The Minister of the Left's faction wanted a share of Xiangzhou's position, but when they remembered that one of the Ten Grand Scholars was present, the chances of Fang Yun winning a civil war in a prefecture were extremely low. The officials suppressed their impatience and waited for the Minister of the Left's reaction.
After a long while, the Minister of the Left still didn't speak.
Fang Yun continued, "As for the fourth calamity, the so-called disharmony between the human race is even more self-deceiving. When has the human race ever lived in complete harmony? Even during the great war of Two World Mountain, there were a few people who were crafty and cowardly. Where do you think those traitors came from? Our human race not only needs to compete with external demons and barbarians, but also internally! This civil war is a good way to reduce internal friction. If the civil war is really like what Assistant Minister Ou said, how can the saints allow it? "
Ou Mo said, "I repeat, now is not the time for a civil war, because the second great war of Two World Mountain will happen very soon!"
"A few decades ago, Gyeongo clearly knew that the thousand-year truce was about to lose its effect, but still fought our Jingguo! Has Assistant Minister Ou completely forgotten about this? "Qiao Juze said.
"Times have changed, times have changed!" Ou Mo helplessly quoted a famous saying from Mencius.
"Hmph!" Some officials snorted, disdainful of Ou Mo.
If not for the importance of today's court meeting, there would have been people mocking and ridiculing him.
Fang Yun ignored Ou Mo and swept his gaze over the civil and military officials, saying, "I am fighting a prefecture alone as the Duke of Guarding Prefecture. The implications are great, so I need the approval of the cabinet and the monarch's decree. I think it's better to ask the four ministers of the cabinet to make a decision today to avoid any more problems. "
Fang Yun laid his cards on the table.
The air in Heavenly Worship Hall suddenly froze. Everyone breathed carefully, observed carefully, and thought carefully.
After a few dozen breaths, Heavenly Worship Hall was still silent. No one spoke.
The cabinet had the Left Minister, the Right Minister, the Assistant Minister, and the Civil Minister. In reality, the Civil Minister had the highest position, but the Left Minister had the most power. Unless the Right Minister, the Assistant Minister, and the Civil Minister worked together, they couldn't threaten the Left Minister's position.
But. The Assistant Minister, Si Yueqing, was a hardcore Left Minister.
Si Yueqing took a step forward and said, "Monarch, Empress Dowager. This subject believes that the library belongs to Fang Xusheng and not Jingguo. Jingguo's priority is to resist the grassland barbarians in the north, not to fight against Gyeongo. This year, it's not the right time to make enemies with Gyeongo! "
Right Prime Minister Cao Dean, who rarely expressed his political views, said, "I agree with Fang Xusheng's civil war against Gyeongo!"
Two of the Four Prime Ministers agreed, leaving only Left Prime Minister Mount Liu and Wen Prime Minister Kang Ha-chuan.
Kang Ha-chuan said, "Old Man believes that Fang Xusheng's action is beneficial to Jingguo, so he fully supports it. Mount Liu. What do you think? "
All the officials looked at Mount Liu.
Mount Liu smiled faintly and said, "Since the Four Prime Ministers can't make a decision, then according to convention, the Four Prime Ministers and the Cabinet will vote together."
Many of the officials sighed.
There was a rule in the Cabinet that more than seventy percent of the Cabinet members had to agree. If less than seventy percent of the Cabinet members agreed, the vote would fail.
The Left Prime Minister had great power.
Left Prime Minister Mount Liu controlled the Ministry of Personnel. Ninety percent of the people in the Ministry of Personnel belonged to Mount Liu.
All the civil officials in Jingguo were evaluated and promoted by the Ministry of Personnel. However, civil officials were the most numerous in Jingguo and had the most influence.
The civil officials were still evaluated by the Ministry of Personnel. If the Ministry of Personnel had sufficient evidence to prove that a civil official could not be promoted, then the Ministry of Personnel would not be able to do so. Even if the Wen Prime Minister personally intervened, it would be useless.
Only the military was not influenced by the Ministry of Personnel. The military was divided into two parts. The evaluation was decided by the Ministry of War. The Ministry of War also had the right to recommend. However, the Grand Marshal's Office was in charge of the mobilization of troops and the appointment of officers.
The Grand Marshal's Office was directly under the King's command. This allowed the Royal Family to firmly control the military power of the country.
