prosperous age

Chapter 270 Chapter 269

Although the yearly gift has not been distributed, Wei Guangde can't wait for the little money to be distributed before starting to give gifts.

After writing the letter, Zhang Ji asked Zhang Ji to pick out a few ginseng plants and pack them together for Zhao Hu to take with him, to meet with the caravan back to Jiujiang.

The reason why Zhao Hu was arranged to go on the road with the caravan was mainly because he had something to take to Nanjing City and asked the people in the caravan to help him, Wei Guangde was not at ease.

Of course, the caravan has been away for more than half a month, and it should have arrived near Henan by now, not too far from home.

The New Year's festival in my hometown has been resolved, and the rest is the relationship that needs to be maintained in the capital.

Yan Song's mansion must be giving gifts, so it can't be too thin.

The search for ginseng of previous years in the capital these days has made those high-quality ginsengs a little out of stock, and the price has naturally changed a little. It's just because there are still a lot of ginseng in normal years, so the overall price has not changed much.

But because of the shortage, these old ginseng have naturally become good gifts in the capital during this period.

Xu Jie, Lu Ben and other elders, Wei Guangde also went to see them off, but no one was seen, and the family members or the housekeeper sent Wei Guangde back.

Weng Pu has been back from Xuan Mansion for a few days, and Wei Guangde also went there to give gifts while the Chinese New Year is about to come.

The rest of the time is waiting for the money to be issued from the Yamen, and then the Yamen will be closed, so that he can enjoy the longest rest since becoming an official.

Naturally, Wei Guangde was also surprised, there was no news from the palace, and Li Bin was still working as the eunuch who was in charge of ceremonies and Bingbi. At this time, Wei Guangde thought that there was something wrong with Lu Bing, so he didn't do it for a long time.

According to Wei Guangde's analysis, Lu Bing probably wanted to get some money from the process of ransacking his home. Is there a better time than this time of the Chinese New Year?
Only as time passed quietly, after Wei Guangde received his salary and yearly gift, did the New Year's atmosphere in the capital officially reach its climax.

This year's Beijing officials are still very satisfied, at least the Qingliu are very satisfied. The thing they have been worried about that the imperial court will not be able to pay salaries and rewards has not happened.

With money in their hands, the officials began to purchase new year's goods in the market in the capital. The restaurants and teahouses were unable to receive new customers because they were full early, and the warehouses and shops were even more crowded and overcrowded.

The Beijing city at this time is of course the most prosperous city in the world in this era, not one of them.

There are still ten days before the Chinese New Year, but in the eyes of the people in the capital, it is already the Chinese New Year.

Pedestrians crowded the streets, and street vendors also took advantage of this opportunity to sell their goods along the street. The business was prosperous, and people lived and worked in peace and contentment.

Although in the eyes of later generations, the people of the Ming Dynasty seemed to be very poor, but in fact at this time, the people of the Ming Dynasty were the most affluent in the world during this period.

Although it's not New Year's Eve, the Capital Town God's Temple Market and Dongyue Temple Market in the capital have already opened, and there are already a lot of capital citizens who come here every day to lose money.

Wei Guangde has already spent a year in the capital, and this time is no exception, he wants to run around with his friends to watch the fun.

Now the yamen of various ministries are no longer the same as usual. Most of them go to do some work, and then they go to do their own things.

The outside of Chengtian Gate has been sealed off, and craftsmen in the palace have already started to build lampstands here to prepare for the Aoshan Lantern Festival.

The Imperial Academy didn't have many things to do, but there were more things at Taichang Temple, but they didn't have anything to do with him. The drum music prepared for the Aoshan Lantern Festival was prepared in an orderly manner under the supervision of Taichang Temple Minister and Shaoqing. month has been completed.

However, Wei Guangde did not hear the news of Li Bin's downfall until all the major yamen in the capital were closed.

The outside world naturally didn't know what happened in the cabinet and Xiyuan before the festival, everything was kept secret, and only a handful of people knew about it.

Wei Guangde didn't know how many criminal evidences Lu Bing found for Li Bin, but he guessed that there should be many cases of corruption and perverting the law. Naturally, Lu Bing would not tell him his plan in detail.

In fact, what Wei Guangde didn't know was that the evidence of Li Bin's crime discovered by Lu Bing actually contained Emperor Jiajing's rebellion.

After a lively and lively New Year, the major government offices in the capital reopened, and Wei Guangde naturally rushed to the Imperial Academy early.

It is worth mentioning that Wei Guangde was an official in his first year, and he also went to the two mandatory court meetings, but he just lined up outside the Fengtian Gate and bowed five times and kowtowed three times to the imperial palace in front of him without an emperor.

The grand court meeting that a seventh-rank Zhima official like Wei Guangde needs to attend is naturally the Winter Solstice and Zhengdan. It's just that Emperor Jiajing is not interested in these ceremonies at this time, and has stopped attending since a few years ago.

