Chapter 22 The twenty-first round of public officials eating melons and guessing wild riddles.The old host will discuss how to get rid of adultery

However, after obtaining the signatures of Zhang Juzheng and Gaoyi that day, Gao Gong sent the copy of "Chen Wushishu" to the newly enthroned Emperor Wanli in the form of a cabinet official copy.The next day, the eunuch who delivered the decree sent out an imperial approval, which was only seven short words: Got it, follow the ancestral system.The manuscript was not published.The old system: After the emperor has read the memorials sent by the cabinet to the palace, they should be sent back to the cabinet for drafting, and then the emperor will approve and promulgate them.However, as the first official cabinet copy signed by the three Gu Ming ministers, it was not released. This cannot but be said to be an extremely serious political incident.Immediately, the ministers of various government ministries and officials from all walks of life knew about this incident, and they all expressed strong dissatisfaction.Of course, the most dissatisfied is Gao Gong himself.It should be noted that "Chen Wu Shi Shu" is the first step in his carefully planned expulsion of Feng Bao. If it is a squib at the beginning, it will be even more difficult to move in the future.Therefore, as soon as Gao Gong received the decree, he quickly wrote with a pen, and then made another commentary:

Chen Gaogong and Gao Yi would like to ask: On the tenth day of the first month, the ministers and others respectfully submitted five urgent matters to support the New Deal.Today, I know that Fu Fengyu criticized me and obeyed the ancestral system.The ministers and others steal the five things, all of which are the stories of the ancestors.And there are still program conditions.If you order the Secretary of Rites to open the folder, and send out all the chapters, if you see it once every five days, if you have not received the draft, you can ask the Secretary of General Administration to send the feudal version to the department for future reference, etc. It's a matter of time and place.It must be expressly approved, and it is feasible for all yamen to comply.On the day when the Emperor Kuang ascended to the throne, when the people outside were waiting and watching, the ministers and others did not receive the invoice for the first statement, that is, they did not receive clear permission to carry it out, fearing that they would lose the hope of the people.The ministers and others did not dare to send the book to the department, so they still sealed it before entering.Fuwang the emperor inspected and sent out the draft papers to the ministers and others. If the ministers and others made mistakes, they had their own judgments.Ancestral laws, which one can tolerate ministers and others without responsibility, look up to them.

This second memorial was sent to the palace as an urgent mail, and the next day, the palace finally returned the supplementary copy to the cabinet for drafting.Gao Gong was greatly encouraged by this, and drafted the emperor's comment that had been brewing in his heart for a long time, and it was completed in one stroke: The performances of Lan Qing and others are more beneficial than current affairs, and they show loyalty.All follow the agreement. Almost on the same day, the emperor's approval reached the cabinet, and there was no amendment to the draft bill.After receiving this imperial decree, Gao Gong finally let go of his hanging heart.He immediately notified the address of this matter to the major yamen in Beijing and to the state capitals across the country. At the same time, he instructed the Ministry of Punishment and the Ministry of Rites to send the official manuscripts they had written long ago to the palace.A day later, that is, this morning, Gao Gong went to work in a sedan chair. As soon as he arrived at the house, the eunuch who sent this book sent these two memorials to the cabinet for drafting.Gao Gong refused to let the eunuch send him away, and drew up two tickets in front of him.

The draft draft of the Ministry of Punishments is: Reading.Jiusi, the demon king, used evil medicine to enter the first emperor, confusing the saints, heinous crimes, and the three justices must be severely punished. The proposed draft of the official version of the Ministry of Rites is: Accurate.My dynasty ruled the world with filial piety, and I first inherited the great rule, so I should reward you as a code. After drafting the ticket, Gao Gong looked at the few lines of cursive script which he had practiced many times in private, even though he had just transcribed it right now, and was very satisfied.He ordered the clerk to reward the eunuch with five taels of silver, and told him to take the two drafts back to the palace together with the copies, and hand them over to the emperor for approval.Then, they sent people to call Han Yi, Luo Zun, etc. to Shizhong to come to Huiyi.

It's the scorching June, and it hasn't rained for a long time. In the city of Beijing, the streets and alleys are full of scorching hot wind, but there is no wind today.Those who sat in the work were all small sedan chairs carried by four people. Under the sun, the inside of the sedan chair was as hot as a steamer.When they came to the six subject corridors in the Meridian Gate, everyone was sweating profusely.She was dressed in a sixth-grade summer cloth official uniform embroidered with egrets, and her chest and back were soaked in sweat.After they each entered the duty room, they wiped their faces and shook their fans, the heat had not been exhausted. After receiving Gao Gong's instructions, they all swarmed to the court room on the second floor of the cabinet with the servants.

