The floor heating in the Qianqing Palace was burning brightly, and it was as warm as spring in the western warm room.

The two women with the most noble status in the Ming Dynasty were talking in private with amorous feelings.

Although Empress Dowager Li has been the Empress Dowager for five years, she is actually only 32 years old. Princess Ning'an is only 42 years old. As the saying goes, thirty is like a wolf and forty is like a tiger. It is not surprising that these two people, a wolf and a tiger, can speak like a tiger.

"Can't bear to let go?" Ning An looked at Li Caifeng's lost face, as if she saw herself ten years ago. At that time, she had just reunited with Zhao Lang, but was separated by her brother. When she heard the bad news, she felt like the sky had fallen...

"Yeah, I feel like I can't live like this anymore." Li Caifeng wiped her tears and sobbed, "Everyone is forcing me to let him go, but I just can't bear to let Zhang Lang go."

"Alas, sister, you are obsessed. What is meant by a short separation is better than a new marriage, and a long separation is like a first love?" Ning An said with the attitude of a person who has experienced it: "Every time I am separated from Zhao Lang for a year or so, it is so sweet and exciting when we meet again, and the longer the separation, the more exciting it is."

"Really?" Li Caifeng suddenly thought of how she had been separated from Mr. Zhang for many years during the Longqing period. How excited she was and how her face turned red when she could finally see him every day during the Wanli period!

"Of course."

"But Zhang Lang and I have never been together, so how can this be considered a newlywed relationship..." Empress Dowager Li buried her head in the quilt and cried sadly.

"So we should let him go back." Ning An saw that he had no choice but to use his ultimate move, and hurriedly whispered: "There is another meaning to the saying that a short separation is better than a new marriage."

"What do you mean?" Empress Dowager Li stopped sobbing and looked up at her.

"Think about it, there are many people in the capital, and you have a special status, so you can't feel free even in the palace..." Ning An said.

"I don't mind, the main thing is that Zhang Lang can't let go..." Queen Mother Li muttered gloomily, "Everyone in this palace is my people. If anyone dares to gossip, I will kill her whole family."

"Then he also has pressure, just like Zhao Lang always performs poorly with me, and has to go out and get a room to regain his former courage." Ning An shared his experience.

"You mean, I also..." Empress Dowager Li understood, her heart pounding, and she quickly covered her face and shook her head, "How is that possible? I still have to take care of the emperor."

"The emperor will be getting married in a few months. After the wedding, the queen will take care of him. Didn't you say you would return to power a long time ago?" Ning An bewitched, "Sister, you have worked hard for the emperor for so many years. It's not too much for you to retire and go to Jiangnan to have some fun, right?"

"Not too much, not too much." Li Caifeng was never stingy when it came to loving herself. She looked at her elder sister-in-law with excitement and said, "But I have no experience in this area, and I need my sister to teach me..."

"Okay, okay, I have a complete guide here..." Ning An readily agreed, "If you still feel that Jiangnan is not safe, there are still overseas. I heard that being on the sea is very different. I have always wanted to try it, but unfortunately I haven't found the opportunity."

The experienced driver Ning An started to drive fast. When he heard this, Empress Dowager Li immediately had wild thoughts and started to have a pink daydream. She wanted to go to bed with Mr. Zhang right away... Oh no, get on the boat and go out to sea...

Seeing the uncontrollable smile of Empress Dowager Li, Ning An could not help but feel guilty in his heart: "I'm sorry, brother, you don't know anything anyway. For Zhao Lang and my daughter, I can only apologize to you..."

~~

At dusk, Emperor Wanli came back from school and the first thing he did was to go to the West Warm Pavilion to pay his respects to his mother.

Then I saw that Empress Dowager Li was radiant and energetic. There was no sign of illness at all.

"That's great. I've been worried about my mother all day." Wanli looked at himself with admiration for being distracted in class today, and found a perfect excuse: "Later, my friend said that my mother was much better, and I thought she was lying to me."

