prosperous age

"The officials don't want to lie to me. If it was in the past, it would be fine. But today, Eunuch Chen is not willing to let someone call you back. He must have something important to tell you. He is worried that people will find out outside."

Xu Jianglan was naturally not stupid, she had already figured this out in the room before, so she said with a pout.

Hearing this, Wei Guangde knew that it was not easy to hide it, his daughter-in-law was smart, as long as she figured it out, it would be hard to fool her.

After thinking for a while, Wei Guangde still whispered in Xu Jianglan's ear: "Brother Chen brought news that Lu Binglu may have been killed by someone."

"Ah? How did this happen? Didn't you say that Dudu Lu tried the elixir for the emperor in the palace, and died because he couldn't bear the erysipelas? Could it be?"

In an instant, Xu Jianglan thought of something more. Could it be that the emperor was dissatisfied with Governor Lu and did it on purpose?
But soon, Xu Jianglan dismissed this idea.

Does the emperor need to do this?

Shouldn't Lu Bing's house be ransacked directly after Lu Bing's death, and he should be given enough mourning honors, and the Zuo Dudu should be in charge of the abbot Lu Bing's funeral? All of this is illogical.

"Don't think blindly."

Wei Guangde said angrily: "It's not as simple as you think. This time, it may be a poisoning operation against Dudu Lu. I don't know who the murderer is, but since he killed the important ministers of the court, Brother Chen came over to see him." One is to tell me about this matter, and the other is to remind me to be careful and pay attention to diet and daily life.”

"From now on, you should go home and eat. The kitchen is all brought by me. You can rest assured that they are all born at home."

Xu Jianglan said to Wei Guangde a little anxiously.

"Actually, it's okay for me and my colleagues to drink outside. If he is so mad that he dares to attack Hanlin, I don't know what to say. Should I praise him for his courage or call him stupid."

Wei Guangde pretended to be very casual and continued: "Brother Chen just kindly came to remind me, after all, this matter is also a secret in the palace, Dongchang is investigating, but I think it's okay.

Think about it, who is Governor Lu?

That was Jin Yiwei, the people he offended were not ordinary people, maybe it was someone who did such a thing because of old grievances.

Anyway, I don't think it's worth his shot for the only petty official I have. "

What Wei Guangde said was to dispel Xu Jianglan's worries.

Wei Guangde will choose some simple things to talk about the party disputes in the court, but will not talk about the complicated ones.

But Xu Jianglan is not one of those ordinary women who don't go out of the door. She often visits Duke Cheng and other honorable mansions as guests, and she can more or less hear a lot about the court.

At this time, she seemed to have thought of something.

"Tell me, could it be Mr. Yan Ge's handwriting?"

Just like what Wei Guangde thought, Lu Bing never participated in the battle between the two kings. Whether he met King Jing or King Yu, he always saluted the two kings according to the rules, and never acted arrogantly in his own capacity.

Therefore, Xu Jianglan, who knew the situation in the capital, naturally rejected King Jing at this time, but thought of Yan Song who was at odds with Lu Bing.

Others don't know, but she has heard people say that the two families were very good in the early years, but for some reason they have often criticized each other in the past few years, which seems to be endless.

At this time, Wei Guangde had taken off his coat and changed into pajamas. He didn't want Xu Jianglan to think so much, so he put his hand on Xu Jianglan's fragrant shoulders and pushed her onto the bed.

"Daughter-in-law, it's time to rest, don't think about that"

There was nothing to say all night, and Wei Guangde was still on duty the next day, even though there was nothing to do in the Hanlin Academy.

In the afternoon, after Wei Guangde left the gate of the Imperial Academy, he went directly to Xifeng Tower, where he had an appointment with Gao Gong today.

"Serve food and wine as usual."

When Wei Guangde entered the private room, he said to the shopkeeper who followed him.

This is also one of the properties of Prince Yu's Mansion, but the location is on the street, not as secret as the restaurant behind the Palace.

Now Gao Gong has left King Yu's mansion, so Wei Guangde doesn't deliberately hide his whereabouts like before, even though most of the Beijing officials know that Gao Gong almost represents King Yu.

Not long after, Gao Gong came over, Wei Guangde got up hurriedly, and walked up to him with a few steps.

"Brother Suqing, sit down and rest for a while, the wine and food are ready, and they will be served right away."

After a few words of pleasantries, the two sat down, and after a while, the waiter in the shop brought the food and wine Wei Guangde wanted.

After the food and drink were set, the waiter quickly withdrew.

The upstairs, downstairs and left and right have been cleared here, so I don't worry about being overheard.

However, if it was from Jinyiwei or Dongchang, Wei Guangde didn't dare not let people eavesdrop, lest it would be troublesome for others to guess wildly in the end.

