prosperous age

Chapter 396 Chapter 395
Seeing Emperor Jiajing's gaze, Xu Jie knew in his heart that it was time for him to express his opinion, since he was the second assistant of the court no matter what.

So he hurriedly took a half-step and bowed and replied: "In the past year, there have been frequent occurrences of Japanese pirates in Zhejiang, Fujian, and Guangdong. The government governments in various places should focus on suppressing Japanese pirates, and they may be slightly lax in their governance.

I remember that last month, the Ministry of War was approved to request meritorious service. In April and May, the new Japanese and the old bandits from Lian'ao Yuegang jointly plundered all parts of Fujian. When the air goes down to Xingquan again, chasing Yuegang, Chongwu bandits and Qiling Lian'ao, there are no strong formations on the land and no endless boats on the water.

I remember that in the end, the governor Liu Tao made the first contribution, the governor Hu Zongxian made the second contribution, and the fujian's Japanese imperialism has made great achievements. The indelible contribution of the governor Liu can be made to make meritorious deeds and wipe out Zhang Lian's rebels within a limited period of time. "

Xu Jie mentioned Liu Tao's record in Fujian, and Emperor Jiajing remembered that it really happened. Not long ago, he issued a decree to commend Liu Tao. Moreover, Liu Tao had only served as governor of Fujian for more than half a year, and there seemed to be some mistakes. His grades should be wiped out.

After thinking for a while, Emperor Jiajing looked at Yan Song and asked, "Weizhong, what do you think?"

"His Majesty."

After bowing and saluting, Yan Song said: "The cabinet has not received any reports about Zhang Lian from Fujian and Guangdong, and the Metropolitan Procuratorate has not sent any reports, so it is slightly inappropriate to directly issue an order.

For such a big incident in Fujian, Governor Liu was incapable of suppressing Japanese avatars, but the Fujian inspector censor should not have known about it and not reported it. He should first let him report the matter and explain the details in detail. "

"Has Zhou Yan not arrived yet?"

Hearing Yan Song, he also felt that Liu Tao, as the governor, was still focused on defending against the Japanese, and that Liu Taofu had indeed done a good job after entering Fujian, and he finally let go of the idea of ​​​​disposing of him.

However, Emperor Jiajing felt a little displeased with the Fujian patrol censor mentioned by Yan Song.

The inspector censor, known as "on behalf of the emperor to patrol hunting", has a lot of authority. All gains and losses in local political affairs, military and civilian benefits, are directly reported to the emperor, and the supervision of local officials is especially special.

Some people in Fujian committed rebellion, and the governor can still say that he concentrated on suppressing the Japanese, so it seems unreasonable for the Fujian Taoist censor not to report this.

Seeing that the emperor was not happy, Huang Jin hurriedly stepped forward and said, "I will send someone to remind me."

Seeing Emperor Jiajing nodding, he immediately exited the hall, and arranged for the servants outside the hall to go to Zuodu Censor Zhou Yan immediately, urging him to come over quickly.

After about a quarter of an hour, Zhou Yan finally entered the Yongshou Palace. When he entered the door, he saw a few eyes looking at him, and the atmosphere was a bit wrong.

Zhou Yan has been sitting in the position of Zuodu Censor for five years, and he is no longer an official official, so he immediately realized that something was wrong.

"Who is the censor of Fujian Province now?"

After taking Zhou Yan to salute Ping, Emperor Jiajing asked.

"It's Ji Cheng."

Of course, Zhou Yan was very clear about the censor sent out, so he answered immediately.

"How long has he been in Fujian?"

Emperor Jiajing continued to ask.

"After the Japanese pirates invaded Fujian in the 35th year of Jiajing, because he made a lot of achievements in the suppression of Japanese, he was one of the few people in the Metropolitan Procuratorate who understood military affairs, so the Metropolitan Procuratorate did not rotate again."

At this moment, no matter how stupid Zhou Yan was, he would have guessed that something serious might have happened in Fujian.

However, his evaluation of Ji Cheng was quite objective, and he did not exaggerate. It was just that Ji Cheng had made a lot of achievements in suppressing the Japanese.

Now it seems that the censors of various roads should insist on regular replacement.

Speaking of it, the tenure of the inspector censor is one year, and he goes on tour in August every year, and returns to Beijing to report on his duties after a full year. Assigned work.

It's just that in these years, the implementation of the patrol system is no longer so perfect. Many censors are reluctant to leave Beijing, especially those censors from various southern provinces. They often shift the responsibility to the censors of the Nanjing Metropolitan Procuratorate.

At this moment, Zhou Yan already wondered if this Ji Cheng committed a crime in Fujian.

"Is there any official document from Fujian to the Metropolitan Procuratorate in the near future?"

Hearing Emperor Jiajing's question, Zhou Yan thought for a moment before shaking his head, and replied: "The ministry has not received the report from Fujian."

Emperor Jiajing stared at Zhou Yan for a long time. In fact, from the moment he entered the palace, Emperor Jiajing realized that Zhou Yan was very old and could no longer continue his current job in charge of the Metropolitan Procuratorate.

