The cold wind was howling in the capital in the twelfth lunar month. Although the heavy snow rarely stopped early this morning, the nearly one foot deep snow still made the streets quite deserted. This is already the case in the capital, let alone outside the city. Anyone who can avoid traveling will never be willing to go out.
However, outside Yongding Gate today, a large number of officials braved the biting cold wind and lined up by the roadside according to their official positions. Looking at the number, people who didn't know might have thought that the emperor who had personally conquered the city had returned to the capital triumphantly, leaving only the emperor's own troops wearing flying fish robes and embroidered spring knives at their waists to maintain order.
But having said that, with so many officials gathered here, not to mention that the Jinyiwei must have secretly hidden a large number of people nearby just in case, even the Dongchang side had to come to check at any time.
However, these officials were confident today and were not afraid of being reported by these hawks and dogs at all, just because the person they greeted was none other than Gao Gong and Gao Suqing, the emperor's master and former Wenyuan Pavilion scholar who was "named a monarch and a minister, and loved as a father and son" with the current emperor!
What's more, except for Zhao Zhenji, who "occasionally felt unwell" a few days ago and said he went to Yuquan Mountain to recuperate for a few days, among the four bachelors in the cabinet, the three bachelors in Beijing, starting with the chief assistant Li Chunfang, are all gone. All are here. Since there is a chief minister taking the lead, why is it strange that they, the ministry officials, come together? Didn’t you see that even the Metropolitan Procuratorate, which has always had a tense relationship with Gao Gong, has many people here?
Amid the hustle and bustle, a group of carriages, escorted by dozens of soldiers, appeared at the end of the official road. The flag representing the emperor's call was fluttering in the cold wind. No matter how the officials thought about the restoration of Gao Gong, they couldn't help but feel at this moment. They all suffocated and secretly shouted: "Here we come!"
Li Chunfang, the chief assistant at the time, was a scholar. Although he had a very gentle temperament, he was also very good at appearance. When he saw the high-arched carriage and horses approaching, he quickly adjusted his appearance. In addition to his slightly dark complexion, Prime Minister Qingci also had clear eyes and good looks. He is fifty-nine years old this year and is already in his sixties, three years older than Gao Gong. However, Gao Gong was a Jinshi in the 20th year of Jiajing's reign, while Li Chunfang was the top scholar in the 26th year of Jiajing's reign. According to the practice of the Ming court, Li Chunfang was a latecomer, and her qualifications were not as good as Gao Gong's.
Upon seeing the chief assistant's movements, all the officials also arranged their appearance. The one on the left of Li Chunfang is handsome and elegant. He is about thirty years old and has a temperament of more than fifty. He is so handsome and has a steady demeanor. Who else can he be besides Zhang Juzheng? As for the person on the right of Li Chunfang, he was Chen Yiqin, who was the same emperor's master as Gao Gong. This man was already fifty-eight years old, but his body and bones seemed to be in good condition. He stood with his hands behind his hands in the cold wind, his face as usual.
Strangely enough, Li Chunfang, the chief of the officials and chief assistant, seemed to be more enthusiastic than Zhang Juzheng and Chen Yiqin on either side of him. The high-arched carriage was still less than a mile away from here, so it turned out that He shouted to all the officials to stand in order, and then personally led the way to greet them.
When Chen Yiqin saw this situation, his face became a little ugly, and he snorted lightly. Li Chunfang seemed deaf, completely unmoved, and still hurried away. Chen Yiqin tilted his head slightly and glanced sideways at Zhang Juzheng, not knowing what his eyes meant.
Zhang Juzheng smiled and said softly: "Songgu Gong [Note: Chen Yiqin's nickname is Songgu.] and Zhongxuan Gong [Note: Gao Gong's nickname is Zhongxuan.] Although they were in the same year of the Xin Chou Gold List in the 20th year of Jiajing, after all, Zhongxuan The Duke entered the cabinet first... As for the first assistant, he and I were both Jinshi in the 26th year of Jiajing. In front of Zhongxuan Gong, we were juniors, so it makes sense to take the initiative to welcome him. Besides, the Emperor has been waiting for a long time. When Duke Zhongxuan returns to Beijing, it can be regarded as seeing through the autumn water."
I have to mention here that when Zhang Juzheng took the examination, although Sun Chengen and Zhang Zhi were present, because he was taking the "Book of Rites" examination, Chen Yiqin, who read the "Book of Rites" examination paper at that time, was one of his room masters [Note: The other master is Wu Weiyue]. The first place in the first class of Jinshi in that subject is the current chief assistant Li Chunfang. This subject is very outstanding, and famous people in the same subject include Yin Shidan, Wang Shizhen, Wang Daokun, Wang Zongmao, Wu Baipeng, Liu Yingjie, Wang Lin, Yin Zhengmao, Ling Yunyi, Lu Guangzu, Yang Wei, Song Yiwang, Xu Shi, Yang Jisheng, etc. All in all, there are not only first-class prime ministers and first-class scholars, but also military commanders who have made meritorious service on the frontier and loyal ministers who have impeached powerful sycophants. They are really rich in talents.
In the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty, age does not count as seniority, only whoever becomes a Jinshi first - of course whoever enters the cabinet first also counts. Therefore, Zhang Juzheng, who was forty-four years old, and Li Chunfang, who was about to be sixty, were of the same age; as the chief assistant, Li Chunfang, who was nearly sixty years old, was lagging behind Gao Gong and Chen Yiqin, who were both younger than him. As for Zhang Juzheng, who considered himself a junior in school in front of Gao and Chen, it didn't matter, because he was born a few years late except for the fact that he was born late, so there was really no need for embarrassment.
