Chapter 1719: Not recognizing the voting results, wanting to flip the table

Since Minister Wang was assassinated, Emperor Yuanding started to seize power and had several exchanges with the Secretariat, each with wins and losses.

The two sides were deadlocked for several months, and finally, it was time for the final word.

Early in the morning, the major offices in the capital were restless, with no one in the mood to work, all staring in the direction of the imperial palace.

Today is the small court meeting, and it is also an important day to decide the court structure.

Everyone was convinced that Sun Daoning was going to roll away, but as long as the results weren't revealed for a day, everything was just speculation.

Emperor Yuanding was full of ambition, and under the service of the great eunuch Liu Shun, he sat on the dragon chair.

Without further ado, he directly signaled Xie Changling to preside over today's vote.

Xie Changling stood out and said a few opening remarks.

"Since the Emperor ascended the throne, it has been over..."

The opening remarks had content, emotion, and color.

The core idea was just one: under the Emperor's leadership, the Great Ming's rivers and mountains have ushered in a new chapter. It is time to make some changes and adjust some strategies.

Considering the Secretariat's heavy workload, fresh blood needs to be injected, so two rounds of voting will be held today. First, vote one person out, then vote one person in from the court officials.

Whether voting in or out, everyone has a number in their hearts regarding the candidate list. In short, to prevent complications, these two things will be solved at once.

Before the results come out, no one is allowed to leave the Taiji Palace.

Those who want to use the restroom, hurry up; there is only one stick of incense worth of preparation time.

No one used the restroom!

At a critical moment, no one would drop the chain.

Everyone knew they were voting today, so they got up early, didn't eat breakfast, and didn't dare to drink water, entering the palace on an empty stomach. It was just to prevent using the restroom midway.

"Since everyone is ready, let's start voting."

Secret ballot.

The first round is to vote someone out, with candidates limited to the nine members of the Secretariat.

Black beans, white beans, green beans, red beans...

One color represents one person.

In the first round, select the three with the most votes.

Sun Daoning bore the brunt, getting four votes. Together with the other three, they started the second round of voting. If he still got the most votes in this round, he would be voted out without dispute and roll out of the Secretariat.

Sun Daoning's forehead was sweating, his heart was tight, and his fingers were shaking when he picked up the beans to vote.

The little eunuch responsible for collecting the votes looked straight at him, his eyes revealing a sense of contempt and disdain.

Sun Daoning glared at him; he hadn't been voted out yet, and he already dared to look down on him. These dog eunuchs are indeed good at flattering the high and trampling the low; they are not good things.

He took a deep breath and, according to the original plan, cast a black bean. The black bean represented the Minister of Works.

The little eunuch glanced at it, saw the color, and smiled contemptuously.

The voting continued.

Soon, the nine-person vote ended.

Uncovering the white porcelain cup, there were four white beans, representing Sun Daoning. It was exactly the same as the first round. Obviously, the four people who voted for him in the first round did not change their will in the second round.

At this time, everyone thought Sun Daoning was doomed to be out.

But they didn't expect that there were only two colors in the white porcelain cup—besides the four white beans, there were only five black beans left. The green beans that had occupied two votes before were gone!

Everyone was shocked!

Two votes had changed midway and rebelled.

Seeing the abnormal expressions of the crowd, Emperor Yuanding immediately realized something was wrong.

"What's the situation?"

The crowd made no sound.

Emperor Yuanding hurriedly got up from the dragon chair, walked down the steps, stared at the white porcelain cup, and his face turned iron-blue.

Four white beans, five black beans.

The person out was not Sun Daoning, but the Minister of Works.

"How is this possible?" Emperor Yuanding was furious, "Did someone collude to cheat?"

"Your Majesty, calm your anger!"

"Your Majesty, speak carefully!"

"The white porcelain cup has no mechanism; where does the talk of cheating come from?"

"Why don't we write down our voting results and compare them one by one."

The court officials retorted to Emperor Yuanding's judgment one after another. Are you sick in the head? The voting results don't match your wishes, so you say it's cheating. It's absurd.

Matters of state, how can they be treated so frivolously.

Emperor Yuanding was full of anger and suddenly picked up the white porcelain cup, wanting to smash it.

Xie Changling stepped out to stop him at the right time, "Does Your Majesty not recognize today's voting results? Who is Your Majesty questioning? Accept the bet and admit defeat; I hope Your Majesty can accept it calmly."

Emperor Yuanding breathed like a cow, "I don't believe this result."

"Why don't you believe it?" Xie Changling faced Emperor Yuanding directly, without any intention of provocation.

However, this scene fell into Emperor Yuanding's eyes, from his eyes to his tone, and even his hair, all were provocations to imperial majesty and blasphemy against imperial power.

"Why did someone change their vote midway?"

"Changing votes midway is normal; why can't Your Majesty accept it?" Xie Changling asked in return, "May I ask Your Majesty, do you recognize this result?"

Emperor Yuanding certainly didn't recognize it, but he couldn't say it.

The person he wanted to drive away stayed, and the person he wanted to keep was unexpectedly driven away. If there was no calculation here, if Xie Changling hadn't operated all this, he would twist his head off and kick it as a ball.

He swept his eyes across the hall and landed on Chen Guanfu's face, "May I ask the Marquis, what color did you vote for?"

"In reply to Your Majesty, naturally it was black!" Chen Guanfu had a faint smile on his face, his attitude neither humble nor arrogant.

"Why was it black?" Emperor Yuanding gritted his teeth, "Why was it black, and not white?"

"Because..." Chen Guanfu raised his head, facing Emperor Yuanding's question directly, "The Ministry of Works is too expensive, and the Ministry of Justice guards the bottom line. Comparing the two, I think the Ministry of Works needs to move more than the Ministry of Justice."

"Absurd! The court censor was assassinated on the street; have you all forgotten? The Ministry of Justice neglected its duty and should be severely punished. Minister Sun, as Minister of Justice, is hard to blame!"

Emperor Yuanding was full of anger.

This point, he had been emphasizing all along.

He thought the court officials all understood his meaning, he thought everyone realized the key, he thought today's vote wouldn't have problems, he thought... victory was in sight!

However, Xie Changling played him, and everyone united to deceive him.

He hated it!

Hated it to the point of gritting his teeth!

After playing for half a year, he ended up being played.

Emperor Yuanding, at this moment, could not admit defeat; he just wanted to kill!

Seeing the Emperor about to go crazy, Xie Changling acted as a fire extinguisher again, or perhaps adding fuel to the fire.

"Your Majesty, the result is set. Next, we should consider who will take over the position of Minister of Works and who will enter the Secretariat."

The 'former' Minister of Works, who was kicked out of the Secretariat, looked like he had lost his parents and couldn't accept his fate until now. How could it be him, how could he lose.

He is the Emperor's purse!

He didn't get in anyone's way; why target him.

When gods fight, the little ghosts suffer.

He and Sun Daoning are both little ghosts; why is it only he who suffers.

He is unconvinced!

"This official does not accept this result. In the position of Minister of Works, I have been diligent and conscientious over the years; if there is no credit, there is hard work. You have no reason to kick me out of the Secretariat. Moreover, the problem this time is in the Ministry of Justice; Minister Wang was assassinated on the street, and the Ministry of Justice has an unshirkable responsibility. The person who should leave is Minister Sun! I demand a re-vote!"

Emperor Yuanding nodded repeatedly; he supported it with a clear banner! ===== CHAPTER 1720 =====