My Portable Ming Dynasty

Chapter 4 Gao Gong
The next day, the cabinet.

Wenyuan Pavilion is located in the eastern part of the Forbidden City. At first glance, it looks like a row of inconspicuous and dilapidated houses.

But everyone in the Ming Dynasty knew that the people working here were the cabinet ministers, who were at the top of the official hierarchy, or the cabinet ministers whom all officials called "Prime Ministers."

However, Wenyuan Pavilion looks similar to the Hanlin Academy. The cabinet in the Ming Dynasty was originally just an institution to assist the emperor in decision-making. Although it gradually became stronger with the development of the times, it was not a "real prime minister" like the Tang and Song dynasties.

Even if they were able to control the government, like Xia Yan and Yan Song in the Jiajing period, they would still be subject to multiple constraints from the imperial power and officials, and could not be as arbitrary as the prime ministers of the Tang and Song dynasties.

The cabinet has been in disrepair for many years, and no prime minister has proposed a major renovation. After all, those censors even opposed the emperor building a palace. How could a mere cabinet like you want to build an office space for yourself?

The office environment was so bad that even a powerful prime minister like Xia Yan was unwilling to work in the cabinet. However, working from home for a long time would be used as a handle. When Yan Song overthrew Xia Yan, one of the crimes he impeached against him was "handling military and national affairs in his private residence."

Later, after Yan Song came to power, he paid great attention to work discipline and insisted on working in the cabinet even when he was over 80 years old.

Xu Jie, the chief minister of the cabinet at that time, came to power by defeating Yan Song. He had always been cautious and naturally did not dare to break the rules.

It doesn't matter if the Wenyuan Pavilion is a little dilapidated, it can still be tolerated by pasting some window paper. At least the cabinet ministers have their own compartments, and they all came from the Hanlin Academy. It's better than the previous working environment, right?
A round-faced, red-robed official asked the Tongzhengsi official:

"Has the imperial examination paper from the Hanlin Academy arrived?"

The junior official from the Ministry of Public Administration below raised his head and looked at the round-faced, red-robed official, and said tremblingly:
"Replying to the Lord, it has been delivered, but..."

The red-robed official was impatient and did not like his subordinates' hesitation, so he asked sternly:

"Hurry up and bring the case to me."

Generally speaking, important cabinet ministers rarely treat minor officials so harshly, but the elder Gao Gong in front of him was known for his hot temper when he was in Prince Yu's residence. When Yan Song was in power, he dared to confront Yan Song and his son in the court.

Now that he serves as a cabinet minister, he has had several conflicts with the cabinet chief Xu Jie.

The junior official from the Ministry of Public Administration said:
"Lord Xu said that the imperial academy's manuscripts should be reviewed by him first."

When Xu Jie was mentioned, Gao Gong became even angrier.

Gao Gong was an old acquaintance of Prince Yu's residence and the teacher of the current emperor. He had a very close relationship with the current emperor.

At the end of the Jiajing period, Gao Gong also joined forces with Xu Jie to overthrow Yan.

However, after the death of Emperor Jiajing, Xu Jie and Gao Gong had different political views. Xu Jie took control of the government in the name of Jiajing's will without consulting the cabinet.

Later, Xu Jie instructed his disciples to impeach Gao Gong and force him to resign.

However, Emperor Longqing still remembered the relationship between teacher and student. In the second year of Longqing, Gao Gong returned to the cabinet.

Now in the cabinet, Xu Jie is the chief minister.

The second assistant Li Chunfang was quiet and inactive, and rarely participated in the struggles between Xu Gao and others.

Although Zhang Juzheng, the Grand Secretary of Wuying Palace, was a disciple of Xu Jie, he was cautious and cautious in the struggle between Xu and Gao and rarely expressed his opinions.

Chen Yiqin, the Grand Secretary of Wenyuan Pavilion, was also an old acquaintance of Emperor Longqing's palace, but he was a very low-key person. He focused his main energy on supervising the national history and kept away from the cabinet struggles.

