Chapter 3 Chapter 3 Game of the World

Everything went as Hai Rui expected, the emperor was furious, the court was shocked, and he was put in prison, waiting to be executed.But what made him feel puzzled was that his own plot should belong to the category of extremely vicious, heinous crimes, and it would be too slow to make a decision, but he waited and waited, but the knife hanging on his head did not come down for a long time. Because the emperor didn't intend to kill him yet, after listening to Huang Jin's words, he froze for a moment, picked up the memorial, and read it a second time. Jiajing is not a stupid person, he knows that since a person has bought a coffin, he is naturally prepared, and when he re-examined this memorial, he saw something other than attacks and reprimands——

Loyalty, conscientiousness and integrity. So he uttered his own exclamation: "This person is probably Bigan, but unfortunately I am not King Zhou." It is too unreliable to say that he is a faint king if he can speak at this level. Hai Rui was locked up like this, neither fixed nor indefinite, neither killed nor released, not even a statement, but he himself was very comfortable, eating and sleeping every day without any psychological burden. It seemed that his life was saved, but in fact he was not. You have to understand that Comrade Jiajing is a very face-saving person. Even if he knows the truth and knows what is good or bad, it seems a bit too much for you to treat him in this way. He can remember Yang Shen who is thousands of miles away for decades. , let alone Hai Rui under his nose?

Finally, one day, he remembered this matter again, and he became angry. He couldn't bear the anger, so he began to scold him. After scolding, he couldn't understand his hatred, so he decided to kill him. Seeing that Hai Rui was about to go to the execution ground, the second protector appeared - Xu Jie. There are many differences between Xu Jie and Yan Song, one of which is that when others are unlucky, Yan Song will go up and step on his feet, while Xu Jie will help him up. Mr. Xu is really a good person, he can do things without taking money, he thinks that Hai Rui is a rare talent, so he decides to give him a hand.

But this matter is difficult to handle, because Jiajing never shouts and shouts to kill, but once he decides to kill someone, the elephant will not be able to pull him back. Someone wrote a letter to persuade him to let him go, but he was severely beaten. Paused, almost breathless. But Xu Jie once again proved with his actions that Jiajing's ability in this life has come to an end, because the chief minister of the cabinet only used a short conversation to pull Hai Rui back from the death line: "Your Majesty, you have been fooled by Hai Rui!" With a puzzled expression, Jiajing stared intently at Xu Jie who exclaimed.

"I heard that Hai Rui had already bought the coffin before he wrote the letter. He knew that he would offend the emperor, but he dared to be so rebellious. How vicious his intentions are!" Where is the viciousness? I heard Mr. Xu continue to fool around: "This person's purpose is very clear. He only wants to anger His Majesty, and then seek fame with death. If you kill him, Your Majesty, you will fall into his trap!" Jiajing listened intently, while nodding repeatedly, yes, how could His Majesty the Emperor, who is extremely wise, be deceived by a little sixth-rank chief?Even if he was fooled, he still had to find a high-level senior cadre—such as Comrade Xu Jie.

In this way, Hai Rui's life was saved, and he continued to live in the prison. To him, being in a cell was not a bad thing. Anyway, the food at home was similar to that in the prison, and he could save some food money. In fact, from Xu Jie's point of view, the little trouble caused by Mr. Hai is really pediatrics. What he is eager to solve now is another extremely difficult problem. During the years when Yan Song was in power, only Xu Jie ran errands for him in the cabinet. Later when Xu Jie came to power, he recruited his protégé Yuan Wei to run errands in the cabinet. In his eyes, he still had to quarrel with Xu Jie from time to time.Of course Mr. Xu would not be angry, but it was inevitable that he would wear small shoes for Yuan Wei. However, this Mr. Yuan was not strong psychologically, and he fell ill due to depression.

