The passage of the decree granting the Cabinet Offices self-governance had profound implications, for it meant that officials had, for the first time, a legally recognized right to make decisions on their own.
Before this, even the smallest exercise of authority had nominally been the sovereign wielding power through his officials, even when, in practice, the officials were doing the work themselves.
Granting the Grand Secretariat the right to govern itself this time essentially meant that the imperial family had surrendered a portion of its actual power.
Such power was easy to hand over, but they could forget about ever reclaiming it. Even if a forceful monarch seized it back, once he died, the officials would exhaust every means to regain those powers.
At first, the empress dowager had not realized the true impact of this matter. Later, after scholars on the Discourse Ranking gradually analyzed it thoroughly, she read their explanations, vomited blood, and fainted once again.
A few days later, the imperial family members of the Imperial Clan Office visited the empress dowager together, and she fainted again.
Nearly every member of the imperial family accused her of making a grave mistake, betraying the imperial family and the sovereign, and selling out imperial authority. Some even accused her of having a secret, shameful arrangement with Fang Yun.
Yet not one member of the imperial family dared go and curse Fang Yun to his face.
Zhao Hongzhuang, who held a post far away in Mi Prefecture, had no choice but to travel day and night to return to the capital.
As imperial authority weakened, the Grand Secretariat's power soared.
Since almost all of this was thanks to Fang Yun, the other members of the Grand Secretariat rarely obstructed his draft proposals anymore. They only occasionally sought a few additional