Feng Bao continued to call the big guys in the East Factory to play with Gao Pragmatic and find trouble, but unexpectedly something unexpected happened.
The next day, after Zhang Juzheng wrote the draft and Feng Bao approved the decision to deal with Liu Fenyong and Cao Daye as usual, the officials in Beijing felt that something was wrong, because the resolution could not even be called a punishment. In terms of the minister's treatment, the intensity was too light: Liu Fenyong was transferred to rejuvenate the country and the magistrate of the state, and Cao Daying was transferred to the magistrate of Qianzhou.
Why say light? Liu Fenyong was originally Shang Baoqing, a fifth-rank official. Although this Shang Baoqing is a Beijing official, and his responsibility is to take charge of seals, talismans and seals for the emperor, and he is also called a minister of the emperor, in fact, this is a position without much real power, and he often even favors some elders and important ministers. Children.
Xingguo Prefecture is a prefecture under Wuchang Prefecture, and its governor is from the fifth rank. He was demoted from Shang Baoqing to Xingguo Zhizhou. In terms of rank, he was only downgraded from the fifth rank to the fifth rank. In terms of real power... maybe even more.
And what about Cao Daye? Originally a seventh-rank Hu Ke, according to the emperor's edict, he was not only demoted to a foreign official, but also required to be "seriously dealt with." As a result, he was transferred to Qianzhou Tongpan. This is a seventh-rank official - —Is this called "serious punishment"?
You should know that although Tongpan is the "third in command" behind the magistrate and tongzhi within a state, because the tongpan is also responsible for supervising the magistrate, many times even the magistrate has to give some points to the tongpan Bo Mian, this is not an idle job.
The result of this treatment, in layman's terms, is that it does not give Gao Gong face.
The ministers in the court were not mistaken. This treatment really angered Gao Gong, and this time he didn't even listen to Gao Pragmatic's persuasion, and wrote another essay that night.
The next day, in Guichou, Gao Gong, the great scholar of Zhongji Palace and the Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, begged for leave again, saying: "The way of a minister is to serve the country with one's own life, and not to dare to humiliate the country with one's own body. Now I have nothing to do with my duties." "If you don't know how to serve your country, if you still don't know the difference between advance and retreat, and you remain in office with a shy face, you will sincerely humiliate the country with your own body, and your sin will be even greater. Who do you call a minister in future generations?"
This time, Gao Gong simply did not mention what crime he was falsely accused of, nor did he explain any more. The meaning of the entire essay was quite straightforward: If I don’t retreat, some people will keep staring at me and biting me, saying that I am greedy for power and position. , OK, OK, I won’t explain it, I’ll resign from the head office.
This is troublesome, because according to convention, when a cabinet minister is so neglected, the emperor can only make a multiple choice question: if the cabinet minister is retained, the false accuser must be severely punished; if the false accuser is not severely punished, it means that the cabinet minister can go - before This is how Zhao Zhenji returned home.
After entering Qianqing Palace, the emperor looked at it and was suddenly confused. He couldn't figure out what was going on at all, and was still thinking to himself: I have clearly dealt with Liu Fenyong and Cao Daye, two guys who made such nonsense, so why did you, sir, resign?
Long Qing held back his temper and ordered people to find Feng Baolai, intending to find out what was going on. At the same time, he went to read other memorials. As a result, Meng Chong quietly brought over a large pile of memorials, which seemed to be at least dozens.
The emperor was extremely surprised, because since he contracted the disease, the Chief of Ceremonies had minimized the number of memorials that he had directly asked him to approve. Most of them were approved directly based on the cabinet's vote... Why did Meng Chong take the wrong medicine today? ?
Unexpectedly, Meng Chong also looked embarrassed and said cautiously: "Your Majesty, these are the memorials written by Jiu Qing and Ke Dao officials to ask the Emperor to comfort Yuan Fu. According to the ancestral system, the memorials of Jiu Qing and Ke Dao officials are the Secretary's memorial. The ceremonial supervisor must let His Majesty know... As for the memorials from other ministers and ministers urging the emperor to comfort Yuan Fu, my servants have already pressed them ahead of time and haven't brought them to you yet."
The emperor was even more surprised when he heard this. This matter had obviously been settled, so why did he still make such a fuss that his husband continued to ask for retreat, while Jiu Qing and Ke Dao Shang Shu asked for orders to stay behind? What went wrong?
He had to open the memorials one by one. It turned out that these memorials were indeed written by the ministers of the Nine Qing Dynasty, headed by Yang Bo, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, the Minister of Military Affairs, Luo Zun, etc., and the thirteen imperial censors of the Tang Dynasty. Lian and others each went to Shu to ask for condolences from Gao Gong, the remaining academician.
