prosperous age

"Mr. Xu Ge has been loyal to the country for many years. He has worked hard even if he has no merit. Doesn't Gao Gong have any compassion? Mr. Xu Ge is already almost 70 years old. I'm afraid he will be assigned to his children."

There was sadness in Zhang Juzheng's voice, as if he was thinking of his teacher Xu Jie who was old and frail, but his children were thousands of miles apart and could not see each other.

Gao Gong was slightly stunned and did not answer.

Xu Jie is more than ten years older than Gao Gong. Xu Jie is a man who is turning seventy, and he, Gao Gong, is also a man turning sixty. They are both very old. At this moment, he feels the same feeling.

"Gao Gong."

At this time, Zhang Juzheng shouted to him again: "The Xu family has confiscated his home and lost his land to serve as an official. Such a punishment is already severe. There is no need to exile him for three thousand miles."

What Zhang Juzheng can strive for now is to reduce the punishment of Xu Jiazi.

Regardless of the fact that the Ministry of Punishment has already decided the sentence, as long as the cabinet reduces the punishment in these memorials and the emperor approves it, the Ministry of Punishment can only unconditionally modify the sentence.

It wasn't that Zhang Juzheng didn't want to exonerate them, but the main reason was that Cai Guoxi had collected enough irrefutable evidence and was really unable to overturn the case for the Xu family.

Gao Gong looked at Liu Tai's memorial, thought for a while, and then said to Zhang Juzheng: "Then change your ways. You will see where you go."

Hearing that Gao Gong was willing to give in, Zhang Juzheng was happy in his heart, but he didn't show it at all on his face. He still nodded with a heavy expression.

Immediately, Gao Gong wrote a draft, saying that "the punishment is too severe, and it is recommended to change the sentence to imprisonment."

The "Da Ming Code" has clear penalties for tax evasion by accepting land donations, and it is the final exile to Wubian. Gao Gong here proposed to modify the sentences of Xu Fan, Xu Kun and others, and handed over the location of the exile to Zhang Juzheng to arrange , in fact, a big hole has been loosened.

It is not necessary to send people to Wubian to the north. There are border crossings on all sides of the Ming Empire. Even if the Xu family is sent to Zhejiang next door to Songjiang Mansion to find a guardhouse near the sea, it can still be regarded as exile to Wubian. Although the distance is not up to standard , but the punishment was still achieved.

As long as there are no officials from the Department of Science and Technology coming forward to investigate, in fact, what they say is what they say.

Yes, Zhang Juzheng had already made up his mind to send him to Zhejiang next door.

In that way, the distance between the two places is not far. In fact, the teacher Xu Jie is temporarily staying at a friend's home in Zhejiang, so it is not considered a separation of flesh and blood.

Just when Zhang Juzheng was about to say goodbye and leave the check-in room, and went back to Lu Guangfen to tell the good news, Gao Gong found a memorial from the desk and handed it to Zhang Juzheng, and said calmly: "You should also read this. "

Zhang Juzheng knew that this memorial might be a bit tricky, so Gao Gong wanted to support him himself.

Although he still didn't know the content of the memorial, Zhang Juzheng had no choice.

Regardless of Liu Tai's memorial, Gao Gong had already drafted it, but it was just a small note posted on the memorial. If he was dissatisfied, he could just tear it up and rewrite it.

Zhang Juzheng reached out and took the memorial. He frowned slightly after just one glance. Then he looked up at Gao Gong and saw that his face was still expressionless, and then he continued to look down.

This is an impeachment memorial. The person who submitted it was Li Liangchen, the censor of Guangxi Province, and the person he impeached was Yu Dayou, the admiral of the navy and the chief military officer of Guangxi.

"Dayou is traitorous, corrupt and lawless. He should be severely punished. Silver Leopard's first merit is untrue, so he should be punished accordingly."

This memorial to impeach Yu Dayou initially said that he was corrupt when building the Guangxi Navy warships, and that it was untrue that he was considered to have the most credit in the battle to encircle and suppress the rebel Wei Yinbao in Guangxi.

Yin Zhengmao, as the governor of the military affairs of Guangdong and Guangxi and the governor of Guangxi, once again took charge of the crusade against Wei Yinbao, and achieved remarkable results in just two months.

This impeachment memorial means that although Yu Dayou held the title of Chief Military Officer of Guangxi and participated in the counterinsurgency command work, his first contribution was exaggerated and was obtained by Yu Dayou's bribery to Yin Zhengmao.

In the memorial, there are many paragraphs about rumors and events, saying that Yin Zhengmao was greedy and greedy, and Yu Dayou was also a treacherous and greedy person.

After reading the memorial, Zhang Juzheng felt a little numb.

Yin Zhengmao had just been commended by the imperial court for his meritorious service in suppressing the rebellion, and Yu Dayou's fighting skills were unquestionable. Even Emperor Longqing had registered him.

However, in Zhang Juzheng's heart, this memorial was actually very easy to deal with and he could just reject it. However, it should not be done at all. Both of them are related to the same person.

"What does Gao Gong mean?"

