The Prosperous Era of Longwan

The incident surrounding Zhang Juzheng's "love affair" during the Wanli period was undoubtedly a major event that had a profound impact on the Ming Dynasty.

In particular, many people have discovered that after the love-stealing incident, Zhang Juzheng was a completely different person compared to before.

In fact, so far, as far as Wei Guangde knows, Zhang Juzheng's life as chief minister is actually very simple, and there is no arrogance or extravagance as rumored in later generations.

As for the legendary love for beauty, Wei Guangde didn't notice it either.

At the very least, it is unlikely that the famous anti-Japanese general Qi Jiguang, one of the important participants in the so-called love of beauty, would send beautiful women to his house.

During this half month, Zhang Juzheng also kept vigil in the mansion.

However, as the imperial edict was issued yesterday, Zhang Juzheng also rushed to write a thank you note overnight.

Early the next morning, he sent someone directly to the palace gate.

As the chief minister of the Ming Dynasty's cabinet, his memorials could be sent directly to the emperor through the Supervisor of Ceremonies.

While Wei Guangde was still handling government affairs in the cabinet, Lu Bu walked in quickly holding a small note from outside the door.

"Master, this is the note that Eunuch Chen sent someone to deliver."

Lu Bu respectfully handed the note to Wei Guangde, then bowed and exited the room.

Wei Guangde glanced at the handwriting on the note, which was written by Chen Ju.

However, the content of the note did not surprise him.

It turned out that half an hour ago, the young emperor saw Feng Bao's special memorial to express his gratitude in the Qianqing Palace. He was very happy to know that Zhang Juzheng had agreed to stay and assist the government.

In any case, Zhang Juzheng is very important to Zhu Yijun.

He was not only the chief minister of the imperial court, governing the country for him, but also his teacher, teaching him the ways of sages,

Zhu Yijun still admires Zhang Juzheng's erudition and respects him very much.

Although it is said that the earth would turn the same without anyone, but in today's Ming Dynasty, if a chief minister were suddenly changed, the government would still be affected to some extent.

Zhu Yijun also knew that he was underage. Although it had been many years since Gao Gong said he was a "child" and he had grown up a lot, he still did not have the confidence to govern the country on his own.

Prior to this, Zhang Juzheng handled the government affairs very well. Not only that all aspects of the court were taken care of in an orderly manner, but there were also signs of recovery. In particular, the court's finances, which had always been in a tight situation, had obviously improved.

Therefore, no matter what, Zhu Yijun still trusts Zhang Juzheng more.

As for Wei Guangde, although Zhu Yijun also has confidence, it is best to stay put. Maintaining the current good situation is more important than anything else.

The young emperor was very happy that he could keep Mr. Zhang to continue to manage the government affairs for him. However, at this time, Feng Bao took out the objections of Wu Zhongxing, Zhao Yongxian and others.

It turned out that Wei Guangde thought it was a memorial that had been retained, but Feng Bao boldly held it in his hand and did not hand it over.

The little emperor Zhu Yijun was very happy, but when he saw them objecting to what he thought was a memorial, his face suddenly fell.

To be honest, at this time, Zhu Yijun had a low self-esteem due to his leg disease. Although he was a ninety-five-year-old man, he walked with an unsightly limp.

Not to mention other things, Chinese dynasties have paid great attention to appearance, so they have to select people to select Jinshi. People with strange looks and people with physical disabilities are basically impossible to get a good ranking.

Even if you are lucky enough to pass the examination, you will be demoted.

This demotion does not deprive you of the qualification to participate in the palace examination, but it will place you very low and basically prevent you from being seen by the emperor.

Therefore, the people around the emperor should not be said to be handsome and talented, but at least they should not be ugly.

Surrounded by a group of officials who we can call "beautiful men", Zhu Yijun naturally felt dwarfed by them, even if he was the emperor.

With this mentality, after the little emperor saw that he had finally succeeded in retaining Mr. Zhang, these people jumped out to oppose him. You can imagine how he felt.

At the right time, Feng Bao also took out all the memorials supporting the emperor's "seizing love".

In stark contrast, the little emperor Zhu Yijun finally couldn't restrain his inner anger. He felt that he had been despised by these people.

However, after all, he had been carefully taught by Zhang Juzheng and Wei Guangde. Although he was very unhappy, Zhu Yijun still read all the memorials patiently.

"Ju Zhengmei talks about the principles of saints and principles and the laws of our ancestors. What is the system of our ancestors like? Things are eternal and eternal, and everyone can see and hear them. But today there are no wrongdoings, and then there will be no legacy in future generations. There is no way to eliminate changes beyond this."

When Zhu Yijun read Wu Zhongxing's memorial, he couldn't help but sneer at the corner of his mouth, "Seizing love is neither humane nor reasonable, nor is it consistent with justice and law. So is it wrong for the ancestors to set up the system of seizing love? He still dares to criticize the ancestral system."

Hearing the little emperor's angry words, Feng Bao felt happy. This was the result he wanted.

