As an ally of Zhang Cong, when his friend was in trouble, he very loyally followed his consistent principle - to add insult to injury. It didn't matter who was in power in the court, as long as he could maintain his position.

But slowly he discovered that Xia Yan, who had just come to power, was really not that simple. He was very smart, and he was favored by the emperor. He had no intention of cooperating with him, and was not as easy to control as Zhang Cong. For future plans, it was best to solve it as soon as possible.

this person.

The attack method used by Guo Xun also fully illustrates one point - he is a rough man.

This hard-core senior official usually took bribes, had a bad reputation, was not popular, and was not clear-headed. He went so far as to directly scold Xia Yan in a memorial and fight with fans for actually daring to touch a professional player. This was the legendary egg against a stone.

Needless to say, Xia Yan immediately wrote an article to retaliate. The two sides exchanged fists and kicks, which was very lively. According to common sense, this fight should end with Xia Yan's victory, but this is not the case.

Jiajing is so fed up that he can just scold and scold his subordinates, but every time he has to be involved. On one side are important officials of the imperial court, on the other are old relatives. Both sides want the emperor to express his position. How can I find so much time to deal with you?

What a mess?!

No matter, let’s take care of one first!

Xia Yan was unlucky, he got the first shot.

In the 20th year of Jiajing (1541), the emperor received a memorial from Xia Yan. After reading it, he said nothing but asked someone to tell him that he had come to see him immediately.

After receiving the order, Xia Yan had an ominous premonition, but he felt relatively at ease because his memorial did not involve any sensitive issues. However, it was only after he entered the palace that he realized that the problem was serious.

Jiajing couldn't help but scolded Xia Yan, which made the chief minister confused. Then he revealed the reason for the scolding - a typo.

Xia Yan was confused. Wasn't this a deliberate attempt to cause trouble?

If it had been anyone else, it would have been fine if he had been scolded. If the emperor was deliberately making trouble, would you still dare to slap him?

But Brother Xia Yan is really good. He refused to give up and even replied:

"I am at fault. I have been feeling unwell recently. I hope your majesty will allow me to go home to recuperate."

If you deliberately cause trouble, I won't serve you anymore!

Of course, Mr. Jiajing was not someone to be bullied. He shouted angrily:

"You don't need to recuperate anymore. You can go to work and never come back again!"

Too bad, now we are in trouble.

The joke was too big, but once the words were spoken, there was no way to take them back, so I had to bite the bullet and leave.

Xia Yan began to bundle the quilt with sadness and prepared to leave Beijing. But just as he was about to hit the road, someone suddenly came to him and told him: Wait a minute, you may not have to leave.

Xia Yan really didn't need to leave, because something happened, and it was a big deal.

This incident happened to Guo Xun. Xia Yan was kicked out of the capital because of typos. Guo Xun was very happy for a while, but this brother really failed to live up to his expectations and soon caused a big mess.

Specifically speaking, this matter is a matter of work style. Emperor Jiajing not long ago gave Guo Xun and Wang Tingxiang (then the censor of Zuodu) an errand, and issued a special order.

But the strange thing is that after Wang Tingxiang received the order, there was no movement for more than forty days. I don't know what the trick was.

By the way, Mr. Wang Tingxiang is a great writer, one of the "First Seven Sons", and a famous philosopher. The reason why he is not working is probably because he is thinking about philosophical issues.

But Guo Xun was a bit outrageous. Although Wang Tingxiang was lazy and could only be regarded as sabotaging his work, he was so bold that he knew there was an order but refused to accept it! Quan pretended not to know.

Although Guo Xun is a relative of the emperor, he is also a paid national civil servant. Since he is paid, he has to work for the emperor, but Mr. Guo obviously does not have this consciousness.

So the emperor became angry, and after more than a month there was no response to what he had explained, so he immediately ordered a strict investigation. Wang Tingxiang was really smart. When he saw that the situation was not good, he immediately submitted a supplementary work report.

Relatively speaking, Guo Xun's attitude towards pleading guilty was not very good. He refused to do any work and only wrote a memorial to defend himself. Originally, this was not a big deal. Considering that he has been a high-ranking official for generations, the most he could do was scold him.

A few words settled the matter, but his memorial caused big trouble.

It must be noted that there were no typos in Guo Xun’s memorial, which is worthy of praise, but his problem is much more serious than typos.

This dear fellow is indeed a rough man. Not only did he quibble in the memorial, but he also wrote a shocking sentence: "Why bother to work harder to give an imperial edict?"

Combined with the context, the popular explanation of this statement is roughly as follows:

Why do you (referring to the emperor) need to issue special orders for this kind of thing? It’s superfluous!

If you have the surname Guo, you will not be surnamed Zhu until it is abolished!

The emperor finally got angry. He scolded Guo Xun and recalled Xia Yan. It rained all night because of the leak in the house. Mr. Guo Xun usually took corruption and bribes, bullied ministers and people, did all kinds of bad things, and was very unpopular with the court.

Seeing that he was unlucky, the officials in charge wrote letters and cursed him, and beat him up.

At the critical moment, Guo Xun finally woke up and immediately fired a feint, saying that he was under great pressure and was ill to recuperate, hoping for the emperor's permission.

Jiajing agreed. He still trusted this old relative. When the officials saw that the situation was not good, they all backed down.

