Ming Jiajing: Starting from Immortality

Chapter 249: Counterattack and destruction of the Jin Party!
Chen Hong is dead.

Hu Zongxian and Li Chunfang were both shocked. They stared at Zhang Juzheng with wide eyes, almost unable to believe it.

The second-ranking eunuch in the inner court was suddenly executed, and his residence was also raided.

The disputes within the inner court are even worse than those in the previous dynasty.

It can be predicted that the inner court will carry out an unprecedented purge in the future, and none of Chen Hongyi's descendants will be able to escape.

If the inner court had not deliberately leaked the news, Chen Hong's death would have been quiet and no one would have known about it.

If it were the ministers of the previous dynasty, they would never do so.

eunuch.

Life and death, honor and disgrace all depend on imperial power.

It is both honor and disgrace. When it is honor, it is full of light; when it is disgrace, it is pitch black and makes people sigh.

After sighing for a long time, Hu Zongxian and Li Chunfang turned their eyes to Gao Gong.

In recent days, the Deputy Prime Minister has often replaced the Prime Minister to go to Yuxi Palace to make reports, and there has been no mistakes.

People have joy, anger, sorrow and happiness. Sometimes they get angry without knowing why, and suddenly become sad. The emperor is no exception, and his anger and sorrow are more overwhelming than those of ordinary people.

But the second prime minister was able to accurately grasp the emperor's joy and happiness, go to the emperor for an audience, and then return to the cabinet with a beaming face.

Anyone who can become a cabinet minister must be a shrewd person. I had previously speculated which eunuch in the inner court the second prime minister had contact with.

I guessed Lu Fang and Huang Jin, but I didn't guess Chen Hong. The former two eunuchs took turns serving the emperor in Yuxi Palace, and they were more aware of the emperor's joys and sorrows.

Chen Hong followed his peer, cabinet minister Chen Yiqin, to implement the national policy of "measure the land and distribute the land equally to the people" to gain merit.

I never expected that even when Chen Hong was not around, his adopted sons and grandsons were still working.

Daring to reveal the emperor's thoughts to the second prime minister, how is this different from revealing the emperor's actions?

Chen Hong lost his head.

Even his adopted sons and godsons would lose their heads.

What role does the second prime minister play in this matter that he is willing to do even if it means losing his head?
Gao Gong didn't care about what his colleagues thought and his mind was frantically thinking about the problem.

The cause of Chen Hong's death.

Has His Majesty known about the collusion between him, Yang Bo and Chen Hong?
In Jiangnan, or more precisely in Quzhou Prefecture, Zhejiang, have any incidents of mining disasters and civil unrest occurred?

Is Yang Bo, the Minister of Personnel and leader of the Jin Party, doomed to fail?
How should he protect himself?

The complicated thoughts made Gao Gong's heart surge.

The crime that could lead to the death and confiscation of property of the chief eunuch of the Imperial Household Department and the commander-in-chief of the Eastern Depot was obviously not a minor one.

Even if it had nothing to do with the mining disasters and civil unrest in Kaihua and Dexing counties, the Jinyiwei and the head of the new East Factory would definitely be able to trace the case back to Jiangnan.

Even if Chen Hong’s death was not caused by the mining disasters and civil unrest in the two counties, the Jinyiwei and Dongchang would be able to find out the truth about the mining disasters and civil unrest in the two counties.

Then Yang Junmin, the prefect of Quzhou Prefecture, would definitely not be able to escape, and all his acts of corruption, abuse of power and abuse of power would not be able to be covered up.

His crimes are so heinous that they will inevitably implicate his father Yang Bo and the Yang family. According to the emperor's law, even if Yang Bo is not dead, he must leave the court.

When all the things came to his mind, Gao Gong suddenly realized that he seemed guilty, but also innocent.

Throughout the incident.

Yu Kai, the magistrate of Kaihua, and Sun Wen, the magistrate of Dexing, were disciples of Confucianism, and Confucianism required them to take all the blame for their crimes by committing suicide.

