Chapter 16                                                             �

In Yichun Palace, Jiajing frowned slightly, looked at the note in his hand and said, "Wu Qing, why is this?"

Wu Shan said: "Your Majesty. The old minister is old and refuses to drive him. There are wise ministers in the court. The old minister asks for bones."

Jiajing was slightly angry inside.

This is the second one.

Since Yan Song fell, Xu Jie seemed generous and arranged five people in the cabinet, Xu Jie, Li Ben, Wu Shan, Yan Ne, and Yuan Wei. But in this year, Li Ben retired first. Now it's Wu Shan's turn.

Are they all voluntary?

Of course not. Whoever can enter the cabinet is unwilling to make great achievements even if he cannot become the chief minister of the cabinet, he still wants to do something.

But, did Xu Jie let him go?

Xu Jie's methods are two extremes with Yan Song.

If Yan Song's method is like a general holding a blunt weapon and a general with a stick and hammer, it is impossible to compete with. Wherever he passes, it is a mess and accidentally hurts countless people. However, Xu Jie's method is to transform bones and palms, which will cause your bones to break and your soul to disappear, and your five internal cracks, but it cannot be seen from the outside.

It’s like now that Li Ben stepped down and Wu Shan resigned.

Are there any major political events?

No.

However, Xu Jie's decision was entrusted to public opinion and public opinion, which was actually Xu Jie's own intention. The rest of the people could not refute it. After failing to compete for the chief minister, Li Ben got some hint from Xu Jie. He retreated bravely to protect himself.

As for Wu Shan, that's not the case.

But Wu Shan felt that no minister of the Grand Secretary had power. Since that was the case, why should he suffer this? He was arrogant even if he could be an official to do so.

Can't I not serve you?

Although Wu Shan wanted to bite Xu Jie in front of Jiajing before leaving, he was helpless. After carefully examining Xu Jie's actions, from the outside, they were truly in line with the rules and regulations of the court. The problem is that after the Jiajing Dynasty strengthened the power of the cabinet, the reform of many rules and regulations was somewhat lagging behind.

Some things seem to be problematic, but Wu Shan can't say it.

In the eyes of outsiders, Xu Jie is a good guy from you and I, everyone is good at licorice, but others don’t know how this licorice kills people.

Jiajing still did not approve and said, "When the cabinet master is tired, he will rest at home for a while, and then return to the cabinet to do business."

What else did Wu Shan want to say? But Jiajing no longer listened to him.

Wu Shan had no choice but to retreat.

Jiajing actually knew that Wu Shan’s heart was no longer in the cabinet. The next step was to go through the procedures. Three requests and three remarks were just for them.

After Wu Shan left, Jiajing suddenly stood up, and he didn't pay attention. His sleeve brought the tea bowl to the ground, and with a "pop" sound, it was split. Just like Jiajing's anger.

Jiajing was also very angry with Xu Jie.

Because by now, Xu Jie's one-man show in the cabinet. Two of the five people in the cabinet have left, and both of them are very shallow in qualifications. Yan Ne is as famous as his name, and is a wood. As for Yuan Wei, there is also a fatal problem.

That is King Jing’s problem.

It was Jiajing who asked King Jing to stay in Beijing. Xu Jie pushed this problem to Yuan Wei because he was King Jing's teacher. However, in the eyes of the orthodox scholars of the Ming Dynasty, the prince had already been established. King Jing should not stay in Beijing. He should leave the capital quickly and be placed in the vassal kings.

So Yuan Wei became the target of public criticism.

In this way, Yuan Wei has no right to speak in the cabinet. He is just a name attached.

This cabinet structure was something Jiajing always wanted to avoid, which made Jiajing think of it. When Yang Tinghe was there, the fear that the government orders would not leave the palace. But Xu Jie was not Yang Tinghe.

It would be easier if Xu Jie was a powerful official like Yang Ting and such.

Jiajing was not afraid to launch a political and varied purge. But Xu Jie was not.

Xu Jie always gave Jiajing a feeling of hiding a needle in a cotton field. Xu Jie agreed to almost all of Jiajing's ideas. His respect for Jiajing was no less than Yan Song. But in fact, he always performed Jiajing's orders selectively. And he always implemented what he wanted to implement openly and secretly.

