The Prosperous Era of Longwan

From his last visit to the Yan Mansion, Wei Guangde knew that the Yan family's current attitude towards him was no different from what he expected.

That is, the surface remains the same, but secretly he has been removed from the list of trusted officials in the Yan Mansion.

But that's fine, at least on the surface, the relationship between Wei Guangde and the Yan family has not changed. If the Yan family suddenly becomes enthusiastic about him, Wei Guangde must be careful.

It's better to follow the past habit of visiting Yan's Mansion every month. This is what I did before, and I still do it now.

As the days passed, Wei Guangde naturally returned to the Hanlin Academy for duty after his vacation was over. He only went to Zhanshi Mansion and the Metropolitan Procuratorate every month, and he still had to do both errands.

The time was quickly approaching the New Year's Eve. Naturally, some problems were discovered during this year's inspections in the important towns of Jiubian. The memorial was sent to the court. Naturally, the cabinet convened the ministers and ministers for discussion before reporting to the palace. Zhong handed over the memorial and the draft.

Everything is naturally not difficult, just follow Ji Zhen's process.

The uproar caused by the memorials of Tang Shunzhi and Wei Guangde being sent to Xiyuan has gradually subsided, but the storm in other military towns has just begun to brew.

On the first day of November in the thirty-seventh year of Jiajing's reign, Charlie sent a report to Wei Yuanji and others to impeach the border ministers for infringement and dereliction of duty.

Emperor Jiajing issued an edict: In recent years, the border grain distribution has been excessive, and grain officials have arbitrarily embezzled money, resulting in money and grain losses. Gao Guang, the former doctor in charge of grains, and Liu Chongwen, the chief officer, were both dismissed from their posts and were arrested in Beijing for questioning; Ma Jiude, the former governor of Jizhou and the censor of Qiandu, and Ai Xichun, the former governor and deputy censor of Baoding governor, were dismissed from their posts; Ma Jiu, the former chief of grains in Miyun Lian was demoted to one level and transferred to a foreign service; the former officials in charge of grains were Dong Ce, Cao Lin, Wang Shouzhi, Wang Huizheng, Wang Ji, Li Qiao, Zhang Bangyan, Qiu Wei, Jixuan, Ji Lian, Li Yu, Zhang Feng, Hu Zhihe , Liu Lusheng were each demoted to the second level; Yi Jiefu, Zhang Zishun, and Yang Yinxian, the deputy envoys of Jizhou Military Preparation, each received three months of salary.

Wei Guangde read the copy of the imperial edict carefully and recalled the officials involved.

There is definitely nothing wrong with the punishment list. The officials of the Ming Dynasty were so corrupt these days. If the officials were to stand in a row and you kill every other person, almost half of the corrupt officials would slip through the net.

It's just obvious that Wei Yuanji and other people in charge of the investigation were merciful this time and only dealt with a small part. After all, it was impossible to sweep away the entire officialdom of Jizhen directly.

It was the end of the year, and naturally not many officials were willing to be sent to the capital at this time. Wei Guangde, who knew the inside story, did not dare to run to the Metropolitan Procuratorate during this period, for fear that the officials inside would catch him and arrange for him It would be miserable to go to Yansui or Ningxia Town or Gansu Town.

If he disappears for a period of time, people in the Metropolitan Procuratorate will naturally forget about him as a non-staff member.

Of course, he is not actually a non-staff member. After all, Wei Guangde still holds the title of Fujian Taoist Censor, and is considered an official in the Metropolitan Procuratorate.

It's just that the censors of Fujian Province will not be easily sent out now, including Zhejiang Province. After all, when they go to the local areas, the censors can basically lead the army to fight. This will naturally disperse the power of Governor Hu Zongxian. This is the reason why Yan Song and others What officials didn't want to see, and what the emperor didn't want to see.

Time has entered December, and the New Year is approaching. This is Xu Jianglan's first Spring Festival in the capital, and she is naturally full of curiosity.

She had long heard about the Aoshan Lantern Festival in the capital, and naturally she had longed for it. This time she could finally see it when she followed her husband Wei Guangde to the capital.

After arriving in the capital, apart from the initial discomfort, everything was fine. After all, there was a relative in the capital called Dingguo Gongfu, so Xu Jianglan quickly became familiar with the noble female family members in the capital.

When the Wei family began to prepare for the New Year, a large number of officials left the capital with unwilling faces and rushed to the border towns to investigate the moths that had embezzled money and food from the military towns. In fact, they were looking for some unlucky ones to withstand the thunder from heaven. angry.

Were the embezzled money and grains really embezzled by the officials below?

Of course not, I’m kidding. Military pay has already started to disappear when it leaves the capital. Regardless of whether the money comes from Taicang or Changying Treasury, the Ministry of Revenue and Taipu Temple have already collected the money as usual, and then released it to the government at all levels. Another layer of water floated down, layer by layer, until it reached the hands of the guard sergeant.

But at this point, there still has to be a scapegoat to take the blame.

"Crack crack crack."

