Chapter 1339 The moon is full and then it wanes!

Yijing, Cui Mansion

Cui Shao was practicing calligraphy in the study. With the wave of his arm, lines of ink appeared naturally on the paper. At this time, Cui Hang walked into the study under the guidance of the butler Cui Fu.

Seeing Cui Shaozheng concentrating on writing, the butlers Cui Fu and Cui Hang did not dare to disturb the Minister of Revenue of Daqian in front of them.

After a while, Cui Shao put down the last stroke and placed the brush on the inkstone. After looking at his work on the desk for a while, he turned his head and looked at Cui Hangdao beside him:
"What do you think of this calligraphy?"

In response to his uncle's question, Cui Hang did not give a direct answer, but instead began to read:
"There is no greater blessing in the world than to have no desires!"

"There is no greater disaster in the world than not being satisfied!"

"Third uncle, your state of mind seems to have improved again! This is really cause for celebration!"

Listening to Cui Hang's words, Cui Shao also said with some emotion:

"This sentence comes from Fu Xuan of the Western Jin Dynasty. When I was young, I thought he was not ambitious, but now it seems that he might be a wise man!"

When Cui Hang heard this, a strange look flashed in his eyes. At this time, Cui Shao also waved his hand, and the old butler Cui Fu immediately retreated.

Cui Shao picked up a handkerchief and wiped his hands, then sat on the chair and asked Cui Hang:

"I heard that you have been doing very well in the Ministry of Personnel recently?"

In response to his uncle's question, Cui Hang did not take credit for it and immediately said:

"These are all my duties. Minister Gu, Minister Shen and other colleagues all take good care of me..."

Hearing Cui Hang's humble answer, Cui Shaoyan couldn't help but think of his deceased son Cui Zibo!

Compared to Cui Hang, Cui Zibo is not so humble. Whenever he makes some achievements, he wants to show them to himself, as if he wants to prove something.

However, in Cui Shao's eyes, all the achievements he made were just natural things, so when facing his son's performance, Cui Shao's reaction was cold, even unkind. He even expressed to Cui Zibo that he should not be complacent with some small achievements, and should set long-term goals.

But now that the man is gone, Cui Shao has figured out that the reason why Cui Zibo liked to show him his achievements so much was probably not because of complacency as he said, but simply because he wanted to get his recognition!

Cui Shao felt a little heartbroken when he thought of this. Although he had figured it out now, it was too late!

Cui Shao did not reveal his true feelings in front of his nephew. He just nodded slightly and said:
"Cui Hang, you must maintain this humble attitude and get along well with your colleagues!"

"Yes! Cui Hang will remember Third Uncle's teachings!"

After saying this, Cui Hang saw Cui Shao sitting in the chair without saying anything. After hesitating for a moment, he mustered up the courage to ask:

"Third uncle, I heard that you met with His Majesty a few days ago?"

When Cui Shao heard his nephew asking about this matter, he glanced at him and asked:
"There is such a thing!"

Seeing that Third Uncle admitted it, Cui Hang also risked his life and said:

"May I ask whether His Majesty Third Uncle has proposed that you be appointed as the Prime Minister of the Cabinet?"

Cui Shao heard this and said coldly:
"Where did you hear this?"

Feeling the coldness of his uncle's eyes, Cui Hang was still a little scared, but he still pretended to be calm and said:

“No one told me this. I just guessed it…”

"How did you guess that?"

Faced with this question, Cui Hang organized his words and slowly spoke:

"Before Your Majesty ascended the throne, you were devoted to reform. You wanted to rectify the administration of officials, change the financial difficulties, improve the living standards of the people, and create an unprecedented prosperity. This is Your Majesty's long-cherished wish!"

"But Daqian was born out of Dazhou. On the one hand, this is conducive to the stability of the situation, but on the other hand, it also leads to Daqian also inheriting many problems of Dazhou. It is true that in the past period of time, Your Majesty has worked hard to govern the country, made many changes, and solved some problems!"

"But the problems accumulated over the past three hundred years in the Great Zhou Dynasty? Can they be solved overnight?"