"I'm not lying to you. It's because your mother suddenly figured it out and her illness was cured immediately." Empress Dowager Li said with a smile.

"What has your mother figured out?" Wanli asked puzzledly.

"Your Majesty, you shouldn't push too hard on Mr. Zhang." Empress Dowager Li said, "Otherwise, Mr. Zhang will be the one who suffers."

"Yes, I heard that the master had a local hemorrhage. Mother, where exactly is the local hemorrhage?" the little emperor asked in confusion.

"The local part is the anus, don't ask nonsense questions, little kid." Empress Dowager Li blushed and scolded him, "Then ask Zhang Xianggong to draft an edict tomorrow, and the emperor will issue it."

"Yes, mother." Wanli answered cheerfully. Because the power of the country was not in his hands, he would not feel uncomfortable no matter how others manipulated him. On the contrary, he was very happy because no one was in charge anymore.

"But mother, Mr. Zhang's hometown is thousands of miles away, and I can't ask him everything in the future." Wanli thought of another problem and said, "I can't handle state affairs well myself."

"Who asked you to come here by yourself?" Empress Dowager Li said, "For important matters, Mr. Zhang should make decisions in an emergency. As for minor matters, why don't you let your teachers take charge of them first?"

"Good." Wanli nodded hurriedly, thinking that it was a good feeling. After being humiliated by him, Lü Diaoyang took sick leave and stayed at home. Currently, Ma Ziqiang, the Minister of Rites, is in charge of his studies, and Shen Shixing, Yu Youding, Xu Guo, Wang Xijue, Zhao Shouzheng and others are the daily lecturers.

These people can't suppress him. His life will be much easier if anyone replaces him.

Wanli thought it would be fun if Mr. Zhao could join the cabinet, but unfortunately his words didn't count, he still had to listen to Mr. Zhang...

But the mother and daughter obviously thought it was too simple. The current situation could not be resolved just because they wanted to. They had to ask the civil officials whether they agreed or not. Before a compromise was reached, Zhang Xianggong would not draft an edict.

He had been hit hard enough, and he didn't want to be scolded by the civil servants for clinging to power...

~~

The night wind howled, blowing the string of lanterns with "Zhao Mansion" written on them in Zhaojia Hutong to and fro.

The water outside was freezing, but the four people in the flower hall were sweating profusely.

Zhao Liben, Zhao Shouzheng, Zhao Jin and Zhao Hao were eating hotpot around an eight-person table.

"Every time I eat mutton hotpot, I think of the welcome dinner my nephew gave me when I first came to Beijing eleven years ago." As Mr. Zhao put the full plate of mutton into the copper pot, he sighed, "Time flies so fast."

"How can it not be fast?" Zhao Jin poured wine for the old man and Mr. Zhao Er and said, "Second Uncle, you have become the Shao Zongbo."

"You, if only you could control your temper." Zhao Liben looked at Zhao Jin and sighed, "You are now the Grand Chancellor, but in the end, Wang Guoguang took all the benefits."

He was talking about last month, when Zhang Han was dismissed by Emperor Wanli, and Zhao Jin took temporary charge of the Ministry of Personnel as the Left Vice Minister. Originally, as long as he learned from his predecessor's lesson and took the lead in retaining Zhang Xianggong, the transfer would be a natural thing to do when the next imperial recommendation was made.

But Zhao Jin was stubborn and continued to refuse to submit a petition like Zhang Han. Although he was only fined for three months because of his connections, he offended Mr. Zhang. This also meant that he would not be able to become a heavenly official...

"Uncle is right," Zhao Jin said with a wry smile, "I am just that kind of person, nephew. I can't do anything about it."

"This is called a persona that cannot be overturned." Zhao Hao, who was sitting at the bottom, said with a smile: "With my elder brother's current status, it is only a matter of time before he becomes a minister. How can I bow my head and serve the powerful and make them unhappy?"

