Chapter 706 805 Lobbying

In the past few days, in the capital, with the edict of Liu Tigan's promotion to the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue in Beijing, Tan Lun also set off for Jizhou to replace Zhao Bingran, and the candidate for the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice has been determined, and the short-term turbulence in the court has ended.

This is the largest personnel change since the Longqing Dynasty, and all parties in the court seem to be very satisfied.

However, only Zhang Juzheng's people benefited the least from this large-scale personnel change, which has never happened before.

After all, the original boss of this series of officials was the Prime Minister Xu Jie. When he was in office, he was able to call the wind and rain in the court, and there was almost nothing he couldn't do.

Although it is not said that the power is encroaching on the court, but the tactics are mature and domineering, these people have naturally developed a habit for a while, that is, staying in the camp and being successful.

As a result, some people inside began to question Zhang Juzheng's ability privately, believing that he is completely incompetent and it is difficult for him to continue to lead them.

Zhang Juzheng naturally learned about these situations through his own channels, but unfortunately he was somewhat helpless.

In Huating County, Songjiang Prefecture, a group of travelers dressed as merchants came here one day. After staying in the largest inn in Huating County, the people dispersed and began to inquire about various news in Huating County.

At night, these people returned to the inn and went into the luxurious and spacious guest room where the leader of the group lived one by one to report the news they had inquired.

These people, of course, came from Danyang, and the leader was Shao Fang, the hero.

From Danyang to Huating, Shao Fang certainly knew that he had to find out the news first, such as the situation of the Xu family and whether Xu Jie was at home now.

Celebrities like Xu Jie often have many invitations from old friends and friends. They may not always be at home, but often go out to visit friends.

However, it seems that he is lucky. According to the news he inquired, Xu Jie is at home now, and he just came back from Zhejiang half a month ago.

If they arrived earlier, they might not be able to see Xu Jie.

As for the situation of the Xu family, it can only be said to be complicated.

Every family has its own problems. When Xu Jie was in power, he was impeached by his brothers. You can imagine what the family situation was like.

Moreover, Xu Jie's brother died before the New Year.

No one cared about how he died, and no one dared to ask.

Of course, this was only discussed privately by the neighbors in Huating County, but they also found out.

After Shao Fang and others went out, they whispered: "Sure enough, no one who can reach that position is simple, they are cruel enough."

Shao Fang is also well-informed, and of course he has heard of some evil things of big families, so no matter how the Xu family died, Shao Fang has a new understanding of Xu Jie.

Cruel.

When dealing with such people, you must be more cautious, especially if you can get things done, you can't and absolutely can't offend the other party.

The next afternoon, a group of people arrived outside the most luxurious mansion in Huating County and knocked on the door.

Soon, a doorman opened half of the door and popped his head out to ask, "Whose family? What's the matter?"

"Please go in and tell them that Danyang Shao Fang is here to see Lord Xu."

"Danyang? Shao Fang?"

The doorman listened to the words of the outsider and looked at the people behind him. They were all dressed in fine clothes and were either rich or noble.

At this moment, the outsider handed another small bag to the doorman.

The doorman weighed it and found it was not light. He nodded and finally smiled and said, "Wait, I'll go in and tell them."

As the person went in, the door closed again.

The outsider grinned, but didn't say anything. Instead, he quickly walked back to Shao Fang and said, "Master, the man went in to tell them."

"Well, wait."

Shao Fang had been turned away for many years.

But he also knew that this was Huating, not Danyang. It was said that the prime minister had a seventh-rank official in front of him. Now he had seen it.

It took a cup of tea to wait until the gate of Xu's house opened. The doorman came out with a man who looked like a housekeeper.

After a few words, Shao Fang led people and entered the gate of Xu's house carrying gifts.

There was a flower hall in the front yard of Xu's house. Shao Fang was brought here to wait. It was because of the boxes of gifts that he might not be able to come here.

"Master Shao, please have tea here first. My master is busy. Someone has already notified him and he will come over later."

The housekeeper said to Shao Fang happily, and asked the servants here to serve carefully.

"Please go ahead, housekeeper. I will wait for Lord Xu here. Lord Xu is busy, so there is no need to disturb him. I came here just to discuss important matters with him, but there is no rush."

Shao Fang said happily.

Shao Fang has had a lot of contact with local officials over the years. From the initial county magistrate to the prefect, and then to the governor, he has had contact with them, so many rules are also familiar to him.

He gave a red envelope to the gate, and gave another red envelope to the third steward of the Xu Mansion after entering the Xu Mansion, which led to this smiling face.

