The Prosperous Era of Longwan

"Is Mr. Wei Ge here?"

While Wei Guangde and Lu Bu were talking, 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."

While talking, a young eunuch whom Wei Guangde didn't recognize appeared at the door of the duty room.

After the eunuch entered the room, he first saluted Wei Guangde and then said: "I heard that Mr. Wei Ge came to the eunuch to handle errands. The Za family granted the imperial edict to the Empress, and invited Mr. Wei Ge to visit Ciqing Palace. The empress has something to say."

When he heard the eunuch say that he was following Yi's decree, Wei Guangde knew that it was Queen Chen who wanted to see him.

He still had a good impression of Queen Chen, but it was a pity that Emperor Longqing did not listen to the advice of this wise queen and left in confusion.

Wei Guangde immediately stood up and said: "Since the empress has something to do, Shandai naturally obeys the order. Please lead the way, father-in-law."

Wei Guangde followed the young eunuch out of the cabinet and walked towards Ciqing Palace.

Along the way, Wei Guangde casually chatted with the young eunuch and found out that his name was Wang An, but in fact he was just a young eunuch who had just graduated from the inner study hall.

Those who come out of the inner study hall have a bright future, but they still have to live this life.

How many people come out of the Hanlin Academy, but how many can finally enter the cabinet.

"So Concubine Li is also in the Empress' Palace."

"Yes, Concubine Li will take the emperor to Ciqing Palace to meet the empress if she has nothing to do these days. The emperor was also there before, but now the empress sends Feng Bao back to Qianqing Palace to practice calligraphy."

Wang An was a good talker, and he and Wei Guangde quickly became familiar with each other, and the two of them spent the whole journey chatting.

When they arrived outside Ciqing Palace, Wei Guangde was waiting in front of the palace gate, while Wang An went directly in to reply to Queen Chen.

Not long after, Wang An came out and took Wei Guangde into Ciqing Palace.

Ciqing Palace occupies an area that was originally Renshou Palace, located behind Qingning Palace.

In the early Jiajing period, Renshou Palace was originally the residence of Emperor Xiaozong and his wife Zhang. It was not rebuilt after a fire during the Jiajing period. It was rebuilt as Ciqing Palace in the middle Jiajing period.

The main reason why Emperor Jiajing did not rebuild the Renshou Palace after the fire broke out was because he had a bad relationship with Empress Dowager Zhang. After all, she was the mother of his cousin Emperor Zhengde. During the dispute over the ceremony, if Empress Dowager Zhang could stand up and help, , and won't make the matter so big.

Therefore, Emperor Jiajing had always complained about the Empress Dowager Zhang in his heart.

It is understandable that the palace was not repaired in time after the fire.

Wei Guangde had never been here before, so he was cautious after entering the palace gate. It was not until he entered the main hall and saw Empress Chen and Concubine Li saluting that he felt at ease.

After all, he was an old friend of Yuzhuan, and Wei Guangde had also met Princess Chen and Li Meiren at that time.

"Wei Aiqing, the late emperor still thought of you before he died."

Behind Wei Guang Deping, Queen Chen said to him with a choked tone.

Was this playing the emotional card to him?

Now the Ming Dynasty is really special. Gao Gong, the chief minister appointed by Emperor Longqing before his death, was taken down by them. Another elder, Gao Yi, is ill at home again. Zhang Juzheng, the only one who can do errands, is also ill.

Wei Guangde finally came back, and it was a tiring journey, but there was no time for him to rest, and he had to go to the cabinet to do errands.

I didn't see that Zhang Juzheng couldn't do much in a day due to physical reasons in the past two days, and the government's operation has been hindered.

As for the minister who cared about life, Feng Bao was a eunuch after all, and Empress Chen would not trust him to hand over the power of voting.

Feng Bao was the chief minister of etiquette, and he had enough power to approve the memorials handled by the cabinet.

Not long after Emperor Longqing's reign, the court became like this. Queen Chen was naturally still very anxious. Now that she saw Wei Guangde, she couldn't restrain her emotions.

"Speaking of which, when I returned to Beijing, I didn't go to the Hongxiao Hall to worship the late emperor. I really feel unworthy of the late emperor's kindness."

Wei Guangde bowed slightly and said in a rather low tone.

"Now that the imperial court is in troubled times, Mr. Wei Ge first goes to the cabinet when he enters the palace. This is how he takes the country at heart.

Now that His Majesty is still young, he still entrusts his husband to maintain everything with all his heart. "

Concubine Li spoke at this time.

It's not that Wei Guangde forgot to pay homage to the late emperor, it was because the cabinet was short of people, so Wei Guangde went to the cabinet early in the morning to check on the situation.

"The reason why I invited you here today is because the late emperor had something to say to you before he died."

Queen Chen said.

Upon hearing this, Wei Guangde immediately bowed and stood in awe, thinking that Emperor Longqing had a will for him.

But it was different from what he thought. Empress Chen waved her hand, and a chamberlain took out a pile of memorials from the side hall and stood beside the empress.

