Seeing that Zhang Juzheng still had feelings for the emperor, Gao Gong thought to himself that he had never thought that this guy still had some conscience. He slowed down his tone and said, "The heavy burden has been on our shoulders recently. It's really too hard. Now we can finally breathe a sigh of relief."

"It's really hard work," Zhang Juzheng said while rubbing his temple with a wry smile, "I have to go to Wenhua Hall every other day, and I have to draft two days' worth of memorials in one day. It's really unbearable."

"Oh? So you can't handle it either?" Gao Gong said, as if smiling, "I thought Mr. Zhang was enjoying it."

"What are you talking about, Mr. Yuan? To be honest, I've been having bouts of dizziness lately. When I was teaching the prince how to use a brush this afternoon, I even wrote one stroke out of line..." Zhang Juzheng suggested, "Mr. Yuan, please submit another memorial requesting that we add more people to the cabinet to help share the burden."

"Oh?" Gao Gong was completely confused and couldn't help but laugh out loud: "Haha, is the sun coming out from over there?"

~~

You know, last month the two of them jointly requested to increase the number of cabinet members. Of course, it was Gao Gong who proposed that time. He remembered that Zhang Juzheng was somewhat reluctant at that time.

Of course, Zhang Xianggong was unwilling to do so, because Gao Gong intended to let Gao Yi join the cabinet to restrain him. But he was powerless, so Zhang Xianggong still signed the letter with his nose pinched.

But what Gao Gong did not expect was that a few days later, the Imperial Household Department issued an imperial edict saying: "You two should work together to assist in the administration, so there is no need to add more people."

Because the emperor was not unconscious at the time, Gao thought that the emperor trusted them and did not want the cabinet to be disturbed again. After all, Gao had a history of being a university scholar, and it seemed that he could not get along with anyone except Zhang Juzheng...

However, Han Ji and others privately told Gao Gong that the people of Jing did not want others to enter the cabinet to restrain him, so they fabricated this edict and gave it to Feng Bao, and then took advantage of the emperor's confusion to approve it.

Gao Gong naturally didn't believe it at first, thinking that Feng Bao was not that bold. But his disciples said that Meng Chong was illiterate, and the other eunuchs who held pens had long been controlled by Feng Bao. Now Meng Chong was always by the emperor's side, and the Silijian became Feng Bao's world.

He also said that their next plan was to instigate the censors to attack him. If there were any more cabinet ministers, it would be inconvenient for them to act. Now there were only two people in the cabinet. Once cabinet minister Gao was impeached, he would have to leave. Then the Jing people could stay in the cabinet alone. At that time, they could collude with Feng Bao inside and outside, and then take advantage of the emperor's confusion to forge an imperial edict to grant gold and release him. Then Gao Huzi would really have no chance.

Gao Gong was frightened and broke out in a cold sweat. Although he did not believe that Zhang Juzheng would dare to risk the emperor's disapproval - wasn't he afraid that the emperor would settle accounts with him after he recovered from his illness? But he still couldn't help but start to be wary of Zhang Juzheng everywhere.

Although no censors came out to impeach him as his disciples had said, Han Ji's words still pierced his heart like a thorn, making him dislike the handsome Zhang more and more.

Therefore, the unsuccessful attempt to bring in cabinet members was the turning point when the relationship between the two completely deteriorated.

Gao Gong did not expect that Zhang Juzheng would take the initiative to bring up this matter.

So Gao Ge Lao made a sarcastic remark and then listened to what he had to say with a sneer.

Upon hearing this, Mr. Zhang was stunned at first, and then his handsome face gradually turned red, clearly expressing a series of emotions such as surprise, realization and grievance.

"What? Did I say something wrong?" Gao Gong asked in confusion.

"No wonder Mr. Yuan has been so distant from me these days." Zhang Juzheng looked aggrieved again and said, "So Mr. Yuan thought that the failure to recruit new members to the cabinet was my fault?!"

Seeing that he was about to cry out of injustice, Gao Gong asked back, "Isn't it?"

"Of course not!" Zhang Juzheng's old face turned red and he said, "This is simply an insult to Bu Gu's integrity and intelligence!"

"What do you mean?" Gao Gong frowned, and the joking look on his face disappeared completely.

"Let me say something cheap. Mr. Yuan, I feel uncomfortable when there are only you and me in the cabinet, okay? I say I am the deputy prime minister, but I actually do the work of a cabinet member. No matter what is going on in the six ministries, the two capitals, or the thirteen provinces, as soon as Mr. Yuan gives an order, I have to investigate, study, communicate, and argue... Not only am I busy all day and night, but if I make a mistake, you will scold me! Mr. Yuan, others don't know these things, but you don't? Do you think I would be willing to live like this? Am I a masochist?! I dream of having someone to share my burdens and bear the prime minister's bad temper for me!"

As he spoke, his body was so excited that it floated in the wind, which gave his words a strong sense of reality.

"That's true." Gao Gong touched himself with some envy, his unkempt beard like steel needles, and said, "It seems that you are very unhappy with my bad temper."

"Yes, Bu Gu doesn't like being scolded." Zhang Xianggong nodded proudly and sniffed. Combined with his current appearance of a bullied young wife, the taste was too perfect.

"Okay, okay, I'll be polite to you next time." This made Gao Ge Lao very happy, as if he saw the true character of his uncle again.

As he said that, he asked casually, "But I remember that when I asked you to sign the petition last month, your expression changed. It was obvious that you were unhappy."

