Ming Jiajing: Starting from Immortality

Chapter 83 The fight for the crown prince is shameless!
When Zhang Juzheng's figure appeared briskly at the door of the cabinet duty room, the cabinet's second assistant Gao Gong and the cabinet's assistants Li Chunfang and Chen Yiqin stood up immediately.

Three pairs of eyes were glued to Zhang Juzheng like magnets.

It was only a few steps from the door to the desk in the center. Zhang Juzheng walked quickly and sat down with a happy expression.

The three people then noticed Zhang Juzheng's expression, and they soon realized that something was strange. They thought that Hai Rui was probably fine!
"Taiyue, has the emperor spared Hai Rui?" Gao Gong, who was now in charge of the Ministry of Revenue and was also the Second Assistant Minister, was the first to ask.

But this name is both right and wrong.

Considering the friendship in the past, it seems right to call him Taiyue, but this is the cabinet after all, and it is more appropriate to address the prime minister as "Ge Lao".

Li Chunfang and Chen Yiqin both called Zhang Juzheng this way.

but.

Zhang Juzheng didn't care much about the name. He took the rice paper, picked up the brush, and wrote a memorial while looking at Gao Gong and replied, "The emperor is gracious. He only ordered the execution of Zheng Michang and He Maocai's nine clans without trial. He didn't care about Hai Rui's cleansing of the Zhejiang officialdom with the Emperor's Sword."

The ability to do two things at once.

Li Chunfang and Chen Yiqin saw this many times and felt jealous. In daily government affairs handling, Zhang Juzheng was able to do the work of two people.

However, Li and Chen were notorious "comfortable cabinet members" in the cabinet. They never regarded themselves as "cabinet members". They let Zhang Juzheng make the decisions on major issues and asked the second prime minister Gao Gong for advice. Although both of them still held the actual posts of the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Rites, they would try to push for concurrent responsibilities whenever possible. They did not seek to make achievements, but only to avoid mistakes.

When it comes to handling daily government affairs, it’s neither fast nor slow. There’s not much difference between having this skill or not.

At this time, the two men just looked at Zhang Juzheng and Gao Gong quietly.

Gao Gong was the one who could sense the subtleties most. After hearing the news that Hai Rui was safe, he felt that something was wrong with Zhang Juzheng. "Taiyue, has there been any complications with the Japanese invasion?"

"Yes and no."

Zhang Juzheng nodded, then shook his head, his wolf-hair brush in his hand not stopping, "The emperor does not agree to let those traitors go, and has decided to hand over the Japanese pirates and traitors to the people of the southeast for public trial."

Gao Gong became anxious upon hearing this and complained, "Taiyue, the common people are ignorant and have no idea of ​​the true meaning of worldly affairs. After the public trial, the Japanese pirates and slaves will surely be killed without a complete corpse.

The Japanese pirates deserve to die, but the eight thousand households in the southeast who can't survive, the elderly, women, and children are still waiting for their sons, husbands, and fathers to return home.

For the sake of the eight thousand households in the southeast, and for the sake of winning the surrender of the Japanese slaves at sea, you should have argued in front of the emperor."

It is far more meaningful to let those 8,000 Japanese slaves survive than to let the ignorant people in the southeast kill them. This will help to incite the Japanese slaves in the Japanese strongholds at sea to rebel and to completely pacify the sea.

If all 8,000 Japanese slaves were killed, the Japanese slaves in the Japanese strongholds at sea would certainly resist to the death, and there would be many more obstacles in the pacification of the sea.

Li Chunfang and Chen Yiqin looked at each other at the same time. Their eyes met. Without opening their mouths, they told each other what they were thinking.

The second prime minister was becoming more and more presumptuous. He spoke to the prime minister as if he were an elder talking to a younger person, and expressed his dissatisfaction without any politeness.

They also wanted Yuan Fu to defend himself in court, but the two of them just wanted to say, if you can do it, go ahead.

Who dares to argue with the current king and father?

"During the ravages of the Japanese pirates, many people in the southeast lost their parents, husbands or wives, and children. If your relatives, Su Qing (Gao Gong), were killed, would you let the Japanese pirates and traitors go?" Zhang Juzheng retorted.

Gao Gong seemed calm and said, "For the sake of the Ming Dynasty, why not?"

"is it?"

Zhang Juzheng looked at him without sarcasm or ridicule. "The captured Japanese pirate leader will be brought to the capital tomorrow. Why don't you invite your family members in Xinzheng to the capital, or send them to the southeast to be killed by the Japanese pirates? If the Japanese pirates kill one member of the Gao family, I will ask the emperor to spare one traitor. How do you think that is?" "How can that be the same?"

