Chapter Three Hundred and Fortieth Chancellor's Candidates
Surrounded by the ministers, Liu Che came to Xuanshi Hall.
First, Chao Cuo, the imperial censor, read out the edict given by the emperor to Liu Che. The main message was that I occasionally felt cold and felt a little unwell. Therefore, today's expulsion ceremony will be presided over by the prince's representative.
After the initial surprise, the officials quickly accepted this statement and knelt down one after another and said: "I respectfully obey the imperial edict!"
Then, he knelt down to Liu Che very skillfully and worshiped: "Your Majesty, my sincere greetings!"
The whole process went smoothly, as if it had been practiced countless times.
In fact, it has been practiced countless times.
In the last two years of the late emperor's reign, in fact, the hosting of most of the non-important court meetings and rituals was already taken over by the then prince and now the emperor.
Among the ministers, only Prime Minister Zhang Ou was full of bitterness.
Although he stood at the head of the ministers, Zhang Ou felt like he was sitting on pins and needles.
The reason...
Of course...
The person who read out the emperor's edict was actually Chao Cuo...
Although it is said that as the sub-prime minister, the imperial censor is indeed qualified to read the emperor's edicts.
But those are usually special circumstances or the prime minister is vacant.
Now, he, the prime minister, is still standing here, but the person who reads the emperor's edict to the ministers has become the imperial censor.
This is undoubtedly a very obvious signal. Usually, in the Han Dynasty, such special circumstances almost always mean the same thing: the emperor is dissatisfied with the prime minister.
At this time, most prime ministers would take the initiative to resign, so as not to offend the emperor and hurt their own self-esteem.
For example, during the reign of the late Emperor, Zhang Cang, the Marquis of Beiping, resigned from office in this way. (Note)
But after Zhang Ou thought about it seriously, he could not make up his mind to resign.
As a result, Zhang Ou became a little thicker-skinned than his previous prime ministers.
Secondly, Zhang Ou felt that this was probably the prince's intention, not the emperor's.
After all, everyone knows who saved Chao Cuo’s head!
Furthermore, the prime minister received a salary of 10,000 dan, a gold seal and a purple ribbon. Not to mention other things, this treatment and status were even higher than those of ordinary princes and kings.
Therefore, as long as he can continue to sit in the position of prime minister, Zhang Ou will continue to stay.
This kind of mentality was actually revealed as early as when he was a court captain.
At that time, some people thought that Zhang Tingwei was the most incompetent Tingwei in the history of the Han Dynasty.
As long as he could evade the cases reported by his subordinates, he would definitely evade them.
However, if it had to be handled by himself, he would try his best to find all kinds of reasons and excuses to delay. If he couldn't delay it any longer, he would shed tears and sign and seal the document.
Although this is a memorial for himself, does it reflect his lack of responsibility and his unwillingness to take any responsibility?
To be honest, Zhang Ou is also lucky.
When he was a Tingwei, his predecessor was Zhang Shizhi, a famous minister of the generation, and the quality of officials in the entire Tingwei Yamen was at a historical peak.
When he became the Prime Minister, the subordinate officials and ministers in the Prime Minister's Office were all capable ministers that Zhang Cang and Shen Tujia had trained consistently for decades.
Under such circumstances, it is no exaggeration to say that anyone else would probably be able to do the job.
Liu Che is naturally aware of these situations.
He remembered very clearly that in the previous life, the prime ministers after Shen Tujia, whether Tao Qing or Liu She, were all submissive guys. Apart from being a marionette for several years, they did not achieve anything.
However, the administrative system of the Han Dynasty was still functioning normally, and the country was prosperous.
These are all the abilities of grassroots officials, so it doesn't matter who the prime minister is.
When it developed into the Xiaozhu Dynasty, it even played the tricks of the outer dynasty and the middle dynasty. The prime minister completely became a clay Buddha and was excluded from the center of power.
