Chapter Three Hundred and Nineteen: Court Discussion
The next day was a sunny day.
Now that the weather is getting warmer, the fires in various government offices have almost died down, but the cotton-padded clothes have not yet been taken off.
Early in the morning, Yu Shiyue arrived at the cabinet, and someone from Zhongshushe outside came to report.
"Mr. Pavilion, in a quarter of an hour, the First Assistant will hold a cabinet meeting in the west wing. Please come over."
This was something that was announced the day before yesterday. Yu Shiyue nodded, tidied up a little, and then went out to the west wing.
Before he entered the room, he saw Jiang Yuan and Zhang Min already arriving. When Yu Shiyue came in, they both stood up to greet them.
In today's cabinet, Gao Gu and Jiang Yuan are close, and Yu Shiyue and Zhang Min are close, so when they entered the room, Yu Shiyue sat with Zhang Min as a matter of course.
The main subject of discussion today is the memorial issued by the Ministry of Rites regarding the emperor's draft.
Logically speaking, there is no room for discussion in this book. The Emperor's edicts are clearly written at the top of the court, and the bottom is done.
However, after the specific etiquette notes from the Ministry of Rites were handed over, the cabinet had disagreements on how to vote.
According to the latest regulations set by the emperor in the Zhengdan Dynasty.
The emperor's harem is selected every eight years. The wedding draft is also the first draft, which is the most grand. Women are selected from all over the world. The first queen, the first concubine, the second concubine and the fourth concubine are selected. The number of talents is the same. The same is true for the crown prince's wedding draft.
The scale of the subsequent drafts was smaller, and the scope was reduced from the state capitals to Gyeonggi, Jiangnan and other places. The selected beauties were only limited to concubines. One concubine was selected, and four talents were selected.
It was here that the cabinet was divided.
According to the Ministry of Rites, although the emperor had already been married, the selection process at that time was based on the prince's regulations.
Therefore, this draft should follow the rules of the first draft, and select the best girls from all over the world, and finally select the second concubine, the fourth concubine, and the fifth talent.
But Gao Gu, who was in charge of drafting the vote, thought it was inappropriate.
He felt that the world was exhausted now and it was not appropriate to make too much noise about the draft, not to mention that there was already a queen and concubine in the palace.
If we refer to the rules of the first draft, it would be disrespectful to the queen and concubine, and the emperor already has heirs, so there is no need to be too urgent about the harem.
Therefore, he advocated a normal second selection, selecting one concubine and four talents. At the same time, the scope of the draft should only be limited to the Gyeonggi area and should not be extravagant.
But this is not a trivial matter after all. The memorial to the Ministry of Rites was written by Mr. Hu Hui himself. Therefore, Gao Cifeng went to find Wang Ao, the first assistant, to write the memorial together.
In the end, Mr. Wang didn't say yes or no, he only said to hold a cabinet meeting and everyone discussed it, and that's how the current cabinet meeting came about.
Not long after Yu Shiyue sat down, several more people came outside the door.
He took a quick look and found that one of them was Takatani Tsusuke, but the other two people were something he didn't expect.
Cheng Jing, the eunuch in charge of rituals, and Wang Wen, the heavenly official in the Ministry of Personnel.
Fortunately for Cheng Jing, the Director of Ceremonies had close contacts with the cabinet, so it was common for him to come over, but Wang Wen was a rare visitor.
The newly appointed Tianguan boss has never had a particularly good relationship with the cabinet.
As for the reason, it is because not only Wang Wen's people are rarely seen in the cabinet, but also his memorials are rarely seen.
This is about the current flow of government affairs in the imperial court.
According to normal procedures, there are three ways to send memorials to the emperor.
The most common and normal way is to send it to the Secretary of General Affairs first, and then the Secretary of General Affairs sends it to the cabinet. After the cabinet vote is drafted, it is sent to the Supervisor of Ceremonies, who then submits it to the Imperial Council for approval.
