The Prosperous Era of Longwan

The first year of Longqing seems to have passed like this with the rise of chickens and dogs from King Yu's faction. If Gao Gong had not sadly left the court, Yu Zhuan's old man should have been able to take control of the court soon.

The so-called "one emperor and one minister" is probably the case.

At the end of the year, the palace issued two decrees in succession.

The first decree: Change the Longqing Palace to the Qingyuan Palace in the Jianyuan year, send the governor Jiang Hua to offer sacrifices to the Xianling Mausoleum; change the Longqing Prefecture to Yanqing Prefecture, the Wei to Yanqing Wei, and give sixty-six seals.

The second edict was due to a memorial written by Wei Guangde, saying that the descendants of Shizhou after being captured had no solid ambitions, and begged the defenders to repair the city and dredge the pond, and to gather them there, and still exempt them from the rank of corvee for three years. "Shi" Zhoutong "lost" has an unknown meaning, so it is recommended to change the name.

In fact, the "stone" in Shizhou means stable, as stable as a rock. The meaning was originally good, but the city happened to be captured, which was called "lost", so it naturally aroused the interest of Emperor Longqing.

This is also the news that Wei Guangde got from Chen Ju. For some reason, it seems that people in Lao Zhu's family believe in gods and Buddhas.

It is said that Zhu Yuanzhang had been searching for Zhang Sanfeng since the beginning, wanting to worship him as a national teacher and find a way to live forever. Later emperors such as Zhu Di and Zhu Houcong also supported the construction of temples.

Emperor Longqing didn't show it much when he was in Prince Yu's Mansion, but now that he is the emperor, he seems to be a little superstitious about Taoism.

It can only be said that genetic genes may be really powerful. Ever since Zhu Yuanzhang became a monk in order to eat, the old Zhu family seems to be involved with these monks and Taoist priests, and they have a deep connection.

Emperor Longqing frowned when he saw the memorials about "Shizhou" several times, saying that the name of this place was not good.

When the news reached Wei Guangde's ears, he naturally wanted to do what he wanted for the sake of his future. After thinking about it, he simply submitted a proposal. The stone state was called Yongning state, which means eternal peace and tranquility.

It's not that he hasn't thought of using the name Yong'an Prefecture, but it has already been used in some places, so naturally it's not easy to continue using it, otherwise a place will have to be renamed accordingly.

Yongning, Yongning.

Emperor Longqing liked this name very much, so when he changed the name of Longqing Hall and Longqing Prefecture, he also changed the name of Shizhou.

After that, Wei Guangde took the time to meet with the deputy general of the Shenji Battalion who had just arrived in the capital. This was naturally Qi Jiguang, the former chief military officer of Quanzhang, Fuxing, Fujian and Jinwen, Zhejiang. The deputy general of the Shenji Battalion he served as was actually The position he held when he was an official in the capital was regarded as a son inheriting his father's legacy.

Wei Guangde didn't quite know why Qi Jiguang came to visit the Wei Mansion, but he still met this great hero who would be praised by later generations.

Different from the image in his mind, Qi Jiguang looked less like a military general and more like a civil servant. Although he knew that he had never obtained any honors and seemed to be a young man in his hometown, he was born with a good skin.

Afterwards, Wei Guangde asked Zhang Ji to inquire about his whereabouts and found out that it turned out that he was worshiping the pier, and that he started from the nobles' side first, and visited several princes' mansions in the capital, and then went to other princes' mansions, Uncle's Mansion.

Of course, there will be no shortage of docks at the Ministry of War.

As for Wei Guangde, it should be due to his status. Even the civil servant who was favored by the dynasty came from a military household and was related to the Duke of Wei and the Duke of Ding.

Don’t be surprised if you are polite to many people, the old saying always makes sense.

In fact, many officials in the capital knew him, maybe they knew him, but they had no contact with him. When he arrived in the capital, he visited the docks everywhere, and he quickly integrated into the circle of officials in the capital.

