Above the Five Phoenix Tower, Zhao An rarely put on a full set of imperial attire. Surrounding him were the core officials of the Song Dynasty.

Xiao Cheng and Si Junchao stood on either side of Zhao An.

Si Junchao looked at Xiao Cheng with envy and jealousy that could not be concealed.

In the early hours of last night, as soon as he got the news, he immediately dressed up and went to the palace to see the emperor and congratulate him.

But he never expected that he would stand with the emperor outside the First Assistant Palace for half an hour. His only entertainment was listening to the snoring of the domineering guy in the palace.

Of course, it was not just him, in fact, all the officials in Jiangning who were qualified to enter the palace were gathered here.

I can’t help but Si Junchao is jealous!

So far, facts have proven that what Xiao Cheng insisted on at the beginning was correct, and as an opponent, he was naturally wrong.

Fortunately, he retreated at that time and did not fight to the death with Xiao Cheng. Otherwise, he would not stand on the city tower as the winner today and accept the cheers of thousands of people below.

From this point of view, he still has to thank Xiao Cheng.

Xiao Cheng did not kill him to death.

Even for his second son, who was not evil, he was turned a blind eye and allowed a way out.

Although the second child can only remain anonymous now, and will never be able to recognize his ancestors in this life, he is still alive. Maybe in a few decades, when the old guy like him is almost gone, the second generation's descendants will be

, and can return to this big family again.

So his feeling towards Xiao Cheng is really strange now.

More and more people are gathering below, and the square is already crowded, and more people can be seen on the streets in the distance coming here.

It was obvious that the Jiangning Mansion had been prepared and had the support of the Jiangning garrison. At every intersection, there were people from the government on guard. On the square, there were soldiers with or without armor holding hands, dividing the square into

Small squares are formed one by one. This makes the people below appear very orderly even though there are many people.

That guy should have made arrangements in advance while sleeping.

Si Junchao was a little emotional.

When it comes to governance, Xiao Cheng is indeed far beyond his reach.

He is very thoughtful in big plans, but he is also meticulous in small matters.

The sun rises slowly and shines on the Wufeng Tower. The entire tower and the people on it are bathed in golden sunlight.

"Long live!"

Someone below shouted something loudly, and then thousands of people responded.

The cry of long live echoed between heaven and earth like a roaring mountain and a tsunami.

"Guan family, I would like to congratulate the Guan family! Returning home from all over the world! I haven't seen such a grand scene in many years!" Si Junchao crossed his arms and raised eyebrows, bowing deeply.

"Congratulations to the official family!" On the Wufeng Tower, all the officials, including Xiao Cheng, bowed to congratulate Zhao An.

Zhao An stretched out his hand to help Xiao Cheng up, waved his hand and said: "My dear friends, I feel ashamed. Over the years, I really haven't done anything. In running the country, the chief assistant and everyone are doing it."

Xiao Cheng smiled and said: "The official family is well-deserved. From the beginning on the Guizhou Road, the official family has been dedicated to benefiting the people. From Anmin No. 1 to today's Anmin No. 3, from sending fleets out to sea to find new crops, to now

The improvement of a large number of crops was the result of the efforts of the officials. Now, not only are the people of the Song Dynasty no longer in danger of hunger, but the official warehouses and the people also have abundant storage. The price of food has never dropped even during this year's continuous war.

Big fluctuations. If you have food in your hands, you will not panic in your heart. This is the greatest achievement in the world."

"Master is so complimentary!" Zhao An shook his head repeatedly: "I just like to do this."

Xiao Cheng continued: "When it comes to governing the country, if the officials don't have absolute trust in us now and absolutely delegate power, how could we have the freedom to do what we do!"

Zhao An said with a smile: "I remember my master once said when he was teaching me, let professional people do professional things. Over the years, I feel more and more that it is too right. Just like leading troops to fight, it should be

Let those generals who have experienced hundreds of battles do it; researching agriculture and improving species should be done by people like me and the people from Sinong Temple; and smelting and manufacturing should be done by those great craftsmen.

Call the shots. When it comes to governing the country, of course it should be left to people like you, master. If someone like me who knows little about governance comes to dictate, it will be bad. In the future, I will need more from you, master.

Thank you for your trouble!”

Xiao Cheng hasn't spoken yet, but Si Junchao on the side is a little anxious, "In the official family, the chief assistant is indeed very intelligent, but after all, he is a minister. Now in the whole court, we only know that there is a chief assistant, but not a king. The world

The common people only know that there is a chief minister, but they don’t know that there is a king. If this continues, the official family will be harming the chief minister!"

Zhao An raised his eyebrows, pointed to the people of Wuyang Wuyang below who were cheering and shouting long live, and said: "How do you know that there is only a chief minister and not a king?"

Si Junchao took a deep breath, lowered his voice, and said: "Guan family, do you know that the person below is not the chief minister?"

As soon as these words came out, not only Zhao An changed his color, but also the surrounding ministers all turned pale, and unconsciously stepped back, further away from the people in front, including Liu Fengkui.

He took a few steps back.

This was the first time that Si Jun publicly had trouble with Xiao Cheng since he became an official. He didn't take action, but immediately slapped him with such a big label.

Si Junchao has indeed retreated, but he is still the leader of the southern faction and still plays an important role in the officialdom. It can be seen that he can stand beside Zhao An with Xiao Cheng today.

