The three exchanged glances, speechless for a long while.
Within the Left Prime Minister's Office, apart from the few people who handled miscellaneous chores, the lowest-ranking officials were the liaison secretaries. Above them were the drafting secretaries. They held the same official post, though their grades could vary slightly, as could their actual authority.
In theory, drafting secretaries stood above liaison secretaries, but some drafting secretaries were responsible only for copying documents and imperial edicts and possessed little real power. They were actually less influential than liaison secretaries responsible for specific affairs.
Moreover, the Grand Secretariat was the heart of the Jing Kingdom, and the Left Prime Minister's Office was the heart of that heart. Its internal workings were a tangled web.
Especially after Liu Shan's downfall, more than half its members had been replaced. The court had refrained from replacing everyone only out of fear that newcomers would be unable to keep the Left Prime Minister's Office functioning normally.
At a time like this, recommending anyone could offend everyone else, along with the forces behind them.
The crux was that this post of Secretariat Secretary was no ordinary position.
One would manage people, the other affairs. Clearly, the new prime minister feared he could not control the Left Prime Minister's Office and had decided to set up a fresh stove instead, straightening out its operations in his own way and making it function in a form he could accept.
The three remained silent for a long time.
Fang Yun said, "This matter calls for patience, not haste. We should proceed gradually. However, we can have two people serve temporarily as Secretariat Secretaries. Thus, I appoint Xu Changgeng and Li Zhixiao as acting Secretariat Secretaries. One will temporarily handle communication between me and the members of the Grand Secretariat, while