Sheng Boyuan said: "Saint Fang Xu seems to care about women in particular. For example, the Inheritance Law explicitly stipulates that daughters also have the right to inherit, which is unheard of in Shengyuan Continent. If it were not for the stipulation that daughters inherit far less wealth than sons, this law would never be implemented. The Council is an important place for the country, and it discusses national affairs. How can women be allowed to enter? Let's not talk about this again. Even if I risk my life, I will not agree to a woman serving as a council scholar."
Many officials nodded slightly. In fact, they did not like Fang Yun's continuous improvement of the status of women. Whether it was the establishment of the Women's Academy or the promotion of Zhao Hongzhuang to be an official, whether it was allowing women to inherit or serve as councilors, all of these touched upon the fundamental interests of men.
Fang Yun smiled and said, "Don't forget that among the tens of millions of human beings, women account for half. You may not have noticed that in some places with many workshops, there are more and more female workers. Even if we don't mention the workshops, aren't women the majority in the various trades such as sericulture and textiles, matchmakers and midwives? Since we want to serve the court and revitalize Jingguo, should we just ignore textiles and silk? And ignore matchmakers and midwives? What's more, many women also farm. The Council of State is to listen to more voices. Are only men able to speak and not women? Are men perfect and women unable to discover problems that men have not discovered? Why has the development of Jingguo surpassed some previous emperors in the past few years under the Queen Mother's rule? Minister Sheng, if one day we men can also give birth to children, I will definitely support your decision."
When Fang Yun brought up the Queen Mother, Sheng Boyuan froze in place. If he objected, it would be tantamount to denying the Queen Mother. How would he be able to protect the royal family in the future
"Fang Xusheng, you misunderstood what Minister Sheng meant. Minister Sheng meant that there are few literate women nowadays. Instead of letting them serve as councillors now, it would be better to wait for a few years until more women are literate, and then let them enter the Council of State." said a Si Zheng from the Ministry of Rites.
Fang Yun nodded and said, "Yes, literacy is very important, so among the first batch of female councillors, we only select women who are literate. After a few years, we will slowly allow more women to join the council."
Many officials were secretly anxious. They were all thinking of excuses, but no matter what they said, it might be detrimental to the Queen Mother. The Queen Mother's resentment was secondary. What if Fang Yun took this opportunity to abolish the regency and let Jingjun rule the country himself? Then Fang Yun could use the emperor to control the princes and hold real power, leaving no room for other officials.
Sheng Boyuan said: "Let's not talk about this for now. What rank should the president of the Council of State in the capital have?"
Fang Yun said: "Since the Council of State Councilors listens to the opinions of scholars from all over the country, it naturally cannot be just a department. However, it is newly established, so it is not appropriate to directly upgrade it to a department. Therefore, the level should be a general department, which is between a department and a department."
Sheng Boyuan said: "Cai He is already the Minister of Water Resources and Soil, and if he also serves as the acting president of the Council of State, it would be a bit too much for him to handle all the responsibilities. I think that Minister Cai should either continue to be in charge of the Ministry of Water Resources and Soil, or be transferred to the Council of State as president."
Fang Yun nodded and said, "That's true. I think that Minister Cai should remove the word 'acting' and directly take over as the head of the Council of State. As for the Minister of Water Resources, the position of Minister Sai Zhixue will be held by Assistant Minister Sai. The vacancy left by Assistant Minister Sai can be filled by Jiang Zhengming, the Chief Justice of the Xiangzhou Law Department. Having an additional Assistant Minister who is a legalist in the Ministry of Personnel can make the reform of the Ministry of Personnel smoother."
When everyone heard this, they felt the difference.
Cai He was once suppressed because of Fang Yun, but after Jiang Hechuan left, he was reused by Fang Yun and could even be said to be a true member of Fang's party.
Although the Ministry of Water Resources and Land is a newly established ministry, various signs indicate that the Ministry of Water Resources and Land will manage the world's water conservancy and land in the future. It can be called a small ministry with authority that is rare among other ministries.
