The Prosperous Era of Longwan

Yuan Wei is really enjoying his time now. He moved from the Hanlin Academy and Zhan Shifu to the Ministry of Rites last year. The director of the academy was ordered to stay in the Ministry for only one month. Yuan Wei, who only stayed in the Ministry of Rites for one month, was transferred to the official position again. department.

His speed in joining the cabinet can be said to have made history. There is no official who can be promoted faster than him. Moreover, his official career is the standard path to the Imperial Academy, so others cannot do anything wrong.

The person who was most disappointed with this decree was actually Gao Gong.

Obviously, his movements were one step slower than Yuan Wei.

In terms of official promotion, every step is slow and every step is slow. This failure has actually destined him to lag far behind Yuan Wei.

That night, Wei Guangde heard some complaints from the drunken Gao Gongkou. He complained that Emperor Jiajing ignored the government affairs and was obsessed with practicing Taoism. He also complained that he spent less time on Qingci and wrote fewer excellent Qingci poems to please the emperor.

Thinking about it, Yuan Wei had been studying and studying in the Hanlin Academy before, and he was promoted from editor of the Hanlin Academy to bachelor of the Hanlin Academy.

A few years ago, Emperor Jiajing had intended to let Yuan Wei serve as a minister in the Ministry of Rites in Nanjing and take charge of the Hanlin Academy in Nanjing. Yuan Wei resigned from Shangshu and was willing to use his original official salary. Emperor Shizong of the Ming Dynasty was overjoyed and immediately promoted Yuan Wei to a bachelor's degree.

Over the years, Yuan Wei devoted his energy to Qingci and repeatedly presented excellent works of Qingci to win the emperor's favor. At this moment, the effect finally appeared.

However, Gao Gong only fell in love for one night. On the next day, Wei Guangde saw the same Gao Gong as before, still full of energy and devoted to the government affairs of the Ministry of Rites.

Wei Guangde knew that Gao Gong had once again set his sights on succeeding Wu Shan. The impeachment memorial forced Wu Shan to stay at home for a long time to avoid suspicion, and the countdown to his resignation had begun.

At this time, if the etiquette department was taken care of well, Gao Gong felt that he still had a chance.

As for the left minister of the headquarters, Kang Taihe, who is already old, may not be in much better health than Zhou Yan. He has also submitted a resignation letter. It is expected that Emperor Jiajing will not give him the title of Minister of Rites.

Therefore, now Gao Gong's only competitors are Yan Ne and Li Chunfang. However, considering that Li Chunfang has just taken over the Hanlin Academy for more than a month, it seems that there is not much chance, so Yan Ne is the only opponent left.

At this time, the news that Zhou Yan, the censor of Zuodu of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, was seriously ill had already spread among the government and the public. Wei Guangde also keenly felt that many officials from other provinces seemed to be gloating about this.

Two of the seven most powerful central government offices in the Ming Dynasty, the Sixth Ministry and the Metropolitan Procuratorate, may be resigned at once, and both of them are from Jiangxi.

This feeling is thanks to the fact that Wei Guangde was not from Jiangxi in his previous life. It is only because he is wearing a Jiangxi person in this life that he can vaguely feel this change.

Sure enough, I don't know if he got a hint, but Kang Taihe, the left minister of the Ministry of Rites, quickly submitted his resignation to Shu, and this resignation was quickly approved by Emperor Jiajing, "Kang Taihe, the left minister of the Ministry of Rites, was promoted to the minister of the Ministry of Industry in Nanjing."

Kang Taihe went to Nanjing, naturally, not to go around Nanjing because he wanted to be promoted, but to actually go to Nanjing to retire.

What surprised Wei Guangde was that when Kang Taihe received the order and was preparing to take office in Nanjing, Wu Peng, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, reported that there was a vacancy for the left minister of the Ministry of Rites, and asked him to fill it.

Just like the last time Emperor Jiajing issued an edict directly to Yuan Wei, Emperor Jiajing's instructions were very brief, "You don't have to be good at recommending, Yan Ne will be promoted to the left minister of the headquarters."

