The Prosperous Era of Longwan

Yu Dayou, who had just successfully wiped out the remnants of Wang Zhi's troops at the beginning of the month, was about to be taken to Beijing for trial. This news greatly impacted Wei Guangde's brain, making him a little confused about what happened.

After carefully reading the following content, he roughly understood what happened in Zhejiang. Everything was caused by the Japanese pirates who broke out, as well as the Fujian officials and Hu Zongxian's villainous heart.

Xu Bangrui was also interested. After learning about the latest developments of the imperial court, he collected relevant information and sent it to Wei Guangde. After all, he knew that Wei Guangde had left the capital for several months and was more or less ignorant of the current situation in the capital. He wanted to provide more information. It will still be helpful to Wei Guangde after he returns to the capital.

The Japanese pirates who broke out of the encirclement and headed south once again wreaked havoc on Fujian, and other Japanese pirates also took advantage of the situation and looted, turning the entire coastal counties into a living hell.

Faced with this situation, Hu Zongxian was as anxious as an ant on a hot pot, but it didn't help.

Since many Japanese pirates invaded Fujian, many Fujianese claimed that Hu Zongxian deliberately allowed the Japanese to escape to the south, hoping to lure the Japanese invaders out of his own area of ​​Zhejiang.

Because of this rumor, Li Hu, an official from Fujian in the court, wrote a letter to impeach Hu Zongxian for being a Japanese pirate.

With the first one firing, there will naturally be no shortage of second ones. For the third one, officials from Jiangnan who were dissatisfied with Hu Zongxian also took the opportunity to impeach him.

Perhaps, this is politics, to achieve the goal by any means, dare to say anything and do anything.

In anger, Hu Zongxian suspected that his commander-in-chief Yu Dayou was liaising with the outside world, so he united with fellow Fujian people to impeach him. He took the lead and made the first move, reporting that Yu Dayou was ineffective in running the army and allowed the Japanese to flee south.

Hu Zongxian had already received a letter from Yan Shifan in the capital, and he had some arrangements for this. However, he did not expect that one of his men would betray him, so it was very rude to participate in Hu Zongxian's memorial.

As for why Hu Zongxian suspected that Yu Dayou had betrayed him, it was not because Yu Dayou was both a leading general and a Fujianese, and he might have been aware of some of his arrangements.

Yu Dayou was also unlucky. He fought bloody battles with Japanese pirates for several years, winning and losing. He often had to take the blame for Shangguan and was reprimanded. His official position also had its ups and downs. This time, he was unlucky. He ended up being arrested and tortured in the capital.

Naturally, Wei Guangde couldn't send the letter he had written. When he returned to Beijing, he thought of sending it to Duke Wei's Mansion in Nanjing. However, no matter how he sent it now, Jin Yiweisuo had already taken it away.

However, Jinyiwei old man Dalu Bing and Yu Dayou have a good relationship. I think they won't suffer any losses along the way. They should be very comfortable.

Wei Guangde was not worried about Yu Dayou at all, and even thought in a bad way that for a general like Yu Dayou who had been leading troops in combat, this experience of being locked up was probably the most relaxing and comfortable time for him.

The situation in the Ming Dynasty has changed so fast during this period. Yesterday, he was in the military camp accepting congratulations from all parties and celebrating the annihilation of a huge group of Japanese pirates. Today, he was reduced to a prisoner.

This was a huge blow to Yu Dayou's heart, and it was not something Wei Guangde could feel at all.

But as Wei Guangde guessed, Yu Dayou really didn't suffer much on the way to Beijing when he was arrested by the Jin Yiwei. Even if he didn't have the money to take care of the escort officials, none of these people dared to look down on him, not only because he was once The general who leads the army also has a note from the capital.

Arresting people was the order of Emperor Jiajing, and Lu Bing did not dare to disobey him, but the process was within his control, so his friends would not be wronged along the way.

The news of Yu Dayou's arrest hit his father and uncle the most. After all, they knew Yu Dayou and had been invited by him. At this time, they were naturally glad that they had not agreed to stay in Zhejiang to fight against the Japanese.

Dad even went back to Jiujiang Mansion to read the letter, and then lamented that things were unpredictable, "It is difficult for no one in the court to be an official."

Is there no one in Yu Dayou's court?

Of course not, it's just that his people are both in and out of court.

What else can Jinyiwei do besides report to the emperor?

Naturally, he could not participate in government affairs. In fact, if he got too close to the civil service group, he would be jealous of the emperor.

As for Yan Song, the chief minister of the current dynasty, the people kicked out by Hu Zongxian were naturally not very reliable.

In fact, Yan Song had already heard of Yu Dayou.

When his relative Ouyang Bijin, the current minister of the Ministry of Industry, was the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, Yu Dayou was his general. He was very instrumental in quelling the riots in Guangdong and Guangxi, but he was not rewarded because the credit was all attributed to Ouyang Bijin. His rapid rise to prominence was naturally attributed to Yan Song.

Now Hu Zongxian also kicked Yu Dayou out to vent his anger. In Yan Song's opinion, this person was probably really not good at being a good person, and both superior officials did not treat him well.

