After listening to Zhang Juzheng's words, Gao Gong felt sad for a long time, and then he expressed his agreement.
"Oh, maybe you are right. Just being an idle prince and spending his life peacefully is the best ending for him!"
"If he continues like this, he will one day touch His Majesty's reverse scale. By then, everything will be too late!"
"His Majesty is not only cruel to others, but also to himself. When he first came to the throne, he refuted hundreds of officials in the ceremonial meeting, asked for honorary titles for his biological parents, and then reduced the family expenses and re-introduced the sea ban. Your Majesty did not care what others thought. He, as long as he thinks it is right, he will do it!"
When Gao Gong said this, his eyes were full of sadness, and he spoke to himself.
"It must be precisely because His Majesty, Prince Yu, was completely disappointed that there was a child in the belly of Imperial Concubine Shen!"
After Zhang Juzheng heard this, he was also quite emotional. After taking a sip from the teacup on the table, he turned to speak.
"Yes, maybe His Majesty's original intention was just to let His Royal Highness Prince Yu learn how to manage politics from Xu Jie, but who knows, it will turn into what it is now!"
After that, both sides fell into silence, and no one had the intention to speak.
But despite this, the two of them didn't feel any embarrassment. Instead, they felt like they had found a confidant.
Immediately, Gao Gong turned his gaze to Zhang Juzheng. After looking him up and down, he spoke very seriously.
"Zhang Juzheng, I have a hunch in my heart that in the future, your achievements will be immeasurable, and your name, Zhang Juzheng, will definitely be left in the history books in the future!"
When Zhang Juzheng heard this, there was no unnecessary expression on his face, he just said calmly.
"Mr. Gao Ge is joking. I am still very young and have little qualifications, so it is difficult for me to take on a big responsibility. Besides, the current government has to rely on Mr. Yan Ge, Mr. Xu Ge, and Mr. Gao Ge to support it!"
After hearing Zhang Juzheng's compliment, Gao Gong also smiled and said immediately.
"Young, it's better to be younger. Being young means having more time, and it also means there will be more trial and error costs. You have to accumulate more and more, just to become a blockbuster!"
When Gao Gong said this, he seemed to suddenly remember something, and then asked.
"By the way, I remember that you seemed to be the ninth scholar in the second class in the 26th year of Jiajing?"
"Yeah, that's right."
After getting Zhang Juzheng's answer, Gao Gong seemed to be quite emotional about it, and said in a voice that only he could hear: "You are only thirty-six years old!"
"At the age of thirty-six, he became the Minister of the Ministry of War and served as the Cabinet Group Assistant. He was highly regarded by His Majesty. In the future, it will probably be Zhang Juzheng's turn to take the position of Chief Assistant of the Cabinet!"
Thinking of this, Gao Gong couldn't help but take another high look at Zhang Juzheng, who was usually unshowy but extremely reliable in his work.
In his opinion, Yan Shifan, who joined the cabinet at the same time as him, was able to successfully join the cabinet because of his father Yan Song's influence. However, Zhang Juzheng did not have a father who was the chief minister of the cabinet.
In other words, he did all this by himself!
At this moment, Zhang Juzheng on the side saw Gao Gong's delay in responding and couldn't help but ask.
"What's wrong?"
"fine."
Hearing this, Gao Gong shook his head and immediately changed the topic.
"According to what you just said, His Royal Highness King Jing has already resigned from the feudal vassal, and His Highness Prince Yu has also lost hope of competing for the crown prince. Is it possible that His Majesty plans to make the child in the belly of Imperial Concubine Shen the crown prince?"
When Zhang Juzheng saw Gao Gong bringing this extremely sensitive topic to the table without any scruples, a look of panic suddenly appeared on his face.
After looking around for a while to make sure no one was eavesdropping, he breathed a sigh of relief.
Immediately afterwards, Zhang Juzheng answered decisively after carefully considering his words.
"Well, that's right. Judging from the existing information, the child in the belly of Imperial Concubine Shen has a very high probability of being established as the crown prince!"
