Chapter 1146 Confirmed Southern Tour!

Cui Shao's words were very steady and flawless, and he tactfully kicked the ball back to Ye Mingsheng. After hearing his words, everyone had different expressions...
Among them, Gu Sansi showed a hint of surprise. After he put Zhang Zhiwen into the candidate list, Cui Shao, the Minister of Revenue, also submitted a memorial to Ye Mingsheng, expressing his support for Ma Runchuan's idea and believing that the investigation of Qi Lu should come to an end!
Now that the New Year is over, spring ploughing will soon begin. This is the top priority facing the Yijing court. If the spring ploughing is not done well, it will affect the harvest. Food issues are no small matter, and the slightest mistake may involve human lives!
Therefore, Cui Shao suggested that Ye Mingsheng should let Ma Runchuan, the governor, gather people's hearts and focus on spring plowing and the development of industry and agriculture in Qi and Lu!
Gu Sansi knew very well that this was Cui Shao fulfilling the deal, so he originally thought that after Cui Shao asked him to nominate Zhang Zhiwen, he might say a few words for Zhang Zhiwen in a roundabout way at the meeting.

After all, Xiao Lingyu and Jin Zaicheng are relatives, and Zhuang Shanhe is an old subordinate of Li Jian. Xiao Lingyu and Li Jian have done a lot of work for the position of Youyan Provincial Government!
However, no one spoke up for Zhang Zhiwen at the cabinet meeting. If Cui Shao didn't speak up, Zhang Zhiwen's chances of taking the position would not be great. Therefore, Gu Sansi expected that Cui Shao would most likely support Zhang Zhiwen indirectly...
However, he did not expect that Cui Shao was still acting as if it had nothing to do with him. This made Gu Sansi a little confused and he didn't know what Cui Shao was up to!
Ye Mingsheng listened to Cui Shao's words and understood that Cui Shao had no intention of having Fabio in the position of Youyan's governor. He then nodded slightly towards Cui Shao and looked at Gu Sansi on the side!
Feeling Ye Mingsheng's gaze, Gu Sansi, who was thinking about Cui Shao's intention, could only gather his thoughts and said without hesitation in the face of Ye Mingsheng's gaze:
"Your Excellency, I share the same idea as Minister Cui. Both Zhang Zhiwen and Zhuang Shanhe are trustworthy people. They are both good candidates!"

Seeing that Gu Sansi did not express his opinion, Ye Mingsheng frowned slightly but did not say anything. He just looked at the Minister of Justice Li Jian and said:

"Li Jian, Zhuang Shanhe is your subordinate, tell me what you think!"

When Ye Mingsheng called his name, Li Jian also stood up and said:
"Reporting to the commander, Zhang Zhiwen is also a capable official. Whether he was in Liaoyang before or later transferred to Hebei and Henan, he has achieved outstanding results. He is a rising star and future pillar of the court!"

Li Jian paused for a moment, then looked up at Ye Mingsheng's straightforward speech:

“Sir, as the ancients said, one should recommend virtuous people regardless of their relationship with him. Although Censor Zhuang was my subordinate before, he is even more of a minister to you, Marshal. The reason I recommended him is not because of any friendship between him and me, but because I believe that Zhuang Shanhe is capable of serving as the Governor of Youyan…”

"Like Zhang Zhiwen, Zhuang Shanhe has also achieved good results in recent years. He is well-known in the court. Moreover, compared with Zhang Zhiwen, Zhuang Shanhe is familiar with the situation in Youyan. As long as he can take over the governor's office, he can immediately devote himself to the work!"

"It is almost spring ploughing time. As the governor, I must lead the people to seize the farming season, complete the spring ploughing task and ensure the autumn harvest!"

Li Jian's words were righteous and no one could find fault with them, but Ye Mingsheng was somewhat indifferent to them. He glanced at everyone and continued to ask:
"Does anyone else have anything to say?"

After Ye Mingsheng finished speaking, Li Jian felt a little uneasy, wondering what Ye Mingsheng was thinking!
Over the years, he has always remained neutral in the internal struggles within the Fengwu Army, following Ye Mingsheng's footsteps and concentrating on his own work.

It was with this strategy that Li Jian was appreciated by Ye Mingsheng. When the Yijing court was established, he was appointed Minister of Justice by Ye Mingsheng!

