Chapter 313

Among the eunuchs who took the examination, only one person scored eighty-nine points in mathematics, while all the others scored ninety or above; this sole individual became a sore thumb.

One doesn't beat the diligent or the lazy, but specifically the one who lacks eyes; the sore thumb is precisely the one who lacks eyes.

This time, the eunuchs leaving the palace to take the examination was a task specifically arranged by Feng Bao, the Old Ancestor in the palace, to humiliate the Outer Court. Given the collective excellent performance, the fate of the sore thumb could be imagined.

Moreover, this was the first time eunuchs had left the palace to participate in an official examination, and it might also be the last.

"You are Chen Ju?" Zhu Yijun sized up the eunuch before him, who was even younger than himself, and asked quite gently.

Chen Ju knelt on the ground, trembling as he said: "The guilty subject is Chen Ju; the guilty subject deserves to die ten thousand deaths."

Chen Ju knew very well that he had truly been a sore thumb this time. Even if he had scored just one more point, he wouldn't have been summoned by the Emperor. This palace-exit examination was a major event known both inside and outside the palace, intended by His Majesty to promote the Theory of Contradictions and mathematics to deliberately humiliate the Confucian scholars of the court, but Chen Ju had botched this major event himself.

"Grand Attendant Feng, according to the rules, how should this be handled?" Zhu Yijun inquired of Feng Bao.

Feng Bao thought it over and bowed his head, saying: "Send him to the corridor household."

"Hmm, let it be done." Zhu Yijun waved his hand, approving Feng Bao's punishment. The palace has its own rules; Zhu Yijun had never been a soft-hearted monarch. Since he had become a sore thumb, regardless of the reason, it meant Chen Ju was no longer suitable to continue studying in the Inner Study.

Chen Ju's vision went black; he knew his life was finished. In that place called the corridor household, wanting to get ahead again would be as difficult as ascending to heaven. He kowtowed again and said loudly: "The guilty subject kowtows to thank His Majesty for his holy grace."

At least his life was preserved, rather than becoming a wronged soul beneath the well.

In fact, this was already the best possible result. Remaining in the Inner Study, Chen Ju's fate would have been even worse. The eunuchs fought fiercely, and the Inner Study was full of eunuchs who posed a threat to Chen Ju, whereas in the corridor household, few could threaten him.

The towering palace walls of the Imperial Palace were no different from the high walls of the Celestial Prison; the eunuchs and palace maids trapped in the Forbidden City, and even the Emperor himself, were all prisoners.

Feng Bao was a soft-hearted Old Ancestor; since the task wasn't done well, sending him to the corridor household was nothing more than that.

"The Second Ancestor you speak of, Zhang Hong, also came out of the corridor household. If you have the heart, there is still a chance to get ahead. Work hard; since you could be selected for the Inner Study, you naturally have your merits. Kneel and retire." Zhu Yijun waved his hand, offering some encouragement.

It was not as if there were no chance to get ahead after reaching the corridor household; Zhang Hong had come out of the corridor household.

Chen Ju kowtowed again, then retreated step by step until he reached the threshold of the palace gate before turning to leave.

"Your Majesty, Grand Minister Wan has arrived and is waiting outside the hall." A small eunuch walked in and bowed his head, saying.

"Summon him."

Wan Shihe had entered the palace this time because of the eunuchs' palace-exit examination. Specifically, this fence-sitter Wan Shihe had come into the palace to reproach Chen Shan!

That's right, this bureaucratic old fox Wan Shihe also intended to remonstrate against His Majesty's mistakes!

"Paying respects to Your Majesty; may Your Majesty's holy body be at peace." Wan Shihe bowed his head with slight trepidation to offer his greetings.

"I am well. Spare the formalities; sit." Zhu Yijun signaled for Feng Bao to provide a seat and asked suspiciously: "Grand Minister Wan, spare the formalities; what is this for?"

