Dark Sand: My Players Are All Actors-Chapter 486 - 263: One Person Does It All! (8000 words)_2

Because the power of the Prime Minister was abolished, it was a loss shared by all civil officials!

These civil officials also looked forward to achieving the position of Prime Minister one day. Although there seemed to be little hope now, they still had time on their side. Who could predict the future?

But if the royal family truly abolished the position of Prime Minister, they would never have a chance to become one.

Another official said, "Prime Minister Zhang, Minister Wang. We must also think of a way for the matter of hereditary privilege! Since the founding of our dynasty by the Great Ancestor, certain rules were set for us ministers; we cannot allow them to be broken!"

Other officials echoed in agreement, "Yes, we must find a solution to the issue of hereditary privilege!"

They all looked to Wang Shiyong, "Minister Wang, you must stand firm on this issue! The cancellation of hereditary privileges cannot be postponed, otherwise, how can we have good days ahead?"

Wang Shiyong almost rolled his eyes in frustration, "My colleagues, do you think too highly of me? Can I bear this burden alone?"

He felt speechless; they made it sound so easy!

Anyone could see that the royal family had handed the task of eliminating hereditary privileges to the Ministry of Personnel. If he, as the Minister of Personnel, shirked this duty, then indeed, this policy couldn’t be implemented in the short term.

But did you think the royal family was foolish?

If they simply executed me for incompetence and replaced me, what then?

You might not lose anything, but I could lose my head!

Yet, the other officials were relentless, "Minister Wang! This matter isn’t just about you; it involves all the ministers in the court! You cannot compromise the future of our descendants just for your immediate safety! For the sake of our offspring, there can be no compromise!"

Wang Shiyong’s face became flushed with anger; he wanted to say, "If you are so capable, then you take over!"

Why don’t you take this position as the Minister of Personnel!

Wang Shiyong was not a particularly courageous man. Or to put it another way, he had the guts to oppress the common people, but not the guts to oppose the emperor.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been so eager to round up women in the city to offer to the Jin people.

Now that this new emperor had ascended the throne, he had already executed one Prime Minister and dismissed another. Was he crazy enough to oppose the royal family?

Thus, despite all the persuasion from these high officials, Wang Shiyong continually shook his head like a rattle-drum, adamantly disagreeing with everything.

Finally, it was Zhang Jingbang who spoke.

"Enough, let’s all stop quarreling!

"I believe there is still room for maneuver in this matter."

The assembled ministers asked, "How can there be room for maneuver? Prime Minister Zhang, please explain!"

Zhang Jingbang sighed lightly, "Although the current emperor has adopted a stance of eliminating the Prime Ministers and personally handling all government affairs, in my view, this is ultimately impossible.

"How complex are the affairs of the court?

"According to the original setup, apart from institutions like the Six Ministries and the Imperial Censorate each performing their respective duties, it still takes at least two to three Prime Ministers to tidy up all these affairs.

"Although the emperor is putting on an indifferent façade about taking all government affairs into his hands, how could one person possibly do the work of three?

"Moreover, the work of three Prime Ministers!

"Thus, it won’t be three days before the imperial palace is piled up like a mountain with memorials, and affairs will be severely backlogged.

"At that point in court, you can naturally demand that the emperor appoint new Prime Ministers.

"After experiencing the complexity of court affairs, the emperor will naturally come to realize the difficulty and retreat. Then you can negotiate with him on the matter of hereditary privileges and other issues, increasing the likelihood of success."

The ministers nodded in realization: "That’s it! Prime Minister Zhang is indeed insightful!"

"Why didn’t we think of such simple logic before? We were indeed intimidated by this new emperor."

"Yes, although this new emperor is good at warfare, he lacks experience in governance. This posture is probably just to establish his authority; he cannot keep this up forever."

"In the end, everyone will take a step back—the emperor to smoothly transition and establish his authority, and we, restraining somewhat, but without losing our benefits, will get past this."

With these words, the hearts of these ministers were somewhat reassured.

Their rationale indeed made sense.

From their perspective, Prince Yun was in no position to abolish the Prime Ministers.

What kind of man was Prince Yun?

Perhaps he was very intelligent, having achieved the position of top scholar; perhaps he was militarily skilled, able to command the Western Army.

But, on what basis could he single-handedly take on the work of three Prime Ministers?

Keep in mind, amongst the Prime Ministers, there were many geniuses like top scholars, all of whom had climbed their way up from various government positions, with explosive capabilities in handling governmental affairs.

Such people usually needed two or three individuals to clean up the affairs of the court, and it was often not easy.

Why could Prince Yun?

He lacked grassroots governance experience, had no such overwhelming energy, and there was no necessity for him to handle everything personally.

Thus, the ministers reached a conclusion.

The posture of the new emperor in wanting to abolish the Prime Ministers was not genuinely aimed at abolishing them but was instead intended to negotiate terms with the officials.

By first asserting the notion that "none of you are irreplaceable," he established authority among the ministers to prevent his orders from being obstructed in the future. Once the ministers realized their mistake and relented, he could naturally and logically delegate these tasks again.

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