prosperous age

Chapter 805 894 Aftermath

A major incident occurred in the cabinet where an assistant minister beat up the chief minister. Naturally, the meeting could not go on.

Zhang Juzheng hugged Yin Shizhen with all his strength and prevented him from rushing towards Gaogong. He was very reluctant.

But at this moment, the high-gong Wusha was caught and punched by Yin Shizhen. The neat official uniform was also loose at this time, and he looked as embarrassed as possible.

Boxing is afraid of young people, this is absolutely true.

Gao Gong could usually boss people around and show his authority, but when it came to encountering someone who was arrogant, his sixty-year-old body really couldn't handle it.

Fortunately, in the midst of Zhang Juzheng's shouts, the senior staff of the Sixth Section also woke up and finally rushed up to separate the two.

Some people protected Gao Gong and left the lobby to go to the chief assistant's room, while another group of people surrounded Yin Shizhen to ask him to calm down, and the scene was full of chaos.

At this time, only Han Ji, who had been taught a lesson by Yin Shizhen, stood there motionless as if he were mourning for his heir.

This matter was actually a grudge between Yin Shizhen and Gao Gong, but it started from him after all. It is conceivable that no matter how the emperor dealt with the person involved afterwards, he would be hated by the emperor, and his career would probably be ruined. .

At this time, some servants had already hurried to report to Qianqing Palace about what happened in the cabinet.

It's been years since such a bad thing happened in the imperial city.

No matter how the emperor handles it, as a eunuch serving in the cabinet, there will definitely be nothing wrong if he delivers the news as soon as possible. If he delivers the news late, he may make a mistake and be punished.

Supervisor of Ceremonies, Meng Chong was sitting behind the desk, stamping the memorial that the emperor approved yesterday. When he heard the little chamberlain running in panting from outside to report to the cabinet that Mr. Yin Ge was beating Gao Shoufu, he felt a rush in his heart. Hi, when I found out that the fight was not successful and was stopped by Zhang Juzheng and a group of Ke Dao, I felt a little disappointed.

"Hey, why did he get beaten to death?"

Of course, Meng Chong was just thinking this in his mind, but he would never say it out loud.

"Okay, don't leave. Follow the Za family to Qianqing Palace to report to the emperor."

There are palace rules in the palace. Although the young chamberlain rushed to Qianqing Palace in a hurry at first, he realized halfway that he had to go to the Chief Eunuch to report to the chief eunuch first.

Otherwise, if the news is reported to the emperor, the benefits may not be obtained, and the real person in the palace may be offended.

When Emperor Longqing got the news in Qianqing Palace, he could do nothing but be stunned.

At this time, the two ministers in the cabinet, Gao Shofu and Yin Ge, had already left the cabinet angrily and went home to wait for the emperor's disposal.

Now only Zhang Juzheng is left in the cabinet to handle cabinet affairs. This is to set up the emperor.

Gao Gong naturally hoped that Emperor Longqing would severely punish Yin Shizhen, and finally directly dismiss him from office and drive him out of the capital.

Yin Shizhen calmed down and knew that he was in trouble, so he simply went home and waited for punishment.

However, the moment he left the cabinet, he already had plans to retire and return home.

He knew that what happened in the cabinet today was beyond his control.

Not to mention other things, although Gao Gong expelled Chen Yiqin and Li Chunfang, he did it secretly. Everyone knew it, but there was no evidence at all.

On the other hand, he waved his fist directly in Wenyuan Pavilion and was seen by the people from the Sixth Section, so he lost the reason first.

Knowing that this was something he couldn't get good at, Yin Shizhen still felt a lot better. At least he was able to vent out the pent-up energy in his chest. It felt good.

Zhang Juzheng, the second assistant who stayed in the cabinet, was actually the biggest unlucky person in this fight and was definitely not the beneficiary.

At the moment, all the government affairs in the cabinet fall on him alone, and things still need to be dealt with.

But what happens next?

Gao Gong would be back in a few days. He could not become the chief assistant and was still suppressed by Gao Gong.

And what about Yin Shizhen?

Because of what happened today, I'm afraid it will be difficult to gain a foothold in the court in the future.

Without Yin Shizhen, the cabinet minister who shares the firepower, he will be the one facing Gao Gong from now on, which is not a good thing.

Moreover, there are only two people left in the cabinet, and Emperor Longqing will replace him sooner or later. Zhang Juzheng does not think that he is more prestigious than Gao Gong, and the ministers he recommends can have an advantage over Gao Gong.

Moreover, although he told Yang Bo that he would recommend him to the cabinet, Zhang Juzheng was actually unwilling.

Thinking about his master Xu Jie, he has always been very afraid of Yang Bo. No matter how good the relationship was, he was never brought into the cabinet.

Zhang Juzheng can draw cakes, but if he really wants to do it, he is also worried, so don't let the wolf enter the house.

Thinking too much, Zhang Juzheng was not in the mood to work at the moment. He sat alone in the duty room and felt dazed.