"Your subject comes because of the eunuchs participating in the official examination. Your subject believes that this time the results were excellent; the streets and alleys are all discussing how the Hanlin Academy's essays are truly unreliable. But your subject has thought it over, and it would be better not to let the inner officials leave the palace to take examinations in the future." Wan Shihe did not beat around the bush but stated his purpose directly; His Majesty did not like court officials to be long-winded and without focus.

Zhu Yijun was taken aback and sized up Wan Shihe. In any case, it shouldn't have been Wan Shihe's turn to remonstrate on this matter, yet he had come anyway.

What was he doing earlier? When Zhu Yijun issued the decree before, Wan Shihe didn't oppose it; now he comes out to oppose it?

But thinking carefully, one could understand Wan Shihe. He had been scolded by Feng Bao no small amount in the past, especially regarding his reading being inferior to Feng Bao, a eunuch—that was Wan Shihe's lifelong stain. But now that the inner officials had left the palace to take the examination and rubbed the "cheap Confucians" into the ground, Wan Shihe no longer felt that shame.

Having been drenched in the rain himself, he naturally wanted the Great Ming's Confucian scholars to feel this downpour as well.

"Your subject truly knows His Majesty is determined, and the state is reforming, removing the old and establishing the new. Correcting a wrong must inevitably go to excess. The goal has been achieved; in the future, it would be better for the Inner Study to remain within the Inner Court." Wan Shihe expressed his meaning very obscurely. His Majesty was a man of methods and an authoritative monarch, but his descendants might not all be so. If a monarch were even slightly weak, these eunuchs might even ride on the monarch's head to act with power and prestige.

The eunuchs of the late Tang Dynasty could depose emperors, and the eunuchs of the Ming Emperor Yingzong dared to rebel, colluding inside and out; one had to be on guard.

"Wan Shihe, what do you mean! You Confucian scholars, not striving for progress yourselves, yet you blame us inner officials for leaving the palace to take examinations?" Feng Bao was immediately displeased; no matter how he listened, he felt Wan Shihe was scolding him for wanting to rebel!

"Grand Attendant Feng, what meaning could I have?" Wan Shihe said with a smile: "Grand Attendant, follow the principles of things, and the Dao will manifest; reform and transform, and it will be timely. Promoting this Theory of Contradictions and mathematics naturally requires letting the Confucian scholars know their limits. This goal has already been achieved. Does the Grand Attendant not understand the principle of following and reforming things?"

"Or does the Grand Attendant truly want the inner officials to leave the palace?"

"Good for you, Wan Shihe!" Feng Bao pointed at Wan Shihe; this old man was now full of ink and was no longer the Wan Shihe who was easy to bully.

Wan Shihe had already become exceptionally proficient in the Theory of Contradictions, and Feng Bao was somewhat unable to argue with him.

Zhu Yijun did not think this was Feng Bao's incompetence; on the contrary, this was the significance of Feng Bao sitting in the Zhao Wenhua Hall to discuss politics.

The reason Feng Bao could not argue back was that the principle of following and reforming things that Wan Shihe spoke of was an important theoretical achievement within the Theory of Contradictions.

What was being discussed was following and reforming; following is inheritance, respecting the continuity of the development of things and inheriting traditions; while reforming is innovation, respecting the flexibility of reform and innovation in the development of things.

Inheritance is respecting past development experience; without inheritance, things cannot be born out of thin air—they would be duckweed without water or trees without roots; while innovation is being timely; without innovation, new things cannot replace old ones, and the development of things cannot be established.

"Grand Minister Wan's words are reasonable. Then, if anyone in the future does not want to learn this Theory of Contradictions and mathematics, then they cannot blame me." Seeing that Feng Bao did not pursue the attack excessively, Zhu Yijun agreed with Wan Shihe's point of view, but he did not close the door entirely. If anyone were to be slack in the future, they could not blame Zhu Yijun for having no means to deal with them.

