the procedures, Liuji Gong, Dongxian Gong, and Rujungong all meet the nomination requirements and are qualified for nomination. In view of the fact that the cabinet recommendation candidates this time are different from the past, there are more than one nominees, then
This means that the next important ministers’ vote will be a vote on three candidates, and the person who gets more than half of the votes among the forty ministers can be elected as the chief minister..."
Feng Ziying stood in the center of the hall, looked around, and then said loudly: "As the host of this meeting, I formally confirm to the three candidates whether they want to participate in this round of voting and whether they need to withdraw...
…”
Although such an outcome had been expected for a long time, when Feng Ziying officially announced that the three candidates were shortlisted, it still aroused the sighs and sighs of the important ministers below.
Since Shen Guanyi became the chief minister during the Yuanxi period, the voting method for important ministers has actually been implemented.
However, whether it was Shen Yiguan or Ye Xianggao, or even later Qi Yongtai, the outcome was mostly negotiated by the cabinet and important ministers, and it was just a matter of going through the procedures.
They are all the same candidate, which is equivalent to a vote of confidence from the important ministers. Moreover, the candidate for the first assistant is also the result of an agreement between the leaders of scholars from Beidi, Jiangnan, and Huguang. It is unlikely that any changes will occur.
However, when Qi Yongtai resigned due to illness and handed over the position of chief minister to Gu Bingqian, it was because he took the initiative to hand over power before his term was over, which seemed a bit hasty. Qi Yongtai still had prestige at the time and was able to suppress the northern scholars, and Gu Bingqian could barely do so.
Represents most Jiangnan scholars, so as long as both parties reach an agreement, there are basically no surprises.
But this time it's different.
Gu Bingqian's weakness made the cabinet unstable, and Guan Yingzhen and Qiao Yingjia both had the qualifications and strength to challenge Gu Bingqian, especially since they had verbally agreed that Gu Bingqian would step down and hand it over to Guan Yingzhen once his term was over, but now Gu Bingqian
It was confirmed that he had not been able to complete his term, and that he should not be handed over to the official until the new term expired.
Such changes are of course unacceptable to Guan Yingzhen.
If we wait another five years, will the next Qiao Yingjia wait any longer? Obviously impossible.
Five years is enough to change everything. No matter what the possibility exists, Guan Yingzhen cannot accept such a result.
Qiao Yingjia was also unwilling to wait.
Gu Bingqian's weakness and Guan Yingzhen's fundamentals were too small, making him feel that he was fully qualified to challenge. Five years later, when Feng Ziying had grown up, would he still have the confidence to suppress him?
By then, I'm afraid it will be Feng Ziying who takes over.
So Qiao Yingjia had no choice.
As Feng Ziying's ups and downs voice echoed in the hall, Gu Guanqiao and the others slowly shook their heads.
At this time, it is impossible to withdraw. Even if they fail, they can face the groups behind them calmly.
If you quit at this time, it will be a huge blow to your own morale.
"Well, since none of the three are willing to withdraw, let's move on to the next step and vote."
Feng Ziying seemed very calm, and of course he knew that nothing would change by this time.
There was a commotion in the hall. At this time, the important ministers began to change from whispers to conversations. They all held a piece of jade in their hands, with their official names and lives engraved on it. To vote, they put the jade into a placed bottle.
There is also a problem here. Once three people fail to get a majority, it means that the voting method needs to be changed, and a vote of confidence needs to be conducted for each person.
But this also involves a sequence, who comes first and who comes last?
It’s hard to say whether the one who voted first will have the advantage, the one who voted last, or the one in the middle is more appropriate.
But all this will have to wait until the first round of voting is over to determine.
Three jade vases are placed on the table for everyone to have a clear view of.
It is not a secret ballot, but a signature vote, and it is in full view of the public, and the votes will be answered one by one during the counting, so no one can blur their position.
Feng Ziying couldn't tell whether this method was good or bad, but he felt that it was good, but it might be difficult to sit on the fence. At the very least, you have to give your followers or those who support you a reasonable explanation.
"Okay, please vote in turn..."
The process is carried out in the order of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, the Eight Ministries, the General Administration Department, the Five Temples, and the Shuntian Prefecture, while the cabinet ministers have the final vote.
Four people, the left and right censors of the Metropolitan Procuratorate and the left and right deputy censors, took the lead in the procession.
Han Xu, the censor of the left capital, and Yang Lian, the censor of the right capital, put their jade guis into the jade bottles of Qiao Yingjia and Guan Yingzhen respectively. This was all expected.
But the left deputy censor Fu Shi at the back was a touchstone.
Everyone knows that Fu Shi is Feng Ziying's man. Although he is from Jinling, whether he will turn to Gu Bingqian depends on Feng Ziying's attitude.
Everyone's eyes were focused on Fu Shi, and even Fu Shi, who had always been calm and composed, seemed to be aware of the pressure on his body, and subconsciously shrugged, as if to relieve the invisible pressure caused by this focused gaze.
The atmosphere in the entire hall was almost stagnant. Whoever Fu Shi voted for would be a weather vane.