.Chapter 784: Grand Secretary of the Dongge (Part 2)

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The subsequent development of the matter was heard from Zhu Dashou who was present that day. Gao Gong went to appease the officials' emotions, which caused the censors to curse. Of course, Gao Gong refused to suffer losses. Both sides quarreled at the gate of Guangyingku. But Gao Gong was not Zhang Juzheng, and there were many officials who supported him. Even among the censors, there were many students, so how could they tolerate the host being bullied? So some people began to speak out, some began to persuade the fight, but the quarrels were shocking and they could not hear anything clearly.

Just when the scene was about to lose control again, a wallet flew out of nowhere. With a whoosh, it hit Gao Gong's eye socket. He was stunned and sat on the ground.

What's so great? Some people dared to commit a crime against the second auxiliary. The wind direction changed drastically. The crowd was excited to find the murderer. The censors did not dare to fight against the wind and shut up. They all honestly shut up. At this time, they had already arrived at the square in front of the Kuqian Square. The censors who had been beside them, who had been afraid to get involved, finally found an opportunity to bring people into the field to maintain order. Seeing this, the mature and stern officials finally breathed a sigh of relief. This was a blessing in disguise, and at least they could not make a fuss again.

When Zhang Juzheng arrived at the scene, all the officials who caused trouble had dispersed, leaving only the people from the Ministry of Revenue, who were taking Guangyingku's custody of the ruins all over the ground. Gao Gong was still there, asking the people from the Imperial Hospital to bandage the head.

Zhang Juzheng hurried over to apologize, Gao Gong waved his hand and signaled that nothing was wrong.

"I wonder if Master Ge explained to them?" Zhang Juzheng asked in a low voice.

"How to explain?" Gao Gong said in a muffled voice: "I don't know how you are going to reply." He stood up and said to his left and right: "Since the master is here, we should go back." He looked at Zhang Juzheng and said: "You can submit a memorial to explain tomorrow." After that, he left straight, obviously still angry.

That's all. Zhang Juzheng sighed inwardly, thinking that what's going on?

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The next day, many censors wrote to impeach Zhang Juzheng, saying that he colluded with businessmen and corrupted his gentleness, was very selfless and could not bear the great responsibility, and strongly demanded that he be punished.

Zhang Juzheng's reaction was also quick. He went to "Confessions" and explained that the money was not borrowed by the merchants, but the income from selling useless wood. Lei Li, the Minister of Works, also stood up to speak for him under the arrangement of Xu Jie, saying that the wood was purchased by the Jiajing Dynasty and was useless now. The court still had a sum of money that had not been paid. The Huizhou merchants paid for the purchase and transferred the money through Rishenglong.

Rishenglong cannot deny it, and it will not even allow the court to check the accounts, because the first of the agreement they signed with the depositors is to keep the depositors confidential. If the court is allowed to check the accounts, who would dare to hand over the huge amount of property to them for safekeeping? No matter how much interest they give, they will not do it.

It was precisely because of this that Zhang Juzheng insisted that the money was paid by the Hui merchants. Now the censors had nothing to say and could only transfer the case to the Censorate. However, when they thought of the relationship between Zhu Heng and Xu Jie, they probably would have been left alone.

But no matter what, Zhang Juzheng could not catch up with this court push, and Xu Jie could not postpone him any further. Besides, this incident still had a negative impact on Zhang Juzheng's image. Many officials on his side said privately that this person is indeed good, but he is more aggressive and has less calmness and needs training. He is not able to take on the great responsibility immediately.

Zhang Juzheng was waiting for his sins at home, and also heard these rumors. He knew that his hope was not great, so he was naturally depressed. However, Xu Jie asked him to bring a message to him, so that he would not be impatient and not lose his composure anymore. Everything was arranged by his own teacher. At this point, Zhang Juzheng was useless even if he was impatient, he could not go to the yamen. Fortunately, he closed the door and pondered his faults, hoping to usher in a nirvana.

In that room, Xu Jie was naturally not idle. Since the old prime minister settled in his position, he focused on personnel adjustments. He believed that only by arranging personnel can he talk about other things... For public, he can avoid the infighting between factions in the court, reduce internal friction in the officialdom, and focus on governing the country and ensuring national security; for private, he can avoid the failure of his later years like Yan Song, and the disaster of his descendants. Therefore, even if the court missed the plan, he would not give up hastily, but instead try his best to make up for it.

