prosperous age

Chapter 695 Chapter 794
As the New Year approaches, the imperial court has become increasingly strict on expenditure management, and basically no new projects will be approved.

As Tan Lun proposed, if it is just to promote the Shanhaiguan garrison position, it is not a big problem, but it involves recruiting troops and increasing expenses. At least next year, the cabinet may agree.

However, the construction of additional piers and abutments is currently determined to be rejected. Maybe next year, the opportunity will be greater, and Ji Zhen will have to spend a large portion of the money.

Wei Guangde thought of this before he said: "The matter of Shanhaiguan can be played, and I can talk about it with the cabinet. It is better to wait for the matter of the pier.

By the way, I heard before that Governor Zhao Bingran of Jiliao was sick. Have you gone to see him this time?Is it really heavy? "

Wei Guangde said what was on his mind, and suddenly thought of Tan Lun's next position, so he asked.

"Anyone who has been a governor in the North will more or less contract some problems.

Mr. Zhao has a long-standing problem with coughing, but it has gotten worse since autumn this year. He coughs all night long.

I asked the doctor that Mr. Zhao’s illness is difficult to treat, and that’s basically it.

Previously, his two memorials to beg for return were rejected, and this third memorial should also be sent to the capital. "

Tan Lun replied.

"Brother Zili, rest for a few days. You should hurry up and discuss with Yuan Jing about the big reading. The Zhejiang army will leave in the next year, and you should be able to arrive in the capital before March.

And you, looking at this, you may go to Governor Ji Liao at any time to take over Zhao Bingran's post. "

Wei Guangde nodded.

Tan Lun knew that his northern transfer to the Ministry of War was only temporary, in preparation for taking over from Zhao Bingran at any time.

It's just that the current errand was created by Wei Guangde temporarily, and his original intention was to help him accumulate some credit and show his face in front of the emperor.

"Okay, anyway, there is no rush at this moment. How many years have passed. The matter of the pier will wait until I figure out the matter of Ji Liao before I play it. In addition to writing the petition tomorrow, I will also discuss the matter of Shanhaiguan. Report it up."

Tan Lun made his decision mainly because the court had no money, otherwise he would not be so hesitant in doing things.

At the end of the second year of Longqing, just before the official sealing ceremony, the six departments and other yamen all presented their work summaries for the year. Only the Ministry of Personnel and the Metropolitan Procuratorate were very busy during this period because they had to evaluate officials.

Wei Guangde and other cabinet ministers are also considering writing a self-report, talking about what they have done this year. In the end, they say that they are not worthy of their duties and hope that the emperor will remove them and replace them with someone who can better lead the country.

Of course, no one would take this kind of self-report seriously, it was just a common practice, and Emperor Longqing would not just take advantage of it and eliminate people he didn't like. He would just try to say a few words and then give him a reward.

On the first day of the first month of the third year of Longqing, Emperor Longqing performed a ritual of worship to heaven and paid homage to the Fengxian Hall in the palace. Emperor Sejong had a few banquets at the Hongxiao and Shenxiao Halls. After the ceremony, Emperor Longqing went to the Huangji Hall, where all the civil and military officials and The tribute envoys from all over the world gave celebration gifts without having to make official announcements, banquets with hundreds of officials, and give festival money.

In the first year of Longqing, Alda Khan led his troops to break through the pass and plunder Shanxi.

However, since the end of the year, the Xuanfu army, led by Ma Fang, has continuously launched attacks, defeated many Mongolian tribes, and caused heavy losses to the Anta tribe.

In the second year of Longqing, the Xuanfu army continued to attack. Under the influence of the Xuanfu army, the Datong army, led by the chief military officer Zhao Ke, also began to tentatively leave the border, whether it was to attack the captive cavalry or to hunt grass and valleys, anyway, in Xuanfu On the same line as Datong, the Ming army went out to attack from time to time, so the Mongolian tribes grazing here had to choose to stay away.

During this period, the Alda Department could only choose to launch small-scale attacks near the side wall. During the whole year, the frontier fortress, which has been calling the police all the year round, finally calmed down.

At the beginning of the third year of Longqing, the Datong Army sent back good news. Zhao Ke, the commander-in-chief of Datong, once again led his troops out of Hongci Fort to meet the captives. He was defeated, captured and beheaded 170 people, and captured 85 horses and cattle. The servant Chen Qixue played to hear it.

Emperor Longqing was very happy after seeing this good news. In order to reward his contribution, he rewarded Zhao Ku with 40 taels of silver, two pieces of silk silk on the outside and inside, and one son to cover a thousand households.

Xuanda Governor Chen Qixueyin, a son of Guozijian, was promoted to governor of Datong Liu Youfeng to the first level. Zhao Peng made the first contribution to hundreds of households in this battle. Liu Zhimeng, doctor Yang Yumao and other silver coins are in short supply.

Also because of seeing this battle report, Emperor Longqing remembered the grand parade he decided to prepare last year.

Therefore, Emperor Longqing summoned Wei Guangde alone to learn about the preparations for the Great Review.

