The Prosperous Era of Longwan

Outside the Meridian Gate of the Ming Dynasty Imperial City, a large group of officials were blocked from moving here.

They can't get in anymore, and if they go further in, they will reach a confidential area. Normally, if they report to the cabinet, they can get in with just one notification, but that's not possible today.

Because not far from them, four benches were laid out one after another, and four people wearing only white shirts were tied directly to them.

They were naturally Wu Zhongxing, Zhao Yongxian and others who were named by Emperor Wanli.

At this time, their official uniforms and hats had been stripped off, leaving them lying on the bench wearing only their inner shirts.

There were two chamberlains standing in front and behind them, and eight chamberlains behind them were holding long sticks in their hands, waiting for the execution order.

Further ahead, several officials were talking around a palace eunuch.

"Eunuch Feng, please wait a moment. Our sign has been handed in. The situation may be rectified."

Tan Lun, Minister of the Ministry of War, stopped the eunuch and persuaded him.

The eunuch in charge of the execution was none other than Feng Bao, the most powerful person in the imperial court.

For some trivial matters involving the court staff, there was no need for him to personally jail him.

But recently, because of the "love-stealing" thing, he was disgusted, so he had to come to supervise him personally.

In the final analysis, he just wanted to beat them "hard" to vent his anger, for himself and for Zhang Juzheng.

But now, in front of him are not only Tan Lun, the Minister of War, but also Wang Guoguang, the Minister of Personnel, Ma Ziqiang, the Minister of Rites, and five or six other nine ministers. Watching with eager eyes.

There have long been rumors outside that he and Zhang Juzheng were working together to instigate the emperor to "seize love."

One can imagine how those officials looked at Feng Bao.

For most Ming officials, the older they were, the more polite they were to Feng Bao, and the younger they were, the less pleasing they were to Feng Bao.

"Hey, my lords, you have been delayed a lot of time. Your Majesty wants to send someone to send a message early. You are resisting the order now."

Several ministers spoke kindly to him, and Feng Bao did not feel angry. He just reminded him that they had delayed the emperor's mission.

"It won't be long. Although we can't see the emperor, the two pavilion elders have already entered. We'd better wait for the news."

Ma Ziqiang said.

In fact, Ma Ziqiang was angry when he saw Feng Bao, because as the Minister of Rites, he had to wait before entering the palace to see the emperor. He had the same rights as the cabinet ministers in some respects and could directly meet the emperor.

The Minister of Rites is equivalent to half a cabinet minister.

But today, when he rushed here in a hurry, he was stopped by the chamberlain.

Without further explanation, Ma Ziqiang guessed that Feng Bao had asked someone to do it and deliberately embarrassed him.

After all, Ma Ziqiang simply rejected Feng Bao's request.

To close the palace, only Feng Bao, a guy with no balls, could do it.

"Hmph, it sounds so easy. These people have made the emperor very angry. Let's let them go so cheaply."

Feng Bao became angry when he saw Ma Ziqiang. Although he had known this for a long time, he still felt that he had failed his partner Feng.

I don’t know how Zhang Juzheng and Wei Guangde settled down and were so ignorant.

After that, they actually took officials from the Ministry of Rites to find Zhang Juzheng and continued to persuade him to give up accepting the order and return to his hometown to observe the system. If they really persuaded him, Feng Daban's busy work these days would be in vain.

No, we have to talk about this later and ask Zhang Juzheng and the others to replace Ma Ziqiang.

Such a principled person cannot stay in the court.

But how did he know that Zhang Juzheng, Wei Guangde and others could intervene in the appointment and dismissal of court officials below the fourth rank, or even decide them with a single word.

But at the level of minister, unless you win over most of the nine ministers, you have to gain the emperor's trust.

During the Jiajing Dynasty, Yan Song's power invaded the government and the public. The Jiajing Emperor still retained Wu Shan, who had no dealings with Yan Song, to be the Minister of Rites. This was a check and balance.

As for Wang Guoguang and others on the side, although they were also comforting them, they were mostly watching from the side.

They had a good relationship with Zhang Juzheng and had already reached a high position. They were not afraid of Zhang Juzheng's influence after he left the court, but they did not like these people's wanton criticism of Zhang Juzheng.

In fact, these people privately reminded Zhang Juzheng repeatedly to think about this matter. After all, the impact was too great, and the backlash between the government and the opposition was somewhat unexpected.

It can be seen that even if Zhang Juzheng survives this time, his prestige among the people has been lost, and there is no doubt that he will be infamy.

Of course, doing so also shows Zhang Juzheng's determination to stay in Beijing, otherwise it would never be the case.

In the final analysis, the relationship between them and Zhang Juzheng is more of mutual need.

The New Deal implemented by Zhang Juzheng will benefit the present generation and benefit the future. They are not fools.

Although sometimes, for the benefit of himself and his family, he is not so supportive of Zhang Juzheng's decision-making, he still does not question the fairness of his decision-making.

