Chapter 45： form a cabinet

In the court hall the next day, those officials who usually had eyes and ears knew that the new favorite of the empress had been promoted.

Although the rank of Zhongshu Sheren is not high, but he belongs to the emperor's close minister, with a bright future, and it is also a position that many people covet.

No, at the beginning of the court, Zhou Huaijin put on a newly customized dark green official robe, embroidered with a white pheasant symbolizing the welcome of the new year, a whitebait bag around his waist, and black gauze on his head. Zhihu walked on the royal road of the Xuanzheng Palace, looking even more majestic than the prime minister in the highest dark purple official robe.

Liang Jing was annoyed: "Hey, what kind of merit did Mr. Zhou do to coax Her Majesty the Empress so well?"

He was promoted and rewarded, those who didn't know thought Zhou Huaijin was the prime minister!

If you are capable, don't rely on a woman to be in charge, you rogue little boy!

Zhou Huaijin was not annoyed, and said after bowing his hands to Liang Jing openly, "Prime Minister Liang, to tell you the truth, I don't know what I did to please His Majesty. I was sitting at home yesterday, and suddenly my Majesty I was ordered to throw me into the Hanlin Academy, and I was given a pile of gold, silver and jewels. I didn't even prepare for it. You said that this matter is troublesome..."

Liang Jing: "?"

Yang Dejin, who stood in front of him and listened with pricked ears: ...

I owe you a lot.

Why did Zhou Huaijin work in the Dasheng Daming Palace, why not go to the Palace of Versailles in France?

Is it because you don't want to?

Zhou Huaijin's face with facial features was full of sorrow, and his tone was so sincere and candid. After speaking, he sighed heavily, as if he was really distressed.

If he hadn't straightened his chest to death.

Liang Jing had a big belly, his cloudy eyes were wide open, his mustache was on his slightly parted lips, and he couldn't find anything to say.

He's the only one, His Majesty has wronged you by rewarding you, right? ! Almost done! !

As the head of civil servants, Liang Jing had a high position and authority, so it was impossible for him to say vulgar words in the Golden Palace. He was choked heavily, and wanted to say something, but he heard the shrill voice of the eunuch:

"The hour of Mao is coming, and all the officials are silent."

As soon as the eunuch's voice fell, the voice of the servant of the Huangmen sounded again:

"The Emperor is here—"

"The Empress is here—"

Li Zichou went up the stairs with a dark golden dragon robe, followed by Bai Qingyang.

Bai Qingyang wore a chest-length skirt. On the maple-colored gauze as thin as a cicada's wings, the phoenix, the head of a hundred birds, fluttered. Her gait was light and swaying.

They passed side by side the group of ministers lined up, walked up the white marble steps carved with patterns of mountains, rivers, clouds and dragons, and then walked to the dragon chair and the phoenix seat behind the bead curtain respectively.

As graceful as a frightened bird, as graceful as a dragon swimming. As bright as spring flowers, as beautiful as autumn moon.

There are two beautiful people, as graceful as Qingyang.

Yang Dejin watched from the side, almost blinded by the light emitted by the two of them, and even bowed to the officials and shouted long live three times, it was half a beat too late.

After Li Zishou made him calm, he immediately went to work.

After all the officials below had nothing to report, she and Zhou Huaijin exchanged glances, ready to get into today's topic.

"I want to form a cabinet." Li Zichou said abruptly.

All the officials were surprised and whispered.

Liang Jing came out to ask questions: "The ministers are dull, and they don't know what the cabinet is about?"

"The prime minister knows all about the past and the present, but he doesn't even know this? Zhou Aiqing, come and clear up Prime Minister Liang's confusion."

Zhou Huaijin responded, "Observe the order."

Liang Jing: "..."

He could see that the cabinet was created by this little white face blowing the pillow beside the queen. This **** must have said bad things about himself in front of the queen.

He suspected that Zhou Huaijin took his notebook to wipe the water stains, otherwise why would the notebook he took down be so wrinkled? !

Where is the law of heaven? Where is Wang Fa? Where is the propriety, righteousness and shame? !

Liang Jing was deflated, and Yang Dejin was so happy that he didn't even have time to listen carefully to Zhou Huaijin's eloquent speech.

Bai Qingyang listened attentively.

It has been more than 300 years since the founding of Dasheng, and even the old dynasty has never formed a cabinet.

Listening to Zhou Huaijin's explanation, the nature, function and positioning of the cabinet are similar to those of the Hanlin Academy, except that the former is more simplified and professional.

This shows that Li Zishou wanted to train her own confidant ministers.

Bai Qingyang was a person who was in that position, she would naturally understand, but would the officials of the DPRK and China allow this system to be implemented so easily?

What will she do if the courtiers stop her?

"Master Zhou, please take care of me." After Zhou Huaijin finished speaking, Su Cheng Zhihu, a scholar of Wenyuan Pavilion, paid tribute to him.

Then the hale and hearty old man bowed to the high position: "I wonder if Your Majesty has any candidates for cabinet ministers?"

