The Prosperous Era of Longwan

The father-in-law suddenly asked him, and Wei Guangde knew that he must have wanted to know the inside story.

Wei Guangde already knew about what happened at the primary school household office. It is estimated that Xu Pengju's purpose in asking him was to consider how to say it, and to see if it was possible to learn from Wei Guangde's handling methods.

As for Wei Guangde, he didn't think anything was wrong.

He was not present at the time of the mutiny. In order to confuse the rebels, he casually said what others could say, so he honestly told the story of how he suppressed the rebels.

"Did you come up with the excuse that Huang Maoguan jumped over the wall and fell to his death?"

Zhang Hao's mouth was slightly open now. When he heard that the rebels returned Huang Maoguan's body, he was still thinking about how Huang Maoguan died.

Was he beaten to death by the rebels or did he really climb over the wall and fall to death? Now I know the answer. He must have been beaten to death, but he just found a decent excuse.

But this is a good reason. At least it can perfunctory the court and will not make the court feel that it has lost face.

To deal with the more than 2,000 insurgents, it was absolutely impossible to kill them. We could only think of ways to make peace with them and turn major problems into trivial matters.

"Okay, Mr. Zhang, please tell the people in the Huang family later to stop talking nonsense."

He Shou was very satisfied with Wei Guangde for doing this. Emperor Jiajing saved face. This was something that all the eunuchs knew. If they knew that a third-grade official was killed by a group of rebels, they would be implicated for the sake of face. People, even if they are afraid, they still have to walk around in circles.

With this reason, the so-called mutiny was a misunderstanding, and Huang Maoguan's death was just an accident.

Xu Pengju nodded slightly, and then said: "In addition, Mr. Zhang and I had negotiations with the rebels in the small school field at that time in order to calm down the turmoil."

Having said this, Xu Pengju paused for a moment, looked around at everyone in the hall, and then continued: "We understand the request of the Zhenwu Camp soldiers. They are very happy with the change of the color from 5 coins to 4 coins since last year. If they had any objections, they asked us if this matter had been approved by the court."

Xu Pengju curled his lips and looked at Zhang Hao. That means it's your turn to talk about this matter. You are also an insider.

Zhang Hao was stared at by Xu Pengju. Of course he knew that the intention was to let him say a few words. He immediately coughed twice and said: "As far as I know, the Ministry of Revenue mentioned this matter in a memorial last year, but there was no such thing." After receiving the approval from the court, he changed the color without authorization. This is the main reason why the rebels attacked the Hubu Yamen this time. They want to recover the military pay that was withheld by the Hubu."

"Last year, then this was Ma Kun's idea?"

He Shou suddenly interrupted.

"It should have been instructed by Ma Bu Tang."

Zhang Hao replied.

"This Huang Maoguan carried out Ma Kun's order, but lost his own life, haha."

He Shou suddenly chuckled, and then shook his head contemptuously, as if he was mocking Huang Maoguan, who died for this, for not being able to see the reality.

In the past two years, Nanjing and its surrounding areas have been seriously affected by disasters.

In the year of disaster, they were supposed to help the soldiers, but they did the opposite. Not only did they not help the soldiers, but they deducted their meager wages. It would be strange if they didn't cause trouble.

But soon, He Shou put away his smile and asked seriously: "Then what did you say to those people?"

This was something substantial, and He Shou also heard it. At that time, Wei Guogong Xu Pengju and Shangshu Zhang Hao were probably forced to agree to some conditions of the rebel army, so they had a chance to escape successfully.

These matters have nothing to do with him. Anyway, he can just report what he knows to the Supervisor of Ceremonies afterwards.

The conditions that the rebels could offer were nothing more than getting out of guilt and giving money. In fact, these were not big things in He Shou's eyes.

If the rebels didn't cause trouble in Nanjing, everything could still be dealt with.

"They ask for one hundred thousand taels of silver. How can they give so much? Even if we agree, the court will not agree."

Zhang Hao smiled bitterly and said, "So let's come back and discuss it, otherwise it will be really difficult for the rebels to stop."

At this time, Zhang Hao began to strive for credit. They used a delaying tactic to stop the Zhenwu Camp rebels. Although the rebels later sent people to chase them, that was something that happened later. Perhaps they wanted to keep them as a source of peace with the court. Fortunately, Wei Guangde stepped forward to stop them in time.

In fact, the main reason for the pursuers behind was because they found out that Huang Maoguan was dead, and knew that the death of a third-rank official of the imperial court would not end well. Even if they negotiated peace with the imperial court, someone on their side would have to sacrifice their lives to understand this matter.

