The Prosperous Era of Longwan

"Sight."

Faced with nearly a hundred impeachment memorials, Emperor Jiajing made a decision after deep thought, and softly uttered two words.

Emperor Jiajing felt a sense of fear again for no reason.

If these memorials were scolding him for his devotion to cultivating Taoism, he would only be very angry. However, they are all about impeaching officials from the court to local officials for being illegal and incompetent. This makes him not think more about what happened to the country under his rule. Is it really possible? Are what these censors say so disgusting?

Emperor Jiajing has always been very conceited. He believed that he had managed the country very well during his years as emperor, so he devoted himself wholeheartedly to cultivation.

Yes, in the early Jiajing Dynasty, because he used low-level officials such as Mr. Zhang and Xia Yan, these people were familiar with the sufferings of the people, so they could often prescribe the right medicine and come up with some methods to solve the stubborn problems of the Ming Dynasty, so that the Ming Dynasty showed a new era in the early Jiajing Dynasty. look like.

Wise and strict inspection, strict control of officials, lenient governance of the people, rectification of the government, and reduction of taxes and servitude were also known as the "Jiajing New Deal" in later generations.

Also because Emperor Jiajing succeeded to the throne as a vassal king, when he first ascended the throne, he inspected the land that had been seized by his relatives and returned it to the people. He also reformed the system of hereditary titles for relatives and even restarted land surveying and small-scale land surveying. This series of reforms to correct the current shortcomings of the country, such as the extensive tax and labor reform, alleviated the already tense social and class conflicts to a certain extent, making the Ming Dynasty like a dead tree blooming with spring.

And because of the influence of his cousin Emperor Zhengde, he was full of distrust of the eunuchs. Whether it was because he truly believed what the civil servants said or because of his cousin's untimely death, he was unpretentious towards the eunuchs and treated them outside the country. Many restrictions were placed on his actions, which gave him a good reputation among the public.

However, after achieving these achievements, pride and complacency gradually controlled Emperor Jiajing's mood. He began to practice immersedly. The temptation of power was really too great. He wanted to live forever and have such rights forever.

In his opinion, the empire has been governed by him, and it only needs to run step by step until the 29th year of Jiajing.

But despite this, he was still unwilling to admit that he was wrong because of his pride.

The emperor is infallible.

Therefore, even in his heart, he began to have some doubts about cultivation, but in the face of opposition from the government and the public, he showed the same momentum as Yang Tinghe and still insisted on practicing.

But now, facing nearly a hundred impeachment memorials all at once, all of which impeached officials appointed by him, I felt panicked for no reason as I looked at the piles of memorials.

At this time, for the first time, he had doubts about the ability of his chief minister, Yan Song, to govern.

He nodded and agreed to all the officials, but what was the cabinet for, and what was the staff for food?

Looking at the memorial, thinking about Shangman's description, and imagining that the people below were managed like this, he thought of the rebels in Fujian, and then thought of what Wei Guangde said just last year. The people in Jiangnan were furious about the extra faction. A year of judgment.

What is a big deal for an emperor?

That would naturally affect the continuation of the dynasty. In fact, Emperor Jiajing felt more embarrassed about the Japanese pirates, and the Ming Dynasty was helpless against the Japanese pirates.

As for the Mongols in the north, as well as the rebels rising in the country, they are the enemies that really affect the unification.

Solar eclipse in early February, warning from heaven, Wushan.

"Turn out Wu Shan's official memorial, criticize him, and let him go."

Emperor Jiajing, who still refused to admit defeat, chose to be out of sight and out of mind, and let Wu Shan leave directly.

Before, his rights were only taken back, but his official position was not removed. He was still the Minister of Rites, but from this moment on, he was no longer.

When Huang Jin took out Wu Shan's official memorial that had been detained before, Emperor Jiajing asked Huang Jin to approve it directly, and then ordered: "You go with them to the Supervisor of Ceremonies to use the seal, and take them all away. I want to be quiet."

While speaking, Emperor Jiajing looked at the aging Yan Song.

"According to the order."

After Huang Jin answered respectfully, he called three chamberlains and followed him, Yan Song and Xu Jie out of Yongshou Palace, holding the memorial on the imperial desk.

"Master Chief Assistant, what happened this time? There was no news at all before."

Huang Jin asked in a low voice the question in his heart.

"I only found out today. Maybe it was because Mr. Zhou couldn't take charge of the affairs before."

When Zhou Yan was ill, his control over the Metropolitan Procuratorate was definitely greatly reduced, and most censors were thorny and prone to extremes.

Zhou Yan is naturally a good person, so he can convince his censors, but if he is not in the ministry, naturally no one can do it.

"I just hope Master Pan can be like Master Zhou."

Huang Jin glanced at Xu Jie inadvertently and softly uttered a sentence.

This wave of impeachment storm was very loud, and it basically satisfied the demands of the officials. When the news reached the outer court, the censors naturally celebrated. This was a major victory for them.

