That night, Master Zhao convened an emergency meeting of the court operations command in his study.

Zhao Liben, Duke Dingguo Xu Wenbi, Eunuch Ji, Zheng Ruozeng, Tang Youde, Zhang Qianfa and other members of the command center gathered together and looked at Zhao Hao in unison.

"...This is the situation." Zhao Hao first told everyone the latest situation, and then said gloomily: "This will be a severe test for us!"

"Yes." Everyone nodded. In their pre-calculation, Prime Minister Li should at least be neutral. And Prime Minister Zhang was very clear about the righteousness and would most likely support them. No one expected that Li Chunfang would eventually decide to stand on the opposite side, and Zhang Juzheng would also escape. This made their chances of winning very high, and suddenly became precarious.

"I heard that recently, the people in the grain transport industry have been spending a lot of money in Beijing, lobbying everyone, and secretly instructing the grain transport workers to go to Beijing to cause trouble. Although they were stopped in Shandong, it has sounded the alarm for the court." Xu Wenbi sighed and said, "The Prime Minister keeps talking about 'peace and inaction' all day long. I'm afraid he has been frightened by those cowards."

"Haha, well said, what a coward!" Zhao Liben took a foot-long brass pipe with a mahogany mouthpiece and took a deep puff. While enjoying the pleasure of puffing out smoke, he sneered, "Although Shandong exaggerated the number of people causing trouble, the Prime Minister can be frightened by a coward, which shows that he is even more cowardly than a dog."

Europeans have had decades of smoking history. The pipe used by Mr. Zhao was bought from the Portuguese by Tang Baolu when he went to Macau for purchasing and gave it to Zhao Hao.

But Zhao Hao thought smoking was harmful to health, so he didn't accept his gift and didn't plan to let the old man smoke. So Tang Baolu gave the pipe and tobacco to Tang Youde as a filial gift.

Old Tang soon became addicted to smoking and even led several board members astray. When Zhao Liben came to Beijing this time, he was also recruited by Old Tang to become a smoker, and he still used the same pipe that Tang Baolu had given Zhao Hao.

It can be seen that some things are destined to happen and cannot be stopped.

~~

"The situation has changed. We can't hide it anymore. We have to go all out and compete with them!" Zhao Hao has adjusted his mood and is full of fighting spirit again.

"That's right! Let them see the strength of our Xishan Company!" Everyone shouted in unison.

"Let's count the votes again." Zhao Hao knocked on the wall behind him with the wooden stick in his hand.

The thick velvet curtains were pulled aside, revealing a snow-white wall. On the wall were three different colored iron plates: blue, yellow, and white. The blue and yellow plates were on both sides, and the white plate in the middle was covered with name tags embedded with magnets.

There are a total of forty-five name plates, most of which are well-known names, including the Nine Ministers: Minister of Personnel Yang Bo, Minister of War Huo Ji, Minister of Rites Gao Yi, Minister of Punishment Mao Kai, Minister of Revenue Ma Sen, Minister of Works Zhu Heng, and the Public Security Envoy Xue Songyi, Left Censor-in-Chief Wang Ting, and Supreme Court Minister Dong Chuanze.

And fifteen vice ministers in the six ministries... Among them, the Ministry of War had four vice ministers, and the Ministry of Revenue had an additional vice minister in charge of the granaries.

In addition, there were the Minister of the Ministry of Rites, the Minister of the Ministry of Rites, the Minister of the Ministry of the Imperial Household, the Governor of Shuntian Prefecture, the Governor-General of Ji and Liao, and the Governor of Shandong. The two Left Vice-Censors-in-Chief and the four Supervisory Censors of the Censorate. The Six Departments of the Imperial Censorate, as well as the Left Imperial Censorate of the Engineering Department and the Left Imperial Censorate of the Household Department. There was also the Doctor of the Ministry of Water Resources of the Ministry of Works.

These are all the people who have the right to vote in the court meeting three days later. Although the cabinet ministers preside over the meeting, they will not vote.

Then Zhao Hao and everyone else analyzed the possible destination of each vote one by one.

Although there is no obvious party struggle in the Ming Dynasty, factions have always existed. Officials form different factions of varying sizes based on various relationships, such as hometown ties, age ties, interests, in-laws, affiliations, political views, and temperaments.

Although there may be differences in attitudes within a faction when facing different people and events, basically the faction still focuses on advancing and retreating together and maintaining consistency, so as to enhance the influence of their group and safeguard the interests of the group.

If these 45 voting ministers were to be divided into factions, they would be divided in different ways according to different standards. Obviously, in matters involving millions of hometowns, the place of origin would be the biggest obstacle, and other factors must take a back seat.

Zhao Hao divided the 45 people into groups according to their place of origin: ten from Jiangnan, six from Jiangbei, three from Jiangxi, five from Shanxi, four from Shandong, four from Beizhi, three from Henan, three from Huguang, five from Fujian and Guangdong, and two from Sichuan, Shaanxi, Yunnan and Guizhou.

The Jiangnan natives include the Jiangnan part of Nanzhili plus Zhejiang, while the Jiangbei natives refer to the Jiangbei part of Nanzhili.

"All officials from Jiangnan are on our side." Zhao Hao snapped his fingers, and Sun Dawu quickly transferred the name tags of the ten officials from Jiangnan to the blue board.

"All officials from Jiangbei are staunch supporters of the Canal Transport Party." Zhao Hao added, "Now that the Prime Minister has such an attitude, it is even less likely that they will stand with us."