Zhang Juzheng didn't know whether Gao Gong's plan was to use this memorial to directly capture Yin Zhengmao and Yu Dayou, or some other idea, so he did not make a rash decision.

At this moment, because of the incident involving his teacher Xu Jie, Zhang Juzheng has placed himself under Gao Gong. He no longer calls him Lord Chief Assistant, but Duke Gao.

Gao Gong was very satisfied that Zhang Juzheng listened to his opinion before making a decision, nodded and said with a smile: "Yangzhi contributed a lot to quelling the Gutian rebellion in Guangxi. This man is still capable. There are many foreign ethnic groups in Guangdong and Guangxi, and rebellions often occur. He is needed like this." One person is guarding there.

As for Yu Dayou, I heard that this person has been impeached by his superiors many times for his misconduct. Apart from being good at fighting, he seems to have shortcomings all over his body. It is best not to let him hang on to the position of chief military officer.

Let him go back to his hometown and live leisurely. If there is anything wrong with the court, he can be recalled.

Uncle, what do you think? "

Although Zhang Juzheng didn't know why Gao Gong didn't take the opportunity to take down Yin Zhengmao and Yu Dayou together, but only dismissed Yu Dayou from his official position, he was not willing to cause trouble at this time, and immediately nodded and praised Gao Gong's decision as a good one.

Gao Gong handed the pen to Zhang Juzheng, indicating that he would draft the memorial. Zhang Juzheng's expression did not change, so he took the brush and started drafting it.

Suddenly, I heard Gao Gong's voice, "But the rumors are wrong and the crime is unclear. I'm going to break it violently. I'm afraid the soldiers will be disintegrated after hearing about it."

He ordered Dayou to return home and listen. "

What Gao Gong said was obviously a draft he had already prepared, but he just wrote it out in Zhang Juzheng's hand.

Zhang Juzheng followed Gao Gong's words, made a draft of the ticket, posted it on the memorial, and then said goodbye and retired from Gao Gong's office.

Zhang Juzheng still had a good impression of Yu Dayou, because he also noticed that although the official circles in Jiangnan did not like this person, whenever trouble occurred, he was the first person they thought of.

What does this mean?

The first time Yu Dayou came into his sight was actually because of Hu Zongxian's impeachment, accusing Yu Dayou, who was the chief military officer of Zhejiang at the time, of being a Japanese invader.

In fact, this was a very ridiculous excuse, but even so, Yu Dayou was escorted back to the capital for interrogation.

What happened next surprised Zhang Juzheng, that is, Yu Dayou was protected by the emperor's cronies Lu Bing and Wei Guangde, and he quickly returned to the rank of the chief military officer of a town from prison, and he never looked like him again. As before, it became the "official elevator" that everyone laughed at.

Yes, before that, Yu Dayou's official position was like an elevator, constantly rising and falling.

However, for military generals in the Ming Dynasty, if they rose to the rank of chief military officer, they would basically not be promoted.

It is unusual for a person who has stabilized in this way to be impeached again this time.

Looking at Gao Gong, Zhang Juzheng couldn't help but have some speculations in his mind. Could it be that the impeachment of Yu Dayou was done by him?

As for why he returned home and listened instead of arresting him for interrogation, it was naturally because he wanted to stay on the sidelines. Maybe Gao Gong didn't want to sour the relationship with Wei Guangde. Wei Guangde is Ding You. He should have come back after more than a year. There is no ironclad evidence to convict him, so there is no need to offend people to death.

He just replaced his people. When Wei Guangde returns to the court in the future, he will re-arrange these people. Then Wei Guangde will turn to the chief minister in front of him, and he will naturally have a way to figure it out.

Zhang Juzheng's guess was that he couldn't ask questions. After sitting in the check-in room for a while, he got up and returned home.

When you reach the level of cabinet minister, naturally no one dares to talk about attendance.

However, Zhang Juzheng still had someone report that he was feeling unwell, which means that for the rest of the day, he would not be on cabinet errands.

After returning to the mansion, Zhang Juzheng immediately asked Lu Guang to come and tell him the deal with Gao Gong, so that he could go back and report to Xu Jie.

"In this way, Uncle Lao will be older. This is also the best result."

After hearing Zhang Juzheng's words, Lu Guang clasped his fists and said, "Please pay more attention to the garrison where these young masters have been sent to the army. It would be best if it could be in South Zhili or Zhejiang."

"Don't worry, Mr. Lu, I already have an idea. If possible, I will place the people in Hangzhou Wei. It only takes two days to get to Songjiang by boat. If you use a fast horse, you can get there in one day."

Xu Jie also wrote a letter to Zhang Juzheng, saying that he was worried about the distribution of his son. Once that day comes, he will not be able to see his son, which is a great regret.

Lu Guang and Zhang Juzheng persuaded Gao Gong to let go, which was actually the reason.

In traditional culture, farewell is a manifestation of filial piety, and farewell to elders also reflects an attitude of respect and filial piety.

If a person dies alone and goes to the underworld, he will be looked down upon by others. But if someone is with him before death, then this person has a backer, relatives, friends or lovers by his side, which is what everyone calls death. No regrets.

Although Xu Jie is now in good health and has even outlived Zhang Juzheng, they don't know.

