Chapter 1478 The Ten Major Sins

Today, Zhang Juzheng is serving in the Wenhua Palace.

However, it was noon now, and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince had returned to the palace to eat and take a nap. Prime Minister Zhang also returned to Wenyuan Pavilion to deal with today's state affairs. He even had lunch delivered to the duty room.

The Zhongshu Sheren couldn't help but sigh secretly, even Zhang Xianggong is working so hard, what reason do we have not to work hard?

Little did they know that Zhang Juzheng was just afraid of missing out on the good show next door...

Sure enough, he was eating fragrant rice with braised pork with bean curd sheets when he heard a crackling sound coming from next door.

Yao Kuang, who was serving him food, scooped a bowl of turtle soup for Mr. Zhang, winked and whispered, "Here it comes."

"Yeah." Zhang Juzheng nodded, chewed the food in his mouth slowly, and ate a piece of bastard that nourished yin and yang. Then he picked up the handkerchief to wipe his mouth and walked leisurely to the next room.

As soon as he entered the Prime Minister's office, Zhang Juzheng saw Gao Gong throwing his favorite purple clay teapot onto the museum shelf opposite, breaking several antiques...

"Oh, Mr. Yuan, why are you so angry?!" Prime Minister Zhang showed a worried look, and hurried forward. Together with Han Ji, he took down the bonsai that Lord Gao was holding high, and put it back on the table.

"Look for yourself!" Gao Gong said angrily. He was a sixty-year-old man, and he hadn't had a good rest for several days. He was exhausted from all the work. He sat down on the chair, panting heavily.

Zhang Juzheng bent down, picked up the impeachment document that was thrown on the ground, and pretended to look at it.

Needless to say, Bu Gu had also polished this masterpiece by Cao Daye. Naturally, he knew that it was different from the previous two memorials that alluded to Gao Gong. This time, he named and attacked Gao Gong by name!

Cao Daye said that Gao Gong was trusted by the emperor and was favored by the emperor, which was unprecedented! He should be careful to assist him and be honest and upright, but he had no intention of repaying his loyalty and was unscrupulous, doing things that were disloyal and betrayed the emperor's grace. Then he listed Gao Gong's ten major crimes of disloyalty:

Before, Your Majesty was in poor health and all the ministers were unable to sleep or eat, but Gao was the only one who was chatting and laughing. He even went to the home of his relative, the Minister of Justice Cao Jin, to drink and have fun. He did not take Your Majesty seriously at all. This is a sign of his disloyalty!

The Crown Prince's study abroad is an important matter of state, and he should be kept at the Crown Prince's side every day. However, Gao Gong only wanted to go in once every five days, kowtow and leave. He did not care about the Crown Prince at all. This was his second act of disloyalty!

Ever since Gao Gong returned to power, he has begun to retaliate crazily, dismissing all the officials who had pointed out his mistakes in the past, leaving the court empty of all the good people. This is his third act of disloyalty!

Since Gao Gong took charge of the Ministry of Personnel, those who were promoted above their level were all his trusted disciples. For example, Cao Jin, his son-in-law, was a fool, but he was promoted from Deputy Censor to Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice; for example, his disciple Han Ji was promoted to Right Minister of Public Security after only working as a Secretary for a few days. He was completely crazy about cultivating his own trusted disciples, which was disloyal!

The officials of the Ministry of Personnel were supposed to be the eyes and ears of the emperor, but Gao Gong arranged for his own students to be the censors of the two capitals and the secretaries. These people concealed Gao Gong's crimes in order to block the way for people to speak out. This is his evil of forming a clique and his fifth act of disloyalty!

In the past, Yan Song was only in charge of cabinet affairs, but now Gao Gong is also in charge of the Ministry of Personnel, and he has the final say on whether to appoint or dismiss officials. Gao Gong is more powerful than Yan Song, and his power is even more arbitrary and unbridled than Yan Song. Therefore, everyone knows Gao Gong but not Your Majesty. This is the sixth sign of his disloyalty!