Regarding the relationship between the cabinet and the six departments, we have to start with the establishment of the official position in Shizhong.At the beginning of the founding of the country, Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang, in view of the lessons of the Song and Yuan dynasties, weak monarchs and strong ministers, and the loss of control and even collapse of court power, coupled with the stimulation of the left prime minister Hu Weiyong's conspiracy to oppose him, prompted him to abolish the prime minister system and divide the prime minister's power among six departments.But in this way, he was worried that the power of the Ministry would be too heavy and threaten the imperial power, so he set up six departments corresponding to the six departments to control and supervise the power of the six departments.These six subjects are not affiliated to any department, and are directly responsible to the emperor himself.In this way, not only did he have the power of admonishment to participate in and discuss state affairs, he also increased the power of supervision and impeachment, and all civil and military officials of the court were supervised by him.In terms of official rank, although there are only six grades in the six subjects, even those three princes and nine ministers with the most important titles, ministers and ministers, have to bow their hands when meeting them.Regarding the special political status of the six subjects, there is one more thing to prove.The major yamen of the government are located in various parts of the capital, but only the cabinet and the six departments are located in the Forbidden City.As soon as you enter the Meridian Gate, go to the Huiji Gate to the right, which is the cabinet; go to the Guiji Gate to the left, and you will find the Six Section Corridor, which shows the dignity of the Six Section officials.According to the practice handed down from the previous dynasties, on the first and fifteenth days of each month, the six departments will go to the cabinet to meet with the ministers in a bow, which is called a meeting, which is equivalent to a regular meeting for exchanging voices.It's just that today's meeting is neither fish nor fowl, one is that the time is wrong, two days away from June 15th; the other is that Zhang Juzheng and Gaoyi are not in the cabinet except Gao Gong, and Zhang Juzheng is inspecting Emperor Longqing at Tianshou Mountain The mausoleum has not yet returned, and Gao Yi is sick at home; the three offerings have not yet arrived, only seven or eight have come, and they are all Gao Gong's disciples. To paraphrase an official saying, they are all people in the pocket.

Han Yi and his gang sat down in the court room on the second floor of the cabinet. Only then did they know that Zhang Juzheng and Gao Yi were not in the cabinet, and Gao Gong couldn't go upstairs immediately because he was in a hurry to issue a few important messages.Immediately, they were not so serious and refined, and started joking around.Han Yi had been away from the cabinet for less than a month, and he felt that he was still half the owner of the place. He went downstairs to find the caterer who was in charge of the logistics supply, and brought up two watermelons soaked in water.There is a deep well in the cabinet. I put watermelon in it to soak for one night the first day, and pick it up and eat it the next day.

After eating the watermelon, Li Ke, who has always been generous and fat, burped Lu Shude in the middle of the matter, sat on the chair and raised his legs, and gestured to Cheng Wen in the middle of the matter, who was sitting on the opposite side of the engineering department, and said: Make a riddle Guess what? Cheng Wen had a sunken face, and his chin was full of watermelon juice from eating. Now he took out a handbag from his cuff and replied while wiping it: You can tell. Lu Shude pointed to the basin full of watermelon rinds in front of him and said: That's it, type two words. What are the two words?Cheng Wen asked.

Tell you what else do you want to guess?Lu Shude blinked his bulging eyes, and said treacherously, I am afraid that everyone here has tried these two words. Cheng Wen was dazed and couldn't think of a clue, and the rest of the people were all staring at the pot of melon rind, stumped for a moment. You give me a wake-up call.Luo Zun said. Haha, I didn't expect this riddle, which is clear at a glance, to stump you, a group of talented scholars who are full of knowledge. Lu Shude laughed three times, he was very proud, well, let me remind you, Zhang Sheng will meet Yingying under the moon, why?

Cheating.A young man blurted out something. Well, it's on the edge. Ah, I got it, Luo Zun slapped his hands, grinned loudly before opening his mouth, and cursed: Good old Lu, you are talking such nasty things in the center of the cabinet. What exactly is it?Han Yi asked. Luo Zun held back his laughter and said: If my guess is not bad, the answer to these two words is Pogua. Broken melon?Ah, really, what is this if it's not a pot of broken melons! Cheng Wen slapped his forehead, and the sudden realization was very funny, which caused a burst of laughter. Luo Zun was good at teasing people, but now seeing a whole room being fooled by Lu Shude, he intends to take revenge.He stretched out his finger to land on Lu Shude, and said with a smile: As the saying goes, a beautiful woman in her twenties is the time to break the melon.The meaning of this is very clear. When a woman grows to 2816 years old, she is like a peach after the Dragon Boat Festival. It is finally ripe and ready to be enjoyed.Only when the melon is ripe and the stem falls, can the melon be broken.However, I heard that you went to Hangzhou for business last year, where you prostituted a charming girl who was only fifteen years old.This is still a cucumber, brother Lu, you are reckless.

