prosperous age

"If your majesty asks, I think it's better for the cabinet to punish King Liao by reducing his rank and imprisoning him. The matter of expelling the country is too serious, and his majesty needs to think twice."

Being repeatedly mentioned by them about King Hui reminded Wei Guangde of his first impeachment.

Zhang Juzheng kept looking at Wei Guangde, and he let out a sigh of relief when he heard that he also agreed to cut the noble and imprison him. The matter of expelling the country really had a great impact.

Although he really wants to achieve this goal, he also understands that he needs to figure it out slowly.

"If it's a good loan, what's your opinion?"

Li Chunfang spoke at this time.

"Based on the crimes committed by King Liao, it is reasonable to say good loans, but it is best not to show the words of imprisonment on the bill. His Majesty will decide everything."

Although Chen Yiqin didn't take the Liao King's matter seriously, His Majesty could only raise the issue of imprisoning the clan, at least His Majesty had to ask before answering, it's not good to take the initiative to talk about it.

Although Zhang Juzheng was a little dissatisfied, he could understand what Chen Yiqin said, and it made sense.

And Li Chunfang nodded even more at this time, "The cabinet's opinion can be defined as cutting the nobility and imprisoning the clan. It is indeed not something the cabinet can propose."

Seeing that Chen Yiqin and Li Chunfang had reached an agreement, Zhang Juzheng knew that it was useless to say anything, so he also nodded in agreement.

As for Yin Shizhen and Wei Guangde, they naturally didn't have much opinion.

Even if this matter is settled.

Next, Zhongshu divided the memorial, and someone divided it into several people's rooms.

Once the cabinet has a unified opinion, it is easy to approve these memorials. Just take a look, and directly vote to punish the king of Liao for cutting his rank and deposing him as a commoner.

In the Ming Dynasty, cutting the title and removing the country were two punishments.

To cut the title means to deprive the King of Liao of his title, replace him, and select someone else from the same clan to inherit it.

Removing the country means abolishing the title of King Liao and no longer appointing King Liao. In this way, the highest line of King Liao is only the county king, and no new county king will be born in the future, because all the descendants of the county king can inherit the county king. Except for the title, the others are all downgraded to generals.

In the short term, the abolition of a Liao king seems to have a limited impact on Huguang's Lumi expenditure, but if extended over a long period of time, it can reduce a lot of expenditure.

Zhang Juzheng went back to his duty room in a sullen mood, sat behind the desk, and was not in the mood to review the memorials, but was thinking of a way.

Of course the other cabinet ministers didn't know about his situation, and Emperor Longqing didn't return the previous memorial to the cabinet.

However, Emperor Longqing also keenly sensed the cabinet's change in the cabinet's new memorandum in the afternoon and the unified proposals above.

Cut down?

It seems that the cabinet has set the bottom line for Liao Wang's affairs. Officials cannot continue to tolerate people like Liao Wang Zhu Xian's misconduct in the local area.

"Are these two stacks of memorials impeaching the Liao king illegal?"

Emperor Longqing looked at the mountains of memorials below and asked with a frown.

Teng Xiang bowed to answer, and still did not forget to flatter him: "My lord, these two stacks are for the impeachment of King Liao. These are the official duties handled by the cabinet today, and they are all divided."

"Leave the memorabilia on the impeachment of King Liao first. If you have any important official documents today, let's take a look."

King Liao's punishment was just a matter of his words, so he was not in a hurry. He hadn't figured out the benefits and losses, so he didn't plan to approve the red for the time being.

You know, as long as the emperor approves a memorial, if it is rejected, it will immediately attract more impeachment memorials.

But if he nodded in agreement, it was equivalent to decree. Such a memorial was sent to the cabinet, and the cabinet ministers would immediately draft the imperial decree and send it to the Supervisor of Rites and the Sixth Division for distribution.

So I don't want to give an answer so quickly, so I can only keep all the impeachment memorials, that is, not send them back to the cabinet, so that things can be delayed.

As all the memorials to impeach the Liao king were sent to the palace, they all disappeared, but within two days, the ministers all knew what the emperor meant.

I don't know whether it was promoted by someone with a heart, or the ministers thought that their opinions were ignored by the emperor and caused dissatisfaction. Soon the second round of impeachment swept the entire court.

This time, many officials who hadn't filed a petition before also wrote letters requesting severe punishment of the Liao king, especially for verifying that the Liao king used many inhuman criminal laws against the people, and they were especially written about, saying that his cruel history was rare.

In the middle of the night, in the study room in the backyard of a mansion in Nanxunfang, Wei Guangde leaned on the recliner and asked casually, "Are you sure it's Shuda's disciples who are agitating behind?"

"My lord, it has been confirmed that besides the Huguang officials, it was Zhang Ge's disciples who incited the officials to impeach him at the banquet and demanded that the Liao king be imprisoned. Many people in Huguang supported the expulsion of the country.

However, in the past two days, Zhang Ge's old mansion has been closed to thank guests, and none of these people have entered Zhang's mansion.