Zhang Juzheng held out these two items. Even though Chen Yiqin was still dissatisfied, he could only accept his dissatisfaction and followed him angrily. He had to laugh at himself: "Hey! I want Brother Taiyue to take care of my piece." Old man, Gao Suqing was a Jinshi at that time. I, Chen, was just a Jinshi. He was an editor, while I was only doing self-examination. Since I came here, I have been inferior to him. I can't compare with him. No match for him!"
In fact, although Chen Yiqin's temper is not very good, he is not stupid after all. He knows that what Zhang Juzheng just said is actually nonsense. These brothers have been dealing with each other for more than a year or two, and they still don't know who is who. qualifications? Only the meaning of the last sentence is really important - the emperor is watching the situation here today. Any expression you give to Mr. Gao at this time is equivalent to the expression you give to the emperor.
What kind of expression should I give to the emperor?
The cabinet minister is not a public official, or even an ordinary civil servant. Is it a joke to give the emperor a bad look? I don’t even want to think about what life the ministers lived two years ago when the late emperor was still here! It was really hard to stare at the emperor's face all day long, fearing that I might miss him! Although Jinshang is benevolent and generous, he, Lao Chen, is indeed one of the Imperial Masters, but the Imperial Masters and the Imperial Masters are also close to each other. In the eyes of Jinshang, he is the number one Imperial Master, the most loyal minister in the world, and the most good prime minister. Who it is, there is definitely only one candidate: Gao Gong! The rest of the people are waiting... Please move over, yes, that's right, go over there and queue up.
As soon as these three people moved forward, the officials from the Sixth Ministry, the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and the Hanlin Academy who had some reputation in Beijing saw that the three cabinet elders had already stepped forward to greet them. No matter how they felt in their hearts, they all had no choice but to follow suit. In fact, there is nothing to consider. Now that you are here, what else can you do to maintain your posture? Anyway, the three key figures who had a deep grudge against Gao Gong are now located and have nothing to do with him:
The first is Xu Jie, who can be regarded as retiring with great success. As the "mastermind" of the "Inverted Gong", he resigned and returned to his fields not long after driving Gao Gong away. Now he has returned to his hometown in Songjiang to roam in the woods. Enjoy your old age. Moreover, Mr. Xu has a high reputation in the country. Even if he retires to the countryside, his every move is attracting worldwide attention. It is no joke to deal with him. Even if Gao Gong returns to Beijing forcefully, everyone thinks that Xu Huating will not be beaten. What's going on.
Then there are the two key generals who were crucial in defeating Gao Gong last time: Hu Yingjia and Ouyang Yijing.
Hu Yingjia initially impeached Yang Bo because of his personal anger, disparaging officials and shielding fellow villagers, which led to a series of changes. In the end, Gao Gong was forced to retreat by Xu Jie's power of words, and Hu Yingjia himself was transferred to Jianning to promote officials. After Gao Gong left, he was promoted from the seventh-rank Jianning official to the fourth-rank Huguang chief envoy, Si Zuo-sensu, which was definitely a blessing. However, it is said that after he learned the news of Gao Gong's resurrection, he had already submitted a petition overnight to resign from all official positions. However, due to time constraints, he has not yet received a reply.
If it is understandable that Hu Yingjia was so frightened by Gao Gongqi that he resigned immediately, then Ouyang Yijing, who is known as the "god curser", can only be laughed at.
This dear friend originally had an outstanding record: he had previously impeached more than 20 civil and military officials of third rank or above, as well as one marquis and two earls. The result of these people was: "all dismissed", so he was privately called "cursing God" .
Ouyang Yijing's greatest achievement occurred during the Beijing-Cha turmoil in the first month of the first year of Longqing. At that time, Yang Bo was impeached by Hu Yingjia for "covering Shanxi officials", which officially triggered the fight between Xu Party and Gao Party. Ouyang Yijing, the scolding god, was obviously not someone who would be silent. Of course he wanted to participate. Not only did he participate, but he also compared Gao Gong to Cai Jing, the traitorous Prime Minister of the Northern Song Dynasty. When it was rumored that Hu Yingjia was about to be dismissed, he threatened, "It is better to depose Yingjia than to depose a minister." "As a result, Gao Gong was successfully forced to retreat, and then Gao Gong's disciple Qi Kang was impeached and dismissed from office, achieving a seemingly brilliant victory for Xu Jie's party.
Who knew that Gao Gong, who had been defeated by the "turbulent public opinion", could actually make a comeback? This completely shocked Ouyang Shushen, who had previously turned on the invincible mode. Ouyang Yijing was like an egg whose shell had been cracked, and the yolk flowed all over the floor - like Hu Yingjia, he resigned and returned to his hometown the same day he learned the news, and he was a hundred times more decisive than Counselor Hu: he did not wait for a reply, Just hang up your hat and leave. Unexpectedly, before we got halfway, this great man actually died of fear - this way of death was a bit embarrassing. After all, Gao Gong didn't say anything or did anything. You just have to take care of yourself. I was scared to death, and my courage was a bit ugly.
Of course, if you look at this from the other side, it can be seen that Xuan Xuan's reputation in high school is so great that he can scare his opponents to death. The only thing that can be worried about is whether this reputation is good or bad, which is somewhat difficult to say.
