The Prosperous Era of Longwan

In the backyard of the Ministry of Industry of the Ming Dynasty, Wei Guangde was flying among the crowd like a butterfly in flowers, constantly chatting with the Liubu Hall officials here.

After talking to Chen Zan about transferring Lao Kan to Beijing, he asked about the investigation situation in Liaodong.

"According to reports, most of the things reported by Governor Zhang are true."

When asked about this, Chen Zan was still a little embarrassed.

After all, this result was actually expected by everyone.

"Then what does the Metropolitan Procuratorate plan to do next?"

Wei Guangde asked seemingly casually with an expressionless face.

"We have already sent down to Huguang. We will lock Liu Tai up for questioning."

Chen Zan opened his mouth and answered.

Naturally, a case must have a beginning and an end.

Since someone reported it, the Metropolitan Procuratorate sent a censor to investigate the case. Now that there are clues, it is natural to investigate to the end.

Just because it concerns the chief minister, we cannot be timid and worry about political risks.

In fact, Chen Zan was riding a tiger and was unable to get off at this time.

When the chief assistant is involved, there is no room for him to be unscrupulous.

"Then will Liu Tai be escorted back to the capital, or stay in Jiangnan?"

Wei Guangde continued to ask.

"Well, what advice does Mr. Wei Ge have?"

This time, Chen Zan did not answer, but instead asked in a low voice.

"Don't let him appear in the capital, otherwise there will be another disturbance."

Wei Guangde said calmly.

"Been taught a lesson."

Chen Zan nodded slightly, Liu Tai's matter must have gone wrong, and no one could save him.

But where it is processed, the results will indeed be very different.

When a case is being tried in Beijing, people will think of Zhang Juzheng behind it.

And if someone is tried in Nanjing, although he will still be thought of, at least few people will mention him in the official circles of the capital.

As the saying goes, out of sight, out of mind, there is no one around to talk about it, so if you can't hear it, you just pretend to be an ostrich and pass by.

"Haha, easy to talk about."

Wei Guangde smiled and continued: "Recently, there is a vacancy for the Minister of Civil Affairs. I wonder if Mr. Chen has anyone to recommend?"

The smile on Wei Guangde's face did not change and he continued to ask in a low voice.

Chen Zan's expression changed slightly this time. He was the head of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, so he had some eyes and ears and knew some things.

At this time, Wei Guangde suddenly asked him about the official department, which seemed very abrupt.

Because so far, he has no idea what problems have arisen in the Ministry of Personnel, and it seems that Wei Guangde has never been involved in the Ministry of Personnel before.

"What changes have occurred in the personnel department?"

Chen Zan lowered his voice and asked.

"Master Zhang may have to retire, and the Chief Assistant prefers Master Wang to take over his position."

Wei Guangde could see that Chen Zan was not Zhang Juzheng's, and had little to do with Zhang Siwei, so he wanted to make friends with him.

The Metropolitan Procuratorate is so important.

After saying that, Wei Guangde glanced at Zhang Juzheng, who was joking with Feng Bao, and Wang Guoguang, the Minister of Household Affairs next to him.

Following Wei Guangde's gaze, Chen Zan also understood the meaning of Wei Guangde's words.

Obviously, Zhang Juzheng wanted Wang Guoguang to take up the position that Zhang Han, the current Heavenly Official of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, wanted to take up his official post.

Wei Guangde is not very interested in the Ministry of Household Affairs, but he plans to win the position of Minister in this personnel adjustment of the Ministry of Personnel.

Looking for him was actually a test to see if Chen Zan was interested in getting involved and to recommend people in his pocket to participate in the matter.

Now in the ministry meeting, two cabinet members have two votes. If Wei Guangde does not win over the other nine ministers, it will not be easy to achieve the position he wants to win.

Zhang Juzheng's subsequent reform actions will really unfold, and he needs to firmly grasp the power in his hands.