"Not long ago, the Yangxin Palace where His Majesty lived was struck by lightning and needed repairs. Without saying a word, His Majesty moved to the Ganlu Palace where the Shen family lived. In addition, on weekdays, in addition to handling daily government affairs, His Majesty also Go visit the imperial concubine often!"
"It can be seen from all this that His Majesty has extremely high expectations for the child in the belly of Imperial Concubine Shen!"
When Zhang Juzheng said this, as if he suddenly remembered something, he turned his gaze to Gao Gong and lowered his voice.
"Before this, there were rumors that if the child in the belly of Imperial Concubine Shen is successfully born, she will become the queen of my Ming Dynasty!"
Before this, Gao Gong was extremely calm, because he had already known the information that Zhang Juzheng had inquired about.
However, when Zhang Juzheng mentioned that the imperial concubine Shen was likely to become the empress of the Ming Dynasty, Gao Gong couldn't restrain his inner surprise and couldn't help but take a breath.
You know, the position of Queen of the Ming Dynasty has been vacant for many years!
Since the death of Queen Fang, His Majesty has never appointed a queen, but now, there is such a rumor suddenly.
Although Gao Gongming was very calm on the outside, his heart was already turbulent and he could not calm down for a long time.
"Could it be said that His Majesty really plans to..."
Suddenly, Gao Gong seemed to realize something, and suddenly turned his eyes to Zhang Juzheng. Their eyes met in the air for a moment, and then they looked away.
Both of them realized that this topic could not be continued any longer!
After that, Gao Gong stood up from his seat, bowed his hands to Zhang Juzheng, and smiled.
"It's getting late, it's time for me to go back!"
Upon hearing this, Zhang Juzheng suddenly stood up from his seat and said respectfully, as if he was belatedly thinking about it.
"Mr. Gao Ge, can I see you off?"
"Um."
Seeing this, Gao Gong did not reject Zhang Juzheng's kindness, and the two left the hall for entertaining guests together.
…
Night falls, the Forbidden City, Qianqing Palace.
At this time, there was no one else in the Qianqing Palace except Jiajing. Because of this, Jiajing, who was sitting on the dragon chair and holding a book in his hand, seemed quite lonely.
At this moment, Lu Fang was seen entering Qianqing Palace with silent steps.
After he bowed respectfully to Jiajing as usual, he immediately came to Jiajing and lowered his voice.
"Your Majesty, here is the record of the conversation between Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng sent from Jin Yiwei!"
When Jiajing heard this, he nodded slightly, put the book in his hand aside, and gave instructions.
"Well, show it to me!"
"As you command, Your Majesty!"
Seeing Jiajing taking over the conversation record, Lu Fang added immediately.
"Your Majesty, after Gao Gong left from Prince Yu's Mansion today, he was invited to Zhang Juzheng's home. In addition..."
While Jiajing listened to Lu Fang's report, he concentrated on the conversation record in his hand.
After a long time, Jiajing put aside the conversation record in his hand, chuckled, turned his eyes to Lu Fang, and asked with interest.
"Lu Fang, this Gao Gong said that I am cruel to others and also to myself. What do you think?"
"Your Majesty... Your Majesty, I think... you... are not..."
After Lu Fang heard this, he hesitated for a long time and did not respond.
Jiajing didn't pay much attention to Lu Fang's performance. He just picked up the teacup beside him and took a sip.
Seeing this, Lu Fang changed the topic. After carefully considering her words, she mustered up the courage to ask Jiajing.
"Your Majesty... Your Majesty, how do you plan to handle this matter?"
When Jiajing heard this, he glanced at Lu Fang and responded casually.
"That's all, just pretend this never happened!"
After hearing what Jiajing said, Lu Fang immediately looked stern and responded in a deep voice.
"As you command, Your Majesty!"
After Jiajing finished speaking, he turned his attention to the conversation record again and said silently to himself.
"Ha, this high arch is really good at flattering me!"
(End of chapter)
