The Prosperous Era of Longwan

In the past few days in the capital, as the edict for Liu Tiqian's promotion to Beijing's Minister of Household Affairs was issued, Tan Lun also set off for Jizhou to replace Zhao Bingran, and the candidate for the Minister of Justice has also been selected, and the short-term turmoil in the court is finally over.

This is the biggest personnel change since the Longqing Dynasty, and both parties in the DPRK and China seem to be very satisfied.

However, only Zhang Juzheng's group benefited the least from this large-scale personnel change, which has never happened before.

After all, the original boss of this department of officials was Chief Assistant Xu Jie. When he was in office, he was able to call the shots in the court, and almost anything he could not accomplish was accomplished.

Although they are not said to have invaded the government and the public, they are mature and domineering. These people have naturally developed a habit of staying in the camp and doing everything to their disadvantage.

As a result, some people began to privately question Zhang Juzheng's ability, thinking that his ability was completely incompetent and that it would be difficult for him to continue to lead them.

Zhang Juzheng naturally learned about these situations through his own channels, but unfortunately he was helpless.

In Huating County, Songjiang Prefecture, a group of travelers dressed as businessmen came here on this day. After staying at the largest inn in Huating County, the people dispersed and began to inquire about various news in Huating County.

In the evening, these people returned to the inn and entered the luxurious and spacious guest room where the leader of the group lived one by one to report the news they had learned.

These people are naturally from Danyang, and the leader is the great Xia Fang Shao.

From Danyang to Huating, Xian Fang certainly knew that he had to inquire about the situation first, such as the situation of the Xu family and whether Xu Jie was at home now.

Celebrities like Xu Jie are often invited by many old friends. They may not always be at home, but often go out to visit friends.

But it seems that he is lucky. According to the information he heard, Xu Jie happens to be at home now, having just returned from Zhejiang half a month ago.

If they arrive early, they may not be able to see Xu Jie yet.

As for the situation of the Xu family, it can only be said to be complicated.

Every family has its own scriptures that are difficult to recite. When Xu Jie was in power, he was impeached by his brothers. You can imagine what the situation was like at home.

Moreover, brother Xu Jie died a year ago.

How he died didn't matter, and no one dared to ask.

Of course, only the neighbors in Huating County dare to discuss this privately, but they also heard about it.

After Nafang and others had gone out, he muttered in a low voice: "Sure enough, no one who can reach that position is simple and ruthless enough."

Nao Fang is also well-informed, and of course he has heard about some evil things in big families, so no matter how the Xu family member died, Nao Fang has a new understanding of Xu Jie.

Cruel and ruthless.

Naturally, one must be more cautious when dealing with such people, especially if things can be done best, one cannot and must not offend the other person.

In the afternoon of the next day, a group of people arrived outside the most luxurious mansion in Huating County and knocked on the door knocker.

Not long after, a concierge popped up with the door half open and asked, "Which house is it from? What's going on?"

"Brother, please go in and let me know. Danyang is here to pay homage to Mr. Xu Ge."

"Danyang? Saifang?"

The concierge listened to the words of the person outside the door, and then looked at the people behind him. They were all well-dressed, and he could tell at a glance that they were either rich or noble.

At this moment, the person outside the door handed another small bag to the concierge.

The concierge weighed it, it was not too light, nodded, and finally there was a smile on his face, and said: "Wait, I will go in and report." ’

As people entered, the door closed again.

The man outside the door grinned, but didn't say anything. Instead, he quickly returned to Sato and said, "Master, that person has gone in to report."

"Well, just wait."

It's been years since I've been shut down.

However, he also knew that this was Huating and not Danyang. They all said that the seventh-rank official in front of the prime minister's door, he had seen it now.

It took only a cup of tea before the door of Xu's mansion opened, and the concierge came out with a man who looked like a butler.

After a few words of conversation, Nao just led people and carried gifts into the gate of Xu Mansion.

There was a flower hall in the front yard of the Xu Mansion. He was brought here to wait because he had entrusted those boxes of gifts, otherwise he might not have been able to get here.

"Master Shao, please have some tea here first. My master is busy. Someone has already sent a notification and will be here later."

The butler said cheerfully to Naofang, and asked the servants here to serve him carefully.

"Butler, please excuse me. I'll be waiting for Mr. Xu Ge here. Mr. Ge is busy, so there's no need to disturb him. I just came here to discuss important matters with Mr. Ge, so I'm not in a hurry."

Sakai said cheerfully.

Nakata has had a lot of contact with local officials over the years, from the initial county magistrate to the prefect, and then to the chief envoy, so he is familiar with many of the rules.

The concierge gave a red envelope, and when he entered the Xu Mansion, he gave a red envelope to the third housekeeper of the Xu Mansion, and that's how he got this smiling face.