If things ended here, Guo Xun could successfully avoid the limelight and probably have a peaceful old age. But at the most critical moment, Xia Yan came back.

In Xia Yan's view, Zhang Cong is more or less a man of action, while Guo Gaoqian is uneducated and a pure social garbage. If he wants to govern the country safely and realize his political ideals, he must get rid of this pile of garbage.

But this is almost an impossible task. Starting from Lao Zhu, the Guo family has been around for almost two hundred years. They have deep roots and are well-versed in both the underworld and the white. What can an ordinary chief minister of the cabinet do?

There is nothing an ordinary cabinet minister can do, but Xia Yan is not ordinary.

He was determined to challenge this difficult move and remove the final stumbling block. To this end, he found his protégé Yan Guan Gao Shi, told him his plan, and asked him a question:

"This is a very risky matter, are you willing?"

Answer the following:

"We will do whatever it takes to get rid of this evil villain for our country!"

In September of the 20th year of Jiajing (1531), Yiwei.

I wrote a letter of impeachment to Zhong Gao Shi: Guo Xun, Marquis of Wuding, was favored by the emperor and committed corruption and illegal acts. It has been found that his crimes are as follows and he should be severely punished by the judicial department!

This is a very weighty memorial. The full text lists fifteen items of Guo Xun's crimes, all of which have solid evidence. It is really a heavy bomb.

Jiajing got angry. He didn't expect Guo Xun to have so many "feats", so he imprisoned the relative in anger.

Guo Xun was very surprised when the incident happened suddenly, but after being imprisoned, he calmed down because he knew very well that with his status, the emperor would never kill him, and he would just stay in jail for two days.

His judgment was very reliable. Jiajing was just impulsive and quickly calmed down. He also specifically ordered that no execution be carried out. It seemed that he would be released without charge in two days.

However, Guo Xun was wrong, and his life would come to an end here.

Soon after, Gao Shi sent a second memorial with the same content, demanding severe punishment for Guo Xun. Jiajing ignored it and returned the memorial.

This action hides the emperor's true intention - let's end the matter here and don't continue to entangle it.

However, Xia Yan's offensive has just begun.

Different from the past, this time the judicial department was very efficient. They quickly reported the pre-trial results of the case - the crime should be punished.

Now Jiajing's head was getting big. He originally just wanted to teach Guo Xun a lesson, but why did he end up beheading him?

At this point, we must get straight to the point:

"The circumstances of this case are unknown and will be sent back to the Justice Department for review!"

The first round of testing ends here, and the second round of attacks is ready to begin.

Gao Shi wrote another letter, still demanding severe punishment, but this time, Jiajing was no longer polite to him, and ordered Gao Shi to be demoted.

After receiving the punishment, Gao Shi was not depressed, but was very happy because he had completed his mission and the show was about to begin.

After stating his position, Jiajing waited with confidence for the result of the retrial. However, at this moment, Liu Tianzhi suddenly wrote a letter to impeach Guo Xun for twelve major crimes. This time it was not as simple as corruption and bribery, and the types of crimes were more diverse.

To enrich, including disrupting government affairs, plotting evil, etc.

As if prearranged, the judicial department, which had been hesitant before, immediately concluded a retrial—in addition to beheading, personal property was also confiscated.

This move is really too cruel.

Jiajing originally thought that if he spoke, the people below him would naturally be obedient, but it backfired. What's even worse is that he suffered a lot, but he still couldn't lose his temper. They have evidence and handle the case according to the evidence. Can you say that he is wrong?

?

His Majesty the Emperor finally discovered that he was the one who had been taken advantage of. He was fooled by others and was still helping others count their money after being sold.

But it doesn’t matter. Although my opponent is cunning, the final decision is still in my hands. If I don’t say anything, who dares to kill Guo Xun?!

Jiajing learned the lesson this time. He accepted the memorial from the Chief Justice but ignored it at all. At the same time, he summoned the relevant ministers many times and made insinuations, asking them to let Guo Xun live.

In his opinion, as long as he doesn't nod, Guo Xun will not die, and two more days in jail is not a bad thing for this high-ranking cadre's son.

It's a pity that he doesn't know that killing Guo Xun does not necessarily require his approval. In this world, to solve

There are many different ways for a person.

The emperor conveyed his opinions, but the ministers showed symptoms of collective mental retardation. They ignored the painstaking efforts of their superiors and continued to petition for Guo Xun's death.

That was fine, but a few months later, Jiajing received shocking news - Guo Xun died in prison.

This energetic man ended his life. The cause of death is unknown, but what is certain is that it was definitely not a natural death. Anyway, in prison, you can do whatever you like in prison.

Jiajing was finally angry. This was a naked judicial shady case! It was a political assassination!

But he still had no choice.

After the death, officials from the Ministry of Punishment and Dali Temple who investigated the case were very conscious and wrote memorials in which they expressed that they would learn from this lesson and conduct safety inspections in prisons to prevent similar tragedies from happening again in the future.

Be sure to pay more attention to this.

All in all, there is responsibility, there is negligence, but there is no intentionality.

His Majesty the Emperor, who was so angry that he didn't talk nonsense this time, directly ordered that all the officials involved in handling the case be demoted, which can be regarded as a sigh of relief.
To be continued...