Chapter 662 Arrangement 661

Xu Jie did not play continuously like Lei Li because he was very confused.

Yes, after serving as Yan Song's second assistant for so many years and obeying everything, does Xu Jie really have no ambition at all?

All in all, Xu Jie has only served as the first assistant for seven years.

Yan Song has been the chief assistant for more than ten years, so it is impossible not to have a sense of comparison.

One can imagine the tangle in Xu Jie's heart these past two days.

Whenever he wanted to continue and continue to be the chief minister of the Ming Empire, he would inadvertently think of the unexplained look in his eyes from the person on the throne.

Xu Jie knew that the emperor's dissatisfaction with him was deeply rooted because of Gao Gong's incident.

No matter how much he does or how well he does, the only thing that will stop him from leaving office is delaying it.

Is it still interesting to continue?

Xu Jie asked himself in his heart, and in the end, he made a choice.

As expected, Xu Jie's second resignation letter was rejected by Emperor Longqing and was not allowed.

In just half a month, Lei Li, Chen Yiqin and Huo Yi had already submitted their resignations. Lei Li's resignation had been approved, while the others' had been rejected.

Now Xu Jie also has to go up, although Emperor Longqing wanted to agree in his heart.

But he knew better, what he couldn't do, the time was not right.

The second memorial submitted by Xu Jie caused a small shock in the official circles of the Ming Dynasty.

Just as Emperor Longqing was worried, with the news that Xu Jie expressed his intention to leave office and return to his hometown, the negative impact caused by Chen Yiqin's begging for leave quickly dissipated, and the officials in the capital, especially the ministers who had been recalled to the court in the past year, It was as if they suddenly woke up and remembered Xu Jie's kindness.

Yes, most of these people are officials who were suppressed during the Yan Song period. They were dismissed or chose to leave to protect themselves.

As long as they were still alive, they were all found back in the Long Qing Dynasty without exception.

The person who single-handedly facilitated this was none other than Mr. Xu Jie, the chief minister of the dynasty.

As a result, all the negative news about Xu Jie disappeared for a while, and officials from the capital came to visit one after another, trying their best to persuade Mr. Xu Ge to stay in his post.

The rapid change in the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty once again taught Wei Guangde and other old people in Yuzhuan a lesson.

"I really didn't expect that Xu Cunzhai's memorial would have such a big impact."

Yin Shizhen said a little frustrated.

In the past two days, he also wanted to mobilize two low-level officials out of the capital. As a result, before Yang Bo could object, the doctor and chief below him became dissatisfied.

"Zhengfu, please wait for a while. Don't be so hasty. I think Xu Ge always understands the meaning, so he wrote this resignation letter."

Chen Yiqin said, "It's a pity that I didn't realize how powerful this memorial is."

"That is to say, the memorials of your cabinet ministers have greater influence. If it were replaced by ministers or ministers, everyone would only focus on the vacant position."

Wei Guangde said with a smile.

The cabinet of the Ming Dynasty was not customized. Although there were four palaces and two cabinets, in fact, the same palace could have several cabinet ministers.

The ranking of the grand masters in the palace is also a kind of praise used by the emperor to assist the ministers in the cabinet.

After all, if you join the cabinet and continue to be promoted, it can only be a change in reputation, that is, a change in the title of the cabinet.

Therefore, the appointment of cabinet ministers will affect the distribution of power in the court, but it will have little impact on the promotion of officials.

And if an official from the Sixth Department or other yamen resigns, the official position will be vacated, and everyone will not think about anything else but who will be most beneficial to them to take over this position.

There is no doubt that at that time, the officials in the capital were not thinking about what they had done, but who would take over.

"Now we can only take it slow."

A wry smile appeared on Yin Shizhen's face and he said, "I originally planned to release the two of them, but in the end, it made the people below a lot of trouble."

Hearing this, Chen Yiqin and Wei Guangde both nodded in understanding.

In the current situation, it is indeed difficult to do too much.

If someone noticed, the suspicion caused by Chen Yiqin before the trouble would be reversed on them, and even extended to the palace.

The master has a very good reputation, and he might become angry if he doesn't do it.

Whether it was Chen Yiqin, Yin Shizhen, or Wei Guangde, they all noticed the subtle changes in Emperor Longqing since he ascended the throne. He was no longer the cautious and cautious Prince Yu who lived in Prince Yu's palace.

Well, the lustful aspect hasn’t changed.

However, just when the atmosphere fell into a dull mood, Wei Guangde suddenly said: "Do you think Xu Ge really wants to leave or..."

While speaking, Wei Guangde's eyes were fixed on Chen Yiqin, and the meaning was very clear. Did Xu Ge Lao learn this skill because he saw the power of Chen Yiqin's begging memorial?

"It's hard to say, but Mr. Xu Ge has only been working as the first assistant for a few years, so he probably won't get tired of it so quickly. Besides, I think he's still in good health. It shouldn't be a big deal if he works for a few more years."

