The struggle for power relies on political power. Whoever has a bigger official position and more people will be able to defeat other pretenders. At that time, Gaogong was the chief minister of the cabinet and also served as the minister of the Ministry of personnel.
How important are these two positions? The chief minister is the head of the civil service, and in the Ming Dynasty, he is equivalent to the prime minister in other dynasties. The Ministry of Personnel is the most terrifying department among the six departments, because it is in charge of personnel. If you dare to go against it, you will definitely get out once you come to Beijing to inspect .
Gao Gong not only had an official position lower than that of one person, but was higher than that of ten thousand people, he even had thugs all over the court.
Originally he was only ranked fifth in the cabinet, but Chen Yiqin, Li Chunfang, Zhao Zhenji who were in front of him were all kicked out of the cabinet by him in less than a year. Squeezing into second place, he directly surpassed Zhang Juzheng and became the first assistant.
Why is his energy so great? Because he was the Imperial Academy's Jijiu, equivalent to the president of the Official Reserve University. Fight with him? A scolding memorial can drown a person.
Logically speaking, Gao Gong should not be defeated, but the fact is that he was defeated at the hands of Zhang Juzheng, a loner, because Zhang Juzheng could not compare with him in terms of official position, nor could he compare with him in terms of people. What is the cause?
Two people who are destined not to coexist
In fact, Gao Gong has always regarded Zhang Juzheng as a confidant, even on the eve of his downfall. Zhang Juzheng once regarded Gao Gong as a confidant, but he betrayed Gao Gong because of power.
"Gongzhi, benefit and Juzhengshan." - "History of the Ming Dynasty·Zhang Juzheng Biography"
As his name suggests, Gao Gong is quite arrogant. To what extent is he arrogant? During the Jiajing dynasty, he didn't buy anyone's account, not even the first assistant, Yan Song.
And Yan Song has nothing to do about it. The reason is very simple. Behind him is King Yu (he is King Yu's teacher).
Although King Yu was not a prince, he was the only son of Jiajing (Jiajing longed for immortality and believed that establishing a prince would mean his own death, so he did not establish a prince).
What's more, Gao Gong is not corrupt and bribery, and he is not lewd. Finding an excuse against him is as difficult as going to the sky.
But unexpectedly, he was respectful to one person, and this person was Zhang Juzheng. He even said harsh words in front of the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty. Except for Shuda (Zhang Juzheng's nickname), everyone in the Manchu Dynasty was a loser.
Why does he value Zhang Juzheng so much? Because Zhang Juzheng is a man of action.
Doers are scarce at all times. After all, if you want to be a doer, it is not that simple. You must first have a brain, and secondly, you must be hardworking.
This is why most of the officials in the imperial court can only chatter. Trying to get them to solve the problem is no more than a dream.
As early as when Zhang Juzheng was twenty-five years old, he submitted a memorial titled " On Current Affairs". You know, he only passed the Jinshi exam two years ago.
The main content of this memorial is reform. It not only raises problems, but also proposes solutions to problems.
But Jiajing simply threw this memorial into the trash can. After all, the trouble of reform can be imagined, and he was an emperor who had not been in court for nearly thirty years. If he wanted to get him moving, it would be better to seize the time to wash up and sleep.
During the Longqing period, Zhang Juzheng published another memorial on reform. This memorial was called " Chen Liushi Shu". The treatment this time was the same as the last time, which was also a trash can.
Because both Longqing and Jiajing were lazy emperors. Different from Jiajing, Jiajing was interested in cultivating immortals and practicing Taoism, while he was interested in erotic pictures and women.
If Zhang Juzheng wants to carry out reforms, he must have absolute power, and Gao Gong also needs absolute power, because not only Zhang Juzheng has ambitions, but Gao Gong also has ambitions.
This can be seen from what he said during an outing with Zhang Juzheng when he was fifty-two years old. What did he say? In the future, when I become the Prime Minister, I will definitely support the country with you and build immortal achievements.
It can be seen that Gao Gong always regarded Zhang Juzheng as his assistant, but he never thought that Zhang Juzheng's ambition was greater than his.
Simply creating a prosperous age could not satisfy Zhang Juzheng, nor could it satisfy the Ming Dynasty at that time.
You must know that the Ming Dynasty at that time was in the middle and late stages, and there were many disadvantages everywhere. For example, the landlords obviously occupied a large amount of land, but they colluded with the government to impose the amount of taxes they needed to bear on the people, resulting in an increasing number of refugees.
What Zhang Juzheng wants to do is to make a complete change, and this complete change requires reform.
Once the reform is implemented, absolute power is required. If he relies on Gao Gong, if there is a problem with Gao Gong, he will be finished. Only if he has absolute power can he fully implement his plan.
With the blessing of eunuchs
Zhang Juzheng is a secondary assistant. It is impossible to defeat Gao Gong with one person, so he also has allies. This ally is Si Li eun Bingbi eunuch and Dongchang Admiral eunuch Feng Bao.
You must know that the most critical step was taken by Feng Bao.
