The Prosperous Era of Longwan

I didn't think about it before, but now I have realized that gold has huge room for appreciation relative to silver, so what are you waiting for? Start hoarding gold now.

Wei Guangde was even considering whether to incite the imperial court to issue a decree to ban the outflow of gold and silver.

Now, no matter in the East or the West, there is actually no financial knowledge, but only some experience in this area.

Wei Guangde also has no financial knowledge. Although he has speculated in stocks, he knows something about it.

But he still knew that in the early days of banknote issuance, precious metals such as gold and silver were used as anchors to enhance people's trust in banknotes. Otherwise, why would U.S. dollars be called U.S. dollars?

This is a process that must be experienced for the issuance of Western banknotes to be widely accepted.

Although there are also currencies discovered by some countries that are directly endorsed by national credit and have no anchor, they still have clear plans for currency issuance.

This is actually similar to the treasure banknotes created by Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang, except that the Ming Dynasty had no financial knowledge and issued treasure banknotes indiscriminately. They only used the issuance of banknotes as a means of collecting gold and silver, which led to the eventual collapse of the treasure banknotes.

However, Wei Guangde also knew that prohibiting the outflow of gold and silver was unrealistic.

If there are real interests, maritime merchants will still use smuggling to transfer gold and silver, which cannot be prevented.

The only way to ensure that gold remains in the country is to collect all gold into the national treasury.

Well, by the way, in addition to storing gold at home, the court can also exchange the silver deposits into gold. If the court has any savings in the future, it will convert them into gold and store them.

But on the contrary, in fact, only the palace can have savings and reserve as much gold as possible.

As soon as he thought of it, Wei Guangde immediately listed out what he had thought before, planning to write a charter and discuss it with Zhang Juzheng and Lu Tiaoyang.

While he was writing the articles of association at his desk, Lu Bu came in from outside, holding several official documents and placing them beside the desk.

"New memorial?"

Wei Guangde asked casually, and heard the sound of Lu Bu in his ears.

"Sir, these are the memorials submitted by some officials from the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Personnel, and the Metropolitan Procuratorate regarding the imperial examination."

"Again, you are against the law?"

Wei Guangde also stopped writing and asked casually.

"My master has a keen eye, it's true."

Lu Bu flattered him a little.

"Nonsense. Apart from those who oppose it, there are really not many who support it at this time. Who wants to have their official duties scrutinized and have to take exams once a month?"

Wei Guangde did not accept Lu Bu's flattery, but said.

Zhang Juzheng's previous memorial to the Imperial Examination Law was approved by the palace after only a few days of delay, and it was sent to six parts for discussion. I don't know if it was because the cabinet had slight differences on it that it did not approve the text of the memorial at the first time.

Perhaps, it is also because the mutual supervision mechanism makes the palace feel somewhat uneasy. After all, the last step is to delegate power to the cabinet.

In the past few days, Wei Guangde has heard more or less the results of the six departments' deliberations. Although no one publicly criticized those who passed the legal examination, there were indeed not many people who publicly supported it, and they all had ambiguous attitudes.

However, Wei Guangde knew that when this article was issued, Zhang Juzheng invited the six ministers to the duty room to explain, and on that day the work of each department was completed. That is, the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Personnel did not have the ministers in place, so they just handed them over to the palm.

Wei Guangde was not surprised that the objections came from these two yamen.

The examination method must be implemented for sure. Wei Guangde is sure of this. After all, it is the most important part of Zhang Juzheng's reform.

Without the examination method, there will be problems with the efficiency of the subsequent series of reforms.

When he left the office, Wei Guangde did not forget to take the articles of association he had written with him and planned to go home and see if there was anything that needed to be revised or improved.

After leaving the palace gate, before getting on the sedan chair, someone called him from behind.

Wei Guangde turned around and saw Chen Ju walking quickly from the side of the palace gate.

"Eunuch Chen."

This is the palace gate of the imperial city, and it is not easy for Wei Guangde to call him brother here.

"Mr. Wei Ge, please take a step to speak."

Chen Ju also called him that, so the two of them took two steps to the side.

"The candidate for Minister of Civil Affairs has been decided, and it is not Minister Zhu."

When they reached the edge, Chen Ju whispered to Wei Guangde.

"Is it Zhang Han?"

Wei Guangde didn't react much, but asked instead.

This is the topic he is most concerned about. If the palace chooses Zhang Han, it means that Zhang Juzheng and Feng Bao are connected.

Chen Ju nodded, "You know?"

"Guess."

Wei Guangde smiled bitterly and said, "Since the Chief Assistant suddenly recommended him, I have guessed that Feng Bao has a lot of good things to say in the two palaces."

"Yes, Eunuch Feng said that in order to maintain the stability of the court, one must support Zhang Shoufu, so it is best for the Minister of Personnel to be someone recommended by Zhang Shoufu."

