"Which is the hardest in the world?"

Such a sudden question is asked, such an unanswered question is asked.

There is no answer to this question, there are many difficult people in this world, but anyone who is slightly unsatisfactory in life feels that it is difficult for themselves.

But to ask which one is the hardest, it is reasonable for anyone to say.

But now that there is an answer to this question, Li Dongyang said: "Being the elder of the pavilion is the most difficult." ”

Liu Jian heard a trace of bitterness on his face, and then shook his head lightly, "The most difficult thing is not the old man, but the person who is caught in the middle, who can't move forward or retreat." ”

"The old man is caught now, and he is in a dilemma, and he can't turn around at all."

"The top is the monarch's father, and the bottom is the hundred officials, and the old man, the head of the cabinet, is sandwiched in the middle, so uncomfortable."

"Now, Your Majesty wants to promote this gathering of people to resist the law, which is regarded as an example of rebellion. But the ministers disagreed, why not, because they all have hidden fields in their homes.

What about the old man? The old man doesn't care, to put it mildly, the old man is this age, this official rank, the old man is not bad at these fields!

But the old man can't say it, he can't say it to His Majesty, and he can't say it to the ministers, not only that, but the old man has to face them, why do you want to them? Because the old man can't afford this infamy, the old man can't afford to be this wicked man! ”

"When these words come out, I know that you look down on me, and even scold me in your hearts, but it's good for you to look down on me, just scold me in your heart, the old man is meaningless, if you are in my position, what are you going to do?"

"Now Your Majesty is forcing us to express our position in this way, just because we are cabinet ministers, and the old man is the first cabinet minister. What about the ministers, still let the old man take this charter, how can the old man take this charter? It's all wrong, you tell me, what should I do about it? ”

“.”

The two of them were silent, one of them was the second assistant of the cabinet, and the other was the third assistant of the cabinet, both of whom were auxiliary ministers of the cabinet, but the pressure they needed to bear was far less than that of Liu Jian, because they were not the first assistant of the cabinet, and Liu Jian was the one who bore the brunt.

The ministers asked the head of the cabinet for a method and a charter; His Majesty forced them to take a stand in an indescribable way.

All the votes of the cabinet were not read, and all of them were not approved, and they were all suppressed.

All the government affairs were not dealt with, and the Wu Dynasty, which could really discuss state affairs, stopped, and wanted to go to the palace to meet the emperor, but they were all blocked.

In the early dynasty, the emperor could still show up, but the reason why Emperor Hongzhi still opened this early dynasty was to see if the first assistant of the cabinet would express his position at the court meeting, otherwise, the early dynasty would have stopped.

They don't know how to describe this way, lazy, vindictive, evasive, self-defeating?

If their eyes can travel through time and space, and see hundreds of years later, they can find a word that hits the nail on the head, lying flat and rotten.

But this lying flat is rotten and not thorough at all, if it is thorough, it will be fine, but Emperor Hongzhi is lying flat with great power in his hands, and he will firmly grasp the right to approve red and make decisions in his hands.

Without these, they, the cabinet ministers, only have the right to vote and make suggestions, and if they want to deal with a certain state affair, they will not be able to handle the matter if they hand it in and hand it over, but they cannot get the emperor's approval.

The Ming Dynasty was half-paralyzed.

To put it mildly, if something major happens in the country, and it is in this state, there will inevitably be chaos.

And once chaos appears, it will be their cabinet assistants who will be infamous, especially Liu Jian.

The history books will not record the guilt of the emperor, but only their inaction, and the incompetence of their cabinet assistants, which led to this catastrophe.

Just like the change of Tumubao fifty years ago, in fact, Yingzong was young and frivolous, and his brain was patted, and he wanted to drive the expedition himself, in which Wang Zhen played the role of facilitating this matter and making the ministers agree to this matter.

It was also Yingzong who felt that the royal drive was too hard and too tired halfway through. I wanted to go back and couldn't hang on my face, so Wang Zhen handed me the steps, saying that this place was close to the slave's hometown, so it was better to go to the slave's house to have a look.

This led to the subsequent change of the civil fort.

In this matter, most of it is Yingzong's own fault.

But it will only be recorded in the history books that Wang Zhen deceived Yingzong and provoked Yingzong to drive his own expedition, and it was he who instigated Yingzong to go to his house as a guest, so there was this national disaster.

All the infamy was carried by Wang Zhen.

Wang Zhen is just a eunuch, he may not care about any infamy, but they care, they are civil officials, they are scholars, what they care about most is what happens after their deaths, and what they care most about is the reputation that falls in the history books.

Xie Qian cared, so he couldn't help but ask, Liu Jian cared, so he was caught uncomfortable, if he didn't care, the dilemma would be solved in an instant.

After a period of silence, Liu Jian spoke again: "I am seventy-four this year, old and frail, I can't bear the position of the first assistant of the cabinet, I have written my resignation, and told Your Majesty to return to my hometown, not asking for the rest, just hoping to end up in a clean old age." ”

Hearing this, Li Dongyang had to answer, "Why does Duke Xian say such angry words, why do good people need to say such resignations?" ”

"What the old man said is not angry, the resignation has been written."

As he spoke, Liu Jian took out the resignation letter from his cuff, "I haven't caught up with the opportunity today, so I will hand it over to Your Majesty in public tomorrow morning, and ask Your Majesty to approve my return to my hometown." ”

"Gong Xuan!" Xie Qian was anxious again, and stomped his feet, "My brother Xuan!" I know that you have a complaint in your heart, and I just questioned you, it is my fault, here I am with you, you don't want to be like this, how can the court leave you? ”

"Yu Qiao, the old man doesn't have a complaint with you, he is really powerless and can't afford it, a few years ago, the old man wanted to resign."

This is actually sincere, a few years ago he was not the first assistant, the first assistant at that time was still Xu Pu, at that time Liu Jian wanted to say goodbye to the old man and return to his hometown, but Xu Pu was one step ahead of him to tell the old man, and the position of the first assistant fell to him.

Then Liu Jian didn't think about resigning.

In the past few years, the first assistant has done it, and sometimes he feels that it is not easy, but only this time really made him in a dilemma, and he had the idea of resigning and saying goodbye.

At least if you resign now, you can still save a late holiday.

It's really old, an old man in his seventies, who still has to work for these things all day long, or go home for a few years to live in peace, and never be hungry for these anymore.

Li Dongyang disagrees with this, if Liu Gong leaves now, eighty percent of the position of the first assistant of the cabinet will fall to him, and the dilemma will have to be himself.

So he had no choice but to persuade: "Liu Gong, everything can always be discussed, there is no hurdle in the world that cannot be overcome, one person is short, three people are long, we can always come up with a way to come out after consultation." ”

Xie Qian next to him also said: "Brother Hao'an, we will discuss and discuss, and we can finally come up with a way, if you resign at this time, how will Your Majesty think of you, and how will the ministers think of you?" ”

"Yu Qiao, Binzhi, you two don't have to persuade anymore, the old man has made up his mind, just wait for tomorrow to resign."

(End of chapter)