The Prosperous Era of Longwan

Why did Wei Guangde exonerate Zhang Juzheng from the beginning? You should know that it is difficult for him to explain himself since the matter involves the Prime Minister.

That is because Liu Tai's memorial was written very well, and all the charges against Zhang Juzheng in it were true.

Although the intention may not be as written in the memorial, each and every one of them can be verified.

Can the Censorate investigate?

Of course not, otherwise Zhang Juzheng will be in trouble, and the Performance Evaluation Law will also be in trouble.

Therefore, Wei Guangde characterized this matter as Liu Tai's attempt to retaliate against important officials of the court with ulterior motives.

The expulsion of Gao Gong was naturally difficult to investigate because it involved the inner court. It is impossible to call the two empress dowagers and the young emperor to the Censorate for questioning, but the matter of Zhu Xizhong is obvious, and the decree was drafted by Zhang Juzheng.

According to the Performance Evaluation Law, the six ministries are responsible to the six departments, and the six departments are responsible to the cabinet, which indeed snatched the supervision power that should belong to the emperor.

The six departments are directly responsible to the emperor, not to the cabinet.

However, this point must be considered the problem of the young emperor, but it is indeed an infringement of the imperial power.

Wei Guangde said it out loud and had it spread throughout the government offices in Beijing, which also stopped other people from talking.

The attitude of the second assistant was so obvious. Even if someone else wanted to deal with Zhang Juzheng, even if Zhang Juzheng was finally removed from office, what would be the result?

Wei Guangde came to power, but he might not remember your favor.

In the afternoon, Lv Diaoyang's impeachment memorial was drafted. After reading it, Wei Guangde signed his name directly at the back and sent a reed cloth to deliver it. Lv Diaoyang directly sent it to the Silijian, hoping to get it into the palace as soon as possible so that the two palaces would know.

The news that Zhang Juzheng went home to avoid suspicion had already spread in the court, and the inner court soon learned the news.

For this reason, Ciqing Palace also sent people to the cabinet to inquire about the situation.

After all, in such a large country, the cabinet has heavy responsibilities. Missing one person is a big deal, not to mention that it was an emergency and there was no preparation in advance.

Wei Guangde went to the palace and explained the situation in detail. The key point was that Liu Tai was dissatisfied with Zhang Juzheng, the teacher, including the fact that Liu Tai had already resented his teacher for transferring him to Liaodong instead of the wealthy area of ​​Jiangnan.

When Wei Guangde returned to the cabinet, he got the news. Ciqing Palace sent Feng Bao to Zhang's house to comfort him.

The next morning, a self-defense memorial was submitted. Following the steps set by Wei Guangde, Zhang Juzheng said that he had no eyes but no paper and no face to see people.

"According to the order, the inspector cannot report military merits. At the beginning of the year, Liaodong won a great victory. You violated the rules and made a false report. According to the law, you should be exiled.

I asked for an imperial edict to warn you, but you were already so angry that you were suspicious and didn't care about me anymore.

Besides, you were selected by me. In the past two hundred years, no student has impeached the teacher. The only plan is to thank him."

Zhang Juzheng's resignation from the position of the chief minister was expected by everyone. If he was impeached, he would say this, otherwise he would be suspected of being greedy for power.

The self-defense was handed over to Wei Guangde, who drafted it and asked him to give it to Lu Diaoyang, who signed it and sent it directly to the Imperial Household Department.

Forbidden City, Qianqing Palace.

Emperor Wanli Zhu Yijun was sitting behind his desk bored at this time, with one hand supporting his chin, and he didn't know what he was thinking.

At this time in the past, he should be sitting in the Wenhua Hall listening to the lectures of the lecturers.

However, Master Zhang was impeached by the censor yesterday and chose to put down his work and return home to avoid suspicion. The little emperor keenly felt that his mother's mood had deteriorated.

Yes, he took over a huge country from his father, and there were so many things to deal with every day.

But fortunately, this happened, so the mother ordered to suspend the homework for the past few days, giving him more rest time.

Master Zhang is the head of the cabinet. Although Master Wei is also very powerful, he is not the chief minister after all, and he is inevitably timid in doing things, unless Master Wei is allowed to sit in the position of the chief minister.

The little emperor thought to himself, but he also knew that this was impossible.

In the heart of the queen mother, she still needs a mature and steady person to preside over the overall situation. Although Master Wei has his own ideas and can give advice, he is not as senior as Master Zhang.

By the way, should we discuss with Wei Guangde? No matter what, Master Zhang is his teacher. What should a disciple do at this time? Listen to Master Wei's opinions.

Thinking of this, Zhu Yijun shouted to the outside, and then a eunuch came in and stood respectfully in front of him.

"Go, invite Master Wei to the Qianqing Palace. I have something to say to him."

The little emperor ordered.

Starting from yesterday afternoon, Feng Daban was called to the Ciqing Palace, and he rarely came back afterwards.

However, there is no shortage of people in the palace. Feng Bao is not here, and there are many other people.

"I obey your order."

The eunuch agreed and hurried to the cabinet.

