Zhang Juzheng was surprised when he heard this and looked at Zhu Yijun. Zhu Yijun said: "Concubine Qi died unexpectedly, and the two palaces were furious. It is Empress Dowager Cisheng who is here."
Hearing this, Zhang Juzheng bowed five times and kowtowed three times to the screen: "I, Zhang Juzheng, kowtow to the Empress Dowager. I, the minister, acted like a prodigal and disturbed Ci'an. It is a grave sin."
In addition to the fact that Queen Mother Li met Zhang Juzheng by chance when she was in Prince Yu's Mansion, Mu Zongbin also met Zhang Juzheng that day.
At the beginning of Mu Zongbin's reign, there were several important state affairs. The two of them were separated by a screen and had several conversations in public.
After the situation in the DPRK stabilized, all communications between the two were relayed back and forth through Feng Bao. After Feng Bao was expelled, the Queen Mother became lazy in politics. It has been a long time since Zhang Juzheng asked Cisheng for advice on something.
At this time, listening to Zhang Juzheng's apology, Empress Dowager Li said from behind the screen: "When the late emperor was still alive, he told me the treasured teachings of Taizu and Chengzu, and it was not allowed to discuss the appointment of a prime minister. If the minister has something to say, he will be executed. The late emperor regretted it at the time, I thought Gao Huzi, Mr. Zhang and others were doing prime minister work, but they had no status."
"Why does the emperor say this today? Doesn't it violate the family law of our ancestors?"
Zhu Yijun smiled and said: "Mother, Taizu taught you not to open the sea, and the late emperor also opened the sea. In the 17th year of Hongwu, an iron sign was set up that said, "Ministers are not allowed to interfere in political affairs, and offenders will be killed." Today, the chief minister of rites is like a prime minister. "
Queen Mother Li was speechless. After thinking for a while, he timidly said: "If the emperor has any ideas, I will not interfere. However, it cannot be interfered with and a court dispute arises."
Zhu Yijun said yes and replied: "Don't worry, Queen Mother, my son will not worry about it." He looked at Zhang Juzheng again with a profound look in his eyes and said: "I plan to give the old gentleman a 'Prime Minister's Cabinet' after staying for a few years. In the name of the minister, I will try to figure it out again."
Zhang Juzheng's heart skipped a beat after hearing this. When the platform called him, Zhu Yijun had already expressed his intention to reform. What is 'reform'? Change the 'ancestral family law'!
He persuaded the emperor to stop him with great emotion at the time, but after a year of getting along with each other, Zhang Juzheng no longer doubted the emperor's character - his perseverance was the only one in this dynasty that Taizu had.
Therefore, Zhang Juzheng once said to Qi Jiguang, "Today's Taizu is like Taizu, and there is no sand in his eyes." These words are indeed sincere.
According to the emperor's intention at this time, "a few years later" should be the wedding period. At that time, it will be announced to the world, the queen mother will be adopted, and the emperor will personally take charge of the political affairs from a legal perspective.
Today's emperor is equivalent to making a promise to give himself the title of "prime minister and cabinet minister" when he takes office. By then, he will indeed be one step away from the prime minister. The emperor is hanging with this big cake. If anyone suggests that the emperor delay his wedding for a few years, he will risk his life.
Zhang Juzheng let his thoughts fly and thought that although this official name was not found in the ceremony, the emperor had such a clever idea and the name was very nice.
At that time, by mixing political orders, measuring the land, and promoting the "One Whip Method", we will surely be able to rejuvenate the country and strengthen the army. It can really be said that "ambition will be rewarded." This is what a man should do!
After making up his mind, Zhang Juzheng said: "To the Queen Mother, I have been favored by three generations of emperors. When planning for the country, I must first worry about the world and forget about myself. Please rest assured, Queen Mother, I will not worry about anything."
Empress Dowager Li was relieved when she heard what the emperor and Zhang Juzheng said behind the screen. Then he asked: "The east factory has always been built like this. Is there any inconvenience if it is abolished?"
After Zhang Juzheng heard this, he hurriedly said loudly: "Back to the Queen Mother, Chengzu set up the East Factory to visit and conspire against demons and treason, and to share power with the Jin Yiwei. At the beginning, I could still be cautious and self-defeating, and don't let it go in vain. But since becoming the ancestor, , completely deviates from the original intention!”
"For hundreds of years, they have racked up crimes, falsely accused officials and people, and extorted money. They also used torture to torture officials, falsely accused ministers, and killed each other unjustly. Their evil deeds are too numerous to describe. When they give orders to the government and the public, and listen to the hands of eunuchs, the world will suffer for a long time. !”
"Today the Lord wants to abolish it, which is the greatest virtue since the founding of the Ancestor! And the Queen Mother's kindness will surely benefit the world! As for the worry about the dominance of the Jin Yiwei, one will set up a supervisory bureau in the future, under the personal leadership of the emperor; the other is the Metropolitan Procuratorate After the revolution, we can check and balance it, and the ministers can also curb its power. Please rest assured, Queen Mother."
