My father is Jiajing

After chatting with Hu Zongxian and Zhao Zhenji, it was almost nine o'clock.

When Meng Chong came back from outside and saw Hu Zongxian and Zhao Zhenji in the palace, he couldn't help but smile, because in his opinion, Hu Zongxian and Zhao Zhenji were both good helpers to his prince.

So when Meng Chong saw Hu Zongxian and Zhao Zhenji, he also felt a sense of familiarity.

However, at this time, Meng Chong did not greet Hu Zongxian and Zhao Zhenji in a familiar manner.

He first came to Zhu Zaigui and bowed slightly, "Your Highness, I am back."

Zhu Zaigui looked at Meng Chong's actions and nodded, saying, "It's almost time now. Go to the cabinet and call Xu Jie and the others over."

Meng Chong respectfully replied "yes" again, and then went towards the cabinet.

At this moment, the cabinet had just concluded a small private meeting.

After a night of torment, several ministers came to the cabinet together in tacit understanding before dawn today. They wanted to take advantage of the early opportunity to see if they could reach a "consensus" first.

After all, what happened yesterday was really too big. Li Ran was so bold, and after moving to a new home, His Majesty the Emperor actually broke the taboo of "two dragons cannot meet" that no one dared to speak of for decades.

If these things had happened under normal circumstances, Xu Jie and the others would have been shocked and passive, but they would not have been tormented.

But now these two things are happening at the same time, and it feels weird no matter how you look at it.

Moreover, this matter seems to be a little unclear.

Xu Jie suspected that someone was trying to plot against him, while others felt that this was something only Xu Jie could order.

Otherwise, who would be so bold as to slander and attack the legitimacy of Zhu Zaigui at this critical juncture?
This is like an old man eating arsenic - he is tired of living!
Therefore, this matter is like Rashomon, and no one knows who did it.

Even at certain moments, a bolder idea popped up in their minds, that Li Ran's incident was just a trick directed and acted by Zhu Zaigui in which the thief cried thief.

Therefore, regardless of the fact that a consensus of trust cannot be formed within the cabinet, they are full of fear and worry about Zhu Zaigui.

I was always worried that Zhu Zaigui would implicate Li Ran in a big way.

By then, they might be caught in this vortex.

After all, it is not surprising that they have such thoughts.

Because Zhu Zaigui already has quite a few people around him now.

Gao Gong was arranged to the position of Minister of Rites, and anyone with a discerning eye knew that this was to pave the way for Gao Gong to enter the cabinet.

There are also Hu Zongxian and Zhao Zhenji.

Hu Zongxian was not from the Hanlin Academy, so even if his position was high, it was limited and would never go beyond the six ministries.

Therefore, the person that everyone in the cabinet is most worried about at the moment is Zhao Zhenji.

Although Zhao Zhenji is now only a local official who serves as a governor and a minister.

However, Zhao Zhenji was a genuine Hanlin scholar, and he also made great contributions in assisting Hu Zongxian in suppressing the Japanese invaders over the years.

Now that they have all been recalled to the capital to be rewarded according to their merits, someone will definitely have to make room for them.

So whoever is asked to vacate this position will definitely be reluctant.

Therefore, the Li Ran case that happened at this time seems to be explainable.

But Xu Jie and others also knew how ridiculous this idea was.

After all, Zhu Zaigui is a legitimate prince regent. In the future, he will inherit the position of Emperor Jiajing and become the supreme ruler of the Ming Dynasty.

There is no need to resort to such conspiracy and trickery, and then you end up scolding yourself so badly.

You have to know that once a memorial written by Li Ran is spread out, no matter what the consequences will be.

The damage it caused to Zhu Zaigui was also irreversible.

Therefore, it is unlikely that Zhu Zaigui directed and acted out this incident himself.

Therefore, at this time, Xu Jie and others gathered in the cabinet early. Even though they were hesitant to speak, they covered up and said a lot of specious words, but no one still said a word of truth.

After all, sometimes you really have to be responsible for what you say. If you say something wrong, it will be a disaster rather than a blessing.

And sometimes, as long as you open your mouth to speak, there will inevitably be loopholes.

Once someone finds a loophole and starts to expand and attack endlessly, you won't be able to defend yourself, and it will be a problem whether you can survive.

Therefore, Xu Jie and other cabinet members sat in the cabinet for nearly an hour, and they drank tea countless times, but they still couldn't come up with a consensus that could make them feel at ease.

