I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 498: God's Will is Hard to Predict

Gao Gong met the gazes of Ge Shouli and Zhang Siwei and asked, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Mr. Su, this time the public opinion is coming with great force, with the power of the strange phenomenon from heaven, and it is trying to catch the emperor off guard just after he ascended the throne. As the teacher of the late emperor, and also the cabinet minister and the Minister of Revenue, what do you think?"

Seeing Ge Shouli's serious expression, Gao Gong smiled and said, "Brother Yuli, why are you so serious?"

"This matter is of great importance and I cannot afford to be careless. Su Qing, have you forgotten the great etiquette disaster that occurred when the previous emperor Shimiao ascended the throne? After a fierce fight, all the famous officials in the court were wiped out."

The smile on Gao Gong's face slowly disappeared, and his triangular eyes sparkled with brilliance.

Any civil official in the late Jiajing period would not be able to laugh when the great ritual dispute in the early Jiajing period was mentioned.

"These people are wishful thinking. They don't have the integrity and means of Yang Wenzhonggong, but they want to do the same thing as him. They are playing with fire!"

After hearing Gao Gong's words, Ge Shouli leaned forward and said, "Su Qing, do you disagree with what they are doing?"

"Who are they?"

"You are still playing dumb here! I mean Wang Jijin and his gang, who printed pamphlets and posters and spread them all over the capital and the local areas, creating public opinion and holding people's will hostage.

You don’t approve of what they did?”

"Wang Jijin?" Gao Gong curled his lips in disdain. "I regard him as a dead bone in a grave. He will die soon. What he and his accomplices did was too childish and not worthy of being in a noble place. They will be retaliated sooner or later."

Zhang Siwei understood what he meant and asked repeatedly, "Mr. Gao, are you saying that someone else is acting in secret?"

Gao Gong glanced at him, and after a moment of silence, he replied, "The strange phenomenon from heaven is a warning to the common people, and it happened just when the emperor first ascended the throne. Those who are interested will naturally seize this great opportunity.

The sword is aimed at the new policy, and it is intended to eliminate Li Shilu, Hu Ruzhen, Zhang Shuda and me. "

"Except you four?"

"Hu Ruzhen is the remnant of the Yan Party. If this person is not removed, the clean stream will be like a thorn in the throat.

I, an old man, worked hard to survey the land and conduct the population census, and I offended many local noble families; Zhang Shuda had only been trying out the performance evaluation system for three months, and officials in the capital were complaining and regarded him as their archenemy.

As the chief minister, Li Shilu did not give loyal advice, but only helped the tyrant to commit atrocities. His crime is unforgivable. In their view, if we four were eliminated, the chaos would be corrected and the government would be cleared up. "

Ge Shouli was shocked and asked repeatedly, "Sir Su, who would do such a dangerous thing? Don't they know the emperor's methods?"

Gao Gong glanced at him and said, "Brother Yu Li, it's hard to find a secret. Besides, if we don't do anything risky, they may never have another chance."

Zhang Siwei asked from the side: "Mr. Gao, who are these people?"

Gao Gong shook his head. "I only heard a few words from someone occasionally and noticed some clues. These people acted cautiously, so I dare not make any assumptions."

Ge Shouli and Zhang Siwei looked at each other, feeling suspicious.

Gao Gong, are you really unwilling to make any guesses, or do you know the truth but just don't want to say it out loud?

Gao Da Hu Zi, what are you thinking?
Ge Shouli's expression became more serious. "Mr. Su, this is an extremely dangerous matter. Don't try to fish in troubled waters and take advantage of the chaos to make a profit."

Gao Gong glanced at him and sighed, "Brother Yuli, I am not so eager for quick success. I am just hesitant and have been hesitating for these days."

"Su Qing, why are you hesitating?"

"On the day when the late emperor passed away, everyone was gathered in the front hall of Ciqing Palace. Then the late emperor asked the emperor to take me into the hall. Do you remember?"

"Remember, the late emperor gave you something to say?"

"Yes." As soon as this matter was mentioned, endless sorrow surged from the bottom of his heart. Gao Gong covered his face with his hands and sobbed. Tears kept seeping out from between his fingers, gathered into beads and dripped onto the ground.

Ge Shouli and Zhang Siwei remained silent.

Gao Gong cried for a while, rolled up his sleeves to wipe the tears from his face, sniffed, and said solemnly: "The late emperor held my hand and whispered to me to return to my hometown to study."

Go back to hometown to study?

Ge Shouli and Zhang Siwei immediately understood what Emperor Longqing meant.

