The Sage of Confucianism and Taoism

Chapter 2447 Performance Report

The three looked at each other and were silent for a long time.

In the Left Prime Minister's Cabinet, except for those who do miscellaneous work, the lowest status is Tongshi Sheren, and above is Zhongshu Sheren. They have the same official position, but the rank will fluctuate slightly, and the actual power is also different.

In theory, the official position of Zhongshu Sheren is higher than that of Tongshi Sheren, but some Zhongshu Sheren are only responsible for transcribing documents and imperial edicts, and they do not have much actual power, but are not as good as some Tongshi Sheren who are responsible for specific matters.

What's more, the cabinet is the core of Jingguo, and the Left Prime Minister's Cabinet is the core of the core, with intricate and complicated internal affairs.

Especially after Liu Shan's fall, more than half of the members were replaced. The reason why the court did not replace everyone was that they were afraid that the newcomers would not be able to make the Left Prime Minister's Cabinet operate normally.

At this time, recommending anyone may offend the others and the forces behind them.

The key is that the position of Zhongshu in the cabinet is extraordinary.

One is in charge of people, the other is in charge of affairs. This is simply because the new prime minister is worried that he cannot control the Left Prime Minister's Office, so he simply starts a new business and uses his own way to straighten out the operation of the Left Prime Minister's Office, so that the Left Prime Minister's Office can operate in a form that he can accept.

The three of them were silent for a long time.

Fang Yun said: "This matter should be slow, not urgent, and we should take it step by step. However, two people can temporarily take over the position of cabinet secretary. Then, this prime minister appoints Xu Changgeng and Li Zhixiao to temporarily take over the position of cabinet secretary. One is temporarily responsible for my communication with cabinet members, and the other is temporarily in charge of cabinet affairs. Xu Changgeng, you will be busier than usual in the next few days. Is it inconvenient?"

Xu Changgeng immediately stepped forward, straightened his chest, and responded in a slightly louder voice: "The student will not let you down."

Fang Yun snorted coldly and looked at Xu Changgeng with an extremely cold look.

Xu Changgeng lowered his head slightly, holding his sleeve tightly with his right hand to avoid letting others see the fear in his heart.

Dong Yueqian didn't understand, and Li Zhixiao racked his brains for a long time before figuring out the reason.

It turned out that Xu Changgeng was good at guessing people's hearts. Fang Yun said before that he liked to use military time, and thought of Fang Yun's repeated military battles, so he decided that Fang Yun liked the military style, so he abandoned normal etiquette and learned the straightforward way of responding in the army to win Fang Yun's favor.

Unexpectedly, Fang Yun saw through Xu Changgeng's intention at a glance, and didn't like Xu Changgeng's mind on this.

After figuring out the key, Li Zhixiao was mixed with joy and worry. What worried him was that Fang Yun was obviously not very old, ten or twenty years younger than them, the cabinet officials, but his eyes were so vicious. Obviously, that kind of bureaucratic behavior could not be hidden from this person. If he wanted to use those tricks in the future, he would probably be seen through by him and then severely punished.

In the local area, it was a dispute between officials and clerks. In the cabinet and six ministries and other official offices, there would naturally be friction between small officials and senior officials.

Cheating and deceiving subordinates is the norm among bureaucrats and will never disappear.

Li Zhixiao was happy that he realized Fang Yun's specialness one step ahead of time, and he would never use the old bureaucrat's methods to deal with Fang Yun in the future. At the same time, he found that Fang Yun was obviously different from other officials. Although Liu Shan had great talent, he was better at being in harmony with the world, and this person was obviously not another Liu Shan. The way of doing things in the future must be changed immediately.

However, after only a few breaths, Li Zhixiao suddenly realized that Fang Yun was unwilling to be in harmony with the world, but he would also use methods.

For example, the Kaizhi Shengxiang awarded this time is the most common but also the most effective method, buying horse bones with a thousand gold. Fang Yun could actually give such a treasure to three people who had just known each other for less than two days. If people with higher literary and higher abilities came to join him, would they lack divine objects?

This is just an ordinary strategy for employing people. Fang Yun directly promoted two people. On the surface, it was a helpless move, too hasty, and only temporary. However, this behavior focused the attention of the rest of the Zuo Xiangge on these two people, especially the complaints or dissatisfaction, which would be vented on these two people, instead of targeting Fang Yun.

If these two people can withstand the huge pressure and do everything well, it is equivalent to being honed into talents, and Fang Yun will naturally reuse them. If they are suppressed by others and everything goes wrong, Fang Yun will change the candidates for the cabinet secretary as expected by everyone. Everyone will only think that Fang Yun is wise and will not entangle Fang Yun's reason for choosing these two people before.

Li Zhixiao sighed in his heart, and then he realized that when he reached the position of left prime minister, Fang Yun and Liu Shan were not essentially different. They both used their subordinates as pawns. However, Fang Yun was better than Liu Shan in one aspect, that is, generosity.

Li Zhixiao was extremely disgusted with the feeling of being controlled by others. He even wanted to resign in the past, but he finally endured it. He always had some resentment towards Liu Shan in his heart. But now, he has no resentment towards Fang Yun. After serving as the cabinet secretary, even if he fails, it will only waste a few years. At most, he will go to other government offices. However, this loss is negligible compared with the gains of ambergris.

Thinking of this, Li Zhixiao suddenly understood that compared with Liu Shan, Fang Yun always had a kind heart. He was also self-interested and made profits for himself, but he had a bottom line in doing things. He would never cut off the food supply of the army in order to achieve his own goals like Liu Shan.

Li Zhixiao thought about it carefully, and suddenly he admired Fang Yun even more. Bribing or luring officials with divine objects was a taboo in the officialdom, second only to donating materials and money to the military. However, Fang Yun actually did it. This did not seem to be a desire for quick success, but more like knowingly breaking the rules and not caring about the so-called officialdom rules.

Fang Yun looked at Li Zhixiao and said, "You are responsible for managing affairs, and your burden is heavier than Xu Changgeng. Don't be anxious. Think about the plan carefully first. After you have a specific plan, write it down and give it to me to discuss together. In addition, Xu Changgeng."

"I'm here!" Xu Changgeng responded in a very formal way.

"You convey my order to all members of the Left Prime Minister's Cabinet and submit a personal report tomorrow, containing only three aspects..."

Fang Yun said, scanning the three of them.

"First, write down your responsibilities in detail what you should do, what you are doing, and what you have done."

"Second, tell me your strengths and weaknesses, what you are suitable for, what areas you have unusual advantages in, what mistakes you have made, what lessons you have learned, whether you have corrected them, and give examples of corrections."

"Third, think deeply about the affairs of the Zuo Xiangge. Everyone should write down at least three current problems of the Zuo Xiangge, analyze the reasons, the process of formation, and discuss ways to solve them. Hmm..."

"Three aspects are not enough. Fourthly, what kind of understanding and expectations do you have for the cabinet, the country, the human race, and the future? There is no need to go into a long discussion. Well, it is still not enough."

"Fifth, each of you must write down at least three things that I should do as the left prime minister. Don't write in a big way, but write in a small way, and write in a specific way, even if it delays the response of cabinet officials for a long time. Get some sleep. That’s it for now.”

The three of them stood there, a little confused.

Naturally, Fang Yun would not say that he was asking them to write a work report, let alone that he wanted to understand the entire Zuo Xiang Pavilion and each individual in a more specific and comprehensive manner through different perspectives.