It's just that he was happy, but he didn't dare to show it on his face.

I couldn't stop smiling, so I lowered my head and pretended to be angry.

Chen Ju, who was being served by the emperor, really saw this scene and could only admire Feng Bao's bold behavior.

He had also seen the changes in the government situation during this period, but he did not dare to expose them at this time.

First, he had received a small note from Wei Guangde the day before yesterday and knew that he had no intention of getting involved in this matter.

Secondly, Chen Ju was not confident that he could overthrow Feng Bao. He was a eunuch who grew up serving the young emperor, and now the emperor still calls him "big companion".

More than that, even the two empresses in the palace had great trust in Feng Bao.

I don’t know what sin he committed, but Emperor Jiajing had no children since he was young, so few of his children could grow up smoothly. This was also the case when Emperor Longqing was young.

The little emperor raised by Feng Bao was the only one left in the lineage of Emperor Jiajing.

Of course, Zhu Yijun had a younger brother, but no matter what, Feng Bao’s contribution to raising the little emperor was great enough, which was why the two empress dowagers were confident in him.

With the empress dowager’s support, no one in the palace could shake Feng Bao’s position.

At least, they were confident that Feng Bao would serve the emperor in the Qianqing Palace.

What’s more, even if he overthrew Feng Bao, it would not be of much benefit to him.

In the palace, there were eunuchs such as Zhang Hong who were higher in status than him.

He was now a well-known eunuch in the palace, so there was no need to offend Feng Bao for this matter.

However, when he had time, Chen Ju still passed on the situation he had just seen to Wei Guangde, letting him know what would happen next.

Wei Guangde had just crumpled the note into a ball. It was difficult to burn it in broad daylight without sparks. He could only dispose of it when he had dinner.

Outside the door, there were footsteps and whispers.

After a while, Lu Bu entered the room and whispered in Wei Guangde's ear: "Master, I just received news from the palace that the emperor sent people to arrest Wu Zhongxing, Zhao Yongxian, Ai Mu and Shen Sixiao. They will be beaten in court and dismissed from their posts."

Upon hearing this, Wei Guangde just nodded slowly.

These punishments were actually mentioned in Chen Ju's note just now.

The young emperor Zhu Yijun was furious. He felt that Wu Zhongxing and the other four were not only targeting Mr. Zhang's "seizing love" issue, but also contempt for his authority.

Therefore, he decided to follow the usual methods used by his ancestors to deal with ministers who made direct suggestions and remonstrated, and to punish these four people in court.

Wu Zhongxing and Zhao Yongxian were each given 60 strokes of the cane, expelled from the capital, and sent back to their hometowns to be civilians, never to be employed again; Ai Mu and Shen Sixiao were each given 80 strokes of the cane and sent to the border areas, and were not included in the amnesty.

Undoubtedly, the young emperor was very angry when he saw Ai Mu and Shen Sixiao jointly write a memorial saying, "Is Ju Zheng the only one who is not a son of man and is not confused? He is a high-ranking official, but he does not practice the common principles of ordinary people. How can he face the world and future generations? Please order Zhang Juzheng to return to his hometown to farm", which made him very angry.

However, Wei Guangde just read it and didn't plan to do anything.

After all, he had already made up his mind to play ostrich and do nothing about the matter of "seizing love".

"Did you go to get the person?"

Wei Guangde just asked lightly.

"Yes, the Jinyiwei on duty in the palace have gone to the Hanlin Academy and the Ministry of Justice to get the person."

Lu Bu said hurriedly.

"I know, go down."

Wei Guangde waved his hand and motioned Lu Bu to go out.

The palace sent people out, indicating that the caning had been approved by the two Empress Dowagers.

Although Zhu Yijun was the emperor, he did not have much power inside and outside the palace.

Perhaps, he was just the emperor in the Palace of Heavenly Purity.

The power of the inner court was still in the hands of the two Empress Dowagers.

The power of the outer court was jointly controlled by the inner court and the cabinet.

The Empress Dowager had already agreed, what else could she say?

At this time, the Jinyiwei broke into the Hanlin Academy.

Although it was a noble place, the Jinyiwei who broke in with a group of Hanlins and fierce spirits had no way to stop them.

The leading Jinyiwei held the emperor's gold medal high in his hand, which was a symbol of imperial power. What else could they do except kneel down and kowtow?

As for the Ministry of Justice, although there were also nimble yamen runners, no one dared to act rashly in front of the Jinyiwei.

The only ones who dared to act rashly were those officials, who were Jinshi and were considered disciples of the emperor.

However, in front of the emperor's gold medal, they dared not do anything, and could not do anything.

"Wei Ci Fu, Wei Ci Fu."

Just when Wei Guangde was about to stand aside and watch, Zhang Siwei's voice came from outside the door.

"Quick, please invite Zhang Ge Lao in."

Wei Guangde hurriedly got up and ordered Lu Bu.