A new emperor appoints his own ministers. Emperor Longqing knew his son's temperament very well. If Gao Gong refused to leave and had any conflict with the new emperor, he would be the one who would suffer.

It seems that Emperor Longqing still cares about the relationship between teacher and student in the Qiandi Palace.

But Ge Shouli and Zhang Siwei looked at Gao Gong's expression and knew that he was reluctant and unwilling to give up.

The two knew this old friend too well.

But then I thought, if it were me, would I be willing to accept it?
After decades of hard study and ups and downs in the officialdom, he finally made it to this point. To completely give up this powerful position and walk away, not even a saint can do it!
For a moment, the two didn't know how to persuade him.

After thinking for a while, Ge Shouli said, "Su Qing, this matter is full of twists and turns, and undercurrents are surging. You must be very careful."

Gao Gong looked at him and nodded, "I appreciate your kindness. It is easy to leave the imperial court, but it is extremely difficult to come back. In the first year of Longqing, the late emperor ascended the throne, and all the wise men worked together and took great pains to push me back to the capital.

I was walking on thin ice, and every step was cautious. Finally, I entered the cabinet and was able to achieve great things. When I was full of energy and ready to make great plans, I didn't expect the previous emperor to pass away suddenly, and the situation changed.

It's time, it's fate!"

All the ministers in the court knew that Gao Gong was indeed talented and courageous, and could be called a famous minister of his generation.

But who do you compare him with? Among ordinary civil officials, Gao Gong is definitely outstanding, but when compared with the close officials in the Western Garden, there is really no comparison.

Among the four famous ministers, Hu Zongxian, Tan Lun, Zhang Juzheng, and Wang Yi'e, any one of them can beat Gao Gong. The rest, Wang Chonggu, Huo Ji, Cao Bangfu, Wei Xuezeng, Yin Zhengmao, and Wu Dui, are no worse than you, Gao Gong.

Gao Gong's greatest advantage was his relationship with Emperor Longqing. If you look at his resume, you will find that he served in many high-ranking officials and never had any experience in border affairs or local affairs.

Almost all of his outstanding political achievements were given to him by the Emperor when he was the crown prince in Xiyuan.

No matter how much the emperor abused his power before, he was only the crown prince, not the emperor. The Emperor Longqing who lived deep in the Forbidden City was the emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

No matter what, the two old people from the Qiandi Palace had to be placed in the cabinet, and that was how Gao Gong and Chen Yiqin entered the cabinet.

The inside story is well known to everyone in the government and the country.

Now that the emperor has ascended the throne, why would he use a tall and bearded man like you instead of his many trusted and famous ministers?

Just because of your big beard?

Ge Shouli and Zhang Siwei could vaguely guess Gao Gong's inner thoughts. He must have reached a tacit understanding with those people. Those people aimed at the new policy and took the whole cabinet with them, but in fact they were targeting Li Chunfang, Zhang Juzheng and Hu Zongxian. For Gao Gong, it was just a lot of noise but little action.

Once those people are brought down and discredited, even if the emperor is unwilling, he will have to reuse the tall and bearded man.

Ge Shouli looked at Gao Gong and said in a serious tone, "Mr. Su, a real man has his share of things to do and things not to do! You know Xiyuan's methods, so don't think this is a godsend.

The strange phenomenon from heaven would indeed make the previous emperors, such as Chengzu, Renzong, Xuanzong and even Shizong, feel frightened. When the ministers submitted petitions, they would naturally give in.

But the current emperor is resolute and courageous, not inferior to the Emperor Taizu. Su Qing, you must be careful not to put yourself in danger, ruin your innocence, and fail the late emperor's protection of you."

Gao Gong was silent for a long time, and finally heaved a long sigh, "I know!"

After seeing Ge Shouli and Zhang Siwei off, Gao Gong sat restlessly in the study, sometimes sitting in a chair in a daze, and sometimes standing up and walking around the room.

In the meantime, a servant called him to eat, but he was scolded. After that, no one dared to approach the study and disturb him easily.

"Gao Yucai, Gao Yucai!" Gao Gong suddenly rushed to the study door and called out loudly.

Gao Yucai is his nephew and also his trusted steward.

After a while, Gao Yucai hurried over: "Master, you called me?"

"Come in and talk."

Gao Yucai hurriedly followed him into the study, and when he saw Gao Gong sitting down on the chair, he carefully asked, "Master, what do you want me to do?"

Gao Gong stroked his beard and was silent for a while before he spoke: "You said a few days ago that there was a Taoist priest in Chongxuan Temple who was particularly good at writing with spirit writing?"

Gao Yucai blinked his eyes and said, "Yes, sir. It's Taoist Priest Chong Jian from Chongxuan Temple. He is famous in the capital for his effective spirit writing."

