The Prosperous Era of Longwan

"After His Majesty's decree, I will resign and return to my hometown. Please be kind and take care of me when the time comes."

Ouyang Yijing opened his mouth, and when Wei Guangde opened his mouth, he continued: "If nothing happens, I will have to treat him kindly and deal with him again in the future."

"Brother Si Zhi, is this why you came to me?"

Wei Guangde frowned and asked with some displeasure.

Yes, Wei Guangde felt that Ouyang Yijing was looking down on him and felt that he could not protect others.

Although Gao Gong was trusted by Emperor Longqing, it did not mean that Gao Gong could do whatever he wanted when he returned to the court.

Seeing Wei Guangde's unkind expression, Ouyang Yijing also understood Wei Guangde's thoughts and smiled bitterly: "Shandai, I know what you think, but I don't want to implicate you in this matter.

You should understand what kind of person Gao Gong is. He will definitely find an opportunity to take revenge on those who impeached him.

After all, Gao Gong's relationship with His Majesty is deeper than yours. He entered Prince Yu's Mansion earlier than you.

Meeting him will only hurt your relationship with His Majesty.

How about I give in, resign and go back to my hometown, wait for a few years for things to calm down, and then seek a comeback. "

Hearing what Ouyang Yijing said, Wei Guangde's face looked a little better.

It is true that he can say that he is not afraid of high arches, after all, it is not as good as it was back then.

He was still just a small figure in the Hanlin Academy, but Gao Gong had already become an official, and even relied on the power of Prince Yu's Palace to win over many people.

Now Gao Gong's return to the court means joining the cabinet and becoming one of the cabinet ministers, and he is also a cabinet minister. Although his ranking may be higher than him for the time being, it will not last long.

After all, Emperor Longqing should trust Gao Gong more.

After all, what happened to Xu Jie last time caused the whole court to turn against Gao Gong. It seemed that Gao Gong was unpopular, but Wei Guangde knew in his heart that this also meant that Gao Gong became a lonely minister.

For the one who is superior, of course he prefers such a lonely minister, because it means that he has no chance and will not pose a threat to the imperial power.

Therefore, if Wei Guangde really fights with Gao Gong because of protecting some people, he will not have much opportunity and will only be at a disadvantage. Even with the support of Chen Yiqin and Yin Shizhen, at most it will give them a greater voice in the cabinet right.

However, the final decision was not made by the cabinet, but was submitted to the Qianqing Palace, where the ruler of the empire was.

There is a high probability that Emperor Longqing would choose to support Gao Gong instead of them because of the emperor's trust.

In the final analysis, the cabinet is just an institution that provides advice to the emperor, not the prime minister's office.

Constitutional monarchy.

At this moment, Wei Guangde had the idea of ​​limiting imperial power for the first time.

The power of the empire was transferred to the cabinet, and the ministers in the cabinet discussed and decided the fate of the empire. The emperor only had the right to make the final decision.

"Charity loans, what I'm talking about, do you think it's feasible?"

Just when Wei Guangde was lost in thought again, Ouyang Yijing's voice interrupted his thinking.

"Now that you have made up your mind and plan to return to your hometown, go ahead. It is estimated that His Majesty will not issue a decree to recall Gao Gong in the short term, so you can think again.

If you are willing to continue to be an official, you can come to me at any time, and I can arrange for you to go to the south, such as Guangdong, Fujian and other places to become an official. "

Although he agreed with Ouyang Yijing's words in his heart, Wei Guangde did not agree directly. Instead, he brought up the matter of letting him go out that he had previously considered.

Of course, the decision-making power still rests with Ouyang Yijing.

"I have been thinking about it for two days. In order to prevent you from fighting with Gao Gong, I'd better retreat first."

Ouyang Yijing obviously came here after careful consideration, and was not as anxious as he had shown before.

That night, Ouyang Yijing was drunk in the Wei Mansion. It was the servants of the Wei Mansion who helped him get into the sedan chair. Wei Guangde just stood at the door of the mansion and watched the sedan chair go away.

And on this night, countless officials also lost sleep.

When the Manchu Dynasty was in favor of Gong, nearly half of the officials petitioned to impeach Gao Gong.

How proud they were smiling at that time, how frightened they felt inside now.

When they first heard that Gao Gong was going to be recalled to the capital, many people just instinctively felt something was wrong, but did not think deeply about it.

But it was different now. Someone mentioned it, and it finally reminded them of the terrifying little guy, and they couldn't calm down anymore.

When he returned to the house, Zhang Ji whispered a few words in his ear, and Wei Guangde whispered impatiently: "Why haven't they left yet?"

After walking a few steps and thinking for a moment, he turned back to Zhang Ji and said, "Just say that I am very tired from working for days and have already fallen asleep. I already know about their affairs."

