The Prosperous Era of Longwan

Jiajing thirty-nine years

In Fujian, due to heavy government taxation and exploitation, and Japanese pirates plundering various states and counties, the people were in dire straits, and people everywhere rose up in resistance one after another. Among them, there are the Jiao people in Dabu, the boat people in Nanwan, the mountain people in Youxi, the miners in Longyan, and the refugees in Nanjing, Yongding and other places. The uprising of the most vocal Jiao people Zhang Lian and others, the officers and soldiers often fought every battle. defeat. The governor, Liu Tao, was overwhelmed with things to do, so he slaughtered the cattle and gave them to the revolting people to support the people in self-defense. The imperial court ordered him to be punished and arrested.

As Fujian Governor Liu Tao, the Fujian Censor, and the Prosecution and Prosecution Department's memorials were sent to the capital, the situation in Fujian once again came into the eyes of the capital officials.

In the Hanlin Academy, Wei Guangde and other officials staying in the academy gathered in the courtyard and were also discussing memorials from Fujian.

"Liu Tao evaded the important point and only said that the troops led by Tang Xiang, the magistrate of Longyan County, defeated the Feilong Army and killed Xiao Xuefeng, the leader of the army. However, he was vague about the previous peace talks and was perfunctory.

I think the rumor that Liu Tao sent pigs and sheep to people in order to prevent the traitor Zhang Lian from attacking the surrounding counties is probably true, which is shameful. "

Hanlin editor Lin Shizhang stood in the flower pavilion and said loudly.

He was the top candidate in last year's imperial examination and now has less contact with various forces in the DPRK and China, so he says whatever comes to his mind without fear of being hated by others.

In his opinion, Governor Liu Tao's behavior of sending cattle and sheep to Zhang Lian's rebels was no less than seeking the skin of a tiger, and he actually said that these people gathered to guard against Japanese pirates.

It's better now. People have ascended the throne and proclaimed themselves emperors and raised the flag of rebellion. At this time, they say that they were deceived by the rebels to gain sympathy. It is really shameless.

"Shi Zhang's words are reasonable. It was the misbehavior of these local officials that led to the civil uprising in Fujian. You must have heard that the people in Jiangnan have to bear not only the additional dispatch of Hu Zongxian, but also the increased number of handymen from the local government. Not only In Fujian, the whole Jiangnan people are filled with resentment."

The reason why the officials in the Hanlin Academy are clean-blooded is because they have no experience in local governance, so many things are relatively idealistic.

You cannot influence Hu Zongxian to send more troops. This is approved by the imperial court and the emperor. As local herdsmen sent by the imperial court, they should be considerate of the people under their rule and do everything possible to reduce local expenditures and miscellaneous taxes.

But they don’t know that only the appointed officials will know the difficulties of the party in charge when they actually go to the local level.

Local forces are intertwined, and if you are not careful, the decree may not be implemented. It is not that the local gentry dares to openly resist, but that people in the government will also have objections.

If their interests are not touched, they may still make peace with it, but once their interests are touched, they will adopt a non-cooperative attitude to fight.

Not all people are the noble and upright people mentioned in the book, they all have their own selfish motives.

At this time, the Hanlin officials were all discussing and talking about their own opinions.

Wei Guangde was also happy to sit and listen. Most of the people here were editors and editors of the Hanlin Academy. There were no bachelors involved, so they all spoke freely and felt no pressure, even if there were two Jinyi guardsmen beside the courtyard. in this way.

At this moment, Wei Guangde felt a gust of wind blowing beside him. Wei Guangde turned his head and looked over, and saw that someone was already sitting next to him.

"Brother uncle."

Wei Guangde hurriedly raised his hands and whispered.

The visitor was none other than Zhang Juzheng. Although I don’t know how he returned to the Hanlin Academy from the Imperial College, could it be that all the students in the Imperial College were on winter vacation.

"Shandai, are they discussing local ills again?"

Zhang Juzheng had just arrived, and the focus of the conversation had shifted to the local area. They were criticizing the exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes levied by the local government and accusing local officials of being corrupt and perverting the law. So Zhang Juzheng came here and listened to a few sentences and thought that they were talking about this. thing.

Wei Guangde shook his head slightly, "The matter in Fujian has now turned to criticizing local bad governance."

Zhang Juzheng nodded slightly to express his understanding.

After listening for a while, Wei Guangde suddenly remembered the letters he had received from Jiujiang a few days ago. One of them was written by his old acquaintance Zhu Shilong and Mr. Zhu. He said that he was reviewing his lessons at home and felt that there was nothing to learn in Jiujiang. He mainly wanted to solve some difficult problems. I couldn't find anyone to answer my question, so I planned to go to Beijing to study at the Imperial Academy next year and wait for the examination in two years.

After Zhu Shilong failed the examination twice in a row, he let himself go a little bit. Now he finally plans to pick up books again and pursue fame. This is naturally a good thing. According to his letter, he is also traveling with Duan Mengxian.