"Mr. Wei, before his death, His Majesty told me that he had asked you to write many memorials in private, mainly about your solutions to the problems in the DPRK.

Many of these methods inspired him greatly, but..."

When Empress Chen said this, she hesitated for a moment before continuing: “There was a lot of opposition in the DPRK.

The late emperor once sought the opinions of other veterans on some of these memorials, and most of them had to give up because of the ancestral system. However, these troubles were already problems that the Ming Dynasty had to face.

The late emperor once wanted Gao Gong to try to reform some of them, so he chose to accommodate Gao Gong on many issues, in order to create an momentum for him so that foreign ministers would not dare to object lightly.

However, God failed to fulfill his wishes and the late Emperor's health failed, so this idea could not be implemented.

But for the sake of the Ming Dynasty and the country, the late emperor hoped that you could try to promote some of them if conditions allowed. "

Speaking of this, Empress Chen pointed to the memorials that Wei Guangde had submitted to Emperor Longqing and said: "These memorials will be kept with me for the time being. I will give them to Your Majesty one by one to read later. If you don't understand some of them, you can read them later." Please give me some advice, sir.

When he was in Yuzhuan, the late emperor had decided that the emperor's future education would be entrusted to Mr. Wei and Mr. Zhang.

Now that the court has been turned into such a mess by our orphans and widowers, we ask Mr. Wei to help clean it up. ’

Hearing this, Wei Guangde bowed to Empress Chen and said with a little emotion: "Your Majesty, your words are serious. This is the responsibility that all ministers should share."

When Wei Guangde came out of Ciqing Palace, he was analyzing the current situation of the cabinet in his mind.

When Emperor Longqing was still alive, who would he contact to consult those memorials?

Eighty percent of them are cabinet members, including Gao Gong, Chen Yiqin, Li Chunfang and others.

Gao Gong is probably the most powerful opponent of these memorials.

Wei Guangde and Gao Gong's colleagues have known him well for so many years. He wholeheartedly wanted to make the Ming Dynasty a scene of clean and upright winds and clear seas and rivers as in the early Ming Dynasty.

Obviously many of Wei Guangde's reforms were changes to the national policies of the early Ming Dynasty. In the eyes of civil servants, they were changes to the ancestral system, and most of these things did not bring any benefits to the civil servant group.

Yes, without the interests of the civil servant group, although they will not oppose it with both hands and feet, they will not support it wholeheartedly.

As for Li Chunfang and Xu Jie, forget it. They have already become officials and are no longer in the court. It is useless even if they object. They are already in the past tense.

Zhang Juzheng.

This name suddenly appeared in Wei Guangde's mind.

If there is anyone who can hinder Wei Guangde's reform now, it is probably the man known as the first reformer of the Ming Dynasty.

On the way back to the cabinet, Wei Guangde walked slowly while thinking about the few memories in his head.

Zhang Juzheng did many things for the Ming Dynasty, which filled the Ming Dynasty's dry treasury. What are they specifically?

I remember when I was chatting with Zhang Juzheng, it seemed that both Zhang Juzheng and Gao Gong admired the whipping method.

Strictly speaking, the one-whip method actually simplified the complex taxes of the Ming Dynasty and mixed many taxes together. The common people found it convenient and the court did not suffer any loss.

For local governments, it actually reduces the workload, so most local governments support this method.

But relying on this is like filling the national treasury, which is absolutely impossible.

There is only so much tax revenue. Unless Zhang Juzheng finds an increase, the Ming Dynasty's treasury will not be able to fill it.

Inventorying acres?

An idea appeared in Wei Guangde's mind. This was proposed by Zhang Juzheng. His proposal was actually very risky because it would offend many people.

He himself seemed to know what was good and what was good. He had talked about this with Wei Guangde and Gao Gong when he was still in Yuzhuan, but he didn't mention it once he entered the court. Obviously he was not stupid, and he knew that once he mentioned it, he would be secluded from the powerful. group.

However, Wei Guangde could not imagine where Zhang Juzheng could make money. It seemed that apart from the fields, Zhang Juzheng had no other place to make money.

By the way, I didn’t dare to mention it before. That’s because Xu Jie, Li Chunfang and Gao Gong were suppressing it. When he raised it, others accepted it, but he was left to take the blame.

If he does not adopt it, he will offend the powerful, and these people will gain the favor of the powerful.

Isn't this just handing the hilt of the knife into the opponent's hand?

Of course Zhang Juzheng is not that stupid.

But at the time of Zhang Juzheng's reform, it seemed that he had already invaded the world. It is not an exaggeration to say that one person is inferior to ten thousand people.

Unknowingly, Wei Guangde had already walked outside the Wenhua Hall and suddenly woke up.

"It's time to go to Hongxiao Hall to worship the late emperor."

Wei Guangde thought to himself that he did the same thing.

So he turned around and walked back, not in the direction of Ciqing Palace, but towards Fengxian Palace.

On the central axis of the Forbidden City in the Ming Dynasty, there were three main halls in the front and the Qianqing Palace in the back, which served as the emperor's residence.