Yes, it was already very late, but there were still people visiting Wei Guangde, and as expected, these people were all officials in Beijing, people who were usually close to him.

It's not that Wei Guangde is killing the donkey and facing forward when employing people, and facing backward when not using people, but it is too unreasonable to worry that Gao Gong will retaliate against them now.

There were so many people who impeached Gao Gong, could Gao Gong take revenge?

It's nothing more than venting his anger on the leader among them, and maybe getting some severe revenge, but for the others, it won't actually be a big deal.

The law does not punish everyone and is applicable to all times.

Moreover, with the current rumors, Gao Gong would be much more cautious in retaliating against them.

A bad move will arouse panic and indignation among officials in the DPRK, and they will unite to impeach him again.

Ouyang Yijing was one of the people who was likely to be retaliated by Gao Gong, because he was the first person in Liu Keli to express his support for Hu Yingjia, and Hu Yingjia was the trigger for the political turmoil that broke out in the first year of Longqing.

In that fight, Liuke was full of firepower, spraying all over the high arch from top to bottom.

This was also the reason why Wei Guangde acquiesced in Ouyang Yijing's departure from the court, and even if other people followed suit at that time, it was actually not a big deal.

What's more, Wei Guangde had already prepared for this, and that was to arrange for Hai Rui to go to Yingtian.

When Yingtian Mansion breaks out and Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng start fighting again in the cabinet, they will probably be unable to deal with those political opponents in a short time.

Wei Guangde only met Ouyang Yijing tonight and ignored the others. However, Chen Yiqin, Li Chunfang and others were not so lucky.

A group of people came in and out of their mansion, just to find out the real news, and to accuse the villain Gao Gong and ask them to make decisions for them.

It can be said that although Gao Gong has not returned to the capital yet, the pressure brought by the name Gao Gong has made them truly feel it.

When Wei Guangde returned to the backyard, he did not rest directly as he said. Instead, he asked Zhang Ji to send people to Nanjing to find Xu Bangrui, and asked him to arrange for his servants to report what happened in Yingtian Mansion to the capital every few days.

Although this will delay some time, the current communication conditions are like this, and there is nothing we can do. At least we can keep track of every move in Jiangnan, especially the movements of Governor Yingtian and the person in Huating County.

After Zhang Ji left the study, Wei Guangde sat quietly for a while, thinking about the rumored incident that caused a storm in the city.

The more he thought about it, the more Wei Guangde felt it was not simple.

He could guess what the influence of rumors was. Based on the view that whoever benefits is the mastermind, Wei Guangde targeted the people who spread rumors to those who had offended Gao Gong the most.

There is no doubt that Zhang Juzheng was placed in the first position.

Although Zhang Juzheng did not directly break up with Gao Gong, his relationship with Xu Jie was there after all.

It was obvious that his teacher might be retaliated by Gao Gong. Zhang Juzheng would not remain indifferent and sent people to spread rumors in the capital as he intended.

This was Xu Jie's response. Wei Guangde really didn't think about him. After all, he was already an official and was thousands of miles away from the capital.

Even if it was his idea, it would be appropriate to write a letter asking Zhang Juzheng to do it.

"It's going to rain, and my mother wants to get married, let him do it."

In the end, Wei Guangde could only recite a line from a movie or TV series that he didn't know.

Gao Gong cannot be stopped from returning to Beijing, it is God's will.

But now it seems that Xu Zhang's faction has also begun to take action to protect the enemy, so it's better to sit back and watch the tiger fight.

On the second day, not long after Wei Guangde entered the cabinet to check in, Chen Yiqin sent someone to invite him over.

After listening to Chen Yiqin's narration, Wei Guangde only found it funny and asked, "Did Brother Yifu pat his chest on their chest and promise to protect them?"

When Chen Yiqin came to Wei Guangde, he naturally talked about the rumors and the fact that officials on his line visited the mansion to seek asylum.

"Who is Gao Suqing? Shandai doesn't know who he is."

When Chen Yiqin said this, he saw a figure flickering in front of the check-in door, and a figure had walked in.

"Brother Zhengfu."

When Wei Guangde saw that the person was Yin Shizhen, he hurriedly stood up and cupped his hands at him.

"Shandai, I even went to check in with you, and then I found out you were here at Yifu, so I came here looking for something interesting."

After Yin Shizhen and Wei Guangde finished speaking, they bowed their hands to Chen Yiqin and then the three of them sat down again.

"Zhengfu also came here because of the revenge rumor?"

Wei Guangde asked knowingly.

"A lot of people came to my house last night, and it's almost the second night and they still haven't left, ugh."

Yin Shizhen pretended to be helpless.

"Since Zhengfu is also here, let's discuss how to respond to this matter."

