As expected, the gentlemen observed the courtesy, because they could not stay in the palace. After the emperor used this as an excuse to refuse to see him, they left the palace together. There was originally no court meeting the next day, but the gentlemen still came to the palace early in the morning and continued to ask for their resignation at the palace of Qianqing.
However, Zhang Cheng went over with an apologetic smile and told them that the emperor had gone to Ciqing Palace and Cining Palace to pay his respects as usual. I am afraid it will take some time before he can return to Qianqing Palace. Gentlemen, please take a rest. After that, he conveyed the emperor's oral instructions and sent five stools to the gentlemen, inviting them to sit down. He also sent snacks and soups very considerately, and even prepared hot tea.
This move made the five ministers realize that the emperor at this time was really no longer the young emperor who obeyed Mr. Gao's orders more than ten years ago, but a resurgence master who had defeated foreign enemies several times. A "Changjun" who has reached a certain level of wisdom and means.
But this has only aggravated the worries of the ministers, because according to the current situation, once the Ming Dynasty can really defeat Chahar in two years, the emperor will definitely be called the current Holy Lord, and he will be honored all over the world. .
But because of this, the emperor's disregard for the cabinet is even more worrying in this situation. Especially Shen Shixing and Wang Xijue, their worries are almost endless.
It is true that today's Ming Dynasty has a renaissance atmosphere, with successive victories in war and central financial power becoming increasingly solid, but all of this is inseparable from that person.
Gao pragmatism, the only officially recognized Sixth No. 1 Scholar in the Ming Dynasty, was praised by scholars as "the bravest scholar in the world", the youngest minister in the ministry, and the "number one literary commander" who was invincible in the north, south, west and east, and was in the heart of His Majesty the Emperor. The most talented minister among them... took this decentralization event as an opportunity to once again strengthen his Holy Family.
His influence on Jinyiwei may have declined, and his control over the inner court may have weakened, but since then, the emperor's trust in him has become stronger.
Isn't this worth worrying about?
The emperor is the emperor of all people in the world and the emperor of all officials in the court, not just the emperor of one person. If the emperor puts all his trust in a certain person, once that person makes a mistake or has his own thoughts, who will correct it and who will stop it? Who will save it?
However, the trouble is that Gao Pragmatic is a civil servant, not a military commander, let alone an eunuch.
In the Ming Dynasty, officials could openly suspect that military generals were powerful, and they could unscrupulously criticize eunuchs for their power. Even if they made some unreasonable or even outrageous actions for these two reasons, they could be forgiven. Being downplayed or even touted in turn.
But for a civil servant, these methods are not applicable, and it should even be said that they cannot be used. The loyalty of civil servants can be questioned on matters of private morality, but never on matters of justice, otherwise it will be regarded as a threat to the entire civil servant group, because once a civil servant may betray the court and have evil intentions, then the civil servant group will rely on it to suppress it The justice and legitimacy of military commanders and suppressed eunuchs were greatly shaken.
Such questioning would be a betrayal of the entire civil service group.
Therefore, during this meeting with His Majesty, the cabinet ministers all had the same attitude. No one planned to question Gao Pragmatic's loyalty. Even Shen Shixing and Wang Xijue only wanted to use the emperor's distrust of the cabinet as a reason to resign. reason.
If you want to wear a crown, you must bear its weight. A similar principle was actually demonstrated by the ministers of the Ming Dynasty cabinet. If you want to continue to maintain the status of civil servants over generals and eunuchs, and achieve the emperor's ideal of "sharing the world with the scholar-bureaucrats," this unquestionable loyalty of civil servants is a weight that "must bear its weight."
The attitudes of the cabinet ministers were very consistent as to whether to accept His Majesty the Emperor's kindness in caring for his ministers. They didn't even look at each other, standing like wooden stakes one by one, motionless despite the biting cold wind and the blowing snow in their faces.
Zhang Cheng took the trouble to persuade all the gentlemen, and even put away his arrogance as he had just assumed the post of admiral of the New East Factory, and persuaded this and that, showing he was really dedicated.
The cabinet ministers were unmoved. At first, they exchanged casual greetings with Zhang Cheng, but later they didn't even bother to speak up and kept a heart-wrenching silence.
At this time, Zhu Yijun had actually gone from Ciqing Palace to Cining Palace. Although the two palaces are said to be of equal respect, Empress Dowager Cisheng was the former empress after all. Therefore, Zhu Yijun's order of greetings to the two palaces over the years has been to go to Empress Dowager Cisheng first. Ciqing Palace, and then Cining Palace of Empress Dowager Cisheng, and today is no exception.
There was nothing much to say in greetings, but after greetings, Empress Dowager Cisheng stopped the emperor today. First, he ordered someone to give the emperor a seat, and then asked: "Did something happen in the court these days? The Ai family heard that several gentlemen went to the Qing Palace to hold the palace last night?"