Xu Jie compared himself to an old man and begged Gao Gong to let him go. It was probably because of this consideration that he tried to impress him.

The two have a big hatred, but it's not a life-and-death feud, not to mention that this time the Xu family has lost all face, so any anger should be vented.

At night, Zhang Juzheng was sitting alone in his study, still thinking silently about Yu Dayou. Why did Gao Gong let Yin Zhengmao alone?

After thinking for a long time, Zhang Juzheng came up with some guesses, that is, Yin Zhengmao only had contact with Wei Guangde when he was working in Jiangxi, perhaps because he was not from Jiangxi.

Just because interests are bound to Wei Guangde, when Wei Guangde can't give him benefits and Gao Gong can, maybe Yin Zhengmao will leave Wei Guangde and turn his head to Gao Gongmen.

Zhang Juzheng remembered that when the heavy responsibility of military affairs in Guangdong and Guangxi was handed over to Yin Zhengmao, Gao Gong was under considerable pressure from public opinion.

But Gao Gong was relieved, and Yin Zhengmao did deal with the Gutian rebellion very quickly, and his ability to handle the incident was praised by the courtiers.

You must know that Guangdong and Guangxi at this time were not like those of later generations. During this period, a large number of ethnic minorities lived in Guangdong and Guangxi. As a result, many of these places were actually dissatisfied with the king's rule, and rebellions broke out one after another, especially in Guangxi.

At this time, Ming Dynasty's rule in Guangxi was actually quite fragile.

In Guangxi, the vast majority are ethnic minorities, and only a few Han people live mainly in towns. Therefore, the imperial court does not rule Guangxi so much as it rules those cities.

In the previous dynasties, the land outside the city was managed by local chieftains. This pattern did not change even in the Yuan Dynasty.

Naturally, the Ming Dynasty didn't have a good way to deal with it, so it followed the Yuan Dynasty's model and gave these chieftains promotions to maintain their affiliation.

Moreover, this type of chieftain system is still a hereditary system, which virtually strengthens the basis of the chieftain's local rule.

The imperial court's relaxed policy towards chieftains was the fundamental reason for the continuous rebellion.

In fact, this situation lasted until the founding of New China, and the chieftain system was completely destroyed before it was fundamentally dismantled. Because New China did not recognize the existence of superiority, both chieftains and common people were equal, and the hereditary system was naturally impossible. continue.

The Taiping Rebellion, the largest rebellion during the Qing Dynasty, originated in Guangxi, which shows how bad the public security in this place is.

"It seems that Gao Xinzheng intends to subdue Yin Zhengmao for his use, so he keeps him."

Zhang Juzheng had a smile on his lips.

It has nothing to do with him whether Gao Gong can fulfill his wish, but if this is the case, when Wei Guangde returns to the court, his relationship with Gao Gong will not be very good. Everyone's relationship may be like the relationship between him and Gao Gong now, maintaining the surface. Stable.

But what Zhang Juzheng is actually most concerned about is who Gao Gong plans to deal with next?

Wei Guangde had many accomplices outside the country, and he had previously wanted to get hold of Tan Lun. Tan Lun and his son submitted their resignations and ran back to recuperate, unwilling to return to the court and be suppressed by Gao Gong.

Thinking of this, Zhang Juzheng suddenly thought of Zhu Heng, the Minister of Industry.

In fact, no one was interested in the Ministry of Industry before. That was because of the problem of water control. No matter who takes this position, he will face this difficult problem.

If floods cannot be controlled, water transportation will be cut off. Failure to transport grain to the north will endanger the stability of the north. At that time, the position of Minister of the Ministry of Industry was like a crater.

But now, Zhu Heng seems to have found a way to transport grain by sea. The only thing left is to control the water.

There is no way to solve the problem of water control, which has been a problem in China for thousands of years.

Once the grain can reach the north safely, it seems that the burden of the Ministry of Works will be lightened by half. I wonder if Gao Gong will take action against Zhu Heng and arrange for his own people to take over the Ministry of Works.

Zhang Juzheng was still thinking, but in any case, Gao Gong's methods had little to do with him, and he could stay out of it.

Perhaps in the fight between snipe and clam, he, a fisherman, could still benefit by balancing his left and right sides.

While Zhang Juzheng was still guessing Gao Gong's next move in his study, Gao Gongzheng told his subordinates in Gao's study: "When writing to Fujian, be sure to get evidence that Jin Ke and Zhu Jue bribed Qi Jiguang. "

"Master, it's been so long since things happened. There are some things that I can't find evidence for other than empty talk."

"What about embezzling military pay and rations?"

"I'm afraid it will be difficult to find evidence. After so many years, even if there is evidence, it has been disposed of. I'm afraid I can't find all the witnesses."

"So it will be difficult to remove Qi Jiguang from his military post."

"It's difficult to implicate Qi Jiguang in this matter, but I often heard that Qi Jiguang was very generous and often tampered with military pay. As long as the Ministry of War is willing to review, there is still a chance to find evidence of guilt.

This matter can serve as a guide for the Ministry of War to thoroughly investigate Qi Jiguang." (End of this chapter)