Now, taking advantage of the opportunity to express condolences to Gao Gong, he walked into the payroll's room for the first time.

Gao Gong put a piece of plaster on his left eye, which seemed more robber than usual. When he saw Xu Jie coming in, he turned his face and said, "Is Yuan Weng here to make a joke?" He was extremely depressed. He kindly tried to persuade the fight, but was affected by Chi Yu. He even wondered if Xu Jie deliberately sent him to relieve the anger of the censors? Of course, he also knew that Master Xu would not have such a joke, but when he saw this kind old face, he was still angry.

"Suqing." Xu Jie sincerely apologized: "After all, I asked you to go, so I have the responsibility to say sorry to you."

Gao Gong was so happy, but he still said angrily: "How dare you ask the chief assistant to express his condolences? But you came here specially, aren't you just sorry for saying that you are?"

"Haha..." Xu Jie smiled and said, "Don't ask me to sit down."

Although his tone was a little more up, Gao Gong could not lose his etiquette. Please ask Xu Jie to sit down and watch the tea and accompany him.

"Suqing," Seeing that the atmosphere was a little calmer, Xu Jie kindly said to Gao Gong: "I haven't asked you about your opinion this time the cabinet re-elected staff."

'What did you do long ago?' Gao Xiu said with a whisper, "The Grand Secretary was introduced from the court. What is the use of personal opinions?"

"Hey, as prime ministers, we are very important, and our opinions are still very important." Xu Jie held the teacup and blew gently, "In terms of Suqing's opinion, who is suitable to recommend?"

The heat was so hazy that I couldn't see Xu Jie's expression clearly, but Gao Gong understood that Xu Jie was going to make a deal with him. It was just like that... When personnel changes at the top, there have always been unwritten rules - no one can play all positions in the hub and leave a part for others. Even if he is as strong as Yan Song, he has to tolerate Xu Jie, Yang Bo, Gao Gong and other officials who do not buy him. Otherwise, it would be a breaking rule if he is small, and it is a disobedience to say that he is too big. As long as he is not really planning to be Cao Cao, no one can afford this bad reputation.

Xu Jie wanted his two students to join the cabinet together, which obviously broke the rules, which caused dissatisfaction among Gao Gong, Yang Bo and others at that time. This was the deep reason why Shen Mo and Zhang Juzheng were impeached one after another. Now that Xu Jie hit a wall, he finally agreed to the rules. Gao Gong sneered in his heart. Although he had a hot temper, it did not affect his intelligence. If it was a normal court recommendation, what would be good to discuss? It was useless to discuss. Obviously, Xu Jie saw that the main door was difficult and wanted to go to the wrong door, but he was afraid that it would be too abrupt and difficult to pass, so he pulled himself up.

But Gao Gong would not point it out because he had the same needs, so Xu Jie's proposal was right and said: "Since Yuan Weng asked the lower officials to say that the lower officials would dare to recommend one person - Chen Songgu was in Qiandi for several years, and was exhausted for Your Majesty, and had a lot of enlightenment and was deeply trusted by Your Majesty. If Yuan Weng also recommended this person, Your Majesty would definitely be pleased with it, and his gratitude for Yuan Weng would also increase by 10%." "Songgu" was the title of Chen Yiqin, the left minister of the Ministry of Personnel. Chen Yiqin and Gao Gong were in the same year, and they had a comradeship in Yudi. Although the two had not had many personal relationships, they were from the same trench after all, and they could still be consistent in external affairs.

Gao Gong was kind, but he also had a thorn. He not only recommended Chen Yiqin, but also implicitly the meaning of using the emperor to suppress Xu Jie. Now our students are in the world. You old guy, you are the one who is better to know more. What's more, the person he recommended is very similar to Zhang Juzheng in all aspects. They are all old people in Qiandi, all third-rank left ministers, but the former is two pre-school class before Zhang Juzheng. If you want Chen Yiqin, you have to see how you are embarrassed to say the three words "Zhang Juzheng".