This is the way that more than 80% of the government affairs are handled by the imperial court today, but it is mainly concentrated on low-ranking officials below the third rank and daily local affairs.
Officials of third rank and above, as well as those with a high degree of authority and authority, normally operate this way.
But the difference between them and lower-level officials is that they have the right to participate in the morning dynasty.
Therefore, sometimes, for some reason, maybe they don't want to reveal their intentions in advance, or maybe they want to make a splash. In short, these officials sometimes start the performance directly in the morning.
The advantage of this method is that it is fast and can be sent directly to the emperor without any procedures. If there is no big controversy, the emperor can approve it on the spot.
There is also a third type, which is Zhizhu. As the name suggests, it means that the officials themselves are sent directly to the emperor without going through other departments or the morning court.
This method of memorialization has more restrictions and is generally used for military and state affairs or major court affairs.
Theoretically, only the Six Ministers and Seven Ministers are qualified to do this. In some special circumstances, some ministers will also choose to play directly, but it is rare.
These three forms are all formal reporting procedures, and the bosses will choose them as appropriate based on their authority and the urgency of the matter.
But in general, most of the bosses choose the first option. Although it is a bit slow, it is appropriate after all. Only a few times, when it involves some content that is inconvenient to submit to the General Affairs Department, they choose the latter two.
But this new Lord Tianguan was different. His elder's memorial was either sent directly to the palace or started in the morning, and then the emperor approved it directly.
Anyway, it is rarely submitted to the cabinet.
To a certain extent, this is ignoring the cabinet. Therefore, most ministers in the cabinet are not interested in this old man.
But after all, it was a heavenly official from the Ministry of Personnel who came to the cabinet. Everyone immediately stood up to greet him with a smile on his face.
After everyone sat down, Cheng Jing opened his mouth to explain.
"Today, Master Tianguan has something to report to His Majesty, but unfortunately, His Majesty went back to the harem to talk to the Queen Mother and couldn't get away for a while."
"We are thinking that it is not a good idea to ask Lord Tianguan to wait. There happens to be a cabinet meeting in the cabinet. We are thinking that if the results are announced here, we will have to report to His Majesty."
"So, I came to the cabinet with Master Tianguan. After this is over, our family will enter the palace together with the Chief Assistant and Master Tianguan."
The faces of a group of cabinet ministers were slightly unnatural.
The cabinet did not receive any memorandum from the Ministry of Personnel, which means that the old man from Tianguan is directly reporting this time.
The atmosphere was a little cold. After a while, Takatani Tsusuke took the initiative to ask.
"The reason why we are here today is to discuss the matter of the draft presented to the Ministry of Rites. I wonder why Master Tianguan came to the palace?"
Wang Wen glanced at the cabinet ministers present and had no good impression of them either.
The so-called draft is just a detailed description of the general situation and basic judgment of the memorial, so that it can be easily judged when presented to the emperor.
In Wang Wen's view, the greatest role of the ticket was to help the emperor solve the complicated but not particularly important matters submitted by the local government.
But these cabinet ministers sometimes stretch their hands a little too far.
Take the draft memorial in the Ministry of Rites as an example. This note was written by the eldest uncle Hu Xi himself after discussion by the officials of the Ministry of Rites.
This matter should be under the control of the Ministry of Rites, and the cabinet vote is to be submitted, but there is still some cabinet discussion.
If something is really inappropriate, it should naturally be brought to the court in the morning and discussed in the lower court, where civil and military officials can discuss it together.
But now the cabinet has to summon several cabinet ministers to discuss it together, so that after discussing with them, they can make the same decision.
This is why Wang Wen doesn't like to send memorials to the cabinet. In his opinion, all the cabinet can deal with are trivial matters involving local and low-level officials.
The real military and state affairs should be decided jointly by the emperor and the six ministries, and the cabinet can only be consulted at best.
But the cabinet made this cabinet meeting as if the six ministries were asking for instructions from the cabinet, which made Wang Wen very uncomfortable. Therefore, whenever the Ministry of Personnel responded to government affairs, he basically ignored the cabinet at all.
