Gao Pragmatic could understand Han Ji's thoughts, and he even estimated that most of the nine disciples here might agree with a serious and thorough investigation, but doing so was really not in Gao Gong's interests.
What are the benefits of high arching? Stabilize our position and implement reforms.
The suppression of Xu Jie's party may be helpful to the reform, but it is remarkable because it takes back some fields and frees up some official positions. It has no special significance, but on the other hand, it has considerable disadvantages for Gao Gong's reputation. It stands to reason that most reforms will offend others, and if you want to reform, you shouldn't be afraid of this. However, in the eyes of others, there is a big difference between offending others simply because you want to reform, and offending others for personal gain.
Gao Gong may have thought that it was necessary to get rid of Xu Jie's party for reform. This could show others his determination to reform - to clear the land of the father-in-law, you see that Xu Huating's family has been cleared again, why are you still making trouble with the others? What?
But this is not the case in the eyes of others. They will only think that this is Gao Gong's personal revenge, that he is narrow-minded, and that he is a mad dog that even the old man who became an official is unwilling to let go.
So this pot cannot be passed on randomly.
But Han Ji and his disciples of Gao Gong, especially the science and technology officials among them, although their overall interests are consistent with Gao Gong's, their personal interests are obviously not unified: if they want to be promoted, they have to start complaining. How can you prove that you are effective at your job by trolling some great bosses? How can you be qualified to move up? After all, it’s their job to troll people!
But Gao pragmatically knew that Gao Gong could not directly ignore their appeals for interests, because although Gao Gong was unparalleled in the Long Qing Dynasty, even if he was covered in iron, how many nails could he hit? These disciples represent his power, his wings and even his minions. If he doesn't take care of him, his feathers will fall off and his claws will break. When he becomes a loner, who will really take him seriously? You can't have him deal with everything personally as a pavilion elder, right?
Judging from the current situation, everyone would think that Gao Gong was fully capable of beating Xu Jie to the point of being unable to stand up with one stick. He didn't even need Gao Gong to do it himself, Haigang Feng could do it. All Gao Gong had to do was let Hai Rui use his best. In the end, after the case was investigated, Hai Rui had to report it to the court. At this time, Gao Gong only had to make an affirmative decision on the case on behalf of the cabinet and that would be it.
Easy, beautiful, and hugely rewarding.
Unfortunately, the ending may not be so good: the "bygone bygones" situation that Gao Gong painstakingly created after returning to Beijing came to an end completely, and he has since been labeled as a self-revengeful person and an immeasurable villain.
But how to persuade? Gao pragmatic fell into thinking.
At this time, Song Zhihan sent another cannonball, and he said: "Master, we are not trying to defeat Xu for the sake of defeating Xu. In fact, people like Xu Jie have opened a new chapter for the world's officials since they were cabinet ministers." The bad guy has to fall."
Gao Gong looked at him intently and asked, "What bad start did you make?"
"This crime is: omission." Song Zhihan explained: "Xu Jie served Emperor Shizong for eighteen years before and after, and all the gods, civil servants, etc. were approved by Xu Jie; when Shizong died, he drafted the edict with his own hands, and counted them all The fault was that Xu Jie and Yan Song had been together for fifteen years, and they were married to each other without even a word of disapproval. When Yan was old and ill, he gradually lost his favor, but he immediately betrayed and attacked him. This shows that Xu Jie is a good minister. It can be called disloyal, and it can be called untrustworthy when making friends. It has been a big loss for a long time. In addition, after he became the first assistant, many people were worried, and His Majesty repeatedly issued orders, but Xu Jie turned a deaf ear and did nothing. He only cared about cultivating friends. They are loyal to favors and are good at using power and blessings. Let me ask, if these people actually serve as Yuan Fu, aren't they setting a bad start for the world?"
Gao Jingshi was shocked and thought to himself: This Han of the Song Dynasty has a much more sinister vision than Han Ji. What he said means that he has seen that his master, Gao Gong, is a pragmatic person and hates being in his position most. As a political person, Xu Jie became the chief minister after the fall of Yan Song. Although most civil servants thought that Xu Yuanfu was a good person, in fact Xu Jie had no outstanding political achievements at all, while Gao Gong was a person who valued political achievements very much. You have served as chief assistant for several years, but you have not achieved any political achievements at all. What does the world want from you as chief assistant? What's more, he was obsessed with consolidating his favor. Even the reason why he recommended Gao Gong to the cabinet earlier was essentially to consolidate his favor - he knew that Gao Gong was the number one confidant of the new emperor, so he wanted to sell his favor. It was only later that he discovered that Gao Gong and he were not the same people, so he turned to coaxing him to suppress him.