As the Six Sections were dispersed, the affairs in the cabinet seemed to have grown little wings and quickly spread throughout the yamen in the capital.

Pan Sheng, the Minister of Rites, was dumbfounded when he heard the news. He really couldn't imagine that such a thing would happen to the cabinet.

The Metropolitan Procuratorate and the Sixth Section have the power to supervise, impeach, and make recommendations, but the Ministry of Rites is also responsible for this matter, which is to rectify the court discipline.

Obviously, Yin Shizhen was rude and should be punished.

But Pan Sheng didn't want to get involved in this matter from the bottom of his heart. He also saw Gao Gong's domineering attitude and dared not speak out in anger.

In the lobby of the Ministry of Justice, Liu Ziqiang had the same expression as Pan Sheng when he heard the news that fellow villager Gao Gong had been beaten.

However, it was Yin Shizhen who beat the person. Of course he knew that this matter was not under the control of his Ministry of Punishment. Everything depended on the emperor's will.

Although the Criminal Department is the main body of the Third Law Department, there is a high probability that Emperor Longqing will suppress this matter, and he should not send the two elders to the lobby for interrogation and confrontation.

Can't afford to lose that person.

When Zhu Heng heard the news, he just smiled bitterly. His letter to Jiangxi was in vain. He didn't expect that Yin Shizhen had such a bad temper that he would even shake his fist in the cabinet.

The officials in the court who opposed and disliked Gao Gong's style were all applauding secretly. It was a pity that they were stopped and Gao Gong was not paralyzed.

But no matter what, after this incident, Gao Gong's face was completely humiliated.

The officials who supported Gao Gong were filled with indignation and had begun to prepare a letter to impeach Yin Shizhai for being lawless and openly committing murder in the cabinet.

But no matter how noisy these people were in the yamen, they were not as lively as those in the Metropolitan Procuratorate.

Yes, the censors who supported Gao Gong and neutrality were all preparing to prepare a memorial to impeach Yin Shizhen.

In response, Ge Shouli, the head of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, sat in his room with a frown on his face and did not go out to suppress his censors.

He really had no reason to take action in this matter.

Other yamen chiefs could say they were waiting for the emperor's sanction, but the procuratorate could not. Although he also had strong objections to Gao Gong's arbitrary actions during this period, he always submitted notes to the six ministries in the name of cabinet discussions.

But he knew better that the cabinet did not actually reach consensus on many issues.

Just like the Datong Peace Conference, only Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng in the cabinet supported it, while Yin Shizhen was firmly opposed. There were also many people in the court who were dissatisfied, and he was one of them. But Gao Gong persuaded Emperor Longqing to push the matter forward, and even made reference to the results of the last court meeting, which meant that if the court supported it, there should be no further entanglement.

"Don't get involved."

Ge Shouli still made up his mind about this matter. What his subordinates wanted to do was their business. He just had to stay out of it anyway.

At this time, Emperor Longqing in the Qianqing Palace was also embarrassed by this matter. He just thought he had calmed the two down, but he didn't expect that the next day they would fight with each other in front of the officials.

It is impossible to say that Emperor Longqing was not annoyed by Yin Shizhen's behavior, and his own position was more on the side of the teacher.

However, he also knew that he should not deal with court officials lightly, especially cabinet ministers.

He knew some of Gao Gong's little tricks, so he could understand Yin Shizhen's resentment, but this was not the reason.

This incident had a very bad impact on the court.

But when it came to how to deal with this matter, Emperor Longqing was actually in a dilemma.

Although Yin Shizhen was wrong, he did not want to deal with him because of this, because the current triangular relationship in the cabinet was exactly what he wanted to create.

The three cabinet ministers represent three ideas that collide with each other when dealing with government affairs. I only need to refer to their opinions to make my own judgment.

He still remembers what his father told him before he died. He is not an emperor who can pioneer, he can only maintain success.

If you want to stick to your principles, you have to listen to other people's opinions when dealing with affairs and choose the most advantageous way of handling them.

This is also the reason why when he first came to the throne, he quickly expanded the cabinet to six ministers. Even if Gao Gong and Guo Pu left Gao Gong and Guo Pu later, the cabinet was guaranteed to have four cabinet ministers for a long time.

Letting Chen Yiqin leave is also to make room for Gao Gong.

After all, their small group occupies too many seats in the cabinet, which has affected him from listening to the opinions of other parties.

But in the blink of an eye, only Yin Shizhen was left in this small group in the cabinet, and how to deal with today's matter became the most difficult problem before Emperor Longqing.

Removing him from office, of course, he did not want to do so, which would upset the existing balance in the cabinet.

But it seems inappropriate to treat such a big matter lightly.

Regardless of whether it is an imperial edict or a fine, it seems to have no meaning.

While Emperor Longqing was still in a dilemma about how to settle the matter, Yin Shizhen returned to his residence and was already sitting in his study writing a memorial.

On the way home, Yin Shizhen had already considered the consequences, and it was not easy to deal with this matter.

