Chapter 372: Party Divisions in the Constitutional Court

After hearing Zhao Jun's words, many ministers in the audience looked short of breath and had different expressions.

Nowadays, due to tenure or crimes, the former chief officials of first-level institutions have changed drastically.

For example, the former Minister of Finance, Cheng Lin, was dismissed for committing a crime, and the current Minister of Finance is Xia Song.

After Han Ju, the former Minister of the Ministry of Industry, died of illness, he was replaced by Jia Changchao. However, Jia Changchao used to be the Minister of Education, so the Minister of Education was changed to Zhang Dexiang.

Zhang Dexiang was previously the Minister of War, but was replaced by Fu Bi, who was recommended by Fan Zhongyan. As well as the Criminal Court, which is now the Supervisory Yuan, Han Qi was appointed after it was promoted to the second rank.

The term of the previous censor Zhongcheng Zheng Jian also expired and he was transferred to Dali Temple as the Minister of Dali Temple. The new censor Zhongcheng is Yang Gao, Zhao Jun's younger brother in Huainan. He is old and obedient, so he is naturally a very suitable candidate.

There is also Bao Zheng, who is the governor of Kaifeng. Zhao Jun raised the rank of the governor of Kaifeng from the fourth grade to the second grade. After he also served as an alternate magistrate of the Constitutional Yuan, he suddenly became one of the most senior officials.

Therefore, there are still many new faces among the chief officials of these first-level institutions, and the political stage and political ecology have also changed drastically from what they were five years ago.

But there are still old faces.

Such as Zhang Dexiang, Li Ruogu, Ye Qingchen, Chen Zhizhong, Hu Su, Li Shen, Du Yan and others.

However, due to his tenure, he was transferred to other positions.

For example, Li Ruogu was previously the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, but now he was transferred to the post of the Minister of the Ministry of Hubu.

Ye Qingchen, the former Shangshu of the Ministry of Revenue, went to the Ministry of Taxation, Hu Su, the former Shangshu of the Ministry of Taxation, is now Shangshu of the Police Department, Du Yan, the former Shangshu of the Police Department, is now the Minister of Youjianyi, Chen Zhizhong, the former Shangshu of the Ministry of Official Affairs, etc. .

Today, there are as many as sixteen first-level institutions, but there are only seven prime ministers with the right to nominate, and one of them, Fan Zhongyan, is still in Hebei. This means that only six prime ministers actually have the right to nominate.

With such fierce competition, the expressions of the people below are naturally different.

Cai Qi and Song Shou looked at each other during the court. They were also old rivals, but they had helpless expressions in their eyes.

Especially Cai Qi. Although Song Shou no longer has the right to nominate Lu Dang, there is still Jia Changchao. As for their royal party, Wang Zeng died of illness and he lost the right to nominate him. I am afraid that when his next term ends, the royal party will completely withdraw from the stage of history.

However, Cai Qi was not discouraged and looked at Jiang Tang. Although Jiang Tang is a centrist, he was originally promoted by the royal party after compromise. Yesterday, he talked to Jiang Tang privately, hoping that he could help recommend members of the royal party.

Jiang Tang was just non-committal at the time, but now he hopes he can help.

Silence fell in Chui Gong Hall.

After a while, Li Di was the first to speak up: "The person I want to recommend is Xia Song, the Minister of Finance. Xia Song is conscientious and hardworking. He has been in the important position of the Ministry of Finance for many years without any mistakes. The last time the wealthy gentry of Jiangsu and Zhejiang gathered together to cause trouble, it was also because of him. He pacified.”

Xia Song's originally worried heart finally relaxed.

Jiang Tang said: "I recommend Zheng Jian, the Minister of Dali Temple. Zheng Jian is fair and just. Even if the matter involves the prime minister's son, he is not afraid at all. The court needs such an upright minister."

Cai Qi breathed a sigh of relief.