Precisely because of this, they can only have more admiration for Zhang Juzheng, who dared to be the first and do what others could not do.

Therefore, when they saw those people who were about to be beaten, they actually despised them in their hearts.

Those who pursue fame and fortune are not worthy of success.

Even more, they hate them.

It was these people who repeatedly mentioned this matter for their own personal gain, which made the matter of "stealing love" complicated.

In fact, if there were no reports from Wu Zhongxing, Zhao Yongxian and others, there is no telling whether what happened next would have happened.

People here were talking to Feng Bao in a nice voice, trying to delay as much time as possible, while a lot of officials over there were staring at Feng Bao with cold eyebrows.

Also, in the eyes of loyal people, eunuchs are not good at all.

Their civil servants tried every means to teach the emperor to become a holy emperor, but these eunuchs always played the opposite tune.

In the final analysis, the emperor was more willing to listen to the eunuchs than to their civil servants, so they were very dissatisfied.

Those eunuchs whose basic concepts were similar to those of civil servants were held in high esteem by them and considered to be good eunuchs who had been taught by sages and sages.

Outside Qianqing Palace, Wei Guangde and Zhang Siwei came out and couldn't help but stop at the palace gate.

"Wei Cifu, Your Majesty is determined to punish them. How should we explain this?"

Zhang Siwei was the first to speak.

"What's the explanation?"

Wei Guangde looked at Zhang Siwei, shook his head slightly and said with a bitter smile: "The thunder and rain are all your kindness. If you offend Your Majesty, you should have the courage to bear the punishment.

I don't believe they didn't take it into consideration when they came up with the performance. Maybe, they just didn't expect it to be so serious. "

Wei Guangde chuckled disdainfully. He also looked down upon Wu Zhongxing and others. It was not that easy to imitate Liu Taibo and clear his name.

He also wanted to gain a reputation by impeaching the teacher and help himself get promoted and make a fortune. It might be better to wake them up early.

"Then let's do it now"

Although Zhang Siwei was doubtful, he still asked in a low voice.

"When you go to the Meridian Gate, your will will always come with you."

When Wei Guangde thought about what the young emperor had said before leaving the palace, he felt a little dizzy.

All the officials outside the Meridian Gate were asked to watch the execution of those few people and let them know the consequences of defying the emperor.

When Wei Guangde came here this time, he originally planned to go through the motions and didn't intend to persuade him, but he didn't expect that he would take such a job in the end.

"Let's go to the Meridian Gate."

Wei Guangde said to Zhang Siwei.

"Oh, okay."

Zhang Siwei agreed and walked half a body behind Wei Guangde towards the Meridian Gate.

"The little emperor has grown up and has his own thoughts."

While walking, Wei Guangde was also thinking.

No wonder Emperor Wanli's temperament changed a lot after he took charge, especially his attitude towards Zhang Juzheng, which was a complete U-turn.

In the future, you still have to be careful when coming into contact with the little emperor, lest you end up getting burned because of Zhang Juzheng.

Wei Guangde was not sure whether the last words were thought of by the little emperor himself or someone instigated him. He would have to ask Chen Ju later.

In the palace today, Chen Ju was only outside the palace, but there were too many people around, so Wei Guangde couldn't go up to talk to him and understand the situation.

But today's little emperor also reminded Wei Guangde that he should no longer look at people with the same old eyes.

He is always the emperor and has his own thoughts.

Many of the things Zhang Juzheng taught were for the little emperor to think for himself, but he didn't expect that after thinking about it, the little emperor would burn him first.

Soon, the Meridian Gate Tower appeared in front of them.

Without turning back to the cabinet, the two people walked straight towards the tower.

When Wei Guangde and Zhang Siwei appeared at the Meridian Gate, the officials gathered outside the city gate looked at them quietly, and the few people who had gathered around Feng Bao before also hurriedly greeted them. Go up.

"How about a good loan? What does Your Majesty say?"

Ma Ziqiang strode ahead and asked a few steps away from Wei Guangde.

Wei Guangde took two steps forward and bowed his hands to them, then sighed: "Your Majesty is really angered."

Having said this, Wei Guangde looked around on the bench and saw Wu Zhongxing's figure, and then whispered to them: "You should all know the words in Wu Zhongxing's memorial. It directly accuses you of seizing love and destroying justice. This makes Your Majesty I think they are not only disrespectful to him, but also disrespectful to Taizu and question the ancestral system."

"ah"

Ma Ziqiang let out a soft cry and immediately covered his mouth.

He also saw those words, but he didn't think about it deeply, he just discussed the matter as it happened.

Unexpectedly, the young emperor saw a lot of disrespect for the ancestral system in the words of civil servants, which made the Ministry of Rites feel the most uncomfortable.

Ordinarily, when such a memorial appears, the Ministry of Rites should file a petition for impeachment.

