Chapter 45 Hidden Thunder, Who Else Can Do It But Me

June 18th, early morning.

Qianqing Palace.

After Zhu Yijun got dressed, he sat quietly at the desk, looking at the case files and eating breakfast - he was not going to the court meeting today, he had more important things to do.

He tasted the porridge and frowned, "Did you add sugar?"

After saying that, he put down the bowl of porridge.

Zhang Hong was stunned for a moment, then hurried forward.

Zhu Yijun said helplessly: "I've told you so many times, don't put sugar in it, don't put sugar in it."

Zhang Hong seemed to remember something and quickly explained, "I am guilty. These past two days, you asked me and Li Jin to replace the people in the Shangshen Supervisor. I didn't give a complete explanation and didn't let the new people know clearly."

Zhu Yijun had almost finished his meal, but upon hearing this he simply stopped eating and concentrated on reading the files while waiting.

Not long after.

Jiang Keqian led in an old eunuch in linen clothes with a kind face.

Zhu Yijun was stunned when he saw this outfit.

A eunuch suddenly wears sackcloth clothes. Is he an actor again?
"Your servant Li Jin has come to pay respects to His Majesty."

Li Jin bowed respectfully and performed a great ceremony.

Zhu Yijun did not help him up immediately.

Instead, he asked curiously, "Why did my cousin come to see me in coarse linen clothes? What is he dissatisfied with me?"

Li Jin kowtowed again and shouted "guilty".

Then she smiled bitterly: "Your Majesty, please forgive me. I didn't act like that on purpose. I'm just short of money."

"To be honest with you, Your Majesty, I was not originally so poor, and I took everything I was supposed to."

"But later, the late emperor was about to take the throne, and Empress Li was the only child."

"Empress Li sent someone to warn me to be careful with my words and actions and not to do bad things under her name."

"I was afraid of affecting the Madam and the Young Master, so I resigned as much as I should and lived prudently on my salary."

"Many years have passed, and my family's wealth has been spent, leaving me with only this much poverty."

Regardless of whether this statement is true or false, just having said this, no one can blame anyone anymore.

Zhu Yijun stretched out his hand and helped the man up.

He sighed, "I understand what my uncle said."

"I have to be careful about what I say and do, fearing that I will ruin my reputation. It's really hard for my uncle."

Li Jin quickly declined: "Your Majesty, I dare not call you my uncle. It would be a waste of my life."

"Besides, I am not miserable. I am very happy to see Your Majesty ascend the throne."

Zhu Yijun readily agreed: "Then I will call you Daban, and Li Daban doesn't need to call himself a slave. After all, we are family members, so just call yourself a subject."

Li Jin quickly knelt down to express his gratitude.

After the two of them had gone through the formalities, Li Jin explained his purpose: "It is the grace of His Majesty that this eunuch has been appointed to the position of the East Factory."

"I have come here specially to thank His Majesty."

Zhu Yijun shook his head: "How can I ignore the kindness of Li Daban in sending my mother to Prince Yu's Mansion? Since the East Factory is vacant, it should naturally be handed over to someone I trust."

Li Jin quickly knelt down and kowtowed to express his gratitude.

Zhu Yijun looked at the old Jiang in front of him and felt emotional.

None of these characters who have to rely on themselves to make a living have an easy life.

Seeing that Li Jin still refused to give in.

Zhu Yijun had to take another step back: "This is a merit, you should accept the reward."

"In addition, I also remember your hard work."

"Li Daban, if you have any requests, please tell me so that I can repay you a little for your hard work over the years."

Li Jin came to visit him wearing this outfit, naturally just for show.

Don’t be fooled by what this person said, that Empress Dowager Li told him to be more honest and not to ask for money, which led to this financial difficulty.

But Zhu Yijun would not be stupid enough to believe it.

After a struggle between the two, Li Jin still hadn't expressed his loyalty, so he must have something else to ask for.

The situation in the palace is complicated now. If Zhu Yijun wants to take control of the inner court as soon as possible, he can only give in first.

Sure enough, upon hearing this, Li Jin finally revealed his true feelings.

