Early in the morning, in the Wenyuan Pavilion, the main hall of the council, the first assistant Xu Jie, was summoned by the emperor, and there were only five cabinet ministers left in the cabinet.

"Shameless!" After reading the handover from the household department, Zhang Juzheng threw it on the ground angrily and said to several cabinet members: "I really can't imagine it, Xu Yangzheng just did this, but he Liu Tiqian was promoted by Gao Xiang, and he has always been attached to Gao Xiang, and he actually took the lead in impeachment!" And the harshness of the wording, far beyond the rest, what kind of style is this! ”

"Normal" Chen Yiqin sneered: "There are many people in the officialdom, including some big officials, everything is aimed at continuing to wear black yarn, as long as they can continue to be officials, what courtesy, righteousness and shame, what backers and benefactors, all can be backed, so ............" stubbornly, prayed for favor in the new, and held back the four words.

"It can't be said that it's all like this" Li Chunfang said: "Old ministers like Mr. Ge and Mr. Zhu didn't follow suit. ”

"Well, how to say it. The world is declining, and people's hearts are not ancient......" Guo Pu frowned and said: "A change in Zuo Shunmen has broken the spine of the readers, and now there is a group of jackals left!" ”

"Jackals?" Everyone didn't react for a while: "The jackal that shoots the wolf? ”

"Yes." Guo Pu nodded and said, "It's the jackal of the jackal and the tiger concubine!" ”

"These beasts are the most lowly, and they always follow behind the lions, tigers, and leopards, and whenever the beasts are fighting or preying on smaller prey, they go to eat the flesh and bones of the slain. But when the lions, tigers and leopards that they once followed closely were unfortunately injured and dying, they would also be merciless and scramble to eat their flesh and blood! Shen Mo continued Guo Pu's words.

"In this way, the behavior of some officials today is really similar to such animals." Zhang Juzheng said coldly.

For this vigorous political tide, the people in the cabinet can see it most clearly, in fact, who is right and who is wrong is no longer insignificant, and it has long become a power dump! The ministers don't want to become the puppet of Xu Ge Lao in the future, and they generally sympathize with Gao Gong, who is not wrong, and have pleaded for him several times. However, Xu Jie always looked innocent, and said: , the world is full of people, how can I block it all? , which means that the group is excited, and we can't control it.

In fact, who doesn't know who? But Xu Ge Lao is now yín Wei Rutian, which one dares to make a mistake in front of him? So he can only let him shirk the blame, and he can only send a few sentences behind his back.

Li Chunfang bent down to pick up the notebook, patted the cover, carefully placed it on the table, and said to Guo Pu: "At this time, it's better to control your temper, let Yuan Weng hear it, and he will be unhappy." ”

"What am I afraid of?" Guo Pu rolled his eyes and said with some sadness: "Don't you say that Shoufu will let me go?" ”

Yes, with his relationship with Gao Gong, I'm afraid it will be rare to have a good end this time, and the atmosphere in the cabinet was suddenly suppressed.

"There are some words that should be heard by Yuan Weng!" Zhang Juzheng was a little irritable, and snorted coldly: "If you don't brake this evil wind", the court will be mired in infighting and unable to extricate itself, and eventually the elite will be lost, and any changes to the grass are all empty talk! "What he is most concerned about is when his ambitions will be able to unfold, and if this situation continues, I am afraid that there is no hope for the rest of his life.

"What do you want me to hear?" Xu Jie's voice sounded at the door, and he could hear that he was in a good mood.

Everyone hurriedly got up to greet each other.

Xu Jie walked into the value room, looking at the refreshed appearance, as if he was several years younger.

Standing next to the right seat, Xu Jie did not sit down immediately, and resumed his usual solemn shrug: "There is a holy oracle!" ”

"Obey the order." The middle cabinet minister hurriedly saluted.

"Recently, there has been a lot of discussion about Gao Qing in the DPRK and China, although I don't believe it, but everyone is full of oak gold and destroys bones. The cabinet members got along with Gao Qing day and night, and they got to know me the most, telling me, "Is the result too much?" Xu Jie read out the edict in a deep voice, and then his eyes swept over everyone: "I heard it, the emperor wants to ask Gao Gong for his sins!" ”

Obviously asking, have you ever been? , everyone was not angry in their hearts, but they were all shocked by the meaning behind this oracle, could it be that the emperor finally couldn't bear the pressure, "to give up Gao Ge Lao?"

