The Prosperous Era of Longwan

"How long has it been since Dongyang went to Nanjing?"

After Emperor Jiajing asked Yan Song, he asked Xu Jie on the side.

"It's been four or five years."

Xu Jie quickly bowed and replied.

"This person is quite capable and has stayed in Nanjing long enough."

Having said this, Emperor Jiajing paused for a moment, seeming to have made the final decision, and then said: "The strike minister Zhao Wenhua returns to his hometown, and the minister of punishments Ouyang Bijin will replace him. Let Jia Yingchun be the minister of punishments. There is no need to discuss it further. ”

After hearing Emperor Jiajing's arrangement, Yan Song had a slightly disappointed look in his eyes, but it was so subtle that no one noticed it, but Xu Jie's eyes flashed brightly next to him.

In the past, half of the seats in the Sixth Department were occupied by Yan Song's followers. Although the importance of the Criminal Department was not great, it was still a ministerial position.

"Tell Ouyang Bijin that the main errands of the Ministry of Industry are the three main halls, palace gates, and the Zhengyang Gate Tower. The minister Lei Li and the eunuch Yuan Heng are in charge of the construction. The project is huge, and they have been assigned to Zheng Guobin and the imperial censor Song Yiwang to supervise the construction. .”

Although there were eunuchs in the palace to supervise the project, Emperor Jiajing was still worried about the incident caused by the Ministry of Works, so he arranged for Qingliu such as Shi Zhong and Yu Shi to supervise the progress of the project.

After making such arrangements, Emperor Jiajing finally felt more relieved.

After Yan Song and Xu Jie resigned and left Yongshou Palace, Emperor Jiajing turned to Huang Jin and told Huang Jin: "Send a message to Donghu to verify what was reported the day before as soon as possible without delay."

"yes."

Huang Jin lowered his eyebrows and agreed. Although Yan Song was polite when he saw him, and Zhao Wenhua often found opportunities to give him gifts, the words Emperor Jiajing just ordered actually put Zhao Wenhua to death.

A few days ago, maybe I smelled something. Governor Zuo and Commander of Jinyiwei Lu Bingmi reported that Zhao Wenhua, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, had been inspecting Jiangnan for many years to redeem goods and bring disaster to the people.

In fact, the complaint is that when Zhao Wenhua went to Zhejiang and Fujian two years ago to command the suppression of Japanese pirates, he bought and sold by force in the south of the Yangtze River. He bought land, houses, silks, antiques, calligraphy and paintings at low prices, and even misappropriated other people's military merits and embezzled ink rewards. The incident caused dissatisfaction among the soldiers at the bottom of the guard station.

Emperor Jiajing was angry when he saw Lu Bing's memorial.

Redeeming goods and causing harm to the people is aimed at the local area, but seizing the merits of the generals and officers in the guard station is different.

The Wei Suo is the basis of the rule of the old Zhu family. As the emperor, he is naturally aware of the problems of the Wei Suo, and it is not easy for him to interfere easily.

After all, there are generals and soldiers in the guard army who have performed bravely and bravely, but the main credits and rewards have been usurped by you, Zhao Wenhua. If things go on like this, the impact will be very bad.

The main reason why the Coastal Guard is now using its lives in the war to suppress the Japanese is Hu Zongxian's continuously increasing reward. A real Japanese head is already worth a lot of money, and most of this money is obtained from additional places and should be the money of the court.

In these years, most of the wealth in Jiangnan was kept in Jiangnan to suppress Japanese pirates, and the wealth transferred to Beijing was greatly reduced, which was one of the reasons for the serious financial deficit of the imperial court.

Immediately, Emperor Jiajing ordered Lu Bing to verify the details and report them.

Now, he needs the results of Lu Bing's detailed investigation.

In fact, even Huang Jin had heard a little bit about these things. After all, the imperial court still had a large number of guarding eunuchs, middle officials and others in the south of the Yangtze River. They were the eyes of the inner court extending to the local areas. Just like the Jinyiwei deploying Jinyiwei in various provinces, they were all for Gather local intelligence.

It's just that for matters related to the outer court, the inner court generally will not take the initiative to report the matter before the emperor asks it.

Because once the inner court writes a letter to impeach a civil official from the outer court, it can easily evolve into a fight between the inner court and the outer court, causing turmoil in the court.

As long as there is no threat to the imperial power, the eunuchs will choose to turn a blind eye, and even palace officials stationed in the local area will get a share of the profits. Only when they reveal signs of rebellion will they consider whether to inform.

As the saying goes, "Everyone pushes against a wall" which is quite reasonable. When Zhao Wenhua was in power, all these things happened and no one reported them.

When trouble started, Jin Yiwei took action to report Zhao Wenhua's crimes. After Zhao Wenhua's crimes were made public, the Qingliu in the court would write letters of impeachment one after another. By then, even if Mr. Yan Ge controlled the General Affairs Department, it would be useless, and it would be difficult to block the world. Everyone said.

Soon, the news that Zhao Wenhua left his job and returned to his hometown to recuperate completely spread, and the replacement of official positions also spread.

