prosperous age

Hearing Wei Guangde say that Li Chunfang might be the successor of Minister of the Ministry of Officials, King Yu still had a glimmer of hope that Gao Gong would succeed him, but he didn't dare to refute Wei Guangde's judgment.

In fact, Wei Guangde's guesses are quite accurate in many cases.

Just two years ago, who would have thought that the group of Hanlin scholars in the Imperial Academy who could only write Qingci could take charge of the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Officials so quickly, and even Yuan Wei jumped three steps directly to enter the cabinet as the second assistant.

You know, before that, they were just idle jobs in Zhan Shifu.

However, Wei Guangde stayed in the Hanlin Academy for a long time, and he already understood the reason.

Since the Tianshun Dynasty, there has been a phenomenon that "non-Jinshi cannot enter the Hanlin, and non-Hanlin cannot enter the cabinet", which is of course not groundless.

The imperial examination system in the Ming Dynasty was quite mature, and the Jinshi admitted were divided into three classes. The first class was directly admitted to the Imperial Academy, the second class was the concubine scholar of the Imperial Academy, as a candidate for the Imperial Academy, and the third class was entrusted with local grassroots officials or other positions. .

It can be seen that those who can directly enter the Hanlin Academy belong to the top among Jinshi.For such a group of talents, the imperial court attached great importance to them and carefully cultivated them.

The Hanlin Academy not only performed its daily functions, but also played a role in training the abilities of Hanlin officials and increasing their knowledge.

For example, edicts issued in the name of the emperor should have been drafted by cabinet ministers, but in fact most general documents were written by Hanlin officials, which helped them adapt to government affairs and deepen their familiarity with court affairs.

The compilation of the memorabilia is generally led by the cabinet ministers, and the actual editors are the Hanlin officials. This work has deepened their understanding of the stories of the previous dynasty's political codes.

In the banquet lectures, Hanlin officials not only became familiar with the court rituals and important policies, but also formed a relationship between the monarch, the minister and the teacher, which became an important reason why they exerted influence on the emperor when they were in charge of the government in the future.

In addition, in Wei Guangde's view, the most important thing is that Hanlin officials have more opportunities to get close to the key points of power, and they can also read historical materials and newspapers, and participate in some important meetings, so as to gain a specific and in-depth understanding of the political situation and current affairs. Hanlin bachelors have accumulated qualities for future politics and cabinet ministers.

As far as Wei Guangde has been an official for these years, he has never participated in the Jingyan feast in the Jiajing Dynasty, because the Jiajing Emperor did not hold a Sutra feast at all in the middle and late periods.

However, his participation in compiling the memorabilia and reading the historical materials and newspapers has allowed him to deepen his understanding of the allusions of the previous dynasty. If he is in power, these experiences will be very important.

Therefore, the outside world only thinks that Yuan Wei and others gained the favor of Emperor Jiajing by writing green poems, so they jumped into the dragon gate to enter the cabinet to pay homage to the prime minister, but they don't know that there is actually a hidden mystery in the seemingly leisurely Imperial Academy.

Although Gao Gong also entered the Hanlin Academy, he was sent to King Yu early to assist King Yu in his affairs. Invisibly, he was unable to deal with government affairs. In recent years, Emperor Jiajing has promoted him continuously, and finally let him enter the imperial court. The minister of the Ministry of Rites helps take care of the affairs of the Ministry, but in fact he is only training him to prepare for King Yu's success in the future.

At least, from Wei Guangde's point of view, until Emperor Jiajing felt that he was dying, he didn't even think about holding one alone.

It's just that after King Yu ascended the Great Treasure, that's the time for him to flourish.

As for myself, when I think that an old and cunning person like Xu Jie wants to send Zhang Juzheng to Prince Yu's mansion, I know that it is certainly not a bad thing for me to come here.

Of course, these are just Wei Guangde's thoughts in his heart, and he will not tell King Yu directly.

"If Master Li becomes Minister of the Ministry of Officials, then the position of servant will definitely be vacant. Yi Fu is about to return to Ding You. Can you think of a way to leave him a position?"

Hearing Wei Guangde say that Gao Gong is useless and can't be a minister, King Yu's thoughts immediately shifted to Chen Yiqin.

Before Chen Yiqin returned to his hometown, Ding You, his rank was not low, but the distance between the fifth rank and the third rank seemed to be relatively far, but it did not prevent him from asking at this time to see Wei Guangde's opinion.

The people in King Yu's pocket were actually only a few people who were close to him, and they were all sent by Emperor Jiajing to Prince Yu's mansion.

There is also Jia Yingchun, but it was King Yu who took refuge in him not long after he left the mansion. He was the first minister to serve him, so he was more concerned.

It's just that I didn't expect that within two years after pushing him to be the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, he would disappear.

At this time, there is really no one in the palace who can afford it.

