The Prosperous Era of Longwan

The governor was one of the highest local administrative officials in the Ming Dynasty. He had administrative, military, supervisory, and judicial powers in a province. The governor's duties included managing local government affairs, supervising officials, and handling judicial cases.

The inspector was a supervisory official sent by the central government to inspect local areas, supervise the behavior of officials, and impeach officials who violated laws and disciplines.

Although the power of the inspector was not as great as that of the governor, his impeachment power had a great deterrent effect on local officials.

In the tenth year of Hongwu, Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang sent supervisory censors to inspect prefectures and counties. This was the beginning of the inspection in the Ming Dynasty. It became a custom to send censors to inspect the whole country during the Yongle Dynasty.

The official position of the governor was officially established during the Xuande and Zhengtong periods of the Ming Dynasty.

In the early Ming Dynasty, the local government had the three highest local officials, the governor, the inspector, and the governor as the chief. The governor was in charge of the administration of a province, the inspector was in charge of the criminal law of a province, and the commander was in charge of the military affairs of a province.

Although this can largely concentrate the imperial power and prevent local forces from becoming powerful, the shortcomings are also prominent. Once encountering major political affairs, the three departments often cannot cooperate sincerely, and even shirk responsibility.

The governor was born under this situation. In order to better govern the affairs of a province, the governor's authority was above the three departments at the beginning of its establishment.

But then again, the court entrusted all local affairs to the governor, which was generally uneasy.

Therefore, the strategy of using the inspector to check and balance the governor came into being.

In fact, the discord between Zhang Xueyan and Liu Tai is a microcosm of the discord between all governors and inspectors in the Ming Dynasty, and this is the case in all places.

In terms of rank, the governor is mostly a Shangshu, Shilang, Du Yushi, Shaoqing and other Beijing officials, and his status is relatively high.

Although the inspector is only a seventh-rank Beijing official, he is regarded as an imperial envoy with the mandate of heaven, and his actual power is no less than that of the governor.

Both the governor and the inspector have the function of inspecting the local area, and they usually have the title of the Censorate. The promotion and demotion of local officials at all levels are not only affected by the governor, but also restricted by the inspector. In this way, the contradiction between the inspector and the governor is bound to arise.

Starting from Jingtai, the governors of all provinces were uniformly given the title of the Censor-in-Chief, while the inspector was only the Supervisory Censor, so the governor and the inspector became a nominal superior-subordinate relationship.

However, later facts proved that the relationship between the governor and the inspector did not ease at all, but became more and more intense. The inspector often abandoned his duties and encroached on the power of the governor.

The original intention of the court to send the inspector was to suppress the governor. After a long confrontation, the court finally stood on the side of the inspector and resolutely implemented the purpose of controlling the local area with the inspector.

In the Ming Dynasty, the inspector always suppressed the governor.

Therefore, it is understandable why Liu Tai snatched what should have been Zhang Xueyan's responsibility.

But it should be noted that although the governor and the inspector both have the title of the Censorate, in fact only the inspector is considered to be a member of the Censorate.

In fact, Liu Tai was fighting for power to set an example for his colleagues in the Censorate. Now that he is in trouble, the imperial censors in the court should be more biased towards him.

However, since it has been decided that Yu Yingchang will go to Liaodong to investigate the Liu Tai case, according to the relationship between Yu Yingchang and Zhang Siwei, the bias is obvious.

In fact, it was at this time in the original time and space that the Censorate, which had always been neutral in the Ming Dynasty, did lean towards Zhang Juzheng. Zhang Juzheng not only had the support of the inner court, but also had the help of the Censorate and the six departments, so that he could invade the court and the country and complete the almost impossible reform.

Wei Guangde had no intention of reading the memorials, so he sat quietly in the duty room thinking about the change in the attitude of the Censorate.

This is definitely not a good sign. Even if he and Zhang Juzheng have a good relationship in private, he must be on guard.

Gao Gong was quietly taken away by Zhang Juzheng when he was at the peak of his career.

Until now, it is said that Gao Gong is still scolding Zhang Juzheng in Xinzheng all day long.

In fact, Wei Guangde knew what was going on by this time, and could only say that Zhang Juzheng was calculating.

In fact, the mess left by Emperor Jiajing was mainly due to the national fiscal deficit, but the officials were actually selected quite well.

Therefore, the court left to Emperor Longqing was full of talents.

Although Zhang Juzheng inherited Xu Jie's legacy and had great power in the court, he was still the youngest person in the cabinet and it was difficult to convince the public, even though he entered the cabinet before many people to accumulate qualifications.

Facing so many people in the cabinet, such as Chen Yiqin, Zhao Zhenji and others, except Li Chunfang, Zhang Juzheng knew that it was difficult to fight with them, so when someone lobbied for Gao Gong, he pulled Gao Dapao back to the capital from Xinzheng.

If Gao Gong returned to the court, his strong style quickly expelled Chen Yiqin and others, Zhang Juzheng was reluctantly accepted by Gao Gong because of his early relationship with Gao Gong and their common political ideas.

However, no one expected that the most critical figure, Emperor Longqing, would be so short-lived.

