The Prosperous Era of Longwan

"In that case, what do you think of Master Shuda and Shandai?"

Chen Yiqin's words set the tone for the affairs of Prince Liao's Mansion, and Li Chunfang nodded in agreement.

"Now that the matter has been settled, I think it will be up to my uncle to draft this memorial, and then show it to Yifu and Shandai, and then submit it to His Majesty in the name of our cabinet."

Li Chunfang said.

"Okay, I'll trouble my uncle about this."

Chen Yiqin nodded and said.

"yes."

Zhang Juzheng also stood up and bowed his hands to Li Chunfang and Chen Yiqin, indicating that he had accepted the job.

However, no one knows Zhang Juzheng’s psychological activities at this time. After all, some things spread very well in Jiangling. However, in this era, there was no Internet, no various communication equipment in later generations, and the movement of people was very limited. Huguang is so big, it is impossible for everyone to know .

As for the capital city thousands of miles away, this is even more true.

None of the ministers in the cabinet knew about the unexplained grievances between Zhang Juzheng and the Liao Palace.

If Li Chunfang knew about it, he would definitely ask Wei Guangde to draft the memorial.

In Li Chunfang's opinion, with Zhang Juzheng's status and being in Jiangling, the Liao Palace should have a good relationship with the Zhang family.

Let Zhang Juzheng handle this matter. I think the words will be gentler and not so fierce. Maybe the things committed by the Liao King can still be lifted up high and put down gently.

As for Wei Guangde, he didn't know about the entanglement between the Zhang family and the Liao Palace. In fact, even if he knew, he would choose to stand aside.

The prince of Ming Dynasty is the parasite lying on Ming Dynasty, sucking the blood of Ming Dynasty all the time.

If there is one less vassal king, the local support will be reduced by one point, and the taxes paid to the court will also be increased by one point.

At the same time, the fields under the name of the Prince's Palace will also be confiscated as official fields, which is another income.

After talking about the affairs of the Prince of Liao's Palace, Li Chunfang picked up a memorial from the desk and said slowly to the surprised eyes of others: "This is the memorial sent by the Huguang Chief Envoy a few days ago, requesting that some of the dirty The fined silver is left to prepare for relief in disaster years."

Li Chunfang wanted to be a peacemaker, so she brought out the words she had talked to Wei Guangde before.

In fact, when Li Chunfang took out the memorial, Wei Guangde had already guessed what it was.

After Li Chunfang finished speaking, Yin Shizhen wanted to speak, but when he opened his mouth, he saw the corners of Wei Guangde's mouth moving slightly. Although he didn't know what he said, he was stunned for a moment, and then looked towards Chen Yiqin, and saw the corners of Chen Yiqin's mouth. With a smile on his face, Yin Shizhen remained silent in the end.

What Li Chunfang said just now was very tactful, but she pointed out similar memorials. Some other provinces have approved half-retention, and Huguang should not be an exception.

Li Chunfang set the tone, and the reasons were very sufficient. Neither Chen Yiqin nor Yin Shizhen could refute it.

Wei Guangde had long been persuaded by Li Chunfang. It can be said that the cabinet was unanimous this time. No one objected to leaving half of the dirty fine money in Huguang for disaster preparedness.

After that, Chen Yiqin talked about the memorial that he felt was a little tricky, and everyone quickly reached an agreement and decided on the cabinet vote.

After the things were said, everyone dispersed. Wei Guangde and others left Xu Jie's duty room and went back to their own rooms to continue working.

When the office was dismissed in the afternoon, Wei Guangde, Chen Yiqin, and Yin Shizhen left the cabinet and walked toward the palace gate one after another.

"Shandai, Zhengfu, are you free today?"

Chen Yiqin asked.

"Brother Yifu, are you planning to prepare a banquet for guests?"

Wei Guangde laughed happily.

"If the wine is good, I will be free. If the wine is not good, I will not accompany you."

Yin Shizhen also smiled.

"Come on, the fine wine I have been collecting for more than ten years, I wonder if it can be used by Zhengfu?"

Chen Yiqin answered with a smile.

"hehe."

"Ha ha."

A string of hearty laughter was left on the palace road.

In a place like the palace, which should be quiet and solemn, only they dared to joke like this.

When the guards and eunuchs nearby saw them, they turned their heads consciously and pretended not to see them.

Wei Guangde knew clearly what Chen Yiqin meant when he asked them to go to the banquet, but he still accepted it happily.

Some things need to be explained clearly, but leaving knots in your heart when faced with something. If this kind of thing is not dealt with right from the beginning, it is easy to create gaps.

Wei Guangde was not sure whether Li Chunfang had this intention in asking him to meet alone.

After all, Wei Guangde didn't believe that Li Chunfang didn't have any ideas after finally reaching the position of chief assistant, even though he said all day long that he wanted to find an opportunity to become an official because he was already satisfied.

But don't just listen to what the officials say, it's better to be wary.