Yes, I have also heard about this incident, Lao Lu, now you are honest and frank, how romantic that night was. Yeah, confess it. The crowd booed for a while, Lu Shude couldn't help it, and quickly argued: You are wronging good people. That night, the prefect of Hangzhou held a hall meeting for the younger brother. Indeed, a fifteen-year-old girl came to the hall with the theater troupe. The prefect let her Accompany me to drink, sing a few tunes, that's all. Seeing that you have said that you have become a holy man who guards his body like jade, Luo Zun took advantage of the situation and continued to taunt, "If you say that there are no fish that eat cats in the world, but there are cats that eat fish all over the world, the first one It's you, Brother Lu. This also includes you, Mr. Luo.Lu Shude retorted. Seeing that the two of them were getting angry, their expressions were a little uneasy.Cheng Wen, who has always been a peacemaker, came out to smooth things over and said: Lao Lu said a joke, why should everyone take it seriously.In fact, although Lao Lu's riddle is appropriate, it is not elegant.Now I will say another riddle, the answer is more vulgar than Lao Lu's, but very elegant. Yo, Cheng Wen can do this too?Han Yi laughed, and said with a smile, tell me. Cheng Wen said with a serious face: First of all, I did not make up this riddle.After the mystery is revealed, I will tell who the author is.This riddle is one word. back?Lu Shude forgot his unhappiness, and interrupted to ask. Yes, back. hit what? An action of beating a man and a woman. There was a moment of silence in the room.Among this gang, only Han Yi is older, in his forties, and the rest are in their early thirties.We usually work together in a joint office, and we are used to being crazy.Cheng Wen has always been short of words, but today he came up with such a difficult crossword puzzle, and everyone searched their brains and couldn't figure out an answer. Back, love between men and women, how can these two things be connected? Well, this word puzzle is tricky! Everyone couldn't think of a clue, and after some discussion, they clamored for Cheng Wen to tell the answer by himself. Cheng Wen rubbed the blurry eyes at the corners of his eyes, and said slowly: The answer to this riddle is also two words, oral sex. oral sex?Someone yelled. Cheng Wen went on to say: Big mouth with small mouth, what is it if it is not oral sex? It was only then that everyone realized the mystery, so they leaned forward and backward with a loud laugh.Han Yi's tears burst into laughter, he pointed at Cheng Wen, panting and said: "I never thought that you, Cheng Wen, who looked at you with a slumped head, would have such a heart." Cheng Wen didn't think it was funny, he still replied with a straight face: I have already said that this crossword puzzle was made up by others. who? Feng Bao, the eunuch in charge of the ceremony and the admiral of the East Factory, who just took office. he?Luo Zun let out a cry, shaking his head like a rattle drum, he has no roots at all, yet he can compose such anagrams? Cheng Wen replied: I, Cheng Wen, never tell lies. This is absolutely true, and it was told by Xu Jue, Feng Bao's housekeeper. Where did you find out?Han Yi asked. From an antique dealer. Cheng Wen went on to tell the whole story: he had a commoner friend who was in business, who was proficient in writing and ink, and had a Confucian style.In my spare time, I like to visit antique shops and search for some antiques and ancient calligraphy and paintings.One day, when I went to Guyazhai antique shop on Qipan Street, I saw a erotic painting, the silk was extremely fine, and the dyeing was exquisite.The men and women in the painting are completely different from the obscene and unsightly erotic paintings that are popular nowadays.The men and women in the picture are only looking at each other from a distance, but they all cover their faces with fans at close range.A floating man bent down to peek at the bathing girl in the curtain, and the bathing girl only showed a round jade elbow, which made people dream endlessly, but she was still full of happiness.The businessman felt that this was the best work among the erotic paintings, so he wanted to buy it and asked the antique dealer for a price.The antique dealer told that this erotic painting came from Ryukyu Island, and it was hard to come by across the ocean, so they asked for fifty taels of silver.The merchant thought it was expensive and bargained with it, but the antique dealer insisted on not letting it go.The businessman was hesitating, when he heard someone beside him say: "Fifty taels of silver is not expensive, I bought it."As he said that, he asked the follower to cash the bank note and took the painting away.Looking at the back of the buyer, the businessman bossed around and looked rich and powerful, feeling very annoyed in his heart.At this time, the antique dealer who sold it for a good price said to him with a mysterious face: Guest officer, you don't know this buyer, do you?He often patronizes this shop of mine, and he never bargains the price when he sees good things. He just leaves after buying, without leaving his name.It was finally cleared up later that he bought it for his master.His master likes to collect antique calligraphy and paintings. According to my guess, the master behind the