When Prime Minister Zhang was furious, the sky and the earth changed color.

The next day, Imperial Censor Wang Daocheng and Censor Xie Siqi submitted a memorial to impeach the Minister of Personnel Zhang Han for being incompetent and old and unable to handle the heavy responsibility.

Soon the emperor issued an edict, ordering the Minister of Personnel Zhang Han to retire, and recommended Zhao Jin, the Left Vice Minister of Personnel, to act as the minister.

However, Zhao Jin refused to take over, saying that he and Zhang Han agreed that they should allow Yuan Fu to mourn in order to preserve his reputation.

Wanli was naturally very angry, but he did not let Zhao Jin go with him.

At this time, it is clear who has the stronger relationship. Zhao Shixi, the second son of Zhao Jin, is one of the emperor's closest guards.

More importantly, his younger brother Zhao Hao is the source of happiness for the emperor. It is only thanks to Master Zhao's continuous supply of new monthly episodes and year-end New Year's films that Wanli can survive the joint invasion of his mother, his teacher, and the dead eunuchs.

So Wanli only fined Zhao Jin three months' salary...

But the fact that the Minister of Personnel, who was "disrespectful to all other officials", was dismissed from office simply because he was unwilling to agree to retain the Prime Minister was enough to cause an uproar in the court and the country.

However, it seemed to have achieved the effect of killing the chicken to scare the monkey, and memorials requesting that Prime Minister Zhang be retained flew to the Ministry of Public Security like snowflakes.

However, in the officialdom, especially among the young officials, there was a sense of injustice, believing that this was the result of oppression by power. However, due to the strict prevention and control of their superiors, they could not vent their anger for the time being.

~~

Naturally, the anger of the young officials could not reach Dashamao Hutong.

At this moment, there was a burst of excited voices in Mr. Zhang's study.

"Grand Master Ma Ziqiang, lead the Ministry of Rites to ask you to keep Yuanfu!"

"Grand Marshal Wang Chonggu, lead the Ministry of War and ask Yuanfu to stay!"

"Grand Minister Wang Guoguang, please lead the Ministry of Revenue to keep Yuan Fu!"

"Grand Marshal Guo Chaobin, please stay as the Minister of Industry!"

"Grand Minister of Justice Liu Yingjie, lead the Ministry of Justice to ask you to keep Yuan Fu!"

"Grand Chief Justice Chen Zan, leading the Censorate, asks you to keep Yuanfu!"

Li Yihe, Wang Zhuan, Zeng Shengwu and others read the memorial to retain Zhang Xianggong in an excited tone, sweeping away the haze that Zhang Han had brought before.

Mr. Zhang's face was finally not so gloomy and scary anymore, and he filled a pipe of tobacco with ease.

Zhao Hao quickly lit it for his father-in-law. Zhang Juzheng took a sip with enjoyment and said calmly, "It seems that northerners are still reliable."

"Yes, I am so ashamed..." Zhao Hao was so sad that he was about to cry.

Among the seven ministers, except for Zhang Han who was killed, all of them were from the north. Wang Chonggu and Wang Guoguang were from Shanxi, Ma Ziqiang was from Shaanxi, Guo Chaobin and Liu Yingjie were from Shandong, and Chen Zan was from Hejian Prefecture in Northern Zhili.

Obviously, the Jiangnan Clan was not as developed as during the Longqing Dynasty in terms of high-ranking officials. However, there were no people from Huguang among the Seven Ministers, and the Jiangnan Clan at least occupied the Ministry of Personnel. Although it was useless, it could not be said that Prime Minister Zhang suppressed the people from Jiangnan.

In fact, Zhang Juzheng was deliberately suppressing the Jiangnan Gang from reaching the top level. Otherwise, with their huge numbers, they would soon form a numerical advantage in court discussions, which was absolutely unacceptable to Prime Minister Zhang.

Although they are allies, in terms of power, even a son-in-law is useless, let alone a biological son. In order to balance, he also made peace with the Shanxi Gang...