To be honest, Emperor Longqing was still looking forward to the Grand Parade, hoping to see the majesty of the Ming army.

"Your Majesty, more than 11 soldiers were selected for this grand parade, including 1 elite frontier soldiers from Jiubian and Liaodong.

The Beijing camp selected 5 soldiers, and Jizhou, Changping, Baoding, and Shandong altogether selected about 6 people to participate.”

The current soldiers are still training in various places and are not concentrated. Naturally, there is no rehearsal. After all, it is still early, so Wei Guangde has not seen it with his own eyes.

Now that Emperor Longqing asked, Wei Guangde could only tell everything he knew first.

"Oh, Qi Jiguang only transferred the officers and soldiers who are closer to the capital to the capital camp for unified training. Others just sent people over to supervise."

After listening to Wei Guangde's words, Emperor Longqing thought for a moment before continuing: "Remember this, the imperial court must make early plans to allocate military rations and allow the officers and soldiers to go to the capital as soon as possible to participate in unified training.

Shandao, you should also go to the military camp more often and point out any deficiencies in a timely manner. "

"Your Majesty, please rest assured that except for the border army units, which will arrive at the Beijing camp a few days before the parade, all other units will arrive a month in advance to participate in the parade ceremony.

At that time, I will go over to watch the drill. If there are any problems, I will discuss them with Shilang Tan and General Qi to solve them in time. "

Wei Guangde said hastily, but seeing the excitement and worry in Emperor Longqing's eyes, he guessed his state of mind in his heart.

That is, until the last moment, I am still worried about whether I will screw up.

During this grand parade, the Ming Dynasty notified almost all the foreign countries that still had contact and invited them to come and watch the ceremony.

The Grand Parade Ceremony has not been held in the Ming Dynasty for nearly a hundred years.

The emperor's uneasiness seemed understandable to Wei Guangde.

"Originally, I planned to go to the Beijing Camp to see what the more than 7 people trained by General Qi were like when I had free time in the next few days.

I heard that soldiers from Zhejiang Province also arrived a few days ago. I also want to see what the Qi family's army looks like when they fight in the south of the Yangtze River. If your Majesty is interested, why not go with me to see it first? "

Wei Guangde knew that the Zhejiang soldiers had arrived in the capital two days ago and were staying in the capital camp. He originally planned to find time to go there and open his eyes and see what the world-famous Qi family army was like.

Seeing Emperor Longqing's expression now, Wei Guangde simply proposed to let the emperor watch with him.

"hiss"

After hearing Wei Guangde's words, Emperor Longqing was obviously moved. He opened his mouth, but he didn't agree.

After a while, Emperor Longqing said: "It's better for Shandai to go take a look first and observe for me what the Qi family army is like."

Having said this, Emperor Longqing raised the corner of his mouth with a smile and said: "I have also heard of the name of the Qi Family Army before. I heard that this army fought with Japanese pirates. In a battle, usually no more than ten people would be killed. Most of them were Three or five people, compared with hundreds of people killed in other guard posts, it is really unbelievable."

"Hehe, I also heard about this, so I am very curious."

Wei Guangde said with a smile: "At the beginning when the minister was ordered to go south to do business, the Qi family army was still not well-known, and it took a few years to create such a great reputation.

I will definitely go to the military camp in a few days to carefully explore their truth and truth, and then report the truth to His Majesty. "

"So best."

Emperor Longqing chuckled, but his expression immediately turned serious and he continued: "If Shan Lian is here, it would be best to ask Shilang Tan about the Da Yue Notes.

I took the time to look at the records of several grand parades after Yongle. Although I often used words such as "the military appearance is neat", "the pace is the same", "the soldiers are brightly colored", and "the envoys of all countries are shocked", but there are indeed not many specific details. The Ministry of Rites Have you and the Ministry of War still not reached an agreement on the ceremony and notes for the parade? "

It is also interesting to say that the matter of the military parade itself has existed since ancient times, so it is necessary for the Ministry of Rites to "slightly refer to the ancient system and consider the appropriate time" and work out a set of detailed military parade regulations together with the Ministry of War.

As for the grand parade, the Ministry of War was very active. After all, it was Wei Guangde, the youngest cabinet elder, and Tan Lun, the servant of the Ministry of War, who promoted this matter. However, the Ministry of Rites was not very active.

After Emperor Longqing made the decision to hold a grand review, shortly after the edict was promulgated, Luo Wenli from the Nanjing Criminal Bureau took the lead in writing a review, saying, "The grand review of ancient rituals is not urgent at present, and there is no need to look up to the Holy Master."

As a result, some officials have been driven to play, opposing the holding of the military parade for various reasons.

However, Wei Guangde didn't pay attention to these voices of opposition. Not only himself was the supporter of this matter, but even Zhang Juzheng on the opposite side actually had this intention. As for Li Chunfang, Chen Yiqin and others, after Emperor Longqing clearly expressed their interest, they would no longer object.

The memorials submitted by these officials who opposed the Great Review seemed to Wei Guangde more like an attempt to express their presence in front of Emperor Longqing.

