After saying that, before Xie Yun could speak, he turned to Qiu Chengshi and said, “In the future, the historians will record in detail the achievements of each of you, the suggestions you made to the emperor, and the kind of people you were in this era.”

His words seemed rambling and his choice of words was unrefined, yet they resonated deeply with the ministers, especially Xie Yun and others. They were already at the pinnacle of their positions and quite old. If they could serve as trusted advisors and accompany the emperor on the Fengshan ceremony, and if history would record them as capable ministers of a prosperous era, they would have reached the pinnacle of their lives. Vanity is something everyone has.

Qiu Tang was initially unsure of his intentions. He glanced at Huo Baichuan a few times, then his gaze fell on Liu Huan's memorial. Suddenly, he stepped forward and said, "I second that proposal."

After he seconded the motion, the officials under his faction also stood up to second it. When Xie Yun saw that Qiu Cheng had also seconded it, he stood up, knelt down, and said, "This old minister also seconds it."

Xie and Qiu Jun have already seconded the motion, leaving only Sun Ganzheng and others. Officials who are not involved in the factional struggle will continue to observe, and if everyone else seconds the motion, they will.

Jiang Jian stood behind the others. He came from a noble family and, although he was a civil official, he was not among the aristocratic civil officials. He represented a noble family.

He glanced around, then stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, I second that proposal."

Seeing that the Third Master of the Ningguo Marquis's Mansion had seconded the motion, the military officers from the noble families all stood up and said, "Your Majesty, we second the motion."

Officials who were not involved in the factional struggle saw that a large number of people had knelt down, and hurriedly stood up and knelt down as well, saying, "We second that proposal."

In just a few breaths, two-thirds of the court officials had knelt down. The remaining officials included Yang Zhong and Sun Ganzheng. Yang Zhong himself was not present, but his cronies, having received confirmation, decided that holding onto what they had was the best they could do. They exchanged a glance, steeled their resolve, and knelt down, saying, "Your Majesty, I second your motion!"

Now, only Sun Ganzheng remained. He stood there with his neck red, refusing to kneel. However, Emperor Mingde was overjoyed and said to Liang Yunsi, "Present the memorial."

Liang Yunsi stepped down, took the memorial from Liu Huan's hand, and respectfully handed it to Emperor Mingde. Emperor Mingde read the contents and did not find anything wrong with it, so he said, "According to your memorial, it is only this candidate?"