When Xiao Ruxun sent this note, he went to find Ricci to be responsible for the translation. Ricci was fine when he saw other parts, but when he saw the request for compensation on the note, he turned pale with fright. He realized that this was not a condition for peace negotiation at all, but a condition for sending troops to war!
It was fine if you wanted 300,000 taels of silver, but you also wanted half of the share of the spice business? Why don't you just rob it?
Oh, he was planning to rob it …
This was not right? Wasn't it said that no war was allowed without the emperor's order? You … you want to start a war, right? How could you start a war without the emperor's order?
What Ricci didn't know was that Xiao Ruxun had already sent the request for war for a month. Calculating the time, it was almost time to arrive in Beijing. It was about time for the big shots in the cabinet to take a look and remind them of his existence.
Xiao Ruxun's guess was right. When Ricci came to find Xiao Ruxun with the note to confirm, his request for war had already been handed to the table of the big shots in the cabinet.
Zhao Zhigao was now the Prime Minister of the cabinet. Wang Xijue had already abdicated three years ago. After dealing with the last crisis, Wang Xijue abdicated in exhaustion. Zhao Zhigao became the new Prime Minister of the cabinet according to his seniority.
This time, he was not the acting Prime Minister, but the real Prime Minister. This good man who had been hiding his incompetence for a long time finally showed his not-so-good style of doing things.
It was still the same saying, who was a good man to be able to get into the cabinet?
Everyone was a master of scheming and a thousand-year-old fox. No one should treat the other as a little white rabbit. Back then, Xia Yan was killed by Yan Song because of this, and it was also because of this that Yan Song was killed by Xu Jie. Therefore, no matter if it was the Prime Minister, the second Prime Minister, or the group of Ministers, no one should take each other too lightly.
When Wang Xijue was still around, Zhao Zhigao knew very well that he couldn't show any of his sharpness. Even when facing Zhang Wei, who was jumping up and down, he would pretend to be a nice guy and try to smooth things over. He would always try to smooth things over, even when he was the acting Prime Minister.
When Wang Xijue came back, Zhao Zhigao calmly retired to the position of the second Prime Minister and was not attacked by Wang Xijue. On the contrary, Wang Xijue appreciated Zhao Zhigao's calmness. In contrast, Zhang Wei who was jumping up and down was not interesting, so Wang Xijue didn't like Zhang Wei very much. Before he left, he recommended Zhao Zhigao to take over as the Prime Minister.
On this issue, Zhu Yijun didn't argue with Wang Xijue. Instead, according to Wang Xijue's recommendation, he let Zhao Zhigao become the official Prime Minister. At this time, Zhao Zhigao knew that he had no competitors. He could stand in the position of holding the real power of the Daming Dynasty and do some things that he had always wanted to do but hadn't done.
At first, Zhang Wei only resented Wang Xijue, but he didn't really treat Zhao Zhigao as an opponent. He thought that Zhao Zhigao was just putting on an act and doing nothing, and he could still hold the power of the cabinet in his hands. When Zhao Zhigao was a little older, he could smoothly take over the position of the Prime Minister.
However, although in the eyes of outsiders, Zhao Zhigao was an effeminate person who didn't have his own opinions and was easy to bully, but they all forgot that Xu Jie, who was under Yan Song, was also like this. Zhao Zhigao compared himself to Xu Jie, waiting for the day when he could do something, and that day finally came.
After Zhao Zhigao became the Prime Minister, he actively acted, getting rid of corrupt officials and severely punishing corrupt officials. His swift and decisive methods shocked the court officials. Zhang Wei was also stunned for a long time. Only then did he realize that Zhao Zhigao, this old fox, had always been hiding his true strength. His previous image of a good person was gone forever. The majesty of the Prime Minister made Zhang Wei not dare to look directly at him.
However, Zhao Zhigao forgot that the precondition for Xu Jie to become the Prime Minister was that he had once controlled the group of Imperial Censors. Zhang Juzheng had even suppressed the group of Imperial Censors to the point that they didn't even dare to make a sound. His predecessors, Shen Shixing and Wang Xijue, were also in a similar situation.
In Daming, Imperial Censors were a group of people that couldn't be provoked. They were a group of people who were even more ferocious and thirsty for battle than the keyboard warriors and professional haters. The keyboard warriors and haters hid behind the internet to vent their dissatisfaction, while the Imperial Censors openly fought with their mouths and fought with their real names.
Zhao Zhigao was over 70 years old and had always been reserved, giving people the impression that he was easy to bully. Once he rose up, the Imperial Censors weren't afraid of him. They felt that he would retire in a few years at most, so they weren't afraid that he would settle scores with them later. Therefore, whenever the imperial court encountered a disaster, big or small, they would link it to Heaven's Perception, saying that it was Zhao Zhigao's fault and asking him to scram!
Zhang Wei also woke up from the initial shock and realized that Zhao Zhigao was strong in appearance but weak in reality. He secretly encouraged the Imperial Censors to attack Zhao Zhigao, not allowing him to carry out his duties normally. This caused the 70-year-old old man to be exhausted. In the end, he submitted a few letters of resignation to Zhu Yijun, but Zhu Yijun rejected all of them without exception. He even issued edicts to reprimand the Imperial Censors on more than one occasion.
Zhu Yijun had finally learned that all the cabinet members that the Imperial Censors were unhappy with were his friends, and all the cabinet members that the Imperial Censors supported were his enemies. Whoever the Imperial Censors opposed, he would support. On one hand, he could use them as a shield, and on the other, he could also achieve some of his own goals. He wanted to split the cabinet and cause a split in the imperial court. Then, he could sit back and reap the benefits. Wasn't that great?
Back then, Sun Quan had done this, and he wanted to do the same. Now, he didn't care about anything else. He had no power in his hands and was flustered. Those big haters were really too outrageous. They were like mad dogs bullying an old man over 70 years old.
Zhu Yijun used this as a reason to demote a group of Imperial Censors with the crime of not respecting the elderly. It was considered as giving Zhao Zhigao some support, and also allowing him to catch his breath and slowly regain his right to speak.
Even so, it had been more than three years and Zhao Zhigao was exhausted. The little bit of ambition he had at the beginning had long been worn down. All he wanted to do was to abdicate his position and return to his hometown to live a comfortable life. His health was also deteriorating day by day. What good would it do him if he continued to squat at the mouth of this volcano?
Just as Zhao Zhigao was about to submit his resignation report again, Xiao Ruxun's letter of resignation arrived. It was delivered to him through the Office of Transmission.
Xiao Ruxun was not an ordinary military general. He was the Marquis of Yongzhen Burma. Although he was slightly inferior to the Mu family in Yunnan, his status was not low. The civil officials did not dare to ignore Xiao Ruxun's letter of resignation. After a brief discussion, they threw this hot potato to the cabinet, and Zhao Zhigao saw it.
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