Yin Shizhen still needs to stay in the palace to take care of the affairs of the palace. As for Wei Guangde and Zhang Juzheng, most of their errands are proofreading and recording "Yongle Dadian" there, and they don't come to the palace every day.

There is also Tang Ruji, who was also dismissed from office and has nothing to do with the palace. Although he has been in the palace for a short time, he left a good impression on King Yu, so he still thinks of him occasionally.

Wei Guangde shook his head after thinking about it, "The position of servant is very difficult. He should be arranged in the Imperial Academy for a period of time first, and then he may be assigned a steward. After all, he has been away from the court for two years."

"Ah."

King Yu didn't say anything else, but turned around and asked Li Fang, "Is Zhengfu going back to the palace today?"

Today Wei Guangde entered Prince Yu's mansion, but he had not seen Yin Shizhen all this time. Now when he heard King Yu asked, he was also curious as to where Yin Shizhen went today.

"Master Yin just went to Xianghe to inspect the Wangfu farm yesterday, and he probably won't return to the capital until tomorrow or the next day at the earliest."

Li Fang replied in a low voice.

"I see."

Wei Guangde thought.

When King Yu was conferred the title, Emperor Jiajing gave him two Huangzhuang, but they were allocated in Xianghe, but King Jing's farm was in Daxing, which was much better than his.

In fact, it can be seen from the allocation of farms by the inner court that King Yu's status was really not good at that time.

But this is all in the past tense. No one dares to underestimate the current King Yu Mansion. After all, he is already the de facto prince. No one would think that Emperor Jiajing would call King Jing of Huguang back.

unless
Later, Wei Guangde and King Yu talked about the issue of their heirs. Wei Guangde had already congratulated King Yu, but at this moment, King Yu was obviously still in a hurry.

He knew that if the child in Li Gongren's womb was a boy, it would be fine, but if it was a daughter, it would be hard to say.

Although the imperial doctor said that the child should be the son after taking the pulse, how many people in the capital would dare to believe the words of the people in the imperial hospital.

Naturally, Wei Guangde comforted him again, he didn't dare to be sure that this child must be the future emperor, although the probability is very high.

"Your Highness, in fact, you don't have to worry, just because you can make the palace man conceive, you have already surpassed His Highness King Jing."

Wei Guangde finally smiled and comforted King Yu. After all, King Jing has been married for many years. The women in the palace need not be as young as King Yu, but there has never been any news of the pregnancy of the palace of King Jing.

Even if Emperor Jiajing's time limit expires, there is still no addition to Prince Yu's Mansion, and it is impossible for Emperor Jiajing to change course.

As he got older, King Yu didn't know when he began to care about his heirs, and from time to time he still missed his eldest son who died young.

In a few days, as Wei Guangde guessed, Emperor Jiajing approved Guo Pu's invitation to return to Ding You's hometown, and then summoned Xu Jie and Yuan Wei, two cabinet ministers, and decided on six candidates for adjustment.

It's just a little different from Wei Guangde's guess that the Minister of the Ministry of Officials was not Li Chunfang's successor, but Yan Na, and Li Chunfang changed to the post of Minister of the Ministry of Rites.

"Change Yan Na, Minister of Rites and Bachelor of the Imperial Academy, to Minister of the Ministry of Officials, promote Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of Officials and Bachelor of the Imperial Academy, Li Chunfang, Minister of the Ministry of Rites, and appoint Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of Officials and Bachelor of the Imperial Academy to be in charge of Zhan Shifu and Dong Fen to be in charge of the Ministry, and concurrently The officials remain the same."

The content of the decree being drafted in the cabinet was introduced, and the commotion among Beijing officials in the past two days also stopped.

They all knew that this must be Emperor Jiajing's will, and the cabinet had already accepted it, so there was nothing they could do to change it.

A few months passed in the blink of an eye, and more than a month after Guo Pu returned to his hometown Ding You, Chen Yiqin ended Ding You and returned to Beijing.

It's just that the Minister of the Six Departments has no place to arrange for him, so he can only return to the Imperial Academy to wait for the arrangement to send the official documents for the cancellation of fakes to the Ministry of Officials.

As for Prince Yu's Mansion, he couldn't go there without the emperor Jiajing's order.

It was Yin Shizhen who took the lead and brought Wei Guangde and Zhang Juzheng to a banquet for Chen Yiqin, which was regarded as a clean-up for him.

In the past few months, before the rainy season in Liaodong, the Tazi cavalry invaded the side wall many times, but they were all beaten back by Yang Zhao's troops.

After entering the rainy season in Liaodong, Liaodong was considered to be stable. Yang Xuan also had to temporarily give up his plan to continue to increase troops in Liaodong because of the deduction of the food by the Ministry of War. .

And that's all the Ministry of War can do. They can't force these troops to return to the Santun camp in the rain by cutting off food and starving the Ming army.

