Chapter 494 Everyone is looking forward to the emperor's death
Even though it happened suddenly.

Also, because of Yan Shifan's abnormal behavior today, it was difficult for him to think.

But now Gao Gong finally understood.

Today, this group of people is here to push Zhao Zhenji, the Governor-General of Zhejiang, into the cabinet!
Even Yan Shifan's pretending to be sad about the fire in the palace at the beginning of today was just to quickly define the matter, then get the power to investigate and handle it, and at the same time let Yuan Wei take down the power of the three judicial officials and supervisory officials.

Instead, I can't do anything.

Or if he opposed Yuan Wei's control of the three judicial departments and the power to supervise all officials, he would be suspected of monopolizing the power of the cabinet.

If Zhao Zhenji was prevented from joining the cabinet, his plan to implement new policies, investigate the land in various places, and clear out the land occupied by powerful gentry and wealthy families would become a joke from the very beginning.

As for promoting Gao Yi to the position of Minister of Rites, perhaps it had already been planned by these people.

After all, what does it matter if Gao Yi becomes the Minister of Rites?

When it comes to nominations to join the cabinet, Gao Yi can only be ranked after Zhao Zhenji.

Gao Gong, who knew all the reasons, sighed silently in his heart.

What worried him most was that Gao Yao, the Minister of Revenue, did not tell him immediately after receiving Zhao Zhenji's memorial.

If Gao Yao had told me about this matter in advance, I wouldn't be so passive now.

But nothing can be changed.

Instead of continuing to be passive, it is better to be proactive.

Gao Gong immediately spoke up: "I have been granted the emperor's grace to temporarily take charge of the central government. It is the time of the new policy and we are in urgent need of personnel. The Ministry of Personnel has advised that there should be no mistakes in the selection and recommendation. I second the proposal. The emperor should issue an order to summon Zhao Zhenji, the governor-general of Zhejiang and the governor of Zhejiang, to the capital."

If you think the situation cannot be changed and you say nothing, then there is really no need for me to continue working as the Prime Minister.

And after hearing the words of the Prime Minister.

Jiajing then spoke: "Entry into the cabinet has always been recommended by the cabinet and the nine ministers of the central government. Since this happens today, you can discuss whether the governor of Zhejiang is suitable for entry into the cabinet?"

According to the rules.

Generally speaking.

If the cabinet wants to add new members, the emperor proposes it, the cabinet writes a document, the Ministry of Personnel selects a few names and reports them, the cabinet considers them and then makes them public, the nine ministers discuss them, and finally choose one person.

Although today is not the right time and place.

But since the cabinet and the nine ministers are all there, it is not considered a violation of the rules.

In addition, the Ministry of Personnel and the Cabinet have no objections now.

Naturally, no one present would object.

After all, what the emperor said a few days ago was that he wanted to add two or three more people to the cabinet.

Today we are just letting Zhao Zhenji join the cabinet, there will be more work to do later.

Seeing that no one objected.

Jiajing did not waste time and spoke directly: "Then the cabinet will draft an edict today to summon Zhao Zhenji, the governor-general of Zhejiang and the governor of Zhejiang, back to Beijing, to give him the title of Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, and to serve as a Grand Secretary of Wenyuan Pavilion, to join the cabinet and participate in the affairs of the cabinet."

The non-stick pan that wanted to make progress finally got its wish and successfully entered the cabinet and went straight to the core.

And today's audience with the emperor in Xiyuan has finally come to an end.

As for the fire that destroyed the Yuxi Palace in Xiyuan, it was impossible to find out everything so quickly, nor was it possible to immediately investigate and punish certain people.

But these things are fermenting one after another.

First of all, Yuan Wei and Yan Shifan did not just want to seize the power of supervising all officials from Gao Gong.

When the emperor's order came down, Yan Shifan immediately asked Shuntian Prefecture and Northern Zhili to investigate all the local people who had dealings with the various supervisory offices inside and outside the palace. All suspicious people were arrested by the Embroidered Uniform Guard and imprisoned, awaiting trial.

of course.

The young cabinet minister still has a consistent style of doing things.

Arresting those who had connections and grudges with the inner court in the Northern Zhili region did not prevent the young cabinet minister from imprisoning several officials in the court.

It's just that the momentum hasn't expanded yet.

But no one can guarantee that the young cabinet minister will limit the responsibility for the fire in the Yuxi Palace in the Western Garden to a small number of officials and most ordinary people.

But it is precisely this stage that makes people most uncomfortable.

Because the knife in the young elder's hand was hanging on everyone's neck, with the decision hanging in the balance.

This is the most annoying thing.

This Yan Shifan is stirring people's hearts.

The other end.

The rapid rise of Zhao Zhenji, the governor of Zhejiang, and his successful entry into the cabinet also sparked heated discussions in the court.

Although the cabinet is still working hard to formulate the new policy and has not yet fully compiled it for the emperor's review, all kinds of rumors have already spread.

