The Prosperous Era of Longwan

Emperor Jiajing frowned when he saw Wu Shan's memorial, but the expression on his face was very unhappy.

Huang Jin on the side naturally knew what was going on, and couldn't help but secretly wiped a cold sweat.

If Wu Shangshu had submitted the memorial yesterday, it would probably have had a greater impact on Emperor Jiajing. However, after communicating with the alchemists yesterday and reading the memorial sent by Qin Tianjian, Emperor Jiajing had already believed them. judge.

After all, Qin Tianjian, who is responsible for his duties in the imperial court, has the same view as those who have attained Taoism, so there is nothing to doubt.

Speaking of which, Emperor Jiajing felt that he had been worrying too much yesterday. When he saw the solar eclipse, he hurriedly beat drums to save the people. Now it seems that his work was in vain.

Therefore, Emperor Jiajing was still unhappy when he saw Wu Shan's memorial today. He did not believe that Wu Shan had not received the report from Qin Tianjian and did not know the situation of yesterday's solar eclipse.

But since he knew the inside story, why did Wu Shan still express his condolences, as if he wanted to educate himself? Or perhaps Wu Shan was just using this solar eclipse to express his dissatisfaction with the emperor.

Thinking of this, Emperor Jiajing's expression became worse and worse.

Not only Huang Jin, who was closer to the emperor, noticed it, but also Gao Zhong, who was a little further away, also noticed the emperor's dissatisfaction. They could only mourn for Wu Shan in their hearts.

Provoking the emperor's wrath will not end well.

Huang Jin and Gao Zhong already knew what happened yesterday through Chen Ju.

Wei Guangde had arranged everything, but he just couldn't bear it at Wu Shan's place.

In fact, all this may have been doomed from the moment Emperor Jiajing was about to pass Wushan Memorial.

After reading Wu Shan's memorial, Emperor Jiajing read the cabinet draft, written by Yan Song.

Looking at the draft, Emperor Jiajing knew that Yan Song had read the memorial of Qin Tianjian and knew the "inside story", so he criticized Wu Shan's words as evil talk and recommended punishment. The reason was also very simple, that is, Qin Tianjian would also be affected after the solar eclipse. Reported to the Ministry of Rites.

Wu Shanming knew that "you should eat but not eat" during yesterday's solar eclipse was a call from the emperor's virtue, but he still sent a rescue mission and reminded the emperor what to do after the solar eclipse. This was a hidden evil intention.

"It's obvious that it's a thin film, who am I to deceive you? I'm deceiving the heavens!"

Emperor Jiajing casually recited a sentence from Wu Shan's memorial, which was a refutation of Qin Tianjian's explanation of the solar eclipse.

"Your Majesty, do you want to criticize me?"

Emperor Jiajing put down Wu Shan's memorandum and handed it back to Gao Zhong. Gao Zhong didn't get a hint from Emperor Jiajing whether he would approve or reject it, so he asked cautiously.

Criticism of the red would naturally agree with the cabinet's opinion and punish Wu Shan, so the matter would be over. However, if rejected, it means that Emperor Jiajing is dissatisfied with the punishment proposed by the cabinet and wants to intensify the punishment on Wu Shan. punish.

Emperor Jiajing raised his eyes to look at Gao Zhong and said, although the displeasure on his face did not fade much, "Wu Shan is observing etiquette and there is no need to incriminate him."

Gao Zhong couldn't help but his eyelids twitched when he heard this.

The emperor dismissed the cabinet's opinion and did not punish Wu Shan, but listening to his words and observing his actions, it seemed that it was not that simple.

Only Huang Jin, who was standing aside, bowed his head and remained silent. He already knew in his heart that Wu Shan's official career was over.

Originally, Wu Shan, who was the Minister of Rites, had the opportunity to join the cabinet.

Wu Shan was an upright person and often caused Emperor Jiajing's dissatisfaction with his outspokenness. However, perhaps Emperor Jiajing also knew that such outspoken ministers were still needed in the court, so he never blamed him.

