I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 174: Tremble, the Demons and Ghosts in the Court

Wang Lin, Han Ji and other core members of Gao's party, seven or eight people, sat in the study of Gao's mansion, silently watching Gao Gong walking back and forth in the open space in the middle with his hands behind his back.

"The prince is scheming and tactical, so we must be cautious."

Wang Lin and others remained silent, thinking silently.

Han Ji raised his head, with a generous look on his face, "Xin Zheng Gong filtered out. Whatever schemes the Thirteenth Child had, it must be his teachers behind him, Zhang Shuda, Zhao Dazhou and others, who gave him advice."

Gao Gong stopped suddenly, turned around, and looked at the high-spirited Han Ji together with Wang Lin and others.

Although he was forty years old, he had just passed the imperial examination and became a Jinshi in the forty-fourth year of Jiajing, and had not been in the court for long.

Still too young.

Gao Gong smiled bitterly, "I used to think so too. Well, let's not talk about this for now. Let's think about our next step."

Everyone sat up straight and listened attentively.

"Investigating Taoist temples and alchemists is just the beginning, we have to continue. Yan Song and his son have been causing trouble for the court for decades. Although Yan Shifan was executed, the old villain Yan Song is living well in his hometown. How can we let him go!"

Wang Lin immediately agreed, "That's right, what Xin Zheng Gong said is absolutely right. Yan Song and his son committed many evil deeds, and everyone in the government and the public knows about it. Let's start by redressing the unjust case that Yan Song and his son framed. Well, let's start by redressing Jiao Shan Gong (Yang Jisheng)!"

Gao Gong clapped his hands and said with satisfaction: "That's right! Jiaoshan is a man of integrity. His two memorials, "Remonstrances on the Horse Market" and "Requesting the Punishment of the Traitor Song", are almost superior to those of the Qin and Han dynasties, and are no worse than "Memorial on Public Security". They are equally respected by the whole country.

To redress his injustice is what all the people of the world want! Moreover, Jiaoshan Gong is a student of Xu Shaohu. If we redress his injustice and restore his reputation, can Shaohu Gong and his Jiangsu and Zhejiang clique just sit back and watch? "

"That's right!" Han Ji said excitedly, and then said excitedly and conceitedly, "I will contact my colleagues in the Imperial Academy, and then go to the Imperial College and the Censorate to persuade everyone to submit a petition together. We must let Xiyuan see that the public sentiment of the righteous people in the world is overwhelming."

"Great!"

Gao Gong said happily, "Everyone, get ready. Three days later, I, Ji Jin, and Bo Tong will lead the way, and then everyone will rush forward!"

"Okay!" everyone answered excitedly.

Gao Gong saw that everyone was getting excited, so he reminded them, "Everyone must be careful. The secret agents of the East Factory are very rampant. If they find out, something bad might happen."

Han Ji said in a hot-blooded manner: "Mr. Xinzheng, I don't care. What if the Dongchang guards know about it? Do they still dare to take me away?

I am not afraid of them taking away my righteous act. Even if I am caned outside the Meridian Gate, I would be more than happy to do so! When the East Factory guards are executing me, I will read my petition aloud in public, taking Jiao Shan Gong as my role model. I will get what I want!"

"Good!" Several relatively young backbones cheered in unison, "Yuanchuan will lead the way, and we will follow. We will be caned together outside the Meridian Gate and read the memorial together! We will use our righteous spirit to cleanse the court and make sure that all the evil spirits will have nowhere to hide!"

"it is good!"

Gao Gong looked at these young people who were full of vigor and enthusiasm, and felt excited but also a little worried.

Do you think that now that the late emperor is gone and the new emperor is kind and benevolent, you can do whatever you want?
There is also a prince!

This one is even harder to deal with!
After a moment of silence, Gao Gong waved his hand again and said, "Okay, let's stop here for now."

After everyone calmed down, Gao Gong continued, "I wrote to invite Yu Pogong (Yang Bo) to come out of seclusion, but he politely declined. He said that he was old, had traveled to the nine frontiers, suffered from the cold and heat, and his health was getting worse day by day. He just wanted to recuperate at home.

Well, in this case, I will not force you. However, I also wrote to other villagers who had temporarily taken refuge in their hometowns. Among them, Feng Pan (Zhang Siwei) gladly replied, expressing his willingness to come out of retirement again and serve the court.

I am also preparing to submit a petition to ask the Emperor to summon Feng Pan back to the capital and appoint him to the Censorate."

Wang Lin suddenly said, "Lord Xinzheng, previously the Yan Party was rampant and the government was weak. The key was that the voices of the people were blocked. Now that you are back, Lord Xinzheng, you should submit a petition to open up the channels for people to speak out."

