Chapter 159

I really don't attend to my proper duties, main text volume, chapter 169: The minds of scholars are truly dirty. Zhu Yijun was playing with some silver coins in his hands. These silver coins were minted by the Baoquan Bureau using the casting method. They had some air holes, appeared somewhat crude, were not exquisite enough, and the areas where silver leaked were white without a distinct luster, with a relatively soft texture. The Baoquan Bureau knew the minted silver coins were very poor and was in the process of improving the production method.

The method of improvement was to ask the Directorate of Imperial Armaments in the palace to learn from their experience.

The Great Ming Imperial Palace had a widespread custom of minting gold and silver coins for rewards. The shape and style of these gold and silver coins were similar to copper coins, all being cast. The front was inscribed with "Wanli Tongbao" or "Made in the Wanli Year," and the back was inscribed with the weight. The denominations included two mace, five mace, nine mace, and so on.

Zhu Yijun did not make specific requirements for the Great Ming's silver currency; he only had to say he was dissatisfied, and the Baoquan Bureau would have to recast them.

Gold and silver can be rolled and pressed; silver coins made this way would be very beautiful. The Baoquan Bureau was in the process of trial production.

In fact, apart from paper money, the Great Ming had never truly issued currency in large quantities, because there was no copper, nor was there silver or gold.

Zhu Yijun laid out the silver coins in his hands one by one, all face up, then tossed them into the air one by one, caught them with his hand, and placed them on the table again. The dozen or so silver coins had some faces up and some faces down.

The young Emperor smiled as he scooped up the silver coins in his hands, put them into his sleeves, and continued to listen to the matter of the peace talks. Calling it peace talks would be better described as the Minister of Rites, Wan Shihe, scolding people.

"My father absolutely cannot accept being enfeoffed as a king. That is surrender. There is already a traitor on the grasslands; it is the shame of the Golden Family." Buyan loudly stated his first condition. Enfeoffment as a king was impossible; only by being a Khan could he maintain the little glory he had left.

As the suzerain Khan, Tuman Khan absolutely could not be enfeoffed as a king, even if the blame were pinned on a woman. This was a prerequisite for Tuman Khan to be the Khan—the glory of the Golden Family.

If he lost this glory, Tuman Khan would be nothing.

The reason Zhu Yijun is the supreme Emperor of the Great Ming is not because he has achieved any earth-shattering merits, but simply because his surname is Zhu. The young Emperor's ancestor was Zhu Yuanzhang, and that is all.

If Tuman Khan were to bow his head and submit to the Great Ming, what he would lose is his only remaining cohesion. This is the foundation of Tuman Khan's survival.

"Grand Marshal, what did I say? I said Tuman Khan and the censors of our Great Ming are very, very much alike. Tuman Khan's biggest problem is that he is not pragmatic. The glory of the Golden Family has already passed for two hundred years, yet he still clings to that glory, just like the censors who are ignorantly obsessed with the ancients all day long, clinging to the rites and laws from before the Three Dynasties, wanting to guide the Great Ming of today." Wan Shihe said to Tan Lun with some emotion.

Wan Shihe had a great right to speak on this matter. In his first year as a court official in the Wenhua Hall, Wan Shihe's words were exactly like those of Buyan. He believed that the past was correct, and the reason the hearts of the people were not as they used to be was entirely because they were not doing things according to the Rites of Zhou, which led to the various chaotic phenomena in the Great Ming. As long as one followed the Rites of Zhou, it would be enough.

"Pedantic and unreasonable, taking things out of context, prone to editing, without regard for whether it is suitable for the times, not measuring the situation, and arbitrarily praising or disparaging." Tan Lun pondered for a moment and said a passage.

This was a passage from Zhang Juzheng's lecture to the young Emperor, meaning that some officials in the court were as pedantic as someone marking the boat to find a sword, not caring whether it was suitable for the times and the world, mechanically applying things, not observing or analyzing the situation, and arbitrarily praising or slandering.

