The Prosperous Era of Longwan

Wei Guangde did not expect that Dong Yiyuan's letter was actually for his elder brother Dong Yikui to ask for an official position.

"Deputy Commander"

Wei Guangde was a little hesitant. Although Dong Yiyuan also said in the letter that his eldest brother respected him, Wei Guangde knew in his heart that Dong Yikui actually only respected his rights.

Relatively speaking, among the generals recruited by Wei Guangde, Dong Yiyuan actually has a very low sense of presence.

It was through his earliest contact with Wei Guangde and his obedience at the critical moment that he became Wei Guangde's subordinate. Otherwise, such generals with no achievements would be caught in large numbers in border towns and would not be able to attract his interest at all.

But precisely because Dong Yiyuan was the first general to surrender to him, Wei Guangde really couldn't completely ignore his request.

However, Wei Guangde is not worried about poor operation.

In fact, Wei Guangde already had concerns in his mind at this time.

During the New Year, there are not many palaces where Prince Yu's Mansion can come forward to send gifts, but at the Six Ministries and Nine Ministers in the capital, Prince Yu's Mansion still sends people to send New Year's gifts every year.

Wei Guangde had not paid much attention to this matter before, but if he really wanted to help Dong Yikui find a job, he would have to fight to go to the house of Yang Bo, the Minister of War.

Taking advantage of the opportunity of giving New Year's gifts, I discussed the matter with Yang Bo and tried to finalize it at once.

Thinking of this, Wei Guangde made up his mind. First, he would find someone to check what was going on in Xuanda University and whether the position of deputy commander-in-chief of the Xuan Mansion had been approved.

Secondly, of course, we have to talk to King Yu. Arranging the generals in Bian Town is not a trivial matter.

People like Dong Yiyuan, Ma Fang, and Yu Dayou seemed to be working for him, but all fools knew that what they actually valued was their status as members of Prince Yu's Palace.

If King Yu didn't know how to arrange such a big thing as Dong Yikui, he would be impeached by the imperial censor for having an affair with a border general in the future. This is a serious crime of beheading.

Thinking about what Emperor Jiajing said to him in Xiyuan when he came back from Baoan Prefecture, we can see that in fact, his little actions in private did not escape the surveillance of Jin Yiwei. It was just that he was in a low-key official position at the time, and Emperor Jiajing didn't care.

I don't care now, but in the future when I get promoted and become more powerful, it's hard to say whether Emperor Jiajing and Prince Yu will still view him this way.

King Yu has always been the real master of this empire.

Bullshit, Wei Guangde is actually thinking about this now. In the eyes of King Yu, he is just the liaison between him and the general. The general is too embarrassed to talk to him directly about anything, and he should contact him for trivial matters. , so that you won’t get burned in the end.

It's a good thing to be powerful, but I don't want to rebel, and I don't want to be in the ninth-five-year-old position, so why risk the disapproval of the world.

Since Dong Yikui had the intention to serve, of course it was difficult to give up his good intentions.

In fact, Emperor Jiajing still attached great importance to the military power of border towns, and was very cautious in selecting the general soldiers of each town.

The current system of border town governors, governors and general military officers plays a very good role in restricting each other, and it is difficult for anyone to have different ideas.

On the second day, after Wei Guangde got up and entered Prince Yu's Mansion, he and Yin Shizhen waited in the small courtyard to drink tea and chat to pass the time as usual. Prince Yu had not gotten up so early.

"Brother Zhengfu, have you assigned the task of delivering gifts to each family in the next two days?"

After taking some time, Wei Guangde inquired about this matter.

In the past, before Wei Guangde entered the palace, such errands were naturally not his turn. Chen Yiqin, Yin Shizhen and Li Fang were handling them. But today, he, Zhang Juzheng, and Tang Ruji will naturally be used.

"I told Eunuch Li the day before yesterday that according to the usual practice in previous years, the subordinate officials and chamberlains will send people there together. This also reflects His Highness's tolerance for them. Don't shirk the loan when the time comes."

In fact, the palace had already made a habit of doing these things during the Gao Gong period, and they just repeated them over and over again every year.

“There is no shirking responsibility.”

Wei Guangde said with a smile.

When he said this, Wei Guangde was actually just asking if there was any arrangement. If it was arranged, he would have to say it first. If it was not arranged for him to go to Yang Bo's house, he would have to change with someone first.

"When Eunuch Li comes out soon, we will discuss it together. There is not much time left before the Chinese New Year. Everyone who needs to leave should leave."

So Yin Shizhen spoke.

By the time King Yu came over, it was already getting late, so he must have rested very late last night.

King Yu likes to enjoy himself, especially the beauty. Wei Guangde heard Gao Gong mention it before, but he didn't take it seriously, but it has become more frequent in the past two months.

Although this kind of thing is done, it is actually beneficial to the heirs of Prince Yu's palace. It's really hard for them, the subordinate officials of the palace, to say anything.

In the past, Prince Yu had been honest for a while. It was because Gao Gong was there and because Princess Yu gave birth to a prince.

But things are different now. The prince died young and Princess Yu is gone. Prince Yu quickly helped his concubine Chen.