These officials and their families in the Ming Dynasty are really difficult to deal with, but it is also easy to deal with books, that is, to throw money.

For ordinary people, throwing money is a big deal, but for Shao Fang, who has a wealthy family, it is just a small matter, not to mention that the money he threw out this time was not paid by him, but by someone else.

Once the matter is accomplished, the network established is his own, and of course the benefits are great.

In the pavilion in the backyard of the Xu Mansion, a cup of clear tea was placed on a stone table in the middle of the pavilion, with faint smoke and tea fragrance.

There was an old man sitting on the stone bench next to the table. It was Xu Jie who had returned home to take care of his old age.

"He didn't say what was important?"

At this time, Xu Jie frowned and asked.

"Didn't say."

The third housekeeper of the Xu Mansion was bowing his head respectfully in front of Xu Jie, looking very humble.

"Danyang? His surname is Nao."

Xu Jie hummed, then shook his head, and asked again: "You didn't say who entrusted you?"

Although he had left the court, Xu Jie's caution as an official for many years made him feel that Xing Fang's arrival was not an easy one.

He has already read the gift list from Xingfang. It is no wonder that the housekeeper at home invites people in, which are worth hundreds of taels of silver.

Who would give such heavy gifts when they have nothing to do?

"I don't think I have any friends in Danyang. I really don't know how he found his way here. Since he said he has something important, I will go and meet him to see what his purpose is in finding me."

Xu Jie said with a smile and then stood up.

The butler led the way, otherwise he would not have known that people were waiting in the flower hall.

Soon, Nao Fang saw Xu Jie in the flower hall.

After the pleasantries were over, Xu Jiezhi felt very ridiculous when it came to "business".

Looking at the man in front of him, he looked dignified and didn't look sick, but why did he say crazy things, saying that he could make Xu Jie come back as the chief minister of the cabinet.

Although he felt ridiculous in his heart, Xu Jie remained silent and only felt deep contempt in his heart.

Needless to say, he had roughly guessed the purpose of Nafang's visit. A country boy who wanted to be a dragon and a phoenix, there were probably few people in the capital and it didn't matter, otherwise he would never have come to him and said these words.

Why did Xu Jie become an official and return to his hometown to retire?

First, Xu Jie was tired of the overt and secret fighting in the court. He had just defeated Yan Song and drove Gao Gong away, and took the initiative to retire and return to his hometown. Power was no longer attractive to him. It was really difficult for him to come back now.

Second, the current Emperor Longqing is a bit difficult to serve. He is not as easy to fool as his boss. As long as he can flatter him well, he can be a good official.

What's more, no one knows what the Ming Dynasty's family background is like now than him.

At the time of Yan Song, the imperial court still had some savings and had the foundation to build the foundation for Emperor Jiajing. But according to his observation, Emperor Longqing seemed to be no less generous than him in terms of labor and capital.

It's a pity that the imperial court's old treasury has been exhausted, and he has no chance.

Now the imperial court's deficit is getting bigger and bigger, and the financial pressure has made it impossible for him to continue.

The skills he learned from Yan Song were no longer able to maintain his position in the court, so he chose to retreat bravely, leave the problems to others, and go home in glory.

The third is that there is already a master Zhang Juzheng in the cabinet to assist, so there is no need to worry about it.

The current Emperor Longqing obviously trusts people who came from Prince Yu's Mansion more, and there is no need for him to make himself uncomfortable.

As for the person in front of him, "Danyang Hero" Shao Fang, he didn't want to go into the details of what kind of immortal he was. He, a person who had never held any authority, wanted to get involved in the highest power in the temple. Can he succeed?

Maybe it's a liar or a trap.

Based on the above considerations, Xu Jie decisively rejected Danyang Hero Shao Fang's suggestion, but he was also very tactful.

"Thank you so much, Mr. Shao, for your concern. However, I am already old and am really not qualified for the important responsibilities of the court. That is why I retired and returned to my hometown to take care of myself. Therefore, I will not think too much about this incident.

Now there are two people in the court, Li Chunfang and Chen Yiqin, who are in charge of the cabinet. They are both meticulous and cautious people who can't make mistakes. "

Of course Xu Jie didn't know that in Danyang, everyone was called "Hero", but looking at his clothes, he knew that his family was well off, so he was called "Yuanwai".

In ancient times, yuanwai originally referred to officials other than full-time officials. The word yuanwai was added in front of the official title to indicate the difference.

However, in the Ming Dynasty, the meaning of the word Yuanwai gradually changed. This is because Yuanwai gradually evolved into a sinecure that was isolated from other officials in the imperial court. Its political attributes were weakened and it was gradually only linked to wealth.

