prosperous age

Yang Bo saw that Gao Gong not only wanted to take down Li Qian, but also wanted to kill Yin Zhengmao.

Of course, the premise is that Yin Zhengmao failed to quell the Gutian rebellion.

One is a fellow Wei Guangde, and the other has a close relationship with Wei Guangde. Although Gao Gong has completely defeated the three-person clique, after all, Wei Guangde is still just Ding You. After the end, he can return to the court and continue to be an official, and he can directly join the cabinet.

Taking action earlier and cutting off his wings was also to nip the problem in the bud.

Gao Gong always felt that Wei Guangde had a deep mind that often eluded him.

The most important thing is that since this boy started to fawn over Emperor Longqing, his attitude towards him was obviously not as good as that of Chen Yiqin and Yin Shizhen. For a while, this boy even had a heated fight with Zhang Juzheng.

So he had to be careful, including Zhang Juzheng. What he was most worried about was that this kid would get together with Zhang Juzheng and go against him after he returned to the court.

He did not come back to the court for trivial matters. He wanted to do big things and rejuvenate the Ming Dynasty in his hands, so he expelled Li Chunfang, Chen Yiqin and others who had done nothing.

Yes, Gao Gong didn't think it was wrong to eradicate dissidents. He did it to realize his ideals. These people blocked his way, so they were naturally not good people.

Yang Bo gave Zhang Juzheng a hint and told him not to talk too much.

Zhang Juzheng was such a smart person that he immediately guessed the intentions of Gao Gong and Yang Bo, so he decisively shut up.

In this way, the cabinet unanimously decided that Yin Zhengmao would replace Li Qian, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi military affairs, and take full responsibility for suppressing the Gutian rebellion.

As for Li Qian, who had lost his job, he was waiting for a new appointment from the court.

For such a dismissal, if there is not a strong enough relationship between the DPRK and China, it will be difficult to get back on the job.

After all, there are not many official positions of this level. Perhaps a pension in a department in Nanjing is the best place for them to end up.

Wei Guangde's messenger hurriedly hurriedly and slowly caught up with Yin Shizhen's convoy in Dezhou.

In fact, these days, messengers are really not afraid of pursuing the wrong route. After all, Yin Shizhen is taking a post road, with the emperor's imperial decree, and the post stations along the way are warmly welcoming.

Although he is a veteran official, an official as "young" as Yin Shizhen is in his prime, and he may not be re-appointed by the emperor one day.

The current chief minister of the cabinet is a ready-made example. He was favored by the entire government, but returned within two years, and ascended to the throne of chief minister in just one year.

With the lessons learned from the past, even though it was known that Yin Shizhen lost the battle with Gao Gong, the officials along the way still treated Yin Shizhen and his party with great courtesy.

I have to say that there was a rule in the Ming Dynasty that those who contradicted Shangguan were all civil servants with character, and they had to say "admire" or "long admired the name" when meeting them.

There was no way, not everyone dared to contradict Shangguan and still escaped unscathed, which showed Yin Shizhen's status in the emperor's heart.

Although communication was not smooth in ancient times, the officialdom was still very well-informed.

Yin Shizhen punched Gao Gong, the chief minister, in the cabinet, but nothing happened, and he retired with high status, which already explained a lot of problems.

Comparing the age difference between Gao Gong and Yin Shizhen, any official knows how to choose.

Of course, these things are done in a relatively confidential manner, and they will not welcome them with great fanfare. If the news reaches Gao Gong's ears, it may not cause trouble.

If Gao Gong couldn't deal with Yin Shizhen, how could it be that he couldn't deal with them, the magistrates and magistrates?

At a post station outside Dezhou Mansion, the messenger saw Yin Shizhen, saluted and presented Wei Guangde's letter.

"Get up."

Yin Shizhen heard that it was a letter from Wei Guangde, but he could actually guess some of it.

But now that I see it, it’s too late to say anything.

I took Wei Guangde's letter and opened it in person and looked at it. There was a writing time on the letter.

"Ugh"

Yin Shizhen sighed secretly in his heart. If this letter had been delivered to him on the same day or two days later, maybe many things would not have happened.

Unfortunately, that’s how transportation was in ancient times.

From Jiujiang to Beijing, half a month is fast.

"Your master is fine."

After Yin Shizhen read the letter, he said to the man.

"Master is at home now"

The messenger immediately answered the question. In fact, every time he delivered a letter in a similar situation, the other party would definitely ask a question.

If he repeated it several times, the messenger would speak skillfully and in an orderly manner, and many people would still feel envious of Wei Guangde's current leisurely life.

Being an official in the Ming Dynasty meant that although you had great power and plenty of money, you were actually under a lot of pressure.

For example, Zhu Heng was worried about the construction of the imperial mausoleum. When there was a heavy rain in the capital, he had to worry about the river. Although the heavy rain in the capital actually had little to do with the Yellow River and the Yangtze River, people would still think about it in this regard.

