My Portable Ming Dynasty

Chapter 34: Silijian (Added more chapters, thank you for your support)
Gao Gong glanced at Zhang Juzheng and tacitly took the Su Ze memorial from Zhang Juzheng's hand.

"Petition to establish the Golden Urn Drawing System to succeed Dharma King Qingyuan"?
Su Ze's memorial was not long. In fact, memorials in the Ming Dynasty were basically not long, and the words and sentences used were relatively colloquial.

In the early Ming Dynasty, civil officials often wrote memorials of tens of thousands of words, but they kept talking about the same things over and over again without getting to the point. Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang required that memorials "speak realistically and avoid empty talk and lengthy discussions."

After reading it, Gao Gong also praised:
"Wonderful!"

It turned out that Su Ze said that night that he had already thought of a way to resolve the tribute dispute with U-Tsang. It was not that the young man was hot-tempered and unwilling to admit defeat, but that he really had a way.

But after careful consideration, Su Ze's method is actually feasible!

In the Golden Urn Drawing, the most important thing is not the drawing of lots, but the golden urn.

The bestowal of the golden urn by the Ming court meant that the Ming had the final say on the enthronement of the King of Law.

From now on, all Dharma Kings will need to be confirmed by the Ming Dynasty, which means that the Ming Dynasty will have the right to continue the Dharma Kingship of U-Tsang.

In addition, establishing a minister in Tibet is also a good idea.

In fact, the Ming Dynasty still had a deep control over U-Tsang.

During the Yongle period, high-ranking monks from Tibet frequently traveled to the Ming Dynasty. Even the Gelugpa sect was fostered by the Ming court to fight against the Kagyu sect.

The Ming army also had garrisons in Xining Wei (Qinghai) and Sichuan Wei, and could intervene in the affairs of U-Tsang at any time.

A large number of Tibetan chieftains had already submitted to the rule of the Ming court and accepted the Ming court's enthronement.

Throughout the Ming Dynasty, there was no major rebellion in U-Tsang and it was always a loyal vassal state of the Ming Dynasty.

This golden urn drawing strategy has extended its reach to the upper echelons of Tibetan society. In this way, there will never again be a regime like the Tubo regime in the Tang Dynasty in Tibet.

A great achievement for all ages!

Thinking of this, Gao Gong immediately took out a piece of paper, wrote down his own opinions, and then pasted it after Zhang Juzheng's proposal.

The minor official from the Ministry of Public Administration was trembling with fear. He wanted to remind Lord Gao and Lord Zhang that they were violating the rules, but he did not dare to speak out.

The minor official from the Ministry of Public Administration could only take Su Ze's memorial to the Prime Minister Li Chunfang.

The cabinet chief was resting with his eyes closed, muttering:
"Spiritual roots nurture and give rise to the source, and the mind cultivates and the great way is born."

Then he opened his eyes, picked up the pen and wrote two sentences on the paper.

Well, it seems that we can no longer rely on this prime minister.

The minor official from the Ministry of Public Administration could only walk into the palace with the memorial drafted by the three cabinet ministers.

Just after the Tongzhengsi official left, Zhang Juzheng quickly reviewed a memorial on the table related to the Ministry of Revenue, then called another Tongzhengsi official over, winked at him and said:
"Hurry and deliver this memorial to Eunuch Feng."

The Tongzhengsi official immediately understood Zhang Juzheng's meaning, nodded, took the memorial and left immediately.

The official walked so quickly that he rushed ahead of the official holding Su Ze's memorial and entered the Imperial Household Department first.
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After more than a year on the throne, Emperor Longqing was no longer as diligent as before, and it was impossible for him to read every memorial from his ministers as he did when he first took power.

In fact, except for Zhu Yuanzhang, most emperors could not handle it.

Historical records show that Zhu Yuanzhang had to review more than 200 memorials a day. Even with the cabinet voting system, this was an astonishing number.

Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang abolished the Secretariat and returned power to the emperor. Chengzu Zhu Di then established the Cabinet and gave it the power to discuss and criticize politics.

Later on, Xuande became even more disastrous and was too lazy to even do the approval himself, so he handed it directly to the Imperial Household Department.

