Seeing that Zhang Juzheng didn't say anything more, Wang Jiaping also fell silent.
So, the two of them walked silently among the red walls and red tiles.
"Congratulations to Yuan Fu!"
It wasn't until Zhang Juzheng got on the carriage that Wang Jiaping opened his mouth and bowed and said something. After staring at the carriage that Zhang Juzheng was riding in, Wang Jiaping turned and walked out of the palace.
"Write a letter to ask Zhonghua (Shen Li). Now that he has buried his father, he asked him to ask about the people's sentiments. Why is there no letter?"
As soon as Zhang Juzheng returned home, he suddenly asked Zhang Jingxiu about Shen Li's situation.
Zhang Jingxiu bowed and replied: "Brother Shen Shi must still be immersed in the pain of losing his father and has no time to care about his teacher's life."
"What kind of words does this sound like!"
"Filial piety must be observed, but loyalty must always be in our hearts! Do we not even care about the country because of filial piety?"
Zhang Juzheng suddenly asked in a stern tone.
Zhang Jingxiu could only say yes, and then took the initiative to ask: "Does father miss Brother Shen Shi?"
Zhang Juzheng sat down, picked up the tea, glanced at Zhang Jingxiu, and said, "What do you want him to do as a father!"
Zhang Jingxiu said: "My son means that we don't have to wait for Brother Shen Shi's letter to come. We can also take the initiative to write and ask him."
"No need! I wish I could follow the memorial and impeach my father, why bother to do it so intimately."
Zhang Juzheng said hysterically.
Zhang Jingxiu could only continue to say yes without saying anything else.
Zhang Juzheng was only drinking tea, but after a while, he suddenly asked Zhang Jingxiu: "How are Wu Zhongxing and Zhao Yongxian doing in the exile?"
"I am very comfortable and contented. I call myself a gentleman who has offended the powerful. I echo the superficial and trouble-loving people. I compare myself to the likes of Liu Mengde and Su Dongpo. I have no regrets, and I am even quite hopeful about the future."
Zhang Jingxiu replied.
Zhang Juzheng's face darkened after hearing this.
"It is decreed that Mr. Yuanfu Zhang was personally entrusted by the late emperor to be my teacher and protector. He taught me for many years and served as assistant to Bi for a long time. Externally, he could declare our country's prestige by defeating Pyongyang. Internally, the design of his official residence can show my benevolent government. , so I am giving you a sitting python and a python robe each, eight colored satin on the outside and inside, and two hundred taels of silver."
At this time, Sun Long, the newly appointed eunuch who served as the Superintendent of Ceremonies, suddenly came to Zhang's house to announce the decree.
After hearing this, Zhang Juzheng hurriedly led Zhang Jingxiu and others to kneel down to accept the order and thanked him.
After Sun Long left, Zhang Juzheng looked at these python clothes and colorful satin without saying a word for a long time.
Zhu Yijun knew Zhang Juzheng well and knew that he liked luxurious clothes, so he specially brought some python clothes and colorful satin as gifts.
It was precisely because of this that Zhang Juzheng drank a few more glasses of wine during dinner in the evening, and held Zhang Jingxiu's hand and said:
"Tell me, among Weifu's disciples, is he the only one who truly regards Weifu as his teacher?"
"Obviously I can no longer control him through his mother and the Supervisor of Ceremonies, and he has already asked me to retreat, and even gave me a glass of poisonous wine to take back the power, but he still thinks of me as a gentleman, and he will give generous gifts during every year and festival. , even if something big happens to you now, you will be rewarded generously."
"Such a student, such a king and father, how can a father not continue to dedicate himself to him and do everything he wants to do?"
Zhang Jingxiu supported Zhang Juzheng, who was slightly drunk: "If my father doesn't abandon your majesty, how can your majesty abandon our Zhang family? Now that the clearing of the land has been completed, but if my father really wants to continue the restructuring and seek long-term peace and stability for you, his son and brothers will also You should follow your father’s will.”
"good!"
Zhang Juzheng said, "Then prepare to move. When the imperial decree comes, we will be the first to move into the official residence! In the newly built official residence, we will do everything His Majesty wants to do for him!"
The official residence built since the sixth year of Wanli has been completed at this time.
It is now time to issue an order to arrange for the ruling ministers to move into the official residence.
It's just that Zhu Nanyong, who has been promoted to the censor of Zuoqiandu, recently issued a memorial saying that it is not necessary for veteran ministers like Yuan Fu to move to the official residence, but to rest in a private residence.
This memorial put Zhu Yijun in a difficult position.
Because if he agrees, it will naturally be regarded as abrogating the rules as soon as the official residence is established. If he does not agree, it will be regarded as indicating that he will no longer treat Zhang Juzheng with dignity, which will easily cause outsiders to suspect that he, the monarch, has changed his attitude towards Zhang Juzheng, and This will cause large-scale collapse to occur in advance.
