I, Jiajing, successfully cultivated immortality

With the spread of interested people, it soon spread that the emperor asked the cabinet to take the lead in issuing year-end bonuses based on the performance and efficiency of various departments in the Ming Dynasty during the year.

As soon as this news came out, it quickly caused an uproar in the government and the public. For those officials, this was a great thing!

Not only can you get rewards from the emperor, but if your department ranks high, you are also likely to gain the emperor's attention, and your future career will be much smoother.

Because of this, the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty began to unconsciously pay attention to the rankings of their respective departments.

Many officials began to show their magical powers and used their personal connections to find out more.

Correspondingly, when Zhao Zhenji sent people to search the Yuan family in Jiaxing, not many people paid attention to it. After all, the immediate benefits were real.

……

Night falls, in the capital, Yan Mansion.

In the room, Yan Shifan was seen sitting behind the desk, supporting his chin with one hand, his face full of melancholy.

"Alas, it took a long time, but the result was only to determine the rankings of the Ministry of Personnel, the Supervisor of Ceremonies, and the Honglu Temple. Other than that, there was no progress at all, and no one was willing to give in."

"Especially that Zhang Juzheng, wasn't he the one who sent the navy to assist Hu Zongxian in suppressing the Japanese?"

"If we really want to count, the biggest credit should go to Hu Zongxian. He Zhang Juzheng also had the nerve to put gold on his face, and shamelessly said in front of everyone that just a different ranking does not mean there is a punishment! "

"In that case, why don't you, Zhang Juzheng's military department, be the last one? You are so thick-skinned!"

At this moment, there was a slight knock on the door, and then the butler's voice sounded outside the door: "Old Xiaoge, Luo Longwen, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, and Zhang Runde, the minister of the Ministry of Justice, came to visit and said they were looking for You have something important to discuss and are currently waiting in the lobby!"

Yan Shifan heard this, and after pondering for a moment, he gave instructions: "Yes, I understand, I'll be there right away!"

After that, Yan Shifan got up from his seat, opened the door, walked out of the room, and walked towards the hall where Yan's house was used to entertain guests.

……

On the other side, in the hall where Yan Mansion entertains guests.

Luo Longwen put down the tea cup in his hand, looked at Zhang Runde opposite, and asked: "Master Zhang, what are you..."

Hearing this, Zhang Runde had no intention of hiding anything. After considering his words, he turned to speak: "Master Luo, isn't there news in the DPRK that the cabinet will rank each department based on its performance and efficiency over the year? ?”

"I came here this time just to get some information from Mr. Xiao Ge. In addition, I was also entrusted by others..."

When Luo Longwen heard Zhang Runde's words, a look of surprise appeared on his face. He came to visit Yan Mansion this time with the same purpose as Zhang Runde.

Just when Luo Longwen was about to say something, Yan Shifan walked in pacing.

Seeing this situation, Zhang Runde and Luo Longwen quickly stood up from their seats, leaned down, and saluted Yan Shifan respectfully: "I have seen Mr. Xiao Ge!"

Upon hearing this, Yan Shifan glanced at the two of them, waved his hands, and said: "Well, everyone, sit down!"

After that, Luo Longwen turned his attention to Yan Shifan, who was sitting in the chair at the moment, and asked cautiously: "Mr. Xiaoge, isn't there news in the court that the cabinet will make decisions based on the performance and efficiency of each department? Ranking?”

"I am very curious as to what the ranking of our Ministry of Industry is. Please tell me, Mr. Xiaoge, so that when I go back, I can explain it to my subordinates, right?"

Zhang Runde on the side couldn't help but feel a trace of envy flashing across his face when he heard Luo Longwen's words.

After all, with Yan Shifan's temperament, he would never sit back and watch the Ministry of Industry become the last one. Besides, if it doesn't work, Yan Ge is still there!