The powers of the emperor, the cabinet, and the Imperial Household Department varied slightly during the reign of each emperor, but the decision-making model was generally established.

The eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department during the Longqing Dynasty was Li Fang. Compared with his predecessor Liu Jin and his successor Wei Zhongxian, Li Fang was cautious in character. Whenever he encountered major events, he would report them to Emperor Longqing and did not dare to approve them on his own.

After seeing the memorials drafted by the three elders, Li Fang said immediately after reading them:

"Your Majesty, please review this memorial. Forget it, I will deliver it myself." The small official from the Ministry of Public Administration was relieved of this hot potato and hurriedly expressed his gratitude to Li Fang as if he had been pardoned.

Li Fang was about to leave the Imperial Household Department with the memorial under his arm, when he heard someone behind him remind him:

"Eunuch, Your Majesty is at the Yikun Palace with Concubine Li. I am about to go there to do some business. How about I take this memorial with me?"

The middle-aged eunuch spoke in a calm tone and with a humble attitude, but it sounded very harsh to Li Fang's ears.

The person who spoke was Feng Bao, the eunuch in charge of writing in the Imperial Household Department.

Feng Bao held the secret note that Zhang Juzheng had sandwiched in the memorial, and looked at Su Ze's memorial in Li Fang's hand, thinking about how to complete the task assigned by Lord Zhang this time.

The memorial fell into Li Fang's hands, which was a tricky thing to do!
The head of the Imperial Household Department was the eunuch in charge of the emperor's seal.

The eunuchs who were qualified to approve documents were called "Bibi eunuchs". Their number varied and they were equivalent to the assistant ministers in the cabinet.

In addition to being the eunuch in charge of writing, Feng Bao also served as the commander-in-chief of the Eastern Depot, controlling this terrifying organization and being the second-in-command of the Imperial Household Department.

Anyone who has worked in the workplace knows that the relationship between the top leader and the second-in-command can never be good.

Li Fang held the memorial and said:

"It is better for me to go there myself, and Feng Bingbi and I will go to see the emperor together."

Feng Bao naturally would not argue with Li Fang over such a trivial matter. The two of them left the Imperial Household Department with a disagreement on their faces and headed towards the Yiku Palace where Concubine Li lived.

When we arrived at the Yiku Palace, it was obviously much more lively than other places in the palace.

The reason is very simple. In the huge imperial city, only Concubine Li’s Yiku Palace has a child.

All I saw was a chubby boy, followed by a few little eunuchs, rushing out of the palace.

When the boy saw Feng Bao, he shouted:

"Feng Daban!"

Feng Bao immediately stepped forward, prostrated himself, and saluted the five-year-old child.

"Feng Daban! I want to ride a big horse!"

Feng Bao immediately lay on the ground and let the six-year-old child climb onto his back.

The palace maids and eunuchs in the Yiku Palace were accustomed to this. If the outer court saw the famous factory manager Feng Bao in this state, they would probably be shocked.

When Li Fang saw this scene, she felt even more uncomfortable.

This boy is the only son of the current emperor, Zhu Yijun, who is about to be appointed as the crown prince.

When he was in Prince Yu's Mansion, Feng Bao was the personal eunuch responsible for taking care of the Third Prince. Even though Feng Bao is now in the Imperial Household Department, Concubine Li will still let Feng Bao come to the Yikun Palace to accompany the Third Prince for fun.

The power of the eunuchs in the Ming Dynasty came entirely from the emperor. Seeing that Feng Bao had such a close relationship with the crown prince, Li Fang naturally felt even more uncomfortable.

He saluted Zhu Yijun and walked into the Yiku Palace with the memorial.

After entering the Yiku Palace, Li Fang heard bursts of Buddhist chanting and felt inexplicably at ease.

Although Concubine Li came from a humble family, she was cautious by nature and did not like to meddle in other people's business. She got along well with the empress and could sometimes even advise the emperor.

The only shortcoming is probably his devotion to Buddhism. However, it is normal for women to worship Buddha these days. These eunuchs without roots also believe in Buddhism and pray to be reborn into a good family in the next life.

Li Fang took a breath, came to the imperial desk of Emperor Longqing and said:

"Your Majesty, this memorial was urgently sent by the cabinet. Please review it."

(End of this chapter)