The expansion of the Zongzheng Temple was a very complicated matter.
First, the Hall of Secretaries had to make a decision and hand it over to the Hall of Secretaries. If the Hall of Secretaries felt that it was necessary, they would hand it over to the Minister of State Affairs. The Minister of State Affairs had no objections. Finally, the order would be passed to the Ministry of Appointments. The Ministry of Appointments would register and appoint new officials.
It took quite a bit of time to pass down the government decrees between the various departments.
If it was in the past, this matter could drag on for months to half a year.
However, this time, in just two days, the Ministry of Appointments had already confirmed this matter and added a Shaoqing and a Deputy to the Zongzheng Temple.
The Hall of Secretaries passed down the suggestion, and it was approved by the Hall of Secretaries. After it was passed to the Hall of Secretaries, the Hall of Secretaries immediately ordered the Ministry of Personnel to carry it out. The Imperial Examination was the most important matter in the Imperial Court. Time was tight, and there was no room for delay.
Now, they only needed to decide who would take over the positions of Shaoqing and Deputy to form a balance between the three departments.
Great Zhou's official selection system had to do with the rank of the officials.
Officials of rank three and above were personally selected by the Emperor. Officials of this rank were the heads of their departments and only the Emperor had the power to appoint and move them.
Officials above the fifth rank were nominated by the Palace Secretary and decided by the Minister of State. Finally, they were submitted to the Emperor for approval, and the Ministry of Appointments would listen to the rules and confer officials. Officials below the fifth rank were conferred by the Ministry of Appointments after reporting to the Minister of State for approval based on the official's assessment results.
Shaoqing was a Secondary rank four official, while the Zongzheng Deputy was a Primary rank five official. They needed to be nominated by the Hall of Secretaries and then passed to the Minister of State Affairs for final decision.
Regarding the choice of Shaoqing, Zhou Xiong and Xiao Ziyu, who represented the new and old parties, started arguing again.
Xiao Ziyu chose an official from the old party, but Zhou Xiong naturally did not agree. The Zongzheng Temple was originally in the hands of the old party. If it was still someone from the old party after the expansion, then wouldn't all his previous efforts be wasted?
Seeing that the two were in a stalemate, Liu Yi finally could not help but say, "Since the two of you cannot agree, I will choose another person. Liu Biao, the Imperial Censor, is impartial and has the trust of the people. He can take the position of Shaoqing …"
Everyone looked at Liu Yi. Liu Yi was obviously taking the opportunity to promote the Liu family's descendants.
The officials of the Imperial Censorate were responsible for impeaching the officials and did not have much real power. However, it was different after entering the Imperial Censorate. Especially now that the Imperial Censorate had the responsibility of supervising the imperial examinations, the position of Vice Minister was one of the hottest positions in the imperial court.
The few of them also wanted to compete, but none of them had the qualifications to take up the position of Clan Head, so they could only give up.
The reason why Xiao Ziyu proposed the Old Party members was to prevent Zhou Xiong from arranging the New Party members into the Zongzheng Temple. Although Lady Liu was not part of the New Party, she had always been neutral. Letting Liu Biao be the Zongzheng Shaoqing was better than having someone else.
The person he nominated still had to be decided by the Minister of War. The Minister of War was the leader of the new party. It was unlikely that he would agree with the people of the old party. He finally looked at Liu Yi and said, "Censor Liu is fair and impartial. I have nothing to say about him sitting in this position."
Zhou Xiong looked at Liu Yi and did not object.
Although he wanted to arrange his own people to enter the Zongzheng Temple, Xiao Ziyu would not agree. If he insisted, he would offend Liu Yi. He could only say, "I also agree."
He and Xiao Ziyu looked at each other and saw some information from each other's eyes.
The dispute between them could not continue in this way. Otherwise, if the two of them were in a deadlock every time, the one who would benefit in the end would be the outsiders.
Xiao Ziyu's lips moved slightly and said a few words to Zhou Xiong. Zhou Xiong looked at him and also moved his lips. The two of them looked at each other and seemed to have reached some kind of agreement.
There was only one Imperial Censorate position left. Xiao Ziyu nominated another person from the old party. It was rare that Zhou Xiong did not object.
Anyway, the people in the Zongzheng Temple were all from the old party. It did not matter if there was one more or one less. Liu Yi and the others also did not raise any objections.
Just when everyone was about to continue the discussion, a voice suddenly sounded.
"I object."
Li Mu looked at Xiao Ziyu and said, "In the future, the Zongzheng Temple will not only deal with the affairs of the imperial family, but also supervise the imperial examinations. It will be responsible for the cases of officials of the fourth rank and above. It is not enough to have one just and strict official. The Shendu Magistrate Zhang Chun is selfless and is more suitable for this position."
Xiao Ziyu said, "Isn't he already the Shendu Magistrate?"
Li Mu said, "Before Zhang Chun, the position of Shendu Magistrate was also held by other officials. He can hold the position of Shendu Magistrate and Imperial Censorate Deputy at the same time."
Xiao Ziyu shook his head and said, "There is no need for that. The Shendu Magistrate has a heavy responsibility. If he holds the position of Imperial Censorate Deputy at the same time, he will not be able to handle both sides well."
