My father is Jiajing

Chen Hong arrested all the officials gathered at the Meridian Gate and put them in the East Factory Prison, which cast a shadow over the hearts of the other officials in the capital.

After Xu Jie left the Meridian Gate, he did not go home, but went to Wenyuan Pavilion where the cabinet was located.

The city of Beijing was shrouded in sultry heat at this moment. The red walls of the Forbidden City seemed to be burning under the scorching sun. From a distance, it seemed as if the air was distorted.

And these scenes seem to be a reflection of Xu Jie's inner thoughts at the moment.

When he arrived at the Wenyuan Pavilion, Xu Jie sat alone in the seat belonging to the Prime Minister. When the Secretary of the Pavilion saw the Prime Minister coming, he immediately served him a cup of tea at the right temperature.

But at this moment, Xu Jie had no intention of drinking a sip of water. He just held the cup of herbal tea in his hand, looking through the colorful window grilles at the palace wall in the distance.

It seemed as if at this moment, he could still see the bloody scene that had just happened in front of the Meridian Gate.

Xu Jie's eyes were still as sharp as an eagle's, and his powerful aura made everyone in the cabinet dare not even look at him.

But deep in Xu Jie's sharp eyes, there was a layer of deep worry.

"Is Chen Hong crazy? How dare he be so arrogant?"

Xu Jie whispered to himself, his voice so soft that only he could hear it.

At this time, his fingers were tapping on the table unconsciously as he was thinking.

Xu Jie, who had been in the officialdom for decades, knew the rules of the palace too well.

A eunuch, even one who holds the seal of the Imperial Household Department, would never dare to attack court officials without the emperor's explicit order.

After all, the civil servants of the Ming Dynasty were not vegetarians. How rampant was Liu Jin back then? Didn't he still end up being cut into pieces in the end?
Although the Eight Tigers after him were not much worse, they were much more restrained than Liu Jin, and no one dared to go against the court officials like Liu Jin did.

Later, when Emperor Jiajing came to the throne, he was even more conscious of controlling the power of the eunuchs.

Even when the great etiquette dispute broke out later and Emperor Jiajing wanted to beat all officials with sticks, that was an order he gave personally and he did not allow anyone else to interfere.

But is Chen Hong crazy today?
Does he have the Emperor's edict?

If so, why didn't he take it out?
At this moment, Xu Jie also fell into silence. He really couldn't understand why Chen Hong was so arrogant. Wasn't he afraid of being punished later?

Or is it that these things are condoned by His Majesty the Emperor?
Xu Jie couldn't figure it out. He always felt that there must be some secrets that he had not guessed or seen yet.

Just when Xu Jie was puzzled, the door of Wenyuan Pavilion was pushed open again.

A wave of heat came in from the door, instantly releasing most of the cool air that had been accumulated in the room with great difficulty.

Xu Jie looked up and found that it was the Deputy Assistant Li Chunfang who came over.

Looking at this deputy prime minister who was more than 20 years younger than himself, with a kind face and always a humble smile, Xu Jie also envied Li Chunfang's youth from the bottom of his heart.

But Xu Jie also knew that none of the people who could gain a foothold in the cabinet were simple, so one could not just look at Li Chunfang's young age and think that Li Chunfang was harmless.

Li Chunfang saw Xu Jie was also there, he deliberately showed a surprised expression, "Prime Minister is here too?"

Li Chunfang bowed slightly and continued, "I was thinking that today was the day when the Prime Minister was on leave, so I hurried over to handle cabinet affairs. Now that the Prime Minister is here, I can be lazy again."

Xu Jie looked up at Li Chunfang's smile, and he also showed a gentle and benevolent smile, "I can't help it. There are too many major events in the capital recently. How dare I relax for a moment?"

Li Chunfang nodded in agreement, and then deliberately said, "Prime Minister, have you heard about the incident at the Meridian Gate? I can't believe that Chen Hong dared to beat up officials in public, and even arrested people and put them in the East Factory Prison. This is a big deal, and it's spreading inside and outside the capital. What do you think we should do about this?"

Li Chunfang seemed to be worried, but in fact he was worried about the general.

Li Chunfang knew very well what had caused the events in front of the Meridian Gate.

If Xu Jie's eldest son had not reported Dong Fen's smuggling with the Japanese, how could Emperor Jiajing and Prince Yu be so angry and order the arrest and interrogation of Dong Fen?

With such a big commotion happening now, Li Chunfang knew with just a thought that Dong Fen must have uncovered something extraordinary during the interrogation.

Otherwise, how could Chen Hong be like a mad dog, biting everyone he saw?
Xu Jie did not immediately respond to Li Chunfang's words.

He noticed a strange light flashing in Li Chunfang's eyes. Although this light was hidden well, Xu Jie still didn't notice it.