Although Zhou Yan is only 61 now, his physical maintenance is far worse than that of people like Yan Song and Xu Jie.

What Emperor Jiajing didn't know was that Xu Jie in the palace was also thinking about it when he saw Zhou Yanjin's appearance at the back of the palace.

Xu Jie has rich experience in the officialdom, but he is not as simple as ordinary cabinet ministers. He was demoted to a local place because he offended a superior official, and then gradually got up again, and finally returned to the court.

He has a clear understanding of the political structure of the Ming court, and he has a deeper understanding of the huge power of the Metropolitan Procuratorate than anyone else in the dynasty.

Of course, his awareness will eventually affect his student Zhang Juzheng, and as a result, in the next few decades, the supervisory censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, the vanguard of the party struggle in the Ming Dynasty, will become more unscrupulous.

Yes, he also saw through Zhou Yanjin's movements that his body was not as good as before, but he made a silent note and planned to make careful calculations and plan this matter after returning.

However, the Emperor Jiajing at this time was a little depressed.

When these officials were questioned, they all said that they had contributed to the suppression of the Japanese, as if they didn't need to do anything else to participate in the suppression of the Japanese.

In the coastal areas, is there only one thing to do to suppress the Japanese?
However, considering the overall situation, Emperor Jiajing could not make any punishment decisions at this time, at least not before the local government reported the details.

"Show him."

Emperor Jiajing waved his hand and signaled.

Immediately, Cheng Guogong Zhu Xizhong walked up to Zhou Yan in a few steps and handed him the information from the Guangdong newspaper.

After Zhou Yan looked at it, his expression became even uglier.

To be a bandit is to be a bandit, what the hell is he still proclaiming himself emperor and changing his Yuan, is it really because he is afraid that he will not die fast enough?
"Go on, the Metropolitan Procuratorate asked the Fujian Yushi to report the matter as soon as possible, and the cabinet also asked the Fujian governor to report the details. They are not allowed to play in ensembles, and let them play alone."

"According to the order."

Several people in the hall bowed and answered at the same time.

"Who are the other censors of Fujian Province?"

At this moment, everyone in the palace knew in their hearts that although Ji Cheng's official career could not be finished, he definitely couldn't stay in Fujian and had to return to Beijing to report on his duties.

When asked about the censor, Zhou Yan, the censor of Zuodu, could naturally answer.

Taking a step forward, Zhou Yancai said: "Fujian Taoist censor has a quota of seven people, there are actually six people, besides Ji Cheng who is on tour, there are also Wang Xun, Fang Yuan, Yan Youyu, Jiao Lin, and Wei Guangde."

"Understood, let's all go down."

For the affairs of Fujian, Emperor Jiajing has been busy for a long time, which took him a lot of time. Originally, he should meditate at this time.

Now that the government affairs have been dealt with, whether Ji Cheng is to be dealt with depends on what the report sent up from below has to say, and there is no rush.

With a wave of his hand, everyone retreated, and Emperor Jiajing wanted to continue his great cause of cultivation.

Yan Song, Xu Jie and others withdrew from the main hall and left the Yongshou Palace. Everyone was silent along the way, each planning for an emergency in Fujian. Only Zhu Xizhong seemed to have no worries in this regard. He clasped his fist at them when he left the Yongshou Palace, and went ahead. stride away.

As Xu Jie was walking, he peeked at Zhou Yan, already thinking in his mind whether he should be replaced by a fellow from the Songjiang Mansion.

This person is Pan En, a native of Shanghai County, Songjiang Prefecture, Nanzhili, and the current left servant of the Ministry of Justice. Once Zhou Yan retires, Pan En is the person Xu Jie wants to push.

Xu Jie was from Huating County, Songjiang Prefecture. The two had known each other before high school, and they were people he could trust.

It's just a pity that this Pan En is of the same generation as him, even two years older than him, so he is not young at all.

Thinking of this, Xu Jie looked at Yan Song in front of him, as long as Pan En can control the Metropolitan Procuratorate for two or three years, it should be enough.

In the past two years, Xu Jie has been keenly aware of Emperor Jiajing's dissatisfaction with Yan Song, and it seems that he has the intention to weaken his influence.

Looking at the court now, it seems that the power of Yan Song's family has already declined, and has begun to decline, and the important positions are gradually lost.

Especially in the past two years, the Emperor Jiajing has intentionally or unintentionally excluded the officials of Yan Song's line from the important departments, and the only remaining help seems to be Hu Zongxian who is far away in the south of the Yangtze River.

And the matter of arranging King Jing to be a vassal explained everything.

No matter what the emperor originally thought, but after Yan Song's lineage clearly fell to King Jing, King Jing's family has already made the current Yan family's forces start to be restless like ants on a hot pot.

Can the Yan family last two years, or three years?
At this time, Xu Jie had already made a bold guess, and at the same time he was thinking about another matter.