The personnel power will definitely be secured.

"Who does Wei Guangde plan to recommend?"

The news was so sudden that Chen Zan didn't react for a while and couldn't figure out whether to get involved or not.

However, when he saw Wei Guangde, he knew that it was better not to compete for this position.

After arguing, we had to make two arguments, which probably also made Wei Guangde evil.

It's better to listen to Wei Guangde's recommendations and just try to win one of the other positions yourself.

Changes in minister-level officials will actually lead to the replacement of many minister-level officials.

In some years, there was no backstage, so they were kicked out of the court. There was definitely more than one minister who changed.

"Chen Yan and Chen Wenhui."

Wei Guangde whispered a few words in his mouth.

"It's him."

Chen Zan nodded. He knew this person was older than him.

Immediately, Chen Zan realized that no one was paying attention around him, so he took Wei Guangde's sleeve and walked to the wall and asked softly: "Shandai, are you sure you want to compete for this position?"

When Wei Guangde heard what he called him, he immediately nodded slightly and said: "Brother Yuting, to be honest, if I don't bother to intervene anymore, I will have no say in the cabinet."

Wei Guangde's words are somewhat alarmist, but in the eyes of outsiders, they should be stated as facts.

Since Er Zhang is in the cabinet, his surname Wei naturally has nothing to do with him.

"Okay, I'll help you with this."

Chen Zan nodded and whispered something.

"Thank you, Brother Yuting, for your help."

Wei Guangde raised his hand slightly and said.

The last time Wei Guangde went directly to the Metropolitan Procuratorate to find Chen Zan, it was actually partly because of the unusual relationship between the two.

If it weren't for him, Chen Zan would have climbed the fastest and had the smoothest official career among the officials of that generation.

Yes, Chen Zan was also a Jinshi in the 35th year of Jiajing's reign, but he was from Changshu, next to Xu Ge's hometown, so he was half a fellow countryman.

Chen Zan's rapid promotion is somewhat related to Xu Ge.

In fact, it was difficult for him to maintain a firm position when facing Zhang Juzheng and Wei Guangde.

But relatively speaking, his relationship is with the one in Songjiang Mansion, not the current chief assistant, Zhang Juzheng.

It can only be said that he will not take the initiative to oppose Zhang Juzheng's decree, but others have their own thoughts.

As one of the most powerful people in the Ming Dynasty, the friendship between Wei Guangde and Wei Guangde was what he needed to rely on.

Otherwise, it would not have been so easy for him to rise up in the first place.

But Zhang Juzheng was about to nod, and Wei Guangde couldn't object yet.

By chance, the official position of Zuo Du Yushi of the Metropolitan Procuratorate seemed to be customized for him.

However, because of his relationship with Zhang and Wei, neither of them dared to completely trust him or win over him, so they could only show their kindness.

Because Chen Zan can also be said to be Xu Jie's spokesperson under certain circumstances.

The bigger the official job, the more people and things are involved. Many times it requires repeated consideration.

Just like Xu Jie trained Zhang Juzheng, can he really rest assured that Zhang Juzheng's family will dominate?

That's not necessarily the case.

For Xu Jie, who wants to become an official, balance is the most important thing.

When there is a dispute in the court, the opinion of the veteran minister will usually be listened to, and his influence can make the strongest voice.

After saying this, Wei Guangde chatted with others for a few more words, and finally walked up to Jiang Zhi and whispered to him: "The Chen Yan matter is a sure thing."

Jiang Zhi nodded and remained silent.

Speaking of which, Chen Yan is also almost sixty, and Wei Guangde doesn't like such old officials who still have seniority.

Yes, Chen Yan has been a Jinshi for 20 years in Jiajing, so he is really a veteran.

However, he was dismissed from office because he was on the wrong side of the Zeng Xian case.