In the years since he took charge of the Ministry of Industry, the ministry has poured a lot of money into the Yellow River, but the effect of water control has not been obvious. The breach must be breached. Blocking water transportation is a big deal for the court. Can it be done? Are you worried?

Moreover, Zhu Heng has always been worried about the Yangtze River beyond the Yellow River, which is related to the money and food in the south of the Ming Dynasty.

The situation with floods in the Yangtze River has been good in recent years, but just because it is good now does not mean it will always be like this.

In fact, the embankment of the Yangtze River should also be repaired, but now the Ministry of Industry has no money to use, and the Yellow River alone has already hollowed out the Ministry of Industry.

Zhu Heng has already made arrangements for the Yellow River, but recently he has been thinking about the Yangtze River.

The Yangtze River flows through several provinces, and it is not a trivial matter to regulate. The consequences are huge.

Therefore, the government in Jiangxi recently sent him a letter, hoping that when the Ministry of Industry builds the Yangtze River dam and allocates money, it can give priority to Jiangxi.

The government is busy with civil affairs. In fact, Zhu Heng also understands that, but what can he do, he still needs to take care of him.

Now regarding matters related to the Ministry of Industry, the cabinet minister in charge is Zhang Juzheng.

After he learned that the Ministry of Industry was considering repairing the Yangtze River embankments, he also emphasized the need to repair embankments in Jiangling and even the entire Huguang. The reason was also very strong.

As the saying goes, "Huguang is well versed in the world." If Huguang is hit by floods, the people in Jiangnan will have problems eating. This will create a big hidden danger.

As for other people, they have more or less selfish motives and their own troubles, so I won’t go into details.

After hearing about Wei Guangde's happy life in Jiangxi, Yin Shizhen put a smile on his lips.

"The two places are too far apart, otherwise I would go directly to Pengze to see him."

After speaking, Yin Shizhen ordered someone to prepare a room for the messenger, "I will write a reply letter to Shandai in the evening, please send it back to me." "I dare not say that it is hard work, it is what the young people should do."

The messenger hurriedly bowed and replied.

Yin Shizhen asked someone to prepare food and a room for him. After thinking about it for a while, he asked someone to prepare pen, ink, paper and inkstone, and wrote a reply to Wei Guangde at the inn.

No matter how much you say now, it is useless.

Despite this, Yin Shizhen still told Wei Guangde about his experiences this year in detail in his letter, so that he could at least understand his difficulties.

In fact, counting the time, Di Bao should have almost arrived in Jiangxi, and Wei Guangde may have already known the news of his resignation.

As he thought, Wei Guangde already knew the news about Yin Shizhen's official appointment from the Di newspaper copied by his family in the county, but he had not yet heard that the reason for his official appointment was that he had a high position in the cabinet, and he still had some complaints about Yin Shizhen in his heart. of.

Yin Shizhen, the personal connection that he had built up so easily and which was his biggest reliance on his future comeback, just disappeared.

It's not that without Yin Shizhen, his comeback will be blocked.

Even if Gao Gong changed all the courtiers, as long as Gao Gong could not be the governor-general and become the prime minister of the inner and outer court, Wei Guangde would have a way to make his name appear in the ears of Emperor Longqing, and he would have a chance to come back and continue to be an official.

In the Ming Dynasty, the benefits of being an official were so great that Wei Guangde could not let go.

Just when he was sulking about this, he was still resting in the house that day. The weather was getting cooler, so he didn't go fishing on the river much anymore.

"Sir, today the merchant ship of Huitong Trading Company came from Nanjing. They stopped outside and sent a small wooden boat over to deliver some letters from the capital."

Because the messenger went to Shandong to pursue Yin Shizhen, the letters from Zhu Heng and others were entrusted to Jiangxi merchants in the capital to deliver them on their behalf.

At any rate, the overall situation has been decided now, and there is no rush for time. This is already the case.

But as luck would have it, the merchants in the capital sent out their last batch of goods this year on these two days, so they sent them back directly with their letters.

Passing by Bengshan Fort, I knew that some of the letters they brought back were for Wei Guangde, so I stopped here for a while and sent someone to deliver the letters from the capital ashore.

There were a lot of letters brought this time, not just letters to Wei Guangde. Officials in the capital sent people to guild halls or merchants. Knowing that there would be a ship back to Jiangxi soon, they also wrote more letters home. After hearing about this Go south and take it back with you.

Wei Guangde took a dozen letters and looked at them. Except that there was no reply from Yin Shizhen, there were letters from everyone else.

"Understood, let's go down."

Wei Guangde also guessed the reason. It must be that Yin Shizhen had left the capital, so the letter was not delivered to him.

However, Wei Guangde was shocked when he opened Zhu Heng's letter and read it. He really didn't know that such a thing happened in the Ming Dynasty, and he directly shook his fist in the cabinet.

Well, because of his lack of historical knowledge, Wei Guangde didn't know if this incident had ever happened in a time and space without him, but in any case, it was shocking enough.

