prosperous age

In the eyes of the outside world, Zhang Juzheng has actually gained something from the four vacant positions this time. At least he has won the post of Minister of Household Affairs.

Although Emperor Longqing has not issued the decree yet, insiders have already received news from the palace that the emperor prefers Liu Tiqian to succeed Ma Sen.

But only Zhang Juzheng knew that he was the one who recommended him when the four of them had no suitable candidates. In fact, Liu Tiqian was more concerned about Xu Jie's face. The only relationship Xu Jie had left in the capital was Zhang Juzheng's family. .

Originally, in his opinion, these three positions were divided into one for each family, and everyone could just laugh and finish the job, but in the end, he got nothing.

What Wei Guangde and others didn't know was that because of today's events, Zhang Juzheng, who was still a little wavering, finally made an important decision.

What Zhang Juzheng wanted to do was to naturally ask for help.

There are several people in the cabinet now. Chen, Yin, and Wei are closely united. It is difficult to damage their relationship. And if it continues like this, the future cabinet will only be dominated by the three of them, and he will have to step aside. stood.

He tried to win over Li Chunfang by forming an alliance, but soon discovered that Li Chunfang had no such intention.

As a result, Zhang Juzheng had to turn his attention outside the cabinet.

Among the six ministries, the one who walked around more with him was Yang Bo, the Minister of Civil Affairs. Although he lacked qualifications, Yang Bo also wanted to join the cabinet.

Although there is an unspoken rule that "Fei Hanlin will not join the cabinet", it is an unspoken rule after all and cannot be put on the table.

As long as the driving force is strong enough, Yang Bo still has a chance to join the cabinet.

But given the current situation, it’s difficult.

He only has the support of the Hubu branch, while other yamen, including Gaoyi of the Rites and Mao Kai of the Punishment, are both noble people, so it is difficult to gain their support. If Yang Bo wants to join the cabinet, the vote of the Officials will be invalidated. , only the support of the Ministry of War remained.

Therefore, the only forces he can get are the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Household Affairs, but what about Chen Yiqin and Wei Guangde?
However, with the support of the Ministry of Industry and the Metropolitan Procuratorate, the key is to have a sense of justice, and Li Chunfang may not be willing to let Yang Bo join the cabinet.

In terms of qualifications, Yang Bo is much better than Li Chunfang. Li Chunfang would not be stupid enough to lure a wolf into the house, so she would definitely try her best to stop it.

Yang Bo couldn't do it, but Zhang Juzheng thought about it again and seemed to have no suitable candidate.

Of course, it’s not that there is no one, but this person has too much influence, and it seems that the relationship with him may not be the same as before.

This person was naturally Gao Gong who was plotted by his teacher.

Zhang Juzheng was also considered a wealthy person, and he was certainly very aware of Gao Gong's relationship with Chen Yiqin, Wei Guangde and others.

Looks like it works.

If Gao Gong is brought back to the court, it will undoubtedly have the greatest impact on Chen Yiqin, Wei Guangde and others. Emperor Longqing will no longer support them as before. Maybe the trust is still there, but when Gao Gong conflicts with the three of them, Which side will time occupy?
But if Gao Gong is brought back to the court, if he wants to settle an old score, Xu Jie has already retired and returned home, so it seems that the score will be settled on him.

Zhang Juzheng was hesitant at first, but after today's incident, he discovered that he needed a way to break the situation and break the power of the Yu Zhuan faction in the cabinet, and he had to introduce Gao Gong.

He made up his mind to bring Gao Gong back to the court, and Zhang Juzheng would start planning this matter.

It was obviously not appropriate to report directly. He needed to find an opportunity to be alone with Emperor Longqing. He only needed to mention the name and see the emperor's reaction before making the next move.

At this moment, in a mansion in Danyang City, guests were sitting high, drinking and chatting, and it seemed very lively.

The owner of this place, Shao Fang, is known as "Shao Daxia" by people in the world. It is said that he is good at doing chivalrous and righteous things, so his reputation spread far and wide.

The term hero generally refers to a person who helps others through his or her own strength, contributes to society and others, and has abilities, courage, moral integrity and great achievements that exceed those of ordinary people.

Most of them are influenced by Confucianism, and thoughts such as loyalty and righteousness are their spiritual driving force, which is the so-called "the great chivalrous person serves the country and the people."

In the consciousness of later generations, heroes are martial arts masters who possess unique skills, are brave, resourceful, and selfless.

They often wander around the rivers and lakes, performing chivalrous acts of justice, punishing evil and eliminating evil, and do some righteous deeds that are praised and admired by the people, but that ordinary people dare not do or cannot do.