Some people said that Prime Minister Gao Gong wanted to restore the laws of the time of Emperor Taizu Gao, which required that any official who embezzled a certain amount of money would be skinned and stuffed with straw and hung outside the government office.

This is very consistent with Gao Ge Lao's personality.

Some people also say that Gao Ge Lao will first rectify the nine borders and boost border defenses.

Some people even said that the reason why the Prime Minister did not oppose Zhao Zhenji's entry into the cabinet this time was that he wanted to implement a comprehensive clearance in the two capitals and thirteen provinces, including those princes and dukes of the royal family. He wanted to check out all the land that had been illegally and cheaply occupied and return it to the people.

If the message had not also included the need to investigate the lands of the royal family, this would have made most people believe that this was what Gao Gong wanted to do.

Others said that Gao Gong was already planning to drastically reduce the number of officials at the imperial court and at the local level.

There were even more absurd rumors, all of which vaguely said that Gao Gong and the cabinet were preparing to comprehensively cut preferential treatment for people with great achievements throughout the country. Such things as tax exemptions and exemptions from military service had not been implemented since Gao Gong started implementing the New Deal.

Anyway, all kinds of rumors spread everywhere within a few days.

"According to traditional practice."

"Some of these rumors are true, and some are false."

"Some of them were deliberately spread by Gao Gong and his men as a test, while others were spread by those who opposed them to test the cabinet and the court."

It's already August.

There are no major events in the court this year. The only major event is the new policy.

Various rumors also spread to the gardens in the west of Nanjing.

Yan Shaoting looked relaxed, and even his face became rounder. He lay in a rattan chair drinking tea, said a few words casually, and then threw the book containing the latest news in his hand on the coffee table beside him.

Wang Xijue bowed beside the attendant and said, "There are too many rumors. People in all places are in a panic now. No one is sure who will be the first to be struck by the new policy presided over by Gao Gong. All places are now submitting memorials, talking about the new policy, and they all seem to want to use their momentum to influence the new policy. Even the Imperial Censor Hai submitted a memorial, putting the rectification of official administration first, and also said that the occupation of farmland should be restricted, the court should stop awarding official farmland and private farmland, and the official farmland should be rectified and gradually restored to the scale of the Taizu Gao Emperor."

"Don't worry about those rumors. There's no need to report these things in the future."

Yan Shaoting waved his hand. He really had no more interest in the rumors that were circulating now.

He went on to say, "We still have to continue writing to Hai Rui. He can say whatever he wants in his memorial now, but the method we discussed at the beginning must not be made public now. The time is not right yet."

"You just want Gao Gong, the Prime Minister, to work for you."

The complexion of Zhang Juzheng's face, standing next to him, had become darker than before.

He did not stay in Nanjing all this year. He was away for a long time recently because of the affairs of the Governor-General's Office.

It has been one or two years since the imperial court opened the sea.

In order not to compete with the people for profits, the imperial court had never restricted the goods shipped out to sea by the people, nor had it imposed large-scale high taxes on maritime trade.

In fact, this is also a right that must be given up in order to ensure that the opening of the sea can continue smoothly.

Otherwise, the sea would be opened as before, and the court and government would have to do everything, resulting in repeated Japanese invasions.

After all, it is well known that the Japanese invasion along the southeastern coast of the Ming Dynasty was caused by Japanese pirates. Not to mention that 90% of them were fake, but the real ones were only about 20% to 30%.

Smuggling has always been prevalent.

This time, the opening of the sea was more like a complete liberalization than a mere opening of the sea. The imperial court made some money from it, and then slowly improved the maritime trade situation and gradually consolidated power.

This is exactly what Zhang Juzheng did some time ago.

In the past few months, Zhang Juzheng has confiscated dozens of houses in several southeastern provinces under various excuses and charges.

The effect is still there.

At least now, smuggling has been basically eliminated along the southeast coast. Anyone who wants to go out to sea must register with the local customs office and state in detail the list and value of the goods being shipped out.

Regardless of whether the Maritime Customs and the Tax and Soldiers Office could receive the tax silver, at least the management was already in the hands of the Maritime Governor's Office.

As for wanting to smuggle?
The troops from the five southeastern provinces who were suppressing the Japanese pirates, such as Qi Jiguang's and Yu Dayou's troops, could either wipe out the Japanese pirates or sink the smuggling ships to the bottom of the sea.

Not to mention the Navy Office which only a few people pay attention to.

Nowadays, things are changing with each passing day, and new ships are launched almost every day.

It can be said that the southeastern sea is now the territory of the Ming Navy.

After all, the navy might have smuggled in smuggled goods in the past, but under the strict management and supervision of the Governor's Office of the Navy today, smuggling is less profitable than openly escorting merchant ships out to sea.

No one would joke about his official hat and future.

As long as the navy sends warships out to sea regularly to protect merchant ships, they can get new ships, and then they can get a document with a seal from the Governor-General's Office to claim an extra benefit from the Tax and Military Office. Everyone is happy to do it.

The ridicule of Zhang Juzheng.