It can be seen that sometimes people's hearts are really difficult to unite. Even at the critical moment of life and death, they will still have their own calculations and interests, and will not think about working together to overcome the disaster.

Meng Chong came to the cabinet. The moment he appeared in the cabinet, the elders who were supposed to be handling or discussing government affairs with each other suddenly turned their attention to him, which really scared Meng Chong.

As far as he could remember, he had come to the cabinet quite often.

But it had never happened before that all the ministers in the cabinet would focus their eyes on him at the same time as he entered the door.

Now being stared at by Xu Jie and other four elders, Meng Chong couldn't help but feel some mental pressure on him, and he became slightly nervous.

Xu Jie looked at Meng Chong, who looked a little unnatural, and immediately smiled warmly and kindly.

"Sit here, father-in-law."

Xu Jie took the initiative to stand up and invited Meng Chong to sit on a chair nearby.

This also made Meng Chong a little flattered.

Meng Chong bowed to Xu Jie again and said, "Thank you, Lord. How can I have a place in the cabinet? If this gets out, my head will be in danger."

At this time, Meng Chong was still very sober.

He did not become inflated by Xu Jie's sudden show of goodwill.

You must know that although he now has a certain identity and status, he can represent Zhu Zaigui's authority.

But if you trace it back to the root cause, he was just a eunuch in the royal palace, which was very different from the eunuchs in the Imperial Household Department and the Imperial Stables who had clear duties and powers.

Moreover, even if the eunuchs from the Imperial Household Department and the Imperial Stables came to the cabinet in accordance with the imperial decree, no one would dare to treat the cabinet as their home ground. They would sit casually in the seats in the cabinet, thinking that this was a teahouse to rest.

You know, this is the cabinet!

Ever since Emperor Taizu abolished the prime minister and Emperor Chengzu set up the cabinet, the cabinet has long been a center of power in name only in the past hundred years of development.

The chief minister and other ministers of the cabinet are higher than all other officials in terms of status and identity. They are the undisputed "heads of all officials".

Sometimes, even when they walk outside, people will respectfully call them "Prime Minister".

Even His Majesty the Emperor would recognize their "Prime Minister" power on certain occasions. Therefore, unless Meng Chong was crazy, he would not dare to sit in the cabinet anyway.

Because if he really sat down, it would be a great shame and humiliation for the civil servants who value honor and reputation as their life!
How can it be tolerated that an eunuch dares to sit in the cabinet so openly?

Therefore, even if Xu Jie was very polite, Meng Chong did not dare to accept the challenge.

After hearing Meng Chong's words, Xu Jie smiled awkwardly, as if he also felt that his invitation was a bit reckless.

But none of this matters. Even if someone makes a big deal out of this matter, Xu Jie can just ignore it and treat it as a polite remark.

After all, polite words like these are sometimes just spoken casually.

If we keep holding on to this, what will happen to the world in the future?

Is this a satire on the fact that the current emperor is King Li of Zhou?

Obviously, no one can bear such consequences.

Therefore, after hearing the conversation between Xu Jie and Meng Chong, the other ministers in the cabinet automatically filtered it out, and no one took these two sentences seriously.

After Xu Jie finished his polite words, he looked at Meng Chong and asked, "Are you here on the orders of the prince?"

Meng Chong looked at Xu Jie, and then at the other senior members of the cabinet.

Meng Chong said, "The prince asked me to come and see if the elders are all here. If they are, I will invite you all over."

When Xu Jie and several other cabinet members heard Meng Chong's words, they all turned their eyes to Meng Chong again, as if they wanted to hear some more information.

However, after Meng Chong said this, there was no further follow-up.

Xu Jie paused slightly and glanced at Li Chunfang beside him.

When Li Chunfang felt Xu Jie's glance at him, he understood what Xu Jie meant.

If this had happened in the past, Li Chunfang would have pretended not to see it.

However, because what happened last night was so exciting, Li Chunfang felt inexplicably nervous and urgent.

Therefore, he also wanted to know more about Zhu Zaigui's movements so that he would be mentally prepared when he arrived at the Wenhua Hall later.

So, Li Chunfang smiled and asked Meng Chong: "Thank you for your hard work, eunuch. Is the prince waiting for us now?"

Meng Chong looked at Li Chunfang. He also thought that Li Chunfang came from Prince Yu's mansion, so he should feel somewhat close to him.

Therefore, Meng Chong did not deliberately hide anything from Li Chunfang.

After all, there was nothing hidden about Zhu Zaigui summoning Hu Zongxian and Zhao Zhenji early in the morning.