However, now, without Xiaozhu's restructuring, the Prime Minister's power is still frighteningly great.
Among other things, the prime minister could decide many trivial matters that the emperor was too lazy to deal with, and he could also appoint and remove officials.
For example, Zhang Cang, the Marquis of Peking, was kicked out after he resigned. Many of the officials he promoted and recommended were problem officials who enriched their own pockets and took advantage of others.
It was this incident that dealt Zhang Cang a fatal blow and caused his political influence to quickly fade.
He didn't even have the nerve to stay in Chang'an, so he had to go back to Peking.
Therefore, Liu Che had already decided to change his mind.
Deliberately asking Chao Cuo to read the edict was the first step, and it was the step to show it to others.
The meaning is obvious, it is to tell everyone that something is wrong with the Prime Minister, the royal family no longer trusts the Prime Minister, and the Chehous who are interested in attacking the Prime Minister's position can take action!
When this signal was released, Liu Che could guess with his buttocks that those ambitious princes and ministers who wanted to be the prime minister would definitely get excited.
Never mind whether they can become prime minister in the end.
At the very least, this kind of opportunity to show up and show yourself in front of Tianjia is rare!
You must know that in the Han Dynasty, the selection of the prime minister was determined by two methods.
The first is that the emperor makes his own choice, but such a situation rarely occurs, because the Liu family is famous for being a bitch and building a memorial arch, and generally does not make such a choice.
Second, it was recommended by the ministers.
For example, the former Prime Minister Shen Tujia and the current Zhang Ou are all models produced under this model. Of course, the actual situation is similar to the emperor's own choice.
If the emperor does not express his position, how can the ministers below dare to recommend a candidate for prime minister who does not agree with the emperor?
Isn't that a naked slap in the face?
Therefore, under this model, if you want to be the prime minister, you must first be the Marquis of Che, and secondly, you must be known and recognized by the emperor.
There are two or three hundred Chehous in the Han family. The emperor is not a superman, so how can he remember every one of them?
Therefore, it is very necessary to show your face appropriately and increase your sense of presence.
Otherwise, why did Peking Marquis Zhang Cang send his son to Chang'an not long ago?
For things like donating books, wouldn't it be enough to send a grandchild or a young son who is young and strong?
In the final analysis, this is also a way to increase the sense of existence and avoid being forgotten and forgotten by the emperor.
Therefore, in the history of the Han Dynasty, every time the prime minister was demoted or elected, almost all the people including Chehou Gongqing and the ministers participated in it, just like a festival. The formation almost made people who didn't understand think that the Liu family was practicing the Greek aristocratic elders.
Made of pearls!
But in fact, all this is just a group of nobles who are not afraid of big things and join in the fun to increase their presence so as not to be forgotten by the emperor.
Of course, there are also those who really want to challenge the position of prime minister.
Therefore, every time when a prime minister faces a crisis of trust in the royal family, all kinds of monsters will jump out.
only……
Liu Che knew very well that if the phase change was really successful this time.
In fact, there are only two candidates for prime minister.
One is his father's good bastard, his loyal lackey, and his love interest Liu She.
Liu She didn't catch the Prime Minister last time. This time, if he doesn't let him have the pleasure of the Prime Minister, the emperor will probably feel embarrassed.
The second one is Taiwei Zhou Yafu.
Zhou Yafu made great achievements in quelling the rebellion of Wu and Chu. According to the system, he can be worshiped as prime minister.
Specifically who will win.
Liu Che was not sure at this time either.
But Liu Che himself was leaning towards Zhou Yafu.
After all, the current situation is quite strange, and Zhou Yafu as prime minister is the best choice, bar none!
With this in mind, Liu Che, led by the officials of Taichang Temple, climbed onto the dragon throne that was originally reserved for the emperor's father, and then sat by the steps under the dragon throne.
The expulsion ceremony has begun! (To be continued...)
