Although the Longqing Dynasty lasted only 6 years, its role in the nearly 300-year history of the Ming Dynasty was very crucial, because these six years were the six years of the Ming Dynasty's transformation from Shoucheng to reform, and it was these six years of exploration that laid the foundation for the Wanli Ten Years Reform presided over by Zhang Juzheng. In these six years, there was one person who played both the roles of shoucheng and reform, and was an important promoter of the transformation of the Ming Dynasty, and this person was the first assistant of the cabinet.
▲ High arch historical portrait
Gao Gong, the word Suqing, the number of Xuan, the present-day Henan Xinzheng people, the whole life experience can be described as a big ups and downs, he was five years old good couplet, eight years old recited a thousand words, 17 years old township tried to win the championship, seeing that it was about to soar, the result was that for thirteen consecutive years, until Jiajing twenty-one years to enter the examination and was awarded Hanlin editing.
After nine years of examination, Gao Gong was elected as the lecturer of Zhu Zaiyuan, the King of Yu, and the two established a deep relationship. Forty-four years after Jiajing, King Jing died in his domain, King Yu's succession to the throne was basically a foregone conclusion, Gao Gong was fully respected as a teacher, under the recommendation of Xu Jie, he was promoted to Rebbe Shangshu in the second year and joined the cabinet to participate in the aircraft maintenance, and it seemed that he was about to soar, and as a result, Xu Jie and Yan Songdou were not happy, and Gao Gong entered the cabinet to hold the scene, do a show, and there was no chance to exert force.
▲ Xu Jie film and television stills
It was not easy to wait until Xu Jie squeezed out Yan Song, Gao Gong found that Xu Jie did not lose much in the hegemonic area, he could only give advice, and the specific acceptance did not completely look at Xu Jie's mood, so Gao Gong became angry and turned against Xu Jie, although the Longqing Emperor Zhu Zaiyuan admired Gao Gong, in front of the old and calculating Xu Jie, Gao Gong was still defeated step by step, and gradually withdrew from the core of power.
Until July of the second year of Longqing, Xu Jie was disappointed in the situation or tired of this struggle, and chose to go home for the elderly, and his former friend Zhang Juzheng asked Zhu Zaiyuan to reactivate the high arch, and five months later, the high arch received the holy will, returned to the imperial court day and night, and returned to the core of power as an official Shangshu and a cabinet scholar.
▲High arch film and television stills
Without Xu Jie's restrictions, the high arch was mixed up in the cabinet. Although until May of the fifth year of Longqing, the position of the first assistant in the cabinet was always occupied by Li Chunfang, but Li Chunfang was born with the temper of an old and good man, coupled with the support of the emperor behind the high arch, so he said one thing in the cabinet and basically exercised the power of the first assistant.
According to records, after the high arch was restored, the officials who had previously disagreed with the high arch were panicked every day, the official Hu Yingjia was directly frightened to death, and Ouyang Yijing was so frightened that he resigned his official and returned to his hometown, and died of depression before he reached his hometown. In May of the fifth year of Longqing, Li Chunfang resigned and returned to his hometown, and Gao Gong was successfully promoted to the position of first assistant to the cabinet, at this time he acted more brazenly, and after squeezing out the cabinet minister Yin Shidan in December of the same year, the old cabinet minister was only him and Zhang Juzheng.
▲ Zhang Juzheng and gao arch film and television stills
However, Gao Gong's first assistant position did not sit for too long, because behind him was a more ambitious Zhang Juzheng, two scholars who were determined to save the country together, and soon went to rupture, and a fierce struggle was launched in the open and in the dark. During Zhu Zaiyuan's reign, Zhang Juzheng was unable to shake the position of the high arch, but Zhu Zaiyuan had just died, and Zhang Juzheng joined forces with the eunuch Feng Bao to squeeze out the high arch. In the next ten years, it completely belongs to Zhang Juzheng's performance time.
Therefore, Gao Gong's rise to power was actually from December of the second year of Longqing to May of the sixth year of Longqing, a total of three and a half years, but in this short period of three and a half years, the basic national policy of the Ming Dynasty underwent very big changes, which was summed up from Shoucheng to reform. For example, we should adhere to the idea of "not bullying others and not committing crimes, bullying me; not bullying others, bullying me, and bullying me, rectifying the border defense army; strengthening the implementation of the policy of opening up the sea and prohibiting frequent trade along the coast; reforming the tax collection mechanism and clearing up the land of the whole country; reforming the methods for assessing officials; and so on.
▲ Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng film and television stills
Therefore, in the case of Xu Jie Shoucheng before and Zhang Juzheng reform later, Gao Gong actually played a transitional role, during which he had to absorb Xu Jie's Shoucheng achievements on the one hand, and also laid the foundation for Zhang Juzheng's Wanli reform on the other hand, ensuring that the transformation of the Ming Dynasty could be smooth and stable. Facts have proved that although he had many problems during the auxiliary government, he as a whole achieved the purpose of helping the transformation of the Ming Dynasty.
The reason why such a good effect can be achieved is that the Longqing Emperor's idea of "ruling from the arch down" has played a very big role, because this provides a stage for the high arch to display its talents. Zhu Zaiyuan believes in "ruling from the arch", to put it bluntly, he wants to be the treasurer of the hands, and if he wants to be the treasurer of the hands, he is bound to give the minister enough power, and Gao Gong, as Zhu Zaiyuan's former teacher, naturally gets more attention.
▲ Zhu Zaiyuan film and television stills
On the other hand, this is also very relevant to Gao Gong's own experience, he and Zhang Juzheng are fellow students, and they are all dissatisfied with the existing policies, and often exchange ideas with each other; at the same time, he once had a good relationship with Xu Jie, the Shoucheng faction, and had a deeper understanding of Xu Jie's ruling ideology, so Gao Gong was very clear about where the core ideas of the Shoucheng faction represented by Xu Jie and the reform faction represented by Zhang Juzheng were, so they could find a better point of integration.
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