Xu Jie understood too well the apparent respect and obedience of Li Chunfang, the Second Assistant, and he also knew that Li Chunfang was always thinking of replacing him.

But Xu Jie had no choice but to do so. He knew that he was old, and even if he wanted to hold on to his current position, he would not have much time left.

However, Xu Jie would definitely not let Li Chunfang get his wish, especially when the Xu family was facing internal and external troubles.

Xu Jie changed the subject and suddenly asked, "How is your Majesty's health these days?"

When Li Chunfang heard Xu Jie's sudden question, he was also slightly stunned. He did not expect Xu Jie to suddenly ask such a question.

Li Chunfang chose his words carefully and said, "The prince is serving in the West Garden, so there shouldn't be anything to worry about."

In fact, during this period, apart from Dong Fen’s affairs, the important officials in the capital were most concerned about the situation of Emperor Jiajing.

Although Emperor Jiajing did a good job of keeping the secret, he was always hidden in the deep palace of Xiyuan and was never seen.

But there must be something wrong when things are abnormal. After all, Emperor Jiajing is not young anymore. He will be sixty years old in the next year.

This lifespan is nothing among these cabinet ministers.

But it was different with the emperor.

Moreover, Zhu Zaigui is no longer in the Wenhua Palace to supervise state affairs, but has been serving in the Western Garden. How can people not think too much?

Xu Jie nodded thoughtfully and didn't say anything else.

Emperor Jiajing had not attended court for many years, and the state affairs had been handled by Prince Yu in recent years, with the Cabinet and the Imperial Household Department in charge.

But when something big happened, Prince Yu would still hand the important decisions back to Emperor Jiajing. Now the capital was in chaos, but Emperor Jiajing and Prince Yu said nothing and didn't even show up.

In addition, Chen Hong’s actions today must have some kind of implication or tacit approval.

Xu Jie was thinking about Chen Hong's intention again.

After all, at this time, compared with the threat posed by Chen Hong, the pressure that Li Chunfang can bring can almost be said to be negligible.

At this moment, when Xu Jie and Li Chunfang were silent with each other, the door of Wenyuan Pavilion was pushed open again.

The cool air that had been accumulated with great difficulty disappeared in an instant.

Hu Zongxian also suddenly came to the cabinet at this time. Xu Jie and Li Chunfang both watched Hu Zongxian coming, and they both envied Hu Zongxian's good luck and ability.

After all, Hu Zongxian was able to get to where he is today, apart from the so-called luck, he really worked his way up step by step.

Moreover, in order for Hu Zongxian to enter the cabinet, Prince Yu instructed to change the affiliation of the grand secretaries of the three palaces and three cabinets, clearing the obstacles for him to enter the cabinet.

From this we can see that Hu Zongxian not only appears unexpected in the current cabinet, but also appears to be particularly different.

However, neither Xu Jie nor Li Chunfang felt that Hu Zongxian was unqualified to join the cabinet at this moment.

After Hu Zongxian entered the room, he clasped his fists and bowed to Xu Jie, "Prime Minister, have you heard about what happened today? Although Chen Hong was ordered to investigate the Dong Fen case, he actually dared to beat up the court officials in the Meridian Gate. This is simply lawless. How can the court be beaten in the street like pigs and dogs?"

Xu Jie sighed again in his heart. This was another hint at him.

Although Hu Zongxian's words sounded high-sounding, he did not show up at the Meridian Gate. Now he went directly to the cabinet to vent his anger. Isn't this pointing at Xu Jie's inaction?
Although there are differences in political ideas and political interests among them, after all, they are all beneficiaries of the same civil service system.

As the chief minister of the cabinet and the person holding the highest position in the entire civil service system, how could Xu Jie sit idly by and watch hundreds of officials being beaten?
Therefore, no matter whether Hu Zongxian was sincerely speaking up for those officials who were beaten, or was stimulating Xu Jie to go against Chen Hong, Xu Jie had to endure it.

Xu Jie motioned Hu Zongxian to sit down, and then said, "Ruzhen calm down, there must be something fishy about this matter."

"Weird?"

Hu Zongxian laughed, "What's strange about that? I think Chen Hong is just relying on the favor of His Majesty and is becoming more and more unscrupulous! Yuanfu, you are the head of all officials. Now the official who knelt in front of the Meridian Gate to make a remonstrance was beaten by Chen Hong in public and was escorted to the East Factory Prison. If you don't take action to stop it, I'm afraid the court of the Ming Dynasty will be empty!"

"Besides, Yuan Fu, you also know how important the mission and task the prince gave me are. Now is the time to use people. If everyone is arrested, how can the court's military reform proceed?"

When Xu Jie heard what Hu Zongxian said, he sighed again in his heart.

