Chapter 636 635 Agreed

"In the case of the engineering department, Li Zhenyuan impeached the university scholar Gao Gong for being impatient and lacking in ministerial integrity. His maternal aunt was seeking to retreat, but she harbored worries and losses. She was impeached and argued over and over again, and both Chinese and foreign officials looked away. It is not appropriate to smile in a prosperous age. I would like to be dismissed or given a special gift to show my integrity."

In the Ministry of Personnel, Wei Guangde was on duty. He had a note sent by Ouyang Yijing in his hand.

In addition to accusing Gao Gong of making mistakes, Li Zhenyuan's memorial mentioned that he had been impeached so many times and still shamelessly stayed in the cabinet. He refused to confess honestly but kept making sophistry. Everyone was still watching. Removal or preferential treatment, Emperor, you should give me a happy one.

As soon as I entered the check-in room early in the morning, without even taking a sip of water, Ouyang Yijing's people came.

Wei Guangde was not surprised that Li Zhenyuan impeached Gao Gong. He had already thought that Mr. Xu Ge would instruct people to continue taking action. If Gao Gong could not be brought down after all the efforts, he would really have no choice but to consider leaving.

Li Zhenyuan's memorial was almost an attempt to force the emperor into the palace.

Either Gao Gong is dismissed, or he is given preferential treatment to let everyone know whether he is right or wrong.

What follows is that Li Zhenyuan was active in the Sixth Section and encouraged other subjects to actively report the impeachment of Gao Gong.

You know, many people have petitioned for impeachment before Ke Dao, but the results were not satisfactory.

Now Li Zhenyuan is impeaching again and has contacted other colleagues to act together. The purpose is naturally to set off another wave of impeachment frenzy.

Moreover, when Ouyang Yijing's note finally asked about his attitude, Wei Guangde knew that the other party was not asking about his opinion on the impeachment letter, but whether he wanted to submit the memorial.

Previously, Ouyang Yijing also prepared for impeachment, but was temporarily suppressed by Wei Guangde on the grounds that there was not enough time.

This time Ke Dao seemed to be taking action again under the leadership of Li Zhenyuan, and Ouyang Yijing couldn't bear it anymore.

After thinking about it, Wei Guangde wrote a note back to Ouyang Yijing, asking him to wait for another day to take a look. At the same time, he also wrote a note to Yin Shizhen and Chen Yiqin, inviting them to his home for a banquet that evening.

Yu Zhuan's senior officials in the court, Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng, have been excluded by them and will naturally not be considered.

In the evening, in Wei Mansion's study, the three of them were a little tipsy after dinner, but they were sober and knew the purpose of coming here tonight.

Wei Guangde closed the door and came back to sit down. "I have made arrangements outside. No one will come near here."

"How did the cabinet vote for Li Zhenyuan's memorial to force the palace?"

Yin Shizhen asked directly.

"I didn't write it."

Chen Yiqin replied very bachelorly: "Now the cabinet basically has no votes on the impeachment memorial. There are too many. What should we do?

The current situation is that the Northern and Southern Secretaries all regard attacking Gong as a quick task. Even this afternoon, several memorials were handed in, all of which were about impeaching Gao Gong. The current situation of the cabinet does not know what to do. "

"Then we can't let Li Zhenyuan act recklessly. If he doesn't reprimand him, I'm afraid Ke Dao will follow his example and everyone will force His Majesty to express his position."

Yin Shizhen frowned and said.

"Your Majesty is still in middle school, so if you write, it will be in vain."

Chen Yiqin just shook his head and said.

"Your Majesty gave me a note before, asking me to find a way to calm this turmoil. I guess you also received it."

Wei Guangde interjected.

After both of them nodded, Wei Guangde said: "It seems that this matter cannot be resolved. I plan to transfer Qi Kang out of the capital first and see if the Metropolitan Procuratorate can be more peaceful."

"Downgraded and released?"

Chen Yiqin frowned slightly. Letting Qi Kang out at this time was actually a very bad signal.

