Chapter 1596 The Invisible Enemy is the Most Terrifying

Liu Tai's memorial impeaching his teacher was titled "A Memorial to the Holy and Wise Ministers for Power."

Just listen to the name, how explosive. The content of the memorial was even more explosive, listing a total of six major crimes:

First, Emperor Gaozong learned from the mistakes of previous dynasties and did not appoint a prime minister. Emperor Wen was the first to establish a cabinet to participate in government affairs. In the past two hundred years, even if there were people who abused their power, they still avoided the title of prime minister and did not dare to take it, because of the laws of our ancestors. However, Zhang Juzheng openly acted as prime minister. Since Gao Gong was expelled, he has been abusing power for three or four years.

Second, Emperor Gao emphasized the supervision of the six ministries by the six departments, so the six departments were directly responsible to the emperor to maintain the independence of the supervision system. However, since Zhang Juzheng implemented the performance evaluation system, he made the six departments responsible to the cabinet, making the court's supervision system a subordinate of the cabinet.

Third, Zhang Juzheng formed a clique for personal gain and excluded those who were not like him. All his fellow townsmen and old friends were given high positions. His relative Zhao Shouzheng, who was only a Jinshi in the second year of Longqing, was now a third-rank official in the Zhanshi Mansion! And those who refused to follow him, those promoted by the former prime minister Gao Gong, were all driven out of the court.

Fourthly, Zhang Juzheng was superstitious and attached great importance to auspicious signs. In order to consolidate his favor, he flattered the harem and presented the poem "White Swallow" to the emperor, which made him a laughing stock in the world.

Fifth, he relied on his power and disregarded the royal family. He retaliated against the Liao king and forced him to death because of an old grudge, and also occupied the Liao king's mansion as his private residence.

Sixth, he lived an extravagant life and was corrupt. The Zhang family was originally an ordinary family. His grandfather was a guard in the Liao Palace, and his father was just a poor scholar. However, since he became the Prime Minister, the Zhang family has become the richest in Chu. Every day, there is an endless stream of people running to the government and giving gifts, and the doors are open at night. As for plundering people's property and bullying men and women, there are too many to count...

Liu Tai finally said, "These things are known to the world. All the officials in the court are indignant, but no one dares to speak out for Your Majesty. This is because Zhang Juzheng's accumulated power is a disaster! Juzheng is my teacher and has been very kind to me. I stand up and attack him today because I am loyal to Your Majesty and have to abandon my personal favor. I hope Your Majesty will see through my foolish loyalty and reduce the power of the prime minister. Don't repeat the old story of Huo Guang. I will be immortal even after my death!"

~~

This memorial hit the nail on the head, with almost every sentence being a critical attack. The two most fatal accusations were: first, Zhang Juzheng restored the position of prime minister in the name of reform, seriously trampling on the ancestral teachings of Emperor Taizu; second, Zhang Juzheng took advantage of the emperor's young age, abused his power and regarded himself as the ruler of the world.

In addition, there was an extremely obscure but equally fatal attack, which was the mention of Zhang Juzheng's "White Swallow Poem".

It was the Empress Dowager’s birthday that year, and by chance a pair of rare white swallows flew into the Hanlin Academy.

Because there is an allusion of "the black bird of heaven descended to give birth to the Shang Dynasty", which says that a woman named Jian Di swallowed the eggs laid by the "black bird", that is, swallows, and became pregnant and gave birth to a son named Qi. Qi is Yanbo, the legendary ancestor of the Shang Dynasty. Zhang Juzheng wrote several "White Swallow Poems" to celebrate the empress dowager's birthday, comparing her to "Jian Di".

This is actually very ordinary flattery, but the writers could not resist the wild speculation and actually tasted some ambiguous feelings from it.

