The northwest wind blew all night, blowing the clouds in the sky without leaving any trace. Half past Mao, the sky was getting brighter.

The silent warm sedan fell in the door opening of Dong'anmen. The curtain was lifted, and Hu Yong whispered: "Chen and Zhang are here." He nodded quietly." He held Hu Yong's arm and walked out of the sedan chair steadily. He looked at the left, but saw no figure of them.

"Haha, sir, came early." I remembered the voice behind me, and I quickly turned around, and saw two officials wearing pure white fur warm-eared winter hats, "the official uniforms on my shoulders and the cloak on my shoulders were all red" walked over from behind him. Although it was still dark and I couldn't see my face clearly, he knew that it was Chen Yiqin and Zhang Juzheng.

Chen Si quickly pushed away the sedan chairman blocking his face, walked over quickly, clasped his fists and said loudly: "Wait for a long time."

"Where is there, I just arrived. "The person who came was Chen Yiqin and Zhang Juzheng, both with smiles." His hands were arched, but maybe Tian'er was too cold, and when he looked at their expressions silently, he seemed to be a little stiff. He knew the reason, so he took two steps quickly.

When the two walked four steps away from him, they "standed and wanted to formally greet him, but they saw that the silence had already stood on their left" and held their fists with a smile on their faces.

The two of them felt a little relieved and quickly returned the greeting, "How can you do this?" They replied with a silent smile, "Why do you have to do this?" and said loudly, "We will join the cabinet and work together, so you are colleagues. You are too dissatisfied."

"How dare you?" The two of them smiled a lot more naturally. The silent behavior seemed a bit strange, but it was a kind expression of kindness. The "Da Ming Hui Dian" issued in the 30th year of Hongwu stipulates that when all officials interact, they are divided into high and low according to their ranks. When they meet, they will be in the opposite direction. "Those who are slightly inferior in ranks live in the west. When they are of two or three levels, they are of low status. When they meet, they are of low status. When they meet, they are of low status. When they meet, they are of low status. When they meet, they bow down to report. The venerable sits and receives the ceremony. If they have any questions, they kneel down to report.

Take silence as an example. "He is now a first-rank official" and meets a second-rank official. When the second-rank official lives in the west and greets the east and greets the east. When the third-rank official is in the third-rank official, he will sit and receive the ceremony in the middle. When the fifth-rank official is in the middle, he will sit and receive the ceremony of kneeling and worship. Chen Yiqin and Zhang Juzheng are both third-rank officials. They should be the first to serve the ceremony, so they will stand behind the Shen Mo sedan chair for the convenience of rituals.

But silence is not so suppose to be so arrogant, because according to convention, although the ranks of colleagues are of high or low, there is no need to be polite. So he stepped forward and did not let them politely politely, but just politely politely. This shows that he has no intention of suppressing others with his rank, but communicates with his colleagues with his rituals...

Chen Yiqin and Zhang Juzheng were already very worried. It was said that the long-cherished wish was fulfilled for many years, which was a great thing, but it was through the order "not to recommend it" and it was really a flaw..." and even mixed joys and sorrows. Zhang Juzheng didn't need to say anything about it. Just Chen Yiqin, who had been dizzy since he received the imperial edict, was like stepping on cotton, and his heart was filled with thoughts. For a moment, he thought that he could not accept the order and could not make people stung his spine: for a moment, he felt that this time the pie fell from the sky and the opportunity to enter the cabinet was in front of him. If he missed it, he would probably not have such a good opportunity again... He had a reputation of self-knowing, knowing that he had a bad temper and had a bad relationship with the emperor, except for his good relationship with the emperor, even the old people in Yudi were not very happy to get along with. If he expected the court to push it through, he would probably not know that it would be the year of the Monkey and Horse Month.

Just when he was hesitating, Gao Gong talked to him, "showed the background of the cabinet's personnel adjustment to him... Of course, he focused on how he tried his best to win him this opportunity. When he heard that Nian Ge Shouli and Zhao Zhenji's old friends were coming back, he understood at that time, and thanked Gao Gong very much. If he didn't mention anything, he would be unable to do it, and so on.

