The ice cart was covered with felt and had a stove with a chimney. The silvery charcoal in the stove burned blue, making the car very warm. Naturally, there was no need to worry about people outside hearing what was going on inside.

Zhao Hao took off his coat, took the wolfberry warming soup handed to him by Zhang Jingxiu, held it in his hands, feeling the hot air on his face, and felt like he was alive again.

Then he asked, "Siwen, what's wrong? Is it my father-in-law or you who wants to see me?"

Zhang Jingxiu turned twenty this year and finally got his own courtesy name, 'Siwen'.

"It was my father." Zhang Jingxiu smiled bitterly and said, "Teacher, you may not know yet, but a few days ago, during the ceremony, Elder Gao and Elder Yin got into a fight, and my father had no choice but to intervene."

"Oh my goodness, this will be recorded in history books!" Zhao Hao took a breath and looked very surprised. But he knew clearly in his heart that the famous "Prime Minister Fight" in history still happened as expected!

"That's right." Zhang Jingxiu sighed and told Zhao Hao what had happened.

Although Zhao Hao had read about this story in dozens of historical documents, biographies, and popular books in his previous life, he had never heard the son of the person involved tell it so vividly...

As mentioned before, this year there were only two Grand Secretaries left in the cabinet, Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng. Then the Minister of Rites Yin Shidan was added to the cabinet.

Yin Shidan was a Shandong man who loved to eat scallions and had a hot temper. As soon as he entered the cabinet, he did not get along well with Gao Gong.

Of course, they have both reached the level of prime ministers, and personality incompatibility has never been the real reason for not getting along, it is just an excuse. It is exactly the same as the divorce of celebrities in later generations.

There are only two types of conflicts in the officialdom that are truly irreconcilable: one is blocking someone's financial path, and the other is ruining someone's future. Sometimes these two are the same thing, but not always. For example, Gao Gong and Yin Shidan were both very honest officials, so the conflict between them was that Gao Gong hindered Yin Shidan's progress.

Yin Shidan was a Jinshi in the 26th year of Jiajing. He and Zhang Juzheng were selected as Shujishi together. Later, they served as lecturers for Prince Yu together. At that time, there were four lecturers in Prince Yu's palace, including Gao Gong and Chen Yiqin. These four had been in the palace for many years, conscientiously assisting Prince Yu. When the prince became His Majesty, it was natural for them to become prosperous.

Gao Gong entered the cabinet in the 45th year of Jiajing's reign. In the first year of Longqing's reign, Chen Yiqin and Zhang Juzheng also entered the cabinet one after another.

Of the four lecturers in the palace, only Yin Shidan was left waiting for his chance. He felt that he had the same qualifications as Zhang Juzheng, so he would definitely be the next one.

Unexpectedly, he waited and waited for three years but it was still not his turn, and Zhao Zhenji even cut in line.

Later, Chen, Zhao, and Li retired one after another, leaving only Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng in the cabinet. Chen Yiqin thought, if you don't want to see the monk's face, then see the Buddha's face. Now it should be my turn, right?

Unexpectedly, Gao Gong still did not want to consider this old colleague in the palace, because he had reinstated Zhang Siwei as the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel in the spring, and was planning to make further efforts to let Xiao Wei join the cabinet to fulfill his promise to Yang Bo.

If Old Yang hadn't taken the initiative to give up his position, how could he have become the Minister of Personnel? If Old Yang hadn't taken the initiative to manage the Ministry of War, how could he have been in charge of the Ministry of Personnel as the chief assistant? Old Xier has achieved this, if he doesn't return the favor, wouldn't it make his allies feel disappointed?

He also needed the power of the Shanxi Gang to suppress the merger of the Jiangnan Gang and the Huguang Gang.

Yin Shidan finally couldn't sit still when he learned about this. He knew that he would have to wait until he retired to wait for Gao Ge Lao's arrangement. So he bribed the eunuch Meng Chong and asked him to intercede with the emperor on his behalf.

