On April 16, the sixth year of Wanli, Zhang Juzheng's father, Zhang Wenming, was buried in Taihui Mountain.
However, after the burial, Zhang Juzheng did not immediately return to Beijing.
Instead, Zhang Juzheng went to Zhu Yijun and asked Zhu Yijun to allow him to postpone his return date on the grounds that it was a scorching summer on his way back to Beijing, and he wanted to take his old mother to the capital to support her. She might not be able to withstand the heat of the journey. Return to the capital in September.
Zhu Yijun knew that this was Zhang Juzheng testing himself, wanting to see if he, the emperor, had really begun to trust Gao Gong more and no longer needed him to return to the capital, so he used the excuse in April that he was afraid that his mother would not be able to endure the journey. It's extremely hot and you want to postpone your return date.
In fact, Zhu Yijun has already understood by calling Gao Gong that Gao Gong has weaknesses that Zhang Juzheng does not have. In the end, he is different from Zhang Juzheng. It is indeed more suitable to stay in the court as an adviser, and it is really suitable for him, the emperor, to have influence on the world's affairs. Zhang Juzheng is the only one who advocates and can clean up the aftermath and take responsibility.
Therefore, Zhu Yijun pretended to be stern and said: "Let the clerk take this notice to the cabinet to pass on my oral instructions, and ask the ministers in the cabinet. I hope that Mr. will come early day and night. How come I have such a message?!"
Zhang Jing raised his hands and said yes.
Cabinet ministers Zhang Siwei and Wang Guoguang were horrified after hearing this.
After the eunuch in the clerk's office left, Wang Guoguang said unconvincedly to Zhang Siwei: "How dare we prevent Yuan Fu from returning to the capital? How could your majesty vent his anger on us?!"
Zhang Siwei smiled bitterly and said: "Your Majesty means that we have to urge Yuan Fu to return to the capital for him. He cannot directly issue an edict to urge him, lest the people in the world really think that the emperor can't live without Yuan Fu!"
Then, Zhang Siwei sighed and said: "Now it seems that His Majesty still relies heavily on Yuan Fu."
Wang Guoguang suddenly smiled and asked Zhang Siwei: "Does Ziwei think this is a bad thing?"
Zhang Siwei was startled, and then said sternly: "My servant didn't say that!"
After saying that, Zhang Siwei threw up his sleeves and went back to his check-in room, and whispered: "Zhao Neijiang left, and Wang Yangcheng came. Each one of them spoke in strange and eccentric ways, which made people unhappy. How long will it take to get through this?" Get ahead in the cabinet!"
Shortly after Zhu Yijun announced the order to the cabinet, officials from the cabinet, the Sixth Ministry, the Metropolitan Procuratorate and other departments understood his intention and sent letters one after another to ask the emperor to urge Zhang Juzheng to return to Beijing as soon as possible.
Zhu Yijun then issued an imperial edict from all the officials, saying: "I hope you will arrive day and night, but please give me some grace! I will send the eunuch to stay as a guest first, and wait until Qiu Liang brings my mother to the north. You should hurry up and get on the road. Arrive in Beijing at the end of May to comfort me. This is a great act of loyalty and filial piety!"
In addition, Zhu Yijun also sent Jin Yiwei to command Qianshi Zhai Rujing to rush to Jiangling at night to stay by Zhang Juzheng's side and urge Zhang Juzheng to set off.
Zhang Juzheng was overjoyed when he saw the imperial edict sent by Zhai Rujing Xingye, and said hurriedly: "It seems that it is difficult to violate the imperial edict, so we can only go north as soon as possible."
"Yuan Fu can understand the Holy Will, which is great! It can also save the subordinate officials from being harshly criticized. It is really a great contribution."
Zhai Rujing replied with a smile.
Zhang Juzheng then asked Zhai Rujing: "How is Mr. Yu, who is in charge of the imperial guards, doing now?"
"Yu Gong was impeached by the censor, saying that he had received private feedback from foreign ministers, and there was evidence that the emperor could not cover up his fault, so he was sent to Duyun, Guizhou to guard."
Zhai Rujing replied.
After hearing this, Zhang Juzheng was in a good mood, so he smiled at Zhai Rujing and said, "It seems that the Duke has been promoted to a high position. How can a servant delay the Duke's progress?"