No matter what kind of mood is, when Zhang Juzheng and Chen Yiqin meet, they feel the same sympathy. They know that the other party comes so early. They just wait for the arrival of another person. Although they entered the cabinet on the same day, they were already from the first-rank prince Taibao and the Minister of Rites. More importantly, the difference between "they entered the cabinet with a dignified manner through court" and they were not as big as the difference between the Jinshi officer and the Kegong officer. But they would withdraw their escorts in the future, as long as they did not.

It's too outrageous, I didn't dare to say he didn't say anything, otherwise it would mean that everyone was blind and afraid of losing the seeds of the court. And if they had not been promoted by the court, they would have to work diligently after entering the cabinet, holding their eggs across the bridge, and the staff would take advantage of him. If there was anything wrong, they would definitely attack him. If a point was not, they should be treated as ten, so as to prove that the eyes of the masses were sharp and could not be allowed without the court. With these many injustice, the two of them could be happy when they saw Shen Mo? That would be called a ghost.

Of course, Shen Mo didn't expect that the two of them would hate each other on the first day, so he acted very politely and insisted on meeting equally, just to quietly eliminate the awkwardness in the other party... Of course it was not that easy," but at least the two of them would like to see him.

The three of them greeted each other, politely and humbly, and walked towards the direction of the Meridian Gate. Although they were walking side by side, Shen Mo was in the middle, Chen Yiqin was on the left and Zhang Juzheng was on the right, and they also let Shen Mo walk a little bit in front of them. This is naturally the rule of the officialdom... Although it is a bit boring, outsiders can know their relationship at a glance, so they can't make any mistakes. If you are wrong in this regard, sometimes even a bad review by the Ministry of Personnel will have a great harm to Shitu. One by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by

Today is the first day for the three new cabinet members to arrive at the cabinet. The day before, the cabinet sent Sizhilang to their mansion to know their itinerary today. The Great Inner Palace Gate is the first to open in winter, and the cabinet is the first to work on time. Xu Jie asked the three of them to arrive at the cabinet during this time, and there was a brief welcome ceremony.

The three of them came outside the Meridian Gate. There was no morning court today, so foreign ministers were not allowed to enter the Forbidden City without permission. However, there were two exceptions, one was the cabinet and the other was the Sixth Corridor. This was because the 18th Court of the imperial courts were all located outside the Great Interior, but only the cabinet and the Sixth Corridor were located in the Forbidden City.

As soon as you enter the Meridian Gate, turn right to be the Huiji Gate and the cabinet; turn left to be the Huiji Gate and the Six-Career Gate. This also shows the status of the Six-Career Gate and the Six-Career Gate. Of course, this is a distraction.

Yesterday, the cabinet had already sent a value card, so when the gatekeeper questioned, the three of them showed their value card, and the value card was divided into three or six. The highest level was ivory, and only the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet could obtain it. The six subjects were silver, and the rest of the cabinet were bronze. The latter two must be compared before they could be released.

When the three adults were holding the highest ivory cards, the soldiers knew that they were the three newly promoted teachers. They quickly respectfully handed back the cards and gave way out. The eunuch on duty at the Meridian Gate ran out of the room, paying homage to the three of them with great sincerity and leading the way for them.

The three of them didn't recognize the way, so they naturally wouldn't use him. But thinking about the past, they had to inform them first, and then Si Zhilang came out to lead the way before they could enter the cabinet. "Now it can finally be unobstructed, and they no longer have to look up at the highest administrative agency of the Ming Dynasty. Although they all looked like ancient wells, they would be too hypocritical to say that they were not excited in their hearts."

Chen Yiqin and Zhang Juzheng even felt that the choice this time was right, and even if they were scolded for a while, it would be worth it.

Huiji Gate is in the southeast corner of the imperial city. When they entered the Meridian Gate, they arrived. When they arrived, they saw Gao Gong, Guo Pu, Li Chunfang, and a dozen Si Zhilangs, who were already waiting there. They were silently seeing Shen Shixing and Yu Youding among them. But at this time, they could only pretend to be unfamiliar.

The three of Chen Si quickly stepped forward and saluted to the sub-super and the two seniors. Gao Gong and the other three returned the greetings politely; Si Zhilang and the others also paid their respects to the new cabinet elders. "The three of Chen Si Si returned the greetings politely, and under Gao Gong's leadership, they entered the Huiji Sect one after another.

