The officials frantically impeached the reformist officials, and because many of the impeachment contents were not framed, but more or less true, and without Zhang Juzheng standing in front of them, it was Zhang Juzheng who Reformist officials from one party became uneasy and even considered quitting.
"I should retreat!"
After the Privy Councilor Fang Fengshi learned that he had been impeached, he sighed in his study and then wrote an apology.
After Wang Zongzai also learned from the Metropolitan Procuratorate that his subordinate Jiang Dongzhi had impeached him, he left the Metropolitan Procuratorate dejectedly and came to Wang Zuan, the left minister of the Ministry of Punishments, and said:
"The wind and rain are too strong, and I'm afraid the Golden Crow will inevitably be obscured by the dark clouds. I'm going to go to Shu to resign and retreat. Where is your father?"
Wang Zuan sighed: "Then everyone retreats!"
Liang Menglong, Minister of the Ministry of War, also asked Zhang Xueyan in the courtyard of the official residence: "How did you do in your defense?"
Zhang Xueyan first asked Liang Menglong: "Where is the Duke? Doesn't the imperial decree also require the Duke to defend himself against accepting bribes?"
"I'm too lazy to defend myself!"
Liang Menglong directly waved his sleeves and said: "As long as you have held the position of Governor of Ji Liao, it is impossible not to accept bribes, otherwise the military ministers would really be afraid that you would not allow them to take free pay and not listen to your command!"
"The position of governor of Liaodong is similar."
"In many cases, it is unavoidable to kill good people and take credit for their merits! For God's sake, who knows whether those herdsmen with no household registration outside the customs are Hulu spies or our own people? Who has the energy to ask so many questions?"
Zhang Xueyan also started talking.
Liang Menglong sighed and said: "Yuanfu has been changed, so of course we have to follow suit! This is not a question of right or wrong, it is a question of how the times have changed. I am waiting to be dismissed from office, or even become a commoner or be exiled to the army." Come on! Anyway, thunder, rain and dew are all your kindness."
"I have no intention of retreating!"
Zhang Xueyan replied bluntly and said:
"So, I wrote a thousand words of self-defense seriously! I am ready to have a good debate with those officials, and it doesn't hurt to fight him for 300 rounds!"
】
"I am also prepared to let the Emperor know that although I have been greedy and have taken credit, it was due to the current situation and was not something I did intentionally!"
"If the water is clear, there will be no fish; if the people are careful, there will be no friends. It is inevitable for a governor who leads the army to do one or two things that are disrespectful to the emperor's life!"
“What we should do now is not to repent of our past mistakes, but not to repeat the party struggle after the Northern Song Dynasty’s political reform!”
"Try to keep those who can be retained, and try not to kill those who can be spared. I am not excusing myself, but interceding for all officials who have participated in the restructuring. Please show kindness first and establish authority secondly! Because of the change If you have a group of people, it won't necessarily be cleaner."
Liang Menglong sneered: "Why do you have to be so insistent!"
"This court is a place to talk about general trends, not reason! When the power is on our side, you can say this, but when the power is not on our side, even if there is no guilt, even a small matter can be ignored. Be the reason why you and I were decapitated."
“I don’t think His Majesty is without determination to continue the restructuring!”
"That's wrong!"
"There is no need for us to be discouraged so quickly and intend to give in and compromise!"
"The grand masters were all granted the title of marquis and given the posthumous title of Wenzheng. They were even entitled to enjoy the Imperial Ancestral Temple. His words were even set up in a museum to study in the Imperial Academy!"
Zhang Xueyan asked Liang Menglong as he spoke: "Don't these prove His Majesty's determination?"
Zhang Xueyan then asked: "Is it because Zhang Puzhou didn't do anything that we all just cowered in order to protect ourselves? Just sit back and watch His Majesty's ambition to rule be wiped out, and sit back and watch as the Grand Master left, and the entire government has been in ruins since then?!"
"Your Majesty made it so clear in the Imperial College that even if the Grand Master is gone, his spirit will not die. Why should we let him down? Is it because we are afraid that if we continue to persist in the future, we will be beheaded and our homes will be confiscated?"
After Zhang Xueyan asked Liang Menglong this question, Liang Menglong fell silent.
At this time, Yan Qing, the Minister of Justice, came over and said, "Well said!"
"Three armies can seize the commander, but an ordinary man cannot seize the will!"
"I have no intention of retreating. The powerful officials and gentry who opposed the New Deal in the past were indeed sentenced to great punishment in my hands. They also accused me of being a cruel official, but let them impeach me unless His Majesty personally issued an edict to depose me. I won’t retreat.”
Obviously, Zhu Yijun's previous series of measures to elevate Zhang Juzheng's status also made some bureaucrats among the reformists still angry and willing to continue to govern.
It's just that this made Zhang Siwei and the officials who opposed the New Deal even more dissatisfied with these reformist civil servants who were less honest and less cowardly.