He prostrated himself again.

She began to choke up as she spoke: "Your Highness, I want to ask for mercy."

"When I first entered the palace, I disobeyed my father's wishes, and was removed from the family tree by my father."

"Now I am over fifty years old, alone and helpless. Seeing that my parents are about to die, they still refuse to see me."

"You are an unfilial person if you only say that I have no descendants."

Li Jin looked miserable.

Zhu Yijun hurriedly helped him up.

He expressed his admiration for the filial son.

"Otomo is indeed a loyal, filial, benevolent and righteous person. I am moved by him. There is no reason for me not to agree."

"In this case, I will ask the father-in-law to mediate for you and adopt a son."

"When you have accumulated some merits, I will make the decision and give gifts to your father and mother."

After getting the promise, Li Jin finally stopped being reserved.

He shouted "Long live Your Majesty" and thanked the emperor, saying, "I will serve Your Majesty even if I die."

Zhu Yijun secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

After some arguing, they finally got down to business.

He helped Li Jin up and asked softly, "How long will it take for Otomo to take control of the East Factory?"

Since we have to take action, we must not waste any available strength.

Li Jin smiled bitterly: "Your Majesty, the eunuchs have only been in charge for a short time, not to mention that the previous factory supervisor was the seal holder of the Imperial Household Department..."

Zhu Yijun interrupted him: "I know, tell me a time."

Li Jin hesitated for a moment and said, "I estimate that it will take two months."

Zhu Yijun shook his head, this time was too long.

I have to start in the next two days and can't wait.

He changed the question: "What if outsiders are not allowed to interfere?"

Li Jin thought about it and said confidently: "As soon as the eunuch took office, he replaced the key position with a confidant."

"Although I can't command them as I wish, it would be extremely difficult for outsiders to interfere!"

Zhu Yijun nodded, that was enough.

He said expressionlessly, "Tonight, evacuate all the people around Ciqing Palace. Not a single ear should be left."

Li Jin's hair stood on end.

He immediately bowed silently and responded.

Then he slowly retreated.

Only after Li Jin left completely did Zhu Xixiao come out from the screen behind him.

Zhu Yijun stretched out his hand and beckoned him closer.

"Mr. Zhu, if the East Factory doesn't intervene, will you, the Jinyiwei, be safe?"

Zhu Xixiao quickly responded: "The palace's defense has been properly deployed, and all of them are trustworthy and legitimate."

Zhu Yijun nodded.

Murmured: "Then let's do it at midnight."

Zhu Xixiao knelt down and accepted the order.

Just as he was standing up to leave, the emperor suddenly called him.

The emperor's face was hidden in the darkness, and Zhu Xixiao could only hear the voice: "Mr. Zhu."

"Be careful and don't touch people you shouldn't touch. I won't hold you responsible."

Zhu Xixiao looked back in surprise.

Unsure whether it was a sincere remark or a reminder, he said hesitantly: "Your Majesty..."

Zhu Yijun reaffirmed: "Don't worry, I'm not being sarcastic."

"Duke Chengguo's family is loyal to the emperor and the country. I will complete the relationship between you and me as an emperor and a subject."

Zhu Xixiao was sincerely convinced and bowed again before leaving.

Zhu Yijun slowly closed his eyes.

Clarify the situation again and fill in the gaps in your own response.

What he had to do now was certainly not to rush into Ciqing Palace and kill Empress Dowager Chen, which was an extremely foolish thing to do.

He reminded Zhu Xixiao just now because he was afraid that he would misunderstand and act on his own, thus putting him in an unfilial position.

Does he need to go this far? Of course not.

The Empress Dowager of the Ming Dynasty was too restricted by the system.

Without a long period of relaxation, it would be impossible for him to rule the country.

This also means that there are actually very few ways for the inner palace and outer officials to communicate.

This is the reason why Chen Hong has been jumping up and down all the time - Gao Gong would never take the initiative to send people into the inner palace.

Now Empress Dowager Chen and Gao Gong have colluded to suppress all parties.

