The Prosperous Era of Longwan

"What does the Ministry of Rites mean now?"

Gao Gong asked. He calmed down at this time and noticed that this matter was a bit strange, but it involved a cabinet minister.

It is absolutely impossible to say that Wei Guangde did not know these things before.

"The Ministry of Rites, based on the evidence that has been found so far, believes that this matter should be reported and the Zheng family's imperial edict should be pursued. This example cannot be made."

The butler replied in a low voice.

"It really should be recovered."

Gao Gong also supported the view of the Ministry of Rites and must not set a precedent in the Ming Dynasty.

Although this matter involves Wei Guangde, Gao Gong has just returned to the court and does not want to make enemies right away.

What happened the year before last year, although Gao Gong was later annoyed that Chen Yiqin, Wei Guangde and others did not stand up to support him at the critical moment, but thinking about the situation in the court at that time, he also knew that even if they came out, they could only reduce the hostility of some people, but most of them would not. Officials will still follow Xu Jie and fight against him.

In the end, I guess I still can't get a good result.

Forget it, just pretend that you don't know about this matter this time, and let them know the pros and cons when there is a chance in the future.

It only took two days for the Ministry of Rites to find out the causes and consequences of the conspiracy of Zheng, the concubine of the Duke of Wei, to seize the imperial edict. The person in charge of verifying the matter at the time did not conduct verification according to the system because he was under pressure from Yan Shifan. The matter was settled hastily and the document was written.

The next step was naturally discussed within the Ministry of Rites, but the matter was quickly reported jointly with the Ministry of Punishments.

When the memorial arrived at Qianqing Palace, Emperor Longqing was certainly impressed. Wei Guangde came to see him for this purpose a few days ago.

After seeing the memorial and knowing that the decree was controlled by Yan Shifan, I felt even more disgusted.

Well, to say how much Emperor Longqing hates Yan Shifan, you can know it by thinking about the injustice he suffered in Yu Zhuan.

As the emperor's son, in order to get his salary and annual gifts, he actually had to bribe ministers. Moreover, Yan Shifan said this in public back then.

Although no one dares to mention it now, who knows if anyone is still discussing this matter in private behind the scenes.

Forget it, the person had already been beheaded and continued to involve his family. Emperor Longqing would only do it when he remembered and got angry. After he calmed down, he realized that it was wrong to do so.

It is often seen in later film and television works that many crimes committed by ancient officials would harm their families. However, in fact, ancient laws also have clear boundaries for this. It does not mean that the officials are guilty and their families have been implicated.

In many cases, the family property will be confiscated due to crimes, but if the wife and children are not guilty, they will be released soon, and the woman’s dowry will be returned, but there may be a shortfall. After all, the hands and feet of the person who ransacked the house are not clean. There are What you have will naturally be returned, and what you don’t have will be gone.

Regarding the matter of the Zheng family in the Duke of Wei's mansion, the imperial court did not want to make a big fuss, so it only issued an edict to Wei Guogong Xu Pengju, but the Zheng family issued an order to take it back.

After being quickly approved, it was sent to the cabinet to draw up the edict, and it was handed over to the Secretary of Ceremony for his seal and was quickly issued.

Wei Guangde also read the drafted edict in the duty room. The edict was drafted by Gao Gong. Gao Gong entered the cabinet early this morning and officially started running errands.

Gao Gong's writing ability did not deteriorate because he had been away from the court for more than a year. At least Wei Guangde could not see anything wrong that needed to be revised.

He smiled at Zhongshu Sheren who sent the first draft and said, "This draft is very good and there is nothing wrong with it. Please give it to the Chief Assistant."

Wei Guangde signed his name at the end of the first draft and handed the document back.

"Yes, Mr. Wei Ge."

The Zhongshu took the first draft from Wei Guangde with both hands, agreed, and then quit the check-in.

The hidden dangers in the Wei Guogong Mansion in Nanjing have been completely eliminated. Although the father-in-law may be very angry after seeing the imperial edict, what can be done?

He doesn't take any part in this matter, whether it's a matter of reason or relationship. Is it wrong for him to help his uncle?

I just hope that my father-in-law can survive this, but don't get angry to death because of this decree, otherwise it will be very troublesome.

Although Xu Pengju died, Wei Guangde did not need to go to Nanjing to Dingyou, but his wife had to go back.

With the current condition of the canal, this trip is really tiring.

But no matter what, Wei Guangde was still very happy to resolve the matter so easily.

He wrote a note, called Lu Bu, and ordered: "Go out and give it to my entourage, and ask them to pass the note back to the house and give it to Madam."

This matter is not a confidential matter. In fact, when Gao Gong drafted the edict, many people in the cabinet had seen Emperor Longqing's edict, or note, and I believe it will be spread soon.

It's not a big deal, but it's not a small matter either. After all, the imperial court needs to send someone to apply for an imperial edict to a current Duke.

