Jinghe Year Fifteen, eleventh month, Jinling.
The waters of Qinhuai were cold; Stone City was white with frost.
The Chinese tallows had shed their leaves, the parasol trees were half withered, and a sharp wind swept the long streets, whirling leaves like butterflies.
The days were short and the nights long. Officials walked along blowing on their hands, while outside the Court Waiting Hall, coal fumes mingled with the frosty air.
The Shen-Kou Alliance took effect the very next day.
Overnight, three Department Secretary posts were added to the Ministry of Revenue's Shaanxi Office of Clear Accounts.
The stated reason was a request from the Ministry of Revenue: administering Frontier Provisions and the Tea-Horse Trade in Ganning involved a heavy workload, so additional posts were requested.
A bureau's established complement was one Vice Director, one Director, and two Department Secretaries.
With three more added, it now had five Department Secretaries.
One oversaw grain, one horses, one registers...
Overnight, Zhang Zai's authority as Vice Director had been carved into three pieces.
And the Selection Bureau knew not a single word of any of it.
The third day of the eleventh month, at the Ministry of Personnel Office.
No announcement, no knock!
Wei Nisheng barged straight into the Minister of Personnel's Duty Room.
Inside, the minister was nowhere to be found.
Only one man sat beside the desk.
The Ministry of Personnel's Left Vice Minister, Zou Mo.
"I'm looking for Grand Secretary Shen!"
At his words, Zou Mo raised his head. Seeing who it was, he smiled.
"Vice Director Wei? We've only just entered the chill of early winter, yet your temper is already burning hot!
Chancellor Shen has gone to the cabinet for deliberations.
If you have business, Vice Director Wei, telling me will serve just as well."
"Heh."