"Cai Jing? He called all the six ministers and ministers over?"

In Dongnuan Pavilion, Li Qian listened to the eunuch's report below and frowned: "After Cai Jing returned, those people gathered again..."

You don't need to think about it to know that the only thing that can attract so much attention from the ministers is the position of deputy examiner.

Li Qian just thought for a moment and guessed what Cai Jing was thinking.

'No wonder... no wonder he just left in a hurry when he heard that it was not okay. It turns out there is such a plan...'

Besides being able to try, what else could attract Cai Jing?

Six volumes of Shangshu!

It can even be said that the Six Books of Shangshu are far more important than the General Examination.

Cai Jing’s idea was to kill two birds with one stone.

Li Qian was half lying on the soft couch, holding a yellow porcelain tea cup in both hands, like a retired veteran cadre holding a thermos cup.

He was a little overwhelmed at the moment, and Cai Jing's move really made Li Qian feel very troublesome.

At this moment, he had to make a choice.

Either continue to support Qin Hui, let him fight with the six ministers, and order Zhongshu and his ministers to fight for the position of deputy examiner.

But doing so will gradually push the originally neutral ministers in the Six Parts to Cai Jing's side.

Another option is to immediately give up cooperation with Qin Hui and announce that the deputy examiner will still be selected from among the six departments.

The advantage of this is that Cai Jing's plan will go bankrupt, and he will lose the reason to continue to win over the other ministers.

But the disadvantages are also very obvious. If Han Mulu becomes the deputy examiner, the examination may be disrupted by these people.

Those without talent and virtue will be promoted, those with talent and virtue will be demoted.

Moreover, the people Li Qian values ​​​​more may also be disturbed by Cai Jing and leave.

Don't think about what you will try next time. Li Qian never felt that he was obligated to stay in the court for three years and wait for him, the emperor, to reuse him.

There are so many vassal states in Daqian, and any place may become a place for these people to shine...

Moreover, the second option has other disadvantages, that is, it will offend Zhongshu and save both parties.

After all, it was he who asked people to run for deputy examiner, and it was he who turned around and refused to let them choose.

This kind of behavior that first gives hope and then makes people despair is very hateful.

Faced with such a dilemma, Li Qian sighed softly. Cai Jing was indeed not a simple character.

He just made a little movement, and he came up with such a trick to deal with it.

"By the way, Your Majesty, Mr. Cai had diarrhea after returning home and went to Guanglu Temple to ask for soup."

"Well, I understand."

Li Qian nodded and waved his hand to signal the young eunuch to go down.

This kind of information is useless information. How can Li Qian care whether Cai Jing has diarrhea or not?

He put almost all his thoughts into breaking the situation.

'Should we call He Shen back...'

As a minister, He Shen may be able to control the current situation.

Moreover, the Ministry of Rites is not Cai Jing's territory in the first place. When He Shen comes back, he will have no legitimate reason to influence the Ministry of Rites.

Not only will there be more leeway in the selection of deputy examiners, but even if they are selected from the Sixth Department of Shangshu, as long as they are from the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Rites, and the Ministry of Industry, they may not be easily influenced by Cai Jing...

Li Qian thought for a moment and felt more and more that this method was somewhat feasible.

Nowadays, disaster relief and embankment repairs are gradually on the right track, and the disaster areas are not as inseparable from people as they were at the beginning.

After thinking about it for a while, Li Qian sat up, wrote a letter himself, and handed it to the old eunuch beside him.

"Have someone give it to Heshen."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

The old eunuch bowed and rushed out of the palace with His Majesty the Emperor's secret message...

What Li Qian didn't know was that while he was writing the letter, other changes had also taken place in the capital.

After learning the news from Qin Hui, Zhongshu and the four assistant ministers naturally did not wait and waited for the title of deputy examiner to fall on their heads. They had already started taking action...

Yanfu.

The room was as warm as spring. Yan Shifan, a fat man, was only wearing a long blue silk coat. The shirt was half-opened, revealing his greasy white flesh. He was half-lying on the bench with his eyes squinted.