The disobedient one left and found two obedient ones, one named Yan Na and the other Li Chunfang. Brother Yan Na will not say much. He joined the cabinet in the 44th year of Jiajing (1565), and fell ill after only eight months. After returning to his hometown, only Li Chunfang was left in the cabinet. Comrade Li Chunfang, then I have to say, his character can be summed up in one sentence: kind, too kind. Looking at it hundreds of years later, as the number one scholar in the 26th year of Jiajing, Li Chunfang is unfortunate, because compared with his classmates, his reputation and achievements are really limited, not to mention Zhang Juzheng, even Yang Jisheng and Wang Shizhen are far behind.But at that time, this man's progress was still very fast. When Zhang Juzheng was still a bachelor of the fifth-rank Imperial Academy, he was already a second-rank minister of the Ministry of Rites.

He was able to rise so fast only because of two points: 1. He was good at writing Qing Ci.Two, be honest.Since entering the imperial court, he has been fighting to the death outside, but he doesn't care about it. He is locked at home every day and writes green poems. He bows when he meets Yan Song, and salutes when he meets Xu Jie. So Xu Jie picked him and asked him to join the cabinet as a helper. At this point, it can be said that the matter was resolved satisfactorily, but then, Xu Jie made a wrong judgment, and it was this judgment that planted a fatal disaster for him. In March of the 45th year of Jiajing (1566), recommended by Xu Jie, the chief minister of the cabinet, and approved by the emperor, Gao Gong, the Minister of Rites, entered the cabinet as a scholar of Wenyuan Pavilion, and Guo Pu, the Minister of Officials, joined the cabinet at the same time.

Behind this appointment was a plan that couldn't be more refined. Gao Gong doesn't like Xu Jie, Xu Jie knows it. Since Gao Gong was admitted to the imperial court with high scores in the 20th year of Jiajing (1541), he has made it clear that if he wants to be an official, he should be the biggest official, and if he wants to do it, he should do the biggest thing. Gao Hanlin stepped into the officialdom of the empire with great ambitions, ready to find his own position, but the reality told him——go cool off. For eleven years, the only job of Gao Gong, a newcomer to the Hanlin Academy and a seventh-rank editor, was to sort out documents and watch from the sidelines.

He saw Guo Xun being tortured to death in the prison, Xia Yan being dragged out and beheaded, Yan Song's domineering, Xu Jie's forbearance, he was very smart, he knew that if he went to join in the fun now, he would be courting death. It was not until the 31st year of Jiajing (1552) that he saw his hope for the first time. In this year, he became the lecturer of Prince Yu's Mansion. For Gao Hanlin, who is unknown and disappears when thrown into a crowd, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and Gao Gong firmly grasps it. Since the death of the prince in the twenty-eighth year of Jiajing (1549), Jiajing has not established a successor. Not only did he not establish a successor, but he also spoke very tightly.

It was a very wicked thing to do, especially for Yu Wang.According to his age, he was born one month earlier, so he should be the prince, but Comrade Jiajing firmly believes in the theory of "two dragons will never meet". The emperor is an old dragon, and the prince is a young dragon. Let's be wronged for another few decades. It's fine if there is no crown prince, but what King Yu can't figure out is that according to the regulations, his younger brother should have gotten out of the capital to go to his fief long ago, but this dear brother insisted on not leaving because he didn't have a crown prince. Everyone on earth knows what kind of calculations they are making. So all of a sudden, the demons danced wildly, and the storm was about to come. Comrade King Jing often made some small moves, which made King Yu feel uneasy. He was afraid that the duck in his beak would fly away again. At this most difficult moment, Gao Gong came to him. In the following days, in addition to patiently teaching knowledge, the lecturer often enlightened King Yu, protected him from harassment, and stayed around day and night. For a period of two years, Gao Gong did not seek to be promoted nor to make a fortune, but he coaxed this weak prince like a child, and used his own actions to explain to him the fact that there would be bread and biscuits. , the throne will also be there, even if there is nothing, there is still me. So in those years, although there was a bloody storm outside, King Yu's place