Chen Ju whispered, "There is another matter. The late Chengguo Duke Zhu Xizhong was granted the title of king. Eunuch Feng said that it was the cabinet's suggestion. I don't know whether it is true or not. I want to ask clearly."

"What?"

Wei Guangde was not surprised that Feng Bao said good things to Zhang Juzheng and supported Zhang Han as Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, but the subsequent question surprised Wei Guangde.

After looking around, Wei Guangde asked in a low voice: "How did you know about this? Were you in the palace at the time?"

"Yes, I personally heard Eunuch Feng say it was the cabinet's suggestion. I was a little suspicious, so I came to ask."

Chen Ju whispered.

At this time, Wei Guangde had to marvel at how courageous Feng Bao was, daring to tell such lies.

But then I thought that the current contact person in the palace and outside the court was not Feng Bao.

With this kind of relationship, as long as he communicates well with Zhang Juzheng, wouldn't he dare to tell lies?

I didn't hear what he said to the two palaces. Supporting Zhang Juzheng was to stabilize the court. If something happened in the future, I would call the chief minister to speak, leaving him as the second minister aside.

Wei Guangde fell into silence, still thinking about the pros and cons of this matter. You know, if this matter is revealed, it will certainly make the palace lose trust in Feng Bao, but it will also offend people to death.

Wei Guangde thought he knew the eunuch Feng Bao quite well, and he had a character that was determined to retaliate, similar to Gao Gong.

In addition, this matter will offend Zhang Juzheng to death.

If you can bring down Zhang Juzheng, you can do it.

But this matter sounds big, but it may not be handled well in the palace.

Now the two queen mothers make the decision in the palace. As a woman, it is inevitable that she will be a little indecisive. She may have doubts about Feng Bao, but she is not ready to take him down.

As for Zhang Juzheng, that is even less likely.

The result of exposing this matter is probably to make Feng Bao kneel down again. Zhang Juzheng will support Shen Chi and then fine him a salary.

The final decision on this crucial matter may have to be made by the Duke of Chengguo, which will affect the relationship between himself and the nobles.

"Shandai, what's wrong with you? If it's inconvenient to say it, forget it. I understand."

Chen Ju saw that Wei Guangde was silent for a long time, thinking that he had something to hide.

After all, this matter seemed a bit mysterious no matter how he looked at it. He thought that either Wei Guangde had been taken advantage of, or he had received things from the Chengguo Duke's mansion, so that was why he was like this.

He said this, firstly, it was strange, and secondly, it reminded him that he was worried that Wei Guangde would fall into it.

The matter of conferring a royal title was really no small matter. Even one of his eunuchs could see that there was something fishy in it. Once the decree was issued, he was afraid that it would attract criticism from outside the court.

Wei Guangde glanced at Chen Ju and then whispered: "This matter was probably caused by the collusion between Feng Bao and Zhang Juzheng."

"Um?"

Chen Ju was surprised for a while, he still didn't understand the meaning of Wei Guangde's words.

"In this matter, Zhang Juzheng told us that the palace intended to give the Duke Chengguo a title as a posthumous gift, while Feng Bao said in the palace that it was the opinion of our cabinet. Do you understand the relationship?"

Wei Guangde whispered.

"This is too bold."

At this moment, Chen Ju certainly understood the meaning of Wei Guangde's words and couldn't help but exclaimed.

"Keep your voice down."

Wei Guangde said hurriedly, "If you don't come to me and talk about this, I will be kept in the dark."

"Then what should you do about this?"

Chen Ju asked immediately.

"We can only pretend not to know. Unless there is someone in the palace who can replace Feng Bao, he will not be severely punished. It is unwise to offend someone to death.

What's more, when this matter broke out, three parties were offended. Neither you nor I can bear this responsibility. "

Wei Guangde whispered, "Okay, that's it for now. Neither you nor I have said these things."

Chen Ju nodded when he heard this. He knew this better in the palace.

Even in the palace, there are more scandalous things. There are quite a few chambermaids and maids who disappear every year, and no one pursues them.

After all, the palace is so big, and manpower needs to be mobilized from time to time. If you are here today, you may not be transferred to the palace or palace outside the palace tomorrow to work.

In other words, if you become a high-level eunuch, the situation will be slightly better.

Separating from Chen Ju, Wei Guangde got on the sedan chair and returned to his mansion to rest.

In the next two days, Zhang Juzheng sent the memorial to the palace, and the palace soon issued a decree. The late Chengguo Duke Zhu Xizhong was posthumously granted the title of King Dingxiang and his posthumous title Gongjing.

Regarding Zhu Xizhong, Wei Guangde pretended not to know about it. Zhang Juzheng sent the draft memorial and just looked at it casually, then asked Lu Bu to send it to Lu Tiaoyang for him to read again.

"Hey, Brother Zili, what brought you here to me?"

That afternoon, Wei Guangde was processing official documents when Lu Bu came to report that Tan Lun, the Minister of War, had arrived.

