Prime Minister

Chapter 233, Section 232: [Deep Thoughts]

In the third month of spring, the capital city was warm and the streets were bustling with pedestrians.

The Buzhengfang area was quiet, as it was home to many important officials of the court. In particular, outside the residence of the Grand Secretary, although a large number of officials were waiting to pay their respects, there was no commotion or noise, as everyone knew that the Grand Secretary preferred peace and quiet.

Ning Hengzhi is fifty-eight years old this year. This age is considered young among the Grand Secretaries of the Great Yan Dynasty. For example, the first Grand Secretary of the late Emperor's reign was nearly seventy years old when he was appointed.

Twenty years after the current emperor ascended the throne, Ning Hengzhi rose from Hanlin Academy Reader, Vice Minister of Rites to Minister of Personnel in just seven years. Moreover, he entered the cabinet at the same time as he was promoted to Minister of Personnel in the seventh year of the Taihe era. Although he was ranked last in the cabinet at that time, he was almost able to rival the Grand Secretary because of his position as Minister of Personnel.

In the fourteenth year of the Taihe era, Ning Hengzhi finally outlasted the Grand Secretaries before him and ascended to the position of Grand Secretary, becoming the head of the civil officials of the Great Yan.

In other words, Ning Hengzhi was only 52 years old when he was promoted to Grand Secretary, making him the youngest Grand Secretary in the history of the Great Yan Dynasty. He was also the youngest top scholar in the imperial examination in the history of the Great Yan Dynasty.

His life has been one of unparalleled glory and immense favor. What's even more remarkable is that the emperor still trusts and relies on him to this day, which makes his position as chief minister incredibly secure and ensures that the officials around him remain convinced that this great ship will not capsize.

However, recently several high-ranking members of the Ning Party have sensed an uneasy undercurrent.

"Motosuke."

Minister of Justice Wei Zheng put down his teacup and pondered, "I wonder if His Majesty intends for Minister Shen to join the cabinet after his retirement, or to concurrently serve as Grand Secretary of the Inner Cabinet as Grand Minister of Works?"

Since last year, news that Shen Wang was about to join the cabinet had been quietly spreading among the court and the public. The officials in the court were very familiar with this phenomenon—it was the emperor intentionally releasing the news to observe the court's reaction in advance. If there was no strong opposition, he would gradually push forward with the matter.

Wei Zheng tacitly acknowledged that no one could obstruct the Emperor's will, and his question hit the nail on the head regarding the crucial point of the matter.

Within the cabinet, the scope of authority and responsibility of cabinet ministers other than the chief and deputy chief ministers has never been fixed, depending entirely on whether the emperor grants them additional duties.

Take Ning Hengzhi for example. When he first entered the cabinet, he was able to rival the Grand Secretary because he also served as the Minister of Personnel, which gave him control over the evaluation and promotion of tens of thousands of officials in the Great Yan.

Now that Shen Wang's entry into the cabinet is a foregone conclusion, there is still much to be done regarding his future position within the cabinet.

Ning Hengzhi said calmly, "Shen Wang has done an excellent job in the Ministry of Works these past two years, and His Majesty is very satisfied with him."

Upon hearing this, Wei Zheng frowned, and a hint of envy appeared in his eyes.

Sitting on the other side, Zhao Wentai, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, sighed and said quietly, "His Majesty values ​​this Minister Shen far too much."

This statement may seem somewhat disrespectful, but since the people sitting in the room are all core high-ranking members of the Ning Party, there is no need to worry about it being spread.

Wei Zheng nodded and said, "Who can argue with that? In the past two years, Vice Minister Ouyang has made a series of blunders, and His Majesty is utterly disappointed in him. Otherwise, he wouldn't be so eager to promote Minister Shen. Moreover, Minister Shen is different from Vice Minister Ouyang; he has a clean record, and it's very difficult to find any fault with him."

"Not necessarily."

After a long silence, Cheng Zhaolin, the Left Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, slowly said, "Minister Shen is indeed cautious, but his prized student is not invincible."

