Chapter 97 Chapter 6 Talking about the Lost Path of the Old Man of the White Ape

In the middle of the morning, eight people in a sedan chair carried Zhang Juzheng on the country dirt road leading to Gaojiazhuang in Xinzheng County.He rushed to Xinzheng County last night: Xinzheng County is not the only way to go south from Henan Prefecture to Nanyang Prefecture.The reason why Zhang Juzheng came here was to pay a visit to his colleague in the cabinet for many years, Gao Gong, the chief assistant who was forced to resign because of offending the Empress Dowager Li in the sixth year of Longqing.Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng were political friends who were heart-to-heart, and later became life-and-death political enemies.In the autumn of the sixth year of Longqing, Zhang Juzheng held a banquet at the Jingnan Station for Gao Gong's farewell. After the two parted unhappy, they never saw each other again for six years: the world has passed, and the grievances of the past have faded away. cloud smoke.Now, Zhang Juzheng, who has been firmly seated on the throne of chief assistant, often inadvertently asks Gao Gong: After all, they used to cherish each other.Last winter, his two sons, Jingxiu and Sixiu, went south to attend the funeral. He asked them to pay homage to Gaogong in Xinzheng County on his behalf and present gifts: Later, he received a letter from Jingxiu, saying that he had gone to Xinzheng to see After passing Gao Shibo, I only feel that his voice is haggard and his health is very bad.Upon receiving this news, Zhang Juzheng felt even more compassionate.This time he returned to the south to bury his father, and he decided to visit Gao Gong's hometown in person.

When we arrived in Xinzheng County yesterday, it was already dark.Zhang Juzheng followed the local custom of "no visitors at night", so he settled down in the post shop.Early this morning, he left the brigade of guards of honor in the county seat, and brought only a few followers, looking towards Gaojiazhuang. Before I knew it, I had left Beijing for more than half a month.In a few days it will be Lixia, and the further south you go, the more verdant and lovely the mountains, rivers and land will be.On the ground of Zhongzhou, the wheat fields that can't be seen at a glance are already knee-deep in young crops.The green wheat waves are covered with a thin layer of white mist, which is the thick earth energy rising.The sun shines through the white mist, and faintly lavender floats in the air.In this dreamlike colour, pixie-like songbirds are the singers of the earth.The Son of Heaven whizzes into the blue sky, and the wagtail always looks a little cautious when flying close to the ears of wheat, and they are not as lively as dragonflies.Quails walk among the soil ridges, and turtledoves cry long and short on the trees with acacia blossoms...

Walking through such picturesque scenery, Zhang Juzheng has no intention of admiring it.Since that night, he received the first urgent letter from the cabinet at the reception banquet held by Zhending Mansion, and almost every day since then he has received a large package of various documents for him to read.Now, there is still the silver seal bestowed by Emperor Wanli in his sedan chair.This silver seal is engraved with the words "Zhang Shou Fu Yin".All the letters he sends back to Beijing, as long as they are stamped with this silver seal, must be sent to the imperial court six hundred miles away.Zhang Juzheng was not only happy about it, but also upset about it.The most troublesome thing for him was that the emperor wanted to transfer 200,000 taels of silver from Taicang.In his impression, the little emperor has always been strict with himself and understands righteousness. Whenever he is uncertain about something, he always seeks his opinion beforehand, and then makes an order according to his suggestion.Unexpectedly, he had only been away from Beijing for less than ten days, and the emperor had arbitrarily proposed to ask the Ministry of Households for money, and his tone was so strong that no discussion was allowed.Zhang Juzheng immediately felt that this was a dangerous signal: the emperor had started to make his own decisions.Because during the journey, he could not make a comprehensive judgment on the ins and outs of this matter, nor could he write a post asking the emperor to summon him, explaining to him that Taicang silver should not be called casually.But with years of ruling experience, he knows that this matter cannot be confronted with the emperor.After all, he has already left the capital, if he offends the emperor at this time, and someone comes out to persuade him, he may never be able to return to the Forbidden City.Moreover, although Lu Tiaoyang sent the imperial edict, he did not express his attitude in a few words, which in itself explained the problem-the shoulders of all the ministers in the cabinet were crooked, and no one was willing to take responsibility.After much deliberation, he decided to ask the Ministry of Accounts to transfer one hundred thousand taels of silver to the treasure bank to satisfy the emperor's request.The rest of the matter will be dealt with after he returns to Beijing.

