This day, morning.

Ziwei Palace, main hall of Feng Pavilion.

A meeting of the political hall was held on time as usual.

Zhengshitang is an administrative meeting attended by the three senior officials of Fengge, Luantai and Wenchangtai.

The highest officials of these three provinces all have the actual power of prime minister, that is, they are the ministers who are talked about by the people all over the world.

However, if only the top officials of these three provinces attended the meeting, there would only be four or five people.

Moreover, they are respected for their position and authority, and may not be fully assigned to them, nor can they be given to others easily.

Therefore, the Empress of the Zhou Dynasty later used other officials to participate in the political affairs hall meetings, which were nominally called Tongping Zhangshi, participating in political affairs, etc., and could also be called prime ministers.

However, this kind of prime ministership is quite complicated. It is appointed by the emperor to discuss matters in the political hall, which is an alternative way of sharing the power of the prime minister.

The attendees in the political hall today include both of the above categories, about ten people.

As the highest official of Feng Pavilion, Di Fuzi also held the position of Luantai, and was recognized as the first assistant in the court.

It was his "administrative hall pen" that convened and presided over today's political hall meeting.

In the main hall, Di Fuzi sat upright and wrote a note.

The order of seats in the court hall is clear.

One issue after another was presented in an orderly manner, and the public was discussing politics in full swing.

Not long after, at three o'clock in the morning, a certain fat old man put down his pen and suspended the discussion.

A group of palace servants in colorful clothes with eyebrows imitating plum blossom makeup entered the main hall, walked in unison, presented the palace cakes given by the Queen as a gift of condolence, and bowed their heads before retreating.

The gentlemen rested for a while, drank tea, tasted cakes, and chatted about other things.

Shen Xisheng suddenly felt that his official hat was a little tight, and it pinched his chin a little.

I was a little nervous before but didn't pay attention to it. Now, I was resting with my husband in the hall and realized it later.

However, in this situation, of course you cannot raise your hand to pull or scratch it.

The censor supervises all officials and should set an example.

He is the Yushi Zhongcheng and the deputy chief of the Yushitai. His words, deeds, and clothing need to be more rigorous than ordinary Yushi.

Every time I go out to attend court, it takes most of my time just to put on my clothes.

Shen Xisheng's clothes when going out today were even more regular, because he had something important to do.

At this moment, in the seat at the end of the political hall, Shen Xisheng was sitting with a high crown on his head and a straight and fifth-grade light-red official uniform.

The man in colorful clothes who brought the gift cakes was smiling and smiling as he passed by without looking sideways.

Today, he participated in the highest decision-making meeting at the center of the empire in the name of "participating in political affairs."

Previously, Shen Xisheng returned from his inspection as Jiangnan Supervisory Envoy. He was rewarded with this opportunity by Her Majesty the Queen for his service in comforting the victims and investigating the Jiangzhou Rice Case.

Although it is a little transparent at the bottom.

Shen Xisheng sat upright, put his palms into his sleeves, and touched a certain stack of memorials.

Hearing the chatter and laughter of the seniors around him, he turned his head slightly and glanced at the Master and the Dukes sitting in the front row of the political hall.

The atmosphere of the conversation was pleasant and harmonious.

But Shen Xisheng did not let down his guard at all, chewing every word that came to his ears several times.

Do you really think these cheerful and talkative gentlemen are harmless?

Among the dozen or so people in the political hall, there were former ministers of the Qian Dynasty who were determined to stay away, and there were also the lackeys installed by the King of Wei and the King of Liang;

There are veteran ministers who are highly respected and take care of themselves, and there are also fence-sitters who secretly communicate with the Wei family;

There was even a person named "Involved in Political Affairs" promoted by Princess Changle in front of His Majesty.

In addition, King Wei of Wei and King Wei Sixing of Liang, the two nephews of Her Majesty the Queen, not only received the title of King Shifeng with a thousand shi, but also had the official position of "Tongping Zhangshi" and were able to participate in this political affairs hall meeting.

However, Wei Wang Wei Xusi recently claimed to have contracted a minor illness and did not come to attend the meeting today. Only Liang Wang Wei Sixing came.

Shen Xisheng glanced at Wei Sixing, who was sitting on the seat not far away. The latter was sipping tea from a cup and looking at Master Di with a smile.

This Liang Wang was well-dressed, had a gentle smile, and looked kind to others.

But at the moment, the Yingzhou Rebellion has caused the Wei clan kings to be in a hurry, so they can rest a little for the time being without seeing too much trouble.

Shen Xisheng withdrew his gaze and waited quietly for a while.

After a gray-haired old minister sitting very high in the front told a little anecdote about what happened a few days ago, everyone started laughing from the bottom of their hearts.

