Chapter 623 622 Cabinet Resolution

"Teacher, what do you think of Tu Zemin's memorial?"

Cabinet, in Xujie's duty room, Zhang Juzheng stood in front of the desk with his hands clasped and asked softly.

At this time, Xu Jie had already finished reading Tu Zemin's "Please open the ship shop". The memorial had been placed on the table, but he was bowing his head in deep thought.

Because Tu Zemin summarized the court's border policies before and after the outbreak of the Japanese Rebellion. Before tightening coastal defense to crack down on smuggling, although Japanese pirates appeared from time to time, their scale was small and almost negligible.

After the coastal defenses were tightened, Japanese pirates appeared almost overnight, which shows that the tightening of coastal defenses has a considerable impact on Japanese pirates.

The Xu family is located in Songjiang, and they know a lot about the situation of Japanese pirates.

The Xu family also has a large number of cotton fields, and even has its own weaving field. Although it is not clear where the fabrics are, they have heard about it.

Looking up at the eagerly awaiting students in front of him, Xu Jie sighed in his heart.

As the chief minister, sometimes you can't just do something if you think it's right, because he represents the civil servants all over the world.

What are the methods used by the civil service group to suppress imperial power?

Among them, the ancestral system naturally ranks first. It is a big killer, and the emperor can't say anything if it is used.

Even the bold Emperor Jiajing couldn't stand up to the big hat of blatantly destroying the ancestral system. He could only make changes quietly and play around with the edges little by little.

"Governor Tu's memorial is very insightful."

Xu Jie finally spoke.

When Zhang Juzheng heard this, his face immediately lit up with joy, but then his expression quickly turned gloomy.

"It makes sense, but it doesn't work."

Xu Jie sighed and said, "According to what he said, imposing a sea ban is a blatant violation of the ancestral system. If our cabinet does not object, the civil servants will oppose us that day."

There is no need to discuss whether the sea ban is an ancestral system. Countless people looked up the imperial decrees after Hongwu and already had the answer.

Although some people have argued that times have changed and the government's decrees should also change.

Everyone knows the truth, but the ancestral system is the ancestral system, especially since Zhu Yuanzhang added words at the end of many political decrees that future generations cannot delete, making the preservation of the ancestral system a filial piety.

Violating the ancestral system is unfilial. The Ming Dynasty ruled the world with filial piety. Can an unfilial emperor govern the world well?

"Teacher, do you think you can give it a try?"

Even though he knew the result, Zhang Juzheng still asked reluctantly.

Xu Jie glanced at Zhang Juzheng and said, "I know what you are thinking, but there are some things that you cannot touch.

If you are just a minister of the six ministers, it is enough to say words of support, but when you enter the cabinet and become a cabinet minister, you still have to set an example. "

"Officials all over the world will oppose this suggestion. Doesn't Tu Zemin know that? Why does he still write this memorial?"

Zhang Juzheng said a little puzzled, but his eyes were moving rapidly.

"I said it first, if you are the minister, you can say such things, but the ministers cannot.

Governor Tu should know the actual situation in Fujian, so he came to the conclusion that he is a good official who knows that serving as an official will benefit the country.

It's a pity that the sea ban can't be opened just by asking. "

Xu Jie said disapprovingly.

Tu Zemin was not the first to open a sea ban. A few years ago, Tan Lun also tested the court's move. Although he did not explicitly say to open the sea, he clearly stated the actual situation of the people in Fujian and blocked almost all methods to benefit the local area.

Finally, he said that the prosperity of Fujian during the Southern Song Dynasty was all due to the prosperity of Quanzhou Port, and the purpose is self-evident.

Going forward, many people also mentioned that the maritime ban should be relaxed or even lifted, but the North Korean talks failed without exception.

Therefore, Xu Jie did not think deeply and thought it was a normal situation. When he was about to ask Zhang Juzheng to vote to reject Tu Zemin's memorial, he heard Zhang Juzheng's words.

"Teacher, why don't you hold a cabinet meeting and let the cabinet ministers discuss this matter together."

Zhang Juzheng stared at Xu Jie unblinkingly when he spoke.

In Xu Jie's surprised eyes, Zhang Juzheng continued: "Teacher, he expressed his opposition to Tu Zemin's memorial from the very beginning. Didn't the teacher say that all officials in the world would oppose it?"

"You mean"

Xu Jie understood the meaning of Zhang Juzheng's words. Since it was a public decision to oppose the opening of the sea, and Gao Gong preferred to fight against him, he just made an honest plan to see if Gao Gong would jump in.

It's fine if he obeys, and he doesn't lose anything.

But if he insists on opposing himself and puts forward a memorial in support of Tu Zemin, he will be making enemies of all officials in the world. As long as he does it properly and creates a situation where the whole court is overwhelmed, even the little emperor Longqing may not be able to resist it and try to keep him down. .

