xymnovel Chapter 118: Personnel Changes
Chapter 118: Personnel Changes
Inside the Zichen Palace.
The ministers were all talking amongst themselves, and many of them cast envious glances at Linghu Chu.
Linghu Chu, the protagonist, was also stunned for a moment before he reacted and stepped forward to bow.
"Your subject Linghu Chu respectfully receives the imperial edict and kowtows to express his gratitude for Your Majesty's divine grace."
Seeing this, Li Deyu, who was standing to the side, couldn't help but frown deeply.
However, just as he was considering whether he should step forward and say something, he saw the eunuch on the imperial steps take out another imperial edict.
Li Deyu stood at the very front, very close by.
That's why his pupils shrank instinctively when he saw the imperial edict.
This is yet another imperial edict, which means... the position of prime minister is about to be revoked?!
"Your Excellency: I, having succeeded to the throne, strive for the utmost in governance, working diligently day and night. Therefore, I entrust all affairs of state to the Chancellor… Zheng Tan, Grand Master of the Palace, Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, Pillar of the State, Baron of Rongyang County, with a fief of two thousand households… He is naturally upright, possesses exceptional talent, is dignified, and has a solitary and lofty character… He may retain his original post as Chancellor, with the rest remaining unchanged."
? ? !
If the previous imperial edict only slightly surprised the ministers, then this edict truly shook the entire court.
It should be noted that, apart from appointing a prime minister, the appointment of a prime minister was the most important and special form of imperial edict in the court.
Unlike other imperial edicts that required drafting by the Secretariat and approval by the prime minister, the appointment of the prime minister was the emperor's prerogative, and no other official was allowed to participate.
Under normal circumstances, such imperial edicts only require the emperor to summon a Hanlin scholar to give him instructions in person, and then the emperor can draft the edict in the imperial academy.
Before the edict was made public, even the Hanlin scholars responsible for drafting it were confined to the Hanlin Academy and forbidden from leaving.
Therefore, theoretically speaking, except for the appointment of a prime minister, absolute secrecy can be maintained.
However, this is only theoretical; in practice, it is often difficult to maintain absolute secrecy.
Firstly, because the prime minister's position was of great importance, the emperor usually wouldn't make decisions alone, but would solicit opinions from all sides and discuss them in advance, so most people could basically guess the outcome.
Secondly, since the palace was to be locked down, there would be situations where Hanlin scholars would remain in the palace and not come out. Therefore, by observing this point, one could roughly guess that an imperial edict appointing someone as prime minister was about to be issued.
This time, everyone expected that Linghu Chu would be appointed prime minister, but what they didn't expect was that two imperial edicts would appear.
Moreover, it was truly a rare and extraordinary sight that two people who usually didn't get along were appointed prime ministers together.
Amidst the murmurs of the crowd, Zheng Qin stood frozen in place.
Before this, he had never imagined that he would become a prime minister, so much so that when he heard his own name called, he almost thought he had misheard...
"Minister Zheng, why haven't you received the imperial decree yet?"
In the end, it was Li Deyu who reacted first, turning slightly to tug at Zheng Qin's sleeve, and only then did he realize what was happening.
Regardless of the situation, receiving the imperial decree is the most important thing.
Zheng Tan immediately stepped forward, bowed deeply, and said, "Your subject Zheng Tan respectfully accepts the imperial decree and kowtows to express his gratitude for Your Majesty's divine grace."
The simultaneous removal of two prime ministers was a shock no less significant than the fall of Li Xun.
As the officials below discussed amongst themselves, they soon noticed that one of the prime ministers in the Secretariat looked gloomy.
Sure enough, the next thing that came was an imperial edict dismissing him from his post as prime minister.
"...Jia Su, Vice Minister of the Chancellery, Grand Academician of the Jixian Hall, Baron of Guzang County, and concurrently Chancellor of the Chancellery and Secretariat...can be appointed as Grand Tutor to the Crown Prince and Governor of the Eastern Capital, with the rest remaining unchanged."
"Your subject Jia Su respectfully obeys the imperial edict and thanks Your Majesty for your great favor."
Seeing Jia Su return to his post dejected state, many people in the hall felt a pang of regret.