Liu Yi and the others also said, "Lord Xiao is right. We have wasted too much time today. Let's quickly discuss the follow-up matters …"
Everyone agreed.
Li Mu covered his mouth and yawned. He said, "Let's end it here today. I am a bit sleepy. Lords, please continue your discussion. I will return to the office to rest."
They looked at Li Mu in shock. Any magical power cultivator could go days without sleep. How could he be sleepy so early in the morning?
Unless he did something last night and used up a large amount of essence and spiritual power.
The problem was, Li Mu was still full of energy and gave them many wonderful ideas. Why was he suddenly sleepy?
It was clear that he was dissatisfied with the fact that his proposal to nominate Zhang Chun as the deputy of the Imperial Clan Temple was rejected by everyone.
Xiao Ziyu looked at Li Mu and said, "Since Lord Li is sleepy, please go back and rest."
Li Mu stood up and said, "Oh right, there is one more thing. I will be returning to the North Region to visit my family tomorrow. I will not be back for half a month. Lords, please do not wait for me tomorrow …"
Liu Yi was stunned. "Visit your family?"
Li Mu nodded and said, "I have been separated from my wife for more than two months. I really miss her. I hope you can forgive me."
After a few days of discussion, the few officials of the Secretariat were very clear that in the process of perfecting the imperial examination system, they could do without any of them except for Li Mu.
When the imperial court wanted to promulgate a policy as important as the imperial examination, it would often take half a year, a year, or even several years of preparation to ensure that there would not be too many mistakes.
It was not difficult for them to come up with a system to replace the Academy's selection of officials within a month. The difficult thing was that this system had no loopholes or flaws. Once the system was implemented, how would they explain it to the imperial court if they found the flaws and flaws in it?
Li Mu had a deep understanding of the imperial examination system. Up until now, the framework of the imperial examination system was almost entirely built by him.
Now was the most critical moment. If Li Mu left, the subsequent perfection of the imperial examination system would immediately be lost.
Liu Yi hurriedly said, "Lord Li, you can wait for a while about the family visit. The imperial examination is the most important thing now. I hope you can put the country's affairs first."
Li Mu thought for a while and nodded. "Lord Liu, you are right. I am narrow-minded. How can personal affairs be compared to national affairs?"
So he sat down again and said, "Let's continue."
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Liu Yi continued to talk about a problem that had not been solved yet. "As for the number of candidates sent by the 36 counties, how should we determine it? If the 36 counties are the same, it will be unfair to the large counties with a large population like the Middle Region. If they are not the same, I am afraid that the other 30 counties will have objections. We must have a reasonable arrangement to stop people from talking …"
Many times, it was not a matter of whether the policy was feasible or not. It was a matter of whether it was reasonable or not and whether it could convince the public.
The discussion was fruitless and they habitually looked at Li Mu. Liu Yi asked, "Lord Li, what do you think?"
Li Mu shook his head and said, "I don't have any opinions."
Liu Yi thought that he really did not have any opinions. He shook his head and said, "Then let's put this matter aside for now. Let's continue to discuss the next matter."
When they discussed again, they saw Li Mu frowning and shaking his head slightly. They knew that he was dissatisfied with the results of the discussion. Based on his experience in the past few days, he was always able to come up with better and more perfect suggestions.
Liu Yi looked at Li Mu again and asked, "Does Lord Li have any better ideas?"
"No." Li Mu shook his head and stood up. He said, "It is getting late. I should go back and cook. Lords, see you tomorrow …"
They looked at each other and suddenly understood something.
Liu Yi lowered his head and was silent for a moment. He suddenly said, "I think that there is still room for discussion as to who should be the deputy of the Imperial Clan Temple."
Wang Shi said, "The person that Lord Xiao just nominated is not qualified enough. I am afraid that he will not be able to convince the public."
Zhang Huaili agreed. "I think that the Shendu Prefect Zhang Chun is qualified for the position of the Imperial Clan Temple Deputy."
Song Liangyu said, "Lord Zhang is impartial. No one is more suitable for this position. Lord Xiao, what do you think?"
Xiao Ziyu was stared at by everyone. He knew that the duck that he had just cooked was about to fly away.
At the same time, he received a message from Liu Yi and the others.
"Lord Xiao, the big picture is more important."
"Don't delay the schedule for a little personal gain …"
"It is just a fifth-rank official. If he wants it, then give it to him …"
Xiao Ziyu's face was gloomy. The four officials of the Secretariat sent him messages at the same time. Under such circumstances, he had no other choice.
He took a deep breath and calmed down. He said, "I will listen to you, Lords."
Zhou Xiong was naturally happy that someone from the old party could not be the deputy of the Imperial Clan Temple. He said, "I have no objections."
Just like that, the Shendu Prefect Zhang Chun, as a fair and impartial official who was not afraid of the powerful and dared to speak up for the people, was elected unanimously in the Secretariat. He successfully held the position of the Imperial Clan Temple Deputy.
Li Mu sat down and said, "I will not starve to death even if I skip a meal. The imperial examination is more important. What do you think, Lords?"
Everyone put on a fake smile. "Lord Li is really righteous …"
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