But this time, Wu Shan seemed to be using the solar eclipse to make insinuations about the emperor, and Emperor Jiajing finally couldn't bear it anymore.

If such a person enters the cabinet, I'm afraid it won't remind him of anything all the time, but will keep buzzing in his ears like a mosquito, which will also make him practice Taoism.

From the corner of his eye, he watched Gao Zhong take the memorial and return to his seat. He picked up a pen to comment on Emperor Jiajing's previous words. The memorial was put aside. Huang Jin secretly exhaled and only hoped that Wu Shangshu would be happy for himself.

Huang Jin didn't know what the outcome would be for Wu Shan. You should know that Wu Shan's previous Minister of Rites, Wang Yongbin, had wronged Emperor Jiajing by handling Li Mo's case, so he moved from Beijing's Ministry of Rites to Nanjing's Ministry of Rites for retirement.

However, it is good to be able to escape unscathed.

The matter seemed to have passed just like that. The sound of the chamberlain reading the memorial came from the main hall. Gao Zhong brought many memorials this time, but most of them came to congratulate him after knowing the copy of the memorial by Qin Tianjian.

After reading the last memorial, the gloomy look on Emperor Jiajing's face disappeared and he said with a smile: "Why do so many people think this is God's favor? Haha, but Wu Shangshu doesn't see it that way.

Are there any memorials to the Etiquette Department? Who is involved in the etiquette department’s affairs now? "

From the seemingly casual question, Huang Jin already understood Emperor Jiajing's intentions. It seemed that the emperor had already made up his mind.

After thinking about it, Huang Jin took a half step forward and bowed and replied: "Your Majesty, the current Etiquette Department is in charge of Li Donghua."

"I know, go down and ask him why he didn't take the book."

Emperor Jiajing said casually, then stood up and moved his limbs, "I'm stiff after sitting for a long time."

As he spoke, Emperor Jiajing walked towards the gate of the main hall, apparently going to the yard to stretch his hands and feet.

Huang Jin handed Gao Zhong a color and told him to find Li Donghua, asking him to get the book as soon as possible, while he quickly followed Emperor Jiajing.

In the early Ming Dynasty, the system of the previous dynasty was inherited and assigned to all matters, regardless of subject.

In the sixth year of Hongwu, there were six divisions of officials, households, rituals, soldiers, punishments, and work. Each of them was assigned to one person in Shizhong, who was in the seventh rank. The left and right Shizhong and the Shizhong were all in the seventh rank, and they were in charge of attendants, regulations and admonitions, and He made repairs and supplements, assisted the emperor in handling memorials, and inspected the affairs of the six ministries.

It enjoys the rights of "scientific copying", "scientific reference" and "cancellation". Cancellation means that imperial edicts and memorials are attached to the scientific records every day and sent to the cabinet for filing every five days. The executive agency handles government affairs within the specified time limit and is governed by six It will be canceled every five days after verification.

The Six Sections can also participate in "court discussions" and "court recommendations", participate in the formulation of the court's major policies, and supervise their implementation.

It can be said that the Six Sections are the tight spell that Zhu Yuanzhang put on the heads of the six tribes, a tool used to restrain the power of the six tribes.

Naturally, Huang Jin and Gao Zhong would not ask Emperor Jiajing what he wanted to do in the Etiquette Department.

Seeing the disappearing figure of Emperor Jiajing, Gao Zhongcai ordered the young chamberlain beside him: "Pack it up quickly and send all the memorials back to the Chief of Ceremonies."

After the chamberlain had packed up the memorials, Gao Zhong took them out of Yongshou Palace and walked directly to the gate of Xiyuan.

After leaving Xiyuan, Gao Zhong thought of Emperor Jiajing's instructions, turned to the chamberlain who was following behind him, and said, "You take the memorial back to the Supervisor of Ceremonies first, and I'll deal with it later when I get back."