However, what these two people don’t know is that…all the military power of the inner court is in his hands!
As long as all the eunuchs around Empress Dowager Chen were killed, what would they use to connect with the outer court?
He already lived in another palace, and the only eunuchs around him who had deep roots were two senior eunuchs.

As long as Chen Hong and his group are killed, he will say that whatever Empress Dowager Chen’s attitude is, that’s the attitude!

Who said that isolating the inside and outside is only the skill of eunuchs? Now it's his turn!
Not only that, since things have come to this, there is no reason to keep Feng Bao around to disgust people.

Just take the entire inner court into your hands!
There is no rush to take power, but the extension of power must be unambiguous.

So he summoned Li Jin and asked him to suppress the East Factory.

He also instructed Zhu Xizhong to do the dirty work.

The only thing worth worrying about is the outer court.

If you intervene when the opportunity arises, you might end up causing him trouble.

After all, if no one is in charge of this matter, it is hard to say whether the outer court will accept it or simply jump out to question him.

Not to mention that his current actions have caused some short-sighted people to say, "He looks quite like Emperor Yingzong."

I'm afraid his political prestige will be damaged immediately.

Although he took control of the inner court, he had his biological mother protecting him, so it was unlikely that any minister would have the crazy idea of ​​deposing the emperor.

But the exercise of power has a cost.

The level of political prestige directly affects the cost of exercising power. In later generations, its direct manifestation to subordinates is called credibility.

When the cost is too high, not only the new policies but also the control will be affected.

Therefore, in order to maintain his political reputation, he never considered using force against ministers in the outer court. Similarly, he could not isolate himself from the inside and the outside and be accused of "not looking like a monarch."

Then, in order to play this role well, the outer court must have someone to cooperate with and use their political reputation to mediate and reconcile. By then, as long as there is a tacit understanding between the inside and the outside, the emperor, the empress dowager, and the outer court will still be an unbreakable power institution.

A gentleman like Gao Yi might not approve of such bullying of his stepmother, and he had a close personal relationship with Gao Gong.

Unless he had no choice, he would not disturb Gao Yi who was resting.

So, he kept waiting.

Waiting for Zhang Juzheng to return from Tianshou Mountain.

During this period, he always avoided Gao Gong's edge, which was also to paralyze Gao Gong - Gao Gong had never understood the emperor.

He must meet Zhang Juzheng!

If we can convince him, we can complete the last link.

If not... then I'm afraid not only will I have to invite Gao Yi out, I'll also have to contact Yang Bo, Zhu Heng and others.

The outcome will finally be known today and tomorrow.

……

Today's court meeting seemed calm.

All matters have been agreed upon.

The Sichuan U-Tsang Dogansi Xuanwei Mission and other places were rewarded, and the Zen master, Lama, Wenfan monk, A'er and others were sent here, with a total of clothes and money, which was converted into 452 taels of silver.

The Third Battalion of Shenji was transferred to train brave troops, and Lieutenant General Jin Zhang was assigned to guard Tongzhou. Li Shi, the guerrilla general of Gonghuacheng, was appointed as the Lieutenant General of the Third Battalion of Shenji to train brave troops.

He agreed to supervise the affairs of the Langzhong Office of the Ministry of River Engineering and the matter recommended by Chen Ying: the construction of the new river at Haikou was completed and 976.8 liters of rice were obtained.

There are things that have not been decided.

Grand Secretary Zhang Juzheng said that the emperor was making great progress in his lectures and should hold an imperial lecture as soon as possible. However, Prime Minister Gao Gong refuted this by saying that it was not appropriate to force the issue.

The Minister of Rites, Lu Diaoyang, said that the grace and kindness bestowed upon the two palaces were immense and there was no difference in the respect they were given. There should be no difference in the honorifics they were given, and that Empress Dowager Li should be given a two-character title of honor.

The chief minister Gao Gong had been the empress before his mother, and Hui said that the number of characters added was because there were celebrations at the court, and it was not a sudden increase at this time.