Over the years, the Council of State Affairs has basically maintained a fixed four-person staff. With people joining, there are bound to be people leaving. So, once Zheng Tan's edict to remove the title of Minister of State was issued, the outcome was already predetermined.
Although Jia Su's reputation in the court was not good before, he has been quite diligent during this period.
But sometimes, the imperial court can be just that cruel.
Even if one reaches the position of prime minister, one may not be able to rest easy forever.
From this perspective, Jia Su's ending was already considered good. The rank of Crown Prince's Guest was a third-rank official, and being assigned to the Eastern Capital was a relatively respectable outcome.
The departure of a prime minister from the political stage was certainly a moment of sadness, but it was only for a short while. After the court session, everyone flocked to Linghu Chu and Zheng Tan to offer their congratulations.
Since Li Xun took office, the Grand Chancellor has changed three or four times in just one year, but this time is obviously different from the past.
Leaving aside Wang Ya, who was appointed Minister of Works, Li Deyu himself was a former official who had been dismissed and reinstated. In addition, Linghu Chu and Zheng Tan were also veteran officials.
It is foreseeable that with their appointment as prime ministers, the power structure of the Central Secretariat will usher in a long-awaited period of stability.
Although there may still be struggles in the future, such a dramatic change in prime ministers as recently should be a thing of the past...
However, Linghu Chu and Zheng Qin, the main figures in this celebration, clearly had no interest in enjoying the joy of becoming prime ministers.
The reason is simple: the fact that the two of them were appointed prime ministers at the same time was unexpected by all of them, so they urgently needed to analyze with their allies what the current situation was like.
Therefore, the two tacitly dealt with everyone hastily, and then quickly returned to the Hall of State Affairs and the Hall of Ministers, respectively.
At this moment, Li Deyu and Niu Sengru were already waiting for them separately.
"Wenrao..."
"Lord Linghu..."
In different scenarios, the two pairs of core figures from the Li faction and the Niu faction sat down face to face.
Interestingly, neither Li Deyu nor Niu Sengru spoke up to analyze the situation upon seeing the other party; instead, they each uttered only one sentence.
"Please be patient and wait a moment..."
Time passed slowly, and sure enough, not long after, someone from the government office came to report.
"My lord, the Grand Councilor Song has arrived from the palace, saying that he has an imperial edict to deliver."
Inside the public room, Zheng Qin blinked and looked at Li Deyu opposite him. The latter's expression turned slightly stern as he spoke.
"Take us there..."
After Xue Jiling fell from power, Yang Qinyi, the original Privy Councilor, took over the position of Commander-in-Chief of the Shence Army, but no new Privy Councilor was appointed.
For this reason, the Privy Council now has only one Privy Councilor, who is Song Shukang, who was previously recommended by Xue Jiling.
But perhaps for this reason, Song Shukang always kept a low profile in the court, and even left the palace very rarely.
"Song Shushi..."
When Li Deyu came out, Wang Ya had already arrived.
After the court session, Jia Su did not return to the Hall of State Affairs at all, while Linghu Chu went to the Ministry of Personnel first.
Therefore, with his arrival and Zheng Tan's arrival, the people of the Political Affairs Hall were almost all present.
Song Shukang was a middle-aged eunuch in his early fifties. In front of several prime ministers, he was neither servile nor arrogant. After a brief exchange of greetings, he took out a handwritten edict and handed it over, saying...
"My lords, His Majesty's decree..."
"Niu Sengru, the military governor of Shannan East Circuit, was appointed as the Vice Minister of the Chancellery, concurrently serving as the Salt and Iron Transport Commissioner and the Minister of Rites."
"Du Cong, the military governor of Zhongwu Army, was appointed as the Grand Censor, in charge of the affairs of the Censorate."
"Yang Sifu, the military governor of Jiannan Dongchuan, was appointed as the vice minister of the Ministry of Justice and in charge of the affairs of the Court of Judicial Review."
"Xue Yuanshang, the Prefect of Jingzhao, was appointed as the Vice Censor-in-Chief, concurrently serving as a Hanlin Academician, and was granted a purple-gold fish-shaped pouch. He was also appointed to continue managing the affairs of Jingzhao Prefecture."
"Li Shi, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, is hereby appointed as the Minister of the Ministry, and will continue to be in charge of the expenditures."
"Chen Yi, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works, was appointed as the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel to oversee the affairs of the ministry."