Chapter 7 Chapter 7 Deathmatch

The appointment of Pan Jixun, Yin Zhengmao, and Wang Chonggu proved that Gao Gong was an extremely outstanding politician. Under his leadership, the Ming Dynasty began to revitalize and his reputation reached its peak. However, at that radiant apex, a shadow had quietly appeared behind him. Zhang Juzheng is not an honest person. He may be a good person, but he is not honest. He has always had opinions on Comrade Gao Gong: In terms of qualifications, Gao Gong came three years earlier than him. In terms of positions, Gao Gong worked from a member of the Imperial Academy to a deputy minister, minister, and bachelor. He was directly promoted from a cadre at the level of the fifth-rank deputy department to a bachelor, and he belonged to a related family who went through the back door. In terms of ability, Gao Gong can be said to be a genius born in the world. He can make good decisions. Relatively speaking, he is just a stunned young man.

So no matter how you look at it, Zhang Juzheng can only be an obedient little brother, and he has always done this way. He always obeys his superiors in everything, always asks for instructions when encountering major issues, and respects the leader very much. But the problem is that Gao Gong is not satisfied with being the boss, he also wants to be a father, he wants everyone to obey him and obey his command, anyone who disobeys will be spanked. At the beginning, Zhang Juzheng didn't have any objection, after all, Gao Gong was an old comrade, and it seemed that there was nothing wrong with playing prestige, but he soon changed his opinion - when he saw the spanked man with his own eyes.

This unlucky man is Yin Shidan, and there are really long stories about this person. In the twenty-sixth year of Jiajing (1547), Yin Shidan and Zhang Juzheng graduated at the same time. Due to their excellent grades, they were selected as Shu Jishi, and later transferred to Yuwangfu to serve as Yuwang's lecturer. He has a background in the Hanlin Academy, is also a member of the prince's team, and has a good official career. In the second year of Longqing (1568), he became a minister of the Ministry of Rites, but the strange thing is that he just couldn't get into the cabinet.

In the Ming Dynasty, this was really a terrible problem. I remember that I was appointed as a health committee member when I was in elementary school. Now that I think about it, that is the highest position I have ever held. Although the only benefit is to sweep the floor once a day, it is really exciting. Surging, excited, why? Because the health committee member is a member of the class committee. You must know that although the representatives of each subject usually manage and collect homework, they are really impressive (especially for people like me who don't like to hand in homework), but they are not members of the class committee. When the teacher calls a meeting, they are not qualified Those who go there will not get the highest instruction from the teacher.

The health committee members are different. Although they are disheartened every day, whenever they hear the teacher calling, they wave the broom in their hands and look proudly at the class representative who collects homework, and go to the meeting! That's pretty awesome. I believe you have already understood that the class representatives are the ministers, the class committee is the cabinet, and the teacher is... This is the reason why sweeping the floor is better than collecting notebooks. Yin Shidan hated collecting homework, he wanted to sweep the floor, but he never got this chance.

However, Minister Yin, who is rooted and young, cannot enter the cabinet. In the final analysis, his mouth is to blame. In this world, for the same thing, different explanations have completely different effects. For example, if a fat man weighs 100 kilograms, if you insist on saying that he weighs 0.1 tons, I will not sympathize with you if he is beaten and disabled. Yin Shidan is roughly such a person. He is from Licheng (now Jinan, Shandong). He is an authentic Shandong man. He was restless, so when King Yu came to the throne, he didn't like the former teacher very much. In fact, it doesn't matter what the emperor thinks, the key is that Gao Gong doesn't like him.

This is normal, Gao Gong wants to be an obedient person, but Yin Shidan obviously does not meet this requirement. Therefore, the matter of entering the cabinet has been delayed for several years, and the staff came in and out, but he did not have his share. It is not surprising. What is strange is that in November of the fourth year of Longqing (1570), the man who collected homework actually got a broom - joined the cabinet. Naturally, this was not Gao Gong's occasional kindness, but the result of Minister Yin's personal struggle. Since Gao Gong was unreliable, and the emperor could not count on it, there was only one way left—the eunuch.