"What else can we do? Do you really want His Majesty to force us to submit a memorial to attack Xu Jie?"

Wei Guangde sighed, "No matter what I say about Xu Jie at this time, it's all my fault.

According to Hai Rui's words, although Xu Gong had flaws in his early years, he had made up for his mistakes, so Xu Jie had nothing to attack.

On the other hand, Gao Suqing offended too many people and did not know how to restrain himself. He became even more aggressive after His Majesty ascended the throne, and finally reached this point.

It's your own fault, it's your own fault. "

"You want to give up the high arch?"

Yin Shizhen asked.

"I was worried before, but after the last court meeting, I think Xu Jie should only target Gao Gong and will not be disadvantageous to us anymore."

Wei Guangde said calmly.

In the last court meeting, the side supporting Kaihai was actually in a very unfavorable situation, but after Yu Zhuan came forward to express support, the disparity was greatly reduced.

I think Mr. Xu Ge should also understand the impression of Yu Zhuan's old people working together, but there is no place for Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng in it.

While Chen Yiqin and Yin Shizhen were thinking about it, Wei Guangde asked again: "Brother Yifu, has the cabinet recently written down the regulations regarding the opening of the sea?"

"Zhang Juzheng prepared the charter, and we discussed it, but we contacted the six ministries and nine ministers to discuss it, but we were never able to finalize it."

Chen Yiqin sighed and said: "Now that there is no chief minister in the cabinet, everything is somewhat restricted. Xu Jie and Li Chunfang are unwilling to come out to do things. Qi Kang's memorial offended Li Chunfang to death."

Having said this, Chen Yiqin seemed to understand what Wei Guangde meant, "Do you want to punish Qi Kang to make Li Chunfang calm down?"

Wei Guangde nodded, "Although this treatment may give a bad impression to the outside world, if Mr. Li can be allowed to leave the government and return to the cabinet to do errands, it will always be an explanation to His Majesty.

Although I also know that Mr. Xu Ge will not give up easily,"

Xu Jie is now confident, why?

It was not just Qi Kang's memorial that sent the first and second assistants home at once.

Gao Gong, who is able to shoulder the burden of the cabinet, is also pushed down by the wall and unable to come forward to serve on the board of directors.

The remaining ministers in the cabinet lacked qualifications and prestige, and could not get the support of the court, so they hesitated and hesitated in doing things.

If according to Wei Guangde's intention, punishing Qi Kang can bring Li Chunfang back to the cabinet, it will indeed reduce the pressure on Gao Gong, and at least the court is expected to resume operation.

I have something to do, so I naturally don't have the time to think about how to impeach Gao Gong all day long.

"It's a bit risky."

Chen Yiqin analyzed.

"It's feasible. It's just a matter of letting Gao Suqing become an official. Even if he can survive this time, there will be another storm like this next year."

Yin Shizhen said bluntly.

"The top priority is to get the cabinet up and running as soon as possible and complete the opening of the sea as soon as possible. Gao Suqing still has time to wait. After all, how long can Mr. Xu Ge, a man in his sixties, stay in the court?"

Yin Shizhen showed his feelings, and Wei Guangde felt that there was no need to worry too much. Everyone didn't like Gao Gong anyway, so it didn't matter if he said it here. He had even thought about how to deal with Emperor Longqing.

Chen Yiqin looked at Yin Shizhen and then at Wei Guangde, and then he seemed to have made up his mind, "I will go into the palace tomorrow to tell His Majesty that I will send Qi Kang out first to see if I can let Mr. Li return to the cabinet to handle errands."

"Your Majesty cannot ignore Li Zhenyuan's memorial and must refute it severely."

Wei Guangde reminded.

"I see."

Chen Yiqin nodded and replied.

"In the next two days after tomorrow, a large number of memorials should be sent to the Kedao Yanguan, all of which impeached Gao Gong, Li Zhenyuan."

Wei Guangde told the two of them the news that Ouyang Yijing had passed to him, "Sizhi was a little overwhelmed. He also wrote an impeachment memorial. It's not that Zhen and Gao Gong can't get along, it's the general trend."