Two beautiful maids like flowers were kneeling at his feet, stretching out their two pairs of jade hands to help him massage his fat feet...

Bang bang~

There was a knock on the door of the room, and a cautious voice came from outside the door: "Young Master, the two ministers are here."

Yan Shifan opened his squinted eye: "Let them come in."

"Yes." The servant turned and left, and soon he led two people in winter clothes in.

"Little Prime Minister." The two of them were very cautious towards Yan Shifan and did not show the slightest casualness.

"sit."

Yan Shifan nodded and pointed to the seat next to him: "Wait for a few more people."

The two servants looked at each other and sat down quietly on their seats.

These two people were Ding Rukui (kui) and Wan Cai (cai), the left servants of the sect. They were not seen outside the Yan Mansion at all. They took a sip from the teacup and chatted with Yan Shifan with a chuckle.

"Xiao Xiangye, how is the disaster relief work at Prime Minister Yan's side? I heard that the foundations of dikes in several places have been laid and repairs are in full swing."

Yan Shifan nodded, and just when he was about to say something, there was another sound of footsteps outside the door.

"Everyone, come in." Before the door was knocked, Yan Shifan shouted to the door.

The visitor's footsteps seemed to pause, and then with a creak, the door opened, a gust of cold wind rushed in, and three people wearing brocade winter clothes also came in one after another.

"It's still warm in the house!" The person walking at the end grinned from the cold and threw off his cold mink velvet robe as soon as he entered the house.

"Drink a cup of hot tea." Yan Shifan kicked the beautiful maid at his feet, straightened up, pointed to the table on one side, and smiled at the three of them.

Needless to say, the first two are naturally Yan Song's two generals, Yan Maoqing and Luo Longwen.

As for the last person, Zhao Wenhua, the Minister of Taichang Temple, was a little younger, with a fair face and a mustache on his lips. He was running quickly to the table, picked up a cup of hot tea and poured it into his mouth.

Poof~ Zhao Wenhua screamed out after being burned.

"Look at how stupid you are!" Yan Shifan laughed at him mercilessly: "You dare to pour boiling tea leaves into your mouth."

"Isn't it too cold for me?" Zhao Wenhua pulled his lips and gasped.

It can be seen that he is very comfortable in Yan's mansion, just like his own home.

Because this guy recognized Yan Song as his adoptive father, and Yan Shifan was his adopted brother, the relationship was naturally closer.

"Okay, sit down quickly and talk about business."

Yan Shifan turned to look at the two assistant ministers: "How sure are you two that you can win this deputy examiner?"

The two looked at each other with some hesitation on their faces.

Finally, before Yan Shifan became impatient, Ding Rukui frowned and said, "About... 20%?"

Luo Longwen and Yan Maoqing both looked sideways, seemingly surprised at the low success rate of 20%.

Yan Maoqing couldn't help but said: "Since this is the first year for the junior high school students to choose the deputy examiner, it is almost predetermined to choose from the four of you, right?"

"Even if Prime Minister Yan is not in the capital, the two of you don't necessarily have such slim hope. There must be about 40%..."

"Forty percent? Even two percent is too much!"

Yan Shifan said impatiently: "You two add up to less than 10%."

"According to me, there is no need to bother with this at all, just watch them fight!"

The cold wind howls outside the window, but the interior is as warm as spring.

Two maids in white cotton silk skirts came to the table from the side room. The maid in front turned around and picked up a teapot from the tray of the maid behind, and poured tea for everyone.

Everyone present was stunned for a moment by Yan Shifan's words.

"Less than 10%?"

Zhao Wenhua couldn't help but exclaimed: "This is too low!"

"Xiao Xiangye, this... could you be wrong?"

Ding Rukui also frowned: "It's good that Qin Xiang is strong, but even with the influence of the Sixth Department of Shangshu, our winning rate will not be less than 20%!"

"You are wrong." Yan Shifan shook his head: "Did you only see the pie under your nose and forget something?"

"I..." Ding Rukui and Wan Cai were startled.

Yan Shifan took a sip of tea and continued to talk to himself: "Do you think the four of you can defeat the deputy examiner this time?"
To be continued...