I am a temporary worker in Jinyiwei, how did I become a powerful official?

Chapter 232 A Little Little Conscience, But Enough
Gao Gong fell into the trap.

Old Gao was Emperor Longqing's official tutor. He proposed severely punishing Hu Yingjia, and his arguments were well-founded. Emperor Longqing naturally listened to him.

An imperial edict was issued at the morning court session: Hu Yingjia was demoted two ranks and exiled from the capital.

In fact, as the Grand Secretary, Xu Jie could have easily protected Hu Yingjia. After all, an oral edict is not a formal imperial decree.

It is important to know that after the death of the Jiajing Emperor, the power of the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet increased dramatically. Xu Jie even returned imperial edicts issued by the Longqing Emperor on several occasions.

Xu Jie had the ability to protect Hu Yingjia.

However, Xu Jie did not do so. Something unusual must be going on.

When the court session ended, Gao Gong was smug and self-satisfied, believing he had both protected Yang Bo and outmaneuvered Xu Jie. He had won, and he was completely smug.

He overlooked one thing.

Hu Yingjia's impeachment of Yang Bo was an act of speaking up for the Beijing officials who had been thoroughly humiliated by the Beijing inspection.

Your suggestion, Grand Secretary Gao, to the Emperor to severely punish Hu Yingjia is tantamount to offending all the officials in the capital.
He was an old bureaucrat who, in a moment of arrogance, forgot that officials, both in ancient and modern times, needed both a superstructure and a mass base to secure their positions.

Three days later, Censor Chen Lianfang, Supervising Secretary Ouyang Yijing, and Xin Zixiu jointly submitted a memorial impeaching Gao Gong for slandering and instigating Emperor Longqing to demote loyal officials.

Three days later, the officials of the Censorate jointly submitted a memorial impeaching Gao Gong.

Five days later, civil officials from the six ministries successively submitted memorials impeaching Gao Gong.

Memorials impeaching Gao Gong flew to the Qianqing Palace like snowflakes.

The officials in the capital were originally targeting Yang Bo. Now, however, the impeachment memorials make no mention of Yang Bo at all, and the focus has shifted to Gao Gong.

All of Gao Gong's disgraceful deeds since he passed the imperial examination and was selected as a probationary official in the twentieth year of the Jiajing reign were dug up by officials in the capital and written into their memorials. Naturally, they embellished the story.

Chen Lianfang's memorial also contained the following sentence: "Since ancient times, wise rulers have not protected their guilty teachers."

It's as if the Longqing Emperor would become the number one incompetent ruler if he didn't severely punish Gao Gong.

Being an official is all about being pampered and supported by everyone. But once you incur public wrath, you're just waiting to be kicked when you're down and beaten like a drowning dog.

Within half a month, a trend seemed to have taken hold in the capital's officialdom. Anyone who didn't submit a memorial criticizing Gao Gong was considered antisocial and an enemy of the entire officialdom.

Many officials from the Lian Jin faction who benefited from the Beijing inspection were forced to betray Gao and submit memorials impeaching him.

Gao Gong is finished this time.

The Longqing Emperor was the supreme leader of the Ming Dynasty. A supreme leader cannot afford to fall out with all his subordinates over a subordinate with whom he has a good relationship.

Moreover, this high-ranking leader is newly appointed. He is weak-willed and honest, completely lacking the shrewdness and decisiveness of his predecessor.

After much hesitation, the Longqing Emperor made the imperial decision to abandon his teacher, Gao Gong.

He was ordered to retire!

Lin Shisan was one of the henchmen of the Kaihai Faction. He was naturally worried about the loss of power of the Kaihai Faction's biggest leader.

However, having spent over a decade in officialdom, he knew that the political tides of the court were like ocean tides, coming and going, never ceasing.

Therefore, this political upheaval had absolutely no impact on Wang Xiaochuan and the Zhao family's son's wedding.

The Lin family still needs to marry off their daughters.

Since Magistrate Zhao did not have a residence in the capital, the old Lin family residence in Goujihutong became the wedding house.

On the day of Wang Xiaochuan's wedding, not a single official colleague from either the Lin or Zhao families was invited.

At the wedding banquet, the only officials present were Lin Shisan, Magistrate Zhao, and Lin Shisan's two apprentices, Sun Yue and Li Gao.

Both families only invited some relatives.