The Confucian scholars of the capital had lost a great deal of face this time. To actually be unable to read as well as a lowly person like a eunuch—and they were the one-in-a-thousand talents of the Great Ming! It was simply a supreme humiliation, a disgrace to their refinement, enough to be laughed at for a lifetime!

Among those who took the examination this time, no one could claim to be full of talent or to have read five cartloads of books, because saying so would immediately invite ridicule.

Zhu Yijun looked at Feng Bao and asked: "What does Grand Attendant Feng think?"

"Your Majesty is holy." Feng Bao did not offer excessive resistance, nor did he nag. Since His Majesty said not to do it, he did not have the slightest hesitation, supporting it unconditionally; otherwise, it would seem as if he, Feng Bao, truly had designs on the Outer Court.

"Why did Grand Attendant Feng agree so readily?" Zhu Yijun looked at Feng Bao. In the conflicts between the Inner and Outer Courts, Feng Bao was usually one to never yield an inch, never retreat a step; this time he had agreed so easily.

Feng Bao bowed his head and said: "Your Majesty, I know when to stop while ahead. The inner officials have humiliated the Confucian scholars severely this time; that is already extremely good. By next year, when these Confucian scholars come to their senses, they will inevitably be able to outperform the inner officials. If I were to keep biting and not let go, wouldn't that be asking for humiliation?"

"These Confucian scholars of the Outer Court will never be able to wash away this shame in their lifetime; this joke will follow them for a lifetime."

"Grand Attendant Feng is truly one to hold a grudge, deeply winning my heart! I highly approve of Grand Attendant Feng's mastery of the 'Classic of Irritating People'." Zhu Yijun said sincerely. Feng Bao was soft-hearted, but that did not mean he lacked methods. Being unable to take revenge for a lifetime—this was Feng Bao's heart-piercing technique.

Being unable to outperform a despicable person like a eunuch, this batch of Confucian scholars would never be able to hold their heads high in the scholarly circles for the rest of their lives.

Feng Bao's "Classic of Irritating People" had reached the realm of perfection.

"I am honored by Your Majesty's undeserved praise." Feng Bao bowed his head. In the cultivation of the "Classic of Irritating People," Feng Bao was still a layer below His Majesty. This was not the first time he had seen His Majesty's method of killing and piercing the heart; it hadn't been long since he had the court officials write essays to scold Wang Shizhen.

"Your subject has one more matter." Wan Shihe began to report. He had come to find His Majesty not just to reproach Chen Shan, but also to communicate state affairs with His Majesty in advance.

The matter Wan Shihe wanted to speak of was the "supervising officials."

Wang Chonggu had submitted a memorial discussing the pros and cons of the supervising officials of the Song Dynasty, and this memorial had actually caused a huge uproar in the scholarly circles; to be more precise, it was opposition.

The two Song Dynasties were an extremely fragmented era; on one hand, culture reached its peak, while on the other, they suffered endless humiliation from abroad. As for the judgment of the supervising officials, the Great Ming's overall evaluation was that the disadvantages outweighed the advantages.

"The Song court's expenses were vast, relying entirely on the profits from tea, salt, and wine." Wan Shihe began to sit and discuss the Dao, starting from the tax ratio to discuss the pros and cons of the supervising officials.

The Song court's fiscal revenue was different from the reliance on land taxes of previous dynasties. The proportion of land tax revenue in the two Song Dynasties never exceeded thirty percent. At its lowest, during the era of Emperor Xiaozong, the three items of tea, salt, and wine alone exceeded thirty million strings of cash. Because of frequent wars, barren land, the Southern Song losing the entire north, and the insufficient development of the southern provinces, the proportion of commercial tax in the Southern Song during Emperor Xiaozong's time was as high as ninety percent.

This was also the reason why the two Song Dynasties did not establish a land system and the state lasted for three hundred years; the Song court was simply too rich!