The shocking things mentioned here are actually only for people of this era.

After all, the bachelors in the cabinet are all literary stars from the sky, otherwise they would not be able to enter the cabinet.

When Wei Guangde first returned to Bengshan Castle, the surrounding villagers still used those rumors to talk about things, and he didn't know whether he should get angry or not.

There is nothing like the souls from the future generations that have never been seen on the market.

Fighting is the norm in foreign parliaments. The smaller the country, the more angry the members are. If they disagree, they will throw their shoes away or even fight in groups. This is really a battle between parties.

Moreover, the beating of people in the court was actually not the only incident since the founding of the Ming Dynasty. It had happened in the past, but the people were ignorant and did not know about these things.

Speaking of which, because Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang and Chengzu Zhu Di were both decisive people in killing, at that time, the courtiers were as obedient as quails.

Even some years after the death of these two murderers, the officials were honest and did not dare to make mistakes.

But by the time of Zhu Zhanji, Emperor Xuanzong of the Ming Dynasty, Xuande patrolled the border for nine years and died suddenly in ten years. It is said that it only took thirteen days from onset to death, which can be described as very ferocious.

How old was Ming Xuanzong Zhu Zhanji at that time?

36 years old, in his prime.

His death was followed by the emergence of Zhu Qizhen, the Yingzong of the Ming Dynasty, and the subsequent "Tumu Fort Incident".

News spread back to the capital that the emperor was captured and ministers were killed. The regent at that time was the later Ming Dynasty Zong Zhu Qiyu. At this time, when he was discussing with the ministers how to solve the current predicament at the court meeting, Chen Yi, the censor of Zuodu, suddenly petitioned for severe punishment. Wang Zhen's party members killed Wang Zhen's entire family.

Although Wang Zhen had died in Tumu Fort, the minister had been oppressed by his eunuch for eight years. This time it was him who was responsible for the disaster caused by the emperor's personal expedition, so naturally he had to bear all the blame.

On the morning when Chen Yi, the censor of Zuodu, proposed to kill the entire Wang Zhen family, the only and most serious vicious fight in the history of the Ming Dynasty occurred, known as the "Meridian Gate Massacre" in history.

The main trigger of this case was Wang Zhen, and the three people who served as cannon fodder were Wang Zhen's party members Ma Shun, Mao Gui, and Wang Changsui.

Compared with the killing of officials at that time, it was actually not a big deal for Yin Shizhen to punch the chief minister of the cabinet.

It’s just that I don’t know if it was predestined long ago. After these two incidents, the parties involved were not punished.

As for Yin Shizhen's resignation, it was his choice to leave the court, not the emperor's punishment for him.

Otherwise, it will not be an appointment to an official position, but a dismissal from office.

After learning what happened in the cabinet, Wei Guangde immediately dug out the letters of Cheng Wen, Shu Ao, Da Dongguang and others. They were all Jinshi in the 44th year of Jiajing, and were considered disciples of Gao Gong, but Wei Guangde placed them in the capital. Procuratorate and Sixth Section.

Among them, Da Dongguang, Zhou Shouyu and Cheng Wen were all involved in the incident and were present at the time of the incident. Shu Ao was in the Metropolitan Procuratorate and was the censor, but he naturally knew the details afterwards.

The most important thing is that they are in different yamen. Wei Guangde can better understand the attitude of various yamen in the capital towards this matter by reading their letters on the day of the incident.

"Zhengfu is impulsive."

After reading the letter, Wei Guangde couldn't help but pat the armrest of his chair and repeated these words in a low voice.

In fact, it can be seen from the official positions Wei Guangde placed in these fellow villagers that he really valued the Liuke yamen, even more than the Metropolitan Procuratorate.

Ten days later, Li Qian, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, was transferred to the Nanjing Ministry of Criminal Affairs and officially began his retirement career. The person who took over his post was Yin Zhengmao. The news that he was responsible for encircling and suppressing the Gutian rebels also reached Bengshan Fort.

Wei Guangde was speechless for a long time after reading the Di newspaper. He had already vaguely sensed Gao Gong's purpose in doing this.

Well, get rid of the high-ranking officials and suppress the low-ranking ones. In this way, even if Wei Guangde comes back in two years, none of his vacated official positions will be able to move up.

Because of insufficient grade and qualifications, even if Wei Guangde tried his best, it would not work.

Thinking of this, Wei Guangde didn't care about getting angry. He returned to the study and immediately wrote a letter to Lao Kan and others. The purpose was naturally to ask them to be careful and not to be caught.

Yes, it looks like there is no chance in the capital. Wei Guangde can only try his best to retain officials in various provinces.

From the Chief Secretary or the Inspectorate, one can still serve as the Minister of the Six Ministries, especially Lao Kan, who is in the Fujian Inspectorate. Wei Guangde plans to recommend him to take charge of the Metropolitan Inspectorate in the future.

Now that the initiative is in Gao Gong's hands, all Wei Guangde can do is defend, airtight defense.