scenes must be worth a lot.Once when I saw a erotic painting, the buyer asked me to guess a crossword puzzle.I just found out that his master is still a romantic talent.The businessman was also very surprised when he heard this, so he asked the antique dealer if he could find out who this romantic talent is?The antique dealer shook his head in a daze.After some time, the businessman went to Guyazhai for a stroll again, and the antique dealer said to him: The name of the big buyer has been found out, and his name is Xu Jue.The businessman friend was surprised when he heard this, turned around to Cheng Wen's house, and talked about it while sitting and chatting. After listening to the story told by Cheng Wen, the first group of teachers were immediately aroused like coals of fire.Everyone was still licking the things behind Feng Bao's privacy, but Lu Shude already spat loudly, cursing: Damn, I have heard that Feng Bao is fake and elegant, so he can collect antiques, calligraphy and paintings, but I didn't expect him to love erotic palaces more picture. Luo Zun thought more deeply. He glanced at all the colleagues present, and said meaningfully: It seems that the rumors in the past that Feng Bao privately made prostitutes to present to the late emperor are not groundless.The erotic porcelains displayed in the East Nuan Pavilion of Qianqing Palace may be the ones that the late emperor listened to Feng Bao's advice and specially went to Jingdezhen to burn them. A reporter said: If you want to find out the authenticity of this matter, you have to find out Meng Chong to testify. Meng Chong?Han Yi shook his head, smiled wryly and said, I visited his house last night, the original intention was to let him disclose some of Feng Bao's evil deeds in the palace.The old chef refused to see me, and asked the housekeeper to come out and prevaricate, saying that he was ill, his head hurt like it exploded, and he couldn't see any guests. This is a softie.Someone scolded. No wonder, Lu Shude said, I heard that a few days ago, Feng Bao sent ten servants to work in his house, they were there to serve and take care of him, but they were secretly monitoring him, not allowing him to associate with anyone. Talking like this, these officials who wanted to bring down Feng Bao felt like a dog biting a hedgehog.At this time, it was Cheng Wen who spoke again: If Feng Bao really has something hard in his crotch, he must be the number one whore in the world.The current him, even if he bought all the erotic pictures in the world, he was just feasting his eyes.What I can't understand is that Concubine Li Gui has always been dignified and solemn, and her mother respects the world.Feng Baoben is the master of adultery and robbers. How did he hide his face and win the trust of Concubine Li Gui? This is Feng Bao's brilliance, Luo Zun stared at Cheng Wen and replied, this man hides a knife in his smile, and his mind is extraordinary.Only because of this, Shoufu has a heart disease that cannot be resolved. Shoufu's heart disease is also the heart disease of scholars in the world. I think today's meeting Before Han Yi finished speaking, he suddenly heard heavy footsteps in the corridor, and in an instant, he saw Ma Congyun, the clerk, walk into the court room and report: The chief assistant has arrived. As soon as Gao Gong entered the door, all the officials had already stood up with their clothes on, and saluted him together.Gao Gong waved for everyone to sit down, and he himself took the empty host seat in the middle.Gao Gong was always serious, and these disciples were afraid of his majesty.But today they saw that the seat owner was in a good mood, the crow's feet at the corners of his eyes were dense like spider webs and the two profound decrees that twisted his mouth all overflowed with rare smiles.Once seated, Gao Gong glanced at the disciples and said with a smile: Just now I heard chattering in the corridor, it was very lively, why did it become silent when I came? As soon as the chief assistant arrives, the position is respected and humbled.Han Yi's titled official department was given to Shizhongnai as the head of the six departments, so it was his turn to answer.He bowed his body, and replied respectfully: the students are talking about eunuch Feng Bao, and they are thinking that it is the right time to hand over the impeachment now. Gao Gong nodded slightly.He was sitting on the west side, when the sunlight came in through the east window, dazzled his eyes a little bit.Seeing this, Han Yi quickly got up and went to lower the curtains of the windows on the east side, and the light in the room suddenly softened.Gao Gong didn't seem to mind Han Yi's hospitality, he just looked at everyone and said with a smile: The old man knows that you are all telling jokes. I am in a good mood today, so I have fun and tell you a joke. The first assistant had a taste for telling jokes, this was the first time in history, all the disciples were flattered, and they applauded and welcomed him.Gao Gong signaled everyone to be quiet, and said: It is said that 20 years after Jiajing, Emperor Shizong insisted on cultivating Xuan Xuan, and handed over all important military and state affairs to the treacherous Prime Minister Yan Song.Yan Song has been favored for more than 20 years.This person has been in the government for a long time, coupled with his