The Prosperous Era of Longwan

The military production of the Ming Dynasty began to change as Wei Guangde sent the note to the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of War.

Although the guards in various parts of the Ming Dynasty had their own military craftsmen who could forge and repair weapons, they could only forge cold weapons and repair minor faults in firearms.

Although some craftsmen may have been able to independently manufacture firearms because of their previous experience of being transferred to the weapons bureaus in the north and south capitals.

But strictly speaking, they could not manufacture them privately, and they were all privately made.

The firearms of the Ming Dynasty could only be produced in the north and south capitals of the Ministry of Works, and then uniformly allocated by the court.

As for gunpowder, it was not the Ministry of Works that was responsible, but the weapons bureau of the inner court was responsible for production.

Of course, the preparation of gunpowder in this era was actually not a secret, and the people could also make their own gunpowder, but the raw materials were rare, and they had to report to the government, otherwise they had to do it secretly and could not be discovered by the government.

In the past, how the weapons bureau of the Ministry of Works produced was negotiated with the Ministry of War, and it can also be considered that the Ministry of Works produced according to the requirements of the Ministry of War.

As the cabinet minister in charge, Wei Guangde had a lot of say in the needs of the Ministry of War.

In the past, the Ministry of War actually had disputes over the production of two types of artillery, but when the news reached Wei Guangde, he expressed that he was inclined to equip more falconets.

Well, influenced by the development of later weapons, Wei Guangde preferred falconets, which were closer to later weapons, which was actually easy to understand.

It was also because of Wei Guangde's opinion that the falconets naturally prevailed over the other faction in the Ministry of War.

In fact, it didn't matter whether it was right or wrong. Wei Guangde's opinion was actually very suitable for the current historical environment of the Ming Dynasty.

There were almost no regimes around the Ming Dynasty that could threaten its safety, so even the falconets equipped were very advanced weapons in the eyes of surrounding countries.

If the Ming army hadn't encountered Portuguese mercenaries in the southwest this time, Wei Guangde would not have realized that the weapons of the Ming Dynasty actually needed to refer more to the development of Western weapons.

Just because all weapons in later generations are rear-loading, we cannot think that replacing the Portuguese cannon with the red cannon seems to be a bit of a step backward in history.

"Master, this is a joint memorial from the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Works. It is specially sent here for you to take a look."

As soon as Wei Guangde entered the duty room today, Lu Bu picked up the first memorial on the desk and said to Wei Guangde.

Wei Guangde went over, took it and flipped through it. It was submitted by Tan Lun and Jiang Zhi. Although Zhu Heng has not officially retired, the position of the official in charge of the Ministry of Works has been handed over to Jiang Zhi.

So on the document, in addition to the seal of the Ministry of Works, there is also Jiang Zhi's signature.

Wei Guangde knew what it was, and it was exactly as he guessed.

The Ministry of Works' Weapons Bureau and the Inner Court's Arms Bureau will reduce the production of Portuguese cannons and replace them with more red cannons.

Among them, the red cannons are also divided into large and small types. Small red cannons will be equipped with gun carriages and used as field cannons, while large red cannons will be transported to the walls of the Sijiu City and important border city gates to be used as city defense cannons.

This part is actually mainly part of the increase in production. After all, the original red cannons have been taken away by the navy.

Of course, the number of cannons obtained by the navy is actually insufficient. The main reason is that the South China Sea Navy has ordered too many warships and is now a little indigestible.

However, Wei Guangde actually had a tacit understanding with Yu Dayou for the extra warships, that is, the South China Sea Navy will transfer some of the warships to the Denglai Navy.

It can be regarded as a way that Wei Guangde can think of to improve the northern navy as soon as possible.

After all, the prosperity of the provinces in the south of the Yangtze River is a well-known fact in the world, and a considerable part of the shipbuilding funds of the South China Sea Navy are provided by the provinces in the south of the Yangtze River.

After reading the memorial, Wei Guangde only thought about it for a moment, then picked up a pen and wrote the word "yes" on the note, and then put it in the memorial, and that was it. He had finished reviewing the memorial.

The rest was to send it to the Silijian and hand it over to the inner court for approval.

After a short rest, Wei Guangde began to work today and review the memorial.

But not long after, after reading a memorial from Liaodong, Wei Guangde frowned slightly, and didn't know what to do.

The memorial was handed over by Zhang Xueyan, the governor of Liaodong, but it was not the official document signed by Wei Guangde before, asking Qi Jiguang to take the opportunity to lead the army to attack Honglizhai and Shajicheng, but a memorial about Liu Tai, the former Liaodong inspector.

Liu Tai, the one who had impeached Zhang Juzheng before, has now been dismissed as a commoner and returned to his hometown.

