Jiuxi

Chapter 808 806 [Nine Links]

Push the time forward to two days ago.

In the Chongzheng Hall, in the imperial study, Li Zongben would often summon important ministers to discuss state affairs.

Xue Nanting was the Prime Minister of the Secretariat, and Li Shizhi was the Minister of Personnel. Both of them were summoned to the palace alone or with other colleagues many times. However, it was rare for the emperor to summon them both privately at the same time like today.

This is especially the first time since Zhong Cheng resigned from his post.

"Prime Minister Xue, Li Qingjia, although the war in Jiangbei has stopped, I still feel uneasy."

Li Zongben used this as a starting point to express his guilt to the two important ministers.

His words were sincere and came from the heart. Even though Xue Nanting had a heart as hard as stone, he couldn't help but be slightly moved at this moment.

Li Shizhi said, "Your Majesty, wise rulers in ancient times never hesitated to correct their mistakes. Why don't you issue an edict of self-blame to commemorate the heroic souls of the soldiers who died in the battle in Jiangbei, and at the same time comfort the people of the world?"

Li Zongben glanced at Xue Nanting and immediately nodded, "Okay, I'll follow your advice."

Xue Nanting sighed softly, but he finally suppressed the anger that had accumulated because Zhong Cheng was forced to leave, and continued to perform his duties. He cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty is wise. Now there is only me in the Secretariat, and no one has taken over the position of Right Prime Minister. This is not a long-term solution. I ask Your Majesty to select the right prime minister as soon as possible."

Li Zongben pondered and said, "Prime Minister Xue is right, but the position of right prime minister..."

According to the official system of the Great Qi Dynasty, the two prime ministers of the Secretariat had extremely great power.

The Left Prime Minister was in charge of the government of the court, and had jurisdiction over everything except the Censorate and the Military Academy. In other words, the six ministries, nine temples, seven academies, two courts, and even the three levels of government at the prefecture, county, and city levels were all under the jurisdiction of the Left Prime Minister.

The power of the Right Prime Minister is generally similar to that of the Left Prime Minister, but when there are disagreements regarding specific government affairs, the Left Prime Minister makes the final decision.

Simply put, as long as it is not the supervisory system and the military system, the two prime ministers are responsible for managing all aspects of this huge dynasty.

Such an important position certainly cannot be held by just any senior official. It has very high requirements in terms of ability, qualifications, prestige and character.

Li Shizhi met the requirements in all other aspects except for his insufficient qualifications. The problem was that Zhong Cheng's forced resignation was closely related to him. Although this was most likely the emperor's intention and Li Shizhi was just trying to figure out the emperor's intention, it was obviously very difficult to let Xue Nanting work with him in the Secretariat.

Perhaps it was because of this that even though Li Zongben had hinted several times that he wanted Li Shizhi to join the Secretariat, he still firmly refused.

Today, Li Zongben summoned these two important ministers, perhaps to resolve the rift between them.

If he could not obtain Xue Nanting's consent, even if Li Zongben forced Li Shizhi to become prime minister, it would end up in a mess.

Xue Nanting said nothing.

Li Shizhi said calmly: "Your Majesty, regarding the position of Right Prime Minister, I have a candidate."

"Oh?"

Li Zongben's eyes lit up slightly, and he quickly said, "Tell me."

"The Imperial Censor is also the Governor of Dingzhou, and he will assist Lord Xu."

Li Shizhi gave his answer calmly.

Xue Nanting's straight eyebrows moved slightly.

Li Zongben said slowly: "Xu Zuo... What do you think, Prime Minister Xue?"

In this extremely short period of time, Xue Nanting had already figured out the emperor's thoughts.

Before the Northern Expedition last year, Xu Zuo's memorial was sent to the capital almost at the same time as Lu Chen's memorial. These two civil and military officials who held great power on the frontier actually seemed to be echoing each other.

No one would doubt Xu Zuo's loyalty to Da Qi, and Li Zongben would not doubt it either. However, when dealing with specific issues, Xu Zuo would not blindly follow the emperor. He had his own persistence.

