What does Gao Beard want to do? Of course Zhang Juzheng also suspected this problem in his heart, but he did not want to reveal it to Feng Bao.
To be honest, Zhang Juzheng's attitude towards Gao Gong is difficult for him to define in just a few words.
Both of them were considered to be engaged in education. From the Hanlin Academy to the Imperial College, and from the Imperial College to Yuwang Lecturer, they have always been colleagues. At the same time, Gao Gong has always been Zhang Juzheng's senior and leader until he successively joined the cabinet to serve as an assistant. politics. The academic views of the two of them are very close. In other words, Gao Gong had a great influence on the establishment of Zhang Juzheng's academic views.
Although both Gao and Zhang regarded themselves as Confucian ministers, they actually respected Legalist theory. Of course, this is not surprising, after all, China has always been "Confucian-skinned and legal-minded" throughout the ages, wearing the skin of Confucianism and doing what Legalists like to do. From the imperial education and Hanlin education proposed by Gao Gong in "Benyu" to Zhang Juzheng's articles such as "Xin Wei Hui Examination Cheng Ce" and "Reply to Chu Xuedao Jin Shengwu on Academic Affairs", we can see the connection between the two people's thoughts. Very similar.
Gao Gong advocated reality and "nourishing modernism", which was completely different from the rotten Confucianists who frequently talked about the Tang and Yu dynasties. The same principle applies to the "Queen of Dharma" advocated by Zhang Juzheng. It can be seen that the two of them share common political ideas and value orientations.
Furthermore, both of them opposed lecturing. Historically, the Jia, Long, and Wan dynasties were the periods when Yangming's philosophy of mind reached its peak. Xu Jie once gave lectures at Lingji Palace in Beijing with famous royal scholars Nie Bao, Ouyang De and others. Sometimes as many as 5,000 people attended the lectures, which is evident from the popularity of the lectures.
Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng grew up and worked in such an atmosphere, so naturally they were not immune to its influence. Since Zhang Juzheng was a disciple of Xu Jie, he also had many contacts with a group of Wang scholars (Wufeng's note: This is evidenced by Zhang Juzheng's many letters) . However, he often criticized those lecturers who only talked in vain, "taking false views as tacit evidence" and "Zen of shrimps". He often advises these people to "keep their feet on the ground", "advocate the essence", and opposes "setting aside their own skills and opening up a different course to learn".
It is precisely because of this kind of thinking that historically Zhang Juzheng later destroyed the academy, killed He Xinyin, and stood in a completely opposite position to that group of lecturers.
Because Gao Gong himself was a master of practical learning, he had little contact with those lecturers. But strangely, from his writings and letters, we did not find how fiercely he opposed these people. His practical studies were his own, and stood apart from those of Cheng, Zhu, Lu, and Wang. He neither followed the popular Wang studies at the time, nor did he return to Cheng and Zhu, but insisted on starting from the current reality. , what kind of knowledge is actually needed to govern the country well, he will do it.
Precisely because their views are almost completely consistent, in the current cabinet, Li Chunfang and Zhao Zhenji are more like Xu Jie's direct disciples, while Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng are on the other side. On the one hand, they prohibit the inspectors from all over the country from gathering together to give lectures. On the other hand, it also inspected and demoted officials in the capital, curbed lectures in the capital, corrected the academic style with practical knowledge, and changed the officialdom atmosphere of talking about metaphysics and being unrealistic. Therefore, although both of them may have been influenced by Yangming's Xinxue to a greater or lesser extent, anti-lecturing is an academic stance they both adhere to.
This position made Zhang Juzheng stand on the opposite side of his teacher Xu Jie. It was also an important factor why Zhang Juzheng failed to accept the huge political resources left by Xu Jie as he wished after Zhao Zhenji entered the cabinet. In turn, this is also the reason why Zhang Juzheng tried every means to build momentum for Gao Gongqi's return after Gao Gong became an official. After all, Zhang Juzheng also wanted to do practical things. He knew that if Gao Gong could not come back, he, a junior with the least qualifications, would not be able to deal with it. Li Chunfang and Zhao Zhenji are an alliance in a practical sense. This is the first point that Zhang Juzheng hesitates about his relationship with Gao Gong: Without Gao Gong to attract firepower, will he become cannon fodder?
So Gao Gong is back, and he is still the same Gao Gong who does what he says. He is definitely different from Xu Jie back then, who muddle along and keep his reputation and status as his top priority.
Zhang Juzheng himself was in the cabinet. Although he was mainly in charge of the Ministry of War, he was still very aware of the reform measures Gao Gong had taken since he also served as the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel: breaking the "constriction theory" and appointing Jinshi officials simultaneously; Establish a personnel file system and form an echelon of alternate officials; state and county officials are getting younger, and "those over fifty are not allowed to be the head of a state or county"; appointing officials based on their performance; adjusting employment policies and improving the regional avoidance system; reducing staff Redundant staff, streamlined organization, rectification of morale; and so on.
These are all measures that Zhang Juzheng himself is eager to see and even wants to do personally.
This is also the second point that Zhang Juzheng hesitates about his relationship with Gao Gong: Without Gao Gong, could he have done these things well with his qualifications and prestige? Will it be subject to various constraints and ultimately fail to be implemented?
Because of these two doubts, Zhang Juzheng felt that at least while Li Chunfang and Zhao Zhenji were still in the cabinet, he still needed to maintain a good relationship with Gao Gong.
What's more, who is Zhang Juzheng? Doesn't he know why Feng Bao is eager to come to his door and get close to him? It's just because Gao Gong recommended Chen Hong and Meng Chong to two successive ceremonial supervisors, but still refused to recommend him!
But doesn't Zhang Juzheng know what Gao Gong is thinking in his heart? It’s just that I don’t want to see another Wang Zhen or Liu Jin come out of Ming Dynasty!
However, Gao Gong thinks so, but I, Zhang Juzheng, don’t think so? I, Zhang Juzheng, am not a civil servant? I, Zhang Juzheng, want to see eunuchs disrupting the government? joke!
But the sneer in his heart was a sneer in his heart. After all, Zhang Juzheng's personality was not like Gao Gong's. His joy and anger were directly displayed on his face, so he was willing to cooperate with Feng Bao in the performance: "Forgive Juzheng for being stupid, I don't know what Duke Zhongxuan has planned."
Feng Bao laughed and lowered his voice: "I heard that Mr. Xu sent someone to visit Mr. Taiyue today. I wonder if this is the case?"
That's what he said, but as the admiral of Dongchang, Feng Bao was obviously confident enough to confirm this.
Therefore, Zhang Juzheng didn't bother to defend himself and admitted directly: "You Qi was about to talk to me about this just now... However, I was on duty at the cabinet today and just came back not long ago, so the people sent by the teacher were not able to meet with me. I don’t know why the teacher sent him here.”
"What else could it be, but the trouble caused by the land withdrawal case?" Feng Bao snorted and said, "Hai Rui is no longer satisfied with letting Mr. Xu retire from the land, and has now begun to deal with several members of the Xu family. Young Master... After all, Mr. Xu is no longer in the center, so we can only send people to the capital to find a solution. Mr. Taiyue, you are Mr. Xu’s most valued disciple. If he doesn’t come to you, who else can he look for? "