"Xue Huai?"

Wei Zheng was taken aback, then chuckled and said, "Brother Jingrui, are you unaware of this boy's methods?"

Cheng Zhaolin asked, puzzled, "What do you mean by that?"

Wei Zheng first glanced at Ning Hengzhi, who had a calm expression, and then explained, "Don't be fooled by Xue Huai's youth and arrogance into thinking he's full of flaws. If you really think that way, you'll most likely fall into his trap. Xu Guanlan is a prime example!"

He did not mention Xue Minglun and Yue Zhongming, two former high-ranking members of the Ning Party, mainly because he did not want to displease Ning Hengzhi.

Cheng Zhaolin shook his head and said, "Brother Zhaojie, how could I not know Xue Huai's deeds and methods?"

Sitting on the right, Liu Chongnian, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, asked curiously, "Brother Jingrui, do you perhaps have a brilliant plan to deal with Xue Huai?"

"It's not exactly a brilliant plan."

Cheng Zhaolin calmly said, "Xue Huai is still young and inexperienced. How can he compare to Minister Shen in terms of his conduct and dealings with others? Take the news we received recently, for example. After taking charge of Yangzhou, Xue Huai has gradually revealed his youthful nature. Recently, he even imprisoned a beautiful female doctor in his official residence."

An eerie silence immediately fell over the study.

It would be a lie to say that these Ning Party officials did not want to deal with Xue Huai. Putting aside past grievances, Xue Huai's status as a key figure in the Qingliu faction alone destined the two sides to be irreconcilable enemies.

However, one must follow the rules when acting in the imperial court; those who act lawlessly will inevitably be disliked by the emperor.

The only way for them to deal with Xue Huai was through official procedures. However, the Xue family had accumulated a substantial fortune over generations, and Xue Huai was not currently greedy. In addition, he was favored by the emperor and protected by Shen Wang, so he did not need to resort to crooked means to seek advancement in his career. It would be difficult to find any fault with him.

Hearing the words "national beauty and heavenly fragrance" from Cheng Zhaolin, everyone became interested and urged him to tell the details. Cheng Zhaolin then briefly recounted the story of the goddess physician in Yangzhou, and then said to Ning Hengzhi, "Prime Minister, this is a message sent by Governor Jiang. This matter is not fabricated out of thin air. Even if it cannot cause substantial damage to Xue Huai, it can more or less affect His Majesty's opinion of him."

Under everyone's gaze, Ning Hengzhi picked up the warm pre-rain Longjing tea from the table, watched a fine hair slowly sink into the clear tea soup, and slowly said, "Jiang Jizhou wants your subordinate censor to impeach Xue Huai on this matter?"

Cheng Zhaolin replied succinctly, "Yes."

"If I remember correctly, the heads of the main culprits in last year's Lianghuai Salt Case are still hanging on the city tower in Yangzhou, aren't they?"

Ning Hengzhi's lips curled into a slight sneer as he suppressed his disappointment and looked at the crowd, saying, "Have you all forgotten that Xue Huai was able to crack the Lianghuai Salt Case not only because of the trump cards Xue Mingzhang and Shen Wang left him, but also because of the manpower of the Jing'an Division? Jiang Jizhou has been sitting on that gold mine of the Grand Canal Administration for too long. It's one thing if he doesn't remember how powerful the Jing'an Division is, but how could you all overlook it?"

Cheng Zhaolin quickly realized his mistake and said with remorse, "Your Excellency, please forgive me. I was being reckless."

Wei Zheng and the others were all enlightened by Ning Heng's words.

Given the close ties between the Jing'an Division and the Yangzhou government, even Jiang Jizhou couldn't keep Xue Huai's affair of keeping a mistress in the official residence a secret, so how could it be kept from the secret agents of the Jing'an Division?
Regardless of Xue Huai's reasons for doing this, the Jing'an Division would inevitably find out, which means that the Emperor had already received a secret report.