Zhang Juzheng had an extremely thorough understanding of the problems of the Great Ming Dynasty. He was working hard to correct the problems existing in various systems of the Great Ming, hoping to make the Great Ming prosperous once again.

Give Zhang Juzheng ten years, and Zhang Juzheng could return a strong Great Ming Dynasty to the Emperor.

Buyan turned red with anger.

Wan Shihe's scolding was extremely unpleasant to hear. He treated Tuman Khan and Buyan as civil officials to be scolded, which was simply detestable, but Buyan could not refute it. Who told Wan Shihe to speak the truth?

The glory of the Golden Family had long since vanished after the Yuan Zhaozong. The Yuan Zhaozong's younger brother succeeded to the throne, and the Buyir Lake was directly smashed by Lan Yu; the Northern Yuan court perished.

The reason the Yuan Zhaozong's son failed to succeed to the throne was that this son was a captive of the Great Ming. He was captured by the Great Ming army at Yingchang in the third year of Hongwu. In the seventh year of Hongwu, the Ming Taizu ordered the return of the Yuan Zhaozong's son to the Northern Yuan, wanting to recruit the Yuan Zhaozong, but after this son returned to the Northern Yuan, he strongly urged the Yuan Zhaozong to give up resistance.

The last grassland master had already passed for nearly two hundred years; the glory was long gone. There were Oirats in the north of the desert, Altan Khan in the south of the desert, and Tuman Khan in Liaodong; it had long since been fragmented.

"Anyway, no enfeoffment as a king." Buyan was silent for a long time before stubbornly saying.

At this moment, Buyan finally understood why the Yuan Zhaozong's son, after being captured and returning to the Northern Yuan, had always strongly urged the Yuan Zhaozong to surrender. Arguing logic with the civil officials of the Great Ming would truly make one dizzy.

Zhu Yijun, behind the screen, heard this and always felt a sense of inexplicable familiarity.

Buyan was the eldest son of Tuman Khan, of the legitimate line of the Golden Family, yet his indestructible cognitive world was also hammered by Wan Shihe until it was about to collapse.

Oh no, Wan Shihe had actually become a hammer-wielder!

Wan Shihe picked up his teacup, took a light sip, raised his eyes to look at Buyan, and asked suspiciously, "Then Tuman Khan refuses to accept enfeoffment, yet still demands tribute and trade? You are trying to be a prostitute and yet want to build a memorial archway; how can there be such a good thing!"

"You want the things of the Great Ming, yet refuse to submit to the Great Ming. Be pragmatic."

"Even if the imperial court doesn't trade, there are plenty of merchants who will!" As soon as Buyan said this, he immediately knew it was bad. He had placed a smuggling chain in the open, letting the Great Ming know.

Even without mutual trade, Tuman Khan himself would not lack food or clothing, and his life was even somewhat extravagant, because there were people making offerings.

In fact, the Great Ming imperial court clearly knew that Zhao Wanze had even sold the armor the imperial court had sent to Liaodong to the rebel chieftain Wang Gao of Gule Village; that was captured at Gule Village.

Last year, in the Zhao Wanze case, some people questioned whether Li Chengliang was eliminating dissidents. Later, people on the same line were implicated, and the evidence was as solid as a mountain, directly making all the censors shut their mouths. And the crime of the Liaodong Censor Liu Tai was colluding with the barbarians.

Wan Shihe said without any surprise, "Then now that our Great Ming has recovered the Daning Guard, how will you respond?"

"Uh..." Buyan stared blankly at Wan Shihe. How could Wan Shihe be so clear about these things!

In the second year of Longqing, after Qi Jiguang supervised the armies of Jizhou, Yongping, and Shanhai Pass, the smuggling line from Jizhou to Tuman Khan was completely cut off, and it was replaced by entering the Daning Guard from Guangning to Yingzhou.

And the other line was the Altan enfeoffment and tribute. Altan imported from the Great Ming openly, reasonably, and legally, and then acted as a middleman to sell to Tuman Khan.

