The Prosperous Era of Longwan

"Uncle. Haha"

When Wei Guangde heard that Zhang Juzheng wrote a letter to Zhu Daqi, he was stunned for a moment, then smiled and shook his head and entered the backyard.

In Wei Guangde's eyes, Zhang Juzheng was looking for trouble for himself by doing this.

In fact, protecting Xu Jie was beneficial to everyone. Wei Guangde was worried that Zhu Daqi could not withstand the pressure from Gao Gong, so he gave advice.

Unexpectedly, Zhang Juzheng climbed up on the pole himself. It seemed that he had not understood Gao Gong's intention of recommending Zhu Daqi.

Just after the gate of Wei Mansion was closed, the sound of horse hooves hitting the ground was heard in the alley. A fast horse rushed to the gate of Wei Mansion and reined in the horse. Perhaps the movement was too big, and the hoofs of the war horse flew into the air. , the knight's body is almost integrated with the horse's body.

The knight on the horse was covered in dust, and it was obvious that he had traveled a long way.

After stopping in front of the Wei Mansion, he immediately got off his horse and hurried to the side door next to the main entrance before he had time to fasten the reins.

"Dong dong dong"

There was a rapid knock on the door. At this point, most of the people who had gone out in the Wei Mansion had returned, so the door was closed. The only way to enter was to knock on the door and call for help.

"Who's out there?"

After a while, someone asked from the door.

"Nanjing Wei Duke's Courier, please open the door quickly."

The knight outside the door replied loudly.

As footsteps approached, the side door was half opened, revealing a servant-like figure.

"Hey, it's you, come in."

As he spoke, he made room for his knight to enter, and then waved to a servant, "Go and take the horse to the side door and send it to the stable."

As the servants came out and led the horses away, the side door was quickly closed again, as if no one had been there before and nothing had happened.

At this time, on the road leading to the inner courtyard, the man walked quickly in with the messenger from Nanjing.

The two of them stopped in front of the inner courtyard door. Although the courtyard door was open, they also knew that they could not enter casually inside.

"Quickly go in and inform Madam that a letter has arrived from Nanjing."

The man said to an old woman in front of the inner courtyard.

The old nanny just glanced at the person behind him, nodded, turned around and went into the inner courtyard to report.

With the return of the messenger, the messenger was taken into the backyard. Soon, a piece of news spread in the Wei Mansion.

Xu Pengju, Duke of Wei in Nanjing, died.

Wei Guangde was informed by the maid when he was thinking about something in the study, and knew that his wife Xu Jianglan was heartbroken at this moment.

Although Xu Pengju was not kind to the brothers Xu Bangrui and Xu Jianglan, he gave them what they deserved. Except for the fact that he only wanted to pass the title to Xu Bangning, he did not treat them harshly.

So knowing the news of her father's death, Xu Jianglan's sadness can be understood.

Although there are some complaints about his father, family affection still prevails at this time.

Half of the people in the Wei Mansion were from Jiujiang and half were from Nanjing, so a sad atmosphere instantly filled the Wei Mansion.

Wei Guangde went to the main room in the backyard and read the letter sent by the messenger. He knew that a funeral was coming, so he asked: "When you set off, were the people from the Nanjing Rites Yamen also on their way?"

"They should arrive in Beijing one day late. I think they should arrive in the next two days."

The messenger lowered his head and shrugged his shoulders from time to time, looking very sad.

But whether it was sincere or not, Wei Guangde didn't want to explore.

"I'll write a post to Duke Ding's Mansion, and Duke Cheng's Mansion will also notify you."

Wei Guangde patted his wife who was still crying and said.

Wei Guangde was hesitant as to whether he should tell the palace or not. After all, it should be the Nanjing Yamen that reported it.

"Husband, I want to go back to Nanjing."

Suddenly, Xu Jianglan stopped sobbing and spoke.

"Okay, I'll let someone arrange it."

Wei Guangde did not stop him and agreed immediately.