Thinking of this, Xu Jie squeezed out a smile on his old face. The skin was completely wrinkled and looked a bit oozing.

"Go and invite Zishi and the others to come over."

Thinking of this, Xu Jie also decisively used Zhang Juzheng's strategy to see if he could catch a big fish.

I have been waiting for the opportunity before, but the opportunity never came.

If you can't wait, create an opportunity yourself.

Soon, several cabinet ministers were summoned to Xu Jie's duty room.

Xu Jie was not in a hurry to say anything, but first let everyone read Tu Zemin's memorial in his hand, and then said: "Governor Tu has made outstanding achievements since he became the governor of Fujian. I have nothing to say about this memorial he wrote. I deeply agree.

It just involves the ancestral system of sea ban, and I don’t dare to violate it at all, so I plan to reject his proposal directly.

I invited you here to let you know about this matter. After all, the things mentioned in the memorial are meaningful and seem very feasible. I can't take it upon myself to implement it. The result is unknown. The most important thing is that it is difficult to violate the ancestral system. ”

At the beginning, Xu Jie showed his attitude. He somewhat agreed with Tu Zemin's suggestion. It was difficult to judge the result, but because of the ancestral system, he had to oppose it clearly.

"What the chief minister said is wrong."

Before the deputy chief minister Li Chunfang could answer, Gao Gong jumped out, stood in the middle of the room, looked around at everyone, and began to refute Xu Jie's remarks.

Everything was as Chen Yiqin expected. Xu Jie was constrained by the ancestral system. As the chief minister, he dared not publicly support it even if he agreed with it in his heart, but directly denied it. Gao Gong did express his support directly.

However, Chen Yiqin looked at Xu Jie, who was sitting on the throne with his eyelids drooping and calm, and always felt that something was wrong.

After Gao Gong finished speaking, Zhang Juzheng also spoke to express his support for his teacher and refuted Gao Gong's remarks.

This was also the fundamental purpose of Xu Jie's introduction of Zhang Juzheng into the cabinet.

General He couldn't have to personally refute Gao Gong every time he jumped out to oppose him.

With Zhang Juzheng helping him, he could deal with it calmly later.

His eyes inadvertently glanced at Li Chunfang. As the second assistant, he had not said a word until now, and the speaker had changed from Zhang Juzheng to Guo Pu. Naturally, he stood on Gao Gong's side and refuted Zhang Juzheng's words.

Chen Yiqin finally understood what was wrong.

In theory, or it should be the practice of the cabinet, for such things, the first assistant should not be the first to express his position.

The order should be that the four assistants should express their opinions first, followed by the second assistant Li Chunfang, and finally the first assistant made the final decision.

But this time, Xu Jie made his chariots, horses and cannons clear from the beginning, as if he was sure that Gao Gong would oppose, or blocked Gao Gong's other options.

"It's broken. "

Instantly, Chen Yiqin understood.

He had known about this for a long time and had done many deductions in his mind, but those were all carried out under normal circumstances.

However, he thought more about the reaction of the government and the public than Gao Gong.

Up to now, perhaps because of the suddenness of the incident, Gao Gong should not have thought too much, so he just followed his own judgment and thought that Tu Zemin's suggestion made sense. In addition, Xu Jie opposed it, so he rashly expressed his position.

Although this is what Chen Yiqin hoped to see, he also saw another thing they had not thought of before, that is, the reaction of the government and the public.

If it was just a normal debate, That's fine, but if Xu Jie uses this to fan the flames and attack Gao Gong.

Guo Pu had already expressed his position, and it was his turn to speak.

How should he express his position, support Gao Gong or Xu Jie?

Chen Yiqin certainly knew what he should say, but if Xu Jie really used this to set a trap, it would be out of their control, should he jump into it?

After all, he was still inexperienced in politics, thinking that it was just a normal court dispute, but forgetting that it could be used by others.

Chen Yiqin stood up, bowed his head and thought for a moment before saying: "Xu Ge Lao also said before that Governor Tu's suggestion made sense, at least it was in line with the actual situation in Fujian.

Although I have to oppose it due to the ancestral system, I think Su Qing's statement makes sense. In the new dynasty, we can try it.

I support the memorial submitted by Governor Tu, and Fujian can try the policy of opening the sea. ”

No matter what, he couldn’t stand on Xu Jie’s side and oppose Gao Gong, but he just included Xu Jie in his words.

Whether you really agree or not, you have to say that Xu Jie really agrees, and he has to spread this message to the outside world, so that the court and the public know that the cabinet’s prime minister actually supports it from the bottom of his heart.

And Gao Gong’s support for Tu Zemin’s opinion was said by him to support Fujian’s attempt to open the sea.

Since it is an attempt, if it succeeds, it’s fine, but if it fails, it will be withdrawn and the sea ban policy will continue.