Very satisfied with this silence, Xu Jie stepped down the steps and said, "Come to my room one by one." And he walked out.

The ministers looked at each other, and Guo Pu smiled miserably and said, "This is for us to vote."

"Hehe...... Chen Yiqin said with a smile: "Who said that Xu Ge is not domineering?" That's blinding. ”

"Don't say more." Li Chunfang persuaded softly: "Go quickly." ”

"Then I'll take the lead............" Guo Pu arched his hand at everyone and said with a smile: "The wind is sluggish and the water is cold, and the strong man will not return." Then he strode out of the main hall and entered the Xu Jie's duty room.

Everyone secretly worried about their hearts, and when there was a quarrel inside, who knew that after a while, Guo Pu came out as if he had lost something, and Li Chunfang rushed in immediately.

Guo Pu returned to his seat, and the three of them asked, "What did you say, so fast?" ”

"I want to talk to him," Guo Pu laughed self-deprecatingly: "It's a pity that people don't want to talk to me at all, so they let me come out after saying a few words about the good weather." "It seems that Xu Jie's acceptance of the lesson of the March 3rd meeting will not give people another chance to humiliate himself.

Li Chunfang went in for a long time before he came out, and when others asked him what he said, he just shook his head and said to Shen Mo: "It's your turn." ”

Nodding silently, he got up and entered the first assistant duty room.

"Sit down." Seeing the silence coming in, Xu Jie smiled and said, "You have matured a lot during this time, and you are very pleased for the teacher." ”

"It's all taught by the teacher......," Shen Mo smiled bitterly in his heart, yes, I have been cleaning the turtle in the past few months, and you are very pleased.

"Hehe, let's get down to business first." Xu Jie looked at the screen, and there was a eunuch who made a record behind him, and he didn't remind Shen Mo, so he asked, "What do you think of Gao Suqing?" ”

"Gao Gong" said silently and lightly: "Talented and pragmatic, but too strong, too careful, too unsparing, all day long, seizing the day, setting things right, rescuing the grass and reforming the ............, hanging on the lips, the court has annoyance about him, it is not surprising." ”

"What else?" Xu Jie was very uninterested in his painless criticism.

Only ,..." silently bowed his head, and after a while, he raised his head and said: "Teacher, please forgive me, Gao Xinzheng used to be the superior of the student, and he is also my elder" Now he is holding the arch "I really can't bear to fall into the well..."

......" Shen Mo said this, Xu Jie was not surprised, because for such a long time, he had already known that Shen Mo was an amorous person, in other words, a bit of a bad person......,... How could someone who even had to take care of Yan Song's fall to stab a high arch knife in the back? But in any case, the silence had already revealed the inclination between his words, which made him very happy.

However, Xu Jie would not let him go like this, "because he has never been so at ease with this student............ Although Shen Mo has not shown anything in the recent past, he has established the core position of his small group through Jingcha, which is the most uncomfortable for Xu Jie.

Within the Xu Party, there is only one core, and that is himself, and the past, present, and future are all so "intolerant of any split in the situation."

So he wanted to continue to beat Shen Mo: "You said that you raised the arch upside down, didn't you also think that it was for the master to push the bō behind the back?" ”

"Students don't dare." Shen Mo said softly: "This is something that the Yan family's father and son can't do. ”

Xu Jieyi listened to this, nodded and said: "Yes, since ancient times, the ministers have not been too appropriate, who does he want to deal with, he has to rely on the factory guard Luo to trap the law, and it is impossible to manipulate the way of speech, let alone hundreds of officials and ministers." ”

"Yes," said silently, "the eyes of the masses are bright. ”

"Hehe......" Xu Jiexin said, this kid has been speaking more and more beautifully recently, and he is more likable than Taiyue, especially in this state of having ears on the wall, he can wash away a lot of notoriety for himself: "So, you also know that it is a high arch and will not leave." ”

"......" said silently and softly: "Now it seems that it is indeed not suitable for the new Zheng Gong to stand in the court anymore. "Although I don't know that there are still people listening", but Shen Mo is unwilling to deny Gao Gong from the bottom of his heart, but fortunately, the Chinese language is broad and profound, and some are ambiguous and avoid the important and trivial.

