prosperous age

Chapter 194 Chapter 193

Hearing the sound of footsteps getting louder behind him, Wei Guangde naturally couldn't turn a blind eye to it. Standing under the door porch of the household department, he turned around and bowed to Yin Shizhen who came rushing angrily: "Wei Guangde, a junior student, has seen Mr. Yin."

Although Yin Shizhen was in a state of rage at this time, his good upbringing still allowed him to suppress his anger at the moment and smiled at Wei Guangde: "Oh, it's Guangde, you come to the Ministry of Household Affairs"

Speaking of this, he saw Li Shuli and the four government servants saluting to him one after another. Yin Shizhen naturally knew why they came to the Ministry of Household Affairs, so he asked casually: "Is the matter settled?"

"It's done, I'm going to the congregation."

Wei Guangde replied respectfully.

"It's fine if it's done."

Although Yin Shizhen is only in his 30s now, Wei Guangde feels a little old-fashioned in his tone of voice. Thinking about the current situation of Yuwang Mansion in the capital where he lives, Wei Guangde feels a little bit clearer.

Looking at the sky, it was almost noon, Wei Guangde turned to Li Shuli and said, "Go back to the yamen first."

Then he turned his head to Yin Shizhen and said, "Master Yin, it's getting late, let's have lunch outside."

"Forget it, I have to go back to Prince Yu's Mansion."

Yin Shizhen evaded, although he did not achieve his goal in the household department, he still felt that the news should be sent back first.

"Master Yin, look at the sky, don't be in a hurry. Guangde just entered the Hanlin Academy, and he didn't understand a lot of things. I happened to meet Lord Yin here today. I hope you can show your face to Guangde. confused."

Wei Guangde continued to invite very graciously. Although he didn’t know the status of Yin Shizhen in the Yuwang Mansion, Wei Guangde knew that there were only three members of the Imperial Academy in the Yuwang Mansion, and Yin Shizhen was one of them. It is right to have some status in front of King Yu.

Yes, Wei Guangde wanted to get closer to King Yu, which was already decided when he was in Jiujiang Mansion.

Unless King Yu died, Wei Guangde would not consider joining King Jing, so even if King Jing's mansion sent a gift to invite him to the mansion, he still found a reason to shirk.

"Alright."

Yin Shixuan nodded, Wei Guangde invited repeatedly, if he disagreed, it would be a little shameless, since they are all members of the Imperial Academy.

After arguing with the household officials for a long time in the household department, they still failed to achieve their goals, and still only received one month's salary from King Yu next month. Thinking about the dire financial situation of King Yu's mansion, Yin Shizhen felt a headache.

The two of them left the gate of the household department and walked out along the long street.

There are government offices all around, so naturally there is no commercial atmosphere, they are all buildings with blue tiles and red walls, and only by walking through this street can you see the shops and restaurants on the street.

Wei Guangde asked Yin Shizhen about some things about the Hanlin Academy. In fact, he had already inquired about most of these, especially about the book repairing, but now he could only find something to talk about. Go and say nothing.

"Are you following Wu Qing to study books?"

When Wei Guangde said that Yin Tai arranged for him to study books with Wu Qing, Yin Shizhen suddenly laughed.

Wei Guangde didn't understand what it meant, and asked curiously: "I don't know why Master Yin is laughing?"

"Wu Qing, Wu Qing."

Seeing Wei Guangde's bewildered face, Yin Shizhen smiled and said, "Speaking of Senior Wu, he was also a candidate in a subject before me, and he is much more famous than me."

"Then what does Wu Qing say?"

Wei Guangde continued to ask.

"You have not long been in the Imperial Academy, so you may not know your teacher's past, hehe."

Yin Shizhen said: "He is a 19-year-old Zhongxiucai and a 27-year-old Zhongjuren. He failed the examination of the Ministry of Rites three times. , should have been the No. 23 scholar.”

Yin Shixuan said this, and looked at Wei Guangde who had a surprised expression before continuing: "Senior Wu was originally named Wu Ruwei, but he changed his name to Wuqing because he failed three times in the test.

According to him, it was for the sake of auspiciousness, and he hoped that God would open his eyes and show him more friendship.

As soon as the name was changed, his fate changed, he passed the test easily, and got the first place in the palace test.

It's a pity, after hearing that the seal was opened, His Majesty didn't like his name, saying that 'there should be no ruthless number one scholar in the world', and then he became Tan Hua. "

The two of them talked about the affairs of the Imperial Academy, and after a while they walked out of the official office street and came to Chang'an Avenue. There were many shops on both sides of the street, and it was a busy scene.

The two found a restaurant and went up, chose a seat by the window and sat down. After asking about Yin Shizhen, Wei Guangde ordered the food and wine, and soon the food and drink were on the table, and the two chatted while eating.

