Chapter 744 843 Retirement

Ouyang Yijing reread his retirement memorial at home. He was unwilling to accept it, so he couldn't help sighing. He didn't know whether he regretted his rashness and recklessness. He actually did such a thing for his colleagues and ruined his career.

Thinking of the high spirits when he passed the imperial examination, it seemed like yesterday. It was exactly ten years ago.

Ten years, he studied hard and only got ten years of official career. It was really sad.

After returning home today, Ouyang Yijing didn't go anywhere. Although he didn't see the imperial edict sent by the Ministry of Lijian in the government office, he knew that the news would definitely not be wrong.

After all, Wei Guangde admitted the matter in person before, and the emperor wanted to recall Gao Gong.

At this time, in the residence of Yang Bo, the Minister of Personnel, Yang Bo's performance after returning home today was just like Ouyang Yijing, without the calm and elegant in the past.

He declined all the visitors who came to visit him today, and locked himself in the study to calmly calculate the situation in the court.

It is easy to say that you should resign and return home, but the more you enjoy the power, the more you can't let it go when the time comes.

Since Yang Bo passed the imperial examination and entered the court as an official in the eighth year of Jiajing, he has served as the magistrate of Zhuozhen and Chang'an. After being selected to the capital, he has been working in the Ministry of War, successively serving as the chief of the Wuku Qingli Division and the Langzhong of the Zhifang Qingli Division. He once accompanied the Minister of War Zhai Luan to inspect the nine borders and was appreciated by him.

After Zhai Luan resigned, he was valued by the two Ministers of War Zhang Zan and Mao Bowen.

In the 25th year of Jiajing, when he was the right assistant censor and governor of Gansu, he promoted military farming, repaired canals, and built garrisons, so that the people lived and worked in peace and contentment, and the territory was solemn.

Later, he served as the left assistant minister of the Ministry of War, successively managing the military affairs of Xuanfu, Datong, Jizhou, and Baoding, and repelled the attacks of the Mongolian leaders Baduer and Dalaisun twice, and was promoted to the Minister of War and the Prince's Guardian.

When he was transferred to the position of Minister of Personnel, he once thought that the emperor intended to arrange for him to join the cabinet, because at this time, Yang Bo, except for not having a background in the Hanlin Academy, had met all the necessary conditions for joining the cabinet.

Although there has always been a tradition in the court of the Ming Dynasty that "no Hanlin can enter the cabinet", this is only an unspoken rule after all. There were many officials in the previous dynasty who entered the cabinet without being Hanlin, so the identity of Hanlin was not necessary.

Moreover, Emperor Jiajing also found a way to save the country in a roundabout way, that is, to appoint the officials he favored as the Minister of Rites to take charge of the Hanlin Academy, and use this method to obtain the so-called "Hanlin background".

This time, Emperor Longqing planned to recall Gao Gong, which Yang Bo thought was his last hope to enter the cabinet.

You know, there are already five people in the cabinet now, and none of them intends to resign and return home.

At this time, if Gao Gong is recalled, the number of cabinet members will reach six, which will easily lead to a three-to-three situation during the cabinet meeting, which is actually not convenient for negotiation and reaching an agreement.

What he has always hoped is that the emperor will let Gao Gong join the cabinet when he recalls him, so that there will be seven cabinet members.

It's just a pity that today he received news that Emperor Longqing had issued a handwritten edict to the cabinet, asking them to draft an imperial edict to summon Gao Gong back to his original position.

Without the protection of the cabinet ministers, he thought it would be difficult to compete with Gao Gong.

After all, when Gao Gong and Xu Jie both resigned, he pulled the six important officials to stand up for Xu Jie, calling on the emperor to retain Xu Jie, saying that you can't afford to hurt the heart of the old minister, and that Gao Gong and Qi Kang's slander of Xu Jie this time was too much.

It can be said that Yang Bo knew that his name must be among the people Gao Gong would deal with when he returned to the court. As for who else, Ouyang Yijing would definitely not escape.

At the beginning, it was Ouyang Yijing who led the joint impeachment of Gao Gong. The first bird to come out of the gun will be targeted.

However, thinking that Ouyang Yijing was dealt with, whether Wei Guangde behind him would come forward to protect him, and then cause the complete disintegration of Yu Ji's old people, it is worth paying attention to.

If Gao Gong really fights with Wei Guangde, which side will Chen Yiqin and Yin Shizhan stand on?

The rice paper had been laid out, but Yang Bo suddenly lost interest in writing a memorial of retirement.

Having been an official for many years, he certainly knew how to play a trick on someone, and he would definitely start with the weak ones.

The first person Gao Gong had to deal with when he returned to the court was undoubtedly Ouyang Yijing, a small military official. As for Wei Guangde and Zhu Heng behind him, although they seemed difficult to deal with, they were better than targeting himself.