Yin Shidan gritted his teeth, followed the eunuch's path, and finally got his wish. Gao Gong could only sigh in dismay, after all, he also started his career by relying on eunuchs. But the treacherous and cunning Gao Xueshi naturally won't stop here: If you can't stop you from coming in, then drive you out!In order to deal with this disobedient subordinate as soon as possible, he recruited his confidantes and gave them to Han Ji. A few days later, under Han Ji's instructions, the officials began to attack. Comrade Yin Shidan's old background was searched, from school to finding a wife, and everything he could find was scolded, which made him very embarrassed .

Gao Gong was complacent, and it didn't take long for Yin Shidan to leave. Facts proved that he was right, but he also ignored a very important point - Yin Shidan's temper. Then an accident happened. The matter started with a meeting. Originally, only the academicians attended the cabinet meeting, but sometimes the officials were invited to the meeting, but this time, it was Han Ji who came. Yin Shidan didn't like Gao Gong, so he planned to say hello and leave, but when he saw Han Ji coming, he was immediately refreshed, walked forward quickly, and said something like this: "I heard that Section Chief Han (Han Ji was in charge of all six subjects, and was called section chief in the Ming Dynasty) had opinions on me. It doesn't matter if you have opinions, as long as you don't let them be used by villains!"

High Arch is spot on. As long as Xueshi Yin is not a Martian, he must understand what it means, and there are so many people present, so Gao Gong's face can't be covered. "How decent!" it is good!You are willing to jump out! Having had enough of being a grandson, Yin Shidan finally couldn't take it anymore, and uttered an earth-shattering roar: "Gao Gong! Master Chen (referring to Chen Yiqin) was driven away by you, Master Zhao (referring to Zhao Zhenji) was driven away by you, and Master Li (referring to Li Chunfang) was also driven away by you. I'm leaving! The position of the chief assistant belongs to your family!?"