Because one of the poems says, "White swallows fly, two by two, shining like jade. Sheng Shang conveys the emperor's order, sending joy to the Empress Dowager Ci. Sometimes red phoenixes pass by the steps, bringing a delicate fragrance to the Empress Dowager Ci. "

Look at those two white swallows flying in pairs over the flowers in front of my steps, bringing the fragrance of my yard to your boudoir... This is blatant flirting!

The retired emperor hasn't passed away yet, but the prime minister has already cheated on him. How can the emperor tolerate this?

It is no exaggeration to say that Liu Tai's impeachment put Zhang Juzheng into a dangerous situation.

At that time, Emperor Wanli was already 14 years old, no longer a child. How would he feel when he saw such an impeachment? Wouldn't it make him look too cowardly if he didn't deal with Zhang Juzheng?

Moreover, the student impeached his teacher with the intention of dying together, which not only made it more credible, but also had a strong implication that even his students could not stand Zhang Juzheng's behavior. Those forces that opposed him, why didn't they quickly attack him?

Fortunately, the little emperor was still a mama's boy, and the tears of Empress Dowager Li made him confused. In addition, he was used to relying on Master Zhang, so he had no time to savor the three flavors. This made Liu Tai's self-sacrificing punch fall in vain.

Although Zhang Juzheng lost all face, he did not panic. After he calmed down, he felt that things were not that simple.

He and his followers, including Li Yihe, pondered the matter carefully and felt more and more that there must be something fishy going on - he had issued an imperial decree to reprimand Liu Tai and recall him to the capital, and the situation was not at all irreversible.

Shouldn't Liu Tai's normal reaction be to quickly ask for forgiveness? Is it necessary for him to perish with me? Even if he did nothing, the ending would be much better than it is now. Liu Tai is not stupid, why would he do such a thing that hurts others and himself?

Mr. Zhang sensed a conspiracy.

After Liu Tai was escorted to the capital and thrown into the imperial prison, Zhang Juzheng decided to go to the Northern Pacification Office to meet him in person.

At this time, Zhang Juzheng had completely restored the demeanor of the Ming Dynasty regent. He did not scold Liu Tai for being ungrateful, nor did he bother to ask him why he treated me like this. He just said calmly, "Eunuch Feng and I have discussed and sentenced you to 100 strokes of the cane in the court and exile to Liaodong."

Liu Tai was immediately frightened. The imperial caning was fine, as it was the medal of the censor. But the latter was worse than killing him! He was tyrannical in Liaodong, and many people hated him. If he fell into their hands, he would definitely be humiliated to death.

Zhang Juzheng changed the subject and said, "But even though you are unjust, I cannot be unkind. As long as you tell me the truth and ask why you betrayed your teacher, I can show you special mercy and let you return home safely."

The journey from Shenyang to the capital was 1,400 miles, covered in ice and snow, and with the "careful care" of the Jinyiwei along the way, Liu Tai had long been tortured to the point of losing his nerve. He knelt down before Zhang Juzheng, crying and saying that he had been deceived.

At first, when he received the imperial edict reprimanding him, he just felt ashamed and angry, and he was too embarrassed to face anyone. All he thought about was how to ask for forgiveness from his teacher after returning to Beijing, saying that he was cheated by Zhang Xueyan and others.

However, at this time, his assistant reminded him that things might not be as simple as he thought, and going to the capital might be like entering a dangerous place.

Liu Tai was surprised and asked why. His aide told him that not long ago, Henan Province Censor Fu Yingzhen had written a memorial attacking the Single Whip Law and insinuating Zhang Xianggong with Wang Anshi, which angered Zhang Juzheng. Zhang Xianggong reported to the young emperor, dismissed Fu Yingzhen and tried to use him to identify the small group in the court that opposed the reform.

Liu Tai happened to be a long-time friend of Fu Yingzhen, and they were both once subordinates of the conservative leader Ge Shouli. This made Liu Tai break out in a cold sweat, thinking that Zhang Xianggong was making a fuss this time because he had identified him as an accomplice of Fu Yingzhen and decided to take ruthless action against him.