If there were no accidents, the Grand Marshals of each country were all members of the Holy Families. This was because most of the Holy Families wanted the stability of the country more than the Royal Family. This way, they could better prevent the civil officials or the Royal Family from seizing power.
However, different Grand Marshals had different personalities. Some of the Grand Marshals had a strong desire for power and often did things themselves. They could even make the King a mere figurehead. However, Jingguo's Grand Marshal Chen was the opposite. After he achieved great things and stabilized his position, he withdrew from politics. Since last year, he even claimed that he was ill and did not go out. All the orders were given by the King or the Empress Dowager.
Grand Marshal Chen was a scholar. He was one of the most likely scholars to become a great scholar in Jingguo in the next ten years. To him, being a Grand Marshal was not as important as being a great scholar.
For hundreds of years, the Grand Marshal's Office had been built by the Royal Family and the Chen Family. It was impossible for the Left Prime Minister's people to infiltrate.
The Ministry of War had one Minister, two Assistant Ministers and three high-ranking officials. Originally, only the lowest ranking Assistant Minister was on the Left Prime Minister's side. However, after Tong Luan's grandson was forced to commit suicide by Fang Yun, the two Assistant Ministers of the Ministry of War became on the Left Prime Minister's side.
Once the Minister of War stepped down, there was a 90% chance that the new Minister of War would choose one of the two Assistant Ministers. This meant that the Left Prime Minister's side would have more influence in the military.
Because the School of Arts was relatively loose, the Left Prime Minister did not need to deliberately infiltrate. After many years of planning, he had a certain amount of influence in the School of Arts.
The Left Prime Minister's strongest power was in the Ministry of Personnel, followed by Mizhou. 90% of the officials in Mizhou were personally promoted by the Left Prime Minister.
In Yanzhou, which bordered Wu Guo, the Duke of Kang was called the local tyrant.
Once the Left Prime Minister and the Duke of Kang joined forces, even the Empress Dowager could only avoid them.
Being a Cabinet Advisor was just a title. There was no actual position. Only important officials in the imperial court whose status was second only to the Four Prime Ministers had the right to be a Cabinet Advisor. Everyone had the power to slightly influence the entire Jingguo.
Fang Yun counted silently. Li Wenying and Grand Marshal Chen were not present. With the four ministers added together, there were a total of twenty-nine people in the cabinet. However, the Left Prime Minister had two votes. In other words, he needed at least twenty-one votes for him to have the right to challenge the Kingdom of Qing.
If there were less than 21 votes, then Fang Yun would not be able to represent Jingguo to challenge Gyeongo. Even if he won, he would only be able to suppress Gyeongo. He would not be able to take back Xiangzhou.
Fang Yun wanted to challenge Gyeongo. He wanted to kill three birds with one stone. First, he wanted to take revenge for what happened to Gyeongo last year. Second, he wanted to warn the other aristocratic families and countries not to ban the library. Third, he wanted to take back Xiangzhou.
Now, it seemed that the possibility of taking back Xiangzhou was very low.
However, before the final result was out, Fang Yun was not discouraged at all. He said, "Then let the voting begin. Those who vote for the Left Prime Minister are in favor, and those who vote for the Right Prime Minister are against."
After Fang Yun finished speaking, he threw his official seal to the Left Prime Minister.
The Four Prime Ministers and the Cabinet Advisors took action one after another. The official seals flew away from the officials. Some flew to Fang Yun's left, while others flew to Fang Yun's right.
The official seals of different sizes and materials floated in the air.
There were more official seals on Fang Yun's left, and they flew away quickly. Soon, there were 15 official seals. On the other hand, there were fewer official seals on the right, only 10. There were still people who had not cast their seals.
However, the Left Prime Minister and the Right Prime Minister did not move.
Before the voting ended, there were already 10 votes against. This meant that the total number of votes in favor would definitely not reach 70%.
Fang Yun's heart sank.
Suddenly, the Wen Prime Minister said, "Duke Jian Mei is unable to go to Fengtian Palace. He asked me to support Fang Yun. Now, there are 16 official seals on the left."
Time passed slowly. The officials who were still hesitating finally made their final decisions. Other than the Left Prime Minister Mount Liu and the Wen Prime Minister Kang Ha-chuan who did not move, everyone else had cast their seals.
There were 11 official seals against, while only 17 were in favor.
Mount Liu said, "Lord Wen Prime Minister, since things have come to this, there is no need for you and me to vote. The Cabinet has decided that Duke Zhen is not allowed to represent Jingguo to challenge Gyeongo! "
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