It was not until the turn of Jialong that he was vindicated. However, the capital would definitely not be able to accommodate such an old official, so he had to go to Nanjing to retire, first in the Nanjing Metropolitan Procuratorate, and after passing the examination, he was transferred to the Nanjing Criminal Department.

Wei Guangde did not know whether there had been any contact between Chen Yan and Yan Song back then.

However, among Jiangxi officials, some did support Yan Song, while some opposed Yan Song, among which Chen Yan naturally had the credit.

After all, the original Zeng Xian case and the later Xia Yan case were all manipulated by Yan Song. The two tigers fought and fell a group of people. Naturally, Jiangxi people also took the lead.

That is to say, at that time, Jiangxi officials had a strong health bar and could withstand the hardships.

In the last Yan Song period, officials from Jiangxi still occupied most of the positions of the Nine Ministers.

Chen Yan must have been sitting on the bench for a long time and wanted to make a real comeback instead of waiting for a few more years to become an official in Nanjing, so he wrote to his fellow villagers in Beijing to remind Wei Guangde and others that there was a minister of the Ministry of Criminal Affairs in Nanjing. It seemed that You can give it a try and try to compete for a position as minister.

"Shandai, it's time for us to go back. There are still a lot of matters waiting to be dealt with in the cabinet."

At this time, Zhang Juzheng greeted from over there.

"good."

Wei Guangde smiled and then said goodbye to the officials present.

In fact, today's work has been completed, and everyone is ready to leave and go back to their respective yamen to run errands. However, the cabinet members have not said leaving, so they can't leave first.

They and Feng Bao were all heading back to the imperial city, so naturally they left the Ministry of Industry together.

"Good loans."

Just when Wei Guangde was about to walk towards his sedan chair, Feng Bao suddenly stopped Wei Guangde.

"Brother Shuanglin, do you have any advice?"

Wei Guangde turned around and asked with a smile.

"There is something. Your Majesty asked you before leaving the palace this time, and I don't know how to answer it."

Feng Bao said.

Wei Guangde glanced at Zhang Juzheng next to him suspiciously, then smiled and said, "But it doesn't matter."

"Your Majesty asked that the troubles in the Yellow River have existed since ancient times, but why have they become more serious in this dynasty?"

Feng Bao asked, "I asked my uncle just now, but he didn't know either."

Zhang Juzheng, Wei Guangde and Feng Bao stood together and never separated. Zhang Siwei, who had already taken a few steps, noticed, but no one called him at this time, and he could not walk back again, so he could only walk slowly towards his sedan.

Wei Guangde glanced at Zhang Siwei, and finally looked at Zhang Juzheng seriously. Seeing that he also had an inquiring look on his face, he tentatively asked, "Brother uncle doesn't know, either?"

"Shandai, if you know, you might as well tell me.

I have also read the documents of past dynasties before and found that floods in the Yellow River were actually continuous, but they were never more frequent than in the Ming Dynasty, which was also puzzling. "

Zhang Juzheng looked at Wei Guangde's appearance and said immediately.

"Brother Shuanglin, brother Shuanglin, haven't you noticed any difference between our dynasty and the previous dynasty?"

Wei Guangde asked with a wry smile. He did not choose to answer directly, but let them understand by themselves, which would make it easier to fully understand the difficulty.

"What's the difference?"

Feng Bao asked in surprise.

Wei Guangde glanced at Zhang Juzheng again, and saw that he was the same, and then he said: "The Grand Canal was first dug in the Han ditch dug by King Wu Fu Chai at the end of the Spring and Autumn Period. It was later expanded on a large scale twice during the Sui and Yuan Dynasties, and then to Yongle in our dynasty. took shape during the year.”

"Something to do with the canal?"

Feng Bao said in surprise.

He heard it. Wei Guangde did not directly answer the Yellow River flood problem but related it to the Grand Canal. Thinking about it again, he was the one who insisted on converting grain from water to sea. Obviously Wei Guangde saw a lot of things.