But fortunately, Wei Guangde's official position is now humble, and he should not be able to reach the legendary state of Jin Yiwei's all-round surveillance.

While drinking and eating, neither Wei Guangde nor Gao Gong was in a hurry to say anything. Although Gao Gong knew that Wei Guangde must have something to do with asking him to come over, he was not in a hurry.

If there was really a big deal, he would definitely say it when he sent the message yesterday, and he was not in a hurry at that time, so naturally it wasn't a big deal.

After three rounds of wine and five flavors of food, Wei Guangde decided to get down to business at this time.

"Brother Suqing, I have invited you over this time because I have two things to tell you, please help me think about it."

Gao Gong knew that Wei Guangde was about to serve, so he also put down his chopsticks and seemed to be listening attentively.

Wei Guangde didn't intend to talk about the affairs in the palace at the beginning, but first took out the blueprint drawn by Yu Dayou from his bosom, unfolded it and handed it to Gao Gong.

Gao Gong took it into his hand, looked at it, and asked a little strangely: "Unicycle? What does Guangde mean by giving me this?"

The unicycles of the Ming Dynasty were very popular and can be seen everywhere from south to north, because they are highly adaptable, suitable for use on various terrains, and are light and cheap.

"This was designed by a senior to fight against the cavalry assault of the Mongolian Tartars"

Wei Guangde saw that Gao Gong was still holding the blueprint in his hand to study carefully, so he immediately opened his mouth to explain, and also gave Gao Gong a detailed introduction to the battle that took place outside Niuxin Fort in Datong.

After listening to Wei Guangde's words, Gao Gong looked at the blueprint of the unicycle in his hand again, and understood a little bit what the things drawn on it were for.

"Who made this thing?"

Gao Gong asked curiously.

"Yu Dayou, former Zhejiang General Soldier."

Wei Guangde replied.

"It's him. I know this person. Although I haven't seen him before, he was mentioned many times in the Zhejiang war report against the Japanese. He is a very capable general."

Gao Gong nodded and said.

"Yeah, this time Yan Song and Hu Zongxian were dismissed from office, not to mention losing the family's protection, and even sent to Datong, alas."

Wei Guangde sighed as he spoke.

"There shouldn't be many people in the capital who don't know about him. It's a pity."

Gao Gong agrees with Wei Guangde's words, it's not just that the officialdom struggle is either one or the other, he really values ​​Yu Dayou's commanding ability.

Gao Gong still knew the strength of the Ming Army Garrison.

Yu Dayou was able to command the guards to fight the battle like this, which is quite good.

"He was dispatched to Datong, and he can still think about state affairs all the time, which is even more commendable."

Gao Gong continued, but then changed the subject and said to Wei Guangde: "Guangde, you should also understand that the experience of Niuxinbao alone is not enough to explain the power of this unicycle chariot, and more actual combat tests are needed. To verify whether it can really withstand the impact of the Tartar cavalry, it is a bit difficult to persuade the people in the Ministry of War to build a large number of them now."

"My lord is right, Guangde has been taught."

This time to invite Gao Gong, Wei Guangde did not intend to roll out the unicycle chariot right now, and asked the court to allocate funds to build a border town with equipment, but just to give Gao Gong a hint that Yu Dayou has a good relationship with him, and he is considered a member of Prince Yu's Mansion.

Gao Gong obviously also understood that he didn't ask about the relationship between Wei Guangde and Yu Dayou at all.

Yu Dayou was under the protection of Lu Bing before, and now Wei Guangde has Yu Dayou's blueprint in his hand. According to him, this thing was made after Yu Dayou was dispatched to Datong.

This shows that it is already obvious that there should be some kind of connection between Wei Guangde and Lu Bing in the past.

Unfortunately, Lu Bing died.

"Governor Datong, and Governor Xuanda, will they allow them to build more unicycles for actual combat?"

Gao Gong suddenly asked.

"Governor Li Wenjin of Datong should be supportive. He used to know General Yu when he was in Zhejiang, and he allocated funds to build the chariot this time from the Datong government office.

As for Governor Xuanda, by the way, has the imperial court decided who will succeed Lord Jiang Dongjiang? "

Gao Gong just said it casually, but he really forgot that Jiang Dong, the Minister of the Ministry of War, who was temporarily acting as the governor of Xuanda, had been transferred to Nanzhili to replace Zhang Jia as the Minister of the Ministry of War in Nanjing. It has not been settled for a long time.

"No, I don't know the specific situation."

Asked by Wei Guangde, Gao Gong also remembered that there is no governor of Xuanda now, and the government affairs are handled by the governors of Xuanfu and Datong.

After talking about the unicycle chariot, Wei Guangde didn't immediately tell what he just learned last night, but ate a few more bites of food and drank two glasses of wine with Gao Gong.

