Chapter 5019 Fishing in troubled waters

Chapter 5019 Fishing in troubled waters
The appointment of a prime minister is a special privilege granted by the imperial power. If the emperor cannot even do this, he will become a complete puppet, which means the fall of imperial power and the dominance of powerful ministers, which will not be tolerated by the world.

However, Li Chengqian arbitrarily appointed prime ministers and reappointed Fang Jun, who had been excluded from the list of prime ministers before. Not only was there no discussion beforehand, but there was not even any news of the matter. This hurt Liu Li, who always regarded himself as the "chief of prime ministers."

Originally, there were six prime ministers in the Council of State, but Liu Li was about to lose control because of Pei Huaijie's sudden betrayal and change of allegiance. Now, a big fish like Fang Jun had come in, which was bound to muddy the water in the Council of State. How could he, the Minister of the Central Secretariat, still issue orders?

……

Early in the morning, Fang Jun came to the Political Affairs Hall in the Secretariat with his hands behind his back and walked in square steps. Many officials and clerks stepped aside and bowed to greet him. After receiving a gentle nod and smile, they all looked at Fang Jun as he walked into the hall, their eyes deep and their minds complicated.

Originally, the six prime ministers in charge of the Political Affairs Hall had already caused many things to become stalemated, with quarrels and tensions from time to time. Now that such a big shot has come, it is clear that there will be no peace in the Political Affairs Hall...

The government hall is very spacious. Since it is not where the prime minister works on a daily basis, there are many desks in the hall but there are no piles of paperwork. The chairs are wiped clean and arranged in an orderly manner. The huge space is very leisurely.

It was still early, so Fang Jun walked around the lobby, went out to find an official office, had someone sprinkle water and clean it, and used it as a temporary duty room for rest. He also asked the clerk to boil water and make tea. He sat behind the desk with his legs crossed, found a miscellaneous book, and read while drinking tea, waiting for the prime ministers to come to work and discuss matters. He felt very comfortable.

When Liu Li came to the Council of State, he heard that Fang Jun had found an official residence to be the duty officer, and his face immediately turned ugly.

The Secretariat was his territory. Theoretically, every official residence was under his jurisdiction. Although he had opened up the Council of State Hall as a place for the prime minister to hold meetings, there should not be a duty room for any prime minister other than himself. Fang Jun's move was simply a provocation.

Soon, a group of prime ministers came one after another and gathered in the hall.

Fang Jun also came out from the duty room and greeted the prime ministers one by one with a smile.

Tang Jian, with a white beard and a staggering gait, stroked his beard and smiled as Fang Jun came forward to greet him. He reached out and patted Fang Jun on the shoulder: "Normally, it's always difficult for us to reach a consensus, and we always go to Your Majesty to ask for a divine judgment. It's really shameful. Now that Erlang is here, the Political Affairs Hall has a backbone. It's a good thing."

Fang Jun helped him sit down, very modestly: "You think it's a good thing, but some people think I'm annoying, I don't know how they curse me behind my back. But it's hard to disobey the emperor's will, His Majesty asked me to come here to participate in government affairs, how dare I refuse? You can curse if you want, after all, there are still many villains in the court."

Liu Li, who had one foot in and one foot out, suddenly twitched his eyes: "..."

Tang Jian sat down, glanced at Liu Li, patted Fang Jun's hand, and said, "Hey, it's the duty of a minister to help your majesty solve problems. Why are there so many villains? Erlang is overthinking."

Fang Jun sat next to him, looking serious: "I won't write these two words on my face. We can only know a person's face but not his heart. We must be vigilant at all times."

Liu Jie: "..."

Although he had already expected that with this guy messing around in the government hall, his future life would not be smooth, but he still felt very angry when he was made such a sarcastic implication on the first day.

Mother!

Fortunately, not long after, Cui Dunli, Liu Xiangdao, Dai Zhou, Pei Huaijie, Ma Zhou and others arrived one after another, and the atmosphere in the government hall became a little more relaxed.

All the important matters from various government offices were brought to the Council of Government Affairs Hall one by one. The prime ministers brainstormed and made plans, solving one difficult problem after another. Occasionally, when they encountered disagreements and disputes, they would vote by raising their hands.

Liu Li then discovered that he, the chief minister, was left aside. As long as Fang Jun agreed, it would basically pass, but anything he agreed to was almost always overturned...

Inevitably, Liu Li was full of resentment towards His Majesty.

He could guess some of Your Majesty's intentions, but in order to split the alliance between Fang Jun and Li Ji, he put Fang Jun into the Council of State. He put a ferocious tiger into the territory of him, the head prime minister, and continuously eroded his prestige and power without considering his feelings at all. How could he be at peace?

……

The meeting in the Council of State was over, and the prime ministers left one after another, returning to their own offices to implement the results of the vote at the meeting.

When Pei Huaijie walked out of the door, he saw Liu Li standing under a big locust tree in the yard talking to a clerk. The two looked at each other and Liu Li forced a smile: "I got some good tea yesterday. Pei Pushe, why don't you come to my place to taste it?"

Pei Huaijie hesitated for a moment and nodded: "That's what I wish for."

The two of them came to the duty room of the Secretariat one after another.

After they sat down, the clerk boiled water and made tea, then left the duty room and closed the door...

Pei Huaijie felt like he was sitting on pins and needles, but he knew that there was no way to avoid it and he had to face it eventually.

