The Prosperous Era of Longwan

It wasn't that Wei Guangde was overly cautious, but that he really couldn't see through what Xu Jie was thinking.

Although keeping Gao Gong was definitely the top priority, because he didn't like Gao Gong either, he started making some preparations in the staff department, mostly to prevent Xu Jie from continuing to attack them after defeating Gao Gong.

At that time, all it takes is a few "incompetent" comments on Xu Jie's disciples, and Xu Jie should take the initiative to seek peace.

The most hotly debated issue among officials in the DPRK and China these days is Tu Zemin's request to open the sea.

From the disdain and slander after learning the news, to the continuous stream of people going to the General Affairs Office from morning to night the next day to submit memorials to oppose the memorials, many officials in the capital felt that officialdom was difficult to get along with, and there was a real lack of trust.

Thinking about that day, everyone was saying that Tu Zemin would not let Tu Zemin get his way with the chief minister in charge. They looked unconcerned. As a result, they went home and started writing furiously, rushing to write memorials all night long.

We all work in the officialdom, can we have some basic trust?

After two consecutive days of intensive presentations, those who should take action have already taken action, but there has been no news from the palace.

Now, the scribes in the General Affairs Department can finally relax, because after two days of exhaustion, they are finally calm.

Although there are still people coming here to submit memorials, it is not like the past few days, when they lined up to submit their submissions, making them unable to raise their arms when they left the office.

"Sir Councilor, this is a memorial from Mr. Tan Luntan, the Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi and the right deputy imperial censor."

The person on duty here today is the Right Councilor of the General Affairs Department. When the postman delivers the letter to the General Affairs Department, he completes the task and leaves after completing the handover. The clerk who receives the letter will hand it over to the Councilor for processing.

"Oh, let me see."

The counselor took the box handed over by the clerk, checked the seal and then opened it. He took out the memorial inside, unfolded it, took a look at it, and frowned.

Just reading the beginning, he knew that this memorial sent from Guangdong was actually to support Tu Zemin, the governor of Fujian.

He smacked his lips and sighed in his heart. The days of finally relaxing were probably coming to an end again.

He handed the memorial to the scribe beside him and said, "Take it and copy it and register it. I will send it to the back when you're done."

He cannot delay the Governor's memorial, and must hand it over to the left and right generals or the general envoys as soon as possible.

As for the storm that may occur again in the next two days, it has nothing to do with him anyway. He does not need to copy these memorials, it is all done by these scribes.

The clerk next to him took the memorial and quickly started copying it at his desk. Soon he knew that something was going to happen.

When he copied and registered it and sent it to the Councilor, the Councilor didn't stop for a moment and went to the back hall with the memorial.

"Oh, I can't get through these days."

"What's wrong?"

"Tan Lun, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, just submitted a memorial in support of Fujian's opening up the sea."

"What? Isn't that a memorial that will attract a lot of opposition?"

In the General Administration Department, a group of scribes sighed and lamented their bad luck in getting involved in this matter.

After two days of cooling down, the officialdom in the capital was once again ignited after the contents of Tan Lun's memorial spread.

Two frontier officials successively submitted petitions to lift the sea ban, which made many officials in the capital begin to notice something was wrong.

Could it be that someone in Fujian is involved in a series of connections?

If Tu Zemin did not pay attention at that time, but when Tan Lun's memorial arrived in Beijing, it was quickly noticed. Tan Lun was the governor of Fujian a few years ago.

Although he later moved to Shaanxi, Sichuan and other places, and finally to Guangdong and Guangxi, he was inextricably linked to Fujian after all.

The two people belong to two places. They wrote letters within a few days, saying that there was no contact beforehand and no one was behind it. Even a fool would not believe it.

After all, in this era, communication methods are extremely backward, and being able to get the two places to come forward to support is not something ordinary people can do.

Everyone's eyes were unconsciously staring at the cabinet at this time.

At this time, in Xu Jie's duty room, he was staring blankly at Tan Lun's memorial on the desk.

How could Xu Jie not think of things that others could think of.

If Tu Zemin's memorial was an unintentional move, then the arrival of Tan Lun's memorial actually showed that someone was behind this matter.

Being able to make Tu Zemin and Tan Lun take action, this person's status in the court should be high.

He didn't do it himself, and Li Chunfang didn't have the courage.

Thinking of this, Xu Jie had to think of Gao Gong as the person behind the scenes. Could it be that Gao Gong was behind this?

If the arch is really high, then the emperor must have already agreed. Emperor Longqing's slightly coquettish behavior at this time was intentional.

Allow officials to oppose and choose those who support him?

At this time, Xu Jie had to consider whether this would be just like the "Great Ceremony Discussion" that year. Emperor Jiajing would quietly hide behind the scenes and observe the statements of the officials in the court. In the end, those who opposed him would die badly, and Those who support him are high-ranking officials and well-paid people.

