The Prosperous Era of Longwan

"Come here, take Master Gao out of the city.

Feng Bao had a sneer on his face, waved his hand, and the two fans came forward and bowed in front of him. Then they set up the high arches that were still kneeling on the ground, one on the left and the other on the right, and dragged them out of the palace.

At this time, Gao Gong had already figured out that Feng Bao must have said something in the palace that made the two nobles in the palace believe his lies.

It was really embarrassing to be dragged out of the palace, but Gao Gong was very upset at this time, so he could only let them carry him out of Chengtianmen.

When they arrived outside the palace gate, before Gao Gong could react, he suddenly felt his eyes flashing and his body flew forward.

After he was carried out of the palace by two fans, he was immediately thrown to the ground.

"Master Gao, do you want us to take you all the way back? Hehe."

"Get up on your own, hurry up, there's no need to dawdle."

The two fans stood behind Gao Gong and mocked one after another.

Gao Gong sat up, looked at the faces of the two people, and saw the dumbfounded expressions of the guards at the palace gate. It was embarrassing enough, and Gao Gong didn't want to stay here any longer.

He stood up in embarrassment and walked step by step towards his mansion.

"Master Gao, the imperial edict requires you to leave the capital directly and not stay for a moment. You don't have to go home. Just leave the city. Someone will send news to your family."

After walking for a while, a fan suddenly felt that the direction was wrong, and immediately stood in front of Gao Gong to block the way. The fan behind him pushed Gao Gong to another street.

Gao Gong was pushed and pulled out of the capital by the two gangsters. He looked countless times more miserable than when he was knocked down by Xu Jiedou.

"Has Gao Gong been repaired by Feng Bao?"

Sitting on the carriage, Wei Guangde heard the servants who stayed in the capital report on the major events that had happened in the capital in the past few days. Gao Gong's loss of the throne of chief minister was naturally the biggest event among them.

In fact, when Wei Guangde and his party arrived in Yangzhou City, news of Emperor Longqing's visit had already spread to Jiangnan.

The news spread so quickly, it can be said that the Ming Dynasty's express delivery "express shop" played an important role in it, spreading the news to all parts of the empire day and night.

Along the way, what Wei Guangde thought about the most was naturally how to fight Gao Gong in the court.

Now that the emperor is still young, sitting in that position can almost be said to be a one-word decision, and there is no need to discuss with other people.

So the boat was on the canal, but Wei Guangde's mind had already flown to the capital, and he began to think about what to do after arriving in the capital.

But I didn't expect that when I got off the boat, I realized that I no longer had to think about dealing with Gao Gong, because the people had been driven away.

After the shock, Wei Guangde immediately asked: "So now Zhang Shuda is the first assistant in the cabinet, and Gao Yi is the second assistant?"

Wei Guangde was not in the mood to inquire about the whole story of Gao Gong's resignation. Only Feng Bao could explain the inside story clearly, but he still felt a little sad in his heart.

I hurriedly rushed back to Beijing, but in the end it was still a step too late.

The news that Wei Guangde's official ship arrived in Tongzhou spread throughout the capital that day, and before his carriage entered the city, the palace also knew the news.

"Wang Zhen, go talk to Feng Bao and issue an order in the name of the emperor for Wei Guangde to join the cabinet as soon as possible.

Now Mr. Zhang is the only one supporting the cabinet. He is still ill and is embarrassed.

Also, after Wei Guangde entered the cabinet, he asked people to inform me. "

Empress Chen immediately ordered the eunuch beside her.

"Yes, concubine."

Wang Zhen agreed and left Ciqing Palace to deliver the order.

After Gao Gong was sent out of the capital, Meng Chong submitted his resignation on the same day. He knew that the situation was over, and after meeting Feng Bao, he chose to withdraw.

The carriage traveled from Tongzhou to the capital. Wei Guangde also learned about the current situation in the capital on the way.

It has been two days since Gao Gong left, but Zhang Juzheng is now the only one struggling to support the Ming Dynasty's cabinet because another cabinet minister, Gao Yi, has also fallen ill.

I don't know whether it was because Gao Gong was deported or something, but he fell ill in the cabinet that afternoon and was taken home to recuperate. He didn't get better in the past two days.

Poor Zhang Juzheng was really ill, but at this time he had to drag his illness to the cabinet.

If he didn't go, no one would make the decision in the Ming Dynasty's cabinet.

"It's not easy to be the first assistant."

Wei Guangde sighed.

If at first Wei Guangde heard the news that Zhang Juzheng was ill, he thought he did it deliberately to avoid the scene of Gao Gong stepping down, but now he really believes it.

Zhang Juzheng is really ill. The cabinet has been extremely slow in processing the memorial in the past two days. Moreover, Zhang Juzheng is also ill, and his face is frighteningly pale.

For this reason, Queen Chen also ordered people from Tai Hospital to send people to guard the cabinet to take care of Zhang Ge's condition at any time.

