Above the court, Wang Ao seemed to have ended the situation in just a few words.
But in fact, it's not that simple.
Zhu Jian suddenly took action to impeach him for exercising power in the cabinet and bullying cabinet ministers. However, Wang Ao kept his eyes on Jiang Yuan and had no preparation for this. He responded hastily without paying the price. It was simply impossible.
In fact, as long as you listen carefully to Wang Ao's rebuttal in the court, you can easily find that Wang Ao actually did not argue at all, but used the simplest and crudest method to obtain the fastest speed by giving up part of his interests.
Calm down the chaos.
Zhu Jian impeached Wang Ao on three counts.
One is to use the right to share votes to suppress and win over cabinet ministers and build power.
Second, the cabinet ministers are coerced in disguise by cabinet discussions, and the originally scattered vote-making power is concentrated on the chief minister.
Third, he excludes dissidents and constantly conflicts with other cabinet ministers.
Although these points of impeachment are not considered to be iron-clad evidence, if you insist on arguing about them, you can still say that you are ugly.
After all, Wang Ao has been in the officialdom for many years and knows how to cut through the mess with a sharp sword.
In that case, the longer you delay, the more variables there will be.
Chen Xun himself knew this very well. At their level, they seemed to be important officials in the court, with overwhelming power.
But in fact, we need to be more cautious and vigilant.
Although the chief minister of the cabinet is still slightly inferior to the seven ministers, he is no less generous.
Therefore, for Wang Ao, Zhu Jian is definitely not the only one who is secretly watching and hoping for his downfall. The forces in the court are intertwined and extremely complicated.
But no matter what, only changes can bring opportunities.
Therefore, people of their status need to maintain their power and voice in the court, which is completely commensurate with their status.
In short, it is to make those who are spying in secret feel in awe, and to let those who are plotting to know that if they really take action, they will be hurt in return.
Only in this way can we intimidate the young people.
And once they show weakness in a certain political struggle, it will easily lead to a situation where everyone will overthrow them.
Even people who originally had no grievances against them would follow behind and wave flags and shout for their own benefit or to get a share of the pie.
However, for Wang Ao at the time, he was not prepared for Zhu Jian's impeachment, so it was very difficult to give a precise and heavy response.
Therefore, he could only do the next best thing and calm the storm as quickly as possible. Since the loss was inevitable, he would solve it with the minimum loss.
As long as it doesn't hurt your own fundamentals, it's the best way to give away some of your profits to solve the temporary predicament.
If you keep the green hills, you won't have to worry about running out of firewood, that's what it means.
Therefore, Wang Ao did not respond directly to Zhu Jian's impeachment, but analyzed it point by point and directly proposed solutions.
The other party said that his vote sharing was unfair, so he simply took turns dividing different government affairs into categories and taking turns according to time.
If the other party said that he was using the cabinet meeting to blackmail the ministers, he would make his attitude clear and said that in the subsequent cabinet meeting, the opinions of each cabinet minister would be listed for the emperor's reference.
These two responses seemed calm, but in fact, they gave up a lot of benefits.
Chen Xun himself came from the cabinet, so he knew very well that the reason why the chief minister had a transcendent status in the cabinet was that he had the power to share votes.
Through the power of splitting votes, the First Assistant can adjust the content of government affairs that other cabinet ministers are responsible for voting on. Without this power, the First Assistant is in name only.
As for the cabinet meeting, Zhu Jian was right. Wang Ao was parachuted into the cabinet, so he did not have a deep foundation in the court. The purpose of the cabinet meeting was to strengthen his authority in the cabinet and unify the opinions of the cabinet, and then let him
This chief minister spoke on his behalf in the court.
However, now that Wang Ao has made a statement, the opinions of all cabinet ministers in the cabinet meeting will be appended instead of forming a unified opinion, so the cabinet meeting will actually exist in name only.
So in fact, Wang Ao seemed to have kept his position as the first assistant, but the price he paid was also very huge.
His statement, coupled with his abandonment of the errand of concurrently managing the Hanlin Academy, was almost equivalent to a return to the situation he faced when he first entered the cabinet.
There is no help from the outside, no real power from the inside, and nothing but the name of chief assistant.
That's why Xu Youzhen said that Chen Xun was cheating.
The cabinet has gained momentum recently and has gradually begun to usurp the power of the six ministries. Although it is not obvious yet, it is because the emperor is diligent in his work.
Although the emperor adjusted the interval between the morning dynasty, the regular dynasty, the great dynasty and the Jingyan, except for the dragon body's hesitation and a few special circumstances, the emperor never canceled it almost every time.