In the two Song Dynasties, with frequent wars, shrinking territory, land annexation becoming the norm, and frequent civil unrest, the court was rich, so who was left without money? Was it those lawless, unscrupulous, and highly risk-resistant powerful and wealthy families?

Obviously not.

It was those commoners facing the yellow earth and backing the sky, those landless poor people and laborers whose lives were unbearable.

Two hundred wen for a catty of coal and five hundred thousand marks for a loaf of bread were the great harms of gathering wealth and promoting profit.

After listening to Wan Shihe's explanation, Zhu Yijun showed a thoughtful expression and said: "The Master also worries about this matter: In the Song Dynasty, all the wealth of a circuit was placed under the control of the Transport Commissioner, and the wealth of a prefecture was placed under the control of the Assistant Prefect. Those who were Military Governors, Defense Commissioners, Training Commissioners, Rear-Guard Commanders, Observation Commissioners, and Prefects all participated in signing and writing on gold and grain matters; external power prevailed and profit returned to private gates."

Gao Gong's opposition was summarized by Zhang Juzheng and then written into the memorial for His Majesty's judgment.

The Northern Song was strong at the trunk and weak at the branches, and it was executed very well, but by the Southern Song, the decentralization of financial power led to the emergence of warlordism, and the supervising officials were the executors under such circumstances; once released, it became chaotic, and once managed, it died.

This tested the ability of the rulers.

"Since the Master is in the court, just try it first. If it doesn't work, stop. The Great Ming now has the ability to try and fail." Zhu Yijun finally chose to be a bit more radical. The Great Ming's ability to try and fail was also one of the reasons why Zhang Juzheng was willing to sign and seal this memorial.

"Grand Minister Wan, I have a task to entrust to you. The Governor of Luzon, Guoxing Zhengmao, intends to take advantage of the recovery of the plantations to conduct a small-scale summary of the national conditions of the various countries in the South Seas. Minister Yin reported that now it is only the countries of the South Seas, but in the future, it will be all the countries of the world. This is a long-term major event; I believe it should be included in the Great Ming Collected Statutes." Zhu Yijun issued the assignment, asking Wan Shihe to compile a gazetteer for all nations.

Upon hearing His Majesty's assignment, Wan Shihe raised his eyebrows, his face full of joy, and immediately bowed his head, saying: "Your subject will certainly do his utmost."

Compiling a gazetteer for all nations was a major event that would leave a name in history, and to be included in the Great Ming Collected Statutes was a monumental merit. The Emperor had assigned this work to Wan Shihe.

The next morning, Wan Shihe submitted a memorial, making the court officials look at him with new respect again. Wan Shihe had finalized several principles for the summary of national conditions.

The first was the systematic principle, using three-level indicators to measure the capabilities of an overseas vassal state.

The first-level indicators were basic national strength, consumption capacity, trade capacity, military capacity, and maritime trade capacity. Under each basic national strength indicator, there were four second-level indicators; for example: basic national strength was divided into natural endowment, population status, education, and water/horse road stations; consumption capacity was divided into consumption structure, consumption level, market quantity, and good port capacity.

This classification method was a systematic principle; one only needed to look at one table to understand the basic overview of this country, which would then have a certain reference significance when formulating policies toward this overseas vassal state.

Other principles included the risk principle, practicality principle, feasibility principle, etc. For example, the risk principle mainly considered the risk of trading with them; if the local basic national strength was weak, consumption capacity was poor, trade had no necessary specialties, military capacity was tyrannical, and sea pirates were numerous, they could be excluded.

After comprehensive evaluation, the Great Ming would divide overseas vassal states into three levels: Vassal State, Friendly State, and Enemy State.

For example, Ryukyu was a Vassal State, the Red-Haired Barbarians of the West, the Folangji, were Friendly States, while Japan was an Enemy State and foreign threat.

