Zhang Juzheng did his utmost to persuade the emperor to recall Gao for political reasons.

He replaced Li Chunfang, the former Senior Grand Secretary, who was defeated in the political struggle by the death of the emperor.

The eunuchs in the Directorate of Ceremonial headed by Feng Bao brooked no weakening of their power by Gao.

He finished the memoir Bingta yiyan (病榻遺言) [The last words left on my sickbed] in his later years.

[1] Although Gao's term was quite brief, he made great efforts with Zhang to subsume Altan Khan's Tumed into the tributary system.