Of course, it is mainly the circle of military attachés.

However, what amazed Wei Guangde was the financial resources Qi Jiguang showed in a short period of time. According to Zhang Ji's estimation, in more than half a month, the money Qi Shen would spread out was probably more than two or three thousand taels of silver.

For some reason, Wei Guangde always felt that he couldn't get close to anyone who was involved with Zhang Juzheng. He didn't know whether it was because he knew Zhang Juzheng's final outcome, so he kept himself safe or what.

Even though he wanted to deepen his relationship with Feng Bao, even though he increased his walking, the effect was not satisfactory even to him.

Similar to Qi Jiguang, everyone has the same background, but talking to him never feels as natural as talking to Yu Dayou, and I always want to be on guard against something.

On this day, Wei Guangde went to attend the birthday party of Liu Guangji, a doctor in the Fujian Qing Dynasty. He met him because Wei Guangde had been paying close attention to the situation in Fujian and Guangdong in recent years, especially when Fujian was about to open up to the sea.

Now the cabinet and Fujian local authorities have initially reached a resolution on opening up the sea. It is expected that the first merchant ship in Yuegang will be able to go to sea before the end of the year. Liu Guangji also played a big role, mainly in tax distribution.

It was naturally impossible for Emperor Longqing to live alone. The commercial tax of Yuegang was divided into three parts, one part was reserved for the local government, and the other part was turned over to the Ministry of Household Affairs. The emperor could only get a piece of the pie, and he only had half of it.

However, due to the presence of people at the local and central levels, restrictions were imposed on the number of trading ships in the Yue Harbor. There were only a total of forty-four ships, which naturally placed great restrictions on the total amount of commercial tax collected.

It's just that Wei Guangde feels that since the opening has been opened, don't rush to expand it, and first adapt to it for a while.

The best way is actually to make maritime merchants in other provinces jealous, either by proposing to increase the number of sea ports or by increasing the number of ships, so that they can also successfully launder their rights.

If we implement the opening-up policy step by step, we will not become fat overnight.

But today, Liu Guangji discussed with him in private, and the idea of ​​returning to another local government as an official somewhat troubled Wei Guangde.

In fact, Liu Guangji was sent to other places at first. He started as an official in Linqing, and then was transferred to the Ministry of Household Affairs as a member of the wailang and langzhong. Now he wants to return to his place.

Ordinarily, it is not impossible to give Liu Guangji a prefect and upgrade his rank to the fourth rank. But in today's chat, Liu Guangji revealed his intention to Wei Guangde. He wanted to take charge of a province and restart the "One Whip Method" that Ge Shouli blocked in the middle of the year. .

Yes, when Ge Shouli, the Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue, forced the end of the whipping method, the officials of the Ministry of Revenue reacted most severely, and Liu Guangji was one of them.

Today, in the conversation between Liu Guangji and Wei Guangde, they constantly emphasized the benefits of this method. They also reminded many times that it had the support of many colleagues in the Ministry of Revenue, which made Wei Guangde have to be cautious.

A doctor from the Household Department is someone who can arm-wrestle with a provincial chief envoy in the capital, so he would definitely not be willing to take up the position of magistrate.

When Beijing officials meet local officials, they are generally the senior official.

Wei Guangde's attitude towards the implementation of the one-whip method was wavering, but he knew that in his hometown of Jiangxi, this policy seemed to be implemented well. Many prefectures and counties had done this, but they had stopped now because of Ge Shouli.

From this, Wei Guangde couldn't help but think that he might as well give him a hand. There happened to be a vacancy in Jiangxi, and the former chief envoy requested to be appointed to the official position. However, for the appointment of this position, the Ministry of Personnel only had the right to propose, not to decide.

So, Wei Guangde went around the staff department the next day and found out that Yang Bo and others had no candidate for Jiangxi's chief envoy, and his words also revealed that he wanted to recommend a candidate.