After Zhao Wenhua resigned, the position of Minister of the Ministry of Industry was replaced by Ouyang Bijin, the Minister of the Ministry of Punishments, and the vacant position of the Minister of the Ministry of Punishments was transferred to Jia Yingchun, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue in Nanjing.

After Prince Yu's Mansion got the news, everyone in the mansion was naturally celebrating that they had finally won the position of Minister, and Prince Yu's Mansion was no longer alone in the court.

In a flower hall in Prince Yu's palace, Prince Yu, Gao Gong and other palace officials were sitting. After congratulating each other, they sat down and gradually calmed down their excitement.

"Your Majesty, Wei Guangde was the first to blame for this incident. If he hadn't found out the clues in advance, the incident involving Zhao Wenhua would only have happened in a matter of days, and we wouldn't have had time to make plans."

Gao Gong said to King Yu with a smile on his face.

"Yes, yes, the teacher is right. If he hadn't known that Zhao Wenhua had lost power with his father, I would never have imagined that my father would replace him directly and let him return to his hometown to recuperate. He also thought that he would send an imperial doctor to the palace. Give medicine as a sign of favor.”

Having said this, King Yu shook his head with emotion to express his mood at this time.

"He is not an official of the royal palace, so it is inconvenient for him to come to my place. He even invited the teacher to hold a banquet to thank him. Don't let others feel that we are treating him lightly."

King Yu then said to Gao Gong, "Actually, I really want to meet this Chuanlu."

"Haha, there will be plenty of time in the future, don't be in a hurry."

Gao Gong smiled.

By this time, the outer court did not know that Zhao Wenhua could no longer return to his hometown, and his fate had been decided by Emperor Jiajing.

Naturally, Wei Guangde didn't know either. He was just surprised that two ministers were appointed in one ministerial recommendation. When did the efficiency of the imperial court become so efficient?

Wei Guangde did not expect that he would not succeed in seizing the position of Minister of the Ministry of Industry, but he would get the official position of Minister of the Ministry of Punishments.

Well, they are all the first and second grade, and the difference is actually not big. Anyway, they are all high-level people in the imperial court, the kind of people who have the right to speak.

When can I compete for such a position?

Wei Guangde had no intention of reading at the moment. He rested his arm on the desk to support his head and just thought there.

In the evening, Wei Guangde went to the restaurant again. Gao Gong, Li Fang and other senior officials from Prince Yu's Mansion were there. The only thing missing was that His Highness Prince Yu was not present in person.

This salary is already very high, and Wei Guangde does not dare to see King Yu at this time. He knows that there must be spies from Jin Yiwei, Dongchang, and even Prince Jing's Mansion around King Yu who are watching his every move.

Although Wei Guangde had made up his mind to move closer to Prince Yu's Mansion, he did not want to make his position public before the battle for the throne was settled.

As for being close to Prince Yu's Mansion and alienating Prince Jing's Mansion, naturally it can only be Zu Zhi's fault. Anyway, he just doesn't want more people to know his determined position.

After the banquet, Wei Guangde returned home drunk. Zhang Ji sent him sobering soup and a letter from home.

"Are you from Jiujiang?"

Wei Guangde was a little strange. He took the envelope, opened it, took out the letter paper and started reading. After a while, the expression on his face became wonderful.

"On the 12th day of the twelfth lunar month, there are still more than three months left."

After Wei Guangde read the letter, he smacked his lips, folded the letter paper and put it back into the envelope.

Regarding this matter, we still had to write a memorial to Emperor Jiajing, which was quite troublesome. Compared with the market outlook, it was indeed too involved.

Think about it, if a sixth-rank official asks for personal leave, he has to write a memorial to the emperor. How many officials are there in the world, can the emperor understand it?

The holidays for officials in the Ming Dynasty mainly included menstrual leave, grant leave, sick leave and personal leave.

The first three types of holidays are easy to understand. Menstrual holidays are holidays set by the imperial court. The granting of leave depends on the mood of the emperor. Of course, there are also court leaves for special reasons. As for sick leave, let’s not talk about it. If you are all sick, you can’t help it. Work.

As for personal leave, all kinds of things that need to delay time are included in it, but it is mainly for weddings and funerals, and the court also has regulations.

But what Wei Guangde is worried about now is that he is going back to his hometown to get married. This matter has to be written in a memorial and submitted to Emperor Jiajing for approval. Thinking about it, he feels awkward.

Yes, there was nothing else in the letter from home this time. The only thing explained was that on the twelfth lunar month, Wei Guangde was going to Nanjing to welcome his bride, and then he would take the bride back to Jiujiang to get married.

During the wedding leave, excluding the time spent on the round trip, the total time that can be spent at home is two months.

Wei Guangde silently calculated his itinerary again. He planned to leave Beijing and return south in October. He should be able to catch the last passenger ship heading south before the canal was frozen and suspended.

Should he meet Xu Bangrui first when passing through Nanjing? As for meeting Xu Jianglan first, Wei Guangde didn't dare to think about it.