The important officials he could contact included Zhang Juzheng, Huo Yi, etc., and their influence in the court was far beyond that of Ouyang Yijing.

He didn't know that Ouyang Yijing and Wei Guangde had discussed a way to retreat and advance, and planned to withdraw from the officialdom to avoid disaster.

However, Yang Bo had this idea, so the memorial of retirement was naturally not so urgent.

If he submitted it at this time, it would inevitably give people the impression that he was afraid of Gao Gong, which would damage his reputation.

Tonight in the capital, the imperial edict that had not yet been issued had undoubtedly become a topic of conversation among officials. Everyone was reflecting on whether their actions two years ago had offended Gao Gong too much, and whether they should be careful in dealing with him.

However, for most officials, the life of luxury and extravagance had not changed, and only a very small number of people could not sleep all night.

The next morning, Ouyang Yijing took his retirement memorial to the government office. Seeing that there was nothing to do today, he directly sent his memorial to the Ministry of Personnel for registration and filing, and then sent it directly to the cabinet, waiting to be sent to the Silijian for the emperor's review.

The six departments are typical representatives of the power of officials in the Ming Dynasty. Although they are only of the seventh rank, they are responsible for not only checking the mistakes of the six departments and hundreds of officials, but also acting as officials participating in examinations at all levels, and participating in court discussions and court recommendations, which are activities that only officials from various departments can participate in.

Regardless of whether it is a memorial from an official or a government office, whether it is delivered through the Tongzhengsi or sent to the palace, the six departments have all the memorials that the emperor can see.

Because after the Tongzhengsi receives the memorial and transcribes it, in addition to keeping it on file in the government office, it will send a copy of the original to the palace, the original will be sent to the Silijian for classification and sent to the cabinet for disposal, and the copy will be sent to the six departments for registration and filing.

The memorials directly submitted by the Beijing officials to the palace will also be registered and filed by the six departments before being sent to the inner court, and the edicts and documents issued by the palace must also be registered and filed in the six departments, so the six departments also have the right to seal and reject memorials and cancel files.

So for Ouyang Yijing, he does not need to go to the Tongzhengsi to submit his memorials, he can go directly through the channels of the six departments.

After submitting his resignation, he did not stay in the Six Departments any longer. He left the palace and returned home directly, waiting for the emperor's approval.

However, after he left, the news that Ouyang Yijing requested to retire and return home quickly spread in the Six Departments.

It was not that someone was eyeing the position of Du Jieshizhong that was vacant after his departure, but there was a feeling of grief for the foxes.

The Six Departments were the vanguard of the overthrow of Gao Gong.

Even Ouyang Yijing, who was endorsed by the cabinet ministers, chose to leave, which shows how much pressure Gao Gong put on the court officials.

By the afternoon, the news had spread, and all the major government offices in Beijing knew about it.

If everyone just had this worry at the beginning, after someone submitted a resignation, such a sense of crisis seemed to come all of a sudden, and people were breathless.

In the Ministry of Personnel, in the Shangshu's duty room, Yang Bo had already heard the news from his subordinates that Ouyang Yijing resigned due to illness. It seemed nothing, but at this critical moment, such a thing happened. Thinking back to two years ago, even a fool would know what was going on.

After the servants left, Yang Bo had a bitter smile on his face.

I had known for a long time that these officials in the capital were shrewd, and today I saw that it was indeed the case.

Not only did he think of retreating to get out of the crisis, but others also thought of it, and they were more decisive.

Originally, he hoped that after Gao Gong returned to the court, there would be a fight in the cabinet first, and he would watch the show, and then attack Gao Gong when Wei Guangde and others could not hold on, but he did not expect that they would surrender so quickly in this way.

Others did not know, and only thought that Ouyang Yijing and Wei Guangde were just fellow villagers, but who was Yang Bo? He knew that Wei Guangde and Ouyang Yijing had a close relationship, and it was definitely not as simple as ordinary fellow villagers.

After this incident, Yang Bo was more convinced that it was time for him to leave the court.

Just when the imperial edict to recall Gao Gong in the capital caused a turmoil in the officialdom, Hai Rui was also reading the reply from Xu Ge Lao in the back hall of the Yingtian Governor's Office, but at this moment his face was full of anger.

The letter he wrote to Xu Jie was sincere, hoping that Xu Ge Lao would understand the stakes and give up some of his interests, but he didn't expect Xu Ge Lao's reply to be a flat refusal.

Not only did he refuse to return part of the donated land, he even said that he hoped he could help suppress the matter.

The letter recalled the encounter between the two in the late Jiajing period, which was undoubtedly a reminder to himself that he had been kind to him.

After the new emperor ascended the throne, he was immediately released from the Tianlao without guilt and reinstated. After that, he was promoted step by step, all with the help of Xu Jie.

What is this?

Isn't it just repaying a favor?

