Officials of the Left Prime Minister's party wanted to share the position of Xiangzhou, but they thought that Fang Yunwen's chances of success in fighting for a state were extremely low because one of the Ten Jinshi was in charge. So they suppressed their irritability and anxiety and waited for the Left Prime Minister's reaction.
After a long while, Zuo Xiang did not speak.
Fang Yun continued, "As for the fourth harm, the so-called discord among the human race is even more self-deception. When has the human race ever lived in complete harmony? Even during the battle between the two worlds, there were a few people who were cunning and cowardly. Where do you think those rebellious people came from? Our human race not only needs to compete with the monsters outside, but also have healthy competition within! This literary war is a healthy competition method to reduce internal friction. If the literary war is really as Minister Ou said, how could the saints allow it?"
Ou Mo said: "I reiterate that now is not the right time for a war of words, because the second battle of the Two Worlds Mountain will happen soon!"
"Decades ago, the Kingdom of Qing knew that the thousand-year non-war treaty was about to expire, but it still waged a war against the Kingdom of Jing! Could it be that Minister Ou has completely forgotten about this?" Qiao Juze asked.
"That was one time, and this is another time!" Ou Mo quoted the famous saying from "Mencius" helplessly.
"Hmph!" Some officials kept snorting, showing disdain for Ou Mo.
If today's court meeting was not of great importance, some people would have already made sarcastic remarks or even criticized it.
Fang Yun no longer paid attention to Ou Mo, and glanced at the civil and military officials, saying: "As the Duke of Zhenguo, I am fighting alone in a state, which involves serious matters and requires the approval of the cabinet and the king's order. I think it is better to do it sooner rather than later. Please ask the four ministers of the cabinet to make a decision today to avoid more trouble at night."
Fang Yun revealed his cards.
The air in the Fengtian Hall suddenly froze. Everyone breathed carefully, observed carefully, and thought carefully.
Dozens of breaths passed, and the Fengtian Hall was still silent, and no one spoke.
The cabinet has four ministers: the left minister, the right minister, the assistant minister, and the minister of literature. The minister of literature has the highest actual status, but the left minister has the most power. Unless the right minister, the assistant minister, and the minister of literature work together, they will never be able to threaten the position of the left minister.
However, Assistant Prime Minister Si Yueqing is a staunch supporter of the Left Prime Minister.
Si Yueqing stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty and Queen Mother, I think that the library belongs to Fang Xusheng, not Jingguo. Jingguo's top priority is to fight against the barbarians in the north, not to fight against Qingguo. It is not appropriate to make enemies with Qingguo this year!"
Right Prime Minister Cao De'an, who rarely expressed his political opinions, said: "I agree with Fang Xu Shengwen's war against Qing Kingdom!"
Two of the four ministers agreed, leaving only Left Prime Minister Liu Shan and Literary Minister Jiang Hechuan.
Jiang Hechuan said: "I think Fang Xusheng's move is beneficial to Jingguo. We should support it with all our strength. Liushan, what do you think?"
All the officials looked at Liu Shan.
Liu Shan smiled calmly and said, "Since the four ministers of the cabinet cannot make a decision, then according to convention, the four ministers and the cabinet councilors will vote together."
Many officials in the field sighed.
There is a rule for cabinet voting, that is, more than 70% of the cabinet senators must agree to pass. If less than 70% of the cabinet senators agree, the vote fails.
The left prime minister has great power.
Left Prime Minister Liu Shan controls the Ministry of Personnel, and 90% of the people in the Ministry of Personnel are Liu Shan's men.
The evaluation and promotion of all civil servants in Jing State are decided or influenced by the Ministry of Personnel. However, civil servants are the largest in number and have the greatest influence in Jing State.
The evaluation of officials from the liberal arts department was still the responsibility of the Ministry of Personnel. If the Ministry of Personnel had sufficient evidence to prove that an official from the liberal arts department could not be promoted, even if the Minister of Literature personally came forward, it would be useless.
Only the military was not influenced by the Ministry of Personnel. The military was divided into two parts, and the assessment was decided by the Ministry of War. The Ministry of War also had certain powers of recommendation, but the agency that mobilized troops and appointed officers was not the six ministries, but the Grand Marshal's Office.
The Grand Marshal's Office was actually directly authorized by the monarch, allowing the royal family to firmly control the military power of a country.