After welcoming the people in, Tan Lun took out a battle report from his sleeve and handed it over, "Let's take a look. Jizhen just won a battle and captured Dong Changtu, the younger brother of Dong Hu, the chief of the Hadoyan tribe in Uliang. He asked if he would be escorted. The capital will investigate the crime."

"It's a good thing to win the war, haha. I thought there was another mutiny in the local guard station."

When Wei Guangde heard that Qi Jiguang won the battle, he immediately laughed and joked.

After all, it was the first year of Wanli, and what the court was most worried about was what happened to the local guard station. However, the court really didn't have many good options in this area. There was no other way except issuing money, but the court was short of money now.

Wei Guangde took the Jizhen battle report and quickly browsed it. At the beginning of the year, Duoyan's troops invaded the border and were pushed back by Qi Jiguang's troops. Half a year later, they came back again, and Qi Jiguang finally seized the opportunity to fight, which was regarded as a military exploit.

"It's not easy. After negotiating the peace with Anda Khan, the border town's military achievements have been reduced. Your military department has also shifted from dealing with threats from the northern grasslands to dealing with various domestic troubles. So what did you mean by being like that before?"

Wei Guangde thought of Tan Lun's sad look when he came in earlier, so he asked with a smile.

"Shan Loi, what I was thinking about was taking advantage of this matter to make the three guards of Wuliangha surrender. Maybe I was thinking about something, so I was misunderstood by you."

Tan Lun was surprised at first, but then he understood and said.

"With Dong Hu's brother at hand, we can talk about this matter.

I heard that the Duoyan tribe is the most powerful among the three guards. If the Duoyan tribe surrenders, the other two guards will not dare to jump around.

If you really dare to cause trouble, let the Duoyan tribe send troops to conquer. "

After saying this, Wei Guangde pondered for a moment and then continued: "That's what I say, but the court has to invest real money and silver for this. I'm afraid it will be like Anda Khan, who has to ask for rewards from the court every year."

"Giving some money can solve border problems, and it will also be beneficial to the border residents."

Tan Lun said.

Also, he is the Minister of War, not the Minister of Household, so he doesn't care about money.

The Ministry of War is a money-spending yamen. As long as it wins the battle, why does it care about so much?

"If we can make the Duoyan tribe surrender, then only the Tuman tribe in Liaodong will be left."

Wei Guangde did not continue talking about the silver, but mentally sketched the power map outside Daming Bian Town.

Although after the Datong Peace Conference, Anda Khan accepted the Ming Dynasty's canonization and became the king of Shunyi, Mongolia's geographical location was narrow and long, and Anda could not fully control the entire Mongolian tribe. decision, there were great differences among the various tribes of Mongolia.

In the end, the Mongolian tribes that were close to the northeast and far away from the court of the Great Khan became a serious problem for the Ming Dynasty today.

As for the three guards of Uliangha, Duoyan joined Ada Khan and became part of Tumote. During the Jialong period, he often made sneak attacks with them on Mingbian and became part of Xilu.

Taining and Fuyu were annexed by the Neikalkha and Horqin, subordinates of the young prince Hu Duntu, respectively, and became part of the Northern Barbarians, which was what Wei Guangde called the Tuman tribe.

"Shandai wants to use troops against Liaodong?"

Just this sentence made Tan Lun aware of Wei Guangde's intention.

However, it was only a preliminary idea at this time, and the target was not the Tuman tribe as Tan Lun thought, so Wei Guangde waved his hand at this time and asked: "Is there any news from the Sixth Fort in Kuandian, Liaodong?"

Wang Daokun, the minister of the Ministry of War, visited the border and Li Chengliang proposed to build the Sixth Fort in Kuandian. The imperial court asked the Ministry of War to submit a report and asked Zhang Xueyan, the governor of Liaodong, to conduct an on-site inspection. The Ministry of War also had to prepare a strategy for fighting the Jurchens near Kuandian.

Some time had passed, and Wei Guangde now wanted to know if the Ministry of War had any news from Liaodong.

After hearing Wei Guangde talk about building a fortress in Kuandian, Tan Lun understood Wei Guangde's true intention, which was to temporarily appease the Mongols and aim his butcher knife at the Jurchens.

You must know that after several conquests of the Jurchens, their clan was almost wiped out. However, after a hundred years, the Jurchens gradually recovered their vitality. In recent years, they even actively provoked the Ming Dynasty and killed its generals.

Since Li Chengliang took over as the commander-in-chief of Liaodong, he has been fighting back and forth between the Mongols and the Jurchens. Although he has outstanding military achievements, he will still get tired after all.

The purpose of moving Kuandian Liubao was to hold back the Jurchens, and to concentrate military power to severely inflict heavy damage on the Tuman tribe on the border.

However, Tan Lun also knew that Wei Guangde's goal was not Mongolia, but more serious damage to the Jurchens.

"Not yet. It's close to the Jianzhou Jurchen Department. Governor Zhang must be more careful when traveling." (End of Chapter)