The sound of firecrackers resounded through the streets and alleys of the capital, and children played happily on the streets.

Although the people in the northern border towns and the coastal areas south of the Yangtze River are still suffering from the trauma of the war, the people in the capital cannot feel this. The adults have already begun to go to the market to prepare New Year's goods.

The three major festivals of Winter Solstice, New Year's Day and Lantern Festival are very close. With so many holidays, Wei Guangde naturally wants to take Xu Jianglan to visit various houses in the capital.

Early on, Xiyuan issued a decree that the festivals in the palace this year will be the same as in previous years. That is to say, there is no need to attend the Zhengdan Dynasty meeting. Everyone can kowtow to the empty throne and that's it. As for the wife entering the palace to pay her respects to the queen, it's natural. nor.

Emperor Jiajing has stopped canonizing the queen since a fire broke out in the palace in the 26th year of Jiajing, resulting in the death of Empress Xiaolie Fang in the fire. The ladies of the capital did not have to enter the palace to pay respects to the queen. In fact, even when there was a queen, Jiajing The emperor often dispensed with these false etiquette.

Of course, activities such as fireworks and Aoshan Lantern Festival will not be cancelled, and Emperor Jiajing also liked them.

Time flies to the thirty-eighth year of Jiajing. On the night of the Lantern Festival, Wei Guangde took Xu Jianglan and went to Chengtianmen to watch the lights.

Today Xu Jianglan was naturally dressed up carefully as usual. In fact, Wei Guangde didn't like the cosmetics of this era, but he couldn't resist Xu Jianglan's liking.

She went out dressed up, but she had to wear a curtain hat on her head. Her whole face was covered by gauze, and she didn't know who could see it.

However, in the past, Wei Guangde had seen many noble ladies at the Aoshan Lantern Festival dressed like this and coming out to watch the lanterns surrounded by their maids and wives, so naturally he didn't pay much attention to them.

Tens of thousands of lanterns built into a dozen-storey high "Aoshan Long Live Lantern" are undoubtedly the most eye-catching presence in the entire lantern festival. Before entering the venue, Xu Jianglan was attracted by the Ao-shaped lanterns in the distance, and then there was Aoshan Mountain. With the singing, dancing and playing of the palace ladies and musicians, Xu Jianglan soon fell into the sea of ​​lanterns.

Wei Guangde has been seeing it for a few years. To be honest, I was shocked when I first saw it. The shock effect naturally diminishes after the second and third time. Now I don’t feel much after seeing it. I can only do my job of protecting the flowers with peace of mind. Guarding his wife, she walked in the sea of ​​lights and slowly moved forward with the crowd.

Not long after, surrounded by the servants and maids, they entered the center of the lantern festival and walked under Aoshan Mountain.

There were guards such as Zhao Hu and Li San leading the way, pushing aside the people in front to give Wei Guangde and others a space.

People in the capital are used to this kind of family. They are squeezed out by these strong men, and they can only curse a few words in a low voice without being heard by the other party.

There are too many such families in the capital, and ordinary people cannot afford to offend them.

At this time, the best spots to watch the lanterns at the foot of Aoshan Mountain were already occupied by such crowds, so it was good for the common people to stand behind them and watch the lanterns.

After Wei Guangde stood still, he looked around and saw many familiar faces.

Well, most of the people standing here are family members of officials from various yamen in the capital, and Wei Guangde can't help but bow to everyone with a smile on his face.

Not long after, there was another burst of noise behind them, which temporarily drowned out the sound of drums ringing on Aoshan Mountain.

Wei Guangde didn't need to look back to know which dignitary or Beijing official like him was coming with his family.

Although he knew what was going on, Wei Guangde still had to look back and say hello if he knew him.

Today is the first day of the Aoshan Lantern Festival. Naturally, there will be many people coming. The next day, when you meet acquaintances when you go out, you will have something to talk about. This is the same for officials.

But when Wei Guangde looked back, although the guards outside the group were dressed like ordinary servants, a person inside caught Wei Guangde's attention.

Isn't that a high arch?

Isn't the white-faced one next to her Li Fang?

One of them was guarding a young man in his twenties, hiss.

As for the female relatives following the three of them, Wei Guangde did not take a second glance. Needless to say, he knew that they must be Princess Yu Zhang and the other concubines. Although they could not see clearly what they were wearing, they all had the same hair style as Xu Jianglan. Wearing a curtain hat.

Guessing that this new group of people was Prince Yu, Wei Guangde was moved in his heart. He had never had the opportunity to contact this His Highness, so it seemed like he was right to come to see the Aoshan Lantern Festival today.

In fact, when Wei Guangde came here in the past, he would choose to go on the second day after the lantern festival opened, because the flow of people on the first day was too large and it was not convenient to move around in the crowd.

But this year, it was Xu Jianglan who made the house to look at the lights. Well, in the inner house, Xu Jianglan had always had the final say in the Wei family, and Wei Guangde had to let her take the lead most of the time.

It was a bit petite, but for the sake of Xu Jianglan's pretty face, Wei Guangde tolerated it.