Gao Gong had the heart to support the world, and he couldn't bear to see the inner court in power, so he had always wanted to take back the power of the Silijian.

After Chen Hong chose to support Gao Gong, he also chose to support Chen Hong, thus forcing the Feng-Zhang alliance.

After the death of Emperor Longqing, the key evidence for expelling Gao Gong, that is, the sentence "How can a ten-year-old prince rule the world" or "How can a ten-year-old child be a ruler", became the last straw that broke the camel's back.

This was originally said by Gao Gong in the cabinet, but it was revealed to Feng Bao by Zhang Juzheng, so Gao Gong has always been angry that Zhang Juzheng stabbed him in the back and cut off his career.

The Censorate.

Thinking of this, Wei Guangde couldn't help rubbing his eyebrows.

Now Zhang Xueyan is messing with Liu Tai, but he has pushed the Censorate to Zhang Juzheng's side. This is probably something no one expected.

When Zhang Juzheng heard about this, he was afraid that he would be celebrating in the check-in room, and Wei Guangde felt uncomfortable in his heart.

Although he also sent some fellow villagers to the Metropolitan Procuratorate to serve as censors, such a decision could not be decided by the censors below. It could only be the result of a game between the middle and upper levels of the Metropolitan Procuratorate.

"Crack."

Suddenly, Wei Guangde slapped his forehead.

He had forgotten it before, but now that he thought of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, he finally thought of the root cause of the matter.

It was soon time for the official inspection, and I asked why Zhang Xueyan was causing such a drama at this time. It turned out that the root was here.

"Three sixty-nine"

Wei Guangde murmured in a low voice, and quickly calculated that it had been nine years since Zhang Xueyan left Beijing. It was almost time for another inspection. If the reviews were good, it seemed that it was time to return to Beijing and join the Sixth Department.

He was gambling to please Zhang Juzheng and give him bad words, and Zhang Juzheng would also ask the officials to give him good comments.

It seems that although Zhang Juzheng has not taken action against the Metropolitan Procuratorate, Zhang Siwei may have invested a lot of money in it privately.

At this time, Wei Guangde realized belatedly that he had been tricked by Zhang Juzheng.

He and Zhang Juzheng had a private gentleman's agreement not to interfere with the Metropolitan Procuratorate, but if his "party members" intervened, he could just pretend not to know.

"The Metropolitan Procuratorate, nine years."

Wei Guangde quickly thought about it in his mind, and finally made a decision that he had not made before.

Previously, Zhang Juzheng had hinted that he would choose among the thirteen provinces, and finally chose Fujian as the pilot project for clearing the land. Wei Guangde was still thinking about where to take Lao Kan.

Whether to join the Sixth Ministry or to find a job as a governor, although he had always planned to ask Lao Kan to help and control the Metropolitan Procuratorate for him, he had been unable to take action because of the agreement with Zhang Juzheng.

But now that the Metropolitan Procuratorate is about to fall to the Erzhang camp, Wei Guangde has no choice but to fight back.

Deputy capital envoy, this is the new job Wei Guangde is considering for Lao Kan, and it is also a preparation for his future promotion to the capital censor or chief minister.

The Metropolitan Procuratorate of the Ming Dynasty had, from top to bottom, the left and right censors, the left and right deputy censors, and the left and right censors.

Under the yamen, there are not only the well-known thirteen supervisory censors, but also four departments: experience, secretary, Zhaomo and prison.

Among them, the experience, secretary and zhaomo are the internal affairs and administrative departments of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, which are responsible for organizing internal documents and conveying internal information, while the Prison Secretary is the specialized prison department within the Metropolitan Procuratorate.

They are usually assisted by the deputy capital censor, who also helps the capital censor handle Hajj, evaluation, impeachment and other duties.

The Censor of Qiandu generally manages the Thirteen Dao, and when major events happen, he directly consults with the Censor of the Capital and the Deputy Censor of the Capital.

If Lao Kan can be promoted to the position of deputy imperial envoy, Wei Guangde will be equivalent to having a certain say in the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and at least someone will speak for him.

For example, in the case of Liu Tai this time, if the other party shows that they are using horses, horses and artillery, they can stop it and arrange for other neutral censors to go to Liaodong to investigate the case.

In fact, as long as the two censors of the first line were not patrolling Liaodong, Liu Tai could basically escape unscathed.

After all, Liu Tai's actions were actually helping the Metropolitan Procuratorate seize power.

In the future, when the censor goes to another place, he will be more powerful and more prestigious.

"Chen Zan."

Thinking of the current imperial censor, Wei Guangde immediately thought of that stubborn old man.

We have to find an opportunity to talk to him, Wei Guangde made up his mind.

It just so happened that something went wrong when the Metropolitan Procuratorate sent people this time. Although Chen Zan's attitude was not known yet, based on Wei Guangde's understanding of him, Chen Zan would not do this.

There is a high probability that the deputy imperial envoy and the imperial censor under the Metropolitan Procuratorate have the support of some people, which is why they made this decision.

The person in the palm of the hand still has to consider the emotions of the people below him. If there are too many people who support him, he can't oppose it even if he wants to. Otherwise, it will easily lead to betrayal and separation.

