Zhang Juzheng came back from the mountains.
He was the only one who came back early, the others were still on the way.
Because, Academician Zhang had a heatstroke—a real heatstroke.
At this time, he was lying at home, being served decoctions by his son Zhang Jingxiu.
Zhang Jingxiu pushed open the door with a medicine bowl in his hand, walked to the bed and said softly: "Dad, it's time to drink medicine."
Zhang Juzheng sat up slowly, took the medicine bowl, and poured it into his mouth.
After serving the soup and medicine, Zhang Jingxiu tidied up and complained: "Why are you coming back in such a hurry?"
It is indeed very hot in Tianshou Mountain.
However, when high officials of the imperial court travel to choose a mausoleum for the late emperor, there is always a lot of shade and ice, so heat stroke is not easy to happen.
This was obviously a deliberate attempt to suffer the heat, so as to have a reason to rush back as soon as possible.
Zhang Juzheng lay down silently again, not in the mood to deal with his son.
Even he didn't expect Gao Gonglai's appearance.
I had to rush back in this way to clean up the mess.
On the way, a series of shocking numbers reached his ears.
One day, Feng Baodong's factory was cut off, and Li Jin stepped in to replace it.
After a while, Gao Gong wanted to abolish the Supervisor of Ceremonies.
Then when he heard that Gao Gong revealed his trump card and wanted to give Queen Mother Chen a title, his heart was overturned.
This was his golden acquaintance, and his talent and skills did not disappoint him.
Just as he was thinking this, his second son Zhang Sixiu suddenly ran in and pointed in the direction of the door: "Dad! There is..."
Zhang Juzheng interrupted him and said displeasedly: "Didn't you say that if you don't see any guests today, you won't see anyone?"
Zhang Sixiu gasped: "Yes...it's Yuan Fu!"
Zhang Juzheng lifted the quilt.
He grabbed the clothes randomly and put them on.
After rushing out of the door, only the remaining voice came from outside the room: "Go, please come to the study to see me!"
…
Gao Gong was invited to the study by Zhang Sixiu and saw Zhang Juzheng sitting upright in front of the desk.
In one hand he held a summary of the cabinet documents for the past few days, and in the other hand he held a medicine bowl.
Like drinking tea, I took a sip and continued reading.
"My lord, Yuan Fu is here to visit you."
Zhang Sixiu made a report, showed Gao Gong a seat, and then left.
Gao Gong sat down and shook his head: "This kid doesn't know how to make me a cup of tea."
Zhang Juzheng then looked at Gao Gong, protected his son without revealing any trace, and said, "There is no tea at home."
This excuse is so fake and insincere.
Gao Gong just said this casually, and he didn't insist on drinking.
He stared at Zhang Juzheng for a while and suddenly laughed: "You really have a heat stroke? Are you in such a hurry?"
Zhang Juzheng was ridiculed and was a little embarrassed.
Putting down the medicine bowl in his hand, he said angrily: "You can't let the imperial doctor come and see me alive and well, right? Then I can't be Sima Yi."
Gao Gong knew that this was a sarcastic comment on him.
It implies that what he is doing now is quite similar to Sima Yi.
He didn't care, but said with concern: "Then take good care of yourself, I won't need you to handle official duties for a while."
A person with Gao Gong has a bad temper when the wind is blowing, and when the wind is blowing, his temper is bad.
Zhang Juzheng was really helpless: "Let's get down to business."
Gao Gong nodded: "Okay, let's talk in the yard?"
Everyone in a high position has this habit.
Either an empty hall or a deserted courtyard.
In short, when it comes to business, we cannot accept that walls have ears.
Zhang Juzheng asked: "Give me a hand?"
Gao Gongli ignored him, walked outside the door and shouted: "Boy Zhang, come here and help your father!"
Zhang Juzheng secretly thought that it was a pity that there were not many opportunities for Gao Gong to serve him.
Gao Gong's voice called Zhang Juzheng's two sons over.
One person is supporting his old father, and the other is following behind and taking care of him carefully.
I followed Gao Gong to the pavilion in the center of the courtyard.
Zhang Juzheng put aside his son and said, "Okay, let's go down. Yuan Fu and I have something to discuss."
Knowing too much can easily lead to disaster.
But after sitting down on the stone bench, I turned around and saw that my two sons were motionless.
Zhang Juzheng glared at him with driving eyes.
Gao Gong came forward to smooth things over: "This is because I am afraid that I will bully you."
"Then let them listen. I won't say anything harmful."
Zhang Juzheng was helpless.
I had to wave my hand and tell my two sons to stay away.
The two sons respectfully retreated outside the pavilion, at a distance that was just within earshot but not offensive.