Gao Gong was dumbfounded at the time. He never expected that a senior cadre like Yin Shidan would go crazy in public, and he couldn't react for a while, but what made him even more unexpected was yet to come. Yin Shidan is really an honest person, honesty is a bit too much, this dear man didn't let go of his hatred after scolding others, he rolled up his sleeves and rushed to Gao Gong. Anyway, if you scold him, you can just beat him up, even if you want to leave, it's enough for you! After all, he is an old politician for many years. Brother Gao Gong is not a vegetarian. When he saw that Comrade Yin was serious, he ran away. ! At the critical moment, Zhang Juzheng stepped forward, he grabbed Yin Shidan, and began to make love: "Everything is easy to discuss, why do you bother?" However, Yin Shidan is obviously not mud, but cement, he doesn't give face at all, and roars at Zhang Juzheng again: "Zhang Taiyue (Zhang Juzheng's name is Taiyue), stop meddling in other people's business and stay away!" I'm going all out today, and anyone who dares to block me will be killed! Fortunately, there were a lot of people present, so everyone recovered their strength and rushed forward, and then held down Grand Master Yin, so nothing happened. I did the math, and when the trouble broke out, Yin Shidan was fifty-six years old, Gao Gong was sixty years old, and Zhang Juzheng was the youngest, also forty-seven years old. The three middle-aged and elderly people still have the energy to make trouble, which is really admirable. As expected of a native of Shandong, Yin Shidan was a bit of a hero of Liangshan, daring to act, and he offered to resign before returning home and went home to retire. In Gao Gong's opinion, this result is not bad. Although he was almost beaten, he still won and can continue to be the boss of the cabinet. But what he never expected was that this turmoil was the starting point of his downfall, because in that chaotic scene, Zhang Juzheng firmly remembered the sentence that many people ignored: Now you don't like me, and you want to drive me away!The position of the first assistant is your family's fault! ? That's right, since Master Li can be driven away, and Master Chen can be driven away, then I will also be driven away—when Master Gao doesn't like me. Besides, I also like the position of Shoufu. Therefore, from that day on, Zhang Juzheng made a firm understanding that among the two people, only one can be left. And that person can only be me. In order to realize my dreams and ambitions, High Arch, you must be destroyed. Zhang Juzheng made up his mind and prepared to attack his old friends and colleagues, but unexpectedly, Gao Gong was the one who made the move first. In fact, even though Gao Gong was wary of Zhang Juzheng all along, he still regarded him as a friend, until one day, he heard the rumor. To Gao Gong, Zhao Zhenji is hateful, and Yin Shidan is hateful, but as long as they get out, there is no need to kill them all, except for one person-Xu Jie. For Mr. Xu, Gao Gong was very caring. After the other party's family was destroyed, he still refused to let him go. He often asked about Xu Jie's current situation, lest he die too easily. At this time, someone suddenly came to tell him that Zhang Juzheng had a secret relationship with Xu Jie, and promised to help him and exonerate his son. Of course, Zhang Juzheng didn't do it in vain, he took 30,000 taels of silver. Gao Gong nodded calmly, he was going to use his own method to solve this problem. One day not long after, he found Zhang Juzheng for a chat, and suddenly he looked up to the sky and sighed: "God is so unfair!" Zhang Juzheng didn't speak, he knew that the next words would be the main topic. "Why do you have so many sons and I have none?" Only then did Zhang Juzheng heave a sigh of relief, Gao Gong was really unlucky, he was in his sixties and had no children, so he would have no children and grandchildren in the future. In order to ease the atmosphere, Zhang Juzheng made use of his expertise in Hexi Ni and said with a smile: "There are many sons, but it's not easy to support them!" Well, this is what I want. "You have the 30,000 taels of silver that Xu Jie gave you, so it's not a problem to support a few sons." Gao Gong smiled, showing a ferocious face. Zhang Juzheng panicked, and only then did he realize that the person who came was not kind. In desperation, he had no choice but to gamble on God's curse, saying that if he collects money, he will be hit by a car when he goes out, and he will give birth to a son without an ass hole, etc. In the end, he burst into tears. Gongcai made a gesture, saying that this was a rumor made by someone, and I absolutely don't believe it, and then the two sides shook hands and made peace and got back together. Give him a lesson, and he will be honest and obedient in the future - this is Gao Gong's idea. He must be dealt with as soon as possible, without further delay! ——This is Zhang Juzheng's determination. I have made up my mind, but how do I do it?If the broom can't reach it, the dust won't run away by itself, Zhang Juzheng understands this truth. But the current Gao Gong is not what it used to be, even