In fact, Li Chengliang was not so bad. He had made so many contributions that most of the high-ranking officials in the court took advantage of him and gave their descendants a stable job. How could he destroy the jobs of his own children and grandchildren?

So he submitted a petition requesting to retire, which ended in a dignified manner and everyone was happy.

Wanli asked Li Chengliang who could succeed him, and he recommended Qi Jiguang to take over his post as the general of Liaodong.

The ministers also submitted memorials recommending Qi Jiguang for the position. As they were indeed worried about leaving the mess in Liaodong to others, Wanli finally agreed.

After retiring, Li Chengliang planned to personally lead a long-distance inspection team of the Northwest Company to inspect Xibo Li to see if there was any success...

Here, Zhao Hao dealt with Qi Jiguang, accepted Li Chengliang, and also gave Li Rusong as a gift... In fact, Yang Siwei, the general of Jizhen, had also long since defected to the Jiangnan Group.

Although General Yang was born in Liaoyang, his ancestral home was in Nanzhi, and he always considered himself a Jiangnan native.

When he was the deputy commander-in-chief of Jizhen, Tangshan was under his jurisdiction. As they came and went, their relationship grew stronger and stronger, and they had already become one family. Otherwise, he would not have succeeded Qi Jiguang as the commander-in-chief of Jizhen.

Zhao Hao chose to meet Li Chengliang at Shanhaiguan just to make Li understand this point.

When Li Chengliang saw that even Shanhaiguan was in Zhao Hao's hands, what was the point of making such a fuss?

When the day came, Shanhaiguan blocked the way and the army landed from Tangshan, I could only watch helplessly. Since I couldn't defeat them, I had no choice but to join them.

~~

The irony is that Zhao Hao is about to disarm the Ming Dynasty.

Over there in Beijing, the emperor and his ministers who were slow to realize the situation were still fighting over the foundation of the country...

In April, because the emperor went back on his word, enriched himself, and disappeared, showing his rogue nature, five cabinet ministers resigned together.

Wanli was dumbfounded. Without the Grand Secretary to help him handle state affairs, how could he be lazy? Without the Grand Secretary to help him smooth things over, wouldn't he be scolded to death by the censors every day?

He did not have time to pretend to be dead, and hurriedly issued imperial edicts one after another to persuade the Grand Secretaries to stay. But the five of them were determined and insisted on leaving.

Wanli knew what they wanted.

In desperation, he had to reluctantly sacrifice himself... uh, show up, and invite the ministers to the platform, saying that he had been ill again since the beginning of the year, so he did not read the memorials, and he was not intentionally avoiding them.

Also, what we agreed upon during the New Year must be kept. I will arrange for my eldest brother to marry off and go to school as soon as possible.

Several university scholars had already made plans before they came, and they must not trust each other this time. But with so many political issues pressing on them, it was not a big deal...

Moreover, there is no one in the cabinet, so it is very inconvenient to get anything done.

So the four grand secretaries said they still couldn't come back to work. But for the sake of the overall situation, the last assistant Wang Jiaping was willing to return to the cabinet to take charge.

Wanli thought that it was good that one person came back, at least there would be someone on duty in the cabinet, and all memorials would not have to be sent to him.

But after a few days, he found that it would be better for Wang Jiaping to not come back. Because the ministers kept him in the cabinet just to make sure he fulfilled his promise as soon as possible...

A few days later, Yu Shenxing, the Minister of Rites who had just been elected this spring, led all the people to write a letter as soon as he took office, urging the emperor to appoint a crown prince as soon as possible. And his language was very impolite -

He directly accused Wanli of being untrustworthy as an emperor and extremely irresponsible as a father, and of being completely unworthy of his ancestors!

Wanli was so furious that he fined Yu Shenxing and all the officials from the Ministry of Rites.

Then he asked Zhang Hong to tell Wang Jiaping to talk to the people from the Ministry of Rites and ask if they could be more peaceful.