Jia Changchao said: "I recommend Zhang Dexiang, Minister of Education. Since the launch of New Learning Education in Song Dynasty, more than 100 new schools have been built and more than 2,000 new teachers have been trained. This is all inseparable from the Ministry of Education. Hard work.”

Below, Chen Zhizhong, Zhang Dexiang and others looked calm. This was the result of their deliberations among members of the Lu Party.

The main reason is to recommend Zhang Dexiang to be more confident.

Since the Jingyou period, the imperial court has opened the first new school in Bianliang to promote mathematics, physics and chemistry education and train many students.

But it was not until the Qingli Year that new schools began to be built one after another.

It’s not that the Song Dynasty couldn’t afford to build it, but that it lacked teachers.

The current financial situation of the Song Dynasty is very healthy, Zhao Jun's five-way trade plan is also going smoothly, and the domestic business and agricultural environment is generally stable, so there is a lot of money left.

But cultivating talents requires more than just having money. As the saying goes, it takes ten years to cultivate trees and a hundred years to cultivate people. Education is a century-old project and cannot be completed in just ten years.

Therefore, in the past ten years, we have only been building a foundation, focusing on cultivating mathematics, physics and chemistry professionals and training teachers.

Nowadays, the new teachers of the Song Dynasty are often practitioners who failed to pass the imperial examination, but even so, the salary is very high, and they are all civil servants, that is, civil servants.

If you teach well and have excellent grades, you will be recommended to take the civil service examination. The difficulty of the civil service examination is much lower than that of the imperial examination. It is also possible to enter an official career.

Therefore, as the competition in the imperial examination becomes increasingly fierce, becoming a teacher and then finding ways to obtain qualifications for the civil service examination can be regarded as an important career path.

The Ministry of Education has done well in these years. Although Zhang Dexiang is a member of the Lu Party, and Jia Changchao recommended him naturally because he was planning for the Lu Party, he cannot deny the achievements he has made in the Ministry of Education in these years.

Chen Zhizhong's political achievements were worse. He was the boss of Jiantai before. As a knife in Lu Yijian's hand to eliminate dissidents, he offended many people. After being recommended, there was no guarantee that other prime ministers would not vote for him, so To be on the safe side, I still recommend Zhang Dexiang to go up.

After that, Yan Shu recommended Du Yan. Du Yan was an upright man and a supporter of the Qingli New Deal in history. He was neither a Lu party nor a royal party. He had a good relationship with Yan Shu, so it was logical to recommend him.

When it was Zhang Shixun's turn, he was a bit embarrassed. To be honest, Zhang Shixun and Li Di both belonged to the previous generation of prime ministers, and they were older than Lu Yijian. His only advantage was that he lived a long time. He had already become an official, but he was forced to give it to his old friend Sheng Du. Pulled back.

Although there are some of his disciples and disciples in the government and the public, none of them have reached high positions.

There was no one from him among the chief officials of the first-level agency. After several days of consideration, he finally recommended Li Ruogu, the former Minister of the Ministry of Personnel and the current Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs.

Li Ruogu is also an old man. He has always been a generous person. Historical records record that he "has a good temperament and is always generous. He governs the people wisely and loves people." He is a man with good political experience and moral integrity. excellent officials.

However, Zhang Shixun is naturally not doing charity. Since Li Ruogu has been the Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs for five years, he has promoted many talented officials and has won the love of the Ministry of Civil Affairs. This time he has shown goodwill to the other party. In the future, his descendants and disciples will need to be treated. When it comes to promotion, there is always a helping hand.

Soon the four prime ministers all recommended candidates. Except for Han Qi, the Supervisory Yuan Magistrate, the rest of the people present who were not recommended looked disappointed, but in the end they looked at Zhao Jun.

Zhao Jun is the last recommendation.

