Chapter 820 909 Letter From Jiujiang

In the Qianqing Palace, after Gao Gong reported Du Huazhong's impeachment memorial, he had no intention of leaving, because he still had something to settle with Emperor Longqing today.

"Your Majesty, there are only two ministers in the cabinet now, Chen and Shuda. The government affairs are really busy. Please consider adding more cabinet ministers."

Gao Gong glanced at Zhang Juzheng and said.

"Add cabinet ministers?"

Emperor Longqing lowered his head and thought for a while, then looked up at Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng and said: "You two are working together to assist the government, there is no need to add more people."

Hearing Emperor Longqing's words, Gao Gong didn't know whether to be happy or unhappy for a moment.

The emperor entrusted the power to himself and Zhang Juzheng in the cabinet. On the one hand, this showed the emperor's trust in them, but on the other hand, it also placed a heavy burden on his shoulders.

Dealing with government affairs during this period of time has made Gao Gong feel a little tired.

Although he wholeheartedly wanted to help the country, he had to be physically able to support it.

Although there is no such thing as "the body is the capital of revolution" in this era, Gao Gong understands it deeply.

What's more, having been fooled once, Gao Gong already had a deeper understanding of the power of cabinet ministers.

It seems that he and Zhang Juzheng controlled the power of the Ming Dynasty cabinet, but don't forget how Gao Gong was driven away by the Ke Dao Yanguan group. In fact, a very important step is impeachment.

As long as there is an official who impeaches him, then according to the rules, he has to go home and write a statement to explain the responsibilities of Kedao.

In other words, if someone impeached him, he would go home and write a memorial to explain himself, and the power of the cabinet would fall into the hands of Zhang Juzheng.

If there was a premeditated attack on him during this process, except for Emperor Longqing's trust in him, he would temporarily lose the ability to counterattack.

When appointing people to the cabinet, as long as they are not good friends with Zhang Juzheng and can play a supervisory role, it is enough to limit Zhang Juzheng's rights.

In Gao Gong's view, adding more cabinet ministers was necessary, but now Emperor Longqing didn't want to add more ministers, so he naturally had to find ways to get the emperor to change his position.

"Your Majesty, the cabinet is busy with affairs, and my uncle and I are unable to handle it. Moreover, I and other ministers cannot just deal with general government affairs, but also spend time thinking about the national policy of the imperial court.

For example, clan issues and the grain tax system require us to spend a lot of time thinking about how to improve the system. The rules set at the beginning of the country are somewhat out of date. Since the Yellow River floods blocked water transportation, the court was forced to make choices in order to ensure the grain supply. Try sea shipping in general. "

Gao Gong said to Emperor Longqing, and his words were also very sincere. He was unwilling to waste time on dealing with general government affairs, but hoped to have more time to think about a reform initiated by him.

"What is Zhang Aiqing's opinion?"

After listening to Gao Gong's words, Emperor Longqing looked at Zhang Juzheng and asked.

"Your Majesty, now only Duke Gao and I are left in the cabinet. It is indeed very stressful to deal with government affairs."

Zhang Juzheng just answered truthfully.

He thought that Gao Gong was planning to bring his own people into the cabinet to help him share some of the pressure, so he simply didn't say much.

In Zhang Juzheng's opinion, the more unscrupulous you Gao Gong is, the better, so that the emperor will covet you early, and all the officials will privately dislike Gao Gong.

Gao Gong has always prided himself on being smart and capable, and looks down upon his colleagues. The more he behaves like this, the more smug he becomes, but he doesn't know how many people he offends because of it.

Seeing that Zhang Juzheng had no objection, Emperor Longqing looked at Gao Gong and asked, "Who does Master Gao intend to recommend to the cabinet?"

"I recommend Gao Yi, the former Minister of Rites, who became ill due to illness in the third year of Longqing. I think that after these years of recovery, he should have recovered and it is time to serve the imperial court."

Gao Gong said.

According to the news he heard, Gao Yi had lived a very happy life at home these past few years and had no illness.

If he is sick, it is a common problem among elderly people, but he is said to be in good spirits.

This little old man is timid. He has already experienced it once. If he wants to call the capital to join the cabinet, he will not dare to go against himself again.

However, Zhang Juzheng was still a little surprised when he heard that the person recommended by Gao Gong was completely different from what he wanted. He didn't know when Gao Yi had taken refuge in Gao Gong, hoping to seek a comeback.

Zhang Juzheng would not think about why Gao Gong chose Gao Yi, but thought that Gao Yi had established connections and had taken refuge in Gao Gong, so he stood up for him and recommended him to the cabinet.

Knowing that Gao Gong recommended Gao Yi, even though they had the same surname, they had nothing to do with each other. They were just two families, one from the south and the other from the north. Zhang Juzheng knew that he was going to do something bad.