Although Zhang Hao tried his best to describe the conditions they were forced to accept at that time as a strategy to make the Zhenwu camp rebels stop causing trouble, but the room was full of human beings, so they naturally knew that the truth at that time was not as simple as Zhang Hao said.

But if you think about it, if it were you at that time, you would probably have to hold your nose and admit it first, just to get away.

As for the explanation afterwards, we agreed, but the court did not agree. What can we do?

"Let's not talk about those things. Let's talk about what conditions we will provide them to solve this matter."

He Shou didn't want to hear Zhang Hao and the others shirk responsibility. This matter had nothing to do with him. He just wanted to calm down the anger of the rebels in Zhenwu Camp.

Regarding He Shou's proposal, Zhang Hao did not answer immediately. Instead, he and Wei Guogong Xu Pengju looked at each other, and seemed to reach an agreement after eye contact. Then Wei Guogong Xu Pengju ordered to the subordinates waiting around him: "You guys go down first. Well, no one told you to stay away from here."

This is the garrison mansion, and except for the two young eunuchs brought in by He Shou, everyone else is his.

After Xu Pengju finished speaking, the guards and clerks standing around hurriedly exited the hall.

"Bang Rui, you should go down first and guard outside the door to prevent others from approaching."

After speaking, Xu Pengju looked at Wei Guangde again, but then he looked at Zhang Hao again. After Xu Bangrui exited the hall, he didn't say anything else.

Originally, Wei Guangde thought that he would be able to go out and avoid the troubled waters of Nanjing City, but he never imagined that this would be the result.

Now Wei Guangde felt that his position was a bit awkward. He could neither stay nor leave. The key was that no one said this, and he was not sure whether he should take the initiative to stand up and leave.

However, neither Xu Pengju nor Zhang Hao looked at him again. They obviously had no intention of letting him leave. At this moment, both of them were staring straight at He Shou.

Speaking of which, except for Wei Guangde who was wearing a green robe, there were only two young chamberlains in gray chamberlain uniforms in the room. Everyone else was wearing red official robes, showing their power in Nanjing city.

"You guys also get out."

He Shou was suspicious and didn't know what they were going to do after they sent everyone away. However, Xu Pengju and Zhang Hao ran out together before, so they probably had some arguments on the way.

After the two young chamberlains were ordered to leave the hall, Xu Pengju was still sitting calmly at the top of the hall, with no intention of speaking. Zhang Hao coughed twice at this time, attracting the attention of everyone in the room, and then spoke. Said: "As for the issue of soldiers' pay and salary, it is illegal for the Ministry of Household Affairs to change it without getting approval from the court. I think it should be changed back."

After Zhang Hao finished speaking, Xu Pengju nodded in agreement: "This is as it should be."

Wei Guangde, He Shou, Li Sui, and Li Tingzhu below also felt that Zhang Hao's words were reasonable at this time. Restoring the old system should be able to calm some of the complaints of the rebel soldiers.

"In addition, although no Japanese pirates have ever attacked Nanjing, there are Japanese pirates in Jingjiang, Zhenjiang and other places all year round, and Zhenwu Camp is also the most frequently dispatched guard post, setting up defenses along the river all year round.

Here, there is hard work and no credit. What I mean is to give them some compensation and also take care of last year’s business. "

Zhang Hao continued.

"It's not easy for soldiers either. Especially last year, the Japanese pirates also made a lot of trouble. If they hadn't set up defenses along the river, we don't know if the Japanese pirates would have come down to Nanjing to cause trouble again."

Xu Pengju made another assist on it.

At this time, Li Sui, the minister of the Ministry of War, had come to his senses. He looked at Xu Pengju and then at his immediate superior, Zhang Hao. These were both people who were about to become officials. They probably planned to do more before they became officials.

Li Sui figured it out, and naturally He Shou and Li Tingzhu also understood it. Only Wei Guangde still had a little understanding at the moment. Although he was already alert in his heart, he still didn't understand what medicine Zhang Hao and Xu Pengju were selling in their gourds. .

"Although the storm was short-lived, the secret report about Jin Yiwei's arrival has been sent out."

At this time, Li Tingzhu suddenly interrupted.

"You can't hide things."

Zhang Hao nodded.

"They want one hundred thousand taels, how much should we report?"

Li Sui didn't want to continue playing riddles at this time and pointed out the key points directly. This should be the reason why Zhang Hao and Xu Pengju didn't know how to speak, so let him explain it.

"What else can I give, just repay the arrears of military pay, last year's discount?"

He Shou said disdainfully, but when it came to the dispute over Zhese, he hesitated and did not continue.

"Last year, it would have been fine if each person was given one tael of silver as replacement. They should be satisfied. Let the people below not do anything with the money and send it directly to the soldiers. They should be satisfied."

