In the afternoon of the same day, Gao Pragmatic's self-defense was passed to the General Affairs Department through the Ministry of War, and then to the Cabinet. The cabinet generally would not make any votes on this kind of self-defense, so it forwarded it again and sent it to the Supervisor of Ceremonies.
The authority of the Supervisor of Ceremonies is actually only to approving red papers on behalf of the emperor. Matters like this obviously must be reported directly to the emperor. Under normal circumstances, memorials sent in the afternoon may not be approved early the next morning.
However, Gao Pragmatic's self-defense was transferred from the Cabinet to the Supervisor of Ceremonies, and then returned to the Cabinet from the Supervisor of Ceremonies in less than an hour, because the emperor had approved it.
"After investigation, Princess Yongning summoned the ministers to inquire about the matter. She first asked the queen for approval, and then asked the question in the Chengxi Palace. Although it took a long time, the palace door was wide open, the servants were all there, and the palace maids were accompanying them. There was no one. It's also a place that exceeds the rules.
Huang Zhaolong was good at corrupting important ministers, and he had other strict orders. You should serve with peace of mind, do not be disturbed, and do not let me down. The request is not allowed. "
When this reply was sent out of the palace, all the officials in the outer court were a little confused.
Could it be that the reason why the emperor didn't approve it immediately was because he went to investigate, and after the investigation, it was found that Gao Pragmatic was indeed wronged, so as soon as this self-defense came out, the emperor immediately issued an order to persuade him to stay?
This is a mainstream suspicion, but some people feel that this may not be the truth. This group of officials feel that things are not that simple.
Because for the foreign court, the focus of this matter was on high pragmatism, but if you look at it from the emperor's point of view, this may not be the case. The emperor may be more worried that Princess Yongning's reputation will be damaged as a result.
Based on this, it can be deduced that even if everything Huang Zhaolong said is true, the emperor may refuse to admit it, but insist that all the princess' actions are legal and reasonable. In this way, if you want to protect the princess, you have to protect it with Gao Pragmatic.
There is another support for this group of people's speculation: the emperor said in Zhu Biao that "there are other strict orders" regarding Huang Zhaolong's "unauthorized corruption of important ministers", but where is this strict order? Why wasn't it issued along with it?
Whether this kind of confusion or controversy, it is actually just like after the central government announces a certain piece of news in the future, people below, from experts, media to individuals, will have various interpretations. However, with the popularization of education in later generations and the per capita ownership of the country, the whole people often participated in this interpretation. In the Ming Dynasty, basically only officials or scholars would care about this topic.
In the Ming Dynasty, the emperor's every move was constantly interpreted by officials, who tried to find out the emperor's true intentions, so as not to make mistakes and ruin a promising future.
Since the palace did not issue a so-called "additional strict order" to Huang Zhaolong, this argument of "protecting high and being pragmatic is to protect the princess" immediately became the new mainstream view, replacing "being high and pragmatic is to protect the princess". The concept of “injustice” only took a few hours.
To be precise, it was when the palace doors were locked and not a single word of "another decree" was transmitted to the outer court.
It became lively now, and everyone was completely unable to judge the emperor's intentions normally.
Generally speaking, since Gao was pragmatic and warm in order to persuade him to stay, it was natural to give Huang Zhaolong "different orders and strict orders". However, while the emperor was gentle in order to persuade Gao to stay, he forgot to do the other half of the matter. This is very strange. .
Of course, these officials have not read Li Ao's "You Can't Just Do Half" and don't know that "a person cannot defend God and tolerate the devil at the same time. It is not enough to praise God, you must attack the devil at the same time; it is not enough to affirm the truth, you must expose it" Counterfeiting” - Just as it is not enough for the emperor to affirm that Gao pragmatism is not guilty, he should also stand up and attack Huang Zhaolong, who slandered Gao pragmatism, so as to complete the matter.
However, they at least knew that it was abnormal for the emperor to "only do half of it" and that there was a mystery behind it.
So now the core of the question becomes "What is the emperor's secret?"
For most neutrals who do not hold a position or even those who follow the trend, this mystery is somewhat interesting, but it is only "somewhat interesting". They do not pursue the need to dismantle the mystery to understand it.
However, for those who are in the same trench as Gao Pragmatic, or those who are in the opposite trench, this issue must be clarified, otherwise the next step will be at a loss.
Gao Jingshi received many servants and cronies sent by big bosses and important ministers in his mansion, and each one came to inquire about the situation.
Some of the people who came to visit him asked him in a roundabout way whether he really had some extraordinary behavior and relationship with Princess Yongning, and some asked him if he had contacted the inner court to find out the emperor's intentions. Others are more simple and rude, not asking about the reason or situation at all, but directly asking him what arrangements he has next and what kind of cooperation is needed.
Even Zhu Yingzhen, Zhang Yuangong and other distinguished officials sent people to inquire.
