HLnovel Chapter 754 Privy Council
Chapter 754 Privy Council
When they arrived at the Privy Council, the lower-ranking officials were already busy. They knew that the superiors were about to leave the court, so snacks and tea had been prepared as usual.
The Privy Councilor, Deputy Privy Councilor and others who were traveling with him all took it as a matter of course and were completely at ease with the service and flattery from their subordinates.
After Zhang Pingan sat down and drank a cup of tea, he asked about the handover ceremony.
As the Deputy Privy Councilor, he had a formal ceremony for handing over seals and flags. The previous Deputy Councilor would hand over his official seals, flags and other symbols of power to him for inspection, signature and archiving. The process was rigorous.
However, the position of Deputy Privy Councilor had been vacant before, so I don’t know who is keeping these things now. It may be in the hands of Privy Councilor Lord Guo.
Lord Wang, the Privy Councilor, is already over fifty years old and is considered an evergreen in the officialdom. He served in the Privy Council during the previous dynasty, but his position was not very high. He is a very smooth person, although Lord Guo's attitude towards Zhang Ping'an was unclear during the morning court.
He did not take advantage of the situation to try to pull Zhang Ping'an down. Instead, he replied very casually, "These things are in the hands of Lord Guo, the Privy Councilor. When he returns, he will naturally hand them over to Lord Zhang. I have prepared the handover ceremony. After the handover, I will give you a comprehensive report, including the national border defense situation, the stationing and deployment of various troops, as well as recent important military intelligence, reports, and other core official business being handled, relevant archives, etc. In addition, I will review maps and books. The Privy Council's Zhifang Division is in charge of national maps. The new deputy envoy must first check the latest border defense maps and troop deployment maps. This is the basis for understanding military intelligence and is also the top priority."
The deputy chief secretary also has the surname Zhang, is about forty years old, and is a relative of Zhang Ping'an, but he comes from a scholarly family in Hebei, and his family background is much better than Zhang Ping'an's. He looks gentle and bookish, and he takes good care of himself. Ordinary people can't tell that he is in his forties.
There was a look of frustration between his eyebrows. Zhang Ping'an guessed that it had something to do with the fact that he had always been second in command in officialdom. It was said that except for the time when he was sent out to serve as a county magistrate, he had been serving as a deputy to others for nearly twenty years. He would rather be the head of a chicken than the tail of a phoenix. It was not a good feeling to be inferior to others.
After listening to Lord Wang, the Grand Secretary, he stroked his beard and continued, "Later, when Lord Wang has some time, I'll explain the confidentiality system of our Privy Council. As the repository of the Great Zhou's highest military secrets, the rules for circulating, filing, and submitting documents are much stricter than elsewhere. We ensure that nothing is revealed to outsiders; leaking information is a serious crime. Furthermore, the Privy Council consists of four offices: Military, Civil Service, Household, and Rites. Today is your first day on duty, and you should meet with the officials in charge of each office to understand the specifics."
Zhang Ping'an saw that these two people showed a lot of goodwill towards him, so he naturally treated them with great courtesy. He thought that he would be staying in the Privy Council for a long time, and it was absolutely necessary to have no alliances.
Making more friends and fewer enemies has always been his code of conduct.
Not long after, Lord Guo finally came back. He seemed to be in a good mood and no one knew what they had just talked about.
He did not make things difficult for Zhang Ping'an regarding the handover, and the handover went smoothly.
Then, with the cooperation of Lord Wang, the Chief Secretary, and Lord Zhang, the Deputy Chief Secretary, Zhang Ping'an had a clear understanding of the current border defense deployment and military strength of the Great Zhou.
Also handled two less urgent documents.
The busy schedule lasted until noon. Zhang Ping'an was about to go to the public kitchen to eat when Liang Fu, the eunuch beside the emperor, came over to announce that the emperor invited him to have dinner together.
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone in the Privy Council couldn't help but look over.