Not long after Wei Guangde returned home, a servant came to inform him that the angel delivering the message from the palace had arrived outside the house.

Wei Guangde had no choice but to change into clean clothes and come out to greet him.

The eunuch who delivered the order was none other than Chen Ju.

Although he was not completely attached to Feng Bao's sect, because of Wei Guangde's relationship, Feng Bao did not make things difficult for him. He still allowed him to stay in the ceremonial supervision hall, and also arranged for him to accompany Zhu Yijun at ordinary times.

Today, Wang Zhen conveyed the order from Ciqing Palace, and Chen Ju happened to be serving the young emperor, so Feng Bao left the task of conveying the order to Chen Ju.

It's just a central decree, and it doesn't need to go through the cabinet and the six departments.

After all, there was no need to go to great lengths just to urge Wei Guangde to join the cabinet as soon as possible.

After receiving the order, Wei Guangde took Chen Ju into the house and began to understand the situation in the palace.

Chen Ju also told Wei Guangde that he knew that it was Feng Bao who persuaded Empress Chen, Concubine Li, and the young emperor. All three of them were dissatisfied with Gao Gong, so they made up their minds to expel Gao Gong.

"Did the palace do any strange things about Eunuch Feng's handprint?"

Wei Guangde asked curiously.

He knew very well that the situation in the palace was actually similar to that in the outer court. There was also a competitive relationship between the several eunuchs. They seemed harmonious on the surface, but behind the scenes they wanted each other to die.

Relatively speaking, the struggle in the palace is darker.

Meng Chong was able to reach an agreement with Feng Bao and escape unscathed. He presumably held a lot of things from Feng Bao in his hands, otherwise he would not have been able to leave safely without losing a layer of skin.

"Now Eunuch Feng is very close to the two nobles, and he is the emperor's first companion. Who dares to gossip behind his back?"

Chen Ju smiled, he understood what Wei Guangde meant by asking this question.

However, Chen Ju still reminded: "Shandai, those people in the palace are not idiots. They understand that with Eunuch Feng's favor from the two nobles, there is no way to overthrow him, so they have behaved very well these two days." obedience. ’

"That's good."

Wei Guangde nodded.

"Are you still serving as a concubine in the Ceremony Supervisor?"

Wei Guangde asked again.

Chen Ju was silent for a while. If his godfather was still there, he should have a chance to become a eunuch Bingbi, but

"I'll talk to Eunuch Feng later and see if I can arrange an errand for you. As a eunuch, your status is still far behind."

Wei Guangde shook his head slightly and said.

Helping Chen Ju to get an official position was also a test that Wei Guangde made up his mind to test Feng Bao.

After all, Zhang Juzheng took most of the credit for defeating Gao Gong this time. It is impossible to say that the relationship between the two became close, but it excluded him, so that he could find a way to deal with it when the time comes.

According to Wei Guangde's observation, there are not many eunuchs in the palace who are friendly.

Chen Ju is one of them, and Zhang Hong gives him a good impression. It's hard to say that Feng Bao is probably more assertive.

The ability is good but the ideas are not good. They are very conceited and have a bit of a high profile. This kind of person can run errands, but is a little bit behind in being able to stand alone.

As for Chen Hong, let's not talk about it. I think he should be the first person Feng Bao wants to take care of.

When Chen Ju was about to say goodbye, Wei Guangde took out a memorial written on the ship and handed it to him.

When you return to the capital, you still have to go to the palace to write your first memorial to indicate that you have arrived in the capital.

If Chen Ju hadn't arrived so quickly, Wei Guangde would have gone to deliver it in person after washing up in the house and changing into clothes.

"Sir, the water is ready."

After Wei Guangde sent Chen Ju out of the mansion and returned, his servants came up to report.

"Well, go now."

Although we were on a boat along the way, there was water everywhere, but there was no way to take a bath.

It was a hot day, but Wei Guangde was bored to death, so the first thing he did when he returned home was to tell his servants to prepare hot water. He wanted to take a hot bath to get rid of the sweat on his body. He felt like he was sweating. Oh no.

As for fatigue, it's a little bit, but after all, I'm in good health, and I'm much better than veterans like Gao Yi and Yang Bo along the way.

Originally, I wanted to rest for a day before entering the palace, but now it seems that I will go there tomorrow.

Later in the evening, the Wei family received many messages, all of which were invitations to see when he was free so that people could come and visit him.

"A note from Zhang Shoufu."

Wei Guangde now took Zhang Juzheng's post from his servant, and there was also a note from Zhang Juzheng attached to it.

Wei Guangde opened his eyes and smiled.

In fact, the content of the note was to ask him to go to the cabinet to run errands this morning. His body couldn't bear it any longer and he needed to rest for a day or two.

"The mansion originally left four servants to look after the house and guard the courtyard. I went to the Ministry of War to inform them and asked them to arrange for four bearers to come over and come to the cabinet tomorrow morning to handle errands."

