prosperous age

In the outer city of the Ming Dynasty capital, at Zhang Juzheng's mansion, Wei Guangde and Zhang Siwei came here together after finishing their work. They first paid their condolences and then went into the next room with Zhang Juzheng to rest.

"Uncle, my condolences."

"Master Prime Minister, you should also take care of yourself."

"Ah, thank you Shandai and Ziwei for your help these past few days. I can't take care of the cabinet. I will submit a petition for mourning in two days. I will leave the affairs of state to you two."

Zhang Juzheng sighed and said.

Wei Guangde still doesn’t know what Feng Bao and Zhang Juzheng talked about, but judging from the current situation, it seems that Zhang Juzheng is already preparing to return home to observe the mourning period.

But he was not in a hurry. History had destined that Zhang Juzheng would be deprived of his love, so he just had to go with the flow. There was no need to force anything.

"I'll take you there then."

Wei Guangde spoke naturally.

"No need, Shandai, state affairs are more important. From now on, there will be only two of you in the cabinet, and it will be hard enough."

Zhang Juzheng did not look well. After all, his father had just died. His face was gray and full of sadness. His beautiful beard, which was usually carefully groomed, was now very messy. It was obvious that he did not care about his appearance.

"What I am most worried about is the Fujian issue and the implementation of the performance evaluation system."

Zhang Juzheng continued in a low voice, "I know that many people do not like the performance evaluation system, believing that it adds burdens to officials and causes many conflicts, especially some local officials who have done many appalling things in order to complete their tasks.

However, now that the Performance Evaluation Law has been promulgated, I hope the cabinet will continue to push this matter forward and not give up halfway.

The past two years have been turbulent, with wars in Liaodong and the southwest. If it were not for the performance evaluation system that required local governments to collect taxes in a timely manner, the court would have been completely destitute and would not have been able to sustain itself until now.

Many of the tragedies reported by the censors were actually caused not by the performance evaluation system, but by the willful behavior of local officials and the corruption of the government.

As for Fujian, I hope to complete the land survey in the next two years to accumulate experience for the future.”

Zhang Juzheng's words at this time seemed to entrust his affairs to others. Obviously, although his father's death dealt a heavy blow to Zhang Juzheng's spirit, he had also thought about the possible harm that returning to his hometown to mourn might cause to the political reforms in the Ming Dynasty that he was promoting.

And now, the only ones he can count on are these two people, the future first and second ministers of the Ming Dynasty Cabinet.

Zhang Siwei lowered his head and thought about what he was thinking at this time, while Wei Guangde nodded slightly, as if he agreed with Zhang Juzheng's words.

However, before they could continue speaking, someone from the Zhang family came in to report that the Minister of Personnel Wang Guoguang and a group of officials from the Ministry of Personnel had come to offer condolences.

"Please wait a moment. Zhang will go to greet them."

Zhang Juzheng immediately stood up, apologized to Wei Guangde and Zhang Siwei, and went out to greet them.

It can be imagined that Zhang's mansion must be bustling with people during the past two days, and all officials in Beijing will come to pay their respects, after all, he is the prime minister of the dynasty.

Although there are countless factions among officials, they are still a whole when it comes to the outside world.

Officials who are close to the emperor would naturally come in person to express their condolences, while officials who are more distantly related or of lower rank would also come in person, just to show their faces in front of the adults.

Those of higher rank and nobles who had less contact would send their families to pay their respects.

It can be said that the mourning hall set up by the Zhang Mansion this time will definitely attract all the officials in the city.

"Mr. Wei, Prime Minister Zhang's words."

After Zhang Juzheng left, Zhang Siwei suddenly whispered.

"The imperial court has already issued an order, I think my uncle will make some arrangements. Now that it has been executed, we should just go with the flow.

The imperial court had to spend money everywhere, and the performance evaluation system had indeed led to a significant increase in the Ministry of Revenue's fiscal revenue in the past two years, instead of the large amount of money left over.

Do you hope that under your and my rule, the imperial court will cease to function because of lack of money?"

Wei Guangde smiled bitterly.

Although the Performance Evaluation System caused many tragedies, as Zhang Juzheng said, the problem did not lie with the "law", but with the officials at the lower levels who knew about the misconduct and simply attributed all the mistakes to the performance evaluation system, believing that it was the performance evaluation system that forced them to do these unspeakable things.

In fact, the real situation is that those who should be forced to pay are not forced to pay, while those who should not be forced to pay are forced to death. There may be deliberate attempts to make things worse and cause trouble.

These bad things were used to highlight the so-called "disadvantages" of the performance evaluation system, so that scholars all over the world would oppose this system.

They entered the cabinet for the sake of a few pieces of silver in their pockets. Even if they really cared about these few pieces of silver, considering the money needed to maintain such a large court, who would really stop working because of it?