Etiquette is taken very seriously these days. Except for occasional encounters under special circumstances, couples cannot meet in advance. In ancient times, blind dates were actually sneak peeks, unlike now where the time and place are determined and the two parties get together. I asked for my phone number when I met for dinner.

Forget it, now that he was drunk, Wei Guangde didn't think about it. He took a nap first and then talked about it. He had plenty of time to worry about how to write this memorial.

The next day, the cabinet drafted the edict and sent it to the Director of Ceremonies for approval. It was sent to the Sixth Section early in the morning. As for the personnel changes of the imperial officials, it was recommended by the Ministry. Naturally, the Sixth Section passed it without any obstruction. , stamp and print, and issue the decree.

Just when everyone thought the drama surrounding the Ministry of Industry was over, a bigger storm quietly struck.

Wei Guangde was still a little slow to receive the news from Chen Ju. Before Emperor Jiajing chose to punish Zhao Wenhua, the only person who knew about this matter besides the person in charge, Lu Bing, was the eunuch Huang Jin who had been serving the emperor. Even the eunuch in front of the emperor Chen Ju only found out about this when Lu Bing presented evidence of Zhao Wenhua's corruption and perversion of the law.

Taking the time, he was busy arranging for his godson to send news to Wei Guangde.

Hearing that Jin Yiwei had sent the evidence of Zhao Wenhua's crime to the imperial court, Wei Guangde blinked and asked Zhang Ji to reward the young eunuch before leaving.

There is no grudge between him and Zhao Wenhua, and Zhao Wenhua's greed for credit has not gone to his own head, so let's forget it.

No matter what, Zhao Wenhua is Yan Song's godson. At this time, he showed up to play Zhao Wenhua's book. I don't know what Yan Song and Yan Shifan would think, although it seems that the relationship between their two families has broken down.

Wei Guangde did not intend to get involved, but there were many civil and military officials in the Manchu Dynasty who wanted to get involved.

Almost as soon as the news reached the outer court, the General Affairs Department became busy, and the Censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate was the first to react.

When the news came out, it was also said by the way that Jinyiwei had collected a lot of evidence against Zhao Wenhua, so they did not need evidence when the censor complained.

They had to think about it before, but now there is no need for it.

Impeachment memorials flew into the palace one after another like snowflakes, and in just two days, the imperial books of Emperor Jiajing were already piled up.

"Stop reading it. From now on, throw away such things and don't send them over again."

Emperor Jiajing said very impatiently as he looked at the memorials piled up in the Imperial Case.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Gao Zhong hurriedly signaled to the two servants behind him to take away all the memorials on the imperial desk. His Majesty was very unhappy.

Thinking about it, so many people knew about Zhao Wenhua's activities, but no one reported it before. Now it's time to do it.

"Write down for me all the people who have presented the impeachment memorial. I want to see the list."

Seeing the two young chamberlains hurriedly packing up the memorials, Emperor Jiajing ordered angrily. He felt that he was always angry these days, and his skills seemed to be showing signs of regression, and he couldn't help but become even more angry.

"Inform the cabinet to recruit Zhao Wenhua from all official positions."

The previous decree did not dismiss him from office, but only asked Zhao Wenhua to return to his hometown to recuperate. Although he handed over the seal of the Minister of Industry, he was still a high-ranking official. However, as soon as this decree came out, Zhao Wenhua no longer had an official position. At best, he was They are just white-bodied officials with official status.

Of course, such Zhao Wenhua can still turn around, as long as the court re-enables him.

Naturally, this did not satisfy the officials who participated in the impeachment of Zhao Wenhua. While the Qingliu people congratulated each other and shouted that people were happy, there were still many officials who were impeaching Wei Guangde for his corruption, especially in a memorial. It is said that most of the materials used by Zhao Wenhua to build a mansion today are the materials for the new Xiyuan Alchemy Room that was corrupted by corruption.

Gao Zhong was a little confused when he saw this memorial. Should he show it to Emperor Jiajing?

The emperor has already spoken. It's annoying not to read these things.

However, what this memorial said had to make him take it seriously. If Zhao Wenhua really used the materials from Mo Palace to build his own house, this would be a serious crime.

Gao Zhong brought the memorial to Huang Jin, and Huang Jin frowned after reading it. If Zhao Wenhua is sent this memorial, his skin will peel off even if he doesn't die. This is almost the end of Zhao Wenhua's life.

The emperor is in a bad mood, should he send it or not?

After struggling for a moment, the memorial was handed over to Emperor Jiajing's imperial case.

From resigning to being dismissed, Zhao Wenhua was packing up the gold and silver in his house and preparing to return to his hometown to recuperate. He wanted to avoid the recent limelight and then look for opportunities to honor his godmother Ouyang and seek help from his godfather to make a comeback.

Zhao Wenhua, the censor of the imperial court, was aware of the matter of impeaching him for corruption and perverting the law, but there was nothing he could do at this time.

The Yan family did not take action to protect themselves, so they could only flee the capital with their tail between their legs first.

Only then did Zhao Wenhua deeply realize that the bad move he played back then seemed to have offended his godfather.