prosperous age

"Whoa Whoah"

Several oars hit the water and made a sound. A speedboat came upstream and approached the dock on the shore.

The two Ming soldiers on duty on the pier had already come out of the small house with spears in hand and stared at the speedboat approaching on the river. A huge lantern on the boat had a big word "驿" written on it.

"This is not an inn, what are you doing here?"

First, an older soldier shouted loudly to the post boat.

"Is this the Jiujiang Wei Bengshan Fort?"

A postman on the post boat immediately shouted to the shore.

"This is Bengshan Castle, what are you doing?"

the soldier asked loudly.

"Mr. Wei Ge is in the fort. I was ordered to deliver official documents to Mr. Wei Ge."

The postman replied loudly from the bow of the ship.

"Come here then."

As the clipper approached the shore, the sailors on the ship threw the cable to the shore, and the soldiers on the shore took it and quickly circled it several times around the shore piles that fixed the ship.

The position of the ship was fixed, and the sailors moved the steps out and put them on. The postman quickly ran across the steps, asked for the direction, and ran towards Bengshan Fort.

In the center of Bengshan Fort is the original official residence of Baihusuo, which is also the old residence of the Wei family.

But now everyone surnamed Wei has been promoted. Wei Guangde's eldest brother has taken over Wei's father's position in the Jiujiang Guards' Qianhu Station, and Wei's father has taken up the position of guard commander in Jiujiang Guards.

Ordinarily, under such circumstances, the old house of the Wei family should be given to the new Baihu as the official residence of the Baihusuo. But after all, it is his family's property. Mr. Wei arranged for his trusted confidants to come back to serve as the official residence of the Baihusuo of Bengshan Fort. Naturally, the official residence of the Baihusuo also The position was changed.

At this time, in the lobby of the Wei family's old house, which turned out to be the main hall of the Hundred Households, Wei Guangde was sitting on an imperial chair, leisurely flipping through a book.

During the period of observing filial piety and Dingyou, there was almost nothing that could be done except reading.

Drinking and sleeping with prostitutes is something you don't even think about. If someone finds out about it, a memorial can put an end to Wei Guangde's official career.

What was the trigger for the downfall of the Yan family, which had invaded the ruling and opposition parties?
Some people say that Emperor Jiajing wanted to deal with the Yan family early on, and some say that the Yan family's actions caused anger and resentment. In fact, only people of this era know that it was because the impeachment memorial accused Yan Shifan of not knowing how to behave during the Ding You period and still acting like a dissolute person. Emperor Jiajing, who was a filial son, felt disgusted and abandoned all previous friendships and directly executed the person.

I really thought that if the Yan family's power invaded the government and the opposition, it would turn the world upside down and threaten the imperial power, what a joke.

The Yan family did not pose any threat to Emperor Jiajing at all. Whether they should be dealt with or not was only decided by the emperor.

Perhaps the old emperor's idea was to wait until Yan Song died, or to leave a successor to establish his authority. In fact, it can be seen from the twists and turns in Emperor Jiajing's management of the Yan family that he actually did not want to do anything to the Yan family. In this way, he is not the master of killing donkeys.

Fortune plays its tricks, and in the end the Yan family is completely doomed.

Filial piety is more valued in this era than in later generations.

In later generations, when an elderly person dies, relatives and friends gather together to have a good drink. Everyone has a good time. It is said that it is a lively way to send the elderly person off for his last journey. In this era, there is no such thing. That is disrespectful.

After the Wei family moved here, the family grew up here for generations, so naturally the ancestral graves are here.

Next to Bengshan Mountain outside Bengshan Fort, Wei's mother's tomb is there.

Living in a cottage was just a talk. To stay close, Wei Guangde directly asked people to smash down a section of the dilapidated Bengshan Fort wall and open a door, just to make it easier to pass by every day.

Originally, Bengshan Castle only had one gate on the north side, but now a small gate has been opened on the east side.