Once the Daning Guard line was cut off, another smuggling route had to be opened, otherwise Altan Khan would definitely take the opportunity to raise prices. But looking at it, one could not bypass a key figure: Li Chengliang.

The middleman Li Chengliang was even darker than Altan Khan!

Altan Khan dared to increase the price by fifty percent, and Li Chengliang dared to increase it by a hundred percent!

If there were a choice, Buyan would not have come to the capital to listen to Wan Shihe's admonitions.

Wan Shihe leaned forward and seemed to say inadvertently, "So, you still have to be enfeoffed as a king. You tell your father that you committed a crime in the Great Ming, and we, the Great Ming, have detained you. In order to save you, your father has no choice but to accept the imperial court's enfeoffment as a king. Is this not a way to resolve the dilemma?"

Zhu Yijun looked at Zhang Hong, Zhang Hong looked at Feng Bao, and Feng Bao stared blankly at the Emperor. The three of them looked at each other in dismay.

"Remember, this is a scholar. Look at you all, how dirty the minds of these scholars are!" Zhu Yijun said to Zhang Hong and Feng Bao with heartache, "Recognize their true colors. Do not believe a single word of what scholars say."

The Great Ming's insistence on enfeoffment as a king was entirely to weaken the enemy's will to resist and to divide and disintegrate the enemy's internal cohesion, to advance troops again, divide the opponents, and then defeat them one by one. This was the goal.

After Altan Khan was enfeoffed as a king, he fell into a predicament where his prestige plummeted. Now the Great Ming Golden Kingdom, Altan Khan's Golden Kingdom, had become the Golden Kingdom of the Third San Niangzi.

In the original history, after Altan Khan died, the Third San Niangzi married Altan Khan's son Huang Taiji and grandson Chelike one after another. Chelike's grandson Busitu held power until the day he died in the forty-first year of Wanli.

"Then there is nothing to talk about. No more talks! The Great Ming has no sincerity at all. A wasted trip!" Buyan stood up abruptly, his expression angry to the extreme. He indicated that he would not continue the talks. If he continued, he would really have to write a letter to his father.

"Go well, I won't see you off," Wan Shihe said without any concern.

It was just like doing business. When a person wants to leave and bluffingly says they don't want it anymore, they will definitely turn around and come back, especially when there is only one choice. The more angry Buyan appeared now, the greater the possibility that Buyan would turn back.

In this negotiation, Buyan had no ability to flip the table at all. This was the main reason why he was in a position where he lost his footing and was completely passive.

Buyan was somewhat stunned, but he still took his group and left the Ministry of Rites, returning to the Siyi Hall.

Zhu Yijun walked out from behind the screen and came to the main hall of the Ministry of Rites.

"We officials pay our respects to Your Majesty." The officials paid their respects.

Zhu Yijun waved his hand and said, "No need for formalities. The Minister of Rites has worked hard."

"It was still the Grand Marshal who fought well." Wan Shihe did not dare to take this credit. If Qi Jiguang hadn't led the Beijing Camp to hurt Tuman Khan, how could Wan Shihe have been so confident?

In the twenty-ninth year of Jiajing, Altan Khan invaded, and in the first year of Longqing, he invaded. The envoys sent by the Great Ming imperial court to negotiate were humiliated in every possible way.

"Fighting well also requires negotiating well," Zhu Yijun said with a smile. "Minister of Rites, the Tuman tribes still have other choices. Does the Minister of Rites clearly know what I am talking about?"

"I know, I will handle it." Wan Shihe pondered for a moment and bowed his head.

Zhu Yijun looked at Tan Lun, took a step forward, and said very solemnly, "Grand Marshal has worked hard. This trip to the Daning Guard was a long and arduous journey."

"I just went to get some fresh air," Tan Lun said hurriedly.