After giving the instructions, Gao Zhong entered the Xihua Gate without looking back. Not far ahead was the Six Branch Corridor.

Li Donghua was a little unprepared for the sudden appearance of Gao Zhong, the eunuch and eunuch. When Gao Zhong entered the door, he hurriedly stood up and came to greet him.

No matter how proud the civil servants are outside and belittle the eunuchs in the palace at will, when they actually face the eunuchs, most of them appear to be very groveling.

"Eunuch Gao, what brings you here?"

Meeting Gao Zhong, Li Donghua said humbly.

Gao Zhong glanced at Li Donghua. He naturally knew him. After all, the Sixth Section was a very important department. The imperial decrees issued by Emperor Jiajing came out of the inner court and were sent to the Sixth Section for registration. In the past ten years, no one dared to refute it. It’s an imperial edict.

These were all problems that were common in the Hongzhi and Zhengde dynasties. Emperors generally would not get angry with ministers, but when it came to Jiajing Emperor, he no longer tolerated them. In the past few years, many officials were punished, and even the chief minister of the cabinet was killed at will. .

Gao Zhong glanced at Li Donghua, and said with a smile: "I'm asked to ask what's going on in the etiquette department. Is the corpse's place of vegetarianism still not worthy of morality?"

"Um?"

Li Donghua felt his eyelids jump when he heard Gao Zhong's rude reply.

Above, which one above?

In the inner court, Gao Zhong had only a handful of people with higher status than him. Who could he be called a superior?

The most important thing is, did you fail to do something well in etiquette?

Targeted by the top of his mouth.

"Eunuch Gao, please make it clear that I have made any mistakes or omissions in the etiquette department, but please correct them."

Gao Zhong had a bad tone, but Li Donghua didn't look angry at all, and still maintained a humble attitude.

"During yesterday's solar eclipse, both the Qin Tian Jian and the Ministry of Rites submitted memorials. The contents of the two memorials are completely different. Don't you, the Ministry of Rites, have anything to say?"

Gao Zhong said bluntly.

"That's it."

Li Donghua secretly said something bad. Although their Etiquette Department has the word "ritual" on it, it has little to do with the Ministry of Etiquette. Wu Shan, the Minister of Etiquette, really has no control over them, and even their job itself is to control the Ministry of Etiquette.

In the past, the work efficiency of the Ministry of Rites was monitored. For tasks that were delayed in completing the work, if the officials of the Ministry of Rites were incompetent, they would be impeached.

This time Gao Zhong bluntly said that after Li Ke presented memorials with different contents to the Qin Tian Jian and the Ministry of Rites, what opinions should he express and what opinions can he express?

Of course, he had read the memorials of Qin Tianjian and Wu Shan in the Etiquette Department, and Li Donghua felt very bad at that time.

But he was a bit afraid to get involved.

Impeachment of Qin Tian Jian is nothing, a powerless yamen, but does he dare to refute the content of Qin Tian Jian's memorial?

As for Wu Shan, impeachment can be done, but after all, he is a second-rank minister, and the things written in the memorial are really not wrong, so he cannot be impeached.

Based on this, Li Donghua originally wanted to be an ostrich, but he didn't expect that Gao Zhong would come directly to his door so quickly.

Without Gao Zhong saying too much, Li Donghua knew what Xiyuan meant.

In fact, from the time the memorial was sent to the palace in the morning, how long it took for Gao Zhong to arrive at his place, we can see how serious the situation was.

Emperor Jiajing must have hated Wu Shangshu, otherwise no one would have come here so quickly. It would have been Gao Zhong, the chief of etiquette, and eunuch Bingbi who came in person.

Say something, isn't it just to impeach Wu Shan?

However, if you think about it carefully, Li Donghua really can't find a reason to impeach Wu Shan.

"I wonder, Eunuch Gao, how did the palace give instructions?"

