I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 171: Minister of Revenue Gao Gong
Gao Gong left the Wenhua Hall, and the more he thought about it, the more he felt something was wrong. He grabbed Meng Chong, who had escorted him out, and asked in a stern voice, "What's going on with the Silijian incident?"

Meng Chong looked around, pulled Gao Gong aside, and said softly, "My Master Gao, this is still a restricted area, please speak softly."

Gao Gong lowered his voice and continued to ask, "Eunuch Meng, I am sorry for being abrupt. Let me ask you what is going on with this matter of the Imperial Household Department?"

"This is a strange thing to say." Meng Chong recalled, "After the late emperor passed away, the emperor ascended the throne in Fengxian Hall, received congratulations from civil and military officials in Huagai Hall, and issued an edict to change the reign, enthrone the empress, and establish the crown prince.

The prince then submitted a memorial, saying that the Silijian was in the Western Garden, which was not in accordance with the rules. The emperor waved his hand and agreed, asking the Silijian to move back to the Forbidden City.

Gao Gong asked, "Half of the Silijian's house in the Forbidden City has been occupied?"

"That's right. The Silijian moved to Xiyuan nearly twenty years ago, and the original house has been empty. I don't know when, and I don't know which government office started it, but it took one room, I took three, and you took four, and soon you took over more than half of it.

The emperor ordered the Imperial Household Department to move back, and they hurriedly squeezed into a small area. The people who were occupying the house were asked to move out and make room, but they were all arguing.

At that time, the Forbidden City was also busy with the national mourning for the late emperor, so they had no time to take care of these matters. Let's put them aside for now and make do with them. When the national mourning is over, we can sit down and discuss it again."

Gao Gong nodded.

He also knew that the situation in the inner court was complicated, and each government office had its own mountain, with different gods standing behind it. The emperor's family had just moved into the Forbidden City, which was full of his elders. It was also during the national mourning period, so causing any trouble might be considered unfilial.

"At that time, the eunuch Huang Jin, who was in charge of the Imperial Household Department, was busy with the late emperor's national mourning and handling the palace's move."

Yes, if the emperor moves in, their family will definitely be the best and most comfortable. If the original owner moves out, will he be willing? Where to move to? What if he is not satisfied?
It's a mess again.

This matter really needs to be handled by Huang Jin. He has been with the late emperor for forty or fifty years. The old ancestor in the forbidden area has to listen to everything the concubine says.

"At that time, the Imperial Household Department was managed by Li Fang. Lord Gao knew him. He was a blockhead and didn't know how to adapt. If there was any urgent military or national emergency, he would go and wake up the emperor in the middle of the night.

Several times, the emperor was so angry that he almost ordered people to beat this tactless guy to death."

Listening to Meng Chong's gloating words, Gao Gong sneered in his heart.

Li Fang did the right thing.

However, Gao Gong also knew that his students were lazy and hated to deal with such political affairs.

In the past, in Prince Yu's mansion, when everyone was sitting together to discuss how to deal with major issues concerning the Yan Party, after a while, he would yawn continuously and became very impatient.

Li Fang's dedication and diligence will definitely make the emperor unhappy.

Meng Chong continued, "It was fine during the period of national mourning, but after the period of national mourning, Li Fang continued to disturb the emperor several times, and the emperor could not stand it anymore, so he drove Li Fang out of the Forbidden City.

The Imperial Household Department had no one in charge, and Teng Xiang and Chen Hong were busy competing for the emperor's favor. During that period, the Imperial Household Department delayed a lot of important matters, and there was a lot of criticism from the court and the public. In addition, the fire suddenly broke out, and the emperor simply issued an edict to ask the Imperial Household Department to move to the West Garden again."

Meng Chong spoke implicitly, but Gao Gong knew his student too well to guess the whole story.

During the period of national mourning, the emperor had to observe mourning, so he was able to control himself and cooperate with the Imperial Household Department to handle state affairs.

Once the national mourning was over, the emperor immediately returned to his original form.

When Gao Gong was still in Xinzheng, he heard from his friends in Beijing that when the mourning period was about to start, a group of eunuchs came out of the palace to select beautiful girls from all over the country. As soon as the mourning period was over, they would fill the palace with beautiful girls.

The emperor, who is so happy that he doesn't want to leave, certainly doesn't want to be in charge of the affairs of the Imperial Household Department anymore.

The people in the Imperial Household Department, perhaps prompted by the Crown Prince and Huang Jin, asked the Emperor for instructions more often, which annoyed the Emperor so much that he finally found an excuse to move the Imperial Household Department back to the Western Garden.

The Crown Prince had followed the late Emperor for many years. Starting from the 40th year of Jiajing, he had followed the late Emperor in handling state affairs and the affairs of the Imperial Household Department, which he handled well and quickly.

The emperor was of course happy to have no more worries and could devote himself to living happily in the harem.

Gao Gong was in a dilemma. How could he persuade the emperor to take back his power?

Relying on his status as the emperor's teacher?
It's useless. I'm in the outer court, and the prince can go in and out of the palace as often as he wants to see the emperor.

