Four words flashed through Zhang Juzheng's mind: counterattack!
Zhang Juzheng naturally understood his teacher, Xu Jie. His teacher was very familiar with battles. He had fought with Yan Song for an entire lifetime, and in the end, he had managed to overcome Yan Song. He was definitely an expert.
Now that Gao Gong had fallen, his teacher was going to fight Gao Gong. After all, his student had risen to the top!
His teacher must have waited for this day for a long time!
Although Zhang Juzheng knew that his teacher had waited for a long time, Zhang Juzheng didn't think so.
Back then, Gao Juzheng dealt with his teacher. Although he had the intention of using public office to avenge personal grievances, flies don't bite seamless eggs.
If his teacher had made a small mistake, he would rather fall out with Gao Gong and speak up for his teacher. But what was his teacher doing?
800,000 mu of fertile farmland. 800,000 mu. His teacher's Xu family had 800,000 mu of fertile farmland. Now that he thought of this, Zhang Juzheng was shocked.
Look at what his teacher's sons had done. They bullied men and women and treated human lives as grass. They were not inferior to the father and son of the Yan family.
Now that Gao Gong had fallen, his teacher wanted to scheme against Gao Gong. He even used him and stirred up a fight between the factions. It would be strange if Zhang Juzheng wasn't angry.
After so many years, his teacher was still fighting. He only had himself, power, and the Xu family in his heart.
Closing the letter, Zhang Juzheng sighed. He was deeply indebted to his teacher. If he didn't handle this matter well, there would be a lot of trouble.
Back then, he couldn't stop Gao Gong from dealing with his teacher. Shilin had already given him a lot of criticism. If he didn't do something this time, he would definitely be labeled as disrespecting his teacher.
If he were to wear this label, it would be enough to make him suffer.
On one side, it was Gao Gong's faction. On the other side, it was his teacher. This was giving him a difficult problem and forcing him!
The letter described in detail what had happened. Basically, his teacher's son had been accused again.
Back then, Gao Gong had sent Hai Rui to investigate his teacher's family. Their family property had been thoroughly investigated.
His three sons were either banished or exiled. If he hadn't gone to look for Gao Gong, none of them would have been able to stay.
The one causing trouble now was the son he had left behind. How could Zhang Juzheng not be angry?
If it weren't for him, he would have been exiled. Now, he actually got into such big trouble.
What had happened was very simple. His teacher's family had probably seen that Gao Gong had fallen from power and he had risen to power. Hence, they started to take over other people's fields.
They were not to be trifled with. They directly reported it to the Inspector-General's Office.
Obviously, the people below did not dare to interfere. They pushed up level by level, and finally pushed up to Zhang Jiayin.
Zhang Jiayin was in a difficult position. If Gao Gong was still here, then this matter would be simple. He could just punish them directly.
Or rather, if Gao Gong was still here, the Xu family would not dare to do such a thing. Such a thing had happened. It was obviously because Xu Jie's student, Zhang Juzheng, had risen to power.
Facing such a situation, how could Zhang Jiayin not be afraid? Now, the rumor that Zhang Juzheng was going to purge the people from the noble sects was spreading like wildfire.
Zhang Jiayin was Gao Gong's student and also the Inspector-General of Yingtian. He was the perfect target.
Xu Jie might have had this idea in mind. That was why he had caused such a thing.
There were many meanings in this. On one hand, it was to remind Zhang Juzheng not to forget about his teacher. On the other hand, it was to announce Xu Jie's status. Of course, it was also to test Zhang Juzheng. All these meanings were very profound.
From Zhang Juzheng's point of view, this was his teacher forcing him. Indeed, there was no country. There was only his own family, his own interests, and only power.
Putting down the letter in his hand, Zhang Juzheng sighed. The dignified Cabinet Chief was like this. They were all like this. It could be seen that Daming the darkness of the imperial court. It could be seen that Daming the officials were slacking. Daming had already reached the time to scrape the bones to cure the poison.
At this time, if not me, who else? I, Zhang Juzheng, will definitely do something great. I will definitely leave my name in history.
"Grinding, I want to write a letter!" Zhang Juzheng called out to You Chi.
You Chi was stunned. Why did the angry old master become so high-spirited at this moment? However, this was a good thing. You Chi hurriedly agreed and ran over to help Zhang Juzheng write a letter to Zhang Juzheng.
Zhang Juzheng prepared to write two letters. One to his teacher, Xu Jie, and the other to Zhang Jiayin.
The content was also very simple. For his teacher, he had to form a relationship with him. For Zhang Jiayin, he had to appease and rope him in.
Reversing the verdict for his teacher and bringing his son back. These were all things that should be done.
However, he definitely couldn't cover up illegal things. He had to let Zhang Jiayin investigate the case and handle it impartially. This was the right way.
If he committed a crime for his teacher, no one would say that he didn't respect his teacher enough. Letting Zhang Jiayin handle it impartially would calm the emotions of the scholars and appease the officials in Gao Gong's faction.
By doing this, he would definitely be able to calm down this matter.
However, Zhang Juzheng needed more. He needed to make use of this opportunity to make Zhang Jiayin lean towards him. At the same time, he would appease the people and at the same time, he would take over the people in Gao Gong's faction.
In the letter to Zhang Jiayin, Zhang Juzheng mentioned one thing again. That was about Zhang Jiayin himself.
He said directly, do you think that you can get to where you are today because you are Gao Gong's student?
No, it's because of your ability. What are you studying for? It's to bring peace to the country and comfort the people. It's not to fight for your faction.
After saying this, Zhang Juzheng's tone changed. He directly told Zhang Jiayin that he was chosen not because of Gao Gong, but because of him, Zhang Juzheng.
Back when I was still the second assistant in the cabinet and the minister of the Ministry of Personnel, I had already paid attention to you.
You are very outstanding. I, Zhang Ju, thought very highly of you. That's why I promoted you. You have to understand.
This was nonsense. However, Zhang Juzheng didn't care. Zhang Juzheng believed that Zhang Jiayin didn't care either.
With this debt of appreciation, Zhang Jiayin would naturally rely on him without any misgivings.
In the beginning, he talked about righteousness, and in the end, he talked about his personal feelings. Zhang Juzheng was very familiar with this.
As for what Zhang Juzheng had done, Zhu Yijun naturally didn't know. If he knew, Zhu Yijun would also praise it as "good method".
Zhang Juzheng's grasp of the situation and the way he handled things was naturally very superb.
Compared to Zhang Juzheng, Gao Gong was not just a little bit worse. This could be seen from this matter.
Compared to Gao Gong who destroyed this and that after coming to power, Zhang Juzheng was much better.
However, Zhu Yijun didn't care about this. At this time, he encountered another thing. He was assassinated.
As the emperor of the Daming Dynasty, he was assassinated in the palace. Moreover, it was an assassination that was like a game. Zhu Yijun felt that it was funny.
Looking at the man who was pressed on the ground, a sneer flashed across Zhu Yijun's face.