But in the real ancient times, the government was very strict about the movement of people. You had to rely on road guides when going out, otherwise you would be a refugee and the government could detain you.

Whether it is ancient society or modern society, if a country wants to function normally, it needs order, and the knights in the world are the ones who break the order.

For example, you can see that knights in novels can rely on their superb martial arts to compete in martial arts and even kill people. Not to mention whether they are killing evil people, even if they are killing evil people, it is still an act that violates the law and social order.

If everyone followed suit, the world would be in chaos.

Therefore, the feudal rulers would not allow knights to exist, because they would not allow people who ignored law and order to disrupt social stability.

Therefore, if there are really knights wandering around fighting injustices, they are actually against the government, often violate government laws, and are wanted criminals on the run.

But this Shao Daxia is different. He should actually be called a local tycoon. He only protects his neighbors locally, so everyone gives him the title "Hero", which actually means the same thing as a hero.

With the name of a knight, he naturally has connections with the local government and the surrounding officials' families. Who doesn't want to be protected by a powerful party.

Today, Mafang's family invited many politicians who had lost power to gather together, and everyone drank together to discuss their comeback.

The attraction of power is too great. Even if these people are dismissed from office, who doesn't want to be reinstated one day?
As for why Shao Daxia is so keen on this, it is naturally because he must have someone to rely on when doing justice.

To act chivalrously and to punish evil and eliminate evil, to put it bluntly, one has to be strong in force. However, chivalry can violate the prohibition by using force, and it is also the target of suppression by the government.

Therefore, Xianfang not only made friends with the local religious circles, but also tried his best to establish relationships with the government and people who came out of the government.

For officials who have lost power, most people may think that there is little value in using them, but Nakata does not see it that way. He already knows that there is still a possibility for officials to recover. As long as people do not die, anything is possible.

Speaking of the reinstatement of officials, it was also very accidental. I heard that an official in the next door government was dismissed. For some unknown reason, he became an official again. Not only was he reinstated, but his official position was also promoted. The scene was so grand that not only the local magistrate and the county magistrate congratulated him , and even the chief envoy of the provincial capital came.

It is for this reason that he specially invited the fallen officials from Danyang and surrounding areas to his home for a banquet today to discuss how to help them restore their official positions.

These Danyang abandoned princes discussed for a long time but there was no good solution. After all, when they were in power, they were busy making money, and the officialdom was not enough, so there were not many ways to go.

Regardless of the need for someone from above to take care of it, there is indeed a consensus left after everyone discussed it.

As for the people at the top, of course the first choice is Beijing officials, especially the cabinet and staff of the Ming Dynasty, which are the key to their restoration of official positions.

As long as there are people in these two places to help talk, it will be easy for them to be reinstated.

It's a pity that they know the names of the big bosses in the cabinet and the civil service, but none of them have connections. Otherwise, they wouldn't go back to their hometown to sit here and discuss, and they still don't know where they can be officials.

Secondly, it is the Ministry of Personnel in Nanjing, which also has the right to appoint officials. The local officials are less important, and they are all officials from the south. However, after all, they are still controlled by the north, and most good officials are appointed by the Ministry of Personnel in Beijing.

Hearing what everyone said, Ni Fang became interested and asked: "If I bring a lot of money to Beijing, can I get to know these people? Do you want another chance?" Hearing what Ni Fang said, everyone at the banquet shook their heads. When Guan'er reaches that position, he doesn't want gifts from anyone. He will never dare to accept gifts from those he is not familiar with, unless he is guided by an acquaintance.

Seeing that this move didn't work, there was nothing he could do.

The best way to get acquainted with officials is to give gifts and build a relationship with them as soon as they go back and forth. It really works when something happens.

Shao Fang was born into an official family, and his family was wealthy. However, he did not like fame by nature. Although he had read a few books and had some literary skills, he did not focus on studying for the imperial examination. He only loved to dance with guns and sticks and travel around the world. Good at martial arts.

He is also upright and forthright, and he always helps those in need and helps those in distress. He has a chivalrous demeanor.

Although the large amount of money he said went to Beijing to pay bribes was not successful, it also made everyone have other ideas.

They are not short of gold and silver, but if they want to have a chance to recover, they must find someone to run around. It seems that the hero Shao in front of them is a good candidate. They trust Xing Fang's character, and he also has martial arts skills and can travel everywhere. convenient.

"We need someone to show us the way to the capital. Although we don't have a way, we might as well find a senior official who is unemployed at home to help with the reinstatement and persuade him to show us the way.