If this summary of national conditions were truly completed, it would have important significance for the Great Ming's opening of the seas. At the very least, these merchants opening the seas would inevitably need a copy each, which could add a few points of certainty to the unknown future of maritime trade.

"Grand Minister Wan's handling of affairs is truly efficient." Zhu Yijun expressed high praise for Wan Shihe's ability to handle affairs. In the future, when these small countries compiled their own national histories, they would inevitably consult Wan Shihe's "Gazetteer of Overseas Vassal States," and thus Wan Shihe would have the power to define the history of other countries.

Defining the past could define their future.

What surprised Zhu Yijun was that Zhang Juzheng's return to the court after the "seizure of emotion" was calm and peaceful, not causing any waves at all. No one in the court submitted a memorial saying that Zhang Juzheng's seizure of emotion and resumption of office was unfilial; after all, compared to Zhang Juzheng's filial piety, their own lives seemed somewhat more important.

This Emperor's killing karma was too heavy.

And the first thing Zhang Juzheng did after his seizure of emotion and resumption of office was to preside over the selection examination. Even though Zhang Juzheng's examination papers were very, very difficult, they were still much simpler than His Majesty's set of questions. The second thing was to put shackles on the unscrupulous Tax Inspection Court, even if these shackles were not very firm, having them was still much better than not having them.

The predecessor of the Tax Inspection Court was the Tax Inspection Room of the Zhenfu Division. The Zhenfu Division was subordinate to the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and the Embroidered Uniform Guard was the only yamen that was both an Outer Court and an Inner Court yamen. This uniqueness destined the Embroidered Uniform Guard to be above the civil officials. In the two-hundred-year history of the Great Ming, even when the Embroidered Uniform Guard was at its weakest, it was still under the eunuchs in the palace and still acted with power and prestige above the hundred officials.

The civil official supervision of the Tax Inspection Court presided over by Zhang Juzheng—the reason these shackles were not firm was precisely because they were built on the Emperor's high trust in Zhang Juzheng. It required time to practice and then slowly settle into a regular system. Once the Emperor no longer trusted the Outer Court ministers, this kind of supervision would be dispensable.

But, still, having it was better than not having it.

Zhu Yijun sat in the grand master's chair, holding a miscellaneous gazette from the Academy of Things, reading it with great interest. This was an article written together by Geng Dingxiang and Jiao Hong, Doctors of Things at the Imperial Academy of Things, titled "On Wealth," mainly discussing what wealth actually was.

"Your Majesty, the Master has arrived." Zhang Hong reminded His Majesty in a low voice.

"Summon him."

After Zhang Juzheng offered his greetings, Zhu Yijun handed over the miscellaneous gazette in his hand. Zhang Juzheng read it for a long time and said very seriously: "A magnificent essay."

Geng Dingxiang and Jiao Hong were not suitable to be officials, but in the Imperial Academy of Things, they could fully utilize their talents. This article was written very well and could be considered an answer to some social problems in the current Great Ming of gathering wealth and promoting profit.

Zhu Yijun said quite excitedly: "Jiao Hong asked Geng Dingxiang: What exactly is wealth?"

"Geng Dingxiang said: Wealth is the concrete manifestation of value. For example, besides physical objects like land, metals, grains, fabrics, etc., there are also virtual objects that can be cashed in, such as land deeds, debt claims, silk currency, etc. Besides real physical objects and widely recognized virtual objects, is there any other wealth?"

"Jiao Hong replied: Knowledge, skills, cultivation, and morality that cannot be measured by money are also a kind of wealth."

Is only money wealth? In the discussion between Jiao Hong and Geng Dingxiang, obviously, the definition was not so. What can measure price is one kind of wealth, and personal experience that cannot be measured is also one kind of wealth.

The Great Ming's political discourse was very fond of the format of disciples asking and teachers answering. This "On Wealth" was also like this, and the summary was very much to the point.