But today, Xu Jianglan dressed up in the afternoon and jumped up to Wei Guangde wearing a curtain hat, either walking around him a few times or spinning twice on the same spot. The veil of the curtain hat completely covered her upper body, and she could only see. to the skirt under the gauze.

When the lotus steps move, the clothes are covered with beautiful trains, and the breeze blows. When turning in circles, the skirt flutters like flowers in full bloom.

Well, Wei Guangde knew that Xu Jianglan's performance was just to go there and see the grand event on the first day of the Aoshan Lantern Festival.

Unexpectedly, just because of Xu Jianglan's willfulness, he actually had the opportunity to come into contact with King Yu for the first time.

In the past, Prince Yu mostly stayed in the palace and basically did not go out. This was also to avoid suspicion and save himself and others trouble, but today is different.

Wei Guangde looked at the crowd squeezing behind him and motioned to Zhao Hu over there to make room for him, while staring intently over there.

The guards of Prince Yu's Mansion also noticed that there was a bit of a gap here, and the location for viewing the lights was also good. The forward line was slightly offset and they squeezed in.

As he approached, Wei Guangde saw Li Fang's eyes glancing towards him, and unconsciously made a bow with his hands clasped in one direction.

Li Fang has sharp eyes. He recognized Wei Guangde the moment he handed over Wei Guangde's hand. The smile on his face appeared and disappeared instantly. He turned his head and whispered something into the ear of the man in the middle. The young man dressed as a nobleman in the middle had a natural look. Turn to Wei Guangde.

Wei Guangde was now clasping his fists in salute, and the young man also followed Wei Guangde's example and bowed to him.

Um?

King Yu salutes me, is this appropriate?

This was the first sentence that sounded in Wei Guangde's head.

Although there is no emperor in later generations, Wei Guangde was still deeply poisoned by the influence of the braid drama.

In fact, the Ming Dynasty and the Song Dynasty were similar, and the relationship between the emperor and ministers was still very casual.

Although the emperor holds the power of life and death, whether it is the emperor of the Song Dynasty or the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, they generally choose to treat ministers with a more tolerant attitude.

Wei Guangde soon came to his senses. It was the Ming Dynasty now, and these ministers were not the emperor's minions.

Then Wei Guangde raised his hand that he had just put down again and saluted His Royal Highness Prince Yu.

Soon, the people from Prince Yu's Mansion crowded in and stood next to the Wei family. The female family members of Prince Yu's Mansion, like Xu Jianglan, watched with great interest the palace maidens dancing on Aoshan Mountain. Only women are interested in Aoshan Lantern Festival every year. For men, For us, that's all.

In the capital, there is a Jia Si Fang, and officials like Wei Guangde naturally cannot do without the kabuki of Jia Si Fang to entertain them at gatherings and banquets.

However, Prince Yu stood still among the guards, pretending to be watching the grand scene on Aoshan Mountain with interest, while Gao Gong beside him had already squeezed out of the crowd in Prince Yu's Mansion and got into the Wei family's side.

The guards of the Wei family looked familiar to Gao Gong and did not stop him.

Gao Gong also visited Wei Guangde several times after he returned to Beijing. Although many guards did not know who he was, they knew that he had been to the house, so they happily gave up a passage.

"Master Gao, you are very happy."

Wei Guangde saw Gao Gong coming over with two lanterns in his hands, so he joked.

"This is a lantern made by the craftsmen of the Royal Palace. I specially brought it to give to Guangde Shandai."

Gao Gong said with a smile, walked closer as he spoke, and handed the lantern in his hand to Wei Guangde.

In the Ming Dynasty, the Lantern Festival was also known as the "Lantern Festival", "Lantern Festival" or "Lantern Festival". In addition to the custom of eating glutinous rice balls, the most important activity was viewing lanterns, which is the so-called lantern festival on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.

According to historical records, Zhu Yuanzhang, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, established the Queen of Heaven. To celebrate the Lantern Festival that year, he invited wealthy businessmen from all over the world to light up the lanterns for 10 days.

At that time, colorful buildings were built in the city of Nanjing, and tens of thousands of water lanterns were lit on the Qinhuai River, which was a spectacular sight for a while.

Beijing is located in the north, so it naturally does not have the same conditions as Yingtianfu in the south. Although there is a river, it is not suitable for setting off water lanterns on a large scale. Therefore, the Aoshan Lantern Festival that existed in Nanjing was moved to outside the Meridian Gate, but the scale was enlarged several times. .

When the Wei family came out to see the lanterns, they had naturally prepared them. However, they were all bulk goods bought on the street, so the lanterns were naturally not as exquisite as the ones handed over by Gao Gong.

These two are revolving lanterns. Craftsmen light candles inside the lamps and use the heat generated by the candles to create airflow and rotate the axles.

There are paper-cuts on the wheel axles, and the candlelight projects the shadows of the paper-cuts on the screen, and the image keeps moving. Because there are often pictures of ancient military commanders riding horses on each side of the lamp, and when the lamp rotates, it looks like several people are chasing each other. Hence the name revolving lantern.