People are traveling, and their hearts are in the imperial court. There are always some unsatisfactory things in their minds all day long. Zhang Juzheng can't relax even if he wants to relax.But today's situation is a bit different. After all, if you want to meet your "old friend" who hasn't been there for six years, no matter how big the trouble is, you have to put it aside for the time being. Gaojiazhuang, where Gao Gong lived, was only twenty miles away from the county seat, and the bearers were quick, and arrived in less than two hours.There are some small hills around the Gaojiazhuang of these one hundred families.About half a mile away from Zhuangzi, Zhang Juzheng ordered the sedan chair to stop, and he wanted to walk in the remaining part of the road.After walking a few steps, I saw a person running towards me.He quickly stopped and looked at who this person was.

The man ran up to him, plopped down on his knees, and said in his mouth: "Master Zhang, the villain Gao Fu has lost his way." "You are Gao Fu?" Hearing the name, Zhang Juzheng remembered that he was Gao Gong's housekeeper, but the half-aged man with white beard and hair and wrinkled face in front of him was not the same as the man with the face he saw in the capital that year. The shrewd man who always smiled was completely different, so he stepped forward to help him up, and said in surprise, "I haven't seen you for a few years, and you have become two people."

Gao Fu rubbed his hands dully, and said with a smile: "We are from the countryside now, so it's no different than being in the capital." "Where's your master?" "Well, that's the old man standing at the entrance of the village." Gao Fu turned around and pointed at the entrance of the village, and said, "Master's legs and feet are inconvenient, he can't walk, so he can only meet Mr. Zhang at the entrance of the village." Zhang Juzheng followed the prestige, and saw a lot of people standing at the entrance of the village. An old man at the front was waving his hands at him. From his waving rhythm and standing posture, Zhang Juzheng recognized at a glance that this old man was Gao Gong. .A strange feeling suddenly appeared in his heart, and the feeling of being far away prompted him to run over at a leisurely pace.

"Yuansuke!" From afar, Zhang Juzheng shouted loudly: "Taiyue!" Gao Gong also shouted sharply in his slightly hoarse voice.Both of them ran a few steps forward.Gao Gong staggered a little, and almost fell after taking two steps, Zhang Juzheng rushed to support him. "Yuansuke!" "Taiyue!" Both of them yelled again.In the tears of excitement, the two bowed to meet each other.Zhang Juzheng observed Gao Gong carefully, and saw that he was wearing a half-new Qingbu Taoist robe and a Zhuge scarf on his head.The big hard beard is now completely white, making his complexion seem darker than before.However, this kind of black makes people feel not healthy, but a worrying morbidity.The crow's feet in the corners of his eyes are still so deep and stiff. Although his eyes are much cloudier, they still make people feel their depth and power.After saluting, Gao Gong stretched out his hand to hold Zhang Juzheng again, this hand was so thin and cold.Although Zhang Juzheng was mentally prepared for Gao Gong's aging, he still felt very sad when he saw this dying appearance.He stroked the back of his hand with high arched veins, and couldn't help sighing.

When the two met, their true feelings were revealed, and all the people present were moved when they saw it. Gao Gong was the first to wake up from his dream state. He let go of Zhang Juzheng's hand, smiled sadly, and said: "Taiyue, I haven't seen you in six years, and you have aged a lot." "In a place of opportunity and balance, every day is like walking on thin ice. It's not like you haven't tasted this feeling." Zhang Juzheng didn't want to talk about heavy topics as soon as we met. He wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes and asked, "Yuanfu, what are you talking about?" Is this Gaojiazhuang the best Fengshui treasure in Xinzheng County?"

"Taiyue, don't call me Yuanfu anymore. The Yuanfu of the imperial court today is you and not me." "I'm used to shouting, but I can't change my words." Zhang Juzheng explained with a smile. "You just talked about the geomantic omen of Gaojiazhuang," Gao Gong narrowed his eyes and looked around, and said, "Do you think this place is good?" "The hills and hills are undulating, and the fertile fields are thousands of hectares. It is tangible and powerful, of course it is good!" "It's really as good as what you said, why is there such a demotion as us?" Gao Gong blurted out this complaint, and immediately felt uncomfortable, and quickly covered it up, "Look, our old problems can't be changed." , As soon as you come up, you will start a lawsuit, let's not talk about it, Taiyue, let's go into the house."

