The Prosperous Era of Longwan

The huge paper wealth of the Yan family appeared in the eyes of the emperor and the officials in the capital. Because the inner court had such a large amount of income, Emperor Jiajing seemed to be hardened.

After summoning Xu Jie, Yan Ne and other cabinet ministers for discussion twice, the cabinet discussed with the Ministry of Rites again to further increase the number of copying scholars from the current three hundred to five hundred.

At the same time, the palace issued a decree asking Jiangxi censor Cheng Shoujie to deliver all the gold and silver that had been collected to the capital as soon as possible and send it to the capital for storage.

Emperor Jiajing wanted to reap the spoils of war and did not want to wait any longer.

As for how much he will gain in the end, it is unknown.

The pressure on Wei Guangde’s school registration work also suddenly increased.

In the past, when there were only a hundred or so copying scholars, he could still turn the pages of the book slowly and comfortably. However, after there were three hundred people, the time he could spare was greatly shortened. After the Ministry of Rites further increased the number of copying scholars, the number of copying scholars was reduced. The speed of the book also suddenly accelerated, and Wei Guangde had to devote most of his time to it.

For most scholars, reading is really not work, but study. But for Wei Guangde now, he feels a little tired. This is due to his too leisurely work in the past few years.

Think about it, in the Hanlin Academy, it is not possible to compile one or two records a month for him to check, but now, copied canons are delivered to the duty room almost every day.

Although Yan Ne and Li Chunfang are shy as chief officers, they have too many errands in the cabinet and barely interfere with the work here. In addition to the inspection of the branch officers of the main room, the books copied by each room are also inspected twice by the branch officers of the other two rooms. Proofreading to ensure the accuracy of copied books.

Undoubtedly, this arrangement between the two cabinet elders has increased Wei Guangde's work pressure.

Divided up, Wei Guangde has to proofread at least two or three books every day to be able to complete the errands assigned to him.

On this day, Wei Guangde gave himself a day off because he had been working hard for half a month, and took a day off. As a result, when he returned to the check-in room today, he saw five newly copied "Yongle Dadian" on his desk.

After taking a long breath, Wei Guangde had no choice but to walk to his seat, pick up the book above and take a look.

"Lubu."

After he called out, Lu Bu quickly entered the room and saluted him: "Sir, wait a moment, the water for making tea will be hot soon."

After Lu Bu sent Wei Guangde into the house, he hurriedly went to make tea for him. When he heard his call, he thought he was urging him to make tea, so he hurried into the house to explain.

"Bring me the original copies of these books. Also, which room did these books come from?"

Wei Guangde asked.

To proofread, he had to read the original copy of "Yongle Dadian" first, otherwise how would he know if there were any errors.

"These four books were sent by Zhang Juzheng, Xu Shixing, Wang Xilie, and Zhang Siwei. The other one was copied by me and was just delivered yesterday."

Although Yan Ne started his career in Qingci, he was really rigorous in his work. All the copied books were scattered widely. Among the five books on Wei Guangde's desk, none of them were duplicates. They actually came from the fifth room.

"Okay, I understand, go and send the original copy."

Although the "Yongle Dadian" has more than 11,000 volumes, each volume is numbered, and there is a dedicated person from the Ministry of Rites responsible for sending and receiving records, so there is no need to worry about losing or getting mixed up.

Not long after, Lu Bu delivered the four original copies. Wei Guangde did not read the transcripts, but opened the original copies and read them with relish.

Thanks to his excellent memory, Wei Guangde was naturally able to read the original copy and then read the copied book.

Just when Wei Guangde read the original copy and started to pick up the copied copy to read, there were sudden footsteps outside. When he looked up, he saw that Lu Bu had trotted into the house.

"Why are you so panicked and frizzy?"

Wei Guangde said dissatisfied, what kind of place is this, how can it be in such a hurry and panic.

"Sir, go to the front quickly. There are angels from the palace coming outside to call you over."

Lu Bu took a few breaths before speaking.

"Gongli? What did the palace ask me to do?"

Wei Guangde asked suspiciously. He had not received the news. There was a decree from the palace to him.

This is not a good sign. He is completely ignorant of the affairs in the palace.

"Sir, you'd better go to the front first. It doesn't seem like a bad thing."

Lu Bu said hurriedly.

"Oh, why?"

Although Wei Guangde felt relieved after hearing Lu Bu's words, he still had to act calm and calm as an official, and hurried forward without hearing the possibly good news.

"My father-in-law from the palace, his expression was not bad when I was called over."

Lu Bu explained hurriedly.

After getting his posture right, Wei Guangde stood up calmly, straightened out his official robe, and then walked towards the front hall.

Today's edict was different from the previous two. Yan Na, Li Chunfang, and others who were the chief officers of the school were not present. Obviously, this edict should be issued to an individual.

Seeing the smiling face of the eunuch who delivered the order, Wei Guangde knew it was not a bad thing.