Wei Guangde ordered his servants.

In the past, the bearers in Wei Guangde's mansion were all people he brought from Jiangxi. Ding You took them back with him when he returned home. They should still be on the way now.

Sedan bearers are one of the benefits provided to higher-level officials in the yamen. Officials can directly ask for someone, or they can arrange someone themselves, and they only need to pay for the hire of bearers.

Carrying a sedan chair is also a way for people to perform corvées, but most officials generally do not choose the sedan bearers arranged by the government, and hire them themselves with money.

Wei Guangde only planned to ask the Ministry of War to arrange a few people for him in the short term. When his own people arrived, it would be safer to carry the sedan by himself.

After all, these are military households who are used to doing farm work, and they also have a lot of skills. They can also be regarded as one of the guards in addition to carrying sedans, but they are much better than the ordinary people arranged by the government.

On that day, Wei Guangde went to bed early and did not summon his disciples to meet old friends. The time was special and he could not hold a big banquet.

Although Emperor Longqing had a will before his death, saying that there was no need to ban civil weddings, funerals, banquets and other activities, Wei Guangde's status naturally meant that he could not do such disrespectful things.

I didn’t realize that Gao Gong didn’t hold a banquet when he called his disciples to meet old friends, and just started talking about things over a cup of tea.

Early the next morning, Wei Guangde dressed neatly and left the house under the service of his servants.

The bearers arranged by the Ministry of War were already waiting in front of the mansion with a sedan. With two servants, Wei Guangde got into the sedan and walked to Chengtianmen.

After deposing Gao Gong, both Empress Chen and Concubine Li felt that the emperor was still young after all and should not appear frequently in front of the officials, especially now that the situation was special. The emperor was afraid that he would be unable to resist, so he issued an edict to skip the recent court meeting.

Wei Guangde got off the sedan outside the palace gate and walked directly to the palace.

Although it had been more than a year since he left, the guards guarding the palace gate still knew that Mr. Wei Ge was working in the palace today. He was so conspicuous in his red official uniform, so naturally they did not dare to stop him.

However, before Wei Guangde entered the palace gate, he took the initiative to take the ivory belt hanging on his waist and showed it to them. The guards hurriedly bowed and saluted Wei Guangde.

"Mr. Wei Ge, your check-in room was packed yesterday."

Entering the cabinet, Zhang Juzheng has not arrived yet.

It wasn't that he was putting on airs, but that he was feeling unwell, so he came late in the past two days.

"I see."

After Wei Guangde finished dealing with Zhongshu, he walked straight back to his room, where Lu Bu was already waiting outside the door.

Wei Guangde was Ding You, so he was not dismissed from his post, so the room was on duty as usual. There was a scribe, Lu Bu, who cleaned the room every day. The feeling when entering the room seemed to be the same as when he left.

Not long after Wei Guangde sat down, Zhongshu brought the memorial that had just been registered from the library.

Wei Guangde picked it up casually and glanced at it. The several memorials above were from the past two days. Obviously, Zhang Juzheng had not had time to deal with them.

Wei Guangde was not in a hurry to start working. After Lu Bu brought tea, he asked about the changes in the cabinet in the past year.

"Zhang Ge Lao's value room has not changed, but Chen Ge Lao's original value room was occupied by Grohe Gao Ge Lao."

Lu Bu explained the current situation of the cabinet. At first, Gao Gong chose Xu Jie's duty room, while the one used by Chen Yiqin was the duty room of Mr. Yan Ge, but now his surname is Gao.

"I heard that Mr. Gao Ge stopped coming after only two days of official business?"

Wei Guangde heard that Gao Yi was still familiar with cabinet business, so he asked for sick leave without drafting a few memoranda. Now there are many opinions about Gao Yi's condition, and it is difficult to distinguish the true from the false.

"I really don't know about this."

Lu Bu smiled bitterly and said, "Sir, that's what we can know about Mr. Ge.

However, Mr. Gaoge's housekeeper hadn't even decided on a scribe yet. After Gao Shoufu was expelled, he was sent back to the house after being here for a long time.

But that time I saw him outside. His face was pale and scary, and he didn't look like he was pretending to be sick. "

Of course Lu Bu knew what Wei Guangde meant when he asked Gao Yi, so he said, "There are rumors outside that Gao Ge always turns to Gao Shoufu's side, so it's hard to say whether the reason why he didn't come was because he was pretending to be ill.

Do you want me to go down and find someone to check? "

"Who told you to go check it out? Haha, I'll just ask."

Wei Guangde smiled.

"Is Mr. Wei Ge here?"

At this moment, someone outside the door asked softly.

Hearing someone calling the door, Lu Bu immediately stood at the door, saw the situation outside clearly, and immediately said seriously: "Master Wei is reading some documents. Father-in-law, please come in."