Ming Jiajing: Starting from Immortality

Chapter 110: All officials are corrupt, and low grain prices hurt farmers!
The next day.

Cabinet, government hall.

When Gao Gong arrived with the Xuande incense burner, Zhang Juzheng, Li Chunfang and Chen Yiqin were all there.

Seeing Gao Gong holding the embroidered gift box, Li Chunfang, who was always talkative, asked, "Second Prime Minister, what treasure is inside?"

Gao Gong's face turned serious and he said, "Xuan De furnace."

Li Chunfang was stunned, and even Chen Yiqun, who had just picked up the wolf-hair brush, was stunned and looked at Gao Gong.

"Really?" Li Chunfang said in disbelief.

Gao Gong handed the gift box to Li Chunfang and said, "You will know after you take a look."

This is the starting point.

Li Chunfang's face changed.

Even through the gift box, I can feel that the weight is right.

After opening it, you'll see a dark purple color that blends inside and emits a strange light from the darkness.

Chen Yiqin walked over, took a look and knew that this Xuande furnace was the right one.

Then, there was something wrong with the look he gave Gao Gong.

Be it rare items or antiques, people who love collecting understand one basic truth, that is, truly good things do not become valuable after years of accumulation, but are valuable from the beginning.

Take the Xuande incense burner as an example. Emperor Xuanzong had a hobby of appreciating incense burners, so he ordered a batch of red copper to be imported from Siam. He instructed the court craftsman Lu Zhen and the Minister of Works Wu Bangzuo to design and supervise the production of the incense burner with reference to the styles of famous porcelains from the Chai Kiln, Ru Kiln, Guan Kiln, Ge Kiln, Jun Kiln and Ding Kiln stored in the imperial palace, as well as historical books such as "Xuanhe Bogutu" and "Archaeological Map".

Since there was not much imported high-quality red copper, a total of 3,000 incense burners were cast, and no more were cast after that.

This is the Xuande furnace.

Most of these Xuande incense burners were displayed in the palace at the time, and then buried with Emperor Xuanzong after his death.

A small portion was also rewarded and distributed by Emperor Xuanzong to royal relatives, distinguished ministers and various large and popular temples.

This kind of handed-down item cannot be said to be very expensive, at least Chen Yiqin did not think it was particularly expensive. But for Gao Gong, who came from a relatively "ordinary" background, if he was not greedy or possessive, he would be like ordinary people and would never be able to obtain it in his entire life.

Li Chunfang, who was admiring the Xuande furnace, could not help but joke: "It is said that all officials are corrupt, and even the second prime minister is no exception."

Gao Gong laughed.

At this moment, Zhang Juzheng also walked out from behind the desk. Li Chunfang and Chen Yiqin thought that the Prime Minister also wanted to appreciate the Xuande incense burner, but then they saw Zhang Juzheng holding his hands behind his back and showing another Xuande incense burner. They placed them together to form a pair.

Li and Chen looked at each other.

Gao Gong joked in return: "Zi Shi, Yi Fu, look at how much we have embezzled."

Just kidding.

Zhang Juzheng told the two of them about Shen Weijing's "eagerness for progress."

Li Chunfang suddenly realized and said, "The elder wants to use these two Xuande incense burners to convict Shen Weijing?"

Shen Weijing was certainly guilty of bribing the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister with the Xuande incense burner, but if it was presented as evidence in court, the crime would not be minor either.

Zhang Juzheng glanced at Gao Gong, who happened to look over at him. The two looked at each other and understood each other. Zhang Juzheng shook his head and said, "No. Not only do I not intend to kill Shen Weijing, I also accept Shen Weijing as my disciple and plan to use him in the future."

As soon as these words came out.

Both Li and Chen were puzzled.

What did the old minister like about this man who was good at scheming and flattering others, and accepted him as his disciple? Gao Gong came forward to explain: "People like Shen Weijing are hopeless in our Ming Dynasty, but this hopeless person may be of great use in Tatar."