the extremely cunning teacher Xu has been defeated by him, there is really no chance of winning by himself.Moreover, this sixty-year-old old man is in good health. He wakes up early every day to exercise and is full of energy. It is too unreliable to wait for him to die naturally. Just at the end of the day, a man came into Zhang Juzheng's field of vision, his name was Feng Bao. Compared with his counterparts in the Ming Dynasty, Feng Bao was a very peculiar eunuch—so peculiar that he didn't look like a eunuch. Generally speaking, eunuchs are considered intellectuals if they can know a few words and write their own names due to their poor background and poor family. According to this standard, Feng Bao can definitely be rated as a professor, because he is not only proficient in classics and history, but also a A well-known musician who is good at playing a variety of musical instruments. In addition, he also likes to paint and collect some things from time to time. For example, one time later, when he was wandering in the palace, he "unintentionally" walked into the collection library in the palace, "unintentionally" flipped through the emperor's various collections, and then "unintentionally" fell in love with one of the paintings. In the end, he "shun" (the scientific name is "stolen") "unintentionally" and stole the painting. Facts have proved that Mr. Feng Bao's artistic appreciation is quite high, because the painting that he took over is called "Along the River During the Qingming Festival". Things like this are generally known by heaven and earth, and the reason why a small person like me can join in the fun is because after Eunuch Feng stole the painting, he stamped his own collection on it openly Chapter - to commemorate (similar to a certain visit here). The privacy of Eunuch Feng is revealed just to let you know that although he is educated and engaged in art, he is definitely not a kind person. A good quality: bold, careful, thick-skinned. However, history tells us that only such people are the most suitable for conspiracy. What surprised Zhang Juzheng even more was that the person Feng Bao hated the most was precisely Gao Gong. We have introduced before that among the eunuch agencies in the Ming Dynasty, the most powerful was the Supervisor of Ceremonies, because this department was responsible for helping the emperor to correct the memorials. It's up to them to pass the test. Since the Jiajing period, Feng Bao has been a member of the Sili Supervisor. After Long Qing ascended the throne, he also had a prosperous official career and became the eunuch of the East Factory and the eunuch of the Yuma Supervisor. This is a great position. You must know that Dongchang is a secret service agency, and Yumajian holds military power. It is the second most powerful agency among the twelve prisons, second only to the Silijian.He is in charge of secret agents as well as troops. If a eunuch can do this, he is considered a successful person. But Feng Bao was not satisfied. If he wanted to be the overlord among the eunuchs, he had to return to the Supervisor of Rituals and get another position—the eunuch of the palm print. The job of the ceremonial supervisor is to tick and seal. The number of people who ticked varies. They are called Bingbi eunuchs, but only the palm print eunuch is qualified to affix the seal—there is one and only one. Major events in the world must be passed through my official seal, and you can't accept it. It just so happened that the former eunuch who held the seal was dismissed from get out of class, and the eunuchs had to be ranked according to their seniority. According to their qualifications, Feng Bao should take over, but he didn't get the position because Gao Gong intervened. Gao Gong was born out of nowhere, and helped the imperial eunuch Chen Hong to the throne. The reason is very simple. Back then, Chen Hong helped him to take the stage, and now it's time to repay the favor. You, Chen Hong, are just a prison in charge of the warehouse, so why jump in line? !However, the poor Feng Bao could only stare blankly, Gao Gong was too tough to be provoked. Then wait, one day I will wait for you.It seemed that Feng Bao's infatuation moved the heavens, and Brother Chen Hong came to the stage not long ago, and got out of class.Now it should be Eunuch Feng's turn. However, Gao Gong made another move, and he recommended Meng Chong to take Chen Hong's place. Feng Baochu was furious, and his anger was like a torrential river. It is said that he cursed at home for three days, and the lingering lingering lingering lingering in his ears. He was so excited, not because someone took his position, but because this brother Meng Chong's identity was a bit too special. According to regulations, in order to become a eunuch in charge of ceremonies, one must have been trained in a grassroots unit or an important position, so that one can be a good leading eunuch. However, Mr. Meng Chong's original position was the supervisor of Shangshan, which is a bit sensational, because Shangshan The main duty of the supervisor is to manage the cooking. In other words, Mr. Meng Chong, the head of the Shangshan