"The Earl of Ningyuan has submitted a memorial requesting Hou Yuzhao to go to Liaodong to serve as a Censor and act as an assistant to Zhang Xueyan. The Grand Marshal handles affairs effectively. If the Ministers of War of our Great Ming are all people like the Grand Marshal, why worry that the world will not be at peace?" Zhu Yijun took another step forward and said to Zhang Hong, "Bring it here."

Zhang Hong held a tray with a python-patterned crane cloak on it. This was prepared long ago as a bestowed garment. Feng Bao stepped forward to take it to drape over Tan Lun, but Zhu Yijun blocked Feng Bao's hand, took the crane cloak, shook it, and wanted to drape it over Tan Lun himself.

Tan Lun was tall and sturdy. Seeing this, he hurriedly knelt down.

Zhu Yijun fastened the cloak for Tan Lun, then helped Tan Lun stand up and said, "Grand Marshal, no need for formalities."

"I kowtow to thank Your Majesty for your holy grace." Tan Lun bowed again to thank him before slowly standing up. Zhang Juzheng had three python-patterned crane cloaks, but this one of Tan Lun's was draped by the Emperor himself; it was worth more than those three of Zhang Juzheng's!

Tan Lun had solved a very tricky problem: testing whether Li Chengliang wanted to go down the path of a feudal lord to the end.

By now, the Great Ming was no longer the Hongwu or Yongle era, or even the Chenghua era. The Northwest Jin Party relied on the enemy to bolster their own importance, and Li Chengliang in Liaodong had the foundation to become a feudal lord. Tan Lun, as the Tan Sima, used methods to test Li Chengliang that were neither obvious nor exposed. This was political maneuvering room.

If the imperial court sent another Censor, Li Chengliang would definitely not say anything, but he would definitely do something behind the scenes.

And by letting Li Rusong ask, Li Chengliang also had room to advance or retreat. If Li Chengliang did not want another civil official watching him, he could choose not to request Hou Yuzhao to go to Liaodong as a Censor, or change to someone else, or simply pretend not to know. Then the imperial court and Liaodong would not tear their faces apart and would maintain superficial stability.

A test without any political maneuvering room would only intensify the conflict between the Great Ming imperial court and Liaodong. If a mess like an armed parade were to occur, for the dynasty, it would truly be Altan Khan, Tuman Khan, and the Jianzhou Jurchens all watching the fun together.

Li Chengliang's choice was to request the loyal and patriotic Hou Yuzhao to go to Liaodong as a Censor.

Thinking from Li Chengliang's perspective, the imperial court really rewarded merit, not a single cent of silver was missing, and they even gave him hereditary certificates. If Li Chengliang were to tell his subordinates again that the imperial court treated him too thinly and he wanted to rely on his troops to bolster his importance, wouldn't his soldiers think that Grand Marshal Li was fooling ghosts?

Tan Lun, as the Tan Sima, used methods with great political maneuvering room to perfectly resolve the matter of testing whether Liaodong wanted to become a feudal lord.

This was the reason why Zhu Yijun wanted to drape the crane cloak over Tan Lun himself.

"Having such a beloved minister is the fortune of the Great Ming." Zhu Yijun's words were sincere. A civil official who had passed the imperial examination and could go to the battlefield to kill the enemy was indeed suitable to be the Tan Sima. At present, the Great Ming had another civil official who could go to the battlefield to kill the enemy, and that was Yin Zhengmao.

Tan Lun still felt that the Emperor was too generous. How big of a deal was it? Wasn't this what a Tan Sima should do?

Tan Lun bowed his head and said, "It was just my duty."

Zhu Yijun's smile was exceptionally bright. He waved his hand and said, "I am returning to the palace."

The young Emperor walked out of the Ministry of Rites with steady steps and returned to the palace. The offices of the Six Ministries and the Embroidered Uniform Guard were all outside the Huangji Gate, right at his doorstep, just a few steps away.