It is really difficult to be the Prime Minister of the Cabinet!

Why are all my subordinates such tough guys?

What they say sounds better than what they sing, but aren't they just going to use him, the Prime Minister, as a shield and a broken drum to push forward?
"Ruzhen, sit down and talk first."

Xu Jie persuaded Hu Zongxian to sit down again, and hurriedly said, "After all, Eunuch Chen is the seal holder of the Imperial Household Department, and he represents the will of His Majesty. These officials who are not aware of the seriousness and full picture of Dong Fen's case rashly gathered at the Meridian Gate to kneel and make complaints. It is understandable that Eunuch Chen could not help but take action."

Hu Zongxian snorted and said no more, but he laughed in his heart.

He never expected that Xu Jie, who had already become the Prime Minister, still had no backbone or responsibility, and was not as courageous as Yan Shifan back then!

Just as the atmosphere was tense, two other cabinet members: Zhao Zhenji and Guo Pu also arrived one after another.

The cool air that had been accumulated with great difficulty was dissipated by the heat wave outside, causing the secretary who was taking care of Bingjian to sigh secretly, "There is not enough ice this year!"

Inside the Wenyuan Pavilion, the five cabinet members gathered together, and for a moment they all stared at each other in amazement.

The sound of cicadas suddenly rang out outside the window, even harsh, adding to the indescribable boredom.

Finally, it was Guo Pu who broke the silence: "Everyone, today's incident is probably not simply caused by Chen Hong's arrogance. Why did those officials gather at the Meridian Gate to protest? It's because Chen Hong wantonly implicated others, making all officials in the capital feel insecure. In my opinion, we should let the Prime Minister go out now, ask to see Your Majesty and the prince, and report Chen Hong's crimes. In this way, not only can the officials be reassured, but Your Majesty and the prince can also know what Chen Hong did in time. Otherwise, the capital will be in chaos."

What Guo Pu said was also very nice, and was almost the same as what Hu Zongxian said before.

Xu Jie couldn't help but look at Guo Pu with resentment.

Xu Jie sighed and said, "Since you are all here, I will hide it. In fact, when Chen Hong started beating people, I was at the scene."

Li Chunfang immediately asked anxiously: "Why didn't Yuan Fu stop him?"

The others showed the same expression, as if they were all like this.

But Xu Jie didn't believe it at all.

If he hadn't appeared at the Meridian Gate today, it would have been weird for these people to come to the cabinet at the same time under the scorching sun!
Xu Jie raised his hand to signal everyone to be quiet: "Everyone, I already know what happened today. Chen Hong's move is nothing more than killing a chicken to scare the monkeys and warn all officials. But on a deeper level, I'm afraid it's a test."

"Testing what?"

Li Chunfang and others were very qualified in supporting the actors, and among them Hu Zongxian frowned and asked.

Xu Jie did not directly answer Hu Zongxian's question, but changed the subject again. He asked in return: "Do you remember what happened before the Dong Fen case? It was a major case in which an important witness of the imperial court was killed in broad daylight!"

"Although this case involves the Xu family, I have never been partial to anyone, which is why my son Xu Fan went to the Censorate to report Dong Fen's case under his real name. His purpose was to purge the officials of the corrupt hypocrites!"

When Li Chunfang, Hu Zongxian, Zhao Zhenji and Guo Pu heard Xu Jie's exposure of his family scandal, they couldn't help but laugh in their hearts.

This really changes the subject, as if the Xu family is really as innocent as a little white mouse in Jiangnan, and that all the current affairs are carried out by the Dong family behind or dragging the Xu family into the water.

Zhao Zhenji looked at Xu Jie and asked again: "What does Yuan Fu mean?"

Xu Jie said righteously, "What I mean is that the Dong Fen case must be investigated strictly, no matter who is involved, no leniency will be shown. Those ministers who knelt down to make remonstrances at the Meridian Gate cannot force the emperor to abdicate without any reason. But I will also report Chen Hong for this action. Can you all go to the West Garden with me?"

At the last moment, Xu Jie suddenly caught everyone off guard.

This made Li Chunfang and others who originally came to watch Xu Jie's fun feel a little embarrassed.

However, now that things have come to this, Li Chunfang and the others have no reason to back down.

Moreover, they also wanted to meet Zhu Zaigui to see if he had any instructions for the next step.

Otherwise, they would feel uneasy.

So, at this moment, led by Xu Jie and followed by Li Chunfang and others, they left the cabinet together and went straight to the West Garden.

Just as they pushed open the door of Wenyuan Pavilion and left together, the cool air that they had finally accumulated was immediately offset by the heat wave outside.

The Zhongshu Sheren who was guarding the Bingjian really wanted to cry...

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