Chapter 498 It’s None of My Business!
In the cabinet classroom, only Gao Gong's voice was filled with displeasure.

After a while.

Zhao Zhenji slowly spoke: "Prime Minister, the new policy has been approved by the emperor, and the cabinet is also led by the Prime Minister. Everything is settled. In fact... why rush? The local areas are not like the central government. There are many things to be suppressed. Not to mention how many people in the local areas still oppose the new policy, even if everything is done according to the rules, I am afraid there is not enough energy..."

This is not the first time Zhao Zhenji has said this, and he is not the only one who says this.

After the new policy was finalized, the cabinet discussed it for a long time.

Except for Gao Gong, the other three believed that things should be done one by one, or separately.

Although you, Gao Gong, are the Prime Minister, you cannot push all matters to the local level at once.

However, since Li Xian became the Prime Minister during the reign of Emperor Xianzong, and the Prime Minister's power to oversee state affairs was truly established, his power and status began to become unprecedented.

Although the three of them in the cabinet wanted to slow down the implementation of the new law, Gao Gong had the final say and they were helpless.

This is also the reason why Yuan Wei and Li Chunfang are both silent.

Gao Gong snorted coldly: "How could I not know this truth? I explained it to you clearly before."

Hearing Gao Gong say this, Zhao Zhenji immediately nodded.

Gao Gong continued, "I am impatient and I don't allow for mistakes. But I also know that the court's reform policy involves several major issues and dozens of details. It is impossible for the local governments to complete them all at once. But if we don't implement it this way, the local governments may think that the court's new policy is not firm and will delay and neglect it."

"Although I have a deadline, I also know that the local government cannot complete everything on time. The reason why I do this is simply because I want to be in charge of the central government and force them to bite their teeth and get things done, instead of sitting in the government office all day and being lazy and careless."

Gao Gong looked angry, but he sighed and walked into the classroom.

"When things are urgent, we should take things slow. How can we take things slow when it comes to reforming the law?"

“If we cannot be the first to make a sound start for the new policy, how can we implement the new policy reforms in the future?”

"In my opinion, most of the local officials are lazy people who just sit there for the sake of office, just like the donkey at the entrance of the village. If I don't whip them from behind from time to time, how can they move?"

Gao Gong was merciless and directly compared the officials of the local government of the Ming Dynasty to lazy donkeys in front of the three people.

Zhao Zhenji frowned.

Yuan Wei also spoke up, "We know the Prime Minister's intentions, and we hope that the new policies will be implemented as soon as possible, so that our Ming Dynasty can become prosperous and strong as soon as possible, and the people can live and work in peace and contentment. But even if the Prime Minister has this intention, how can he control the officials to do what he wants? In a time of urgency, these people may act recklessly in order to keep their official hats and avoid being held accountable by the Prime Minister, just to complete the tasks assigned by the central government, without caring about the suffering of the people. This will cause chaos."

Why did the censors from the Six Departments go to the Xi'an Gate today, and why did they insist on bringing up the matter of establishing a crown prince?

Isn't it just to delay the implementation of the new policy?

They were forcing the Cabinet, especially Gao Gong, to take back the approval documents that had already been sent to the six departments and change the grace period.

Gao Gong could not say anything when these censors did this.

Is it a big deal to ask for the appointment of a crown prince?
If Gao Gong expresses his opposition, then we have to consider what he is thinking.

As for taking revenge on these six censors afterwards, it is even more impossible.

Because what happened today has nothing to do with the new policy on the surface.

Gao Gong naturally understood this clearly.

But he was still full of anger: "When the local government is doing things, you, Yuan Gelao, should be in charge of the three judicial departments to supervise the officials in various regions of the country! If they do their job recklessly and bring disaster to the people, then are the three judicial departments just for show?"

Seeing Gao Gong pouring the fire on himself.

Yuan Wei wisely chose to keep his mouth shut.

Ever since he took away the power of the three judicial departments and the authority to supervise all officials, and took away Gao Gong's responsibility for rectifying the administration of officials, he, as the second prime minister, has been in subtle opposition to Gao Gong, the first prime minister.

If I continue to argue about this matter now, I won't be able to do anything today.

Zhao Zhenji, on the other hand, slowly smiled and said, "Prince Minister, please calm down and don't be angry. Now that the new policy has been implemented, we need to deal with population, land, taxes, military preparations, border defenses, and so on. If the Prime Minister has health problems at this time, it will be difficult for us to deal with it."

Gao Gong snorted a few times from his nose, but did not speak. Instead, he turned his gaze to Zhao Zhenji, the new member of the cabinet.

It is clear.

He hoped that Zhao Zhenji could come up with a solution.

Zhao Zhenji said slowly, "In any case, now that the six departments have gone to Xi'an Gate to persuade them to establish the crown prince, I think the memorials and approvals of the six departments under the cabinet will be squeezed in the next few days. It is better to follow their wishes and take the approvals back first."

Gao Gong frowned: "Isn't this exactly what they want?"