Therefore, it is really hard to say whether it was Zhang Ge who kept it secretly. "

Zhang Ji said below.

In the past few days, the government affairs sent by the local government have not been of any importance, so Emperor Longqing has been in the palace and has not summoned a few cabinet ministers to discuss matters.

Wei Guangde always felt that Emperor Longqing did it on purpose, leaving such a big matter behind King Liao, unlike Emperor Longqing's style.

In fact, because it is common for the bad guys in the capital to act unscrupulously in the city, Emperor Longqing was very displeased with the powerful and bullying others.

This time, Wei Guangde thought that the emperor would quickly summon the cabinet ministers to come up with opinions on how to deal with the matter of the Liao king, but he didn't expect that it would take a few days and there would be no result.

"Could it be."

Suddenly, a thought arose in Wei Guangde's mind. In the past, when such things happened in the Jiajing Dynasty, the emperor's procrastination was always scheming.

Either deal with harshness, but because of scruples about reputation, you have to drag it until the courtiers are excited, or you want to deal with it lightly, so you keep suppressing it until something new happens and everyone's attention is diverted.

Wei Guangde didn't think that Emperor Longqing would easily let the Liao king go, either he was still a little hesitant, or he was waiting for the emotions in the court to accumulate to a higher level before he took out his punishment.

From this point of view, Emperor Longqing seems to want to learn from Emperor Jiajing's way of dealing with King Hui and King Yi, and it is possible that he already has plans to exterminate the country in his heart.

What Wei Guangde didn't know was that when Gao Gong was teaching King Yu, he had analyzed the issue of pro-vassalism in detail, because during the Jiajing Dynasty, the patriarchal Lumi had become a huge burden on the court.

Gao Gong made a detailed analysis of the failure experience of Qi Tai, Huang Zicheng, etc. who conspired to cut down the vassal. Of course, he also introduced the Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang as kings to strengthen the border defense and the purpose of protecting the royal family.

In addition, Emperor Longqing could feel the financial burden of the clan Lumi on the court's finances, so the success of Emperor Longqing's heart was rooted in the idea of ​​cutting the feudal clan.

However, Emperor Longqing also knew that now seems to be the time to cut down the vassals, because the current vassal kings are no longer as powerful as they were in the early Ming Dynasty, but they will eventually be hated as not thinking about family affection, especially if they go against Lao Zhu's decision. group training.

Therefore, during the two years after he ascended the throne, Emperor Longqing buried this idea deeply in his heart.

He didn't want to be stigmatized by the history books of later generations as "disobeying group training and being cruel to relatives".

I don't want to leave infamy, and the court's finances can barely maintain, so let's procrastinate and leave this "great achievement" to my son and grandson.

This was the final idea of ​​Emperor Longqing, but similar to Emperor Jiajing, if there is a chance to cut down the feudal clan, it is not impossible.

After all, the emperor's sons were all made princes, and there were too many princes in Ming Dynasty. If there was a chance to eliminate several countries, he could make room for his own children.

Therefore, Emperor Longqing had the idea of ​​getting rid of the Liao Fan from the very beginning, but he had to wait until the courtiers' dissatisfaction reached its peak before being forced to accept the removal of the country.

Wei Guangde didn't know, but at this moment, in his wild thoughts in the study, he gradually coincided with Emperor Longqing's thoughts.

If he wants to deal with it lightly, he should directly impose punishment after the cabinet report, such as sending someone to order, etc., instead of staying in the middle, delaying time, and letting the incident ferment.

When I came to the cabinet the next day, the memorials to be processed today on the desk in the duty room had been divided into two piles, one on the left and one on the right.

Wei Guangde knew that the more piles were the impeachment memorials sent today, and the less ones were other government affairs.

After a short rest, he took a sip of tea and picked up the pile of government affairs memorials.

The first one is the memorial of the Ministry of War, planning to send Tan Lun, the servant of the Ministry of War, out of Beijing to inspect the border defense of Jizhen.

In fact, Tan Lun was on his way to the Governor of Ji Town when he was transferred to the North. The inspection of the border guards should have taken place a long time ago, but it was delayed because of the big parade.

But now after Tan Lun and Qi Jiguang's investigation, they have a rough idea, and it is indeed not appropriate to stay in the capital.

Although Qi Jiguang is not in the capital now, but has gone to Changping, but the affairs of the Beijing camp have been handed over to his cronies, and the preparations for the grand parade have been steadily being carried out, so there is no need for Tan Lun to watch in the capital.

Wei Guangde just thought for a moment before voting on the memorials, and then continued to read other memorials. As for the pile of impeachment memorials, Wei Guangde planned to wait until the memorials were exhausted.

Anyway, there are only a few sentences in the bill plan. In fact, it is also possible to ask people to help the bill draft directly, but the influence of spreading it is not good.

After more than ten memorials in a row, Wei Guangde finally finished handling today's government affairs. Although he doesn't know if there will be any new memorials coming in the afternoon, at least now he only has the memorial of impeachment of King Liao left in front of him.