Li Tingzhu was the admiral of Cao Jiang. When several warnings came, he led his soldiers to the riverside to set up defenses. He also knew something about Zhenwu Camp. "There are more than 2,000 people in Zhenwu Camp. According to the actual situation, it will be more than 2,000 people." It’s about three thousand taels of silver.”

Hearing his words, Xu Pengju above couldn't help but raise his eyebrows, and then relaxed them. It was obvious that he had already recognized Li Tingzhu's meaning in his heart.

"We'll talk about this later. Now let's talk about how to report this to the court."

At this moment, Zhang Hao suddenly stroked his beard and spoke calmly.

Obviously, Zhang Hao also accepted Li Tingzhu's suggestion. The court should be able to accept the matter of several thousand taels of silver. The main thing now is to discuss how to report the matter to the superiors.

Seeing this scene, Wei Guangde understood that this was to drag him into the water.

When he returned to Beijing from Hangzhou, there were records of where he rested along the way.

When he arrived in Nanjing and encountered the Zhenwu Camp mutiny, he could not say that he knew nothing about it after returning to the capital. This was probably Xu Pengju's intention in keeping him here, and he naturally wanted to cover up this lie for Nanjing officials.

Thinking of this, Wei Guangde couldn't help but look at Xu Pengju above. No one spoke. Maybe the adults were communicating with their eyes.

He sighed in his heart, but he didn't expect that he could not escape from the mud without being stained. This may be the officialdom of this era, Wei Guangde thought.

While the main officials in Nanjing were discussing how to report the Zhenwu Camp to the court, a group of captains in brocade uniforms escorted Lu Bing in python uniforms to the gate of Yan's Mansion.

Lu Bing and the Yan family don't deal with each other very much. They rarely interact with each other on weekdays. They only travel on special days like New Years and holidays. Of course, it's just for everyone's face. After all, they are all in the same palace. .

However, before today, Lu Bing had sent someone to send a greeting note to the Yan family. After receiving the reply from the Yan family, he decided on today's itinerary.

Lu Bing controls the Jinyi Guards and monitors the world. Naturally, he has a lot of secret information, a lot of information that is not very eye-catching, and he also records a lot of seemingly unrelated intelligence.

After receiving Wang Zhi's confession from Hangzhou, Lu Bing checked various information collected by hundreds of Jinyiwei households in Hangzhou in the past two years. He actually found out that shortly after Wang Zhi was arrested, someone from the Yan Mansion had pulled someone from the Yamen. Two large boxes are taken away, and the boxes are then loaded onto a ship, which may be shipped to Beijing or directly to Jiangxi.

After all, it would be very difficult for Jin Yiwei to follow the ship after it left the dock. There were countless ships sailing on the Jiangnan Canal every day. If nails were not planted on the ship in advance, it would be difficult to know where the ship was going.

But this was enough for Lu Bing to confirm some information, making him more confident about the trip.

Lu Bing dismounted in front of Yan's mansion. Yan Shifan and Yan Xin were already standing outside the gate to greet him. After all, it was a first-class official from the imperial court who was passing through the mansion. Although he didn't know the purpose of Lu Bing's trip, the Yan family still started a fight. With great caution, servants were sent out at both ends of the street in Fumen to intercept the wanderers who were approaching.

Soon Lu Bing walked into Yan's mansion, where Yan Song was still waiting.

Lu Bing would not be innocent, he must have a motive for coming here, and Yan Shifan also guessed that it might be related to the man who was imprisoned in the prison.

After all, the relationship between the Lu family and the Yan family is not harmonious now, but the one who can really bring the two families together is Yu Dayou.

I don’t know what the relationship between Yu Dayou and Lu Bing is, which makes Lu Bing maintain it until now.

Perhaps, this is also Lu Bing's last effort to rescue Yu Dayou, and today we are here to negotiate terms.

It is precisely for this reason that Yan Shifan did not go out today, but planned to see what Lu Bing could offer in exchange for his release.

At this time, in a house in Anfufang not far from Yan's house, a green-robed official was sitting behind a desk in the house and sighing.

"The Yan family is really nothing. We are still fellow villagers. If you don't save me, don't you dislike me for not giving money to their family? Huh?"

After sighing for a long time, the man said bitterly.

This official is called Guo Xiyan. He was once a child prodigy in Jiangxi. He passed the imperial examination at the age of thirteen. Before that, he served as Zuo Zhongyun, Zuochunfang, Zhan Shifu.

In the Ministry of Civil Service examination last year, Guo Xiyan was rated as "lower" because of "fallacies and harassment" in discussing etiquette. Now he has resigned and is at home, so he is depressed.