The so-called "etiquette" guarded by the Ministry of Rites is not only the way of the saints, but also the "ancestral system".

"His Majesty ordered that all officials outside the Meridian Gate must wait until the execution is over before leaving."

At this time, Wei Guangde said loudly to them again.

After finishing speaking, Wei Guangde lowered his voice and said to Ma Ziqiang: "Looking back, the Ministry of Rites issued a memorandum of apology. I think that although Your Majesty is unhappy, he has no intention of blaming the Ministry of Rites."

To question Duqing is actually to question the ancestral system.

The rules set by Zhu Yuanzhang were used in several subsequent dynasties. How could they be doubted casually?

Speaking of which, Wu Zhongxing was really beaten.

After finishing talking here, Wei Guangde and Zhang Siwei went to the crowd of officials over there to tell the emperor's decision.

"Mr. Wei Ge."

Just when someone was about to speak, Wei Guangde raised his hand to stop their words and continued: "Your Majesty said, their memorials are full of human ethics and natural principles, but they are unfaithful, unfilial, unkind and unjust people."

Wei Guangde stopped talking here and did not continue.

Besides, this group of people should be scolded for not being able to see the situation clearly and only knowing how to make noise.

I really thought that the emperor was easy to deceive because he was young, that he could scare the orphans and widowed mothers in the palace with the strength of numbers.

In fact, it was only when he saw this group of people that Wei Guangde realized the reason for the resolute attitude in the palace.

Let's not talk about whether "stealing love" is right or wrong. If the palace really gives in because of the heckles of such a group of people, how will the emperor manage the country in the future?

It can only be said that maybe a few officials asked for mercy, and seeing that they had a good attitude, they might be exalted and dismissed.

But with the current situation, the palace will never let these people go.

Kill the chicken to scare the monkey.

Let the officials know that although there are orphans and widows in the palace, they are not subject to threats.

"Okay, let's all follow the orders.

It's strange. It's only because Wu Zhongxing and his colleagues made many disrespectful remarks in their memorial that they offended His Majesty.

There were so many objections, but only a few of them were singled out for punishment. "

That's what Wei Guangde said, but he knew in his heart that the little emperor actually shot the first bird. These are the ones who took the lead in making trouble. If not them, who would he hit?

Because many of the memorials written by others never reached the little emperor.

However, Wei Guangde would not say these words, and most people here would not know them either.

After appeasing the officials, Wei Guangde walked to Feng Bao and told him the little emperor's will.

"Hey, the Holy Emperor is here, how can he be bewitched by these clowns?"

Unexpectedly, Feng Bao spoke loudly at this time.

Wei Guangde felt very uncomfortable. You were not the only one who deceived the emperor. You suppressed the memorial and did not show it to the emperor.

However, even if they were shown, these four people would not be spared lightly.

Again, the palace must show its support for Zhang Juzheng now, otherwise it will be more troublesome in the future.

A chief minister who is at odds with the foreign court but can resolutely implement policies will make the palace feel more at ease.

And a chief assistant who has a close relationship with foreign Korea may not necessarily be a good chief assistant, and things may change at some point.

The situation that Zhang Juzheng is facing now is something that the inner court likes to see. Only in this way can Zhang Juzheng rely more closely on the inner court, otherwise his status will not be guaranteed.

Later generations said that Empress Dowager Li, Feng Bao and Zhang Juzheng were the core iron triangle in charge of power in the Ming Dynasty. In fact, this is correct.

Don't think that the power is actually in the hands of Feng Bao and Zhang Juzheng. In order to stabilize this iron triangle, the inner court also took great pains.

This "love affair" seemed to be caused by them being deceived and induced by Feng Bao. An Zhi knew that it was not a situation deliberately set up by Empress Dowager Li and Empress Dowager Chen to stabilize the imperial power.

Through this incident, the relationship between courtiers and chief ministers was divided.

Afterwards, Zhang Juzheng began to treat his courtiers harshly, and the courtiers' dissatisfaction with Zhang Juzheng grew stronger.

"Papa pa pa"

One after another, Wu Zhongxing and others were slapped on the buttocks. This was the imperial staff of the Ming Dynasty.

Someone in front was counting, some were staring at the wooden sticks in their mouths for fear of falling out, while the two people behind them were waving their sticks to greet them.

After the execution was completed, some officials who were friendly with them quickly stepped forward to help them leave, while other officials did not disperse, but surrounded Wei Guangde.

Wei Guangde was a little suspicious, wondering why these people were acting like this.

Little did he know that just now, someone was secretly working together to get him involved.

"You're going to the cabinet?"

Although I don't know why they don't go back to their respective yamen, there is no way to expel them.

After watching the execution here for a long time, I may have lost my taste.

"Then let's go."

Wei Guangde led hundreds of officials into the Meridian Gate. No one stopped him this time, and they returned to the cabinet smoothly. (End of chapter)