Chapter 1721: He is slandering me

"Slander, he is slandering!"

Zhao Jichong was aggrieved!

He worked hard for the Emperor, and if there was no credit, there was hard work. Now, Xie Changling humiliated him in front of everyone, trampled on his personality, and slandered his knowledge, comparable to a life-and-death hatred.

A gentleman does not take revenge for this hatred.

"Your Majesty, Minister Xie humiliated me; please make the decision for me, Your Majesty."

Zhao Jichong didn't care about his face; he had to figure this out clearly today. He could suffer humiliation, but the Jixia Academy must never suffer humiliation!

Xie Changling must apologize in public, and it would be best to give up the position of Minister of Works to an official from the Jixia Academy.

Emperor Yuanding and Zhao Jichong hit it off, pushing the boat with the current, saying: "Minister Xie, you and Minister Zhao are officials in the same court and should respect each other. How can you humiliate your colleagues in public? It's too presumptuous! I demand that you apologize to Minister Zhao."

Xie Changling bowed slightly, "Your Majesty's words are reasonable. Minister Zhao is narrow-minded and cannot tolerate a word of truth from others. It just so happens that I love telling the truth the most, and I neglected Minister Zhao's mood. Minister Zhao, I apologize to you here. Don't worry, from now on, everyone will avoid you and will never say a word of truth in front of you."

"You, you, you... this is slander, it is defamation!" Zhao Jichong was so angry that he blew his beard and stared, "You are humiliating this official. Xie Changling, as Prime Minister, you have no tolerance. You are not worthy of being Prime Minister!"

Xie Changling looked coldly at the furious Zhao Jichong and smiled disdainfully, "Minister Zhao is truly hard to serve! Neither left nor right is good, just like a shrew in the marketplace. Could it be that officials from your Jixia Academy are all like you, only knowing how to quarrel like a woman, but not knowing how to solve problems?

Your Majesty, I am very worried that officials from the Jixia Academy are good at finding fault and fighting with their mouths, but they don't understand how to handle court affairs. Since Minister Zhao joined the Secretariat, he has caused countless disputes. I hope Your Majesty will consider the candidate for Minister of Works carefully. Don't let it end up with money spent, but the matter not accomplished."

He was implicitly reminding Emperor Yuanding that since the Ministry of Works is used to rake in wealth, he must find professional personnel. In short, officials from the Jixia Academy who rely on playing with their mouths are unqualified!

Emperor Yuanding frowned; he didn't want to find a club to help him rake in wealth. Regardless of Xie Changling's intentions, at least this reminder was sincere and hit the key point.

Looking at Zhao Jichong again, relying on the Emperor's favor and support, he still wanted to continue fighting with Xie Changling and ruin today's vote. He rolled up his sleeves and was about to do a big job, but unexpectedly, he was stopped by Emperor Yuanding.

"Minister Zhao, stop being presumptuous! Today we are discussing the candidates for the Secretariat; other matters can be put aside for now. I hope you can distinguish between primary and secondary."

Zhao Jichong was shocked; he never expected Emperor Yuanding to backstab him.

He looked embarrassed, not understanding and not convinced, but he could only obey orders.

"Everything is up to Your Majesty."

"Regarding the position of Minister of Works, who will serve, who is qualified, everyone nominate. Still follow the old rules, all candidates vote together to decide. I hope to determine the candidate as soon as possible, so as not to delay serious business."

"Your Majesty is wise!"

The court officials threw out their candidates one after another.

There were six candidates in total.

First round of voting, select the top three with the most votes.

Second round of voting, select the one with the most votes, who will be the future Minister of Works and a new member of the Secretariat.

Sun Daoning tasted the sweetness in the struggle; he had his own ideas, and he also had candidates he sincerely wanted to recommend.

But he knew better that he must repay Xie Changling.

Without Xie Changling's planning for him, he would have already slunk out of the Secretariat and become an object of ridicule for everyone.

No need to think, no need to hesitate, he stood firmly on Xie Changling's side. Whoever Minister Xie favors, he will vote to support!

Xie Changling had three candidates in his hand, each with their own advantages and disadvantages in terms of closeness and distance.

He had to come up with a candidate that the Emperor was satisfied with to temporarily appease the Emperor's irritable temper.

The candidate was picked from the nobility, conforming to the interests of all parties.

Therefore, when Emperor Yuanding heard the familiar name, he was obviously stunned for a moment, a bit unbelievable. He couldn't help but look at Xie Changling twice, and subconsciously looked at Chen Guanfu again.

The eyebrow-eye official business between the three could not escape the eyes of others.

Many times, many things don't need private communication, not even eye contact. There wasn't a fool present; instantly, everyone knew how to choose in their hearts.

Minister of Justice Sun Daoning wasn't kicked out, which already offended the Emperor.

If the candidate for Minister of Works was still not to the Emperor's liking, don't think about having a quiet New Year this year. With the Emperor's temper of making a fuss, no one would have a good life.

So...

Everyone had a tacit understanding. In the second round of voting, they voted for that lucky noble descendant one after another.

Sun Daoning was naturally not a fool; he just didn't have that many schemes.

But he also truly couldn't stand that Minister Tian!

The Tian family is nobility; this is true.

However, the Tian family's reputation is not very good; this is also true.

The most critical thing is that there are rumors that the Tian family's ancestors were not clean and were tomb robbers. Although they have been whitewashed for so many years and have been claiming to be military nobles all day long, Sun Daoning, as Minister of Justice, naturally knows many hidden rumors that others don't.

He didn't understand why Xie Changling wanted to support the one surnamed Tian to get ahead?

Could it be Chen Guanfu's meaning.

He secretly looked at Chen Guanfu, but couldn't see anything.

After carefully searching his memory, the Hou Fu and the Tian family seemed to be old acquaintances, not in-laws.

Can't figure it out!

He took a deep breath and finally voted for the one surnamed Tian.

Minister Tian was the choice of the crowd, successfully promoted to Minister of Works with a huge advantage of seven votes, and entered the Secretariat.

Emperor Yuanding laughed out loud, obviously very satisfied with this result.

"Someone, go and invite Minister Tian. I can't wait to see Minister Tian. Take this opportunity for the ministers of the Secretariat to get close. Order that the ministers stay in the palace for lunch!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your grace!"

The Emperor rewarding lunch is an honor. Regardless of whether it tastes good or not, one must thank him, sincerely thank him.

Tian Chongshan, the head of the Nanjiang Earl Mansion, the current Nanjiang Earl. He is not old, not yet fifty, and is a slick person. His relationship with the Hou Fu is good.

His family has a scholarly tradition and is good at construction.

The construction of every city on the border, the excavation of construction sites during wartime, technical support in siege warfare—there are shadows of the Tian family in many places.

The Tian family doesn't know how to fight.

But when it comes to military engineering construction and earth excavation, no one among the nobility is better than the Tian family.

The Tian family made great contributions back then because of this ability and was granted a title.

However, their background is not clean.

Just as Sun Daoning understood, the Tian family started by digging graves and robbing tombs. After washing their hands and whitewashing, they couldn't change the bottom color of the earth-diggers. Generation after generation, they did the work of engineering and construction, but in the past, they worked for the Ministry of War and military camps, and had nothing to do with the Ministry of Works. ===== CHAPTER 1722 =====