In ordinary days, Wei Guangde's family likes to have a baby, but it makes Wei's mother who came from afar very happy.

After the child was born, the Wei Manor held a wedding banquet for several days to entertain Wei Guangde's colleagues and businessmen in the capital.

King Yu also went to the Wei Mansion himself, saying that he wanted to be happy, and of course he hoped that he could have a son by his side like Wei Guangde did.

But counting the time, Li Gongren's birth is about to happen, that is, in the last two months.

As the time of delivery approached, King Yu was also a little restless in the palace during this time.

Seeing Yu Wang like this, Wei Guangde kindly went to Yu Wang's mansion to comfort him, but it seemed to have little effect. On the other hand, Li Fang seemed to know Yu Yu's worry, and quietly gave Wei Guangde a wink.

Wei Guangde was puzzled, but he could only say a few words of comfort, and then he left.

After going out, Wei Guangde found a place outside and waited for a while before seeing Li Fang coming out of the house.

"Eunuch Li, here."

Wei Guangde called out in a low voice.

Li Fang looked for Wei Guangde and hurried over when he saw Wei Guangde.

"Eunuch Li, just now I told King Yu in the room that Li Gongren's baby must be a son, why did you wink at me in such a hurry?"

Well, if he didn't know the reason, Wei Guangde really wouldn't dare to join King Yu.

After hearing Wei Guangde's words, Li Fang looked back inadvertently at the direction of the room, then turned her head and said to Wei Guangde: "Master Wei, there is something going on in the palace. You came in late, so you may not know it. The prince is actually not worried about Li. Is there a man or a woman in the palace man's stomach?"

Hearing Li Fang's words, Wei Guangde was a little dazed, wondering if King Yu still had the concept of "equality between men and women" in his heart, and didn't have any thoughts that should be in this era?

But at the very least, what Li Fang said let Wei Guangde know that the reason why he gave him a wink earlier seemed that what he said was wrong.

However, he also didn't believe that King Yu would have the concept of future generations, so he cupped his hands and said, "I would like to hear more about it."

"Lord Wei"

After Li Fang said these three words, he hesitated for a while, and finally said: "Hi, I don't even know how to say it."

Wei Guangde knew from Li Fang's appearance that there must be something strange, so he stood there patiently and waited for Li Fang to continue talking.

"Lord Wei, let me tell you this. You, and those people outside, think that His Majesty only died young."

After a long time, Li Fang whispered.

Wei Guangde nodded, how fresh, he knew about this at the time, and he had seen that child when he was alive.

"Then let me tell you, His Highness has actually lost two sons and two daughters. What His Highness is worried about is whether the children in Li Gongren's stomach can grow up safely."

At this time, Li Fang revealed the main reason why King Yu was worried during this period.

Wei Guangde was taken aback when he heard it, "Well, when did it happen, how come the outside world doesn't know anything about it?"

"You hadn't entered the palace at that time, so you didn't know. The other was born to a palace man surnamed Qi, but died before the full moon was born, and the other two little princesses are similar.

Regarding the matter of the eldest son, it was because His Majesty in the palace had been paying attention to it, so it was known at birth, and it was naturally spread to the court, and the other things, because it was not a full moon, so they only reported to the palace, and did not spread it to the outside world. .

You don't know, it's actually normal, even now, no one in the palace is allowed to mention these things, for fear of causing His Highness to be sad. "

Li Fang explained.

In ancient times, the infant mortality rate was very high, so except for the eldest son, in fact, the attention paid to other children was not very high, and the royal family was no exception.

Hearing this, Wei Guangde felt a little more relaxed.

After he entered the palace before, he hadn't heard any joy from the women around King Yu in the past two years. In addition to the example of King Jing, Wei Guangde had to think of some comments on the Internet in later generations, that is, he suspected that Emperor Jiajing had taken elixir. Erysipelas accumulates, so it is not conducive to offspring.

These statements are also due to the fact that several sons of Emperor Jiajing also died one after another, and in the end only two became adults, that is, King Yu and King Jing.

And even the adult heirs, due to the influence of erysipelas on Emperor Jiajing's body, had ruined their fertility.

King Yu seems to have few heirs, while King Jing seems to have no heirs at all, so many people in later generations still agree with this view.

But now hearing Li Fang's words, it seems that King Yu is quite capable in this area, at least he can conceive a woman.

However, the premature deaths of four children in a row, it is really hard to determine whether it has something to do with Emperor Jiajing taking the elixir.

In fact, before this, Wei Guangde didn't really believe this kind of rhetoric, because according to his understanding, Emperor Jiajing took a lot of pills, which should have happened 20 years after Jiajing.

Before that, he was still very diligent in the affairs of the king.

However, Wei Guangde was not sure whether the previous emperor had secretly taken the elixir or not.

"So it turns out that His Highness is worried about the child's early death."

Wei Guangde murmured.