In extreme panic, he was instigated by his friend and lost his mind. He decided to go all out and strike first!

Even the bloody memorial was written by that friend behind the scenes...

"Where is your friend now?" Zhang Juzheng wanted to beat this idiot to death. If someone tells you to die, would you go?

"He left without saying goodbye before the Jinyiwei arrived..." Liu Tai cried.

"Where is his home? Does he have any relatives in the capital?" Zhang Juzheng asked.

"He was recommended to me by Fu Yingzhen. Since he was from Liaodong, I used him without much thought... The Jinyiwei went to look for his hometown Tieling, but found that there was no such person." Liu Tai said with a sallow face.

Zhang Juzheng questioned him repeatedly and found that this idiot was indeed being used by someone, so he had to ask Feng Bao to turn the focus of the interrogation back to Fu Yingzhen. However, Fu Yingzhen died in prison. His peers even made a big fuss about this, accusing the East Factory of torturing officials to death, making it very difficult to continue to track down Fu Yingzhen. In the end, the matter had to be left unresolved.

But this incident sounded a wake-up call to Prime Minister Zhang. Especially in the process of dealing with Liu Tai and Fu Yingzhen, many officials who had nothing to do with them wrote to rescue them, and even shouted slogans such as "It is better to have all the ministers who are in charge of the affairs of the court than to have all the ministers who are in charge of the affairs of the court" and "It is more important to protect the country than to protect the country."

This made Zhang Juzheng feel uneasy and unable to sleep at night. He would rather believe that there were big men who coveted his position behind Fu Yingzhen and Liu Tai. Zhang had experienced three dynasties of turbulent and life-and-death struggles, and had seen many such power struggles, and he did not think anyone could win against him.

What he feared was that there was no one behind the scenes directing the matter, and everyone agreed that this was the way things should be done. That would be a huge hassle!

Because that meant that he was standing on the opposite side of the most powerful force in the Ming Dynasty.

It is not Ge Shouli or Gao Gong, and it is not known how much stronger it is than the Shanxi Gang or the Jiangnan Gang - it is the collective will of the civil service group!

This power is hidden, even invisible, but it has a profound impact on the direction of the Ming Dynasty. All behaviors that go against it will be strongly corrected; anyone who dares to challenge it will be ruthlessly wiped out. Even the emperor is no exception...

Although no one has any evidence, when you stand at the pinnacle of power and think you can change the country according to your will, you will clearly feel its existence.

The Zhengde Emperor and the Jiajing Emperor both experienced its power. The former lost his life, and the latter almost lost his life. When it came to the Longqing Emperor, he just lay down to get through it safely...

Now that Emperor Wanli has not yet taken power, it is natural for him, as the regent whose power is greater than that of the emperor, to feel the hostility of this force.

Zhang Juzheng knew exactly why the civil service group was hostile to him and where their will was heading. Because he was once a member of this group, and a factor with great influence, he knew very well what these guys who talked about morality, loyalty to the emperor and patriotism, but were selfish and only considered their own gains and losses wanted.

They hoped that he would give up the reform, end the performance evaluation system, give up the idea of ​​surveying the land throughout the country, and implement the single whip system, because all these would damage their interests and make them very uncomfortable.

But he couldn't give it to them, because in the past two hundred years, they had become more and more comfortable, but the Ming Dynasty and hundreds of millions of people had become more and more uncomfortable! If he wanted to keep the country alive and let the people live a good life, he had to make them uncomfortable!

For this, he would not hesitate to stand against all the civil servants!

But Zhang Juzheng was also a human being. Even though he had the courage to "go forward even if there were tens of thousands of people against him", one can imagine the psychological pressure he was under.

At this time, a white-brown divine turtle appeared in the world, which was a great encouragement to him. It would definitely silence all those who opposed him!

Because his real name is Zhang Baigui...

(End of this chapter)