Protect Our Clan Leader

Chapter 1035: Chapter 63: The Autumn Breeze Begins! The Great Emperor Longs for Wang Shouzhe (Seeking Monthly Votes)_3 Chapter 1035: Chapter 63: The Autumn Breeze Begins! The Great Emperor Longs for Wang Shouzhe (Seeking Monthly Votes)_3 The one who was cute acted cute, the one who massaged kept on massaging, and the one responsible for making people laugh did just that.

“You little rascals, hahaha~~ you really know how to charm someone. Here you go, I’ve prepared some Spirit Cow meat for you~~” After a short while, the Great Emperor surrendered, his stern expression melting into a kind and amiable smile. As if his wounded heart was healed in an instant.

…

Meanwhile, at the same time.

It was noontime.

Lunchtime had just ended and the officials, who had been busy all morning, finally had their well-deserved midday break. Gathered under the eaves in pairs or small groups with cups of tea in their hands, the officials quietly chatted, exchanging recent gossips they had heard from various places or took a quick rest at their desks, relaxing their weary minds.

This was the outer court of the Imperial Palace.

Centered around the Hall of Political Harmony, it was surrounded by the offices of the officials. This place was also the political power center of Da Qian, where the internal cabinet resided.

The political structure of Da Qian adopted an internal cabinet system.

The internal cabinet was directly accountable to the Emperor.

Within the internal cabinet, there were typically four Ministers. One of them was the Prime Minister, and the other three were associate Prime Ministers.

Of course, depending on the situation, there might occasionally be five or even more Ministers, according to the will of the Great Emperor.

Below the internal cabinet, there was the establishment of five Sections: the Inspectorate, the Legal Section, the Three Talents Section, the Military Affairs Section, and the Engineering Section.

The Inspectorate was responsible for monitoring all Prominent Families and government officials countrywide, while the Legal Section managed all criminal cases nationwide. The Three Talents Section oversaw all the land and taxes and also coordinated weather and seasons.

As for the Military Affairs Section and the Engineering Section, as their names suggested, they managed military and engineering affairs, respectively.

Of course, this was only the broad framework; when it came to the specifics, there was a detailed delineation of responsibilities.

All the memorials to the throne, after several rounds of selection, those that should be handled by the five Sections would be directly presented to them for direct processing.

Only those that were relatively complex, broad in scope, or extremely important would be copied to the internal cabinet, where the Ministers would discuss and negotiate a general plan of action and overall regulations before passing it on to the relevant departments, namely the officials from the Sections, to refine the details.

Afterward, the complete plan would be presented for the Emperor’s review and enacted upon his approval.

Of course, there were some matters that were not so important and did not even require initial presentation for review but were dealt with directly within the internal cabinet, merely needing the Emperor to be informed.

Therefore, the power of the internal cabinet was actually quite substantial.

And the Ministers within the cabinet, with their significant influence, were second only to His Majesty.

However, the internal cabinet consisted not only of a few Ministers but also numerous subordinate officials responsible for copying documents, transmitting information, and filtering memorials, among other auxiliary matters.

Some officials were from the five Sections, stationed in rotation to facilitate the coordination between the internal cabinet and the relevant affairs of the Sections.

Just as everyone was leisurely enjoying their midday rest.

At the side gate of the outer court, a carriage drawn by a Spirit Horse in the snow slowly came to a stop.

Soon, the curtains of the carriage were lifted.

An elder dressed in a purple official uniform decorated with a red gold carving stepped out of the carriage.

The elder showed his plaque to the guard on duty at the gate and was let through.

The official uniform of Da Qian followed strict regulations. Purple uniforms indicated a Third Grade office, and the red gold carving was the insignia of a Third Grade official.

Seeing the visitor, the initially somewhat noisy outer court of the Imperial Palace quieted down instantly.

A few officials exchanged glances and then approached together to pay their respects, while the other officials also saluted from a distance.

“Director Meng.”

It turned out that the visitor was Meng Yuanbai, the Chief of the Three Talents Section.

As it governed the tax affairs of the entire realm, the Three Talents Section held immense power.

Meng Yuanbai, being the Chief of the Three Talents Section, was one of the few high-ranking Third Grade officials in the court, wielding significant power and held in high esteem.

He was also the eldest and most powerful member in the Direct Line of the Meng Family, a Rank Four Prominent Family from Return to Dragon City, not someone to be underestimated.

The cabinet’s subordinate officials, though working at the center of power, were mostly below Rank Six in terms of their positions; many were greenhorns just starting in the officialdom, still being seasoned, naturally they couldn’t compare to powerful figures like Meng Yuanbai who had control over an entire Section and could easily decide life and death.

The few officials who had greeted him were from the Three Talents Section stationed in the cabinet and were directly under Meng Yuanbai’s command, so they were especially respectful.

“Dispense with the formalities~ Go on with your business or rest as you need to, don’t mind me,” said Meng Yuanbai, waving his hand with a big smile, not putting on any airs as the Chief of the Three Talents Section.

After offering a few words of encouragement to his subordinates who had come to greet him, he slowly walked towards the Hall of Political Harmony in the center of the outer court.

The Ministers handled daily state affairs and officiated from the Hall of Political Harmony.

The Sections, often needing to communicate with officials from various locations and deal with many miscellaneous tasks daily, had their offices set up outside the palace, each with its own governmental building.

Typically, unless summoned by a Minister or faced with particularly thorny issues, even the chiefs of the Sections seldom appeared in the cabinet.

Despite Meng Yuanbai’s composed appearance, he was actually a bit anxious inside.

Why would Zhao Shoufu suddenly summon him?

He had reviewed all his recent actions several times on his way there and reassured himself that there were no slip-ups, which finally put his mind slightly at ease.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by novlove.com