The officials and family members of the Ming Dynasty are really difficult to deal with if they say they are difficult to deal with, and they are easy to deal with if they are easy to deal with. That is to say, they are throwing money at them.

For ordinary people, throwing away money is a big deal, but for Saifang, who comes from a well-off family, it is just a trivial matter. What's more, this time, the money thrown out was not his own. Someone pays the bill.

But once the thing is done, the connections established will be your own, and of course there will be a lot of benefits.

In the pavilion in the backyard of Xu Mansion, there is a cup of tea on a stone table in the middle of the pavilion. The smoke is faint and the fragrance of tea is overflowing.

There was an old man sitting on the stone bench next to the table. It was Xu Jie who had returned home to take care of his old age.

"He didn't say what was important?"

At this time, Xu Jie frowned and asked.

"Didn't say."

The third housekeeper of the Xu Mansion was bowing his head respectfully in front of Xu Jie, looking very humble.

"Danyang? His surname is Nao."

Xu Jie hummed, then shook his head, and asked again: "You didn't say who was entrusted by you?"

Although he had left the court, Xu Jie's caution as an official for many years made him feel that Xing Fang's arrival was not an easy one.

He has already seen the gift list from Xingfang. It is no wonder that the housekeeper at home invites people in. It is worth hundreds of taels of silver.

Who would give such heavy gifts when they have nothing to do?

"I don't think I have any friends in Danyang. I really don't know how he found his way here. Since he said he has something important, I will go and meet him to see what his purpose is in finding me."

Xu Jie said with a smile and then stood up.

The butler led the way, otherwise he would not have known that people were waiting in the flower hall.

Soon, Nao Fang saw Xu Jie in the flower hall.

After the pleasantries were over, Xu Jiezhi felt very ridiculous when it came to "business".

Looking at the man in front of him, he looked dignified and didn't look sick, but why did he say crazy things, saying that he could make Xu Jie come back as the chief minister of the cabinet.

Although he felt ridiculous in his heart, Xu Jie remained silent and only felt deep contempt in his heart.

Needless to say, he had roughly guessed the purpose of Nafang's visit. A country boy who wanted to be a dragon and a phoenix, there were probably few people in the capital, and it didn't matter, otherwise he would never have come to him and said these words.

Why did Xu Jie become an official and return to his hometown to retire?

First, Xu Jie was tired of the overt and secret fighting in the court. He had just defeated Yan Song and drove Gao Gong away, and took the initiative to retire and return to his hometown. Power was no longer attractive to him. It was really difficult for him to come back now.

Second, the current Emperor Longqing is a bit difficult to serve. He is not as easy to fool as his boss. As long as he can flatter him well, he can be a good official.

What's more, no one knows what the Ming Dynasty's family background is like now than him.

At the time of Yan Song, the imperial court still had some savings and had the foundation to build the foundation for Emperor Jiajing. However, according to his observation, Emperor Longqing seemed to be no less generous than him in terms of labor and capital.

It's a pity that the imperial court's old treasury has been exhausted, and he has no chance.

Now the imperial court's deficit is getting bigger and bigger, and the financial pressure has made it impossible for him to continue.

The skills he learned from Yan Song were no longer able to maintain his position in the court, so he chose to retreat bravely, leave the problems to others, and go home in glory.

Third, there is already a master disciple Zhang Juzheng in the cabinet to assist him, so he does not need to worry about it.

The current Emperor Longqing obviously trusts people who came from Prince Yu's Mansion more, and there is no need for him to make himself uncomfortable.

As for the person in front of him, "Danyang Hero" Shao Fang, he didn't want to go into the details of what kind of god he was. He, a person who had never held any authority, wanted to get involved in the highest power in the temple. Can he succeed?

Maybe it's a liar or a trap.

Based on the above considerations, Xu Jie decisively rejected Danyang Hero Shao Fang's suggestion, but he was also very tactful.

"Thank you so much, Mr. Shao, for your concern. However, I am already old and am really not qualified for the important responsibilities of the court. That is why I retired and returned to my hometown to take care of myself. Therefore, I will not think too much about this incident.

Now there are two people in the court, Li Chunfang and Chen Yiqin, who are in charge of the cabinet. They are both meticulous and cautious people who can't make mistakes. "

Of course Xu Jie didn't know that in Danyang, everyone was called "Hero", but looking at his clothes, he knew that his family was well off, so he was called "Yuanwai".

In ancient times, yuanwai originally referred to officials other than full-time officials. The word yuanwai was added in front of the official title to indicate the difference.

However, in the Ming Dynasty, the meaning of the word Yuanwai gradually changed. This was because Yuanwai gradually evolved into a sinecure that was isolated from senior members of the imperial court. Its political attributes were weakened and it was gradually only linked to wealth.