After all, Zhu Yingzhen and Zhang Yuangong only sent their confidants to come. Surprisingly, Duke Dingguo's mansion, which was not particularly close to Gao Pangshi in the past, was particularly "enthusiastic" this time. Duke Dingguo Xu Wenbi even sent his eldest grandson Xu Xigao to come in person. He came to visit and expressed the Dingguo Government's firm support for Gao Pragmatic on the spot.
Of course, the nobles are not too busy to eat too much. In addition to the "partnership" friendship of more than ten years, the fundamental reason is that they are aiming at the follow-up benefits of this "Yunnan War".
Gao Jingshi said when he issued the "Dian War Treasure Banknotes" that the value of the Yunnan War Treasure Banknotes was ensured by the proceeds from the victory over Burma, and the proceeds after the Yunnan War were actually not just the imperial court's share - -Although France paid a lot of reparations after the Franco-Prussian War, the money would not be sent directly to the Prussian capitalists, but that did not affect the happiness of the capitalists.
Why? Because the bosses of the victorious countries had many ways to make money, and Gao Jinggong gave some examples when he was selling the first batch of Yunnan War treasure notes to them.
For example, it used to be very troublesome to buy jade from Burma, and the price was too expensive. But if Burma loses the war and has to pay a large sum of money to the court, it will naturally not care about it. Things like jade will definitely be willing to cut the price and sell it. As long as the Shi Xun nobles hitch a ride on Jinghua, are they afraid that they won't be able to get a share of the pie?
The reason why they had to take Jinghua's car was, of course, because their hands were not that long and they had to rely on Jinghua's southwest trade route to get things done. These days, the only giant that can truly do business across the country is Jinghua. All other aristocratic families and wealthy families have their own spheres of influence, ranging from several counties to several provinces, but no one can compare to Jinghua. Generally rolled out nationwide.
The Dingguo Palace was in decline for a period of time. Although it has restored its status now, its family wealth is inferior to that of the Chengguo Palace and the British Palace, so it is natural that Gao Pragmatic, the God of Wealth, attaches great importance to it. Regardless of whether he can help with this matter, his attitude is shown first.
Gao pragmatically had a clear mind. Not only did he know Xu Wenbi's intentions, but he also knew a prerequisite for him and other nobles to support him so resolutely: Anyway, if we don't rebel, we won't die. We just came out to say a few good words to Gao. , it’s completely beneficial without any cost, good goods are not expensive.
In fact, Gao Pragmatic has already entered a state of thanking guests behind closed doors since he defended himself from the top. However, this rule does not mean that everyone will actually abide by it. In fact, the main function of this rule is to show off, so Gao Pragmatic has to fight. Be prepared to deal with seniors, colleagues, friends, etc. who express your concern.
At the same time, in a separate courtyard for ordinary officials in Qingchengfang, there was also a person who was almost as busy as Gao Pangshi.
This person is none other than Liu Shouyou, the commander-in-chief of Jinyiwei.
The villa he is currently in does not belong to him in name. It is actually a sealed-off house temporarily under the name of Jin Yiwei. It is stolen property and is in a state of sealing. He came here today just to avoid some eyes and ears.
Liu Shouyou's background has been mentioned before. His family came from Xinxue. Although he was not good at studying and could only hang out in Jinyiwei, he always classified himself as a Confucian official and got close to his fellow Xinxue sects. Coupled with the complicated historical reasons mentioned before, I have always had a grudge against the Gao family uncle and nephew, and the investigation against the Gao family uncle and nephew has been going on for several years.
However, after searching again and again, he discovered that Gao Gong could not be traced. Apart from being impatient and scolding others when he was not doing his job well, there was nothing sinister about this chief assistant that he could exploit. point.
So Liu Shouyou set his target on Gao pragmatism. In Liu Shouyou's view, there must be ulterior secrets behind Gao Pingshi's creation of such a huge industry in Jinghua from scratch in just over ten years, and these secrets must be exploitable.
Moreover, after Gao Jinghua became bigger, he often won over important ministers and nobles in the name of shared housing. Once he found out the evidence of Jinghua's crimes, he could not only overthrow Gao Jinghua, but also control many people if he did it well.
After getting the acquiescence of Yu Youding, the master of psychology, Liu Shouyou became more courageous. Yu Youding and Shen Shixing are the two giants of the Xinxue lineage in official circles at present. Moreover, they have gone through adversity together and have always been considered as close as brothers. With the support of Yu Youding, Liu Shouyou It seems that it also has Shen Shixing's endorsement.
Shen Shixing, the dignified second assistant, was originally a political enemy of Gao Dang of the Real School, and now he was almost openly on his side, so what else did he have to fear?
It's time to retaliate for the humiliation that my in-laws, Songjiang Xu family, suffered in the past.
Thanks to the rise of Zhang Jing, Liu Shouyou also had strong support in the palace, and even knew that Gao Pragmatic had entered the palace to talk secretly with Princess Yongning for several hours.