Although it was not the first time they had come, they probably were not familiar with the layout of the cabinet. Gao Gong introduced to the three of them: "When the cabinet was first built, the venue was very small, with three or four cabinet ministers crowding into a room to work. After many expansions, they formed their current scale." He said, pointing to a flying corner and a heavy eaves in the middle. "The grand and magnificent palace pavilion said: "This is the Wenyuan Pavilion, and our cabinet ministers are all here." He pointed to a small building east of Wenyuan Pavilion and said: "This is the imperial edict room." He pointed to another small building west of Wenyuan Pavilion, and said: "That is the imperial edict room. All the imperial edicts and imperial edicts written by the cabinet ministers are reviewed by these two rooms, and the original copy is copied. "After handing over to the emperor for treasure, it will be issued by them."

Chen Mo and others were all from Hanlin, so they naturally knew that all the various instructions, orders, official documents and other documents issued by the empire in the name of the emperor were drafted by the cabinet. These two rooms were secretariats that assisted the cabinet in performing their duties. Among them, the imperial decree office, the imperial decree, edict, edict, list, treasure documents, king's letters, sermons, steles, steles, and memorials, and all confidential documents, as well as the imperial decree book of each royal palace. The imperial decree office "established official edicts, and translated imperial edicts, and the four barbarians' letters, and the Ministry of War's merits, and the comprehensive submissions.

"But you don't have these two houses to save trouble." Gao Gong said badly: "We are the emperor who controls the universe and the nine provinces, and all the documents are written by the cabinet ministers, except for routine letters, and occasionally written by the cabinet ministers, even the chief minister is no exception. He has never asked the two houses to do it for him." After a pause, his eyes swept over the three people and said: "It would be a big mistake to think that the cabinet was a powerful person. This place is a hundred times harder than you were in the ministry before. If you don't have the heart to work hard and devote yourself to your efforts, I advise you to go back as soon as possible."

The three of them agreed, but they felt sorry for their hearts. This tall beard is indeed extremely difficult to deal with, and they can't wait to make a move! You shouldn't say this again. What should you ask the prime minister to say after all? Repeat it again?

Gao Gong was unaware of it and introduced the layout of the cabinet to them with great enthusiasm: "The south side of Wenyuan Pavilion was originally an open space. Later, due to the increasing power of the cabinet, the more people they needed, and the Wenyuan Pavilion was not in enough places. During Yan Fenyi's tenure as the chief minister, three large volume sheds were built there, and all the officials in the cabinet were moved there. Further south, there was the "Ancient and Modern Tongji Library". All the grass was invited to the Hanlin, treasures were invited to the Zhuran Mansion, left certificates and surveys "referred to the Ancient and Modern Tongji Library." That is, the archives of the cabinet.

一“一“一凵一,一“一“一,一,一“一“一“一,一“一“一,一,一“一“一凵一“一“一“一“一,一“一～一“一“一“一“一,一“一“一,一,一“一“一“一,

After introducing the general layout of the cabinet, Gao Gong took them into Wenyuan Pavilion. Behind the front hall was a circle of veranda, facing the hall. "The four sets of the cabinet ministers were on the left and right sides. Originally, the four cabinet ministers were a carrot and a pit, but now three more people have been added, so naturally they have to be re-arranged. Except for the Chief Minister's set, the rest must be lived in two people, so the doors of the three rooms are open, and there are servants cleaning up the room, which is obviously re-arranged.

"There are four houses here. The Chief Minister lives in one house. The six of us can only live in three houses together." Gao Gong said: "Old Guo and I live in one house, and you can discuss the remaining two houses together."

When Shen Mo thought of living with a man often in the future, he felt a chill, and the other two people's faces turned a little green. No matter how bad everyone is, they are all deputy ministerial-level cadres who have independent courtyards. What about the living room, confidential room, document room, bedroom, and kitchenette. Like the Ministry of Rites, there are few people in the yamen like the Ministry of Rites. Shen Mo, as the Minister of the Shangshu, even has a small garden. Now he has worked hard and finally has a carp leaping over the dragon gate. Why is it not only not as vast as the sky, but also feels like he falls into the gutter?

