The twenty-second day of the leap February is a rare day for early court attendance.

The last time officials attended court was the New Year's Day court session, and they have not been able to see the emperor since then.

It was said that the emperor was ill, but the officials had become accustomed to the emperor's long-term slacking off. Some even wrote letters to persuade His Majesty to be honest and diligent, and not to curse himself all the time, saying that it was not good...

However, in February, there were some bad rumors in the palace. It was said that the emperor was indeed ill. He had sores on his body since the end of the first month, and they were not healing. There was also news from the Imperial Hospital that the hospital officials took turns to go to the Qianqing Palace, and all the imperial doctors were ordered to keep silent... Not being allowed to talk nonsense just showed how serious the situation was.

So all the officials came to pay their respects and inquire about the emperor's condition. For a time, people in the capital were in unrest, and people on the streets were talking about the emperor's condition.

Fortunately, Emperor Longqing's health improved a few days ago, and he accepted the request of Lord Gao and went out of the court today to attend government affairs in order to reassure the people.

As soon as this news came out, the slightly depressing atmosphere in the capital city eased.

Today was a sunny and beautiful spring day, and the ministers all came to the palace gate early, waiting happily to see the emperor, and then go back to attend the tea parties held by various departments.

There are still five days until Grain Rain. By this time, various government offices have already received the first batch of spring tea sent from the localities. According to the custom, they hold tea parties to taste and compare famous teas from various places and show off their elegance.

Of course, with Prime Minister Gao in power, how could he possibly let these corrupt officials feel comfortable?

The most concerning issue for officials in Beijing now is... At the beginning of this month, the Ministry of Personnel requested that in the future, when officials from the two capitals are sent out to other places, if they ask for leave due to illness, they will all be allowed to retire and will not be allowed to be re-employed after recovery. If anyone evades this, they will be demoted and replaced, and those who dare to disobey will be expelled and made idle.

As for officials outside the capital who claim to be sick and ask for leave, their request must be urgent before it can be approved. Moreover, the recommendation of officials who have recovered from illness must be examined and decided by the governor, and no one may make an arbitrary recommendation out of favoritism.

The emperor naturally approved the request.

This is a matter of life and death. You know, although Ming officials did not have many holidays, their lives were the most comfortable in all dynasties.

Because the civil service group is the real ruler of the country, how could they treat themselves badly? They can't give themselves more holidays in a big way, as that would have a bad impact. So they use leave to seek benefits for themselves.

They were very aggressive in asking for leave. One said they wanted to take care of their mother, so they could go home for two years; another said they were not in good health, so they could go home for a few more years. When they had enough fun at home and were ready to move, they could cancel their leave and return to work as officials.

In addition to being able to justify slacking off, this leave system was also used flexibly by officials to avoid unfavorable appointments. For example, unless they were appointed as frontier officials, officials in Beijing were unwilling to be sent out, which was exactly the opposite of Dai Qing.

But there were so many local official posts that someone had to take them up. So when an unsatisfactory appointment came down, officials would suddenly fall ill, either with sudden eye disease or vertigo, and in short, they could not take care of themselves, and naturally could not perform their duties.

The court had no choice but to let them go home and travel around for a few years. What do you think? Well! So when there was a good opportunity, they were recommended by their classmates and came out to serve as officials...

Over the years, "leave benefits" became a common practice in the Ming Dynasty officialdom, so that officials who had never taken leave felt that they were at a disadvantage. Even Mr. Zhang took sick leave and went home to play for three years.

Even someone as shameless as Zhang Siwei, who even took longer leave than when he was working, did not hinder his progress.

The imperial court was not unaware of this huge loophole, but once the unspoken rules of officialdom were formed, they could not be easily changed. For this reason, during the Chenghua period, it was stipulated that if an official was ill and did not return to work for three months, his salary would be suspended and he could only receive his salary after returning to work.

But who would want to live on that little salary? Wouldn't it be nice to exploit the people? So it didn't have much killing power. During the Zheng, Jia and Long reigns, the emperors became lazier and lazier, and officials followed suit, so they took their vacations without restraint.

But Gao Gong's move put an end to their good days. Gao Gong not only blocked their way of avoiding being sent out by pretending to be sick, but also made it much more difficult for them to recover after taking sick leave.

The officials naturally complained, but Gao Gong was very angry this year, and no one dared to offend him. They could only greet his mother in private, and they dared not be too loud, otherwise the Paw Patrol would hear it and cause another disaster.

~~

At this time, Gao Ge Lao, who was greeted by officials for his mother, was walking out of the cabinet while talking to Zhang Juzheng. Gao Ge Lao was a workaholic and often worked overtime all night, so Zhang Xianggong had to stay with him in the cabinet overnight. He could not go home for several days and was very depressed.

"What a nice day!" Gao Gong stretched himself lazily in a good mood. Emperor Longqing regarded him as his father, and he also regarded Longqing as his own son. The emperor's recovery made him feel relieved. He showed his goodwill to Zhang Juzheng and said, "Later, you will report the good news from Guangdong."

The day before yesterday, Guangdong sent an urgent message eight hundred miles away. The Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, Yin Zhengmao, assembled his elite troops, broke the routine and launched an offensive against the troops of Lan Yiqing and Lai Yuanjue who were entrenched in Chaozhou and Huizhou.