Half an hour later, Wei Guangde followed the eunuch into the Qianqing Palace.

In fact, when he came out of the cabinet, Wei Guangde had guessed the purpose of the little emperor and asked him about Zhang Juzheng.

Sure enough, after he stood up after paying his respects, the little emperor first casually asked him how he was doing recently. After all, the weather was getting colder, so he asked him to keep warm.

After Wei Guangde expressed his gratitude, the little emperor asked his questions.

"Master Wei, I heard that Liu Tai, who submitted the memorial, was also Master Zhang's student. How could he frame the teacher?

I read Master Zhang's self-defense. Master Zhang must be very sad now."

The little emperor asked this with a serious expression. In his cognition, students should respect their teachers. How could they frame their teachers? It was really treasonous.

It can only be said that the people around him have too much influence on the few decision-makers in the palace. The queen mother and the young emperor of the two palaces were all influenced by Feng Bao, Wei Guangde and Lu Tiaoyang. They all said that Liu Tai was trying to frame Zhang Juzheng, and they listened. When it reaches their ears, they naturally believe it.

Among them, Feng Bao and Wei Guangde's statements are undoubtedly the most influential.

Feng Bao is a eunuch in the palace and their domestic slave, so he naturally trusts them more.

Strictly speaking, Wei Guangde is in competition with Zhang Juzheng. If Zhang Juzheng falls, Wei Guangde will undoubtedly benefit.

Even such people say that Liu Tai framed Zhang Juzheng and said good things for Zhang Juzheng, so how can anyone believe Liu Tai's impeachment.

Therefore, at this time, none of the real people in power in the Ming Dynasty believed that Liu Tai told the truth, and only thought that his impeachment memorial was all lies.

With this preconceived impression, coupled with the fact that students impeached their teachers and did not pay attention to the relationship between teachers and students, they naturally had a worse impression of Liu Tai.

When Wei Guangde heard what the little emperor said, he lowered his head and whispered: "Your Majesty, Master Zhang must be very sad, otherwise he would not have resigned."

"Feng Daban said the same thing yesterday when he came back. He said that when Master Zhang saw him, he said he was too embarrassed to see anyone."

The little emperor said with a straight face.

"Hey, there's nothing you can do about receiving a student like this. Reading test papers can only reveal talent, but not character."

Wei Guangde sighed and said.

"Master Wei, what do you think I should do at this time? Should I send someone to arrest him?"

The little emperor Zhu Yijun finally asked the question he had always wanted to ask. He felt that he, a student, should also do something for the teacher.

"Your Majesty, it is the duty of the censor to impeach. Although the words of Liu Tai's memorial are very fierce and exaggerated, it is probably inappropriate to punish him accordingly.

If he is punished, I am afraid it will arouse the dissatisfaction of the censors. "

Wei Guangde heard the little emperor saying that he wanted to arrest people, and hurriedly reminded him.

"The censor's report does not allow them to arbitrarily frame important officials in the court."

But the little emperor answered: "Besides, he is still his teacher. It can be seen that his character is corrupt and he really does not deserve this official position."

Wei Guangde raised his head and carefully observed the little emperor's expression, and saw that he didn't seem to be faking it. He didn't know if the little emperor was influenced by others. It was really difficult to answer the question at this time.

The key point is that Liu Tai is the censor of the patrol and belongs to the Metropolitan Procuratorate. If he says that the crime should be punished, I don't know if he will anger the stupid young people in the Metropolitan Procuratorate.

It would be bad if they were watching and playing a book from time to time.

In fact, not to mention Wei Guangde, even Zhang Juzheng was rarely impeached by others.

Because in most cases, Zhang Juzheng chose to stay out of the core of the struggle. Whether it was Xu Jie fighting Yan Song, or Gao Gongzheng Xu Jie, he always acted in a harmonious manner, and neither side was offended.

But this time, not only was there a violent impeachment, but the initiator of the impeachment was actually his own student.

In the feudal era, the relationship between teachers and students was very important. In the Ming Dynasty, it didn't matter if you scolded the emperor or ministers, but scolding your own teacher would be regarded as treason.

In this situation, not to mention Zhang Juzheng, even Wei Guangde felt a little overwhelmed. He really had no experience in dealing with such a situation and lacked experience.

Seeing Wei Guangde's silence, the young emperor Zhu Yijun said again: "I read Master Zhang's memorial, and I sincerely want to leave, but today the court cannot do without Master Zhang, especially when the new law has just been introduced, Liu Tai said such words.

I think if we don’t kill the chicken to scare the monkey, things like this will continue to happen in the future.

Master Wei, I remember when you were in class, you told me about the current situation in the Ming Dynasty.

very bad.

Master Zhang's examination method can improve the efficiency of officials. Although it cannot cure all the problems in the court, it can make the court more efficient and respond to various problems more quickly.

You also said that Master Zhang seems to have a complete strategy to change the current situation of Ming Dynasty, but he just wants to implement it slowly. If Master Zhang cannot let Master Zhang vent his anger at this time, what should he do if he insists on leaving. "

Whether Zhang Juzheng had already taken complete reform steps at this time, he actually did.