After leaving the house, he called Zhang Ji and told him to arrange for his wife to go south to Nanjing, and asked him to pack up. In addition, he was asked to remember to send news to Xungui's mansion in the capital.

Come to think of it, every family will send people south to express their condolences.

Back in the study, Wei Guangde quickly put this matter behind him, because he was more concerned about the battle over the candidates for the Zuodu Censor in the Metropolitan Procuratorate.

Somewhat unexpectedly, in addition to Gao Gong who recommended Wang Ziqiang, the censor of the right capital of the Nanjing Metropolitan Procuratorate, Chen Yiqin recommended Zhao Zhenji, the left minister of the Ministry of Rites, and Zhang Juzheng recommended Ge Shouli, the former minister of the household ministry, Yin Shizhen also came to join the competition. It was lively.

Perhaps it was because the probability of Zhao Zhenji taking over as the censor of Zuodu was too low, and he also wanted to muddy the waters.

Anyway, when Yin Shizhen told Chen Yiqin and Wei Guangde about the person he wanted to recommend, neither of them had any objection.

Cao Bangfu, courtesy name Zizhong, was born in Caolou Village, Heze, Shandong Province. He was a fellow villager of Yin Shizhen. He is now in charge of the affairs of the Nanjing Metropolitan Procuratorate as Youdu Yushi of the Nanjing Metropolitan Procuratorate. He is half a rank higher than Wang Ziqiang, who was recommended by Gao Gong. After all, It's the chief courtyard.

However, Cao Bangfu was different from other members of the Imperial Procuratorate. In the first year of Longqing's reign in the Ming Dynasty, he served as the deputy censor of the left capital to assist in the affairs of the court, and later became the assistant minister of the Ministry of War in charge of military affairs. Not long after, he became the minister of the left and the censor of the right capital, and served as the governor-general of Ji, Liao, Baoding, etc. In military affairs.

Due to physical reasons, he was later transferred to the Nanjing Metropolitan Procuratorate. It can be said that he was a person who did things, but he dealt more with military affairs.

In fact, this matter was not a big deal to begin with, but what puzzled Wei Guangde was that Emperor Longqing summoned him alone this afternoon and asked him what he thought of Cao Bangfu, and he seemed to intend to use it.

It can be said that Wei Guangde cannot understand the recent series of operations of Emperor Longqing.

Could it be that the emperor planned to support Yin Shizhen and hand the Metropolitan Procuratorate into his hands?

But Wei Guangde had considered it many times before and felt that the best choice was to let Ge Shouli serve as the censor of Zuodu of the Metropolitan Procuratorate. After all, Cao Bangfu was more of a military and civilian official. Although he was in charge of the Nanjing Metropolitan Procuratorate, there wasn't much going on there. It can be done, which is considered a poor pension.

If this is a decree to recall the capital, Cao Bangfu, the censor of Zuodu, may not be able to sit still.

However, the funniest thing was that when Wei Guangde came back to the cabinet after leaving the palace and asked Yin Shizhen about it, Yin Shizhen actually said that he had not told Cao Bangfu about it yet.

In other words, it is still unknown whether Cao Bangfu is willing to return to the capital and serve as Zuodu Yushi of the Metropolitan Procuratorate.

At that moment, Wei Guangde pointed at Yin Shizhen, not knowing what to say.

"It's not like you don't know that Cao Zizhong is not in good health. He has petitioned for his leave before. If the decree is carried out and people are unwilling to come, what do you think we should do?"

"I just said it casually at the time. Don't tell me that His Majesty really meant this."

Yin Shizhen knew that Wei Guangde would not come here to talk about this for no reason, so he asked about it.

Wei Guangde talked about the conversation with Emperor Longqing in the palace, and asked Yin Shizhen to quickly send people news and ask others about their plans. It would be funny if a memorial was issued over there and he refused to give up. .

There are so many people vying for a position. If the emperor chooses someone and they still dislike it and are unwilling to take office, then it will be a slap in the face to a lot of people.