Does Emperor Longqing have the courage of his labor and capital?

Does Gao Gong dare to confront the entire court?

Countless questions kept swirling in Xu Jie's mind, and he was a little unsure.

At his age, it is natural to understand that although the civil servants control the country, the ultimate power still lies in the hands of the emperor.

Whatever the emperor is determined to do, it will be difficult for the ministers to oppose it.

For the emperor, it was nothing more than replacing a few disobedient positions with obedient ones.

No matter when and where, there will be no shortage of these people who work hard, otherwise why Yang Tinghe was defeated so miserably and was directly approved to serve as an official memorial.

According to Yang Tinghe's influence at that time, it should be that all officials should have dismissed the government to fight against the emperor.

But the officials made good promises at the beginning, but when things came to a head, they didn't back down for the sake of their respective official positions.

The subsequent Zuo Shunmen incident was just the Yang family's last counterattack in the power struggle.

The blood stains in front of Zuo Shun's door only clearly showed that the emperor's will could not be reversed.

Although at that time, Emperor Jiajing, who was the successor of the outer sect, had only been in power for three years, and his position was not actually stable.

Xu Jie closed his eyes slightly. He couldn't withstand such a storm now. He was not alone, and there was a huge family behind him.

Think about the final outcome of the Yang family. After becoming an official, Yang Tinghe and Emperor Shizong reconsidered the crime of deliberation among ministers. Yang Tinghe was identified as the chief culprit, was demoted from his position to the people, and finally died in mourning.

His son, Yang Shen, who was known as a genius, even died in a foreign land. Xu Jie was a little scared.

He had personally experienced those events back then, but as a new Hanlin editor, he was not taken seriously by the Yang family. Fortunately, he was not called to Zuo Shunmen, otherwise the consequences would be unpredictable.

Xu Jie didn't want to be the second Yang Tinghe. At first, he thought of using Gao Gong's influence on Emperor Longqing to launch a fatal impeachment against him. But if Emperor Longqing was the same as the previous emperor, he might be in trouble.

Xu Jie had the intention of retreating. This was the first time he had such thoughts after Yan Song's downfall.

However, with his relationship with Gao Gong, is there still a chance for reconciliation?

Xu Jie has already grasped what kind of character Gao Gong is. He will retaliate for his anger, but retreating may not lead to a good outcome.

Keep going, but in the end you still can't pass the emperor's level.

"teacher."

While he was hesitating, Zhang Juzheng walked into the duty room, bowed deeply in front of him, and shouted.

"Here you go, take a look at this."

Xu Jie quickly recovered his mind and handed Tan Lun's memorial to Zhang Juzheng.

Zhang Juzheng took it and read it quickly, frowning, and then looked at Xu Jie.

"Close the door and keep people outside the house away."

Xu Jie ordered calmly.

Zhang Juzheng followed Xu Jie's wishes and dismissed the people outside, closed the door, and then returned to Xu Jie. He knew that the teacher had something to discuss with him.

"Do you think the person who contacted Tan Lun and Tu Zemin was Gao Suqing?"

Xu Jie asked bluntly.

Zhang Juzheng did not answer, but racked his brains to think, recalling Gao Gong's every move during the cabinet meeting that day, and then shook his head slightly.

"You don't think he is behind this?"

Seeing Zhang Juzheng's reaction, Xu Jie suddenly became energetic.

What he was most worried about was that this incident was an illusion that Gao Gong had painstakingly created to harm his relationship with Emperor Longqing.

"Do you think His Majesty knew about this beforehand?"

He did not continue to ask who was behind the scenes. Finding this person would not be of much benefit to him. It was obviously a chaotic situation at the moment, because it was difficult for someone to completely control the direction of something that violated the ancestral system.

Yang Tinghe couldn't do it back then, and no one can do it today.

Asked whether Emperor Longqing knew about the opening of the sea, Zhang Juzheng hesitated.

After so many days, he actually came back to his senses.

When he first saw Tu Zemin's memorial to Kaihai, he had a feeling of déjà vu. Later, in his recollection, he thought of Tan Lun's memorial, which listed the pros and cons of Fujian, which actually contained this meaning.

The ocean is the way for Fujian people to make a living.

However, in his memory, there seemed to be someone else who had discussed this matter with him, and that was Wei Guangde. However, it was so long ago that he couldn't remember exactly what he said at the time. He just had a vague impression that it seemed that opening the sea could weaken Japanese pirates or something.

Before today, Zhang Juzheng had no idea that there was anyone behind this matter. He only thought it was Tu Zemin's suggestion based on the situation in Fujian. However, after seeing Tan Lun's memorial today, it was obvious that someone had contacted him beforehand.

Although it was a bit unbelievable, Zhang Juzheng couldn't help but think of Wei Guangde's face.