In this case, the effectiveness of the emperor's decision to send him to Dingzhou to check and balance Lu Chen would be discounted. In addition, with the precedent of Li Jingda's sudden change of position, it was normal for the emperor to want to transfer Xu Zuo back to the capital.

But why did Li Shizhi, who originally had the hope of becoming prime minister, propose this?

Therefore, Xue Nanting did not directly answer Li Zongben's question, but asked: "If Your Majesty transfers Governor Xu back to the capital, who will take over as Governor of Dingzhou?"

Li Zongben thought for a moment and replied, "What will the Minister of War Ding think?"

By now, Xue Nanting had already understood the plans of this monarch and his minister.

Transferring Xu Zuo back to the capital was a proposal that the emperor, Xue Nanting and Li Shizhi could all accept. Especially under the premise that Xue Nanting was dissatisfied with Li Shizhi, only Xu Zuo could surpass Li Shizhi in all aspects.

And letting Ding Hui replace Xu Zuo, given his almost openly integrated relationship with Li Shizhi, at least Dingzhou would not become a place where Lu Chen has the final say.

First, Ding Hui can firmly control the government offices at all levels in Dingzhou and prevent the Governor's Office from intervening forcefully. Secondly, as long as Ding Hui holds the power of transporting grain and grass, it is equivalent to holding the throat of the border army.

Placing Ding Hui as a thorn in Dingzhou can effectively supervise and check Lu Chen and prevent Wu Xun from dominating the world.

In short, this was an unspoken concession and exchange between the three people in the imperial study room regarding the central and border structure. For Xue Nanting, if there was no suitable candidate, he would not be able to force Li Shizhi out of the imperial study room.

Xu Zuo's return to the capital will surely make him a magic sword that cleanses the atmosphere in the court, and he will also become Xue Nanting's most capable assistant. After all, during the previous emperor's reign, the two of them helped each other and cooperated well, and this is a visible good thing for the future of Da Qi.

However, the significance of these two personnel arrangements to Lu Chen is quite obvious. Although it cannot be said that he is treated harshly, it is inevitable that he will feel uncomfortable.

Xue Nanting thought for a long time, and finally, under the concerned gaze of Li Zongben and Li Shizhi, the emperor and his minister, he slowly nodded.

……

Sitting in the spacious and bright Duancheng Hall, Xue Nanting pursed his lips tightly, and his mind unconsciously recalled the scene in the imperial study the day before yesterday.

From a big picture perspective, no matter who is the governor of Dingzhou, Xue Nanting does not need to feel guilty as long as Lu Chen's military power and the treatment of border soldiers are not affected.

Besides, officialdom is like this. It is impossible to satisfy everyone. As the left prime minister, he has to make choices.

Either he had to hold on for a while and watch Li Shizhi become prime minister, or he had to agree to the other party's proposal and let Ding Hui take over as the governor of Dingzhou in exchange for Xu Zuo crossing that hurdle and entering the Secretariat.

But this is ultimately against Xue Nanting's promise to Lu Chen. Perhaps Lu Chen has long forgotten that it was their first private meeting. Xue Nanting once said in person: "Many things in the world are difficult to be smooth and there will inevitably be countless compromises and choices. The key is that your majesty and we will not give up the vision of recovering our homeland and rebuilding the vast rivers and mountains of Da Qi. At the same time, I will do my best to solve all problems and ensure that you have no worries."

Thinking of the past, Xue Nanting sighed secretly, his expression still solemn and resolute.

On the other side, Lu Chen stood tall. At this moment, he already understood the origin of the left prime minister's expression before the court meeting.

In fact, neither the selection of the right prime minister nor the changes of the governor of Dingzhou had much to do with him, the Duke of Qin. The court of the Great Qi Dynasty had always followed the implicit rule of non-interference between civil and military officials in order to prevent powerful officials from monopolizing military and political power. In the past twenty years, there was only the isolated case of Zhang Xu, the Marquis of Yongding, who was transformed from a civil official to a powerful military official.