was calm and safe, guarded by high gate guards, no matter Yan Song, Xu Jie or King Jing, no one could get in, which was much easier to use than the gate god. Yu Wang is very grateful to Gao Gong. Regarding this point, Yan Song is clear, and Xu Jie is also clear. So Gao Gong became a hot commodity, and both sides wanted to pull him to their side. When Yan Song was in power, Gao Gong was promoted from a lecturer to Taichang Temple Minister (third grade) and Guozijian Jijiu, and became a senior official. . Gao Gong didn't refuse, he accepted the post without hesitation, but he didn't go to Yan Song's house to pay homage to the pier: "I'm an official from the imperial court, what does it have to do with you, Yan Song?" In the forty-first year of Jiajing (1562), Yan Song retired, Xu Jie came into power, Gao Gong was promoted again, and became the deputy minister of the Ministry of Rites. It didn't take long for him to go further and become the Minister of Rites at the ministerial level. The idiot also knows that this is all the result of Xu Jie's promotion, but Gao Gong is still the same, he does as the official does, and he does not enter the door, completely ignoring Mr. Xu's painstaking efforts. To be honest, Xu Jie treated Gao Gong very well, and he even saved him once: Gao Gong used to be the chief examiner of the examination, but he didn't know what happened to his nerves, and there was a troublesome question. Jiajing was angered.His Excellency the Emperor planned to send him back home to farm, but fortunately Xu Jie came forward and said a lot of good things for Gao Gong, and then the matter was resolved. Now Xu Jie promoted Gao Gong again and brought him into the cabinet, but Gao Gong's reaction was far beyond Xu Jie's expectations. Not only was he not grateful to Xu Jie, but he also made trouble with Xu Jie. Since the day he entered the cabinet, he has not stopped.The biggest disturbance was undoubtedly the case of the attendant on duty. At that time, the cabinet had its own office building, and according to regulations, cabinet members should work there, but the problem was that Comrade Jiajing did not live in the bedroom, but always stayed in Xiyuan.As a minister, the first priority is to grasp the emperor's mind. For such a difficult master, if you don't follow him all the time, you may be wiped out tomorrow.Therefore, all cabinet ministers do not go to the cabinet, but always stay in the duty room in Xiyuan, and do not leave after sitting down. Finally, one day, Jiajing went to the duty room when he had nothing to do for a walk. He was quite happy to see that all the cabinet members were there, but after a calculation, everyone stayed here. Who cares if something happens to the cabinet? Jiajing was not happy, and he immediately ordered that you can live here, but you have to send someone to the cabinet every day to be on duty. So the cabinet ministers began to discuss who would go. Of course, no one wanted to go. After waiting for a long time, no one volunteered, so Xu Jie spoke: "I am the Chief Assistant, and I have great responsibilities. I cannot leave His Majesty. I cannot go." Before the words fell, Gao Gong spoke: "That's right, your seniority is old, so you should accompany the emperor. I, Li Chunfang, and Guo Pu have just joined the cabinet, so you can leave it to us to be on duty." Xu Jie lost his temper right then. Literally speaking, what Gao Gong said seems to be correct and decent, but after so many years in the officialdom, Xu Jie naturally understands the true meaning of this subordinate. It is estimated that Mr. Gao Gong's tone of voice is also a bit weird when he speaks, so twenty Xu Shoufu, who had been calm for many years, was also angry: Yan Song and I have already solved it, what's the matter with you kid? Although he was angry, he still had self-restraint. Comrade Xu Jie blushed and walked away without saying a word. It seems that Gao Gong seems a little clueless, but this is not the case. Anyone who is in the imperial court has such a consensus - no favors are owed, and what is owed must be repaid. This is the fundamental conflict between Gao Gong and Xu Jie. Mr. Xu thinks that Gao Gong owes him favors, but Gao Gong thinks he doesn't. Xu Jie did not run a charity organization. The reason why he promoted Gao Gong was naturally because of his King Yu background. Although he is in power now, he will be laid off one day after all. Going up to the stage, it is difficult to die a natural death if you want to enjoy the infinite sunset. It's a pity that Gao Gong is also very aware of this point. You must know that surviving the fierce Jiajing years and becoming bigger and