The Prosperous Era of Longwan

"Then how can Master Zhang regain his face?

Do we really have to punish Liu Tai?

The Queen Mother said that it is against the ancestral system for the censor to be convicted for citing the emperor's words."

The little emperor continued.

Wei Guangde was happy to hear the little emperor say this.

It is obvious that whether it is the two queen mothers in the harem or the little emperor in front of him, although they have the awareness of maintaining the imperial power, they do not know how to use the imperial power and maintain the imperial power.

Feeling a bit defeated.

Yes, Wei Guangde thought so in his heart at this time.

I once taught the little emperor the power structure of the court and analyzed the rules of operation, but it is obvious that the little emperor only understood the operation of the court, but did not think about the deeper things at all.

Perhaps, such a little emperor is in line with his actual age.

The emperor, how can he be dragged down by any ancestral system.

The so-called ancestral system is actually formulated by the emperor.

Formulated and implemented, for future emperors, that is the ancestral system.

To put it bluntly, under the premise of maintaining imperial power, there is no unchanging ancestral system.

This statement can be said by civil officials to oppose the policies that the emperor wants to formulate and that all officials oppose.

But if it comes from the emperor's mouth, it is not normal.

These will only be understood one day as the emperor grows older and gains more experience.

The only exception may be the grandfather of the little emperor, that is, Emperor Jiajing, because when he was in seclusion, he did not accept the teachings of the civil officials in the court, and he completely figured out the truth by himself.

This is also the reason why he fought with the officials in the court at the beginning of his accession to the throne, even if he was broken and bloody, because he understood the essence of the court system.

If it was handed over to the officials, they would be taught to abide by the ancestral system when they were young and kept it in mind, and a series of reform attempts after the Great Ceremony Peace Talk would not have happened.

The Ming Dynasty never attached importance to the education of the princes from the beginning to the end, but only cared about the education of the princes. Naturally, no one thought that they would meet the precocious Emperor Jiajing who did not play by the rules.

"Your Majesty, do you still remember what I taught you about the power structure of the court?"

In Wei Guangde's opinion, even if he, the teacher, didn't break through, the young emperor would figure it out after a few years.

Although the young emperor should understand why the teachers didn't speak more directly at that time, he would still be dissatisfied.

This is why the imperial teachers of all dynasties had unlimited glory in the first few years after the emperor ascended the throne, but often had to choose to retire after a few years.

Not only because of their age, but more because the emperor had realized that what the teachers taught them was too empty, and they only talked about some big principles, and didn't say what they really should teach.

Wei Guangde was too young. If there was no storm in the meantime, he could at least stay in the court for 20 years, or even longer.

But Wei Guangde would not do this. When he was 60, he would consider his physical condition and start to arrange his retirement life.

Well, he used to envy those retired old men who received social security at the age of 60.

With a good pension, he was free and easy in the world.

"Power structure?"

The little emperor thought for a moment and thought of what Master Wei had taught him. He divided the operation of power in the court into two parts, which were actually the inner and outer courts.

In Wei Guangde's introduction, he referred to the imperial power as the inner court, and the outer court naturally referred to the cabinet and the six ministries.

When he introduced it, Wei Guangde only briefly mentioned the duties of the Kedao, which were not within the scope of the outer court, and supervised the outer court.

"Inner and outer court?"

The little emperor asked in a low voice.

Wei Guangde nodded, "But your majesty seems to have forgotten that there is another part."

"What is it?"

The little emperor was surprised.

"It seems that your majesty really forgot."

Wei Guangde smiled faintly and said, "It's the Kedao censors."

"Kedao is responsible for supervising the outer court, I know."

The little emperor was even more surprised.

"But, I also said that Kedao is not within the scope of the outer court and operates independently. Your majesty may have forgotten it."

Wei Guangde still smiled and said.

"I remember."

The little emperor did not admit it, because he did remember it, but he didn't pay much attention to it.

Wei Guangde looked at the palace maids and eunuchs standing a few steps away, and waved his hand to let them leave first.

Several palace maids and eunuchs followed the order and left, but the two personal eunuchs were a little hesitant. It was not until the little emperor glared at them with dissatisfaction that they left in disgrace and left the side hall of Wenhua Palace.

There was no one around. Wei Guangde took a sip of tea and sprinkled it on the desk. In the surprised eyes of the little emperor, he reached out and drew three circles on the clean desk next to him. He murmured: "Inner court, outer court and Kedao, these are the three circles.

I explained the outer court clearly at the beginning, and it is much simpler for the inner court. Your Majesty will understand it in the future, but it seems that I still need to talk about it now.

Although it is the inner court, it actually represents the emperor and the imperial power.

The more powerful the imperial power is, the more restricted the power of the outer court is, and vice versa.