Gao Gong saw that although Wei Guangde was looking at the wine table, the expression on his face was hesitant to speak, so he asked with a smile: "Is there anything else? It can't be that Guangde wants to seek the governor-general. official position."

"Ha ha."

Wei Guangde put down his chopsticks and said with a smile, "I think, is it possible?"

"Disaster."

Gao Gong replied without any concealment.

"I also knew it was impossible, so I never thought about such a good thing."

Wei Guangde laughed at himself, but that's the end of the story, Wei Guangde also put away his smile, and looked at Gao Gong with a serious face.

The sudden change made Gao Gong's heart tremble slightly, Wei Guangde's change was too obvious, and the relaxed atmosphere in the room disappeared all of a sudden.

"Guangde has something to say, just say it."

Gao Gong didn't know what Wei Guangde wanted to say, but judging by his appearance, it seemed that it was not a trivial matter.

"Brother Suqing, you know about Governor Lu, right? How much more do you know?"

Wei Guangde suddenly asked nonchalantly.

"How much do you know? It's not that Governor Lu died because he was testing medicine for His Majesty. Don't talk about it in the future. It's a taboo."

Gao Gong is upright, but that doesn't mean he's stupid. The series of operations that followed Emperor Jiajing actually explained a lot.

"It seems that adults don't know about this yet."

Wei Guangde said sternly, then lowered his voice and said, "I got the news that the palace is looking for the mastermind behind Dudu Lu's death."

"what?"

Although Wei Guangde's words were vague, Gao Gong was not an idiot.

Officials in the capital, as long as they are of any rank, know that Lu Bing died of erysipelas because he tested the medicine for Emperor Jiajing, and the medicine and stones failed to treat him.

But what did Wei Guangde say just now?
To find out who was behind the scenes, it doesn't make it clear that Lu Bing's death was not as simple as it appeared on the surface. Was he killed by someone?

Immediately, a more terrifying thought came into Gao Gong's mind. Who is the target behind the scenes?

Is it Lu Bing or Emperor Jiajing?
Wei Guangde looked at Gao Gong's changing face, and he knew what he was thinking about, and he thought so too.

However, Gao Gong was still not as quick as Wei Guangde. After all this time, he didn't expect the speed of Lu Bing's illness before. Could that speed poison Emperor Jiajing?

Wei Guangde had no choice but to say: "Brother Suqing, the target of the black hands behind the scenes should only be targeting Governor Lu, not others."

"Why?"

Gao Gong didn't want to understand yet, he just asked casually.

"If you want to kill the king, the toxicity should be chronic, and it will never be so acute."

Wei Guangde said lightly.

"what"

Hearing this, Gao Gong came to his senses. Indeed, when he heard that Lu Bing had an attack soon after he tested the medicine, so Emperor Jiajing didn't have time to take the medicine, and Lu Bing was already dying, so he hurriedly called the imperial doctor for treatment.

"Then why did he target Lu Bing?"

Gao Gong doubtfully said that those who can do something in the palace will naturally have great power, and the plans will not be small, but there are obviously more valuable targets, but they are only aimed at Lu Bing.

Although Lu Bing is very powerful, but after all, no one is more valuable.

"I don't know the specific reason, but I have heard people say that the day before the execution of Guo Xiyan, His Majesty and Lu Bing talked alone in the Yongshou Palace for a while, and even Eunuch Huang was called out of the hall. It is said that someone once I heard a few words in front of the window, His Majesty and Lu Bing once said "Jiu Fan"."

Wei Guangde told Gao Gong the news that Chen Ju told him one by one, which also helped Gao Gong analyze the inside story.

If the information is incomplete, it is naturally easy to make mistakes in judgment.

At the end, Wei Guangde still said: "The rumors are just gossip, so it's not accurate. Anyway, I haven't found out which little Huangmen said it. I guess it's not certain who is talking nonsense. After all, it is the Palace of Eternal Life .”

"If that's the case, the mastermind behind the scenes might as well attack His Majesty directly instead of only targeting Lu Bing."

After thinking about it, Gao Gong nodded and said, "The only ones who can make a move are Yan Song and King Jing. No one else has the ability to do such a thing except them. If the rumors are not good, they will be released. The purpose is to stir up trouble."

"What do you mean?"

Wei Guangde asked curiously.

"If someone investigates this matter, they will be the first thing that comes to mind. With these rumors, it is enough to confirm the charges, as long as the source of the rumors is found."

Gao Gong suddenly said in an unpredictable and profound way: "But you just can't find it, and if you can't find enough criminal evidence, there will naturally be people who suspect whether someone set the blame on this matter."

Wei Guangde thought it strange when Gao Gong said "disturb the water" before, but now he heard him say "blame", Wei Guangde realized that he seemed to be preparing for the conspiracy to be revealed.