In the study, Zhang Siwei came in pragmatically, his face looked a little better, and he squeezed out a smile.
Of course, Gao Pragmatic couldn't sit down directly. After smiling and coming forward to greet him, he sat down when Zhang Taizheng said "please sit down" again.
When Zhang Siwei saw that he had made great achievements and returned, he was still neither arrogant nor arrogant, and was polite and polite. He laughed and said: "Qiuzhen has done great things in Guangxi! Originally, you went to Guangxi as a temporary measure, but I didn't expect... ...Haha, that’s really unexpected.”
That is, don’t tell me that you didn’t expect it. I didn’t expect to do such things before I went to Guangxi.
"Uncle, to tell you the truth, my nephew himself didn't expect that he would have such an opportunity."
Zhang Siwei waved his hand and said with a smile: "It can be seen that although things in the world are unpredictable, successful people are always the ones who can best seize opportunities."
Gao Pingshi smiled and raised his eyebrows slightly: "Mr. Shen Ge is also very good at seizing opportunities. Uncle, don't you think so?"
"You are worthy of the truth-seeking spirit of 'Partial Master to Determine Annan'. Why, just when you heard Tai Zheng say that I was impeached, you already knew what Shen Rumo wanted to do?"
Zhang Siwei seems to know the rules here, so there must be another reason for his displeasure.
However, what is the meaning of "defending Annan with partial troops"? In order to take credit for this, the imperial court now counts the credit for attacking Annan as "partial troops"? It doesn't matter, the wolf soldiers are chieftain soldiers, so saying partial troops does not count. Too much.
In fact, he had misunderstood. This statement was a folk saying - the people also hoped that this was the court's strategy.
Gao pragmatically rolled his eyes slightly and said: "Mr. Shenge, this is just a test to see what kind of style your new Yuanfu will have after he comes to power... tough or gentle."
"Is that just this?" Zhang Siwei shook his head and said, "Also, you continue to talk."
Gao pragmatic was a little surprised. It seemed that he had underestimated his uncle before. In the original history, he was first favored by Gao Gong, promoted to the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, and was trained by his side. After Gao Gong stepped down, he became a Gao Gong. The leader of the Jin Party, an ally of the Party, was actually highly regarded by Zhang Juzheng and was recommended as his second assistant.
Gao Jingshi didn't think it was strange at first. Putting Gao Gong aside, Gao Jingshi just thought it was Zhang Juzheng who was trying to win over the Jin Party. But now looking back, when Zhang Juzheng was in power, he himself If you say that you are "not assisting, but taking charge," then why is there any need to win over a mere Jin party?
It can be seen that Zhang Siwei must be capable. Not only can he see what the leader wants, but he can also do things for the leader that he has thought about but cannot say.
Therefore, Gao Pingshi smiled and said: "My uncle has a sharp eye, and my nephew thinks that in addition to testing, Mr. Shen Ge may also want to attack your prestige before you take over."
"Hahahaha!" Zhang Siwei laughed loudly and said: "Okay, okay, it seems that there is indeed a successor to the practical school lineage. Gao Wenzhenggong should have closed his eyes under Jiuquan. To tell you the truth, when I just learned the news , I was extremely angry, and after I came back and made a fuss, I slowly realized the true meaning of it. The future life is terrible."
Gao Pragmatic raised his hands and said, "Otherwise, if my nephew was in the position of my uncle, I'm afraid he would be even more angry, and he might not be able to calm down and think about the key to it even now."
Zhang Siwei waved his hand and said: "You don't have to be too modest. In the past ten years, I have watched you grow up. Do I know what your temper is? In these ten years, I have never seen you angry."
As he spoke, he couldn't help showing a hint of inquiry and said, "Speaking of which, I'm a little curious, how did you develop this temperament?"
Gao Pragmatic smiled bitterly and said: "My nephew always calculates things to the worst-case scenario. In this way, no matter how bad the situation is, it is usually not worse than expected, so it is difficult to get angry."
Zhang Siwei laughed and said: "Isn't this considered as thinking about defeat before thinking about victory? This is the same truth."
Then, without waiting for a pragmatic answer, he continued to ask: "When it comes to victory or defeat, since you like to think about the worst situation first, then tell me, this time Yuan Fu will retire, what is the worst situation for the practical learning lineage in the future?
?”
Gao pragmatically said: "There are two points: in the long run, I am afraid that I will not be able to take over the job; in the short term, I am afraid that my uncle will be framed."
"My integrity is not afraid of slanting shadows. If I am falsely accused, they can only use these few reasons, but the emperor knows very well that it will not play a big role." Zhang Siwei looked at Gao Pragmatic and said: "But you said that Qinghuang will not accept it.
But what do you mean? Not to mention that Yuan Fu and I have their own students, but just talking about Gao Wenzhenggong's students, some of them are now in the ministry, how can they not be accepted?"
This is not easy to explain, because according to normal people's thinking, after Zhang Siwei takes over as the first assistant, he still has more than ten years to take his time. By then, not to mention his own students should all be promoted to a relatively high level.
The key to the high position is Gao Gong's former students. I'm afraid someone has already been able to join the cabinet.