Gao Gong's recommendation of Gao Yi would not offend Emperor Longqing, and would not cause officials to discuss him in private. Moreover, this person had sufficient qualifications to join the cabinet.

Sure enough, when Emperor Longqing heard that Gao Gong recommended Gao Yi, he inadvertently brought a smile to his face, nodded, and said with slight hesitation: "I just don't know if Gao Aiqing has recovered from her illness and can return to the court to serve as director."

"Your Majesty can issue an order to summon him to the cabinet. If his body is not strong enough, he will naturally decline. If he recovers, he will naturally come to the capital according to the order."

Gao Gong replied, "This can also reflect Bian's favor to the old minister and not make the old minister feel cold."

"But, let the cabinet issue a decree on this matter."

Emperor Longqing didn't think much and agreed immediately.

The emperor knew exactly why Gao Yi resigned, but he didn't expect that recalling Gao Gong would be so lethal and scare away several ministers at once.

At the beginning, he only made the decision for the sake of balance of power and worried that some small circles had too much power.

However, Gao Gong was also very capable, and he developed in such a short time.

Of course, Emperor Longqing knew that this matter was actually due to Wei Guangde's mourning, and there was really a lack of mutual restrictions in the cabinet.

This was also good. Letting Gao Yi come back would more or less restrict Gao Gong.

After the matter was done, Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng said goodbye from the Qianqing Palace and went directly back to the cabinet. He personally drafted the decree to summon Gao Yi back to the court and sent someone to send it to the Silijian for procedures.

The news that the cabinet wanted to add people also spread rapidly, and the court and the public were shocked again.

The officials in Beijing did not expect that Gao Gong would suggest adding cabinet ministers to share their power, and they did not expect that he would recommend Gao Yi, a person who had opposed him before.

After the court was dismissed, Zhang Juzheng did not return to his house, but went to Yang Bo's house first.

Yang Bo is still the Minister of War, and he happened to be in charge of verifying Qi Jiguang's affairs.

Zhang Juzheng calculated that the people Qi Jiguang could rely on in the court were Tan Lun at first, and later Wei Guangde.

But now both of them are not in the officialdom, and Qi Jiguang is isolated and helpless. If he extends a hand to help him, he may be able to win him over.

The relationship between Qi Jiguang and Wei Guangde was actually brokered by Tan Lun.

Therefore, it is not a bad thing to show favor to Qi Jiguang at this time.

Even if he fails to win him over in the end, at least Gao Gong's plan has been destroyed, which is not bad.

Of course, although it concerns Qi Jiguang's future and is a big deal for Qi Jiguang, in Zhang Juzheng's heart, it is actually not important at all, just a little effort.

What he really cares about is Gao Yi's attitude, whether Gao Yi has colluded with Gao Gong, this is what he is most worried about.

And the one who has the most contact and is most familiar with old ministers like Gao Yi is naturally Yang Bo.

He has been in the officialdom of the capital for 20 years, which is not just talk.

When Zhang Juzheng entered Yang Bo's mansion and saw him, he first told him about Qi Jiguang.

"Uncle, I know about this. Gao Xinzheng has sent the official document to the Ministry of War. From what you said, you want to protect him?"

Yang Bo actually planned to continue to endure and wait for Gao Gong to make a mistake.

In fact, with Gao Gong's character, if it weren't for the protection of Emperor Longqing, he would have been played to death by these officials many times.

Gao Gong thought that his behavior was flawless, but in fact his character was his fatal weakness.

However, these small mistakes would not make him fall out of favor, so Zhang Juzheng, Yang Bo and other talents disdained to take action, or taking action would only alert the enemy and would not cause substantial harm to him.

"Qi Jiguang has no one to rely on in the court now."

Zhang Juzheng just said lightly.

This was also something Wei Guangde had not expected at the beginning. In fact, when he left, Tan Lun was doing well as the governor of Ji and Liao. Even if something happened, wasn't there Zhu Heng in Beijing?

Although he was only the Minister of Works, his rank was there after all, and everyone had to give him some face.

There was no problem in being a peacemaker and communicating.

He had not expected Tan Lun to retire, and he did not want to care about the future.

If you are not in a position, you should not meddle in other people's affairs. You can't manage it.

"Do you want to subdue him?"

Yang Bo just glanced at Zhang Juzheng and did not say much. He just nodded and said, "I know."

For people at their level, it was just a matter of protecting someone.

In the Ministry of War, no matter who was sent by Gao Gong to do this, as long as he stood up to protect someone, no one would dare to go against him as the Minister.

Originally, Gao Gong's calculation was that Yang Bo would not care about this matter, after all, he was not on his side.

But he did not expect Zhang Juzheng's thoughts. As for whether Qi Jiguang would accept Zhang Juzheng's goodwill, that was another matter.

"Old man, what's going on with Gao Yi?"