It's just that most of these people are not officials in the capital, and they don't know that the emperor has clearly approved it. Not only did their performances fail to get what they wanted, but it will arouse the emperor's dissatisfaction with them.

"On the matter of etiquette, I will go to the meeting to urge the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of War to complete the negotiation as soon as possible."

Wei Guangde smiled, and continued: "Actually, there have been similar ritual notes for the Grand Review of the National Dynasty, but it has been dusty at the bottom of the box because it has not been used for a long time. I remember that when I was in the Hanlin Academy, I was lucky enough to see it once in the Yongle period in the Library Pavilion. Great Reading Notes.

I will ask people to find all these when I go back today, and then contact the officials of the second department to complete the matter as soon as possible. "

"So good."

Emperor Longqing nodded, very satisfied with today's summons.

After Wei Guangde came out of the palace, he secretly wiped his cold sweat. He really forgot about what Dayueyi wrote.

The Ministry of War has negotiated with the Ministry of Officials several times, but the Ministry of Rites always shirks it on the grounds that they are still consulting the classics, which he still knows.

But to be honest, Wei Guangde has never paid attention to it, because he did read a Da Yue Yi Zhu at the beginning, so of course he took the rules that were destined by that book as the original rules of Da Yue Yi Zhu for today.

The so-called rituals that officials from the Ministry of Rites boasted about being extremely cautious were actually a set of rules that were re-established by officials from the Ministry of Rites after reading records in ancient books at the time of the founding of the People's Republic of China. All subsequent activities were actually copied from them, with just a few modifications and polishes. , there is nothing mysterious or solemn about it.

Wei Guangde has been in the Ministry of Rites for a long time, and he has already figured out the set of the Ministry of Rites.

Perhaps because they have too little real power, the officials of the Ministry of Rites like to play tricks, or pretend to be aloof, and follow "rules" in everything.

But he couldn't say anything. He did the same thing when he was a minister in the Ministry of Rites, and everyone was actually the same.

After returning to the cabinet, Wei Guangde immediately sent a note to Gao Yi and Huo Ji, agreeing to discuss the Grand Review of Etiquette at the Ministry of Rites in three days, and he would also attend.

The three-day appointment was made to avoid being let off by the Ministry of Rites again.

If you want to search the classics, then find them for me in these three days. Don't continue to shirk the blame by saying you didn't find this or that you didn't see.

"It's true that the people in the Ministry of Rites are just holding a grand parade to boost the morale of the Ming army. Some people actually think it is a signal to re-raise the status of generals."

Wei Guangde came home from the office and was still thinking about this while sitting in the sedan chair.

But the next day, after staying in the cabinet for a short time, someone outside reported that Gao Yi, the Minister of Rites, had arrived in the cabinet, and now he was on duty for Li Chunfang, the chief assistant, and asked Wei Guangde to come over.

He just sent a note to Gaoyi yesterday, and today they called at his door. Wei Guangde was still wondering in his heart, is it worth running to find Li Chunfang for just such a thing?

When Wei Guangde passed by, he met Yin Shizhen on the road. When he was approaching the door, he saw Zhang Juzheng in front of him. It seemed that he had alarmed the entire cabinet, so when he stepped in, he didn't have a good look on his face.

"Zhengfu, Shandai, you should also come and take a look. This is Gao Shang Shu's memorial. Yifu and I have already read it. After reading it, tell us what you mean."

At this time, Zhang Juzheng, who had entered the door a step earlier, was looking through a memorial in his hand, which was obviously written by Li Chunfang's Gao Shangshu.

After Wei Guangde saluted the others first, he walked to Zhang Juzheng and sat down, waiting for him to finish reading.

But Yin Shizhen seemed a little impatient, and asked, "What's the big deal that Uncle Da Zong played today? The uncle is still watching, why don't you just talk about it, I'm a little impatient to find out."

"Haha, it is indeed a big deal for the country."

Gao Yi just laughed, but he didn't tell the matter directly as he wished, but was a little vague.

Wei Guangde knew that Gao Yi came to the cabinet today not because of the note he wrote yesterday, so his face looked better, but he was also surprised, and he didn't hear that the Ministry of Rites was arranging any major events recently.

Wei Guangde's job as a servant in the Ministry of Rites is not for nothing. Naturally, he has recruited a group of subordinates in the Ministry of Rites, and the Ministry of Rites will send him news for any big or small matters.

However, when he returned home yesterday, including the past few days, he didn't seem to see anything sent by the subordinates of the Ministry of Etiquette.

At this time, Zhang Juzheng had finished reading the memorial. He looked up at Wei Guangde first and smiled. Then he handed the memorial to Yin Shizhen. At the same time, he leaned towards Wei Guangde and said, "It seems that you and I are related."

"what's up?"

Wei Guangde said suspiciously.

Just thought it was not my business, but Zhang Juzheng said that it had something to do with him the next moment.

"Da Zongbo asked the prince to give lectures"

Zhang Juzheng said in a seemingly calm tone.

(End of this chapter)