The Prosperous Era of Longwan

Emperor Longqing may have been a little tired of being bombarded by the fatigue of these Tianke Taoist officials. This time he did not continue the previous peacemaker's practice, but personally issued instructions: The Ministry of Civil Affairs would reconsider.

Officers, isn't this just leaving Hai Rui's fate in Gao Gong's hands?

It seems that, based on Gao Gong's past behavior, it is very likely that Hai Rui will be allowed to stay in office.

This is the guess of most officials. Who doesn't know that the previous memorial to impeach Hai Rui for his incompetence will be evaluated as "untrue" as long as it is handed over to Gao Gong.

It was obvious that Gao Gong's intention was to support Hai Rui in investigating the Xu family.

Of course, no one in the court has mentioned the Xu family's lawsuit, and it's really unclear whether the person in the Qianqing Palace knew about it.

But at least, Wei Guangde felt that the emperor knew about this and took the initiative to leave the matter in Gao Gong's hands and let him make his own choice.

That means, Master Gao, if you want to take revenge on Xu Jie, then just go ahead and do it, save Hai Rui, and let him continue to investigate the Xu family's case.

It's just that Wei Guangde is no longer Chu Ge. Knowing the reason behind the emperor's transfer of power, he might not have wanted to test Gao Gong.

What Emperor Longqing wanted was, of course, stability in the court.

If the imperial court really takes action against Xu Jie, some veterans will not feel that the emperor is coldhearted.

Especially after the emperor handed over the power to the officials, a rumor suddenly spread in the court, that is, when King Yu was suppressed by King Jing, Xu Jie had many times risked the pressure of offending the Yan family and his son to help King Yu. In speaking, it can be said that we are an out-and-out "affluent" party.

Once the Xu family is convicted, there's no telling how much trouble there will be.

They all have their own little thoughts, and they all make little moves behind their backs.

At this time, Wei Guangde chose to stay out of the matter, not only for him, but also for Chen Yiqin and Yin Shizhen.

In the cabinet, when discussing issues, the three of them still maintained the attitude of advancing together and retreating together.

Under such circumstances, Gao Gong sometimes felt a little lonely in the cabinet.

Although he is still strong, he still insists on his opinion on the things he is determined to do.

Wei Guangde just thought about this in his heart, and he didn't tell anyone.

Even in his heart, maybe he wished that Gao Gong made a mistake and continued to support Hai Rui and let him investigate Xu Jie.

Perhaps after doing this several times, the old feelings in the emperor's heart should be cleared away.

However, as the old saying goes, "Nine times out of ten things go wrong in life." When the people from the Ministry of Civil Affairs sent the note to him, Wei Guangde was still a little disappointed knowing the result of the Ministry of Officials' meeting.

The result of the meeting of the Ministry of Personnel was different from what he and most of the officials in the capital thought. "The Ministry of Personnel responded to the discussion and said that Ruizhi has great talent but not enough, so it is better to grant him the rank of the two capitals instead."

"With great ambition and limited talent," this was the official's evaluation of Hai Rui, which seemed to agree with the officials' words that Hai Rui was not suitable for presiding over government affairs.

Wei Guangde looked at the note in his hand, and his little heart was beating like crazy. Did Gao Gong see it too?

This is his biggest doubt. You have to know that he is on the outside, so he may think of a lot, and Gao Gong is on the inside.

From the information on the note, we can see that the officials were also divided into two groups with opposing opinions, and it was Gao Gong who made the final decision.

After tearing up the note, Wei Guangde did not intend to tell Chen Yiqin and Yin Shizhen the news. He believed that the results of the official meeting would spread throughout the official circles of the capital in half a day, and there was no need for him to inform them at all.

What's more, although Chen Yiqin and Yin Shizhen were both gold-plated in the official department, it was impossible for no one in the yamen to communicate with them.

"Sir, Mr. Chen Ge's note invites you to come over for a banquet tonight."

At this time, Lubu outside the door came into the room and handed Wei Guangde a note.

Needless to say, Chen Yiqin must also know the news, so the three of them got together to discuss the reasons why Gao Gong made this move.

"knew."

Wei Guangde took the note, looked at it, and said to Lu Bu.

That night, at Chen Yiqin's house, Wei Guangde did not express his suspicions from beginning to end.

But it wasn't all about drinking in one night. Perhaps because Chen Yiqin and Gao Gong had known each other for the first time, they thought they knew him best, so Chen Yiqin expressed his thoughts.

"If my prediction is correct, Gao Suqing should have prepared a backup plan to deal with Mr. Xu Ge."

"Oh? I'm all ears."

Wei Guangde put down his wine glass and looked like he was being taught seriously.

One person is short-term, and Wei Guangde also wants to hear if there are other possibilities.

After all, what you think may not be right.

Sometimes, it is because you already have an idea in your mind and ignore other things that should be paid attention to, so there is a saying that "one person counts as short, two counts as long, and three counts as many".