sexual greed, it is almost a trend to sell officials and nobles for a while.In the civil and military affairs of the Manchu Dynasty, no one dared to beat him.What is even more exasperating is that a large number of sycophants have joined his sect and worked as minions for the tiger.At that time, I was sent to the Imperial Academy as a historian, and one day I had something to ask Yan Song for instructions.When he arrived at his private house, a group of officials who begged Yan Song, Xiang Gun, gathered like ants.At this time, Yan Song just went out to greet the guests, and the people waiting to see them immediately stood up, held their voices and bowed like a chicken pecking rice, this situation is extremely ridiculous.I couldn't help but laugh for a moment, so I burst out laughing.Yan Song felt that I was presumptuous, so he asked me why I laughed so much.I calmly replied, just now I saw the Prime Minister come out, and all the gentlemen respected him, which reminded me of two lines of poems in Han Changli's "Cockfighting": The big chicken comes proudly, and the little chicken waits.After hearing this, Yan Song also broke into a smile.When he went back to the house and thought about it carefully, he decided that I meant to ridicule him, so he held a grudge and looked for an opportunity to retaliate against me, and finally deposed me as a citizen.According to common sense, when encountering such injustices, officials such as the six divisions and the thirteen censors have to stand up and make suggestions, uphold justice, and impeach lawlessness.But at that time, all the speech officials were frightened by Yan Song's power, and no one dared to stand up and uphold justice.This incident made Shihlin's teeth cold.At this time, a Shangshu happened to have scabies, and he invited an imperial doctor from the Imperial Hospital to come and treat him. After seeing the doctor, the imperial doctor told the Shangshu that there is no need to prescribe medicine for the scabies of your lord, only six departments are needed. It can be cured if you come here.The Shangshu was confused by the imperial doctor's words, and asked: How to treat scabies with the help of the six departments?The imperial doctor replied that the Sixth Division grew their tongues and dared not speak, so they had to let them practice licking skills.Only then did Shangshu realize that the imperial doctor was swearing around, so he burst out laughing, and the story spread. Gao Gong finished telling the joke vividly, but none of the presenters could laugh.They felt like they had been slapped in the face.Because this joke came from the mouth of their respected chief minister, not only could they not break out, but they had to figure out why they would bow to the chief minister today, so why did they have such a harsh opening statement? Others were still in a daze, but Cheng Wen was a little bit reluctant, and he said angrily: What Mr. Yuanfu is telling is not a joke, but a piece of historical fact.I heard it when I first came to Sixth Division.But the students think that the words of the imperial doctor attacking the speaker are not enough. As Shoufu said, first there is a big chicken like Yan Song in the court, and then there will be a group of young people including the speaker. chicken.The big chickens and the little chickens are flopping around, and the government has become a chicken coop! What Cheng Wenwen wanted to explain was that the upper beam was not straight and the lower beam was crooked, but he couldn't express it clearly when he was impulsive, and he was so confused that he was confused.That competitive look made everyone laugh again, and with this smile, the atmosphere in the room eased down again.Gao Gong knew that everyone misunderstood him, so he took the opportunity to explain: Looking at the expressions on everyone's ice sculptures and clay sculptures just now, I can tell that you don't like the jokes told by the old man.I don't intend to use the past to satirize the present and ridicule you.Cheng Wen, you don't have to argue, how old are you, thirty years old, right?When the old man was cut off by Yan Song, you were just born.I'm telling a true story, but again, I'm not telling you to poke fun at you.I want to use this to explain that it is in a position of great attention for the emperor to exercise the power to block and refute supervision.When encountering people who are corrupt, corrupt and pervert the law, you must have the courage to take the case and offend Yan Zhijian. This is not only a responsibility, but also a morality, otherwise, the world will laugh at you. Luo Zun was quick-witted, and had already guessed Gao Gong's thoughts by now, so he asked, "Yuanfu, is the impeachment of Feng Bao discussed in today's meeting?" Exactly, Gao Gong answered bluntly, I have called you all here today for the purpose of the meeting.On the day the emperor ascended the throne, Luo Zunlai told me that Feng Baoshi could not come down from the side of the throne, and the officials did not know whether to kowtow to respect the emperor or him.You officials are all furious, gearing up to impeach him.Considering the complicated and confusing situation at that time, the old man will wait and see for a few days.Now it seems that the new emperor, and the emperor's biological mother, Li Guifei, are still putting state affairs first, taking