Grand Secretary Zhang Juzheng said again that the cabinet also had many affairs to deal with and that assistant ministers should be promoted. Therefore, Grand Secretary Xu Jie, who was highly regarded and favored by the emperor, could be reinstated into the cabinet.

The Prime Minister Gao Gong was displeased and resolutely rejected it.

A court meeting ended.

Although the two sides started fighting, Gao Gong obviously had the upper hand.

More and more court officials gathered around Gao Gong, waving flags and shouting cheers.

Zhang Juzheng slowly walked out of Wenhua Hall.

Lu Diaoyang followed beside him and sighed, "Gao Gong is the Prime Minister after all, so our actions are all in vain."

As long as Gao Gong disagrees, these matters will never be passed.

Zhang Juzheng looked at him strangely: "He Qing, when did you have the illusion that these things could pass the court debate?"

Lu Diaoyang was stunned.

He looked at Zhang Juzheng in surprise: "Did you know it was useless?"

Zhang Juzheng nodded and said: "If this can suppress Gao Gong, then what is the difference between the first and second assistants?"

Lu Diaoyang came to his senses and said, "So... this is just a deliberate act?"

Zhang Juzheng affirmed Lü Diaoyang's words, saying, "If it weren't for this, Gao Gong wouldn't feel at ease."

"Besides, we must let our colleagues see that Gao Gong is not omnipotent."

Lu Diaoyang asked, "If this is just a trick, then where is the solution?!"

Zhang Juzheng shook his head: "Wait a minute."

Lu Diaoyang couldn't understand the meaning.

Looking at Zhang Juzheng: "Wait? What are you waiting for?"

Zhang Juzheng suddenly stopped and looked at the eunuch running towards him from a distance.

He walked over and said to Lu Diaoyang without turning his head, "Isn't this what I've been waiting for?"

The two exchanged a few words and then left together.

Lu Diaoyang watched Zhang Juzheng being taken away. He was thoughtful at first, and then he suddenly realized.

……

Zhang Juzheng was led all the way to the Huangji Palace by the eunuchs.

I met the little emperor in the back hall.

Lu Diaoyang was indeed no match for the little emperor and had dug such a big pit for him.

If the situation had remained as it had been, he would still be able to shake off the emperor and defeat Gao Gong.

But now Feng Bao has been stripped of his power over the East Factory, and the power of the Imperial Household Department has been suppressed by Gao Gong, so it can be said that it is of no use anymore.

If he fought with Gao Gong at the court level, it would really endanger the situation and cause turmoil in the Ming Dynasty.

It can be said that if he wanted to defeat Gao Gong without shaking the situation, then the little emperor in front of him was his only choice.

The same is true.

The emperor must have seen him that way.

That was why he was eagerly waiting for the emperor, and he was certain that the emperor would definitely seek him for collusion.

But, in addition to tacit understanding, there is also confrontation between smart people.

Consensus and distribution always need to be discussed again before they can be finalized.

Zhang Juzheng took the initiative and said, "Your Majesty, I am honored to see you."

"I have other important matters to attend to in my cabinet. I wonder why Your Majesty has summoned me in such a hurry?"

Zhu Yijun consoled him, "I heard that you were suffering from the heat, so I came to show my concern for you."

"The cabinet's important affairs are being handled by the Prime Minister, so there is no need for Elder Zhang to rush."

Zhang Juzheng remained silent.

After a pause, he said, "I also need to write the etiquette notes for the two palaces' titles for the Ministry of Rites."

Zhu Yijun paused.

After taking a breath, he continued, "Your Excellency should also pay attention to self-cultivation. I only hope that the Prime Minister will take on more responsibilities and let you do more of the light work of writing ritual notes."

The two of them stimulated each other back and forth like this, testing each other for a quarter of an hour.

They all understand that the one who speaks first will suffer a loss, and are unwilling to reveal their chips easily.

But in the end, it was the emperor who summoned the Grand Secretary.

I have to give a brief explanation.

Zhu Yijun looked at Zhang Juzheng and said, "Lord, I have an uncle who is now the governor of the East Factory and he is in trouble."

"…Do you think it is possible to give his mother an imperial decree?"