Confucianism is helping Yang Bo and Chen Hong to resolve the big mistake made by their "sons" in Jiangnan.

In order to facilitate the debate among Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, the Confucians used the method of matchmaking to get Yang Bo and Chen Hong to give support from the court and the palace to him, the second assistant minister of the cabinet.

On the contrary, Gao Gong wanted to support Confucianism in the second debate of the three-way debate.

Gao Gong did favor Confucianism, but the complete destruction of Buddhism was already determined when the topic of the three-party debate was settled.

What he did did not overstep the bounds, nor did it disobey the emperor's will.

There have always been open and covert struggles in the imperial court. Although his actions may have been suspected of being partisan, they were all within the rules and could not be considered a crime.

The only thing that is dangerous is the "spying" into the Sacred Heart.

But apart from promoting some of his own people when the emperor and his ministers were discussing matters, he did nothing to harm the court or the emperor.

His only sin, then, was his excessive “concern” for His Majesty.

Gao Gong slowly sat back in his seat and touched his head. He thought that such a crime was not enough to kill a cabinet minister.

However, Zhang Juzheng soon made Gao Gong realize that sometimes, not being able to die would be more painful than being dead.

"Eunuch Huang Jin has taken over the positions of Chief Eunuch of the Imperial Household Department and Supervisor of the Eastern Depot. From tomorrow on, all the affairs of the Eastern Depot will be handled by Eunuch Huang." Zhang Juzheng said.

Gao Gong, Hu Zongxian, and Li Chunfang all stood there in silence.

This is a good thing.

Compared with the sinister and vicious Chen Hong, Huang Jin, who is gentle to people and things, is the commander-in-chief of the East Factory, which is a good thing for officials all over the world.

"Also, the Censorate has impeached a group of officials, including Su Qing, Ru Zhen, and Zi Shi. Please review them all."

Zhang Juzheng took out a few pieces of paper, which was actually a list of officials who were to be dismissed or transferred out of the capital during the new year's inspection.

Jingcha means examining the officials in Beijing.

According to convention, the imperial examination was jointly presided over by the Minister of Personnel, the Chief Censor, and the Minister of Personnel.

It is not surprising that Yu Shenxing, the Right Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, drew up the list of various penalties on his own.

But Yu Shenxing is a disciple of Lord Yuanfu.

Although they had not yet looked at the list, Hu Zongxian and Li Chunfang thought of many imperial officials.

They looked at each other tacitly, and the struggle between the prime minister and the deputy prime minister officially entered a hand-to-hand combat, and they sighed in unison.

Gao Gong was the first to take over the list. There were 33 officials on the list who were dismissed, headed by Zhang Siwei, the Minister of the Ministry of Public Security; there were 53 officials who were transferred out, headed by Mu Wenxi, the Deputy Director of the Ministry of Personnel.

Gao Gong's hands were shaking slightly.

Zhang Siwei, the Minister of Public Administration, was originally the candidate for the future leader of the Jin Party after Yang Bo.

Zhang Juzheng was obviously extremely angry about the betrayal of Yang Bo and the Jin Party. When the moment of reversal came, he asked his disciples to counterattack Yang Bo and the Jin Party immediately, vowing to break one arm first.

Yu Shenxing, the Right Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, had a very good reason. Zhang Siwei's uncle was Wang Chonggu, the top military figure in the Ming Dynasty. According to the military-political separation plan formulated by the cabinet, Zhang Siwei was not suitable to hold a high position in the court.

Furthermore, according to the "three-level governing official system" formulated by the emperor, the nine ministers of the Ming Dynasty had to have experience in governing county, prefectural, and provincial government offices, but Zhang Siwei, a former Hanlin scholar, did not have this experience.

Under these two circumstances, Zhang Siwei should be dismissed immediately and never employed again.

Mu Wenxi and Xu Fuyuan, who were transferred to other places, were both Gao Gong's students and former officials. They were also the ones who took advantage of the opportunity to insert themselves into the Ministry of Personnel and the Six Ministries when Gao Gong was in power.