For the officials in the court, there is no doubt that they feel a lot of pressure. No one will feel relaxed when being watched by these officials.

However, no one knew that this impeachment storm directly kicked off the last major official adjustment in the Jiajing Dynasty.

But by this time, the yamen with the greatest influence was actually the Ministry of War.

Jiangdong was dismissed from his post, which completely failed some of the previous plans of the Ministry of War. They must find a trustworthy person again to take on the important task of clearing out the rebels who may arise.

With the development of the Ming Dynasty, it has become a common practice for civilian officials to control the army, and it is absolutely impossible to appoint a military general to carry out this task.

"Master Xu is now in charge of Ji Town, how can he be transferred to Fujian? What a joke."

"Li Wenjin is now the Governor of Xuanda and cannot be transferred. Who else has a good record?"

"Don't mention Tan Lun, we can't even finish the suppression of the Japanese pirates now, not to mention his current condition makes it difficult for His Majesty to agree to the order to seize love. I know that he is a fellow countryman of yours, so this matter is not a joke."

"What I want to say is Huang Guangsheng."

Listening to his two assistant ministers talking about qualified officials, Yang Bo also felt overwhelmed.

But at least, the senior officials of the Ministry of War now seem not to be optimistic about Hu Zongxian. Although officials from the Yan Party have praised him as a god, judging from the actual results over the years, it is difficult for Hu Zongxian to suppress the Japanese. Now he is asked to clear out Zhang Lian's rebels. , I’m afraid it won’t be easy.

So many taxes and fees were collected in Jiangnan to support hundreds of thousands of troops, but the Japanese pirates were still rampant. Yang Bo even doubted the rumors outside that most of the money collected went into the pockets of Hu Zongxian and Yandang officials. , otherwise the Japanese pirates should be beaten to death even if they were hit with silver coins.

Yang Bo never thought that Hu Zongxian could live among thousands of flowers without a leaf touching him, but seeing that Jiangnan might cause serious trouble, it was time to stop, otherwise he would really die without a burial place.

In fact, Hu Zongxian could also think of what he was thinking about, but he also had his own concerns.

Most of his subordinates were soldiers from various guard stations. These sergeants were not strong in combat and could defend the city, but it was difficult to annihilate the enemy in the field. The only ones who dared to fight the Japanese pirates in the field were the battalions trained by Qi Jiguang and Tan Lunxin, but there was no large-scale In actual combat, Hu Zongxian did not have the confidence to say anything that would win.

The current situation in the court, according to what Yan Shifan mentioned in the letter to him, must not be defeated, otherwise the emperor is likely to be replaced.

Therefore, after receiving the order from the capital, all he could do was to mobilize troops and try to block the way for Zhang Lian's rebels to expand outward.

Soldiers and horses were deployed in prefectures and strategic roads outside the mountains to allow the Ming troops to enter the mountains to suppress bandits. He did not dare to issue such an order. He was already considering whether to redeploy Guangxi wolf soldiers to Fujian.

At the beginning of the Japanese invasion, the Ming Dynasty deployed wolf soldiers to suppress Japanese invaders. Although they had good results, they were not impressive. Moreover, wolf soldiers were suitable for mountain warfare but not suitable for fighting Japanese pirates. Therefore, the wolf soldiers were soon gradually abandoned to suppress Japanese invaders.

Now it is necessary to redeploy the wolf soldiers, and it will take at least half a year from the time the order is requested to the time when the troops are mobilized, but the time limit given by the court is limited.

Hu Zongxian was in a dilemma in Zhejiang, but soon he no longer had the mind to think about it because large groups of Japanese pirates were already approaching the coast of Daming.

In the spring of the 40th year of Jiajing, there were nearly 10,000 Japanese pirates and more than 50 warships gathered off the coast of Ningbo and Shaoxing to detect the truth and wait for opportunities to invade.

However, it is no longer the past. The entire coastal state capital is full of loopholes.

Ningbo, which faces the East China Sea, has been built into an impregnable fortress over the years. Shaoxing is closer to Hangzhou and has a strong natural defense force. Further south, there are Taizhou Prefecture and Wenzhou Prefecture.

After being discovered by the Ming court, Hu Zongxian quickly sent Qi Jiguang to lead the recruited battalion to fight as a mobile force to quickly reinforce in the direction of Ningbo.

After the Ming army's movements were detected by the Japanese pirates, they quickly adjusted their direction and chose to go south to find their target.

Soon, they began to detect the situation in Taizhou Prefecture.

Taizhou governs six counties: Ninghai, Linhai, Huangyan, Tiantai, Xianju, and Taiping. It is blocked by mountains on three sides and coastal on one side. It stretches from Wenzhou in the south to Ningbo in the north. It has a coastline of more than 700 miles and is a key area invaded by Japanese pirates.