As the head of the civil service, Zhang Juzheng was afraid that the Queen Mother would oppose the abolition of Dongchang, so he even said the words "The world will be relieved of his kindness". Zhu Yijun laughed secretly in his heart after hearing this.
Empress Dowager Li did not have much experience or opinion in political affairs, so she was easily persuaded by Zhang Juzheng. She thought to herself: "Mr. Zhang said so excitedly, it is better to abolish the Dongchang." She said: "In this case, the emperor and Mr. Zhang just do it. ." Zhu Yijun and Zhang Juzheng responded.
Seeing that she agreed, Zhang Juzheng breathed a sigh of relief. After waiting for a while, Zhu Yijun saw that Queen Mother Li did not continue to ask questions, so he asked about the five-year plans of various ministries, and Zhang Juzheng began to make reports.
Queen Mother Li listened for a while and murmured in her heart: "What's the fun in this political matter? It's really weird that these two are talking about it with so much interest. I won't listen anymore, so I'll go to mahjong."
Someone from behind the screen interjected and asked, "Concubine Qi has died. How will she be treated?"
Zhang Juzheng heard this and thought to himself that he had just said "discuss the matter as it is", but you didn't understand it after making trouble for a long time. I had no choice but to repeat: "I think it is better to 'discuss the matter as it is', to pursue the responsibilities and to deal with the situation strictly according to the law. In addition, the Procuratorate of the Metropolitan Government was established to nip the problem in the bud."
After hearing this, Empress Dowager Li said: "In this case, I can't see Zhu Heng anymore. The emperor and the old gentleman can handle it themselves." After saying that, he stood up from behind the screen. Zhang Juzheng heard the sound of a chair and the unique aroma of perfume. He hurriedly bent down to kowtow, not daring to raise his head and said, "Best farewell to the Queen Mother." Zhu Yijun also stood up and said farewell to the Queen Mother.
Zhu Yijun had already dismissed the inner guards in the palace before. At this time, he shouted loudly and several inner officials came in to serve the Empress Dowager Cisheng and left through the main entrance.
Zhang Juzheng raised his head when he heard the footsteps getting further away. Zhu Yijun said: "Old sir, please get up." Zhang Juzheng was talking about the emperor's reform of the inner court today, the abolition of the East Factory and other major events, and mixed them with the death of Concubine Qi. Since he was present, the Queen Mother had nothing to say, so she didn't have to reply. The palace is no longer a waste of words. At such a young age, my heart is so twisted.
...
On that day, Zhu Yijun still accompanied the two palaces to live in Xiyuan. Because of what happened last night, the Superintendent of Ceremonies inspected every palace in Xiyuan during the day today, and found nearly a hundred parts of the side halls with rotten materials, peeling paint, potholes on the sidewalks, etc., and reported them all to the East Factory. .
Chen Ju, the eunuch serving in Dongchang, the imperial envoy governor, personally took charge of the editing factory outside Donghua Gate and ordered Qianhu, the chief of punishment, to lead people to torture Wang Li, Yang Song and more than a hundred Xiyuan building officials and servants for a day.
These officials all had a lot of money in their families. Seeing that their mainstay was taken to Dongchang, they all sought relatives and friends to make money for people. This was what the Dongchang officials were most happy to see.
Yang Song, a foreign minister from the Ministry of Industry, had a broad mind. His brothers at home asked someone to go to the Chen family of Gu'an Bo. He greeted Zheng Ru, the chief minister, and gave him a hundred taels of red gold as the first payment.
Although Zheng Ru knew that the relationship was important, the people in the East Factory saw gold like flies see blood, so how could they let go. While he was handing the compiled transcript to Chen Ju, he said in a low voice: "Mr. Factory, the Yang family is willing to pay thousands of taels of gold to buy Yang Song's life in the East Factory."
After hearing this, Chen Ju rolled his eyes up and down and looked at Zheng Ru. Seeing that the situation was not going well, Zheng Ru fell to his knees, kowtowed and fanned his mouth vigorously. Each palm was powerful and heavy, and within a few strokes the skin was broken and blood flowed.
When Chen Ju saw this, he sneered a few times, then sighed, and just said: "Get out yet!" Zheng Baihu climbed on the ground and went out as if he had been pardoned.
Chen Ju first looked through the transcripts and then the conclusions. Seeing that the chain of the Xiyuan corruption case was clear and the evidence was conclusive, he took the file and went to Xiyuan to see him.
Zhu Yijun opened the file and saw a piece of paper sandwiched in front of the directory, which read: "Princess Qi did die of a blunt blow to the skull. She was not poisoned or had any other trauma. She is courteous." He nodded.
In front of the internal supervisor in the palace, Zhu Yijun said: "Go and report the results of today's interrogation to the Queen Mother. Come to me at night. I have something to tell you - it is related to the abolition of Dongchang. You should think about the pros and cons first."
Zhu Yijun wanted to abolish Dongchang, and he had already discussed it with Chen Ju. At this time, when Chen Ju heard what he said, there was no movement on his face. He only responded loudly: "Old slave, I obey the order."
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