If the emperor did not sit on the throne of the Fengtian Temple, naturally the courtiers would not need to go in to worship, and just saluted outside to complete the ceremony.

In the morning, he chatted with his colleagues in the Hanlin Academy for a long time. At noon, he went to Yintai to ask for instructions. In the afternoon, he should go to Taichang Temple.

Yin Tai has nothing to do. Although the fifteenth day has passed, the office has just opened and there is nothing to do. Everyone's hearts have not been taken back, not to mention that the Imperial Academy has not much to do.

When he arrived at Taichang Temple, Wei Guangde felt that from the concierge to the inside, the faces of people who came in and out in a hurry were all happy, as if they had encountered something great.

Wei Guangde didn't know what happened in the yamen, so he shook his head and walked in directly.

When he arrived at the Dianbo hall, Wei Guangde saw Yu Shihui sitting behind the desk, and his face couldn't restrain his joy.

"Master Yu, something happened in the yamen today. I walked in and saw everyone very happy."

Wei Guangde asked casually after entering the door.

"Master Wei, it's normal that you didn't come this morning and you don't know. After all, most of your time has to be taken care of by the Imperial Academy."

Yu Shihui stood up and bowed to Wei Guangde. Yu Shihui was always very polite to Wei Guangde, after all, he didn't know when he would become old.

Wei Guangde didn't make Wei Guangde wait for too long, he sat down after Wei Guangde sat down, and then said: "Did you know about the emperor's visit to Chengtian Gate on the night of Lantern Festival?"

"I know, I watched the lantern festival down there that night, what's wrong?"

Wei Guangde was puzzled and said that Emperor Jiajing liked to watch the excitement, but he had never heard of him coming out to watch the Aoshan Lantern Festival in the past few years, but he often set off fireworks in the palace for fun.

At the Aoshan Lantern Festival on the night of the [-]th, tens of thousands of people saw the Hua Gai appearing on the top of Chengtian Gate, and immediately guessed that the emperor was there, so this year's Aoshan Lantern Festival became the most lively lantern festival.

Tens of thousands of people saluted towards the top of the city, this scene was naturally very grand.

Wei Guangde is below, although he can't see where Emperor Jiajing is, but he is sure that the emperor is above, otherwise the guard of honor cannot appear here.

"The emperor is here, and he is very satisfied with the lanterns and fireworks, as well as the drum music and the singing and dancing of the palace lady. The reward was sent to the palace this morning. You should go and get the share yourself, haha."

After hearing Yu Shihui's words, Wei Guangde suddenly realized, no wonder the people in the yamen are all beaming, and they are naturally happy when there is a reward.

He went to collect Wei Guangde's share, not much, five taels of silver, and received an extra month and a half of salary.

Of course, he didn't feel much about receiving this little money, but it was a lot for the officials of Taichang Temple.

Not long after, Yan Shifan, the Minister of Taichang Temple, summoned the officials in the yamen outside, and naturally had to enter the palace to thank him after receiving the reward.

Zuo Shaoqing and Li Kaiyuan are in charge of the daily management of Taichang Temple, but when encountering such a major event, Yan Shifan still has to come back in person and take his hands to Xiyuan to thank him.

"Guangde, I thought you were on duty at the Imperial Academy today, but you won't be here."

Yan Shifan was very affectionate when he saw Wei Guangde, not only because of fellow villagers, Wei Guangde would go to Yan's mansion every new year and festival, and this year's annual gift is a 600-year-old ginseng plant.

Now the 300-year-old ginseng in the capital is basically out of stock, Wei Guangde's gift is not bad, it suits his appetite.

Ginseng is nourishing. For the Yan family, the bodies of Yan Song and Yan Shifan are naturally the most important.

As for the Ganoderma lucidum that is now being praised by the world, well, the medical officials trusted by the Yan Mansion don't praise it very much. Relatively speaking, they trust the efficacy of ginseng more.

As a subordinate, Wei Guangde naturally didn't dare to take things too seriously. After saluting Yan Shifan respectfully, he also saluted Zuo Shaoqing and Li Kaiyuan. After chatting for a few words, he retreated to his position behind and stood still.

Taichang Temple is not far from Xiyuan, and their team walked there, and it took only a quarter of an hour before and after.

It's just that the time seems to be wrong, Emperor Jiajing didn't see them, he was just about to leave after saluting in the palace outside the Yongshou Palace, and at this time, several eunuchs walked out of the gate of the Yongshou Palace.

The reason why Wei Guangde could tell at a glance that their grades were not low was not that he knew much about eunuch costumes. The main reason was that these eunuchs were wearing either unicorn or flying fish costumes, with jade belts around their waists, so they couldn't be ordinary eunuchs.

