Emperor Ning sighed and stood up from behind the case.
He looked out the window, the bright sunlight was spreading on the ground, and the cicadas were faintly singing in the distance.
"Is it almost the Dragon Boat Festival?"
"Your Majesty, today is Duanyang, haven't you eaten zongzi?"
It's the Dragon Boat Festival, after careful calculation, Gu Huaijiang has been to the border for more than a month.
Emperor Ning glanced at Eunuch Gao, and the latter wondered: "I asked His Majesty in the morning, and His Majesty said that he still eats the third dish, but I didn't bring it up."
Emperor Ning thought about it for a moment, and it seemed that there was such a thing.
"You, how can you not eat zongzi on the Dragon Boat Festival? I didn't hear clearly, you should remind me more."
Ji Daogong smiled and said: "Your Majesty is busy with the selection of cabinet candidates these days, and he always looks depressed. How can Eunuch Gao dare to bother His Majesty?"
Eunuch Gao looked at him gratefully, "Thank you, Boss Ji, for speaking fair words for this old slave."
"Hey, look at him!" Emperor Ning pointed at him, "I even arranged for me, which means I'm being unfair? Hasn't Princess Danyang been here before? In the past, on the Duanyang Festival, she would send me embroidery by herself. purse."
The purse for the Duanyang Festival should contain mugwort and wormwood leaves, as well as some spices to dispel evil and avoid poison. The concubines and princesses in the front and rear palaces would rush to give him purses, but this year, he didn't see any of them.
He didn't want to see Concubine Xian and the others, so he asked Eunuch Gao to stop him outside, but he didn't let Eunuch Gao stop Princess Danyang.
Ji Daogong said: "Your Majesty, don't blame Princess Danyang, she is waiting to be married, and it's too late to embroider her wedding dress. How can she have time to embroider a purse for Your Majesty?"
There is no one more fair than Ji Daogong in the Manchu Dynasty, and Emperor Ning was quite heartbroken when he heard his words.
Royal princesses don't need to embroider their wedding gowns at all, as everything is taken care of by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Etiquette.
He also knew what Princess Danyang was busy with.
"I have made myself a lonely family. The two eldest sons don't know what's going on in their hearts, and the daughter I love the most doesn't get close to me anymore, complaining that I promised her the wrong person. I have both sons and daughters, countless concubines in the harem, It's not as good as a lonely old man in the market!"
Princess Danyang hosted a banquet in Chunhe Garden and used pretexts to humiliate Yin Shuo. Almost all courts knew about it, and Emperor Ning naturally knew about it too.
He just pretended not to know, unless Yin Shuo really came to ask him to withdraw the engagement.
Fortunately, the veteran Yin Shuo was cautious and did not do anything that was not good for himself or others as Princess Danyang hoped.
"Your Majesty wants to set up a cabinet, obviously to weaken Prime Minister Yin's power. He also maintains the original idea and promised Princess Danyang to Prime Minister Yin, is he trying to appease Prime Minister Yin?"
Emperor Ning nodded, "Huijiang is gone, no one can understand what I'm thinking, so I can only say a few words to Elder Ji. That's right, I don't trust Yin Shuo, he and his father committed the same fatal crime Mistake, it makes my heart ache. But I don't want to make the scene too ugly, Yin Shuo is the only male in this generation of meritorious service of the Yin family."
Ji Daogong said: "So Your Majesty wants to give him the position of consort first, so that in the future, no matter whether it is weakening the prime minister's power or completely abolishing the prime minister, he can have an explanation to the courtiers, and an explanation to the two prime ministers of the Yin family?"
"That's right, that's what I mean."
As for whether to weaken the power of the prime minister or completely abolish the prime minister, Emperor Ning did not take the initiative to mention it, and Ji Daogong would not ask.
"Mr. Ji, I really have a headache about the candidates for the cabinet. Those who are talented in the court lack prestige. The ones I trust are lacking in talent. After thinking about it, I can't wait to get you into the cabinet as the chief assistant!"
When Emperor Ning brought up the topic of the cabinet again, Ji Daogong was taken aback and hurriedly stood up, "Your Majesty, the old minister is already a rare year, and it is already a bit difficult to take up the post of the capital censor thanks to His Majesty's love. The chief assistant of the cabinet is better than the prime minister. There are so many things, how can an old minister afford such hard work?"
"Sit down, sit down, I just said casually, you don't have to be so nervous."
Emperor Ning sighed and said: "Why didn't I know that you are old enough to let you go back to your hometown to live your life? But the position of Du Yushi can't be done without you. Using people as a mirror can show gains and losses. You are my mirror!"
These words were praised by Emperor Taizong Li Shimin of a generation of virtuous ministers Wei Zheng. Ji Daogong cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty's false praise. Your Majesty's mirror is actually Gu Houye. The old minister is at most relying on his seniority to persuade the high-ranking ministers in the court for His Majesty."
"This is your advantage. You are not jealous, impartial, and fair. If all the ministers in the court are like Huaijiang and you, I don't have to think about breaking my head alone."
Ji Daogong raised his head and paused slightly, knowing that Emperor Ning was talking about the eldest prince and the second prince.
There are quite a lot of cliques between the ministers of the court and the two princes, Emperor Ning is suspicious of the two of them, so naturally he is unwilling to confide in the ministers who are good friends with them.
Relying on his own strength, when will the cabinet work be done
His head hung down again, his gray beard was like a weeping willow, motionless.
"Actually, I want to form a cabinet not simply because of Yin Shuo. I have had this idea for a long time. If the powers of the prime ministers are dispersed, even if they are drawn into someone's camp, they will not directly endanger my court. "