When only two people were left, Gao Gong looked around and sighed: "Your mansion is really big. It's much better than my poor place."
Zhang Juzheng did not answer: "You don't even have a pavilion at home, how can you talk about things?"
Gao Gong smiled: "It's less likely that your home will be ransacked this way."
After saying this, he stopped smiling.
Looking at Zhang Juzheng, he solemnly said: "Bai Gui, let's become an official."
Zhang Juzheng was silent.
He did not answer directly, but said: "I heard that you accommodated Yang Bo and Zhang Siwei. Why did you come to me? You persuaded me to become an official."
Gao Gong went to see Lu Tiaoyang, so Zhang Juzheng naturally didn't know.
But Yang Bo and Zhang Siwei came to the door in person last night, so he had heard about it to some extent.
The results are also obvious.
Since Yang Bo appeared at the court meeting, it means that Gao Gong has gently let go.
Otherwise, more than one minister of the Ministry of Justice would have complained of illness today.
Gao Gong did not fight Zhang Juzheng, but said directly: "Yang Bo and Zhang Siwei, after all, they are just like flies and dogs."
"I keep them here to appease Xuanda, and I'm not afraid of them plotting against me again."
"As a metaphor, it's probably like what is said in "Journey to the West", they can't escape my Wuzhishan."
"It's not just them, I can also tolerate Lu Tiaoyang."
"As long as I can control it and it is beneficial to the country, I can tolerate it."
"But you are different..."
"Bai Gui, let's become an official."
He didn't explain what was different, he just repeated the request.
Zhang Juzheng asked curiously: "If I become an official, what are you going to do? Are you really going to be Sima Yi?"
Gao Gong stood up and patted Zhang Juzheng on the shoulder: "There's no need for testing."
"I can tell you bluntly, I want the right to the truth!"
"Gathering the power of the Supervisor of Ceremonies is only the first step. When the Yuan Dynasty changes next year, I will ask the emperor and the two palaces to make the cabinet offices independent and increase their rank above the six ministries."
"Not only Wang Chonggu and Lu Tiaoyang, I will also expand the cabinet seats, restore the eastern and western mansions, and attract generals."
"At that time, you may be allowed to return to the cabinet."
Zhang Juzheng listened silently.
After Gao Gong finished speaking, he finally sighed: "Gao Suqing, what you are doing is almost the same as treason."
Gao Gong suddenly burst into laughter.
He smiled very wildly.
He seemed to have suddenly become interested, or maybe he was planning to take a step forward and needed someone to talk to.
Sitting down opposite Zhang Juzheng: "Okay, you and I, since the late emperor ascended the throne, we will never go back to the situation in Prince Yu's Mansion."
"I haven't discussed Taoism in more than six years. Let's have a good discussion with you today!"
Zhang Juzheng sat up straight and made a gesture of invitation.
Gao Gong did his part and was the first to speak: ""Tongkao of Literature" said, 'The Yellow Emperor set up six phases. Yao had sixteen phases. Yin Tang had left and right phases. King Cheng of Zhou had left and right phases'."
"I thought it was a fake."
"If we look at it from the Spring and Autumn Annals, it is said that in the 25th year of Duke Xiang's reign, "嬖, gave birth to Duke Jing, Ding Chou, and Cui Zhu stood up to look after him, and Qing was granted the title of Left Prime Minister."
"But even if we adopt the theory of "Qin Benji", it is said that 'in the second year of King Wu of Qin, the prime minister was appointed for the first time. Qili was ill, and Gan Mao was the left and right prime minister.'"
"It's just a conservative guess, it's already been two thousand years."
"Advanced step by step, respected by all generations, why did Taizu abolish it?"
“Two thousand years is nothing compared to two hundred years.”
Both of them are learned men, let alone with such an official position, how can they not have any political ideas?
Zhang Juzheng was not to be outdone: "The ancestors are not worthy of the law!"
"The so-called law is just for the stability of the government and to unite all parties. It is not the eternal truth."
"The Taizu's dismissal of the prime minister is the evolution of the general trend. Keeping pace with the times, the sun will rise and the moon will rise."
"Twenty thousand years are said to be two thousand years, but even twenty thousand years are nothing more than dry bones in a grave!"
The two brothers who were eavesdropping on the side, Zhang Sixiu, were younger and didn't understand why.
I couldn't help but rub my brother next to me: "Brother, what are you talking about?"
Zhang Jingxiu listened with rapt attention. After being pulled for a moment, Zhang Jingxiu replied absently: "Yuan Fu's talk about the system of prime ministers has historical origins. After two thousand years of perfection, it is already very complete."
"My father said that the prime minister system is just for the stability and transition of the government. It has lasted for two thousand years, and the times have changed."