Sun Dawu then pasted the name tags of six Jiangbei officials on the yellow board.

"I've talked to officials in Jiangxi and basically there's no problem." Zhao Liben took a deep breath and exhaled white mist from his nose. "If we switch to sea transportation, the burden on Jiangxi Province will also be reduced. This is a good thing and we have to support it."

Sun Dawu added three more to the blue board.

"Don't even mention their Shandong origins." Zhang Qianfa said with a wry smile: "Whether it's the Grand Canal or the Jiaolai River, they all pass through their territory. They are the most die-hard supporters of the Canal Transport Group."

Sun Dawu added four more yellow boards.

"Those Henan guys are closer to the canal than the sea, and they have always disliked us." Eunuch Ji smiled bitterly. Even if we don't talk about interests, Henan finally produced two ministers, Gao Gong and Guo Pu, but both were forced out of office by Minister Xu.

By the way, there is also the feud between Gao Gong and Zhao Liben. It would be strange if Henan people would like people from Jiangnan.

"We can pull two of the four people from Beizhi over." Xu Wenbi took a sip of tea and said, "But the two people from Cangzhou and Damingfu are determined to protect the grain transport. We can't pull them over. We really can't pull them over."

Sun Dawu added two to each side.

At this point, there are fifteen name tags on the blue board and fifteen on the yellow board.

There are still fifteen name tags left on the white board, including five from Shanxi, three from Huguang, five from Fujian and Guangdong, and two from Sichuan, Shaanxi, Yunnan and Guizhou.

These fifteen people are the key to victory or defeat.

"How was your talk with those old guys?" Zhao Liben asked Zhao Hao while blowing out a smoke ring.

Zhao Hao was stunned. He had only smoked for a few days, but he had already learned to blow smoke rings? Was there anything in the world that the old man couldn't do?

"I thought it was okay." After a pause, Zhao Haofang replied, "I have made an agreement with Lao Yang. As long as we let them participate in the deal, they can vote for us." He touched the back of his head and said, "But what happened during the day has left me unsure."

"Those old guys are unreliable." Zheng Ruozeng coughed twice, and the smell of cigarettes made him breathless. He said slowly, "At the beginning, they promised Hu Butang very well, saying that as long as he could help Wang Chonggu become the governor of Ningxia, they would protect his integrity in his later years. But after Hu Butang fulfilled his promise, they turned against him and let Hu Butang die in prison. Ahem... Later I found out that Yang Bo exchanged him for a Tianguan Dangdang."

"Yes, Yang Tianguan is too smart, and the Shanxi people are too smart." Seeing that Old Zheng couldn't stand the smell, Zhao Liben apologetically picked up the copper cap from the table and put it on the pipe, and the tobacco inside naturally extinguished. "They will only stand on the side of the winner. I think the possibility of turning against them is not small at the moment."

Zhao Hao nodded. He was also worried that the cabinet’s attitude would affect the Shanxi Gang’s choice.

He then signaled Sun Dawu to put five famous Shanxi brands on hold.

"The five from Fujian and Guangdong are also in trouble." Zhang Qianfa sighed, "They have already seen that we have other intentions. Of course, they don't want us to steal their business."

"Yes, they wish we could impose a complete ban on maritime trade in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Wouldn't it be great for Fujian and Guangdong provinces to monopolize maritime trade?" Tang Youde said with a wry smile.

"But fortunately, Ma Butang is from Fujian, and Lin Zhongcheng has a high reputation among the villagers." Zhao Hao said calmly: "We can at least keep the three votes from Fujian."

So Sun Dawu divided the five people from Fujian and Guangdong into three in blue and two in yellow.

Zhao Hao's gaze passed over the three people from Huguang and fell on the remaining two Sichuan leaders, Zhao Zhenji and Wang Ting, and said in a deep voice:

"It goes without saying that Mr. Wang is the Chief Justice. Mr. Zhao Dazhou, the Junior Minister of the Imperial Clan, has also agreed to support us with one vote."

Sun Dawu added two more to the blue board.

In this way, the number of tickets for sea transportation reached 20, and the number of tickets for grain transport reached 17.

There are still five votes from Shanxi and three votes from Huguang undecided, so victory is still not certain.

In Zhao Hao's original calculation, these eight votes were basically no problem. With 28 votes cast for his side, he would naturally win with more than half!

But Zhang Juzheng suddenly disappeared at this time, making the whole situation suspenseful again.

"The three people from Huguang all followed Zhang Taiyue's lead. Before he went to Changping, he must have told them how to vote." Zhao Liben flicked the ash from the hem of his robe and said quietly, "Then the question is, why did he hide away?"

"Zhang Taiyue is not a coward. Besides, this matter has nothing to do with him." Xu Wenbi said with a wry smile.

"No, his actions show that, at least from his point of view, this matter has something to do with him." Zhao Liben shook his head decisively.

"So what does it matter? What good will he get by hiding away?" The rooster was so worried that he wanted to lay eggs.

"It's very simple." Zheng Ruozeng had already figured it out, and sighed helplessly, "The discussion on shipping has been brewing for months. With Prime Minister Zhang's shrewdness, he can probably figure out who will stand on our side and who won't. He must know in his heart that even if the Prime Minister doesn't support it, as long as he and the eight votes from Shanxi vote for us, we can still win."

After a pause, he coughed again and said, "And vice versa."