"The temporary conditions are difficult, and these are all caused by historical reasons." The cabinet was established at the beginning of its establishment, but it was only the emperor's secretariat. It was later expanded its power and became the key to the administration and the head of the government. In addition, it was just moved back from Xiyuan, and the office conditions were narrow, which was inevitable. Gao Gong also felt that he couldn't hold his face." Hurry: "But don't worry, I was discussing with the chief minister and asked the emperor for the open space north of Wenyuan Pavilion to come over to everyone."

Before he finished speaking, he heard someone coughing softly at the entrance of the main hall and everyone quickly bowed to the inside, "See the Chief Minister!" Gao Gong had no choice but to stop his mouth.

Xu Jie looked at Zhang Juzheng and did not show any dissatisfaction. He kindly said to everyone: "What are you doing when you are cold outside? Come in quickly."

Gao Gong didn't say anything, and the scene suddenly became solemn. Everyone calmed down and walked into the main hall with solemn steps. Xu Jie first led the incense and kowtow in front of the statue of the Supreme Saint Master. Then Xu Jie sat down after the big case under the statue of the Saint and accepted everyone's greetings. Looking at Gao Gong and Xu Jie, although they were like water and fire, they still bowed deeply to Xu Jie every day. Shen Mo said, "Isn't this adding fuel to the fire?"

After getting up, Xu Jie waved his hands and returned to the side halls on both sides, and only him and six cabinet ministers were left in the main hall.

"Sit all." Xu Jie sat upright in the front seat without pretending to be like Gao Gong, so this seat had enough power.

"Here." Everyone responded, Gao Gong walked to the first mahogany carved chair on the left and sat down. The book case in front of him was slightly wider than the long strips of the rest of the people, with four treasures of the study, a stack of memorials, teacups, reading glasses and other personal belongings.

Guo Pu sat opposite Gao Gong. Li Chunfang sat down at Gao Gong's lower head, and the three of them looked at each other. Silence was the only one who could not sit opposite Li Chunfang. Chen Yiqin walked to Li Chunfang's lower head and sat down. "There was still the last seat, Zhang Juzheng had no choice but to accompany him to the last seat.

All seven members of the cabinet were all here, just like their seat order, the first assistant Xu Jie, the second assistant Gao Gong, Guo Pu, Li Chunfang, Chen Yiqin, and Zhang Juzheng. This is actually the order of their entry into the cabinet, which is extraordinary and difficult to overcome. Of course, Gao Gong, Guo Pu, and Li Chunfang entered the cabinet one day; Chen Yiqin, and Zhang Juzheng entered the cabinet one day, how do they rank among them? Naturally, there is also a set of methods to compare qualifications first, whoever gets the imperial examination earlier, who is the senior; if they become Jinshi together, it is compared to the rank before entering the cabinet, you are the Shangshu, I am the minister, then you are the eldest brother, and I am the younger brother: If everyone is still at the same level, then you can't be born on the same day of the same year, month, right? Even if you are one day older, you are the eldest brother of a young man... For example, among them, Li Chunfang is a student of Chen Yiqin, but he is ranked first, and he is just the first. He has no reason to enter the cabinet early.

But it is not so rigid. For example, Gao, Guo and Li are the Jinshi in the 20th, 14th, and 26th year of Jiajing. It is said that Guo Pu should be the secondary assistant, but he is willing to give up the wise and does not affect others. No one says: For example, "Chen, Chen, and Zhang are the 35th, 20th, and 26th year of Jiajing. It is said that it should be the order of Chen, Zhang and Chen." But the silence was pushed into the cabinet by the court. They had never pushed, so they could only go backwards. Of course, they insisted on insisting and could compete with Shen Mo. They had no choice but to rely on the innate shortcomings of entering the cabinet by the order of the Central Order. They were embarrassed to mention this.

If you sit down, your ranking in the cabinet will be settled. In the future, the power of the cabinet will change, and you will be the first one to be the chief assistant according to this ranking, and the second one to be the auxiliary assistant, and the rest will be the follower.

Only when the previous one dies... no matter the reason, "Anyway, you leave the cabinet, and the latter can move forward. Of course, you have the ability to let others give up their position when they are in office, but who is not trying to become the chief minister? How can you give up your position if you are not absolutely necessary?

So there is either the gap in the cabinet that is too large," and the hierarchy is very strict, and there is a pool of stagnant water; or everyone is ambitious to get ahead, and then they have to put the people in front of them. The struggle will definitely be fierce and life-and-death.
Chapter completed!