nucmednet Chapter 70 Do You Know? 24
Chapter 70 Do You Know? 24
Sheng Changbai and the Hai family simply felt a sense of crisis.
There can't be two suns in the sky, two rulers in a country, and only one head of a family. He had previously been the undisputed next head of the Sheng family, but now that Sheng Changfeng had become the top scholar in the imperial examination, things had changed.
This proves that Sheng Changfeng is more talented than Changbai, and will be more valued by the court after entering the government, and will be promoted more quickly in the officialdom.
How can this be!
In terms of age, I am the eldest brother, and he is the youngest brother.
In terms of social status, I am the eldest son of the legitimate wife, while he is the son of a concubine.
No matter what, she should be the one in a superior position, while he should be dependent on others and live off himself.
It seems I must find a way to secure my position and get promoted as soon as possible, otherwise wouldn't the hierarchy be reversed and the illegitimate child be allowed to dominate the legitimate child?
Sheng Changbai had been in the Hanlin Academy for nearly a year and a half without any promotion, not because he lacked ability, but because the power struggle between the two princes of the previous dynasty was fierce and the political situation in the court was unclear, so he simply stayed in the Hanlin Academy to avoid trouble.
Now that the new emperor has ascended the throne, it is time for him to make his move.
His wife came from the Hai family of Jiangning, a family of noble birth and officials for generations. It was quite easy for the Hai family to promote a son-in-law.
So, two months after Sheng Changfeng entered the Hanlin Academy, the news that Sheng Changbai had been appointed as the fifth-rank Privy Councilor spread like wildfire. He was just waiting for the year-end evaluation, and it was estimated that he would be able to officially take office.
However, perhaps the pressure from Sheng Changfeng was too great, and he impulsively did something outrageous.
Everyone says that Sheng Changbai is fair and just and loves his younger siblings, but that's only because his younger siblings don't have any conflict of interest with him.
In reality, he and Sheng Hong are the same kind of people; both are selfish and self-serving.
However, he was better at pretending than Sheng Hong, even using the banner of gentleness, kindness, respect, frugality, and modesty to cover up his own incompetence.
He could watch helplessly as his mother was oppressed by the concubine for over a decade, even losing control of the household affairs to her, yet he remained indifferent. Because their struggles did not harm his interests, he chose to stand by and do nothing.
However, when he married Hai, he needed the help of his wife's family, so he directly helped Hai control his mother.
Later, Gu Tingye plotted to marry Minglan. With his intelligence, how could he not notice Gu Tingye's wrongdoing? Yet he still did nothing, and even encouraged the situation.
It was simply because Gu Tingye was already a rising star in the court at the time. It would be a good thing for the Sheng family and for him no matter which sister he married. So he just watched his own sister being schemed against.
Now that Sheng Changfeng has gone from being a flashy but incompetent illegitimate son to the top scholar in the imperial examination, he is truly unwilling and also afraid that this illegitimate brother will surpass him and make a move against him for the family property.
Suspicion breeds ghosts!
Sheng Changbai, as if possessed by a demon, reached out his evil hand to his younger brother.
Of course, he didn't want Sheng Changfeng to die or ruin his future. After all, a family's fate is intertwined, and he had to consider the impact such actions would have on the family.
He only secretly tampered with the records of the cultivators that Sheng Changfeng was in charge of.
The intention was to use this to get Sheng Changfeng a poor rating in his year-end performance review, thus hindering his promotion.
Sheng Changfeng quickly discovered this little trick and immediately burst out laughing.
"He was quite a formidable person in his past life, so how come he only knows such petty tricks in this life!"
However, in the end, Sheng Changfeng did not make a move against Sheng Changbai, because Emperor Qianyuan took direct action.
Emperor Qianyuan had not been on the throne for long and was still in the process of getting to know his court officials. In particular, those officials, who were senior and used to manipulating the previous emperor, wanted to manipulate Emperor Qianyuan as well.
Emperor Qianyuan was a man of strong character and decisive action. Naturally, he did not want to be hindered by his court officials and was determined to seize power and consolidate his authority.