Gao Gong belonged to a farming and studying family, a prominent local family.Although his family lived in the countryside, once they entered the five-storey green brick and tile house, they stood out from the crowd in Zhuangzi.Zhang Juzheng followed Gao Gong into the gate of this old house, just passed the screen wall, and suddenly saw a white old ape running out from the right corner of the yard under the flower stand.He threw himself in front of Zhang Juzheng all at once, baring his teeth, as if he didn't welcome the new guests. "White ape?" Zhang Juzheng was startled. The white ape is a legendary auspicious beast, and it is very rare to see it.During the reign of Emperor Jiajing, local officials would immediately escort white apes, white turtles, white deer, white parrots, etc. to the capital to Xianrui.After Emperor Longqing ascended the throne, this trend gradually stopped, but the white beast was regarded as auspicious, but it did not change.When Zhang Juzheng saw the white ape for the first time, he couldn't help but asked with great interest, "Old Gao Ge, how come there are such auspicious things in your house?"

"The old man has never believed in auspicious things." Gao Gong waved his hand, and the white ape walked up to him docilely, Gao Gong patted its head, and said, "However, this white ape has something special. origin." While the two were talking, they walked into the living room to sit the guests and the host, and the servant was busy serving tea.The white ape came in with Gao Gong, and squatted next to him, with a pair of blinking eyes, still staring at Zhang Juzheng vigilantly. "Old Gao Ge, what is the origin of this white ape?" "Brother Tai Yue, don't be offended by the old man's words." Gao Gong took a sip of tea and said slowly, "This white ape was given to us by a hero." "Who?" "Hero Shao." "It's him?" Zhang Juzheng couldn't help asking in surprise. Gao Gong's eagle-like eyes swept across Zhang Juzheng, took a deep breath, and said heavily: "Last year, in the cotton-padded clothes incident of Qi Jiguang's department, Shao Daxia was secretly executed in Yangzhou Water Transport Prison as a scapegoat. Before he was arrested, he asked his servants to bring this monkey to this old man." "Shao Daxia can't be regarded as an unjust death." Zhang Juzheng felt that Gao Gong intended to stab him, so he immediately defended himself.Gao Gong retorted, "It's true that Shao Daxia bought inferior cotton cloth, but he did it by giving money back. The one who was really greedy for ink was Wu Qingbo Li Wei. Those who filled their pockets secured high positions, and those who gave money back were killed in Jiuquan. You say, Isn't this a strange injustice through the ages?" Gao Gong was still as ruthless as he was back then when exposing people's scars, Zhang Juzheng felt a bit of unhappiness, but it was inconvenient at this time, so he had to smile perfunctorily: "Yuan Fu pursues the truth. It's still like being in the center of the machine." "Look, I've made a mistake again." Gao Gong shook his head mockingly, "Let's talk about this white ape. The servant of the Shao Mansion told me that this white ape was brought to Yangzhou by an old Huashan Taoist priest. At the beginning, It is just an ordinary Huashan monkey. Shao Daxia is good at making friends outside the country. Soon after Huashan old Taoist priest came to Yangzhou, he became friends with Shao Daxia. The next year, Huashan old Taoist priest died without any illness in Yangzhou Kaiyuan Temple. He went to collect it, but suddenly found that the naughty monkey squatting in front of the old Taoist's bed turned white overnight. Shao Daxia analyzed that this was due to extreme sadness. Since then, he has taken in this monkey The white ape is regarded as a pet. After the 'cotton coat incident' happened, he thought he would die, so he sent this monkey all the way to Xinzheng as a gift to this old man." Zhang Juzheng has heard a lot about the rumors between Gao Gong and Shao Daxia, which is one of the reasons why he wants to execute Shao Daxia, but he didn't expect Shao Daxia to have feelings for Gao Gong until his death, so he couldn't help feeling jealous, and asked : "Shao Daxia is a man with a heart. He sent the white ape thousands of miles away, so there must be something to say." "Shao Daxia knows that the old man is a monkey, so he gave this monkey as a gift." "It can't be that simple." "Monkeys are aggressive by nature. They belong to the type of characters who have been defeated and defeated repeatedly. Shao Daxia is worried that I, an old monkey, will not change my temperament. I probably sent this white ape here to remind us. This is called dying. His words are also sad, in fact, his reminder is superfluous, we are a villager and a wild old man, who else can we fight?" Gao Gong's words and expressions are all "thorny".He was expelled from the capital in the autumn of the sixth year of Longqing. During these six years, he lived in Gaojiazhuang, almost never going out, and enjoyed talking about Sangma's writing and writing every day.However, he