I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 21 Gao Gong's Counterattack

In the study of the Gao family, Gao Gong was furious and walking around the room with his hands behind his back.

Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice Chen Xixue, Imperial Academy Editor Zhang Siwei, and Censor Wang Lin sat in their chairs, fidgeting.

"Yang Weiyue is going too far! I am so angry!"

Gao Gong cursed with gnashing teeth, as if he was going to go to the Ministry of War and beat up the Minister of War Yang Bo.

Chen Xixue and Wang Lin glanced over at the same time, making Zhang Siwei, who was sitting in the middle, very embarrassed.

He was a backbone of the Jin Party and had a very good relationship with Yang Bo, who was also a fellow villager from Puzhou.

The year before last, he returned home to mourn his father's death and traveled along the Yellow River with Yang Bo, who had taken a leave of absence and was staying at home.

Although Gao Gong was from Xinzheng, Henan, the Henan natives had little power in the court, so he naturally formed an alliance with officials from nearby Shanxi, Shandong and Northern Zhili.

The four regions of Shanxi, Henan, Shandong and Northern Zhili were rich enough to rival a country because Shanxi merchants controlled the salt and border business.

With strong economic strength, it has cultivated many scholars and naturally many people who passed the imperial examinations. Its strength in the court is secretly the first among the four northern provinces. The northern parties of the four provinces are headed by the Jin Party, which is collectively called the Jin Party by the court and the public.

Gao Gong was quite talented, generous by nature, and had leadership qualities.

Later, by chance, he became Prince Yu's tutor for nine years. He had a deep teacher-student relationship with the crown prince Prince Yu and had a bright future, so he was elected as the leader of the Jin Party.

It just so happened that Gao Gong had a conflict with another leader of the Jin Party, the Minister of War Yang Bo.

This put Zhang Siwei, who had good relations with both sides, in a dilemma.

Zhang Siwei thought about it and decided to give him some advice.

"Mr. Gao, please be patient." Zhang Siwei's words made Gao Gong stop.

Zhang Siwei continued to persuade him: "Gao Gong, Yang Gong is like this, there is nothing we can do."

"What's the matter?"

"Mr. Gao, it was Mr. Xu who planned and coordinated the work of suppressing the Guangdong bandits, but in fact, it was Mr. Yang who was in charge of the military department. He carefully selected the governors, deputy envoys, and generals and recommended them to the emperor.

It took more than half a year to finally wipe out most of the Guangdong bandits. Although a few remnants, including the bandit chief Lin Chaoxi, escaped, it was still a great victory after all.

Lord Gao, from Lord Yang's perspective, the Ministry of War must reward its officers and soldiers. Otherwise, where is the dignity of the court? Where is the prestige of the Ministry of War?"

Gao Gong had a bad temper, but he was not unreasonable or ignorant of the consequences.

After listening to Zhang Siwei's words, Gao Gong felt that there was some truth in them. He stroked his long beard and slowly sat down.

Seeing that Gao Gong listened to the advice, Zhang Siwei continued to work hard.

"Mr. Gao, Lord Xu knows all of this. Mr. Gao has just joined the cabinet and is not familiar with the situation. He did not explain or persuade, and on the surface he gave in, but in fact he pushed Mr. Gao out to compete with Mr. Yang.

You are trying to stir up internal strife among our party, and you have ulterior motives!"

Zhang Siwei's last sentence touched Gao Gong's heart.

Yes, no matter how much Yang Bo argued and quarreled, he belonged to the Jin Party faction, and his relationship with himself was a "contradiction among the people."

However, Xu Jie was the leader of a party in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, which was incompatible with his own faction, and this was an "enemy-enemy contradiction".

After the fundamental contradiction was clarified, the anger in Gao Gong's heart gradually subsided.

"Ziwei," Gao Gong called out Zhang Siwei's courtesy name, "Please help me speak for Mr. Yang."

Zhang Siwei was overjoyed, "Mr. Gao, Mr. Yang's students have already sat there." He said frankly that he had no choice but to do so. First, it was the duty of the Ministry of War, and second, Lord Xu was involved in the maintenance work and was favored by the emperor, so he had to give him some face.

Lord Yang repeatedly assured that this matter was not directed against Lord Gao. "

Gao Gong felt much better, and he stroked his beard and nodded with satisfaction.

Seeing that he had calmed down and looked back to normal, Zhang Siwei, Chen Xixue and Wang Lin all felt relieved.

Wang Lin first asked, "Mr. Gao, is Hu Zongxian still continuing his impeachment? These days, all the impeachment memorials have been kept in the palace. According to the latest news, he is mobilizing troops and preparing to strike a thunderbolt against the Japanese invasion in Fujian.

If the victory report is submitted, it will be even more difficult to impeach him. Gao Gong shook his head, with a smile that showed that everything was under control. "Haha, now I understand that someone in the palace is protecting Hu Zongxian. Xu Cunzhai is using me as a pawn!"