While reading, Wei Guangde's ears suddenly moved, and he heard the voice of his wife Xu Jianglan outside.

"What's the rush?"

"Madam, there is a postman outside to deliver a message to the master, saying it is news from Beijing."

"You put people waiting in the concierge first, and I'll go in and talk."

"Yes, ma'am."

After a moment, footsteps sounded. Although they were very light, Wei Guangde had been practicing martial arts since he was a child to strengthen his body. Although he didn't know what a martial arts master was like, he was also considered to be very smart.

"Master, stop reading. It's almost time. It's time to set off outside."

Xu Jianglan entered the room and saw Wei Guangde holding a book in a daze, and then said with a smile.

"understood."

Wei Guangde agreed, put down the book in his hand, stood up and walked out.

When they arrived in front of Xu Jianglan, Xu Jianglan straightened out his wrinkled robe. The two of them walked out of the room, followed by several maids and guards, and headed straight out of the castle.

Every day, the couple has to go there for a walk to complete today's task.

"It was said earlier that a postman came to deliver a message. It was news from the capital."

On the way, Xu Jianglan told Wei Guangde the news.

In this regard, Wei Guangde just nodded. He has now resigned from his official position and uses the post to deliver letters. Eighty percent of them are related to government affairs, and he should not touch them.

"Come back and talk about it."

Wei Guangde then only said one sentence.

It needs to be mentioned here that Ding You of the Ming Dynasty actually only targeted civil servants, and military generals were not allowed to do so according to the rules.

Military generals don't have to worry about keeping the system. This is called "Don't avoid the affairs of Jinge", which means that filial piety is the first thing in all good deeds.

Therefore, in the Ming Dynasty, there were clear regulations that no generals were allowed to worry about anything, and they were all allowed to seize love.

This is also the reason why only Wei Guangde returned to Bengshan Fort, while his eldest brother Wei Wencai continued to serve as a member of the rear army.

When later generations talk about Ding You, they usually talk about three years, but in fact it was not that long.

"Ming Huidian" clearly stipulates this, "Those who comply with internal and external officials' rules and regulations...all start with the day of the funeral, not counting leap years, and will resume after serving 27 months."

The so-called three years for Ding You was actually only 27 months.

These 27 months are not imagined out of thin air, but are related to the ancient sacrificial system.

"Yi Li Shi Yu Li" says: "There is little auspiciousness in the period, and great auspiciousness in the period. In the middle of the month, Gui." Zheng Xuan of the Eastern Han Dynasty noted: "In the middle, it is still between. Gui is the name of the sacrifice. It is one month between Daxiang and Daxiang. , Since the death, it has been 27 months."

Du You of the Tang Dynasty's "Tongdian" records: Zhou Zhi: "On the 27th day of the lunar month, I sacrificed myself in black clothes and yellow clothes. After the sacrifice, I changed into court clothes... and the ceremony was completed in three years." The general meaning of these two paragraphs is: It is said that after the first anniversary of the death of his parents, a "Xiao Xiang" sacrifice was held in March No. 13.

After the second anniversary of his death, the "Daxiang Festival" will be held on the 20th May, and then one month later, the "禫 Festival" will be held on the 20th July.

Since then, the rule has ended and the bereaved family's life has returned to normal.

After returning from the outside, Xu Jianglan went directly to the backyard, while Wei Guangde arrived in the main hall, and then ordered someone to call the postman.

"Meet Mr. Wei Ge."

After a while, the postman immediately knelt down and saluted after entering the house.

Wei Guangde was accustomed to this, after all, there was a huge level gap between the two.

In this day and age, many people of lower status behave like this when they see people of much higher status than themselves.

"Get up."

Wei Guangde had noticed that the postman was carrying something behind his back when he knelt down, wrapped in cloth and carried on his back.