Now, Zhang Juzheng not only wants to pull out all these "radishes", but also wants to "bring out the mud".

All fifty-three of the "high-ranking officials" in the imperial court were transferred out of the capital!
The list was circulated to Hu Zongxian and Li Chunfang.

Yuan Fu’s methods were too cruel.

Even a little too much.

Li Chunfang took the initiative to speak this time, saying: "Prime Minister, it's ok to include other people in the list, but it's hard to believe that Xu Mengzhong (Xu Fuyuan's pen name) is included in the list."

Zhang Juzheng seemed to have expected this rebuttal, even though it came from Li Chunfang instead of Gao Gong, he still asked back: "But because he is no longer a Beijing official?"

Soon after Xu Fuyuan returned to work, he was appointed as the Assistant Magistrate of Guangdong, and later as the Assistant Magistrate of Fujian.

Being sent to a provincial censor as the head of the Ministry of Personnel should be considered an over-promotion, and Gao Gong was a genuine student, but it was obvious that there were violations.

But whether he violated the rules or not would not affect Xu Fuyuan. He was a court official who had been exiled, and strictly speaking, he should not be within the scope of the Beijing inspection.

"The prime minister knows what's going on." Li Chunfang nodded.

The struggle within the cabinet did not start with the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister, nor would it end with them. As a cabinet minister, I had no intention of stopping it, nor could I stop the factional struggle between the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister.

But just like when Gao Gong was in power, all fights must be within the rules and no one can act recklessly.

Otherwise, when I am in power, I will strangle all your disciples and former officials, and when you are in power, you will strangle all my disciples and former officials. Wouldn't this become a factional struggle?

As I said, there can be factional disputes, but there cannot be party disputes.

Even if there is party strife, it should be the kind that does not exist subjectively but exists objectively.

We must not form factions or cliques, as that would bring disaster to the court.

"Zi Shi said that I knew it, but I don't know if Zi Shi knew it or not?" Zhang Juzheng responded bluntly.

This sentence was supposed to be said to Gao Gong, but it was said by Li Chunfang.

Li Chunfang was stunned, then stood up and bowed, "Prime Minister, are you saying that I have no idea? Please tell me more."

"Has there ever been a case of disciplining court officials who had been exiled during the imperial examination?" Zhang Juzheng asked again.

Li Chunfang nodded and said, "Yes, I did."

"This is one of them." Zhang Juzheng said.

Li Chunfang quickly said: "Although there are precedents, it cannot be called a common practice."

What Yuan Fu said is a bit nonsense.

If what happened could be passed down as usual, then wouldn't the emperors of the Ming Dynasty all live in the Western Garden instead of the Forbidden City?

Zhang Juzheng ignored his rebuttal and continued to ask: "Zi Shi, is the imperial examination this year carried out according to the rules?"

"It's an exception." Li Chunfang replied.

The imperial examination is held every six years, in the years of Si and Hai. This year is the year of Renxu, so it should not be held.

Although the regulations are like this, the Beijing inspection takes place almost every year and at all times. Since last year, it has almost become the norm.

According to the emperor's will, big corrupt officials must be killed and small corrupt officials must be beaten, and no one, big or small, should be spared.

"This is the second one." Zhang Juzheng continued.

What is the second one?

Li Chunfang was confused.

An exceptional inspection in the capital can be used as a reason to punish a court official and send him to other places. What is the connection between the two?
Even though you are the prime minister, you can't just keep talking nonsense, right?
How can you convince people?

Hu Zongxian continued, "The Prime Minister mentioned that this inspection was unusual. Do you have anything else to say?"

"Yes." Zhang Juzheng nodded.

Hu Zongxian also stood up and bowed, saying, "Please enlighten me, Prime Minister."

"Unconventional inspections, obeying unconventional rules."

Zhang Juzheng did not hide it, looked at Gao Gong and said: "If we examine him according to the usual methods, he is definitely greedy, cruel, impetuous, inadequate, old, sick, tired, and careless.