Chen was a commoner daughter selected together with Li Shi, the main concubine of Prince Yu. She was sent to Prince Yu's Mansion by Emperor Jiajing to be made a side concubine. After the death of the main concubine Li Shi, she was promoted to Princess Yu.

As the New Year approached, Zhang Juzheng and Tang Ruji took an errand from Yin Shizhen to go to the Ministry of Household Affairs to receive this year's salary and annual gifts. Yin Shizhen and Li Fang were also discussing the preparations for Prince Yu's Mansion for this year's New Year. Wei Guangde found an opportunity to communicate with Prince Yu alone. .

Naturally, Wei Guangde didn't want to talk too much about Prince Yu's private affairs. What he wanted to talk about today was naturally the matter of Dong Yiyuan's letter.

I briefly talked about the process of getting acquainted with Dong Yiyuan. King Yu had previously learned about the process of the Battle of Baoan Prefecture in detail, so it was natural to know who it was. It was the cavalry commander Qian who controlled the Xuanfu Commandery at the time. .

In terms of credit, Dong Yiyuan naturally deserves a lot of credit, otherwise Wei Guangde would definitely not have been able to take military power on that occasion, and there would be no Wei Guangde today.

At first, King Yu thought Wei Guangde was planning to talk to Dong Yiyuan and help him find an official position.

"Dong Yiyuan is good. He has vision and courage at critical moments. He is worth cultivating."

King Yu just smiled and nodded. In his opinion, it was enough for him to say so, and Wei Guangde could just watch the operation. After all, he was just a guerrilla general in Ji Town. Even if he was promoted, he would only be a general, and even if he wanted real power, he would be nothing more than a general. Operate to a certain road and be guarded.

"Yiyuan wrote to me yesterday, wanting to introduce his brother to your Highness's house."

Dong Yiyuan's letter asked Wei Guangde for help, but of course Wei Guangde couldn't say that here. He only said that he wanted to join Prince Yu's family.

"His brother? Is the Dong family the general of the border town?"

King Yu asked curiously.

Knowing that Dong Yiyuan was one thing, King Yu was not in the mood to inquire about their family background, he just asked casually.

"Your Highness, Dong Yiyuan has an older brother named Dong Yikui, who is the current guard general of Xuanfu East Road. He can be regarded as inheriting his father's legacy.

Their father was Dong Yang, the former Datong military general. Ananda Khan died in the battle when he sent troops to attack Dishui Cliff. Dong Yikui took over the family's hereditary military position and served as the commanding general. Later, he was promoted to military general based on his merits. "

Wei Guangde briefly talked about the situation of the Dong family and his son, and King Yu nodded.

No matter what, the Dong family has shed sweat and blood for his old Zhu family.

"After Zhongliang."

King Yu nodded and said, thinking of the meaning of Wei Guangde's words, he realized something: "He is already a staff general, so what he wants this time is to reach the rank of general soldier?"

"Your Highness Congrui, Ma Fang was previously guarding the Xuanfu West Road as the deputy general, Dong Yikui was guarding the east road as a general, and Ma Fang was guarding the Xuanfu east and west.

Now that Ma Fangjigong has succeeded Li Xian as the chief military officer of the Xuanfu, the position of deputy commander-in-chief of the Xuanfu has become vacant. "

Wei Guangde said.

"So Shandai, what are your plans?"

King Yu nodded slightly, one carrot after another, Ma Fang was promoted, and Xuan Mansion was short of a deputy general soldier.

This does not mean that each border town must have a chief soldier and a deputy chief soldier, but with this position, at least someone can take over at critical moments, so that after the general soldier's accident, the group will be leaderless and fight independently.

"When I go to Yang Shangshu's house in a few days, I plan to go there and talk to Yang Shangshu to see if the Ministry of War has made arrangements, but this must be approved by His Highness."

Wei Guangde said bluntly.

"Xuanfu is the northwest gateway to the capital. Dong Yikui can be stationed on Xuanfu East Road for a long time. I guess he will have many military exploits, right?"

King Yu asked.

"Relatively speaking, the west road is at the junction of Xuanfu and Datong, and the direction of Anda's attack is here. There are also a lot of wars on the east road, but they are all small fights.

It should be said that Dong Yikui's defense of Xuanfu East Road was quite effective. At least there was no major danger and the Tatars had not yet broken through. "

Wei Guangde couldn't brag. To tell the truth, Dong Yikui ate less after losing the battle, but he didn't win many battles, otherwise he wouldn't have been tepid on the east road.

King Yu was not stupid, and he naturally understood the meaning of Wei Guangde's words. He was a well-behaved general.

"I agree, you can do this."

King Yu knew that Wei Guangde naturally wanted to help when he said this.

It's just a deputy commander, so it's not a big deal.

However, as Wei Guangde said before, whether it can be done depends on the plan of the Ministry of War. If the Ministry of War already has a candidate, Dong Yikui's matter will be a bit troublesome.

"Understood. I'll test it out when I go to see Da Sima in two days."

