Gao pragmatism alerted the enemy, and Zhang Juzheng also alerted the enemy.
This is not a Gu Long martial arts novel. The two of them talked to each other for a long time, but then they moved to seal their throats with a sword. Gao Zhang knew the basics. In the current situation, no one was completely sure of killing with one strike, so no one would risk everything and fight. Both sides were constantly testing, hoping that the other party's improper response would reveal flaws.
But this temptation came to an abrupt end because of the arrival of something.
On March 12, the sixth year of Longqing's reign, the emperor fainted again when he summoned Gao Gong, Guo Pu, and Zhang Juzheng in the Wenhua Hall to learn about recent government affairs. This time, unlike last time, the emperor fell into a deep coma. He didn't wake up until near midnight that night.
The three cabinet elders who made an exception and stayed in the cabinet to rest and did not dare to go home, accompanied by a large number of eunuchs, visited the Qianqing Palace.
The emperor looked pale, summoned Gao Gong to the couch, grabbed the teacher's hand and asked: "Sir, the prince is still young, what should I do?"
His high-arched nose felt sore and his throat moved. He looked at the emperor's almost desperate eyes, took another deep breath, and comforted himself: "Your Majesty, don't think too much. It is said that illness comes like a mountain falling, and illness goes away like a thread. Although His Majesty is seriously ill this time, as long as you don't get too upset and take care of yourself, you will eventually get better."
Emperor Longqing smiled bitterly, released his right hand that was holding Gao Gong, raised it with difficulty to show Gao Gong, and said, "Sir, look."
Only then did Gao Gong notice that his emperor's student's hand was extremely swollen, and each finger was almost two inches thicker than usual. The color was also wrong, and was obviously a little dark red.
Even if Gao Gong doesn't understand medical science and doesn't know what's going on, he can at least see how serious the situation is.
Seeing Gao Gong's expression change, the emperor put down his hand with a wry smile and whispered: "The doctors said it was qi and blood stasis... I think they didn't tell the truth, or they just had something to say. Ha, Emperor ..." Long Qing looked sarcastic, "How many people in the whole court are willing to tell the truth to the emperor?"
Gao Gong felt something was stuck in his throat, coughed, and then said, "Maybe it's a taboo for the Venerable."
"To keep tabs on your Majesty's sake?" Long Qing actually didn't care. Instead, he sighed and said quietly: "Yes, I keep taboos on behalf of His Majesty, so much so that I don't even know when I will die."
Gao Gong was startled and was about to speak, but unexpectedly the emperor shook his head slightly and said: "Sir, don't worry, I can see everything now and won't argue with them."
Originally Gao Gong didn't want to be too sentimental, but he was indeed a man of temperament. When the emperor said this, it was obvious that he had reached the point where "a man's words are good even when he is about to die", and he finally couldn't help but burst into tears. He grabbed the emperor's hand and said: "Your Majesty, I am guilty. I failed to fulfill my duty of admonition..."
"Sir, don't say that." Long Qing showed a gentle smile, patted Gao Gong's hand with difficulty, and comforted: "No one in the world can do better than you, sir. It's me who doesn't live up to expectations, it's me... …I can’t blame you sir.”
Gao Gong felt even sadder. He held the emperor's hand, but was choked up and speechless.
Long Qing glanced sideways from Gao Gong, glanced at Guo Pu and Zhang Juzheng, and asked in a low voice: "Both Mr. Zhang and Mr. Zhang have been colleagues for many years. They share the same goals and strengthen each other. They have taught me a lot and helped me a lot. But what happened recently?" ..." The emperor hesitated slightly, looking at Gao Gong with hope in his eyes, "Can it still be eased?"
Gao Gong was caught off guard by the emperor's question, but under the circumstances, his conscience could not allow him to say those unintentional words to deal with the emperor, so he could only say: "Old minister, I only obey your majesty's orders."
The emperor stared at Gao Gong's eyes carefully for a while, finally smiled, breathed a sigh of relief, and said: "That's good, then I'll be relieved."