"Oh, it's not last night, it was in the evening." Zhu Yijun explained to his mother: "It's not a big deal, so you don't have to worry about it."
The Empress Dowager Cisheng frowned and asked, "Is the Emperor sure? If the Ai family remembers correctly, this seems to be the first time that the entire cabinet has been detained since you inherited the throne?"
Zhu Yijun raised his eyebrows slightly and said: "It doesn't matter if it's the first time, there will always be a 'first time' in everything in the world."
"The Emperor has this confidence, and the Ai family will feel relieved." The Empress Dowager Cisheng nodded, but then added: "The first time you mentioned, does it also include the establishment of the Dingnan Protectorate?"
Zhu Yijun glanced at his mother and suddenly smiled: "My son is deeply ashamed that my mother is so concerned about state affairs."
The Cisheng Empress Dowager frowned slightly, looked at Zhu Yijun and said: "It is not that the Ai family ignored the laws of the ancestors and interfered with state affairs, but the establishment of the Protectorate was such a major event that the second ancestors did not do it..."
"Mother, I naturally abide by the last wishes of my ancestors, but things in the world are constantly changing, and the old system of our ancestors may not be able to remain unchanged in response to the changes. This matter has been discussed by the court and has reached a consensus. The same is true for the establishment of the Dingnan Protectorate. , but it is a matter of taking advantage of the changing times."
When the Empress Dowager Cisheng heard that he changed his title from "son" to "I", she knew that he wanted to show that he was answering in his capacity as the emperor, so she had to be cautious - after all, the harem of the Ming Dynasty was not allowed to interfere in politics. The traditional inertia is extremely huge.
Even though she had been "regent" for ten years, she knew very well: first of all, she was not "regent" alone, and she was also the Queen Mother Rensheng; secondly, their "regent" was more in name only, and actually took the initiative. The person in charge of politics was Gao Gong first, and after Gao Gong's death, it was Guo Pu.
Therefore, it is not so much that the two "Madonnas" were regents for ten years, but rather that they were only guardians for ten years. There is a big difference between regency and guardianship. The biggest difference is that the former has the absolute "agent power" of the imperial power, while the latter only enjoys a symbolic part of the imperial power, and the other part of the real power has never been Controlled by their two holy mothers.
This means that they themselves have not received much training in political ability, especially herself, who has slightly deepened her interference in politics several times, but it has actually led to accidents. Especially in terms of employing and trusting people, her several mistakes seriously affected her authority and sanctity. As a result, it is now difficult to have the same prestige when facing the emperor's son, and she can teach the emperor a lesson in full face. Forget about ordering the emperor to issue an edict to sin against oneself.
Over the years of his rule, the emperor had achieved great success, and his only mistake was probably the Northwest Rebellion. However, after the Northwest Rebellion broke out, it was still the emperor's decision to send Gao Pragmatic troops to suppress it. Gao Pangshi, on the other hand, proved with practical actions that he was capable of quelling the war as quickly as possible, fully fulfilling his mission.
This, in turn, is also the emperor's merit and the result of employing people appropriately.
From this point of view, if the emperor's performance since taking office is not perfect, at least it is perfect and no one can question it. Under such circumstances, the Empress Dowager Cisheng obviously needs to be more cautious when she wants to question the emperor about the cabinet detention incident yesterday evening and the "Dingnan Protector's Mansion" incident that preceded it.
The Empress Dowager Cisheng was silent for a moment and asked slowly: "The Ai family remembers that the emperor and Xiao Gaoqing's family often discussed history back then. I wonder if you two ever discussed the "Biography of Huo Guang"?"
Zhu Yijun smiled slightly: "Da Situ is the same age as me, so why will he definitely become Huo Guang one day? Besides, even if that day comes in the future, doesn't my mother know that although Huo Guang takes power, he is still loyal to the Han Dynasty.
Huo Guang has been in a high position for decades, served Emperor Wu, Emperor Zhao, and Emperor Xuan, and even deposed an emperor. His family power spread throughout the court. However, there is no one with different intentions who can do this, not to mention ordinary people, even the virtuous ministers of the past generations. How many can there be? At that time, the Han Dynasty and the country enjoyed long-term peace and stability. Could it be that Huo Guangzhi's great contribution was not included in this?
Deposing the emperor is no child's play, but Huo Guang deposed the emperor because the emperor was arrogant and extravagant, not for his own selfish desires, and obviously not for the sake of protecting himself. I think that since he has such an attitude of serving the world as a public good, he cannot just depose him. The decision is made based on the 'powerful minister'.