bigger officials is by no means something that ordinary people can do. He has already seen through Xu Jie's plan. According to the current body of the emperor, it is estimated that he will be able to ascend to heaven after a few years. At that time, King Yu will definitely ascend the throne. I, Gao Gong, will naturally be the chief assistant of the court. Even you, Xu Jie, have to listen to me honestly. How can you do it? Favor? In addition, Gao Gong is a genius and has an arrogant personality. If he didn't buy Yan Song's account back then, Xu Jie now certainly doesn't take it seriously. Xu Jie, who had been shrewd all his life, was finally confused for a while. He didn't expect that the promotion of Gao Gong not only failed to win him over, but intensified the conflict in advance, and a new struggle was imminent. What's more troublesome is that Xu Shoufu was wrong when he was looking for the bottom line. Guo Pu, who entered the cabinet at the same time as Gao Gong, was not authentic. He was not only Gao Gong's fellow villager, but also formed a political alliance in private. They were so angry that they started to fight against Xu Jie, and Li Chunfang had always been a good guy, smiling at everyone, even if Xu Jie was hacked to death in the street, he probably wouldn't even blink. In nearly forty years of political career, Xu Jie had appointed the wrong person twice, and it was these two wrong appointments that almost made him die without a place to bury him.This is the first time. Of course, it's not the end yet, for Gao Gong and Xu Jie, this drama has just begun. The rich political experience reminded Xu Jie in time that he finally discovered that Gao Gong was not a person who could be manipulated at will, and the only purpose of this person joining the cabinet was to replace himself. Although he took a wrong step and became a minority in the cabinet, it doesn't matter, there is still room for redemption, as long as one more person is brought in, he can defeat his opponent again. When He Xinyin helped Xu Jie get rid of Yan Song, wandered around the capital for more than half a year, and then left the capital, he once said something like this: "All the talented people in the world are in the capital, but in my opinion, it is not Huating who can prosper our scholars, and it is not appropriate to lose our scholars. The rise and fall are only in Jiangling." This is a very important sentence that is not easy to understand, and it must be explained verbatim: The so-called I learn refers to Wang Xue. The central meaning of this passage is to describe the relationship between Wang Xue's life and death and the three people.And these three people are "Huating", "Fenyi" and "Jiangling". It is not "Huating" that can raise Wang Xue, and it is not "Fenyi" that can destroy Wang Xue. Only "Jiangling" can determine the fate of Wang Xue. In the official circles of the Ming and Qing Dynasties and even the Republic of China, people were often referred to by their native place. For example, Yuan Shikai was called Yuan Xiangcheng (Xiangcheng, Henan), and Li Yuanhong was called Li Huangpi (Huangpi, Hubei).Applying this rule, the passage reads as follows: The scholar who prospers me is not Xu Jie, and the scholar who perishes me is not Yan Song. The rise and fall are determined only by Zhang Juzheng! When He Xinyin uttered these words, Zhang Juzheng's job was to serve as a lecturer at the Wupin Imperial Academy. Zhang Juzheng, nicknamed Shuda, nicknamed Taiyue, was born in Jiangling, Huguang. He was the most outstanding politician in the Ming Dynasty and the most outstanding chief minister of the cabinet. Please note that there is no one behind these two titles. In the fourth year of Jiajing (1525), Zhang Wenming, a poor scholar in Jiangling County, Jingzhou Prefecture, Huguang, finally had his son cry in anxiety. As an unwilling scholar, the birth of his son brought great joy to Zhang Wenming, but when discussing the name, his grandfather Zhang Cheng, who usually doesn’t talk much, suddenly opened his mouth and told a dream he had not long ago: "A few days ago, I dreamed of a white turtle, so I'll name it after that." So the child was named Zhang Baigui (turtle). Although today, saying that people are tortoises will generally attract sports activities such as fighting, but in those days, tortoises were auspicious things, especially white tortoises, which were definitely rare species. Governor Hu Zongxian relied on the white deer and white tortoise. The tortoise won the emperor's favor, so the name is not bad. Zhang Baigui at this time was later Zhang Juzheng, but regarding his native place, it must be mentioned