But at this moment, You Zhongshu came in with two books and two stacks of memorials.

"Where is this memorial?"

Wei Guangde asked, and when he saw the person coming in, his heart trembled for no reason.

"Reporting to the old man, these are the memorials to impeach the Liao king just registered by the supervisor of rites."

Zhongshusheren hastily bowed and replied.

"Put it there."

Wei Guangde sighed in his heart, pointed casually and said.

When the people went out, Wei Guangde got up and walked around the room, feeling a little irritable for no reason.

After the cabinet was bombarded with impeachment memorials for a day, Wei Guangde chose to leave the cabinet without finishing the remaining memorials.

During the noon break, several cabinet ministers got together and discussed it. Other official memorials will be dealt with as soon as possible, and follow the original procedure.

And those impeachment memorials, as much as they can be made, even if they are piled up in the cabinet, it doesn't matter, anyway, it will not affect the operation of the government.

When the cabinet was bombarded by impeachment memorials, Emperor Longqing of the Qianqing Palace was also in a daze in the face of the impeachment memorials flying like snowflakes.

This is the second time he faced the scene of the overthrow of the court. The last time was when the courtiers impeached Gao Gong, but it was not as scary as this time.

After all, the old fritters in Beijing officials will not easily leave the stage to express their opinions.

But this time is different. I don’t know what the result will be in impeaching the vassal king, but at this time, it is politically correct to file a letter of impeachment. Civil officials who don’t file a letter are easily isolated by others, so those old fritters have also shot.

In addition, there are now more five members of the cabinet than at this time last year, and the speed of reviewing memorials is also faster.

At that time, Xu Jie, Li Chunfang, and Gao Gong went home to rest from time to time because of impeachment, which also affected the operation of the cabinet.

The civil servants of the foreign court were cheering for them, and no one could understand the distress of the cabinet and the emperor at this time.

In recent days, Emperor Longqing kept all the memorials to impeach King Liao, but the Supervisor of Liao had to send them in, and moved them back after the emperor spoke.

"Tomorrow is the time, pass on"

Emperor Longqing looked at the memorials piled up below, and finally decided to summon his cabinet ministers to see what was going on in the outer court.

But who to call first?

Emperor Longqing was in trouble for a while.

If Gao Gong was in court, he would definitely choose to summon Gao Gong.

And now, he has released three people in the cabinet, should he summon the prudent Chen Yiqin or Wei Guangde who can make up his mind?

However, Emperor Longqing was only worried for a moment before he decided on the candidate.

"At Sishi, it is said that Li Chunfang and Chen Yiqin have an audience."

"According to the order."

The eunuch next to him immediately took orders.

"Okay, it's still the old rules, put aside the impeachment of King Liao, and report the most important ones to the court today."

Emperor Longqing said to Meng Chong below.

"My lord, here is a report from the Ministry of War, and I want to send my servant Tan Lun to inspect Ji Town. Now Tan Shilang and General Qi are shouldering the errands of the Grand Parade. General Qi is out of Beijing to train the surrounding troops. If Tan Shilang leaves too, I'm afraid it will happen." Delay the big reading."

Meng Chong picked up a memorial and presented it to Emperor Longqing, and briefly mentioned the content of the memorial. ,

"What did the cabinet say?"

The grand parade was well known throughout the court, so Emperor Longqing asked while reaching out to receive the memorial.

"Cabinet Wei Ge's old approval is feasible, but the old slave is still worried.

How many years has it been since the imperial court held a parade ceremony, and the Ministry of Rites has already ordered all the museums to notify Fanbang of coming to the imperial court, if something goes wrong."

Meng Chong expressed concern.

Hearing Wei Guangde's approval, Emperor Longqing opened the memorial and read it all over before he said: "It's still early before the Grand Review. I remember that Tan Lun was transferred to Beijing to take over the post of Governor Zhao Bingran. Now it's okay to let him go and have a look. .”

After closing the memorabilia, he handed it to Meng Chong and said, "Criticize it.

After being approved, the memorial will be sent to me, and tomorrow I will give it to him in person. "

This is the advantage of the cabinet ministers. If the emperor has any doubts about the cabinet’s official reply, he will let the proposed cabinet ministers see him as soon as possible. For the emperor who doesn’t like going to court, the ministers have too few opportunities to see each other. up.

It is too difficult to get the emperor's attention without seeing the emperor.

And the cabinet ministers are much better. If you really want to see the emperor, you just need to do a little trick when drafting the ticket, and you will have a chance.

Of course, if something goes wrong with the drafting of the ticket, the emperor's summoning will also turn into a reprimand, which is also a technical job.

Naturally, Wei Guangde did not know about the conversations in the palace.

When San Ya was approaching, Gao Yi, Minister of the Ministry of Rites, came to the cabinet and sent Qin Tianjian's Datong calendar for next year.

In Li Chunfang's room, Wei Guangde flipped through it casually and laughed, "Send it to the palace tomorrow, who among us here can understand the art of yin and yang."

"Ha ha."

Everyone in the cabinet and Gao Yi laughed.