After Wan Shihe sent off the officials, he went to Wang Chonggu's private residence and told Wang Chonggu everything that had happened at the Ministry of Rites, but he left out the sentence the Emperor had said: "The Tuman tribes still have other choices."

Wan Shihe was not testing him; there were just some things the Emperor could say that a minister could not.

Could Wang Chonggu understand? Of course! They were all thousand-year-old foxes; they could still hear that much.

As soon as Wan Shihe left, Wang Qian walked out of the shadows and whispered, "Father, shall we set a fire? If we don't keep Zhang Siwei under our noses, I'm afraid something will happen."

"Set it!" Wang Chonggu said without any hesitation.

Taking a step back, for the sake of the silver earned by the Yongding Woolen Mill, Wang Chonggu had to set this fire, burn down Zhang Siwei's house, and get Zhang Siwei under his own nose to watch him so he could feel at ease!

In the middle of the night, Zhang Siwei's house suddenly caught fire. In winter, the weather was dry and the air was parched. Once the fire started, the captains of the watchtower immediately struck the gongs, and the firemen immediately headed toward the fire scene.

But Zhang Siwei's house had already burned down to the point where it could no longer be lived in.

Zhang Siwei had more than one house in the capital, but that very night, Zhang Siwei moved into Wang Chonggu's house!

Zhang Siwei was too scared. He wasn't a fool. This fire could not possibly have been an accident. Coupled with the unsolved case of the poison last time, Zhang Siwei was terrified, and the only person he could rely on was, of course, his "Minister of Justice Uncle."

And the Minister of Justice Uncle, Wang Chonggu, accepted the Zhang Siwei who had come to seek refuge and very firmly said that he would investigate the truth and give Zhang Siwei an explanation!

Wang Chonggu was the Minister of Justice, so criminal cases naturally fell under his jurisdiction, but arson cases were truly too difficult to investigate. With a big fire, all evidence was burned clean.

On the fourth day of the twelfth lunar month in the third year of Wanli, someone unexpected by everyone entered the capital. The carriage of the former Grand Secretary of the Great Ming, Gao Gong, appeared at the Huitong Hall and entered the capital!

Inside and outside the capital, there was an uproar!

At this time, in the side hall of the Wenhua Hall, the young Emperor paced back and forth with his hands behind his back, looking at Zhang Juzheng and saying very angrily, "The local officials, assistant magistrates, elders, and common people were all people you asked me to meet, Master. In the first and second years of Wanli, I met them. This time, why did you bring Gao Gong to the capital!"

"I don't want to see him!"

"I wish to reopen the case of the assassination attempt on the Emperor," Zhang Juzheng said very solemnly.

Zhu Yijun frowned upon hearing this and shook his head, saying, "The case of the assassination attempt on the Emperor has already ended."

"Master obtained support for the Performance Evaluation Method from Minister Yang, and Minister Yang has also retired. The Performance Evaluation Method has already been implemented nationwide. The Jin Party in the hands of Censor Ge is not without merit. Reopening the case of the assassination attempt on the Emperor, once it is confirmed that Gao Gong really plotted rebellion, how many of Gao Gong's followers will be implicated? People will be in a state of panic."

"Do not speak of what is done, do not admonish what is completed, do not blame the past. This is the principle you taught me, Master!"

Zhang Juzheng insisted extremely firmly, "This grievance cannot just be let go. In the first month of the first year of Wanli, the state affairs of the Great Ming were extremely rotten; it was indeed impossible to investigate. But now it is not. Qi Jiguang has achieved a great victory at the Daning Guard. Taking this opportunity, we should thoroughly investigate and clarify this case. One is one, and two is two. This is also what Your Majesty said."

The local officials, assistant magistrates, elders, and common people were all arranged by Zhang Juzheng. Zhu Yijun had never managed them, but Zhang Juzheng had pulled off a big move, bringing Gao Gong back to the capital to prepare to flip through old accounts.

Zhu Yijun refused to back down at all, saying, "I don't do losing business. Just let Gao Gong go back to where he came from."

