Dominate the Country

There is a group of people in the small courtyard where Xiong Bingzhang lives daily.

They all gathered around a three- to four-foot-tall osmanthus tree in the center of the courtyard, which was hugged by several people. A large pit had been dug on the ground, and the old osmanthus tree was being transplanted.

This is the only thing that Xiong Bingzhang wants to 'take away' from the courtyard. In one month, he will move out of this mansion, which symbolizes one of the highest seats of power in Chen Han's officialdom.

Although as Xiong Bingzhang, he could definitely seek favor from the emperor and wait for a year and a half, and it would not be impossible to even leave this mansion. But Xiong Bingzhang didn't.

His only request was that the laurel tree, which he loved so much, be removed.

The pit is at least one foot square, and the deepest part is also one foot long. Most of the roots of the laurel tree are exposed. The tree trunk was pulled by ropes to prevent it from falling suddenly.

The housekeeper who had just come up from the pit was covered in dirt and said, "Sir, the roots of this tree are still intact. It will definitely survive in the future." The season when winter turns to spring is the most suitable for transplanting osmanthus trees. This is the experience of thousands of years. From the perspective of later generations, that is, this month is the dormant season of the osmanthus tree. The osmanthus tree is in a dormant state. Soon after transplantation, the temperature rises, the earth returns to spring, and the activity becomes stronger. , easy to survive.

Xiong Bingzhang's youngest son, Xiong Wenxin, stood quietly behind his old father, watching quietly as the roots of the osmanthus tree were dug up bit by bit. Xiong Wenxin knew why his father cared so much about this laurel tree. When the family moved into this house five years ago, the laurel tree was supposed to be disposed of. Because this old osmanthus plant had lost all its green leaves in summer and had no flowers in autumn, everyone thought it was dead. However, the previous cabinet minister, Youjifu, felt that his political life was about to end, and he was as lonely as the dead laurel tree. In his grief, he allowed the dead laurel tree to stay in the yard.

But no one expected that in the new year, when spring came, the dead osmanthus tree would grow green leaves again.

This is a mockery of the previous right minister, but it is also a compliment to Xiong Bingzhang. From then on, this old osmanthus tree became a treasure in the mansion.

Now, Xiong Bingzhang has to face the experiences faced by the former cabinet minister, Right Second Assistant. He did not back down, and directly made the decision to completely retire, and the Zizhengyuan stopped playing. Xiong Bingzhang hoped that by doing so, he could give his chosen successor an extra point in front of the emperor.

"Sir..."

Zheng Wen also stood nearby, watching the old osmanthus tree that symbolized Xiong Bingzhang's "political life" being transplanted and moved. Although he also hoped that he could come to live in this house and become Xiong Bingzhang's successor, he couldn't help it in his heart. There is that hint of sadness. Because he will inevitably have such a day, 'the rabbit dies and the fox grieves for its own kind'.

Zheng Wen was a veteran of Chen Han. He was also from Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and from Shaoxing. In his early years, he was the master of the prefect of Huai'an in the Qing Dynasty. But the Zheng family was from a humble family, and Zheng Wen rarely returned to Shaoxing after he became rich. In other words, Zheng Wen placed the roots of his family in Nanjing.

When the Fuhan Army captured Huai'an, Zheng Wen failed to escape, so he surrendered obediently and served for the Fuhan Army. Then he easily climbed to the position of Yangzhou Magistrate, but Chen Ming did not trust him at first. he.

Because Chen Ming felt that he was greedy for life and afraid of death, and his character was not good. But Zheng Wen became a master when he was a scholar in his teens. He had been a staff master for more than ten years. He was very good at handling various chores and was unparalleled. A kind of person with good taste and talent. Moreover, during the long-term surveillance of him by the secret camp at that time, there was no sign of collusion between Zheng Wen and Qing army Xizuo. Although Chen Ming still can't completely believe him, he still uses his talents. Therefore, Zheng Wen was transferred to the post of prefect of Jiujiang after only a few days as the prefect of Yangzhou.

Later, Zheng Wen was promoted to the governor of Jiangxi step by step. This phenomenon was common at that time. He stepped from the county magistrate to the prefect, and from the prefect to the governor. Those who don’t know better still think that the system in Chen Han’s officialdom was that county magistrates were promoted to prefects, and prefects were promoted to governors.

However, although Zheng Wen's official career was smooth, his foundation was inherently unstable, and he planted a bad impression in Chen Ming's mind early on. Zheng Wen was transferred to three provinces before he was promoted to the central government by Chen Ming. Then he got the position of Minister of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, Forestry and Fisheries during Liu Dezhao's era. When Wang Huizu took office, he was kicked to Nanming Prefecture. He only returned to Beijing in the middle of last year to report on his work. It was at that time that Chen Ming gave Zheng Wen a signal that he could work hard on the next cabinet.

If Zheng Wen is not looking for a second assistant, but one of the eight cabinet ministers, even if it is the Minister of Civil Affairs or the Minister of Finance, then he is very sure. But Zheng Wen was unwilling to serve as an ordinary cabinet minister for another term. Regardless of the eleven people in the cabinet, each one was a star that attracted much attention in Chen Han, but there was also a big gap between cabinet ministers and cabinet ministers.

This is like the elders of the Rabbit Elder House in the previous life. How big is the gap between the first elder and the second elder? How big is the gap between the second elder and the fifth elder? That's a qualitative difference.

The cabinets of the Chen and Han dynasties were not so different, because they had a parallel governor's office and an emperor above them.