"Shandai, you can arrange a suitable place for Qi Kang at the Ministry of Civil Affairs tomorrow. I will give you the news after I have an audience with His Majesty."

Chen Yiqin whispered to Wei Guangde.

Through tonight's discussion, Yuzhuan's faction has completely abandoned Gao Gong and no longer considers the issue of protecting him.

Xu Jie and the court were under too much pressure, and taking action would be the target of public criticism. It was not cost-effective and would not be beneficial to Emperor Longqing.

"Today Governor Tu has another memorial arriving in Beijing. I'm afraid Shandai doesn't know about it yet."

Finally, Chen Yiqin suddenly said again.

"Oh? What are you talking about?"

Wei Guangde pretended to be surprised.

"This memorial is more detailed. It is not like the previous one that just talked about the benefits of opening up the sea. It has many more details. It is somewhat similar to what you and Mr. Xu Ge thought."

Wei Guangde nodded slightly when he heard this.

Delayed by the fight at Xu Jiaogong, Wei Guangde really forgot about his previous letter to Tu Zemin.

Chen Yiqin just stared at Chen Jianguo for a moment. Seeing that there was nothing else on his face, he continued: "Ma Sen, the minister of Nanjing Ministry of Industry, also submitted a memorial to support the opening of the sea."

"Mason?"

Wei Guangde muttered this name in a low voice, feeling as if he had heard it somewhere before and it seemed a bit familiar.

"Minister of the Nanjing Ministry of Industry? Ma Sen?"

Yin Shizhen was also surprised. At this time, everyone's attention should not be on Dougao Gong, so why were there still people trying to open up the sea?

"Shan Loi has forgotten this person?"

Chen Yiqin smiled.

"Somewhat familiar, but I can't remember where I've seen or heard of it."

Wei Guangde said bluntly.

"In the 34th year of Jiajing's reign, Ma Shilang should have been serving as the Zuobu envoy in Jiangxi."

Chen Yiqin reminded.

"Oh, I remembered. I saw him at the Deer Ming Banquet."

Wei Guangde remembered that at the Luming Banquet after the provincial examination that year, all the high-ranking officials in Jiangxi Province were present, including Ma Sen.

But at that time, he was ranked low, so he naturally stepped back after going up to pay homage. Later, because of the Japanese pirate incident, several high-ranking officials in Jiangxi left early.

However, Wei Guangde was a little surprised. Why did Chen Yiqin suddenly talk about him? Is it because he supported Kaihai?

Seeing the surprise in Wei Guangde's eyes, Chen Yiqin glanced at Yin Shizhen, who was still confused, and then said: "I guess you all know the memorial handed over by the Ministry of Revenue today.

Ge Shangshu did not sign his name. To be honest, it would be difficult for him to stay in the Ministry of Households for a long time. "

Yin Shizhen opened his mouth, but in the end he didn't speak.

He wanted to say "no", but then he thought about the Ministry of Rites. If all the officials below were to sign memorials except for one person, then that person would probably be isolated in the yamen.

Even though Shangshu is the biggest official in the yamen, in order to exert real power, it still depends on the people below him.

If you make a fuss, others will only laugh at you for not being strict with your subordinates. You can't even control someone under you.

But what situation Ge Shouli had to face was that none of his men could suppress it.

"Brother Yifu wants him to succeed Ge Shouli? Can he be in charge of the household department?"

Wei Guangde asked in surprise. He had never heard of any relationship between Chen Yiqin and Ma Sen before.

"Because of today's memorial, I checked him out. Before he took office in Jiangxi, Shu requested that grains from the south be diverted to another route, saving tens of thousands of money.

He also talked about the harm caused by private salt, and requested that bridges be built in Xiajiang County to restore the old amount of Huai salt.

I feel like this person has unique insights into economics, so I might give it a try. "

He can save money and make money at the same time. Isn't this what the imperial court needs now?

"He is still the Minister of Industry in Nanjing, and there should be no one behind him."