Zhang Juzheng looked at the miscellaneous gazette and said with wonder: "Indeed, it is so. Externally, it is the universal connection between people, while internally, knowledge, skills, cultivation, morality, etc., the metaphysical cognition of the infinite principles of all things, is the nature of man, the true essence of man."

According to Zhang Juzheng's Theory of Contradictions, man was defined in two ways, internally and externally. Externally, man is the sum of all relationships, while internally, man's own definition is the cognition of infinite principles.

Based on the definition of labor in Qiu Jun's labor theory of value, Jiao Hong and Geng Dingxiang defined price.

The amount of currency people are willing to offer to obtain a commodity is called the price of that item. At a specific time and place, if the owner of an item sells the item at a price that can certainly be obtained, this price is called the market price.

This had extremely realistic guiding significance, and the existence of the Great Ming Silk Currency Exchange proved Jiao Hong's definition of price.

Price is not equivalent to value. No matter how high the silk currency rises, it cannot be higher than the price of a five-masted ocean-crossing ship, because value determines price, and the anchoring of price comes from value.

"These two master and disciple are very bold." Zhu Yijun pointed to the miscellaneous gazette and said: "Jiao Hong asked: Do people set prices for useless things? Geng Dingxiang said: Things that have no utility to people will not be priced."

"Jiao Hong asked again: Song Huizong's authentic 'Bamboo and Birds' painting is just a piece of paper, but its price is that of a frontier official, a Governor of Yunyang, and it can even be used as a congratulatory gift for His Majesty's wedding, priced at more than ten thousand silver. This useless thing has a price, and it is a sky-high price, even higher than the price of a five-masted ocean-crossing ship. Why is this?"

"Geng Dingxiang lectured: How can 'Bamboo and Birds' have no utility? Having what others don't have is the utility of showing off. Utility is satisfying people's needs; whether it is a hobby or vanity, it is a need."

This dialogue could be called daring to the point of lawlessness, attacking the current Grand Secretary and Grand Tutor for accepting bribes from Wang Shizhen, and attacking the Great Ming Emperor for being greedy for money and accepting congratulatory gifts from court officials.

Zhang Juzheng naturally saw this passage, and he was not angry. These two people were not within the five elements; they were Doctors of Things. Doctors of Things did not involve themselves in political affairs, which was also the foundation of the establishment of the Academy of Things.

Zhang Juzheng said with a smile: "The 'Bamboo and Birds' painting is priced but has no market, that's all. But Geng Dingxiang's words are reasonable. People's needs are not just food, clothing, housing, and transportation, but also the ability to display their ambitions in their hearts, which is also a need. As long as people's needs are satisfied, whether it is food, clothing, housing, transportation, or vanity, it is all utility."

Zhang Juzheng never denied that he accepted bribes. He was never that kind of perfect saint; he was a pragmatic official. As long as things could be done, methods and means were just processes. Zhang Juzheng valued results very much. To be even more blunt, the reason Gao Qiyu was still alive and hadn't been driven to political death or even physical death by Zhang Juzheng was entirely because Gao Qiyu was truly useful, able to serve as an envoy to the West and translate books imported from the West.

Having utility value—then in Zhang Juzheng's eyes, that counted as a person. Use things to their fullest, use people to their fullest.

Coincidentally, Zhu Yijun also valued pragmatic officials. Talking big is not as good as doing one practical thing. After "cheap Confucians" like Zhou Liangyin went to the Danning Guard to reclaim wasteland, Zhu Yijun even found Zhou Liangyin to be pleasing to the eye.

Metaphysical cognition is certainly important, but metaphysical practice is also extremely important.

"Therefore, value, whether it is use value or exchange value, the root of value is need, it is utility to people, and creating commodities that can satisfy people's utility is production." Zhu Yijun highly approved of this definition of production.

The content discussed in "On Wealth" included: the true essence of wealth, the relationship between price and value, the difficulties that must be overcome in the process of obtaining wealth (i. e., production), the process and order of distributing wealth among members of society, the possible ways of using wealth, and the results produced by these situations. This was the content of this magnificent essay by Geng Dingxiang and Jiao Hong.