into account the overall situation, and not blindly favoring Feng Bao. "Chen Wushishu" is a clear proof of the decree according to the cabinet ticket.This morning, both the Ministry of Punishment and the Ministry of Rites also returned the proposed court ticket, which is a sign that the situation is improving.On that day, the old man arranged for Jiang Jiakuan's booklet from Nanjing Engineering to go first, and threw a stone to find a way. The booklet was sent to the palace yesterday. To send draft tickets.Han Yi, I asked you to investigate the two things about Feng Bao, have you verified them?Han Yi responded: I assigned it to Cheng Wen. Gao Gong shifted his gaze to Cheng Wen again, and Cheng Wen shook his head. Gao Gong frowned with a big pimple in his heart.The two things he asked, the first thing is that when Feng Bao was building a private house, all the materials were taken from the Imperial Palace Treasury.Zhai Tingyu, the eunuch in charge of the library, thought that Feng Bao was stealing public property, and said a few unpleasant words. When Feng Bao found out, he sent several Dongchang school captains to arrest Zhai Tingyu and imprison him, and falsely accused Zhai Tingyu of being in the imperial treasury. He committed adultery and self-stealing, and was severely tortured.Zhai Tingyu couldn't bear the torture and committed suicide in prison.The second thing is that Feng Bao secretly purchased some obscene instruments and aphrodisiacs outside and presented them to Emperor Longqing.As a result, Emperor Longqing became ill from long-term study and died young.It was an open secret inside and outside the court that Emperor Daxing was fond of sexual objects and became addicted to taking aphrodisiacs during his lifetime.It's just that the person who offered the obscene device and the aphrodisiac, some said it was Meng Chong, some said it was Feng Bao.Gao Gong instructed Cheng Wen to go to Meng Chong to investigate, and his intention was obvious, just to find out Meng Chong's confession.Because these two things can make Feng Baowen a capital crime.Especially the latter one, there is a precedent in the court: in the eighteenth year of Hongzhi, the eunuch Zhang Yu served Emperor Xiaozong to take medicine, but by mistake he took the wrong medicine box and gave the aphrodisiac to the emperor.As a result, when Emperor Xiao met his foreign ministers, he was full of love.At that time, Duke Hou Kedao and other officials found out about this matter, so they discussed the impeachment according to the original plan, and they insisted on arresting Zhang Yu and beheading him.Zhang Yu didn't lose his life by offering the aphrodisiac on purpose, if Feng Bao offered it on purpose, there would be no reason to live.All the old eunuchs in the palace knew this story.Gao Gong asked the staff to collect these rumors, and then verified them one by one.After all, he was very experienced and knew that for a person with a deep foundation like Feng Bao, he would either not be impeached. Gao Gong glared at Han Yi with dissatisfaction, and asked, "Have you checked with Meng Chong about the offering of aphrodisiacs?" Han Yi replied with a bitter face: I've been to Meng Chong's house, but he didn't see him behind closed doors. Luo Zun hastened to add: I heard that Feng Bao sent ten small fire fighters to Meng Chong's mansion. They said they were servants, but they actually put Meng Chong under guard. Is there such a thing?Gao Gong was a little surprised, and then his face sank, and he said, Feng Bao's actions are a sign of a guilty conscience, and it also shows that he has not yet gained a firm foothold in the palace, so it is the right time to impeach him. Yuanfu is right, let's write the notes now. Lu Shude, who had been silent for a long time, yelled enthusiastically at this moment, and everyone discussed the matter excitedly.At this moment, Ma Congyun ran into the court room again and whispered to Gao Gong, "Yuanfu, Minister Zhu of the Ministry of Industry wants to see you." What about others?Gao Gong asked. Already sitting in your duty room. Gao Gong thought to himself that it would be impossible to see this visitor, so he said to the officials: You guys discuss it first, I will come as soon as I go.After that, he went downstairs. Gao Gong returned to the duty room, but saw that Zhu Heng, Minister of the Ministry of Industry, had already sat down in the small living room.This Zhu Heng was a Jinshi in the 11th year of Jiajing, and he had been a minister for many years. He was the elder of the three dynasties, and he was six years older than Gao Gong.So Gao Gong didn't dare to be sloppy with him, and when they met each other, they gave equal official courtesy to each other.Gao Gong insisted on giving up the front seat in the living room to Zhu Heng. After sitting down and watching tea, Gao Gong noticed that Zhu Heng's face was not looking well, so he asked cautiously: "Brother Shinan, you don't go to the Three Treasures Hall for nothing. May I ask why you came here today?" ? Brother Suqing, Zhu Heng relied on the old to sell the old, and addressed Gao Gong with words. Today, the old man sent someone to the Ministry of Households to allocate funds for the Chaobai River project, but the Ministry of Households insisted on refusing to do so.When you ask them why, they all falter and haw, let me ask you, it is simply unreasonable! As