But power is like a pie; if the emperor eats too much, the courtiers will naturally eat less.
Emperor Qianyuan wanted to consolidate power, but the court officials, for their own interests, naturally refused.
So the court officials kept testing Emperor Qianyuan with one major and minor matter after another, while also trying to prevent him from seizing power. This frustrated Emperor Qianyuan greatly, but he had no choice but to deal with these matters. Lately, he has been getting up earlier than the rooster and going to bed later than the dog every day, and he is almost exhausted to the point of being a fool.
In his helplessness, he thought of Sheng Changfeng and planned to find an opportunity to promote him so that he could help him as soon as possible.
He then discovered that Sheng Changbai had been sabotaging Sheng Changfeng.
Emperor Qianyuan's face darkened: As expected, none of these older brothers are good; they only know how to bully their younger brothers.
He was thinking of the Prince of Yong.
Unable to bear it any longer, Emperor Qianyuan wrote a poor evaluation on Sheng Changbai, and his promotion after the New Year was naturally ruined.
That wasn't the end of it. After dealing with Sheng Changbai, he immediately promoted Sheng Changfeng, skipping the sixth rank and giving him the position of Chief Privy Councilor.
The Chief Privy Councilor was in charge of the internal affairs of the Privy Council, and was responsible for investigating the merits and demerits of officials below the level of Privy Council Director, as well as their promotions and appointments.
This is a fantastic job!
Sheng Changfeng was very pleased, thinking to himself that the previous work had not been in vain, and this was the result.
Of course, his gains were not limited to that.
Emperor Qian Yuan felt that he could not hold the line alone, so he decided to treat the neutral faction with a calm attitude, and then divide the remaining people into two groups, one to win over and the other to fight.
He naturally won over his former subordinates from the Prince of Yan, while he targeted the stubborn faction that remained obstinate and openly or secretly sabotaged him after his ascension to the throne.
Thus, under the emperor's manipulation and command, the court was divided into three factions: the neutral faction watched from the front row, while the former subordinates of the Prince of Yan and the die-hard faction fought back and forth without giving an inch, and soon a fight broke out.
It was at this time that Sheng Changfeng was suddenly promoted by the emperor.
The former officials of the King of Yan took a look.
Hey! Aren't these our own people?
The official rank is too low; we need to help him out! After some maneuvering, he was promoted one rank.
As a result, the die-hards took a look.
That's not right!
He came from the imperial examination system; he's one of our people! What does it mean that the former subordinates of the Prince of Yan took him away?
No, we have to get him back! With a series of moves, he was promoted another level.
The former subordinates of the Prince of Yan were shocked! They dared to touch our people?
Brothers, let's get him!
The die-hards were indignant after being beaten.
You actually dared to get serious!
Brothers, grab your weapons!
After that, things spiraled out of control. The two sides fought fiercely, each considering Sheng Changfeng one of their own and trying to win him over, while simultaneously suspecting the other of having ulterior motives and wanting to save their own teammate.
Thus, Sheng Changfeng moved back and forth between them, steadily rising in rank, with Emperor Qianyuan secretly pushing him forward from behind.
Just one year later, everyone looked back.
I rub!
They went straight to the rank of Commissioner of the Court of State Affairs, a third-rank official!
The Commissioner of the Court of Judicial Review was at the same level as the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review. Although he was not as high as the Ministers of the Six Ministries, he was still one of the Nine Ministers!
Moreover, the Commissioner of the Court of State Affairs was responsible for submitting, forwarding, rejecting, and distributing memorials from both inside and outside the court, as well as managing the smooth flow of government affairs nationwide. He was also in charge of coordinating the selection of officials for both civil and military affairs. The importance of this position is self-evident.
He was only twenty years old and had only been an official in the court for a year.
What merit or ability does he have to sit in the position of Commissioner of the Court of State Affairs?
Everyone was stunned!
fury!
Which idiot put him in this position?!
Emperor Qian Yuan smiled slightly, concealing his merits and fame!