When Meng Chong reminded him, Emperor Longqing remembered that he still had a teacher who had not entered the cabinet. He immediately felt very sorry for Yin Shidan, and immediately summoned Gao Gong, Zhang Juzheng and Yang Bo, asking them to recommend Yin Shidan to the cabinet.

Yin Shidan was determined to enter the cabinet this time. In addition to taking the eunuch route, he also instructed his student, the Supervisory Censor Gao Yongchun, to impeach Zhang Siwei's father for colluding with officials and businessmen, monopolizing salt permits, destroying Kaizhong, and endangering border defense.

Zhang Siwei's family was originally the richest in Shanxi, so there was no way to stop the investigation. In order to prevent the matter from getting out of hand, he had to resign again in exchange for a safe retreat.

Now Gao Gong was at a loss and had to bring Yin Shidan into the cabinet first.

Of course Yin Shidan did not accept his kindness. Instead, he hated him for blocking him for four years!

Gao Gong later learned about Yin Shidan's tricks and was disgusted with this "seemingly honest, gentle and treacherous" guy, so he asked his number one lackey, Han Ji, the Minister of Personnel, to impeach Yin Shidan for colluding with eunuchs.

Han Ji felt a headache, because Gao Gong had also done such a thing as colluding with eunuchs! If it weren't for Shao Da Xia who helped him get in touch with Chen Hong, he might still be fishing in Gaojiazhuang now!

So Han Ji decided to scare Lord Yin first and spread the word that he should retire voluntarily, otherwise he would make him pay the consequences!

Yin Shidan became furious upon hearing the news.

Oh, before I joined the cabinet, you bullied me, that was fine! Now I am also a Grand Secretary, you still bully me? Then I am a Grand Secretary for nothing?

Han Ji was too arrogant and forgot the principle that a scholar could be killed but not humiliated. So Yin Shidan decided not to be a university scholar, but to teach this master and servant a lesson!

It just so happened that the Cabinet and the six departments would meet once a month on the first and fifteenth day of each month. That is, on the first and fifteenth day of each month, the six departments would go to Wenyuan Pavilion together to pay respect to the Grand Secretary and exchange government affairs.

Yin Shidan decided to confront him head-on at the meeting on the 15th day of the 12th month! Shandong men are strong-willed!

So on the day of the meeting, Han Ji and his attendants had just finished paying respects to the three grand secretaries when Yin Shidan started to scold him, "I heard that Chief Han is very dissatisfied with me and threatened to make me suffer! It doesn't matter what you want to do, but don't forget, you are the attendant of the court, not the dog of some minister!"

In the meeting hall on the second floor of Wenyuan Pavilion, one could hear a pin drop. Everyone opened their mouths wide, including Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng.

Everyone knew that Yin Shidan had a bad temper, but I didn't expect him to be even more aggressive than Zhao Zhenji! At first, Zhao Ge Lao was able to maintain his decency and never got angry in front of him. But Yin Ge Lao directly beat the dog and bullied his master in front of Gao Gong!

How could Han Ji, a seventh-rank section chief, argue with a first-rank official on the spot? And Yin's words were too direct, so he couldn't say anything back. Because no matter how he answered, it would be embarrassing... He couldn't help but blush and couldn't speak for a while.

Zhang Juzheng was thinking that this was not good, and was just about to smooth things over. He did not want to see Yin Shidan self-destruct. Firstly, they were classmates, and secondly, with Yin Ge Lao in the cabinet, his life would be much more comfortable, at least he would not be scolded by Gao Gong all day long... Ever since Zhao Hao escaped, he had suffered a lot for his future son-in-law, and was squeezed by Gao Huzi all day long.

Unexpectedly, Gao Gong suddenly slammed the table and stood up. He roared at Yin Shidan: "Is this reasonable? Is this reasonable? Lord Yin, are you threatening the Ministry of Personnel? How disgraceful!"

Bu Gu's beard fluttered without any wind. Well, he confessed without being asked. He clearly admitted that he was the one who instructed Han Ji...

Now the thunder in heaven has set off a fire on earth, and no one can suppress it.