Zhu Heng said, he stomped his feet in anger, and another layer of beads of sweat oozed from his forehead that had just wiped off the sweat stains.Looking at the anger on his face, Gao Gong smiled dryly, not knowing how to answer for a while. To find out the reason for Zhu Heng's anger, we must first introduce the cause of the Chaobai River project.In addition, most of the food supply for hundreds of thousands of soldiers in the capital city and Jizhen was transported from Jiangsu and Zhejiang by a canal running from north to south.After the grain was transported to the Tongzhou warehouse, it was then transported by land to the capital and Jizhen, which not only consumed a lot of manpower, but also often could not be delivered in time, resulting in mildew and rot in the grain stored in the Tongzhou warehouse.In response to this situation, Zhu Heng, a water conservancy expert who has devoted his life to water transportation and river control, gave a lecture to Emperor Longqing at the beginning of the year.The Qianchao River and the Baier River diverge, and they will meet at Niulan Mountain. Water transport ships from Tongzhou can only reach Niulan Mountain, and then transport them by land to Longqingcang. The journey is very painful.Now the Baihe River flows through the west of the city, only one or two miles away from the Chaohe River.If the two rivers can be opened up, dredged and dammed, they will be combined into a first-class, and the water flow will become deeper to facilitate water transportation.In the past, the amount of grain transported in Changping was as much as 180,000 shi, but now it is only 140,000 shi, and Miyun only gets 100,000 shi.It all depends on investment promotion and transportation, which costs a lot of money every year, which is very inconvenient.I heard that most of the stored grain in Tongzhou turned red and rotted due to insufficient transshipment. If Chaobai Ershui is opened up, 50,000 shi will be transported to Miyun every month to supply Changling and other Eight Guards officers and soldiers. If it is left to the Beijing army, there will be no rot in the Tongzhou warehouse, the Beijing army will benefit, and Miyun will be free from merchants. Three benefits can be obtained in one fell swoop.This chapter was transferred from the inner palace to the cabinet to draw up bills.Gao Gong actively agreed with Zhu Heng's suggestion, so he persuaded Emperor Longqing to agree to implement the project of dredging the Changping River Transport, and let Zhu Heng take charge of it.After Zhu Heng received the decree, he carefully made a project budget, which required about 600,000 taels of silver, and the construction period was about seven months. Emperor Longqing approved the decree.Now, the construction period has reached the fifth month, and it is in full swing.According to the plan, the first phase of the project was 400,000 taels of silver, and all of it should have been in place last month.The Ministry of Accounting said that it was difficult, and delayed again and again, only gave 200,000 taels of silver, and stated that the remaining 200,000 taels of silver would be paid before the 15th of this month. Today is the deadline. Zhu Heng sent someone to the Ministry of Accounts to transfer But the money came back after touching his nose, so he was very annoyed.How did he know that this money was directly withheld by Zhang Benzhi, the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, under the instruction of Gao Gong, in order to flatter Concubine Li Gui, and use it to make head jewelry for the concubines in the harem.Since this matter was not easy to put on the table, Zhang Benzhi, who had always been unwilling to take responsibility, played a trick and asked Zhu Heng to come straight to Gao Gong. Brother Suqing, today you give this old man an explanation, whether to pay for the project or not? Zhu Heng was so angry that he didn't care about official etiquette, and his tone of voice was extremely choking.Gao Gong knew in his heart that if he explained the truth at this time, it would be a wonder if Zhu Heng didn't turn the cabinet upside down.If it was delayed for a day or two, waiting for the emperor to approve the papers from the Ministry of Rites, then it would be reasonable to do the persuasion work, so he decided to come up with a plan to delay the attack and stabilize Zhu Heng first.After pondering for a while, Gao Gong replied: Who would say not to pay for the project, this is a matter agreed by the late emperor's imperial court, who would dare not do it? Zhu Heng stiffened his neck, and said angrily: Zhang Benzhi refused to follow through. If he didn't give out the money, the migrant workers would cause trouble and the project would be delayed endlessly. Who will bear the responsibility? Brother Shi Nan, don't be so excited, Gao Gong looked calm, and said tactfully, Zhang Benzhi may have some difficulties, and it is inconvenient to explain to you, so he sent you to me. You go back now, and I will go to the Ministry of Households later. bring this matter to a satisfactory resolution. Zhu Heng heard the meaning of seeing off the guests in Shoufu's words, and knew that sitting here could not solve the problem, so he raised his official robe, stood up and bid farewell to Gao Gong, walked to the door, and dropped another hard sentence : I can't get the project