The Ministry of Personnel Yamen was still the Shangshu's signing room, but the owner had changed.

Today, because the officials of the Ministry of Personnel had to show up, it took a little longer to line up. At this moment, Gao Tianguan and his two deputies, the Left Assistant Minister Wang Bengu and the Right Assistant Minister Yin Shidan, were sitting in the signing room with a strong smell of vinegar, drinking tea and discussing matters.

"We are old acquaintances, so let's not waste any more time talking." It was called a meeting, but in fact Gao Gong was just giving orders and the two assistant ministers just listened obediently.

"I once met with Yu Pogong in Zhending Prefecture. He had a few regrets that he had forgotten, and asked me to take care of them when I came to Beijing." Gao Gong said with a stern face, "One is that he had demoted several innocent officials in the past under pressure from those in power. I want to recall him."

"Yes, yes." Wang Bengu responded quickly. This was all as it should be. Many people followed Gao Huzi in the past and suffered misfortune. Now that he is in power, of course he has to rescue them from the dire situation.

"One is Qi Kang, the former Supervisory Censor, and the other is Chen Yide, the Imperial Academy Editor..." Gao Gong said as he pulled out a long list from his sleeve and handed it to Wang Bengu, saying, "They are all good officials who have suffered misfortune. Recall them and compensate them."

"Yes." Wang Bengu swallowed his saliva and thought to himself, okay, no retaliation, but cultivating confidants instead. Isn't this the same truth? In a few years, the court will be full of Gao Ge Lao's people.

Yin Shidan, like Ge Shouli, was from Shandong and had a straightforward temper. In addition, he was from the Zhan Han system, and coming to the Ministry of Personnel was just a transition, so he was not afraid of offending the officials. He whispered, "Lord, you are promoting so many people at once, I'm afraid there won't be enough suitable positions, right?"

"If there's no seat, let someone else move." Gao Gong's pupils shrank slightly, and he said with a smile: "Think about it carefully, it will be done, hehe..."

The laughter is already a bit creepy...

Just as Yin Shidan was about to speak again, the clerk outside reported that Prime Minister Zhang had arrived.

"Oh, why is he here?" Gao Gong's frown instantly relaxed, and his slight unhappiness disappeared. He stood up and said to the two of them, "You can go back."

"Yes, Minister." The two assistant ministers hurriedly stood up and responded. Not to mention Yin Shidan, even Wang Bengu was secretly unhappy. For a famous minister of Neo-Confucianism like him, who was mature, prudent and serious, what he cared about most was the word "etiquette".

It was obvious that Gao Gong had no intention of talking to him about "reason" or "etiquette".

But he is the boss, and also the prime minister and the celestial official. He has to endure it even if he is unhappy. What else can he do?

Gao Gong doesn't care what his subordinates think. If you fall into his hands, there is only one word: "fight"! Work hard, or you will be beaten...

He walked out of the signing room laughing, and saw Zhang Juzheng, still handsome, walking towards him with a smile.

"Hahaha, you Zhang Taiyue, you're so damn handsome!" Seeing his friend of different ages, Gao Gong was in a good mood. He laughed and walked forward, giving Zhang Juzheng a bear hug. "I miss you so much!"

Zhang Juzheng was immediately embarrassed, especially in front of two vice ministers.

The two of them quickly turned away their gazes and disappeared without a sound...

"Brother Suqing, I miss you even more." Zhang Juzheng tried to sort himself out.

"I just said, can we meet again?" Gao Gong punched him in the chest again.

Zhang Juzheng rubbed his chest with a wry smile, as if the knot in his heart had been shattered by Brother Gao's iron fist.

After all, the relationship between the two in the past was too close.

When they were in the Imperial Academy, they discussed principles and principles, and the way of governance, until they forgot their bodies. They also promised each other that if they could be of great use in the future, they would work together to create a peaceful world for the emperor and father.

They praised each other and said that they were no less than Gao and Kui. This was their original intention.

Later, Gao Gong became the chief academician of the Imperial College, and Zhang Juzheng became the vice minister; Gao Gong edited the Yongle Encyclopedia, and Zhang Juzheng edited its branch; when Gao Gong entered the cabinet, Zhang Juzheng followed suit, and they were like brothers. Even when the whole court was against Gao Gong, Zhang Juzheng still protected him. In the past few years, he has tried his best to help him get back on track.

Therefore, even though they had not seen each other for more than two years, the two of them were not alienated at all, and their friendship became even deeper. At least that's what Gao Gong thought...

Seeing Gao Gong still the same, Zhang Juzheng felt closer to him. The slight unhappiness before was forgotten, and the two laughed at each other, one with his beard shaking and the other with his long beard flowing like silk.

"Come on, come in and have some tea." Gao Gong pulled him inside and said, "Ah, although we haven't stopped writing letters, I still have a lot to say to you when we meet."

"Let's talk about it later," Zhang Juzheng shook his head and smiled, "I am here on behalf of the cabinet to invite you to the banquet."

"Attending a banquet?" Gao Gong was stunned. "Hongmen Banquet?"

"That's not the case. If we were to ask who among our cabinet ministers is like the Overlord, I'm afraid it would only be Brother Su Qing."

"That's not going to end well for Xiang Yu." Gao Gong laughed and asked someone to prepare a sedan chair, saying, "If I am the Overlord, then who is Han Gao?"

"I'm afraid no minister dares to compare himself to Emperor Gaozu of Han." Zhang Juzheng shook his head and smiled, then walked towards his sedan chair.

~~

The canteen of the government is also called the public kitchen. Since ancient times, people who work for them have to provide meals. No matter how stingy the emperor is, he can't let the officials who work for him bring lunch to work, right? So since the Qin and Han Dynasties, all levels of government offices have public kitchens. The highest-grade official canteen is the "hall kitchen" where the prime ministers eat, and it has always been very expensive.