After talking about Qi Jiguang's little things, Zhang Juzheng was about to start the main event of the day.

"Don't ask me, I'm also suspicious."

Yang Bo knew what Zhang Juzheng wanted to ask, but he didn't have an answer.

The capital is so small, and the palace and the cabinet are the focus of the officials in the capital. The news that Gao Gong recommended Gao Yi to join the cabinet spread to all the major government offices in the capital in half a day.

In addition to being surprised, Yang Bo was also jealous of Gao Yi's good fortune. He had more experience in the Hanlin Academy than him, and joining the cabinet seemed so simple.

"What the old man means is that Gao Yi may not be as I thought, and he may have a secret connection with Gao Xinzheng?"

Zhang Juzheng asked tentatively.

In Yang Bo's house, the two discussed for a long time without any result.

"Forget it, I don't want to think about it. Let's see if he returns to the capital. I'll ask him when the time comes."

Yang Bo just said at last.

To be honest, if he returned to the capital to continue to be an official, he didn't think Gao Yi would be able to resist the temptation. Isn't there still him in front?

However, according to his familiarity with Gao Yi, he didn't think Gao Yi would take the initiative to contact Gao Gong in order to become an official. Gao Yi was too proud to lose face.

Even if he wanted to seek a comeback, he would contact him instead of Gao Gong.

A month passed quickly, and it was April of the sixth year of Longqing.

During this more than a month, Emperor Longqing's health was up and down. The imperial doctors of the Imperial Hospital went to the Qianqing Palace almost every day, constantly adjusting the prescriptions for Emperor Longqing to regulate his body.

Early in the morning, in the Qingning Palace.

Feng Bao ran quickly in the palace with a letter in his hand, running towards the bedroom of the crown prince Zhu Yijun.

The eunuchs and palace maids along the road all consciously made way to the sides of the road and saluted Feng Bao.

This is the chief eunuch in the palace, and also the sky of Qingning Palace.

Pushing the door in, Zhu Yijun was sitting on a chair, and a young eunuch was combing his hair.

The ancients kept their hair, so it was a little more troublesome than later generations, that is, they had to comb their hair in the morning before they could show it to others, otherwise they would look dishevelled.

"Feng Banban, what happened? Why are you so anxious?"

Because of combing his hair, Zhu Yijun still sat upright and did not look at the palace door.

"Master Wei wrote back to the prince."

"What did the master say?"

Hearing that it was Wei Guangde's reply, Zhu Yijun's little face suddenly became excited.

He only knew when he listened to Feng Bao telling stories or telling books that those literati and scholars wrote letters to others when they had nothing to do, as if it was a very elegant thing, but it was a pity that no one had written to him since he was so old.

This was the first time someone wrote to him, and the little prince felt a great sense of satisfaction in his heart.

"This is a letter from Wei Ge Lao to the prince, I dare not read it."

Feng Bao pretended to laugh awkwardly.

"Feng Banban, you are so stupid, I can't even read, Master Wei wrote to me, and he asked you to read it to me."

Zhu Yijun laughed when he heard Feng Bao's lame excuse, "You guys hurry up and comb my hair, I still have something to do."

The two eunuchs were in a hurry, and finally combed the prince's hair quickly and put on a "claw-like hat".

This is also different from the impression of later generations. In fact, children in the Ming Dynasty generally did not keep their hair, and they all shaved their heads, including princes and children from the people.

There was a custom of shaving children in the Ming Dynasty, and royal children were no exception. There was a "comb head room" in the palace, with more than ten close servants, who were responsible for asking for hair, keeping hair, putting it into the bag, and plastic surgery for the princes and children.

When the princes and princesses were born, their hair was cut at the full moon. After being named for 100 days, their hair was shaved on schedule, which was called "asking for hair".

Like children in the folk, the princes and princesses had their hair shaved off, leaving no hair behind, "like the children of Buddha".

The princes usually wore a round hat with six petals made of dark blue crepe, called "Zhuala hat". They began to grow their hair when they were ten years old. After growing their hair for a year, they chose an auspicious day to "enter the bag", that is, to tie all the hair behind the head, put it in a special bag, and hang it behind the body.

The bag was about two inches wide and more than a foot long. It was made of dark blue silk in winter and dark blue gauze in summer.

It was not until the princes chose to marry that they chose an auspicious day to perform the capping ceremony to show that they had become adults.

Zhu Yijun had been growing his hair for a year because he was going to study and thought it was not good to shave his head.

But it was also because of this that the hair had to be long, not short, and it was more troublesome to take care of it.

After combing her hair, she took the letter from Wei Guangde from Feng Bao and took a look at it. The seal was intact and stamped with Wei Guangde's personal seal, and she was very satisfied.

"Feng Banban, read me what the master wrote."

Zhu Yijun handed the letter back to Feng Bao and urged him.