frightfiction Chapter 638: In the eyes of others, like a monkey
Chapter 638: In the eyes of others, like a monkey
"Your Majesty, the country cannot be without a ruler for a day, and the ministers cannot be without a leader for a day. Prime Minister Qin has been executed, and now the ministers are leaderless. We should quickly elect a prime minister to stabilize the situation in the court. In this way, all civil and military officials can serve Your Majesty with peace of mind." Lord Cao expressed his thoughts.
He didn't understand. When the late emperor was alive, the Grand Empress Dowager had always hoped that he would make use of the Cao family. She even had a rift with the late emperor because of this matter. Why, after the late emperor passed away, the Grand Empress Dowager, who held great power and attended court affairs, kept avoiding this issue?
Given the Empress Dowager's current status, if she were directly given the position of Prime Minister, who in the court would dare to interfere?
After he had sought the Empress Dowager's help several times without success, he simply made the matter clear in the court.
When the Empress Dowager heard what Lord Cao said, she felt furious.
She tried desperately to suppress the matter because she felt the time was not yet ripe.
Cao Jun, this good-for-nothing, didn't understand her intentions at all, yet he actually forced her to come to the court!
"Lord Cao is right. I also think that the head of the government should be selected as soon as possible." One person stood up and bowed to Xiao Wenxuan, saying, "I think Lord Cao is qualified for this position."
When these words were spoken, all the ministers were shocked.
This person's official position was just a Grand Commander, in charge of many matters such as conferring titles on kings and entering the court to receive and interact with foreign countries.
Although he was one of the Nine Ministers, it was not an important position.
Since when has a court official become able to so brazenly recommend something as important as appointing a prime minister?
As for Lord Cao Jun, with the Empress Dowager's strong recommendation, the late Emperor made an exception and appointed him in charge of the Zongzheng Palace and the appointment of Dusikongling, in charge of civil engineering and making the bricks and tiles needed to build palaces and government offices.
These two people both hold sinecure positions, but today, they can talk big in the court, which is really laughable.
It seems that Lord Cao is not satisfied with his current position and has set his sights on the position of prime minister.
How dare you think about it!
The two men also realized that something was wrong. They looked at each other first, then looked around, and suddenly felt embarrassed as if they were being treated like monkeys.
Although no one raised any objections, the reaction was still filled with an unbearable humiliation.
Cao Jun's face felt hot, as if he had been slapped hard in the face.
The Queen Mother also looked unhappy.
The Cao family is her maternal family. How can she be good after making such a joke in the court?
Who knows what these officials are thinking.
You might think that this is not necessarily what she meant.
Xiao Wenxuan looked back at the Empress Dowager. Faced with such a situation, he could not clearly express his attitude.
The situation in North Korea is complicated.
The original powerful and aristocratic families became the old faction, and the ministers selected through assessment became the new faction.
The two factions are incompatible and even hostile to each other.
Before the late emperor passed away, he was still able to intimidate these two factions in the court. Now that he has just ascended the throne, these two factions have not surrendered to him. Instead, they have turned their eyes to the Empress Dowager and have not taken him, the new emperor, seriously at all.
The inner court guards of the imperial palace and the imperial capital's royal guards were all in the hands of the Empress Dowager.
Although he was the emperor, he was an emperor without any power at all.
To put it bluntly, he is just a puppet.
If by any chance what he said displeased the Empress Dowager, his future life might become even more difficult, let alone seizing power.
Prince Huaiyang looked at the reactions of the court officials. At such a critical moment, there was not even anyone to smooth things over.
However, this situation was also within his expectations.
After all, the late emperor intended to control the Empress Dowager and officials of the previous dynasty and not give them any chance of contact.
The Empress Dowager has no one who is her own in the court except Lord Cao.
The late emperor did not value the Cao family, and this was known to all the civil and military officials in the court. Over time, no one wanted to have a close relationship with the Cao family. Therefore, Lord Cao could only find someone who agreed with him and spoke for him, and that was the Dianke.
"Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager's and His Majesty's emperor, the system of appointing officials in the court has long been changed. It is no longer the previous system of recommendation. Any official needs to undergo layers of assessment before being qualified." Marquis Wuyang stepped forward and appropriately helped the Empress Dowager out of the predicament.
The Empress Dowager secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
"I have heard about the assessment and appointment of officials mentioned by Marquis Wuyang before. Since the system has been changed, let's continue with the previous system. Now the court is not only short of the prime minister position, but also some vacancies. They should be filled as quickly as possible."
"Marquis Wuyang, I heard that you were also responsible for the previous reform. Tell me, how should the appointment of the prime minister be handled?"
"To the Empress Dowager, the position of Prime Minister, the head of all officials, must be handled with extreme caution and carefully selected. I believe that all the ministers in the court can recommend the most suitable candidate in their hearts. At that time, we will select several officials with the most nominations and then conduct an assessment. Finally, one person will be selected to be qualified for the position of Prime Minister."
The Empress Dowager immediately agreed, "Then let Marquis Wuyang be in charge of this matter. You must compile the list of nominees within three days."
"Yes." Marquis Wuyang responded.
After retreating from the court.
The Empress Dowager and Xiao Wenxuan came to the imperial study together.
Xiao Wenxuan discovered that the layout of the imperial study had also changed.
Originally, there was only one dragon case used to review memorials.
Now there is an extra desk.
Does the Empress Dowager also have to review memorials?
"Your Majesty, you have just ascended the throne. The situation in the court is unstable. I will share the management of state affairs with you." The Empress Dowager said directly, without a trace of negotiation in her tone, as if it was a routine notification.
Xiao Wenxuan had no way to resist.
Nowadays, all the eunuchs in the palace are the Empress Dowager’s men.
"What's the matter? Does the Emperor have any opinion?" The Empress Dowager asked with a raised eyebrow when she didn't hear any response.
"The Empress Dowager is thinking about me, so of course I have no objection." Xiao Wenxuan responded quickly.
"That's good." The Empress Dowager replied, "There is one more thing. Your Majesty must arrange it as soon as possible. Your Majesty is not used to living in Yancheng, and I don't want to be separated from your mother and daughter. Your Majesty should quickly have the original mansion renovated and take your Majesty back to the imperial capital."
"Yes." Xiao Wenxuan responded softly.
An hour later, Xiao Wenxuan dragged his tired body back to the bedroom.
Chang Ru immediately put down what she was doing and came over to help him change his clothes.
"I thought His Majesty would be back later. Why did His Majesty come back so early? Doesn't he need to review memorials?"
"Reviewing memorials?" Xiao Wenxuan sneered.
Chang Ru immediately realized that something was wrong and asked softly, "Your Majesty, has something happened? Talk to me and I can help you make a decision."
"It is not my turn to review memorials! When the Empress Dowager comes to court to listen to government affairs, she has to review the memorials herself. After reviewing them, she will show them to me. Tell me, what am I doing in the Imperial Study? I might as well let go and be a puppet. This way, the Empress Dowager will be happier and won't regard me as a thorn in her side."