Gao Gong didn't know what he was feeling, he hesitated to speak, and finally there was no sound.
Seeing that he was silent, the emperor seemed to understand something, and said again: "Sir, do you know why the student said this?"
Gao Gong couldn't help but be surprised by the word "student", and said hurriedly: "I don't dare, I deserve it."
Long Qing wanted to wave his hand, but found it difficult, so he shook his head slightly: "Why should you be ashamed? Sir is my teacher. When I was King Yu, I also paid homage to him. Doesn't it matter if I become the emperor? ?”
Gao Gong didn't know how to answer for a moment.
If he wanted to reason, of course he could talk eloquently with his knowledge at the level of a master. However, when the emperor spoke like this, he obviously did not mean to reason with him. He knew this well.
Seeing that Gao Gong no longer defended himself, the emperor continued: "Sir, this year will be the year when your ears will turn over (sixty years old). I don't know if I can persist until then. What if... the prince will be young by then, everything will happen." I have to ask my husband to take care of me... I don’t want to hide anything from you, but I have a few things in my heart that I want to express to you."
Gao Gong immediately knelt down, knocked his head on the ground, and said: "Your Majesty, please speak frankly if you have any orders. Although I am stupid and old, I still have a breath left. I will do my best and dare not disobey."
Not far behind him, Guo Pu and Zhang Juzheng didn't know what was going on. When they saw Gao Gong suddenly kneeling down and the emperor looking hopeful, they subconsciously looked at each other and thought it was the emperor who had admitted that he was not able to support himself and had asked for help. .
The two of them immediately did not dare to neglect, and knelt down together, knocking their heads on the ground, not daring to raise their heads and move.
Who knew that Long Qing's voice was very low, and the two of them were standing a few feet behind Gao Gong, so they couldn't hear what the emperor was saying at all.
At this time, only Gao Gong could hear clearly what the emperor deliberately whispered: "According to the regulations of the country, the gentleman can still rule the world for eleven years, but at that time the prince was only weak. Although he is an adult, but... we all I am someone who has been around, and I know that children of that age are often very impulsive in doing things, but they also think they understand everything, just like I did back then. They need to have an old minister by their side to control them. Mr. Zhang was very friendly at that time. Mr. Zhang seems to be older today... I mean, Mr. Zhang will be able to take care of the prince for another ten years. After these ten years, the prince will be 30 years old. If he is still ignorant, I won't be able to control so much... …”
Gao Gong understood that the arrangement in the emperor's mind was very similar to his own previous thoughts, which were to let Zhang Juzheng take over after he became an official.
The difference is that the starting points of the two are different:
Gao Gong had previously considered this mainly because he felt that Zhang Juzheng, like himself, advocated reform and had good abilities. As the chief assistant, if I work here until I am seventy years old, I will be equivalent to advancing the reform for sixteen or seventeen years. Then Zhang Juzheng will take over and work for another eleven or twelve years. This reform will have been carried out for almost thirty years... I think about it. He should be able to fulfill his and Zhang Juzheng's ambition to revive the Ming Dynasty through reforms.
But the emperor's consideration was from another perspective, that is, from the perspective of the prince's smooth succession.
In the eyes of the emperor, succession does not mean succession. He is not worried about whether the prince can successfully succeed. After all, the rules of the Ming Dynasty for two hundred years have been here. The prince's status is unshakable and there is no chance of any accidents.
The emperor was worried that the prince was young, and his father died too early. If the prince was too young and energetic when he came to power, and there was no one to supervise and assist him, he might become what Yingzong and Wuzong did in their early years. In this way, the good world was turned into a mess, and the good situation that he had worked hard for the past six years was ruined.
All in all, the emperor was seeking stability.
This is of course understandable, and Gao Gong fully understood the emperor's intentions.
But in this way, Gao Gong's attitude became awkward.
How should we treat Zhang Juzheng?