"And His Majesty is unwilling to wait. Compared to the subtle and silent approach, he prefers drastic measures! Such a huge reform is not acceptable to everyone, so this leads to the reforms promoted by His Majesty facing a lot of resistance in the court. On the surface, no one opposes it, but in fact, no one supports the reforms!"

"His Majesty is also aware of this, so he brought in people like Zhao Wanxian and Zhang Zhiwen, hoping that they can promote reforms and promote the progress of Daqian!"

“But Zhao Wanxian, Zhang Zhiwen and their ilk only support the reform on the surface to please Your Majesty and gain Your Majesty’s appreciation. Deep down, they do not support the reform. What they do is nothing but political speculation…”

"Chu Zhiyi is the only one in the entire court who truly supports reform!"

"But this man is a lunatic! In order to promote reform, he does not hesitate to intensify conflicts and shake the foundation of Daqian!"

"This person may have a good heart! But he deserves to be killed!"

"Your Majesty, a tyrant, may have hoped to rely on Gu Sansi, Zhao Wanxian, and Zhang Zhiwen to promote reforms, but now Your Majesty should have seen the true colors of these people and know that they can no longer be relied upon!"

"Your Majesty is unwilling to give up the reforms he has promoted, so if my prediction goes as planned, Your Majesty will target you, Third Uncle!"

"He wants us to stand up and carry the banner of reform! He wants us to take the lead in this series of things!"

After saying this, Cui Hang looked at his third uncle, expecting a response from this pillar of the Daqian court.

However, Cui Shao had no expression on his face at this time, and said without a trace of emotion:

"Keep talking!"

Seeing that Uncle San wanted to continue speaking, Cui Hang hesitated for a while before speaking:
"The bargaining chips offered by His Majesty are the Prime Minister and Hu Ming!" Although his voice was a little hesitant, the expression on Cui Hang's face was indeed very certain, as if he had witnessed Ye Mingsheng meeting Cui Shao that day.

Listening to his nephew Cui Hang's words, Cui Shao said calmly:

"So what do you want to tell me today?"

Cui Hang had prepared a lot of arguments for today's meeting, trying to persuade Cui Shao. However, facing Cui Shao's words, he didn't know how to respond. After a moment of silence, Cui Hang raised his head and said sincerely:
"Third uncle, I can understand your feelings. The position of Prime Minister of the Cabinet is the dream of all ministers. Killing Hu Ming and avenging Brother Zibo will also be of great significance to you..."

"But Uncle San, the moon is full and then it wanes, and the water is full and then it overflows!"

"Our Cui family already has great power in the Daqian court. Your students and old subordinates are all over the court. Whether it's Gu Shangshu, Li Jian, Chen Fu, or the group of warriors in the advisory group, none of them dare to compete with you!"

"Although you don't have the title of Prime Minister of the Cabinet now, in fact, you are second to none in the entire Daqian!"

"Your Majesty is also quite afraid of you, so he did not hesitate to break his promise and did not give you the title of Prime Minister of the Cabinet!"

"Why would you want to wade into this muddy water just for such a false reputation?"

After saying this, seeing that Cui Shao was still unmoved and looking at him calmly, Cui Hang also became anxious and knelt down, knocking his head hard on the ground and said:

"Third uncle! If you really become the Prime Minister of the Cabinet, our Cui family may be exterminated!"

After Cui Hang finished speaking in a decisive tone, he knelt on the ground feeling very nervous.

However, at this moment, Cui Shao stood up from his chair, came to Cui Hang's side, helped Cui Hang up from his kneeling position, and said with relief:
"You are fine!"

Cui Hang, who was about to bear Cui Shao's wrath, was a little confused when he heard what Third Uncle said. At this time, Cui Shao also said leisurely:

“Cui Hang, you are smarter than I thought! Your analysis is correct, and your guess is correct. His Majesty does intend to promote me to the position of Prime Minister of the Cabinet and let me coordinate all matters related to the reform…”

Although Cui Hang was very confident in his guess, he couldn't help but feel a little nervous when he heard these words from his uncle.

Perhaps in the eyes of others, being promoted to the highest position of the Prime Minister is the highest honor, which others can't even ask for, but in Cui Hang's view, with his third uncle Cui Shao's current ZZ energy, ZZ affects the power of fortune, that is a cliff, if not a little bit of fall, the whole family will fall and be shattered.

