"What are the duties of the Prime Minister?" Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng looked at each other, and said, smoothing their beards, "It's nothing more than assisting the king, managing all officials, governing the country, and regulating yin and yang."

"Mr. Xuan is talking about the duties of the prime minister, not the chief minister." Li Chunfang shook his head and smiled, "Our cabinet ministers are not prime ministers, nor are they chancellors. Since Taizu abolished the Secretariat and the prime minister in the Ming Dynasty, there has been no prime minister."

"That's true in principle, but everyone knows what's going on in reality." Gao Gong raised his eyebrows and said with impatience, "The cabinet is the prime minister, it's just a title. Those university scholars who use this to deny that they are prime ministers are just trying to shirk their responsibilities."

"Uh, haha..." Li Chunfang felt awkward after hearing that, smiled bitterly and shook his head, saying, "Mr. Xuan is really ruthless. But I'm not trying to defend myself, I just want to remind you that we are not legitimate prime ministers. We just draft edicts for the emperor, approve memorials, and negotiate government affairs. To put it bluntly, our power comes from the emperor, not the official position itself. This determines that what we can do is much less than a real prime minister."

"Thunder and rain are all the emperor's grace. Whose power doesn't come from the emperor?" Gao Gong didn't like what he heard, but he couldn't refute it. "It doesn't matter if it's a black cat or a yellow cat. As long as it can catch mice, it's a good cat."

"It's still different." Li Chunfang still shook his head. He knew it would be very difficult to convince Gao Gong, a stubborn man, but if he didn't say these words today, he would never have the chance to say them again. Even if it was to reduce his historical responsibility, he had to speak to himself:

"For example, the prime minister can issue decrees in the name of the Secretariat, the Political Affairs Hall, or even the Prime Minister's Office. 'Power and responsibility are one's own responsibility', that's what 'forge ahead with determination and not shy away from the axe'. The cabinet's duty is to draft edicts for the emperor, and everything is done in the name of the emperor. It goes without saying that the success is the result of the emperor's efforts. But if things go wrong and cause public resentment, even if we take the initiative to take the blame, the final responsibility still belongs to the emperor."

He sighed deeply and said, "Whenever I think of this, how can I not be trembling with fear and treading on thin ice? I have to be extremely cautious with every step I take, fearing that your Excellency will be blamed for no reason."

"I'll take note of what Yuan Weng said." Although Gao Gong felt that he was trying to distance himself from the truth, he was still somewhat touched. Because of the Emperor Longqing's trust, he really didn't care much about this aspect. "I will pay more attention in the future and not bring discredit to the Emperor."

"Mr. Xuan is really quick to accept advice." Li Chunfang personally poured him a glass of wine and said, "In fact, as long as we control the flow of people, it will be almost done. It doesn't matter if the people below say a few words. As long as these people don't bluff, we can explain it to everyone."

"I think so too." Gao Gong glanced at Zhang Juzheng again, thinking that the drama was about to begin. He said coldly, "So this time we must thoroughly investigate the imperial examinations, thoroughly eliminate the bad apples, and severely punish the evil tendencies of the censors."

He grinned and said, "I am handling this matter as the Minister of Personnel, so it can't be considered as putting the blame on my superiors, right?"

"It doesn't count, but you have to be careful. Killing a chicken to scare the monkeys is necessary. Killing them all will only lead to greater resentment." Li Chunfang had to smile bitterly and said, "The inspection is jointly conducted by the Censorate and the Ministry of Personnel. You have too many people, and Lord Zhao will not agree."

"He doesn't agree?" Gao Gong raised his lips, picked up the wine cup and drank it all, saying: "Then get out with them!"

With a snap, the lamp sparked and Li Chunfang and Zhang Juzheng's eyelids jumped suddenly.

Although everyone knew that Gao Gong was going to take action against Zhao Zhenji, he was so brazen in saying it that even Bu Gu felt it was too arrogant... That was the Prince's Grand Tutor, the Grand Secretary of Wenyuan Pavilion who was on an equal footing with him and was in charge of the Censorate!

Although no one doubted that Gao Gong had this ability, he couldn't have been so open about it. Did he think of himself as the emperor?

Zhang Juzheng picked up a piece of boiled dried bean curd with chopsticks and slowly chewed it with his head down. He thought, it's true, Gao Huzi is the emperor's favorite, he is strong without desire, if it were him, he would have nothing to fear. It's just that he wouldn't be as noisy and arrogant as him.

Seeing the shock on Li Chunfang's face, Gao Gong realized that he had said something wrong, so he laughed dryly and said, "The reason why I don't get along with him is not because of personal grudges, but because he is preventing me from making a fresh start."

"Has Mr. Xuan ever thought that maybe he is obstructing your reform out of personal grudge?" Li Chunfang seized the key point and asked in return.

"This..." Gao Gong's expression darkened as he said, "The state affairs of the Ming Dynasty have reached a point where they are in a mess and must be changed. I don't care who he is or what his reasons are. He cannot oppose the reform! If he tries to stop a chariot with his arms, he will be ruthlessly crushed!"

"Can reforms be successfully implemented by eliminating all opponents in the cabinet and even the six ministries and replacing them with a group of our own people?" Seeing that he was almost obsessed, Li Chunfang also frowned, and the maids who were serving him were so scared that they quietly retreated to avoid seeing the scene they should not see.

"Even if you can settle all the officials and nobles in the two capitals, there are still officials and gentry in more than 1,400 counties and prefectures in 13 provinces. How can you get all of them to agree? You can't just replace and kill them all, right?"