again, because in today's terms, the Zhang family is an outsider, and their real origin is Fengyang. Two hundred years ago, when Zhu Yuanzhang led the army to fight in his hometown, a fellow named Zhang Guanbao joined his team. He was named as a thousand households and went to Huguang. This is a rather strange coincidence, so many people who talk about geomantic omen think that this is because Zhu Chongba was too vigorous, and he laid the groundwork before his death, and let this person's descendants save the Ming Dynasty from the fire and water two hundred years later. , this statement seems unreliable, but it is indeed the case. Of course, compared with Zhu Chongba's father, Zhu Wusi, Zhang Wenming's life is much better, at least he has no worries about food and clothing, and has a decent job, but it's really meaningless to always make fun of the poor Zhu Wusi, after all, with Compared with his peers, Zhang Wenming has been quite a failure in his life. Although he studied hard, he passed the scholar examination at the age of twenty, but he was not so lucky after that. He failed the examination seven times in a row. Twenty years later Yes, still a talent. The dream that the father cannot realize can only be pinned on the children. It is said that Zhang Baigui was only a few months old, and Zhang Wenming read Tang poems in front of him. At noon" and so on, but a miracle still happened. I don't know if the education in Tang poetry played a role. Zhang Baigui can speak at the age of one, and it should be said that he is much better than Einstein. The neighbors call him a child prodigy. In a short time, Zhang Shentong was five years old and entered a private school, and his talent in reading also appeared. "I can't teach this kid anymore, you take him to the exam." The so-called examination was the examination of the county school, that is, the so-called examination of talent. Zhang Wenming led his son to the examination room immediately. That year, Zhang Baigui was twelve years old. Zhang Baigui's luck was very good. That year's scholar examiner was Li Shiao, the magistrate of Jingzhou. This brother is a relatively honest and talented person. After seeing Zhang Baigui's paper, he admired it very much. children came first. This was a relatively sensational matter, and the whole Jingzhou was discussing it, but Li Shiao just flipped through Zhang Baigui's answer sheet repeatedly, sighing the same word: "National weapon! National weapon!" He met with Zhang Wenming and his son Zhang Baigui, and after several conversations and extreme praise, Li Zhifu had this idea: In his opinion, although the tortoise is auspicious, it seems inappropriate for the child prodigy in front of him to live his life with the name of the tortoise, so he said to Zhang Wenming: "Your son's future is limitless, but Bai Gui's name doesn't seem appropriate. I think we should change his name to Juzheng." Since then, his name has been called Zhang Juzheng. If you are admitted as a scholar, the next step is to raise people. Unlike the Jinshi exam, you can’t go there every other year. According to the regulations, you have to stay in school for two or three years before you can take the qualification exam, but that’s normal. Sexual regulations, Zhang Xiucai is not an ordinary person, so he went there in the second year. The so-called timing is worse than timing, it was in this exceptional exam that Zhang Juzheng met the person who influenced his life. Before the exam started, the examiner would introduce the situation of the candidates in this subject to the leader as usual, so Gu Lin, the number one person in Huguang, learned that a thirteen-year-old child also came to the exam. Sixty-five years ago, a thirteen-year-old boy once took the exam and won the first place in one fell swoop. He was Yang Tinghe, who made troubles in three dynasties and dominated the world. Therefore, Gu Lin did not dare to neglect this latecomer, so he decided to meet him in person. human side. After the two met, the plot was more clichéd. Governor Gu looked at his appearance first. You must know that Comrade Zhang Juzheng was a famous handsome guy in the Ming Dynasty. When I was young, I was naturally not much worse.This is the interview level, pass with satisfaction. Then there was the culture test. It is said that Governor Gu asked Zhang Juzheng a few questions and made a few couplets. Zhang Juzheng answered the questions fluently without blinking his eyes.Gu Lin was very surprised and praised him a lot. The more they talked, the happier they became, and the more they talked, the more speculative they became. So at the end of the conversation, the governor probably