In the past few days, Mr. Zhang has been thinking about it and felt that the reason why Zhang Han turned against the Jiangnan Gang was because the Jiangnan Gang was resentful of his suppression.

The loving father sat on the armchair, smoking a pipe. The autumn sun shone through the glass window, making the curling green smoke look like silk. Looking at his son-in-law, who had lost a lot of weight and had a scruffy beard, he felt soft in his heart and thought to himself, "I hope Zhao Hao can convey my warning to the Jiangnan Gang. If they fall out at this time, it will give them an opportunity to take advantage of us..."

"Husband, husband..." Li Yihe called out several times before Zhang Juzheng came back to his senses.

"Um?"

"The emperor has tried to persuade you to stay three times, and all the officials have also petitioned to keep you." Li Yihe hurriedly repeated, "It's time to show your hand."

"Yes." Zhang Juzheng nodded slowly, opened the drawer, took out a written memorial, handed it to Li Yihe and said, "Take a look."

Li Yihe and others gathered together to read it carefully. Zhao Hao also leaned over to read it with them. They saw that the title was very difficult to understand. It was called "A Petition to Temporarily Comply with the Imperial Edict and Resign My Salary to Observe the Mourning Period and to Return Home for Burial in Advance."

Looking at the content of the memorial, it is also very shameless.

The general idea is, "The ministers in the court came to my house one after another, blaming me for the principle of monarchy and ministership. They said that I should not take advantage of the special favor and should not disobey the monarch's orders. Since I have taken on the responsibility of the country, I should not only care about my own family affairs."

"I have been lying on bricks and straw mats reflecting for days, feeling both moved and frightened. I am planning to submit another petition to ask for repatriation, but I am afraid that I will displease Your Majesty again. Moreover, Your Majesty's wedding is approaching, and there is no greater national ceremony than this. If I leave and cannot help, how can I feel at ease?"

"So I dare not ask for mourning again, and I will strictly follow the emperor's previous order. After the 79th day, I will not go to court, but go to the cabinet to do business and accompany the emperor in lectures."

In addition, Mr. Zhang also proposed five conditions for seizing the love:

First, no salary will be received for 27 months;

Second, do not attend any sacrificial ceremonies;

Thirdly, when I am in the service of the emperor and am doing work in the cabinet, please allow me to continue to wear the blue robe and the corner belt, and not the auspicious dress;

Fourth, the memorials should be accompanied by the title, and the words "keeping the system" should be added;

Fifth, I will still be allowed to ask for leave next year to bury my father, and then bring my mother to Beijing together.

After reading Zhang Juzheng's memorial, everyone praised him, saying that he was worthy of being the prime minister and was so thoughtful!

"My husband's proposal of 'resigning from salary and observing mourning' takes into account both justice and human feelings. Who says that loyalty and filial piety cannot be achieved at the same time?" Li Yihe picked up the teapot with a smile and took a sip.

In his opinion, the matter of Yuan Fu's love affair was settled.

Amid the admiration, Zhao Hao's voice was heard.

"Father-in-law, according to observations from the Purple Mountain Observatory, a large comet will approach the Earth on the fifth day of this month!"

"Ah?" Zhang Juzheng was stunned and asked hurriedly, "How big is it?"

"It's super big, stretching across the sky, shocking the world!" Zhao Hao's decisive tone left no doubt about the accuracy of his forecast.

First, scientists have accurately predicted several solar and lunar eclipses in succession, and second, Master Zhao can even predict earthquakes.

The optimistic atmosphere just now disappeared instantly, and the atmosphere in the study became depressing...

That is a comet, also called a broom star. Because it is difficult to predict when it will appear in the sky, it is also considered an evil star.

It has been regarded as a bad omen since ancient times.

The Ganshi Star Classic says: "Sweeping stars are caused by adverse qi."

Dong Zhongshu believed that: "A comet is a very bad aura." The so-called comet is a comet that is obscured by something and appears dark and chaotic.

