Feng Ziying had actually anticipated this outcome.
Compared with Gu Bingqian, who is evaluated as weak by the outside world, Qiao Yingjia appears to be more stubborn, more conservative and old-fashioned. Compared with Qi Yongtai, his personality charm is so different that in the later period, Qi Yongtai once gave birth to Cui Jingrong or Han Xu to replace him. Qiao Yingjia's thoughts.
However, Cui Jingrong's character is too gentle, and he has no direct descendants of his own, so he has insufficient influence among the northern scholars. Even if he is the Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, Han Xu is actually similar to Qiao Yingjia. They both have a tough and dogmatic character and lack charisma. .
Because of this, Qi Yongtai finally had no choice but to push Qiao Yingjia up and let him join the cabinet, hoping that he could change his position as a cabinet minister, but obviously this hope did not come true.
A country is easy to change but its nature is hard to change. This is inherently an unrealistic extravagance.
Therefore, although Gu Bingqian failed to win many neutral votes, Qiao Yingjia, who was supposed to make a difference, suffered an even greater failure. At least Gu Bingqian could get two votes for Huguang ministers, but he didn't even get one. The northern scholars who could get it but did not support him also firmly did not support him, such as Cao Yubian and Yuan Keli.
This means that not only did he fail to win enough support among the northern scholars, but he also encountered comprehensive opposition from other scholars besides the northern scholars. This was difficult for Han Xu, Sun Juxiang, and Sun Ding who firmly supported him. Equal Man is also a big hit.
If it weren't for Feng Ziying's support, it is estimated that other important ministers of the Feng family would not have voted for him. Then he could only get a pitiful twelve votes, all of which came from northern scholars.
"Ziying, are the final results out?" Gu Bingqian finally breathed a sigh of relief and nodded somewhat reservedly, "Have the censors approved it?"
Feng Ziying smiled and said, "No problem, it has been certified."
Feng Ziying announced the certification, and Qiao Yingjia only received 17 votes, one vote less than Gu Bingqian.
There was an uproar in the palace.
Many people did not expect it to be like this, but many people also expected this situation.
This is actually a delayed reflection of the first round of voting. It hasn’t changed much. Those who should have voted have already voted, and those who haven’t voted have never voted.
"Then..." Before Gu Bingqian could speak, Feng Ziying had already taken the lead and said with a smile: "I'm afraid we have never seen such a situation in the Zhou Dynasty. Two rounds of voting turned out to be such a nondescript situation. …”
Gu Bingqian was a little surprised. He felt that there was some indescribable flavor in the other party's words, was it neither fish nor fowl? This word is a bit unpleasant to use.
According to Caring Bingqian's imagination, since it has reached this point, it is time to declare the election failure. Not only is he the first minister of this term, but he is still the highest in the second round of voting, so at the very least he should be able to continue to serve as the caretaker cabinet. Acting Chief Assistant, continue to preside over the work of the cabinet.
Although the name of the acting chief assistant is unpleasant and his own authority has been shaken, the chief assistant is the chief assistant. The acting chief assistant still performs the duties of the chief assistant. Compared with usual, the change is not too big.
Feng Ziying pursed her lips, but did not speak any more. She just lowered her eyelids.
Before Gu Bingqian could come back to his senses, Xu Guangqi, the last group assistant who had been beside him and had never spoken as if he was invisible, suddenly raised his head, as if he had made up his mind, cleared his throat and said: "Three people voted in the second round. None of the candidates has passed half of the vote. This situation may not be conducive to the advancement of various affairs of the imperial court in the future, especially when time is running out. This is very untimely. Should we consider other ways to solve it? "
Before Gu Bingqian could respond, Qiao Yingjia had already stared intensely at this colleague who had almost no sense of existence and had always existed as a vassal of Gu Bingqian.
To be honest, Qiao Yingjia has never been able to understand why he elected this person to the cabinet in the first place.
Is it because everyone is arguing, or is it because this guy doesn't care about politics and just takes care of his own affairs? Or does Gu Bingqian think he is honest and can handle it as he pleases?
Qiao Yingjia admitted that Xu Guangqi was capable of doing things, especially in the specific affairs of the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Agriculture, and he could basically do well in the matters assigned to him by Gu Bingqian. He was quite prestigious among the middle and lower-level bureaucrats in the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Industry, but Qiao Yingjia did not think that Xu Guangqi could join the cabinet with just a little of these capital.
The imperial court found that there were many people who were more qualified and more capable than Xu Guangqi, such as Li Banghua, Han Xu, Cui Jingrong, and Chai Ke. Which of these people was inferior to him? But the reality is that Xu Guangqi has already joined the cabinet.
Fortunately, Xu Guangqi was very honest after he joined the cabinet. He never interfered in matters outside of his charge. He also never interfered in the disputes within the cabinet, and his sense of presence was very low.
However, Qiao Yingjia has always been highly vigilant about this guy. He can quietly squeeze out others to join the cabinet. Qiao Yingjia never dares to underestimate him.
So when Xu Guangqi suddenly interrupted at this moment, Qiao Yingjia immediately became nervous.
"Zixian, it seems you have different opinions?" Although he felt a hint of crisis, if there were no surprises, Gu Bingqian would continue to be the first assistant. It would be difficult to change the situation once it was settled, so Qiao Yingjia still couldn't bear it. Just asked.
Xu Guangqi responded calmly: "There are indeed some thoughts, not for people, but for the country."
"Then let's hear it. Everyone is here, so we can work together." Qiao Yingjia had a bad premonition in his heart, but he didn't know where it came from. Could it be that the other party has any new ways to break this deadlock? ?
This was what Xu Guangqi was waiting for. At this time, Gu Bingqian seemed to realize something and wanted to interrupt Xu Guangqi's speech, but Xu Guangqi had already jumped in front of him and said loudly: "Since none of the three candidates have passed the halfway mark, , indicating that everyone has different views on the three candidates, and it is difficult to get the support of the majority of people, and it is difficult to gather the will of the majority of people. In this case, why can't we consider other candidates? Here, I use the cabinet As a minister, I recommended Feng Keng as the candidate for the first assistant, and I believe Ziying should be able to get the support of five important ministers..."
Xu Guangqi’s voice was so loud that even some important ministers in the last row heard Xu Guangqi’s sudden suggestion, and for a moment they roared and whispered to each other.
Before Gu Guanqiao and the other three could intervene, Huang Shijun, Huang Gongfu and Wei Fan looked at each other with excitement, and at the same time came out: "I'm waiting for three people to second the proposal!"
Unexpectedly, these three Lingnan and Southwest scholars were ahead of him. Lian Guoshi, Fu Shi, Pan Ruzhen and Geng Ruqi also exchanged glances at the same time and came out together: "I and the other four also second the proposal!"
A cabinet minister proposed a recommendation, and more than five important ministers seconded it, and then he was qualified to vote. The whole hall was shocked for a while.