The court session finally ended at nine in the morning.
Zhu Houzhao returned to the Palace of Heavenly Purity with a large group of people. He met the three people from the inner cabinet in the East Warm Pavilion.
The cabinet chief assistant Zhang Haiduan, the second assistant Zhao Shenyan, and the Grand Scholar Yan Song of the Canopy Hall were only three people.
The chief assistant of the cabinet had a lot of power, which was equivalent to something. Generally speaking, many matters in the court could be decided by the cabinet.
Of course, his power was definitely not comparable to that of the prime ministers and prime ministers of other empires. Unless he cooperated with the eunuch Liu Jin, who was in charge of the ceremonial department, and the emperor himself was useless enough, there was no way he could make decisions alone and make the emperor powerless.
It was very important for the ceremonial supervisor to seal the eunuch's name. He had the power to read the memorials.
That was why Liu Jin could be so arrogant in his previous life and was cut into pieces in the end.
"Minister Zhang, there are too few people in the cabinet. How about this, the Minister of War Yu Qian will be the Grand Scholar of the Hall of Martial Valor, and the Minister of Rites Xu Jie will be the Grand Scholar of the East Pavilion. As for their positions, they held both positions.”
Although they were different halls and pavilions, the cabinet was actually in the Hall of Cultural Splendor. The rest was just a name.
The rank of Grand Scholar was not high, only Fifth Grade.
When Zhang Haiduan heard this, he wanted to refuse, but he endured it.
He couldn't help but feel that the position of Chief Assistant in the cabinet was really high.
However, the problem was that Zhang Haiduan had no other position other than this one.
The cabinet was to assist the emperor. Whether or not they would take up other positions was entirely up to the emperor's mind.
And once they provoked the emperor, they could be dismissed at any time.
Other official positions, even a county magistrate, could not be dismissed by the emperor.
There had to be a problem, such as poor attendance, poor evaluation, or someone complaining in the county.
The cabinet was different. The emperor could dismiss them at any time without a reason.
The biggest reason could be that they didn't fit or didn't like each other.
Therefore, in his previous life, Chongzhen could replace more than 50 cabinet ministers.
It was fine if they had official positions, but if they didn't, it was impossible for them to retire and return them to you.
Therefore, he could only use his title as a Grand Scholar to write some articles and give lectures at the Hanlin Academy.
Fifth Grade!
This was still considered good. If the emperor was unhappy, he would directly kick you out.
Zhu Houzhao was quite glad that Yan Song was actually only a Grand Scholar of Canopy Hall. This was much simpler.
There was no need to touch him for the time being.
If they were obedient, then they would use it. If they were to cause trouble, then they would get lost.
He chatted with the three cabinet ministers, and most of them knew about the affairs of the Empire.
He was just casually listening. His lazy attitude disappointed Zhang Haiduan and Zhao Shenyan, but Yan Song was overjoyed.
Seeing that it was almost noon, Zhu Houzhao invited the three of them to the imperial kitchen for a meal.
After a sumptuous lunch, the three of them were sent away to work in the Hall of Cultural Splendor in the Donghua Gate of the Imperial Palace.
The cabinet was located outside the palace. This was an exception among the many yamens.
The offices of the six ministries were all in the yamen not far from the noon gate of the palace. Other than the morning court session, they had to leave if they had to. They were not allowed to stay in the palace.
It was the same for the East Chamber. Most of the 24 yamens in the palace were outside the palace.
The imperial court seemed to be an office, but that was relative to the emperor.
The harem was the place where the emperor lived, with clear authority and duties.
In the Eastern Warm Pavilion of the Palace of Heavenly Purity, Zhu Houzhao was leaning on a chair while Feng Qingxue was massaging his shoulders.
Gong Xi Fa Cai stood behind him, while a group of people stood respectfully across the table.
Cao Zhengchun, Duke of the East Chamber, Wang Zhi, Duke of the West Chamber, Weng Taibei, Commander of the Royal Guards, Liu Dufeng, the God of Arrest of the Six Fan School, Zhuge Zhengwo, Marquis of the Six Six Fan School, and Zhu Bujue of the Dragon Guard Mountain Villa.