Supervisor, is a glorious catering manager. So bullying!Last time you found a warehouse manager, I just put up with it, but this time you found a cook, next time you're going to find someone who dumps the toilet? Feng Bao finally understood that if he didn't bring down Gao Gong, he would never have a bright future, so after a short period of observation, he didn't need an introducer to introduce him, and he didn't go through complicated procedures such as testing, holding hands, and meeting parents. They hit it off with Zhang Juzheng and formed the closest alliance. But when the two sides got together, they found that brother Gao Gong was really difficult to win. His prestige was already in full swing, the emperor obeyed him, and there were countless minions in the court. In a word, he was Xu Jie back then, but he was more difficult to deal with. Much more, because it seems that this man seems to intend to revolutionize to the end, and has no intention of retiring early at all. So the two quickly reached a consensus, and now they can only wait—to die at the same height. But there is no guarantee for this kind of thing. Just as the pair of suffering brothers and sisters were preparing to fight a protracted war, the situation deteriorated further. In order to preserve their strength, Zhang Juzheng and Feng Bao agreed that Feng Bao would come forward when something happened, and Zhang Juzheng hid in the dark and shot black guns. The two did not communicate publicly, but always exchanged feelings in private. But the accident still happened. One day, Zhang Juzheng suddenly got news that Emperor Longqing's condition had worsened. This was extremely important information, but it was getting late at this time. Send someone to Feng Bao. Arriving safely and returning safely, Zhang Juzheng breathed a sigh of relief. However, the next day, when he just stepped into the Cabinet Office, he was overwhelmed by a loud shout: "Last night, why did you send a secret letter to Feng Bao? What was written in the letter? If you have something, why didn't you discuss it with me?!" This time Gao Gong didn't go around in circles anymore. Anyway, there are only two of us in the cabinet. Since it's a nonsense, let's talk about it.He stared at Zhang Juzheng, waiting for the other party's answer. Zhang Juzheng was unprepared and was at a loss for a while, but the old fox is an old fox, and in a short while, he put on a signature smile, looked at Gao Gong with a smile, and didn't speak. The so-called reaching out and not slapping people with smiling faces, I will live and die without expressing my opinion, what should you do? This was probably a kind of scoundrel, so after a period of confrontation, Gao Gong withdrew. He warned Zhang Juzheng not to act recklessly, and walked away angrily. Things got serious, and when he heard that the contact was exposed, Feng Bao exploded: What kind of underground work is going on? Gao Gong knows about it, so let's show it off!The two of us go up together, let the fish die and the net break, let's see who is finished! Zhang Juzheng understood that Feng Bao was right, the situation was urgent now, Gao Gong might have already noticed it, the so-called strike first is the best, if you strike now, you can still seize the opportunity, otherwise it will be troublesome. The most critical time has come, and there is still a slight chance of winning, waiting seems to be lifeless. Facing the extremely unfavorable situation, Zhang Juzheng made an unexpected choice: "hold on." The incomparable talent and more than 20 years of political experience in the imperial court finally saved Zhang Juzheng and made him make an extremely accurate judgment: "Gao Gong still trusts me." Continue to hide and wait for the time to come. On May 26, the sixth year of Longqing (1572), the opportunity came. Emperor Longqing finally passed away. This Taiping emperor had been a substitute for more than 20 years, but he only served as emperor for six years. It is estimated that he was under too much pressure back then. Fei, he doesn't have the mental quality of his father, and he can't afford to get sick every time he comes and goes. This well-behaved emperor knew that he couldn't do it, so he handed over the work to capable people. During his rule, the economy developed, the people lived and worked in peace, and even the Mongols stopped, which is quite good. In a word, he is an honest man. On this day, this honest man felt that he was going to die, so he urgently ordered to summon three people, they were Gao Gong, Zhang Juzheng, and Gao Yi who had just joined the cabinet. Let me talk about Gao Yi here. Although his surname is Gao, he is by no means a relative of Gao Gong. This brother was a classmate of Gao Gong back then. He has been diligent and cautious for decades. He is an out-and-out honest Man, honest to the point of outrageous: For example, when he was minister of the Ministry of Rites, his house caught fire and burned to the ground. At least he is a ministerial-level cadre, so he just needs to build a new one. But Gaoyi was very different. He had no money and didn't speak to the organization. He actually found a friend's house to borrow, and