This kind of person is obviously not what Gao Gong likes.
But if Gao Gong doesn't like it, he doesn't necessarily have to pursue him after he leaves. After all, Gao Gong can't ignore his reputation. After all, as an official in the Ming Dynasty, especially a civil servant, if his reputation is extremely bad, he won't be able to serve as an official. Go down.
At this time, Song Zhihan sent a cannonball that was enough to make Gao Gong angry: criticizing Xu Jie for his inaction.
His subtext is: You now need all officials to "do something", so it is necessary to get rid of Xu Jie, a typical figure who "does nothing", because Xu Jiehu will not be defeated even if he dies, and his influence is still very great. You Get rid of him, and all officials in the world will naturally know that something must be done.
Sure enough, as soon as he said these words, Gao Gong nodded slightly and then fell into thinking.
Although he has an impatient temper, he will not be as aggressive as a young man. He will take it easy and weigh the pros and cons.
At this time, Han Ji also realized that he had fallen behind, and quickly made up for it: "Brother Yuanqing's words are true. Another point is that Xu Jie lost his position because of such inaction. Seeing that Gao Gong was indeed looking towards him, he felt excited and continued: "Master, do you still remember that in September of the first year of Longqing, I fell into Shizhou, killed the prefect king Liangcai, and looted Jiaocheng and Wenshui. Also, The native barbarians invaded Ji Town, plundered Changping, Lulong, and the Luanhe River. At this critical moment when the two captives invaded the east and west sides, His Majesty personally selected generals and deployed troops. However, Xu Jie remained silent and ignored. Later, under His Majesty's repeated urging, Xu Jie convened a meeting of civil and military ministers, but in the end it was still delayed until November to present the commonplace and comprehensive so-called anti-captive strategy. Thirteen things. It can be seen from this that Xu Jie, as the chief assistant, did not fulfill his responsibilities in Pingzhang's military and state affairs at all. He did not act or spread his message, and thus lost His Majesty's favor. This led to his tentative resignation being directly approved by the Holy Emperor. "
He finally emphasized and concluded: "It can be seen that the Holy Emperor is also dissatisfied with Xu Jie. This dissatisfaction is partly because Xu Jie suppressed Shixiang, which caused Shixiang to lose his position, and partly because Xu Jie has a high position and is incompetent! "
This last hit finally showed that Han Ji was not an easy person, and the last hit was extremely accurate: You see, His Majesty is also very dissatisfied with Xu Jie!
Tu Menggui saw on the side that he would have no chance if he didn't speak, so he quickly said: "Since he came to rule the world now, Xu Jie has served as the first assistant for one and a half years. In addition to handling the officials and alchemists related to Zhaijiao according to the imperial edict, as well as those who have not been screened. , In addition to offending the officials of the previous dynasty, many of the objections he held were banned in the palace. Those who paid attention to it were just as brother Yuanqing said, "nurturing friends and solid favors", but ignored many military and state affairs. Such selfish motives for the prime minister are in vain. It is inevitable that he will become an official because of his responsibility and the responsibility of the world. Now, he has exposed these corruption scandals, which is really his own sin. He who has a clean teacher will clean himself, so why bother about it?"
When Gao Gong heard this, he was obviously moved.
At this time, Gao Pingshi had no choice but to speak, and he said aloud: "Third uncle, all the senior brothers have analyzed this matter quite clearly, but there is one thing that worries my nephew."
Gao Gong hardly regarded him as a child now, so he asked: "Where does worry come from?"
"Coming from Mr. Zhangge." Gao Pingshi explained: "Although Taiyue Gong and Third Uncle have always been on good terms, my nephew believes that because of their good relationship, Third Uncle should know Taiyue Gong's attitude on this matter. We will make a decision later. In any case, Taiyue Gong is a disciple of Huating Gong. Although the two princes act very differently and have very different interests, the relationship between master and disciple is always known to the world. The nephew is worried that if the third uncle suddenly launches a rebellion With Duke Huating's attack, Grand Duke Taiyue may be in a dilemma. Even if it does not affect Grand Duke Taiyue's attitude in dealing with matters in the court, he will still feel that he is being slighted by his third uncle... My nephew believes that this situation should be avoided. .”
Gao Gong's expression changed, he nodded, and said, "That makes sense." After thinking about it, he said, "Let's put this matter aside for now, and I will make a decision after discussing it with my uncle."