And this time, Zhang Xueyan impeached Liu Tai for accepting bribes during his tenure in Liaodong.

Liu Tai has been away from Liaodong for nearly a year. Now that the case has happened, to be honest, Wei Guangde can't say whether there are other tricks in this matter.

However, as the governor, since he has submitted an impeachment, Wei Guangde has to pay attention to it.

Now Zhang Xueyan has taken good care of Qi Jiguang in Liaodong. It can be said that he has always responded to Qi Jiguang's requests. The two of them have a tacit understanding.

Wei Guangde still has to give this face.

Wei Guangde couldn't help but feel a toothache at this time. There is a saying that killing people is not enough to make a fuss. Now Liu Tai is an ordinary citizen. Is it worth pursuing him so hard?

Providing convenience for several officials to be promoted, such things have actually happened every day in the Ming Dynasty. Generally speaking, as long as the promoted people have not committed major crimes, such things will not be pursued.

However, Zhang Xueyan's accusation obviously criticized and educated the bribers but did not hold them accountable. Instead, he submitted an impeachment to Liu Tai who accepted bribes.

Liu Tai accepted the bribe, Wei Guangde believed that it was true.

As a censor, he was responsible for supervising the officials in his jurisdiction. In other words, whether they were promoted or demoted, and whether they were good officials, actually depended on the censor.

Therefore, the position of censor was low and powerful, and there was no local official who did not try to curry favor with him, so it was normal to give him some gifts.

Why did Zhang Xueyan do this?

In terms of the officialdom ecology of the Ming Dynasty, Zhang Xueyan's impeachment was actually a fabrication of charges.

Although, Liu Tai might have really committed these "crimes".

Suddenly, Wei Guangde raised his head and looked in a direction, where Zhang Juzheng, the chief minister, was on duty.

Yes, if we were to say who Liu Tai offended the most, and who was so cruel that he was not satisfied even after being dismissed from office, perhaps it was only that person.

Perhaps, it was him who instructed it?

A thought suddenly appeared in Wei Guangde's mind. Otherwise, would Zhang Xueyan have to punish a colleague who was dismissed from office so badly, even if he had offended him in the past?

Liaodong was automatically included in the border area by the court because of its special status, so most of the memorials from Liaodong were sent to him.

However, at this time, Wei Guangde hoped that this memorial would be sent to Zhang Juzheng instead of him.

According to the previous rules, Wei Guangde should ask the officials to assist in the investigation, and ask the Liaodong Governor's Office to hand over the confessions and other documents they have, and the Censorate should send people to Huguang to find Liu Tai, and finally make a judgment.

Punish the guilty and exempt the innocent.

Thinking of this, Wei Guangde shook his head and murmured softly: "Forget it, don't care about him, let him make as much trouble as he wants."

Wei Guangde then drafted a bill, "Ask the officials to verify and investigate." This bill was taken out, no matter who it was, it was natural for the officials to investigate and deal with it.

If you don't let people investigate and verify, that's called partiality and perversion of law.

They are students that Zhang Juzheng doesn't recognize, so they can do whatever they want.

After writing the draft, Wei Guangde couldn't help but smile. At the beginning, the young emperor Zhu Yijun wanted to severely punish Liu Tai, but Zhang Juzheng still petitioned for him.

It seems that he had planned it long ago and settled the accounts later, but he just pretended to be benevolent and righteous in the court.

He thought so, but after all, the memorial fell into his hands, and it was still unclear whether Zhang Juzheng knew about it.

It is also possible that Zhang Xueyan deliberately "framed" Liu Tai in order to please Zhang Juzheng.

Anyway, Wei Guangde would never take Zhang Xueyan's memorial to Zhang Juzheng for advice, as that would make him look too ignorant.

It's too late to avoid suspicion, so who would come up with it.

However, this incident reminded Wei Guangde of the case of the dethronement of the King of Liao in his early years.

Wei Guangde had just come out of the case and finished copying the Yongle Encyclopedia. He was still a new official.

When the court abolished the Liao King Zhu Xian and imprisoned him behind the high walls of Fengyang, Wei Guangde also heard that this matter seemed to involve Zhang Juzheng.

I vaguely remember that among Zhang Juzheng's ten major crimes, it seemed that the Liao King was abolished, and he thought it was evidence of his oppression of the royal family.

For no reason, Wei Guangde suddenly became interested in this case and wanted to find out the truth.

So Wei Guangde shouted to the outside: "Lu Bu, come in."

"Master."

As soon as Wei Guangde finished shouting, Lu Bu heard him walk into the duty room.

"Come here, I have something to tell you."

Wei Guangde said in a low voice.

Lu Bu was stunned for a moment, then quickly came over and bowed to one side.

Wei Guangde whispered in his ear, and Lu Bu was shocked at first, and then nodded.