Because of this, the voting power of the cabinet does not pose a great threat to the power of the six ministries. However, none of the ministers in the six ministries is a human being.
If it doesn't happen now, it doesn't mean it won't happen in the future.
The voting power of the cabinet is to some extent an act of acting on behalf of the monarch. For the imperial court, the existence of the cabinet can temporarily fill the vacuum in turbulent times. However, for real power departments such as the Six Ministries, the weight of the cabinet is by no means
What a good thing.
So in fact, many ministers in the DPRK are suppressing the cabinet intentionally or unintentionally.
It seems that Wang Wen and Yu Qian, who are close associates of the emperor, often do not send important memorials to the cabinet at all, but go directly to the palace to meet the emperor.
For other people who are unable to enter the palace at any time, if something urgent happens, they will first check the emperor's tone in the morning and then draft a memorial to minimize the role that the cabinet can play in it.
Not to mention, sometimes, some ministers would hand the emperor secret notes without going through any yamen.
The most typical example is that some time ago, the Qin Tianjian's memorial about the great disaster, and recently, the court heard the memorial, and the Ministry of Rites submitted to the emperor to rectify the imperial affairs, all were presented in the form of secret memorial.
.
Of course, since these secret memorials have not gone through the morning court or other yamen, it is naturally difficult to get them to the court for discussion and discussion.
However, it is always a way to bypass the cabinet.
In fact, this was one of the reasons why Chen Xun took action against Wang Ao this time, even though there was no mutual agreement beforehand.
However, there was a tacit understanding among the six ministries. This time Chen Xun took action to suppress Wang Ao. In fact, he was suppressing the cabinet. From this point of view, it was in the interests of the six ministries.
Therefore, during the court meeting, before the emperor expressed his position, none of the seven ministers came forward to speak for Wang Ao.
Of course, the more important point is that the higher you stand, the more thoroughly you can see the situation of the court. In fact, not only the six departments, Chen Xun vaguely felt that the emperor's attitude towards the cabinet was also very contradictory.
The voting power of the cabinet was given by the emperor, and the title of minister was also given by the emperor. Logically speaking, the emperor should reuse the cabinet.
However, various signs indicate that the emperor is not very close to the cabinet.
Originally, Chen Xun thought that this was because of the tradition of the cabinet, which only allowed Qingliu to be promoted. The emperor did not like Qingliu to be pragmatic and not pragmatic, so he was not close to the cabinet.
But as Chen Xun and Gao Gu left the cabinet one after another, Wang Ao was parachuted in to become the chief minister. Among the five ministers in the cabinet today, only Jiang Yuan was born in Qingliu. In fact, even Jiang Yuan had the experience of changing ministries.
But even so, the situation of the cabinet has not changed much.
Therefore, Chen Xun guessed that the emperor was also somewhat hesitant in his attitude towards the cabinet.
In fact, this court meeting also verified his guess.
Zhu Jian's impeachment of Wang Ao may have caught Wang Ao off guard, but for the emperor, it was easy to deal with it.
Almost all the power of the cabinet comes from the emperor. Doesn't it depend on the emperor's word whether the chief minister of the cabinet is in charge of power?
If the emperor is willing, he can even take this opportunity to further strengthen the authority of the chief minister and establish cabinet discussions, voting rights, etc. as a system.
However, the emperor did not do this. Instead, Wang Ao was forced to give up part of his power in order to calm down the storm as soon as possible.
However, it is not necessarily true that the emperor was really determined to suppress the cabinet, otherwise it would not be easy for Wang Ao to escape unscathed.
This kind of treatment actually reflects the inner contradiction of the emperor to a certain extent.
Therefore, Chen Xun's attack on Wang Ao seemed reckless, but in fact, he had carefully considered it.
Weakening the power of the cabinet is a good thing for the six ministries, and it is also a tacit approval for the emperor.
And weakening the power of the chief minister is also a good thing for those in the cabinet.
Therefore, from this perspective, Zhu Jian himself is also a vested interest. However, facing such an attitude, Xu Youzhen's face looked a little bitter and said.
"But Mr. Chen and Mr. Zhu Ge impeached the Chief Assistant to clean up the lineage. Although all the ministers in the cabinet will benefit from the Chief Assistant's concession, it is you and the other ministers in the cabinet who will benefit.
However, it is Mr. Zhuge who is being resented. How do you want me to explain this to Mr. Zhuge?"
Chen Xun snorted softly, looked up at Xu Youzhen, and said.
"Is this what you came for?"