"And what are you going to do?" Xu Jie was a little aggressive, "He always wants this kid to know that he is irreversible."

"........." silently saw sweat on his forehead, as if he had made a great decision: "The student is willing to persuade him to take the initiative to resign." ”

"Oh?" With Ouyang Bijin's experience, Xu Jie did not doubt that Shen Mo could do it, but he felt that this was a bit cheaper than Gao Gong, and it was also cheaper than Shen Mo: "Nanjing has already proposed to him that Jingcha will pick up the relics, and it is no longer up to him to decide whether to stay or not." ”

"What the teacher said is" Shen Mo said in a low voice: "But after all, he is a generation of emperors, and he can't let people say that the emperor has no teacher, right?" ”

Xu Jie was silent, and what he said silently was indeed reasonable, although he didn't scare the emperor at all, but he really couldn't do it, for the sake of Gao Xinzheng, who was bound to be defeated, he would make the emperor unhappy again.

"The old man thinks about it" Even if no one is listening, Xu Jie will not reply on the spot, but just said, "You go." ”

"Yes" stood up silently and saluted, and then respectfully withdrew.

When Chen Yiqin also came out, Zhang Juzheng was the last to enter the cabinet.

Talking to several ministers in a row, Xu Jie was already tired, he leaned back in his chair, rubbed his eyes gently, and did not sit upright as before.

"Master, did they all say it?" Zhang Juzheng asked in a low voice.

"Well, more or less talked about it." Xu Jie pointed to the stack of manuscript paper with his chin and said, "You can also talk about it." ”

After waiting for a long time, he didn't see Zhang Juzheng talking, Xu Jie raised his head and saw that he was sitting there with no intention of speaking.

"Say it." Xu Jie frowned slightly and said, "Is it happening?" ”

............" Zhang Juzheng was silent for a moment, and then pushed forward to the jade pillar of the mountain, got up and knelt down for Xu Jie.

"What is this for?" Xu Jie's brows furrowed even tighter, and there was not the slightest smile on his face.

"Please forgive the teacher" Zhang Juzheng is not as tactful as Shen Mo, let alone the ability to say nonsense, but he is sensitive and meticulous, and he is extremely familiar with Xu Jie's tone and demeanor, from the moment he entered the room, he found that the other party was a little unnatural, and before he spoke, he subconsciously looked at Ping Fan...... Zhang Juzheng could dodge behind there, knowing that it was an excellent place to eavesdrop.

He thought about it, and when he counted this information in his mind, he guessed that there might be ears on the wall......... After thinking about it again, if the emperor wants to listen to the opinion of the cabinet and send someone from the celebrant over, it is really normal.

The more he thought about it, the more he felt that it was possible, so he was stunned for a while, until Xu Jie urged, "finally made up his mind, knelt down and said: "The student really can't talk nonsense, otherwise it will hurt the old Gao Ge!" "Between the teacher and the high arch, there is not much to choose; The same is true between the emperor and the teacher.

Xu Jie's eyes widened in disbelief, this student is really becoming more and more disobedient, not only is his political views different from him, but now why is he bothered to bump into himself? Although he couldn't get a seizure because someone was listening, he was still so angry that he couldn't speak for a long time.

Zhang Juzheng also secretly pinched two handfuls of sweat, he knew his teacher too well, "Although he laughs all day long, he is actually a smiling tiger, and he is very resentful...... Just a few days ago, an incident happened that Chen Yide, a young fellow Hanlin editor whom Xu Jie admired very much, was falsely accused by another fellow countryman, Fan Weipi, saying: That Qi Kang's impeachment of your note was written by Chen Yide for him. , Although Zhang Juzheng didn't know the inside story, he knew it was fake as soon as he heard it, because of this kind of confidential thing, how could he find Xu Jie's fellow villagers to write it?

However, since Xu Jie's concubine, he has obviously become more biased than before, although he didn't say anything at that time, but Chen's name was on the list of Nanjing Kedao Jingcha.

Therefore, Zhang Juzheng's move is actually taking a big risk, "However, he thinks that it is worth it, as an old man of Yudi and an old subordinate of Gao Gong, if he falls into the trap for him, he will inevitably be despised by Shilin."

