prosperous age

Chapter 582 Chapter 581

Hearing Wei Guangde say that the cabinet should report the opinions of both of them, and the final decision will be made by Emperor Jiajing, King Yu nodded slightly.

"Yeah, that's what cabinet ministers should do."

King Yu casually let Wei Guangde know that the final decision of the cabinet may be more complicated than he thought.

"May I ask Your Highness, how was the cabinet finally drafted?"

Wei Guangde asked curiously, he wanted to know who won the dispute between Xu Jie and Yan Na in the end.

"The three great scholars in the cabinet, Mr. Xu Ge and Mr. Yan Ge have expressed their attitudes, and the remaining Mr. Li Ge."

Speaking of this, King Yu couldn't help shaking his head slightly, with a wry smile on his face.

"Elder Li Ge also has his own opinion?"

Wei Guangde was startled, and Fox questioned.

In his impression, Li Chunfang was just a good guy, and he didn't make any decisions. He was an old oily type of officialdom.

With Xu Jie and Yan Na facing each other, he should hide as much as he can, and he will never get involved in this dispute.

"Do you think Mr. Li Ge won't have his own opinion?"

King Yu noticed Wei Guangde's words and asked.

"Old Li Ge is like this. He is more indecisive. He is indecisive. He seldom expresses his own opinions anyway. He always follows others."

Wei Guangde said after thinking about it.

"Old Li Ge, it is indeed as you said, this time I can see that he can be an official, but not a prime minister."

King Yu said.

The words seemed casual, but it had another meaning in Wei Guangde's ears, that is, King Yu would not let Li Chunfang be the chief assistant of the cabinet.

Among the three assistant ministers in the cabinet, Xu Jie is getting older and has not been able to be active for a few years. The next chief assistant will inevitably be born between Yan Na and Li Chunfang.

It has not been two years since Emperor Jiajing, so it can be basically concluded that soon after King Yu came to power, Xu Jie should retire, and then Yan Na will probably be the first assistant, and Li Chunfang will be the second assistant.

In the next row, it seems that Gao Gong will definitely be able to enter the cabinet. Chen Yiqin, who is already the right servant of the Ministry of Rites, has a high probability of entering the cabinet, and Zhang Juzheng.

Suddenly, Wei Guangde felt that he was far behind them.

Up to now, he is only the son of Zhan Shifu Zuochunfang Zuo Shuzi, and he has not entered the core of power in the court.

Although Wei Guangde is younger than them, the gap in official positions is huge, and if he moves up slowly by himself, his little advantage will disappear.

It's just that at this time, when Emperor Jiajing didn't have much time, he couldn't leave Beijing himself.

In the early years, Wei Guangde had the idea of ​​going out of Beijing to become an official, but now it is absolutely impossible.

Once a person leaves, when the emperor is changed, who will think of himself and leave him a good place.

But without leaving Beijing, my grade can always be slowly boiled.

Sad.

When there was a trace of anxiety in Wei Guangde's heart, King Yu was still talking about what happened in the cabinet.

Li Chunfang really didn't have any propositions, but made peace, saying that Xu Jie and Yan Na's opinions were good, and they could discuss slowly before making a decision.

Harmony is originally the strength of the cabinet ministers. To reconcile the six ministries, don't you have to make peace?

However, when disputes broke out among cabinet ministers, such behavior was somewhat inappropriate.

"So, the cabinet hasn't decided yet how to vote?"

Hearing what King Yu said, Wei Guangde was a little surprised and said?

Can this matter be delayed?

"According to Li Chunfang's intention, we will discuss it tomorrow morning, and we will meet directly in Xiyuan after it is confirmed."

King Yu said.

But calculating the time, it was only a day's delay, so it shouldn't matter.

However, Wei Guangde always felt that this matter might not be that simple.

Suddenly, Wei Guangde thought of something, that is, Li Chunfang and Xu Jie seem to be from Nanzhili, Xu Jie is from Songjiang Prefecture, Li Chunfang is from Yangzhou Prefecture, and Yan Na is also from Nanzhili Suzhou Prefecture.

It can be said that the three ministers in the current cabinet are all from Nanzhili, and Yan Na, as a native of Suzhou Prefecture, probably knows a lot about the local recovery of Yan Shifan's family property.

As for Li Chunfang, it should be similar.

Xu Jie wanted to delay the time, while Yan Na wanted to deal with the matter strictly. Li Chunfang's attitude was ambiguous, but he was obviously in favor of Xu Jie, because under normal circumstances, it should be suggested that the opinions of the two should be brought to the imperial court, but he didn't.

Wei Guangde actually already understood what was going on with the three members of the cabinet at this moment, Xu Jie got the meat, and Yan Na's attitude didn't know whether it was because he didn't get anything to eat or because he thought he got too little, or he really With a breeze in his sleeves, he can't understand Xu Jie's ugly appearance.

Li Chunfang seemed to know the tricks of the matter, so she proposed to delay for a day, in fact, she wanted to make peace with it.What does this mean?
Li Chunfang was also involved, but the benefits were not as great as Xu Jie's.