If Feng Bao had not taken advantage of his identity to convey Zhang Juzheng's altered sentence "How can a ten-year-old become emperor?" (the original words were "How can a ten-year-old emperor govern the world?") to the ears of Wanli mother and son, saying that it was Gao Gong who said it, Gao Gong might not have fallen.
"The concubine was shocked, and the prince's color changed after hearing this. "——"History of the Ming Dynasty·Feng Bao Zhuan"
This is why Yang Lian later impeached Wei Zhongxian for the twenty-four major crimes and wanted to defeat Wei Zhongxian, but Huang Zunsu said: "The Qing monarch has always had to have internal support. Do you have internal support? "But Yang Lian didn't take it seriously, and ended up with a tragic death.
Some people may find it strange that Gao Gong, as the most important minister of Tianzihao, didn't go through an investigation when Wanli and his son fired him? In fact, there was no inspection. .
Because they trust Feng Bao more than Gao Gong. Why do they say this? Because Feng Bao has been serving Wanli or Li Guifei in the harem. It would be strange for them to question Feng Bao.
Just imagine, would you question someone who has been caring to you since childhood?
Why did Feng Bao reach a cooperative relationship with Zhang Juzheng? Because the existence of Gaogong not only hindered Zhang Juzheng, but also hindered Feng Bao, which is somewhat puzzling.
Feng Bao was an eunuch, and he had no interest or conflict of interest with Gao Gong. Why did Gao Gong hinder him? This is about Gao Gong's ambition.
Gao Gong planned to transfer all the power of approving and sealing of the Supervisor of Ceremonies to the cabinet, but Long Qing refused.
This is reasonable. After all, the cabinet already has the power to vote. If it has the power to batch red and stamp, then why does the emperor need it? Since the power of the Supervisor of Ceremonies cannot be taken away, then take control of the Supervisor of Ceremonies.
Originally, according to regulations, if the position of the eunuch, the eunuch, who is the number one eunuch, the Li Jian, and the eunuch, is vacant, he will be replaced by the number two eunuch.
At that time, Feng Bao was the second-ranking eunuch, but he had two conflicts with the Chief Eunuch. I missed the post of eunuch, why? Because Gao Gong interfered and deliberately suppressed Feng Bao.
Why did he suppress Feng Bao? Because Feng Bao is different from other eunuchs. Other eunuchs' hobbies are relatively vulgar, such as gambling, but Feng Bao's hobby is music, chess, calligraphy and painting.
It is conceivable that if he took the position of superior, ceremonial supervisor, palm print eunuch, he would definitely not let Gao Gong fiddle with him at will.
Therefore, Gao Gong cannot let him take the position no matter what.
"Bao Ji Gong Mi Shi is deeply connected with Zhang Juzheng and plans to get rid of him. Huizheng also wants to go to the special handle, and the two of them have a strong relationship.” - "History of the Ming Dynasty·Feng Bao Zhuan"
The decisive factor
Gao Gong's downfall was not only caused by external factors, but also by his own factors, and his own factors were the most important. If his sense of crisis was stronger, perhaps Zhang Juzheng would take the lead. Downfall.
Zhang Juzheng and Feng Bao were allies, but one was in the palace and the other was outside the palace. It was not easy to communicate. They both needed an intermediary to deliver messages.
How could he not get wet when walking along the river. Finally, in the fifth year of Longqing, Gao Gong discovered that Zhang Juzheng and Feng Bao had a private relationship.
If it were an ordinary person, he would definitely put Zhang Juzheng to death. After all, you can sail a boat with caution, but Gao Gong did not do that because he had a deep friendship with Zhang Juzheng and believed that Zhang Juzheng would not betray him.
When he served as a wine minister in the Imperial Academy, Zhang Juzheng was his deputy. When he served as the teacher of King Yu, Zhang Juzheng was his colleague (Zhang Juzheng was also the teacher of King Yu). Later, he took power and created the "Longqing New Deal", with Zhang Juzheng beside him to assist him.
It was precisely because of this trust that he dragged Zhang Ju along with him the day before his downfall. We are going to court together.
In the end, he never thought that Zhang Juzai had tricked him secretly. It was not until he left the capital and recalled everything before that he realized that Zhang Juzai had stabbed him in the back.
First of all, Feng Bao is related to Zhang Juzheng; secondly, Zhang Juzheng is the beneficiary. If Zhang Juzheng has nothing to do with this matter, no one will believe it.
What is ironic is that Zhang Juzheng was obviously the one who led all of this, but at the moment Gao Gong fell, he also acted as a fake good guy.
Because Gao Gong couldn't accept the reality of being expelled, he collapsed on the ground and couldn't get up. It was he who Gong helped him up and said some kind words. It was Zhang Juzheng who was really a human being and Zhang Juzheng who was a ghost.
Everyone will not feel comfortable being betrayed by others, and the same is true for Gao Gong. In the book "Last Words on the Sickbed" written by him, Zhang Juzheng is no longer called Zhang Juzheng by his name or by his character, but "Jing Ren". Why are they called Jing people? Because Zhang Juzheng was born in Jingzhou, which belonged to Chu State during the Warring States Period, and Chu State can be called "Jingchu", which is a derogatory term for Jing people.