Zhao Zhenji shook his head and said, "Prime Minister, please be at ease. I mean to take back the approval document first. Now it is autumn and winter, and there has always been a rule of autumn defense outside the border. It is better to send the approval document for rectifying the border defense to the six departments for review, and let them transfer it to the Ministry of Communications and Administration to forward it to the Ministry of War for implementation. Then send the matter of checking the population of all prefectures and counties in the country to the six departments and hand it over to the Ministry of Revenue for implementation."

Gao Gong's eyes flickered. "Meng Jing means... to have all the cases reviewed by the six departments?"

Without waiting for Zhao Zhenji to speak.

Gao Gong nodded repeatedly and said, "Meng Jing's words make sense! The people in the six departments can't stay at Xi'an Gate all day. The emperor will have to give an explanation for the matter of appointing a crown prince. The cabinet will first send the first few matters to the six departments, and they will definitely review and approve them. Then, we will send the remaining matters to the six departments for review."

Zhao Zhenji smiled silently, cupped his hands and said, "The Prime Minister is wise. The six censors will at most kneel at Xi'an Gate for three to five days. Can the Emperor just ignore it? Besides, the Emperor only has Prince Yu among his sons now. After all the calculations, the position of the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace can only be Prince Yu. This time, the six censors kneeled to advise. With their disturbance, the Emperor might decide on the position of the Crown Prince. Then the Prime Minister can be more assured and continue to implement the new policy in the future."

This new cabinet minister would not say that he was tempting Prime Minister Gao Gong by offering Prince Yu as the heir to the throne, nor would he say that by doing so, the major events of the new policy would be delayed imperceptibly, and thus things would not cause trouble due to haste.

But Gao Gong suddenly became quiet.

He just stared at Zhao Zhenji silently.

suddenly.

Gao Gong smiled and laughed.

When several people were puzzled.

Gao Gong pointed at Zhao Zhenji and said, "What a Zhao Mengjing! He's beating around the bush just to get me to slow down my new policy!"

None of them are fools.

How could Gao Gong not see Zhao Zhenji's thoughts and plans?

Zhao Zhenji also smiled but said nothing.

He never intended that Gao Gong would not be able to see through his thoughts.

However, Gao Gong said, "Things can be slow, but the new policy cannot be slow. I will never give in on this point!"

After saying this, Gao Gong sat back on the top chair of the cabinet.

He tapped the table lightly with his palms, his eyes flickering constantly.

"Things like salt administration, armaments, royal family, and meritorious service can be dealt with after the New Year. I am not opposed to your agreement."

"But the border defense is implemented by the Ministry of War, the population and land are managed by the Ministry of Revenue, and the Ministry of Revenue is also responsible for taxes and labor service. These three things must be done before the end of the year."

Gao Gong finally made some concessions.

But did he really give in?
Obviously not. He is still putting the issues of border defense, population and land, taxes and corvee labor on hold for now.

Zhao Zhenji moved his lips a few times, but did not speak again.

After all, according to the new policy formulated under the leadership of Gao Gong, the specific changes to the new laws on border defense, population and land, taxes and corvée labor were actually just about rectification.

The frontier troops were rectified, the actual number of soldiers in the nine frontiers was checked, the fake names were cleared, and the frontier troops' inventory was clarified. The same was true for the population and land, which was nothing more than re-checking the latest population numbers in the world and finding out the amount of land that had been occupied and newly reclaimed. In this way, the court could re-establish new taxes on people and land, and assign new corvée labor.

In Gao Gong's opinion.

The reason why the court is now plagued by problems is that all matters in the country have been kept secret until now.

Now, as long as the matter is investigated, the expenditure on the nine frontiers can be reduced, local fiscal revenue can be increased, and the imperial court can continue.

However, this is also in line with Gao Gong's consistent way of being an official.

The first thing is to rectify.

In the past, we rectified the administration of officials, and now we are rectifying the whole country.

Seeing that Gao Gong had at least made some concessions and did not hand over all matters to the local authorities before the New Year, the atmosphere in the cabinet also eased.

Li Chunfang also said, "Since this is the case, now that the six departments have come forward to advise the establishment of a crown prince, should the prime minister also make a statement?"

In fact, his question is redundant.

However, Li Chunfang also knew that Gao Gong needed this conversation to serve as a stepping stone.

After all, why do the censors of the six departments have so many ways today, but they insist on going to Xi'an Gate to kneel and make a petition on the pretext of asking for the establishment of a crown prince, in order to delay the cabinet's approval to the six departments?
It’s because everyone knows that Prime Minister Gao Gong is Prince Yu’s teacher.

Please appoint Prince Yu as the Crown Prince.

Fundamentally speaking, the one who benefited was not Prince Yu himself.

Because now the emperor has only one son alive, Prince Yu, and Prince Yu has Zhu Yijun, the crown prince.

Who else could be the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace of the Ming Dynasty other than Prince Yu?