Duan Mengxian did not let himself go like Zhu Shilong did. He failed the examination three times in a row. This time he also planned to live in the capital to prepare for the examination. The reason for writing to Wei Guangde was naturally to ask him to find a place to live near the Imperial College.

It was just a simple task, so Wei Guangde naturally would not refuse and had already asked Zhang Ji to look at the house. Although the rent of houses around the Imperial College was not cheap, Zhu Shilong was also a wealthy person and would not care about the rent.

Now that the director of the Imperial College is by his side, Wei Guangde naturally plans to talk to Zhang Juzheng about this matter first.

It is naturally allowed for people to be admitted to the Imperial College, as they meet the basic conditions for students to be admitted to the Imperial College.

In the Ming Dynasty, Imperial College students were mainly divided into two categories: official students and people's students.

Official students were appointed by the emperor and included not only the children of officials at all levels, but also the children of chieftains and students sent by overseas vassals.

The people's livelihood refers to the handsome folk recommended by local officials and those who failed the examination.

Students who enter the Imperial College are generally called Jiansheng, among whom the children of officials are called Yinjian. Yinjian can be divided into official students and ensheng.

In the previous system, father and elder brothers were awarded official positions based on their merits, which was called the system of appointing sons.

This system was followed in the early Ming Dynasty, and it was stipulated that civil servants of the first to seventh grades could have a son inherit their salary. However, now, the threshold for asking for help has been raised, and only officials of the third or higher rank can ask for help.

As for ensheng, it was because the emperor sometimes granted special orders to allow the children of certain officials to study in the Imperial College, regardless of official rank.

Therefore, sometimes the imperial edict mentions "Yin Yizi" in the rewards for certain officials, which actually belongs to the category of Ensheng. After all, after graduating from the Imperial College, you can be awarded a low-level official position, but you are still an official after all.

Unlike the children who come from official families, Minsheng comes from ordinary people's families, and can be divided into tribute supervisors and juvenitors.

Jujian actually refers to those who failed the examination and went to the Imperial College to take tutoring. There are two ways out.

One is those who simply study in the Imperial College to prepare for the next examination, and enter the officialdom as Jinshi. Once these people succeed, their future will be unlimited, while the other group of people enter the Imperial College for the purpose of selecting officials.

When a scholar passes the provincial examination and becomes a civil servant, he is permanently qualified to participate in the joint examination and official selection. Sometimes, due to special needs, the civil servant will be directly awarded an administrative official position. Generally, this situation is mainly concentrated in the Hongwu period when the supply of talents exceeds the demand and the selection of officials is eclectic. .

Later, with the increase in the number of scholars, it became extremely difficult for these people to want to be officials as a juren, so the only way out for these people was the Imperial College. After entering the Imperial College, they went to the Ministry of Civil Affairs to wait for election after completing their studies in prison and being transferred.

Gongjian refers to the admission of tribute students into prison. Gongjian is divided into four categories, namely annual tribute, selected tribute, enggong and paying tribute.

These people are similar to the recommended students in later generations. The top students from schools in various prefectures, states, and counties were sent to the Imperial College in the capital to study, while the students with lower grades were sent to the Imperial College in Zhongdu.

However, the examinations for these students are also very strict, that is, Sui Gong students will undergo an assessment before entering the Imperial College. For unqualified students, the instructors, promotion officers, and students will be punished together.

Therefore, if a candidate in this period wanted to give up the imperial examination and become an official, he would need to go to the Imperial College.

Direct appointment of officials mostly existed in the early Ming Dynasty. By the middle and late Ming Dynasty, it became an exception and was very rare.

In principle, everyone should be admitted as long as they meet the conditions for admission. However, in fact, in addition to not rejecting those who come from the Imperial College, the Imperial College also requires some examinations for candidates to enter the prison, especially those from the south who are imprisoned in the Imperial College in Beijing. .

In order to facilitate the examination, many students were willing to stay in Beijing to prepare for the examination, which resulted in a decrease in the number of students in the Nanjing Imperial College and overcrowding in the Beijing Imperial College.

Although there is no need to go through the back door for Zhu Shilong and Duan Mengxian, it is still okay to ask the Secretary of the Imperial College to take care of them a little.

Wei Guangde whispered the situation of Zhu and Duan to Zhang Juzheng. Hearing that it was just to prepare for the next year's examination, Zhang Juzheng nodded and agreed, "They will come over next year and I will arrange it directly."

"By the way, why do you have time to go back to the Hanlin Academy and the Imperial College?"

After Wei Guangde settled Zhu Shilong's affairs, he asked casually.

Zhang Juzheng has now received a real commission. Logically speaking, he does not need to come to the Hanlin Academy. Even if the Academy wants to see him for something, they will only send someone there.

"In the first two years, Su Qing and I were rectifying the academic style of the Imperial College. Now the academic style in the prison has become much better. Naturally, I, the secretary, have nothing to do, haha."

Zhang Juzheng laughed at himself in a low voice. After laughing, Zhang Juzheng asked Wei Guangde in a low voice: "I heard that the imperial court may replace the Fujian censor. It is said that you may be called over. Do you know?"