There is actually something worth mentioning about this point: although Huang Mengyu and Chen Ju are the "first assistants" and "secondary assistants" of the inner court, in each palace in the palace, each eunuch must have placed his own people. But the problem is that none of them can live alone in a certain palace.
In other words, the big shots in the inner court have their own people in each palace, including Huang Mengyu and Chen Ju, and Zhang Jing as well.
This situation has already occurred. Not to mention the past, the "Eight Tigers" headed by Liu Jin each had a group of forces in the palace. Therefore, the Forbidden City has already been a sieve. . As long as a big boss leaks the news, there will be no secrets in Ouchi.
Before Gao Gong returned to the throne, the late Emperor Longqing was often scolded by the imperial censors because of his sexual promiscuity. However, he doted on the concubine one night, and all the censors in the outer court knew about it. It is clear as day, this is one of the clear proofs of "the inner world is like a sieve".
After Liu Shouyou learned about Gao Pangshi's meeting with Princess Yongning, it didn't take him long to decide to make a beautiful article about it.
His thinking is not particularly complicated: at first, he wanted to use Jinghua as a breakthrough to attack Gao Pragmatism and Gao Dang through economic cases, but he tried several times without success. Because the rise of Jinghua was different from what he had imagined before. It did not develop through means such as power-money transactions. Instead, it was highly pragmatic and could always discover business opportunities in places that others would not think of, lay out plans in advance, and then form a monopoly or at least It's a first-mover advantage.
It is true that there is no such thing as power-money transactions, but the people involved are too scary. Even if Liu Shouyou finds out, he would not dare to break this layer of paper - not only are there a lot of hereditary nobles, but they are also involved. To the Queen Mother Rensheng and the Queen Mother Cisheng.
The Chen family of Tongzhou, where Empress Dowager Rensheng was born, has shares in Gao Jinghua's name. Empress Dowager Cisheng's biological father, brother and others also have shares in Jinghua. Even Li Wenjin took it directly from Gao Jingshi's hands. A huge sum of no less than two hundred thousand taels.
If this **** is exposed, I don’t know whether Gao Qingshi will die or not. He, Liu Shouyou, will definitely die first.
Therefore, it is obviously not feasible to trouble Jinghua on economic cases, and Liu Shouyou does not want to commit suicide.
So next, he aimed at the issue of power, or the issue of "disobedience". On this point, Liu Shouyou started from the "Sixteen Articles of Jinghua" and reported to Zhu Yijun that Jinghua actually controlled the political situation in Annan.
Originally, according to Liu Shouyou's idea, the emperor must be extremely sensitive to his ministers doing such things. In particular, Annan was a special vassal state that had been outside the imperial system for a long time. Gao Pragmatic relied on Beijing to control Annan's power. If the emperor found out about this, why not hurry up and take precautions? It shouldn't be strange to kill Gao Pragmatic directly.
However, an accident happened, and after Zhu Yijun learned the news, he acted as if nothing had happened. He did not believe at all that Gao Pragmatic would let go of the opportunity to be a top minister in the Ming Dynasty and go to Annan to become a local king.
Liu Shouyou was lost because of this for a long time. It wasn't until recently that he figured out a truth: Although Gao Pragmatic held power in Annan that was close to the "Tong of the Supreme Capital", his foundation has always been in the Ming Dynasty - he relied on Jinghua Annan is in control, and the roots of Beijing are in the Ming Dynasty. In this case, the emperor certainly feels that Gao Pragmatism will not "run away"!
The combined assets of Jinghua in Ming Dynasty are probably in the tens of millions? Who is willing to give up such a huge property and go to Annan to become a local king?
So Liu Shouyou's second round of attacks failed again, and instead made the emperor think that he was crazy.
This time, Liu Shouyoucai finally figured it out. The reason why Gao Pragmatic made cabinet scholars like Shen Shixing and Yu Youding extremely fearful was not because he had an uncle who was posthumously named Wen Zhenggong, nor because of his wealth. He is the most powerful person in the world, but he has the emperor's almost unlimited trust. Therefore, in order to combat high pragmatism, the real focus should be on combating this kind of trust.
So there was this "demon book case".
It's just that the development of this "demon book case" still seems a little wrong. Liu Shouyou really can't believe that the emperor can tolerate such a scandal, and still maintains a pragmatic and pragmatic self-defense to persuade him to stay.
This is really a ghost! Could it be that in the emperor's mind, Gao Pragmatic was more important than his own sister?
Liu Shouyou suddenly became nervous, and immediately quietly activated the sealed courtyard, firstly to avoid the eyes and ears of Dongchang and Gao Pragmatic, and secondly, to have secret meetings with others and urgently discuss follow-up matters.
At this time, an unattractive-looking carriage stopped outside the gate of the courtyard. A pair of cloaked masters and servants came to call the door. After a brief inquiry, the servants of the Liu family quickly invited the two in.
Liu Shouyou walked out of the main hall in person and quickly stepped forward to greet him.
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