Hai Rui was really very angry. He didn't expect Xu Ge Lao to be so unreasonable. Instead, he asked him to help suppress the case. What kind of behavior is this?

Isn't it just bullying the weak?

The donated land was a trick of plundering, but in Xu Jie's letter, he actually called it his own property. He was really shameless to the extreme.

At this point, Hai Rui completely gave up the idea of ​​cooperating with Xu Jie to settle the matter, and decided to handle the matter in a fair and impartial manner and end the matter according to the litigation procedure.

Yes, with so many petitions, the government could not ignore them. They called the legal advisor who was good at official documents and ordered: "Give a copy of the official documents to the subordinates, ordering them to immediately collect the evidence of the Huating Xu family case, and all the petitions involving land donations should be transferred to the governor's office."

"Master, what are you doing..."

Hearing that Hai Rui wanted to file a petition related to the Xu family, the legal advisor instinctively felt that it was inappropriate.

Although Xu Jie resigned and returned to his hometown to retire, he had many students and old friends, whether in the capital or in Jiangnan, and Zhang Juzheng, Xu Ge Lao's favorite disciple, was still in the cabinet. With such a relationship, if Dong Weng and the Xu family really quarreled, it would be a big deal.

However, just as he started, Hai Rui interrupted him with a wave of his hand, "I have already made a proposal on this matter. Don't say too much. Just do as I say."

"But."

"No buts, do as I say."

He was still rudely interrupted. Hai Rui did not intend to listen to his master.

He recruited guests not to make decisions for him, but just to let them help him handle government affairs.

The decision should be made by himself, and they are only responsible for doing their work.

The news from the governor's office was immediately sent to Huating County in a secret letter. Xu Jie was not a brainless person. He had heard about Hai Rui's character in the past, so he was also worried that his letter could not solve this incident, so he had ordered people to pay close attention to the movements of the governor's office.

So far, Hai Rui still intends to handle this matter under his own rule, and treat this case of land donation involving a wide range of people and a huge amount of money as a land dispute. He thinks this is worthy of Xu Jie's help to him in the court.

As for whether to report this matter to the capital, he naturally never thought about it.

You know, the county magistrate is not as good as the current one. As the governor of Yingtian, he has already mastered the power that Xu Jie cannot compete with. He doesn't think that his power will be unable to deal with a resigned cabinet elder.

In addition to the order from Beijing, even the six ministries in Nanjing have no control over him.

What he didn't know was that at this time, the governor's office had gathered many eyes, all closely following the development of this matter.

Although Hai Rui handled this matter well before, there were many people in the governor's office, and the news that the local prefectures and counties sent many petitions about the Xu family still spread like wildfire.

With a little inquiry, the outside world knew the situation at this time and knew that the donated land of the Xu family had caused a big trouble.

Such surrenders were common in Jiangnan, and almost all the big families were involved, so they naturally had to pay attention to the further development of the matter.

At the same time, the people sent by Yin Shizhen had already known about this matter, and even copied part of the petition and sent it to the capital.

Fearing that their thoughts would be exposed, Wei Guangde did not intervene in the follow-up of this matter, and did not contact the Wei Guogong Mansion in Nanjing to arrange for them to inquire about the news.

Yin Shizhen finally waited for the news from Jiangnan at home. He knew that Hai Rui had a dispute with the Xu family because the people in Jiangnan were dissatisfied and wanted to take back the land. After reading a few petitions, he had a bottom line in his heart.

Now, it was time to test Hai Rui to see if he really enforced the law impartially and was not afraid of the powerful as rumored.

The next day, after handling some official documents in the cabinet, he went to the duty room closest to him and visited Wei Guangde.

"Shandai, take a look at this."

Wei Guangde was still looking through the memorials, but when Yin Shizhen came over, he naturally couldn't continue to work, so he could only receive him attentively.

After the two sat down, Yin Shizhen handed him the letter from Jiangnan.

"So many?"

Seeing the letter handed over by Yin Shizhen, Wei Guangde was surprised at first, and then he lowered his head to read it carefully.

"Haha. You calculated the time really accurately.

Judging from the current situation, when Gao Gong returns to the court, the matter in Yingtian Prefecture should have become a big deal. Let's see how Gao Suqing and Zhang Shuda deal with it at that time."

Yin Shizhen lowered his voice and said happily.

Wei Guangde read the letter very quickly, and soon turned over the second sheet of letter paper, followed by the third and fourth sheets.

"I didn't expect that there are people who donated the land in their hands, and then borrowed money from the Xu family to do business, and even changed their names, tut tut."

Most of the following are copied petitions. It is the first time that Wei Guangde understands how to donate land, and there are so many options.

For this type of case, it is actually very easy to judge whether to donate land, that is, whether the victim has a "permanent tenancy document" in his hand.

After all, the common people are not stupid. If the land is transferred to a big family, what will they do if they don't want to farm it anymore?

So, the "permanent tenancy document" was created.