After leaving Beijing, Grand Tutor Zhang's hearse headed south.

The capital is 2,600 miles away from Jiangling County, Jingzhou Prefecture, and the entire journey is by land. Even if you travel day and night without stopping, it will take a month and a half. What's more, there is the 80-year-old lady.

We could only be patient and walk slowly, covering no more than fifty miles a day. Fortunately, the weather was clear and cool in autumn, with no wind or rain, so we were not stuck on the road due to the weather.

This was Zhao Hao's third trip south along this official road. He usually took a boat when traveling north and south, and would only take the land route when there was no other choice. The first time was in June of the third year of Longqing's reign, when he went to Gaojiazhuang with his grandfather to ask Gao Huzi to come out of retirement.

The second time was in April of the sixth year of Wanli, when he accompanied his father-in-law back to Jiangling for burial.

In the blink of an eye, these two powerful ministers have become ancient people.

Gao Gong died at home five years earlier, four years longer than historical records show.

In fact, Gao Gong could have lived longer if he had enjoyed himself in Gaojiazhuang every day. However, in the tenth year of Wanli, the tragic news of the collapse of the Emperor Taishang’s mausoleum came, and Gao Gong collapsed all of a sudden.

He cried all day long, muttering that he was sorry to the emperor. Soon he fell ill and passed away.

The following year, with the help of Zhang Juzheng, Emperor Wanli restored his official title and posthumously named him... uh, Wenxiang.

It is estimated that now, Gao Wenxiang and Zhang Wenzhong, the old enemies, are once again loving and hating each other in the underworld.

Thinking of this, Zhao Hao felt sad again. Over the years, more and more old friends have passed away. Every obituary reminds him that life is short and time does not wait for us!

~~

Normally, this long journey would be a life-threatening one. Zhao Hao felt that half of his time in a year was wasted on the road.

But now with radio, everything is different. No matter where he is, he can communicate with the court and the group headquarters instantly through the two radio stations in Beijing and Suzhou. In this way, even when traveling, he still cannot escape the fate of working overtime...

At noon that day, Zhao Hao had just finished dealing with a pile of documents brought by his secretary... and was preparing to take a nap in the car.

Starting from the eighth year of the Wanli reign, all official roads in the country were greatly renovated. This main road that runs through the north and south is also the way for Mr. Zhang to go home, so it was naturally built to the highest standards.

In recent years, the government along the route has also paid special attention to road maintenance, fearing that the Zhang family members traveling north and south would complain to the Grand Tutor that the newly built road was full of potholes again...

The four-wheeled carriage with rubber tires, independent suspension and spring shock absorbers is very stable to ride on and is perfect for taking a nap.

Unexpectedly, Gao Wu knocked on the car door and brought in a steel box with a mechanism. It was designed by Zhang Jian to store telegram drafts.

"Oh my god." Zhao Hao groaned in frustration and complained to Brother Gao, "Before, I could legitimately be lazy on the road. Now, I don't even have time to take a nap."

I thought to myself that it was fortunately a radio. If I had used WeChat, I would have been harassed in the middle of the night...

Gao Wu pursed his lips, picked up the telegraph box and prepared to retreat.

"Put it down." Zhao Hao said unhappily, "Give me a cigar."

Gao Wu nodded and prepared himself skillfully. In case he was not sober, he poured him a cup of coffee.

Zhao Hao rolled his eyes, turned the mechanism, opened the steel box, took out the telegram paper inside, and began to read it while leaning against the pillow.

The first telegram came from the capital, but it was not the first telegram from the capital. Zhao Ge Lao sent telegrams to his son every day, asking him where he was, how he slept last night, whether he was energetic today, whether he missed his father, etc.

In addition, I will also talk about some serious matters.

For example, after Pan Sheng was impeached by seven censors including Lei Shizhen, he was ordered to retire by Emperor Wanli.

~~

Upon learning that Pan Sheng was sent home halfway, the sick Eunuch Feng became furious.

Pan Sheng was admitted to the cabinet because of his face, and it was requested by Grand Tutor Zhang before his death. How come the emperor dismissed him right after Grand Tutor Zhang's coffin left the capital? Is this like a lie? Who is he putting on a show for?

Eunuch Feng has been a eunuch for his entire life and has witnessed the ups and downs of three dynasties. He knows that murderous intent is most likely to surge when power is transferred. No matter if you are powerful or the emperor's godfather, you can fall into trouble if you are not careful.

He sensed danger from Pan Sheng's misfortune. After spending the whole night in the hospital, he ignored his illness and had himself carried back to the Silijian, where he had not been for a long time, the next day. He ordered the eunuch on duty to fetch the original copies of the memorials.

The imperial edict, which said "revoke the previous order and order Pan Sheng to return home and live in seclusion," was issued by Shen Shixing, the deputy minister of the Cabinet, and approved by Zhang Hong, the chief scribe of the Imperial Household Department.

Feng Bao was immediately furious and scolded Zhang Hong, who had rushed over after hearing the news, saying that he seemed honest but actually had evil intentions and did not inform him of such a big thing in advance!

Zhang Hong naturally cried out that he had been wronged, saying that he didn't know Pan Sheng was his brother's man, which was why he didn't disturb his recuperation.

"He was recommended by Grand Tutor Zhang, you must know that, right?!" Feng Bao threw Lei Shizhen's impeachment letter in his face and cursed, "You also wrote the eight words 'Sheng is specially recommended by the prime minister's memorial'!"