So, Gao Gong’s support for Fujian’s opening to the sea is actually the view of most people in the cabinet, but it has to be done because of the ancestral system.

Chen Yiqin’s words made Xu Jie’s eyelids twitch slightly, and then he continued to droop as if nothing had happened.

No matter how Chen Yiqin calculated, as long as he insisted on violating the ancestral system, he would resolutely If he opposed it, the officials in the court and the public would not have any opinions about him.

Even if Tu Zemin's memorial was correct, he was not wrong.

The last person to express his position was the deputy assistant Li Chunfang. After saying a lot of polite words, he did not have a clear attitude, but he still knew one thing, that is, the ancestral system cannot be changed, so he stood on Xu Jie's side in the end.

As a good man in the cabinet, after the previous imperial lecture, Li Chunfang deliberately mediated for the harmony of the cabinet and persuaded Gao Gong to apologize to Xu Jie.

Gao Gong knew that his words were inappropriate at the time, so he did it, but Xu Jie did not comment.

And this time, of course, the choice was not to choose between Xu Jie and Gao Gong, but purely for the stability of the court.

The banner of the ancestral system cannot fall.

"Zi Shi also thinks so, then I will vote to reject this proposal. ”

The cabinet ministers of the Ming Dynasty were ranked according to seniority, and were arranged according to the time they entered the cabinet. The first and second assistant ministers undoubtedly had much more say than other assistant ministers.

In a three-on-three situation, the choice of the first and second assistant ministers was crucial, and their attitudes almost determined the attitude of the cabinet.

However, Gao Gong's stubbornness came back at this time, and he insisted on including the opinions they supported in the draft.

Why? Because he knew that after seeing his and Chen Yiqin's statements, Emperor Longqing might not support Xu Jie's opinions.

Because, his attitude can sometimes really influence the emperor's decision.

After the cabinet meeting, the memorial was sent to the Silijian, and the news quickly spread out of the palace.

Wei Guangde heard the news from the cabinet in the duty room of the Ministry of Personnel for the first time, and knew that as Chen Yiqin said, it was divided into two opinions.

This is actually not difficult to understand, either positive or negative, Wei Guangde immediately took out the note he had prepared long ago and called his servant.

The note was sealed in a letter, and handed it to the man and said: "Go to the palace immediately and ask them to give this letter to Eunuch Chen and send it to Your Majesty."

"Yes, sir."

The servant replied respectfully, put the envelope in his arms, turned around and left quickly.

All that should be done has been done, and now it depends on what Emperor Longqing will choose. I just hope that his attitude towards this matter will not change too much like him.

Wei Guangde watched the people leave and thought silently in his heart.

After sitting quietly for a while, Wei Guangde picked up the official documents on the desk and began to review them. They were all promotion documents for some minor officials reported by the local authorities. Only when the Ministry of Personnel approved them would they issue appointment documents and people could take office immediately.

In the short time since he entered the Ministry of Personnel, his family has received several gifts to celebrate his promotion, and he also signed several documents.

Forbidden City, Inner Garden.

"Peck, peck quickly."

At this time, a group of people in eunuch costumes surrounded a middle-aged man wearing a black gauze Yishan crown, a round-collared wide-sleeved robe, and a belt made of gold, jade, amber, etc. tied around his waist.

He, of course, is the current Emperor Longqing Zhu Zaigui.

For emperors, they would not wear heavy robes unless it was a major occasion, and even except for major ceremonies and court meetings, they would not wear them like this.

In the harem, they would only choose some loose clothes of the season, which are comfortable and convenient.

For example, the daily clothes he is wearing now should have been a robe with a round collar and narrow sleeves. This was the style set during the time of our ancestor Zhu Yuanzhang.

Narrow sleeves are naturally convenient for doing things, and this style has been passed down to the Zhengde Dynasty.

However, when it came to Emperor Jiajing, he had no interest in this kind of robe with a round collar and narrow sleeves that was exclusive to the emperor. He preferred to wear a loose Taoist robe with wide sleeves, and his every move was indescribably extraordinary.

So in order to please the emperor, the eunuchs of the Shangyijian changed the way the traditional robe with a round collar and narrow sleeves was passed down, enlarging the robe body and sleeves to be closer to the style of the Taoist robe.

Such changes were very much to the liking of Emperor Jiajing. Although he still chose to wear a Taoist robe most of the time, he also wore the emperor's daily clothes more often.

This style was also liked by Emperor Longqing during the Longqing Dynasty, and he was required to wear daily clothes in this style and no longer use narrow sleeves.

At this time, surrounded by a group of people, there were two fighting cocks that were already covered with scars. Under the stimulation of medicinal wine, they fiercely attacked each other with their beaks and claws until one of them fell down, and the winner was decided.