It is said that during the reign of Emperor Gaozong of Tang, the prime ministers held a meeting to discuss reducing the food standards for the kitchen staff in order to respond to the court's call to "increase revenue, reduce expenditure and eliminate waste."

But some people said righteously: "We are old, we should eat light food. But this kitchen is a sign that the emperor values ​​the central government. If we are not competent, we should resign and let the wise take over, instead of seeking empty reputation by reducing the standard." So, not to mention the prime minister, even the emperor was embarrassed to reduce the delicacies in the government hall.

Although the prime minister was abolished in this dynasty, after the cabinet was promoted to the central government, the "kitchen" automatically reappeared. Moreover, no matter how poor the country was, the food expenses of the prime ministers were not reduced - the standard was 15 taels of silver per month for each university scholar!

The canteen of the cabinet was located in a two-story building in the backyard of Wenyuan Pavilion. The first floor was a large canteen for officials such as Sizhilang and Zhongshu Sheren to eat, while the second floor was a small canteen for cabinet ministers to eat.

Although it is called a small canteen, it is actually very spacious. There are paintings and calligraphy from the Tang and Song dynasties hanging on the walls, and porcelain vases from the official kiln placed in the corners. The layout is very elegant.

At this time, five sets of cloisonné tableware had been laid out on the golden nanmu eight-immortals table, and the arrangement was quite exquisite.

Normally, two people can sit on each side of the four-sided table, but the number of Grand Secretaries in the Ming Dynasty never exceeded seven. Therefore, the chief minister naturally had to have one side to himself.

There are still four cabinet ministers in this term, so the second and third assistants can sit alone, and the newly appointed fourth deputy and last assistants can only sit at the last seat.

Therefore, there was only one set of tableware at the top and on the left and right sides of the Eight Immortals Table, except for two sets at the head of the table.

Moreover, the size of the Eight Immortals Table is customized, so you can’t use round chairs at the bottom like you do at the other three sides, so you can only put two square stools to make do.

When Zhao Zhenji thought about having to eat together with Gao Huzi and have to look at his ugly face, he felt that the food in the cabinet no longer tasted good.

Li Chunfang and Chen Yiqin were leaning their arms on the armrests, talking with their heads together.

When he wanted to fold his arms, he could only put them on the table, as if he was posing to please others!

"Why can't these idiots in the cafeteria set up a round table?" Zhao Zhenji was so depressed that he wanted to curse.

At this time, there was a sudden noise downstairs, and Li Chunfang stood up and said with a smile: "Here they are, let's go downstairs to greet them."

Chen Yiqin and Zhao Zhenji put away their depression, each showing eight teeth, and followed the Prime Minister downstairs.

Sure enough, Gao Gong, accompanied by Zhang Juzheng, walked to the canteen door with a beaming smile on his face. All the Sizhilang and Zhongshusheng rushed out and knelt down to pay their respects.

The one they were kneeling to was not the Grand Secretary Gao, but the Heavenly Official Gao Gong. The careers of these petty officials of the seventh or eighth rank all depended on his thoughts.

Gao Gong called them up with a cheerful face, and he could even call out their names one by one. Those whose names were called all had tears in their eyes and were choked with sobs and could not speak.

Li Chunfang went downstairs and saw this scene. He couldn't help feeling dizzy and thought to himself, I knew it, I knew it. This is what it means to let the Minister of Personnel join the cabinet.

"From now on, the people below will only have Gao Xinzheng in their eyes. Who cares who the poor Prime Minister is?" Li Chunfang felt bitter in his heart, but he had to put on a sincere smile on his face.

"Xuan Weng, you are finally back."

"Your humble servant greets the Prime Minister." Gao Gong bowed to him, and Li Chunfang was extremely satisfied and hurriedly clasped his fists in return.

Then Gao Gong also bowed to Duke Chen and Duke Zhao, which was considered a formality.

Chen Yiqin's suppressed unhappiness suddenly rose up again. Is this reasonable? Is this reasonable? I am also a junior assistant! How can you be so arrogant?

"Let's not be so formal and go upstairs quickly to welcome you." Li Chunfang was afraid of making a fool of herself in front of the people below, so she quickly pulled Gao Gong upstairs first.

~~

"please."

"please"

After going upstairs, Li Chunfang and Gao Gong exchanged polite words, and the Prime Minister then sat sideways at the top.

Then he sat down on his left side with his butt arched.

Chen Yiqin, who followed him, was stunned. That was his seat.

"Please sit down, Elder Chen, please sit down." Gao Gong held the armrests of the chair with both hands, sat firmly in the second seat, looked at Chen Yiqin with a smile and said, "After two years, Elder Chen looks better and better, his face is full of rosy glow!"

"It's, it's not bad..." Chen Yiqin's head was buzzing, and his mind was blank. There was only one sentence over and over again - how could he do this? How could he do this? How could he do this?

"You guys sit down too." Gao Gong followed Zhang Juzheng and Zhao Zhenji who came up. "Don't all stand."

"Sit, sit." The two of them smiled awkwardly and sat side by side at the bottom consciously.

Strangely enough, Zhao Zhenji didn't feel crowded.

"Hey, Lord Chen, why don't you sit down?" Gao Gong looked at the red-faced Chen Yiqin with a strange expression, and asked Li Chunfang, who was sitting on pins and needles at the top, "Why is Lord Chen so distant after not seeing you for two years?"

This is such a bully! Chen Yiqin wanted to flip the table!

P.S. I will update twice tonight. I have been studying the details of the Japanese Warring States period for a day. My eyes are tired and I need to take a rest. I will take a day off tomorrow, finish this volume the day after tomorrow, and start a new volume!