Therefore, the one who really benefited should be the Prime Minister Gao Gong!
When Prince Yu became the crown prince, he was the legitimate heir to the throne and would be able to have a say in state affairs and would inherit the throne as emperor in the future.

Read the error-free version at 69shuba! 6=9+shu_ba is the first to publish this novel.

Gao Gong was the chief minister and the emperor's teacher!

So the person who came up with this idea this time, Liu Ke, is also an extremely smart person.

It can be said that we have grasped Gao Gong's real weakness.

"The crown prince is the foundation of the country."

"Now that the imperial court has launched a new policy, how can the foundation of the country remain in vain for long?"

As expected, Gao Gong did not disappoint Li Chunfang and responded indifferently.

Li Chunfang looked at Yuan Wei and Zhao Zhenji with a slight smile on her face.

This is the reason why Gao Gong, although very angry today, would not take action to suppress the six censors.

Because if you count them, that's what the six censors did today.

It's for the sake of Gao Gong.

……

"What a good thing!"

But some people think it is good, while others think it is bad.

Changping Academy, since learning the news, Prince Yu Zhu Zaigui has been panicked and full of uneasiness.

This sentence has been repeated countless times in his mouth.

Dean Zhu was in no mood to read the latest construction plan of the academy on the table in front of him. He also didn't want to approve the salary and benefits that should be paid to the teachers at the end of the year.

He had no energy to review the documents sent from the Imperial College regarding the latest batch of juren and xiucai entering local government offices to serve as clerks.

In short.

Now Director Zhu is very flustered.

After thinking it over, Zhu Zaigui drove away the person from the palace who came to deliver the letter, and walked out of the house with his hands in his pockets and a serious face, heading towards somewhere in the academy.

Not long after.

When the sound of mahjong was heard in the front yard, Zhu Zaigui immediately quickened his pace.

"Master!"

"Today, the six censors in front of Xi'an Gate urged us to establish a crown prince. This is none of my business!"

"Please teach me how to deal with this, Grand Master."

When he saw Yan Song playing mahjong with Nie Bao, Wang Ji and Qian Dehong, Zhu Zaigui immediately distanced himself from the matter of the six censors kneeling at Xi'an Gate today to plead for him to be made the crown prince.

As soon as Zhu Zaigui opened his mouth to speak, Yan Song stopped what he was doing and placed the mahjong piece in his hand on the table.

He first glanced at Xu Wei who had just come over to deliver a message, then stood up and walked in front of Zhu Zaigui, smiling: "Why is your Highness so nervous? Sit down and take a rest."

As he spoke, Yan Song pulled Zhu Zaigui to sit on an empty chair nearby.

Zhu Zaigui was pressed on the chair, but he looked up and grabbed Yan Song's arms with both hands, his eyes full of worry: "Grand Master! This is really none of my business! It's... it's them... it's the censors of the six departments who acted on their own!"

This Prince Yu is really scared.

The emperor has been on the throne for forty-five years, and many troubles have arisen because of the affairs of the princes and the crown prince.

I really don't dare to have anything to do with this kind of thing.

He almost said, "The six censors are harming me."

"Yes." Yan Song replied with a smile on his face, and then said: "Your Highness is now often in the academy, sorting out the academy's affairs, and also handling the matter of recommending appointments to the Imperial College. How could he be related to the people of the six departments?"

Zhu Zaigui nodded repeatedly: "Yes, yes, yes! The Grand Tutor is very understanding and knows that I have never had any relationship with anyone from the Six Departments."

Although his father, the emperor, had hinted to him long ago that the Ming Dynasty would be handed over to him. Although his brother, Prince Jing, had passed away last year.

He has become the undisputed and only candidate for the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace of the Ming Dynasty.

But Zhu Zaigui didn't dare to have any idea at all.

The fact that the two dragons did not meet was always in my mind.

I also know very well the reason why my father has not appointed a crown prince for all these years.

Now this kind of thing has happened.

Isn't this the six censors harming themselves?
Now, he could only rely on the old master's advice to keep himself away from this vortex.

however.

Yan Song gently patted Zhu Zaigui's shoulder.

Although this goes against the etiquette between the monarch and his subjects.

But who can blame Yan Song for being qualified now?

Even if he was the prime minister of the current dynasty, considering his age of over 80, if he were an ordinary citizen, he would not be punished if he cursed a few words in front of the emperor.

Live longer and get older.

There have always been some privileges.

In Zhu Zaigui's expectation.

Yan Song spoke slowly with a smile.

"Your Majesty has been on the throne for forty-five years. Now the only prince in the royal family is the prince. Who else can be the crown prince of the Eastern Palace except the prince?"

"I think it's time for the prince to take the throne as the crown prince of the Eastern Palace!"

Zhu Zaigui's face turned visibly pale and his mouth gradually opened wider.

As several people in the courtyard watched, sweat oozed from Zhu Zaigui's forehead.

He opened his mouth, his face full of panic, he was at a loss, and made sounds subconsciously.

"what?"

…………

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(End of this chapter)