I saw that after everyone gave their recommendations, he slowly said: "I recommend Li Zhen, the Minister of Industry and Commerce. Mr. Li has been the Minister of Industry and Commerce for ten years. According to the term of office, he should have been transferred five years ago. , but the minister insisted on letting him stay in the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, because the commercial development of the Song Dynasty has been inseparable from him in these years, and now it is time to enter the government to strengthen the Song Dynasty. "

Li Shen below was stunned. He was not Zhao Jun's confidant, but he had discussed business development with Zhao Jun before. He still quite supported his business ideas, and Zhao Jun had saved his life. Therefore, he had great influence on the policies of the government and the opposition. They are inclined to Zhao Jun's governing policy, but they can only be regarded as political allies.

In terms of closeness, Yang Gao is Zhao Jun's close disciple, and Bao Zheng has always been the person Zhao Jun admires the most. He often praises Bao Zheng on many occasions. Many people thought that Zhao Jun would definitely promote Yang Gao or Bao Zheng because of his character of excluding dissidents and liking to promote his own power. However, they did not expect that the person recommended would be Li Shen, which was really surprising.

"Well, all the gentlemen have already recommended a candidate. This will be the case for today's morning meeting. The person who has been recommended will stay, and I will discuss it with all the gentlemen before making a decision."

Zhao Zhen said.

"Retreat!"

Wang Shouzhong shouted in a sharp voice.

Six people with different faces, Xia Song, Zhang Dexiang, Zheng Jian, Du Yan, Li Ruogu and Li Shen, were left behind, while the rest of the officials retreated.

Zhao Zhen and others went to the back hall of Chui Gong Hall to discuss matters. Entering the Constitutional Yuan was a major event. It not only depended on the voting opinions of the prime ministers, but also the nod of the emperor Zhao Zhen. Different factions also needed to be balanced, which obviously also required serious discussion.

At three quarters in the morning, that is, at eight o'clock in the morning, everyone gathered and sat down in the back hall of Chui Gong Hall.

Zhao Zhen sat on the main seat, looked around and said, "What do you think of these six recommended candidates?"

"I feel that Li Shen and Zheng Jian are not suitable for each other. I am not saying that they lack ability, but that they have a more upright character. If they enter the Constitutional Yuan, it is easy to create an unstable situation."

Song Shou was the first to speak.

Zhao Jun glanced at the other party. He knew that Song Shou was not actually attacking him. In fact, since Lu Yijian and Wang Zeng resigned, no one dared to challenge his authority in the Constitutional Yuan.

From the beginning to the end, there was only one person in Zhao Jun's party, and that was Xia Song. Yang Gao was not recommended because Yang Gaocai was appointed as the censor Zhongcheng, and it was impossible for him to be quickly promoted to the Constitutional Yuan.

And when Zhao Dang has two votes, it would be a good choice to do a favor and recommend Li Shen, who has always supported him.

Song Shou, the number two figure in the Lu Party, naturally knows this, so he will attack Xia Song, Du Yan, and Li Ruogu.

Because Xia Song belonged to Zhao Jun's party, and Du Yan and Li Ruogu were both recommended by neutrals, attacking them would offend Yan Shu and Zhang Shixun and push them into political rivals.

Therefore, if Li Shen and Zheng Jian are defeated in the primary election, the probability of Zhang Dexiang being selected will increase a lot, not to mention that the fundamental purpose of doing so is actually to attack the royal party.

Cai Qi said seriously: "In the official family, I feel that Li Shen and Zhang Dexiang are not suitable. Zhang Dexiang has indeed made a lot of achievements in these years. However, Zheng Jian was in Yushitai before, and now he is in Dali Temple. Dali Temple As the Supreme Court, it should be the defender of the legal order. Only by raising the level can we enforce the law fairly and enforce strict discipline."

Good guys, these two are giving themselves eye drops, right?

Zhao Jun's eyelids were twitching wildly.

Although he really just wanted to bring Xia Song in, Li Zhen was recommended by himself after all, so these two people really didn't give him face.

Thinking of this, Zhao Jun shook his head and said: "Brother, I think Zhang Dexiang and Zheng Jie are not suitable."

Cai Qi and Song Shou were stunned for a moment, then looked at Zhao Jun.