However, Takatani was the second assistant after all, so if asked in person, he would not answer.
So after thinking for a moment, Wang Wen said calmly.
"This year is the year of Beijing Chaos. The Ministry of Officials has drafted preliminary notes on Beijing Chaos. This matter is of great importance. I need to discuss it with the emperor."
Well, after saying this, the faces of a group of cabinet ministers became even more ugly.
The cabinet did not know anything about such a big matter in Beijing, and the boss was a little embarrassed about it.
The scene calmed down for a while, everyone had their own thoughts and stopped talking.
It wasn't until a moment later that a figure appeared outside the house again. The first assistant, Wang Ao, arrived late.
Wang Ao entered the room, and everyone stood up to greet him.
But the difference was that while other ministers stepped forward to greet them, Wang Wen and Cheng Jing stood there and bowed their hands.
After everyone had returned the greeting, Wang Ao saw two more people in the room. He quickly stepped forward and saluted Wang Wen and Cheng Jing.
Then, Cheng Jing explained what he just said.
"...My family and Mr. Tianguan are just here to watch the excitement. Mr. Chief Assistant does not need to pay attention to us. He can just preside over the cabinet meetings as usual."
So, Wang Ao bowed his hands again, and everyone took their seats.
Then, Takagu stood up and said.
"The memorial of the Ministry of Rites has been copied and shown to you yesterday. I will not go into details and directly state the conclusion. I believe that the Ministry of Rites' remarks are inappropriate. The imperial court will stop fighting. It should not be so extravagant."
"What's more, your Majesty is not a person who indulges in beauty. He already has a queen and a noble concubine in the palace, and your majesty also has children. At this time, such a large-scale draft is detrimental to your majesty's sanctity, so it is better to change it to the Gyeonggi area and conduct it on a small scale.
It’s your choice.”
After the words fell, Yu Shiyue shook his head, raised objections, and said.
"The reason for the election, as stated clearly in the memorial by the Ministry of Rites, is to make up for the lack of selection by His Majesty that year, and also to implement the harem regulations stipulated in His Majesty's Zhengdan Edict."
"What's more, the purpose of the draft is to enrich the harem and extend the imperial heirs. This is a big deal. Now the princes in the palace are young and weak, the Supreme Emperor is in the north, and His Majesty only has one prince under his knees, and he is also weak and sick. It is said that he just suffered a serious illness a few days ago.
"
"Even if it is for the sake of national stability, this draft cannot be taken lightly."
Gao Gu frowned and said nothing.
It should be said that what Yu Shiyue said makes sense.
Historically, the emperor's harem was not simply the emperor's family affairs, but national affairs.
If the harem is peaceful and the heirs are prosperous, the country will be stable. This is why the courtiers did not oppose the draft too fiercely.
The impeachment of a few censors was laughed off when it reached the top management.
Nowadays, it is not that there are no princes in the palace. Before the emperor went to the north, he left three heirs. Today, the emperor also has the eldest son.
But the problem is that these princes are too young.
Although the death rate of royal heirs in recent years is not high, it is not impossible. No one can guarantee that these little babies will grow up safely.
Therefore, if the emperor wants to draft a draft, not many people dare to object.
Although the position of the East Palace is still held by Zhu Jianshen, the son of the Supreme Emperor, the more so, the more sensitive this matter becomes.
No one with a little bit of political vision, or even a little bit of wink, would dare to impeach this matter randomly.
After all, even if your Majesty's current prince cannot inherit the throne in the future, after all, the lineage of the King of Yin still needs someone to pass it on.
If someone really dares to say in a big way that your Majesty's child will never inherit the throne in the future, it doesn't matter whether he has it or not. The emperor will immediately let him be imprisoned for the rest of his life.
Even if they questioned whether the emperor had evil intentions and plotted against the Eastern Palace, only people dared to discuss it privately, and no one dared to speak out.