Yin Zhengmao faithfully implemented Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng's "strictly enforce the orders of the generals, mobilize more soldiers, eliminate major events, kill the bandits when you see them, and don't ask whether they are loyal or not". He attacked Huanglong with a thunderous force, destroyed the rebels' lair, and captured the bandit leaders Lan Yiqing and Lai Yuanjue in one fell swoop! Although it is still difficult to eliminate the remaining bandits, the overall situation has been determined. It is only a matter of time before Guangdong and Guangxi are completely pacified by land and sea.

"It's all because of the Prime Minister's good use of people. I didn't do anything." Zhang Juzheng was half a body behind Gao Gong and hurriedly said, "Let the Prime Minister speak."

Although he was in charge of military affairs, he had been paying close attention to Yin Zhengmao's suppression of the rebellion, and had taken huge political risks, and had determined the brutal suppression policy of "killing the thief on sight"...

"Hey, since you are the one who reports it, it doesn't count as my achievement? Just tell me!" Gao Gong laughed loudly. With his current status, he no longer bothered to compete for credit with his subordinates.

"Yes." Zhang Juzheng responded respectfully. After the beginning of the new year, he became more respectful to Gao Gong and regarded himself as a subordinate.

Gao Gong was very satisfied with his attitude, so he was not in a hurry to bring Gao Yi into the cabinet, and temporarily maintained the current duo.

"Your son-in-law hasn't returned to Beijing yet." But Gao Gong never kept his secrets, and he brought up the thorn in his heart again and said, "Is he hiding from me again?"

"How could this happen..." Zhang Juzheng looked ahead helplessly, thinking it was happening again, and it would never end...

"I have let him get away with it for several months. Now the wedding is over. If he doesn't come back, he will miss out again this year!" Gao Gong became more and more angry as he spoke, "He really doesn't take me seriously!"

Gao Gong cursed a lot, but he didn't hear Zhang Juzheng's response. He couldn't help but get even more angry and said, "You are like this when it comes to him. You treat your son-in-law more like your own son! What about you? Are you mute?!"

He glared at Zhang Juzheng fiercely, only to see that Prime Minister Zhang was staring straight ahead with a look of confusion on his face.

"What's wrong?" Gao Gong followed his gaze and was also stunned.

I saw that Emperor Longqing's carriage had already left the Huangji Gate and was stopped on the Imperial Road.

When the emperor was holding court, his golden platform and tent only needed to go to the front of the Huangji Gate and would never go to the Huiji Gate.

"The emperor is not ascending the throne at Huangji Gate, why is he running here?" Gao Gong looked carefully and vaguely saw that Emperor Longqing had already got off the carriage and was standing beside the imperial road pointing and talking, while Meng Chong and other attendants were kneeling on the ground around him.

"Who made His Majesty so angry?" Seeing that the emperor seemed to be angry at someone, Gao Ge Lao couldn't help but get angry. "Don't you know that the dragon's body has just recovered?"

Zhang Juzheng shook his head and said, "Hurry up and go to welcome the emperor."

"Yes." The two university scholars straightened their court robes, left behind all the servants, and walked quickly towards the imperial road.

At this time, several eunuchs accompanying the emperor also came running in small steps. When they saw the two men, they hurriedly called out, "Hurry up, two ministers, the emperor wants to see you!"

"What happened?" Gao Gong asked in a low voice as he quickened his pace.

The eunuch accompanying the emperor hesitated and said, "You will understand when you get older."

After the two grand secretaries came before the emperor, Longqing's expression eased a little. He stepped forward and grabbed the collar of Gao Gong, who was about to kowtow, like a child who wanted to confide in his father, but was unable to speak for a moment.

Gao Gong was grabbed by his collar and could not kneel down, so he had to bow and ask, "Excuse me, where is the emperor going? And why are you angry?"

"Yeah, where are we going?" Long Qing suddenly said sadly, "I don't know where to go either."

"Your Majesty is about to go to court. We can talk later if you have anything to say." Gao Gong said anxiously. At this time, the Jingyang bell rang, the palace gates were opened, and all the officials had entered the office.

"No, I won't go to court. Those ministers are waiting to laugh at me." Longqing shook his head firmly.

"Then let's go back to the Qianqing Palace first." Gao Gong saw that the emperor was in such a state that he was indeed not suitable for attending court, so he changed his words.

"No, I will not go back to the palace." His face turned pale, as if there was a scary ghost in the palace.

"If the emperor doesn't attend court and doesn't return to the palace, then where is he going?" Gao Gong couldn't help but said distressedly: "I hope the emperor will return to the palace."

Seeing that Longqing had fallen silent, Gao Gong quickly gave a look to Zhang Juzheng. Zhang Juzheng got the message and stood up and ran to the Meridian Gate to stop the officials from attending the court, so that they would not see the emperor's abnormal behavior. Otherwise, rumors would spread in the capital again.

After a while, Long Qingfang whispered: "I'm going back to Qinghe County..."

"Huh?" Gao Gong was stunned.

Meng Chong, who was kneeling on the ground, hurriedly reminded in a low voice: "The one in the orchard behind."

"Well, okay..." Gao Gong had no choice but to nod. Now the emperor could go wherever he wanted, as long as he could calm down.

"You send me off." Longqing looked at Gao Gong with pity.

"I'll see His Majesty off." Gao Gong held back his tears and nodded.

Only then did Longqing loosen the right collar of his court robe, but held his hand tightly.

At this time, the sleeves of the dragon robe were pulled back, revealing the emperor's pale arms, with dark red wounds on them that were shocking...

"Hiss..." Gao Gong couldn't help but gasp.

"In fact, my illness has not been cured. The sore just refuses to scab over. What can I do?" Long Qing smiled bitterly.

ps. Post first and modify later.