"The case of the assassination attempt on the Emperor, I promised Your Majesty," Zhang Juzheng said, holding his hands, also refusing to yield.

"Why don't you deal with Xu Jie, Master? Isn't this person hard to move? The same applies to Gao Gong. As long as he doesn't return to the court, he is a politically dead person. What is the benefit of investigating? You will be burdened with a bad reputation in vain, Master," Zhu Yijun still disagreed.

This was the biggest disagreement between the Emperor and Zhang Juzheng since Zhang Juzheng took charge of the country. This disagreement was very strange: the victim, Zhu Yijun, refused to pursue it, while the person who settled the matter, Zhang Juzheng, insisted on flipping through old accounts.

"Li Chengliang in the Northeast is now requesting Hou Yuzhao to go to Liaodong to serve as a Censor. This is the best opportunity at present. Your Majesty, the Great Ming's recovery of the Daning Guard will inevitably have setbacks. East of the Great Khingan Mountains, once the war drags into a stalemate, I am afraid there will be changes in the Northeast." Zhang Juzheng stated the reason for his action at this time. There were only Feng Bao and Zhang Hong here, and there were no ears behind the wall, so Zhang Juzheng chose to speak clearly.

Zhang Juzheng could not guarantee that the Great Ming would always have the advantage in the Liaodong war, nor could he guarantee that Li Chengliang would always be as obedient as he was now. If the Liaodong war fell into rot and a quagmire, wanting to flip through old accounts again would be as difficult as ascending to heaven.

Acting now, the timing is appropriate, and we can investigate to the end, further weakening the Northwest clan party and deterring Li Chengliang's troops in the Northeast, so that the rites, music, and military expeditions are issued by the Son of Heaven, instead of being like this now, where even sending a Censor requires careful testing.

After the spring of next year, the Great Ming and Tuman Khan will start a tug-of-war again. Wanting to find such an appropriate opportunity again will be as difficult as ascending to heaven.

"The grievance Your Majesty suffered was my fault at the time," Zhang Juzheng bowed his head again and said.

Zhu Yijun shook his head with a smile and said, "In the first month of the first year of Wanli, there were only two taels of silver in the imperial mausoleum, and the internal and national treasuries combined only had two taels. It wasn't paid off until the twelfth month of the first year of Wanli. At that time, state affairs were too difficult. It was not your fault, Master. You don't need to blame yourself."

"Master, my grievance doesn't count. What is the benefit of flipping through this old case? By then, you will be burdened with the bad reputation of forming cliques and excluding others, and you won't stop until you win. It will be exchanged for the review of an unsolved case. Three years have passed, and it is very difficult to investigate clearly. It will inevitably lead to party strife again, which is not what I wish."

Zhang Juzheng still said very firmly, "How can Your Majesty's grievance not count? It is just a little bad reputation for me."

Zhu Yijun clearly knew what Zhang Juzheng wanted to do. This Grand Secretary had too many bad reputations. By then, returning power would be a matter of course. In the fifth year of Wanli, all of Zhang Juzheng's new policies would have achieved certain results. The Emperor's personal rule would become simpler. Investigating Gao Gong would inevitably lead to criticism from the world. He, Zhang Juzheng, could retire to his hometown after the Emperor's wedding and return the world to His Majesty.

"Since Gao Gong has returned to the capital, let him have an audience. After seeing him, let him return overnight. State affairs are of paramount importance. My mind is made up; there is no need to admonish further." Zhu Yijun simply acted shamelessly. He was the Emperor. He said not to investigate, and Zhang Juzheng could only obey.

"I... obey the decree." Zhang Juzheng could only bow his head and obey. He wanted to bring up the old matter again, mainly because of his original promise. This case was so unclear, like a fishbone in his throat. Even if Gao Gong did it, Zhang Juzheng had the confidence to control the negative impact within a controllable range.