Zhang Sixiu nodded as if he understood.
In the pavilion.
Gao Gong sneered: "What a general trend evolution, Bai Gui, let me tell you what a general trend evolution is."
"The ancient sage kings have abdicated. Confucian scholars have been boasting for nearly a thousand years, saying that a thousand ways and ten thousand will eventually be replaced by the family and the world, so why? The general trend is evolving!"
"The three emperors' roads are blue and blue, and the tribe is sparsely populated."
"Abdication means that everyone has the right to succeed."
"There is not only internal competition for the right to succeed, but also poor handover between the predecessor and the successor. Those who are at the bottom are at a loss when it comes to succession, and there are rounds of reckoning!"
"This means turmoil and twists and turns! It means the situation is turbulent!"
"There is even a saying that 'Shun was imprisoned and Yao died in the wild'."
"With the family in the world, most of the people in the family can be eliminated from the right to succeed. Moreover, because of the biological father's fate, the power can be passed on and handed over smoothly."
"This is the inevitable choice of the court, this is the evolution of the general trend! Everything is only for the stability of the court! It is not because of the blood inheritance mentioned by the Confucian scholars, the son of God!"
"The court situation is the general trend! The court situation is the consensus of the world!"
"Where does your Taoist Prime Minister's rule come from?"
"Stabilize the situation for the DPRK!"
"The First Emperor destroyed the six kingdoms and annexed their territory, and the affairs of hundreds of counties increased day by day, so he had to appoint left and right prime ministers to control the emperor's assistants."
"Why? The big government is complicated and needs to be entrusted with manpower! This is a plan to stabilize the situation of the DPRK!"
"What is the general trend? The emperor bows his head, establishes the ministers and divides power, which is the evolution of the general trend!"
"All dynasties have been weakened and strengthened again. This is true for the three provinces, and it is also true for the two prefectures in the east and west!"
"If this were not the case, why would later generations reinstate the cabinet after Taizu had dismissed the government?"
Zhang Sixiu looked at Zhang Jingxiu again in confusion.
As the elder brother, although he didn't want to be distracted, he had to explain: "My father said that the government is stable and the system of power is just a transition."
"Yuan Fu agreed with the former and denied the latter."
"I said that this system of prime ministers evolved because the emperor could not control it. I also used Qin Shihuang and our cabinet as examples."
"It means that as long as the monarchy exists, the system of ministers is necessary. Even if it is abolished, it will be reestablished because the emperor cannot control it, such as the cabinet. This is the evolution of the general trend."
Zhang Sixiu nodded, finally understanding.
Inside the hall.
Zhang Juzheng was not to be outdone.
He simply ignored his illness and stood up hurriedly.
He scolded Fang Qiu and said, "What a big mistake!"
"The emperor of Zhou lost his deer, and the whole world chased him away."
"But this system of enfeoffment among princes has disappeared without a trace and should be changed to the system of counties and counties."
"The emperor of the Han Dynasty punished the unjust and inherited the Qin system."
"In the Han Dynasty, the government system was established to control local areas."
"In the Sui and Tang Dynasties, they were divided into three provinces to control the power of the prime ministers."
"Why? Take the power to the center!"
"The phase system is nothing more than a transition for power to be transferred to the center."
"My dynasty has abolished the system of prime ministers and only worships the Holy Emperor!"
"The cabinet is just the emperor's private office. Isn't it clear that this is not true?"
There was no need for his brother to ask questions this time. Zhang Jingxiu explained directly: "The so-called evolution of the general trend is the struggle for destiny."
"Going along means following the destiny of heaven; going against it means moving against the tide."
"Yuanfu and his father were arguing about this matter. Yuanfu said that the system of phase represents the way of general development. Taizu went back and would be restored sooner or later."
"My father said that taking power into the center is the way to progress."
"From the pre-Qin Dynasty to the present, it has been a process of the central government taking back power. If the prime minister cannot control what is needed temporarily, he should be taken back."
"As for the emperor's inability to handle government affairs, today's cabinet system is effective, and it is not necessary to have a ministerial system."
The high arch also grows taller.
He was sweating profusely and looked excited.
He slapped the stone table and said: "If it is effective, why was it at the top of the cabinet class now when it was still behind the Six Departments? You are trying to find a sword at the end of the road!"
"Isn't the cabinet now developing into the prime minister's office? What I do is a part of the evolution of the general trend!"
Zhang Juzheng in the pavilion had his hands behind his back, showing no signs of weakness.
He stared at Gao Gong: "Unfounded conjecture! How could Yuan Fu know that this cabinet and the Supervisor of Ceremonies would not be able to be sincere to the end?"
