The Prosperous Era of Longwan

When Xu Jie saw Emperor Jiajing's gaze, he knew that it was time for him to express his opinion. In any case, he was the second minister of the dynasty.

So he hurriedly took half a step forward and bowed and replied: "Japanese invasion has occurred frequently in Zhejiang, Fujian, and Guangdong in the past year. The primary focus of local governments should be on suppressing Japanese invasion, and they may be a little lax in their control.

I remember that last month, I approved the petition for merit from the Ministry of War. In April and May, the new Japanese invaders and the old Japanese invaders from Lian'ao Yuegang and other places joined forces to plunder various places in Fujian. Liu Tao went to take office and made plans to fight against Changle and Min'an first to defeat the Japanese. When the Qi goes down again, springs will spring up, and they will attack the Yue Gang, Chongwu bandits, and Qiling Lian'ao. Wherever the troops pass, there will be no strong formations on the land and no ships on the water.

I remember that in the end, Governor Liu Tao was given the first credit, and Governor Hu Zongxian was the second creditor for wiping out the Japanese. Fujian's outstanding achievements in imperialing the Japanese were indelible, and Governor Liu's contribution could not be erased. He could be punished for his meritorious service, and Zhang Lian's rebels could be wiped out within a time limit. "

Xu Jie mentioned Liu Tao's achievements during his tenure in Fujian. Only then did Emperor Jiajing remember that such a thing really happened. He had just issued a commendation decree not long ago, and Liu Tao had only served as governor of Fujian for more than half a year. There were some mistakes, but it seemed that there were no problems. His achievements should be wiped out.

After thinking for a moment, Emperor Jiajing looked at Yan Song and asked, "Weizhong, what do you think?"

"His Majesty."

Yan Song bowed and then said: "The cabinet has not received previous reports from Fujian and Guangdong about Zhang Lian's people, and there is no report from the Metropolitan Procuratorate, so it would be inappropriate to issue an order directly.

Such a big thing happened in Fujian, and Governor Liu was unable to suppress the Japanese invaders because he was too busy. However, the Fujian patrol censor should not fail to report the matter when he knew about it. He should first let him report the matter and explain the details in detail. "

"Isn't Zhou Yan here yet?"

After hearing this, Yan Song also felt that as governor, Liu Tao's focus was still on preventing and controlling Japanese invaders. Moreover, after Liu Taofu entered Fujian, he did a good job, and he finally gave up the idea of ​​dealing with him.

However, Emperor Jiajing felt a little unhappy when Yan Song mentioned the Fujian censor.

The patrol censor, known as "patrol hunting on behalf of the emperor", has great powers. All local political gains and losses, military and civilian benefits and illnesses are reported directly to the emperor. He is particularly specialized in supervising local officials, making decisions on major matters and making decisions on minor matters.

Someone in Fujian caused rebellion, and the governor could be said to be focusing on suppressing the Japanese. It would be unreasonable for the Fujian Taoist censor to keep this secret and not report it.

Seeing that the emperor was displeased, Huang Jin hurriedly stepped forward and said, "I will send someone to urge you."

Seeing Emperor Jiajing nodding, he immediately exited the hall and arranged for the servants outside the palace gate to go to Zhou Yan, the censor of Zuodu, to urge him to come over quickly.

About a quarter of an hour later, Zhou Yan finally entered the Yongshou Palace. As soon as he entered the door, he saw a few eyes looking at him, and it seemed that the atmosphere was a bit wrong.

Zhou Yan had been serving as the censor of Zuodu for five years. He was no longer the junior official in the officialdom, so he immediately realized that something was wrong.

"Who is the censor of Fujian now?"

After leading Zhou Yan to bow to him, Emperor Jiajing asked.

"It's Yoshicheng."

Zhou Yan naturally knew very well about the censor who was sent out, so he answered immediately.

"How long has he served in Fujian?"

Emperor Jiajing continued to ask.

"After the Japanese pirates invaded Fujian in the 35th year of Jiajing, because he had made great achievements in suppressing the Japanese and was one of the few people in the Metropolitan Procuratorate who knew military affairs, the Metropolitan Procuratorate did not rotate him again."

At this time, no matter how stupid Zhou Yan was, he would have guessed that something big was going on in Fujian.

However, his evaluation of Ji Cheng was quite objective and was not exaggerated. It was just that Ji Cheng had made great achievements in suppressing the Japanese. In fact, the more reason was that most of the Fujian Taoist censors were unwilling to personally take risks.

Now it seems that the patrol censors of each road should insist on regular replacement.

Speaking of which, the term of the censor is one year. He goes on patrol in August every year and returns to Beijing to report on his duties. The purpose is to worry that the censor will be involved in various forces and be affected by local influences, making it difficult to complete the upload. assigned work.

However, in recent years, the implementation of the inspection system is no longer so perfect. Many censors are unwilling to leave the capital, especially those from the southern provinces. They often blame the censors of the Nanjing Metropolitan Procuratorate.

At this moment, Zhou Yan already doubted whether Jicheng had committed a crime in Fujian.

"Is there any official document from Fujian arriving at the Metropolitan Procuratorate in the near future?"