"Kill one group and replace them with another. Try to win over another group. You can always make them obedient." Gao Gong said in a muffled voice: "Hai Gangfeng implemented the "One Whip Law" in Jiangnan, and it was quite successful."

"It's fine to say this to outsiders, but we all know what's going on with him." Li Chunfang laughed. If it weren't for the support of Zhao Hao and the Jiangnan Group, the gentry in Jiangnan would have rebelled against Hai Rui long ago.

"No matter what you do, reform is nothing more than to reduce the surplus and give to the deficit. Looking at the world, the surplus is these gentry, and if you want to reform, you will affect their interests. There is a saying that taking someone's money is like killing their parents. If you want to kill their mother, they will hate you to death. How can they support you?"

Before leaving, Li Chunfang finally spoke out what she had been holding back for a long time without any hesitation.

"Having said this, I am not afraid to speak bluntly. It is said that our dynasty shares the world with the gentry, the cities are under the control of the court, and the countryside is under the control of the gentry. But how many people are there in the cities of our dynasty? More than 90% of the population is in the countryside, maintained by the gentry and clans. If you damage the interests of these people and fail to gain their support, no matter if you are the reincarnation of Guan Zhong and Wei Yang, you will inevitably end up like a second king!"

"..." Gao Gong found it difficult to refute these words. He was well aware of the people's ills in the Ming Dynasty, so how could he not know that what Li Chunfang said was the truth.

To reform this empire that has been plagued by problems for a century, one must be prepared to suffer disastrous consequences, and the hope of success is slim.

"Some things have to be done by someone." At this time, Zhang Juzheng, who had remained silent, said softly: "If we don't do it, there will be no hope. If we do it, it will always change something. At least we can have a clear conscience."

"What if it gets worse?" Li Chunfang asked him back, "When Wang Wengong carried out the reform, it was also for the good of the Song Dynasty, but the result only brought harsh rule to the people and factional strife to the court. Instead of becoming stronger, the Song Dynasty became weaker, which led to the Jingkang Shame!"

"You must learn from history, the two of you!" He said in an increasingly passionate tone, "The future of the Ming Dynasty is in your hands. You must be responsible for the emperor and the country!"

Why didn't Li Chunfang say these words before? Because he was still in office at that time, and there was a conflict of interest between them, so the other party would definitely not listen. Now that he has retired and there is no longer a competitive relationship between them, the other party may be calm and listen to these harsh but honest advice.

"What Mr. Yuan calls responsibility is doing nothing?" Gao Gong sneered with a heavy heart.

"How can we do nothing to balance yin and yang?" Li Chunfang saw that he was touched, and smiled with great relief, "Compare the Ming Dynasty to a big family, the emperor is the head of the family, and we are the housekeepers. We have to worry about everything, inside and outside. If there is a leak in the house, we have to fix it quickly. If the monthly expenses are tight, we have to find a way to make room. If the master and the mistress quarrel, we have to find a way to reconcile. If the young master gets into trouble outside, we have to pay money to sell his safety... The purpose of everything is to make do with life, and if we can hold on for a few years, we can hand it over to the next housekeeper, and then we can retire with a clear conscience."

"It's true that listening to your words is worth ten years of reading." Then Gao Gong laughed and said, "I finally understand how to be a prime minister. It's just a matter of doing the job."

Li Chunfang's old face turned red, and he tried to defend himself, "That's not shameful. Isn't it a monk's duty to ring the bell? The most pitiful thing is that the bell is broken, and you can't ring it. Then you can't even be a monk!"

"Well, then I would like to ask Master Yuan, if we keep ringing the bell every day, will the bell not break?" Gao Gong frowned and said, "Dripping water can wear away a stone, and a rope can saw through wood, let alone such a big bell pestle and such a broken bell."

"Well... strike it carefully, repair it more, and it will last for a few more years." Li Chunfang hesitated for a moment before answering reluctantly, "In the future, when the bell is so broken that it can no longer be struck, pilgrims will be willing to donate money to have a new bell cast."

"It's more likely that the temple will be destroyed, the monks will die." Gao Gong snorted coldly and said, "As for the pilgrims, they can just burn incense in another temple. There's no need to die with the temple."

Li Chunfang thought that monks could change temples to ring the bell, but that would be too inappropriate and not something he should say out loud. After a moment of silence, he sighed and said, "Each generation should take care of its own affairs. The bell can still be rung, so we will just keep ringing it."

Since they were not on the same page, there was no point in wasting words, so Gao Gong nodded and changed the subject, "I don't know when we will meet again after this departure, Mr. Yuan. If you have anything else to tell me, please tell me."

This is like the conversations with retired cadres in later generations. If you make requests at this time, the leaders will try their best to meet them. If you miss the opportunity, you will miss it forever.

In other words, stop talking about useless things and do something useful for yourself.

Knowing that his earnest words of advice had not played the expected role, Li Chunfang sighed with a little disappointment and said, "Thank you for your concern, Lord Gao, but my son has already received the gift of favor, so I personally have no regrets."

After a pause, he changed the subject and said, "I just want to ask for a favor from the elders of my hometown."

"Please go ahead." Gao Gong nodded.

"I heard from the Grand Tutor the other day that the Lord intends to transport all the grain by sea this year. I hope you will be merciful and leave a way out for the millions of grain workers and the people living along the coast." Li Chunfang left his seat and bowed to Gao Gong.