Without a reason for impeachment, Li Donghua could not write.

Fortunately, Gao Zhong is here now. He must know how Emperor Jiajing approved it. If he asks clearly, he can prescribe the right medicine and impeach according to the emperor's wishes.

"How else can I give instructions? His Majesty only said, 'Wu Shangshu is accepting the gift and there is no need to incriminate him.'"

Gao Zhong, who was sitting on the chair, raised his eyelids and glanced at Li Donghua. Although he knew that Emperor Jiajing was dissatisfied, Gao Zhong did not dare to speak nonsense when asked about the emperor's instructions.

"this"

Li Donghua felt a little numb. He could hear the emperor's dissatisfaction with Wu Shan's memorial from these words, but he said he did not blame him.

Thinking of this, Li Donghua looked at Gao Zhong again, a little unclear whether he came here under the emperor's order, let alone if he had a conflict with Wu Shan, he might be looking for an opportunity to punish him.

This is what happened to these eunuchs. An upright person like Mr. Wu Shanwu should have offended these eunuchs a lot. His Majesty was a little dissatisfied, so they found fault and wanted to make things worse.

Li Donghua still didn't show it on his face that he thought so. He was still at odds with Gao Zhongxu, but he made up his mind not to get involved.

When Wu Shangshu's memorial is approved, I will take a closer look and make a decision at that time.

As for whether to pass the news to Wu Shangshu, forget it. Wu Shan is famous for his bad temper in the court. Although his moral character is praised by others, few people are willing to make friends with him. It is really difficult to get along with him.

Since you can't be flattered, why bother licking your face and getting closer.

The next day, Li Donghua saw Wu Shan's memorial that had been criticized. As Gao Zhong said, the emperor was unhappy with Wu Shan, but he had no intention of punishing him.

Immediately, Li Donghua also threw Gao Zhong's message aside, thinking that the matter was over.

Because this did not involve Prince Yu's Mansion, Chen Ju naturally did not pass on the news to Wei Guangde. The only people who knew about the matter were only a few people who were in the palace at the time, and those servants were either attached to Huang Jin or Gao Zhong. , naturally no one will spread the news.

Li Donghua calculated well and thought that the matter of pretending to be an ostrich would be ignored. However, he did not expect that he would be called to the cabinet in just two days.

As soon as he entered the door, Xu Jie threw a memorial in front of him and asked him to read it for himself.

Li Donghua was very puzzled. He picked up the memorial and took a look at it, and he broke into a cold sweat.

The memorial has nothing to do with rituals. It is a memorial written by Zhao Dayou, the left minister of the Ministry of Justice, and Wan Wenming, the commander of Jinyiweidu, who were ordered to review the illegal affairs of King Zhu Dianmei of Yi.

The story of Yi Wang Zhu Dianhui's seizure of private houses and princess palaces in order to expand the palace had already spread among the officials in the capital. The governor of Henan reported an impeachment report, and Emperor Jiajing ordered the Ministry of Punishment and Jin Yiwei to jointly investigate the case.

At first, Li Donghua glanced at the contents of the memorial and felt strange. He had no relationship with Luoyang, so how could he show this memorial to him? Only then did Hong realize.

Emperor Jiajing approved the report of Zhao Dayou and Wan Wenming, ordered them to demolish the illegal buildings, return the captured women, and hand over the instigators. This was his opinion on how to deal with the incident of King Yi, but in the end he reprimanded Henan The Taoist censor did not report the knowledge, and accused Kedao of maintaining his official salary and maintaining his health.

The most terrible thing is at the end. It is clearly written that the Qin Tianjian and the Ministry of Rites have different opinions, and why the official did not participate in the order to complain.

After seeing this passage, Li Donghua completely understood Emperor Jiajing's intentions.

It is stated that Li Ke did not express his opinion on this incident, but considering what Gao Zhong said before, is there any need to say what Emperor Jiajing wanted?