Yin Shizhen answered, but did not pay attention to Wei Guangde's eyes.

But Chen Yiqin saw it. After looking into Wei Guangde's eyes for a moment, he lowered his head and thought for a moment, then suddenly looked up at Wei Guangde and asked, "What does Shandai mean, is Xu Ge always sincerely thinking of quitting?"

"It's hard to say, but there's something strange about this memorial. You spend time with the Chief Minister in the cabinet. Has he become preoccupied in the past two days?"

Wei Guangde did not directly tell his guess, but asked Chen Yiqin.

Chen Yiqin stood up unconsciously and walked back and forth in the room, recalling in his mind the Xu Jie he had seen in the past two days.

After a long while, Chen Yiqin stood still and said, "It seems to be the same as usual, but after you reminded me, I feel that there is a hint of loneliness in his eyes."

Yin Shizeng also stood up at this time and asked in confusion, "What does this mean?"

Chen Yiqin quickly returned to his seat and sat down with Yin Shizeng, and then said, "After Shandai's reminder, I feel that Lord Xu may have already had the intention to quit.

In the past few days, Zhengfu should not do anything, just wait and see.

Perhaps, in a few days, Lord Xu will submit a memorial to resign for the third time."

Wei Guangde nodded, expressing his thoughts.

In fact, he also had the idea that flashed in his mind just now.

With Xu Jie's health, there is no problem for him to work for a few more years.

However, he suddenly learned from Chen Yiqin to submit a memorial to ask for retirement. Was it because he saw the influence of Chen Yiqin's paper memorial and followed suit? Or did he really mean it?

Therefore, Wei Guangde thought of asking Chen Yiqin whether Xu Jie was different from usual in the cabinet.

While the three were discussing, in the secret room of Xu Jie's mansion, Xu Jie handed an article to Zhang Juzheng, "Take a closer look, maybe it's a little imperfect, you can revise it."

"Teacher, what are you doing..."

"Take a look first."

To Zhang Juzheng, Xu Jie always behaved very gently, and at this time, his smile was warm and refreshing.

Zhang Juzheng held the article in his hand and read it carefully.

It can be seen that this is the first draft of a memorial that the teacher is still polishing. He quickly read the whole article and made five suggestions.

The first is to reduce discussion.

In recent years, there have been too many discussions, right and wrong are confused with words, use and abandon are decided by likes and dislikes, politics are changed frequently, and there is no unified discipline.

In the future, it is advisable to sweep away useless empty words and seek practical results. All memorials must be concise and clear, and the right and wrong must be clearly stated. Don't shirk responsibility and make empty words. Return to the thick and the thin, value the essence and reduce the writing.

Second, strengthen the discipline.

Recently, the discipline is not strict, the upper and lower levels are lenient, everything is done according to the acquiescence, ambiguous, and compromise.

Where the law is, it is only imposed on the humble; even if the stubborn and obstinate break the law and disrupt the discipline, no one can do anything.

From now on, it is advisable to enforce the law and discipline, take power, and return the punishment and reward to justice, and the political and educational orders must be decided by the emperor.

Where the law should be enforced, no matter how noble or close, it will not be pardoned; if there is injustice, no matter how insignificant, it must be corrected. In order to make the system correct and the court respected.

Third, attach importance to imperial edicts.

Recently, many imperial edicts have been abandoned and regarded as old paper. How can we know right from wrong and how to reward and punish appropriately?

From now on, it is advisable to reply immediately after receiving the imperial edict, and judge according to reason; according to the urgency of the matter, set a deadline for reporting, so that people can do their best and things will not be blocked.

Fourth, it is to consolidate the foundation of the country.

Now when the people are poor and the money is gone, we must save money drastically. All non-urgent projects and unnecessary taxes should be suspended and exempted, and frugality should be advocated.

Carefully select good officials to shepherd the common people. Those who are honest and love the people will be promoted, and those who are corrupt and harm the people will be severely punished.

Suppress the powerful, balance taxes and labor service, and eliminate the evils that waste money and harm the people.

As the saying goes, when people's livelihood is well, the country will be peaceful.

The last one was a little unexpected by Zhang Juzheng, which was to be able to prepare for war.

When Zhang Juzheng was reading the article before, Xu Jie had been looking at him all the time. Naturally, he saw where his eyes lingered and smiled and said, "The Beijing camp has been in disarray for many years, and it is difficult to restore it to the past.

And your majesty has the intention of pushing Wei Guangde into the cabinet with all his strength. From the beginning, he was used as a military and civil official since the time of the previous emperor. Perhaps if the previous emperor had not died early, Wei Guangde's final destination would only be the position of the Minister of War."

When Xu Jie spoke, Zhang Juzheng kept nodding.

Indeed, Wei Guangde's literary talent did not meet the standards of the Hanlin Academy, and he was selected by Emperor Jiajing.