I remember that Da Situ did not admire Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, but I do think that Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was really insightful in appointing Huo Guang. Thanks to Huo Guang, the Han Dynasty and Guo Zuo were not ruined by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty's aggressive militarism. He suffered the loss of Qin but not the disaster of Qin. Although it was related to Emperor Wu of Han's awakening in his later years, he was able to recuperate and restore stability to the country. Didn't Huo Guang not Credit?
In addition, the Han Dynasty has long concluded that Huo Guang was ignorant and incompetent. However, Huo Guang's achievements cannot be covered up because of his personal mistakes. I think his achievements are comparable to those of Zhou Gong and A Heng.
As for the Great Situ... Haha, I was thinking, if there is no one who dares to say that he has no knowledge or skills in today's world, I'm afraid I won't be able to find one, right? And how loyal he is, I have also seen clearly over the years.
In the past, the late emperor taught me many times, saying, "It takes three days to burn jade, and seven years to identify the material." Now it takes more than seven years for me to judge the talent of the great Situ? And how have I tried to test his loyalty and character more than once?
Every time he has proven his loyalty, his character, his talent... they are all the best choice. I have heard that "virtue is rewarded by officials, and merit is rewarded." Since there are loyal ministers and capable ministers like this, why should I be stingy with the title of Protector of the District? Man said that he would be the protector of the south. If he conquered Mobei in the future and sealed the wolf in Xu, I would not be stingy with the reward of being a marquis! "
The Empress Dowager Cisheng pondered: "Since the emperor has already made his judgment, it is inconvenient for Aijia to say more. It's easy to say that the reward of being a prince is easy to say, but where does the endowment of the country come from?"
Zhu Yijun smiled and said: "This is just a statement. We will have to discuss the situation at that time. However, the so-called gift of a country is also a gift from the Duke. What do you think I mean by this?"
Who would have thought that this time the Cisheng Empress Dowager shook her head and said, "Although the Ai family is not familiar with government affairs, they have heard about the situation in the south. The emperor made the area under the jurisdiction of the Dingnan Protectorate so large because Beijing is in the south. Xinjiang's power has reached that point.
In this case, if he receives a reward from the emperor one day in the future, it will definitely not be the reward given by the princes. He only has a name but no fiefdom. Why should the emperor fight with the Aijia in this Tai Chi pushing hand. "
Zhu Yijun smiled slightly, but did not explain carefully, let alone refute.
The Empress Dowager Cisheng sighed again and said, "The Ai family still remembers that Liu Shouyou said before that Beijing had hundreds of thousands or even 200,000 soldiers in southern Xinjiang. Is this true or false?"
The emperor was silent for a moment and did not directly answer this sentence, but said: "In the past, the Annan, Mo and Zheng families were divided into north and south, each with more than 100,000 troops; when Burma invaded Yunnan from the north, there were about 300,000 troops. "
"That's different." Empress Dowager Cisheng shook her head and said: "Of course the Ai family doesn't understand the war, but the little Gaoqing family has a reputation of being invincible, even if the Ai family is in Cining Palace I have heard it countless times, and it is like thunder to my ears.
If a commander as famous as him has an army of 200,000 in his hands, what if... Ai Jia means what if, what if he has different intentions in the future, can the land of Yun and Gui stop him? Or, can the people south of the river be able to stop him? "
Zhu Yijun sighed, shook his head and said: "I don't think the Queen Mother's hypothesis will become a reality. It is true that the Queen Mother's worries are very reasonable. If I really look at it from this hypothesis, I also think that the land of Yun and Gui will be difficult to stop. You can hold him back. But I don’t think it’s necessary to punish meritorious ministers with the crime you want to inflict.
In fact, it’s not that I haven’t thought about my mother’s worries. Not only have I thought about it, I’ve even thought about it countless times. I believe that as long as I maintain the monarch-minister relationship with Great Situ and both parties are "junior-subordinate", at least while I and he are still alive, these things will not happen. "
"What happens after that?" Empress Dowager Cisheng asked: "Emperor, you and he are classmates and have a close friendship. You think you know him well enough. But now our Ming Dynasty has not even decided on the foundation of the country, and he still only has one Baby eldest son, can your future descendants understand each other as well as you do?"
Zhu Yijun was startled for a moment, then started to think, and after a moment he suddenly smiled and said: "The Queen Mother reminds me very much, I understand."
The Empress Dowager Cisheng looked at the confident emperor and sighed: "This is all the Ai family can think of and remind you... In short, you are the emperor, so you might as well think more carefully about everything. "
"Yes, thank you for your mother's teachings." Zhu Yijun stood up and saluted, formally thanking him.
The Empress Dowager Cisheng was finally quite satisfied with his attitude. She nodded and asked, "So what are you going to do about the current cabinet impeachment?"
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PS: Today is the party’s birthday, and it’s also my birthday. No kidding, I can prove it with my ID card:)