Even Xu Guo, who has a smooth career, is just a student of Gao Gong, and now he has joined the cabinet.
But historically, Zhang Siwei's official career was interrupted by his parents, his grandparents. The two elders passed away one after another, and Zhang Siwei had to worry about staying at home. Then, due to the death of his parents one after another, he was so grieved that he also died of illness.
Gao Pragmatic had no choice but to say: "I heard from the teacher that before he left, he would recommend Mr. Pan Shuilian to join the cabinet. At that time, there will be two masters from the practical school and one from the Xinxue cabinet. They seem to be evenly matched, but since we are preparing for the worst, we have to assume
The other party is fine, but something happens to us, such as Ding You goes to the cabinet... I would like to ask uncle, if you or Mr. Xu Ge are not in the cabinet, can the successors of my practical school be better than the ministers of the Xinxue school in the next few years?
Be the first to join the cabinet?"
This statement is a bit unlucky. Generally speaking, you shouldn't speak like this. However, Gao Pragmatic has just explained that he is "preparing for the worst", so Zhang Siwei couldn't say anything. He just pondered and said a lot of practical lessons.
, the successor of Xin Xue appeared in his mind.
After a while, Zhang Siwei's face turned ugly and he said, "I'm afraid it's not good."
Gao pragmatically asked: "What's wrong?"
"If the situation you mentioned occurs in three or four years, the most promising ones are probably Wang Xijue and Wang Jiaping. If we push it back two or three years, there will be Zhao Zhigao, Zhang Wei, Chen Yubi, Shen Yiguan, and Zhu Geng.
Of course, Wu Dui also has a chance." Zhang Siwei's face was ashen and he said: "There is only one Wang Jiaping here who is from the north, and the rest are from the south. Although Wang Jiaping is from Shanxi, he has always been trying to gain fame and reputation, and has an aggressive temper.
, not what I like."
Gao Pragmatic spread his hands: "Look, this is a big trouble."
In addition to Wu Dui, who is a die-hard practical school, Chen Yubi is the son of former great scholar Chen Yiqin. Chen Yiqin has always been neutral. His son is basically the same style, so I won't talk about it for now.
The remaining Wang Xijue is from Suzhou, South Zhili, Zhao Zhigao is from Jinhua, Zhejiang, Zhang Wei is from Nanchang, Jiangxi, Shen Guanyi is from Ningbo, Zhejiang, and Zhu Geng is from Shaoxing, Zhejiang.
These places are all strongholds of Xinxue, and their political attitudes are self-evident.
Wang Jiaping, who worked together in Datong, Shanxi Province, was still a loner. Even the Jin Party refused to accept him, and he refused to join the "party". His style of dealing with things was just one word: squirting.
Gao Pragmatic has a vague impression of Wang Jiaping in history. It only took him two years to go from being an official in Japan to the Sixth Ministry, and then to join the cabinet, which was the longest in the history of the Ming Dynasty. After he joined the cabinet, he was originally the last in the cabinet. , and the others were all from the south, he was from Shanxi and did not have much say. However, cabinet members died one after another, and the remaining Xu Guoshen Shixing resigned at the same time. The filial son Wang Xijue went home to visit his relatives, and Wang Jiaping picked up his head inexplicably. Assist.
However, Wang Jiaping did nothing in his position as chief minister. He just kept getting angry with the emperor and tendered his resignation to scold the emperor. But after Wang Jiaping resigned as prime minister, the "gentlemen" thought about it endlessly. Gu Xiancheng will nominate cabinet ministers in the future. , because he had to write Wang Jiaping's name, Zhu Yijun was so angry that he immediately asked Gu Xiancheng to pack up and go back to his hometown - thus an organization called the Donglin Party was born in the Ming Dynasty.
Therefore, although Wang Jiaping is from Shanxi, he is definitely unreliable. His only interest is to criticize the emperor and do things? Doesn't exist. To be honest, this kind of person just wants to join the party and learn from the party, and he is not very pragmatic. Agreed, even if he has an assistant.
Wang Xijue is an outstanding person, but he has been introduced in the previous article, so I won’t mention it again.
As for Zhao Zhigao, Gao Pragmatic has a fair impression of him. The main reason is that although this person may not have much ability, he is generally not bad at least. However, this person lacks responsibility and means. Whether he is an enemy or a friend... he is actually relatively good. It doesn't matter.
Of course, during Zhao Zhigao's tenure in history, the Ming Dynasty did something that is talked about by future generations - resisting Japan and aiding Korea. This may be the most glorious and praised thing of the Wanli Dynasty, but Zhao Zhigao, the first assistant, is aging. It was famous for its uselessness. Perhaps it was because the planning and logistics of the expedition to Korea was too difficult and there were too many changes, which exposed the weakness of the ministers. So the emperor despised the ministers, and because of the emperor's contempt, the power of the cabinet was even more despised.