Therefore, Meng Chong replied: "Yes, Lord, the prince is waiting for you in the Cultural Hall. Governor Hu and Governor Zhao are also here now."

When Xu Jie and others heard that Hu Zongxian and Zhao Zhenji were already in Wenhua Hall, they couldn't help but be surprised.

But soon everyone understood the matter, and they also had a clue in their minds.

As long as Zhu Zaigui was not the only one who summoned them, and as long as Hai Rui was not still around.

So, this time Zhu Zaigui asked them to come over, it definitely wasn’t because of Li Ran’s matter.

Therefore, the worries in the hearts of several people could not help but be relieved at this moment.

Xu Jie said with emotion: "Your Majesty is so diligent in his work. It is really a blessing for the Ming Dynasty and the emperor!"

Li Chunfang and several other cabinet ministers standing by also echoed him.

Then they followed Meng Chong, relaxed, and went to the Wenhua Hall, which was only separated from the cabinet by a wall.

When four cabinet elders, Xu Jie, Li Chunfang, Yuan Wei, and Yan Ne, arrived at the Wenhua Hall, Hu Zongxian and Zhao Zhenji had already left.

However, Xu Jie and others didn't care about these things at the moment.

Because they also understand that some matters do not require the participation of people outside the cabinet in the discussion.

Unless the matter requires seeking opinions from a wider range of people or understanding more specific issues, a general high-level meeting will only require a few senior executives who can make decisions to discuss the matter together.

"Your Highness, I pay my respects to you!"

As soon as Xu Jie and others entered the hall, they bowed respectfully to Zhu Zaigui.

Zhu Zaigui also looked at Xu Jie and others who were paying their respects respectfully, and a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

Because Zhu Zaigui could clearly see that these ministers, like himself, had not slept all night last night.

The only difference is that they didn’t sleep all night because of the psychological torment.

But Zhu Zaigui did not sleep all night for another reason.

So Zhu Zaigui also said thoughtfully: "Thank you for your hard work. Last night was the happy occasion of your Majesty's move to the new palace. You all took the trouble to brave the cold wind and wait in the palace under the stars to celebrate for your Majesty. I would like to thank you all on behalf of your Majesty."

Xu Jie and the others quickly replied: "We dare not do that. It is our duty to congratulate Your Majesty on the move to the new palace."

Zhu Zaigui laughed and said, "Please take a seat."

After the polite words, Zhu Zaigui had to get down to business. Otherwise, if he kept laughing and talking nonsense, what would happen to the state affairs and government?
Xu Jie and others thanked Zhu Zaigui for giving them seats.

After Xu Jie and the others were seated, Zhu Zaigui said, "The overall situation in the southeast is now stable, and there are no more Japanese pirates causing trouble on land. This is all thanks to Hu Zongxian, Zhao Zhenji and others."

"Last time, His Majesty also issued an edict to reward Qi Jiguang, Yu Dayou and others according to their merits and conferred them the title of Earl. However, Hu Zongxian, the commander-in-chief of the southeast, and Zhao Zhenji, the chief steward of the southeast, did not receive much actual benefit."

"I believe that all the ministers understand that the reason why they were not rewarded for their merits when Qi Jiguang, Yu Dayou and others were conferred titles was because the court had higher expectations for them."

"So, now they have also been called back to Beijing to report on their work. Last night, I discussed this matter with Your Majesty. Your Majesty believes that Hu Zongxian is knowledgeable about military affairs and political affairs, so he can be appointed as the Minister of War in the capital. What do you think?"

When Xu Jie and others heard what Zhu Zaigui said, and the fact that Hu Zongxian's contributions in the southeast were indeed obvious to all, it was reasonable for him to be promoted when he returned to Beijing.

Therefore, Xu Jie and others would naturally not have any disagreement with Zhu Zaigui on this matter.

After all, looking at all the officials in the capital, there seems to be no one more suitable as the Minister of War than Hu Zongxian.

Xu Jie and others replied: "Hu Zongxian has made outstanding contributions, Your Majesty has a keen eye for talent, Your Majesty is clear about rewards, and we have no objection!"

Zhu Zaigui hummed, "Well, then it's settled. The cabinet will draft an edict and hand it over to the Shangbaojian for seal. Then the Tongzhengsi will announce the matter and send a report to the court, appointing Hu Zongxian as the Minister of War in the capital, and giving him the title of the Crown Prince's Grand Tutor!"

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