After that, Wei Guangde saw Gao Zhong's figure. Among the figures of these eunuchs, Chen Ju couldn't even get close to him.

Yan Shifan seemed to be very familiar with them. When he saw them coming out, Yan Shifan stopped, and when they approached, he exchanged warm greetings.

Wei Guangde and Gao Zhong looked at each other, but there was no other expression.

On the [-]th day, Wei Guangde invited Chen Ju to his place for a drink. During the dinner, Wei Guangde couldn't bear it and asked in a low voice about the situation of the Supervisor of Rituals.

But obviously Chen Ju didn't know the news of Li Bin's crime, he only said that everything in the prison was normal, and His Majesty was very satisfied with the performance of his godfather and the others for a year.

Then Wei Guangde asked about Li Bin's recent situation, and he was even more surprised when he learned that there had been no change.

At this time, Wei Guangde could only think that Lu Bing hadn't collected more evidence to convict Li Bin, so he hadn't reported him for impeachment.

It was also Wei Guangde who couldn't hold back, and repeatedly asked the supervisor of ceremonies, especially Li Bin's situation, which naturally aroused Chen Ju's vigilance. After questioning, Wei Guangde quietly revealed that he knew that someone was chasing Li Bin.

As for Chen Ju asking who was chasing Li Bin, Wei Guangde would not say anything even if he was beaten to death. He only said that he heard the rumor from someone in the same year.

Chen Ju naturally didn't believe Wei Guangde's excuses, but since Wei Guangde didn't tell him he couldn't help it, so he found an opportunity to quietly report to his godfather Gao Zhong when he returned to the palace.

Wei Guangde didn't know what happened after that, after all, Chen Ju didn't contact him in the next few days.

Even the fact that he reported to Gao Zhong was also figured out by Wei Guangde pinching his fingers.

However, Wei Guangde, who was standing not far away, didn't stand still and didn't gain anything. At least when he heard Yan Shifan talking to them, he took a seat and saw Li Bin, who took a thousand and 200 taels of silver from him. eunuch.

To be honest, Li Bin was really inconspicuous among those eunuchs, and he didn't know how much Emperor Jiajing valued him.

However, after careful observation, Wei Guangde discovered that Li Bin was quite upright and irrelevant, the most recognizable pair of eyes were unexpectedly peachy eyes, which are rare among men.

The eyes are black and white, and there is a slight blush around the eyes and the corners of the eyes. I don't know how the eunuch takes care of it.

When facing the eunuchs and Yan Shifan who were not inferior to him, he talked less and smiled more often, his eyes narrowed into two crescent moons.

Seeing this scene, Wei Guangde couldn't help feeling a chill in his heart.

It's not that I'm jealous of her good life, it's just that I'm not used to this kind of thing. If it's a woman, it will be very attractive. Wei Guangde will be very happy to look at it a few more times, but if it's a eunuch
Li Bin left a deep impression on Wei Guangde, but what Wei Guangde is most interested in is when this guy will fall from power.

After waiting for two days, Wei Guangde was up and down normally, but when he returned home that day, he was told by the servant that Chen Ju was waiting for him in the lobby.

Chen Ju is here?

Wei Guangde felt a little strange in his heart, but he didn't waste time, and walked directly into the lobby.

After the two exchanged pleasantries and sat down, Wei Guangde naturally asked why Chen Ju came here.

Chen Ju is a servant in front of the imperial court, but he is different from those little eunuchs in the palace. He is still very eye-catching. Although he has no rank now, maybe one day Emperor Jiajing will be appointed as an official if he is happy.

"The last time you drank, you talked about Li Bin. Today, my godfather told me about it. Guess what?"

Chen Ju saw that there was no one in the room, and whispered to Wei Guangde.

"Why, but what did you find?"

Wei Guangde asked curiously, seeing Chen Ju being so mysterious, it seemed as if he had really discovered something.

"I don't know the situation outside the palace. The godfather inside the palace noticed that there are people from Eunuch Huang paying attention to Li Bin's every move intentionally or unintentionally."

Hearing Chen Ju's words, Wei Guangde understood. He had already guessed that Huang Jin must be involved in this matter.

No matter how long Lu Bing's brocade-clothed guards were, it was impossible to reach into the palace. It was the territory of Dongchang, but it was not known whether Huang Jin's actions had been ordered by Emperor Jiajing.

There is Huang Jin in the palace, and Lu Bing outside the palace. Obviously this Li Bin is already a dead fish.

"Did you know anyone in the palace?"

At this moment, Chen Ju suddenly asked.

Wei Guangde was startled, knowing that Gao Zhong suspected that he was getting close to Huang Jin's people, and probably got the news from there.

It's a bit troublesome this time, and a poor explanation will crack the good relationship he has established with Gao Zhong.

Wei Guangde was secretly annoyed at his recklessness, and quickly thought about how to explain it.

(End of this chapter)