Yan Shifan took in the expression on Luo Longwen's face, and after thinking about it for a moment, he sighed helplessly, and then said: "Although this matter is led by the cabinet, there are many involved, so the ranking is not a matter for the time being. No conclusion!”

Then, Yan Shifan changed the topic and continued to add: "However, I can tell you some tidbits. For the Sixth Department, the Staff Department is ranked first, and for the Twelfth Supervisor, the Chief of Ceremony is ranked first. Among the five temples, Honglu Temple ranks first!"

When Yan Shifan finished speaking, Luo Longwen and Zhang Runde's faces were full of shock that could not be concealed.

But after thinking about it, this ranking is very reasonable.

After all, among the six departments of the Ming Dynasty, the Ministry of Personnel was firmly in charge of the personnel appointment of officials and had extremely powerful power.

In addition, the Ministry of Personnel, under the leadership of Hu Zongxian, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, successfully completed the imperial court's triennial plan and received a reward from the emperor not long ago. From this point of view, it is understandable to rank the Ministry of Personnel at the first place.

As for the Chief of Ceremonies, there is no need to say more. You must know that Lu Fang, the eunuch in charge of the Chief of Ceremonies, is known as the "Internal Prime Minister". Who dares not to give him a little favor in the civil and military circles of the dynasty?

In addition, Honglu Temple also made great contributions by receiving the Rakshasa mission that visited the Ming Dynasty.

After listening to the news revealed by Yan Shifan, Zhang Runde knew that there should be no results in a short time on the ranking of various departments.

There is no other reason. There are too many things to worry about.

After learning the news from Yan Shifan, Zhang Runde and Luo Longwen did not stay for too long, but said goodbye and left.

……

Forbidden City, Qianqing Palace.

At this moment, Jiajing is sitting cross-legged on the futon, his eyes seem to be closed. At this time, Jiajing has fallen into a meditative state.

As the state of meditation deepened, Jiajing's breathing became more and more even, and all the spiritual energy escaping in the air was absorbed by Jiajing in the process.

After these spiritual energy are absorbed into Jiajing's body, they will circulate in Jiajing's body for a week through the limbs and bones, and then rush into the cyclone in the Dantian like a mud cow entering the sea.

In the process of breathing and breathing, Jiajing's strength was also slowly growing, and his aura became more and more unfathomable and unpredictable.

Jiajing at this time was like a bottomless spring.

Time passed by so slowly. I don’t know how long it had passed. I saw Jiajing exiting the cultivation state and slowly getting up from the futon.

After roughly sensing the condition of his body, Jiajing's face was calm and he said silently to himself: "Thick accumulations will make a difference, and every drop of water will break through. I just need to practice unwaveringly, guard against arrogance and impetuosity, and one day I will be able to break through the bottleneck and successfully reach the foundation building stage!" "

After Jiajing finished speaking, he clenched his fists unconsciously, his face full of determination.

Not long after that, Lu Fang was seen entering Qianqing Palace with silent steps.

After entering the Qianqing Palace, Lu Fang did not hesitate at all. He immediately came to Jiajing, leaned down and reported respectfully.

"Your Majesty, what you predicted earlier is correct. Now the civil and military officials of the entire court are paying attention to the rankings of various departments. No one cares about the incident involving the Yuan family in Jiaxing!"

After Jiajing learned the news from Lu Fang, he nodded and then gave instructions: "Well, I know. If you have any news, report it to me immediately!"

When Lu Fang heard what Jiajing said, she immediately lowered her head and responded in a deep voice: "As you command, Your Majesty!"

Lu Fang knew very well that the emperor planned to use the Yuan family incident in Jiaxing to test the direction of the court.

And the final result was completely expected.

The reaction of the government and the public to this matter was extremely fierce. Some people even wanted to take the risk and impeach Zhao Zhenji. However, due to Zhao Zhenji's status as a border official, he had to give up.

If Jiajing had not come forward at this time and used the year-end bonus to divert the attention of the government and the public, I am afraid that things would have gotten out of hand by now.