was too excited, and while talking, he made an astonishing move—untied his belt. Of course, Governor Gu definitely didn't mean to play hooligans, and his belt was much more expensive than today's belts - a rhinoceros belt. When handing over the belt to Zhang Juzheng, Gu Lin also said this sentence: "You will be wearing a jade belt in the future. This one of mine is not good enough for you, so I can only wrong you temporarily." In fact, this is not just a question of belt belts, but a very allegorical scene, a political prophecy of great importance. In the Ming Dynasty, clothes were not allowed to be worn casually. There were also regulations on how big the official line was and how high the waistband was.And for a senior official like Gu Lin, wearing a rhinoceros belt to swagger through the market is already considered awesome. But he thought that the young man in front of him could wear a jade belt, and the jade belt only belonged to first-rank officials. The ignorant Zhang Juzheng accepted this precious gift. He looked at Gu Lin's stomach, and then made an accurate judgment - he had an extra belt that he couldn't use. Zhang Xiucai went back to prepare for the exam with his belt in his hand, and Gu Lin also put away his admiring expression, ran to find the examiner, and gave such an order: "No matter how Zhang Juzheng's answer sheet is in this subject, he must not be allowed to rank first!" This was a decision that stunned everyone present. Governor Gu turned his face too fast, but the governor's orders were naturally to be obeyed, so Zhang Xiucai's painstakingly written answer sheet became useless. Paper, the opportunity to break Mr. Yang Tinghe's record was lost. Zhang Juzheng, who was extremely depressed, returned to his hometown and began to study poetry and books hard, preparing for the exam three years later. He was kept in the dark, but he couldn't figure out what went wrong. Many years later, when Zhang Juzheng met Gu Lin again, he finally learned that the culprit was the governor, but he did not complain at all, but was so moved that he wept bitterly. Gu Lin is really a rare good person. He has seen countless young people like Zhang Juzheng with his own eyes.So when he saw Zhang Juzheng, he decided not to let this tragedy happen again. Only those who have experienced hardships can go further, Zhang Juzheng, your future is very bright. In the nineteenth year of Jiajing (1540), Zhang Juzheng entered the examination room again with unwillingness and expectation. This time he passed the examination of Juren. Just as Gu Lin expected, Zhang Juzheng was still too young. At the age of sixteen, he began to get lost in the admiration. He believed that it was only a matter of time before he became a Jinshi. He stopped reading books and started to set up interest groups and the like. , Gathering with a group of so-called celebrities and literati every day, eating, drinking and reciting poems against each other, in the blink of an eye the second year, Zhang Caizi spread his hands - no exam. Anyway, it is easy to be admitted to Jinshi, so it is better to play at home for a few more years. This is roughly the idea of ​​​​the young Zhang Juzheng. Playing is a happy thing, but if you don’t do business, it’s boring to just play every day. When Zhang Juzheng gradually got tired of this so-called "happiness", the real pain came. In this painful experience, Zhang Juzheng suffered the first blow in his life, established his first ambition, and found his first enemy. The thing is, although Zhang Juzheng's father, Zhang Wenming, was just a poor scholar, his grandfather, Zhang Zhen, had a decent job. Specifically, he was the guard of the Liao Palace. Although Jingzhou is not a big place, there happens to be a prince living here—the King of Liao. Speaking of this title, it has been a long time ago. After Zhu Chongba succeeded in the revolution, he entrusted his sons. One of them went to Liaodong and was called Liao. Wang, when his son Zhu Laosi succeeded in the second revolution, he felt that many of his brothers were an eyesore around him, so he drove all the princes near Beijing to the south.King Liao packed his luggage and went to Jingzhou. According to the regulations of the Ming Dynasty, as long as the family does not die, the throne will always exist, so the grandfather passed it on to his son, and the son passed it on to his grandson. By the way, in the Ming Dynasty, there were many strange and strange characters, which can be said to be unprecedented, and there will be no one in the future. Not to mention the Xinhua Dictionary, the Kangxi Dictionary, and the Mars Dictionary, the reason is very simple. These