This made Jiajing hesitate.

Jiajing knew one thing very well, that is, it was easy to get rid of someone. But it was difficult to find someone to replace him. It was like Yan Song and Yan Song were so powerful. However, it only took Jiajing a day to kill Yan Song. Now it is the same. It is okay for Jiajing to take down Xu Jie. But who is the question to replace Xu Jie?

This is the most important issue.

After all, not everyone can play with the Ming Dynasty. Moreover, Jiajing has to admit that after Xu Jie became the chief minister, the court atmosphere and administration have improved significantly. Most of the imperial machines resumed normal operation. This is something that Yan Song could not do.

Who can replace Xu Jie?

After Xu Jie, Jiajing only liked Gao Gong.

Yes, now that the cabinet is collectively silent and almost became a one-man ruler in Xu Jie, the one who can really fight against Xu Jie was Gao Gong, the Minister of Personnel. It seems that overnight, the political structure of the Ming court of the Ming Dynasty once again transformed from the internal struggles in the cabinet to the traditional dispute between the cabinet.

As mentioned before, the Minister of Personnel is the most important, and a powerful Minister of Personnel dares to confront the entire cabinet.

Now Gao Gong demonstrates what a powerful Minister of Personnel means.

Of course, the reason why Gao Gong was so arrogant was not because Gao Gong had much ability. Of course, Gao Gong himself was capable. After Yan Song fell and refreshing the administration, Gao Gong put in a lot of effort.

However, Gao Gong's biggest backer is the prince.

I dare not say that the relationship between the prince and Gao Gong is well known. But most senior officials know it. Most of the time it can be seen from Jiajing's arrangement for Gao Gong that Jiajing has had to admit a reality, that is, his son is probably not a smart person.

Therefore, on the one hand, he urged the prince to give birth to a son, and on the other hand, he arranged some capable assistant ministers for the prince. Gao Gong is one of them.

The Eastern Palace system of the Ming Dynasty was somewhat problematic.

When Emperor Taizu was Emperor Taizu, Emperor Taizu loved Prince Zhu Biao very much. It was beneficial to combine the Eastern Palace team and the imperial court team into one. That is, it reduced the friction between the monarchy and the prince. There would be no tragedy of Emperor Wu of Han.

But afterwards, it gradually evolved into the prince without a team.

After all, even if the ministers in the court have the title of the Eastern Palace, their time to contact the prince is limited, and their relationship with the prince is just like that. Instead, the prince is close to several of his teachers.

Generally speaking, the prince’s teacher can make a fortune after the prince ascends the throne. This is also the only meaning in the question.

But Jiajing has always been very suspicious and has seen the struggle between ministers. One thing he is worried about is that if he has a chance, the prince will suppress these ministers?

It's like Xu Jie.

Therefore, the original model is not enough to rely on. It is necessary to build a team for the prince in advance and have a certain voice in the court.

With this premise, Gao Gong stood in an invincible position. Therefore, Gao Gong dared to speak out repeatedly to fight against Xu Jie.

But now I am carrying the Gao Gong into the cabinet, isn’t it a bit inappropriate?

Jiajing distrusts the ministers and increases the price of the crown prince. Similarly, Jiajing trusts the crown prince. Although Jiajing feels that the crown prince cannot do anything and has no other ability. However, Jiajing knows that many things may not be the willingness of the parties involved. Instead, they are entangled by the people around him.

Therefore, the prince's power must be strengthened, but the prince's power is too strong. Jiajing was also a little worried.

Jiajing thought for a while and said in his heart: "It would be great if Zhou Mengchen entered the capital."

The situation of Zhou Mengchen and Xu Jie's separation of ways can be seen clearly in Jiajing's eyes. This is also the norm in politics, and Jiajing was not surprised. Zhou Mengchen made so many contributions to the cabinet in one fell swoop. It was a bit far-fetched, but it would be fine to serve as any of the six ministers.

Moreover, Jiajing knew that there was still some friendship between Zhou Mengchen and Gao Gong.

In this way, Zhou Mengchen raised high Gong to fight against Xu Jie. Perhaps it was possible.
Chapter completed!