Gao Gong narrowed his eyes slightly and understood the meaning of Wang Lin's words.

Wang Lin and I have served as Hanlin for more than ten years and presided over several provincial and metropolitan examinations. We don't have much else to do, but we have a lot of students. These people have little experience and low official rank, and they won't be of much use for a while. They can all be stuffed into the Censorate and serve as seventh or eighth-rank supervisory censors.

Once something happened, he only had to raise his arm and call for help, and these disciples and censors would rush forward, exercise their power to impeach based on rumors, and shoot their political opponents to death.

Rehabilitating Yang Jisheng was a great opportunity. Rehabilitating Yang Jisheng was what everyone expected. His party was the first to submit a petition, seize the initiative, lead the world, and force the emperor and the prince to issue an edict to rehabilitate Yang Jisheng.

After the rehabilitated, his own party could continue to follow up and hold Yan's party accountable, and kill the old Yan Song who was living in his hometown to retire.

By then, his party would be famous and become a leader respected by scholars. Then he could use the situation to track down the Yan party and get to the bottom of it. If he could track down Hu Zongxian and others, he would be able to cut off the prince's wings and avenge the Shanxi case.

If you want to do this, you have to make preparations first and start sending people into the Censorate.

Gao Gong stroked his beard and nodded: "Ji Jin's words are very true. I will keep them in mind and do it immediately."

On the second day, a man came to visit Gao's house. It was the Minister of Works Ge Shouli.

"Brother Yuchuan, I'd like to invite you to my house as I have something important to discuss with you." Gao Gong invited Ge Shouli to his study, sat him down for tea, and then got straight to the point.

"Mr. Xinzheng, please feel free to speak." Ge Shouli answered calmly, holding the tea.

"I have been blessed to be in charge of the Ministry of Revenue this time. To be honest, I do have some regrets. But regrets are regrets. I am a man who wants to do things. Now that I have returned to the capital, I must do something good."

Ge Shouli nodded and continued listening.

"Before, I have thought about the major issues in the world. One is the nine frontiers. The most important of the nine frontiers is Shanxi Xuanda. The most important of Shanxi Xuanda is Altan Khan. I have planned to negotiate peace with Altan Khan. I never thought..."

Gao Gong sighed.

Ge Shouli knew that he was depressed.

The prince had already done everything he wanted to do, and did it better than him. He must be depressed.

"The second is the canal transport. The canal transport is so corrupt that it is shocking and almost irreversible. After much thought, I think that if we want to solve the canal transport problem, we can only promote sea transport and force the canal transport to reform.

I have been pondering and planning for a long time in Xinzheng, but I didn't expect to return to Beijing to check and find out that the Shipping Department of the Navy Bureau had already started shipping under the secret supervision of Liang Qianji (Liang Menglong).

However, the civil and commercial laws did not involve the grain transport, so the Ministry of Revenue either did not know about it or pretended not to know about it. Up to now, it is said that the transport capacity can account for one-third of the grain transport. When the ports along the route are built and more sea vessels are added, it can reach half of the grain transport.

well--!"

Gao Gong sighed again.

He had come up with a good plan for governing the country, but the prince's clique had quietly preempted his opponent and implemented it better than he had imagined.

"Mr. Yuchuan, I invited you here to ask you for advice on the Lianghuai salt administration and other financial management methods."

Ge Shouli immediately responded: "Please tell me, Lord Xinzheng, I will tell you everything I know."

The two discussed for more than an hour, and Gao Gong gained a lot. When he saw Ge Shouli off, he saw Han Ji standing solemnly at the gate of the mansion, bowing to him and Ge Shouli.

After seeing Ge Shouli off, Gao Gong called Han Ji to the lobby and asked with concern, "What's the matter with Yuanchuan?"

"Teacher, I have invited my colleagues in the Imperial Academy, professors, doctors, and students of the Imperial Academy to submit a petition together. I have prepared a draft for you to review. If it is feasible, I will use it as a template for them to write their own petitions. We will submit them to the Ministry of Civil Affairs tomorrow. We will definitely stir up a storm and wash away the evil spirits in the court!"

Gao Gong took the draft and praised it after reading it: "Yuanchuan's article is magnificent and great, good."

After saying a few words of comfort, Han Ji said goodbye and left.

Gao Gong returned to the backyard, feeling a little depressed, and walked around the yard with his hands behind his back.

The old servant invited him to dinner, and seeing him like this, he couldn't help but ask, "Master, what's wrong with you?"

Gao Gong sighed, "Uncle Thirteen, I came to Beijing to realize my ambitions, reform and eliminate corruption, and revive the Ming Dynasty. I don't want to be involved in this vortex of power struggle again."

(End of this chapter)