After exiting the gate of Xiyuan and saying goodbye to Yan Song and Zhou Yan, Xu Jie got into his sedan chair, and before lowering the curtain of the sedan chair, he softly called for his attendant, and said, "Go and invite Mr. Gao Gonggao to come to my house at night. feast."

After speaking, Xu Jie put down the car curtain, squinted his eyes and leaned on the back of the chair.

The news that someone in Fujian rebelled and proclaimed himself emperor, the degree to which everyone in the capital's official circles had already spread the news before the Yamen was scattered that day was really appalling.

These days, bandits are not uncommon, but not many dare to play the banner of rebellion.

Who didn't know that such a commotion would lead to an unending situation with the imperial court, and the imperial court would definitely send a large army to encircle and suppress them, unlike the activities of small bandits, the imperial court would often let it go.

Wei Guangde was also surprised to hear that there were people in Fujian who rebelled during the Jiajing Dynasty, and even called the Feilong Kingdom. In his impression, later generations did not see many articles about this matter, perhaps because they were quickly encircled and suppressed, so the influence For some reason.

Well, in fact, as long as there are no bandits in Shaanxi and slavery in Liaodong, Wei Guangde will naturally not care. In his limited understanding, these two forces are the main forces that ended the Ming Dynasty.

In the evening, I invited a group of people to drink, and they joked about it during the dinner.

"Ge Lao, you mean to let Wei Guangde go to Fujian?"

At this time, in a secret room above Xu Jie's mansion, Xu Jie and Gao Gong were sitting opposite each other, talking about a method that he had only thought of today.

"I think it is possible to punish him to go to Fujian by using the old words. I have inquired that the supervisory censors in the capital are only willing to patrol a few places around the capital. The censor went.

In Zhejiang, apart from Hu Zongxian who got up, even the two censors were beaten there. Although they did not lose their official posts, they were all marked as mediocre people. "

"I understand what Elder Ge means. Fujian Yushi needs to have certain military capabilities. It is possible to let Wei Guangde go there, but he may not be willing to go there."

"In Yongshou Palace today, His Majesty has already expressed his dissatisfaction with Fujian Taoist censor Ji Cheng. Speaking of which, he has indeed neglected his duties. Among the Fujian Taoist censors, Wei Guangde is the most suitable place to go.

What's more, Hu Zongxian is in charge of soldiers and horses in the south of the Yangtze River, which is always a serious problem. I don't think King Yu will object to arrange Wei Guangde to go and monitor him nearby. "

After hearing the reason Xu Jie said, Gao Gong was a little moved.

If other people from Prince Tiaoyu's mansion went south, Gao Gong would have to doubt his motives.

What is the situation now? The identity of King Yu's heir has been confirmed. All the people in Yuwang's mansion are waiting for the imperial court to reaffirm their positions. Chen Yiqin, Yin Shizhen and others will definitely be appointed and promoted soon. At this time, they will be sent out of the capital It must be bad.

Gao Gong couldn't figure out whether Wei Guangde would get promoted, but he believed that Wei Guangde had the imprint of Prince Yu's Mansion on him, so it was impossible for Emperor Jiajing not to know.

Gao Gong was still thinking about it, and Xu Jie, who was on the opposite side, saw Gao Gong's hesitation and smiled and said: "Actually, there are not so many things to consider. The identity of King Yu has been determined, and the remaining ones should be considered in the right place. control.

Right now Zhejiang, Fujian and Guangdong have assembled most of the soldiers and horses in the southern part of the imperial court. If these troops fall into the hands of Hu Zongxian, no matter if it is His Majesty or the prince, he will not be at ease if he thinks about it. "

Gao Gong was shocked when he heard Xu Jie's words, he had already keenly sensed that there was something in Xu Jie's words, although he was not sure yet.

"Elder Xu Ge means"

Gao Gong said hesitantly, but he didn't know how to continue talking halfway through.

"Old Yan Ge's appointment as an official should be soon."

But Xu Jie answered without hesitation: "If you think about the changes in the six ministers in the past two years, Wu Peng's position as Minister of the Ministry of Officials may be replaced soon."

"Who?"

Gao Gong hurriedly asked.

Xu Jie rolled his eyes at this time, "How would I know who His Majesty will choose, we only have the duty of recommendation, but no right to make a decision."

Hearing Xu Jie's words, Gao Gong smiled. Indeed, the Minister of the Ministry of Officials is known as a heavenly official. Although he cannot control high-level officials, he has great power over low-level officials, especially local officials.

Gao Gong's eager questioning was naturally because he was very keen on the position of Minister of the Ministry of Officials, and hoped that someone from Yuwang's Mansion could get it, although he seemed to be the only one who had this qualification among the officials who came out of Yuwang's Mansion.

The Ministry of Officials, the real power department.

"Tomorrow, I will go to Shandai to discuss this matter. As long as he does not object, we will settle accordingly."

From Xu Jie's judgment that Yan Song may not be in office for a long time, naturally, the Yu Palace is extremely enthusiastic about the military power in the south of the Yangtze River, and must fight for it.

(End of this chapter)