Therefore, Zhu Yijun could only leave Zhu Nanyong's memorial in mind, and he could no longer order the ruling ministers to enter the official residence.
Therefore, although the official residence has been built, no ruling minister has yet lived in it.
Zhang Juzheng knew that the problem lay in the fact that the entire civil government did not really want the ruling ministers to live in the official residence. However, for all this, he still needed to actively cooperate with the emperor in order for the official residence system to be truly implemented and not become unworthy of its name. system.
On the night when Zhu Yijun presented the python robe to Zhang Juzheng, he made up his mind to actively implement the official residence system, and wrote a memorial to ask the emperor to order the ruling ministers to move into the official residence.
Therefore, Zhu Yijun showed Zhu Nanyong's memorial to Zhang Juzheng in the west room of Wenhua Hall the next day: "I think that Mr. Ji is different from others, and he is my teacher, so I have approved Zhu Nanyong's memorial, and Mr. There is no need to move into the official residence.”
"Your Majesty, I am here to serve as the chief minister. If I do not enter the official residence, I am afraid that people will not be convinced. In the future, the chief assistant will also destroy the system by following my example. Therefore, I ask your majesty to take back this kindness and allow the minister to enter the official residence as a hundred officials." example."
To show the seriousness of the matter, Zhang Juzheng knelt down and reported it.
Seeing this, Zhu Yijun nodded: "In that case, for the sake of the implementation of the new system and for the sake of Mr. Zhang's integrity, I, Mr. Zhun, have written this. I ordered the Qintian Supervisor to select a day, Mr. Zhu and all the ministers will enter the official residence, and each will be given eight gold coins. Sixty taels of treasured beans will be used as a reward for moving into a new house, and as a reward for the servants."
Therefore, after Zhang Juzheng took the initiative to request to move into the official residence, the official residence system was truly implemented.
It stands to reason that Zhu Yijun can issue the order directly, and there is no need to wait for Zhang Juzheng to take the initiative to report. However, since Zhu Yijun wants to let others take the blame, he naturally has to give him dignity, otherwise no one will believe that this matter has anything to do with Zhang Juzheng. .
"According to the order of the elder, the memorial to Jiang Ling that ordered Jiang Ling to still live in his private residence was ignored."
On the evening of the day when Zhang Juzheng petitioned Zhu Yijun to order the ruling ministers to enter the official residence, Zhu Nanyong went to the private residence of a certain cabinet minister and told the cabinet minister that he had been detained in the memorial, and said with a smile: "Look It seems that His Majesty is really embarrassed by this."
The elder of the pavilion said with an ugly face: "You are too happy too early. This morning, Jiang Ling has taken the initiative to submit a petition to move into the official residence, and the Supervisor of Ceremonies has approved it. Soon all the ministers will move into the official residence. You Don’t come here again.”
After hearing this, Zhu Nanyong couldn't help but put away his smile. He was stunned for a moment and said, "This Jiangling is really dedicated to the country!"
"Yes, in fact, among the scholar-bureaucrats in the world, Mr. Xu is not the only one who has misjudged Zhang Jiangling. How come we didn't misjudge him?"
"Zhang Jiangling is really doing things according to the saint's words; but he has forgotten that the saint's words are meant for speaking, not for doing!"
boom!
As soon as the cabinet minister finished speaking, a cup of tea fell to the ground.
…
In the eighth year of Wanli, on the sixth day of the second lunar month, the spring scenery was bright and the sun was shining brightly.
And amidst the chirping of orioles throughout the city, horse-drawn carriages and mules drove out from various mansions, covering several streets.
At the same time, the men and women who appeared with these carriages and mules were constantly being spit out by some deep gates, making the already densely populated capital even more crowded.
And this day was the day when the ruling ministers moved into their official residences.
Cabinet ministers Zhang Juzheng, Zhang Siwei, Wang Guoguang, Ma Ziqiang, and Shen Shixing, as well as Privy Council envoy Fang Fengshi, and six ministers including Zhang Xueyan, Liang Menglong, and Wu Baipeng, all moved into the official residence with their families and maids on this day. .
Li Youzi, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, specially came to the official residence first, waiting for Zhang Juzheng and other ruling ministers to come, so that he could introduce to them the official residence he designed and supervised, so that these ministers would not know the location and specific layout of his official residence. .
However, Zhang Juzheng and other ruling ministers did not show much excitement after viewing various official residences.
Although this is the official residence built by the emperor with huge sums of money.
Wang Guoguang even asked Li Youzi first: "In the eyes of Da Sikong, are all the ministers in power thieves?"
I was delayed eating out, so I’m updating now, sorry.
(End of chapter)