Although they didn't get a positive answer, these were all tacit things, because they all had a silent attitude, which actually meant acquiescence.

In the afternoon, Wei Guangde went to Chen Yiqin's house to discuss the matter again. When he returned home that night, he asked the hired master to prepare a memorial recommending Liu Guangji as the chief envoy to Jiangxi.

In the next few days, Wei Guangde did not rush to take out the memorial. Instead, he met with Liu Guangji several times. After everything was in order, he sent the memorial to Shangshu Yang Bo's desk.

After completing this matter, Wei Guangde finally received the transfer order and changed the right minister of the Ministry of Personnel to the left minister of the Ministry of Rites, while Yin Shizhen was transferred to the Ministry of Personnel.

It is better for the county magistrate to take charge now. In fact, Chen Yiqin temporarily blocked this decree, which helped delay it for some days.

In the blink of an eye, on the first day of the first lunar month of the second year of Longqing, Emperor Longqing performed a ritual of worship to heaven. He held a banquet with Emperor Shizong of Fengtian Hall in the palace. Hongxiao and Shenxiao halls came out, and the civil and military ministers and pilgrim officials from Yuhuangji Hall and Siyi tribute envoys went there. Celebration gifts do not require public announcements, congratulations from married women, banquets for hundreds of officials, and gifts of money for festivals.

The first year after Emperor Longqing ascended the throne has finally passed. Although it was not satisfactory, it was just like that.

Wei Guangde knew that Emperor Longqing still had regrets in his heart, of course the main reason was Gao Gong's departure from the court.

At the beginning of the first year of Longqing, everything actually went smoothly. While he was busy carrying out the emperor's funeral, he also dealt with the gifts of gifts from the ministers who had advised the previous dynasty, which was able to win over a wave of people.

But after the funeral, everything seemed to go wrong. Gao Gong resigned, the border defense was lost, and things that worried Emperor Longqing happened one after another.

In the new year, Emperor Longqing naturally hopes that everything will go well and there will be no more twists and turns.

However, Chen Yiqin, Wei Guangde and others noticed the way he inadvertently looked at Xu Jie on the throne.

Their small actions in private were all carried out with the tacit approval of Emperor Longqing, and they were naturally targeted at the person with the most say in the court today.

On the way out of the palace, Chen Yiqin, Yin Shizhen and Wei Guangde got together by chance. As they walked, they talked about the way Emperor Longqing looked at Xu Jie at the Zhengdan Dynasty today.

"Brother Yifu, when your Majesty summons you in two days, please remind him at all costs. A small impatience will ruin a big plan."

Wei Guangde whispered to Chen Yiqin.

"You can see it too."

Chen Yiqin's face remained calm, he just nodded slightly and replied in a low voice.

"The way His Majesty looked at Xu Jie will probably be noticed by many people, but it's hard to say whether they can guess what it means."

Yin Shizhen muttered.

"So when I'm in the cabinet, I have to cooperate with Mr. Xu Ge, lest things don't work out and there are rumors outside."

Chen Yiqin sighed and said.

"It's difficult. Mr. Xu Ge is not stupid. Last year I just mobilized people from the Department of Science and Technology and he noticed it. This time the Jingchao has to mobilize so many people. He will not be unaware of it."

Wei Guangde whispered.

"What did Yang Shangshu say?"

Chen Yiqin suddenly asked.

"I gave the first draft to Yang Shangshu, and there was no change in his face at that time."

Yin Shizhen replied that now he is in the Ministry of Personnel, and he is in charge of the capital inspection.

"Wang Ting is not worried. The main thing is the staff. Sometimes it feels like he and Xu Jie are in the same group, and sometimes it feels like they are not. It's really hard to figure out."

Chen Yiqin frowned and said.