"The master has a long-standing unresolved matter, and would like to ask a Taoist priest to consult the will of heaven. Please go and quietly invite Taoist priest Chong Jian to come on my behalf."

Gao Gong said: "This matter is confidential, you must be cautious and don't let outsiders know."

Gao Yucai was a little surprised.

My master is not only a famous official in the court, but also a great scholar in the country. Now he doesn't care about the people but asks ghosts and gods?

But he did not dare to neglect it, so he immediately agreed, left the mansion and headed straight for Chongxuan Temple.

Gao Gong then went to the flower hall to eat. Seeing there were meat dishes on the table, he asked the servants to remove all of them and only left two or three vegetarian dishes. He hurriedly ate a bowl of rice with these dishes.

After that, he said, "Master, I have something to do today. Just make a bowl of vegetarian noodles tonight. I'll eat mine and you guys can eat yours. Don't mind me."

Back in the study, Gao Gong waited anxiously for more than two hours. Just when he was getting impatient and was about to send someone to urge them, Gao Yucai came back with Taoist Chongjian and a Taoist boy.

"I have met Mr. Gao from the Ministry of Internal Affairs. May you be blessed with infinite happiness!"

Gao Gong didn't waste any words and directly said to Taoist Jian: "I'm sorry to ask you to come here today because I have something on my mind that has been unresolved for a long time and I want to ask for God's will.

Please ask the Immortal to cast a spell and pray for God’s will to point out my future.”

Taoist Chong Jian immediately responded, "Master Gao, if you sincerely respect the heaven, you will surely receive guidance from the heaven."

Over there, Gao Yucai ordered the servants to bring in all the instruments for planchette writing.

The sand table was placed on the table, with fine sand evenly spread on it. The Y-shaped support made of peach and willow wood was temporarily put aside.

The yellow paper, pen and ink were ready and placed on another table.

Generally, six people are needed for the spirit writing, including one main spirit, one deputy spirit, two singers and two recorders, collectively known as the six departments and three talents.

However, Gao Gong's spirit writing was a secret matter and he could not invite so many people, so Taoist Chong Jian was appointed as the Luan Sheng, Taoist boy as the Chang Sheng and Gao Yucai as the Recorder.

After sending away the servants, only Gao Gong, Gao Yucai, Taoist Chong Jian and the Taoist boy were left in the study.

The offerings were placed on the incense table, and Taoist Master Chong Jian performed rituals first, burning incense, paper, worshiping heaven and earth, kneeling on the futon and chanting. Then Gao Gong, Gao Yucai, and the Taoist boy came forward one by one to pick up incense, chant piously, kneel down and pray to God.

After the ceremony, Taoist Chong Jian held the support pole, placed the tip of the pen on the sand table, and got ready.

The Taoist boy stood beside him.

Gao Yucai stood at another table, holding a brush, ready for action.

Taoist Chong Jian was mumbling something, and soon his eyes rolled back and his body was shaking as if possessed by a ghost, but his hands that were holding onto the wood were steady.

Fu Mu moved around on the sand table, drawing a series of weird symbols.

The Taoist boy could see it clearly, recited loudly, and then scraped the sand table smooth again with a scraping wood.

Gao Yucai wrote down the poems recited by the Taoist boy with his brush.

Soon, Gao Yucai wrote two lines of poetry on yellow paper and quickly presented it to Gao Gong.

"I love the beauty of the clouds and trees from afar, but at first I thought the road was different. How could I know that the clear stream would connect to the mountain in front?"

Gao Gong repeated these two sentences several times and was moved.

"Master!" A steward came running over and reported loudly at the door of the study.

"what's up?"

"The Supervisory Office received an urgent report from Huguang that someone in Baoqing Prefecture, Yongzhou Prefecture, and Hengzhou Prefecture raised the flag of rebellion, and the rebellious army attacked Dong'an, Qiyang, Changning, and Lingling. Huguang was shocked!"

rebel?

It has been more than 50 years since Liu Liu and Liu Qi from Hebei raised the flag of rebellion during the Zhengde period, and there has been no rebellion across three dynasties.

Who would have thought that someone would rebel at the beginning of the new emperor's reign?
Is it really God’s will?
Gao Gong was startled, and the yellow paper in his hand fell to the ground quietly.

Taoist Chong Jian, who had recovered as usual, said, "It is hard to predict the will of heaven, but there will be some warnings. Master Gao, the will of heaven is clear, so make the decision when necessary!"

Hearing the voice, Gao Gong turned around and stared at Taoist Chong Jian with eyes as sharp as swords.

(End of this chapter)