But the young Emperor clearly stated that he would not disregard the safety of the world just to vent this anger. By then, Gao Gong's students and former subordinates would tear at Zhang Juzheng's students and former subordinates, and the world would not be at peace.

Zhu Yijun asked Zhang Hong to pass on the order for Gao Gong to enter the palace for an audience. Looking at Zhang Juzheng's still somewhat worried expression, he seriously thought about Zhang Juzheng's words. The reason Zhang Juzheng took a risky move was actually that he was not optimistic about the Liaodong war situation.

Zhu Yijun said, "Qi Jiguang is not just winning this one victory. He will have one victory after another. I just think the timing is wrong. Wait until Qi Jiguang drives Tuman Khan to the west of the Great Khingan Mountains, and Tuman Khan and Altan Khan tear at each other. That will be the best time. What do you think, Master?"

Zhang Juzheng was stunned, frowned, and said, "Does Your Majesty have such confidence in Qi Jiguang?"

"That is Qi Jiguang!" Zhu Yijun was also a bit stunned when he heard this, then waved his hand and said, "Master, the Great Ming has lost too many battles over the years, so we are somewhat like birds startled by the mere twang of a bowstring."

Qi Jiguang and Liang Menglong did not think Zhang Juzheng was scary, but Ma Fang believed that Zhang Juzheng would definitely be able to handle the wind in the court. Could a group of stinking fish and rotten shrimp be the opponent of the Grand Secretary?

According to general inference, victory or defeat is a common matter for military strategists, and Zhang Juzheng believed that Qi Jiguang could not win every battle. However, enemies like the Japanese pirates and Tuman Khan could empathize more with Qi Jiguang's terror. Qi Jiguang was indeed a victorious general, and every head was the best evidence.

One cannot see the true face of Mount Lu, only because one is in the mountain itself.

Zhang Juzheng and Qi Jiguang had actually always been in the same camp, so they could not understand each other's terror more intuitively.

When Gao Gong had his audience, he walked in with his chest held high. He did not feel guilty. After entering the side hall, he flicked his sleeves, performed a grand ceremony, and said with full breath, "I, Gao Gong, pay my respects to Your Majesty. May Your Majesty live ten thousand years, ten thousand years, ten thousand times ten thousand years."

"No need for formalities." Zhu Yijun's smile was very warm. This appearance was too deceptive, and Gao Gong's appearance also very much matched Zhu Yijun's stereotype: a stubborn old scholar with a very stubborn temper.

This trip to the capital was very dangerous. Once Zhang Juzheng took action against Gao Gong using the case of the assassination attempt on the Emperor, Gao Gong would have no room to resist, but he still came and entered the side hall.

A stubborn old man who thought he was right from beginning to end.

Feng Bao was also very calm when he saw Gao Gong, but he held his hands very tightly. When this stubborn old man was in charge of the country, he was the mortal enemy of the Directorate of Ceremonial.

Zhu Yijun picked up a gold coin and tossed it. The gold coin fell to the ground, face up. He looked at the gold coin and asked, "Duke of Xinzheng, when a gold coin is tossed and falls to the ground, what is the probability of it being heads or tails?"

"Half and half," Gao Gong replied without knowing why.

Zhu Yijun took out another gold coin, tossed it, and it fell to the ground. He asked, "Two gold coins, what is the probability of both being heads up?"

Gao Gong was stunned for a moment. He was silent for a while, enumerated them, and said, "One-fourth?"

"Then three gold coins, what is the probability of all three being heads up?" Zhu Yijun took out another gold coin, threw it out, and asked with a smile.

Gao Gong was a bit confused. On the way to the capital, he had imagined ten thousand ways to respond, but he never expected that the Emperor would ask about mathematics. He carefully calculated all possibilities and always felt there was a problem.

"Does Feng know?" Zhu Yijun looked at Feng Bao.

Feng Bao bowed his head and said, "One-eighth. Each gold coin has an independent probability. Multiplying them gives one-eighth. Enumeration is truly unwise."

