The atmosphere in the court was weirder than ever before.
Especially after the Queen Mother and Jing Jun appeared, it was like a cold winter both inside and outside the curtain.
After a long while, Jing Jun's voice rang out: "My dear ministers, do you have anything to report?"
Every official could hear that Jing Jun's voice was trembling slightly.
Fang Yun looked at Jing Jun through the curtain. His voice sounded much more mature than the last time they met, but still couldn't hide his immaturity.
The child's face looked more mature than before, and there was a hint of confusion and fear in his eyes as he looked at Fang Yun.
Next to Jingjun, the empress dowager was still sitting with her face covered tightly with a black veil.
After Jing Jun asked, no one answered and almost everyone looked at Fang Yun.
Fang Yun still sat in the Wuhou carriage and did not speak.
After a long while, the Queen Mother whispered in Jingjun's ear, and Jingjun finally asked, "Lord Fang, this is your first time as Prime Minister. Do you have anything to report?"
Fang Yun smiled and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your concern for me. I am new to the position of Prime Minister and am not familiar with government affairs. As the head of the Cabinet and the first among all officials, I can only make reports to Your Majesty after I am familiar with the affairs of the Cabinet. If Your Majesty understands me, please allow me to borrow some officials who are familiar with the affairs of the Cabinet, the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Rites from other government offices to assist me and revitalize Jingguo."
Jingjun's body stiffened and he turned to look at the Queen Mother.
The Queen Mother lowered her head and whispered again. Jing Jun thought for a long time before slowly organizing his words and said, "What Minister Fang said makes sense, but the country has its own laws and the family has its own rules. The established rules cannot be overturned. If there are no more than three people, it's fine."
"Thank you, my lord. I only need three people." Fang Yun said.
Jing Jun hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said, "I agree."
The officials looked at the two people in the court, listened to their conversation, and felt mixed emotions.
Just a few years ago, Fang Yun was just a young boy who had just started out, but now, he has gained power in the court and his reputation is even higher than that of Liu Shan back then.
The young Jingjun is no longer the child who made a fuss about sleeping and eating in the Golden Palace. Now he is walking on thin ice, so cautiously, which makes people feel distressed.
Fang Yun officially took office today and had nothing to report. No matter what the attitudes of others were, they would keep quiet and would not embarrass Fang Yun today. This was truly a case of using courtesy before force.
As for Fang Yun's behavior of borrowing his own people, the officials would not object.
What the bureaucrats feared most was not that Fang Yun was proficient in government affairs, but that Fang Yun knew nothing and acted recklessly. They were eager to let Fang Yun understand how the cabinet and the court operated as soon as possible.
The officials had nothing to do, so the eunuch announced the end of the court session.
Everyone left the Fengtian Hall one after another.
Some officials wiped their foreheads lightly and breathed a sigh of relief. Since Fang Yun did not cause any trouble in the Golden Palace today, it meant that this was a good start.
At this time, the eunuch in charge of the inner chamberlain came over quickly, greeted Fang Yun, and forced a smile, saying, "Fang Xusheng, you are new to the inner chamber, and the queen mother ordered this servant to come and give you some guidance."
Fang Yun nodded and said, "Then let's talk while we walk. I'm quite unfamiliar with the cabinet. Prime Minister Cao, are you going to work or are you going together?"
Cao De'an on the side said with a smile: "Your taking office today is the top priority, and the cabinet should follow your lead."
Fang Yun nodded and said nothing.
The eunuch in charge of the seal introduced the cabinet as he walked.
The cabinet was the product of the struggle between scholars and imperial power, and was also a reform of the three dukes and nine ministers system during the Qin and Han dynasties.
The power of the cabinet and the imperial power are in a state of mutual increase and decrease: the stronger the monarch is, the weaker the cabinet is, and the weaker the monarch is, the stronger the cabinet is.
In general, the power of the Ten Cabinets is on an upward spiral, which is mainly related to the attitude of the Holy Court.