"You are the one who went back!"
Gao Gong snorted coldly: "Do you think your respect for the emperor's power is the general trend?"
"Can the world's misfortunes and blessings be copied by one person?"
"Have you forgotten the likes of Jie and Zhou?"
Zhang Juzheng shook his head: "I and other ministers are here for this purpose."
"If the emperor is not virtuous, help him maintain his power; if the emperor is virtuous, he can unite the power of the world!"
"Just as the Han Dynasty wiped out the Xiongnu, Taizu tidied up the mountains and rivers!"
"This is the evolution of the general trend!"
Zhang Jingxiu listened with rapt attention.
He didn't react until his younger brother scratched his back and explained: "Father means."
"The emperor is always respected by the whole world. Only he can unify the world and establish unparalleled achievements. If power is divided, the central government will be weak and it will not be able to do big things with the whole country's strength."
"As for the emperor, if he is not virtuous, he can still be successful if he has someone to assist him."
"But if power is decentralized, the lower limit may be higher, but it will no longer be possible to integrate the power of the world to achieve great things."
High arched sleeves.
Turning his back to Zhang Juzheng, he retorted: "The center is the center, and the emperor is the emperor."
"During the Han Dynasty, heroes from all over the world were recruited, and the government of the Three Kingdoms was established."
"In the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the imperial examinations were opened again, divided into three provinces, and knowledgeable people were promoted as prime ministers to discuss national affairs together."
"The general trend of the world is the result of the people of the world. Only in this way can the power of the world be united!"
"What I want is to take the power of the world into the center; to divide the power of the center into the emperor and the prime minister."
"At that time, if everyone works together, we may not be able to achieve the merits of Taizu and Emperor Gao."
Zhang Juzheng was a little tired and sat down slowly.
But in his heart, he lamented that the differences between him and Gao Gong could no longer be bridged.
He understood the meaning of high arch.
The central government takes power, but it does not mean that the emperor should have great power.
The prime minister is selected through fair selection through the imperial examination, so that he can represent the interests of the people of the world and speak for the people of the world.
Speaking of this, he finally lost his desire to admonish Gao Gong.
With a beginning-to-end attitude, he said slightly tiredly: "All the people in the world..."
"Gao Suqing, what are the common people of the world?"
"In the Spring and Autumn Period, the nobles were the common people of the world."
"During the Han Dynasty, powerful families dominated the common people."
"During the Jin Dynasty and the Jin Dynasty, the nobles were the common people in the world."
"During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, famous families were common people in the world."
"In the former Song Dynasty, scholar-bureaucrats were the common people of the world."
"Gao Suqing, have you really never seen in the history books the 'people of the world' who monopolize the top and bottom and divide the power?"
"What's different about your prime minister's office? Will these people be surrounded by cliques again..."
The words have not yet been spoken.
Gao Gong was furious: "The imperial examination is also developing in a general way. It will surely be able to select people without distinction and attract the wise people from all over the world. We can get a group of gentlemen instead of party members!"
Zhang Juzheng also burst out angrily: "You people who form cliques and commit crimes, let you control the imperial examination, how can you still choose without distinction!"
The two of them stared at each other sternly, refusing to give in to each other!
Seeing that the situation was not going well, the two Xiao Zhangs hurriedly came forward to persuade them.
Zhang Juzheng turned away: "The way is different!"
Gao Gong spat: "Shu Zi is not enough to make plans!"
Zhang Jingxiu quickly stood in front of his old father: "Yuan Fu, how can you curse your father to your son!"
Zhang Juzheng brought his son back.
He said in a firm tone: "Yuanfu, there is no need to say it. I will not become an official. I will have a meeting with the court tomorrow!"
After saying that, he stretched out his palm, obviously to see off the guests.
Gao Gong walked away with a puff of his sleeves.
Turning his back to everyone, he said: "If I win, I will confiscate your house, and I will let you spend a few years of hard life to calm down before returning to the cabinet."
Zhang Juzheng also turned sideways and looked at his back, saying sarcastically: "If I win, I can no longer guarantee Yuan Fu. Yuan Fu still hopes that Feng Bao will not kill everyone by then."
Gao Gong stepped forward and walked away angrily: "If you can't even control Feng Bao, don't blame me for writing a book to insult you."
Zhang Juzheng watched Gao Gong leave.
He knows.
After this meeting, it was time to part ways, and the separation between ourselves and the enemy.
For this scene, he inexplicably found a similar scene in his memory.
Zhang Juzheng was so happy that he suddenly stopped Gao Gong, who was walking to the door, and said loudly: "Winning or losing the court, the rise and fall of the world, Yuan Fu, please see what I do!"
Chapter completed!