Landlords and rich people can obtain the title of Yuanwai through donations, and Yuanwai also specifically refers to a pronoun that has been transformed from an official to a synonym for landlords and gentry.

Shao Daxia had a bad encounter with Xu Jie, and suddenly felt shameless to stay. He originally thought of having dinner at Xu Mansion and getting closer before leaving.

After saying goodbye and leaving Xu Mansion and returning to the inn, Xian Fang asked his men to pack their bags. Now he can only go to Xinzheng, Henan to find the old man Gao Gong Gao Ge who was impeached and retired from office.

On the way to Xinzheng, Ning Fang was also thinking, feeling that Xu Jie's rejection might be caused by his failure to express his methods clearly.

He only said that he would lobby for Xu Jie and help him get his official reinstatement, but he didn't say much more.

If he were told to spend half a year traveling around the government and the public, establishing an extensive network of contacts, and then looking for opportunities to build relationships with people in the palace, and slowly and step by step, the probability of success would still be very high.

At that time, the people in the palace will first raise the matter of resurrection to the emperor, and then build up momentum and support through the network of relations between the government and the public, and then the big thing will naturally come true.

Maybe the old man thought I was a liar when he heard what I said to Xu Jie.

This time, when Naifang met Gao Gong, he thought a hundred and twenty times and carefully thought about the wording of his words, making sure to express his meaning clearly.

Xing Fang thought that he did not express himself clearly enough and made Xu Jie misunderstand him as a liar. He did not know the many reasons behind Xu Jie's official appointment.

The deeper things in it are not something ordinary Beijing officials can find out.

After the group arrived in Xinzheng, when he was ready to enter Gao Gong's house, he encountered a completely different experience from Xu Jie's house in Huating.

He still used the red envelope to open the door of Gao's house smoothly, but when his information reached Gao Gong's ears, he said that he disdained to meet such a local rich man who wanted to see him just because he gave him some money.

So when Shao Fang entered Gao's house, he was treated well in the reception hall by the housekeeper who let him in, serving tea and cakes, and the etiquette was sufficient.

However, Gao Gong directly left him in the flower hall and did not intend to see him.

"If the person from Danyang asks, just say I'm writing a book and don't have time to see him."

Gao Gong gave the housekeeper an order and ignored it.

Most of the officials in the capital were not looked at by Gao Gong, let alone a country bumpkin.

If the housekeeper had not seen the gift list and let him in, such a person would not be worthy of entering Gao's mansion.

"Master, that Shao said he has something important to discuss with you."

The housekeeper received a large red envelope, which was considered to be of some integrity. Even though he saw that Gao Gong was in a bad mood, he still tried his best to fight for it.

This was also because he knew Gao Gong's temper. He was one way to outsiders, and his attitude towards family members like him was another.

"Haha. For a person like him, there is something important.

Just let him wait in the flower hall. Don't stop him if he can't wait to leave."

Gao Gong said casually.

Gao Gong said that he wanted to write a book, and it was not false. After returning to his hometown in Xinzheng from the capital, he started to find things to do after being angry for a few days.

People can't be idle, it's easy to get sick.

For scholars, the serious thing is undoubtedly to write books.

Gao Gong carefully selected the articles he wrote over the years and the articles he liked, and planned to make a book manuscript and then print it out.

After Li Shizhen completed the Compendium of Materia Medica, he took great pains to publish it, but for Gao Gong, it was just a matter of spending some money.

One of his good friends had a family that ran a bookstore. In addition to the books that could be sold for a long time, such as the Four Books and the Five Classics, which were engraved and printed, they would also find poor scholars to copy books, which were relatively unpopular books.

Gao Gong edited his own books, and he felt that his life was very fulfilling. Even though he still couldn't let go of the court, he had been driven out after all.

At night, Gao Gong had long forgotten about Shao Fang in the flower hall. When he asked someone to prepare dinner, the housekeeper mentioned: "Master, the Shao Gongzi from Danyang is still in the flower hall. Do you want to prepare dinner?"

"Hasn't he left yet?"

Gao Gong frowned. After a long time, he thought that the person had left long ago, but he didn't expect that he was still there.

"How did he spend the afternoon?"

Gao Gong asked.

"Then Mr. Shao just sat there, drank tea, and ate some snacks, and did nothing else."

The housekeeper answered hurriedly, but this was the last time he spoke up for someone, after all, the red envelope was not light, and he had reminded his master twice, which was enough.

"Your Qi training is not bad."