Gao Gong claimed to be honest, but he also began to be greedy for money and accept bribes like Yan Song did in the past. Yan Song asked Yan Shifan to accept bribes on his behalf, and Gao Gong had no son, so he asked his younger brother Gao Cai to collect money for him. His students also competed to accept bribes, accept requests, and bend the law for personal gain. Even Gao Gong himself used his birthday to make a lot of money last year. He also accepted bribes from Zhang Siwei and appointed Zhang Siwei, who had been impeached and returned home several times, as a servant of the Eastern Palace. He sought power and accepted bribes, and his corruption was exposed. This is the seventh sign of his disloyalty!

He also accepted bribes to exonerate Lu Kai, who murdered Shen Lian. Because of his personal grudge with Xu Ge Lao, he dismissed Wu Shilai, one of the three sons of Wuwu, and suppressed a large number of former officials who made suggestions, chilling the hearts of loyal officials in the world. This is the eighth disloyalty!

He had only been back in Beijing for two years when he drove out four grand secretaries, including the Prime Minister Li Chunfang, one after another, excluded his colleagues, and monopolized power. This was the worst form of disloyalty!

He was able to be reinstated because he colluded with the eunuch Chen Hong, and as a reward, he helped Chen Hong become the eunuch of the Imperial Household. After Chen Hong left, in order to control the Imperial Household, he appointed an illiterate cook as his successor. He colluded with both insiders and outsiders to steal the power and wealth of his master. He was extremely disloyal!

~~

These ten charges were progressive, becoming more and more deadly as they went on! In the end, Gao Gong was described as a traitor who was even more terrible than Yan Song, and was basically an "emperor-maker".

What's more frightening is that although the crimes he listed are exaggerated and alarmist, they are mostly based on facts and are known to everyone in the government and the public. If they really investigate, Gao Ge Lao will not be able to clear himself!

There was no other way. Gao Ge Lao was a man who would do whatever he wanted and make big moves. Moreover, if he wanted to do something, he had to seize power first and drive away all those who opposed him. Of course, he would offend a lot of people and leave countless handles behind!

Moreover, his younger brother and a group of his disciples accepted money and did things for others, and their personalities were indeed not clean. For example, Gao Gong only knew about the Lu Kai incident after reading the impeachment memorial.

That's how the big, steamed-cake-like palm print on Section Chief Han's left cheek came from...

Therefore, the blow suffered by Lord Gao this time was extremely severe. His eyes were red, his face was ashen, and the corners of his mouth kept twitching. He was supported by an evil fire.

"This bastard deserves to die!" Zhang Juzheng said angrily after reading the impeachment letter, "The Prime Minister restored order and pacified the country, his contributions have benefited the country and will benefit future generations! How dare he compare himself to Yan Song!"

"Yes, uncle..." Gao Ge Lao shed turbid tears and sighed, "I don't have a son, what's the point of being greedy for money, accepting bribes, and forming cliques for personal gain? In the past few years, I have risked my life to restore the country. I am ready to muster up the remaining courage, reform and create a 'Longqing Restoration' for the Ming Dynasty...Are they blind? Can't they see what I have done?"

"They are pretending to be ignorant even though they know the truth!" Han Ji covered his face in embarrassment and stared at Zhang Juzheng fiercely, "Right, Prime Minister Zhang?!"

This disturbance was instigated by the jealous party. Han Ji could certainly guess that this fatal move by Cao Daye was most likely related to Zhang Juzheng.

Zhang Xianggong ignored his murderous gaze, held Gao Gong's hand, and sighed with him, "How can people's hearts be so vicious?"

"Yes, it's heartless and boring. It's better to go home..." Old Gaoge burst into tears, looking disheartened.