If nothing unexpected happens, the Grand Marshal of each country will be someone from the Saints' Families, because most of the Saints' Families want national stability far more than the royal family does. This can also better prevent civil servants or the royal family's collateral bloodlines from seizing power.
It's just that different grand marshals have different temperaments. Some countries' grand marshals are power-hungry and often do things personally, even undermining the monarch. But Grand Marshal Chen of Jing State is the opposite. After making great contributions and consolidating his position, he faded out of court politics. Since last year, he even claimed to be sick and stayed at home. All orders were issued by the monarch or the queen mother.
Marshal Chen is a Grand Secretary and one of the scholars in Jing State who is most likely to become a great scholar in the next ten years. To him, the significance of a country's marshal is far less important than that of a great scholar.
The Grand Marshal's Mansion had been built to be impenetrable by the royal family and the Chen family for more than a hundred years, and there was no possibility for the Left Prime Minister's people to break in.
The Ministry of War had a total of three senior officials, one Shangshu and two Shilang. Originally, only the lowest-ranking Right Shilang was a member of the Left Prime Minister's party. However, after Tong Luan's grandson Fang Yun forced to death and joined the Left Prime Minister, both Shilangs of the Ministry of War became members of the Left Prime Minister's party.
Once the Minister of War steps down, there is a 90% chance that the new Minister of War will choose one of the two vice ministers, which means that the Left Prime Minister's party will have greater influence in the army.
Since the liberal arts department is relatively loose, Zuo Xiang does not need to infiltrate it deliberately. After years of planning, he has a certain influence in the liberal arts department.
The Left Prime Minister’s most powerful force is in the Ministry of Personnel, followed by Mizhou. Ninety percent of the officials in Mizhou were promoted by the Left Prime Minister himself.
In Yanzhou, which borders the State of Wu, King Kang was a local emperor.
Once the Left Prime Minister joins forces with Prince Kang, even the Queen Mother will have to avoid their attack.
Cabinet Councillor is an additional title and has no actual position. Only important officials of the court who are second only to the four prime ministers are eligible to obtain it. Everyone has the power to slightly influence the entire Jing State.
Fang Yun counted silently. Li Wenying and Marshal Chen were not there. The four cabinet ministers plus the cabinet councilors had a total of twenty-nine people, but the left prime minister had two votes, which meant that at least twenty-one votes were needed for him to be qualified to go to Wenzhan Qing Kingdom.
If there are less than twenty-one votes, Fang Yun will not be able to represent Jing Guowen in the fight against Qing Guo. Even if he wins, he can only suppress Qing Guo and will not be able to take back Xiangzhou.
Fang Yunwen originally wanted to kill three birds with one stone when he fought against the Kingdom of Qing. The first was to avenge the defeat of the Kingdom of Qing last year, the second was to warn other families and countries not to ban the library, and the third was to take back Xiangzhou.
It now seems that the possibility of retaking Xiangzhou is extremely low.
However, before the final result came out, Fang Yun was not discouraged at all and said, "Then let's start the voting. Voting left means support, and voting right means opposition."
After Fang Yun finished speaking, he threw his official seal to the left.
The four prime ministers and cabinet councilors took action one after another, and official seals flew away from the officials, some flying to the left side of Fang Yun, and some flying to the right side of Fang Yun.
Official seals of different sizes and materials were suspended in the air.
There were obviously more official seals on Fang Yun's left side, and they flew away faster, soon reaching fifteen official seals. However, there were fewer official seals on the right side, only ten, and some people had not thrown them out yet.
However, neither the left prime minister nor the right prime minister moved.
There were already ten votes against before the vote was even finalized, which meant that the total number of votes in favor would definitely not reach 70%.
Fang Yun's heart sank deeply.
Suddenly, the Minister of Literature said, "Lord Jianmei was unable to come to Fengtian Palace, so he asked me to support Fang Yun. Now, there are sixteen official seals on the left."
As time passed, the officials who were still hesitating finally made their final decision. Except for the Left Prime Minister Liu Shan and the Minister of Culture Jiang Hechuan, the rest of them had signed their names.
The number of official seals opposing the motion reached eleven, while the number of official seals supporting the motion was only seventeen.
Liu Shan said: "Lord Wen Xiang, now that things have come to this, you and I don't need to vote. The cabinet has decided that the Duke of Zhenguo cannot represent Jingguo in a war against Qingguo!" (To be continued...)