It's just paying the current taxes on time. Even if you lose a little money, you can make it up in many places.

As long as the official position remains, there is no loss.

When you reach this position, the first thing you have to do is to ensure the smooth operation of the court, which requires money.

The superiors and subordinates have completely different considerations.

The people below are thinking about their own wallets, while the people above are thinking about the Ministry of Revenue’s treasury.

Therefore, no matter how the people below try to make trouble, the Cabinet and even the six ministries and nine officials will never really give up the performance evaluation system as a way to fill the national treasury.

Although the performance appraisal system cannot directly increase fiscal revenue, it can really turn account figures into money.

But this alone is enough for them to make a choice.

If you cannot pay the taxes in full and on time, you should not continue to be this official.

When Wei Guangde returned to Zhang Juzheng's mansion after paying his respects, he still hadn't seen Zhang Ji.

I asked casually and found out that the person was still outside and had not returned.

Wei Guangde knew that Zhang Ji was probably still trying to gather information, so he didn't send anyone to look for him and went straight back to the backyard to rest.

After it was completely dark, a maid came in to report that Butler Zhang was asking to see her outside the inner courtyard.

"What's the situation? Tell me."

In the inner courtyard study, Wei Guangde asked someone to bring Zhang Ji in and asked directly without waiting for him to greet.

"Master, there is no news."

Zhang Ji lowered his head and stood solemnly, speaking in a low voice.

Obviously, things went wrong this time.

However, Wei Guangde was not angry. After all, it was the Prime Minister's residence, so he must have some precautions.

Especially since the people they met were the internal and external ministers of the current dynasty, they were still able to block off the left and right sides and prevent others from approaching.

“You Qi has been guarding outside and not letting anyone else get close, so the news has not been discovered.

Even though I contacted Eunuch Feng and the people around You Qi, I still had no clue. "

Zhang Ji continued in a low voice.

Wei Guangde nodded slightly, "I understand. You should continue to keep an eye on them and investigate the opinions of the government and the public in a timely manner."

Zhang Juzheng and Feng Bao must have talked about something extremely important, otherwise they would not have kept it so secret.

If he had not vaguely remembered the "love-stealing incident", Wei Guangde might have thought that he would become the Prime Minister.

There is no doubt that Zhang Juzheng was "deprived of his love" not because of him, but because of Feng Bao's efforts in the harem. If Zhang Juzheng had shown from the beginning that he did not want to return to his hometown to mourn, his character would have been completely denied.

If it was the palace that asked him to seize the love, and he was just following orders, it would be a different matter.

Although in the Master's eyes, he should have disobeyed the order and insisted on returning home to mourn for his father.

At this time, Zhang Juzheng was sitting alone in the study. He did not stay in the mourning hall, but let his son stay there.

After a day, he had spread the news that he would return to his hometown to observe mourning. Many officials came, and after they paid their respects, Zhang Juzheng took them aside and gave them some instructions.

Naturally, these words were meant to express his hope that everyone would continue to support the political reforms he had already initiated in the Ming Dynasty after he left the court.

He expressed his worries about leaving in front of everyone, which led to him giving up halfway.

This is actually human nature.

There were too many people opposing it, and the introduction of the performance evaluation system caused an uproar in the officialdom.

Although the opposition to the land survey in Fujian this time has been reduced a lot, everyone knows the cause but dares not speak out.

With the incident of Liu Tai as an example, who would still be scratching the tiger's beard?

Therefore, it is only natural and reasonable for him to express his concern about the new policy.

After doing so much, what Zhang Juzheng was most worried about was actually the fundamental issue, which was what the attitude of the palace was.

Can the Empress Dowager and the Emperor be persuaded by Feng Bao to choose to seize the love?

Zhang Juzheng was not very sure about this.

Zhang Juzheng thought that he was not a power-hungry person, but he also knew that after decades in official career, his ideals were gradually becoming reality.

However, the sudden news of his father's death may directly disrupt his arrangements and make all his previous efforts go to waste.

In fact, Zhang Juzheng himself had not made a final decision before Feng Bao arrived.

However, Feng Bao's arrival brought Empress Dowager Li to remind him of the original agreement, that is, the harem needed him to stabilize the court, and correspondingly, his position would be guaranteed to be stable.

At the beginning, Zhang Juzheng and Feng Bao joined forces to target Gao Gong. It seemed that it was just a game between the three forces, but in fact, behind the scenes, unknown to Gao Gong, Empress Dowager Li also participated in it for the sake of her son, the young emperor Zhu Yijun, to be able to hold on to power.

Although Zhang Juzheng did not mention the so-called political reforms at that time, Empress Dowager Li and Feng Bao made it clear that he would become the chief minister of the Ming Cabinet and would ensure the stability of his position.