Shen Xisheng suddenly stood up, took out a stack of memorials and examination papers from his sleeve, and presented them with both hands:

"Senior gentlemen, a few days before I was dismissed from office, I reviewed the local official examinations of the Tianguan Libu Department in the first half of the year, and found a rather interesting performance test report.

“His Majesty has emphasized many times recently that there is little fresh blood in the court, and it is necessary to recruit talents in an eclectic way.

"I have a vague feeling that this local chief official's political achievements are somewhat impressive, but his experience is shallow. I don't know if he is right. I have some free time at the moment. I hope the senior officials will read it and give some suggestions."

Shen Xisheng faced the sideways glances of everyone in the hall and walked forward.

The princes in purple had different reactions.

Some were surprised, some remained calm, and some immediately glanced at the fat old man at the top who was writing down a note.

These facial expressions quickly subsided. The official position of the censor Zhongcheng is not small. He is a fifth-rank official in the capital. He is appointed and removed by the emperor. He is considered a high official and there is no need to give up his face.

The princes took the examination papers out of curiosity and circulated them one by one. After a short while, the hall gradually started to hear admiration and bright eyes...

Near noon, the meeting at the political hall adjourned.

The arrangement that decided the official fate of a certain young county magistrate seemed to be just a small episode between breaks in this meeting.

But a newly drafted edict on the appointment and dismissal of sixth-grade Qing noble officials has passed the resolution of the Zhengshitang and is being sent to Fengge at great speed.

Then, together with a number of edicts on military and state affairs, it will be submitted to the desk of a certain Queen, and the empress or the female official will draw a red circle or mention the word "imperial".

At the entrance of Feng Pavilion Hall, among the dispersed princes.

A gray-haired veteran who had strongly advocated the recommendation after reading the examination papers stopped, thought for a moment, turned to his colleague who was supporting him and sighed:

"This boy seems to be weak in talent. Such a young Shi Yushi should be the youngest in this dynasty and even in the Qian Dynasty... Ouyang Lianghan, when he enters the capital, I would like to see how talented he is."

Colleagues joked:

"Mr. Ge, you were recuperating last year and were not in the capital. Ouyang Lianghan got into a lot of trouble. He angered His Majesty and demoted him to the county magistrate. Unexpectedly, he was promoted back. Mr. Ge loves talents and cherishes them."

After a pause, he joked: "But this Ouyang Lianghan is indeed a talented person. He is as handsome as an immortal, and he is not yet married. Ha, I heard that the elder has a granddaughter who has just left the palace..."

In the hall where people went to relax, Mrs. Di calmly organized the transcripts of the morning meeting, got up as usual, and sent them to Her Majesty the Queen for reading.

Not long ago, during the agenda for a young county magistrate recommended by Shen Xisheng to rise to the top, he did not speak during the entire process, lowering his head to drink tea or writing a note.

It wasn't until everyone unanimously agreed and turned around to report the proposed official position that the fat old man came back to his senses and uttered only one word:

"Can".

…

It’s August, and the dog days of summer have not yet passed.

The flames of midsummer are not only burning a Buddhist temple under construction in Jiangzhou, Jiangnan Province.

Luoyang was also taken care of by the scorching sun, and it was steaming early in the morning.

In summer, the days are long and the nights are short, and the sky is just getting brighter.

In Xiuwenfang, at the gate of a certain imperial censor Zhongcheng's residence, a carriage slowly left the inner square and headed towards the majestic Zhou Imperial Palace in the distance.

In the carriage that was transporting officials to court, Shen Xisheng was neatly dressed. Not long after he got out of the carriage and got into the carriage, sweat began to drip from his temples.

Covering her sweating head with a white silk scarf, Shen Xisheng took a sip of ice drink, turned around and opened the car curtain, and let out a long breath.

Since the day before yesterday, he has frowned slightly from time to time, and now he is also muttering in a low voice:

"What does Liang Han's wise nephew mean? He actually rejected the imperial edict. Isn't he dissatisfied? How is it possible..."

More than a month has passed since the intermission meeting to recommend talents.

Shen Xisheng originally thought that he would see Ouyang Rong in the capital soon, but it was almost confirmed, and he was looking forward to it.

There are only four precious places for Shi Yushi to be his direct subordinates.

In the censor station, apart from the chief censor Dafu and the adjutant censor Zhongcheng, only the censor censor is the largest, and he can also manage a group of ordinary supervisory censors below.

In the capital, there are countless people with higher official positions than Ouyang Rong, who are struggling to get a job but have no way out.

But a few days ago, the Song Dynasty envoy sent by the Ministry of Civil Affairs returned to Beijing and brought back an intact imperial letter.

Resigned as an official in the capital.

The reason passed back is also quite outrageous:

I want to continue to control water in the south of the Yangtze River and do more for the fellow villagers.

This young county magistrate, who was addicted to water control, also asked his emissary Song Hao to bring a memorial from Longcheng County and handed it to the Heavenly Court.
To be continued...