Cao Dean stroked his beard, seeing through Fang Yun's maneuver. Clearly, a matter as momentous as equality between men and women would draw fierce criticism from both court and country. Fang Yun had probably known from the outset that it would be difficult to pass, so he had insisted on writing it in. Later, he could take a step back and change it to equality before the law, making it seem that he had already compromised.
In truth, equality between men and women before the law was what Fang Yun had intended to put into the constitution all along. He knew that no one could grow fat from a single mouthful, and many things had to be done one step at a time. But fearing that even this might not pass, he had resorted to a little trick.
Yet through Fang Yun's exchange with Yang Xuwen, the officials also detected an unusual signal.
Fang Yun had not arrogated all authority to himself. Instead, he had allowed dissenting voices and even made compromises and concessions. He had not exterminated his opposition as he had with Liu Shan, nor had he spoken as fiercely as he had to Sheng Boyuan.
Letting Fang Yun remain Left Prime Minister indefinitely seemed tolerable after all.
Most of the officials felt much the same way.
Judging that everyone had read the draft constitution several times by now, Fang Yun said, "This draft constitution is very rough, and some details have yet to be established, such as the specific procedures for appointing officials. We need to resolve these within three days. To improve efficiency and strengthen the Jing Kingdom, from this moment onward, we will conduct this meeting through rapid exchanges of divine sense."
The officials nodded slightly in agreement.
Exchanges through divine sense were a hundred