And they discussed it using the Yongding Woolen Official Factory supervised by Wang Chonggu, which was an extremely realistic and appropriate example.

The first part of "On Wealth" was only a thousand words long, only discussing the definition of production, unfolding around the definition. Even so, it was still a precious spiritual wealth.

Before this, in the Great Ming, only Qiu Jun, who came from the background of being the top scholar in the second rank in the fifth year of Jingtai, had discussed the fundamentals of labor, value, and wealth. Before and after this, no one else paid any attention. The Great Ming's absence of discussion on the significance of the labor of the poor and suffering people was also one of the reasons for the Great Ming's demise.

This absence was due to neglect, or even contempt.

A group of unruly people—what kind of waves could they stir up? Even the establishment of the Great Ming was opened up by such a group of unruly people through brambles and thorns.

Now, finally, someone was discussing these contents, and it was even published in the miscellaneous gazette. The Great Ming's treating the poor and suffering people well was by no means just talk, but rather promoting this wind of public opinion in parallel with perfecting theory and emphasizing practice.

A small eunuch walked in hurriedly, tripped on the threshold and almost fell, and handed a memorial stapled with a piece of white cloth to Feng Bao. Feng Bao glanced at the cover, placed it before His Majesty, and said with a pained expression: "Your Majesty, the Governor of Shandong, Ling Yunyi, has sent an obituary. The former Chief Censor of the Censorate, Ge Shouli, has passed away from illness."

Ge Shouli had been ill for some time. This honest and straightforward minister had ultimately not escaped the urging of time and had left the Great Ming forever.

Zhu Yijun was stunned for a moment. When Ge Shouli retired, Zhu Yijun had already realized that the next time he received news of Ge Shouli, it would likely be an obituary. This obituary appearing suddenly made him feel slightly caught off guard.

Compared to whether Yang Bo was a gentleman or a villain, which still needed to be discussed dialectically, Ge Shouli was not a villain.

In the early years of Wanli, Ge Shouli's task was to prevent Zhang Juzheng from usurping the Emperor's power, and he had even caused harm to Zhang Juzheng. The matter of Gao Qiyu had also been poked into the Zhao Wenhua Hall by Ge Shouli.

At a time when the ruler was young and the state was in doubt, Ge Shouli had completed his task very well. After Zhang Juzheng observed the mourning period, Ge Shouli chose to retire due to old age and many illnesses.

Zhu Yijun said blankly: "Bestow the title of Crown Prince's Grand Guardian, have the Ministry of Rites draft a posthumous title to report, and grant an official funeral with grace. Has Master Ge truly left like this?"

Ge Shouli was from Shandong. As a public official in the court, in the major case of the Kong family in Yanzhou and their claws and teeth, Ge Shouli's Ge clan was not on the list for cleanup.

"Your Majesty, please restrain your grief." Zhang Juzheng could generally understand His Majesty's distraction. Ge Shouli was a minister His Majesty was very familiar with. Birth, old age, sickness, and death are the common feelings of people.

Zhu Yijun came back to his senses and suddenly said: "Master, bestow an epitaph."

"Your subject obeys the decree." Zhang Juzheng was almost choked and felt somewhat bewildered for a moment. His Majesty had completely become a political creature, a sixteen-year-old political creature. Even with the departure of a minister as familiar as Ge Shouli, the Emperor was still weighing and thinking about the gains and losses from a political perspective.

Zhang Juzheng bestowing an epitaph on Ge Shouli was equivalent to saying that there was no discord between the two, and that the attacks Ge Shouli had made on Zhang Juzheng in the past were done under Zhang Juzheng's own instruction.

This was the result of political weighing.

The monster that was the Emperor had been personally cultivated by Zhang Juzheng.

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(End of chapter)