Later, he showed some military talents, but in Zhang Juzheng's heart, he just felt that he was okay, but not as capable as Yang Bo, Tan Lun and others.

After all, they were all governors of military affairs and had real achievements, while Wei Guangde had only participated in one war.

The Ministry of War wanted strategists, not tacticians who commanded wars.

Moreover, Zhang Juzheng actually had some military talents, but he felt that his literary talent was more impressive, and in today's world, the status of military affairs is not better than that of civil affairs, so he disdained to do things in this area.

Zhang Juzheng was born in a military household, and his grandfather was the captain of the personal guards of the Liaowang Palace. Therefore, after the Zhang family split, although his branch began to turn to civil affairs early, his martial arts were not abandoned. When he was a child, he also heard a lot about military affairs, but he never showed them.

"Before, when Qi Jiguang was transferred to the Beijing camp and Tan Lun was transferred back to the court, Chen Yiqin did not oppose strongly.

Based on my understanding of His Majesty over the years, he should also be very concerned about border affairs, so it is expected that there will be some military actions."

Xu Jie said.

"Teacher, when do you plan to submit this memorial?"

Zhang Juzheng nodded and asked.

"I am old, just like I asked you not to say too much before, I have the final say on this matter.

As for what you have in your hand, take it back and think about it carefully, perfect it in detail, and submit it after I leave Beijing."

Xu Jie said, stroking his beard.

"Teacher, you can't leave."

Zhang Juzheng said with emotion, he knew that this was Xu Jie paving the way for him.

"Listen to me, Your Majesty, I have to leave, otherwise it will not only harm me, but also you.

After I leave, Your Majesty will definitely promote Wei Guangde and Yin Shizeng to the cabinet soon.

Yu Ju and his gang were detained in the palace for too long by the previous emperor, and they don't understand the ways of officialdom.

What they are doing now is to follow the Majesty's preferences. Although many of the practical work is done well, the general direction is not bad, which is the Majesty's intention.

So, you can't be enemies with them, but cooperate well. "

At this point, Xu Jie looked at Zhang Juzheng, and a barely perceptible smile appeared on the corner of his mouth and said: "Wait until the end of the year or next year, you can find an opportunity to ask the Majesty to let Gao Gong return to the court."

"Hmm?"

Zhang Juzheng naturally didn't understand what Xu Jie meant. If Gao Gong came back, with his vengeful character, he would demolish the old Xu family in Susong Mansion.

"Don't worry, you have a good relationship with Gao Gong, and Gao Gong also appreciates your ability, so as long as you keep your heart to the public, you will be fine.

As for Gao Gong's revenge, let him come, and you can take care of him at the critical moment.

What is coming will always come, and you can't hide it. "

Although Zhang Juzheng was still a little surprised, he didn't say anything. He knew that his teacher must have anticipated the result.

Sure enough, then he heard Xu Jie continue to say: "I have observed those people in Yu Ji. In fact, you also know that Chen Yiqin, Wei Guangde and Yin Shizhan are closer and have long been alienated from Gao Gong.

When Gao Gong returns to the court, he will definitely try to control the government again.

Although they are all old people of Yu Ji, they will definitely be unwilling to give up. At that time, you must be careful to deal with them. It is better to do nothing, but you must not make any mistakes. "

"Let them fight among themselves? "

Zhang Juzheng understood. He also came from Yu Ji, so he naturally knew the situation of that group of people.

In fact, in the last few years of Yu Ji, those who stayed in Yu Ji had parted ways with Gao Gong, but because of the existence of Prince Yu in the middle, they were still pulled together.

However, Xu Jie's words were not finished.

"When the court and the public see what kind of character these old people of Yu Ji are, and you only need to show your ability to do practical work, they will naturally make their own choices. "

Speaking of this, Xu Jie couldn't help but laugh and said: "I guess the late emperor would not have thought that these people he had high hopes for, did not learn other skills, but learned the skills of me and Yan Jiexi ten percent.

At that time, the court situation had no way out without fighting. If the Yan family had not produced the ambitious Yan Donglou, it would not be so complicated, and he, Yan Jiexi, would have returned to Jiangxi to retire long ago. "

Zhang Juzheng understood that Xu Jie valued his ability to handle government affairs and hoped that he would appear in the court as a practical man.

When the emperor and the court officials saw that Yu Ji's old people were just a group of guys who would fight among themselves, they would naturally choose to stand on his side.

Although internal fighting would lead to drastic changes in the court personnel, the consequences of standing on the wrong side were also difficult to predict.

As long as they ascended to a high position, what they hoped to see was not continued internal fighting, but stability.

At that time, even if Emperor Longqing was reluctant, he had to accept this situation.

"I will submit the third resignation memorial in two days. Maybe Yang Wei will come to you, but don't worry about him. He only considers the interests of the people in Shanxi.

Remember, once you ascend to the position of Prime Minister, you must consider the country and the court, and nothing else. "

Finally, Xu Jie warned slowly.