CHAPTER 376: CHAPTER 167: THE PEOPLE OF THE WORLD, EACH WITH THEIR OWN FUTURE (PLEASE SUBSCRIBE)

Xu Qing’s forehead darkened; to become a governor was still acceptable.

Within our dynasty, when the position of governor was first established, it was of the Second Rank, but later it was demoted to the Third Rank, and it became customary. Ordinary magistrates are of the Fifth Rank, but in a directly-administered city like Jiangning Prefecture, it’s usually of the Fourth Rank, which is the current rank of Magistrate He.

If Magistrate He were the magistrate of Yingtian Prefecture it would be a different story; after all, during the early years of the dynasty, the magistrate of Yingtian was of the Third Rank. After the capital moved North, Yingtian Prefecture was demoted to the Deputy Third Rank but was still considered a high appointment.

However, this high appointment for the magistrate of Yingtian Prefecture is also a helpless move. With a low rank, how could he suppress the powerful officials in South Zhili? Could he still manage his duties?

Even so, ordinarily, one wouldn’t dare to offend people.

In this position, making a mistake is no small matter.

Fortunately, being a Yingtian Prefecture magistrate, difficult as it may be, isn’t as challenging as being the truly formidable Capital Governor of Shuntian Prefecture.

Magistrate He also knows he’s aiming too high, but this is merely bargaining.

Xu Qing said: "Lord, such prestigious court appointments are no child’s play, what kind of person do you take me for?"

Magistrate He: "I spoke in jest just now. Gongming, what do you think my next step should be?"

Although Old He was jealous of Mr. Feng and Mr. Wu, in reality, Mr. Feng’s rank isn’t particularly high right now. The fact that he’s formidable is akin to an ordinary cultivator who possesses a powerful magical treasure.

It’s not him who’s formidable, but the magical treasure.

But with such credentials, it would be easy to get promoted.

Moreover, in our dynasty, promotions below the Third Rank aren’t so stringent. For instance, Mr. Wu was an exceptional promotion by the Grand Secretary. But Mr. Wu has solid experience, having suppressed bandits and quelled rebels such as the Lotus Sect...

Military merits are different.

Most importantly, his brother is a Little Heavenly Official in the Ministry of Personnel.

Ordinary people promoted exceptionally would certainly face objections from the Ministry of Personnel.

With Mr. Wu, the case is different; as long as he has enough achievements, and the Grand Secretary wants to use him, others have no reason to oppose it.

In the cultivation world, Mr. Wu can be considered a True Immortal of Merit.

As for the father-in-law, apart from some merit, the key is having a good son-in-law. Although it’s inappropriate to publicly reward Xu Qing, his merits can’t go unrecognized, so Mr. Feng has also won by lying down.

Mr. He is purely feeling disgruntled, but he doesn’t take a look at himself.

However, as Magistrate He’s promotion would be beneficial to Xu Qing, and Magistrate He does have merits to his name.

Yet, Magistrate He’s rank is much higher than that of an Imperial Censor, so naturally it wouldn’t be good for him to take over his father-in-law’s position.

When Xu Qing remembered the news from Mr. Wu, "Lord, I heard that the original plan was to arrange Mr. Zhang Shilun to come over as the Yingtian Inspector, but because of strong opposition in the Court, the appointment of the Yingtian Inspector has been postponed?"

That’s why the Grand Secretary can be so slippery.

Since everyone opposes Zhang Shilun as the Yingtian Inspector, the Grand Secretary simply doesn’t bring up the subject of the Yingtian Inspector anymore.

So, a peculiar phenomenon has appeared in South Zhili.

After the previous Governor resigned, considering the close relationship between the Lin Governor and Duke Wei Mansion, the Grand Secretary found an excuse to transfer him away a month ago.

Now, there’s no Yingtian Inspector either.

As a result, the largest actual power in South Zhili has inadvertently become Xu Qing’s father-in-law, Mr. Feng, who has also been given the task of a Military Supervisor, effectively grasping both military and government affairs, fully akin to a low-profile inspector.

The most cunning part of this move is that once Mr. Feng’s services are no longer needed, it’s easy to take back control and find him a place; it’s just a matter of saying the word.

After all, Mr. Feng himself is only of Seventh Rank.

So, Xu Qing’s request for his father-in-law to be an official is completely justifiable.

For Magistrate He to climb higher is indeed a matter of one person per slot, quite a puzzle to ponder.

Magistrate He, hearing Xu Qing bring up the Yingtian Inspector, coughed, "Gongming, this Yingtian Inspector position also entails serving as the Assistant Minister of the Ministry of War. Your suggestion is even more difficult than becoming a governor."

Xu Qing rolled his eyes, thinking, "Old He, you sure can dream big. Why not just go directly to the Six Ministries and become an official there."

After grumbling in his stomach, Xu Qing continued: "I’ll venture a suggestion on behalf of the Lord. I’m not sure if the Lord is seeking reputation or substance."

Magistrate He wanted both, but knew it wasn’t realistic. Presently, he was a good student not ashamed to ask, "Gongming, what’s the difference between reputation and substance?"

Xu Qing: "If you’re after reputation, then that would be a transfer back to the Capital, becoming a Capital Official. With your background, Lord, it wouldn’t take many years before a spot among the Nine Ministers might not be out of reach, but you would most likely end up lingering in the role of a Nine Minister."

This day, the Capital Officials naturally respected crucial departments such as the Six Ministires and Inspection Bureau more than others. The Nine Ministers have their titles, but in terms of real power, they can’t compare with the Six Ministries and Inspection Bureau.

To put it bluntly, the rise of the Three Departments and Six Ministries has been a division of the powers of the Three Lords and Nine Ministers.

For example, the creation of the Shangshu Platform.

It was essentially a power struggle play.

This issue can be traced back to the time of Emperor Wu of Han.

During Emperor Wu’s reign, the Prime Minister’s Mansion still wielded great power. In order to seize power from the Prime Minister’s Mansion, Emperor Wu established the Shangshu Platform, which had many Secretaries within it.

Emperor Wu availed himself of these Secretaries to write numerous political opinions in the name of the Emperor, delivering them to the Prime Minister’s Mansion.

For any matter assigned by the Emperor, the Prime Minister could argue against it but must personally review it and write his own opinion. The process did not allow for delegation by others, or it would be a grave crime.

Hence, the Prime Minister at that time, exhausted by replying to these trivial issues daily, ended up approving all suggestions from the Shangshu Platform without objection.

In this way, the Prime Minister’s Mansion lost its power to the Shangshu Platform.

Of course, the actual struggle was surely more complex than what’s described in the history books, but the principle behind it is quite clear.

No matter how powerful a person is, they cannot handle all the worldly affairs.