On September 9th, the White Jade Tower was full of distinguished guests and distinguished guests.
During the Double Ninth Festival, it is the time when the golden autumn brings coolness, the fragrance of osmanthus, and the clear wind and frost. It is the best time to climb high and look far away, appreciate the chrysanthemums and compose poems. This festival was formed as early as the Warring States Period. By the Han Dynasty, the custom of celebrating the Double Ninth Festival became popular.
However, folklore is different. According to legend, Madam Qi, the concubine of Liu Bang, the founder of the Han Dynasty, was murdered by Empress Lu. Her former maid, Jia, was expelled from the palace and married to a poor man. Jia family brought the Double Ninth Festival activities that belonged to the palace to the people.
Jia told people: In the palace, every year on the ninth day of September, people wear dogwood, eat tent bait, and drink chrysanthemum wine in order to live longer. Since then, the custom of Double Ninth Festival has been spread among the people.
"Xu Qi Xie Ji" also records: "In Huanjing, Runan, I have been studying with Fei Changfang for many years. The chief room said: There will be a disaster in your home on September 9th. You should go there quickly and make everyone in your family feel embarrassed." The bag is filled with dogwood and tied to the arm. If you climb high and drink chrysanthemum wine, this disaster can be eliminated. Jing Ruyan and his family go hiking. ... In today's world, people climb high for nine days to drink wine, and women carry dogwood bags. This is where the lid begins."
However, the origin of the Double Ninth Festival is no longer important. What is important is that this day has already become a trend in the Ming Dynasty. Even the emperor would climb the Long Live Mountain in person, wear dogwood bags, and drink chrysanthemum wine.
Of course, how the palace celebrates the festival has nothing to do with today's high pragmatism. He has his own Double Ninth Festival.
Baiyu Tower serves as the home court today, hosting more than 200 officials of all sizes from the pragmatic school in Beijing, ranging from the first-rank Fubi to the lowest rank of the ninth rank. Those who are highly pragmatic will not be refused and will be greeted by all.
There are many kinds of activities during the Double Ninth Festival, and there is no need to describe them all. In short, the white marble version of the Palace of Fontainebleau has become a grand gathering of literati today, with flower admiring, drinking, and poetry writing each having its own unique characteristics. pleasure.
There are also various other leisure activities. Some people even played leaf cards in the courtyard, which attracted many people to "spectate".
Among the most widely circulated activities in the capital, probably the only ones that have not been moved here are dice throwing and weaving promotion - after all, they are all officials and literati, and it is still inconvenient to participate in these activities that are recognized as "dandy behavior".
Society is pyramid-shaped, especially in the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, most of the officials in the courtyard are seventh rank and below, while those in the White Jade Tower are officials with higher status.
Not to mention the small conference hall on the third floor of Baiyu Building, which is the real core venue today: the place where the "Cabinet and Ministerial Meeting" is held.
The convener of the meeting was naturally Gao Pragmatic, who also acted as the moderator, but the person sitting at the head of the meeting was still Xu Guo and Xu Cifu. The two people beside Xu Guo need no further introduction. They are naturally Zhang Xueyan and Wu Dui, the other two elders of the Practical School Pavilion.
The following people attended the meeting: Shen Li, Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, Liang Menglong, Minister of the Ministry of War, Yang Zhao, Minister of the Ministry of Industry, Zhang Mengnan, Minister of General Affairs, Luo Zun, Minister of Taipu Temple, Tu Menggui, Minister of Guanglu Temple, and Minister of Hanlin Academy Han Ji, the bachelor in charge of the academy, Lu Shusheng, the bachelor of the Hanlin Academy and the minister of Zhan Shifu, Zhang Yigui, the bachelor of the Hanlin Academy and the imperial minister of the Imperial Academy, Cheng Wen, the left minister of the household department, Song Zhihan, the right minister of the official affairs department, and Song Zhihan, the right minister of the Ministry of Industry Minister Gao Yongchun.
Finally, including Gao Pragmatic himself, there were sixteen people in total.
These are the most core members of the Practical School in the center of the capital. None of them are below the third rank - even if those in the Hanlin Academy are not high in rank according to their profession (the special nature of the Hanlin Academy), the additional titles are enough. .
Just by looking at these people, you will know why even Xu Guo, the second assistant, has to take into account Gao Pragmatic's opinions.
Shen Li, Zhang Mengnan, Luo Zun, Tu Menggui, Han Ji, Cheng Wen, and Song Zhihan were all disciples of Gao Gong. Among them, Zhang Mengnan was not only a disciple, but also Gao Gong's wife and nephew.
Among the remaining people, Lu Shusheng was Guo Pu's good friend, while Zhang Yigui and Gao Yongchun were Guo Pu's disciples. As for Yang Zhao, he is Zhang Siwei's man.
As a result, apart from the three pavilion elders, only Liang Menglong was left. However, although Liang Menglong was a disciple of Zhang Juzheng, he was never suppressed by Gao and Guo. In the end, he was pulled into the Shi School by Gao Pangshi. He was obviously Closer to high pragmatism.