"The last time I drank in the courtyard, I heard that your lord spends most of his time at Prince Yu's Mansion. Why did you go to the household department today for the salary of the Palace?"

In fact, news that the Ministry of Households owed Yu Wangfu more than two years of salary and annual gifts had already spread in the official circles of the capital, and Wei Guangde knew that this matter was not unexpected.

"Guangde also knows, hehe, hey"

Yin Shizhen was open-minded, he just smiled when he heard Wei Guangde's words, and then he thought about money, he couldn't help but let out another long sigh.

"The Ministry of Households still excuses it because they don't have money?"

Wei Guangde asked.

"Where is there no money, there may be no money sent out of the capital, but the expenses in the capital are all prepared early in the morning, it is just talking nonsense with open eyes."

Yin Shizhen shook his head and said.

"The Ministry of Households does things like this, wouldn't His Royal Highness King Yu submit a copy to him?"

Wei Guangde has never figured out why King Yu didn't file a complaint. This is all bullying the emperor's son. If you don't give him face, isn't it just slapping the emperor in the face?
Yin Shizhen just shook his head this time, but didn't speak.

Wei Guangde immediately speculated that perhaps he had consulted the emperor privately, so he did not submit the memorial, but the result probably had no effect.

In fact, this is also Wei Guangde's guess wrong. King Yu did go to the palace, but he didn't directly talk to Emperor Jiajing about these things, because he would never see Emperor Jiajing at all.

Emperor Jiajing firmly believed in the motto "The two dragons will not meet each other".

However, what Wei Guangde didn't know was that most of the ministers in the court thought that Emperor Jiajing loved His Royal Highness Sijing Wang more, and even had the idea of ​​letting His Royal Highness King Jing inherit the great treasure, because King Yu couldn't see the emperor, but King Jing could. Occasionally, he went to the palace to meet Emperor Jiajing.

From this, Baiguan had the saying that Emperor Jiajing liked King Jing but not King Yu, and it spread.

However, Wei Guangde has not been in the officialdom for a long time, so naturally he has not heard of these things.

It was also because King Yu had talked about this with people in the palace, but the result was still the same, which made him unable to find the way out, and was influenced by outside rumors, thinking that his father really hated him because he did it deliberately.

King Yu's life in the palace was trembling, like walking on thin ice, and Yin Shizhen, the officials of the palace, naturally felt the same.

At this time, Wei Guangde's mind was indeed thinking, judging from Yin Shizhen's reaction, King Yu should have looked for the emperor, but there was no change.

It seemed that it was really a play arranged by the emperor, perhaps to test King Yu's adaptability, and he didn't intend to care about it.

"It will be fine after a few more years, and when the time comes, you will be a fan when you go out, and you won't be affected by these birds."

Whether it was intentional or unintentional, Yin Shizhen said this to Wei Guangde, which meant that King Yu would give up his position.

Hearing what he said, Wei Guangde frowned, but all the changes in his expression fell into Yin Shizhen's eyes.

"According to the ancestral system, King Jing should be the one who goes out to join the domain. How could it be His Royal Highness King Yu?"

Wei Guangde shook his head and said.

At this moment, he was completely unaware that Yin Shizhen was also testing him.

Today’s encounter with the household department can be said to be an accident, and Wei Guangde kindly invited him. As a newcomer to the Imperial Academy, it still makes sense, but Yin Shizhen can’t help but be more careful when he asks about the affairs of Prince Yu’s mansion, let alone Wei Guangde Still from Jiangxi.

"I heard that in the same year when the Ministry of Household Affairs was watching the government, the Ministry of Household Affairs only paid the royal family a salary every few months. If things go on like this, the royal family's expenses will be difficult."

Wei Guangde sighed, right now he is still considering whether to take this opportunity to throw out the solution he thought of, and tell Yin Shizhen, as to whether to do it or not, then it is none of his business.

"Yes, but the Ministry of Household Affairs said that there was no money, and used the famine in Shanshan as an example, saying that the money that had been prepared was transferred to disaster relief funds and food."

Yin Shizhen curled his lips in disdain, apparently fed up with the anger of those in the household department, and wanted to provoke Wei Guangde, after all, Wei Guangde was instrumental in the last time the imperial court allocated money and food for disaster relief.

"Master Yin, Mr. Gao and the others, haven't you thought of any good way to solve this matter?"

Wei Guangde asked strangely, he still wanted to know more about the situation, so as not to come up with an idea that he thought of, but it turned out that someone had already tried it, and it would be embarrassing to say it.

After all, that method is really embarrassing, and it may not be effective.

"What else can we do? The household department has no money to evade, so we can only keep running to the household department, urging for money."

Yin Shizhen gulped down the wine in his glass, and said to Wei Guangde with a wry smile.