Zhu Yijun looked at Feng Bao and said with a smile, "Feng said it well."

"Being by Your Majesty's side, I have heard and seen much. I am dull, but I have finally learned some skills," Feng Bao said very modestly, then glanced at Gao Gong with triumph. That look was like looking at a big idiot.

"Duke of Xinzheng, if ten gold coins are tossed at the same time, what is the probability of all of them being heads up?" Zhu Yijun continued to ask.

"I am not good at mathematics," Gao Gong answered honestly.

Feng Bao said with a smile, "One-half to the tenth power, which is 1/1024."

"Duke of Xinzheng must be puzzled why the young Emperor is asking some mathematical questions during an audience. It is truly not attending to proper duties." Zhu Yijun placed the ten gold coins in front of him, lined them up one by one, looked at the gold coins, and said, "We treat gold coins as state affairs, and then define heads up as orderly, and tails up as disorderly."

"Every time something big happens in the court, such as the Jingnan campaign, moving the capital, the Emperor's northern expedition, the court being full of upright officials, the northern barbarians invading, or the ruler being young and the country being suspicious. These major events are actually tossing gold coins, just like this."

Zhu Yijun took the ten gold coins in his hand and tossed them one by one. Some were heads and some were tails.

Zhu Yijun reached out and fiddled with them, saying, "Just like this, there are invisible hands in the court, people from all sides, influencing the landing of these gold coins. Some gold coins land heads up, some are tails up, some can be corrected, and some cannot."

"There are also some gold coins that simply cannot distinguish between heads and tails, and cannot distinguish between right and wrong." Zhu Yijun took out another gold coin and threw it out. It had no heads or tails, only a smooth surface.

Zhu Yijun took out a money bag, poured out all the copper coins, silver coins, and gold coins inside, and then said, "What if we toss this many? What is the probability of all being heads? Which ones can be corrected? Which ones cannot distinguish between right and wrong, heads or tails?"

"I don't know." Gao Gong understood what the Emperor was really talking about.

Zhu Yijun said earnestly, "These are just gold, silver, and copper coins. The number of state affairs is far, far greater than this bag of money of mine."

"Duke of Xinzheng, Feng just said that the landing of each gold coin is an independent event. But Duke of Xinzheng, you were once the Grand Secretary. Is there any state affair or national policy in this dynasty that is independent? They are all intricately linked, with you in me and me in you, extremely complex."

"Duke of Xinzheng doesn't know, and the Master doesn't know either. But the Master finds the coins that are tails up one by one and makes them heads up. Being able to find them is a skill, being able to flip them is a skill, and being able to distinguish right from wrong for those that cannot distinguish heads from tails is also a skill."

"The Master can, so I rely heavily on the Master."

"I am terrified." Zhang Juzheng bowed his head when he heard the Emperor's praise.

Zhu Yijun signaled Zhang Hong to collect these gold, silver, and copper coins and looked at Gao Gong. He knew that Gao Gong understood what he meant.

Rather than saying Gao Gong's downfall was because he lacked respect, it was better to say Gao Gong was incompetent.

Just like Gao Gong could not calculate the probability of ten gold coins all being heads up, incompetence is incompetence.

What did Gao Gong do when he was in charge? Counting from the first month of the fourth year of Longqing to the sixth month of the sixth year of Longqing, when the late Emperor passed away, the national treasury could only take out less than 400,000 taels of silver for repairs. This was Gao Gong's political achievement. When Zhang Juzheng was in charge, in the second year of Wanli, the national treasury already had a surplus of more than 500,000 taels.

And this was only in terms of fiscal taxation.

The Wanli Emperor had a gold-thread winged hat, hand-woven from 518 fine gold threads with a diameter of 0.2 millimeters from top to bottom. The woven patterns were not only evenly spaced and consistent in density, but also had no small knots in the middle, looking as thin as light gauze. This was the terrifying strength of the Great Ming craftsmen. Please vote for the monthly ticket, Awoo!!!!!!!