Chapter 223

"Xu Huating, we have fought each other for half a lifetime; you and I are merely pawns."

Yan Song gazed at Xu Jie and could not help but throw his head back and laugh loudly twice.

Gao Gong has only retired from office; he is not dead. At worst, it is just like going home for a two-day holiday.

When the Crown Prince ascends the throne in the future, he can be recalled at any time.

But Yan Song and Xu Jie are different.

The personnel memorial drafted by Jiajing consists entirely of Yan Song's disciples.

Xu Jie can oppose it.

But Yan Song cannot oppose it.

Otherwise, Yan Song will be abandoned by all his allies and loved ones.

But Xu Jie has already made up his mind to bury his head in the ground like an ostrich, preparing to outlast Jiajing, so Xu Jie cannot oppose it either.

It is just that Xu Jie can sit still and remain calm.

Xu Jie's disciples.

After seeing this list, can they still sit still?

The Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of War, the Censorate.

It is merely a bait thrown out by Jiajing.

136, textbook-level power struggle!

Inside the chat group, Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Di, and Zhu Gaochi, the three father and sons, watched the list drafted by Jiajing and all exclaimed in admiration.

"Brilliant, Father, brilliant! Besides 'brilliant,' I truly cannot think of any other adjective."

Zhu Gaochi stared at the list before him with his mouth agape.

Compared to Jiajing's reign.

The so-called 'Crown Prince Faction' and 'Prince of Han Faction' of the Yongle reign were completely like children playing house.

As for the so-called 'Huaixi Noble Families' and 'Zhedong Scholar Families' of the Hongwu reign, they are not even worth mentioning.

Those things could only be barely called interest groups.

They were merely an offensive and defensive alliance temporarily cobbled together under the appearance of having a common goal on the surface.

But the 'Pure Stream' of the Jiajing reign is completely a huge 'vested interest group.'

Even within the Yan Faction.

there are many people who are part of this 'vested interest group.'

You are in me, I am in you, yet each serves his own master; it appears loose, but behind it lies an extremely huge chain of interests that tightly binds the scholar families of the southeast and the great clans of the southeast together.

Compared to the other reigns, the characteristic of the party struggle in Jiajing's reign is the large number of people.

The Hongwu reign had nothing more than the 'Twenty-Four Generals of Huaixi'; counting Li Shanzhang and these civil officials, it was merely a few hundred Huaixi officials.

As for the 'Prince of Han Faction' of the Yongle reign, the number of people was even more pitifully small.

It was only a few veteran generals of the Jingnan campaign like Qiu Fu.

But in Jiajing's reign, the people clinging to the 'smuggling' interest chain included great clans, veteran officials of the bureaucracy, and even many Japanese pirates overseas; their footprints stretched from the Eastern Barbarians to Jiangxi, covering all major industries such as silk, porcelain, and tea.

Involving a hundred Battalion Commander up and down is a modest statement.

If one counts their family slaves, craftsmen, and sailors, this is absolutely a huge interest chain involving a population of over one million!

Most crucially, this 'vested interest group' almost monopolizes the talent supply of the entire Great Ming court.

Even if this batch is cut down and the imperial examinations are reopened, the majority of the Jinshi will still be their people.

This leads to the situation where wanting to treat the disease with the right medicine looks so magical to outsiders.

Zhu Yuanzhang squinted his eyes and asked the several relatively young emperors in the group.

"Zhu Houzhao, Zhu Youjian, Zhu Qizhen, do you three father and sons understand this child's technique?"

Zhu Houzhao looked at Zhu Yuanzhang, let out a long sigh, and finally sighed, saying.

"Great-Grandfather, your grandson indeed is not as good as my imperial brother."

Zhu Youjian then helplessly confessed.

"Your grandson can only glimpse a little; please, Great Ancestor, enlighten me."

Zhu Qizhen: "??? Great-Grandfather, he is stupid! He is employing treacherous flatterers! No matter how beautiful this move is, aren't these people all treacherous flatterers?"

Hearing Zhu Qizhen's words.

Zhu Yuanzhang's mouth corner could not help but twitch slightly.

"Get out! Get out!"

"Fourth, who told you to go back directly! This kid still needs a lot of training! You should have gone directly to your palace to see how your good granddaughter-in-law raises children!"

Zhu Di looked at Zhu Yuanzhang, let out a helpless long sigh, and explained to Zhu Qizhen.

"They are treacherous flatterers, but if you were the current Pure Stream, how many paths would you have?"

Zhu Qizhen answered tremblingly.

"O-of course, order someone to die in remonstrance and impeach."

"Then when you previously beat so many colleagues to death with a staff, didn't these Pure Stream members just pretend to be dead for nothing?"

Zhu Qizhen asked in confusion.

"Then what if they continue to pretend to be dead?"

Zhu Di snorted coldly.

"Continue to pretend to be dead, continue to pretend to be dead, and these people of the Yan Faction are afraid they will set up the framework of the Maritime Trade Office and treat it as national policy."

"If they do not make a sound again, there will not even be a need to pretend to be dead."

At this moment, the Pure Stream seems to have many choices.

In truth, the Pure Stream had no choice at all.

They could only dutifully hand over initiative in the court to Jiajing.

Then continue to watch what Jiajing would do next.

This was precisely the brilliance of the court situation.

Both sides were doing their utmost to leave not a single flaw for the other.

The Grand Secretariat was already under Yan Song's control.

This imperial decree from Jiajing passed almost without question.

Right after this decree was issued.

The entire capital erupted completely.

The students and disciples that Xu Jie had so painstakingly calmed down could no longer sit still.

"Master! The nation will cease to be a nation! For two hundred years, the dynasty has nurtured scholars; to die for righteousness with unwavering loyalty is today!"

"Will you all go? We shall now proceed to the Western Garden to petition, and we will surely make Your Majesty revoke this order!"

"..."

Xu Jie gazed at these students before him in near despair.

He knew.

This time, he could not stop them.

Looking at the crowd of censors and Hanlin academicians, all stirred with fervor.

Amidst the crowd, Xu Jie tightly grabbed someone's arm.

Zhang Juzheng, who had originally intended to go to the Western Garden to submit a memorial, looked back at Xu Jie with a bewildered expression.

"Master..."

Xu Jie stared hard at Zhang Juzheng and whispered,

"Taiyue, you cannot go!"

"Master, in such a great matter, how could this student not go?"

Xu Jie took a deep breath and sighed,

"Taiyue, heed your master's advice; leave a seed for the scholars of the world!"

Xu Jie did not know what Jiajing truly wanted to do.

But Xu Jie knew that once these Pure Stream members went, the initiative in the court would be completely surrendered to Jiajing.

The certain victory he had painstakingly cultivated for half his life, battling Jiajing in a contest of longevity, would thus be broken.

In a corner tower of the Western Garden.