Previously, Taizhou Magistrate Tan Lun was good at defense, and he recruited thousands of brave troops as mobile troops to strengthen the resistance. However, at the end of last year, Tan Lun was promoted to Zhejiang Right Secretary-General and resigned. Now that the new Taizhou Magistrate has taken office, everywhere is still under control. I haven't sorted out the relationship, so I have a chance.

The Japanese pirates finally made a plan to attack Taizhou at sea, splitting their attacks and attacking together. They planned to turn Taizhou Prefecture into chaos first. If they succeeded in mobilizing surrounding officers and soldiers, they would immediately turn around and attack Ningbo again.

At this point, the Battle of Taizhou between the Ming Dynasty and the Japanese pirates officially broke out, but neither side knew what the battle would bring them in the end.

Beijing City, Xiyuan, Yongshou Palace.

The candles lit in the palace illuminated the entire palace brightly. Emperor Jiajing was sitting on the throne, with only Huang Jin standing next to him. Different from the past, a huge map was hung on one wall of the main hall.

It has been a few days since the last large-scale impeachment by officials, and Emperor Jiajing has also recovered.

Although the storm has passed, once some things are thought of, the impact will not be small.

The appointment of officials in the DPRK affects the whole body, and the replacement of officials often represents changes in government affairs.

In the past, at this time, he was meditating and practicing, but not in the past few days.

Although they were not practicing, Emperor Jiajing still closed the palace door tightly, as if he was still practicing. Only Huang Jin, who had been accompanying him, knew what they were doing.

In fact, when looking at the map from the emperor's throne, the things on it were not clear at all, but Emperor Jiajing still sat there staring at it for a long time. This may be because the emperor had his own country in his heart.

Suddenly, Emperor Jiajing, who had been silent all this time, asked: "Has there been any result for the information I asked you to inquire about?"

To others, this seemed like a lackluster question, but Huang Jin, who was familiar with Emperor Jiajing's behavior and habits, still knew the meaning of his words.

"Your Majesty, it has been checked."

Huang Jin took a small step forward and began to report in a low voice: "Most of the officials believe that Hu Zongxian has a cunning character and mediocre ability, and is not suitable for the post of governor of the Japanese suppression. He has been in office for many years, and the Japanese invasion in Jiangnan has continued as before."

"continue."

Huang Jin showed hesitation after saying something. Emperor Jiajing was naturally not happy, but he still said something calmly.

"Most of the officials who admired Hu Zongxian had close ties with the chief minister. All officials privately regarded Hu Zongxian as a member of the Strict Party."

"It's the Yan Party again. Then there's the Xu Party, and there's the Yu Wang Party?"

Emperor Jiajing was very disgusted with someone criticizing this party or which party in his court. The person who said this was actually accusing him of being blind and allowing evil villains.

Forming a party for personal gain was a serious crime in the Ming Dynasty. In the early Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang used this as a reason for his mass killings. As a result, major cases involving tens of thousands of people were all in the name of forming a party.

However, when the emperor said this, Huang Jin was horrified and fell to his knees in a hurry.

"Get up and continue talking."

Emperor Jiajing just glanced at Huang Jin and spoke again.

Huang Jin stood up and then continued: "As for Hu Zongxian's invasion and theft of military pay, it is mostly speculation by hundreds of officials, but there is no solid evidence. However, it seems that this is justice."

"Humph, corruption has become a common practice, what else can't be done?"

Emperor Jiajing snorted dissatisfiedly. Although he was disdainful of this, he had nothing to do.

When he took over Jiangshan, he discovered that corruption among civil servants was common and they shielded each other. As a result, he established offensive and defensive alliances.

And he can only investigate and deal with those who have real evidence, and he can only endure silently and turn a blind eye to the unspoken rules that have been formed in the officialdom for many years.

He spends money lavishly on cultivation, and he insists on asking for money even though he knows that the Ministry of Finance has no money. Part of the reason is this.

There is only so much money, and if he spends more, he can make these officials "greedy" and lose less money. This is another angry way of doing things for him as the emperor.

"Um!"

However, after he said these words, Huang Jin didn't say anything for a long time, and he couldn't help but turn his head and look over.

Huang Jin, on the other hand, frowned, seemingly trying to organize his words.

"Just say whatever you find out, and you want to deceive the emperor by hesitating?"

"Don't dare."

After hearing what Emperor Jiajing said, Huang Jin hurriedly defended himself and then said: "No one in the court was aware of anyone who wanted to replace Hu Zongxian, whether it was Mr. Xu Ge or anyone else in the court.

Most of them just criticized Hu Zongxian, but no one recommended anyone else. "

"This is strange. We want to overthrow Hu Zongxian, but there is no one to replace him."

Emperor Jiajing frowned and said casually.

"This is what I don't know how to say. It would be inappropriate to say that someone is working secretly, but many officials have this intention."

Huang Jin whispered.

"What the people want and what everyone expects is what Hu Zongxian has done!"

Emperor Jiajing couldn't help but smile.