In other words, except for the three cabinet elders, everyone in this small conference hall is related to Gao Pragmatic - the political resources left by the three chief ministers Gao Gong, Guo Pu and Zhang Siwei can now be used Said it was all in his hands.
So, what about the other two pavilion elders? Gao Gong is Zhang Xueyan's top talent. Without Gao Gong's promotion, it is unclear whether Zhang Xueyan, whose teacher left the center very early, could have climbed up. As for Wu Dui, it goes without saying. When Gao Gong was forced to retreat by Xu Jie, Wu Dui was the only one to go to see him off in person despite the pressure from the court. He was the toughest among Gao Gong's disciples.
Even Xu Guo himself was a student of Gao Gong. According to current rules, he had to call Gao Jingshi "Brother" when meeting Gao Jingshi in private.
What does it mean to have peaches and plums all over the world? This is the performance of Gao and Guo, the first assistants of the two generations, who have students all over the world. You know, there are so many students at the highest level of the center, so how many are there at the local level and in lower-level positions? How many disciples do these disciples have?
As for Zhang Siwei, he took the exam relatively late and is still not visible at the highest level of the bureaucracy. But that doesn’t mean that he has no disciples—let’s see again in ten or twenty years?
What are political resources? This is a political resource.
With such political resources in hand, it can't be stopped by stomping one's feet and the capital trembling, but the whole world trembling!
"The reason for the matter is probably what Qiucai said just now." Xu Guo sighed lightly, looked around at everyone present, and said: "The reason why I invite you all here today is to discuss the impact of this matter. , and how we should respond. You are not outsiders, you can say whatever you want, and the country, Brother Ziyu, Brother Junze, etc. are all listening.
After saying this, no one spoke immediately. On the contrary, many people subconsciously looked at Gao Pragmatic. Unfortunately, Gao Pragmatic was not ready to speak yet, and there was no indication of any tendency from his expression.
After a while, Zhang Yigui, the imperial wine minister, was the first to speak: "Qiuzhen just said that Pan Ge always gave way to Xu Xuemo on purpose, but I have a question about this: Even if Pan Ge always gives way to Xu Xuemo, he will not You can just go to the minister directly and say that the cabinet affairs are busy and you are old and lack of energy, so you can resign the eldest uncle and recommend Xu Xuemo as his successor. Why should he make so many tricks and make the emperor dissatisfied? "
Xu Guo glanced at Gao Pragmatic and asked, "Qing truth, will you explain?"
Of course Gao Jingshi had to explain, he nodded and said: "According to common sense, this matter should be developed as Senior Brother Zhigui (Zhang Yigui is Guo Pu's disciple, so Gao Jingshi is a serious junior brother), but Pan Xinchang (Pan Sheng, a native of Xinchang, Zhejiang Province) may have other intentions for this move."
Zhang Yigui nodded and said: "I would like to hear the truth-seeking and high-level talk."
"I dare not." Gao Pingshi continued: "I think Pan Xinchang's move has at least two meanings: First, he is both the Minister of Rites and the elder in charge of the Ministry of Rites. It is his duty to correct the country's origins early. He and his colleagues also want to take a stand on this matter, so it is better to do it more simply and hold on to this matter in order to gain a good reputation in the government and the public."
Zhang Yigui curled his lips slightly and said, "He also has a 'reputation in both government and the public'?" However, that was all he said, and it seemed that he had no intention of expanding on it.
Gao pragmatic smiled and said: "It is precisely because we don't have much reputation, so as we get older, we still have to fight for it if we have the opportunity."
Then he paused slightly and continued: "As for the second thing, I think he is worried about our attitude."
"Oh?" Zhang Yigui frowned slightly and asked, "Why do you see it?"
Gao pragmatically said: "The reason why Pan Xinchang was able to join the cabinet was because of our help earlier. He himself knows this. Now that he wants to side with Shen Yuanfu, this past favor seems a little bit... It’s embarrassing, so how to minimize this embarrassment is something he has to consider.”
The most difficult debt in the world to repay is a debt of favor. Even a scumbag often has to repay a favor debt after he owes it. No matter what Pan Sheng said, he was not a scumbag yet. Of course he would find it difficult. , will also try to resolve this embarrassment. And when he had to take sides, there were not many ways to resolve the embarrassment, so he had to make it as if he had not taken the initiative to give up his position.
As for whether others believe it or not, he believes it himself.
It may be useless to cover one's ears and steal the bell, but if you don't cover it up at all, it is a matter of attitude.
Tu Menggui intervened at this time: "I think the embarrassment is only one aspect, the more important thing is that he is afraid of angering us."
Gao pragmatically smiled and said nothing, but his acquiescence was obvious.
Zhang Yigui nodded: "That makes sense."
Tu Menggui said pragmatically to Gao: "If Pan Xinchang is thinking like this, then I have another worry: Since he has given up the chancellor of the Ministry of Rites...will he also give up his position as a cabinet minister?"