However, after becoming the Minister of Justice, Li Jian increasingly found that his previous strategies were no longer suitable for his current position!
Before, he was a low-profile soldier in the Fengwu Army. He did not participate in fights and others did not look for him. But now he is the Minister of Justice and one of the elders of the Yijing court. There are some things that he cannot avoid even if he wants to...
Not only that, as one of the cabinet elders, Li Jian was only one step away from the position of Prime Minister, so naturally he had ideas about that position of Prime Minister!
If you want to become the Prime Minister, it is not enough to just do your job well. You must also make your own voice heard in the court and establish your own prestige in front of all officials. Only then can you successfully reach the top as expected!
It is precisely because of this idea that Li Jian gradually changed his past methods and approaches, and the biggest change was that Li Jian also began to intentionally support several old subordinates such as Zhuang Shanhe!
After all, if he wants to become the Prime Minister, it is not enough to do it alone, he also needs the help of trusted followers!

Because there were only Jin Zaicheng and Zhuang Shanhe on the initial candidate list, Li Jian was still confident that Zhuang Shanhe was the only one who could become the Governor of Youyan in this competition!
Having followed the Marshal closely for these years, Li Jian thought he could understand Ye Mingsheng's thoughts to some extent. He believed that the Marshal looked down upon Jin Zaicheng, who only had seniority but no ability!

Although Zhuang Shanhe does not have the qualifications of Kim Jae-sung, his achievements are still very impressive and he can be praised in many aspects!
Judging from the Marshal’s past appointments, although seniority is one of the factors the Marshal considers, he values ​​ability more than seniority!
Therefore, even though he heard that Xiao Lingyu had asked Chen Fu to recommend Jin Zaicheng together, Li Jian still felt confident of winning, and even felt that it was a sure win...
However, unexpectedly, just a few days before the meeting, Gu Sansi added Zhang Zhiwen's name to the list, which caught Li Jian off guard!
After all, although Zhang Zhiwen's development in recent years is not as strong as before, he has also achieved some results in Hebei and Henan over the years, so Li Jian is still a little worried!

However, Li Jianxin felt more at ease after hearing that both Cui Shao and Gu Sansi did not express their opinions. He felt that Zhuang Shanhe had an advantage over Zhang Zhiwen in terms of academic performance, and was no worse than Zhang Zhiwen in terms of ability. In addition, with his recommendation, the possibility of Zhuang Shanhe taking the position was obviously greater than that of Zhang Zhiwen!
However, listening to the meaning of Ye Mingsheng's words, Li Jian felt something was wrong, as if something bad was about to happen!

As expected, as soon as Ye Mingsheng finished speaking, Xiao Lingyu, who had originally supported Jin Zaicheng, stood up again. He first said in a somewhat shady tone:

"Li Shangshu really promotes people of talent regardless of their relationship with him. This is really admirable!"

After saying this, Xiao Lingyu changed the subject and said:

"Although Zhuang Shanhe has made remarkable achievements over the years and deserves praise, as far as I know, he has only been in office as the Censor for a few months, right?"

"Isn't it a bit too hasty to transfer him to the post of governor so soon?"

"What Minister Li said just now is very right. The spring farming season is about to begin. This is a major event for the imperial court and local provincial governments. As a provincial governor, I must lead the people to seize the farming season and complete all tasks related to spring farming..."

"But Zhuang Shanhe, the Censor, had been working in the Censorate, the Justice Bureau and other departments before. He has no experience as a governor or in the government offices of various prefectures and counties. Therefore, I think it is a bit too much to ask Zhuang Shanhe to do such a hard job as seizing the farming season right away!" "So I think that although Zhuang Shanhe is a rising star, he should work hard in the position of Censor for a while, and let him take on greater responsibilities after he has accumulated experience!"

Li Jian's expression turned cold after he said this. He glanced at Xiao Lingyu beside him. Feeling Li Jian's gaze, Xiao Lingyu didn't care at all.

As the Left Censor-in-Chief, his job is to offend people. If he was afraid of offending people, he would not be the Censor-in-Chief!
In addition, he has always looked down on Li Jian, thinking that he is hypocritical and has evil intentions and deserves to be killed. Therefore, if he can give Li Jian some scorn, he is very willing to do so, so he continued:

"When Zhang Zhiwen was in Liaoyang, he served as a county magistrate and prefect. He has a lot of grassroots experience. He even personally worked on the farm many times while serving as a county magistrate. After being transferred to Hebei and Henan, he also worked as a deputy governor for many years. He has a deep understanding of the operation and management of the provincial government!"

"So I think Zhang Zhiwen is more qualified to be the governor of Youyan than Zhuang Shanhe!"