Zhang Siwei and the other two were shocked, "Lord Xinzheng, who in the palace wants to protect Hu Zongxian?"

"It could be Huang Jin. He has worked with Yan Song for many years and they have a close relationship. He may not want Yan's party to be defeated so quickly.

It could be the Emperor. He needs someone to eliminate the Japanese invasion in the southeast. They have been causing trouble for twenty years, harming several provinces and tens of millions of people. If they are not eliminated, it will be unacceptable and will leave a bad impression in history. The Emperor is very proud. "

It was obvious that Gao Gong's implicit meaning was to let Hu Zongxian go for the time being. Firstly, he had someone behind him and he could not afford to offend him. The Shanxi Party could not be used as a gun by the Zhejiang Party. This was a matter of principle.

Second, the Jin Party's influence is in the north and has little to do with the southeast. There are no interests binding it, so it can be taken up and let go.

Gao Gong's words left Zhang Siwei and the other two silent.

Whether Huang Jin or the emperor wanted to protect Hu Zongxian, it was not a good thing.

Thinking of this, they hated Xu Jie even more.

Ma De, relying on his familiarity with the palace and his well-informed information, deliberately plotted against us, which would not only make us kill each other, but also offend Huang Jin or the emperor.

so bad!
Chen Xixue understood Gao Gong's thoughts and said quickly: "Mr. Gao, you have the emperor's favor and are now in the cabinet. You can participate in the affairs of the cabinet and finally realize your ambitions and save the world.

Lord Gao, if you want to achieve something, you must have power and authority. Lord Xu designed this move just to give Lord Gao a warning. We can't give in!
The six ministries, the Censorate and the local authorities are all watching. If Gao Gong retreats, his power will be gone.”

Gao Gong snorted coldly, "I know! I will not give in, I am not that kind of person! But Mr. Xu has been in the cabinet for a long time, he is familiar with the inner court and the six ministries, and the faction in Jiangsu and Zhejiang is powerful, so it is difficult to do anything to him for the time being."

Zhang Siwei's eyes rolled and he came up with an idea.

"Mr. Gao, last year, the rice-sweeping reform in Zhejiang was led by the Yan Party, and Hu Zongxian was caught in the middle, in a dilemma. The Jiangsu and Zhejiang party, led by Xu Ge Lao, manipulated everything and stirred up trouble. But there was only one person who was the mainstay and made a great breakthrough, and he was recommended by Tan Lun and others."

Gao Gong's eyes lit up: "Are you talking about the Chun'an County Magistrate Hai Rui and Hai Gangfeng?"

"Yes! Hai Gangfeng is a copper pea, he can't stand oil or salt, he's not afraid of water or fire, he can't be crushed by a hammer, he can't be smashed, he doesn't recognize anyone's face. Xianshi,"

Zhang Siwei called out Chen Xixue's name, "Xu Shaohu's relatives have been robbing and committing crimes in southern Songjiang, causing a murder. The Nanzhili and Zhejiang Provincial Procuratorates have been passing the buck back and forth, and now it's the Ministry of Justice, right?"

Chen Xixue's eyes lit up, "That's right, that's right. Lord Gao, our Ministry of Justice is having a headache over this matter, and even a person in charge of investigating the Zhejiang case has resigned."

Gao Gong understood what was said, stroked his beard, and nodded slowly: "This Hai Gangfeng is just the right person to fill the vacancy of the head of the Ministry of Justice. Xianshi, this is within your authority."

Chen Xixue nodded and said, "I will do it right away."

That night, Zhu Yijun accompanied the emperor in a side hall of Renshou Palace to review memorials from the Imperial Household Department, as well as reports from the Eastern Depot and the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

As he was flipping through the documents, he saw a memorial regarding personnel arrangements submitted by the Ministry of Justice, which Gao Gongpiao proposed to approve.

Zhu Yijun took a quick look and saw a clause in it to transfer Hai Rui, the magistrate of Chun'an County in Zhejiang Province, to be the head of the Zhejiang Qingli Division.

Hai Rui?

Why did Gao Gong want to bring this tiger into the capital?

Hai Rui cursed Emperor Jiajing, but it was a famous scene in history. Could it be that it was started by Gao Gong?

Gao Gong transferred Hai Rui to Beijing, definitely not to let him curse the Emperor, but to deal with Xu Jie.

But he never imagined that Hai Rui was an uncontrollable nuclear bomb.

Zhu Yijun thought about it in his mind.

Let them fight. The more Gao Gong and Xu Jie fight, the less they will care about the affairs of the southeast.

Now Hu Xianzong's campaign to suppress the Japanese pirates in Fujian and Yang Jinshui's Southeast Food and Pay Coordination Office are at a critical moment.

Then let’s continue fighting.

Zhu Yijun put the memorial aside as if nothing had happened.

(End of this chapter)