Historically, when Gao Gong was in power and Zhang Juzheng was in power, his speech was basically honest. With this inertia, when Shen Shixing and Wang Xijue were in power, they were still somewhat cautious about their speech, but in the Zhao Zhigao era, everything changed. He wrote a couplet to himself as a motto and code of conduct:
Return the authority and blessings to the Lord, return the power of affairs to the six ministers, ask for excuses from relatives and friends, and give public opinions to the platform for admonishment.
Be sincere in order to serve the superiors, clean yourself up to be a common official, cut off the loyal and virtuous below, remove selfishness in order to eliminate dangerous sycophants.
In other times, this might just be a political gesture. In the past, cabinet ministers would openly display this kind of lofty couplet, secretly try their best to seize power, and then shout that "the power of the cabinet is getting weaker" and "everything will come to an end" to avoid the aftermath. However, Zhao Zhigao clamored to give back his power. As soon as he made a gesture, his power was snatched away. It was amazing.
Because Zhao Zhigao returned power to the Six Ministers, he has no power. He has no power, so why should others take advantage of him? It would be extremely kind to not step on him to get the position, right?
Of course, the way of speech in the late Ming Dynasty did not produce honest people.
So Zhao Zhigao said angrily: "For the same cabinet minister, in the past, when the power was high and the power was divided, the prime minister would follow him to seek advancement. Today, when the power is weak and the power is divided, the prime minister would attack him in order to gain fame!"
It's a pity that Zhao Zhigao was caught even saying such angry words and was questioned: The cabinet minister is the emperor's assistant, how can he care about the importance of power?
Zhao Zhigao was old and frail, and those who were really in charge were Zhang Wei and Shen Yiguan, both of whom were recognized as sinister people. The two of them fought for power with the officials all day long, plotted against their opponents, and made countless enemies. In the end, Zhang Wei was taken over by Wanli By reducing his position to serve the people, Shen Yiguan was almost overturned because of the Chu Zong case. So from this perspective, Zhao Zhigao's weakness was actually a way to protect himself.
When Zhao Zhigao became the first assistant, he was already suffering from old age and illness. Du Men was ill and had numerous begging and doctor visits, but Zhu Yijun ignored him.
In fact, the emperor is also difficult to act. If you agree, there will be gossip about you expelling people. In his early years, Zhu Yijun once happily approved the retirement of high-ranking officials. The cabinet always asked the emperor to retain him several times to show the Lord's continuous love and grace. , which made him very annoyed, and later he simply ignored it when he received the Ci. This was good news, as the cabinet minister's retribution had arrived. The chief minister of Zhejiang had no way to ask for resignation. No matter how he asked for resignation, the emperor just refused to talk, and in the end he fell in love. He suffered from illness, was reviled by officials, and died in office.
Later, there were Shen Yiguan and others, but he came to power too late, and Gao Pragmatic was too lazy to pay attention to it for the time being - historically, although Shen Yiguan entered the cabinet in the 22nd year of Wanli, by the time he became the first assistant, it was already the 30th year of Wanli. Gao Pragmatic was absolutely sure. He had already come to power at that time, so he was too lazy to think about this insidious villain now.
As for Zhang Wei, his problem lies in seizing power and ostentation. His political career ended completely due to the Demon Book Case, which need not be mentioned for now. But there is one thing about him that makes Gao Pragmatic very interested. After the Japanese Rebellion broke out in the Ming Dynasty, Ming Dynasty When troops were sent for rescue, Zhang Wei advocated setting up officials in Eighth Routes of Korea and stationing them in the fields. However, this move was not adopted because it was suspected of annexing Korea.
But Gao Pragmatic is very interested in this proposal. Although it is troublesome that Zhu Yuanzhang's troubled Emperor Taizu listed North Korea as a country without conquest, Gao Pragmatic has recently pioneered a new idea: retain the country's government and control its The country's military, political and financial power - yes, it is the "Annan Plan".
He always felt that if Zhang Wei held such an attitude towards North Korea in this life, he would be able to cooperate with him a little bit, even if the two sides were not comrades in the same trench, but politics...
Gao Pragmatic thinks a lot, but Zhang Siwei doesn't have time to think so much now. He just wakes up.
Don't look at it now, even if Guo Pu is removed from office, he will still be the replacement chief minister, but as Gao Pingshi said, once he or Xu Guo has any problems, the situation of the cabinet will change drastically.
Of course, relatively speaking, the problem of Xu Guo's resignation may be smaller, but what if Zhang Siwei goes to the cabinet on his own?
Although he didn't want to think like this, Gao Jingshi just mentioned the word "Ding You", which really made him a little nervous. Both of his parents were not in good health. Although last year, Gao Jingshi asked Li Shizhen to come over and look at it, but However, Li Shizhen said that the health of the two elders was caused by their poor living habits in their early years, especially their eating habits - a family that is too particular about food will have problems with eating. For example, washing rice until the water becomes completely clear is actually a bad habit.
So Li Shizhen just prescribed some warming medicine and advised them to "eat in the ordinary way." I don't know if they would listen.
Zhang Siwei became nervous, and suddenly turned to Zhang Taizheng and said: "How long will it take for you to leave? After you leave, go back to Puzhou immediately to see if your grandparents are in good health. If there is any problem... please tell the truth, Li Can you still ask for help by the lake?"