The fact that the emperor was willing to ask Lu Chen for his opinion on the matter was already a great honor bestowed upon the newly promoted duke, as could be seen from the envious expressions of the officials in the palace.

Looking at the extremely calm expression on Lu Chen's face, Li Zongben was unable to guess what this young military hero was thinking for a moment. He could not determine whether he really did not care who would take over as the governor of Dingzhou, or whether he had already cultivated his Qi-nourishing skills to the extreme.

However, recalling the dispute in the Imperial Garden that day, Li Zong originally tended to believe the former, so after Lu Chen returned to his seat, he said to the civil and military officials: "Ding Hui will be appointed as the governor of Dingzhou, and the position of the Minister of War will be vacant. You may wish to offer suggestions on this matter so as not to hinder the normal operation of the Ministry of War."

Although these words were addressed to all officials, only the twenty or thirty important officials in front had the real say.

Seeing that no one responded, Li Zongben looked at Ding Hui and said gently, "Mr. Ding's family has served as the Minister of War for eight years and is very familiar with the internal affairs of the ministry. Do you have a suitable person to recommend?"

This is also a very common procedure in the court.

Generally speaking, as long as the heads of various departments are not dismissed from office and the transfer is normal, the original heads have certain rights to make suggestions on the selection of their successors.

Ding Hui suddenly felt a little nervous at this moment.

He knew very well what answer the emperor wanted to hear, but under the gaze of his ministers, he could not help but hesitate.

After a moment, he said respectfully: "Your Majesty, I do have a more suitable candidate, but he may not conform to the court regulations."

"is it?"

Li Zongben was calm and said with a smile: "You can speak freely. Today is a grand court meeting. I will discuss this with you all."

Ding Hui coughed lightly and said thoughtfully: "The Ministry of War has a lot of responsibilities. The head of the Ministry needs to have a very comprehensive understanding of military affairs. At the same time, he must be able to establish timely and effective communication channels with the Secretariat, the Military Academy, the three major camps of the Beijing Army, and the Border Army Governor's Office. Now that the civil strife in Jing State has subsided, it is inevitable that our dynasty will recover its homeland. The Ministry of War naturally needs a capable person to take the helm. Therefore, I dare to recommend one person to Your Majesty, Han Zhongjie, the son of courage and perseverance!"

There was a solemn silence in the hall.

Although Han Zhongjie was demoted and dismissed from office after being defeated by the Jing army in Jiangbei last year, no one can deny his ability in general affairs. After all, the current Da Qijing Army was basically founded by Han Lingfu, and Han Zhongjie put a lot of effort into it.

He may not be able to lead troops in battle, but if it is just the Ministry of War, Han Zhongjie is qualified enough.

However, this is not a question of superiority or inferiority.

Lu Chen finally raised his eyes and looked over there, but before he could speak, a loud voice sounded in front of him.

"Your Majesty, I oppose Minister Ding's proposal!"

It is decisive and decisive.

The person who spoke was the current Chief Military Minister of the Military Academy, Duke Rong, Xiao Wangzhi.

Li Zongben's expression froze for a moment, and then he tried to calmly say, "Why don't you tell me why you object, Duke?"

Xiao Wangzhi stood in front of Lu Chen. From the beginning of the court meeting until now, he had never looked back at Lu Chen, but at this moment he was like a mountain blocking Lu Chen.

He looked up at the emperor on the dragon throne and said without question: "Han Zhongjie is a defeated general who has been dismissed for less than a year and has never had any relevant experience before. How could he suddenly rise to a high position in the six ministries? As a military hero, I should not have any say in this matter. However, the court has its own detailed rules for employing people. How can we do it carelessly? Today, Han Zhongjie can enter the Ministry of War as a military hero. Will Minister Ding be able to replace Lu Chen in charge of Dingzhou Governor's Office tomorrow?"

The middle-aged man who had been repeatedly ostracized since entering Beijing took a deep breath and said solemnly: "Your Majesty, please think twice!"

(End of this chapter)