Although he was a little uneasy in his heart, since the Son of Heaven summoned him, Zhang Juzheng could only rush over. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

By the time his palanquin landed in front of the imperial city, it was completely dark. Originally, according to the rules of the palace, foreign ministers were not allowed to enter the palace at this time, but there are always exceptions to everything, as the first assistant of the cabinet, Zhang Ge Lao came by order of the Son of Heaven, and those forbidden troops could only be released.

However, when entering the palace gate, Zhang Juzheng still saw something strange from the expressions of those forbidden soldiers, and they seemed to have lost their respect for him, the first and auxiliary minister. Sighing in his heart, Zhang Juzheng's footsteps did not pause at all, and went straight to the Taihe Palace, where the emperor dealt with government affairs daily.

When approaching the extraordinary temple, a eunuch greeted him and respectfully led him to a side hall, at this moment, when Zi Wanli was waiting there with a contradictory and hesitant look, seeing Zhang Juzheng arrive, he restrained this tangled expression a little, and nodded at him slightly.

"Minister Zhang Juzheng is visiting Your Majesty." Zhang Juzheng followed the rules and knelt down in front of the emperor's imperial case.

In the past, when Zhang Juzheng met the Son of Heaven alone, although he would also salute according to the rules, but often before he finished his actions, the emperor would quickly call him flat, and sometimes even come over to help him personally. But today, things are a little different, the emperor was stunned for a while before remembering this, and hurriedly said: "Master Zhang, let's be flat, you don't have to be so polite." There was also a hint of hesitation in his voice.

Wanli has such a different reaction, not because of the recent events that have begun to be a little undesirable to see Zhang Juzheng, but because he faced Zhang Juzheng head-on this time, he suddenly found that his Master Zhang was quite old.

Although he has not yet reached the state of the real old man's dragon bell, Zhang Juzheng's footsteps when he came in or his appearance of struggling after kneeling down are a little sluggish, which is a situation that will only appear after the old man's body is stiff. Also, under the cover of the surrounding palace lamps and candles, Zhang Juzheng's hair exposed from the crown of his hat and the long hair under his chin were also mixed with a lot of gray and white colors. Even his forehead was like a knife splitting an axe, with many deep wrinkles.

All of this made Wanli suddenly feel a fact that had been ignored by himself before-his own Master Zhang was indeed a little old. Although he is not yet sixty years old, after so many years of hard work, he has quickly become old.

After this opinion, Wanli couldn't say the words of summoning Zhang Juzheng into the palace for a while, but he just looked at Zhang Juzheng in a daze for a long time, and then sighed and said: "Over the years, Master Zhang has really worked hard. ”

"Minister...... Thank you, Your Majesty. The ministers were deeply favored by the two emperors of Sejong and Muzong, and were valued by His Majesty and the Queen Mother, so he bowed to the essence and did his best for the court and His Majesty. Zhang Juzheng's heart was also touched, and his voice unconsciously carried a trace of tremor, and it took a while to stabilize his emotions.

"I still remember that when the first emperor was still in power, it was Master Zhang who taught me to read and write and understand the right way of heaven and earth in the East Palace every day. What is loyalty, what is benevolence, and what is filial piety...... I still remember all this in my mind. After saying a few words with emotion, Wanli finally began to introduce the topic to the topic: "Because of this, I have always felt that Master Zhang, you are the most upright and righteous person in the world, just like your number Taiyue, which makes people look up to the mountains." ”

"Your Majesty has praised it." Zhang Juzheng hurriedly humbled up.

"But I never imagined that today, there would be such rumors, but I wonder if Master Zhang, can you tell me, is all this true or false? Is someone deliberately smearing you, or is it ......" The latter words, Wanli is a little difficult to say.

Zhang Juzheng's face was also entangled and embarrassed, at this time, could he still deny it in front of the Son of Heaven? But admitting that this is indeed true, then my reputation may be really ...... So at this time, the only thing he can do is to be silent.

In an instant, there was no sound in the side hall, only the surrounding candles occasionally made a few crackling sounds, and the attendants next to the two of them all held their breath one by one, looking at their noses and noses, and they didn't even dare to breathe, which made this hall with more than ten people become as quiet as an empty hall.

After a long while, Wanli let out a long sigh: "That Master Zhang, what are you going to do?" This time, he really didn't know what choice he should make, so he asked Zhang Juzheng like this.

Over the years, Wanli has been fantasizing about a scene, that is, Zhang Juzheng, the mountain that pressed on his head, was moved. He felt that when the moment came, he would be very excited, happy, and relieved.

But now, when he faintly sensed that things had come to this point and it seemed that it would be difficult for Zhang Juzheng to continue to stay in the court, his heart felt inexplicably uneasy. He didn't know what he could do without Master Zhang's earnest teaching, without Master Zhang arranging everything for him, without Master Zhang helping him make up his mind and restrain his ministers. His heart was a little empty at this moment.