"What's the difference?"

Zhang Juzheng stopped looking at him and turned to look at Li Chunfang and Chen Yiqin, "As for you, Zishi (Li Chunfang's pen name)'s family is in Nanzhili, close to Zhejiang. You might as well let Hu Zongxian take the Li family with him when he attacks the Japanese stronghold and fill in the death squad.

Yifu (Chen Yiqin's pen name) lives in Sichuan. The Chen family can come to Zhejiang or Beijing. For every death of one person, I will petition for the release of one traitor. How do you think?

The city gate caught fire and affected the pond fish.

Li Chunfang and Chen Yiqin were not interested in the lives of the Japanese pirates and slaves, let alone exchanging the deaths of their relatives for the lives of the unrelated Japanese slaves. They smiled awkwardly and took another step back.

It's not worth sacrificing the lives of your loved ones for some false reputation!
"In that case, then we should rush to send it to the south of the Yangtze River. If the Japanese pirates and traitors live one more day, a lot of money and food will be wasted." After Zhang Juzheng said these words, he also finished writing the first cabinet memorial, pushed it forward, motioned Gao, Li, and Chen to read it, and then continued to write the second cabinet memorial.

The six thousand new officials had to return the land donated by the people before they could take office, and this was seen by three people.

Gao Gong had a gloomy look on his face, Li Chunfang looked worried, and Chen Yiqin had no expression on his face.

They were all experienced doctors, so no one would prescribe folk prescriptions for anyone else. Having been in officialdom for so many years, Gao Gong and the other two guessed Zhang Juzheng's next move at a glance.

Gao Gong didn't think it was a big deal to return the land donated by the people. The Gao family didn't accept much in donations, so they just returned it.

But these six thousand new officials were selected by him one by one, and each of them was a scholar who was loyal to the emperor, loved the people, and respected teachers.

If nothing unexpected happens, these 6,000 new officials will be his 6,000 disciples and will be his important helpers in the court.

If Zhang Juzheng's proposal was implemented, and the land was lost before becoming an official, it would be good enough if these 6,000 new officials did not hate him. How could they possibly treat him as a mentor?
In the cabinet, perhaps Li Chunfang's family donated the most land. If this practice of returning the donated land to the people were promoted throughout the Ming Dynasty, the family would suffer huge losses.

Chen Yiqin was the most prominent member of the family. His ancestors could be traced back to Chen Yaozuo, a prominent family in the Northern Song Dynasty with three top scholars. Hundreds of years of family inheritance enabled Chen Yiqin to become an official without having any contact with the common people. In the huge Chen family, not a single acre of land was donated by the common people. This was the most indifferent thing.

No one spoke, so Zhang Juzheng spoke up, "I have also reported this matter to the emperor in my memorial. I hope you will see the cabinet's joint memorial."

Bring the emperor's decree to ask for their opinions?
Chen Yiqin was speechless. He glanced at Gao Gong, then at Li Chunfang, and had to express his opinion: "How about we draft a bill?"

In the cabinet, when there are undecided matters, they will first be put to a vote. Only when the votes are tied will they be sent to the Yuxi Palace for the emperor to judge.

The four people's vote was simple. Zhang Juzheng and Chen Yiqin agreed, Gao Gong opposed, Li Chunfang abstained, and the cabinet passed it in a joint letter.

Chen Yiqin was the first to have his name on the memorial, followed by Li Chunfang, and finally the reluctant Gao Gong.

After the memorial was completed, it was presented to the palace by the Secretary of the Cabinet.

Zhang Juzheng had also finished writing his second memorial to the cabinet. Gao Gong, Li Chunfang and Chen Yiqin looked at it intently, and the corners of their mouths twitched in unison.

Asking an emperor who is nearly sixty to select a concubine from all over the country, not to mention other things, does the emperor have the ability to do so?
First they helped the emperor select a concubine from across the country, then they helped the emperor to appoint a new queen, and then they worried about the birth of a new heir for the emperor. I'm afraid such a cabinet has no dignity at all!

also.

Prince Yu and Prince Jing absolutely do not want to see the birth of a new brother. Isn't Zhang Juzheng afraid of being blamed by the two princes for this action?
Or did Zhang Juzheng want to intervene in the fight for the crown prince or even the throne?

The emperor is old. After his death, the young monarch will be much easier to control than the king.

When they thought of this, the faces of several people in the cabinet changed.

(End of this chapter)