Feng Ziying seemed very indifferent and her eyes were calm.
Three jade vases are placed on the long desk like this. Anyone who goes to drop the jade bottles can be seen by the people in the palace.
There is also a jade plate next to it. Those who abstain from voting will be placed in the jade plate.
Fu Shi walked to the long desk, paused for a moment, then reached out and took out his jade pen, placed it on the jade plate on the far right, then calmly turned around and walked back.
There was a sigh of relief in the hall. Some people had already guessed that Fu Shi would abstain from voting, and some people looked at Feng Ziying, thinking that this was a trick played by Feng Ziying.
However, by doing this, on the surface, no one was offended, but in fact, all three of them, Gu Guanqiao and Qiao, were offended.
Feng Ziying didn't take it seriously. He could feel the complexity in Gu Guanqiao's eyes, but he took it as a matter of course.
I did promise to support them, but not in this round, because the results of this round of voting will not lead to anything.
As Lian Guo Shi, Pan Ruzhen and Geng Ruqi all abstained from voting, the attitude of Feng Ziying and his team has become clear. They did not vote for any of Gu Guanqiao. Obviously they are not optimistic about the competition between the three. Tear the situation apart.
"Ziying, is this your attitude?" Guan Yingzhen asked Feng Ziying opposite with a wry smile, "You can't offend even if you play draw cards?"
"Dongxian Gong, it's not that this doesn't offend everyone, but it offends everyone." Feng Ziying spread her hands with a look of helplessness, "I also know that voting like this will not please anyone, but I can only choose this way, and I actually prefer it. It is preferred that the three of them can negotiate a more suitable compromise, but the problem is that it is difficult to achieve."
Seeing Gu Bingqian and Qiao Yingjia both looking over, Feng Ziying continued: "Everyone has his own way. I am not optimistic about the result of today's vote. No matter who I vote for, I don't think it will change the result."
Feng Ziying was so sure that Gu Bingqian, Guan Yingzhen and Qiao Yingjia were all trembling in their hearts.
Gu Bingqian is even better. At least he can act as the first assistant. However, his situation as the first assistant in the previous cabinet was unstable and relatively weak. If he becomes the acting first assistant, the situation will be even more ugly. In terms of execution ability, The government will be even more compromised, and its control over local governments will be greatly weakened.
He is not willing to go to this point.
For Guan Yingzhen and Qiao Yingjia, this situation will be even more uncomfortable.
Gu Bingqian continues to serve as the chief assistant. The acting chief assistant is also the chief assistant, and he also has the leading power. What's more, the Jiangnan scholars are already powerful. When will the end of such an agency come to an end?
They both know very well that once this deadlock is formed through voting today, it will be difficult to change. Maybe it will be difficult to fundamentally change the situation even if we wait for another year and a half to vote. This may still be the situation.
But now that we have reached this point, how can we give in?
Who can accept the result of concession? A large group of people below have been working hard to lobby for it for several months. Didn't they just wait for this moment? Are they going to give up and surrender because of lack of confidence?
If you give in, others will let you go and give you better conditions?
Moreover, the results of concession and failure are almost the same for the three of them, that is, retirement. Others can continue to survive in the court, but the three of them can only retire to the countryside like Ye Xianggao, Fang Congzhe, and Huang Ruliang. In this case, it's better to give it a try.
In the past few months, I have also spent a lot of thoughts. Whether it is Gu Bingqian, Guan Yingzhen or Qiao Yingjia, I still have a little confidence in my heart. When there is no final announcement, no one can say that he will win.
Seeing that in addition to the few votes from Feng Ziying's side, there were also a few more abstention votes in the jade plate, which made everyone present look a little unhappy.
This means that there are still people who don’t quite approve of the three of them, or are not satisfied with the situation.
Soon after Yu Gui settled down, the four censors responsible for counting the votes brought up a jade screen with a piece of rice paper spread on it. The censors holding the writing brush had already stood still and started counting.
This is also the suggestion given by Feng Ziying, draw a straight character, one straight character with five strokes, and draw one stroke for each additional vote under each person.
Gu Bingqian, Guan Yingzhen, Qiao Yingjia, plus one abstention, written on rice paper.
At this time, it is considered to be a state of intense fighting with real swords and real guns.
After clearing their throats, the censors Fang Zhenru and Xu Qixun, who were responsible for counting votes, finally took out the first jade pendant in front of everyone.
Xu Qixun picked it up and took a look at it, then handed it to Fang Zhenru beside him. After confirmation, Fang Zhenru sang loudly: "Li Banghua, Minister of Rites, vote for Gu Bingqian..."
Standing in front of the rice paper, Hou Xun drew a horizontal stroke under the character Gu Bingqian with his pen.
Fang Zhenru then handed Yu Gui over to the two censors behind him for verification. Liu Sijie and Ma Shiying both nodded in approval after checking it. In full view of the public, no one could cheat.
“Chai Ke, the Minister of Household Affairs, should vote for office,...”
“Cui Jingrong, the Minister of Civil Service, voted for Qiao Yingjia,..."
The censors took the jade gui from the three jade vases and read them out in order, and then verified them. In this way, each candidate could hear who supported him at a glance.
Like the first batch mentioned before, there is actually no suspense. If even the basic base betrays them, then this is not the right first assistant.
Soon, accidents began to occur. It is precisely because of accidents that there is suspense.
“Wu Daonan, Minister of Taichang Temple, abstained from voting.”
His eyes immediately focused on Wu Daonan, who was standing in the second row.
The Minister of Taichang Temple is a noble position that no one cares about, but it is crucial at this time.
Gu Bingqian knew that Wu Daonan and Huang Ruliang were closely related, but after Huang Ruliang was expelled, he also deliberately sent people to contact Wu Daonan with the intention of drawing Wu Daonan into his camp. However, Wu Daonan has always been vague, saying only that he would be responsible for the Jiangnan scholars. Gu Bingqian was a little relieved that he would never support outsiders, but he didn't expect that something unexpected would happen.
…
“The minister of Dali Temple, Cao Yu Bian, abstained from power.”
Another surprise.
Cao Yubian was a typical northern scholar, and he was also a Shanxi scholar, but his temperament was incompatible with Qiao Yingjia. When Qiao Yingjia was the censor of Youdu, the two had many conflicts. Guan Yingzhen and Gu Bingqian both had conflicts. After trying to win over Cao Yubian, Qiao Yingjia also tried to channel Han Xu and Sun Juxiang, but they could only get this result.