Landlords and rich people can obtain the title of Yuanwai through donations, and Yuanwai also specifically refers to a pronoun that has been transformed from an official to a synonym for landlords and gentry.

Shao Daxia had a bad encounter with Xu Jie and suddenly felt shameless to stay. He originally thought of having dinner at Xu Mansion and getting closer before leaving.

After saying goodbye and leaving Xu Mansion and returning to the inn, Xian Fang asked his men to pack their bags. Now he can only go to Xinzheng, Henan to find the old man Gao Gong Gao Ge who was impeached and retired from office.

On the way to Xinzheng, Ning Fang was also thinking, feeling that Xu Jie's rejection might be caused by his failure to express his methods clearly.

He only said that he would lobby for Xu Jie and help him get his official reinstatement, but he didn't say much more.

If he were told to spend half a year traveling around the government and the public, establishing an extensive network of contacts, and then looking for opportunities to build relationships with people in the palace, and slowly and step by step, the probability of success would still be very high.

At that time, people in the palace will first propose the resurrection to the emperor, and then build up momentum and support through the network of relations between the government and the public, and then the big thing will naturally come true.

Maybe the old man thought I was a liar when he heard what I said to Xu Jie.

This time, when Naifang met Gao Gong, he thought a hundred and twenty times and carefully thought about the wording of his words, making sure to express his meaning clearly.

Xing Fang thought that he did not express himself clearly enough, causing Xu Jie to misunderstand him as a liar. He did not know the many reasons behind Xu Jie's official appointment.

The deeper things in it are not something ordinary Beijing officials can find out.

After the group arrived in Xinzheng, when he was ready and walked into Gao Gong's house, what they encountered was completely different from what they had experienced at Xu Jie's house in Huating.

It was still the red envelope that opened the way and successfully knocked on the door of Gao Gong's house, but his message reached Gao Gong's ears. For a rich man who didn't know where he came from, he wanted to see him just because he gave him some money. Gao Gong said that he I hate meeting such people.

So when Ning Fang entered the Gaofang Mansion, he was treated well in the reception hall by the steward who let him in. He was served tea and cakes, and the etiquette was considered sufficient.

However, Gao Gong left the man alone in the flower hall and did not intend to see him.

"When the guy from Danyang asked, he said I was writing a book and didn't have time to see him."

Gao Gong gave the steward an order and ignored him.

Most of the officials in the capital were not even looked at by Gao Gong, let alone a country man.

If the housekeeper hadn't let the person in after seeing the gift list, such a person would not be worthy of entering the Gao family's mansion.

"Sir, Mr. Shao said he has something important to discuss with you."

The red envelope received by the housekeeper was not small, and he was considered to have some integrity. Even though he could see that Gao Gong was in a bad mood, he still worked hard to get it.

This also reflects Gao Gong's temper. He is one way towards outsiders, but Gao Gong's attitude towards a family member like him is completely different.

"Haha. For a person like him, he still has confidential matters.

Just let him wait in the flower hall. Don't stop him if he can't wait to leave. "

Gao Gong said casually.

Gao Gong was not lying when he said he wanted to write a book. He returned to his hometown in Xinzheng from the capital. After being angry for a few days, he also started to find something to do for himself.

People can't be idle, and things can easily go wrong.

For scholars, the most important thing is undoubtedly to write books and establish theories.

Gao Gong carefully selected the articles he had written over the years, as well as the articles he liked, and planned to make a book manuscript and then print it.

After Li Shizhen completed "Compendium of Materia Medica", he took great pains to publish it, but for Gao Gong, it was just a matter of spending a little money.

One of his friends has a bookstore business at home. In addition to engraving and printing books that can be sold regularly, such as the Four Books and the Five Classics, he will also find poor scholars to copy books, which are relatively unpopular books. books.

Gao Gong compiled his own book. He felt that his life was very fulfilling. Even though he still couldn't let go of the imperial court, he had been kicked out after all.

In the evening, Gao Gong had already forgotten what was going on in the flower hall. When he asked people to prepare dinner, the housekeeper mentioned: "Sir, Mr. Shao from Danyang is still over there in the flower hall. Do you want to prepare for dinner?"

"People haven't left yet?"

Gao Gong frowned and thought for a long time that the person had left long ago, but he didn't expect that he was still there.

"How did he spend his afternoon?"

Gao Gong asked.

"Then Mr. Shao just sat, drank tea and ate snacks, and did nothing else."

The butler answered hurriedly, but this was also the last time he spoke to someone. After all, the red envelope was not light, and he also reminded his master twice that it was enough for the price.

"The Qi-nourishing Kung Fu is pretty good."