Under the current situation, it is certainly unrealistic for the Beijing Ministry of Rites to directly send someone there. The most likely possibility is to have Lin Fiao from Nanjing come forward and rebuke him.

At this time, on the Grand Canal, watercraft and merchant ships in the Huai'an area had completely blocked the river, stretching for dozens of miles.

Floods in the past were just temporary blockades of canals near the river, but this time the Yellow River burst its banks and part of the river water rushed into the Huaihai tributaries, causing the water level to skyrocket and making navigation difficult. Dozens of ships have capsized, killing and injuring countless sailors, many of them tank boats.

Nowadays, almost no ships can be seen sailing along the line from the Yellow River to the Huaihe River. Traffic from the south to the north has been cut off. Even if there is an emergency, we can only abandon the waterway and cross the border by land.

However, once we reach the edge of the Yellow River, we can only wait for the opportunity to see if any bold boatmen dare to cross the river.

Of course, crossing the river at this time is also risky, so the boat fee is also expensive.

In the turbulent river, a "small boat" was "sliding down the river" in the distance. The boatman was paddling hard, just to get the boat to the shore as soon as possible.

When crossing the river at this time of year, the boatmen bear considerable risks.

People die for money and birds die for food. They were also tempted by the merchants' high shipping fees, so they took the risk to accompany them.

Finally, against the turbulent river water, the boat docked, but now it was no longer a small boat, but a medium-sized ferry.

The merchants on the ship hurriedly disembarked. He was actually frightened when he was in the river. Now the ship docked, leaving the remaining fare and disembarking without stopping, not wanting to be delayed on the ship for a moment.

Although the boat docked, it was not stable. It was very scary to walk on the boat while it was rocking from side to side. Fortunately, a boatman helped hold his horse.

As soon as his feet touched the ground, the man turned around and took the reins, jumped on his horse and rode towards the capital.

He was the messenger sent to the capital by Xu Jie. He carried urgent letters from his master and did not dare to delay them at all.

If it weren't for the death order given by his master before leaving, he would have been unwilling to cross the river even to death. It wasn't because of the boat fare, but because it was just too scary.

On the boat, he felt the mighty power between heaven and earth. The boat was so small under his feet, and he felt that it would capsize at any time.

Being a servant is not a good meal, so I can only sigh in my heart while sitting on the horse.

The official document from the Ministry of Industry to Pan Jixun, Huzhou Prefecture, Zhejiang, had also been blocked by the Yellow River for several days. However, the flood was so strong that the messenger could only sigh in despair. He really did not have the courage to risk his life to cross the river to deliver the letter.

Someone had ventured across the river two days ago and succeeded, but he didn't have the guts to get on the boat now.

Dying here will not only delay the trouble, but it is also not worth it.

At this time, in the Yamen of the Governor of Water Transport in Huai'an Prefecture, the Governor of Water Transport Li Gong was also very anxious.

It's already October, and judging from this year's weather combined with previous years, the canal will definitely be unnavigable by the end of November, and now it looks like the flooding will continue for several more days.

In other words, there is not much time left for water transportation to finally rush to transport grain.

He doesn't care about the overturned canals now. He just hopes to deliver as much grain as possible to the capital, so that his responsibility will be smaller before the end of the year.

At this moment, footsteps sounded outside the house, and when Li Gong turned around, he saw General Fu Shi appearing at the door.

"Commander Fu, how is the situation now?"

Li Gong didn't have time to ask someone to serve tea, so he asked impatiently.

Fu Shi said dejectedly: "It's very bad. According to people familiar with the river, it will take at least seven or eight days for the flood to recede, and it will take at least ten days for navigation to resume."

Fu Shi really lamented his bad luck at this time.

In the first year of Longqing, he succeeded Linhuai Marquis Li Tingzhu as the commander-in-chief of water transportation. At that time, he was still very high-spirited.

Because the river had just been rectified, I thought nothing would happen in the short term. I felt that taking over from Li Tingzhu at this time was a big bargain, but who would have thought that it would only be like this in just two years.

Although he understood that this flood had little to do with water control. After all, the embankments broke in other places, but such recurrence at least showed that the current flood control strategy implemented by the Ming Dynasty was not effective.

He didn't know that after this incident, his function as a commander-in-chief would not be preserved.

"Ten more days."

Li Gong knew that he was in serious trouble as soon as he heard this. Although the capital would not be without food supply because of this suspension of shipping, and there were still many in the warehouse in Tongzhou, the court would not view the matter that way. They only cared about whether the water transportation was available. Complete this year's transfer mission.

"Send more people to keep an eye on the changes in the river course. As soon as it is navigable, I will send water boats over. All merchant ships will be blocked by me. No matter who they are, if they have dissatisfaction, ask them to come to my governor's office to complain."

Li Gong could only order like this at this time.

Although the two men were of the same rank, after all, the Ming Dynasty used culture to suppress military force, so Fushi could only obey his orders.

"Yes, sir."

