Chapter 610 Chapter 609 Lifelong Enemy

"What? My uncle was called to the palace by Mr. Xu Ge?"

At this time, the chamberlain who went to the school recording office had returned and reported in a low voice to Li Fang and Wei Guangde the news he heard in the school recording office.

Wei Guangde just frowned, feeling vaguely that something was wrong, but he couldn't tell. Li Fang's reaction was much greater.

Since Zhang Juzheng has not been found, the people in the palace no longer send people to look for him. Anyway, there are many people in the palace now, enough to make suggestions.

Chen Yiqin and Yin Shizhen were more senior, and they mainly discussed with Li Fang what preparations the palace should make to avoid being caught off guard when something happened. Wei Guangde sat quietly aside, happy to hide and relax.

In a side room in the backyard of the palace, Prince Yu sat there blankly, maintaining this posture for a long time.

Today, he finally saw his father, whom he thought about day and night, but it was the last time he saw him.

At this time, King Yu was still recalling what Emperor Jiajing said to him after he carried Emperor Jiajing back to the dragon bed.

"You are not a competent emperor. Fortunately, you have wise ministers to assist you, so nothing will happen to you."

Thinking of what his father said to him, King Yu felt pain in his heart for no reason.

He knew that among several brothers, he was the stupidest one and could not even compare to King Jing.

But in the end, Emperor Jiajing decided to pass the throne to him in an orderly manner. During this period, he was tested and stimulated many times in the hope that he would grow, but in the end the emperor was disappointed.

Thinking of this, King Yu finally moved.

He took out the only thing Emperor Jiajing gave him from his arms, a note, and slowly unfolded it, with the names of three people "Xu Jie, Gao Gong, and Zhang Juzheng" written on it in order.

"Use it one after another, and there will be no mistakes."

After all, Emperor Jiajing didn't trust his only son, so he took all aspects into consideration.

However, when King Yu saw the memorial that was taken out along with the note, he was not angry at all.

That was the lack of public security on Hai Rui. Lonely was taken by Emperor Jiajing with him. No one would be angry for a while after seeing it.

"No country, no family, no king and no father."

King Yu still remembered what Emperor Jiajing said about Hai Rui when he threw the Book of Public Security to him.

Although the entire "Public Security Shu" seems to be advising Emperor Jiajing to change his ways, what does it say about him?

Believe in witchcraft, live extravagantly, ignore government affairs, and disregard the people.

It seemed like he was admonishing, but wasn't he pointing at his nose and scolding him?

He has basically done everything that Hunjun should do and can do.

From ancient times to the present, no minister has dared to use these words to criticize the emperor.

Just over 3,000 words, each word stabbed into Emperor Jiajing's heart like a knife.

But even so, Emperor Jiajing still asked him to pardon Hai Rui and win over Qingliu's heart.

Regardless of whether Hai Rui wants it or not, whether he appreciates it or not, Qingliu is pushing him out as a sign.

Such a person really cannot be killed.

Is it really impossible to kill?

King Yu asked himself in his heart?

For no reason, King Yu thought of Wei Guangde.

Wei Guangde also said something similar: Hai Rui cannot die, at least not in prison.

"Hai Rui is a knife. You can control it. If you hate or don't want to use it, you can let Hai Rui deal with it.

I know what they think. Although the officialdom is dim, there is still a group of loyal ministers, although they dare not risk their lives to directly remonstrate.

Seeing this memorial from Hai Rui expresses the thoughts that they want to express but dare not express. For them, Hai Rui is a weapon to speak out for them. "

At this time, King Yu kept thinking about what Emperor Jiajing said to him in his mind. He analyzed everything inside and outside the court in detail, and even briefly evaluated Gao Gong, Chen Yiqin and others he trusted.

The evaluation of Wei Guangde is: he can be used, but he cannot be the chief assistant. His relationship with Nanjing is too complicated, and the consequences of his use are unpredictable.

"Edict? When did Your Majesty issue the edict?"

At this time, in the Palace of Qianqing, Xu Jie took out the "Jiajing Edict" drafted by Zhang Juzheng and showed it to the other three cabinet ministers, but Gao Gong started questioning it loudly without even looking at it.

Emperor Jiajing would not leave a posthumous edict for himself. If there was an edict, it would only be the "Edict on Succession of the Throne".

According to the usual practice, the emperor's edict should be drafted together with the cabinet ministers, and Xu Jie definitely should not do this alone.

When they entered the palace just now, they happened to see Zhang Juzheng leaving, but they didn't think much about it at the time. But by now, Gao Gong had guessed that Xu Jie must have involved Zhang Juzheng in drafting the edict.

When will a Taichang Temple young minister be able to do things that only cabinet ministers can do?

Are they and all the ministers going to be dismissed from their posts at the next moment and abdicated in favor of Xu Jie's students?