Sure enough, Yin Shidan's face immediately turned red, and he also slammed the table and stood up, pointing at Gao Gong's nose and scolding: "You still know how to behave? Do you still have shame? You drove out Chen Gelao, Zhao Gelao, and Li Shoufu, and now you are going to drive me out. You are the biggest shame of the cabinet and the most shameless person in the court!"

"How dare you scold me?" Gao Gong's face turned pale. He never thought that someone would dare to insult him in public today! The old man was so angry that his liver was shaking...

"Not only do I dare to scold you, I will also beat you up!" Yin Shidan knew before he came that once the arrow is shot, there is no turning back, and his position as a university scholar will end today. Of course, he has to get his money's worth!

As he said this, amid the exclamations of the others, he grabbed Gao Gong by the collar!

Although Gao Gong always seemed to be invincible, he was completely helpless against Yin Shidan, a Shandong man who was ten years younger than him and 1.8 meters tall. He was immediately pulled back and staggered.

"Let Yuan Fu go!"

"You are courting death, Yin Shidan!" The officials shouted in shock, but no one dared to intervene. It was quite similar to the officials who only watched the excitement when Jing Ke assassinated the King of Qin.

What does it mean to be a good-for-nothing scholar? This is what it means to be a good-for-nothing scholar!

But Yin Shidan had already given it his all, and the more they shouted, the more excited he became!

"I'm going to beat you to death, you old bastard!" Yin Shidan grabbed Gao Gong's collar with one hand and swung his palm with the other hand, ready to slap him.

Gao Gong was stunned, his eyes wide open in disbelief, wondering how it felt to be slapped.

Unexpectedly, at the critical moment, Yin Shidan was stopped by Zhang Juzheng.

In fact, Bu Gu really wanted to watch the fun, but who was he? He figured out the pros and cons in a flash!

Yin Shidan couldn't kill or injure Gao Gong, so he could only vent his anger, but it wouldn't shake Gao Gong's position as the Prime Minister. When Gao Gong recalled this humiliating moment, he would think that he deliberately stood by and watched, wanting to see him make a fool of himself. Then he wouldn't be able to explain himself...

Zhang Juzheng was three years younger than Yin Shidan, and was born into a military family. He had practiced martial arts since childhood. He was tall, had long arms, and was agile. This was why he was able to arrive later but be the first to hug Yin Shidan's arm.

"You can't hit Yuanfu, Zhengfu!"

"Zhang Taiyue, you are not a good person either. I will settle the score with you after I kill Gao Huzi!" Yin Shidan struggled hard and wrestled with Zhang Juzheng.

"What are you standing there for? Come on!" Gao Gong finally came to his senses and roared at the group of officials, "Pin down this lunatic!"

The officials rushed forward and pinned Yin Ge Lao to the ground. Zhang Juzheng stood up with the help of an official, panting. Alas, his physical strength was not as good as before, he was weak...

~~

In the carriage.

Zhang Jingxiu finished his story and said, "After this scandal, both Gao and Yin submitted their resignations. The emperor was not surprised and kept Gao and released Yin with money. He has not kept him for years..."

"Yeah." Zhao Hao sighed, "It turns out that I really didn't hit it in one go. This wave is a big loss."

"He did succeed," Zhang Jingxiu said with a strange expression, "but he didn't hit Elder Gao..."

"Yes...father-in-law?" Zhao Hao opened his mouth wide. This was something he did not expect.

"Yes." Zhang Jingxiu nodded and said, "Before I came here, my father had dark circles under his eyes."

Zhao Hao couldn't help but secretly praise, his idol is worthy of being an idol, even if he was beaten he is still a national treasure!

He quickly said with a distressed look on his face: "It's so sad, is my father-in-law okay?"

"My father is fine. He said he didn't lose anything this time. He can just rest at home for a few days." Zhang Jingxiu lowered his voice and said, "The one who lost the most this time was Gao Ge Lao. He forced the Grand Secretary, who used to be a lecturer at the Yu Residence, to beat him up. This is in itself very disgraceful. In addition, the words of Yin Ge Lao accusing him have spread. Gao Ge Lao has completely lost face this time and urgently needs to regain his face!"

"Me?" Zhao Hao pointed at himself.