Given Xue Huai's shrewdness and cunning, he couldn't possibly be unaware of this, yet he still did it, indicating that he had ample reason to do so. Perhaps he had already secretly reported the whole story to the emperor.

If the censors of the Censorate were to rashly impeach them at this time, the emperor, who is always suspicious, would probably regard them as treacherous colluders.

Ning Hengzhi stopped short of making a point, but his disappointment grew stronger.

He couldn't help but think of Xue Minglun, who was now unemployed in his hometown in Hedong.

Xue Minglun was initially disliked by the emperor because of the corruption scandal in the Ministry of Works, but Ning Hengzhi believed that this was because Shen Wang's methods were too ruthless, and the emperor just happened to be targeting a high-ranking official to deal with the Ning faction, and Xue Minglun just happened to run into the line of fire.

Compared to Wei Zheng and others, Xue Minglun would at least not make such a basic mistake.

In the past six months, Ning Hengzhi had also tried to probe the emperor to see if he could find an opportunity for Xue Minglun to be reinstated, but the emperor had not given any indication, and Ning Hengzhi did not dare to act rashly.

Now it seems he has to create an opportunity for Xue Minglun. The people in front of him are competent at giving advice, and they are even better at scheming for wealth and power. But if you expect them to face the challenges after Shen Wang enters the cabinet, they will most likely be defeated. Xue Minglun has experienced that setback, and with the experience of the past two years, he will probably not be easily outmaneuvered by Shen Wang again.

The atmosphere in the study was almost stagnant.

Ning Hengzhi looked at the solemn-looking crowd, put down his teacup, sighed softly, and said in a gentle tone, "Regarding Shen Wang's entry into the cabinet, you cannot focus your attention solely on Shen Wang."

Wei Zheng immediately said respectfully, "Please enlighten me, Your Excellency."

Ning Heng said, "Think carefully, why did His Majesty suddenly promote Shen Wang to the cabinet?"

Zhao Wentai carefully observed Ning Hengzhi's expression and said cautiously, "This humble official dares to speak, it is because Vice Minister Ouyang and Grand Secretary Sun interfered in the imperial examinations that His Majesty was enraged, which led to the adjustment of the Grand Secretaries of the Inner Cabinet?"

"This is just the surface."

Ning Hengzhi didn't dwell on Sun Yan, who had already requested retirement, or Ouyang Hui, who was struggling alone. He slowly said, "For His Majesty, whether Shen Wang joins the cabinet is not that important. Whether it's the Ministry of Works, the Ministry of Rites, or even the most powerful Ministry of Personnel, Shen Wang can fulfill the important tasks assigned by His Majesty. In short, His Majesty's control over the court remains strong. He didn't bring Shen Wang into the cabinet to deal with me."

These words left everyone bewildered.

They always believed that the emperor supported Ouyang Hui to compete with Ning Hengzhi. Now that Ouyang Hui was old and incompetent, they created Shen Wang, a new rival for Ning Hengzhi who was far stronger than Ouyang Hui, to prevent the Ning faction from becoming too powerful in the court.

Looking at everyone's reaction, Ning Hengzhi shook his head slightly and said, "It seems that you have been blinded by wealth and glory these past few years. I have told you before that there has never been a Ning faction in the court. Even if there is one, it is only the Emperor's faction."

Everyone was shocked.

"Have you turned the corner?"

Ning Hengzhi smiled with a complicated expression, his tone tinged with emotion: "In the end, His Majesty's decision to bring Shen Wang into the cabinet was not for the present, but for the future, for... the court structure after His Majesty's passing and the new emperor's ascension to the throne."

"I am nearing sixty and will surely pass away before Your Majesty. Why should Your Majesty waste your energy dealing with a dying man?"

"Therefore, Shen Wang's entry into the cabinet was not the beginning of his power. On the contrary, he was destined to remain silent for a long time, working hard to gain seniority in the cabinet's office."

"From now on, you should stop focusing on dealing with Shen Wang and Xue Huai, the master and disciple duo, and instead try every possible way to find out..."

"Who is His Majesty's true chosen successor?"

(End of this chapter)