he didn't buy a house until his death. He just made do with it for more than ten years. Therefore, it is obvious that Gao Gong pulled this person into the cabinet to make up the numbers. In his opinion, Gao Yi is just an honest person with a slow response. However, the development of things since then tells us that he may be honest, but he is absolutely honest. Not dull. After receiving the order to enter the palace, Gao Gong immediately realized that the emperor might be dying. In order not to delay the matter, he ran away. According to historical records, this man didn't even sit in a sedan chair. Running from Donganmen to Donghuamen, and finally arriving at the destination before the emperor died, it is really amazing. By the way, this route is still available today. Friends who are interested can try to run, starting from Dong'anmen, and then running into the Forbidden City Qianqing Palace (remember to bring money to buy tickets), and you can also remember the ancestors while experiencing the historical sites . When Gao Gong arrived at the bedroom, he found that five people had come before him. They were the queen, the prince Zhu Yijun, the prince's birth mother Li Guifei, Zhang Juzheng, and the person he hated the most—Feng Bao. This is a seemingly ordinary combination of personnel. It is normal for the first three people to arrive first. They live close to each other. The supervisor of ceremonies, Bingbi, is the emperor's secretary, and it seems reasonable to come here to join in the fun. So at the critical moment, Gao Gong didn't think much, and rushed to the half-dead emperor. However, he never expected that the reason why Zhang Juzheng arrived early was because he had already received news from Feng Bao, and the reason why Feng Bao was present was because his long-planned conspiracy was about to be realized here. Seeing Gao Gong coming, the emperor who had already signed his name on the Hades Registry seemed to have withdrawn again. He exhausted all his strength to express his gratitude to this friend and teacher who had been with him for more than 30 years and had gone through all kinds of hardships. , said the last words: "The prince is still young, and there are major events in the world, so I will trouble you, sir." After speaking, leave. On May 26th in the sixth year of Longqing (1572), Zhu Zaihou, the Emperor of Longqing, died at the age of thirty-six. When the emperor died, according to the usual practice, everyone had to cry. Regardless of whether they were sincere or not, the procedures that should be followed still had to be followed. Similarly, according to the usual practice, after crying, they should discuss issues of inheritance and power. At this time, the most confident person is Gao Gong. The emperor said before his death that the crown prince was handed over to me. Who else can replace me? From a legal point of view, the emperor made a request to Gao Gong, which was called a verbal offer, and Gao Gong agreed to the request, which was called a verbal promise, but the facts proved that neither the offer nor the promise was comparable to a contract. Comrade Gao Gong suffered from ignorance of the law, because at the moment when he was most proud, Feng Bao, who had stood by and said nothing, took action—he took out the contract. This so-called contract is the will. I won’t introduce much about the content of this contract. It’s basically what I did wrong. I’m sorry to the people of the country, I’m sorry to the working people. Now I’m dead. When I saw that key sentence, I immediately jumped into a rage: "The Commander-in-Chief, the Supervisor of Rituals, the Eunuch, and the Grand Master of the Cabinet jointly assist the government!" This time it was the other way around. In the more than 200 years of Ming Dynasty history, no matter how rampant the eunuchs were, even super-big names like Wang Zhen and Liu Jin would be wishful thinking to serve as a government assistant. to what? However, this example was broken in his own hands, and Gao Gong was so angry that the seven holes were smoking. What's more, according to the regulations, I should be the one who drafted the will. The emperor died in a hurry and didn't have time to write it. Everyone understands that now you, Feng Bao, actually came up with a will, which fell from the sky? ! But the excitement is the excitement. After all, the person died not long ago, and the orphans and widows are in front of him. voila. After only one day, Gao Gong knew that he was wrong. The next day, another decree was promulgated: Meng Chong, the eunuch who was in charge of the seal, retired and was replaced by Feng Bao, the eunuch of Bingbi. I see! He looked down on the eunuch, but was tricked by the eunuch. Gao Gong finally found out that he had fallen into a trap, and the situation was very unfavorable. But the old slicker is an old slicker after all. After a brief panic, Gao Gong regained his composure and called his confidants Luo Qiu and Cheng Wen. After discussing all night, they came up with an almost perfect attack plan. This day was June 8th in the sixth year of Longqing (1572), and Gao Gong believed that the winning ticket was within his grasp.