The ten branch officials all arrived in a short time. There is no distinction between high and low for everyone here at the enrollment ceremony, but there are still differences in rank. From the fourth-grade Imperial College priest Zhang Juzheng, to the fifth-grade Zhan Shifu Secretary and Economic Bureau wash Ma Wei Guangde naturally stood in the front row, while the other branch officers were only at the sixth level.

"The emperor is destined to be blessed by heaven."

The eunuch who delivered the order read out Emperor Jiajing's order in a mellow tone, and the ten branch officials who soon received the order all looked happy.

It's indeed a good thing.

Now the speed of copying the ceremony has accelerated, which naturally makes all the branch officials very busy. At this time, Emperor Jiajing naturally issued a commendation, giving them promotions and merit notes, as well as a reward of ten taels of silver each.

As Zhang Juzheng led the branch officials to thank him and receive the order, Wei Guangde took a wooden tray from the waiter next to him, with ten silver ingots neatly placed on it.

Afterwards, ten branch officials sent the messenger angel to leave, and one by one they came up to express their gratitude to the eunuch in front of the door.

When Wei Guangde stepped forward, he took out a piece of silver from his sleeve and handed it over directly to the other party's hand.

He couldn't break these unspoken rules, even though he had King Yu's support behind him and there were people in the palace.

It is worth mentioning that Gao Zhong's health was completely broken. Chen Ju had asked him twice for old ginseng, but the effect was very little after taking it. He just kept breathing.

As Gao Zhong's most valued godson, Chen Ju temporarily resigned from his job in Yongshou Palace during this period and was serving Gao Zhong wholeheartedly. This was also the reason why Wei Guangde was not well informed about the palace.

"Congratulations to Mr. Wei on your promotion."

For other Hanlin officials, their official promotion is slow, and they can only record merit, so that they can add points in the three-year assessment, thereby achieving a smooth promotion. However, Zhang Juzheng originally jumped from the sixth rank to the fourth rank, and there will be no progress in the short term. They were not promoted to official positions, so all nine of them were credited only once, while Wei Guangde actually got the chance to be promoted.

Zuo Chunfang Zuo Shuzi of Zhan Shifu, the official position of the fifth rank, now falls on him.

But strictly speaking, he was half a rank ahead of Zhang Juzheng before, but after this promotion, he is still half a rank behind Zhang Juzheng.

It can only be said that there are people in the court who are good at becoming officials, and with Xu Jie's support, it would be difficult for Zhang Juzheng not to prosper.

"Rejoice together and rejoice together."

Wei Guangde also accepted the congratulations from his colleagues with a smile on his face, and then invited everyone to have a drink in the entertainment alley to celebrate in the evening. Zhang Juzheng took the lead in responding.

Wei Guangde immediately asked Lu Bu to call his family and go to Yanle Hutong to arrange the evening activities.

Today's errands must be done well, otherwise if the news reaches the palace, the newly acquired official position of Zuo Shuzi will be lost.

The job of a school admissions officer is no longer an easy job. Every day is stressful. Two months have passed quietly.

In the past two months, not many major events happened in the court, but Gao Zhong, Wei Guangde's biggest reliance in the palace, finally died. Wei Guangde went to express his condolences and learned that Chen Ju was still assisting Gao Zhong's family in dealing with the incident. He will return to Yongshou Palace as an errand, which is arranged by Eunuch Huang Jinhuang.

Although he had been away from the palace for a while, Chen Ju's duties made him favored by many eunuchs in the palace.

Eunuchs, without their lifeblood, can only rely on their own relatives and these godsons in the palace.

Chen Ju served Gao Zhong wholeheartedly during his last period, which made these eunuchs envious.

On this day, when Wei Guangde was on his way home after leaving the office, his carriage was suddenly stopped.

"What's going on outside?"

Feeling that the carriage was not moving, Wei Guangde in the car immediately asked.

"Master, it's the servant of the prince's palace who wants to see you."

Li San, who was driving the horse, replied.

Opening the curtain, Wei Guangde looked out and saw that it was the person next to Li Fang.

When the chamberlain saw the carriage curtain opened, he saluted first and said, "Greetings to Mr. Wei."

"What's the matter?"

Wei Guangde asked calmly.

In the past few months, he usually only went to the palace every six or seven days. Yin Shizhen was taking care of the affairs at the palace, so everything went smoothly.

"Your Highness invites you."

The waiter said.

"What do you want, Your Highness?"

Wei Guangde blinked, thinking about the recent government affairs, there seemed to be nothing worth talking about, and asked a little suspiciously.

"This slave doesn't know."

The waiter replied.

Looking at the carriage parked on the road ahead, Wei Guangde said, "Lead the way."

The chamberlain trotted back to the carriage, and then the two carriages drove towards Prince Yu's Mansion one after the other.