His predecessor, Ge Shouli, was kicked out of the household department for this reason and had to live idle for many years before turning around.

Having said this, Wei Guangde still had to admire Gao Gong, that is, Gao Gong did better than him and Zhang Juzheng in the matter of the Metropolitan Procuratorate.

The two of them negotiated privately not to interfere with the Metropolitan Procuratorate and to make it "independent", but Gao Gong really regarded the Metropolitan Procuratorate as a supervisory agency and directly left it to the stubborn Ge Shouli.

Chen Zan also had the opportunity to be recognized by them as taking over Ge Shouli's position because of his non-conformity.

"Sir, Sir Jiang Zhijiang wants to see you."

Just when I was thinking about something, Lu Bu came in from outside the door to report.

"Invite him in."

Wei Guangde immediately gave an order and stood up to greet him.

"Good loan."

When Jiang Zhi entered the door, he raised his hand to Wei Guangde. Wei Guangde also hurriedly returned the courtesy and invited him to come in and sit down.

Jiang Zhi also came to the cabinet with official business. After the two briefly exchanged greetings, Jiang Zhi went straight to the point and explained his purpose.

"This is the memorial that the ministry has just received. It is the "Two Rivers Classics" written by Pan Jixun, the governor of the rivers. Please read it first."

Jiang Zhi took out a memorial from his sleeve and handed it over. Wei Guangde took it and read it immediately.

From the name, we can tell that Pan Jixun must have had a preliminary idea for the management of the Yellow River and the Huaihe River, so when Wei Guangde was flipping through it, he asked: "What are the regulations of the Ministry of Industry on this?"

"The Merging of Two Rivers" is the first comprehensive plan in history for the comprehensive management of the Huanghuai and Canal.

In "The Classics of Two Rivers", they put forward the "Six Proposals for River Management": blocking breaches to straighten the river, building embankments to prevent breaches, repairing gates and dams to prevent external rivers, creating rolling dams to consolidate embankments and stop dredging. In order to save waste on maritime projects, we should ignore the old Yellow River proposal and still benefit from it.

"Several adults from the Ministry of Industry are quite controversial about this, and they are all a little worried."

Jiang Zhi said.

"Um."

Wei Guangde didn't say much. After reading the entire memorial, he thought for a moment and then said: "It seems that there is no difference from the previous flood control. I don't know how long this can last."

In recent years, the imperial court has spent a lot of money on water control, but the results are not great, and there will be trouble in a few years.

The fastest time was in the fifth year of Longqing's reign, when Pan Jixun reported success in flood control but turned around and was dismissed from office.

"It still changes somewhat."

Unexpectedly, Jiang Zhi said something.

"where?"

Wei Guangde said suspiciously. He read the memorials and found that they were all about building dams and gates, and they were all methods of water control.

"here."

In the memorial, Jiang Zhi pointed out a passage that said: "High embankments were built on both sides of the river below Xuzhou to divert the river back to the canal and force the Huaihe River to flow out of Qingkou.

Although Brother Wei Liang also meant to build embankments, there was a mention of narrowing the river channel. After discussion, we concluded that he wanted to restrict water and attack sand. "

Hearing the words "Bound water to attack sand", Wei Guangde immediately became energetic.

He remembered that this word existed in history, and it seemed that it was proposed by Pan Jixun.

But in this era, it was the first time he heard it, so if Jiang Zhi hadn't said it, he would have almost forgotten this method.

"The idea of ​​concentrating water to attack sand is a good one, but it also carries huge risks. If the water is usually gentle, it will be fine, and the sand can be taken away to some extent. And if it rains heavily and the water flows quickly, there is inevitably the risk of the dam overturning."

Soon, Jiang Zhi expressed the opinions of other people in the Ministry of Industry, which he understood. In fact, Jiang Zhi was also skeptical of Pan Jixun's "The Classic of Two Rivers" for this reason.

Therefore, when Wei Guangde asked, he pointed directly to the point.

Wei Guangde didn't think about all this. All he saw in later generations were articles saying that this method was good, but now that he heard it, he felt that what Jiang Zhi said made sense.

"What does the Ministry of Industry mean?"

Wei Guangde had no choice but to ask.

"There are no opinions yet, there are differences."

Jiang Zhi said: "However, most people think that this method may be beneficial to ensuring luck in the short term. After all, it is a wonderful method to wash away the sediment.

But according to everyone's opinion, this law treats the symptoms but not the root cause. It only relieves congestion. "

Many people in the Ministry of Works are involved in river crossing work, so they naturally know what water control is about.

River engineering is really not that easy to do.

"It means that if the imperial court approves his memorial, it may not make any difference, or it may only last for a few years?"

Wei Guangde asked with a frown.

He didn't pay much attention to it before, and he followed what others said, saying that it was good to use water to attack the sand, so it was good to think about it.

After all, the logic does make sense.

However, after listening to Jiang Zhi's words, sedimentation cannot be fundamentally solved, and the risk of dam failure will greatly increase after the water is restrained.

At this time, Wei Guangde had to think about this matter seriously.