Zhang Juzheng sighed inwardly.

The emperor was telling him that he had control over Li Jin and the Eastern Depot.

He hadn't expected this either.

He had previously explained that if the young emperor wanted Zhang Hong to reap the rewards, he would surely get into trouble.

But unexpectedly, Li Jin was brought out and Feng Bao's power was taken away.

But, it was also for this reason that, although he knew that it would be beneficial for both of them to work together, he refused to give in - he had lost too much power, and could only rely on this opportunity to gain more from the emperor.

He bowed slowly and said, "Your Majesty may as well order the cabinet to discuss this. If Li Jin's merits are sufficient, I'm sure the court officials will also be happy to agree."

The subtext is, what's the use of having the East Factory? The outer court is now in Gao Gong's hands, and he can't beat or kill anyone.

Based on his understanding of the emperor, he would not do such a stupid thing as ambush the executioners and hack Gao Gong to death.

Zhu Yijun glanced at the stubborn old man and advised: "I feel relieved with your words. My mother is also urging me about this cousin's matter."

It is true that he could not do anything to Gao Gong, but now it is not just the East Factory that listens to him, Empress Dowager Li also listens to him.

Although cooperation is beneficial to both sides, you, Zhang Juzheng, have nothing in the inner court, which is very different from before, so don't even think about asking for a huge amount.

Zhang Juzheng had no way to refute it.

Empress Dowager Li's trust in the Emperor now is truly beyond description.

Under the pressure from Gao Gong, in the past, Empress Dowager Li would have chosen to rely on Feng Bao, and then seek help from Zhang.

But who could blame him for the fact that the person in front of him was an outstanding and intelligent Saint Emperor, someone that Empress Dowager Li could rely on?
Having said that, Zhang Juzheng could no longer be stubborn.

Since you are waiting for a price, you should know when to stop.

Zhang Juzheng bowed and advised: "Your Majesty, instead of worrying about family affairs, you might as well worry about the affairs of the world."

"The people of the world are crying out for food, and the nine provinces are on the verge of collapse."

"We all hope that Your Majesty will reform the old ways and create a new world!"

To reform the old and establish the new was what Zhang Juzheng demanded.

He finally stopped beating around in circles.

Negotiated the conditions.

This is both a requirement and a bottom line.

If you can't even agree to this, then there's no point in talking.

On the contrary, if you are determined to support the new policy, then there is nothing that cannot be discussed.

After hearing this.

Zhu Yijun stood up.

Walk towards Zhang Juzheng.

"Now that we have come to this, I will not beat around the bush with you."

"I despise the cowardice of the former Song Dynasty and wholeheartedly admire the character of the Han and Tang Dynasties."

He straightened his back and slowly walked down the imperial steps.

"When I heard that Zhuge Wuhou did not come out of the mountains, I wanted to compare myself to Guan Zhong and Yue Yi."

"I also saw Emperor Taizong of Tang saying that he conquered the world at the age of 24, surpassing all previous emperors in military power."

"There is also someone whom I admire very much who said, 'To count the heroes of the day, look no further than today.'"

He walked calmly and looked straight at Zhang Juzheng.

"I will take on the responsibility today! Who else but me?"

"Zhang Qing, I tell you clearly!"

Zhu Yijun walked up to Zhang Juzheng.

He grasped Zhang Juzheng's hand and said word by word, "When my royal grandfather was dying, he summoned me and my father."

"I said to myself, I have spent half my life in reform and innovation, and the other half in idleness. I have failed in both cultivating the Way and governing the country, and I am on the verge of the world being overturned."

"At that time, my ambition was just beginning, and I kept it in mind. As I grew older, I gradually became more mature."

"Whenever I recall this, my heart becomes filled with turbulent waves and thunderous roars!"

"I have made up my mind to follow the example of my great grandfather! I must surpass the Three Sovereigns in achievements and the Five Emperors in virtue, and become a holy ruler who can save the world and last forever!"

"I will do this even if I die for the country!"

"The sky is clear and there is no room for maneuver!"

"Zhang Qing, do you believe me?"

(End of this chapter)