This matter is an old case, which is not a big deal, but it involves the royal family after all.

The most important thing is that when Wei Guangde mentioned this matter, Lu Bu naturally thought of the rumors of the year.

From Jiajing to Longqing, there were only a few princes who were punished.

The next day, all the files about the case of Liao Wang Zhu Xian were placed on Wei Guangde's desk.

It was definitely too late to copy it. Lu Bu asked someone to secretly take out the documents. Anyway, Wei Guangde would send it back after reading it, without anyone knowing.

If you really find someone to copy it, you will inevitably need to find an outsider, and the risk of exposure is greater.

Wei Guangde finished reading all the files in one night, and handed them over to Lu Bu the next day, asking him to send them back.

Anyway, after Wei Guangde flipped through all the files, he was sure that the evidence of Liao Wang Zhu Xian's guilt was conclusive, and there was no sign that Zhang Juzheng had any involvement in it.

After all, it was not a case that Zhang Juzheng was responsible for from beginning to end. He might know the officials who were questioning the case, which affected some of his judgments, but there was no sign that Zhang Juzheng had any involvement in the whole case.

Like other princes of the Ming Dynasty, Liao Wang Zhu Xian committed the same mistakes that all princes love to commit in his fiefdom.

In order to please Emperor Jiajing during the Jiajing period, he also went to practice and learned some evil witchcraft. He once wanted to get a "living" head, so he ordered the lieutenant Shi Youyi to cut off the head of Gu Changbao, a resident who was drunk on the street, and the whole city of Jingzhou was shocked.

This matter was a big fuss at the time, and it can be said that everyone in the city knew about it.

Other things such as forcibly occupying houses and fields, and forcibly robbing women and boys were also common, and of course, some male favorites were inevitably kept.

Of course, there were actually many similar behaviors in other princes' mansions in the Ming Dynasty. The local government was mostly helpless and could only discuss with the prince's chief historian to solve it as much as possible.

For Wei Guangde, it was just that he was disgusted with the princes keeping male favorites.

In fact, there have been homosexuals in every dynasty in China, but most of them are married. After all, in the ancients' concept, it is absolutely unacceptable to have no offspring.

And for this behavior, there are more elegant names in ancient times than we do, such as "The Addiction of Sharing the Peach with a Cut Sleeve", "The Good of Longyang", etc.

The earliest record of homosexuality appeared in the Warring States Period, and it has existed in every dynasty for thousands of years.

"Warring States Policy·Wei Ce" records: "He said: "There are many beauties in the four seas. I heard that I have been favored by the king, and I must go to the king in colorful clothes. I am also like the fish I got before. I will also abandon it. How can I not shed tears?".

This is a story about the King of Wei and a man named Longyang. Who Longyang is is not recorded in historical materials, but he was named "Longyang Jun" by the King of Wei, and he is also a famous figure.

Later generations called this behavior "Longyang's Good", which actually originated from this.

The King of Wei and a man named Long Yang fell in love and had deep feelings for each other, which led to this conversation. Therefore, Long Yang's habit was later used to describe love stories between men.

There are two other adjectives, namely "broken sleeves" and "dividing peaches". "Broken sleeves" refers to the story between Emperor Ai of Han Liu Xin and Dong Xian, while "dividing peaches" refers to the story between Duke Ling of Wei and Mi Zixia in the Song Dynasty.

As for the male love in the Ming Dynasty, it can be said that from the emperor and nobles to the common people, every class is eager to do it, and it has become a very common social phenomenon.

Moreover, as an important ruling class, the male love among the literati and officials is popular, and this style is generally accepted. At the same time, it is regarded as a romantic affair and is talked about with relish.

In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, many literati and scholars jumped out to accuse Cheng Zhu Neo-Confucianism of hypocrisy and ugliness.

Isn't it because the rise of Cheng Zhu Neo-Confucianism not only degraded the status of women, but also a kind of physical and psychological repression for men, that is, the so-called "preserving heavenly principles and eliminating human desires"

This concept is essentially an extreme restriction on human nature. As the saying goes, things will turn to the opposite extreme. When things are suppressed to the extreme, they will rebound to the extreme. It's just that the scholars' rebound was too intense.

In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, male homosexuality was prevalent in Jiangnan. Even in the late Ming Dynasty, southern scholars were still competing to dress like women.

Wei Guangde had no way to deal with this.

Those who like this trend are mostly from wealthy families, that is, gentry families. Even if they want to change it, they don't know where to start.

Thinking that this is more or less a personal matter, Wei Guangde naturally didn't ask about it.

He put this matter behind him, but the memorial he drafted was finally noticed when it was approved by the Silijian and sent to the Duchayuan, and soon spread throughout the officialdom of the capital.