"Young Master E, be careful what you say!" Seeing Zhao An's unkind expression, Liu Fengkui said on the side.

Si Junchao stubbornly raised his head and looked directly at Zhao An.

The anger on Zhao An's face became more and more obvious, and he was about to explode, but Xiao Cheng smiled and said: "Although Duke E's words are heartbreaking, Xiao can feel that he is sincerely serving the country, and he is also

I sincerely thank you here, Xiao!"

Si Junchao was a little stunned. He stared at Xiao Cheng for a while, then nodded and said: "The chief assistant knows that Si is only interested in serving the public and has no selfish motives at all!"

Xiao Cheng nodded: "What Xiao has done in the past two years, I think the Duke of E has also seen it. He may be domineering, but there is no way to talk about being authoritative! If there are major decisions made by the court, everyone will not vote at that time.

Passed unanimously!”

Si Junchao sneered: "Chief Assistant, Si wants to ask, of all the motions you proposed, has it ever been vetoed?"

Xiao Cheng thought for a while and said: "Really not!"

"So, Chief Assistant, is this a problem? Can it be said that every proposal you have made in the past few years is correct? Even if it was correct before, can you guarantee that it will be correct in the future?

If you think you have nothing to lose now, can you guarantee that you will be as clear-headed as you are now every day in the future?" Si Jun asked in quick succession.

"No!" Xiao Cheng said frankly: "Humans make mistakes, that's why we have the current voting system."

"As long as the chief minister is still in power, this voting system will be a fiction!" Si Junchao shook his head.

"Gong E Guo, what do you want? Let the chief minister resign?" Zhao An said angrily: "Ask the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty, do they agree? Ask the people down here, do they agree? The Song Dynasty did not

People will be happy, but only the Liao people will be happy, right? They have just won a big victory, and the next step is to counterattack Henan and Hebei, regain the lost territory, and regain the old capital. After that, they will counterattack Youyan and compete with the Liao people for the world.

, thinking about it, these things are inseparable from the chief minister. Do you want your relatives to suffer and your enemies to be happy? Or do you think, Duke E, that you have the ability to lead the Song Dynasty to do all this? "

Zhao An's tendency is very obvious. This last question is obviously trying to kill someone.

Because in the past, Si Junchao was firmly opposed to being an enemy of the Liao Kingdom and the Northern Expedition.

Si Junchao looked calm and said: "In the official family, I don't have this ability, but in this world, I think it's not just the chief minister who has this ability. Under the rule of the Song Dynasty, there are now 80 million people, and there are countless talents. I have never objected.

Chief Assistant, I just want to know, can there be a term for the Chief Assistant to be in power? If not, the Chief Assistant will continue to be in power. Hehe, I think that with the prestige of the Chief Assistant now, there is no problem in doing this, but this is really right

Is the Song Dynasty good? Is it really good for the first assistant? If there is no time limit, what is the difference between the first assistant and the most respected person in the world?"

"E Guo Gong!" Zhao An was furious.

Xiao Cheng, however, did not show any sign of anger, "The officials should calm down. In fact, the concerns of the Duke of E are also the concerns of the ministers."

"Master!" Zhao An was stunned.

"Guan Jia, I have told you before that we can learn from the past and serve as a guide for future generations. What is the first thing we must do to learn from the lessons of the Song Dynasty's previous defeat?"

"Master once said that major national affairs must not be left to one person. One person is poor in skills, but everyone has great skills. Only by gathering the talents of the world to govern the country can we make fewer mistakes. Maybe sometimes we will still make some mistakes.

Eat, but overall we will definitely move forward!" Zhao An said.

"I didn't expect the officials to remember it so clearly!" Xiao Cheng said happily: "So the concerns of the Duke of E are also the concerns of the ministers. The rules must be set down first. I think that as long as I abide by these rules today, then no matter what happens in the future,

Whoever becomes the chief assistant will never dare to disobey these rules."

"Master, you." Zhao An was a little anxious: "Recovering the old capital and the Northern Expedition to the Liao Kingdom, what can we do without you? How can we do this without you to strategize and win the battle thousands of miles away?"

Xiao Cheng smiled confidently and turned to look at Si Junchao: "I only need ten years for the official family to regain the old capital, conquer the Liao Kingdom and unify the world. Duke E, how about ten years? From now on.

Each chief minister can never be in power for more than ten years!"

"Xiao Shoufu, you have been doing this for several years! Does that count?" Si Junchao asked.

"The matter started today, so naturally it starts from today!" Zhao An on the side said angrily: "E Duke, what other opinions do you have?"

Si Junchao looked at Zhao An's appearance, and then looked at the angry looks on the faces of Xiao Cheng's confidants a little further away, and knew that this was the biggest result he could achieve today.

To be honest, he did not expect such a result at all.

He did not expect that Xiao Cheng would actually set such a deadline himself, and on such an occasion.

Just ten years.

He felt that there would be absolutely no problem if he lived for another ten years.

When the time comes, we have to see if Xiao Cheng will abide by this rule.

"Okay, let's take today as the term! In ten years, a new chief assistant will be born, right?" Si Junchao said.

"That's right, Duke E. After ten years, all officials of the third rank and above in the Song Dynasty can participate in the voting at the court meeting. The one with the most votes will win!" Xiao Cheng said with certainty: "And I also want to add one more thing. During this ten-year term,
To be continued...