People say Shen Weijing has no brains, but he is able to bribe the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister of the Cabinet.

It is said that Shen Weijing is smart, but Shen Weijing was able to bribe Zhang Juzheng and Gao Gong.

With Shen Weijing's self-righteous and daring character, if he goes to the Tatars, he will definitely provoke internal strife among the Tatars.

By then, the Tatar power will naturally split.

Differentiation and disintegration.

It was a strategy conceived by Gao Gong to deal with the Tatars, but whether it would succeed would also depend on how loyal Shen Weijing was to the Ming court and how restless Shen Weijing was.

If Shen Weijing is loyal to the Ming Dynasty wholeheartedly and returns from his mission to Tatar, loyalty will be the best step for Shen Weijing to be promoted.

On the contrary, the disloyal Shen Weijing will definitely find ways to stay in Tatar and become a traitor and a running dog.

Li Chunfang's mouth twitched when he heard this, and he said, "Second Prime Minister, doing this may be the behavior of a mean person."

Although Li Chunfang tried to be as tactful as possible, everyone in the cabinet could hear that Li Chunfang was accusing Gao Gong of being a villain.

Gao Gong's strategy was to test Shen Weijing's humanity, but human nature often cannot stand the test.

The Cabinet was the core of the Ming Dynasty and a model for officials and scholars across the world. This kind of behavior was tantamount to teaching the people of the world to do bad things.

"Hey! Zishi, there has been an irreconcilable hatred between our dynasty and the Tatars, or between our dynasty and the Northern Tartars, for thousands of years. This is a war. What about being a gentleman? What about being a villain?" Gao Gong waved his hand.

On the battlefield, the winner takes all. It doesn’t matter if you are a gentleman or a villain. What’s important is winning!

Only if we win can the people in the northern border of the Ming Dynasty be free from the suffering of plunder.

As for the National History Society records, it doesn’t matter whether there is a bad reputation after death.

The one who was sacrificed was just a villain like Shen Weijing.

"But…"

Li Chunfang wanted to argue, but Zhang Juzheng took over the conversation, "Zi Shi, don't say buts. These two Xuande furnaces are enough to kill Shen Weijing. The cabinet has given him another chance to be reborn, but whether he can grasp his own heart depends entirely on Shen Weijing himself."

He bribed cabinet ministers with generous gifts.

According to the current imperial law, even if Shen Weijing had ten lives, it would not be enough for the emperor to kill him. In the eyes of Zhang Juzheng and Gao Gong, he was already a dead person who was just being reused.

As for other officials and scholars, they wanted to follow suit. Was it because they thought the performance evaluation system was not strict enough, or because they thought the Imperial Uniform Guard was not pervasive enough?

Li Yong, a great calligrapher in the early Tang Dynasty, once said: "Those who imitate me are clumsy, and those who imitate me are dead."

Some political tactics can only be used from the standpoint and perspective of the Ming Dynasty.

"In this case, the diplomatic mission to Tatar will have Wang Jiaping as ambassador and Shen Weijing as deputy envoy." Gao Gong made the final decision.

Since the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister had both decided and approved of the matter, Li Chunfang, the Minister of the Licorice Pavilion, had no objection.

Chen Yiqin nodded.

The list of the diplomatic envoys and the two Xuande incense burners were presented to the Yuxi Palace by Liu Tai, the secretary of the Cabinet.

As they were preparing to govern their own affairs, Chen Yiqin took out the details of the grain harvest in the Ming Dynasty and the grain prices in various provinces and counties, and said, "Thanks to the emperor's heavenly benevolence, the fields in the two capitals and thirteen provinces have all had a bumper harvest. This is a bumper harvest that has not been seen in a hundred years. Good rice is only worth three or four cents per bucket."

At this point, Chen Yiqin looked at the joy on his peers' faces and reminded them, "Lord, Deputy Prime Minister, Zishi, this may not be a good thing. You must know that low grain prices hurt farmers!"

(End of this chapter)