Now in the cabinet, Li Chunfang and Wei Guangde have not nominated candidates for Zuodu Yushi of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and the competition is really fierce.

On the second day, Emperor Longqing summoned other cabinet ministers one after another. Wei Guangde didn't know what they talked about, but it was probably related to Cao Bangfu. After all, Gao Gong and others didn't look very good when they came back.

However, the Ministry of Rites finally received the news from Nanjing and hurriedly sent the news to the palace.

Xu Pengju attacked the title in the thirteenth year of Zhengde and guarded Nanjing for sixteen years. He took charge of the affairs of the military governor's office and enshrined Xiaoling.

Emperor Longqing certainly did not agree with the memorial submitted to the Duke of Wei's palace that Xu Bangrui resigned from the funeral and offered sacrifices for his posthumous title in accordance with Xu Pengju's last order. He ordered the Ministry of Rites to offer sacrifices in accordance with the sixteen altars of the Huidian Gonghou Sacrifice.

After Xu Jianglan left for Nanjing to express condolences, Wei Guangde also received a reply from Nanjing Cao Bangfu in the cabinet. As expected, he firmly resigned and was unwilling to serve as the official post of Zuodu Yushi of the Metropolitan Procuratorate.

"What should I do?"

Yin Shizhen is feeling dizzy now, because the news that Emperor Longqing intends to let Cao Bangfu take over as the censor of Zuodu has spread throughout the capital for some reason. It can only be said that the palace is a big sieve, and no news can be blocked.

"According to the reply, his memorial begging for leave should arrive in the capital within two days. You should think of a way to solve the trouble at hand."

After getting the reply, Yin Shizhen first went to Chen Yiqin, and then the two of them went to Wei Guangde's room to discuss the matter.

"This is really true"

Wei Guangde was also scratching his head. The main reason was that the news that the emperor was going to promote him had already spread. It would be a slap in the face to submit a memorial to him at this time.

Those who knew understood that this was because Cao Bangfu knew about his health, while those who didn't knew thought it was because he had complaints against the emperor.

Fortunately, he was from the Metropolitan Procuratorate after all, so the Kedao Yanguan would not impeach him for this.

Now we have to find a place to place Cao Bangfu. It won't work if we just pretend that nothing happened.

"He served as governor of Jiliao and knows military affairs."

Wei Guangde recalled Cao Bangfu's experience as an official, just because he wanted to find a suitable official position.

Not to mention, I really thought of an official position for him that could solve the current troubles.

"I remember that a few days ago, Wei Ti and Shang Deheng, the officials of the Department of Science and Technology, renewed their military affairs. Please urgently recommend me to be the associate minister.

Chen Yujie, the imperial censor of Huguang Road, also reported to the camp that the generals in the camp have not been his own for several years and have become extremely weak. However, if they are not carefully selected, they are still dandy. Therefore, if they are mediocre and cowardly, they will be abused, and it will be difficult for the camp to change. In the end, the training has no actual effect. I beg for comparison with recent examples, so that everyone in science and technology can use their own talents. "

Wei Guangde's words made Chen Yiqin and Yin Shizhen a little confused for a moment, not understanding what Wei Guangde meant.

Wei Guangde looked at the expressions of the two people and smiled: "There were officials who impeached Huo Yi before, but it was actually because of the changes in the Beijing camp. At that time, Huo Yi insisted on staying the same. Although His Majesty did not allow Huo Yi to resign, the three camps There is also no appointment to the post of inspection officer.”

The inspector is actually the original associate director, the official responsible for supervising the training of the Beijing camp. In the past, he was served by the minister of the Ministry of war or the right envoy of the capital.

"What do you mean, let Cao Bangfu be the admiral of the capital camp?"

According to the current discussions between the cabinet and the Ministry of War, Jingying has once again changed its military system, establishing the post of civilian supervisor to supervise the various armies in Jingying, and abolishing the original assistant commander of Jingying's military affairs.

The admiral is naturally one level higher than the associate minister. Whether Cao Bangfu is transferred from his post to be the admiral of Jingying or he is promoted to the imperial censor of Zuodu to be the admiral of Jingying, it seems to make sense.