Soon, Zhang Siwei entered the room and said directly to Wei Guangde: "Wei Ci Fu, the palace wants to beat the ministers in the court, we have to go and plead for mercy."

"Huh?"

Wei Guangde was stunned, and also reacted, it seems that this is usually the case.

Although there were more court beatings in the Jiajing period, most of them were concentrated in the first forty years, and almost all the resolute ministers were beaten.

The result is that the rest are all soft bones who hide their strength and bide their time. Like him, they don't want to anger the emperor and can only exert their strength in private.

After forty years of Jiajing, in the Longqing Dynasty, there were fewer court beatings.

Even if there were, it was the matter of the inner court. The emperor beat the eunuchs, such as Li Fang.

That is why Wei Guangde forgot the unspoken rule of the outer court, that is, if someone is beaten, the cabinet ministers must go to plead for mercy, even if it is useless, they have to pretend to do it.

"I almost forgot about this."

Wei Guangde slapped his forehead and stood up immediately.

Together with Zhang Siwei, the two hurried to the Qianqing Palace, and took a look inside when passing by the Wenhua Hall.

There were only a few eunuchs cleaning inside, and the little emperor had no class today.

Just as they hurried to see the little emperor Zhu Yijun to plead for the four unlucky guys, the outer court was also in an uproar.

The Jinyiwei was dispatched to arrest Wu Zhongxing and others for court sticking, and some officials hurried to the palace, wanting to meet the emperor, plead for mercy, and release the people.

Another group of people hurried to Zhang's house, wanting to ask Zhang Juzheng to come forward to save people.

Anyway, the people who were beaten this time were either his students or fellow villagers. If he asked for mercy, he would be more effective than anyone else.

It was just a pity that more than 20 people stood outside the mourning hall of Zhang's mansion, but none of them could enter and see Zhang Juzheng.

These two days, Zhang Juzheng had closed the door to visitors due to health reasons.

He really couldn't stand communicating with these officials, and they would persuade him to return to his hometown to observe the mourning period when they met.

Zhang Juzheng knew very well that once he left the court, Wei Guangde would definitely not continue to insist on the new policy. As long as the reaction from below was a little stronger, Wei Guangde would change the national policies such as the performance evaluation system back.

He also saw from the "seizing love" incident that the opposition was too strong.

However, the people who gathered in Zhang's mansion were disappointed. Zhang Juzheng avoided them, making them think they were full of knowledge but couldn't find anyone to talk to.

"Let's go to the palace."

A group of people waited in Zhang's mansion for a long time, but didn't see Zhang Juzheng come out. Finally, someone spoke up.

"Zhang Jiangling has no regard for the relationship between teacher and student and fellow townsman. It is useless to stay here. It is better to go to the palace and plead with His Majesty.

I think Wei Cifu and others should have gone there. With so many of us, His Majesty should be considerate of some feelings."

"Okay, let's go to the palace to ask for an audience with the emperor."

"Yes, it is better to ask the emperor for mercy than to ask Zhang Jiangling for mercy."

Outside Zhang's house, a group of officials discussed for a while, and then they got on the sedan chair and drove to the palace.

In the Qianqing Palace, Wei Guangde and Zhang Siwei stood under the imperial steps, and the little emperor Zhu Yijun was losing his temper.

Other officials were stopped outside the palace, and the emperor didn't want to see them at all.

"Master Wei, I have already issued an order to retain Mr. Zhang, but these people are still not giving up and insist on driving Mr. Zhang away. Why is that?

That Wu Zhongxing actually accused Emperor Gaozu of being unethical and unreasonable in taking away the love, and it is not in line with the law of justice. Do you think he should be beaten?"

Hearing this, Wei Guangde and Zhang Siwei were not good at responding.

To be honest, some civil officials are really shameless.

When they need to, they say that the ancestral system cannot be changed and oppose all changes.

When they don't need to, they directly doubt the ancestral system and question its rationality.

In fact, if the Ming Dynasty was in a precarious environment at this time, there would be no reason to refuse to take away the love.

But it happened that the weather was good in the past two years. Although there were wars, the Ming Dynasty had already secured victory, and there was nothing to worry about.

As for whether Zhang Juzheng should take away the love, according to the principle, it should not be done.

However, Zhang Juzheng's taking away the love was special because of the reform he was promoting. Except for him, no one was willing to wade into the muddy water, so he had to do this.

If the emperor wanted to continue the reform, he would naturally take away the love.

But if he hesitated, he naturally didn't have to take away the love.

But does the little emperor understand this principle?

"I understand the great principles you talked about before, but this time they must be punished, so don't say it again."

Zhu Yijun was very persistent. He wanted to beat these four people to vent his anger, and also let the outer court know the attitude of the inner court.

"By the way, Master Wei, are there any new war reports from the southwest?"

Just when the situation was at a stalemate, the little emperor suddenly asked about the war in Burma.

Wei Guangde knew that this was a topic that the little emperor brought up to divert attention, so he had to immediately pick up the topic and tell him the previous war report from the Ministry of War. (End of this chapter)