This question is somewhat interesting, because logically speaking, it doesn't matter if Pan Sheng gives up the position of Minister of Rites, but it would be more cruel to give up the position of cabinet minister. It is simply a suicide, and he will support Xu Xuemo to the top even if he is no longer involved.
Apart from parents and children, there is probably no one in the world who is so kind to others.
Before Gao Pangshi could answer, Han Ji next to him spoke first: "Don't mention it, I also have this worry - since he is in the first year of junior high school, he is not afraid of being in the fifteenth year again."
Both of them expressed their opinions in the same year, and Cheng Wenbian also said: "Yes, according to what Qiuzhen said just now, the maritime merchants in Jiangsu and Zhejiang are quite strong. Since Pan Xinchang can be forced to stand up and learn from others, then there will be Maybe he could be forced to retire two years earlier and replace Xu Xuemo."
Song Zhihan, who was in the Ministry of Personnel, also analyzed: "I also second the suggestion. Since Pan Xinchang's move has offended the emperor, he must have been willing to fight for it, and maybe he was preparing to give up the throne completely. It's just that he The sacrifice is not small, I wonder how much benefit those maritime merchants promise?"
How big a benefit is promised? The answer to this cannot be obtained by guessing, but by checking. However, Jiangsu and Zhejiang are too far away, making it inconvenient to check. It cannot be something that can be figured out now.
Gao pragmatic pondered: "It doesn't matter what they promised right now, I think we should prepare for the worst first: What should we do if Pan Xinchang really wants to give up his position as the elder?"
As soon as these words came out, everyone was not in a hurry to speak, and everyone began to think.
After waiting for a while, Han Ji suddenly asked Xu Guo, "What do you think of Cifu?"
Xu Guo sighed first, and then as expected, he shook his head and said: "If he really wants to 'give way to others', we can't control it, and we can't even oppose it. I think we should calm down first and wait for things to happen." As expected, we will make plans after this development.”
Everyone shook their heads slightly when they heard these words, and Han Ji even waved his hands repeatedly: "Everything will be done if you are prepared, and if you are not prepared, it will be ruined. How can we not have contingency plans in advance for such a big event?"
Xu Guo glanced at him but said nothing. He knew that Han Ji said this mostly out of selfish motives, because among everyone present, Han Ji's position was the most promising for "two steps into the cabinet".
He is now the de facto leader of the Hanlin Academy. According to Ming Dynasty tradition, this position is very convenient for him to enter the cabinet. Generally speaking, he can be transferred out of the Hanlin Academy and appointed as one of the positions of Minister of Rites, Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of Personnel, or Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of Rites. Generally speaking, this is to prepare for joining the cabinet, and the transfer will usually take less than a year. Will join the cabinet.
Han Ji was so close to joining the cabinet, so of course he would be most sensitive to the position of cabinet ministers. But it's no wonder that he is the same age as Xu Guo, but he has been in the cabinet for a long time and even became the second assistant. Why should he wait blindly?
However, Han Ji is not the only one who hopes to join the cabinet. Shen Li, the Minister of Household Affairs, is also the next popular candidate within the Real School to join the cabinet.
Shen Li is fifty-three years old this year. If he were in a rural area, he would naturally be old enough to care about his grandchildren. But for an important court official, this is a very suitable age, mature enough but not too talkative. old.
He also had many advantages. Not only was he once Zhu Yijun's lecturer in the East Palace, but later when Zhu Yijun became the emperor, he was also responsible for giving lectures on banquets and daily lectures. He even had "part-time work" several times to teach the eunuchs in the inner study. In other words, he not only had a close relationship with the emperor, but also had a close relationship with the people around the emperor.
At this point, he can even compare with Shen Shixing.
It's just that Zhang Xueyan and Wu Dui took the lead when they entered the cabinet, and Shen Li fell one step behind and got the position of Minister of Household Affairs.
This matter itself was forced out of necessity, because Zhang Siwei suddenly resigned and Ding You resigned. The important place in the hands of the Real School of Household Affairs cannot be left without a big boss, so Shen Li was transferred here. It was precisely because Shen Li was transferred to the position of Minister of Household Affairs that Han Ji was able to take charge of the affairs of the Hanlin Academy.
Speaking of Ding You, Shen Li has another big advantage: his parents both died one after another in the sixth year of Wanli, so he did not return to the center until the ninth year of Wanli. But now he has the advantage of "not having to worry about Ding."
At this time, Shen Li spoke: "In my opinion, if Pan Xinchang really wants to give up his position as Pavilion Elder, the person who will replace him will probably not be Xu Xuemo."
Gao Pragmatic narrowed his eyes slightly, and Xu Guo had already asked: "It's not Xu Xuemo? Who could it be?"
Shen Li said expressionlessly: "Wang Xijue."
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Thanks to book friend "Cao Mianzi" for your reward and support, thank you!
Thanks to book friends "Piping's Soil", "System Collapse", "You Waiting Salted Fish" and "sovie2003" for their monthly support, thank you!
PS: I didn’t sleep well last night, and I was terribly sleepy when I was typing tonight. If there are any typos in this chapter, please forgive me.