After the emperor saw it, he could only order Meng Chong to issue an edict of condolences in his name, saying: Yuan Fu resigned, I have given you my condolences and compliments, but I have not yet listened to them, so there is no need for the ministers to worry.
At this time Feng Bao came.
Feng Bao didn't know what happened. He had just been found from Dongchang and was still in a confused state. After he came in, he bowed to the emperor as usual and stood up straight to wait for the emperor. Ask questions.
Who knew that Long Qing glanced at him coldly and said with a gloomy face: "Kneel down and speak."
It stands to reason that with Feng Bao's status, it is normal for him to bow to the emperor when he meets him. After all, he has the title of "Imperial Envoy Admiral Dongchang Eunuch" and can even call himself "Chen" in front of the emperor. But now the emperor actually directly Ask him to kneel down, but he still doesn’t know that something is wrong!
Feng Bao's heart tightened and he knelt down quickly. In line with the principle of saying less and making fewer mistakes, and saying more and making more mistakes, he knelt down and knocked his head on the ground without saying a word.
Long Qing asked coldly: "Yesterday I asked you to deliver an order to deal with these two idiots Liu Fenyong and Cao Daye. How did you do it?"
When the emperor asked this, Feng Bao knew what was going on. He ignored Zhang Juzheng and immediately said: "Your Majesty, I know this. I took the imperial edict and went to the cabinet to tell him the imperial edict and the emperor's meaning." Mr. Zhang Ge. The specific disposition was the decree proposed by Mr. Zhang Ge. After looking at it, I found that they were indeed demoted to foreign posts, so I approved them."
Du Gong Feng's acting skills are superb, his eyes are a little frightened, but more of them are puzzled, lifelike and full of air.
Long Qing looked at it and couldn't see any loopholes for a moment. He frowned and asked, "What kind of foreign minister is this? You have to tell me clearly!"
Feng Bao said: "Back to the emperor: Liu Fenyong moved to the left to rejuvenate the country and magistrate the state, and Cao Daye was transferred to Qianzhou to be the magistrate."
In the Ming Dynasty, there were two types of states, one was the Zhili state and the other was the scattered state, with somewhat different levels and status. Long Qing didn't remember which category Xingguo Prefecture and Qian Prefecture belonged to, so he turned to look at Meng Chong.
Although Meng Chong's skills were average, he could still handle the basic business. He quickly said: "Your Majesty, these two states are both scattered states. Xingguo Zhizhou is in the fifth rank, and Qianzhou is in the seventh rank."
"It's okay for Liu Fenyong to pay it back. Then Cao Daye was the one I named for strict punishment. Why was he only demoted from the seventh rank to the seventh rank?" Long Qing slapped the armrest and asked angrily: "How did you tell Mr. Zhang?"
Feng Bao cursed in his heart: It's obvious that Zhang Juzheng is unwilling to treat his disciple seriously, so what's the matter with a man?
Of course, unless he is tired of living, he cannot say this. He can only say aggrievedly: "Your Majesty, I will act according to your will. I have said everything that needs to be said. Why did Mr. Zhang Ge draft the order like this? How can you understand this kind of ability? How about... Your Majesty, please ask Mr. Zhang Ge to come over and ask?"
"Xuan..." Long Qing subconsciously wanted to say, "Mr. Xuan Zhang is here to see you," but before he said the word "Xuan", he stopped himself, thought about it, and changed his words: "Forget it."
Then he motioned to Meng Chong to help him stand up, walked to the desk, and said: "Meng Chong, prepare some paper. Feng Bao, come and study the ink."
Meng Chong unfurled a banner for the emperor and cautiously advised: "Your Majesty, if you have something to say to Mr. Zhang Ge, just ask the slaves to pass it on. The imperial doctor said..."
The emperor waved his hand to interrupt him, sighed, and said: "I don't want to move either, but now... forget it, just write a few words, it won't hinder anything."
Feng Bao finished the ink, bowed and stepped aside, quietly sizing up the emperor.
Long Qing stepped forward, stretched out his swollen right hand, lifted the pen with some difficulty, thought for a while, tremblingly wrote four words, threw the imperial pen casually, and gasped: "Send it to Mr. Zhang .”
The emperor might be tired, so he didn't tell anyone to send him off. Meng Chong didn't dare to leave the emperor to do this, so he hurriedly helped the emperor back to the imperial couch and winked at Feng Bao again.
Feng Bao understood and hurriedly went to get the emperor's Chen Han, but saw the four words written by the emperor, which were "together with one heart and one mind".
