The three of them looked at each other and were silent for a long while.
In the Left Prime Minister's Cabinet, except for those who do miscellaneous work, the lowest status is Tongshi Sheren, and above that is Zhongshu Sheren. The official positions are the same, but the grades will fluctuate slightly, and the actual powers are also different.
Theoretically, the official position of Zhongshu Sheren is higher than that of Tongshi Sheren. However, some Zhongshu Sheren are only responsible for transcribing documents and imperial edicts and do not have much real power. Instead, they are not as good as some Tongshi Sheren who are responsible for specific matters.
What's more, the cabinet is the core of Jing State, and the Left Prime Minister's Cabinet is the core of the core, with intricate internal affairs.
Especially after Liu Shan's downfall, more than half of the members were replaced. The reason why the court did not replace everyone was that it was afraid that the newcomers would not be able to make the Left Prime Minister's Cabinet function normally.
At this time, recommending anyone may offend the others and the forces behind them.
The key point is that the position of Cabinet Secretary is extraordinary.
One is in charge of people, the other is in charge of affairs. This is simply because the new prime minister is worried that he will not be able to control the Left Prime Minister's Office, so he simply starts anew and uses his own way to straighten out the operation of the Left Prime Minister's Office, so that the Left Prime Minister's Office can operate in a way that he can accept.
The three of them remained silent for a long time.
Fang Yun said: "This matter should be taken slowly, and it should be done slowly. However, two people can be allowed to temporarily take over the position of cabinet secretary. Then, I appoint Xu Changgeng and Li Zhixiao to temporarily take over the cabinet secretary. One will be responsible for the communication between me and the cabinet members, and the other will temporarily manage the cabinet affairs. Xu Changgeng, you will be busier than usual in the next few days. Is it inconvenient?"
Xu Changgeng immediately took a step forward, straightened his chest, and responded in a slightly louder voice: "I will definitely live up to your trust."
Fang Yun snorted coldly and looked at Xu Changgeng with an extremely cold gaze.
Xu Changgeng lowered his head slightly and grasped his sleeve tightly with his right hand to avoid letting others see the fear in his heart.
Dong Yueqian didn't understand, and Li Zhixiao racked his brains for a long time before he figured out the reason.
It turned out that Xu Changgeng was good at guessing people's hearts. Fang Yun had said before that he liked to use military time, and considering that Fang Yun had led troops in battle many times, he concluded that Fang Yun liked the military style, so he abandoned normal etiquette and learned the military's crisp and clear way of responding, hoping to win Fang Yun's favor.
Unexpectedly, Fang Yun saw through Xu Changgeng's intention at a glance and didn't like the fact that Xu Changgeng put his mind on this.
After figuring out the key, Li Zhixiao was both happy and worried. What worried him was that Fang Yun was obviously not very old, ten or twenty years younger than the cabinet officials, but his eyes were so vicious. Obviously, that kind of bureaucratic behavior could not be hidden from him. If he tried to use those tricks in the future, he would probably be discovered by him and be severely punished.
At the local level, there are disputes between officials and clerks. In government offices such as the Cabinet and the Six Ministries, there are naturally frictions between lower-ranking officials and higher-ranking officials.
Cheating superiors and concealing the truth from subordinates is the norm among bureaucrats and it will never disappear.
Li Zhixiao was happy that he realized Fang Yun's peculiarity one step ahead of time and would never use the old bureaucrat's methods to deal with Fang Yun in the future. At the same time, he found that Fang Yun was obviously different from other officials. Although Liu Shan was talented, he was better at blending in with the crowd. This person was obviously not another Liu Shan, so he had to change his way of doing things immediately.
However, after just a few breaths, Li Zhixiao suddenly realized that Fang Yun was unwilling to be with Guang Tongchen, but he would also use some tricks.
For example, the holy incense of enlightenment awarded this time is the most common but also the most effective means, a thousand gold coins to buy horse bones. Fang Yun can actually give such a precious treasure to three people who have only known each other for less than two days. If someone with higher literary talent and higher ability comes to join him, will he lack the divine object
This was just an ordinary personnel strategy. Fang Yun directly promoted the two people. On the surface, it was a helpless move, too hasty, and only temporary. However, this action made the rest of the left prime minister focus their attention on these two people, especially the complaints or dissatisfaction, which would be vented on these two people instead of Fang Yun.
If these two people can withstand the tremendous pressure and do everything well, it means that they have been honed into talents, and Fang Yun will naturally use them. If they are suppressed by others and things go wrong, Fang Yun will replace the candidates for the cabinet secretaries as expected. Everyone will only think that Fang Yun is wise and will not dwell on why Fang Yun made the mistake of choosing these two people before.
Li Zhixiao sighed inwardly, only then did he realize that when it came to the position of Left Prime Minister, there was no essential difference between Fang Yun and Liu Shan, both used their subordinates as chess pieces, but Fang Yun was better than Liu Shan in one respect, and that was generosity.
Li Zhixiao was extremely disgusted with the feeling of being controlled. He even wanted to resign, but he finally held back. He always had some resentment towards Liu Shan. But now, he had no resentment towards Fang Yun. After serving as the cabinet secretary, even if he failed, he would only waste a few years. At most, he could work in other government offices. However, this loss was negligible compared to the gains from the ambergris.
Thinking of this, Li Zhixiao suddenly understood that compared with Liu Shan, Fang Yun always has kindness in his heart. He is also selfish and seeks profit for himself, but he has a bottom line in doing things and will never cut off the army's food supply in order to achieve his own goals like Liu Shan did.
Li Zhixiao thought about it carefully, and suddenly he admired Fang Yun even more. Bribing or luring officials with divine objects was a taboo in the officialdom, second only to donating materials and money to the military. However, Fang Yun actually did it. This did not seem like he was eager for quick success, but more like he was knowingly breaking the rules and did not care about the so-called officialdom rules.
Fang Yun looked at Li Zhixiao and said, "You are responsible for overall management of affairs. Your burden is heavier than Xu Changgeng's. Don't be anxious. Think carefully about the plan first. Once you have a specific plan, write it down and give it to me so that we can discuss it together. In addition, Xu Changgeng."
"I'm here!" Xu Changgeng responded in a very formal manner.
"You must convey my order to all members of the Left Prime Minister's Cabinet and submit a personal report tomorrow. Please only include three aspects..."
Fang Yun said this, glancing at the three of them.
"First, your responsibilities. Write down in detail what you should do, what you are doing, and what you have done."
"Second, your strengths and weaknesses, what you are suitable for, in which aspects you have unusual advantages, what mistakes you have made, what lessons you have learned, whether you have corrected them, and give examples of corrected mistakes."
"Third, think deeply about all the affairs of the Left Prime Minister's Cabinet. Each person must write down at least three current problems of the Left Prime Minister's Cabinet, analyze the causes, the process of formation, and discuss solutions. Hmm..."
"Three aspects are not enough. Fourth, what is your understanding and expectation of the cabinet, the country, the human race, and the future? There is no need to talk about this at length. Well, it is still not enough."
"Fifth, each of you must write down at least three things I should do as the Left Prime Minister. Don't write about the big things, write about the small things, write about the specifics, even if it means asking cabinet officials to report to work later and get more sleep. That's all for now."
The three of them stood there, somewhat confused.
Fang Yun naturally would not say that he was asking them to write a performance report, nor would he say that he wanted to understand the entire Zuo Xiang Pavilion and every individual in a more specific and comprehensive way through different perspectives.