In the court.

The chief minister of the cabinet, Fan Jingwen, and the minister of the Ministry of Revenue, Xie Sanbin, started a discussion.

After all the arguments, Fan Jingwen was rarely at a disadvantage.

However, he was not discouraged, but said to Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, forcibly implementing currency reform is an act that harms the people of the world, and the cabinet will never agree to it."

Before Chongzhen could say anything, Xie Sanbin rushed to remind him: "Lord Fan, the cabinet is not ruled by you alone."

Fan Jingwen said calmly: "It is true that I am not the only one who has the final say in the cabinet, but I am the chief minister of the cabinet. If the cabinet agrees, I will resign from this position of chief minister."

As soon as these words were spoken, the court fell silent instantly.

Except Chongzhen, everyone looked at Fan Jingwen.

The chief minister of the cabinet is the head of the civil officials and is the goal pursued by scholars all over the world throughout their lives.

In order to resist the forced implementation of currency reform, Fan Jingwen even gambled his own future.

Was he just saying it casually, or did he really want to do it?

Everyone looked at each other first, and then looked for the other cabinet members in the crowd.

When disagreements arise within the cabinet, there are two approaches.

One is that people with conflicting opinions submit separate memorials to the emperor, asking him to make the decision.

The second is internal voting, where the minority obeys the majority.

Fan Jingwen was the chief minister of the cabinet, and his vote was counted as two.

This is also where his confidence comes from.

The current members of the Ming Dynasty cabinet are: Chief Minister and Minister of Works Fan Jingwen, Minister of Revenue Xie Sanbin, Minister of Rites Huang Jin, Minister of Personnel Qiu Yu, and Minister of War Wang Jiayan.

In front of everyone, the cabinet began to vote.

Huang Jin and Wang Jiayan immediately expressed their willingness to abstain and not participate in this matter.

Under the gaze of all the civil and military officials in the court, Xie Sanbin and Qiu Yu raised their hands at the same time.

Their meaning was very clear; they agreed to enforce the currency reform.

Fan Jingwen stared into Qiu Yu's eyes and said in disbelief: "You...you actually..."

Qiu Yu clasped his hands together and said, "Sorry!"

Two votes against two votes, it seems that there is no winner or loser.

In fact, the winner has already been decided.

Whether out of spite or for reputation, Fan Jingwen turned to Chongzhen with a dark face and said, "Your Majesty, I have a favor to ask of you."

"Please speak, sir."

"I was born in the fifteenth year of the Wanli reign, and I am sixty-five today. Liaodong has been pacified, and the overall situation in the court has stabilized. I have tinnitus and wanted to continue to help Your Majesty handle the affairs of the court, but I am powerless! I request to retire and return home, and I hope Your Majesty will grant me permission."

Seeing that Fan Jingwen really took the initiative to resign, all the civil and military officials in the court exclaimed in surprise.

"Lord Fan is actually serious!"

"That's right, I'll quit if I say so!"

"Lord Fan is resigning from His Majesty at this time, which is suspected of threatening His Majesty."

"Everyone, stop talking and just wait and see what happens!"

After a burst of noise, the hall returned to silence.

Everyone's attention shifted from Fan Jingwen to Chongzhen.

They wanted to see how the Ming Emperor planned to deal with it.

After all, Fan Jingwen worked diligently and solved many problems for the Ming Dynasty and Chongzhen.

Chongzhen remained calm from beginning to end, without any ripples in his heart.

Because he had already expected Fan Jingwen to resign.

Why did Fan Jingwen resign?

First, I am really old and can no longer do some work.

Rather than staying in the court and fighting overtly and covertly, it is better to return to your hometown and retire while you can still enjoy your life in glory.

The second reason is reputation.

This is also the main reason.

Fan Jingwen is a person who cares about his reputation.

For Fan Jingwen, during his tenure as the chief minister of the cabinet, the imperial court not only incorporated the Western Tumed and Ordos tribes of Mongolia.

He also accomplished the feat of pacifying Liaodong.

In terms of fame, he has earned a lot.

If he retired at this time, there would be no stain on his reputation.

But if he continues to stay in the court, he will probably be implicated in something and his reputation will be damaged.

So Fan Jingwen decided to quit.

Fan Jingwen knew.

The forced implementation of currency reform seemed to be Xie Sanbin's idea, but in fact it was Chongzhen's idea.

In order to retire successfully, Fan Jingwen had to sing a different tune regardless of the policy itself.

When Xie Sanbin supported it, he opposed it.

If Xie Sanbin objects, then he will support it.

In other words, opposing the forced implementation of currency reform was just Fan Jingwen's excuse.

His original intention was to take the opportunity to leave the court and return to his hometown to retire.

Chongzhen raised his eyelids and looked at Fan Jingwen.

Fan Jingwen was also looking at him.

The two foxes looked at each other.

At the moment of eye contact.

Chongzhen knew what Fan Jingwen was thinking.

Fan Jingwen knew that Chongzhen knew his thoughts.

Chongzhen knew that Fan Jingwen already knew that he knew Fan Jingwen's thoughts.

The two looked at each other for a while, and Chongzhen suddenly stood up and said, "Why do you say that, Lord Fan? You are the Prime Minister of the Ming Dynasty, my right-hand man. How can I let you go home just because of a policy?"

Before anyone could react, Chongzhen said to Xie Sanbin, "Minister Xie, do as Lord Fan says."

Xie Sanbin was a little confused.

This is different from what I said yesterday.

It was also here yesterday that Chongzhen told him that if Fan Jingwen objected, he should let Fan Jingwen go home.

Now Fan Jingwen opposed it, but Chongzhen said to do it according to Fan Jingwen's wishes.

This is not right!

Why did Your Majesty suddenly change your mind?

He was also aiming to replace Fan Jingwen and become the Prime Minister of the Cabinet.

In this case, when will he be able to become the Prime Minister of the Ming Dynasty?

While Xie Sanbin was upset, Fan Jingwen was also upset.

He has made preparations to resign from his official position and return to his hometown to retire.

Because he was so well prepared, he had already guessed who would be the next prime minister.

Except for the Minister of Revenue Xie Sanbin, no one else is qualified.

Because Xie Sanbin is a person who will do anything to gain power.

This is in line with both Chongzhen's interests and the national conditions of the Ming Dynasty.

In order to test whether Xie Sanbin is qualified to be the Prime Minister, he tested Xie Sanbin outside the Qianqing Palace yesterday.

He thought he could resign smoothly and return home, but Chongzhen suddenly did the opposite and planned to do things according to his wishes.

How is this possible?

Fan Jingwen was a little anxious.

He first winked at Xie Sanbin, signaling him to stick to his opinion.

Xie Sanbin thought Fan Jingwen was provoking him, and due to the other party's status, Xie Sanbin could only lower his head in humiliation.

Seeing that the other party misunderstood him, Fan Jingwen became even more anxious.

But he couldn't say it directly in front of so many people, so he could only grit his teeth and frown.

Seeing that Fan Jingwen's plan to retire and return home was about to be shattered, Gao Shiming, the seal holder of the Imperial Household Department, suddenly said, "Your Majesty, I think this matter should be carefully considered. After all, the purpose of forcibly implementing the currency reform is to make up for the deficit in the national treasury. If we follow Lord Fan's wishes, it may be detrimental to the court."

Hearing Gao Shiming's words, Fan Jingwen was so happy that he almost jumped up.

He suppressed his excitement and changed his words: "Eunuch Gao is absolutely right. I was not thoughtful enough."