When Emperor Jiajing asked, Zhou Yan thought for a moment before shaking his head and replied: "The Ministry has not received the report from Fujian."

Emperor Jiajing stared at Zhou Yan for a long time. In fact, from the moment he entered the palace, Emperor Jiajing realized that Zhou Yan was very old and could no longer continue his current work in charge of the Metropolitan Procuratorate.

Although Zhou Yan is only sixty-one now, his physical maintenance is far inferior to those of Yan Song and Xu Jie.

What Emperor Jiajing didn't know was that Xu Jie in the palace was thinking about this matter when he saw Zhou Yan entering the back of the palace.

Xu Jie has rich experience in officialdom and is not as naive as ordinary cabinet ministers. He was once demoted to a local government for offending a superior official, but then he gradually got up and finally returned to the court.

He had a clear understanding of the political structure of the Ming Dynasty. He had a deeper understanding of the huge power of the Metropolitan Procuratorate than anyone else in the dynasty.

Of course, his awareness will eventually affect his student Zhang Juzheng, which will lead to the more unscrupulous supervision of the Imperial Censor, the vanguard of the Ming Dynasty's party struggle, in the next few decades.

Yes, he could also see from Zhou Yan's actions when he entered the palace that his body seemed to be much worse than before, but he silently made a note of it, intending to think carefully about it when he went back.

However, Emperor Jiajing was a little depressed at this time.

When these officials were questioned, every one of them said that they had contributed to the Japanese suppression, as if they didn't need to do anything else if they participated in the Japanese suppression.

Is the only thing to do in coastal areas is to suppress Japanese invaders?

However, considering the overall situation, Emperor Jiajing could not make any punishment decision at this time, at least not until the details were reported to the local government.

"Show him."

Emperor Jiajing waved his hand and signaled.

Immediately, Zhu Xizhong, the Duke of Chengguo, walked up to Zhou Yan and handed him the information reported from Guangdong.

After Zhou Yan saw it, his face became even more ugly.

If you want to be a bandit, you will be a bandit. You even claim the title of emperor and change your life. Are you really afraid that you won't die quickly enough?

"Go on, the Metropolitan Procuratorate asked the Fujian censor to report the matter as soon as possible, and the cabinet also asked the Fujian governor to report the details. They were not allowed to perform in groups and were asked to report individually."

"According to the order."

Several people in the hall bowed and answered in unison.

"Who are the other censors of Fujian Road?"

At this moment, everyone in the palace knew that although Ji Cheng's official career could not be finished, he would definitely not be able to stay in Fujian anymore and would have to return to Beijing to report on his duties.

When asked about the censor, naturally Zhou Yan, the censor of Zuodu, could only answer.

Taking a step forward, Zhou Yancai said: "The quota of Fujian Taoist censors is seven, but there are actually six. In addition to Jicheng who is on patrol, there are Wang Xun, Fang Yuan, Yan Youyu, Jiao Lin, and Wei Guangde."

"I know, let's all go down."

Emperor Jiajing has been busy for a long time with matters in Fujian, which has taken up a lot of time. He should have been meditating at this time.

Now that the government affairs have been dealt with, whether to deal with Ji Cheng or not depends on what the report sent below says, so there is no rush.

After waving his hand and telling everyone to leave, Emperor Jiajing continued his great cause of cultivation.

Yan Song, Xu Jie and others exited the main hall and left Yongshou Palace. Everyone was silent along the way, each thinking about the emergencies in Fujian. Only Zhu Xizhong seemed to have no worries in this regard. After leaving Yongshou Palace, he clasped his fists at them and went first. Stride away.

As Xu Jie walked, he glanced at Zhou Yan secretly, and he was already thinking about whether to let a fellow from Songjiang Prefecture take his place.

This person is Pan En, a native of Shanghai County, Songjiang Prefecture, South Zhili Province, and the current left minister of the Ministry of Punishment. Once Zhou Yan becomes official, Pan En is the person Xu Jie wants to promote.

Xu Jie was from Huating County, Songjiang Prefecture. The two had known each other since they were still in high school, and he was someone he could trust.

It's just a pity that this Paine is of the same generation as him, and is even two years older than him, so he is not young at all.

Thinking of this, Xu Jie looked at Yan Song in front of him. As long as Pan En can control the Metropolitan Procuratorate for two or three years, it should be enough.

In the past two years, Xu Jie has been keenly aware of Emperor Jiajing's dissatisfaction with Yan Song, and seems to have the intention to weaken his influence.

Looking at the court now, it seems that the power of Yan Song's family has declined from its peak and started to decline, and important positions are gradually lost.

Especially in the past two years, Emperor Jiajing has intentionally or unintentionally excluded Yan Song's officials from important departments in the six ministers' position. The only remaining help seems to be Hu Zongxian who is far away in the south of the Yangtze River.

And arranging King Jing to take over the feudal clan explains everything.

No matter what the emperor originally thought, after Yan Song's family clearly turned to King Jing, King Jing's enthronement has made the current Yan family's power like ants on a hot pot, and they began to become restless.

Can the Yan family last for two years or three years?