The postman stood up, untied the knot on his chest, took the strip of cloth into his hand, opened the wrapping strip, and revealed a box inside.

Wei Guangde frowned when he saw it. He glanced at the exquisitely crafted box, then immediately stood up and walked over quickly, taking it from the postman's hand.

"How did you get here?"

There was a small copper lock on the box. Wei Guangde did not have the key in his hand, so he did not open it immediately, but asked the postman.

"The villain rode a fast horse to Yangzhou and came here by post boat."

The Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal is still in the frozen period, so it is naturally impossible to sail.

So at this time, we can only choose the hardest method, which is to deliver the message on horseback.

"Come here, prepare food and lodging for the postmen, and invite them to go down and rest."

Wei Guangde called his entourage who came in from the door and ordered him to go down.

After the postman left, Wei Guangde looked at the box carefully. It was made of high-quality rosewood, which was almost standard for the palace's belongings.

Rosewood is a kind of wood commonly used in the palace furniture of the Ming Dynasty, and it is also the most precious one. Because of its strong texture, clear texture, bright color, corrosion resistance and excellent toughness, it was widely used in the Ming Dynasty palace.

As for the small copper lock on the box, Wei Guangde just reached out and gently pulled it twice, then took the box out of the door and went to the backyard.

Not long after, Wei Guangde arrived at the house where he lived, rummaged through a cabinet in the house, and found a box containing small things.

The box was unlocked, so Wei Guangde opened it directly and found a small key.

The key is made of brass, very similar to the small copper lock.

"What key are you looking for?"

Xu Jianglan was looking at flowers in the courtyard. When she saw Wei Guangde hurriedly coming to the back, she followed him into the house. Then she saw him rummaging around and taking out such a key.

Wei Guangde shook his head and said nothing, but walked to the table and sat down. The key was inserted into the lock of the small copper lock. With a slight twist, the lock opened directly.

Pull out the waist lock and the box will be unlocked.

This is a kind of ancient lock. In fact, this is the most common lock in later movies and TV dramas. Many families may be able to find this kind of ancient lock if they rummage through their cabinets.

The so-called "Guangsuo" means horizontal lock, not produced in Guangdong.

This kind of locks are abundant in Shaoxing, Zhejiang, and are also known as "Shao locks". Folks call them "horizontal locks", "pillow locks", etc. Since the Tang Dynasty, they have been widely used in doors, boxes, kitchens, cabinets, etc. More than 100 species.

Guangsuo is a small and lightweight lock, consisting of two parts, namely the lock waist and the lock body.

Its working principle is to use a rotatable unlocking piece, or key, to control the lock tongue, and at the same time, an interception pad is generated between the lock waist and the lock body to protect the lock tongue from being hit by hammers and other objects.

At this time, Wei Guangde had gently opened the lid of the box and revealed an apricot-yellow letter. Xu Jianglan on the side just stretched out her hand to cover her mouth. From the color, she already knew that it was something from the palace.

Wei Guangde picked up the letter and opened it with a serious face. He didn't know who copied it in the palace, but Wei Guangde could still identify it at a glance. It was a memorial from Wang Chonggu, the governor of Xuanda.

At the beginning, Wang Chonggu first recounted the past events, "After reviewing the proposal to open the market in the 29th year of Jiajing, 92 people, including the chiefs of the northern captives, supported the invasion of Jizhen, and Yang Huai, the minister in charge of the stable, petitioned for the opening of the market and were released alive. , then they gathered at the border and threatened them repeatedly. If they were not allowed to use verbs, they would be robbed. Their words were very contradictory. When the ministers on the border heard about the late emperor, they did not give permission at first. Then they spent 30 yuan to repair war equipment and promoted him to the Marquis of Xianning. Qiu Luan is the general, and he has announced that he will attack Luan. He holds a heavy army and goes out to attack the nest."

Wei Guangde quickly skipped it, and also glanced at the memorial mentioning Wang Qiong's handling of the Turpan memorial in the Hongzhi Dynasty.