Compared with the monarch governing the world, the Holy Academy trusts more in scholars who have studied for many years and improved themselves step by step through their own efforts. At the same time, the Holy Academy does not want to repeat the tragedy of the frequent deaths of scholars from various families during the period of imperial supremacy.
The power of the Jing State's cabinet had been slowly increasing until the previous emperor passed away and Liu Shan ascended to the throne. At that time, the power of the Jing State's cabinet suddenly expanded and became unprecedentedly powerful.
The group walked forward slowly and soon came to a huge house with a plaque on it. It had a red border and a blue background with the three characters "Wenyuan Pavilion" inscribed on it.
After Fang Yun entered, the eunuch in charge of the seal smiled and said, "This is Wenyuan Pavilion, which was originally the office of the four ministers of the cabinet. Later, it was changed and this place was reserved for the left minister. From then on, the four ministers' places were independent. For example, this Wenyuan Pavilion is also commonly known as the left minister's pavilion."
In Wenyuan Pavilion, a group of officials bowed and greeted Fang Yun loudly after he entered. Fang Yun asked them to do their own thing and continue to learn about the cabinet under the guidance of the eunuch in charge of the seal.
Everyone walked to the small building on the east side of Wenyuan Pavilion.
"This place was originally called the Zhichi Room, which was used to write imperial edicts, imperial decrees, imperial edicts, and memorials, mainly for the emperor. Opposite it was the Gaochi Room, which was mainly for officials, such as the Ministry of War's merit records and the Kanhe registers. Later... the former left prime minister integrated the six ministries of the cabinet, abolished the two rooms and merged them into the 'Wenshufang', abolished the six departments, and many institutions changed." When mentioning Liushan, the eunuch in charge of the seal was vague.
Fang Yun said, "Although Liu Shan is a traitor to the country, he is quite talented. Whether it is abolishing the six departments or setting up a secretariat, it is a good strategy to streamline the military and government, and it is indeed a skill in governing the country."
No one dared to respond, only Cao De'an smiled and said, "That Liu thief is indeed a rare talent. If it weren't for Fang Xusheng's efforts to turn the tide, Jingguo would have fallen into the hands of Qingguo."
Everyone secretly thought that the old ones are the wisest. If they didn't praise Liu Shan, how could Fang Yun appear to be so powerful? If they belittled Liu Shan to the point of being worthless, what would Fang Yun's victory be worthy of praise
The eunuch in charge of the seal took Fang Yun into the main building of Wenyuan Pavilion. As soon as they entered the door, they saw many desks with a large number of documents on them and officials coming and going continuously.
Without waiting for the official to open his greetings, Fang Yun said, "You go about your business. Except for the arrival of Lord Jing, as long as you have something to do, you don't need to greet anyone. Those who work hard for state affairs should not be treated lightly. This is my first rule. Go."
The officials thanked Fang Yun and continued to handle their official business, but most of them were uneasy.
Most of these officials were old people from the period of Zuo Xiang, but their literary rank was not high, they were just following orders, and they were not qualified to join the Liu Party. Even so, they were particularly afraid of Fang Yun when they saw him.
The eunuch in charge of the seal continued, "In the early days of the Ten Kingdoms, state affairs were busy. Scholars had the talent to support them, but the monarch could not handle all government affairs. Therefore, some methods were formulated to facilitate the monarch to handle government affairs. For example, except for secret memorials, all documents and memorials were sent to the cabinet, and then sent to one of the four prime ministers according to the content of the memorial. After receiving the document and memorial, a prime minister would take out a piece of paper, write down the handling measures, and stick it on the document and memorial. After that, the document and memorial would be handed over to the monarch. This process is the cabinet's draft or reply. The draft was originally just to assist the monarch to quickly review the memorial. After the reform, it became that the memorial could not be sent to the monarch without the draft."
Fang Yun said, "I know this. After the draft memorial is sent to the king, the king will comment with a red pen, either writing his own opinion or directly indicating approval or disapproval. If the king disagrees with the cabinet's handling, what should be done?"