At this time, Xu Jie had already made a bold guess, and at the same time, he was thinking about another thing.

After leaving the gate of Xiyuan and bidding farewell to Yan Song and Zhou Yan, Xu Jie got into his sedan chair. Before lowering the curtain of the sedan chair, he softly called his attendants and said, "Go and invite Mr. Gao Gonggao. Come to my house in the evening." feast."

After speaking, Xu Jie lowered the sedan curtain, narrowed his eyes and leaned on the back of the chair.

The news that someone in Fujian rebelled and proclaimed himself emperor was already known to everyone in the officialdom of the capital in front of the official office that day, which was really shocking.

Bandits are not uncommon these days, but not many dare to raise the banner of rebellion.

Who doesn't know that such a commotion will lead to a fight to the death with the court. The court will definitely send out a large army to encircle and suppress it, but unlike the activities of small groups of bandits, the court will often let it go.

Wei Guangde felt strange when he heard that Fujian actually rebelled during the Jiajing Dynasty and even called the Feilong Kingdom. In his impression, he did not see many articles about this matter in later generations. Perhaps because he was quickly surrounded and suppressed, his influence was It's not a big reason.

Well, in fact, as long as there were no bandits in Shaanxi or slaves in Liaodong, Wei Guangde would naturally not be interested. In his limited understanding, these two forces were the main forces that ended the Ming Dynasty.

We had a date with a group of people for drinks in the evening, and they joked about it during the dinner.

"Mr. Ge, do you mean to let Wei Guangde go to Fujian?"

At this time, in a secret room in Xu Jie's house, Xu Jie and Gao Gong were sitting opposite each other, talking about a method that he had just thought of today.

"I think we can use that Qingci thing to punish him to go on patrol in Fujian. I have inquired about it. The censors in the capital are only willing to patrol a few places around the capital. The provinces in the south have the Nanjing Metropolitan Procuratorate. The censor went.

In Zhejiang, except for the rise of Hu Zongxian, the two censors were defeated there. Although they did not lose their official positions, they were marked as mediocre people. The mountains in Fujian were high, and no one wanted to go there. "

"I understand what Mr. Ge means. The censor of Fujian needs to have certain military capabilities. It is okay for Wei Guangde to go, but he may not be willing to go."

"Today in the Yongshou Palace, His Majesty has already expressed his dissatisfaction with Fujian Dao Censor Jicheng. Speaking of which, he has indeed neglected his duty. Among the Fujian Dao Censors, Wei Guangde is the most suitable place to go.

What's more, Hu Zongxian is always in charge of the army in Jiangnan, which is always a big problem. I have arranged for Wei Guangde to go and monitor him nearby. I don't think King Yu will object. "

After hearing the reasons given by Xu Jie, Gao Gong was a little moved.

If it was someone else from Prince Yu's palace who went south, Gao Gong would still have doubts about his motives.

What's going on now? The identity of Prince Yu's heir has been confirmed. All the people in Prince Yu's palace are waiting for the court to reaffirm their positions. Chen Yiqin, Yin Shizhen and others will definitely be promoted soon. At this time, they were sent to the capital. It's definitely not good.

Gao Gong couldn't figure out whether Wei Guangde would be promoted, but he believed that Wei Guangde had the imprint of Prince Yu's Palace on him, and Emperor Jiajing could not have known it.

Gao Gong was still thinking about it. Xu Jie, who was opposite him, saw Gao Gong's hesitation and smiled: "Actually, there aren't that many things to consider. King Yu's identity has been decided, and the rest should be considered in the right place." control.

At present, Zhejiang, Fujian and Guangdong have gathered most of the troops from the south of the imperial court. With these troops falling into the hands of Hu Zongxian, neither His Majesty nor the prince will be relieved. "

Gao Gong was shocked when he heard Xu Jie's words. He had been keenly aware that there was something in Xu Jie's words, although he was not sure yet.

"What Mr. Xu Ge means is"

Gao Gong said hesitantly, but halfway through he didn't know how to continue.

"Lao Yan Ge will take up his official position soon."

But Xu Jie answered without hesitation: "If you think about the changes in the six ministers in the past two years, Wu Peng's position as minister of official affairs will probably be changed soon."

"Replace who?"

Gao Gong asked hurriedly.

Xu Jie rolled his eyes at this time, "How would I know who your Majesty will choose? We are only responsible for recommending, but we have no right to make a decision."

After listening to Xu Jie's words, Gao Gong smiled. Indeed, the Minister of Personnel is known as the Heavenly Official. Although he cannot control high-level officials, he does have great power over low-level officials, especially local officials.

Gao Gong asked such an eager question because he was naturally very keen on the position of Minister of the Ministry of Personnel and hoped that someone from Prince Yu's Palace could get it. Although among the officials from Prince Yu's Palace, he seemed to be the only one with this qualification.

The Ministry of Personnel, the department with real power.

"Tomorrow I will go to Shandaifang to talk about this matter. As long as he doesn't object, we will make a plan accordingly."

After getting the conclusion from Xu Jie that Yan Song might have been in power for a long time, Prince Yu's Mansion naturally became extremely enthusiastic about the military power in Jiangnan and had to fight for it.