In the beginning, it was Xu Youzhen who was the matchmaker between Zhu Jian and Chen Xun.
Of course, now that the matter has not been completed, if Zhu Jian wants to get angry, it will definitely be directed at Xu Youzhen.
Seeing this situation, Xu Youzhen bowed her hands and said.
"Please Master Chen, save me!"
Looking at the students who were bowing deeply in front of him, Chen Xun sighed and said.
"Yuan Yu, you have already entered the East Palace and are just assisting His Highness the Crown Prince. Why do you have to wade through this muddy water?"
"You are my student. As long as you behave upright and sit upright, if someone deliberately targets you, I will naturally keep you safe, but you..."
There are many things about the court situation that are not suitable to be pointed out clearly, but for Chen Xun, he really does not want Xu Youzhen to go astray.
Unfortunately……
Xu Youzhen still maintained her bowed posture and did not stand up.
Therefore, Chen Xun could only shake his head.
He should have known that Xu Youzhen and Du Ning were different after all. This person had too strong opinions.
In this case...
Chen Xun calmed his expression and spoke.
"I know your difficulties, but Zong Mi's departure from the capital is a foregone conclusion, and the Hanlin Academy has a place to go, so Zhu Ge should never think about these two things."
Hearing this, Xu Youzhen straightened up and opened her mouth, as if she wanted to say something.
However, he was quickly interrupted by Chen Xun and said.
"I know that you want to talk about the Hanlin Academy, but this is the safest way at the moment. Yi Ming is an old minister of the Imperial Palace. In the current situation, the emperor can only rest assured if he takes over as the Imperial Academy scholar. I am just following the trend, not to mention
, do you really think that Zong Mi, the censor of Youdu, was given by the emperor for free?"
So, Xu Youzhen had no choice but to swallow her words.
He knew very well that Chen Xun's words were not meant for him, but for him to convey to Zhu Jian.
To put it bluntly, the Hanlin Academy was a gift from Chen Xun to the emperor. Although Yi Ming was an old minister of Prince Tan, his qualifications were still relatively young. If he wanted to suppress the arrogant Hanlin Academy, he needed someone to support him.
Since Du Ning cannot be in charge of the Hanlin Academy, then accepting the emperor's former ministers to become Hanlin bachelors, in a sense, is also the sincerity of Chen Xun and even the entire Qingliu lineage.
The emperor was obviously very satisfied with this gift, so Du Ning was promoted to the title of Censor of Youdu.
She sighed again in her heart about Chen Xun's preference for Du Ning, and Xu Youzhen quickly regained her composure.
If this is the reason, it also means that Yi Ming is the retreat prepared by Chen Xun for the future of the Qingliu lineage.
Therefore, it was impossible for Chen Xun to give in on this point. This was not something Xu Youzhen could change. Even if he told the truth, Zhu Jian would not criticize him harshly on this matter.
Of course, scolding is inevitable, and even if the Hanlin Academy is not mentioned, if there is no compensation at all, it will still be difficult for him to explain in front of Zhu Jian...
Seeing Xu Youzhen's frown, Chen Xun continued.
"However, although Du Ning can't do it, it doesn't mean that others can't do it either!"
"The Zhanshi Mansion must be built after all. Now that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has left the cabinet, it is better not to delay the Prince's Mansion as it is an official."
"After tomorrow, I will go and discuss the matter with Yu Cifu in person."
"Thank you Master Chen!"
After finally getting a satisfactory answer, Xu Youzhen's eyes suddenly lit up and she bowed deeply.
"Go and take care of yourself..."
However, faced with Xu Youzhen's performance, Chen Xun seemed a little tired. He gently rubbed his eyes and then raised his hand to signal him to leave.
Seeing this, Xu Youzhen paused, but in the end, he said nothing, bowed again, turned around and left the Chen Mansion.
However, what he didn't see was that just after he left, Chen Xun looked at his back with complicated eyes, which seemed to contain a hint of doubt.
After leaving Chen's mansion, Xu Youzhen didn't stay too long, turned around and went to Zhu Jian's mansion.
That night, many mansions in the capital were brightly lit, and Zhu's Mansion was no exception. When Xu Youzhen arrived at Zhu's Mansion, it was already dark, but there was still a housekeeper waiting outside the door early to welcome him in.
Originally, Xu Youzhen only thought that Zhu Jian was eager to know the outcome of his conversation with Chen Xun.
However, when he entered the gate and was welcomed into the flower hall with the housekeeper, he discovered that besides Zhu Jian, there was another person in the flower hall that he had not expected...