Now that your majesty is young, it is inconvenient to exercise the imperial power, so the two palace dowagers will take charge of it."

This time, Wei Guangde told the little emperor in detail about the power structure and operating rules of the Ming Dynasty. The little emperor confirmed it with what he knew, and nodded continuously.

Don't think that Wei Guangde's telling these to the little emperor is not conducive to his future exercise of "prime minister power". In fact, after the little emperor takes power, these things will be understood by him, unless he is a confused emperor.

If this is true, then we can only say that Zhang Juzheng and the emperors who taught officials were incompetent and taught an incompetent person.

Letting the young emperor have a clearer understanding of power in advance will also increase his status in the emperor's heart. If others don't say it, Wei Guangde will say it, at least he has a clear conscience.

For such ministers, the emperor can decide whether to restore them.

"After talking about these two circles, the remaining circle is the Kedao circle.

Although the Kedao officials are not of high rank, their status is extremely prominent and they have extensive and important powers, including admonishing the emperor, impeaching hundreds of officials, and inspecting the administration of officials, forming a deterrent force against the court.

Strictly speaking, regardless of whether the performance evaluation system is good or bad, the fact that the six departments are responsible to the cabinet actually violates the balance of the tripartite structure."

Wei Guangde did not avoid talking about it because it might be disadvantageous to the outer court, but directly stated the deep meaning.

After Wei Guangde finished speaking, the young emperor frowned and thought for a long time before hesitating and saying: "According to Master Wei, what Liu Tai said in the memorial seems to be correct?"

"It's not a question of right or wrong. I have said before that the Kedao is responsible to Your Majesty, but Your Majesty is young and cannot exercise power, so it is the Queen Mother who is acting on his behalf.

If you follow Liu Tai's statement, this is not acceptable and violates the ancestral system.

In fact, speaking of the matter, when the inner court cannot exercise power independently, it is beneficial to the stability of the court to strengthen the outer court appropriately.

Before Your Majesty took power, the current power structure was actually correct.

And the strength of Liu Tai's memorial lies in this point. What he said is all right, but unfortunately he is alarmist and does not take into account the actual situation at all. "

Wei Guangde analyzed, "If Master Zhang did this when Your Majesty was in power, it would be a great rebellion, but the actual situation is not like that.

The reason why Liu Tai made such a memorial was actually because he was angry about his uncle's previous request for him.

The Liaodong victory was not the credit of the inspector censor. The governor and the local generals reported it. He was in a hurry to report the victory, which was malicious and exceeded his authority.

The request for the imperial edict was correct.

Even though he made some contributions in the war, the main responsibility of the inspector censor was still to supervise the local officials in Liaodong. The request for the imperial edict made him hate it. "

After understanding it for a few days, Wei Guangde actually knew some other things, but it was really inconvenient to talk about it in detail in front of the little emperor.

That is, Liu Tai and the censor Fu Yingzhen, who was punished and demoted before, had a good relationship, or the idea of ​​censor Fu Yingzhen was also Liu Tai's idea.

At the beginning, Fu Yingzhen only mentioned the harm of the performance evaluation law and asked the emperor to abolish it, and did not impeach Zhang Juzheng.

Although the political ideas were different, they were still within the range that Zhang Juzheng could barely accept.

Although according to his temper, in order to thoroughly implement the performance evaluation system, Zhang Juzheng still did not show mercy to Fu Yingzhen, but the real purpose was to kill one to warn the rest.

Wei Guangde, out of the affection of his fellow villager, came forward to negotiate and mediate with Zhang Juzheng, and finally got the man out, but only sent him out, which was enough for him.

You know, one of the purposes of severely punishing Fu Yingzhen is to prevent similar incidents from happening.

But unexpectedly, it still happened in the end.

Zhang Juzheng must have regretted letting Fu Yingzhen go in his heart, not to mention that this impeachment was directed at him, and he was his student.

Wei Guangde naturally couldn't say these words.

So he could only put all the responsibility on Liu Tai and let him bear the anger.

At this time, a little eunuch outside the door shouted to the inside: "Your Majesty, just now the news from the Silijian said that the third retirement memorial of the Prime Minister has been delivered."

"What?"

The little emperor was shocked.

Previously, Zhang Juzheng submitted a petition to refute Liu Tai's memorial. Although the palace tried to comfort him, Zhang Juzheng obviously did not accept it and stayed in the mansion.

Even though the palace issued a series of decrees to reward him, a few days later, Zhang Juzheng submitted his first memorial to retire.

After the memorial was submitted, the young emperor and the empress dowager summoned Zhang Juzheng. Zhu Yijun said that he did not believe Liu Tai's impeachment and wanted to punish Liu Tai to vent his anger.

Empress Dowager Li also moved him emotionally and rationally, saying that the late emperor left us orphans and widows, and it was all thanks to you to protect us.