When Wei Guangde saw King Yu, he was very surprised. There were only King Yu and Li Fang in the room. Yin Shizhen had never seen them, and Zhang Juzheng was naturally not there either.

"Greetings to Your Highness."

Wei Guangde bowed deeply to King Yu and said.

"If you are a good person, you don't need to be polite here. I told you a long time ago, but you just didn't listen."

King Yu stood up to help each other and said.

"The etiquette cannot be abolished."

Wei Guangde said this, but naturally he didn't think so in his heart, but this was in the Ming Dynasty, not in later generations.

That is to say, there is no need to kneel down when meeting Prince Yu, otherwise Wei Guangde may not come to Prince Yu's mansion even once a month.

"His Royal Highness summoned you today, what is the matter?"

Wei Guangde asked.

"Should you know about the gold and silver sent from Jiangxi yesterday to inspect the Yan family's property?"

At this time, King Yu turned around and sat back down. He raised his right hand to signal Wei Guangde to sit on the chair on the left.

Wei Guangde cupped his hands, sat down, and then asked with a puzzled expression: "But the Yan family's two million taels of silver have arrived in the capital?"

After he finished speaking, he saw King Yu shaking his head and sighing: "There are not two million taels, there are only more than 300,000 taels, which means there are more than 30,000 taels of gold, which is close to the number reported. The remaining gold The silver and jade wares are also very different from the reports."

Wei Guangde had actually expected this situation, so he didn't pay attention to it at all.

These things that can be transported to the capital should have been seized from the Yan family on site, otherwise there would be no way there would be so many.

"I don't know, Your Highness"

At this time, Wei Guangde will naturally not take the initiative to expose this matter. The impact will be too great. If it is revealed, it will cause a major earthquake in the officialdom of Jiangnan and even lead to instability in Jiangnan.

"I'm afraid Shandai doesn't know that this afternoon, Mr. Xu Ge and Mr. Yan Ge in the cabinet had a fierce dispute."

King Yu continued.

"oh?"

Wei Guangde nodded, saying that he understood, but he just didn't understand the reason.

"According to the memorial written by Cheng Shoujie who went to Beijing with the gold and silver, the remaining more than one million taels of silver are still in various places in the south of the Yangtze River. He is seizing the time to recover them later.

I don’t know about this, what do you think of Shandai? "

King Yu said.

Wei Guangde probably understood that King Yu's words were just casual remarks. What could he think of the so-called asking him for his opinion?

In fact, what Wei Guangde is most curious about now is what Yan Ne and Xu Jie were arguing about.

After all, it happened only a short time ago. If we go out for a drink tonight, we might know why the two big guys are fighting each other.

"Since Mr. Cheng already knows where the money is, we can just recover it later. Is there any difficulty?"

Wei Guangde replied.

"Yes, I think so too. I'll collect it later and collect a certain amount and hand it over to the Water Transport Yamen to send it to the capital."

King Yu nodded slightly, but his expression was very bad. He continued: "It's just that the memorial has been sent to the cabinet, but Mr. Xu Ge and Mr. Yan Ge have slightly different opinions."

"Huh? What's the difference? They're all chasing money, and the purpose is the same. Is it necessary to argue and go to war?"

Wei Guangde was really curious as to what happened in the cabinet that made King Yu look so strange.

"Mr. Xu Ge's opinion is to let Cheng Shoujie continue to recover the dirty silver of the Yan family in Jiangxi, and transport a batch to the capital after recovering it."

King Yu continued to speak from above, while Wei Guangde nodded from below.

At first glance, it seemed like there was nothing wrong with it, but he also knew that King Yu seemed to have noticed something was wrong.

"What Mr. Yan Ge means is to ask Cheng Shoujie to report the situation of dirty silver from various places to the capital. The cabinet and the six ministries will report to various places and hand it over within a time limit. Otherwise, Jinyi Tiqi will be dispatched directly to question the people."

Having said this, King Yu paused and looked at Wei Guangde, "Shandai, which of the two elders do you think has the safest opinion?"

Knowing the content of the dispute between Xu Jie and Yan Ne, Wei Guangde understood what was going on.

Look at this, this inspection of the Yan family's property has become a wealth feast for Xu Jie and his party. I am afraid that if the people of Xu Jie's party want to eat enough at once and have more than a million taels of silver left, as well as those fields and houses, Xu's party will be ruthless. You won't let it go until you take one bite.

Wei Guangde thought carefully for a while, and then said calmly: "If Mr. Yan Ge's idea is implemented, I am afraid that the entire Jiangnan officialdom will be in a state of chaos.

Mr. Xu Ge's intention is to be more stable. Anyway, where the money is and how much it is, it is recorded in the records, and he can figure it out step by step.

I think both opinions are feasible, and it is better to leave it to His Majesty to make the final decision. "

The cabinet is a place that provides advice to the emperor. Since the two have different opinions, just write them down in the memorial.

However, these words were said to King Yu, and he naturally knew the meaning clearly.