"Admiral Jingying is fine. If Huo Yi resigns, he can take over."

Yin Shizhen stroked his beard and nodded with a smile. He thought it would be a good idea to transfer someone to the capital camp. He could look at the Ministry of War and fill the vacancies once they became available.

"Haha, you still want someone to run the Ministry of War. Is the Metropolitan Procuratorate worse than the Ministry of War?"

Wei Guangde shook his head and laughed.

"We will discuss this matter with Your Majesty after Cao Bangfu's memorial arrives in two days. It seems that there will be no obstacles for Ge Shouli to become the censor of Zuodu."

Chen Yiqin also smiled.

He turned to Yin Shizhen and said, "Next time you recommend someone, talk to them first to avoid what happened today. It's really passive."

"By the way, the Ministry of Industry will report in the near future. Please appoint Shi Pan Jixun, the former right deputy censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, as Prime Minister Hedao. If your Majesty asks, please say a few kind words."

Wei Guangde spoke at this time.

After receiving approval a few days ago, Pan Jixun inspected many rivers in the lower reaches of the Yellow River and already has a new water control strategy. After looking at the current dam plan of the Ministry of Industry, there are some modifications, but it is generally completed.

Now that there is a new strategy, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Industry must give Pan Jixun the power to implement it, otherwise the rough flood control strategy will become empty talk.

"Pan Jixun, Prime Minister He Dao, I have no objection."

Wei Guangde had communicated with them before and knew that Zhu Heng of the Ministry of Industry planned to let Pan Jixun try it to see how his water control strategy was.

After all, his previous flood control efforts that had cost the court money and food seemed to have failed.

"I have asked people about this in private. There are really not many officials who know how to control water, especially in the Huanghuai line. Almost no one dares to work because the Yellow River is difficult to control.

Since Shandai has found Pan Jixun and is willing to give it a try, it is naturally the best. The court cannot always let the river get out of control. "

Yin Shizhen said.

"Actually, I asked him at the beginning whether he would be appointed as the Governor of Water Transport, but after all, water transport only involves a small section of the Huanghuai Waterway and does not have control over the Yellow River."

Wei Guangde explained again.

"You want to use the money transported by canal to control the water, but it's difficult."

Chen Yiqin understood the meaning of Wei Guangde's words. The imperial court did not have much money. The only yamen that had money was the water transport yamen. If the governor of water transport was allowed to prime the river, he could then use the water transport funds to repair the river, which would alleviate the pressure of insufficient money. .

But if you really do this, I’m afraid the resistance will be very great.

"Canal transportation cannot be moved, which affects the capital and Jiubian."

Yin Shizhen also echoed.

The Water Transport Yamen is responsible for the management of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, as well as the transportation of water grains.

In the past, Cao Liang was mainly used to ensure the cost of the capital. However, after the changes in the Salt Law, grain and grass in border towns also began to be allocated from Cao Liang, so it was of great importance.

As for the money earned from water transportation, in addition to the taxes collected along the canal, the money was mainly spent on river maintenance. When the water supply was cut off, a large number of carriages and horses were hired to transport the water supply to Beijing via land.

Of course, such efforts and mobilization of people rarely happen, after all, the price paid is too high.

However, the water transportation yamen also pays attention to the land transportation of grain.

It all shows that the court is poor, but in fact it is only the Ministry of Household Affairs that is poor, and the money from the Ministry of Household Affairs has to cover all the expenses of the court.

However, the six ministries and other yamen of the Ming Dynasty also had their own account books, and they could allocate taxes and money to various places, and the income also went to their respective yamen.

Therefore, the Ministry of Revenue has no money, but there is money in the warehouses of the Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of War and other government offices. No one will tell the emperor if he doesn't ask.

For river repair work, the Ministry of Works was supposed to provide the bulk of the work, and the Ministry of Household Affairs was responsible for the vacancies. However, Zhu Heng put his mind towards water transportation.