Liu Xiang believed that comets were the manifestation of treacherous ministers and the usurpation of power. If the ruler and his ministers were in disarray and the government was ineffective, then comets would appear...

Today is already the first day of October. If Mr. Zhang hands over this letter of consent to the love-taking now, and the comet comes in two days, what the hell!

If it was really the kind of super comet that shocked the world as Zhao Hao said, everyone would probably turn against them. Then they would all accuse Zhang Xianggong of being the traitor foretold by the comet! It was he who violated the laws of nature and brought disaster to the Ming Dynasty!

That scene makes me shudder just thinking about it...

"So what if there's a big comet?" Wang Zhuan said unconvincedly, "The Zuo Zhuan also says, 'Comets in the sky are for the purpose of removing and moving things.' So comets also indicate 'getting rid of the old and bringing in the new.' I think it means your reform will be a great success!"

"You haven't studied hard enough." Zhang Juzheng shook his head slowly and said, "In the Zuo Zhuan, there are two prophecies made by observing comets. One predicts the death of princes, and the other predicts a fire. Especially in the fourteenth year of Duke Wen, 'a comet entered the Big Dipper'. Later, the three kingdoms of Song, Qi, and Jin all killed their kings. If you dare to use the Zuo Zhuan to make a statement, those learned scholars in the Hanlin Academy will beat you to death."

"Sir, natural disasters are nothing to be afraid of, and people's words are nothing to be worried about..." Li Yihe was so anxious that he spoke without thinking.

"Don't talk nonsense!" Zhang Juzheng pointed his pipe at him and shouted, "Do you want to make the same mistake as Wang Wengong of Bugu?!"

"Look at my mouth..." Li Yihe was horrified and slapped his mouth hard. He then remembered that Mr. Zhang was superstitious...

Even if he didn't believe in superstition in his heart, he would have to believe in it now. The divine tortoise that Zhang Xianggong presented half a year ago is still leisurely in the West Garden!

"Young Lord, aren't you the one who rejects the theory of the connection between heaven and man?" Wang Zhuan narrowed his eyes and stared at Zhao Hao.

"Of course I don't believe that. I've talked about the causes of comets in my Astronomy." Zhao Hao spread his hands and asked, "But the question is, don't you believe it? Don't people outside believe it either?"

"This..." Everyone was speechless. Yes, although science has been around for ten years, the vast majority of people are still loyal believers in the theory of the interaction between heaven and man.

Zhao Hao asked again in a cold voice: "Or does Lord Wang mean that I should keep it secret until my father-in-law submits the petition?"

"No, no, I definitely don't mean that!" Wang Zhuan quickly waved his hands to deny it. In fact, he just had this thought in his mind.

Because once Zhang Xianggong submitted the memorial, it would be irreversible, and the overall situation would be decided. The status of these important members of Zhang's party... oh no, the reform would be completely preserved.

But if that happens, Mr. Zhang’s reputation will probably increase tenfold or a hundredfold…

"Alright!" Zhang Juzheng shouted angrily, stopping their quarrel, and knocked on the table with his pipe, saying, "Get out!"

Zhao Hao, Li Yihe, Wang Zhuan and others hurried out in shame.

Zhang Juzheng panted heavily, watching the sparks from his pipe fall on the satin-covered "Petition to Temporarily Obey the Imperial Order to Resign and Observe the Decline and Allow to Return for Burial", turning into ugly black spots and a burning smell...

But Zhang Xianggong ignored it, because this memorial could not be submitted, at least not now...

Unless he is crazy, he would bring disaster upon himself at this critical moment.

He was just blinded by his desire for power and the people around him, but he was not crazy.

"Heaven, since you have bestowed the divine tortoise with good fortune, why did you send down a great comet?" Zhang Juzheng was filled with great resentment and fell into a state of impotent rage for the first time. He also began to doubt himself.

"Could it be that Bu Gu's behavior really angered the heavens?"