When Gao Gong said it, Li Fang and Guo Pu both looked unhappy and neither reached out to take it.

Xu Jie broke the rules this time, and Li Chunfang, a good old man, was also very dissatisfied.

However, at this time, Li Chunfang only thought that Xu Jie's purpose was to demonstrate his power as chief assistant, and did not think too much about it.

"As the first assistant, I was entrusted by the late emperor to draft a posthumous edict. What's wrong with that?"

Xu Jie was very dissatisfied when he saw the attitude of the three people.

Although he was dissatisfied on the surface, he was enjoying it very much in his heart, not because he had the upper hand, but because he knew from Gao Gong's words that his goal had been achieved.

In the side hall, several cabinet ministers were arguing behind the backs of others, and the chamberlains who were still waiting in the room had been driven away.

If the eunuchs of this period were present, they would definitely find it very interesting. Only the old eunuchs who have been in the palace for a long time know that such quarrels over the will are not uncommon in the history of the Ming Dynasty.

The will is used by the emperor to review the achievements of governance during his reign and review his mistakes. At the same time, he will declare that he is terminally ill and will die soon. At the same time, he will announce his successor, urge the future monarch to continue to work hard, tell the ministers to assist the new emperor wholeheartedly, and make requirements for the funeral and appease the vassal kings and local officials.

For the emperor, he is about to die, let alone what achievements he has made during his reign. Even if he is really hated by both humans and gods, and he did not do human things, there is no need to scold himself.

Then this work is obvious. It is impossible for the emperor to write it himself, but by the actual operator, that is, the ministers of the dynasty, especially the cabinet ministers, who are the specific drafters of the will.

The drafting of the will is obviously the best time to summarize all the mistakes of the previous dynasty, whitewash one's own mistakes, and strike political enemies. Therefore, the drafting of the will is naturally a key area that the court officials of the Ming Dynasty must fight for. Whoever holds the will will hold the initiative in the future court.

Participating in the will actually means that one can enter the cabinet.

Xu Jie asked Zhang Juzheng to participate in the drafting of the will, which actually meant that he wanted to promote Zhang Juzheng to the cabinet.

Zhang Juzheng was promoted to the cabinet by Xu Jie, which inevitably caused Gao Gong's dissatisfaction with Zhang Juzheng.

Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng had a complicated relationship. The two had many common topics when they got together. Although their political ideas were different, they were in the same direction.

This made Xu Jie very vigilant, worrying that Zhang Juzheng and Gao Gong would stand together, which would be too disadvantageous for him.

Zhang Juzheng was his favorite successor and the foundation for his Xu family to continue to be rich and prosperous.

If Zhang Juzheng really turned to Gao Gong, with his relationship with Gao Gong, Xu Jie could predict what the Xu family would be like after he retired.

Killing two birds with one stone, Zhang Juzheng participated in drafting the Jiajing edict, so Gao Gong would definitely treat him as a lifelong enemy and would not think of winning him over.

Because Gao Gong's character is so domineering.

He would not weigh the pros and cons, and would judge right and wrong based on his subjective consciousness.

A person like him is not a qualified politician, which means that he will be vulnerable in front of real politicians.

Of course, such a thing would never happen during the reign of Prince Yu.

"My lords, should we issue the edict and announce this matter? We can't keep dragging it on."

After a long time, Huang Jin, who had been staying in the bedroom, was a little impatient. He had been waiting for no news from the cabinet ministers, and he couldn't keep the news of His Majesty's death from the world.

Finally, Huang Jin came to the side hall and pushed the door to ask.

Now he is the only one in the palace who has this prestige, and can barely have an equal dialogue with these cabinet ministers of the Ming Dynasty.

Urged by Huang Jin, Gao Gong, who was arguing with Xu Jie about re-drafting the will, temporarily shut up because Li Chunfang and Guo Pu had just read the will and were not too dissatisfied with its contents.

In fact, it didn't matter to Li Chunfang what the will looked like, but he was not very happy with Xu Jie's unauthorized drafting.

And Xu Jie actually grasped this point, so he dared to act privately.

As for Gao Gong and Guo Pu, Xu Jie didn't take them seriously. People with different paths can't make plans together. They are not the same kind of people.

Xu Jie cherished the hard-won position of the first assistant. Gao Gong coveted it, so let him wait.

Seeing that the atmosphere inside was not good, Huang Jin looked at Xu Jie, then at Gao Gong, and finally set his sights on the second assistant Li Chunfang.

"Sir Li, what do you say?"

Li Chunfang was asked by Huang Jin at this time, and he didn't know how to express himself for a while.

But after all, he was still a soft-hearted person. There was no big problem with the content of the will, so he nodded and said, "No opinion."