What does it mean?

Zhao Jun wants to destroy the balance.

I have always thought that the four major forces in the Constitutional Yuan are Zhao Jun, one faction each, Lu Dang and Wang Dang, followed by the neutral faction.

The main members of the Zhao party are Zhao Jun and Li Di.

The Lu party includes Lu Yijian, Song Shou and Jia Changchao.

The royal party includes Wang Zeng and Cai Qi.

The rest, Yan Shu, Fan Zhongyan, Zhang Shixun, Jiang Tang and others, belong to the neutral faction.

Although Yan Shu's political leanings were slightly closer to Lu Yijian, and Fan Zhongyan was more supportive of Wang Zeng, he still generally maintained a neutral attitude.

If according to Zhao Jun's current intention, neither Zhang Dexiang nor Zheng Jian will be admitted to the hospital, then three of them, Xia Song, Li Ruogu, Li Shen and Du Yan, will be admitted to the hospital.

Even if Li Ruogu, who is the most difficult to enter the hospital among the three, is eliminated, the Zhao party will have one more person when the Lu party and the royal party lack the backbone. Although Li Shen seems to be a neutral faction, he is definitely leaning towards Zhao Jun. Then isn't Zhao Jun the only one in the political system?

Doing so is obviously taboo in politics.

Even if he had always been the dominant one before, he couldn't worry about everything. There were still divisions among various departments. How could Zhao Jun hold such power?

"I feel it is inappropriate."

"I also feel it is inappropriate."

"I think we still need to discuss it."

Cai Qi and Song Shou quickly expressed their opposition.

Jia Changchao also thought it was impossible.

Zhao Zhen looked at Zhao Jun in embarrassment and said, "Grandson."

"Then let's eliminate Zhang Dexiang first."

Zhao Jun looked around at the crowd and said, "I heard that although the construction of new schools is in full swing, moral education has not kept up. Violence has occurred in many schools across the country. This is the dereliction of duty of the Ministry of Education."

"Students are the pillars of the future and the backbone of the country. While they are improving academically, they must also ensure their mental health. Let Zhang Dexiang solve all educational problems in the next five years, and they cannot be missing. ”

As he spoke, he added: "I suggest that in conjunction with the police department, every school should install a duty box in the future. Anyone who dares to participate in violence must be dealt with seriously and will not be tolerated. If there are people from the education department and the police department covering up Those people, Yushitai and the Imperial City Department must investigate thoroughly!"

“Is it more expensive to do this?”

Yan Shu asked.

"No, we don't have many schools now and we can't spend a lot of money. When more and more schools are built in the future and the cost increases, our national power will already dominate the entire world, so there is no need to worry at all."

Zhao Jun said.

"Well, so be it."

Zhao Zhen agreed.

This made Song Shou and Jia Changchao look a little ugly.

They suspected that Zhao Jun was retaliating.

Back then, Lu Yijian often set things off for Zhao Jun and played tricks.

Maybe now is the time for him to liquidate Lu Dang.

It seems that the rumors that the outside world knows that the academy is petty and will not end well if it offends him are indeed true.

From now on, the Lu party will only have Song Shou and Jia Changchao, and it will be difficult to support them alone.

"Then let's continue discussing."

Zhao Jun said: "Xia Song is not a clique and does not seek selfish interests. He has outstanding abilities. I think he is qualified for the job."

"I have no objection to this."

"Xia Song can indeed do it."

"Then Xia Song decides on one first."

No one had any objections.

"Where's Li Zhen?"

Zhao Jun asked again.

"The Ministry of Industry and Commerce cannot do without Li Shen, so we should discuss this first."

someone said.

"Then we'll discuss it later."

Zhao Jun pondered.

"Zheng Jian has always had trouble in his eyes. The country needs such people to uphold justice."

Song Shou suggested.

"Du Yan is an upright man, I think it's okay."

Yan Shu said.

"Li Ruogu is a decent man with integrity and should be admitted to the hospital."