"It seems that His Majesty has now realized that inventorying land acres and suppressing land annexation cannot be achieved overnight, and the resistance encountered in the process is unimaginable."

"If we want to facilitate this, our Ming Dynasty must have someone like Zhang Cong, who is determined to reform and move forward without hesitation!"

Lu Fang thought of this and began to search for suitable candidates in his mind.

"Yan Song is already old. He does not have the energy and determination to push this matter forward."

"Not to mention Xu Jie. The family behind him occupies almost half of the fertile land in Songjiang Mansion. How could he do something that is detrimental to his own interests?"

"Gao Gong is the teacher of His Royal Highness Prince Yu. He is usually upright and quite talented. Although he has a bad temper, it doesn't matter. Besides, he is capable and has enough wealth to shoulder this burden!"

"As for Zhang Juzheng, he has great ambitions, is smart and capable, and is quite experienced in people's ways. However, it is still early for him to take the position of chief minister of the cabinet. He still has to replace Yan Song and Xu Jie in front of him. , Gao Gong endured it, and then it was possible to sit on that chair!"

"Fortunately, Zhang Juzheng is only thirty-six years old now and has plenty of time."

Among these people, Lu Fang is most optimistic about Zhang Juzheng. You must know that Lu Fang's title of "Internal Prime Minister" is not for nothing.

Any disturbances in the government and the public could not be hidden from his eyes.

He knew that Zhang Juzheng had always regarded Zhang Cong as his idol, and who Zhang Cong was, he was a person who was highly respected by His Majesty.

During his tenure, he was not afraid of the rumors, criticism and abuse in the court, and he was determined to carry out reforms, eradicate corruption, clean up the land, and vigorously rectify the civil service system. In this position of the chief minister of the cabinet, there were three rises and three falls.

"Zhang Juzheng, just stay with it a little longer. Sooner or later it will be your turn to sit on the chair of the Cabinet Chief Minister!"

After that, Lu Fang calmed down and served Jiajing respectfully, as if nothing had happened.

……

It was late at night, Zhang Juzheng's mansion in the capital. Since Zhang Jingxiu fell ill, Zhang Juzheng also realized his debt to his family. Since then, he has always taken time to spend time with his wife and children.

In the study room, the orange candlelight vaguely reflected Zhang Juzheng's figure.

At this time, Zhang Juzheng was sitting behind a bookcase, with an unknown book placed in front of him.

However, Zhang Juzheng's attention was not on the book in front of him. He only saw him supporting his chin with one hand, looking thoughtful. The recent events in the court made Zhang Juzheng deeply... Feeling confused.

"Recently, Zhao Zhenji sent people to inspect the Yuan family in Jiaxing, which caused an uproar in the government and the public. Many people believe that His Majesty intends to use this as an opportunity to further inventory the acres of land and inhibit land annexation."

"But the outcome of the matter was beyond everyone's expectations. Not only did His Majesty never mention the matter, but he also asked the cabinet to take the lead in ranking each department based on its performance and efficiency over the past year, and then based on the rankings, Give out year-end bonuses!”

"What is the purpose of your Majesty's move?"

Zhang Juzheng thought of this, picked up the teacup filled with wolfberry water and took a sip.

After drinking the wolfberry water, Zhang Juzheng felt a lot more energetic. Then, he changed his posture and began to think about the matter again.

"What is known now is that the purpose of Zhao Zhenji's appointment in Zhejiang is not as simple as it seems on the surface. You must know that although Zhao Zhenji is a supervisory censor, he has no experience in governing local areas before this."

"Besides, I remember that the candidates proposed by Mr. Yan Ge and Mr. Xu Ge to Your Majesty were all rejected by Your Majesty!"

"You must know that the candidates recommended by Mr. Yan Ge and Mr. Xu Ge are extremely suitable. What did your Majesty value about Zhao Zhenji, so he just asked him to go to Zhejiang to take over from Hu Zongxian?"