Yan Shaoting did not deny it. He just stated calmly: "In the past, new policies started out very aggressively, but whenever they encountered obstacles, they would immediately decline, and most of them would eventually come to nothing. Now that this dynasty has just started a new policy, all aspects have not been sorted out clearly. If we act rashly, we will only alert the enemy."

Zhang Juzheng chuckled and said, "So you have decided to let Gao Gong take over the power of the new policy first, so that he can lead the way and clear the obstacles for you?"

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"No!"

Yan Shaoting flatly denied it.

Zhang Juzheng sneered, obviously not believing him.

But Yan Shaoting said: "It's not to clear the obstacles for me, but to clear the obstacles for my uncle."

"Ok?"

Zhang Juzheng looked puzzled.

"what?"

Then he exclaimed in surprise again.

Zhang Juzheng was full of doubts: "How can you clear the obstacles for me? You know that I want to get rid of the accumulated abuses. But I also know that you also want to implement new laws."

Yan Shaoting glanced at his student Wang Xijue, then smiled and said, "I am still young, so I am not in a hurry. Although I am now a third-rank official, I lack experience and am not as good as my uncle. Now that Zhao Butang has entered the cabinet, it is time to seek an opportunity for my uncle to return to the cabinet."

Back to the Cabinet!

These words immediately made Zhang Juzheng's blood boil.

This also made him not notice the fleeting smile on Yan Shaoting's face.

What Zhang Juzheng said just now was actually wrong.

He did not want Gao Gong to pave the way for his new policies.

Because he planned to let Zhang Juzheng pave the way for him.

As for Gao Gong.

At most, it would sow the seeds of a new policy for the current Ming Dynasty.

After all, with Gao Gong's personality, it wouldn't be long before he was forced to step down because of the new policy.

But now everything has changed, and I can help Lao Gao to leave with dignity when he steps down.

After all, they are all people who have contributed to the country.

You still have to be decent.

Instead of being driven away mercilessly by Zhang Juzheng and Feng Bao as in the original history.

Now is a good time.

Let Zhang Juzheng return to the cabinet, and then wait for Gao Gong to step down and the people in the front of the cabinet to retire one by one, then Zhang Juzheng can take power.

Let Lao Zhang do it for a while to stabilize the overall situation and pave the way, then it will be time for me to take charge of everything.

Anyway, I am more than ten or twenty years younger than people like Lao Zhang.

The thing we have the most is time.

On the contrary, the old Taoist priest doesn’t have much time left.

Yan Shaoting thought silently in his heart, calculating the remaining days of the old Taoist priest.

It’s almost time for me to return to Beijing.

However, I have been away from Beijing for nearly two years. How should I return to Beijing?

Yan Shaoting thinks this is a question worth thinking about.

He was thinking about the new policy and calculating the little time left for the old Taoist priest.

same.

In a place that was originally quite harmonious, more slander appeared.

"I can't live this life!"

"If Gao Gong were to implement a new policy and clear out the land, how would we survive?"

In a very large house.

At the banquet there were wealthy gentry dressed in silk and satin, as well as officials of the current dynasty dressed in official robes.

But all of these people had worried looks on their faces, as if the sky was about to fall.

"I heard that the cabinet has already drafted a new policy and submitted it to the emperor."

"We can't get any information from Xiyuan now, but judging from the situation in the court, the method formulated by Gao Gong and others should have been approved."

The laws of the new policy have basically been determined.

This news caused everyone present to fall silent.

After all, the method has been determined, and the next step is naturally to implement it.

Zhao Zhenji has almost arrived in the capital by imperial decree, so clearing the land has become the first thing to do.

If we start now, we probably won't be able to count on spring plowing and summer grain next year, but by the time of autumn taxes, many families' land that they have occupied over the years will probably have been cleared out.

After a moment of silence.

Someone spoke up quietly, "Haven't we heard that the emperor has summoned Li Shizhen from Changping Academy to diagnose pulses and prescribe medicine?"

As soon as these words came out, everyone present looked at this person.

This person didn't care and whispered, "So...if the emperor dies at this time and Long Yu dies..."

Instantly, the atmosphere at the scene stagnated.

Good guy!
Many people were so scared that they swallowed their saliva.

But soon, people's eyes brightened.

"Yup!"

"Brother Zhang is absolutely right!"

"If the Emperor... the Emperor dies at this time..."

"The new policy will inevitably be interrupted because of this. It will take more than half a year to wait for the new monarch to take the throne. By then, I'm afraid there will be more variables in the new policy!"

Everyone quickly understood the logic behind this.

As long as we focus on implementing the new policy now, the emperor who strongly supports us will die.

Then the new policy can be said to have come to nothing.

Wait for the new emperor to ascend the throne and continue the new policies of the previous emperor?
Haven't you heard the saying that a new emperor chooses new ministers?

Of course, in other words, what the new emperor wants to do and what he will do cannot be exactly the same as the previous emperor.

Everyone's expression relaxed.

"so……"

"When will the emperor die?"

…………

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(End of this chapter)