Chapter 383: Elder Wen
Someone asked sarcastically, "Sir Qin is already a minister, you should be more magnanimous and not narrow your path. Minister Zhang is a senior after all, and young people should still respect him."
Qin Chi looked at the person who was speaking.
He was an old minister who stood in the cabinet. The person standing with him was Li Huarong.
The position of prime minister was established in the early days of the Great Xia Dynasty. Later, because the prime minister was too powerful, Emperor Taizu abolished the prime minister system. The cabinet, composed of university scholars, assisted the emperor. The number of cabinet members was very small, usually between one and seven people.
As time went by, the power of the cabinet gradually increased, and the power of the cabinet chief could even suppress the six ministries, becoming the actual administrative center.
Although he does not have the title of prime minister, he actually has the power of prime minister.
When the previous emperor was in power, the dispute over the prime minister led to serious infighting within the cabinet. After Emperor Cheng of Ming ascended the throne, he curbed the development of the cabinet, and only three cabinet members remained.
Li Huarong took one spot.
Elder Wen, who had just complained about Qin Chi, took one seat.
The other one was very low-key, claiming to be sick at home most of the time, and Emperor Mingcheng would only ask him to come to the palace when he had something to do. This person was more like someone who just wanted to take up the title and not care about anything.
Wen Ge Lao said again: "I heard that you sent invitations to colleagues in the Hanlin Academy, the Dali Temple, and the Ministry of Works, but missed Lord Zhang. Isn't this exclusion?"
Qin Chi responded in surprise, "I don't agree with what you said. I also didn't send a letter to you, nor did I send a letter to many adults present, let alone to His Majesty. According to your logic, I am excluding you, excluding the adults, and excluding His Majesty? It doesn't make sense."
"You, you are making excuses."
Elder Wen glared at Qin Chi angrily.
Qin Chi looked helpless. "Okay, okay, you are the elder, whatever you say is what I want to say. I can't argue with you. If I do that, you will probably accuse me of disrespecting the elders again."
The question is, is your attitude respectful? But everyone feels relieved when they see you.
Many officials in the court had long been fed up with Lord Wen's temper and would not deal with him unless necessary.
Wen Ge Lao is a pedantic and rigid person. He follows the rules passed down by his ancestors in everything and pays special attention to his reputation.
It is said that his eldest daughter nearly fell down at a banquet and was helped up by a man. At that time, his daughter was going to get married the next month. When Wen Ge Lao found out, he wanted to cancel the engagement, saying that his daughter was no longer clean.
My fiancé said he didn't mind.
But Lord Wen insisted on canceling the engagement.
His daughter was forced to either live with the dead or commit suicide to preserve her innocence. His wife was so angry that she took her daughter to live in a nunnery and has not returned yet.
It just so happened that Lord Wen's behavior was praised by many people, which made his reputation even better.
Qin Chi couldn't understand this kind of people.
Obviously, the Wen family sacrificed a daughter to make the Wen family and the Wen family famous. Since this incident, there has been an endless stream of people coming to the Wen family to ask for marriage.
It is true that the girls of the Wen family will never have trouble finding a husband.
When Minister Zhang saw that Lord Wen was speaking for him, he immediately jumped out and said, "Lord Qin, this is what you did wrong. Lord Wen is highly respected, please show some respect to him. It's okay if you don't respect me. After all, I'm just a minister, not as good as you, Lord Qin. But Lord Wen has devoted his whole life to our Great Xia Dynasty. How dare you?"
"Master Zhang!"
Qin Chi interrupted him sharply, "How did I disrespect Lord Wen just now? You can point it out. It's just because I didn't send an invitation to the Zhang family? But, don't you know why I didn't send you an invitation? Do you have to make me say it in public?"
"What do you mean?"
Minister Zhang's heart skipped a beat, and he had a bad feeling.
Qin Chi said with great sorrow: "Master Zhang, why do you have to pretend? You and I know the truth."
Many people were confused after hearing this.
But one thing was clear: something was happening between the Qin and Zhang families.
This time, even Lord Wen was silent.
"The Emperor has arrived!"
The eunuch from the Imperial Household Department sang loudly.
Many ministers in the hall were halfway through watching the show, and as they were still not satisfied, they quickly straightened their postures and returned to their seats.
Qin Chi also stood in his place.
Today was Qin Chi's first day in court as the Minister of Industry, and he stood at the front. Among a group of elderly officials, a handsome young man like him stood out.
When Emperor Mingcheng came out, he glanced at Qin Chi several more times.
When Emperor Ming Cheng sat on the dragon throne.
All civil and military officials saluted in almost unison.
After completing the court etiquette, Emperor Mingcheng glanced at the ministers standing with their heads bowed below and said, "My dear ministers, why are you so quiet today? When I came here, I heard a dispute from afar. What is it? Tell me."
It was quiet again.
No one responded.
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Emperor Mingcheng looked at his eldest grandson and said, "Tell me, what were they talking about before I came here?"
Helian Mian looked embarrassed.
What should he say? Should he say that Wen Ge Lao was meddling in other people's business, or that Minister Zhang was trying to make things difficult for Qin Qi'an? Or that Qin Qi'an had refuted him and left him speechless without losing the upper hand? He didn't want to offend Wen Ge Lao, but he also wanted to win over Qin Chi. However, he wanted to avoid offending both parties, and his answer might not satisfy Emperor Ming Cheng.
This requires some quick wit.
Just when Helian Mian decided to retell the conversation between the three of them, impartially...
"Your Majesty, just now I had a few words with Lord Qin, it's not a big deal." Wen Ge Lao was the first to speak up, and said with a wry smile, "I am old, I can't understand the thoughts of young people."
Emperor Mingcheng glanced at several people.
Qin Chi showed a look of surprise at the right time, but he held back and didn't refute in public. If he refuted at this time, no matter whether he was right or wrong, it would give people a bad impression and feeling. It would be like he would be accused of being young and hot-tempered, eager to win, or unreasonable.
No matter what, Lord Wen is an elder.
Qin Chi could only swallow this loss. The best way to deal with it was to remain silent.
Silence is not acquiescence.
Silence is also a means of counterattack.
Because it’s not like no one saw what happened just now. Some people might be misled for a while, but when they think about it later, they will know what happened.
Emperor Mingcheng was about the same age as Wen Ge Lao, so he didn't like to hear Wen Ge Lao talk about whether he was old or not. So Wen Ge Lao thought that Emperor Mingcheng would ask.
Emperor Mingcheng's eyes indicated good luck.
Jixiang immediately stepped forward and said to the civil and military officials below: "If you have something to say, please report it. If not, please leave the court."
"I have something to report."
A military general stepped forward and handed over the memorial.
What the general wanted to report was that the soldiers in several military camps were already ready to go, and they only needed to wait for Emperor Mingcheng's order so that they could set off to the northwest immediately.
Emperor Cheng of the Ming Dynasty issued an edict immediately.
This matter was decided earlier by Emperor Cheng of the Ming Dynasty.
The Northwest won a victory, but it was a pyrrhic victory.
Tens of thousands of soldiers were killed, and the new barracks led by this general had trained the soldiers and were now going to be sent to the battlefield to replenish the combat power. The 100,000 soldiers who had just arrived would not go to the battlefield immediately, but would be responsible for some logistical matters, such as cleaning the battlefield, transporting military supplies, etc.