By helping him reinstate himself, we have the support of the DPRK and China. It only costs a few yellow and white things, but it gives us a chance to recover. Isn't it wonderful that there are nobles in the DPRK and China to help us? "

Someone suddenly mentioned this method, that is to say, they just blindly stuff money into the mansions of various adults in the capital to try their luck. It is better to find a high-ranking official who is in a similar situation to them and use it as a bait to help reinstate them and let him point out the money. connections.

Moreover, once this plan succeeds, they will also have support in the court, which seems to be a good thing.

"It seems that we paid for the person's reinstatement, but his reinstatement also means that we have an opportunity and have a backer in the capital. It's not a loss."

"Great goodness."

"Wonderful, otherwise it would be difficult to gain access to those adults."

Everyone was talking about it because this plan was so clever.

"Then who should I look for? Is there anyone who has connections in the court and will serve as a high official if he can be reinstated?"

After weighing it in his mind, he felt that this method was a good one, but he was still a little confused about who to contact.

Although the direction was there, the specific implementation was another matter. After Nafang finished speaking, everyone fell silent and started thinking.

Ning Fang was also thinking about it, which was the highest authority in the Ming Dynasty?
Of course, it is the cabinet, which seems to have no power, but is actually the prime minister and can influence the six departments of the court.

Who has resigned from the cabinet over the years?

Soon, several names came to his mind.

Yan Na, Guo Pu, Gao Gong and Xu Jie.

After he asked about these names, everyone quickly helped to identify the best targets.

The first choice was naturally Xu Jie. He had been in power for many years. Even when he was as strong as Yan Song, Xu Jie could serve as the second minister of the cabinet for a long time, and later replaced him as the first minister.

As long as Xu Jie can return to the court, he will definitely become a cabinet minister directly, which will not be low. Even if he cannot replace Li Chunfang, at least Chen Yiqin will step aside.

Gao Gong is the emperor's teacher, and the current emperor's teacher must have great trust. If there is a chance to contact Gao Gong, even if Gao Gong cannot return to the court, at least Yu Zhuan's acquaintances can take care of him.

Among the five members of the current cabinet, four of them work with Gao Gong in Yuzhuan.

As for Guo Pu and Yan Na, Guo Pu is purely an official who relies on Gao Gong. Although he is also a cabinet minister, it is better to find Gao Gong than to find Guo Pu.

They had heard that Yan Ne was impeached and resigned due to corruption, but this person's relationship between the DPRK and China was not very good, and it seemed difficult to copy him.

The people in Danyang can only say that they heard a lot about the situation in the capital, and they have not grasped the essence at all. They thought that Yu Zhuan's old people were monolithic.

But when Naifang heard it, he had his own plans.

Xu Jie, the former chief minister, had many old disciples in the capital. If he was reinstated, he would definitely be able to take control of the government soon, so he would naturally be put first.

Gao Gong seemed to have offended Xu Jie and was defeated in a fight, but Xu Jie had resigned, and there was no resistance for Gao Gong to return to the court, and he was placed in the second position by Gao Fang.

The next topic was that everyone started discussing how much money should be prepared to help with the relationship.

"You mean, let me help you move around?"

Only then did he finally realize that these people wanted him to have a relationship.

"Xia Shao, you are not in the officialdom, so it is much easier than the rest of us."

"Yes, Master Shao. You are very skilled in martial arts. We really cannot lack masters like you when traveling south to north. Besides, I personally believe in Master Shao's character. I can trust you with my money."

Everyone began to compliment Sao Fang, saying that he was the best choice for this trip.

Nafang's original intention was to get to know the powerful, otherwise he wouldn't have done so much.

After silently thinking about it in my mind, I made up my mind to take this opportunity to go out for a walk.

Although he had no interest in the imperial examination, after all, that was his idea when he was young.

After so many years, he actually has some regrets.

Unexpectedly, when I saw the official appear, he looked majestic, full of envy and yearning.

It's a pity that if you don't take the imperial examination, it will be too late if you want to do it when you reach middle age.

Besides, he had no interest in reading when he was young, so at this time he was just thinking about it.

However, he is still very confident in his talent and thinks that his ability is outstanding, otherwise he would not have created the reputation of "Shao Daxia" in Danyang.

Although you cannot be an official without an official status, if you can manipulate officials to gain power, it seems to be a good choice and hide behind the scenes.

Nafang agreed immediately, and then everyone made suggestions and told him some rules of officialdom. He failed to get anything done. Instead, he committed a taboo because he was not familiar with the rules of officialdom, and got burned.

In the days that followed, Nafang was familiar with these official rules while waiting for everyone to raise funds.

A few days later, after collecting tens of thousands of taels of silver, Sao Fangju packed his bags and headed for Songjiang Mansion.