After all, bloodline inheritance is the most important thing in the hearts of everyone in the world.
So when Yu Shiyue brought up this reason, it was really hard for Gao Gu to refute it.
Seeing Gao Gu's embarrassment, Jiang Yuan, who was recruited by him to join the cabinet, hesitated for a moment and spoke to help him out, saying.
"It's definitely not negligent, but the drafts all over the world are really too big. What's more, the four concubines are very important, second only to the queen, the imperial concubine and the noble concubine. They are the same as the prince's concubine. Unless it is a wedding ceremony, there will be no one who can be selected.
Select lightly."
"If you are worried that your harem will be empty and your heirs will wither, just choose more talented people."
This is also a way.
However, after pausing for a moment, Zhang Min hesitated and said.
"What Mr. Jiang Ge said is indeed reasonable, but the memorial from the Ministry of Rites has already stated that His Majesty will allocate money from the inner treasury for this draft. I think the great uncle and His Majesty have discussed the draft."
"What's more, His Majesty's Zhengdan edict stated the number of people to be elected at the wedding. Now there are not enough people in the palace. If we obstruct it, Your Majesty may be unhappy."
Everyone was silent for a moment. At this time, Wang Ao spoke.
"The difference between us is just that if the noise is too big, the world will talk about it. In this case, we might as well make concessions and choose positions. The number of people will remain the same, but the area will be reduced to the capital. What do you think?"
Yu Shiyue nodded: "Yes!"
Zhang Min and Yu Shiyue kept walking close to each other and had no objections. They nodded in the same way.
Gao Gu wanted to continue talking, but after looking at Wang Ao, he didn't speak.
Therefore, the entire cabinet has reached a consensus.
Wang Ao took out the memorial and wrote the proposal on the spot, and the cabinet meeting was considered over.
Everyone stood up and said goodbye, then returned to their own public rooms and continued to deal with government affairs.
At the same time, Wang Ao also stood up and raised his hands.
"Eunuch Cheng, Lord Tianguan, the matter here is over. How about we go to the palace together and report to Your Majesty?"
Cheng Jing smiled and nodded, but Wang Wen was a little lost in thought. It wasn't until Cheng Jing poked him secretly that he woke up from a dream, stood up and nodded.
So, the three people walked hand in hand towards the Wenhua Hall.
Talking about staying in the harem was originally an excuse for Wang Wen to attend the cabinet meeting. Zhu Qiyu had always stayed in the Wenhua Palace.
So these people arrived outside the palace, and after being informed by the chamberlain, they were summoned within a short time.
Wang Wen held an important position, so he should be the first to report. It just so happened that Wang Ao also wanted to hear about the arrangements for the Beijing inspection.
But what disappointed him was that Wang Wen stood there without saying a word, as if there was nothing wrong with him.
The emperor also looked past Wang Wen and asked him directly.
"The Chief Assistant is here, but the memorial from the Ministry of Rites has been drawn up?"
So Wang Ao had no choice but to nod his head and hand over the memorial.
Zhu Qiyu glanced at it briefly, and after a moment's thought, he picked up his ink pen and wrote the words "to be dealt with according to the cabinet vote" and passed it to Cheng Jing who was standing aside.
The original intention of holding the draft in each state capital was to give these clans something to do.
But now, the religious affairs are on the right track smoothly, and there is indeed no need to make such a fuss.
"This matter will be handled according to the instructions of the cabinet. The chief assistant is busy, so please step down."
After finishing the memorial, Zhu Qiyu sent Wang Ao away.
Wang Ao was also a discerning man. When he saw this, he knew that the emperor did not want him to stay longer, so he bowed and left.
After Wang Ao left the palace door, Zhu Qiyu turned his attention back to Wang Wen, who had been silent all this time, and asked.
"Sir, how did you feel after listening to a cabinet meeting?"
Hearing the emperor's question, Wang Wen looked a little complicated. After pondering for a moment, Fang sighed and spoke.
"Wang Ao is not simple. The future of the cabinet is limitless."
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