Instead of waiting for Gao Gong to mobilize a group of party members to impeach him, it would be better to submit a petition to resign directly to save some dignity.

Whether he was impeached and removed from office or he took the initiative to resign, Yin Shizhen chose the latter.

He did not have Wei Guangde's considerations. He was vaguely aware that Emperor Longqing was trying to balance the forces in the court. He just wanted to save face now.

Since you are destined to be punished, you might as well take the initiative.

Yin Shizhen was writing a letter of resignation in the palace, and Gao Gong returned to the house angrily. He immediately sent his men to summon his disciples in the Metropolitan Procuratorate and the Sixth Section. He wanted to mobilize all the forces he could to impeach Yin Shizhen until he died.

After losing so much face this time, although Yin Shizhen could not be killed, there were sufficient reasons to expel him, and he would never give up.

This opportunity was hard-won, and it was enough for him to achieve what he wanted.

As for Emperor Longqing, he knew that he might still be concerned about his friendship with Yu Zhuan and was unwilling to hold Yin Shizhen responsible. But as long as Yin Shizhen was kicked out of the court, only he and Zhang Juzheng would be left in the cabinet. At the very least, the cabinet would need to be replaced. .

Recruiting people is very important. He has been worried about not having capable subordinates in the cabinet before, and he has always wanted to recruit his own people into the cabinet to enhance his voice.

You can't always ask him, the chief assistant, to come forward and retaliate in person.

Among the candidates to join the cabinet, Gao Gong really doesn’t have many available subordinates at the moment. The main reason is that there are too few people who are from the Hanlin Academy. After much deliberation, only Zhang Siwei meets the conditions. Unfortunately, Zhang Siwei has only been in the Ministry of Civil Affairs. Still lacks experience in the Ministry of Rites.

For this reason, he is also a little entangled and needs to spend some time to hone it.

Gao Gong made up his mind. He was already thinking about the position of the officials in the Ministry of Rites and how to adjust it so that Zhang Siwei could be sent to the Ministry of Rites and fill up his resume.

Yin Shizhen had already written a resignation letter and sent someone to the palace that afternoon without waiting for tomorrow.

Yin Shizhen was determined to leave. He knew that it would be very dangerous to continue to stay in the court. Gao Gong and his followers would never expose this matter easily.

Even if the emperor wants to be given a lighter sentence, he may be accused of crimes at some point.

It was better to leave the court. Although he was very unwilling to do so, he was not a foolish and loyal person and knew how to seek advantages and avoid disadvantages.

When Yin Shizhen returned home, his IQ was now online and he knew that staying in the capital was a recipe for disaster.

Yin Shizhen's talents and learning were actually considered to be among the best in the dynasty. He was known as "Mr. Tangchuan" among the people. He was a famous poet in the Jiajing and Longqing dynasties. He was known as "Bian Li Yin" along with Bian Gong, Li Panlong and Xu Bangcai. "Xu" four great talents.

This is much more famous than the "Four Great Talents in the South of the Yangtze River" including Tang Bohu, Zhu Zhishan and others in the Hongzhi Dynasty.

Although in later generations, Tang Bohu's reputation was countless times greater than that of Yin Shizhen, at that time, the most easily spread reputation was actually status.

Yin Shizhen is a second-ranked Jinshi and a cabinet minister. No matter how you look at it, he is far superior to Tang Bohu, who is white.

To put it bluntly, Tang Bohu is indeed talented, but there are many talented people in the world. His fame is probably similar to that of Liu Yong. In addition to the famous works handed down from generation to generation, it is the legendary story of Feng Yuechang.

Romance stories are the most talked about among the public, so naturally they are widely spread.

Yes, Yin Shizhen had already made up his mind to leave the court and indulge in the landscape, reciting poems and composing poems with his friends. Wouldn't it be wonderful?

Yin Shizhen once heard Wei Guangde mention that he was very envious of the beauty of the gardens in Suzhou and Hangzhou, so he planned to return to his hometown in Shandong and build a garden in the north as his living place.

As for whether Yin Shizhen will continue to be targeted by Gao Gong after leaving the court, in fact, Yin Shizhen still sees this clearly, and Gao Gong will not do this.

Because he built a high arch in the court, if anything happens to him in the future, it will most likely be related to the high arch.

Officials these days have a good reputation, and Gao Gong cannot do such a thing.

As for whether Gao Gong's followers would take revenge for him, in fact, for those who followed Gao Gong, they were more concerned about the position under Yin Shizhen's buttocks.

Now that the place has been given away, what's the point of continuing to pursue and fight fiercely? In the end, you will get nothing and make Shilin laugh.

What's more, the person Gao Gong really wants to take revenge on may not be him, but the person far away in Huating, Nanzhili. When the time comes, Zhang Juzheng will have a headache.

"Come here, pack up your things at home and pack them up. We are going to go back to our hometown."

After sending someone to deliver his resignation to the palace, Yin Shizhen directly ordered his family to pack their luggage and prepare to return home.

(End of this chapter)