Wang Jiaping apologized on the spot. As a strong-willed man, he would not compromise...

Instead of trying to persuade Yu Shenxing, he went to the court to defend the Ministry of Rites, saying that they were also doing their job. It was useless for the emperor to punish Yu Shenxing. Didn't his predecessors Shen Li and Zhu Geng resign one after another because they were unable to appoint a crown prince? If you mess with him again, be careful that he will resign with you.

Within one year, three prime ministers and grand ministers resigned one after another. Isn't it too embarrassing?

Wanli was speechless and could not vent his anger. He was not afraid that Yu Shenxing would resign, but that Wang Jiaping would give up and the cabinet would be empty again.

He had no choice but to swallow his anger and asked the eunuch to convey an oral instruction to Wang Jiaping, which was that I will definitely do the agreed things on time, and you need to appease them and not let them mess with me again.

Unexpectedly, after receiving the imperial edict, the unethical Wang Jiaping turned around and told the Ministry of Rites.

Yu Shenxing immediately submitted a memorial to the emperor, stating that he had received the imperial edict and had immediately informed all government offices in the two capitals and provincial governments, asking them to be patient and not bother the emperor again this spring.

Wanli almost fainted when he saw Yu Shenxing's memorial. Well, this is to force the emperor to abdicate!

He issued the oral order only to stabilize Wang Jiaping and let him stabilize the ministers on his behalf.

Anyway, words are not enough, and it is not the first or second time that his words are not counted.

Wanli was so angry that he immediately sent someone to question Wang Jiaping, asking how could he forward the private message I sent to you? And he also let Yu Shenxing send it to a group of people!

Now this is good, I have been forced into a desperate situation.

And it’s already late spring in May, okay…

Wang Jiaping submitted a letter of resignation, saying that it was indeed wrong for him to do so. But that was because the country's fundamental affairs had been in turmoil for too long, and the ministers had too many misunderstandings. I could not persuade them one by one, so I could only convey your majesty's will to dispel everyone's doubts. "

Translation means, don't try to play us for fools anymore, I won't let you take the blame, I'll play a trick on you too!

Although the emperor could go back on his word in private, once it was made public, it had to be treated as a golden rule, and Wanli himself had to abide by it. After the outburst, he had no choice but to formally issue an imperial decree:

"I will treat the world with sincerity in the matter of enthroning her. How could I have the intention of doting on her? When she is ten years old, I will have my own decree to hold the enthronement and marriage ceremony at the same time. It is not appropriate to urge her to do so. I will let you know this now."

The meaning is clear at a glance. Don't bother me, I have no intention of deposing the eldest son and enthroning the youngest. When the eldest son is ten years old, I will enthrone him as the crown prince and let him go out to study.

The whole court cheered and all officials celebrated. Zhu Changluo was already nine years old, and he would be ten next year. Although the emperor took the opportunity to delay it for another year, all officials wanted to finalize the matter, and they didn't care if it was a year earlier or later.

Anyway, the emperor has issued a formal decree, so there won’t be any changes...right?

Unfortunately, being straightforward was never Wanli's style. He was fickle and inconsistent. After issuing the imperial edict, Wanli felt more and more at a disadvantage. He sent someone to the cabinet to pass on an oral order:

"Because of Wang Jiaping's tricks, the canonization of the princess has been delayed from this year to next year. In the spring and summer of next year, the officials will not complain. In the winter of next year, an imperial decree will be issued. If they complain again, the canonization will be postponed until she is fifteen years old!"

But no one took it to heart. The emperor was forced to bow to all the officials this time, and he must be very angry. Why wasn't he allowed to vent his anger?

The naive grand secretaries all thought that the country's fundamental problem had been solved, so they returned to work one after another. Only the Prime Minister Zhao Shouzheng still insisted on leaving.