"Of course." Li Zichou nodded and said, "I said before that the selection of cabinet ministers does not stick to one pattern, and only those who are capable will be selected."

"So, the candidate I like will definitely open the eyes of some lovers."

Liang Jing: "?"

What's going on, why did he feel that the empress was looking at him when she said this?

"The cabinet system was proposed by Zhongshu Sheren, and Zhou Huaijin should be the chief assistant." Li Zichou said.

Liang Jing thought to himself, it really is that little boy!

"As for the cabinet ministers—Zha Chong of Yushitai, Xie Zhi of the Ministry of Justice, Su Cheng of the University of Wenyuan Pavilion, Li Cai of the household department, Xiao Xian of the number one scholar, and Meng Shike of the second place..."

Seeing that the queen's words became more and more outrageous, the officials below began to discuss in low voices again.

They have no objection including a few highly respected bachelors, and they can understand including a few low-level civil servants with outstanding abilities. What happened to the few fresh candidates who followed? !

As Bai Qingyang expected, after Li Zichou finished reading the names of these people, some people couldn't hold back their words.

The reason used was far-fetched, and it was nothing more than fear that the empress would be divorced from them, which would affect their interests.

The few people who were selected as cabinet ministers looked at each other in blank dismay, flattered, for some reason, the Empress suddenly discovered herself.

These people are all people recorded by Bai Qingyang on the list, and a large part of them Yang Dejin also mentioned, Li Zichou carefully selected from them, and formed the cabinet according to the principle of keeping the staff simple, which was enough for a group of people.

Liang Jing: "Your Majesty, good and bad are mixed among these people. I'm afraid it will be difficult for you to be a cabinet minister. Think twice, Your Majesty!" After finishing speaking, he wanted to kneel down again.

Liang Jing's words more or less displeased some people, but people are not easy to refute a prime minister. He followed several of his doglegs here and there, and wanted to score twice, so he knelt down.

Bai Qingyang knew it.

"No way! Prime Minister Liang misunderstood!" Li Zichou got up slightly and hurriedly shouted.

Liang Jing raised his eyebrows, thinking that the Empress was considerate of her loyalty and was willing to let this matter go, so she couldn't help but look forward with hope.

Li Zichou couldn't bear to see the light in his eyes, but she still spoke mercilessly.

"For the cabinet matter, I don't have to ask for the consent of all my lovers..." Li Zishou leaned back on the cushion again, "I just want to inform you."

Liang Jing:?

Liang Jing's dogleg: ...

Lovers:...

Zhou Huaijin gave a thumbs up quietly: You are so stubborn, Your Majesty is this.

Prospective cabinet ministers: What kind of response should I make?

Bai Qingyang: ...What a hard-line approach.

Yang Dejin: Niu.

Li Zichou seemed to want to ease the atmosphere, so he said: "Zhou Aiqing said that the members of the cabinet are not static. If you have real talents and scholars, you can recommend yourself. If Liang Xiang is interested in someone, you can also put in...cough recommend it. .”

If you dare to put eyeliner in the cabinet, I will let Zhou Huaijin take the lead in bullying you.

Liang Jing: ...Why do I think she did it on purpose.

All the courtiers: I probably slipped my mouth...

Bai Qingyang: She did it on purpose.

Zhou Huaijin: Definitely on purpose.

Yang Dejin: It was on purpose.

Li Zichou has done a lot of homework for today's matter, and her idea of ​​forming a cabinet is firm. At this moment, there were some voices of opposition, and Zhou Huaijin rejected them one by one. It was indeed as he promised, and it didn't take much effort to settle it.

Officials designated as cabinet ministers were rewarded with red jade pendants with unicorn patterns, entered the cabinet, and entered the Liangyi Hall, and were granted the right to enter and leave the palace freely.

The cabinet organization was successfully formed, Li Zifu gave Zhou Huaijin a wink, and asked him to hold back Liang Jing who was still wanting to say something, and pulled Bai Qingyang to go down quickly.

//

Chengtian Gate.

"Thank you servant, congratulations."

After the court was over, Xie Zhi heard someone talking to her, she looked sideways and saw the captain of Chengmen with a sword on his waist.

"Lieutenant Ji." Xie Zhi responded lightly.

Ji Zhuilu didn't seem to notice her indifference, and kept a step away from her, and followed her step by step: "Xie Shilang is one of the first batch of cabinet ministers appointed by Her Majesty, so he must be very important to her, right?"

Xie Zhi stopped when she heard the words, she knew that Ji Zhuilu would not simply come to congratulate her, she turned her head and said coldly: "If you have anything to say, Captain Ji, please speak up."

Faced with no fluctuations in the compliments, Ji Zhuilu also put away the unnecessary words, with no expression on his face: "Xie Shilang, you should know that you are the prince's man."

Xie Zhi looked at him, and there was an inexplicable low air pressure hovering around them.

I understand, I came to warn myself, Xie Zhi thought to himself.