Wang Xiaochuan and the young master of the Zhao family entered the bridal chamber. The others drank and chatted in the courtyard.

Magistrate Zhao keenly noticed the worry on Lin Shisan's face.

Magistrate Zhao said calmly, "It's better to be a local official. There's trouble everywhere in the capital."

Lin Shisan chimed in, "Yes. The capital is not only a den of intrigue, but also a guillotine. So many people have lost their positions and their heads without even realizing it." Lin Youniu remained the same as before, sometimes clear-headed, sometimes confused.

The old man replied, "Gold is everywhere in the capital. I started with just two small buckets of ice, raised Thirteen, sent him to the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and built this huge fortune."

Perhaps because he had talked too much, Old Master Lin began to cough uncontrollably.

The dutiful daughter-in-law, Biyun, quickly came over, patted his back, and used a handkerchief to catch his phlegm.

Just then, an uninvited guest arrived at the Lin family's residence. The visitor was none other than Shao, the chivalrous swordsman who, though a commoner, had many connections with officials.

Lin Shisan asked in surprise, "Why are you here?"

Master Shao said, "I'd like to ask for a cup of celebratory wine."

Since everyone who comes is a guest, Lin Shisan naturally cannot neglect them.

After three cups of wine, Master Shao lowered his voice and said, "Does Master Thirteen know that next to Dog Barren Alley is Donkey Urine Bubble Alley, and at the east end there is a dilapidated courtyard house?"

Lin Shisan replied, "How could I not know? I grew up in this area. I know the nearby alleys and streets like the back of my hand."

Master Shao said, "Someone is waiting for Master Thirteen in that courtyard tonight."

Lin Shisan asked, "Who?"

Master Shao smiled but said nothing.

Lin Shisan thought to himself: The Northern Division's spies have already reported that Gao Gong will leave the capital early tomorrow morning. Why didn't he secretly meet with Zhang Juzheng or Yang Bo on the eve of his departure, but instead came to find me?

At midnight, after the guests at the Lin family had all left, Lin Shisan arrived at the first courtyard house in Donkey Urine Bubble Alley.

The candlelight flickered in the main room of the courtyard house. Lin Shisan pushed open the door and entered; it was indeed a high-arched structure.

Lin Shisan cupped his hands in greeting: "Grand Secretary Gao."

Gao Gong waved his hand: "It's not anymore." After a moment's hesitation, he added: "But it will be sooner or later."

Lin Shisan was taken aback. Gao Gong was clearly very confident that he would make a comeback one day.

Gao Gong said, "I don't like idle chatter, so let's get to the point."

"The debate over opening up the seas appears to be a debate over national policy. But the key to this debate lies in people."

"If you truly support opening the seas, then remove the leader of the maritime ban faction from power. At that time, opening the seas will naturally fall into place."

Lin Shisan frowned: "You mean Grand Secretary Xu? You think too highly of me. He is the current Grand Secretary, and he has a bunch of civil officials supporting him."

"To put it bluntly, even you couldn't do anything about him. Now you've ended up like this..."

At this point, Lin Shisan abruptly stopped speaking. Gao Gong had just lost his official position, and these words were too hurtful to say now.

Gao Gongdao said, "Have you ever played with the Tiger and Leopard Flag? Even tigers are afraid of elephants. But rats can eat elephants."

"You can be the mouse that brings down the elephant, if you want to!"

Lin Shisan said, "I would like to ask Elder Gao for guidance on how a mouse like me can bring down an elephant?"

Gao Gong replied, “Everyone has a weakness. Xu Jie’s weakness was his eldest son, Xu Fan. He spoiled his eldest son too much.”

"As for Xu Fan, his talent and intelligence are far inferior to that of the previous junior Grand Secretary."

"As for how to exploit the weakness of the Grand Secretary's family, that's something you'll have to figure out."

"Whether it's framing someone, kidnapping them, or ambushing them, it's all part of your Imperial Guards' expertise."

"Master Shao will help you in the capital."

Lin Shisan tentatively asked, "The Xu family is currently at the height of its power. I wonder why Grand Secretary Gao is so certain that I, Shisan, will not conform and drift with the tide, seeking a comfortable life in officialdom?"

"Why is Grand Secretary Gao so certain that I would risk making an enemy of the most powerful minister in the land?"

Gao Gong laughed and said, "I know you still have a conscience. It's not much, but it's enough."

(End of this chapter)