Liu Li took a sip of tea, expressionless, and got straight to the point: "Doesn't Pei Pushe have anything to say to me?"

he is very angry.

This fellow was dismissed from his position as the governor of Henan by Fang Jun. When he returned to Chang'an in a panic, he had no relatives and was surrounded by enemies in the court. No government office was willing to accept him with the empty title of Shangshu You Pushe. It was because he spent a lot of energy and resources to recommend him to His Majesty that he was included in the "Military System Reform Committee" and had a place to stand.

And how did this guy repay him?
At the most critical moment and the most critical place, he helped Fang Jun, who was supposed to be his enemy, to stab his benefactor hard in the back!

To this day, Liu Li still can't forget how angry and disappointed His Majesty was with Pei Huaijie because of his betrayal...

Pei Huaijie smiled bitterly, holding the tea, hesitated for a long time, and then slowly said: "I am a court official, I should be loyal to the emperor, patriotic, and law-abiding. Since I am the prime minister and have the power to make decisions on the spot, I must make decisions that are beneficial to the country. I am not against people, but against the matter. If the Minister of the Central Secretariat holds a grudge against me for this, then I have nothing to say."

Liu Li forced himself to laugh, gritting his teeth and saying, "So, Pei Pushe is a man who is loyal to his country and impartial?"

Pei Huaijie was helpless and said, "I don't deserve such praise, but the Political Affairs Hall is where decisions are made on the empire's major events. We are deeply blessed by the emperor and are honored by him. How can we stand on the side of the parties because of the entanglement of interests? If I think it is beneficial to the country, I will raise my hand to agree, otherwise I will express my opposition. All my judgments are fair and I will not lose my morality because of someone's gains and losses. I hope the Minister of the Central Secretariat will forgive me."

There was silence in the fat. Liu Li's face was gloomy and he said nothing, but his eyes were staring at Pei Huaijie with burning eyes.

Naturally, he didn't believe a word the other party said.

Are there pure people in the court? Of course there are, such as Wei Zheng in the past and Ma Zhou in the present.

But it definitely won’t be Pei Huaijie.

How can a person who has been in Luoyang for many years and colluded with Henan noble families to seize good farmland, persecute the people, embezzle taxes, and resist the central government's orders when he was the Yin of Henan benefactor talk about fairness and justice?

Under Liu Li's scorching gaze, Pei Huaijie still felt guilty. He smiled helplessly, put down his teacup, and spread his hands, saying, "It's not that I don't care about the relationship with the Minister of the Central Secretariat, I just can't help it."

Liu Li pressed the question: "Why can't I control myself?"

As long as Pei Huaijie could point out that Fang Jun was not doing things according to the rules, or was using coercion or bribery, he could immediately gather the civil servants in the court to impeach him and would definitely be able to expel Fang Jun from the Council of State.

As for whether this would ruin His Majesty's plan, he didn't care.

The Minister of the Central Secretariat is unable to control the Council of State Affairs, and his prestige is declining day by day. If this continues, he will lose the support of the entire civil service group. What political status can he have?

The status of "civil servant leader" is granted with the full support of all civil servants, and it cannot be bestowed by just an edict from Your Majesty!
Pei Huaijie vaguely understood Liu Li's intention, so how could he dare to talk nonsense?
He said with a bitter face: "I have already made my feelings clear. I have said what I should say and dared not say what I shouldn't say. Why does the Minister of the Central Secretariat have to press me?"

He was also somewhat dissatisfied in his heart. Why did he stab Liu Li in the back? Couldn't Liu Li guess it?

Do you have to dig deep and tell me something that's beneficial to you?
If you succeed in getting Fang Junqi kicked out of the government hall, how will I, Pei Huaijie, survive?

Seeing that he was determined, Liu Li knew that his plan would fail, so he had to persuade him earnestly: "You should know that our interests are the same. Only if you stand on my side can I try to control the political affairs hall. Otherwise, I will be suppressed in everything. I will lose my prestige, but what benefit will you get? It is beneficial to both sides to work together. You should understand this principle."

Pei Huaijie said nothing and drank water depressedly.

How could he not understand this truth?
The problem is that he doesn't dare!

He had left too many traces in Henan. Now all the noble families in Henan had been conquered by Fang Jun. There was solid evidence for every one of those things. Once Fang Jun threw them out without any care, the censors in the Censorate would immediately launch an impeachment like a storm, which would be enough to kill him without a burial place!
Under such circumstances, even if Fang Jun asked him to beat the dog, he would not dare to chase the chicken!

unless……

Liu Li said bluntly: "After lunch, you and I will go to the palace together to meet His Majesty."

Pei Huai's eyes flickered as he asked, "What advice do you have, Zhongshu Ling?"

Liu Li had introduced him to His Majesty before, but no one knew how this man operated. His Majesty was quite cold towards him and did not take him seriously.

Without the support of Your Majesty, how dare he stab Fang Jun in the back?
Liu Li said: "Your Majesty is very concerned about the Political Affairs Hall. My status is not suitable for me to say too much. When the time comes, you can speak freely in front of His Majesty and let His Majesty know the situation in the Political Affairs Hall."

Pei Huaijie's eyes lit up. Just say bad things about Fang Jun?

Things like having the final say, ignoring the Minister of the Secretariat, using public resources for personal gain, and so on... He is very good at taking advantage of troubled waters.

(End of this chapter)