Today is a debate in the cabinet during the day, so the three of them should have a secret meeting tonight.

Wei Guangde can almost confirm that the fight between Xu Jie and Yan Na is very likely to be caused by the uneven distribution of spoils.

Originally, this matter had little to do with Wei Guangde, he should stay out of it, and even give King Yu a detailed analysis of the joints involved.

Although King Yu knew this, he would only be dissatisfied with the three cabinet ministers including Xu Jie and Yan Na, but it was useless to be unable to control the overall situation.

But who told his father to be greedy for houses and shops, dragging himself into this whirlpool abruptly.

King Yu called himself, probably because he wanted him to analyze the official orifice, but he couldn't say it.

After thinking for a while, Wei Guangde looked at King Yu and said: "Your Highness, I think that this matter, whether it is Elder Xu Ge or Elder Yan Ge, is for the sake of the imperial court.

The reason why Mr. Xu Ge said that should have something to do with his age. To put it bluntly, Mr. Xu Ge has not been in that position for a few years. Naturally, he is seeking stability. I hope that in the last few years of his tenure as the chief assistant, the government and the public will be stable. .

In this way, it will be better when you comment on him in the future.

However, Mr. Yan Ge has been in the cabinet for a short time, so he is inevitably a little edgy and a bit reckless in his work.

Jiangnan is a place where the imperial court pays a lot of taxes. The Yan family must have secretly hidden the family wealth from the distribution to the ransacking of the house. If it is according to what Elder Yan Ge said, then the officials in Jiangnan will probably be too busy chasing dirty things, and instead miss the court's important affairs."

Wei Guangde could only reluctantly explain for Xu Jie and Yan Na, hoping to arouse King Yu's doubts.

However, Wei Guangde didn't want to take the blame, so he finally said: "Actually, Xu Ge's proposal is not bad. The court only needs to order Cheng Yushi to recover the dirty money. Cheng Yushi is fully responsible for this matter. If you make a mistake, ask him."

"You are worried that Jiangnan officials will delay their work because of this matter, and you don't agree with Yan Na's words."

King Yu nodded slightly as he spoke, "I'm afraid that if this matter drags on, it will become an unsolved case, which will not be concluded for a long time."

King Yu obviously doubted the integrity of the officials below, and was worried that they would steal from them, so he was more inclined to Yan Na's words, and quickly took back the Yan family's wealth.

Although he was worried, King Yu could only reluctantly accept Wei Guangde's words at this time.

Just when Wei Guangde thought that this matter was over and was about to leave, King Yu had already said: "Today I wasted a lot of time, sir, let's have a banquet at the palace tonight."

Just as Wei Guangde wanted to say a few words of resignation, King Yu had already ordered to prepare a banquet.

King Yu likes to be lively, so he sent people to inform other officials of the royal family, who are all familiar people.

Under such an operation, Wei Guangde certainly couldn't refuse to refuse, so he could only bow down and accept the order.

Wei Guangde went out to Prince Yu's Mansion on the grounds of delivering a letter to his family, and told his coachman that he was going to have a banquet at Prince Yu's Mansion.

"Li San, after returning to the mansion, you can find Zhang Ji and ask him to arrange a few clever men to keep an eye on the whereabouts of the three elders in the cabinet tonight, and tell him to be careful not to be discovered."

After Wei Guangde finished talking about the palace banquet, he whispered to the coachman to go back and convey his order.

In the evening, after the banquet in Prince Yu's Mansion, Wei Guangde was still thinking about his future while leaning on the carriage.

Up to now, it seems that I can't continue to be a salty fish, and I have to take the initiative to fight for official positions.

In the past, perhaps because he felt that Emperor Jiajing had been around for a long time, Wei Guangde really didn't care much about being promoted.

But just today, the queue of officials who inadvertently thought of it realized that they seemed to be slack before.

It's just a pity that I was promoted to an official position by Emperor Jiajing just two months ago. Whether I have made any achievements in a short period of time, it is almost hopeless to be promoted again.

Thinking of this, Wei Guangde couldn't help sighing in the carriage.

The fifth rank is not enough, and you have to rush to the fourth rank official position. After King Yu ascended the throne, you have the opportunity to enter the Ministry of Rites or the Ministry of Officials, and thus take the most difficult step into the cabinet.

Before that, I blindly catered to King Yu, forgetting that it was actually His Majesty who promoted me.

At this time, the capital was locked at night, and the carriages were being spotted and questioned by the patrolling soldiers in front from time to time.

However, Wei Guangde had an official position, and after the coachman displayed the signboard of Wei Mansion, the traffic was still unimpeded. Even the entrance of the square market, which was said to be closed after nightfall, would still be open for him.

This is the taste of power.

If it was an ordinary person, the patrolmen and guards would have driven them back long ago, so how could they allow such swaggering walks through the streets.

The carriage soon entered Nanxunfang and returned to the gate of Wei Mansion.

After Wei Guangde drank some wine, it seemed a bit difficult to get off the carriage, after all he felt dizzy.