The first and second assistants reached a consensus. For Guo Pu and Gao Gong, even if they had any opinions, they could only hold them back.

Xu Jie, after all, had the last laugh in this fight.

"Okay, then take care of the funeral."

Huang Jin said to several cabinet ministers in the room.

Gao Gong didn't want to continue arguing at this moment, and he had no chance of winning in the end.

If he couldn't do anything to Xu Jie, couldn't he target Zhang Juzheng?

"Dong Dong. Dong."

In the distant imperial city, the sound of bells rang, spreading throughout the capital.

On the originally bustling streets, countless people stopped their actions at the same time and looked towards the Forbidden City.

Why did the bells ring at this time?

For the common people, most people were a little at a loss.

The bells and drums in the palace were not played casually.

Only the elderly people seemed to have a premonition of something, and silently counted the number of times the bell rang.

The endless bells kept echoing over the capital, and the entire capital seemed to be temporarily paused. Even the city patrol censors and Jinyi school lieutenants who used to walk on the streets arrogantly had reined in their horses or stood still.

They knew more, or they were like the people in the officialdom of the capital. They had a premonition of something from the moment the bell rang.

"Dong Dong. Dong."

The bell was still ringing, and the city patrol censor had already got off his horse in a panic, facing the direction of the imperial city, and was still counting in his heart: "Forty-three, forty-four, forty-five."

When he said forty-five, the bell disappeared.

The censor bowed down in the direction of the imperial city, as if in a chain reaction. The soldiers of the military department behind him and the people on the street also understood what had happened.

The emperor.

Dead.

At this time, officials from all the yamen of the six ministries and five temples in the capital quickly walked out of the duty room and led their clerks in the courtyard to bow down in the direction of the imperial city.

At the same time, temples and shrines in various places inside and outside the capital rang the bells almost at the same time.

The bells in the palace had stopped, but the capital continued to ring.

Starting from the day of mourning in the capital, temples and shrines each rang the bell 30,000 times, and slaughter was prohibited for 49 days. At the same time, all entertainment activities, marriages, and drinking were strictly prohibited inside and outside the capital.

In Prince Yu's mansion, Wei Guangde stood up at the moment the bell rang, and he kept counting the bells in his heart. Chen Yiqin and others did the same thing.

After confirming that the bells in the palace rang forty-five times, Wei Guangde closed his eyes slightly, and then felt his sleeves being pulled down.

After opening his eyes, he followed Chen Yiqin and others out of the house and knelt down in the courtyard in the direction of the imperial palace, and stood up after a while.

"Go to see Prince Yu."

Chen Yiqin said to Yin Shizhan and Wei Guangde at this time.

The two nodded and looked at Li Fang.

Only Li Fang knew where Prince Yu was after he came back.

"Three adults, follow me."

Li Fang replied.

So he led the way and walked towards Prince Yu's courtyard.

Entering the courtyard, several people saw Prince Yu still kneeling in the courtyard, facing the direction of the imperial city.

"Your Highness, please accept my condolences."

Wei Guangde, Chen Yiqin and others saluted Prince Yu together and began to persuade him.

"Your Highness, please accept my condolences. Someone from the cabinet should be coming to the palace now, and Your Highness will go out to meet him."

Prince Yu was a little dazed at this moment. The death of Emperor Jiajing was a big blow to him.

"There are no parents who are not good."

Although Emperor Jiajing had never been friendly to him in the past, Prince Yu understood that it was because he could not, not because he was unwilling.

There were some resentments in the past, but they had disappeared after meeting today.

In the Qianqing Palace, Gao Yi, the Minister of Rites, had already arrived. He discussed the funeral system with the four elders and Huang Jin, and stayed in the palace temporarily to preside over it, while Xu Jie, Li Chunfang and others left the imperial city and rushed to Prince Yu's Mansion.

They went here according to the system and invited Prince Yu to take charge of the funeral.

"Did Zhang Juzheng participate in the drafting of the will?"

Gao Gong arrived at Prince Yu's Mansion, and the fact that Zhang Juzheng was called to the palace by Xu Jie before was naturally spread by his mouth.

Wei Guangde was silent. He felt something was wrong at the time. It turned out that Xu Jie was doing this.

"How could Elder Xu do this? It is not in line with the system."

Chen Yiqin frowned and said.

"Yes, it's something everyone knows, but Zhang Juzheng did it."

Gao Gong said angrily.

Wei Guangde saw Gao Gong's attitude and realized Xu Jie's intention.

Was Xu Jie's move clever?

Didn't Zhang Juzheng see through it?

I'm afraid not.

He couldn't resist such temptation and willingly fell into the trap set by Xu Jie.

Wei Guangde could only understand it this way, but it was also good. It was still good for him that Zhang Juzheng and Gao Gong could no longer reconcile.