With that said, Zhang Juzheng told Zhang Jingxiu: "Tell your family to leave for the north on May 20th at the latest without any delay."
After Zhang Juzheng finished speaking, he went to his mother's place first, preparing to personally inform her mother of his departure to the north.
Zhai Rujing bowed to Zhang Juzheng gratefully.
On May 20th, Zhang Juzheng, except for the governor and the vassal king, refused to stop along the way and did not see officials from various places. As a result, he received a lot of gifts and filial piety, in order not to delay his arrival in Beijing. On the road, only escorted by Jin Yiwei, the boat and chariot kept galloping towards the capital.
When Zhang Juzheng began to return to Beijing, Ma Ziqiang and Shen Shixing were still on their way to inspect the place.
The two are the new cabinet ministers selected by Zhang Juzheng to serve in the cabinet, and they are also the successors Zhang Juzheng intends to select as the first batch of successors.
Therefore, before Zhang Juzheng left the capital for these two people, he sent the same private message to these two people. The content of the private message was to ask them to ask more about the sufferings of the people in the local area, and to carefully consider the Wanli situation after the end of Qingzhang Tianmu. How should we start with the New Deal? Should we continue to reform the system? If we want to reform the system, what system should we change?
Moreover, Zhang Juzheng also asked these two people to discuss the three unimplemented new policies that Zhao Zhenji, Hai Rui and him had discussed in front of the imperial court: "officials and gentry must pay the grain and serve as errands", "dividing people into acres" and "increased commercial tax levy". After inspecting the area, tell him which one can be implemented after clearing the land.
Zhang Juzheng proposed these three questions, which can be regarded as three test questions for these two cabinet ministers, and they also want to see what the two cabinet ministers stand for.
Ma Ziqiang and Shen Shixing naturally knew what they meant and did not dare to neglect them.
It was just that soon after Ma Ziqiang left the capital, the Li family, a wealthy gentry in Tongzhou, chartered a gorgeous boat for him in the name of his nephew, a close friend of his family. As a result, Ma Ziqiang enjoyed luxurious treatment as soon as he left the capital, and he was On the way south, many gentry asked for advice in the name of their old disciples. Some gentry even went so far as to bribe their slaves with a thousand taels of gifts, just to have a chance to treat Ma Ziqiang to a meal or even just to meet him. .
This is inevitable.
After all, everyone knows that cabinet ministers like Ma Ziqiang will influence the world's political affairs in the future, so they all want to use Ma Ziqiang to make future court affairs more beneficial to themselves. They even hope that through Ma Ziqiang, they can gain greater power in the future. .
No matter whether they are wealthy gentry or wealthy businessmen, they all know that only power can ensure wealth and even greater wealth.
Therefore, these people know that they will not lose money no matter how much they invest in Ma Ziqiang. Even if they do not expect Ma Ziqiang to drive them, they hope that in this way, they can at least prevent Ma Ziqiang from using his power to do things because of their indifference. Make things difficult for them.
In this era, the ministers were close to the emperor, and their legal ability to cause harm should not be underestimated.
You know, it happened in the Ming Dynasty. A man was ordered to inspect the disaster area. Because the officials and gentry in the disaster area did not give him generous gifts, but directly told the court that the local rich people could not have a disaster, so that after a major disaster occurred in the area, The disaster was not rescued in time, and many people died. In the end, it was only after the local officials and gentry gave generous gifts that Gu should change his story.
As a cabinet minister, and likely to be a cabinet minister who will preside over major political affairs in the future, Ma Ziqiang will naturally be treated with greater caution by local officials and gentry.
"How many posts are there today?"
When Ma Ziqiang arrived in Songjiang that day, he asked his son Ma Yi about posting a message asking to see him.
Ma Yi replied: "There are seventy-six copies."
"It's hard to find time to ask about people's sentiments."
Ma Ziqiang complained and said, "They're all gone!"
At this time, Ma Yi said: "There is just Mr. Li who lives in Songjiang. It would be better for my father to meet him. He is the son of Mr. Chu Bin's sister-in-law Li Fangbo."
Chu Bin is You Qi’s nickname.
And You Qi is Zhang Juzheng's domestic slave.