Further back is Kunning Palace, which has always been the queen's living place.

To the east of Qianqing Palace and Kunning Palace is the so-called East Sixth Palace.

In front of the East Sixth Palace are Shenxiao Hall, Hongxiao Hall and Fengxian Hall.

Fengxian Hall, as the name suggests, is a ritual building where the royal family worships their ancestors. It was the family temple where the royal family of the Ming and Qing Dynasties worshiped their ancestors.

The Shenxiao Palace is a Taoist palace dedicated to the deceased Queen Mother.

The Hongxiao Hall between the two halls was the place where the emperor parked the Zi Palace after his grand tour. Naturally, no one came there during normal times, and only a few servants were responsible for cleaning.

When Wei Guangde returned to the cabinet after paying homage to the late emperor, Zhongshu came over and bowed when he entered the door: "Mr. Wei Ge, the Chief Assistant has invited me."

Wei Guangde nodded when he heard this, and then walked towards Zhang Juzheng's room.

Wei Guangde was no stranger to Zhang Juzheng's place and had come here often before.

But when I walked in here this time, there was a big change, because this place has now become the center of the cabinet, and the chief assistant is in charge of the room.

Seeing Wei Guangde coming, Zhang Juzheng's clerk just stood aside and saluted him respectfully, but had no intention of stopping him from informing him.

Wei Guangde entered the room directly and saw Zhang Juzheng's sallow face, which looked very ugly.

"Lord Chief Assistant, what are you doing?"

Wei Guangde didn't know what to say for a moment. Zhang Juzheng was in such a state that he really couldn't continue working. He might just die in the duty room.

"Hi, Shandai, you are finally back."

Seeing Wei Guangde come in, Zhang Juzheng felt relieved, "If you delay for a few more days, I'm afraid I won't be able to hold on."

"Uncle, given your current situation, it's better to go home and rest for a while. I'm not trying to take away your power. You're looking too scary now."

Wei Guangde walked quickly to Zhang Juzheng and said with concern.

Although they may be political enemies in the future, after all, they have been colleagues for many years, and Wei Guangde was more concerned about each other's health at the first time.

"If you don't come back, how can I rest?"

Zhang Juzheng asked Wei Guangde to sit aside and said: "I originally had Gao Yi Gao Ge Lao, but I didn't expect Gao Ge Lao's health to be worse than mine. I have been lying in bed for many days. I heard from the imperial doctor that it is difficult to recover." ’

"What?"

Wei Guangde was shocked.

He always thought that Gao Yi was pretending to be ill, and he was worried about the revenge of Feng Bao and Zhang Juzheng, so he simply stayed behind closed doors. But from what Zhang Juzheng said, it seemed that this person was really sick.

"It was fine before I told you."

Wei Guangde asked in surprise.

"I fell ill that day and have been bedridden since I was on duty."

Zhang Juzheng sighed and said, "I asked people to look at it, and I also asked the imperial doctor who went to diagnose and treat him. They all said that the situation is very bad."

At this point, Zhang Juzheng pointed to himself again, "You have seen me like this. I really can't hold on any longer. If you delay for two more days, I'm afraid I should be carried back."

Wei Guangde was silent for a while, who would have thought that the situation would develop like this.

Emperor Longqing entrusted Gu Gu with three ministers, not to mention one was expelled, and the two fell ill one after another, and they couldn't survive.

"The cabinet really has no time to let you rest, so it had no choice but to send someone to deliver a note to you yesterday.

These days, the cabinet relies on you to support it. "

Zhang Juzheng said to Wei Guangde.

“Although it’s a long way, walking along the Grand Canal is not strenuous, and I can still endure it for a few days.

Uncle, you still have to take good care of yourself first, otherwise Shandai will not be able to bear such a heavy responsibility. "

Wei Guangde said.

Just as the two were chatting, Zhongshu suddenly ran into the room from outside the door. He didn't even have time to let the clerk inform him, and just barged in blankly.

"Why are you panicking?"

When Wei Guangde saw the man's face, he immediately asked in displeasure.

"Master Chief Assistant, Mr. Wei Ge, Gao Mansion's family just came to report the funeral, saying that Mr. Gao Ge is gone."

The bookkeeper didn't dare to neglect and told the news immediately.

"What?"

Wei Guangde and Zhang Juzheng asked the same question at the same time.

"The old man Gao Ge is gone."

Na Zhongshu repeated it again.

"It's been such an eventful time."

Wei Guangde sighed.

Before, Wei Guangde felt a little embarrassed about joining the cabinet in a hurry, because between him and Gaoyi, who should be the second assistant.

Now that it's better, another one has passed away. He is now the undisputed second-in-command of the Ming Dynasty cabinet.

"I'll go over to Gaoyi. The cabinet is entrusted with charity loans. I have to rest at home for two days before returning to the cabinet for duty."

Zhang Juzheng tried his best to get up and said to Wei Guangde.

Wei Guangde immediately stood up and said to Zhang Juzheng, "I'll take you out."