Thief Emperor

Chapter 1086 The Emperor of Civil Engineering
One grand court assembly brought about a dramatic change in the court's structure, with each of the prime ministers harboring their own ambitions.

Guo You's appointment as prime minister was expected. His Majesty the Emperor did not consult with all the prime ministers, but he did mention it to Prime Minister Du, who also agreed to the matter.

After all, this Prime Minister Guo is already in his fifties or sixties, which is not young. Once he enters the Secretariat, he will only serve as prime minister for one or two terms. It is unlikely that he will threaten the position of any of the current prime ministers in the Secretariat.

In particular, it is unlikely to threaten the position of his old superior, Du Qian, and with his old subordinate entering the Secretariat, Prime Minister Du's influence in the Secretariat will be even greater.

The only change is that the actual person in charge of the Ministry of Personnel will be transferred to the Secretariat, and the position of Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel will be filled by someone else. This position is mostly filled by someone promoted by His Majesty the Emperor, and all the positions that were vacated last year due to the major case.

Ultimately, the arrangements were entirely in the emperor's hands.

Although originally, the emperor arranged who would sit in these positions, there were some subtle differences in the process.

At such times, such changes are a political statement by the emperor, and all these burial plots must take priority over His Majesty's own arrangements.

With the emperor personally involved, everyone else could only pick up the scraps.

After His Majesty the Emperor left, many people congratulated the newly appointed Prime Minister Guo. Prime Minister Guo simply clasped his hands in polite greeting. He then walked up to the other prime ministers and bowed to Prime Minister Du, saying, "Thank you for your guidance, Prime Minister."

There is one thing in the court that everyone tacitly agrees on.

In the imperial court, the positions of the Six Ministries and Nine Ministers may not necessarily go through Prime Minister Du, but the positions of several prime ministers certainly do.

The newly appointed prime minister may not necessarily have been recommended by Prime Minister Du to enter the Secretariat, but Prime Minister Du certainly did not object.

If Prime Minister Du objects, His Majesty the Emperor will most likely not allow this person to enter the Secretariat.

This is the position of Prime Minister Du.

Other ministers and officials may still be limited by their background and place of origin, and thus act independently. However, Du Qian, who comes from a prominent family in Guanzhong, has long since broken free from these narrow constraints.

Regardless of their background, as long as they were civil officials, they were all his subordinates.

Frankly speaking, with such a position and authority, any other emperor would most likely have already begun to reduce his power. However, over the years, the two of them, the emperor and his minister, have always trusted each other. The only time that Du Qian was weakened was by dismissing Du He, the Minister of Revenue.

At this moment, upon seeing Prime Minister Guo, who had come to pay his respects, Du Qian bowed slightly in return and said solemnly, "The position of the Chancellor is not something that we ministers can comment on. It all depends on His Majesty's will. You and I are old colleagues, so there is no need for such formalities."

Guo Xiangong bowed deeply: "This humble official understands."

He was about to speak with the other prime ministers when His Majesty the Emperor returned, and all the civil and military officials immediately fell silent.

His Majesty the Emperor calmly sat back on his throne and said with a smile.

"Alright, let's continue the court session."

This first grand court assembly of the year lasted from morning until afternoon. At noon, His Majesty the Emperor and his officials dined together in the Taiji Hall.

By the afternoon, Emperor Li was feeling somewhat tired. He stood up, looked at his ministers, and said, "That's all for today. If there's anything else, report it to the Secretariat first, and then the Secretariat will forward it to me."

“For ordinary matters, the Secretariat may delegate them to the Crown Prince as appropriate.”

At this point, the emperor paused, then continued, "Since the Crown Prince has just assumed power, I am still somewhat uneasy. All documents handled by the Crown Prince can be issued as usual, but a copy must be made afterward and sent to the Ganlu Hall."

Upon hearing this, the officials all knelt on the ground and kowtowed, saying, "Your subjects obey your command."

Emperor Li took one last look at them. He had already stepped down the imperial steps and was about to leave when he suddenly remembered something and said, "Oh, right, there's one more thing to announce."

He glanced at Gu Chang beside him, and the eunuch Gu immediately nodded, took out the imperial edict, and began to read it aloud.

As the imperial edict was being read aloud, Eunuch Gu coughed once and announced in a loud voice, "Yang Hong, the Crown Prince's tutor, is hereby transferred."

"He served as the Provincial Administration Commissioner of Lingnan Circuit."

"Appreciate this."

After reading this sentence, the imperial edict came to an abrupt end. Yang Hong stepped forward, knelt on the ground, his face somewhat pale, but still bowed his head and said, "Thank you for your great grace, Your Majesty."

The Provincial Administration Commissioner is a newly established official position in this dynasty, and like the Crown Prince's Chamberlain, he is a third-rank official.

However, even though both are of the third rank, local officials are considered inferior to officials in the capital.

Fortunately, at this time, the local three offices of the governors did not yet have governors or viceroys, so their power was relatively large, but even so, it was far less prestigious than that of the Crown Prince's tutor.