Correspondingly, Zhang Juzheng had to guarantee Feng Bao's interests in the court, ensure the stability of the court, and wait for the young emperor to take over power smoothly when he grew up.

The secret power core formed between them excluded cabinet ministers such as Wei Guangde.

Zhang Juzheng often seemed to be compromising with Wei Guangde, but in fact he was just doing it for the sake of impressing other officials in the court.

The power of Zhang Juzheng, the chief minister, was restricted by the second minister Wei Guangde, and he could not make decisions alone.

Otherwise, his behavior would easily be accused of being "dictatorial" by court officials, who would unite against him.

So, now it depends on how Feng Bao and Empress Dowager Li view their cooperative relationship.

If Empress Dowager Li still needed him to stabilize the government, then she would "take away his affection" and continue to ensure his position as the Prime Minister of the Ming Cabinet.

And if Empress Dowager Li felt that Wei Guangde and other cabinet ministers could do it, and it was not necessary for Zhang Juzheng to do it, then she would most likely not "take away his love" this time and would ask him to hand over his power.

In fact, Zhang Juzheng, who was well versed in politics, knew very well that the best way to ensure the stability of the young emperor's imperial power was to replace him and let someone else take over his position as prime minister.

In this way, if we wait a few more years, the Wanli Emperor Zhu Yijun will be old enough to rule the country himself, and the new prime minister will only be in office for a few years, and it is impossible for him to reach the level of being able to control the whole world and cover the sky with one hand.

In this way, the imperial power can truly fall into the hands of the little emperor.

However, Zhang Juzheng was not sure whether Feng Bao's reminder was a test from Empress Dowager Li.

"Ugh"

Finally, a long sigh was heard from the study room.

He knew very well that if he stayed in the court and did not return to his hometown to observe mourning, the consequence would be that he would be blocking the way for others, and the Qingliu group would definitely dislike him for that.

But what can he do?

The attitude of the harem was more like a test. If he could not satisfy Empress Dowager Li this time, it would be a question whether he would have a chance to be reinstated in three years.

But if he really chose to give up the relationship reluctantly, the censors would surely impeach him frantically for being unfilial and unworthy of being the Prime Minister.

Leaving means completely giving up the core of power and there is a high possibility that there will be no chance of making a comeback.

Given Wei Guangde's character, he would definitely not choose to offend all the officials in the world and promote so-called political reforms.

Just as Zhang Juzheng was daydreaming, Feng Baozheng was kneeling in the Cining Palace, reporting the affairs of the Zhang Mansion to Empress Dowager Li.

"You mean he's wavering too, and isn't sure whether to stay or go?"

"Yes, Your Majesty, I dare not hide it. The Prime Minister does not seem to have made up his mind."

"After you told me what I said, how did he react?"

"The Prime Minister was very terrified, but he also said that even if he accepted the seizure of love, it would probably cause a stir in the court."

"Feng Bao, I want to ask you, if the emperor seizes the love, will it be good for the court or not?"

At this moment, a hint of sternness inadvertently appeared on Mrs. Li's dignified face, and her eyes were fixed on Feng Bao.

"This"

At this time, Feng Bao was kneeling on the ground with his head down, not daring to look up.

"Tell me the truth, is the Prime Minister's new policy good or bad for the court?"

Although Empress Dowager Li was a woman and could not tell whether Zhang Juzheng's reform measures were right or wrong, she was still able to sense that there were serious problems in the Ming court.

Before Jiajing, the imperial court had already run into deficits, but at the time there was the Taicang old warehouse as a backup, so the court's spending was not affected.

However, in the middle and late Jiajing period, various problems emerged because the old treasury was exhausted and the court was short of funds.

The harem also felt the pain of the court's financial difficulties, because during the years when Emperor Longqing was in power, the harem only changed its headgear three times.

In theory, it was just a trivial matter for the emperor to make jewelry for his concubines.

But when it came to the small matter of asking for money from the imperial court, the Ministry of Revenue kept making excuses and was reluctant to pay.

From that time on, Empress Dowager Li began to pay attention to the affairs of the outer court.

The reason for choosing to cooperate with Zhang Juzheng was because Feng Bao hinted that if Zhang Juzheng became the prime minister, the inner court would no longer suffer from lack of money.

In recent years, Zhang Ju had always met the needs of the inner court and the previous dynasty, so Empress Dowager Li began to trust him more and more.

Especially when she was named Empress Dowager, she should have been the Grand Noble Consort, but Zhang Juzheng chose to promote her to the position of Empress, which made her even happier.

The title of Empress Dowager should have been an honor that could only be obtained after the death of Empress Dowager Chen or after her death.

She had become accustomed to letting Zhang Juzheng preside over external court affairs because it made everything go smoothly for her.

As for the other minister of state, Feng Bao's repeated attempts revealed that he was not the best candidate. (End of this chapter)