"I asked someone to check. Since Gao Suqing moved into the Ministry of Civil Affairs, he has made adjustments to Jiangnan official circles, especially officials in Nanjing and Yingtian, and found that he sent a disciple to Suzhou."

As soon as Chen Yiqin finished speaking, Yin Shizhen couldn't wait to ask.

"Cai Guoxi, the former prefect of Suzhou."

Chen Yiqin replied unhurriedly.

"Cai Guoxi, what position did you hold before?"

Wei Guangde had never heard of this person, so he looked at Chen Yiqin with some confusion and asked.

"Cai Guoxi is from Beizhili. He was a Jinshi in the 38th year of Jiajing. Gao Gong was invited to participate in the examination that year and was Cai Guoxi's room master."

Chen Yiqin replied with a smile.

"You can't go wrong with a high-profile paper."

When Yin Shizhen heard that Gao Gong was Cai Guoxi's room master, he immediately seemed to understand and nodded.

"That means Gao Gong is impatient with Hai Rui's slow handling of the case and wants to speed up the interrogation of the case."

Wei Guangde also analyzed it as if he had just woken up from a dream. There had been news from Yin Shizhen before that Hai Rui was still exchanging letters with Xu Jie, and they were probably bargaining. It seemed that Hai Rui didn't want to break up with each other directly.

"Well, Hai Rui doesn't have many connections after all. I don't know that Xu Jie has already taken action to punish him in the capital, although both sides seem to be giving each other leeway."

Wei Guangde then sighed and said.

"Yes, Mr. Xu Ge didn't want to be stigmatized, so he thought of getting Hai Rui away. Hai Rui also didn't want to be called ungrateful behind his back, so he wanted to treat Mr. Xu Ge with affection and reason. .”

Chen Yiqin answered.

Since he would think of this, he naturally sorted out the events before and after. The name "Hai Qingtian" made Xu Jie a little shy when confronting Hai Rui.

"Where do you think His Majesty will move Hai Rui after receiving the report from the Ministry of Officials?"

But at this moment, Yin Shizhen suddenly asked.

"Nanjing."

"Grain storage."

Almost at the same time, Wei Guangde and Chen Yiqin both replied. Then they ignored him and smiled.

"Who will take over the position of governor of Yingtian?"

Yin Shizhen didn't pay attention to this, but continued to ask.

"Brother Zhengfu, do you want to recommend someone?"

Wei Guangde wondered.

"That position is not easy to do now. If you don't pay attention, the chance will be catastrophic."

Chen Yiqin also said that no matter what, Hai Rui had already established the case, and his successor must settle the matter.

If it is to protect the Xu family, it is likely to trigger a civil uprising. If it is to target the Xu family, then one must be mentally prepared for Xu Jie's full revenge.

"Moreover, Gao Xinzheng has deployed personnel there. It is not easy to calm down the matter."

Wei Guangde frowned at this time and said, "It would be fine if he chooses one of his to take over as governor of Yingtian, but if he arranges for someone else to do so,"

Wei Guangde suddenly lost his mind and thought of more things.

"Li and Zhang, probably not, and you have to ask him."

Chen Yiqin also took a breath at this time and was a little unable to speak.

As mentioned before, Hai Rui's departure is a foregone conclusion, but the mess he left behind is a hot potato that will be difficult to quell no matter who takes over.

The atmosphere instantly dropped to freezing point, and the three of them remained silent.

After a long time, Chen Yiqin said as if he had made up his mind: "Zhengfu, Shandai, no one here is suitable to take over the position of governor of Yingtian. It depends on whether you have a suitable candidate.

If Gao Xinzheng really has this idea, you must think of a way to deal with it and don't get burned. "

There are quite a lot of people behind Yin Shizhen and Wei Guangde, including officials from Jiangxi, many of whom are qualified to be governors of Yingtian.

"Now we are not thinking about whose family the flower will be, but what we should do if we sit on it."

Wei Guangde smiled bitterly and said that he had a hunch that Gao Gong was likely to put the Jiangxi people in this position. The purpose was self-evident.

Among Chen, Yin, and Wei, the one who poses the greatest threat to Gao Gong is actually not Chen Yiqin, the second assistant in the cabinet, but Wei Guangde, the youngest in the cabinet.

It can be seen from the number of times Emperor Longqing summoned cabinet ministers that Gao Gong came first, followed by Li Chunfang, Chen Yiqin, Wei Guangde, and then Yin Shizhen and Zhang Juzheng.

Although Wei Guangde did not summon as many times as Li and Chen, each time lasted much longer.

Moreover, Gao Gong also knew many secrets that Chen Yiqin did not know, that is, Wei Guangde often proposed some fantastic ideas to Emperor Longqing, and was one of the emperor's think tanks.

He knew these, of course, were many ideas proposed by Wei Guangde. Emperor Longqing would discuss them with Gao Gong, and some of Wei Guangde's secret notes would also fall into his hands.