has always been worried about the "cabinet change" six years ago. He always believed that it was plotted by Feng Bao and Zhang Juzheng.So I always think about looking for opportunities to retaliate.However, things have changed, and Zhang Juzheng, who is good at taking power, has long made the political arena smooth and orderly.On the one hand, he admired Zhang Juzheng's ingenuity in governing the country; on the other hand, he couldn't let go of his hatred for leaving Beijing. Therefore, his feelings for Zhang Juzheng were extremely complicated: in terms of the way of governing the country, the two never met. Political friends; in terms of friendship, the two are incompatible enemies.When Gao Gong heard that Zhang Juzheng was going to make a detour to visit him, he was both happy and angry, because he was at the opposite end of the spectrum.Therefore, in terms of behavior, there are tears and tears for a while, and swords are on the verge of a while. Gao Gong's attitude was completely within Zhang Juzheng's expectations.Although he harbored displeasure, he was not so angry as to stare at each other.After listening to Gao Gong's high-level discussion caused by the white ape, Zhang Juzheng pretended not to understand, and said kindly: "If Mr. Gao Ge wants to make any unknown anger, just send it to this old monkey. Maybe it can comfort you." "This monkey understands human language, so it's really a good companion." After all, the two laughed together. Zhang Ju stayed in Gaojiazhuang for more than two hours.At noon, Gao Gong ordered the cook to cook some home-cooked dishes, and the two had a drink.Gao Gong suffered from senile asthma, and Fu had already given up drinking as ordered by the doctor, but today it is really rare for "old friends" to reunite, so he made an exception and had a few drinks.During the conversation between the two, they no longer focused on fighting for wit, but really talked about their six-year separation.Zhang Juzheng asked Gao Gong about his daily diet and daily life in detail, and at the same time half-truthfully told about his various troubles after becoming the chief assistant.Gao Gong borrowed the power of the wine, and suddenly asked a question that he had always wanted to ask: "Tai Yue, are the Emperor and Queen Mother Li still angry with this old man?" Zhang Juzheng sighed, nodded his head as an answer, lowered his eyelids with high arches, and said sadly: "It seems that we, Mr. Gao, will not see the time when the emperor and the queen mother will change their minds in their lifetime." "Yuansuke, don't be too discouraged..." "Taiyue, you don't need to persuade me," Gao Gong interrupted Zhang Juzheng roughly, "We know that we will die soon. After living for nearly seventy years, we have to accept our fate. Wealth and fortune are all up to God." Sure enough, life is too impermanent! I have two things to ask for today, I don’t know if Brother Tai Yue is willing to help.” "Speaking." "First, our Gao Gong has no heirs in his life, and there are three unfilial acts without heirs. If there is no one who continues the incense, our Gao Gong stretches his legs one day, what will we look like to see the ancestors of the underground. Therefore, the old man thought To establish a stepson, there are several Gao surnamed children who are willing to inherit, and I hope Brother Tai Yue will help the old man review and decide which one is suitable." "This is not difficult, what about the second one?" "The second thing is probably much more difficult." Gao Gong hesitated for a while before he said, "My old man Longqing was expelled from the capital in six years. I don’t want to fight for this breath, but I have to ask for my innocence after death. The old man thought, once we die, can your grand brother-in-law invite the emperor to restore the old man’s reputation?” "Yuanfu, don't say such unlucky words." "This is unlucky, but I have to say it." Gao Gong became stubborn again, staring at Zhang Juzheng and said, "Taiyue, the current little emperor, and the Empress Dowager Li, the trust that their mother and son have in you is also what the previous court said." Rare. If you are determined to help, maybe in the future, the old man will sleep in the ground and feel at ease." "Yuanfu, what you said is outrageous. Restoring your reputation is a matter of no part of the grain, so why should it be helping you?" "With your words, the old man is relieved." When Gao Gong said this, he let out a long breath of relief.Seeing that it was getting late, Zhang Juzheng was about to get up to say goodbye, but Gao Gong suddenly reached out to stop him, pondered for a while, and said: "There is one more thing. The old man has doubts in his heart and wants to speak out, but he is afraid that Taiyue will say that we interfere with political affairs." "Yuanfu, but it doesn't matter." "I heard that during the Spring Festival this year, at Tuanshan Fort in Eastern Liaodong, the Tatar bandits who Zhang Xueyan and Li Chengliang would commit in the future killed more than 800 people?" "It's true." "How does the