Gao Gu and Chen Xun looked at each other, both a little surprised.
After a moment, Gao Gu spoke in a deep voice and asked.
"Your Majesty, Zhu Pi, is here. Eunuch Cheng personally conveys the decree. The words are still in my ears. Could it be that there are still lies?"
“Is it false?”
Wang Ao almost laughed out of anger, snorted coldly, and his face suddenly darkened.
“I think the two cabinet ministers have been in the cabinet for too long, and they have no idea what they can do and what they cannot do!”
The atmosphere in the room suddenly became depressing. Chen Xun had a dark face and squinted his eyes without speaking.
Gao Gu’s face became a little confused and he asked.
“What does this mean?”
Wang Ao snorted coldly and asked.
“You only blame me for uniting with the officials to suppress the cabinet this time, but I would like to ask, before today, didn’t you recommend ministers to your majesty? Is your majesty okay?”
After he finished speaking, the two people opposite him were stunned for a moment, and then fell into deep thought.
Seeing this situation, Wang Ao also softened his expression slightly and said.
“Although I have only been in the cabinet for ten months, at that court meeting, Your Majesty expressed your intention to promote the cabinet, and I also know it.”
“You two said that the cabinet is very busy and needs to add ministers. Isn’t it clear to your majesty?”
“Previously, there were only two of you serving in the cabinet, and it was even busier than it is now. Why has His Majesty never allowed you two to supplement the ministers’ memorials? Do you need me to explain the reason?”
A series of ranges caused Chen Xun and Gao Gu to break out in thin cold sweats.
Especially Chen Xun, his eyebrows were tightly knitted together. It was obvious that he was very uneasy.
As a result, the two of them were no longer as confident as before. They pondered for a moment, and Gao Gu tentatively said.
“What does the Chief Assistant mean that Your Majesty is afraid of the Cabinet?”
After finishing speaking, Gao Gu shook his head again and said.
"I'm afraid this is unlikely. The power to vote for the cabinet and the appointment of cabinet ministers are all established and promoted by your majesty. Our proposal to add cabinet ministers is also based on the number of positions set by your majesty. How could it be..."
Before he finished speaking, Gao Gu looked up and saw that Wang Ao didn't answer, but just turned his attention to Chen Xun, whose expression changed.
So, he had some vague understanding in his heart.
At this time, Wang Aodao said.
“The establishment of the cabinet is originally outside the six ministries of the imperial court. Your Majesty gives the cabinet the power to vote and draft, in order to make the government affairs of the imperial court run more smoothly and to further control the external ministries of the imperial court.”
“Your Majesty naturally needs to add more cabinet ministers, but it is not for us to decide who should be added.”
“The power of the cabinet is a crucial place for communication between the inner court and the outer court. If all the cabinet members are of the same origin, then the cabinet will lose the original intention of His Majesty’s promotion. At that time, it will not matter whether the cabinet is present or not, so how can we talk about authority?”
Gao Gu pondered, and soon understood the meaning of Wang Ao's words.
After realizing this, he couldn't help but feel a sense of fear.
Looking back, they were indeed a bit too showy during these days.
Ever since His Majesty made it clear that he relied heavily on the cabinet at the court meeting, they have lost their initial peace of mind.
But they forgot one thing.
The fire cooks the oil, and under the blooming flowers, there are often hidden undercurrents that can destroy people.
Emperor Taizu abolished Zhongshu, dismissed the prime ministers, and placed the emperor directly in charge of the six ministries. The biggest disadvantage was the extreme contradiction between imperial power and ministerial power.
The emperor is the decision-maker, and the six ministries are the executors.
The agencies between the two were all abolished, leaving only the General Administration Department responsible for delivering memorials.
As a result, once a conflict arises between the two, it can easily evolve into a violent conflict.
The Zuo Shunmen incident before His Majesty ascended the throne is a typical example.
As Wang Ao said, His Majesty must have seen the shortcomings and increased the power of the cabinet.
In other words, the most important role of the cabinet is to communicate internally and externally, mediate the contradiction between imperial power and ministerial power, and become a buffer between the two.
This is the reason why the cabinet is a group of assistants, unlike the six ministries, which are divided into chief seal officers and assistant second officers.
Once the cabinet becomes the possession of a certain person, it will inevitably become his capital to seize power.
This is not alarmist, this is what is happening!
Gao Gu took a deep breath and looked at Chen Xun with a somewhat complicated look.
He finally understood why the emperor had been unwilling to let Chen Xunlai be the chief minister of the cabinet.
For no other reason than because what Chen Xun did these days made the emperor wary.
No wonder, the two of them repeatedly requested to add cabinet ministers, but the emperor refused.
Wang Ao sneered and said in a deep voice.
“Have you figured it out?”
“You say that I am uniting with the officials to suppress the cabinet, but you don’t know that it is you who are really harming the cabinet!”
Looking at Chen Xun, who had been silent, Wang Ao said coldly.
"Brother Dezun, Mr. Gaoge, not only do you two have no position to blame me for what happened today, but you also want to express your gratitude to me for entering the palace early. Otherwise, I'm afraid it wouldn't be a matter of relinquishing your duties as mere bachelors.
!”
Unlike Chen Xun, Gao Gu and others, Wang Ao had just been transferred back to the capital from Liaodong.
Although he does not have so many intricate relationships and connections in the capital, thanks to this, he is able to transcend these and look at the situation in North Korea and China from the perspective of a bystander.
From the first day he came to the cabinet, he had already noticed it.
Chen Xun, the second-in-command, was too enthusiastic about improving the status of the cabinet in the court!
So much so that this enthusiasm made Wang Ao feel a little uneasy.
So at the banquet that day, he almost without hesitation rejected Chen Xun's proposal to submit a joint memorial.
But he did not expect that the obsession brought to Chen Xun due to the cabinet's rising status in the government these days had completely blinded him.
They actually left him as the first assistant and had to present the memorial alone, even during the sutra banquet, so blatantly humiliating him.
Wang Ao did not tell lies.
He has been in Liaodong for many years and has never seen any scenes.
It was just a cold shoulder, so why did he fight back so fiercely?
He even couldn't wait for half a day. After the Sutra banquet, he immediately went to the official department and then entered the palace without delaying for a moment.
It was actually because he smelled a hint of danger from this matter.
Not so long ago.
The emperor was furious just now and rebuked the censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate for taking personal revenge on the Ministry of Household Affairs for cutting off the salary of peppercorns. Even the censor of Zuodu, one of the Seven Qings, was punished for this.
Now, before the salaries of those people have been fined, the Hanlin Academy has actually united together to openly exclude him, the chief minister.
It would have been fine if Wang Ao had done something that aroused criticism from scholars, but he just did not append the memorials of Chen Xun, Gao Gu and others.
Isn't it obvious that the two of them are taking private revenge and using public weapons for private use?
Wang Ao doesn't care about their life or death.
However, if the emperor loses trust in the cabinet because of this, that would be a real trouble!
The cabinet is not a serious government office after all. Its power comes from voting on behalf of the emperor.
Since it is a generation, the emperor can take it back at any time.
Having lost the trust of the emperor, the newly formed cabinet still has no idea how many years and months it will take before it can regain its strength.
After figuring out the joints, Takagu became anxious and spoke.
“Sir, Chief Assistant, now, your Majesty’s side...”