"Not only that, your Majesty also gave Zhao Zhenji the right to kill first and then report. Even if it is to save the raw silk in Sannon's hands, Your Majesty does not need to give Zhao Zhenji the right to kill first and then report. You know, as the governor of Zhejiang Province, Zhao Zhenji has military power in his hands!"

"In other words, in addition to this, there are more important things that need to be done by Zhao Zhenji, and there are still major things that may require the use of the right to kill first and report later..."

Just when Zhang Juzheng was in distress over this, he heard a slight knock on the door. Then, he heard Wang's slightly worried voice: "Husband, it's so late, are you still awake?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Juzheng suppressed all the chaotic thoughts in his heart and said: "Come in!"

After the words fell, there was only a "squeak" sound, the door of the room was pushed open, and Mrs. Wang herself walked in carrying a tray with some pastries on the tray.

"Husband, I saw that you were still awake so late, so I took matters into my own hands and ordered someone to make some pastries!"

"Well, let's put it there first!"

Hearing this, Zhang Juzheng glanced at Mr. Wang, pointed to the table in front of him, and gave the order.

"Did your husband encounter any troubles?"

After placing the tray in her hand on the table in front of Zhang Juzheng, Wang sat down not far from Zhang Juzheng and asked with a worried look on her face.

"It's okay, I just have some things I can't figure out!"

After Zhang Juzheng finished speaking, he shook his head, picked up a piece of pastry from the tray and put it into his mouth.

"I don't understand things in the officialdom. If your husband encounters any troubles, you might as well talk to me about it. National affairs are important, but your husband should also take care of his health..."

"Well, I understand. It's getting late. You should go back and rest first. I'll be there later!"

Zhang Juzheng couldn't help but feel warm in his heart when he heard Wang's words.

Then, he nodded, looked in the direction of Wang, and gave the order.

"Husband, please take care of yourself!"

After Wang finished speaking, he reluctantly left the room.

……

After Wang left, Zhang Juzheng looked away and began to think about the previous matter.

"What is it that requires the use of the right to kill first and report later? I have sent people to investigate. There is no grudge between Zhao Zhenji and the Yuan family in Jiaxing. If that is the case, then why is Zhao Zhenji insisting on it? Is it for money or something else? What?"

Almost at the same time, Zhang Juzheng denied his conjecture: "No, Zhao Zhenji is a commoner, and his future future is immeasurable. He will definitely not act rashly just because of a few pieces of silver..."

Then, Zhang Juzheng suddenly had a flash of inspiration in his mind, and a question that he had ignored resurfaced in his mind.

"By the way, maybe Zhao Zhenji got the instruction from His Majesty. You know, the crime that Zhao Zhenji laid for the Yuan family in Jiaxing was to hide weapons secretly with the intention of treason. Anyone with a discerning eye can see that this crime was deliberately framed and framed. !”

"With Zhao Zhenji's city, it is naturally impossible for such mistakes to happen. This is more like a warning. I remember that the Yuan family in Jiaxing annexed nearly 200,000 acres of land..."

"In the end, it still involves land annexation!"

Thinking of this, Zhang Juzheng shook his head and said silently to himself.

"This means that the previous conjectures made by the court are correct. Your Majesty really intends to inventory the acres of land and suppress land annexation!"

"The matter with the Yuan family in Jiaxing was nothing more than an attempt by His Majesty to cast stones to ask for directions. His Majesty wanted to take this opportunity to see how the DPRK would react, so he secretly instructed Zhao Zhenji to send people to raid the Yuan family's home in Jiaxing, and He also deliberately exposed his flaws so that the DPRK would notice!"

"The outcome of the matter was not optimistic. The reaction of the government and the public was very intense."

"Your Majesty saw that this matter could not be implemented for the time being, so he asked the cabinet to come forward to rank each department based on its performance and efficiency over the past year, and to divert the attention of the government and the opposition by issuing year-end bonuses!"