Whether the emperor knew it or not, Zhang Juzheng dared to guess casually, because during this period, the first and fifteenth day of the Lunar New Year had not been held, and Emperor Longqing had already dismissed the small court.

No one had any objections to this. In fact, after decades of cultivation in Jiajing, all officials no longer had the intention to go to court.

Although he may not say so, he is honest in his heart. He rushes to the palace early every morning to go through the motions. No one likes it.

As long as the twice-monthly imperial meetings can be held as scheduled, it will be enough for all the officials to see the dragon's face.

As a cabinet minister, he had not seen the emperor in the past few days, so how could he know this.

Seeing Zhang Juzheng's silence, Xu Jie just sighed.

"Teacher, if there is nothing important to do in the past two days and I want to see His Majesty, then wait two days and test it out at the fifteenth meeting."

Zhang Juzheng said.

Nodding at him, Xu Jie said, "Uncle, are you talking about this, is it a trap set up by Gao Gong?"

"Why do you say that?"

Zhang Juzheng asked in surprise.

"For example, Gao Gong communicated with His Majesty in advance to confirm the matter, and then contacted the foreign ministers to report, asking us to object on the grounds that it violated the ancestral system. Then His Majesty issued an order to open the sea. What should we do? Should we continue to oppose and offend Long Yan? This result How many people can afford it?"

Xu Jie said worriedly.

Sometimes the civil service group can be shameless, but sometimes it has to be shameless when it comes to character.

It is difficult for someone to oppose something yesterday and then change their attitude suddenly the next day.

"Teacher, there were quite a few ministers who opposed the opening of the sea in the past two days."

Zhang Juzheng didn't think about it, but reminded him.

"You must have heard about Zuo Shunmen's incident back then. Most of the Six Ministries and Nine Ministers were directly wiped out. More than 80 people above the fourth rank were punished, and nearly 200 people below the fifth rank were punished.

I read the memorials a few days ago, which is about 300 copies, and most of them were from officials lower than the fifth rank. They are not as good as that incident. "

When Xu Jie mentioned the Zuo Shunmen incident, Zhang Juzheng fell silent. After thinking for a moment, he asked, "Teacher, are you planning to take a step back?"

"Can I still retreat?"

Xu Jie looked at Zhang Juzheng, his eyes uncertain.

"If he really did it intentionally this time, with his high-minded character, the teacher would be afraid even if he becomes an official."

Zhang Juzheng didn't feel comfortable continuing, but he had to give a reminder.

Xu Jie's eyes flashed, and then he asked: "In that case, what do you think I should do?"

"The teacher is worried that this is a high-arch layout. From the student's point of view, no matter what the truth is, we just need to stick to one thing."

"What's the matter?"

Hearing Zhang Juzheng say he only wanted to do one thing, Xu Jie suddenly became interested.

What can be done to solve the problem of high arch?

If it does exist, you might as well give it a try.

"Let the Coroner continue to impeach him."

Zhang Juzheng was already tied to Xu Jie's boat. Regardless of whether the boat sank or not, there was actually no room for relaxation between him and Gao Gong.

In fact, during this period, he also tried to repair the relationship with Gao Gong, but they all ended in failure.

Gao Gong completely hated him.

Therefore, Zhang Juzheng's situation at this time is actually not much different from Xu Jie's.

As long as Gao Gong seizes the opportunity, he may be ruthlessly suppressed.

Inverted arch was his only option.

"You mean to use impeachment to prevent Gao Gong from leaving the government and from coming to the cabinet to do errands?"

Xu Jie, who was familiar with the rules of officialdom, heard the elegant meaning of Xiange and immediately understood what Zhang Juzheng meant.

He immediately shook his head and said, "It's so meaningless. Your Majesty will only let him serve with peace of mind and will not believe the words of impeachment."

"It won't be meaningless."

Having said this, Zhang Juzheng pointed to Tan Lun's memorial on the desk and said: "Your Majesty will definitely consult the cabinet when this memorial comes up. Gao Gong should be writing his own defense at home at this time. As long as the teacher insists on objecting, he will be temporarily suppressed. .”

Xu Jie shook his head. It was not his purpose to oppose Tu Zemin's memorial, but to drive away Gao Gong.

In fact, what he said to Zhang Juzheng that night was sincere. He also wanted to know whether relaxing the maritime ban would be beneficial to solving the Japanese pirates.

The imperial court has been insisting on sea bans for many years, but the results are obvious and it is not successful.

Seeing Xu Jie shaking his head, Zhang Juzheng smiled disapprovingly and said, "Teacher, I will use retreat as advance."

"How to make progress by retreating? And why is this?"

Xu Jie asked.

"Half a month ago, I had a meal together as a guide. The teacher used to worry about state affairs to induce illness and beg to return home."