Xu Jie had known that he would recommend this person, so he was not surprised and said readily: "Chen Yiqin is good, diligent and loyal, I am very optimistic about him."

"Actually, Zhang Taiyue is not bad..." Gao Gong naturally reciprocates: "It is difficult to distinguish between Chen Songgu, and it is really difficult to choose."

"Then I recommend it together," Xu Jie smiled and said, "There are sages in the court, and the prime minister's fault, and the number of people in the cabinet is not so rigid."

"Then please suggest it to the emperor," Gao Gong smiled with one eye: "The lower official will discuss it."

"You'd better come and read this book." Xu Jie said slowly: "Taiyue is my student, and I, a teacher, should avoid suspicion."

"Okay, I'll be the first to do it," Gao Gong knew that Xu Jie's original plan was to use his influence on the emperor, so he said happily: "When the emperor asks you, the elders will say a few more good words to them."

"No problem." Xu Jie nodded, reached an agreement with Gao Gong, and left the secondary auxiliary room.

As soon as he returned to his duty room, Xu Jie's face became gloomy. He felt his chest was dry and his throat was dry. He picked up the teacup and wanted to take a sip, but was iced by the herbal tea. He was so angry that he put the teacup heavily and a large piece of tea splashed out.

This is really a loss of rice if you had known this, why would you do this too much?

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Three days later, all the Grand Secretary, the Six Ministry, Nine Ministers, and the Minister of the Secretariat gathered at Wenyuan Pavilion to hold the first court promotion for the Longqing Dynasty. The result was soon released. Although there were many nominees, only Shen Mo finally had more than half of the votes. In other words, he was the only one who passed the court promotion.

The cabinet submitted the results and asked the emperor to decide. The next day, the imperial edict was issued to appoint the cabinet ministers. Unexpectedly, one person was reported to be elected, but there were three names in the imperial edict - Shen Mo, Minister of Rites, Chen Yiqin, Left Minister of Personnel, and Zhang Juzheng, Left Minister of Revenue. The latter two had to enter the cabinet with Shen Mo without being recommended by the court.

The news spread and the government was in an uproar. As mentioned earlier, if you want to enter the cabinet, you must go through three checkpoints. First of all, this person should have entered the Hanlin Academy and served as a Shujishi. This is a prerequisite, which is equivalent to academic capital. Secondly, it must be recommended by the ministers in the court, which is the so-called court promotion, which means that it must have a mass base; finally, the cabinet lists the list and decides it by the emperor, which is appreciated by the boss. If you want to enter the cabinet upright, these three must be missing... The implication is that there is also an injustice way, that is, as long as the boss appreciates it, without education, and without mass base, it is okay. This is the "Zhongyong Entering the cabinet."

Although the "Zhongzhi Entry into the Pavilion" is not unprecedented, it is a shameless person like Zhang Cong and Xu Youzhen who really have no choice but to accept it. A well-known scholar like Zhang Juzheng and Chen Yiqin, who have sufficient education and a good foundation in the masses, is not bad. As long as you work harder, you can enter the Pavilion smoothly. Why should you be in a hurry at this moment?

After all, the matter of resuming the old minister next year is still a secret at the highest level, and only a few people know it, so most people cannot understand the key points and cannot agree with this method. They believe that they should firmly resist such acts of breaking the rules. So after the order was completed, everyone waited for the cabinet and the Six-Corporate Corridor to exercise the right of refutation and pushed them back. However, these two institutions seemed to have aphasia at the same time, and no one spoke quietly. As a result, the imperial edict was successfully promulgated and became an unchangeable decree.

Anyone with discerning eyes can see that there are powerful figures in it, and it is impossible to resist from the upper level, but they are still unwilling to give up and often run to the two of them, hoping that they can refuse to accept this imperial edict.

Zhang Juzheng said he was ill and stayed away, so everyone encouraged his fellow countrymen, Li Youzi and Geng Dingxiang to go to his house to be lobbyists in the name of visiting the disease... The reason why all officials are so enthusiastic about this is not because they have a grudge against Zhang Juzheng, but because they are born to resist this kind of gameplay that breaks the rules - the reason is very simple. Only when the emperor abides by the rules can civil officials use the rules to compete with the emperor. Once the emperor breaks the rules, they will lose the ability to check and balance the emperor.