People are sometimes so entangled and contradictory, when something becomes a part of your life, you may get rid of it and find it an eyesore. But once one day, this thing leaves you, you will not get used to it, and you will miss the days when it was there.

Zhang Juzheng's lips twitched, and he naturally didn't want to leave in his heart. He still has too many things to do, and although the new laws he formulated have been implemented throughout the country, they have not yet been thoroughly rooted in the hearts of the people.

He was well versed in the past and the present, and he knew too well what would happen to the new Fa he advocated after the Dharma changer left his position. Not everyone is as lucky as Shang Ying, people die and the government does not stop; What's more, as a result of Wang Anshi and Wu Qi, if a person is not in his position, the decrees promulgated will become a dead letter, and will no longer be complied with by the court and officials.

But now, even if he is reluctant, he can only leave, otherwise it will only bring more harm to the court, which is not his original intention, and it is not the result that he Zhang Shuda wants to see.

After taking a deep breath, Zhang Juzheng finally raised his head and said in a calm voice: "It was the minister's poor consideration of some things that caused the imperial court to be humiliated. In fact, during this period of time, the minister was also ashamed, and he didn't dare to close his eyes day and night. Since it has happened, the minister should bear the consequences. ”

Speaking of this, Zhang Juzheng flicked the sleeves of his robe again and knelt down respectfully at the emperor: "Minister Zhang Juzheng begs His Majesty's quasi-ministers to tell the elderly, and to keep filial piety in front of the spirit of the ancestor with the elder companion, so as to fulfill the filial piety of the son of man!" As he spoke, he slammed his head on the ground.

Wanli looked at Zhang Juzheng stupidly, without the slightest wave in his heart, and even had no thoughts at this time, just quietly looked at this aging master, as if he wanted to completely engrave his figure in his heart.

After a long time, he spoke slowly: "Master Zhang, as a son of man, is unable to sit still when he hears his father's funeral, although Master Zhang is indispensable to me and the world, but the way of humanity cannot be abolished. Therefore, I allowed Master Zhang to return to his hometown with the title of ether master! ”

"Minister, thank you Your Majesty Longen!" Zhang Juzheng kowtowed again. This time, as he kowtowed in his eyes, a few tears slipped to the ground.

Zhang Juzheng knew that the emperor did this to protect himself and protect his reputation. Once the decree is issued, those officials who want to make a big fuss about the previous matter will not dare to chase after it anymore. After all, if they really want to do this, they are just doing it against the emperor, so will they have good fruit to eat?

In addition, the emperor's arrangement was of course also for the sake of the reputation of the imperial court. If the first assistant of the cabinet is also confirmed to be a person who loves power and disregards people, then in the eyes of the people, the court will be completely reduced to a place to hide filth and dirt. The prestige of the imperial court in the eyes of the people will inevitably plummet, and it will even be used by some people with ulterior motives.

From this point of view, this student of his own, this young man who has never been very worried about himself, finally has some gentlemanly appearance, and he is very thoughtful about things. At this time, you may be able to feel more at ease when you leave.

As for the matter of the new law that he was concerned about, Zhang Juzheng couldn't understand it for a while, so he decided to write a note to explain it after he returned. There is one thing, but he wants to make it clear to the emperor at this moment, maybe after today, he will not have the opportunity to say: "Your Majesty, the minister still has one more thing to do." ”

"Master Zhang, please speak." There was no time when Wanli wanted to listen to Zhang Juzheng's teachings like this time.

Zhang Juzheng took a breath: "Yang Zhen, the minister of Jinyiwei, is a person with extraordinary talents and extraordinary courage, and he is indeed a talented person in the imperial court. However, his courage is sometimes too great, and he is accustomed to taking risks, which may bring adverse consequences to the imperial court, so I hope that His Majesty can use them properly and not let them get out of control. ”

"Huh?" Wanli was obviously stunned for a moment, not understanding why Zhang Juzheng would specifically mention Yang Zhen at such a time. But at this time, he naturally couldn't refute the other party's kindness, so he nodded and said, "I wrote it down." ”

I hope Your Majesty will really understand the meaning of my words. Zhang Juzheng sighed secretly in his heart, and then gave another big salute: "The minister retires!" With that, he got up slowly and slowly retreated.

Wanli sat there, looking at him a little bit away from him with a rather complicated expression, and for a moment, he even wanted to hold on. But in the end, until Zhang Juzheng left the palace gate, he didn't open this opening.

After a long time, Wanli said softly something that only he could hear clearly: "Take care, Mr. Zhang......" He knew that after today, I am afraid that he will never see Mr. Zhang again, and he will never hear any of his teachings again......