The cabinet's deputy prime minister and other cabinet ministers can keep their distance, but it is difficult for the minor officials who come to the cabinet to do business.

The Tongzhengsi official did not want to offend Xu Jie, but he did not dare to offend Gao Gong, who had a bad temper.

It’s strange that Lord Xu was not feeling well today and took leave and didn’t come to the cabinet to work.

"Lord Xu is ill. Bring it here for me to see first!"

After hearing what Gao Gong said, the officials of the Ministry of Public Administration did not dare to say more and had to move the memorial book from the Hanlin Academy over.

Zhang Juzheng, who was sitting in the next cubicle, heard Gao Gong's quarrel but did not look up. Wearing the same vermilion official robe, Zhang Juzheng's demeanor was much more impressive than Gao Gong's, but the cabinet officials did not dare to look down on this old man.

In addition to being Xu Jie's disciple, Zhang Juzheng was also the main force in the overthrow of Yan. He was calm and composed, and his methods were superb. Ordinary officials dared not even breathe a word when they saw him.

Zhang Juzheng naturally knew why Gao Gong insisted on reading the memorial from the Hanlin Academy.

Politics depends on people.

Previously, Xu Jie was able to squeeze out Gao Gong by relying on the efforts of his disciples and former officials, and Gao Gong naturally understood this.

The new Shujishi who entered the Hanlin Academy were reserve prime ministers and the future pillars of the country.

Gao Gong wanted to read the memorials, naturally to see the quality of this group of scholars and develop his own faction from them.

Zhang Juzheng sighed slightly.

His mentor was old and often ill, while Gao Gong was young and strong, and had the support of Emperor Longqing, and it seemed that he was becoming increasingly difficult to control.

Zhang Juzheng sighed inwardly again. It was not that he disliked Gao Gong as a person. Gao Suqing was upright and honest, and had strong abilities. He was indeed the best candidate for the position of Prime Minister.

However, having reached this position, both had their own political ambitions, and Zhang Juzheng and Gao Gong had differences in political views.

Zhang Juzheng also did not want to be inferior to Gao Gong and implement Gao Gong's reform plan.

But given the current situation, Zhang Juzheng had no choice but to stay at home.

Zhang Juzheng thought again about the time when Yan Song was in power. If his mentor lost power, what would he do?
In the next cubicle, Gao Gong picked up the question book and began to browse through it quickly.

In fact, Gao Gong did not expect that these young scholars could come up with any earth-shattering words or write any famous memorials that would be passed down through the ages.

When he examined these Shujishi, he mainly looked at their talents and then at the political inclinations in their memorials.

If someone's political ideas are consistent with his own and he is truly talented, he will naturally be willing to support him.

As a cabinet minister and the Minister of Personnel, Gao Gong had great power.

This is a good book. I secretly wrote down the name of the author of the title book, Zhao Zhigao.

This book is also good, Zhang Wei.

Wang Jiaping's articles are also good.

But when Gao Gong turned to Su Ze's notebook, he was shocked by the ugly handwriting.

How can you pass the county exam with such ugly handwriting?
But when he saw the "Petition to Cancel the Early Morning Court Session", Gao Gong was stunned again.

What is this? My goodness, there is such a question book?
As a scholar, shouldn't we ask the emperor to work hard? How can we not let the emperor attend the morning court?

But as Gao Gong finished reading, his brows relaxed and he clapped his hands and said, "Well written!"

After praising him, Gao Gong immediately said, "Bring me the peeling paper!"

The peeling paper is the paper used for drafting the bill. The cabinet ministers wrote their opinions on the peeling paper and pasted it in front of the petition as a draft of the "Imperial Approval" for the emperor to adopt.

The power to draft documents is an important power of the cabinet, and together with the power of the Imperial Household Department to approve documents, they constitute the basis of the two major power institutions in the inner court.

Gao Gong wrote down his draft opinion with great swiftness, then called over the minor official from the Ministry of Public Administration and said:

"Send it to the Qianqing Palace immediately for your inspection!"

(End of this chapter)