Hearing Zhang Juzheng say this, Wei Guangde was moved in his heart, but he just pretended not to care and said: "It's good to be a censor. I heard that censors are still very prestigious when they go down to other places."

"You still want to go to Fujian to show off your power? Haha, the Japanese pirates there have been causing more trouble than Zhejiang recently, and there are also Zhang Lian and other rebels."

With that said, Zhang Juzheng pointed to a few people in the circle who were talking loudly and said: "If you go to Fujian, if you can't get rid of the rebels in the short term, you will become their talking point."

"It will definitely be difficult to defeat the thieves in a short period of time. Fujian is also a place with high mountains and dense forests. I am not very optimistic about the above-mentioned plan to suppress thieves within a time limit."

Having said this, Wei Guangde pointed to himself again and said: "As for whether he will send me there, it's hard to say until the decree comes down."

Although Fujian is coastal, it is not a plain. Instead, it is dominated by mountains and hills. There is a saying that "eight mountains, one water, and one farmland". The small area of ​​the plains is not conducive to the development of the planting industry. This was very fatal in ancient times. of.

"The Zhangquan prefectures are surrounded by mountains and seas, with few fields and many people, and the rice produced is not enough for the people." This is the ancient people's view of Fujian.

Therefore, Fujian people naturally turned their attention to the vast sea, using the sea as farmland and engaging in marine fishing and marine transportation.

Especially after the Song Dynasty lost control of the northwest and blocked the land Silk Road, long-distance ocean navigation was forced to become a viable alternative. Fuzhou and Quanzhou gradually became the starting point of the Maritime Silk Road.

Wei Guangde, who came from later generations, naturally knew the importance of international trade. It can be said that the rise of later countries was indispensable to international trade, but what about modern times?

Wei Guangde felt that this was still the case, not to mention that when he first became an official, he had thought of expanding the production of Ming Dynasty's advantageous industries, especially exporting large amounts of silk in exchange for gold, silver and food to deal with natural and man-made disasters that the Ming Dynasty would face in the future.

Therefore, Wei Guangde actually did not have much resistance to Gao Gong's plan to send him to Fujian, and it would be a good idea to go and have a look.

In his previous and subsequent lives, he had never been to Fujian.

As later generations said, "Without investigation, there is no right to speak" and the principle of "practice leads to true knowledge" has actually penetrated into Wei Guangde's bones.

"There is not enough time to suppress bandits. I heard people discussing it two days ago. If we suppress bandits, it must be completed before February of the next year. Otherwise, we will only fall short and the army will move to coastal counties to defend against Japanese pirates."

Zhang Juzheng obviously knew a lot. When he heard Wei Guangde say that it would be difficult to suppress thieves in the short term, he couldn't help but speak.

"Yes, the northeast wind blows at sea in March, April and May, which is suitable for Japanese pirates to land on the beach. The same is true in September and October. Although there are occasional Japanese pirate attacks in normal times, most of them are small groups of thieves. Unlike at this time, they may all be at once. Several groups of Japanese pirates are attacking."

Wei Guangde nodded in approval and said that he had a lot of time in the Hanlin Academy. Naturally, Wei Guangde had read many memorials submitted by officials and understood the actual situation of Japanese invasion in Zhejiang, Fujian and other places.

"If Shandai is really sent to Fujian, where should he go to suppress the thieves?"

Zhang Juzheng suddenly asked at this time.

During the last battle with the Anda tribe, Zhang Juzheng watched the whole process with cold eyes. He was able to get a lot of the latest news from his teachers Xu Jie and Gao Gong.

He was once shocked by Wei Guangde's analysis and countermeasures. Although it was not fully realized in the end, the outcome was good. The Ming Dynasty was able to regain a victory over the northern Tatars.

At that time, Wei Guangde proposed the strategic concept in the Hanlin Academy. At this moment, he wanted to find out whether Wei Guangde had a plan to quickly wipe out the Fujian rebels.

But obviously, Zhang Juzheng overestimated Wei Guangde. He didn't know the history of Zhang Lian and his group, so he was naturally at a loss as to how to destroy them.

Although he had no idea, since Zhang Juzheng asked, Wei Guangde couldn't help but spread his hands and thought for a moment before saying: 'As the saying goes, war is unpredictable. I don't know much about Zhang Lian's rebellion, and I couldn't figure out the idea for a while.

However, given the terrain in Fujian, it is necessary to plan thoroughly to exterminate the rebels. Either we will not fight, or if we want to fight, we must deal with them completely in one go. ’

In fact, Wei Guangde already had a suspicion in his mind. If he was really asked to go to Fujian to suppress bandits, he would definitely ask Yu Dayou to be the chief military officer and command the army.

With a super thug like Yu Dayou existing, it would be a fool not to make good use of him.

"Well, that's exactly what it should be."

Zhang Juzheng stroked his beard and nodded in response, then raised his head to look at the sky, "Shandai has a social gathering today, why don't we go out and have a drink together."