So he was really worried that his uncle had made an irreparable wrong choice!

Just as Cui Hang was nervously waiting for his uncle's answer, Cui Shao suddenly changed the subject and said with a smile:

"Cui Hang, you are very accurate in judging others, but when you look at me, your third uncle, you are wrong!"

"You underestimate me, your uncle. Although I am old now, I am not senile!"

As soon as these words came out, Cui Hang's face suddenly showed a hint of surprise, and he asked expectantly:

"So, Uncle San, you refused?"

Under the gaze of his nephew, Cui Shao gave a somewhat mysterious sermon:
“I both refused and didn’t reject!”

Hearing this somewhat ambiguous answer, Cui Hang looked hesitant, not knowing why his uncle would say that.

Seeing this, Cui Shao had no intention of answering, and just said lightly:
"Go back and think about it slowly! Tell me when you've made up your mind!"

"Yes! Nephew obeys your command..."

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Daqian Palace, Imperial Study
Ye Cheng brought several memorials to Ye Mingsheng and began to introduce them:

"Your Majesty, this is the memorial sent by Yang Qinghe, the prefect of Hanyang!"

"This is a memorial sent by the Jingchu Provincial Government!"

"This is the report from the Ministry of Personnel regarding the candidate recommended for the Yunbing Provincial Surveillance Commissioner!"

Listening to Ye Cheng's report, Ye Mingsheng nodded slightly to indicate that he understood. Seeing that Ye Mingsheng looked a little tired, Ye Cheng hesitated for a moment and said:
"Your Majesty, this is not a serious matter. You can handle it tomorrow!"

Ye Mingsheng didn't say anything when he heard this, but just waved his hand. However, seeing this, Ye Cheng continued to say with concern:
"Your Majesty, you have been reviewing memorials for two hours straight!"

Seeing that Ye Cheng was still wasting time here, Ye Mingsheng was also a little upset by him, and immediately started to speak:
"Don't bother me here! Get out!"

Although Ye Cheng wanted to continue persuading Ye Mingsheng, after hearing Ye Mingsheng's unquestionable words, he could only shut up and leave the room.

At this time, Ye Mingsheng took a sip of strong tea to refresh himself, and then opened the memorial from Hanyang, Jingchu.

When Ye Mingsheng passed through Jingchu during his southern tour, he was not very satisfied with the administration of Jingchu, so he wanted to reappoint a new governor!

There were two choices at that time, one was Yang Qinghe, the prefect of Hanyang, and the other was Dai Ping, the deputy governor!

Both of these people are powerful figures in Jingchu, and they have both ability and qualifications!

In order to be responsible for his appointment, Ye Mingsheng also investigated these two people. The result of the investigation was that Dai Ping was much better than Yang Qinghe in terms of integrity, but Dai Ping was not positive about reform and even had a perfunctory attitude...
Although Yang Qinghe is a bit corrupt, he is more capable of execution. No matter how he feels about reform, at least on the surface his attitude is more positive than Dai Ping's.

So Ye Mingsheng was quite conflicted at that time. He really hoped that Yang Qinghe and Dai Ping could reconcile and become an honest political figure who actively supported reforms!

However, this is obviously an unrealistic idea!

Ye Mingsheng must make a choice between Yang Qinghe and Dai Ping!

After repeated consideration, Ye Mingsheng finally made a difficult decision!

He gave Yang Qinghe a chance to clean up his mess, turn over a new leaf and start a new life!
Ye Mingsheng's idea is very simple. No one is perfect. It is a great thing to admit one's mistakes and improve oneself. Only if Yang Qinghe can become honest, then he can give him a chance to improve and let him serve as the governor to lead the reform of Jingchu and guide the economic development of Jingchu. On the contrary, if he is stubborn and still goes back to his old ways and is no longer useful, then he will definitely not show mercy to him!
We must use Yang Qinghe's head to deter other villains from having evil intentions!
By then, even if Ye Mingsheng doesn't like Dai Ping's perfunctory attitude towards reform, Ye Mingsheng will appoint Dai Ping as the governor. As a superior, Ye Mingsheng is very clear about the influence of superiors and subordinates, and as the highest political official in a province, it is very important for the governor to remain honest...

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