Gao Gong stayed put, and then the two people who moved out of the Hanlin Academy took off directly and became the left ministers of the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Personnel. In the eyes of many people, Gao Gong's career seemed to be in trouble.

In these short few days, Xiyuan continued to issue decrees involving the appointment and removal of high-ranking officials of the third rank of the dynasty, which seemed abnormal to Wei Guangde.

In the past, similar official positions were mostly postponed by the Ministry of Personnel Organization and asked to be appointed by Emperor Jiajing's imperial pen. But these times, it was Gan Gang's arbitrary decision, and it seemed that the emperor had already been prepared.

I don’t know what others think, but Wei Guangde thinks this way, and when chatting with Zhang Juzheng, Wei Guangde also noticed that Zhang Juzheng’s attitude towards this was completely different from Wei Guangde’s.

"His Majesty did not consult the cabinet on the appointment of the Ministry of Rites and the Left Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Rites."

Zhang Juzheng said to Wei Guangde: "At least my teacher was surprised when he got His Majesty's order, and so was Mr. Yan Ge."

At this time, Yin Shizhen was teaching King Yu in the study next door, and Wei Guangde and Zhang Juzheng were talking about affairs in the court. The topic naturally shifted from Gao Gong to the appointment and dismissal of officials.

"Does His Majesty have any plans to reorganize the Six Ministries and the Metropolitan Procuratorate? Maybe he already has a plan."

Wei Guangde threw out his own thoughts and wanted to see if Mr. Xu Ge and Zhang Juzheng had this judgment.

"Wu Shangshu must not be able to retain him. The positions of Zhou Yushi in the Metropolitan Procuratorate and Ouyang Shangshu in the Ministry of Industry certainly seem to be the case."

Zhang Juzheng directly named the officials who already knew that they were indeed incapable of continuing to hold the rank of minister.

"However, the candidate for Minister of Industry should still recall Mr. Lei Lilei to preside over the project. There is actually not much difference between being in the capital and going to Changping to preside over the imperial mausoleum project."

Zhang Juzheng was talking eloquently, but when Wei Guangde heard it, he didn't know whether these were Zhang Juzheng's thoughts or the opinions of his teacher Xu Jie, but these are not important, because Zhang Juzheng also judged this way, at least it means that he is not the only talent. I feel this way.

"As for the position of Minister of Rites and Zuodu Censor of the Imperial Court, who do you think is most likely to take the position?"

Wei Guangde followed the pole and asked.

Zhang Juzheng curled his lips, and then said with a smile: "Those four are probably the most likely ones, Yuan Wei, Guo Pu, Yan Ne and Li Chunfang, haha."

"Ha ha."

Wei Guangde also laughed, and after putting away his smile, he sighed: "I'm afraid Gao Suqing will be disappointed. My uncle is very quick in thinking. You might as well put more effort into Qingci Yiyi. Maybe it will come in handy at the critical moment."

Zhang Juzheng was cheerful, he heard Wei Guangde was teasing him.

After the news of Yuan Wei's change of officialdom came out, everyone in the official circles of the capital realized that it was only a matter of time before Yuan Wei entered the cabinet. From this, the outside world began to have a new title for him, "Qingci Prime Minister".

Correspondingly, the so-called "Four Great Talents" in the Hanlin Academy who were good at Qing Ci also began to spread. Before, this was just a private joke among those who studied the classics and history in the Hanlin Academy. Now they are out of the circle and making trouble. The entire officialdom in the capital knew that the four of them wrote Qingci well.

The dawn of Yuan Wei's entry into the pavilion has emerged, so naturally the other three will not be too far away.

"Qing Ci, Xiao Daoer."

Zhang Juzheng shook his head, "My teacher said that if they wanted to be promoted at that time, they had to focus on this Qing Ci, but for our generation, forget it."