The emperor has no ears, he will listen to whoever is close to him. The prince is definitely closer to the emperor than himself, how can he be persuaded?
Gao Gong left the palace angrily, got into the sedan chair and returned home.

Wang Lin, Han Ji and others had been waiting in the gatehouse. When they saw Gao Gong coming back, they all came forward to greet him.

"Mr. Gao, the emperor summoned you and you stayed for half a day. I heard that you even stayed for lunch. The emperor and his subjects are drinking together. Mr. Gao, this is an unprecedented favor!"

Everyone surrounded Gao Gong, speaking flattering words to him.

Gao Gong tried his best to cheer himself up and interacted with everyone. He was full of confidence at this moment.

Emperor Longqing’s attitude towards him today shows that the emperor still respects and trusts him, and that his “imperial favor” is still there.

The former lecturers in Prince Yu’s Palace, including Chen Yiqin, Yin Shidan and Zhang Juzheng, were all able to enter the cabinet. There was no reason for himself, the head of the lecturers, not to be able to enter the cabinet.

Besides, he had already entered the cabinet in the 42nd year of Jiajing. This time he came back and resumed his original position, it was reasonable for him to enter the cabinet.

As long as I enter the cabinet, I can raise my arm and gather like-minded people, and I will be able to create a new world and seize power from the old sly Xu Jie. Then I can realize my ambitions and reform and eliminate malpractices.

Help with extraordinary tasks and achieve unprecedented feats!
As for Chen Yiqin, Yin Shidan and Zhang Juzheng, to be honest, Gao Gong really didn't take them seriously.

Gao Gong, full of fighting spirit, bowed and said, "I have already asked my servant to go to Zuifenglou and Huifenglou to order ten tables of food, and have them delivered immediately. I will remember the sincere kindness of my colleagues. I will prepare some wine to show my appreciation!"

Today, everyone must get drunk before leaving!"

Everyone applauded loudly!
Wang Lin held Gao Gong's right wrist and said happily, "Mr. Gao, you ordered ten tables for today. It's too little, too little! Many colleagues, scholars from the Hanlin Academy, professors and doctors from the Imperial College, the six ministries, six departments, and the twelve departments of the Censorate are rushing to your house after hearing the news. Ten tables are not enough, at least fifty tables are needed!"

Gao Gong laughed heartily and said, "As long as you are willing to come, I am willing to open a hundred tables."

Sure enough, Wang Lin’s words soon came true.

In less than half an hour, two or three hundred people came into Gao's mansion. There were officials and celebrities. They greeted each other and talked loudly.

There was passion in their words and high spirits in their gestures. Tomorrow, under the leadership of Gao Ge Lao, who is also the chief personnel officer, they will clarify the government's policies!

The entire front yard of the Gao Mansion was bustling with people, like a vegetable market. A dozen old servants were in charge, directing the servants and waiters borrowed from the restaurant. After a long time of hard work, they finally set up thirty tables.

But people continued to come in through the gate.

It looked like they could only move to the central courtyard to set up the banquet. Fortunately, Gao Gong's family had not come with them yet, so there was no taboo.

Everyone sat down, and it was a dark crowd. A rough estimate was that there were about four hundred people.

Suddenly, a group of eunuchs came to the mansion, stood at the door and looked around.

The person closest to him turned around and found that it was Chen Hong, the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department!
The news spread quickly from one person to ten, and from ten to a hundred, and the Gao Mansion, which had been extremely noisy just a moment ago, suddenly became silent.

Everyone had the same thought in their mind: he had just met the emperor in the morning, and in the afternoon he was ordered to join the cabinet. It really showed that he was favored by the emperor.

Gao Gong rushed over upon hearing the news.

"Eunuch Chen."

"Mr. Gao, we are here to deliver an imperial decree."

"Hurry up and set up the incense table."

Gao Gong called out loudly.

After everything was arranged, Gao Gong and his men all knelt down, and Chen Hong unfolded the imperial edict and began to read it.

". Gao Gong was promoted to Junior Tutor and granted the title of Minister of the Ministry of Revenue. He was in charge of the Ministry of Revenue, the land taxation department, and the Treasury Department."

Minister of Revenue, in charge of the Ministry of Revenue, and then nothing else? Oh, he was given the title of Junior Master, which only represents his status of respect, why didn't he join the cabinet!
Why didn't the emperor appoint Gao Gong to the cabinet?

This is the only thought in everyone's mind!
"Mr. Gao, I have announced the imperial edict and completed the imperial mission. I will not bother you anymore." Chen Hong handed the imperial edict to Gao Gong and left.

Gao Gong held the imperial edict as if it weighed a thousand pounds.

He never expected that the emperor only appointed him as the Minister of Revenue, but did not ask him to join the cabinet to participate in state affairs.

The Shangshu sounds like a high-ranking official with great power, but if he does not join the cabinet and participate in government affairs, he has no decision-making power, and no matter what he wants to do, he will be restricted everywhere.

What happened?

Gao Gong looked up and found that in a moment of daze, the number of guests in the mansion seemed to have decreased by one third.

(End of this chapter)