"Mr. Yuan, please don't say such discouraging words. The Ming Dynasty cannot do without Mr. Yuan!" Zhang Juzheng urged him. "Moreover, I have seen that the criticisms are coming one after another. First, Wang Wenhui and Liu Fenyong secretly criticized the cabinet minister without saying it clearly, which started the trend! Today, there is the memorial of Cao Daye's ten major crimes! I think there is probably someone behind the scenes manipulating this. Mr. Yuan must not retreat in the face of a battle!"

"Hmm..." Gao Gong's eyes flashed when he heard this. Before Zhang Juzheng came in, Han Ji had already insisted that it must be the people of Jing who ordered it. Therefore, Gao Gong's frustration was also a performance to test Zhang Juzheng's thoughts.

Anyone who can reach this level must be a movie emperor, right?

However, Zhang Juzheng did not show any sign of smugness. Instead, he reminded him that there was a mastermind behind the scenes and encouraged him to thwart the enemy's plot.

This comforted Gao Ge Lao's wounded heart. He thought of Zhang Juzheng's touching performance not long ago, and his suspicion faded.

Because no normal person would do such a schizophrenic thing.

"Ah, uncle, those are your concerns." But the show had to go on. Gao said half-truthfully, "I have been impeached, so I have stepped down from the sedan chair and returned home to wait for my sentence."

As mentioned many times before, once an official of the imperial court was impeached, he had to immediately return to his private residence from the government office, and on the way he had to lower the curtain of his sedan chair to show that he was too embarrassed to see anyone. After returning home, he would post the words "registered" on his door, and then stay at home to wait for the result of the punishment.

This is a rule that no one can break, just like the cabinet ministers cannot privately withhold memorials...

But how could Gao Gong not worry about the aftermath? He was now eager to find out the mastermind behind the incident and tear him into pieces!

Because this impeachment may really shake his foundation!

As Zhang Juzheng was one of the suspected culprits, Gao certainly could not completely rule him out based on just a few words from him.

The key lies in how he does it.

~~

Gao Gong acted decisively and immediately asked his attendant to pack up his personal belongings and hand over the unfinished memorials to Zhang Juzheng. He also told him how to deal with several important matters. After the handover was completed, he sat in a light-tight sedan chair and went home to wait for punishment.

Without the support of his master, Han Ji dared not hang around in front of Prime Minister Zhang, and left Wenyuan Pavilion.

Zhang Juzheng and a group of Zhongshu Sheren escorted Yuan Weng to Huiji Gate. Seeing the tightly covered sedan chair gradually going away, Zhang Xianggong's expression was not relaxed.

"Brother Su Qing, you forced me to do this, otherwise why would I take such a risk?" Zhang Xianggong sighed. Although he had a plan, there is no perfect plan in the world. Until the last moment, he had no idea whether he would win or lose everything after putting everything on the line...

"Husband, it's time to go to Wenhua Hall." Yao Kuang reminded in a low voice.

"Oh, I almost forgot." Zhang Juzheng quickly calmed himself down and ordered all the servants to go back to work as usual and not to discuss the affairs of the elders.

All the servants nodded in agreement and Zhang Juzheng hurried to Wenhua Hall.

At this time, the prince was drowsily listening to the scribe explaining calligraphy. Wouldn't it be a waste to use the precious lunch break time to sleep? Of course, I would watch the new episodes!

As a result, I was too sleepy to attend the afternoon class...

The secretary was severely nearsighted. He was busy explaining the eight strokes of writing the character "永" (Yong) and did not notice that his only student had fallen asleep.

He thought the prince had listened and nodded in approval, so he spoke even harder.

"Speaking of this stroke, there are nine ways to write it..."

Feng Bao couldn't bear to watch it any longer and wanted to wake up the prince, but he saw Prime Minister Zhang come in silently.

He stopped disturbing the prince's sweet dreams and nodded towards the east room, signaling Zhang Xianggong to start the meeting quickly.

P.S. Posted first and revised later. In addition, these ten major crimes are no longer the same as in history. I have revised them according to the actual situation.

(End of this chapter)