court handle this matter?" "Li Chengliang was promoted to the first rank of noble, Zhang Xueyan was promoted to the governor of the army, and the officials of the Ministry of War and the cabinet may be rewarded with an increase in salary, or the Yinzi will be promoted to the noble, and each has its own reward." "Where's Lu Tiaoyang?" "Join the prince and Taifu, Yin Yizi." "Where's Zhang Siwei?" "Jin Prince Shaofu, Yin Yizi." "What about yourself?" "The emperor's decree is that Bugu is not allowed to enter the honorary title of Shangzhu Kingdom, and Yin is a son. Bugu pleaded repeatedly, and the emperor finally agreed." "Why don't you accept this reward?" "The great victory of Tuanshan Fort, Bugu has no merits, if awarded, it may cause criticism from the government and the public." "Taiyue, you are a smart person after all," Gao Gong's thin cheeks twitched a few times. "These gifts may become a hot potato." "Ah?" Zhang Juzheng heard that there was something in the words, and asked hastily, "Yuanfu, what did you hear?" "The old man didn't hear any rumors, but ever since he heard the news of Tuanshanbao's victory, he has been suspicious." "What are you wondering about?" "Taiyue, you were also in charge of the Ministry of War during the Longqing period. Have you ever heard of Tatars harassing the border during the cold weather?" "……No." "On the Liaodong border, it's cold and windy after the first frost, and it's even more icy and snowy after the beginning of winter. At this time, the Tatars are huddling in yurts to avoid the severe cold. How could they violate the border?" "You mean there's a scam here?" "Based on the old man's judgment, there must be fraud! Moreover, the good report said that more than 800 levels of captives were captured and so many people were killed. It must be a large-scale war. Since it is a big war, it is impossible for there to be no rumors beforehand. .Taiyue, have you received any urgent information from the Liaodong side before the start of the battle?" "No." "After the good news came, did you send someone to check the heads of the captives?" "Send someone to check." "What we're talking about is not an inventory, but an inspection!" "Check? Check what?" "Check these heads to see if they are Tatar warriors." Gao Gong stood up suddenly as he spoke, the light in his eyes was as sharp as a knife, "Tai Yue, I am worried that there may be women and children among these heads, or Bad old men like us." When it comes to political affairs, Gao Gong still maintains the demeanor of the prime minister with quick thinking and insight into subtleties.Zhang Juzheng couldn't help being overwhelmed by his aura, and was deeply impressed by his analysis.He thought in his heart: "Although this tall bearded man lives in seclusion in the countryside, he still has Wei Que in his heart. When the court responds to important matters, which one is better or worse, none of them can escape his eyes." I am happy to have such a "prime minister in the mountains", but at the same time feel a great threat.He glanced at his gray and white beard that arched high like withered grass, and said: "Yuanfu, your analysis of the Tuanshanbao victory is very reasonable. Bugu immediately sent people to Liaodong to investigate the matter." "The old man just raised doubts, how to deal with it is your Taiyue's business." Zhang Juzheng nodded.In the vast Kyushu, if there is anyone who can make him respect, it is probably the old man in front of him.He was about to express his thanks to Gao Gong, when he suddenly saw Gao Fu running in nervously, and hurriedly said: "Master, something has happened!" "What's the matter?" "White ape, that white ape..." Gao Fu hesitated to speak. "What happened to the white ape?" Gao Gong asked, but he forgot that his legs and feet were inconvenient, turned around and ran out the door.A group of people surrounded the yard, and when they saw Gao Gong running, they quickly dispersed.I saw the white ape lying on the ground, its limbs twitching and it was only breathing out but not breathing in. "What happened to it?" Gao Gong squatted down, petted the white ape, and asked sharply.When the servants saw their master getting angry, they all hid far away and did not dare to go forward. Only Gao Fu approached him and answered bravely: "While the master was having lunch, the white ape walked under the flowered wall over there to bask in the sun and dozed off. For some reason, a part of the flowered wall suddenly collapsed, and the white ape was crushed inside. Several servants Hurry up and come to the rescue, after the rotten bricks are removed, the white ape will look like this." Gao Gong turned his head to look, and the flower wall on the east side of the courtyard had collapsed for a while, and then looked back at the white ape on the ground, who was already foaming at the mouth and rolling his eyes.Gao Gong was stunned for a long time, then suddenly stood up, kicked the white ape's body, and said to Zhang Juzheng who was standing beside him in that imminent tone: "The old monkey is dead, it's God's will!"