The next day, when Wei Guangde was on duty, Zhang Juzheng came here with the memorial he had drafted. After greetings, Wei Guangde opened the memorial and read it.

However, just seeing the first evidence of the Liao king's crimes stated in the memorial made me suspicious. The following are the misdeeds of the impeachment of Huguang officials.

Yes, Zhang Juzheng did not make revisions based on the memorials selected by the Hong Dynasty. Instead, he made major changes in the order and directly placed the ambiguous issue of the erection of the Great Encyclopedia in the Liao Palace as the first item of the Liao King's crimes.

It is impossible for Emperor Longqing not to pay attention to this position.

Although the writing was a bit vague and did not prove that the King of Liao was guilty, when Emperor Longqing saw that the following ten pieces of evidence had been verified by the imperial envoys and censors, the first crime could easily be regarded as a crime in a subtle way. It's a done deal.

There was something going on between Zhang Juzheng and the King of Liao.

After Wei Guangde read the memorial, this was the first thing in his mind.

Wei Guangde clearly remembered that when he was nominated for the gold medal, in the first few letters he received from home, his father not only arranged for people to send money, but also wrote down all the people in Jiangxi Province who came to his home to send gifts and congratulations.

Several vassal kings in Jiangxi Province did not react much after the results of Wei Guangde's joint examination and palace examination came out. However, after he was appointed by Emperor Jiajing to enter the Hanlin Academy, their attitude changed drastically and they hurriedly sent people to send gifts to his home to celebrate. .

These results can be derived from the time of guest arrival.

That is to say, although Wei Guangde has entered the official career, according to the rules of the imperial court, they will not serve in their hometown, so they will not have much influence on the vassal kings of Jiangxi. They just have some say in the officialdom.

In addition, there is an inexplicable tacit understanding with Jiangxi officials, that is, to take care of each other's family members.

However, after being admitted to the Hanlin Academy, it meant that Wei Guangde had a bright future. Entering the Hanlin Academy meant that he could get involved in the Ministry of Rites and the Cabinet. This was not an existence that the feudal king could ignore.

Even if Wei Guangde failed to join the cabinet in the end, his experience in the Hanlin Academy made it impossible to say which of his colleagues would be the lucky one to become the current cabinet minister. With this relationship, Wei Guangde's influence in the court would be huge.

Therefore, two months after the Wei Guangde Palace Examination, the vassal princes from all over Jiangxi sent people to send congratulatory gifts to the Wei family. This was a remedy after knowing the news from the capital.

What's going on with the Zhang family in Jiangling Mansion? Doesn't the Prince Liao's Mansion, a local bastard, know?

Wei Guangde didn't believe it.

Writing so much is actually just an idea from Wei Guangde.

"In general, it is still written according to yesterday's discussion. I have no objections."

Wei Guangde smiled, but did not return the memorial. Instead, he read it again and then handed the memorial back to Zhang Juzheng.

With the memorial in hand, Zhang Juzheng was relieved of his slight anxiety.

What he is most worried about is actually Wei Guangde's opinion on the order of those crimes, whether to change it or not.

A memorial, as well as a blueprint, could actually be written in just a moment for him, but he delayed it for a day and only came up with the draft the next day, which shows that he also thought deeply about it.

According to the crimes Hong Chao selected them to verify, King Liao would not be severely punished, which of course he did not want to see.

However, it is difficult to substantiate the theory that the King of Liao was rebellious based on the establishment of the Great Envoy.

Then the only remaining way that would not reveal his true thoughts is to use psychological suggestion to make those who read the memorial acquiesce in their hearts that the King of Liao had rebellious intentions, but there was insufficient evidence.

Putting the King of Liao's decree first is one of the ways. Although there is not enough evidence to prove that the King of Liao has rebellious intentions, the subsequent crimes were proven one after another, and it was easy for Emperor Longqing to feel dissatisfied with the King of Liao. Minister's impression.

Although this matter cannot be used as evidence of treason, as Wei Guangde said before, whether he wants the punishment to be harsh or light for His Majesty's family affairs is just a matter of his thoughts.

The current emperor, who had just ascended the throne, would naturally hope to show some prestige.

He punished the King of Liao severely to prevent other vassal kings from having other thoughts, and then rewarded him with some gifts during the holidays. This was a combination of kindness and power.

Wei Guangde passed the test here, but that's not all. Next, he had to give the first draft of the memorial to Chen Yiqin to read, so he didn't stay in Wei Guangde's duty room for long before saying goodbye and leaving.

After Zhang Juzheng went out, Wei Guangde couldn't help but get up, slowly walked to the door, and watched Zhang Juzheng's back disappear.

Just before, Wei Guangde actually had an idea for a moment that he should raise the problem he saw, but then he thought of the conversation between Li Chunfang and him yesterday.

Saying this seems to be refuting Zhang Juzheng's face.

Since he wrote this, he must have a reason.