I had a lot of contact with Prince Yu, and now that I was promoted by the Queen, the people sent by the Prince would naturally be anxious.

It's just that she didn't expect that this seemingly gentle ally of the prince would personally come to warn her.

"I'm from the Dasheng court." Xie Zhi didn't admit it directly.

"My lord treats you well, if you dare to betray him..." Ji Zhuilu said slowly, subconsciously put his left hand on the saber.

Seeing his hostility towards him, Xie Zhi suddenly felt upset.

"Don't worry, Lieutenant Ji, I won't be that treacherous person." Xie Zhi didn't even bother to look him in the eye.

Which onion is Ji Zhuilu? What position does he have to accuse himself of betraying Yang Dejin?

She didn't know why, when Ji Zhuilu questioned her loyalty, she would feel so sensitive and unhappy, which was obviously not the case before.

"If you let me know that Xie Shilang eats at both ends, no matter how much the prince protects you, I will never allow you to stay by the prince's side."

After hearing this, Xie Zhi felt irritable and depressed.

Ji Zhuilu said this as if he was Yang Dejin's confidant.

It is obvious that Yang Dejin is close to her, how dare he threaten and warn him? !

Xie Zhi revealed annoyance between her brows, and all the good impressions of Ji Zhuilu in her heart disappeared, she only felt that he was arrogant and disgusting.

She was about to raise her voice to retort, when a clear voice came from behind, and the person who came was the center of the conversation between the two parties—Yang Dejin.

"Thank you sir?"

Ji Zhuilu didn't expect Prince Yu to see himself confronting Xie Zhi, and he didn't know what to do for a while, so he could only cross his hands and salute her awkwardly.

Xie Zhi looked at Yang Dejin before he could get rid of his bored expression.

Yang Dejin also waited outside Chengtian Gate for a long time, seeing that Xie Zhi hadn't come out, she went back to search for her, but saw her talking to Ji Zhuilu inside the palace gate.

Ji Zhuilu didn't know what he said to her, and Yang Dejin felt it was not easy to make Xie Zhi, a humanoid iceberg, show such an expression.

Xie Zhi watched her approach without saying a word.

Yang Dejin walked up to Xie Zhi and stroked her back with his left hand. Xie Zhi felt the comfort brought by that hand, and the ups and downs in his heart eased a little.

Yang Dejin: "What is Captain Ji saying to Mr. Xie?"

Ji Zhuilu had a keen insight and naturally noticed Yang Dejin's movements. He was a little surprised, looked at the two of them implicitly in his eyes, but answered without saying a word: "Return to Your Highness, I am here to congratulate Xie Shilang."

Yang Dejin let out a long sigh, knowing that he was talking about Xie Zhi's entry into the cabinet, so he followed his words and said, "Your Excellency Xie is young and promising, but he is a dragon and phoenix among people. This king has not had time to say congratulations." , was actually preempted by Captain Ji."

If Ji Zhuilu said, she would be a ghost if she could believe it.

Xie Zhi won the reputation of being unexpected, so he didn't say a word, just stared at Yang Dejin without any scruples, looking a little stunned.

Yang Dejin was wearing a black court dress with black gauze on her head, which was in stark contrast to her usual light-colored dress style.

The black fabric contrasts with the skin tone, and the face and neck exposed to the air are warm.

Maybe it was Yang Dejin who gave her the Prince's Order. When she leaned over, Xie Zhi could only smell the monotonous scent of acacia on her body, without the woody scent.

It still smells good, Xie Zhi thought casually.

"You have received His Majesty's attention at such a young age, Mr. Xie has a bright future." Yang Dejin looked at Ji Zhuilu, but spoke to Xie Zhi.

Ji Zhuilu observed the two of them and smiled perfunctorily: "Yes."

He suddenly remembered that one day before, after the court was over, he ran into Yang Dejin chatting up Xie Zhi. What did Prince Yu say at that time?

Prince Yu said that she wanted to make friends with Xie Zhi, the Minister of Justice.

The distance between them was too close, Yang Dejin was next to Xie Zhi, and Xie Zhi was watching Yang Dejin as if no one else was there, the atmosphere between the two seemed not to allow a third person to intervene.

Ji Zhuilu had some guesses in his mind, and couldn't help being surprised.

When Prince Yu mentioned making friends, I'm afraid he wasn't making serious friends, was he?

Incredible!

The Captain of the City Defense Department felt that he knew something important, so he couldn't help but look at the two with complicated eyes, three parts shocked, three parts sad and four parts gossip.

Yang Dejin:?

What's the matter with Ji Zhuilu's eyes, three points of astonishment, three points of distress, and four points of emotion that she can't understand? Did you say something weird just now?

The author has something to say:

Ji Zhuilu: It turns out that His Royal Highness Prince Yu wants to make that kind of friend.

Yang Dejin: Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! !

Xie Zhi: ...So your focus is here?

ps: The fold that Prime Minister Liang took down was wrinkled badly because Li Zifu accidentally sprayed tea on it in Chapter 38.