Having said this, Zhang Juzheng glanced at the inner courtyard of the palace inadvertently and said: "This man in the palace is not interested in these things. If he really relies on Qing Ci to get to the position, I'm afraid he will not get good results when he gets it." ’

Wei Guangde nodded with deep understanding. Not to mention that these might be the future prime ministers of Qingci, Wei Guangde was very worried about whether the group of alchemists currently favored by Emperor Jiajing would be able to get a good deal in the hands of the new emperor.

Last year, Tao Zhongwen, the alchemist who had won the favor of Emperor Jiajing, Shenxiao Zifu Shanfan Baoguo, preached great martyrdom, preached Dharma, taught true loyalty, filial piety and Bingyi, passed away. Emperor Jiajing was very sad, and specially ordered a burial ceremony according to Shaoyuan Festival ceremony, with the special posthumous title " Rongkang Huisu".

In those days, Emperor Jiajing was very sad, but His Royal Highness Prince Yu was very happy and held banquets in the palace for several days.

Although he didn't say the reason, he just let the palace officials come to drink, but Wei Guangde also knew that it was because King Yu heard that Tao Zhongwen was dead.

Whether true or false, Tao Zhongwen's motto "Two dragons never meet" meant that Jiajing and his son had not seen each other for twenty years. It is strange that King Yu could not hate Tao Zhongwen deeply.

But today, Wei Guangde and Zhang Juzheng chatted about Qingci in court, which naturally had a purpose.

"I heard that Liang Menglong and Mr. Xu Ge were close to each other during the incident?"

Wei Guangde suddenly changed the subject and asked.

Hearing Wei Guangde's words, Zhang Juzheng immediately concentrated his energy and nodded, "He is also the teacher's disciple."

"I heard that this time His Majesty denounced Ke Dao for his official position and his salary to maintain his health in the review."

"Well, I heard that this is the case."

"Mr. Xu Ge didn't consider it and asked Liang Daren to follow suit and impeach?"

Wei Guangde and Zhang Juzheng kept mumbling in low voices as they asked and answered questions.

When I talked to Zhang Juzheng before, the emperor seemed to want to adjust the officials of the six departments. In fact, it was also a test by Wei Guangde. First, to see if his judgment was consistent with others, and second, that was today's purpose.

Nowadays, the only obstacle that can stand in the way of Prince Yu's family and Xu Ge's family is the Yan family, and the departmental officials, who have the most say among the six departments, have almost become Yan Shifan's voice because of Wu Peng.

Taking advantage of the power of the official department, the Yan family attracted many people inside and outside the capital to work with them.

Now that Emperor Jiajing intends to adjust the six departments, Wei Guangde feels that the Yan family's power in the official department should be eliminated.

But he was hesitant as to how to proceed.

However, after seeing someone using the Li Ke impeachment memorial against the Minister of Rites, Wei Guangde naturally thought of the Li Ke, and from this he also learned about the relationship between Liang Menglong and Mr. Xu Ge in the Li Ke affair.

"Wu Shangshu, there are not many impeachment memorials in any year, but his official position remains unchanged."

Zhang Juzheng heard the meaning of Wei Guangde's words, and he seemed to want to fish in troubled waters, so he copied the strategy of bringing down Wu Shan and wanted the Li Ke to impeach the Minister of Li Bu.

However, Wu Peng is different from Wu Shan. Wu Shan may not be impeached all year round. It is really because of his personality and there is no reason to blame him.

But Wu Peng was not. He was impeached every year, but he was as stable as a mountain every year, and he looked like a tumbler in officialdom.

"These days are different."

Wei Guangde smiled and said: "The lectures next door will be finished soon. You might as well ask Prince Yu and Master Yin to talk about it. If it is feasible, we can visit Mr. Xu Ge's house together later."

Zhang Juzheng nodded. He now came back to his senses and understood the meaning of Wei Guangde's previous temptation.

He had just talked about this matter with his teacher Xu Jie last night. Xu Jie also had his own judgment on the upcoming personnel changes in the imperial court, but he did not consider the position of Minister of the Ministry of Personnel.