"My first reaction was that the Minister was dissatisfied with me. So he was not unhappy, but panicked." Zhang Juzheng immediately explained: "But then I thought about it carefully. How upright is the Minister? He always takes revenge and expel anyone he is dissatisfied with from the cabinet. Why would he use such a despicable method? Then I realized that I was overthinking."

"That's right..." Gao Gong thought of what Shao Fang had said to him in the morning, that Zhao Hao was forced by his father-in-law and had already surrendered to him. He couldn't help but feel that he might have really misjudged Uncle Da. This made him very happy, and he laughed and said, "Okay, okay, I won't listen to what others say in the future, and I will continue to talk to you."

"Who did the Prime Minister hear about this?" Zhang Juzheng caught Gao Gong's words and asked in a sad tone, "Who is trying to sow discord between us?!"

"Oh, don't guess, it's not true." Gao Gong knew he had said something wrong and wanted to cover it up.

Zhang Juzheng, however, was hurt and kept grabbing at me, saying, "I know even if you don't tell me. It must be Han Ji's gang of youngsters! They can't stand the fact that Mr. Yuan always listens to me and discusses everything with me. They want to replace me, so they slander me every day! Mr. Yuan no longer consults me when he has something to do, but avoids me as much as possible!"

"Don't talk nonsense, they don't dare." Gao Gong certainly would not admit it.

"In fact, I have heard some rumors a long time ago, saying that 'Xin Zheng is the prime minister, but Jiang Ling is actually in charge. Jiang Ling takes credit for all the people he recommends and promotes, and outsiders know Jiang Ling but not Xin Zheng'!" Zhang Juzheng said excitedly, as if he was talking nonsense:

"He also said that when the lecturers of the Eastern Palace were appointed, because the Left Vice Chancellor Shen Shixing and the Right Vice Chancellor Wang Xijue were not used, I used this several times to slander the Prime Minister, saying, 'Why are the two Vice Chancellors not used as palace officials, but their personal servants are used?'" Zhang Juzheng asked, "Prince Minister, such shallow words, can I, Zhang Juzheng, say such things?"

"It really doesn't seem like..." Gao Gong also came to his senses. The words that Han Ji and others had spread did not seem like something that someone of Zhang Juzheng's level would say.

"If you are not envied, you are a mediocre person. I am not afraid of being slandered. What really hurts me is that Mr. Yuan actually believed others but not me?! Have you forgotten our comradeship for twenty years? Have you forgotten the agreement we made with Gao Kui to rectify the chaos and create a prosperous era? Have you forgotten our oath to never doubt or betray each other?!"

"Alas..." Gao Gong's eyes suddenly turned red. Over the past twenty years, his relationship with Zhang Juzheng as both a teacher and a friend was one of his most precious treasures, second only to his teacher-student and father-son relationship with Longqing.

He could not forget the joy he had when he was in the Hanlin Academy, discussing principles and principles, and the way of governance with this junior who was twelve years younger than him, until he forgot himself in the world.

I will never forget the time when we entered Yu's residence together and fought against the attacks from all sides for the current emperor.

I can't forget the lofty ambitions and passion that the two of them had when they promised to be king and father together to achieve enlightenment when Prince Yu ascended the throne.

I can't forget the time when I was ostracized by that old bastard Xu Jie and returned home. The two of us exchanged letters and their love was stronger than gold.

I can't forget that my comeback was inseparable from his painstaking planning and full efforts!

This is why Gao Ge Lao always couldn't bear to be cruel to his uncle. Because in his view, denying Zhang Juzheng was denying himself. Killing Zhang Juzheng was like admitting that he was blind...

Seeing that Zhang Juzheng still missed the old times, the old man, who was just 60 years old, was about to shed tears. "Uncle, let's find our original intentions..."

"How dare you disobey my order?!" Zhang Juzheng and Lao Gao held hands and looked at each other with tears in their eyes.

The relationship between the two was rapidly warming up, but Gao Gong suddenly asked, "By the way, Uncle, where did you hear those words from Han Ji and the others?"

"It was Han Ji and his gang who regarded alienating the cabinet minister as a great achievement and boasted about it at the dinner table. The East Factory spies took note of it." Zhang Juzheng said frankly, "Feng Bao deliberately leaked it to me in Wenhua Palace the day before yesterday."

"Oh?" Gao Gong was confused again. He didn't expect Zhang Juzheng to take the initiative to explain Feng Bao's affairs. This is really a wave of troubles! I wonder how many more "surprises" Uncle Da will give me?

"I know that those people also said that I was colluding with Feng Bao, but the truth is that Feng Bao has been unilaterally trying to drag me to deal with Yuan Weng!" Zhang Juzheng said righteously: "Every time I went to Wenhua Palace to see him, he also came with the prince. First, he took the opportunity to instigate repeatedly, and second, he followed Cao Mengde's plan to alienate Han Sui and Ma Chao. But I am not Han Sui, and Yuan Weng is not a brave but foolish person like Ma Mengqi, so his instigation is destined to only make people laugh!"

"Wait a minute, let me sort it out..." Seeing that Zhang Juzheng had cleared another charge, Gao Gong was a little confused for a moment, thinking, did he really wish too much? Was he still as pure as he was in the past, but was he smeared as a urinal by others?

So what are those disciples of mine?

ps. Happy 520, I love you guys. ლ(′◉❥◉｀ლ)