This is a genuine demotion.

After hearing the imperial edict, His Majesty the Emperor did not even glance at Yang Hong, and left with his hands behind his back: "Minister Du, Minister Zhuo, come to Ganlu Hall. The rest of you, go home."

Having said that, His Majesty the Emperor had already left the Ganlu Hall.

Both Minister Du and Minister Xu glanced at Yang Hong, sneering inwardly.

Regardless of whether Yang Hong himself was involved in the assassination attempt last year, since he has been implicated, his political life has naturally come to an end.

Even the Emperor's "gentle" treatment of him was entirely out of consideration for the Crown Prince. The Emperor didn't want to embarrass the Eastern Palace, nor did he want the matter to escalate. Yang Hong was to be transferred to a local post first, and after a few years when no one was paying attention, he could pack his bags and go home.

If he doesn't behave properly when he's a local official, he might not even be able to pack his bags and go home.

Both prime ministers, who were in the know, remained indifferent and watched from the sidelines.

Du Xiangong turned to the group of officials and said, "Disperse. If there is anything urgent, go to the Secretariat to find Yao Xiangong."

After saying that, he looked at Guo You and said with a smile, "Minister Guo, you should go back to the Ministry of Personnel to pack up and hand over your official duties. Report to the Secretariat in three days."

Guo Xiangong bowed his head and said, "Prime Minister Du, my successor..."

Du Xiangong waved his hand: "I don't know either. Just hand it over to the Right Vice Minister first."

Having said that, he said no more and went to Ganlu Palace with Minister Zhuo. On the way, Minister Zhuo tried to lag behind Minister Du by half a step, but Minister Du pulled him along and the two walked side by side.

In the 17th year of the Zhangwu reign, the Du family received a great deal of favor from Minister Zhuo, and Minister Du is still very grateful to this day.

Zhuo Guangrui didn't hesitate, but smiled and said, "Master Tao, it's truly remarkable how long you've lasted."

Du Qian smiled and said, "This old gentleman has supervised more than a dozen executions in a row, and in the end he even vomited on the execution platform. Since he has accepted His Majesty's punishment, His Majesty is too lazy to make things difficult for him."

"After all, even if another prime minister is chosen, he might not be as useful as this old gentleman."

Upon hearing this, Minister Zhuo said with a hint of mischief, "The old gentleman is in very good health."

Upon hearing this, Du Qian couldn't help but murmur, "If he hears this, he'll probably hold a grudge against Brother Zhuo."

"I'm not afraid of him holding a grudge."

Zhuo Xiangong said with a smile, "It would be best if he scolded me severely in front of His Majesty. If that's not possible, I'll have a fight with him."

Upon hearing this, Du Qian was speechless and said, "In that case, Brother Zhuo will probably be reinstated as prime minister soon."

At this point, the two looked at each other and both laughed knowingly.

Soon, the two arrived at the entrance of Ganlu Hall and entered the hall without any hindrance. Inside, His Majesty the Emperor had changed out of his court robes and was wearing only casual clothes, fiddling with an exquisite bronze incense burner.

The two stepped forward and bowed in greeting.

Emperor Li turned to look at them, then smiled and said, "Sit down, all of you."

After the two sat down, Li Yun rubbed his hands together and said, "It seems colder this year than last year."

Du replied, "It seems a bit colder than last year."

After the two sat down, Li Yun said, "I called you here mainly to talk about the repair of the official roads. The Ministry of Works is making great progress on this project and has already measured out the official roads in Jingzhao Prefecture and Henan Province."

Emperor Li was clearly in a good mood, and said with a smile, "At the beginning of the year, let's settle on one thing: this year, let's first repair and level the official road in Jingzhao Prefecture."

Du Qian and Zhuo Guangrui both bowed their heads and replied, "Yes."

Although he bowed his head and agreed, Prime Minister Du was still somewhat curious.

This is such a trivial matter that it is not worth His Majesty the Emperor's attention, nor even worth his attention as the head of all officials.

It's at most a matter for a few vice ministers from the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Revenue.

His Majesty the Emperor seemed to care about this matter very much, personally monitoring it at all times.

Li Yun also noticed Du Qian's expression. He glanced at Du Qian and said with a smile, "This is the first time the imperial court has spent money to hire people to repair the project. This is a precedent."

"Precisely because it is a precedent, the imperial court should explore a practical and feasible procedure from this matter."

His Majesty the Emperor said softly, "In the future, there may be many more projects like this. I... want to be an emperor who engages in large-scale construction."

Du Xiangong looked thoughtfully at Li Yun.

Minister Zhuo was also somewhat curious and asked, "Your Majesty... Your Majesty used to seem uninterested in palaces and pavilions..."

"I'm not interested now."

His Majesty the Emperor took a sip of tea and said with a smile, "In a little while, I will take you out of the palace to see something."

After watching it…

The emperor smiled mysteriously.

"You'll know what I'm talking about."

(End of this chapter)