First of all, he took the lead in forcing the emperor to appoint a crown prince, which seriously damaged Wanli's prestige. In order to eliminate the negative impact, he, the chief minister, must resign.

Second, his eye disease has not improved and has seriously affected his normal work. It is better for him to step down and go home to recuperate.

Wanli was naturally reluctant to part with his Prime Minister Zhao, so he sent eunuchs to Zhaojia Hutong to see him and gave him a fresh pig, a fresh sheep, sweet pickled cucumbers, eggplants, two stone of white rice, and ten bottles of wine. He also issued an order saying, "You should take good care of yourself and take care of cabinet affairs. When you recover, you can leave immediately to show your concern."

What this means is that he can work from home like himself, without having to resign and come back to work after he recovers.

Wow, now the emperor and prime minister of the Ming Dynasty are working from home together...

As for the matter of taking the blame, Wanli did not even mention it. The bad guys were Wang Jiaping and his friends. How could a kind-hearted person like Yuanfu bully me?

In addition, all the officials also petitioned to retain Yuan Fu. No one would want to see such a good leader go, and who would give red envelopes to everyone after he left?

Zhao Shouzheng could not refuse the kind offer, so he had to stay at home for another month. However, his double vision did not improve at all, and his halo vision appeared again. When he saw the light source, a colorful halo appeared around him, and his eyes became prisms.

This made Zhao Shouzheng suffer. Everything he saw was double, so the colored halo was also double. When he opened his eyes, it became a kaleidoscope. How cool was that?

What kind of job is this? He felt that his life was coming to an end and he had fulfilled his duty to the emperor, so he continued to write letters and resolutely asked to leave.

After the eighth book, Wanli had no choice but to allow him to return home to recuperate and come back as soon as his condition improved. He was promoted to the position of Grand Tutor and Grand State, and given generous stipends and officials, and ordered officials to escort Yuanfu back home.

To provide generous subsidies to the stipendants means to give them pensions and assign people to serve them. This is common practice and nothing unusual.

However, being conferred the title of Grand Tutor during one's lifetime was still very respectful. Especially for Emperor Wanli, who always hired people first and did not use them later, being promoted from Junior Tutor to Grand Tutor showed that he really liked Mr. Zhao.

Unfortunately, Zhao Shouzheng resolutely resigned and continued to serve as his junior tutor, so Wanli had no choice but to give up.

~~

June 6, the eighteenth year of the Wanli reign.

With all the officials bidding farewell with tears, Zhao Shouzheng, the former Prime Minister of the Ming Dynasty, left Beijing by boat wearing a pair of cool big sunglasses.

Two days later, the ship arrived at Caofei Port.

Zhao Hao had been waiting for him there for a long time.

"Son, you miss your dad so much..." Zhao Shouzheng choked up as soon as he saw the two figures of Zhao Hao with their own halos.

"Dad, I miss you too." Zhao Hao's eyes also turned red. After the fifteenth year of Wanli, the father and son had not seen each other for three years, more than a thousand days.

The more favorable the situation is, the less you should waste time. Throughout history, are there not many examples of people who waste time until the last minute and get themselves killed?

Given Zhao Hao's cautious nature, he would never set foot in the capital and put himself in danger unless he had to.

From this perspective, it would be fine for Mr. Zhao not to be the Prime Minister.

As soon as the boat docked, Zhao Shouzheng hobbled off the boat with the help of Cai Ming.

Looking at his father's frail appearance, Zhao Hao couldn't help but burst into tears.

"Don't cry, don't cry. You are already forty years old. How can your father not be old?" Zhao Shouzheng wanted to help him wipe his tears, but he touched nothing. It was obvious that he guessed in the wrong direction.

Mr. Zhao burst into tears. "Son, your father is going to become an old blind man. Will I die?"

"..." Zhao Hao was choked up. How come he showed his true colors again after retiring? After a while, he managed to utter, "Not really."

ps. It’s gone tonight.