Wei Guangde hastily refilled the wine glass in front of Yin Shixuan again, with a slightly hesitant expression on his face, he was still deliberating whether to say this or not.

To be honest, Wei Guangde really didn't want to mention that method, it was such a bad idea.

But when he first entered the officialdom, the only way he could think of was that.

The slightly struggling expression on Wei Guangde's face naturally fell into Yin Shizhen's eyes, and Yin Shizhen's heart also moved slightly.

For the Jinshi of this subject, Yuwangfu naturally also paid attention to it. Wei Guangde's name had already been noticed by Yuwangfu before he participated in the examination.

But that's all. A little insight and ability to handle affairs are two different things. It's not that the Ming Dynasty never produced people like Zhao Kuo on paper. 'Eyes high and hands low'.

For Yijia's Zhu Dashou, Tao Dalin and Jin Da, Prince Yu's Mansion paid attention, and Wei Guangde also paid attention, but he didn't pay much attention, especially after discovering that someone from King Jing's Mansion had visited Wei Guangde. After all, his native place determined a lot thing.

In the Ming Dynasty, township parties were actually very common, and in the early Ming Dynasty, most of the high-ranking officials were from Jiangxi. Therefore, in the eyes of most people, Jiangxi people formed a strong group and helped each other to suppress people from other provinces.

It is also because of this that in the late Ming Dynasty, most of the Jinshi in Jiangxi did not go well in their official careers and were excluded. It has to be said that Yan Song and Zhang Juzheng played a huge role in it.

Needless to say, Yan Song is not the only Huguang officials who are close to Zhang Juzheng, Jiangxi officials are also mostly involved. Therefore, the main forces formed in the court at the end of the Ming Dynasty were the Qi Party in Shandong, the Chu Party in Huguang, and the Zhejiang Party in Zhejiang. Larger, Jiangxi officials mostly fade out of people's view.

But through this conversation, Yin Shizhen also realized that Wei Guangde seems to be on the same path as Jin Da, at least they are not on the same path as Yan Song, but are serious scholars who know etiquette, justice, and shame, and know that among the current sons of Emperor Jiajing, King Yu is the most capable A person who is qualified to ascend the Great Treasure.

Thinking of Wei Guangde's previous questioning, Yin Shizhen realized that Wei Guangde seemed to have thought of a way to break the situation.

The current Prince Yu's Mansion is really driven to the point of desperation by the matter of money.

Just like the outstanding Jinshi in this subject, Prince Yu's Mansion didn't want to make friends, but they were too shy to buy congratulatory gifts.

In this day and age, there is no reason to come to the door empty-handed.

King Yu's Mansion is a big business, but the things that the emperor rewarded cannot be moved, they can be used but never sold, only gold and silver can be used, and all the expenses of King Yu's Mansion depend on King Yu's salary and the gold rewards from New Year's Day Silver lives.

Since the household department suddenly got stuck in the royal family's salary and yearly gifts of gold and silver more than two years ago, the life of the royal family has gone from bad to worse, and now it has reached the point where it can barely make ends meet.

He, Gao Gong and others also went to the Ministry of Finance one after another, and talked to friends about the matter to no avail.

As for how this matter developed, it is still covered in clouds and mist. King Yu suspects that it was the emperor's instruction. Although their ministers think it is not possible, it is difficult for them to believe that Yan Song and King Jing dare to do it. Such a thing.

"Guangde, if you have a good solution, you might as well tell me, I am very grateful."

Yin Shizhen is an official of Prince Yu's Mansion, but he cannot represent Prince Yu's Mansion. Although most of the time, in the eyes of others, he can actually represent it, but what he said cannot have this meaning.

Wei Guangde looked at Yin Shizhen, thought about Zhang Qing's opinion he had heard in Jiujiang Mansion before, and quickly went through his mind, thinking that no matter in terms of theory or logic, as long as King Yu does not die early, he, the emperor, should It's done.

In fact, King Yu is now in his twenties, and it is not his turn to say that he died young, as he already has a son.

Taking a deep breath, Wei Guangde saw that no one was paying attention to this side, and then whispered to Yin Shizhen: "Guangde arrived in the capital last December, and it has been half a year now. During this half year, the sentence I heard the most is That is, 'Old Xiaoge loves money like his life, and uses money to do things'.

As long as he dares to collect money, he will definitely take care of things for you. As for how to do it, there is no need to worry about the process. "

When Yin Shizhen heard Wei Guangde's words, his eyes widened immediately, staring at Wei Guangde firmly.

"Master Yin, drink."

Wei Guangde ignored his unfriendly eyes, raised the wine glass in front of him and gave a slight respect to Yin Shizhen's direction, and then drank it in one gulp.

(End of this chapter)