In fact, being a cabinet minister is not as complicated as the outside world thinks. It can even be said that for all memorials, there are only about ten standard answers in the draft. If you use these standard answers, you will not make mistakes.

In fact, the most important thing for cabinet ministers is to have the emperor's trust, and to be able to give advice when the emperor encounters difficulties. Whether it is right or wrong, at least he can come up with a solution. Even if it is not adopted in the end, it can also be used as a reference. .

Many of the ideas put forward by Wei Guangde were actually not accepted by Gao Gong, but if you think about them carefully, you will find that they are very insightful and at least have merit.

For example, in the Ming Dynasty, Wei Guangde not only implemented a whip law, but also mentioned the idea of ​​"dividing a small person into an acre". This was beyond Gao Gong's expectation, because he never considered that the small tax borne by the poor was also a heavy burden. burden, and this money can actually be transferred to the fields.

The property owners pay taxes and the have-nots pay no taxes. If you really think about it, you will find it right.

Fields are the source of wealth. We are so poor that we have no fields anymore. We can only make money by working hard, so how can we afford taxes.

What to do, the three of them didn't have a clue after the banquet ended.

It is difficult to choose whether to investigate or not. Even if you use the word "drag", it will not drag on for a long time. After all, Hai Rui has signed a sea arrest document. Your people went to Yingtian Mansion. Do you want to take it back or not? .

The next day, the official memorial was delivered to the palace. Of course, the cabinet could not stop this memorial, and it had to be sent to the palace as soon as possible for the emperor to read and make a decision.

At the end of this memorial, Gao Gong also thoughtfully arranged two places for Hai Rui to go, one was the right minister of the Nanjing Ministry of Punishment, and the other was the Nanjing Grain Reserve.

Going to the Nanjing Ministry of Punishment means that although Hai Rui has been transferred away from Yingtian Mansion, he can still use the authority of the Ministry of Punishment to closely follow the progress of the case. This may also be the result Gao Gong wants most, so he puts him first .

Naturally, the Nanjing Grain Storage Censor will no longer be involved in the case. He only needs to check the major warehouses in Nanjing to check whether the quantities are correct.

Wei Guangde also smelled deep malice.

Wei Guangde really didn't know if there were any problems with Nanjing's warehousing, but he could more or less guess at the moral character of Ming officials.

If "Hai Qingtian" is responsible for this position, he is afraid that many dignitaries in Nanjing will scold him. If not, they will organize a group to go to Nanjing's first aristocratic family, Duke Wei, and ask them to find a way to drive him away.

When Wei Guangde saw this memorial, he immediately felt his head buzzing. He scolded Gao Gong for not being a good person, and wanted to offend him in a roundabout way.

If Duke Wei's government really wanted to deal with Hai Rui, it would be better to ask him for help.

Just imagine that even Xu Jie, who has become an official, doesn't want to confront "Hai Qingtian", how can he, Wei Guangde, do it?

Isn't this an attempt to taint his "clear name"?

Wei Guangde could not write anything shocking for such an uneventful memorial, so he could only submit it to the Holy See.

It should be said that at first, Wei Guangde did not realize that Hai Rui's transfer to the "Nanjing Grain Reserve" was so harmful. He just thought of it, but he couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat.

The meeting of the Ministry of Personnel led by Gao Gong naturally went smoothly in the cabinet and was quickly sent directly to the imperial court. Gao Gong was then summoned to the Qianqing Palace.

"I know Gao Gong went to Qianqing Palace. Go down and pay attention. Remember to inform me when Mr. Gao Ge comes back."

Wei Guangde was helpless at this time and could only give instructions to Lu Bu.

At this time, Emperor Longqing summoned Gao Gong and thought about it with his buttocks to figure out what was going on. He must have asked Jiangnan officials about adjustments.

What Wei Guangde fears most now is that Gao Gong directly recommends Hai Rui's successor in front of Emperor Longqing, although supposedly this candidate should be chosen by the emperor and the cabinet councilors.

After all, it was Yingtian Mansion, the focus of money and food in the world.

Politically, the number one government in the world is of course Shuntian Prefecture, but when it comes to economics, it has to be Yingtian.

Perhaps the emperor would not be so foolish and would not leave such an important matter directly to Gao Gong.

At this time, Wei Guangde, who was sitting in the duty room, could only comfort himself in this way.

Judging from how Emperor Longqing handled government affairs in recent times, it seems that he is not that confused.

However, Emperor Longqing, who was in the Qianqing Palace at this time, after discussing with Gao Gong for a long time, finally took up the pen and approved this memorial, "Transfer Governor Yingtian Du Procuratorate Youqiandu Yu Shi Hairui to the former governor of Nanjing Grain storage, promoted to governor of Baoding, Youqiandu censor Zhu Daqi was replaced by Youfudu censor." (End of this chapter)