In addition, there is another thing that has always bothered Yan Song, because it was an old thing several years ago.

In the 31st year of Jiajing, Yu Dayou was ordered to suppress the Japanese. When the Japanese pirates used Zhelin as their nest, as the deputy chief military officer of local coastal defense in Zhili, Jinshan and other places, he had Zhelin as his jurisdiction. After some investigation and research, Yu Dayou wrote He wrote "On the Ten Difficulties in Using Troops in Zhelin" and sent this article to Xu Jie, the cabinet scholar.

At that time, Yan Song and Xu Jie were fighting fiercely openly and secretly. At that time, Xu Jie had not fully seen Yan Song's strength, so he did not surrender to Yan Song.

Yu Dayou offered advice to Xu Jie. After Yan Song found out about this, he blamed Yu Dayou for not presenting the article to him but to Xu Jie, and he couldn't help but hold a grudge.

In fact, Yu Dayou sent this article to Xu Jie, a bachelor, without any intention of currying favor. He just wanted to ask him to make suggestions for revision because Songjiang was Xu Jie's hometown and he had a better understanding of the situation discussed.

But no matter what, Yu Dayou offended Yan Song a bit. When Hu Zongxian's impeachment memorial came out, Yan Song naturally added insult to injury. This made Emperor Jiajing quickly give instructions to escort Yu Dayou to Beijing, and Lu Binglian interceded. There is no chance.

Yu Dayou was arrested by Emperor Jiajing and brought to Beijing for trial. The only thing Lu Bing could do was to hold the person in his hands. Therefore, when Yu Dayou was escorted to the capital, he was not handed over to the Prison of the Ministry of Punishment, but was directly raped by Lu Bing. Arrive at the imperial prison.

Yu Dayou was an upright man and an honest official. When he was arrested, he had less than a hundred taels of silver, but he made a small fortune while being escorted to Beijing.

Yu Dayou's character was disliked by the official circles, because he would not flatter and curry favor with superior officials, and he did not have money to bribe him. Naturally, he was often ostracized, but his character also gave him many admirers.

After learning that Yu Dayou had made a contribution in suppressing the Japanese but was taken to the capital by the imperial court for questioning, many friends generously took action and sent Yu Dayou money on the way for him to manage in the capital.

When Yu Dayou arrived in Beijing, he had thousands of taels of gold around him.

Of course Lu Bing didn't take the money seriously, but the escorting officers and soldiers thought about it but didn't dare to take action.

Because of Lu Bing's relationship, the people of Jinyiwei would not do anything, but the officers of Zhejiang Procuratorate were warned by Tan Lun before leaving, so they could only look at the gold and silver property with red eyes.

But when Lu Bing and Yu Dayou met in the capital, Yu Dayou handed over the money to Lu Bing.

Now that he is in prison, he naturally has no way to move around, so he can only ask his friends for help in taking care of things.

Because Yu Dayou, who has been promoted to the commander-in-chief, is already a second-rank military general in the imperial court. Naturally, it cannot be tried by a single yamen of the Ministry of Punishment. He can only initiate a joint trial of the three departments. In this way, in addition to the officials of the Ministry of Punishment, the Metropolitan Procuratorate and Dali Temple are also indispensable. .

While Lu Bing was working on Yu Dayou's case, a fleet docked at Tongzhou Pier.

Several carriages by the dock were also brought over. After setting up the pedals, Wei Guangde got out of the cabin, glanced at the carriage on the shore, and then turned around to support the woman who had just walked out of the hatch.

This woman was young but she was also dressed as a woman. Her hair was combed in a peach blossom bun that was popular at that time. It was tied with gold wire and her hair was combed high. The top of the bun was also decorated with pearls and jade.

This was a popular style in the south of the Yangtze River, especially in Nanjing and Suzhou, and it was also what Wei Guangde liked more.

This peach blossom bun is actually not unfamiliar to modern people. It is a classic hair accessory that often appears in costume dramas.

This woman is delicate and graceful, with a radiant appearance. She is truly a beautiful woman.

She was only sixteen or seventeen years old, with a graceful figure, wearing bright and bright silk clothes, and dazzling and gorgeous jasper earrings. She stood on the bow of the boat looking at the distant city.

Naturally, it was Wei Guangde's newly married wife Xu Jianglan. Wei Guangde returned to Beijing to serve as an official, so of course he had to take her with him to Beijing.

Although Xu Jianglan was the daughter of Wei Guogong Xu Pengju, because she was not a legitimate daughter, she did not submit a memorial to seek a title, and was only called the eldest lady in the palace.

"Officer, have you arrived in the capital yet?"

Her voice was gentle and her expression was charming, which made Wei Guangde on the side feel a tremor in his heart.

Wei Guangde was very satisfied with this wife. She was beautiful, had a good temperament, and was gentle and courteous. Facing Xu Jianglan's question, Wei Guangde smiled and shook his head, "This is Tongzhou. It's half a day's journey from the capital. It's very close." .”

Although Xu Jianglan was the daughter of a duke, there were too many ancient rules and she had not actually been to many places. Before marrying Wei Guangde, she had only been around Nanjing City and never been further away.