If you think it is unfair, you can refute it.

Zhang Siwei was dismissed, as were the others, Xu Mengzhong was transferred out of the army, as were the others, all within the eight ranks. "

There are eight items to be examined, namely the eight items below greed.

Zhang Juzheng's words were simple: all dismissals and transfers could be attributed to reasons such as greed and cruelty, or to reasons such as impetuousness and carelessness.

To put it bluntly, there is always one suitable for you among the eight inspections.

Xu Fuyuan, courtesy name Mengzhong, was a native of the Wuniu Mountain in Deqing County. He became a Jinshi in the 34th year of the Jiajing reign.

During his tenure as an official, he gave lectures whenever he had free time.

At the end of last year, the imperial court banned the School of Mind and prohibited all lectures in the Ming Dynasty. However, Xu Fuyuan turned a deaf ear to it and gave lectures to the people under his rule in his spare time.

Looking back in time, when Xu Fuyuan was the head of the Ministry of Personnel, he gave lectures in the capital.

Impetuous and careless.

Sending court officials out of the capital, right?

As for the "crimes" committed in the capital, I will investigate them in the capital, no matter whether you are sent to work in other places or are an official in the capital.

Hu Zongxian, "..."

Li Chunfang, "..."

This is just shameless.

The ban on teaching was caused by the teaching of the School of Mind, so what the imperial decree actually banned was the teaching of the School of Mind.

However, Xu Fuyuan was not a disciple of the School of Mind, but a serious Confucianist, or a disciple of the School of Reason. Most of the things he taught were practical and emphasized reality.

Is it against the rules of the dynasty?
Violate and don't violate.

Like many civil matters, it is a matter that the people do not report and the officials do not take action.

Now the Prime Minister is making a fuss about it as the Prime Minister of the Cabinet, which can make people speechless, but he has also lost his manners.

You know, a prime minister has a big heart.

Hu Zongxian and Li Chunfang gradually realized that Yuan Fu wanted to kill them all. The standard of this Beijing inspection was very simple: all those who were members of the Jin Party would be dismissed, and all those who were members of the "Gao Party" would be transferred to other places.

This is the unconventional rule of the Beijing Examination.

This is sophistry.

Everyone knows that this is sophistry, but this sophistry came from the chief minister of the cabinet.

The leader of all civil and military officials of the Ming Dynasty.

Below one person, above tens of thousands.

With enough power, sophistry becomes righteous words, and the prime minister becomes someone who wholeheartedly considers the court.

Hu Zongxian and Li Chunfang sat down in silence.

Knowing that the situation was hopeless, Gao Gong, whose students and former officials wanted to expel him, was also extremely angry and laughed, saying sarcastically: "I think there is still a third possibility."

Zhang Juzheng, Hu Zongxian and Li Chunfang immediately looked over. Why would the Prime Minister find excuses for others to punish his own students?

"Oh?" Zhang Juzheng said casually.

"That's because this inspection is unusual and the Censorate has a good director." Gao Gong said hatefully.

He hated Zhang Juzheng who had retaliated, and he hated Yu Shenxing, the Right Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate who had drafted the list even more.

Zhang Juzheng showed his victorious attitude and asked with a smile: "It seems that Su Qing knows a lot about my disciples. I know this well. Does Su Qing know anything else?"

Everyone here is a thousand-year-old fox, and no one can hide anything from anyone else.

If Hai Rui from Jiangnan had not come to the rescue, he would have lost his power and even his position as the Prime Minister of the Cabinet. Even if Gao Gong had taken a high position, he would not have let his disciples go.

Everything is just the same.

"I also know that he is eager to serve and is good at revenge. Yuanfu, aren't you afraid of bad things happening in the future?" Gao Gong almost cursed.

Most of the Prime Minister's followers are traitors and will be betrayed sooner or later.

A disciple betrays his mentor?

That will be condemned by everyone.

Zhang Juzheng regarded Gao Gong's words as a sign of defeat and said with a sneer, "Maybe."

(End of this chapter)