characters are not at all. exist. In the final analysis, it is Zhu Chongba who is to blame for this. This man is so overworked that he has even established a set of rules for the names of his descendants. The details are as follows: It must be gold, wood, water, fire, and earth, arranged in order, and the other half can be whatever you want. However, the characters with gold, wood, water, fire, and earth as radicals are really limited, and they can't meet everyone's needs at all. Ready-made characters such as "Zhao", "Di", and "Ji" must first guarantee the emperor's family, and taking the same name is another problem. It is a big taboo, so every generation of vassal kings from all over the world racked their brains and scratched their heads in order to choose a name. In desperation, they had to create their own characters. This is an extremely harmful rule, and one of the victims is me. Every time I see those ghost characters, I get a headache. I can’t type any input method, so I can only spell one as usual. And this Liao king Zhu Xianhuo Festival (to save trouble, hereinafter referred to as Liao king) is not a good person except for his uncomfortable name. Since he inherited the title of Liao king, he has turned his hatred towards Zhang Juzheng. This is a rather strange thing to say, Zhang Juzheng has never met the King of Liao, and his grandfather, the so-called guard Zhang Zhen of the palace, is actually a doorman, how could the child of the doorman's family offend the King of Liao? In the final analysis, this is also the fault of Liao Wang's mother. This Liao Wang's brother is about the same age as Zhang Juzheng. One sentence: "You see that Zhang Baigui is very promising, and then you see you..." It has been talked about for more than ten years, if you don't hate it, it will be a ghost. But hatred turned into hatred, and when he grew up, King Liao realized that he really couldn't do anything to Zhang Juzheng. In many TV dramas, the prince is a super-good guy, he can do whatever he wants, grab a girl from the people, and eat the common people, that's all commonplace.But in the Ming Dynasty, this was roughly a dream. Since Zhu Di's successful rebellion, the vassal kings have become the focus of the court's defenses. Not only have they taken back all their military power, but even their daily lives have been closely monitored and controlled by the local government. For example, King Liao's activities are limited to Jingzhou Prefecture. If you go out without permission, you risk losing your head. After all, this is a high-ranking prisoner. How easy is it to be in the right position? But the power of hatred is powerful. When the news of Zhang Juzheng's complacent and swaggering reached the ears of King Liao, a vicious plan was formed. One night not long after, the guard Zhang Zhen was inexplicably called into the palace, and then was inexplicably released again.It is impossible to verify what happened in the middle, but the result is very clear—he died shortly after returning home. This was a death event full of doubts. Various signs showed that Zhang Zhen's death had a lot to do with King Liao. Zhang Wenming and Zhang Juzheng were naturally aware of this, but the question was, what could they do? Although the vassal princes are not welcomed by the court, they are also surnamed Zhu after all, and they are relatives of the emperor. Let alone you Zhang Shentong, Zhang Xiucai, and Zhang Juren, even if you become Zhang Jinshi or Zhang Shangshu, can you still punish the prince? This is King Liao's wishful thinking. If I kill your grandfather, you can only stare blankly. Although you have no soldiers and no power in your hands, the only one who can rule me is the emperor. What can you do to me? Zhang Juzheng witnessed his grandfather's tragic death with his own eyes, but he could only cry and cry in grief. At this time, the young him saw something for the first time—privilege. The so-called privilege is that when you are ready to wash your feet and go to bed when you are full of wine and food at home, someone breaks in, takes all your property, sets fire to your house, pours foot-washing water on your head, and tells You, this is his power. This is the privilege. In the face of the privilege, Zhang Juzheng finally felt that the flowers and praise he had received before were so useless. Useless. Whether it is the magistrate of Jingzhou or the governor of Huguang, in front of King Liao, they are just a bunch of decorations. People with privileges can trample on all moral norms, despise all laws and regulations, and do whatever they want.The weak can only be slaughtered. King Liao would not have thought