Jiujiang Mansion was the second place Xu Jianglan had ever visited in her life. It was the first time she had left home so far away, and she was still very reluctant to leave her home. She was also very uncomfortable with it. After all, she was getting married.

Fortunately, her eldest brother Xu Bangrui came to see her in marriage, which prevented her from being depressed. She finally had someone to talk to, but she was still very reserved along the way, and she was mostly bored in the cabin.

It was only on the way to the capital with Wei Guangde that Xu Jianglan fully unleashed her girlish nature.

Although she was married, she still had the heart of a girl. Along the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, she followed Wei Guangde out of the cabin from time to time to get some air and enjoy the beautiful scenery along the way.

During this boat trip to Tongzhou, I didn’t show any symptoms of journey fatigue. Instead, I seemed to be relaxed and enjoying myself.

"Then when will we visit Duke Dingguo's mansion?"

Xu Jianglan thought that when she left Nanjing, her father Xu Pengju told the young couple to go to the Duke Dingguo's mansion when they arrived in the capital.

Although nominally the Duke of Wei in Nanjing and the Duke of Ding in Beijing were both descendants of Xu Da, they were not conspiring against each other and had already collapsed during the Yongle period.

It was not until those two generations were gone that the Xu family in the north and south Beijing began to have a small amount of contact, but they were also very restrained, that is, they would only send some gifts and letters during the holidays, and they still walked around. rare.

Now his daughter is going to Beijing with Wei Guangde. No matter what status the Dingguo Palace has in the capital, it is still the Guogong family, with its heritage and influence still there.

Although he has no real power, Duke Ding can still speak whether he is at the bottom of the officialdom of the capital or in the court.

In fact, the emperors of the Ming Dynasty were still very tolerant of these nobles, whether they were the founding nobles or the Jingnan nobles.

So Xu Pengju still wrote a letter to Xu Yande, the contemporary Duke of Ding, who was far away in the capital. He could not write two characters of "Xu" in one stroke. The content of the letter was naturally that he hoped that Xu Yande could take care of Wei Guangde, at least not to be bullied.

The current Dingguo Duke Xu Yande was the Duke of Dingguo in the 8th year of Jiajing's reign, with a salary of 2,500 shi. He first served as the Commander-in-Chief of the Zuo Army and the Commander-in-Chief of the Central Army of Shenji Camp. In the 30th year of Jiajing's reign, he was transferred to the Commander-in-Chief of the Central Army and served as the Grand Governor.

Although the Fifth Army Governor's Mansion has long been ignored by the Ministry of War, Duke Dingguo has many years of deep experience in the capital, and there is still no problem in protecting Wei Guangde, a small official.

As for the past, Xu Pengju naturally hoped that Wei Guangde could be transferred out of the capital. No matter where he went, it would be better than staying in the capital.

But now the situation is different from that at that time. Now the two families are married and Wei Guangde has become his son-in-law. Naturally, he hopes that Wei Guangde's career will be smoother and he will be a help to his family.

Of course, the main reason is because Xu Pengju feels that the decree has been issued, everything has actually been settled, and there is no need to worry about further troubles.

"Let's talk about it in the next two days."

Wei Guangde looked at the sky and saw that it was almost noon.

Lunch can only be eaten in Tongzhou, and you can rush back to your home in the capital before the city gates are locked in the evening.

After getting off the boat and saying goodbye to the people from the Chamber of Commerce, Wei Guangde took Xu Jianglan into Tongzhou City in a carriage instead of setting off directly.

This time back to the capital, there were just more people around Xu Jianglan. There were many empty rooms in the front and back yards, which was enough to live in. So after the motorcade entered Beijing in the evening, Xu Jianglan opened the curtains and looked at the imperial capital of the Ming Dynasty.

The bustling level of the street is no less than that of Nanjing City, with busy traffic and pedestrians, and numerous shops and restaurants on both sides, which is quite in line with Xu Jianglan's imagination of the capital.

Regarding Wei Guangde's house in the capital, the young couple had also talked about it before when they were chatting.

Although the price of the house is not low, the more Wei Guangde lives in it, the more he feels it is worth it.

Xu Jianglan, on the other hand, doesn't have much idea about the price. For people like her, they only know whether they want it or not, and they don't care about the price.

After returning to the capital, the first thing he did was to go back to the Hanlin Academy to cancel his leave. After that, in addition to visiting the Dingguo Palace, Wei Guangde also wanted to go to the place he least wanted to go - Beizhen Fusi.

The purpose of going to Beizhen Fusi is self-evident. Naturally, it is to see Yu Dayou. This is also what Wei Wei and his uncle promised. If possible, he will help to move around.

In fact, Wei Guangde had already thought of a countermeasure when he was in Jiujiang. It was not difficult to save Yu Dayou. The main thing was to see whether he was willing to spend money.

Now Wei Guangde finally figured out that as long as the money was sent to the Yan family, Yu Dayou could get away with any crime as long as he was not rebelling.

Therefore, Wei Guangde was not worried at all about Yu Dayou.