Writing this is actually Wang Chonggu looking for old examples to show that what he did was the same as the old things, and he was not trying to please others.

Until I saw that "the imperial examination system was not created today. The majestic dynasty allowed barbarians to come to the king, and showed the prudent virtue of the sage king."

It is used to pass down the world to future generations, to show the barbarians in the East and West, to highlight the great heroes of Zhongxing, and to pay homage to Geng Guang, the second ancestor, to realize the great achievements of the emperor and the grand events of the Qing Dynasty.

Why are all the ministers doubtful and not thinking deeply about it? They will pay tribute to deal with the aftermath, and together with the ministers of Xuan Dafu, they will interview each case one by one, take into account the opinions of the public, decide on the rules of painting, and formulate eight things. A large gathering of the imperial court was held for discussion, and a special grant was given to the emperor for execution.
A discussion on how to seal official positions in order to submit to the barbarian chieftains
A certain amount of tribute was paid, and the rewards were distributed equally. The barbarians offered tribute to each other by offering horses.
A discussion on the tribute roads during the tribute period for the sake of prevention, and the husband and the captives use the autumn heights to make the horses fatter
It was proposed to set up a mutual trade to benefit the Chinese barbarians and to capture the dispersed northern barbarians.
Discuss the cost of support and rewards in order to ensure sustainability.
When he proposed to surrender, Du Qi provoked him, which led to the imperial court's offer of surrender.
In the first trial, the authority used strict border preparations to control the barbarians and Di in China.
A precept of cunning is used to train the generals in strategy, and it is used to guide the imperial court to divide the land and teach festivals."

Wang Chonggu's memorial "Confirmation of Tributary Matters" strongly discusses the benefits of mutual trading and sets out eight discussions, including: conferring official titles, fixing the amount of tribute, discussing the tribute period, establishing mutual markets, discussing the payment of subsidies and rewards, and discussing surrender. , the right to review scriptures, and the abstention from pretense, are known as the "Eight Tributes of Tribute".

The main memorial is eloquent and has a total of seven or eight thousand words. Wei Guangde did not read it carefully except for the previous part, but he was very concerned about the "Eight Tribute Discussions". This is the key to the Datong Peace Negotiation. What was the outcome of Wang Chonggu's negotiation.

Now he already knew what the palace meant by sending this copy of the memorial.

Speaking of which, he came up with this thing, and the prototype was based on the secret folding model in "Yongzheng Dynasty".

A lock is equipped with two keys, one is in the hands of the emperor in the palace, and the other is in the hands of the ministers. They are sealed in a wooden box and sent to the official post for delivery.

No matter who owns the box, it can't be opened without a key, so it can be kept confidential.

But he didn't expect that when he left, Emperor Longqing sent Chen Ju to bring him the key, which would come in handy so quickly.

After reading it through, Wei Guangde's eyes finally fell on the "fees for support and appreciation", and his brows furrowed deeper and deeper.

In this passage, Wang Chonggu first calculated the cost of additional troops and horses patrolling the border in the spring and autumn in order to prepare for the invasion of the northern invaders, and included casualty pensions and merit rewards.

Now that the agreement is reached, this fee can be saved as a reward fee.

"You can save three to five thousand jin of food every year. There is no reward for being slandered. You can be exempted from the fee of several thousand jin of reward every year. All these can be used as funds to appease the barbarians."

The so-called "reward fee" now had another term in Wei Guangde's mind - protection fee.

Well, they had considered it when the cabinet was discussing that the military salary expenditure could be saved, and together with the farmland in the border towns, it could save the court a million taels of silver every year, but if they really want to pay for this reward
Wei Guangde estimated that the opinions in the cabinet may have changed now, and officials who previously supported the peace talks may not necessarily have the same attitude as before after seeing the details.

Let alone others, his attitude has wavered.