Zhang Shixun said.

"The last two places will be decided between Li Shen and Zheng Jian, Du Yan and Li Ruogu."

Zhao Jun said: "My suggestion is to vote. Those who vote for Li Shen can raise their hands."

Li Shen was mentioned by Zhao Jun, but he was actually a neutralist.

Du Yan and Li Ruogu are also neutral factions.

And Zheng Jian is a member of the royal party.

So after Zhang Dexiang of Lu Party was eliminated first, it was actually a matter of choosing one among three neutral factions and one royal faction.

After Zhao Jun finished speaking, Song Shou and Jia Changchao from Lu Party were the first to raise their hands.

They just said that Li Zhen was not suitable.

But now that Li Shen is fighting against Zheng Jian from the royal party, he must support Li Shen. Otherwise, if another member of the royal party comes in, wouldn't it be two against two?

However, what they didn't expect was that except for the two of them, no one raised their hands.

Even the recommender Zhao Jun had his hands folded across his chest, looking like he was watching a good show.

This made Song Shou and Jia Changchao's hearts sink.

really.

Zhao Jun wanted Zheng Jian to come in and check and balance Lu Dang.

At the beginning, Lu Yijian designed to take down Song Xiang, leaving the royal party without a successor. As a result, there were always three people from the Lu party in the previous Constitutional Yuan, suppressing the royal party.

Now I am afraid that Zhao Jun wants to let one of the royal party come in, so that they can be two against two in the Constitutional Yuan.

Now that the Zhao Party has Li Di and Xia Song, it can completely suppress other parties and become the unique boss of the Constitutional Yuan.

Zhao Zhen rolled his eyes. Strictly speaking, this was not a good thing for him, but Zhao Jun was already the eldest, and having one more younger brother and one less younger brother made no difference, so in the end he didn't offer any other opinions.

"Then Mr. Li has two votes."

Zhao Jun said: "The next step is to vote for Zheng Jian's hand."

Cai Qi was the first to raise his hand.

Jiang Tang didn't give it.

His ability to help the King's Party nominate him was already a favor to the King's Party. Since he was not a member of the King's Party, it was naturally impossible for him to continue to help.

So now Zheng Jian actually only has one vote.

Then Li Di looked at Zhao Jun. He raised his hand after looking at Zhao Jun's movements, so he didn't raise his hand just now.

However, what surprised him was that Zheng Jian and Zhao Jun did not vote for him this time.

What a surprise.

But not long after, Zhang Shixun raised his hand, obviously there was no deal behind it.

"Two against two."

Zhao Jun looked at Zhao Zhen and said, "If there is a tie, please let the officials make a decision."

Zhao Zhen pondered and then said: "Then let's go to Zheng Jian."

Song Shou and Jia Chang looked ashen to each other.

Cai Qi breathed a sigh of relief.

"Next, Li Ruogu and Du Yan raise their hands."

Zhao Jun said.

He still didn't raise his hand.

Having achieved his political goal, he didn't bother to care about the struggles of other prime ministers. It had nothing to do with him anyway.

Zhang Shixun and Cai Qi raised their hands.

"If you vote for Du Yan, please raise your hands."

Zhao Jun still didn't raise his hand, but Yan Shu, Song Shou and Jia Changchao raised their hands.

Although Yan Shu is a neutral, his position is slightly biased towards Lu Dang. Song Shou and Jia Changchao probably sold favors to him this time, hoping that he can speak more for Lu Dang in the future.

"Okay, let's take Xia Song, Zheng Jian and Du Yan."

Zhao Zhen said with finality.

Then he shouted: "Wang Shouzhong!"

"Official family."

Wang Shouzhong opened the door and came in.

"Xuan Xia Song, Zheng Jian and Du Yan!"

"yes."

Wang Shouzhong went to the front hall to call them.

Everyone sat upright.

Because once a new person is admitted to the hospital, it’s time to learn the rules.

And this rule is to reveal Zhao Jun's identity.