Xiao Lingyu’s words were powerful and influential. After he finished speaking, everyone in the Loyalty and Bravery Hall couldn’t help but be moved. Gu Sansi also glanced at Cui Shao at the side out of the corner of his eye...
Although Cui Shao's expression did not change at this time, and he was still as relaxed as he was at the beginning, Gu Sansi felt that Cui Shao was even more unfathomable now!
In response to Xiao Lingyu's remarks, Li Jian also wanted to say something to defend his old subordinate Zhuang Shanhe, but just as he was organizing his words, Ye Mingsheng spoke up:
"What Censor Xiao said makes sense! Zhang Zhiwen has become more mature after these years of training in Ji and Yu. If everyone has no other ideas, then let him take over as the governor of Youyan!"

After hearing this, Li Jian, who originally wanted to make a final effort, also realized that the situation was hopeless. He sighed helplessly in his heart, and then said in unison with everyone else:

"The handsome and wise man!"

After resolving the appointment of the governor of Youyan, Ye Mingsheng spoke again:

"Murong Yuliang has been transferred to Huainan. Now the position of the governor of Jiyu is vacant. Zhao Wanxian has done a good job in Liaoyang in this short period of time. This time, let him go to Jiyu as the governor and take over Murong Yuliang's responsibility for the development of various work in Jiyu!"

"As for the position of Liaoyang Governor, let Liaoyang Censor Wang Chunlai take over, and the position of Censor will be taken over by Ma Ye, the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Justice!"

Compared to Zhang Zhiwen’s transfer to Youyan, Ye Mingsheng’s subsequent series of appointments seemed very sudden, which caught everyone present off guard...

As the Minister of Personnel, Gu Sansi had a complicated look on his face at this moment. He didn't know whether Ye Mingsheng had discussed this series of appointments with Cui Shao or not. However, Ye Mingsheng had not discussed it with him. He only asked him about his opinion on Wang Chunlai before!
It seemed that the Marshal really appreciated Zhao Wanxian. Although he had blocked his chance to take over as the governor of Youyan, he still took advantage of Murong Yuliang's transfer to Huainan to transfer him to Ji-Yu. From Liaoyang to Ji-Yu, Zhao Wanxian was promoted now!

Although he wanted to give some advice to the Marshal, Gu Sansi also understood that the fact that the Marshal did not discuss this with him already represented the Marshal's attitude!

The last time he stopped Zhao Wanxian from taking over as the Censor of Youyan, it could be said that it was because of their different political views, but if he spoke again this time to stop him from taking over as the Censor of Ji and Yu, it would seem that he was targeting him. Thinking of this, Gu Sansi couldn't help but sigh in his heart, feeling that he should be more sensible!
And seeing that Gu Sansi, the Minister of Personnel, had no objection to this series of appointments, everyone naturally had no objection and said some official and polite words to praise Ye Mingsheng for his ability to appoint people to the right positions...

Seeing this, Ye Mingsheng threw another bomb to everyone:

"On March 1st, I will officially go on a southern tour. At that time, the government affairs of the court will be handed over to Minister Cui, Sansi, and Li Jian. The three of you will be in charge, and the military affairs will be handed over to Zhao Han and Yuan Song!"

"Whenever there is anything, you can discuss it with me. If you are really unsure, let me know as soon as possible!"

If the previous appointment just caught everyone off guard, then when the news of the southern tour came out, everyone in the Loyalty and Bravery Hall was extremely surprised!
Although there have been reports in the Yijing court that the Marshal wants to tour the south to inspect the conditions in the southern provinces, this news has never been fully confirmed!
After Ye Baode's rebellion, there were rumors within the Yijing court that because of the rebellion, Ye Mingsheng would cancel his planned southern tour this year, continue to stay in Yijing to ensure the stability of the court, and start the southern tour at some point in the future!
Because this rumor was well-founded, it convinced many people, making everyone think that Ye Mingsheng would not tour the south this year!
However, at this moment when everyone thought that Ye Mingsheng would not tour the south, Ye Mingsheng suddenly announced his tour to the south and gave a clear time point of March 1st!

Upon hearing the news, Cui Shao, who had been calm and neutral, was the first to stand up and say:
“Marshal, everyone in the court and the country knows that you care about government affairs and love the people like your own children. You want to understand the sufferings of the people, but the court has just experienced turmoil, and stability should be the priority at this time. So I think the matter of the southern tour can be considered in the long run...”

(End of this chapter)