Everyone originally thought that Fang Yun wanted Cai He to occupy this lucrative position, but now he suddenly let Cai He serve as the president of the Council of State, there must be a reason.
One possibility is that Fang Yun believes that the Council of State is more important than the Ministry of Land and Water Resources. However, this possibility is very small, because the Council of State’s current function is only to submit suggestions and has no real power.
The second possibility is that Fang Yun and Cai He have a cold relationship. Fang Yun wants to transfer Cai He away, but he doesn't want to disappoint his old friend, so he lets him serve as the president of the Council of State, which is at least much better than his previous position in the Qingshui Yamen.
As for the third possibility, it is that Cai He was abandoned by Fang Yun from the beginning. Fang Yun was using means to promote his former subordinates to the capital by establishing new departments. Therefore, Fang Yun should have made a plan long ago. The main goal of this transfer was not to make Cai He the head of the Council of State, but to promote Jiang Zhengming from Xiangzhou to the capital to serve as the Minister of Personnel.
Gradually, Fang Yunhui used various means to transfer members of the Fang Party to the capital.
The officials did not know how to object because Fang Yun was in charge of the Ministry of Personnel and Jiang Zhengming met the requirements for promotion. Fang Yun had a great say in the changes of the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel.
The Ministry of Water Resources and Soil was under the charge of the Right Prime Minister Cao De'an, but Cao De'an obviously would not object.
The key point is that this transfer of officials did not harm the interests of the major forces. As a virtual saint and the left prime minister, it was not something that would anger God or people for Fang Yun to promote more of his subordinates.
Sheng Boyuan said, "Lord Zuo Xiang, I think that Minister Cai has performed very well during his tenure in the Ministry of Water Resources and Land. Going to the Council of State is almost like being demoted. As a minister, he is also a member of the cabinet. I would like to hear his opinion on this transfer."
Everyone looked at Cai He.
Cai He was a lot fatter than when he first met Fang Yunyou many years ago. He smiled and said, "To be honest, no matter what, Shangshu sounds better than Zhangyuan. However, I am Shangshu, and I am also an official of the court, an official of Jingguo. In the words of Fang Xusheng, I am a brick of the court, and I can be moved wherever I am needed. The head of the cabinet thinks that I should serve in the Council of State, so I will obey your order without hesitation."
Everyone pondered Cai He's words carefully. It didn't sound like he was breaking with Fang Yun, but it didn't sound like he was completely obeying Fang Yun either. It seemed that he was still a little unwilling.
Sheng Boyuan didn't expect Cai He to not object, and said, "Since President Cai doesn't object, then I don't object either. However, I have one last thing to ask. Can you clarify the main functions of the Council of State?"
Many officials immediately felt clear-headed. After talking for a long time, they still didn't get to the point. It was still unclear what the Council of State could do besides accepting the leaders of various industries and submitting their opinions.
Fang Yun smiled and said, "The main responsibility of the Council of State is to submit suggestions to the Cabinet. Since we need to listen to the opinions of people from all walks of life, some important policies should be discussed by the Council of State Scholars before they are finalized. If their opinions or suggestions are good, the draft should be improved."
"Isn't this a civilian cabinet?" Sheng Boyuan blurted out.
It was quiet in the hall.
Fang Yun smiled and said, "Minister Sheng, you are joking. The final decision-making power of all political orders still lies with the monarch and the cabinet. The Council of State has no real power. I think we should prepare for the Council of State as soon as possible. The Council of State is newly established, and it is difficult to find people from all walks of life. It is better to start from the group with more scholars, and then slowly fill in the others. I think we should first select some council scholars from the heads of the various families in Jingguo."
Many officials were astonished and realized even more clearly how sophisticated Fang Yun's tactics were.
How would those family heads who were making trouble outside the imperial palace react if they heard what Fang Yun said