It was only then that Zhang Juzheng realized belatedly that since the emperor's plan to issue year-end bonuses to various departments in the Ming Dynasty spread, few people in the government and the public mentioned the incident involving the Yuan family in Jiaxing.

"Perhaps, His Majesty sent Zhao Zhenji to Zhejiang in order to secretly investigate the land annexation and prepare for the next reform!"

"Hiss, I really didn't expect that His Majesty would actually make such a plan secretly. What a decisive decision this is, Your Majesty is so wise!"

Thinking of this, Zhang Juzheng couldn't help but marvel at the emperor's determination.

After thinking about all this, Zhang Juzheng felt comfortable all over, a heavy burden was lifted from his heart, and his whole body felt much more relaxed.

After that, Zhang Juzheng was seen walking out of the study and looking out into the night.

At this time, it was getting late, and a bright moon hung in the sky. The bright moonlight penetrated the clouds and fell to the ground.

After stopping for a moment, Zhang Juzheng looked away, subconsciously clenched his fists, and said silently to himself: "Your Majesty, don't worry, when the minister takes the position of chief minister of the cabinet, he will definitely do his best to implement reforms, just like Zhang Cong and Zhang Ge are the same as before!"

……

It has been some time since Gao Hanwen came to Bozhou from the capital and took up the post of Tixue, taking charge of Huangping and Baitian Academy.

Although before this, Gao Hanwen had already learned about the local situation in Banzhou from his teacher Yan Shifan and was mentally prepared.

But when he came to Banzhou, he discovered that the situation here was worse than previously expected.

Just as Yan Shifan said to him, Bozhou is thousands of miles away, with dangerous mountains and rivers, many nationalities coming and going, and there are constant vendettas between them.

During the time Gao Hanwen came to Bozhou to take up his post, he saw no less than five conflicts.

Although all the local chieftain families have been eradicated by the imperial court, and many places have been governed by official officials sent by the imperial court, the local people in Bozhou have strong folk customs, and conflicts can easily arise if they are not careful.

Although the local government is quite troubled by this, they have no good solution and can only do their best to resolve the dispute as much as possible.

During this period, Gao Hanwen also got acquainted with many members of the clan and nobles who came to serve in Bozhou. He also had a good conversation with Zhang Yuangong, the son of the British Duke Zhang Rong, and they became close friends with each other.

Gao Hanwen originally thought that these descendants of the clan and nobles who came to Bozhou to serve were just to take up a job, endure the qualifications, and when the time came, they would return to the capital to take up important positions.

But the facts greatly exceeded his expectation. These descendants of the clans and nobles who came to serve in Bozhou all started from the most basic official positions.

Some of them became county magistrates and assisted the magistrate in managing county affairs, while others joined the army and started from inspections.

Gao Hanwen clearly remembered that Zhang Yuangong proudly showed off to him that he had personally participated in solving a case.

Although that case was not a major one, the pride that appeared on Zhang Yuangong's face still deeply touched Gao Hanwen.

At this moment, in the study room, Gao Hanwen spread out his pen and paper and started writing a letter to Yan Shifan.

"Teacher, student Gao Hanwen, long-lost greetings, teacher is in good health recently. It has been a while since the student came to Bozhou to work. During this time, the things he saw made the student deeply touched.

"Bozhou is just like what you said before, teacher. It is thousands of miles away, the people are strong, there are many ethnic groups coming and going, there are many conflicts between the various ethnic groups, and there are constant vendettas between them. Teacher, you will leave the important task of educating the people to the students. , the students are extremely grateful!”

"In addition, students here have met many members of the clan and noble families who came to serve in Bozhou..."

When the last word fell, Gao Hanwen breathed a sigh of relief. Immediately, he put the brush in his hand aside.

After the ink on the paper was dry, Gao Hanwen put it into an envelope, called his subordinates, and gave instructions: "Send this letter to the capital and give it to the teacher!"

"Yes, sir!" (End of chapter)