Xiong Bingzhang and Zheng Wen had a good personal relationship, and their political attitudes were quite consistent. Although Zheng Wen first became an official in Chen and Han Dynasty, his official position was higher than that of Xiong Bingzhang. For a long time, Zheng Wen's rank was even higher. . But Xiong Bingzhang was older, especially since he was the elder, so Zheng Wen didn't want to get close to him shamelessly.

Both of them, including Wang Huizu, are from the staff system. So Zheng Wen was able to get the recommendation of Wang Huizu and Xiong Bingzhang so uniquely.

The next ten years are the only ten years left for Zheng Wen. If he does not stand in a relatively high position, he will have no chance.

Age is so precious. Zheng Wen is eleven years younger than Xiong Bingzhang, and he still has ten years of political life!

The Chen Han Dynasty did not have a hard and fast rule on the retirement of officials, but this is only not the case now, and there will be in the future. As far as Xiong Bingzhang knows, the emperor is only entangled in the age line.

"Wen Bo."

After an hour, the huge osmanthus tree was removed, leaving only a huge deep pit on the ground. Xiong Bingzhang called Zheng Wen forward. Standing in front of this huge pit that could bury ten or eight people, Xiong Bingzhang said to his favorite successor with a solemn and sighing tone: "In the future, you must learn to take charge of the overall situation. Although the deputy assistant is different from the chief assistant, it is also different from the cabinet minister."

"Ordinary cabinet ministers have no provincial boundaries in their eyes, but they still have their own interests and sectarianism. Culture and education, postal services, agriculture, animal husbandry, forestry and fisheries, justice, internal affairs, and foreign affairs all want to get funds from the finance minister. Even the civil affairs minister, who ranks first among the cabinet ministers, hopes that more and more funds will be allocated to him from the finance department." Chen Han's current ranking of cabinet ministers is very obvious. Diplomacy is not ranked first. Domestic affairs are the most important. This is completely different from the British people's political rights ranking. The latter attaches great importance to diplomacy, which is the first priority of national politics and is personally responsible for by the prime minister.

The difference in the political structure of the two sides also proves the difference in the focus of their national interests in a certain way, or the fundamental difference between the two countries.

The British care so much about diplomacy because if they, the Anglo-Saxons, want to ensure their own interests, foreign relations and colonies are the top priority; while China only needs to go all out to solve internal problems, and then all external problems will no longer be a problem.

Xiong Bingzhang is teaching Zheng Wen.

If you want to be a good deputy assistant and want to stay at the center stage of China's political power in the next ten years, then don't let partisanship blind your eyes.

"Everything in the world is in this bowl. You, the left and right deputy assistants, and the chief minister, are the hands holding the bowl. It is you who bring the world to the emperor's eyes and let the emperor see the entire Han Dynasty."

"If you are blinded by partisanship, it is like covering the bowl with the hand holding the bowl."

"The current emperor is not a mediocre ruler. If the hand holding the bowl covers the bowl, it will not only block the emperor's sight, but also make the bowl unstable."

The world is a bowl, and it is not difficult to become "complete".

"Wen Bo has written it down." Zheng Wen was not alerted by the "like hearing Huang Zhong Da Lu", but he did remember what Xiong Bingzhang said. The prejudice of the sect is not so easy to get rid of.

The old osmanthus tree cherished by Xiong Bingzhang was moved away. Looking at the old Xiong Bingzhang, everyone in the Xiong family seemed to be indifferent on the surface, but everyone was thinking of the four words "ominous sign" in their hearts.

After losing their power, politicians will age quickly. The Xiong family is not the King of Song or the Liu family. Without the title of the Prime Minister of the Cabinet, they still have the title of king and marquis.

The Xiong family also has this honor and benefit. The title at the founding of the country can be exchanged for land and fiefdom, which is the foundation of a family for generations. But the Xiong family is just a small earl, or a fringe earl.

...

At this moment in the Shen family, Shen Chu has put the power in his hands on his desk. Today, Shen Chu no longer appears at home as a "Shen Ge Lao", but a member of the Council of State. So his whole image does not seem so majestic and towering.

Today, the sun in Nanjing is very good, and Shen Chu stays in the glass greenhouse in his home, leaning on a rocking chair to bask in the sun.

Shen Chu is the first in Nanjing to have a transparent house made of all glass, which is not used to place flower pots during the winter, but to warm himself. Although glass windows have long been in thousands of households in China, the dignitaries and important officials in Nanjing have replaced the old windows covered with paper or gauze more than 20 years ago, and replaced them with more transparent and windproof glass windows.

But such a greenhouse is still very rare.

And the fact is that the technical content of this kind of greenhouse is more than one level higher than that of a simple glass window. Because it is a completely glass structure, and it is difficult to ensure that the current glass can smoothly survive the four seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter. And the glass blocks here are super large, and it is much more difficult to make such glass than ordinary window glass.

But Shen Chu is not an ordinary big businessman or rich man, he is a cabinet minister of the empire.

In such a room, it is most comfortable to come out and bask in the sun in winter. Older people will easily get sick if they are exposed to a little cold wind. There are many old people in the world who cannot survive the winter, but this glass greenhouse solves all problems.

With exquisite Persian felt draped over his legs, Shen Chu is bathing in the sun with his eyes closed. The light shines through the colorless glass, making the room warm like spring. There are also more than a dozen pots of blooming flowers and trees in the greenhouse, all of which are famous treasures that are not available on the market.

Shen Chu's temperament is changing little by little...