Fu Shi hurriedly clasped his fists to accept the order.

He didn't want to get into trouble and wanted to continue doing it, so he didn't dare to neglect it at all.

But what he didn't know was that Li Gong was already thinking about how to pass the blame for the unfavorable water transport on him and let him take the responsibility.

Those in the capital all had to give generous gifts. As a governor, I didn't want to be dismissed by the court.

A few months later, the imperial court was indeed dissatisfied with this year's water transport affairs, but it only issued an edict to Li Gong, the governor of water transport, while Fu Shi, the general general of water transport, dismissed his post, and the Ministry of War selected Chen Wangmo to take over the post of general water transport soldier.

Of course, this is something for later, but at this time the two of them are still uniting sincerely and preparing to deal with the current situation.

In the capital, the official office.

"Congratulations to Brother Chuntai for your promotion. I'll book a table at Zuixian Tower tonight to congratulate Brother Chuntai."

"Yes, yes, I have already told you about Chuntai Brother Jiren Tianyou. Look, not only have you arranged the errands, but you have also been promoted to a higher level. I am very happy to congratulate you."

As soon as Cai Guoxi received his confession in the Yamen, a group of his peers and friends in the official department gathered around to congratulate him. Cai Guoxi smiled perfunctorily, but it was hard to say what he was thinking in his heart.

After all, he had gone to the official office many times, but he had hit a wall time and time again and never made any arrangements.

Of course he understands the tricks. After all, he is a capital official and a local official, and he knows as much as they do.

Originally he was the prefect of Suzhou, but today he was the deputy envoy of military preparations in Suzhou who came to the official office. Although he was still the fourth rank, he had improved.

The magistrate is in charge of the government orders of the government, and is in charge of all counties. He is responsible for announcing national government orders, governing the people, hearing and deciding lawsuits, inspecting traitors, evaluating subordinate officials, collecting taxes, and other government affairs. It is considered a place appointed by the imperial court. Parent Officer.

The full name of deputy envoy for military preparation should actually be "deputy envoy for organizing military preparations in a certain place", which belongs to the official position system of the Provincial Envoy Department. Therefore, Cai Guoxi's current official position is actually an official who regulates military preparations in Suzhou as deputy envoy for inspection.

Since both the prefect and the deputy military envoy are at the fourth level, why do they say that he has been promoted to one level this time.

Well, to put it simply, he was upgraded from a prefectural (city)-level official to a provincial-level official. His current position actually belongs to an expatriate official of the Nanjing Ministry of Justice.

There are Shuntian Prefecture in the Northern Zhili Province, and Yingtian Prefecture and Fengyang Prefecture in the Southern Zhili Province. The governors of each faction have separate jurisdictions. There are no three departments according to the thirteen provinces, that is, the Chief Envoys Department, the Inspection Envoys Department and the Capital Command Envoys Department. , but under the direct control of the six central ministries.

At this time, the Nanjing Ministry of Punishment actually exercised the power of the Inspector General. Cai Guoxi's current official position is the Deputy Inspector General. His responsibilities are to manage the military affairs within the jurisdiction of Suzhou Prefecture, supervise the local army, manage local soldiers, horses, money, grain and farmland, maintain local security, etc. .

Of course he knew how all of this came about, but it was not run by the people around him, but by his own mentor. His purpose in promoting him seemed to be to take revenge on the man who became an official, but so what.

Once the power is in hand, orders will be carried out. Only when you have power can you be called an official. Just being an official is of no use.

Besides, now that I have Gao Gong as my backer, will I still be afraid of people like Xu Jie and Zhang Juzheng?

As long as he manages his errands well this time and embarrasses Xu Jie, he will be promoted soon, and he will be able to join the cabinet in the future.

Feeling happy to accept the congratulations from around him, Cai Guoxi was also thinking about the remaining wealth in his mind, and planned to exchange all of it except for the meager income from his hometown into gifts and send them to his "mentor" to express his gratitude.

Of course Xu Jie, who was in his hometown in Huating, would not have thought that his old enemy Gao Gong would arrange this person for him to take revenge on him.

With the official release of the arrest documents, there was still no news of the discovery of the Xu family's children. Hai Rui was already angry.

He could only write more stern letters to the prefects and magistrates of his subordinate states, asking them to search for Xu Fan, Xu Kun and other Xu family members involved in the case within their jurisdictions. At the same time, he also sent personnel from the governor's Yamen to search various places.

Of course, the first choice of target is Songjiang Mansion.

However, after a fruitless search, he suddenly discovered recently that Suzhou Mansion, where his governor's office is located, is actually the place where the Xu family has huge assets. It is impossible for the Xu family to hide in Suzhou Mansion, giving him a "dark under the light" "Trick.

So, he skipped the Suzhou magistrate and began to secretly investigate the whereabouts of Xu Jiazi within the whole government.

As long as he can catch one, he won't be afraid of Xu Jie's disobedience. (End of chapter)