Judging from the contents of Hong Chaoxuan and Shi Duchen's memorial, the King of Liao, King Hui and King Yi were all in the same group. They were full of evil in the fiefdom and committed heinous crimes. Thinking of the people in the fiefdom who were persecuted by the King of Liao, Wei Guangde did not speak out.

No matter what the relationship between Zhang Juzheng and the King of Liao was, Wei Guangde still chose to acquiesce to this matter. The next step was to see whether Chen Yiqin had the same idea as him.

As he expected, Chen Yiqin also noticed Zhang Juzheng's little thoughts.

What Wei Guangde thought was similar. Although it was strange that the relationship between Zhang Juzheng and Liao King Zhu Xian was so bad, thinking of the people who had been harmed by the Liao King, Chen Yiqin just asked lightly: "What do you think after reading Shandai?"

"After reading it, Shandai only said that there was nothing wrong with yesterday's discussion, so he had no objection."

Zhang Juzheng smiled lightly and said, knowing that he could not show any emotion at this time, he was also betting that Chen Yiqin would consider the suffering of the people of Jiangling and acquiesce in this memorial.

Yes, Zhang Juzheng had already noticed it when he was going over the details last night.

He believed that at least one of Wei Guangde and Chen Yiqin would find something fishy in this memorial. He originally planned to revise it after someone brought it up, but then he thought of the evil deeds of King Liao in Jiangling.

Based on his observation, Wei Guangde and Chen Yiqin were both people who could not tolerate evil in their eyes, and neither of them had experience in local government, so they were not corrupted by money.

Apart from losing money and goods out of the capital, the officials in the capital showed their filial piety and did not personally exploit the people.

In this way, at least half of the official's heart is pretending to be the common people of the world, and the other half is of course his own official career.

The bigger the official, the more filial piety, but money is not what attracts them the most.

This may also be the reason why cabinet ministers in the Ming Dynasty rarely took charge of local affairs.

His teacher Xu Jie was a weirdo. He had offended the emperor and his first assistant and was sent away, which almost ruined his official career.

After returning to Beijing, he originally had no chance to get involved in the cabinet, but because he flattered Yan Song, Yan Song finally recommended the teacher to the cabinet in order to balance the power between the DPRK and China.

In the eyes of the old emperors, establishing a barrier between cabinet ministers and local forces would allow them to be less affected by local influence when they were in power.

At most, they can seek benefits for their respective hometowns.

There is more than one cabinet minister, so it is naturally the result of a balance between multiple parties.

In this way, they can safely hand over their powers to the cabinet.

The handling opinions given by these people, and then reviewed by the Supervisor of Ceremonies, will naturally be foolproof.

"oh?"

Chen Yiqin just raised his head and lowered his head again.

Similar to Wei Guangde, Chen Yiqin also watched it again after watching it the first time. Zhang Juzheng just sat there quietly without any movement.

"Okay, that's it."

After a while, Chen Yiqin looked up again and handed back the first draft of the memorial in his hand.

A smile appeared on Zhang Juzheng's face at this time. He took the first draft handed over by Chen Yiqin with both hands and said with a smile: "Then I will go down and copy it and polish it, and I will hand it to the palace today."

"Um."

Chen Yiqin nodded.

Now that neither Chen Yiqin nor Wei Guangde has proposed any revisions, Zhang Juzheng's goal has been achieved, so there is no reason to stay for a long time, so he immediately stood up and left.

Chen Yiqin also stood up and sent Zhang Juzheng out.

Standing at the door, looking at Zhang Juzheng's back, Chen Yiqin was a little silent. He didn't know whether Li Chunfang and Zhang Juzheng jointly led this incident in the Liao Prince's Palace.

At the banquet last night, he already knew the conversation between Li Chunfang and Wei Guangde, and also heard Wei Guangde's reasons.

The emperor upholds imperial power, while the civil servants uphold the power of the prime minister. Although cabinet ministers are appointed by the emperor, they are also representatives of the civil service group.

In the history of the Ming Dynasty, only a handful of emperors would completely ignore the opinions of their courtiers and arbitrarily select cabinet ministers.

Therefore, most of the time, the cabinet represents the interests of the civil servant group and is the key to the struggle between imperial power and prime ministerial power.

Of course, the Ming Dynasty only had a cabinet that assisted the emperor in making decisions. The prime minister had been eliminated during the Zhu Yuanzhang period.

However, in the eyes of civil servants, the power of the cabinet is actually the power of the prime minister.

This is also the reason why Emperor Longqing wanted to stuff his trusted officials into the cabinet. Only in this way could he fully control the power of the Ming Dynasty.

In the eyes of some civil servants, they represent the interests of the emperor and acquire power for the emperor.

Why was Gao Gong forced to leave? Almost no one in the civil and military dynasties spoke for him.

The courtiers are envious and jealous of these potential ministers, so they will never give up as long as they have the opportunity.

Wei Guangde may be right.