The Ming Empire had invested a lot in these institutions.
The Jinyiwei focused on the surveillance of officials and princes, as well as the deployment of foreign spies.
The East and West Chambers were also there to monitor the officials and nobles, as well as the Brocade Guards.
The Six Fan School controlled the martial arts masters. Of course, most of them were constables who were investigating cases. It was also to prevent the martial arts masters from being too presumptuous.
The Divine Constabulary also had the same authority, but it was more focused on targeting experts.
The Dragon Guarding Mountain Villa was actually here to snatch the power of Six Fan School. However, the former Emperor Xiaozong, due to the face of Concubine Wan, and Zhu Bujue's good acting, allowed the Dragon Guarding Mountain Villa to gradually expand.
"The few of you are the indispensable pillars of our Great Ming Empire. Is there any problem within the Great Ming Empire?”
"Your Majesty, the people in the Great Ming Dynasty live and work in peace and contentment. They all praise you for being wise, divine, kind, and tolerant.”
"Bullsh * t, this is only my second day as emperor.”
Cao Zhengchun was shocked and quickly knelt down.""Please forgive me, Your Majesty."
"Alright, get up."
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
"Think about these good words first. I don't have many requirements for you. Just do your job well. If you have any difficulties, come and find me.”
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
"Right, Zhen is quite curious about the world. All of you are very powerful. You should have information about my Great Ming. I'll get someone to make a copy. No problem, right?”
Zhu Bujue's expression remained unchanged, but his heart became solemn.
Although this little Emperor was smart and quick-witted since he was young, he was definitely not a person who could do things.
But now, it seemed completely different.
Seeing that the other party was still being kneaded by the servant girl, Zhu Budian felt even more disgusted. He wished that the position was his.
However, he did not dare to show it. He was not ready yet.
Moreover, the maid looked less than twenty years old, but she was actually a martial grandmaster. It was simply unbelievable.
Even he was only half a step into the Heaven Tier, and hadn't truly stepped into the Heaven Tier yet.
"What should we do?"
"Your Majesty, our Embroidered Uniform Guards have a lot of information. I'm afraid it will be very slow to copy them. Do you need to bring them all over?”
Zhu Houzhao shook his head." There's no need. You need to keep a copy of the information. If you move it here and lose it, wouldn't it be a waste of the Jinyiwei's efforts?"”
Weng Taibei was overjoyed. Zhu Houzhao's tone was enough to show the importance and respect he had for the Embroidered Uniform Guards.
This made him feel relieved. He was worried that Zhu Houzhao would only pay attention to the East and West Halls. This would make the situation of the Embroidered Uniform Guards difficult. At that time, they would have to rely on one of the Halls to get attention. That would be too disgusting.
"Your Majesty is kind. This subject thanks Your Majesty on behalf of our subordinates!”
This was also a person who knew how to put in good words, but Zhu Houzhao remembered.
This Commander of the Brocade Guard, Weng Taibei, should be from the Long Wind Escort Agency. Although he would do anything to succeed, he was still very loyal and patriotic.
"No need to thank zhen, just do your job well.”
As he spoke, he looked at the others." But Weng Taibei is right. Besides, there's a lot of information that shouldn't be known to others." How about this, each of you get someone to make a copy and send it over. The others left first while Weng Taibei stayed behind.”
"Yes, sir!"
Cao Zhengchun and Wang Zhi looked deeply at Weng Taibei and left without saying anything.
The others also left with mixed feelings. Weng Taibei stood alone.
"Minister Weng, do the Jinyiwei have spies abroad?”
"Yes, Your Majesty. The Brocade Guard has always followed Taizu's orders. Not only do they monitor the officials and nobles of the court, but they have also sent many spies to various countries. Your Majesty, do you want to see the list of spies?”
"No need. Hide these spy lists well and don't let anyone know.”
"I understand."
"I heard that there are countless heroines in the martial world of the Nine Provinces. Is that true?”
This book is provided by FunNovel Novel Book | Fan Fiction Novel [Beautiful Free Novel Book]