"Why are people like Zhang Xueyan, Zeng Xingwu, and Zhang Jiayin so stubborn?! They were asked to defend themselves at Shangshu, but they really defended themselves at Shangshu? Instead of asking Shangshu to resign!"
After Zhang Siwei saw the copy delivered by the cabinet in the Imperial Palace, his face suddenly became very ugly, and he cursed in his heart.
Since Zhu Yijun set up the imperial palace in the west corridor of the Qianqing Palace, the chief assistant of the imperial palace would often read the ink copy for the emperor in the imperial palace, and then provide the emperor with his opinion on whether or not Zhu approved it.
Therefore, what Zhang Siwei saw at this time was the ink copy of the vote sent by Shen Shixing and other cabinet ministers, and he also saw Zhang Xueyan, Zeng Shengwu, Zhang Jiayin and other reformist civil servants, that is, Zhang Juzheng's party, through the ink copy of the vote sent by Shen Shixing and other cabinet ministers. There is no reality that the core staff will resign.
However, Shen Shixing and other cabinet ministers did not cater to Zhang Siwei. Instead, the plan was to accept Zhang Xueyan and others' self-defense, and to let go of the blame on the grounds that they were compassionate, and to make them change their minds and continue to work in earnest.
Because of this, Zhang Siwei could not help but feel a little unhappy that other ministers in the cabinet did not agree with him and did not cater to him, and his face became even more ugly.
If Zhang Siwei had any objections, he could directly overturn the vote drafted by Shen Shixing and others, re-vote it, and let the emperor know about it.
However, Zhang Siwei still did not do this. He only ordered the ministers of the Imperial Palace to hand over the ink copy to the clerk for approval by Emperor Zhu Yijun.
Zhu Yijun naturally approved the cabinet's vote to retain Zhang Xueyan.
It's just that these drafts of the Red Queen's approval, that is, Zhu's imperial edict, reached the Sixth Section, and the officials of the Sixth Section were very dissatisfied with it.
Wang Yuyang, who was in charge of the engineering department, was in the duty room of the sixth department when he saw that Zhu Xueyan, Zeng Xingwu, Zhang Jiayin, etc. were not allowed to blame, and his heart suddenly burned:
"How can you let go of a crime with solid evidence of great evil so easily?!"
"How many benefits did his cabinet receive from these people?!"
"Or are these cabinet ministers and ministers colluding with each other to undermine the Qingming Dynasty and defeat His Majesty's intention to govern?!"
"Sign it!"
Chen Yujiao, the official in charge of the official affairs, said with a sullen face, "However, this matter is not over yet. The cabinet is not responsible for personnel matters, so let us, the Sixth Branch, come to rectify the gains and losses of the government!"
As he said that, he looked up at other people: "Continue to look for the mistakes of the remnants of Zhang Dang and hear rumors! I don't believe that these remnants of Zhang Dang can really stay in high positions with shameless appearance and not fear the criticism of scholars? "
“We might as well spread the word about every impeachment!”
"At the same time, the original text of the cabinet vote was also circulated and published by private tabloids. It was also made available to the Metropolitan Procuratorate, the Imperial College, the Hanlin Academy, the six ministries and the gentry and elders all over the world. Let's see how the ministers in the cabinet were sitting on a plain diet! How shameless the Lord is!"
Liu Shangzhi from the Criminal Division made a suggestion at this time, and it was obvious that he intended to make the matter bigger, lest the world would not be in chaos.
Wang Yuyang of the Engineering Department agreed with this and said: "That's right. When the time comes, things will be fierce. Let's see how the cabinet ministers and ministers handle themselves!"
…
"It's really a heated discussion!"
"It's all about impeaching this minister and that governor."
"What are they trying to do? Do they think that I was deceived by my husband in the past, and that he is a traitor and a loyal person, so they only use some people who are lucky enough to get in?"
"Are you still using the same old person who openly impeached Mr., but is actually expressing dissatisfaction with me for not being able to liquidate Mr.?!"
Zhu Yijun was not idle either.
He knew that these high-profile officials were obviously targeting the ministers and ministers, but in fact they were targeting the New Deal, and it was obviously the result of Zhang Siwei's deliberate connivance.
Because the examination system has not been abolished, the cabinet can still pass the six subjects. In other words, the cabinet has a rope to tie up the officials and prevent them from biting people. Unless the cabinet deliberately does not use this power, otherwise the six subjects will be passed. I dare not be so presumptuous.
Therefore, Zhu Yijun did not choose to hide behind, but came directly to the Imperial Service Department, scolded Zhang Siwei, Fang Fengshi and other ruling ministers, and then said:
"The country should be governed with both leniency and severity. We cannot allow these petty ministers to mess around and bring chaos to the world. We immediately drafted an edict. As the emperor's eldest son, we should show kindness and kindness. Therefore, the past mistakes of ministers with meritorious deeds are the same as those ten years ago in Wanli. Except for colluding with barbarians, plotting against the emperor, and deceiving the emperor, let everything be done in the past."