Li Youzi and Geng Dingxiang were not like others, afraid that Zhang Juzheng would break the rules or something. They just didn't want to see him take this shortcut from the perspective of their friends, because in their opinion, it would be more than worth the loss...

In fact, in the previous dynasty, there were many people who ordered the cabinet to enter the cabinet, such as Yang Shiqi, who was the three Yangs, and Li Xian, who avenged Yu Shaobao, who came here like this. Except for someone who scolded someone a few words at that time, there was no problem. Even their reputation was much better than most serious cabinet ministers who promoted the court. But during the Jiajing period, this really became a very embarrassing thing.

The reason for such a big change is due to Mr. Zhang Cong. His reputation was too bad. The appointment of him as a college student at that time was like throwing a big stone into a pit. It immediately aroused public anger. The officials were in a fierce relationship and the matter was very big. Although Emperor Jiajing forced this matter to be done, it completely annoyed all officials. From then on, everyone worked together to get Zhang Cong off the stage. Although he was protected by the powerful emperor, Zhang Cong still went up and down several times in the field, and often was driven off the stage without the heat of his butt. Finally, when Jiajing was tired of this seesaw game, Zhang Shoufu's political life ended, leaving only countless infamous names for future generations to talk about.

Although Zhang Cong's infamy was mainly obtained from other places, because his reputation was too bad, it became a negative example. From then on, senior officials of the court did not dare to accept the emperor's order, for fear of being compared with him. After all, they finally cheated Zhang Juzheng...

Zhang Juzheng felt uncomfortable at first. If there was a solution, why would he accept this dizzy order? But if he didn't accept this time, he wouldn't know what year or month it would be next time, and he would never have a chance. This year, there will be no court promotion. When the old guy comes back next year, it will not be his turn. So besides accepting, can there be other choices?

But the two fellow villagers were unaware of the situation and still advised them with great sincerity. Zhang Juzheng could not tell them the truth, so he could only listen silently. Fortunately, in order to pretend to be sick, he applied powder on his face and could not see how he looked.

The two were speechless, but seeing Zhang Juzheng not speaking, Li Youzi sighed and said, "Taiyue, we have the opportunity in the future, so we won't get into this muddy water." He and Zhang Juzheng were not only fellow townsmen, but also in the same year. The two had a very good relationship. He was nine years older than Zhang Juzheng, so they could speak in this tone.

Zhang Juzheng couldn't pretend to be dead now. He looked at Li Youzi helplessly and sighed, "This is the emperor's imperial edict. If I don't accept it, I will resist the imperial edict." This is true. The imperial edict was indeed issued by the emperor, and it is not wrong to say it is a golden rule.

"As long as you find a reason not to accept the imperial edict," Ming Dynasty officials did not regard the emperor as a god, and would not take what they said too seriously. So Li Youzi disagreed: "For example, if you are not competent, the emperor will not blame you. Even if you want to blame, all your colleagues will speak for you."

"But... I feel that I can do it." Zhang Juzheng's eyes were so brisk that he said word by word: "You treat me as a friend, don't persuade me..." He didn't say the second half, but the meaning was very obvious.

The scene suddenly fell into silence. When it came to this point, the two lobbyists knew that he had made up his mind and saying more was useless, and they could only hurt each other's feelings. Geng Dingxiang sighed and said, "Since that's the case, I won't say anything anymore. Brother Taiyue should take care of himself."

Zhang Juzheng nodded.

"We are also for your own good. We are a talented person in Jingzhou. You have a few of them. We just want you to walk more steadily." Li Youzi didn't say anything more: "But that's right, you are still young. After entering the cabinet, you do a few beautiful errands. Who still remembers how you became this Grand Secretary?"

"I think so too." Zhang Juzheng finally nodded and said, "No one has any regulations. The order to enter the cabinet should be shorter than the court. After entering, you can compete with your ability. As long as I am strong enough, you will definitely come from behind." He paused and said, "As for the so-called reputation, it is actually the most illusory. As long as I succeed, everyone will praise me."

Looking at his firm or paranoid expression, Li Youzi and Geng Dingxiang looked at each other, and both saw a hint of worry in each other's eyes.

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Chapter completed!