Zhang Ji and Li San managed to get down without his help and entered the house.

When Zhang Ji helped Wei Guangde walk to the backyard, he reported to Wei Guangde in a low voice: "Master, you asked Li San to bring back the message, and I asked someone to keep an eye on it, but I didn't find any visits between the three elders. occur.

but"

"But what, it's okay to be straightforward, don't hesitate to me at home."

Wei Guangde was drunk at the moment, and his speech was a little stiff.

Zhang Ji didn't speak immediately, but helped Wei Guangde into the study, and asked his servants to prepare hangover soup. When there was no one around, he whispered in his ear: "When night fell, there was a small sedan chair in the three elders' mansions. Leaving the mansion, the person sitting in the sedan chair was covered with a cloak, unable to see his face clearly.

The three sedan chairs all went to Tianyin Pavilion in Goulan Hutong one after another, and they stayed for about half an hour before leaving.

If they don't confirm, are the three elders going there? "

"Well, if you don't confirm it, don't confirm it."

Wei Guangde shook his head, and said casually: "I know about this, you go and ask someone to prepare hot water for me, I want to take a bath."

After Zhang Ji went out, Wei Guangde slowly opened his eyes.

Is it necessary to confirm whether those three are going?
As long as he thinks it is.

However, Wei Guangde still rubbed his temples, in fact, he felt a little regretful in his heart.

At the beginning, I was greedy for that little land and dragged myself into this vortex, which was a bit outweighed by the gain.

Originally, Wei Guangde really dared to say that he was a breeze in his sleeves, and he was not greedy for even a little money from the imperial court.

What I earn, at least from the perspective of future generations, is clean hard-earned money.

It is not shabby to earn money from business.

But this time, it seems that because of a mistake in his mind, he seems to have become one of the corrupt officials of the Ming Dynasty.

Greedy those fields, and took the house, shop and money.

Although it is the property of the Yan family, it is money to be confiscated after all. Strictly speaking, it is already the money of the court.

Thinking about being in Prince Yu's Mansion today, I didn't dare to elaborate on the inside story.

Wei Guangde didn't know what his future self would be like.

In the past, he felt that with his knowledge ahead of others and his official position, it was not easy to make money, so he made up his mind not to be greedy for ink.

But for some reason, before Yan Shifan came to Beijing, he still did it by mistake.

A misstep becomes an eternal hate.

Wei Guangde didn't understand the meaning of these words until this time, it was still too superficial before.

In the last days of the dynasty, are all officials like this, cheating their subordinates and making money?
Wei Guangde couldn't help thinking of this, it's only in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, officials dare to gang up together, and make money in units of one million taels, it's too frightening.

Wei Guangde felt that he had really lost a lot of money with this one. He didn't get tens of thousands of taels of money, but he caused a commotion all over.

One night passed, and in the afternoon of the second day, Lu Bu inquired about the news, and sure enough, the cabinet finally made a statement according to Xu Jie's opinion.

In Xiyuan, both Yan Na and Li Chunfang thought that what Xu Jie said was that the old officials were seeking the country, which was a good way to deal with the recovery of Yan's family property.

The cabinet all expressed their views, and Emperor Jiajing did not delve into the matter. He agreed to appoint Yushi Cheng Shoujie as an imperial envoy according to Xu Jie's words.

Three years, who knows whether Emperor Jiajing will have these three years.

"Master, Mr. Zhang has a letter today."

On this day, Wei Guangde returned to the mansion, just entered the mansion, the butler Zhang Ji came up with a letter in his hand and said.

"Master Zhang? Which Master Zhang?"

Wei Guangde wondered, took the envelope and glanced at it, then a smile appeared on his face.

The letter was sent by Zhang Ke, the censor of Zhejiang Zhizhi. After Hu Zongxian stepped down, the anti-Japanese military in Zhejiang was under the dual management of Zhang Ke and the governor of Zhejiang.

However, the governor of Zhejiang has to manage civil affairs in Zhejiang after all, so in the past two years, Zhang Ke has actually become the supreme commander of the Zhejiang Ming Army.

In fact, as far as fellow villagers like Wei Guangde are concerned, Zhang Ke is the only one who has demonstrated the qualities of a military and civilian official. If his official career is smooth, he may be a candidate for the governor of a town in the future.

Before that, not only Wei Guangde, but also the Ministry of War never noticed Zhang Ke’s ability in this area. However, after the imperial court arrested Hu Zongxian, General Wang Yingqi of Hu Zongxian’s guerrilla battalion led more than [-] people to leave the martial arts forest and launched a military mutiny in a desperate attempt to blackmail the imperial court. .

Zhang Ke used his plan to lead the army to capture the rebel general Wang Yingqi alive in the middle of the night. After the trial, he drew up a memorial, which will be entered into the imperial court to quickly stabilize the situation.

However, in the study, Wei Guangde took out Zhang Ke's letter and read it carefully, but he frowned, because Zhang Ke seemed to be in trouble.

(End of this chapter)