"Eunuch Feng, these are the emperor's original words." Zhang Hong endured the burning pain on his face and bowed his head and said, "My family has no grudges against Pan Bu Tang in the past or in the present, so why bother getting involved in this muddy water?"

"Oh..." Feng Bao's heart clicked, and a thunderbolt exploded. Unexpectedly, it was the worst case scenario he thought of last night - everything was instructed by Emperor Wanli!

He suddenly thought of the ink-throwing incident that year. The resentful look in the emperor's eyes that could not be concealed at that moment suddenly appeared in front of him clearly.

Feng Bao seemed to have been drained of all his strength. He wanted to say something tough to Zhang Hong, but he didn't have the strength to do it. His eyes were spinning and he passed out.

"Grandfather!" His godsons and grandchildren hurriedly supported him.

"Hurry up and take Eunuch Feng back." Zhang Hong sighed, "He's already so sick, why are you still being angry? You really don't want to die."

~~

When Feng Bao slowly woke up, it was already afternoon.

Xu Jue, Feng Bangning and others who had rushed over after hearing the news gathered around the bed. Seeing that he had woken up, they hurriedly greeted him. Zhang Dashou brought the tranquilizing soup prescribed by the imperial physician and asked his godfather to take it.

"It's already this late, and you're still drinking the tranquilizing soup?" Feng Bao slapped the medicine bowl to the ground and said dejectedly, "If you don't think of a way to save yourself, we'll all have to drink Meng Po soup!"

"Ah?" Xu Jue and the others were all terrified. In fact, they were not completely indifferent to this. Zhang Jing and his gang were arrogant and no longer took Feng Bao, the ancestor, seriously. The subordinates were also panic-stricken, and they were discussing privately whether the situation was going to change.

Feng Bao forced himself to go to Zhaojia Hutong to seek help overnight despite his illness.

After returning, he followed Zhao Hao's instructions and resigned to the emperor again. This time, he did not just resign, he also told Emperor Wanli that the emperor and the empress dowager had spent a huge amount of money to build a palace for Prince Lu, and the inner treasury was in a big deficit. So I left all the money I had accumulated over the years to Your Majesty to make up for the deficit a little.

One of the important reasons why Wanli did not allow Feng Bao to retire was that he coveted the money, jewelry and cultural relics he had plundered. Now that Feng Bao offered to give him his wealth, the emperor was naturally very pleased and said in a false tone: "What should I do? You should keep it for your old age."

"I don't have many years left to live. I can't eat or drink. I have no children. What do I need all this money for?" Feng Bao said, half heartbroken and half sad: "I dare to say something disrespectful. Although your Majesty and I are master and servant, I have watched your Majesty grow up and have long regarded your Majesty as my closest person. If I don't leave it to your Majesty, who else can I leave it to?"

This scene was so touching that even Zhang Jing, who had always wished Feng Bao to die, secretly wiped away his tears.

"Why are you crying again?" Wanli asked curiously.

"I now know that even though Eunuch Feng has a thousand faults, he only has His Majesty in his heart." Zhang Jing had received benefits from Lao Xi'er and wanted to help Feng Bao land safely. He acted out of character and said, "I think of what Eunuch Feng taught us, the first thing to do to the emperor is to be loyal, because everything we have is given by the emperor. It turns out that he was speaking from the heart. I really shouldn't have said that about him before..."

After saying that, he started to cry.

Because most of the bad things about Feng Bao were said by Zhang Jing. After he cried, Wanli couldn't help but wonder if he was really too heartless to Feng Bao?

He finally remembered that he grew up on the neck of this old dog. Although old dogs are annoying when they get old, how many old dogs in the world are not annoying?

Even Zhang Jing, who hated Feng Bao the most, was moved. If he continued to hold on and refused to let go, wouldn't he seem too heartless?

Of course, mainly for the sake of money, he finally agreed to let Feng Bao go and allowed his former companion to return to his hometown to retire. But the prerequisite was to hand in the property list first to see if he would pay the money honestly.

Feng Bao also took the opportunity to ask Emperor Wanli to allow his godsons Xu Jue, Zhang Dashou, and nephew Feng Bangning to retire and return to his hometown in Hengshui to live out his old age. He told the emperor frankly that these people had taken advantage of their power and committed many corrupt and illegal acts. He asked the emperor to allow them to give up all their property in exchange for a safe landing, considering that they had worked hard for so many years without any merit.

Wanli did not agree. He had already arranged for someone to write an impeachment letter against Xu Jue and Feng Bangning. The arrow was on the string and had to be shot!

Feng Bangning was still easy to deal with, as Xu Jue was Feng Bao's spokesperson. He had been on friendly terms with officials for the past decade or so, and if his property was confiscated and he was thrown into prison, many officials would be implicated, and countless gold and silver would be seized.

And that sworn brother You Qi who was using his power to bully others was actually the spokesperson for Grand Tutor Zhang...

On the eve of arresting the man, Xu Jue got the news in advance and summoned his trusted leaders to have a farewell banquet in the back hall of the East Factory.

Unexpectedly, he put drugs in the wine, knocking out his men, and then went to the East Factory's warehouse and set himself on fire.

That night, the weather was dry and the west wind was strong. The fire took advantage of the wind and burned the entire East Factory Office to the ground. All the foreman and the heads of each department of the East Factory were buried in the sea of ​​fire, without a single one being spared...

Seeing the fire in the direction of Dong'anmen illuminating the night sky, Wang Guoguang, who had already retired, breathed a sigh of relief and ordered to leave the emperor early the next morning and go home, leaving this place that was becoming less and less suitable for human habitation.