When they were in Yuzhuan, they often got together to discuss current affairs and point out the shortcomings of the government. Naturally, they were familiar with the problems and had solutions to them.

However, whether it is Gao Gong, Zhang Juzheng, or Wei Guangde, they have different priorities in understanding these shortcomings.

Gao Gong believed that the corruption of officials led to the inefficiency of the court's operation, so it should be correct and idealistic.

Zhang Juzheng believed that the water was clear and there were no fish, so systems should be used to improve the efficiency of the court, which was more pragmatic.

In fact, even Gao Gong had some shady activities in private. In Gao Gong's hands, the rectification of officialdom was mostly used for political struggle rather than true rectification.

In contrast, Wei Guangde felt that Zhang Juzheng's approach seemed more suitable for today's Ming Dynasty.

Wei Guangde certainly didn't believe whether Zhang Juzheng really wanted to resign, but he couldn't say this to the little emperor.

Saying such words is tantamount to slapping the minister's face, including his own.

Wei Guangde can't say it, but some people can.

This person is naturally Feng Bao.

He is a eunuch, what does he want to have a good reputation?

Thinking of this, Wei Guangde said: "Your Majesty, I still believe that it is the duty of the censor to impeach and that crimes should not be punished.

If Your Majesty has this intention, you may wish to think more about it and ask the people around you, especially the Queen Mother, for their opinions and see what they say. "

When Wei Guangde's words spread, he was definitely right and opposed the emperor's handling of the censor.

Why did the censor have the power of impeachment? It was not because Taizu wanted to restrain the superior ministers and make them more scrupulous when doing things.

In fact, this system is a very clever design.

Most of the low-level censors were officials who had just entered the court, had little involvement with the officialdom, and had just separated from the people, but they were not separated cleanly enough to know the sufferings of the people. This was called "asking for orders for the people."

With such power, the censor would always supervise the high-ranking officials in the court not to act unscrupulously.

Therefore, Ming Dynasty has always been very conservative in dealing with officials.

It's just that in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the world was declining. Before entering the court, the censors were attracted by so-called "celebrities" through academies, lectures, poetry gatherings, etc., and were more or less affected by party struggles, and they already had biases. .

In the late Ming Dynasty, the censor often took the lead in political struggles and took the front line.

For example, the famous Six Gentlemen of Donglin in the late Ming Dynasty were Yang Lian, Zuo Guangdou, Yuan Huazhong, Wei Dazhong, Zhou Chaorui, and Gu Dazhang. Among them, Yang Lian and Zuo Guangdou were both censors of Qiandu, and they were quite important in the imperial court. He is an official and has many censors under his management.

Yuan Huazhong also patrolled the censorship. Although Wei Dazhong and Zhou Chaorui were not censors, they were among the six subjects, and the five of them were the so-called Kedao Yanguan.

The only one who does not belong to the Ke Dao is Gu Dazhang, but he is also the inspector of Shaanxi Province, responsible for local prisons, and has a close relationship with the Metropolitan Procuratorate.

Although the Donglin Party in the late Ming Dynasty had few seats among the important ministers in the court, it almost completely controlled Kedao.

The existence of such a force can almost influence the promotion and even the life and death of important officials in the court.

During the Tianqi years, the Donglin Party wanted to use Kedaoyanguan to force Emperor Tianqi to deal with Wei Zhongxian, but they did not want Wei Zhongxian to directly lift the table and do it, and they did not follow the style of civil-official struggle at all.

Later generations only talked about how the Six Gentlemen were tortured in the Zhenfusi Prison, but did not talk about the harm they caused by launching party strife.

In fact, the so-called six gentlemen are just six fools. The ones pushed out to block the gun by leader Dong Lin were the victims of their plan to seize power.

Wei Guangde has some sense of these, and he has realized the importance of the Metropolitan Procuratorate.

It's just that in this yamen, it's really hard for him to reach out, with Zhang Juzheng watching from the side.

Accordingly, Zhang Juzheng couldn't get involved because Wei Guangde wouldn't agree.

We can only let Lao Kan slowly improve his qualifications in the Imperial Envoy Department first, and then directly move to Qian and Deputy Capital Imperial Envoy.

As long as he has sufficient qualifications, even if Zhang Juzheng wants to object, he must have a suitable reason.

By planning early, you can be more certain of success.

When Wei Guangde gave the young emperor an idea and asked him to consult other people's opinions, he was sure that the person who finally came up with the idea would probably be Feng Bao.

If you expect the people in the harem to be familiar with the stories of the previous dynasty, it would be too difficult for the two queen mothers.

After Feng Bao met Zhang Juzheng, he obviously had a better idea of ​​what Zhang Juzheng wanted to achieve.

Not long after Wei Guangde returned to the cabinet, a decree was sent from the palace. It was not to deal with Liu Tai, as the efficiency was not that fast, but to ask the cabinet to draft a decree to retain Zhang Juzheng and at the same time praise him.