In fact, if Wu Peng had not been impeached several times in a year, he might not even get used to it.

Xu Jie was also used to him being as steady as an old dog, so he really didn't consider him here.

But now, Wei Guangde suddenly mentioned Wu Peng, and Zhang Juzheng had to think about it seriously.

First, he knew that what Wei Guangde said before about Emperor Jiajing's rebuke of Ke Dao was true. In the past few days, many censors and ministers had written letters of impeachment. Anyway, they just impeached anyone who didn't like it. The emperor couldn't say it. I am taking care of myself.

Under this trend, it makes sense for the Li Ke to impeach the Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and impeachment of Wu Peng does not require collecting any evidence. It is enough to read out the previous impeachment memorials and revise them, and directly use the sentence "Justice has been blocked for a long time, and the virtuous will be defeated." "Zhi" to impeach the official department under Wu Peng.

The evaluation of "justice has been blocked for a long time, and the virtuous will be destroyed" is also the unified view of most officials today on the bureaucracy, so every impeachment memorial focuses on this criticism.

Another important reason is that Zhang Juzheng is still thinking about whether Wei Guangde's words at this time have the intention of spreading a message from the palace.

Zhang Juzheng knew that Wei Guangde had contact with the eunuchs around Emperor Jiajing, and they would often use people like Wei Guangde to convey some of the emperor's instructions that were not easy to make public.

Zhang Juzheng was not sure whether Wei Guangde came up with this idea or whether it was intentional in the palace.

However, after some calculations, Zhang Juzheng suddenly felt that it might not be a bad idea to impeach Wu Peng.

At this time of impeachment, no one can say anything wrong.

Everyone is impeaching people. If Ke Dao Yanguan does not impeach at this time, he will be maintaining his salary and maintaining his health, and he will be eating a vegetarian diet.

As for the outcome after the impeachment, if he succeeds and becomes famous, if he fails, he surrenders to Wu Peng. Does Wu Peng still dare to seek revenge at this time?

Everyone's impeachment is just a formality, just for Emperor Jiajing to see, why take it seriously.

What's more, even if it is true, Ke Dao is an existence outside the Three Realms and not among the Five Elements in the imperial court. If the officials really want to retaliate, and are not afraid of the joint impeachment of the entire Ke Dao, then it will really be a never-ending situation.

It is a bounden duty to impeach an official. If they are retaliated against because they are impeached, then all of them will be unlucky in the future, and they will be doing the job of offending others.

The folk rhetoric of "sweeping the snow in front of your own door and not caring about the frost on other people's tiles" does not work. It is just a way of fooling the people.

It seems that he is protecting himself, but he does not know that it is precisely because of this that he is exploited and exploited.

If you don't care about other people's affairs, why should others care about yours? The end result is that everyone is oppressed by the powerful.

If any official is retaliated against today, then the people he impeached in the past will also take revenge, and all the officials will probably suffer the same consequences.

We are all scholars and understand the truth, so we are more united on this issue.

As long as you give in once, there will be countless concessions until there is no way back.

Wei Guangde can also be regarded as one of the officials, at least until he handed over his post as censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate.

It's just that now that he has received a real job from Prince Yu's Mansion, he doesn't have to consider Emperor Jiajing's accusations against Ke Dao, but he has a deep understanding of the feelings of his colleagues.

About half an hour later, Yin Shizhen's class was finished. King Yu was reluctantly invited into the room by Wei Guangde, so naturally he wanted to discuss the matter.

At first, King Yu didn't feel much about impeaching Wu Peng. Now that King Jing has left, the pressure on him is not that strong.

However, Yin Shizhen was very interested. After repeated calculations, he felt that he could really give it a try, at least there would be no harm.

Prince Yu was thinking about things in his inner courtyard, and sat listlessly for a while, then said: "Since it's okay, let's do it. Shandai and Uncle will go to Xuge's old mansion for a walk."