"Hahaha, brother, you really know how to talk." Zhao Jin laughed so hard that he couldn't stop and clinked glasses with Zhao Hao.

"So, in this court nomination, I have to vote for Wang Guoguang as well?" Zhao Shouzheng asked.

"Need I say more?" Zhao Liben rolled his eyes at him.

According to convention, officials of the third rank and above are normally recommended by the nine ministers and officials of the third rank and above.

Because the cabinet ministers and the ministers of the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of War had the most power, the most people participated in the imperial recommendation. Officials of the Six Ministries, the Censorate, the Ministry of Public Administration, the Supreme Court and above, as well as the Six Departments and the Thirteen Circuits Censors, all in Beijing had to participate. The number of people was so large that it was no less than a small court meeting, so it was commonly known as the "Great Imperial Recommendation".

The reason why more officials should be involved in the court recommendation is naturally to more broadly represent the opinions of all officials and prevent powerful officials or a certain faction from controlling these high-ranking official positions.

On the other hand, the reason why the Ministers of Personnel and Military were able to compete with the Grand Secretary was also because of the recommendation of the court.

However, this method of court recommendation, which was regarded as sacred and inviolable by all officials, had been destroyed by Prime Minister Zhang.

In the first year of the Wanli reign, the Minister of Personnel Yang Bo retired due to illness. When the court recommended the successor to the Minister of Personnel, the first choice was the Left Censor-in-Chief Ge Shouli, the second was the Minister of Works Zhu Heng, and the third was Zhang Han.

However, when the results of the imperial recommendation were reported, Prime Minister Zhang, who disliked Ge Shouli's recklessness and uprightness and Zhu Heng's reliance on his seniority, blatantly broke the rules and skipped over the first two, and specially promoted Zhang Han, who had the least qualifications and prestige, as the Minister of Personnel.

This also led to the Ministry of Personnel being controlled by the Cabinet, and the promotion and demotion of ministers were all determined by Prime Minister Zhang's decision.

Over the years, Zhang Han has been criticized and scolded for bringing disgrace to the Heavenly Official, which led to his previous move of going to the extreme, which can be regarded as a way to clear his name a little.

However, this cannot change the current situation that the court has been controlled by Prime Minister Zhang.

Recently, Wang Zhuan, Zeng Shengwu and other core members of Zhang's party have been spreading rumors that Prime Minister Zhang favors Wang Guoguang to take charge of the selection. They want people to be more sensible and vote for the Grand Tutor, and not to vote blindly, so as to prevent Prime Minister Zhang from making another special selection, which would damage the sanctity of the imperial selection.

~~

"In this way, the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of War will all be run by people from Shanxi." Master Zhao ate two chopsticks of mutton hotpot and suddenly realized something incredible. He said, "The civil and military officials of the world are controlled by them. Isn't this too inappropriate?"

"Not bad. You've thought of this. That's progress." Zhao Liben sneered, not sure whether he was praising him or mocking him.

Mr. Zhao has a good attitude and thinks positively of everything he is confused about...

"We definitely cannot let them manage both the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Ministry of War." Zhao Jin hurriedly said with a smile, "So the Minister of War Wang Chonggu has already submitted a petition to retire in order to keep Wang Guoguang, the high-ranking official."

"Lao Xi'er is really united. Look at our Jiangnan Gang, everyone has their own ideas." Zhao Hao said half-jokingly and half-seriously: "No wonder they lost the last Shangshu."

"..." Zhao Jin blushed and said, "We in the Jiangnan Gang think so, but we are different. We are a party but not a group."

"It's just a pile of loose sand, and you still have the nerve to say that." Zhao Liben sneered and changed the subject:

"But right now, there's a chance to make back your money with some profit. You guys can't afford to slack off again!"

ps. Post first and revise later, it will be gone tonight.