money tomorrow, so the old man has no choice but to go to the emperor to ask for justice. This sentence implied a threat, and Gao Gong didn't like it.But because there are more important things to do, this matter can only be endured for the time being.After seeing Zhu Heng off, Gao Gong went back upstairs to the court room and asked everyone what to do: How are things going? The plan is set.On behalf of everyone, Han Yi reported to Gao Gong that Feng Bao stole materials from the internal treasury to build a private house, and Cheng Wenshang was impeached by the engineering department, and Feng Bao usurped the imperial side when the emperor ascended the pole. The Li Ke gave Lu Shude a book to participate in the event.These two reference books will be sent to Huangjimen early tomorrow morning.In order to prevent Feng Bao from leaving the copy in the middle, we specially prepared two copies.The original was sent to the palace, and the copy was sent to the cabinet. Gao Gong nodded slightly, the officials knew that this was an agreement, but everyone expected him to say a few words of weight, Gao Gong insisted on not saying a word, and these disciples began to guess what the master was thinking.Luo Zun thought that the two memorials agreed just now were not enough to attract the attention of the emperor and his two mothers.Therefore, Feng Bao cannot be brought down, which may be what the chief assistant is worried about.He thought for a while and said: The two notebooks that everyone discussed just now are of course very good.However, if he wanted to expel Feng Bao from the Rites Supervisor in one fell swoop, according to the opinion of the lower officials, there were more important materials that could be used. ah?Gao Gong glanced over and asked, what materials are there, Luo will follow you. Luo Zun went on to say: The late emperor's edict, which requires the three ministers of the cabinet and the supervisor of ceremonies to assist the young master, has aroused great repercussions among officials since it was published in the residence newspaper.Everyone thinks that there are many doubts about this will. What doubts?Gao Gong asked. First, the students heard that Emperor Longqing was in a coma when you, Gaoyi and Zhang Juzheng, the two cabinet ministers, rushed to the Qianqing Palace. For more than a hundred years, there has never been a precedent for eunuchs and cabinet ministers to be ordered together.At the beginning of the founding of the country, Emperor Hongwu stipulated that eunuchs should not interfere in politics, and even stipulated that eunuchs should be tortured to be skinned if they interfered in politics.Therefore, this will violates the ancestral system; thirdly, since the Minister of Rites and the three cabinet ministers were assisted by one mind, and the seal of the Supervisor of Rituals at that time was Meng Chong, not Feng Bao, why was it that day before Emperor Longqing's sick bed? , but only Feng Bao and no Meng Chong.These many doubts made everyone quite suspicious. In your opinion, this will is false? Officials are discussing in private that this will may be a coercion. Correction?Gao Gong asked a question. Yes, Jiaozhao!Luo Zun replied affirmatively, if he could impeach him for this coercive edict, scholars all over the world would definitely respond.Once it is implemented, it will not be a matter of Feng Bao leaving the Sili Supervisor. Those who committed this coercive crime in the previous generation will have to be sentenced to Dabi (Note: Death penalty. A type of ancient five punishments.) punishment. Luo Zun is right, let's make another comment and impeach him for the crime of coercion! As the saying goes, you need to hit seven inches to hit a snake, and this is equivalent to hitting Feng Bao's seven inches. All the officials echoed and agreed with Luo Zun's proposition, but Gao Gong remained silent.In fact, Luo Zun has always been suspicious of the matter Luo Zun mentioned.As the main party involved, he heard Feng Bao read the will before Emperor Longqing's sickbed.I didn't think about it because I was sad.Recalling all the details at that time afterwards, it was indeed as Luo Zun said that there were many loopholes.But if it is said to be a coercive edict based on this, then this coercive edict was definitely not done by Feng Bao alone.At least two of the new emperor's mothers were involved.If Feng Bao is impeached with the crime of coercion at this time, wouldn't it be a fire?The snake didn't hit it, but was bitten to death by the snake. This kind of thing must never be done.Considering this level, Gao Gong said: The old man has heard the private discussions of the officials, but although the matter of the imperial edict is suspicious, there is no real evidence.For this impeachment, there is no need to make a fuss about the edict. What Shoufu said was very true, Han Yi glanced at Luo Zun, smoothed things over and said, Luo Zun's proposal is a good idea, but to capture the thief and the king, you have to act according to Shoufu's strategy. Han Yi not only comforted Luo Zun, but also scratched Gao Gong's itchy spot. Gao Gong stroked his long beard excitedly, and said: As long as you all share the same hatred and unite as one, you will not worry about the evil.On the side of the Qing emperor, he can build immortal achievements through the ages. 會揖在一片昂揚的氣氛中結束，給事中都各自回衙起草奏本去了。