Wei Guangde nodded in agreement. Wei Guangde understood what Chen Yiqin meant. He probably wanted to win over this person, so he would say hello to Wei Guangde today.

Speaking of which, Wei Guangde and Ma Sen knew each other earlier.

Early in the morning of the next day, before leaving the palace, Wei Guangde handed a note to Zhang Ji and asked him to send someone to deliver it to Ouyang Yijing. The content was naturally to ask him to submit a memorial to impeach.

Ouyang Yijing's memorial was a bit fierce. He accused Gao Gong of repeatedly being criticized and not taking the blame himself. Instead, he accused the censors of being a party, wanting to intimidate the court officials and monopolize the power of the country.

Later generations also said that Ouyang Yijing was the "God of Cursing" in the Ming Dynasty. He was very skilled in impeaching people and had an unusually high success rate. This time, he pointed out two mistakes of Gao Gong, which were naturally very accurate and hit the key points.

This was also the reason why Wei Guangde delayed letting him submit a memorial at the beginning, and he also gave others a heads-up in advance to prevent Chen and Yin from thinking that he was supporting him behind the scenes.

When he arrived at the Ministry of Personnel, Wei Guangde called his subordinate, the Langzhong of the Ministry of Examination, and asked him to find a position as a prefectural magistrate.

The prosecutors of the Ming Dynasty were assistant officials of various prefectures. The prosecutors of Shuntian Prefecture and Yingtian Prefecture were of the sixth rank, and the prosecutors of other prefectures were of the seventh rank, in charge of criminal cases and the calculation of the law.

The prosecutor's office was called "Lixingguan", and the two words "Lixing" indicated the duties of the prosecutor.

This position was naturally prepared for Qi Kang. He could choose a middle or lower-level prefecture and transfer horizontally, from a Beijing official to a local official, which was a complete demotion.

After meeting Chen Yiqin today, Emperor Longqing was in a bad mood. No matter what Meng Chong and others proposed, he was not interested.

He turned out Li Zhenyuan's memorial yesterday and severely appealed to the emperor. In the afternoon, he saw a bunch of impeachment memorials. He flipped through a few of them and saw Ouyang Yijing's memorial, which made him feel even worse.

During this period, the emperor was exhausted physically and mentally because of Xu Jie and Gao Gong, but he was still unwilling to let Gao Gong leave.

Even though Gao Gong had submitted several memorials to resign before, he did not approve it.

Unexpectedly, Gao Gong's self-defense against his impeachment was just a quibble in the eyes of these people, and he was said to be shamelessly greedy for power if he stayed.

Thinking of Chen Yiqin's reminder that the Ministry of Revenue might change, he became even more depressed.

Just because Shangshu Ge Shouli was unwilling to sign the memorial denouncing Gao Gong, the Ministry of Revenue might isolate the new Shangshu, and he finally felt the huge pressure from the court officials.

The emperor, sometimes he really can't make a decision on his own, and he has to look at the faces of important officials. No wonder my father appointed obedient people as the chief assistant and Shangshu.

At least, although he was scolded as a tyrant, he didn't have to face the trouble he encountered today.

As Chen Yiqin handed over the news, Emperor Longqing nodded, and Wei Guangde immediately contacted Wang Ting to prepare to send the trial censor Qi Kang to the local area for the crime of harassment.

While preparing here, Wei Guangde received a lot of notes from his former colleagues, who were actually the censors of the Censorate.

Wei Guangde ignored these notes at first, but as more and more people handed in notes, Wei Guangde had to take them seriously.

It was because Wei Guangde was afraid that the position of prefectural magistrate that he had prepared at the beginning would not work.

In the eyes of the censors, what crime did Hu Yingjia commit to be transferred to a local place as a magistrate, and why did Qi Kang also be sent out as a magistrate?

They handed Wei Guangde a note, Qi Kang, suggesting that he be demoted by one level, two levels, or even three levels

Wei Guangde's resignation from the post of censor did not mean that he did not value the power of this group of people, they were a very terrifying existence. (End of this chapter)