He knows very well the power of Taoism, why is Hai Jui so influential? Because in everyone's eyes, "he is a perfect person with Taoism, and in this society with a general Taoism and morality, this is equated with truth and correctness."

Although I don't want to be that perfect person, if I want to achieve great things, I can't learn from Xu Yangzheng and Liu Tiqian's actions to discredit myself, otherwise even if I become the first assistant in the future, I won't be able to respond to all calls, let alone change the grass that requires great personal charm!

So Zhang Juzheng decided to take a gamble and bet that the teacher would forgive himself!

This is exactly the three points that they summed up in silence: face, conscience and interests. All three have to be the best policy: the middle strategy is the second: the lower policy is only one of them.

Zhang Juzheng chose the best policy, and he got all his face, conscience, and interests; Shen Mo chose the middle strategy and gave up face. This is not a question of who is smarter, but as Xu Jie's beloved apprentice, Zhang Juzheng dares to bet on Xu Jie's patience, and Shen Mo, who will be raised by his mother in the future, will not dare to give Xu Ge Lao this excuse to dispose of himself.

Zhang Juzheng won the bet, Xu Jie only felt a mouth full of bitterness at that moment, but he didn't want to deal with him. For this student, Xu Jie poured too much effort into it, and he really didn't have the courage to give up. He smiled wryly and said, "So, do you think he is not guilty?" ”

"Guilty or innocent, the emperor is dictatorial." Zhang Juzheng didn't dare to offend the teacher ruthlessly, and said softly: "The students don't dare to talk about it." ”

"Okay, you can go down." Xu Jie nodded his head, looked at Zhang Juzheng's back, and fell into deep thought.

There was a sound behind the eyebrows, pulling Xu Jie back from his contemplation, he looked at the old man in a coarse cloth robe and said, "Let my father-in-law smile......

"Where is the old man of the country, having such a high foot is a blessing from the previous life." The old eunuch is the new palm seal of the celebrant eunuch, called Chen Hong, who is the earliest chief eunuch of Yudi, and also the emperor's companion when he was a child. After the former chief of the inner house, Ma Sen, told him to grow old, the emperor called the old eunuch, who was much older than Ma Sen, back and asked him to take care of the palace...... Longqing was really not at ease, so he handed over the huge inner palace to the celebrant for a few pieces of material.

Longqing is indeed nepotistic, fortunately, Chen Hong is really good, and he grew up watching the emperor, so with him, Longqing has converged a lot, and the criticism is much more diligent than before.

"It's not good to send each other today." After a little greeting, Xu Jie said: "I can only entrust my father-in-law to go through the back door." ”

"The front door and the back door are all the same." The old eunuch smiled, and he didn't need to send it, so he quietly went out through the back door of the duty room.

Wait until everyone is gone.

Xu Jie recalled Chen Hong's words, and couldn't help laughing at himself: "My student is much better than my teacher's......" Thinking that Xia Yan was framed by Yan Song back then, he didn't dare to say a word of justice, and even in order to protect himself, he even went to impeachment together. Now his two students refuse to speak ill of Gao Gong. In this way, it will be very secure after going into the field in the future......

People, always feel good about themselves, do you really think that with a teacher-student relationship, you can sit back and relax?

The next day, Shen Mo visited Gao Zhai, and after a secret conversation between the two, the next day, Gao Gong went up again, this time, he no longer made any excuse for the various crimes he was accused, but said that he was very sick and begged for the emperor's bones.

When Long Qing saw this, he was shocked: "Is Master Gao really sick?" ”

Feng Bao, who was serving shì on the side, couldn't wait for Gao Gong to get out of here, so he replied: "It's really very sick......

"How strong the teacher's body and bones are......" Long Qing wept and said, "Quickly send my imperial doctor to diagnose the teacher." At the same time, he sent people to reward him in turn, and almost emptied the tonic in the inner treasury.

But the more he did this, the more Gao Gong didn't want to be entangled anymore, and he didn't accept any reward, and resolutely resigned. Gao Gong successively put on more than a dozen books, each of which was more resolute than the previous one, and the emperor finally knew that the teacher did not want to embarrass himself anymore, so he had already made a decision, and finally approved Gao Gong's resignation on May 13 of the first year of Longqing.