When Wei Guangde saw King Yu nodding, he was naturally relieved, and then talked about this year's Aoshan Lantern Festival in the capital.

"Hey, don't talk about the Aoshan Lantern Festival. I only found out about it yesterday. You know about the Yongshou Palace being burned down. Do you know how to get away with it?"

Speaking of the Aoshan Lantern Festival, King Yu became interested.

"That night at Yongshou Palace"

King Yu told Wei Guangde all the information he learned from Feng Bao. Huang Jin had previously issued a hush-hush order, strictly prohibiting the cause of the fire from being communicated to the outer court.

Of course, those who should know knew, but they also pretended not to know. In short, the outer court only regarded the cause of the fire in Yongshou Palace as accidental, and there was no news that the fire was caused by the emperor's order to set off fireworks.

"Fireworks set off by Feng Bao?"

Wei Guangde stared at King Yu dumbfounded, and King Yu nodded while holding back his laughter.

Burning down a palace is not a big deal in the eyes of the royal family. Just burn it down and build a new one.

Feng Bao was sent to Prince Yu's Mansion. Although people in the Prince's Mansion were curious, they asked Li Fang privately. Naturally, Li Fang didn't know at first.

However, King Yu also wanted to see the fireworks yesterday, but he frightened his attendant Feng Bao so much that he hurriedly stopped him, and then he told him the reason why he was assigned.

Coincidentally, in less than two days, it was the day when Wei Guangde, on behalf of Prince Yu's Palace, presented a New Year's gift to Yang Bo, Minister of War, and the person Li Fang arranged to go with Wei Guangde was Feng Bao.

"Eunuch Feng, you are not an outsider. We all work in Prince Yu's Mansion, so we should get closer to him in the future."

On the way out, Wei Guangde also intended to have a good relationship with Feng Bao.

Now Feng Bao's rank has been lowered. Before, he was a warehouse ambassador of the fifth rank, but now he is only a long-term follower of the sixth rank. This is already the lowest rank among the eunuchs, and there is nothing left.

Unlike the outer court, the inner court of the Ming Dynasty also had separate positions and grades.

Although Huang Jin is an admiral eunuch, his rank is limited by the rules set by Zhu Yuanzhang, and he is only the fourth rank, which is the highest rank among eunuchs.

As for the imperial eunuch, he is only Zuo Shaojian, a fourth-grade eunuch, while Gao Zhong's rank is only Zuo Jiancheng, a fifth-grade eunuch.

This rank is somewhat related to seniority, but high rank is not actually important among eunuchs. What matters is what the emperor assigns you to manage.

Even a sixth-grade eunuch, if he is in charge of a popular yamen, has a strong say in the inner court.

But if you are a fourth-grade young eunuch, if you do not get an errand, but only get a position such as the general manager of a certain palace, then the right to speak depends on the status of the master behind him in the palace.

Although the eunuchs are not of high rank, because they are close to the emperor, as long as the emperor is coaxed, they will be given a lot of royal robes. With the imperial robes, naturally it does not matter what rank or merits they have.

These were also the real eunuchs of the Ming Dynasty. Most of them wore either flying fish suits or unicorn suits, and some even wore python suits.

They could ignore the requirements for the rank of officials granted by external dynasties. According to the distinction between officials from external dynasties, only a few people in the inner court were qualified to wear Feiyu uniforms, while others could only wear Qilin uniforms.

"Master Wei, you are serious. Just call me Feng Bao from now on."

King Yu valued Wei Guangde, and Feng Bao was certainly not blind, but he did not dare to show his face in front of Wei Guangde, not to mention that it was not an exaggeration to say that he was living under someone else's roof.

The real turning point in Feng Bao's life actually came when he was sent by Prince Yu to take care of the prince, the future Emperor Wanli, in the palace of Prince Yu.

Naturally, Yang Bo would not neglect the visitors of Prince Yu's Mansion and would greet them in person. The one he greeted was not Wei Guangde but Prince Yu's identity.

Entering the Yang Mansion, Wei Guangde asked Feng Bao to give him a gift list, and they all exchanged greetings and some stately remarks.

These are just courtesy visits, and the delay usually doesn't last long. Yang Mansion will also send someone to return the gifts later, but Wei Guangde has other things to do today, so naturally he won't leave soon.

"Da Sima, I wanted to visit you a few days ago. It's just that you are worried about state affairs, and Shandai is afraid that you will come rashly and disturb your rest."

"Haha, I welcome Shandai to visit me at any time. The national situation is difficult, and the Ministry of War often has some ill-thoughts. I very much hope that Shandai can give you some suggestions from time to time."

A few days ago, if it wasn't Yu Dayou's business, it should be Ma Fang's business. Yang Bo knew what was going on.

"Da Sima, thank you for your love. Now that Ma Fang is serving as the chief soldier of the Xuanfu, does the Ministry of War have a candidate for the deputy chief soldier he has vacated?"

They are all sensible people, there is no need for Wei Guangde to beat around the bush.

"Well, the Ministry of War has indeed considered it."

Yang Bo stroked his beard and replied, although there were speculations, Yang Bo did not say much, but just watched the changes.