Chen Yiqin lowered his voice and said something.

"Yifu, it's not like you don't know that Gao Suqing is a big-bellied person, but he is just pretending to be big-bellied in front of others. He is actually a small-bellied person, and he will retaliate for his anger.

Those who have offended him will not be easily let go once he returns to the court. "

Yin Shizhen said with a wry smile.

"When he was impeached, didn't he tell the people below not to jump around? Are there many people involved?"

Wei Guangde said a little suspiciously.

"At that time, the situation in the DPRK was already like that, especially when the situation was finally decided. Some people felt that there was no chance of repetition, so they jumped out and stepped on it a few times. Only now do they know they are afraid."

Yin Shizhen said, "Where are you?"

"Yes, but there are not many people. They all came over later. How can I greet people who have done things before?"

Wei Guangde shook his head slightly and said, then he looked at Chen Yiqin and asked, "Brother Yifu, too. Seeing that the overall situation has been decided, he can't wait to jump out and step in?"

"At that time, among them, it was correct to support reverse arch. Those who dared to speak out against it would be isolated. Even those who did not express their stance would be looked at differently. What do you think would happen?"

Chen Yiqin also smiled bitterly. At that time, the three of them discussed restraining the people below and not letting them get involved in the inverted arch. Unexpectedly, when the end was about to end, some people could not resist the temptation and jumped into this vortex.

They don't participate in the reverse arch, that's because they all come from Yuzhuan, and they don't think there will be a revival of the high arch.

During that period, especially at the end, the restrictions on the people below were relaxed, and they were even ignored.

"hehe."

Wei Guangde just chuckled after hearing Chen Yiqin's words.

"Why, is there something wrong?"

Chen Yiqin asked in confusion.

"There's nothing wrong. At that time, I remember that only his disciples seemed to be able to stay out of it."

Wei Guangde said.

When Gao Gong was ostracized by the Manchu Dynasty, only disciples who were closely related to Gao Gong could not participate in expressing their opinions. Whether they supported Gao Gong or something else, most of them chose to remain silent.

Otherwise, they would be morally wrong if they supported the inversion, and they would be risking the world's disapproval by opposing the inversion.

Civil servants still have a clear distinction between love and hate, and can understand the dilemma of people like them.

And if others remain silent, they will more or less be subject to gossip behind their backs.

Of course, Yu Zhuan's people can stay out of it, and the court officials understand them.

"Then what should we do? Shandai, you have many ideas, please tell me."

Yin Shizhen said.

"We actually don't have to do anything."

Wei Guangde smiled and said: "Since these are the last opinions expressed and they are not the ones who stir up trouble, Gao Suqing probably doesn't have time to worry about these people.

If he really wants to take revenge on all those who participated in his impeachment when he returns to the court, the court will be empty. "

"The law does not punish the public? That's not true, Gao Suqing is not a person who is afraid of trouble."

Chen Yiqin frowned and said.

"Yes, if it's something else, Gao Gong should get to the bottom of it, no matter how many people are involved.

But back then, the whole court was in disgrace, so didn't he have any responsibility at all?

If he really wants to return to the court, he will take revenge. I am afraid that the whole court will fall for the second time, and your majesty may not be able to protect him and let him escape unscathed.

If he was wise, he would only retaliate against a few people whose names he remembered, and for most of the others, he could only beat them, scare the monkeys, and scare them. "

After Wei Guangde finished speaking, he became quiet and looked at Chen Yiqin and Yin Shizhen who were looking down in thought.

Wei Guangde's words reminded them that there were too many people impeaching Gao Gong, and he probably couldn't take revenge.

"Shan Loi's words are reasonable. He wants revenge. Then the court will really be empty and no government orders can be issued."

Yin Shizhen figured it out. Gao Gong would not be afraid because there were so many people involved, but he was simply too busy.

In fact, this is not punishable by the law.

"I've been taught a lesson, I didn't expect it."

Chen Yiqin also nodded in agreement.

In fact, it's not that they didn't think of it, but that they were surrounded by a group of people and confused their minds, and they forgot about it for a while.

As long as they quietly think about the consequences of full revenge, they will have the same thoughts as Wei Guangde.

At this time, in the counties and townships under the jurisdiction of Yingtian Shifu in Nanzhili, small officials in the yamen appeared. They followed the orders of the governor and went down to the grassroots to promote the "One Whip Method."

Hai Rui knew very well how the gentry manipulated public opinion, taking advantage of the people's ignorance and lack of literacy and sometimes deliberately misinterpreting the court's notices.

Therefore, when he was the county magistrate, he paid great attention to letting the people understand the function of a whip.

I don’t expect to understand everything, but I just need to know a rough idea so that I won’t be fooled.

Ying Tianfu started to perform a whipping technique under Hai Rui's prompting.