The ministers gathered outside the hall doors.
It was time for another court session.
"The rebel official Chen Zhi has fawned upon eunuchs and brought calamity upon Ba-Shu..."
This time, the ministers of Cao Wei were feasting on Shu Han's gossip.
Shu Han's gossip was just as explosive. Chen Zhi was the grandson of the elder brother of Xu Jing, the Minister over the Masses, through his daughter. In his early years, he had won Fei Yi's appreciation and recommendation. After Dong Yun died, he became an Attendant and was greatly favored by Liu Shan.
After that, he had surged from strength to strength, serving as Attendant concurrently with Director of the Secretariat, with the additional title of General Who Guards the Army. He wielded immense power.
Although Jiang Wei was Grand General, he spent most of his time away. Domestic affairs at court were decided by the Director of the Secretariat, so this man's control over the Shu Han court actually surpassed that of Jiang Wei, the Grand General.
Unlike the powerful ministers before him, Chen Zhi maintained very good relations with the eunuch faction inside Shu Han's palace and was close to the eunuch Huang Hao.
When Cao Wei's ministers learned that this Director of the Secretariat openly cultivated friendships with eunuchs, they could not help laughing aloud.
All three kingdoms had developed various internal problems by then.
Both Cao Wei and Eastern Wu had learned their lesson from the Central Regular Attendants and established Attendant Cavalry posts to take away some of the eunuchs' power. Shu Han, however, had retained Eastern Han's political structure wholesale, including its system of Central Regular Attendants.
Eunuchs had a terrible reputation in every kingdom, yet this Director of the Secretariat of Shu Han actually dared to befriend them??
They immediately made