that his demonstration would completely change Zhang Juzheng's life and wake up the young man from his sleep.It was in this incident that Zhang Juzheng understood the horror and power of privilege. He hated this power, but yearned for it. Standing in front of his grandfather's grave, Zhang Juzheng, who was deep in thought, finally found the only way to defeat the Liao King and his privileges - greater privileges. I will come back, one day, I will come back to ask you for everything, and make you suffer more than me. Casting a last glance at the magnificent Liao Palace, Zhang Juzheng, who clenched his fists tightly, embarked on the road to Beijing for the exam. It was the 23rd year of Jiajing (1544) and Zhang Juzheng was 20 years old. No matter how much his emotions changed, Zhang Juren was still very confident about his talent. He believed that he could win the first place, but the reality taught him a lesson again - he lost his name to Sun Shan. This is a fact that Zhang Juzheng can't accept but has to accept. All his pride and vanity have been completely lost, so he can only return to his hometown in embarrassment, study hard, and wait for the next opportunity. In the twenty-sixth year of Jiajing (1547), Zhang Juzheng went to Beijing again to rush for the exam. At this time, there was only one thought in his mind: just pass the exam, just pass the exam. Aunt Zhao Lirong once said: Crazy is not good.This sentence makes sense. Zhang Juzheng was not crazy anymore, so he won the prize, and his ranking was not low. . It is not uncommon for the Shu Jishi training class to be held every three years, but this class in the 26th year of Jiajing was really a fierce class. , and later cabinet members Li Chunfang, Yin Shidan and other fierce people, it can be described as a luxurious lineup. It was in this training class that Zhang Juzheng met Xu Jie for the first time. Although Xu Jie had already spotted Zhang Juzheng at this time and planned to pull him under his own door, Zhang Juzheng did not like this head teacher who seemed too enthusiastic. He has maintained considerable vigilance, and has no personal relationships other than daily contacts. It's very funny that although Zhang Juzheng didn't like Xu Jie, he liked Yan Song more. In his opinion at the time, Mr. Yan was still fighting in the front line at the age of 60, and he was full of energy and radiant, which was really admirable . So in the following two years, even though Xia Yan was killed and the poor homeroom teacher Xu Jie was punished, he never said a word or expressed sympathy.On the contrary, he wrote a lot of articles praising Yan Song, and he would send some congratulatory messages every birthday. Xu Jie has nothing to do about this, but he believes that one day, this young man will be able to understand his painstaking efforts. God didn't make him wait too long. In the 29th year of Jiajing (1550), Zhang Juzheng broke with Yan Song. In this year, the "Geng Shu Revolution" broke out. Zhang Juzheng watched the Mongolian soldiers come and go, come and go, set fire and rob.Lord Yan eats and sleeps, sleeps and eats again, but doesn't do anything. People can't be so shameless, Zhang Juzheng was angry, his fantasies about Yan Song were reduced to ashes with the fire outside the city, he finally turned to Xu Jie. At this time, Xu Jie's position was Minister of the Ministry of Rites and a Bachelor of the Cabinet, and he had become a senior official of the imperial court. In Zhang Juzheng's view, he could fight Yan Song. Needless to say, he obeyed Yan Song in every possible way, without any resistance. Are you so cowardly?Zhang Juzheng did not expect that the teacher he placed great hopes on turned out to be a kind person who only cared about his power and status and did not dare to stand up.Of course, the anger is the anger, and Zhang Juzheng himself did not stand up, after all, he is only a seventh-rank Imperial Academy editor at this time, and he is not as courageous as Yang Jisheng. Yan Song was messing around day after day, Xu Jie was backing down day after day, Zhang Juzheng was depressed day after day, and finally one day, he couldn't stand it anymore, so he made a life-changing decision—to ask for sick leave. Before leaving, he left a letter to Mr. Xu, denouncing the other party's peaceful behavior, in which there is such a very eye-catching sentence: In ancient times, ordinary people still had higher opinions than those of the emperor, but today's prime minister dare not say a word, why? ! Literally understood, the general meaning is: Teacher Xu Jie, you are not as good as a man! Seeing the letter, Xu Jie just smiled: Boy, you are too young.