"Canal? Is it true that the canal caused the Yellow River floods to worsen?"

Zhang Juzheng also asked with some uncertainty.

He has thought about the Yellow River floods countless times, but he has never been able to find sufficient evidence to prove that the canal caused the Yellow River floods.

After all, whether there is a Yellow River or not, sediment will inevitably block it and cannot be prevented.

“The canal is not exacerbating the flooding, it is fixing it.”

Wei Guangde smiled bitterly and said, “During the previous dynasty, although the Yellow River changed its course many times, it mostly flowed northward into the sea.

However, due to the relocation of the capital during the Yongle period, the canal was widened, which not only caused a surge in water consumption, but more importantly, it was necessary to use the Yellow River to allow canals to go north.

In subsequent dynasties, in order to ensure water transportation, they all chose to build river embankments. Especially in the Hongzhi Dynasty, embankments were built on the north bank of the Yellow River, which directly blocked the Yellow River to the south, causing the Yellow River to divert the Huaihe River and flow into the sea.

Later, for the purpose of water transportation, river construction was carried out many times. In fact, judging from the frequent changes in the entrance of the Yellow River to the sea, Shantai believed that the best location for the Yellow River to enter the sea was at Shandai or the Yellow River.

Unfortunately, if the Yellow River reaches the sea in Shandong, the canal will be cut off at Xuhuai, and the entire canal will become ineffective.

Therefore, the imperial court has always tried to maintain the current course of the Yellow River.

It's just that you have also seen that the sediment blockage of the Yellow River cannot be solved at all. The only way to adapt to the weather is to change its course.

However, the imperial court could not afford the consequences of diversion, so it had no choice but to build the river without choosing and maintain the current river course.

As you can imagine, the result is that warnings are issued year after year and floods occur year after year. "

"I seem to understand what you mean."

Feng Bao opened his mouth slightly. He now understood the reason why Wei Guangde saw something wrong but refused to take the initiative to say it, and could only push to change the sea route.

In fact, although water control has been carried out in all dynasties, this water control is different from that water control.

The purpose of water control in the middle and late Ming Dynasty was to maintain the current course of the Yellow River, which was almost a death order.

The previous dynasty only focused on river embankments when it came to water control.

As for the diversion of the breach, let him change it. After the diversion is completed, new embankments will be built on the new Yellow River for daily water control.

There is a big difference here, because of the changes in terrain, although the flood will cause great losses, it is a one-time event after all.

When the Yellow River chooses to change its course, it must be a new river course suitable for the flow of the Yellow River.

Moreover, this river can be maintained without being blocked for a long time, which may be decades or hundreds of years.

When the next siltation occurs, according to the nature of the Yellow River, it will naturally change its course again and find a suitable river channel to flow into the sea.

The Ming Dynasty's current water control is actually using human power to change destiny and force humans to intervene in the Yellow River.

The result is obvious, Ming Dynasty has to pay a huge cost, but the result may not be satisfactory.

Of course Wei Guangde couldn't see it at first, but the problem in the Yellow River was so big that he had to think of a solution.

He read ancient books and learned about the characteristics of the Yellow River's several changes of course, and finally came to this conclusion.

The source of flooding in the Yellow River during the Ming and Qing Dynasties was actually the Grand Canal.

Judging from the several changes in the Yellow River's estuaries, except for the time when it seized the Huai River and entered the sea, most of the Yellow River's estuaries were in the north such as Shandong, and even appeared near Tianjin.

It was precisely after noticing this that Wei Guangde became somewhat superstitious and believed that the Yellow River floods could only be alleviated by allowing the Yellow River to flow northward.

But can the Yellow River be diverted?

Unless the canal is no longer needed, it is impossible for Ming Dynasty to accept such a result.

"That"

Zhang Juzheng opened his mouth, but did not continue. He finally sighed and said, "We'd better discuss this in private." (End of Chapter)