Now the emperor has not grown up yet, and national affairs are busy and complicated. If you really leave, what will you do for us mother and son?

She said that the emperor would definitely make the decision for him and told him not to worry too much.

Persuasion was fruitless, so she could only let Zhang Juzheng go back and rest for a while.

A few days later, the second resignation memorial was submitted. The Empress Dowager and the young emperor pondered for a long time, and finally Zhu Yijun issued an order to retain him, saying that Mr. Zhang was loyal to the country, and I was not the only one who knew that all the ancestors of the Zhu family knew that evil villains would be severely punished.

I hope Mr. Zhang will think of me and not mind what others say.

But now the third resignation memorial has been submitted, and the situation is a little different.

It seems that Zhang Juzheng is determined to leave.

Although Wei Guangde did not see the memorial at this time, he was also frowning, feeling that Zhang Juzheng was too nonsense and treated state affairs as a child's play.

When the copy of the memorial was sent to Wenhua Hall, Wei Guangde shook his head after reading it.

In this memorial, Zhang Juzheng was really exposed, and only a very few people who understood Zhang Juzheng could understand the mystery.

In the memorial, Zhang Juzheng frankly admitted that he had no choice but to leave, saying that the position I am in now is the emperor's agency, and it is the emperor's business.

The words I represent are also the emperor's words. Liu Tai is actually right when he says that I abuse my power.

Because I represent the emperor, your words and deeds are either a threat or a blessing.

In the three years since the Emperor's reign, I have offended many people, and these people hate me to the core of their bones.

If I don't go for a day, these people will feel uneasy. If I don't go for a year, these people will feel uneasy for a year. If they don't feel at ease, they will attack me.

Liu Tai’s impeachment this time, the emperor believed in me and the queen mother believed in me, but what about next time?

Although I am open-minded, I am afraid of people's words. I once again hope that the emperor will allow me to resign and return to my hometown.

Zhang Juzheng's method of retreating in order to advance is really powerful. In essence, he is testing to determine the Queen Mother and the young emperor's views on this matter and their attitude towards him.

If the empress dowagers of the two palaces and the young emperor believed Liu Tai's words at all, it would be difficult for Zhang Juzheng to continue to implement his subsequent reform proposals, and they would also have a grudge in their hearts.

In this way, as long as a few more people attack him, he will surely step down.

After he was sure that the emperor and the queen mother still trusted him as always, he had no reason to mention resigning and returning home.

Because Zhang Juzheng knew very well that only if the little emperor and the two empresses always stood by his side, his power source would be endless, and he could continue to implement his political ideas.

"Your Majesty, Liu Tai's monstrous words are misleading the public. It is best to deal with them as soon as possible."

Wei Guangde understood, but was worried that the little emperor would not understand, so he reminded him.

"But he is a spokesman for Ke Dao."

The little emperor was actually a little confused at this time. Just now Wei Guangde said that the "crimes" of Liu Tai's impeachment were all real and exaggerated. It was supposed to be enough to issue an imperial edict, but now Wei Guangde suggested that he should be dealt with.

This is naturally wrong in the little emperor's world view.

Liu Tai is dedicated to serving the public good, why should he be dealt with?

"Your Majesty, this is the first year of the implementation of the Kao Cheng Law. All parties have reacted fiercely. If Liu Tai cannot be severely punished, as the memorial says, the court will never have peace in the future.

There will be people calling for impeachment over and over again, vowing not to give up until he is removed from power.

If there is no obstacle to the implementation of national policies, Liu Tai must accept the most severe punishment to serve as a warning to others. "

Wei Guangde saw that the young emperor still didn't understand the meaning, so he could only continue, "As for the ancestral system that your Majesty is worried about, the so-called rumor is a matter of fact. The minister has already said that they are the sword in your majesty's hand. As long as the handle is in your majesty's hand, Just have it in your hand.

The impeachment will be effective only if Your Majesty wants to attack it. If Your Majesty has no such intention, you can ignore such a memorial.

Your Majesty, please do not be led by Ke Dao's memorials, but your Majesty should guide them to act according to your wishes. "

Wei Guangde has taught enough today. The little emperor may understand what he said today in a few years, but he may not understand it now.

It doesn't matter whether he understands it or not, as long as the Queen Mother understands it.

Zhu Yijun couldn't figure it out, so he naturally went to the Queen Mother to discuss it. The final decision was still in the hands of the Queen Mother.

As for Wei Guangde, he should just do his duty of consulting ministers on government affairs.

After today's class, something like this happened again. Wei Guangde said goodbye and left the Wenhua Hall to return to the cabinet to handle government affairs.

Later in the evening, a decree came from the palace, "Order Jinyi Tiqi to go to Liaodong to escort Liu Tai back to Beijing for questioning."