"In my opinion, Yang Shangshu and Mr. Xu Ge only have a cooperative relationship, and there is some tacit understanding between them. They should not be members of the same party."

Wei Guangde whispered.

If Yang Bo had chosen who to seek refuge with so easily, it would be impossible for him to remain in the position of minister now.

Emperor Jiajing used him first because he was not affiliated with the Yan Party, and later because he was not affiliated with the Xu Party.

Now Yang Bo is also highly respected in the court, and his right to speak is actually no better than that of Xu Jie.

It's a pity that he was not born in the Imperial Academy after all. Although he had reached the rank of Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, he still had no chance to join the cabinet.

Although the Ming Dynasty never explicitly stipulated it, the unspoken rules were also rules.

The most important thing is that Emperor Longqing was not Emperor Jiajing. Emperor Jiajing could sometimes break the rules when doing things. For example, when he insisted on promoting Zhang Cong to the cabinet, it didn't matter that he was not a Hanlin scholar.

Emperor Longqing did not have such courage and would choose to go against the courtiers.

What's more, although Yang Bo has always been close to Prince Yu's Mansion, he has never publicly taken sides. Even Xu Jie cannot match this point.

How could Emperor Longqing break the rules for him?

Perhaps, as there were rumors in the court, the emperor in the late Jiajing period might really have the idea of ​​letting Hu Zongxian join the cabinet, and use foreign officials to contain Beijing officials, even though he was not qualified to join the cabinet at all.

You know, when it was known that Emperor Jiajing intended to allow Hu Zongxian to join the cabinet, the ministers in the DPRK were trembling.

Because of this approach, Emperor Jiajing had a criminal record.

When they came to Emperor Longqing, even the three of them would not believe that the emperor would let Yang Bo join the cabinet because it was against the rules.

The atmosphere became a little dull, and the three of them remained silent at this time, just walking slowly towards the palace gate.

Regarding Yang Bo, Chen Yiqin and Yin Shizhen were not sure, but they did not dare to think that Wei Guangde would give a definite answer like this.

Finally, when he was about to walk out of the palace, Wei Guangde hesitated several times and finally asked: "Brother Yifu, has your Majesty told you about Eunuch Huang before?"

Hearing this, Chen Yiqin glanced sideways at Wei Guangde, then shook his head and whispered: "I only heard about this later."

"Although His Majesty's will is only carried out within the palace, Eunuch Huang had taken great care of Yu Zhuan at the beginning. Not long after he left, he abolished all the favors of the late emperor and the current emperor. It seems to some extent that Your Majesty is a little bit."

Wei Guangde just whispered, but in the end he still didn't say the words "unhuman".

"To this day, I still don't know what mistake Eunuch Huang made that caused His Majesty to issue the edict of Ge Yin."

Just a few days ago, Wei Guangde suddenly heard news from the palace that Emperor Longqing had suddenly revoked all Huang Jin's gifts for some unknown reason.

During the Jiajing period, Huang Jin's younger brother Huang Xi was appointed as the royal guard of thousands of households. Later he was promoted to the governor of the Houjun Dudu Mansion, and was promoted to the Imperial Guard.

When Emperor Jiajing passed away, Huang Jin and the great scholar Xu Jie waited for the emperor to welcome Zhu Zaiyu, the king of Yu, to the throne. Therefore, Huang Jin's nephew was appointed as the commander of the Jinyi Guards, and hereditary.

However, within two months of Huang Jingang's death, Emperor Longqing suddenly withdrew all the rewards and removed these people from their official positions.

Although it was the decree, the news had already spread to the outer court. Now it seems that even Chen Yiqin doesn't know the reason, so Wei Guangde can't help but not think more.

"You don't know about Shandai either?"

Yin Shizhen suddenly looked at Wei Guangde and asked.

Wei Guangde smiled bitterly and shook his head. If he wanted to know the inside story, he wouldn't ask Chen Yiqin today. (End of chapter)