prosperous age

Chapter 1053 1144 Drunk Talk

"Mr. Wei Ge."

"Good morning, Lord Wei."

Early in the morning, Wei Guangde walked into the cabinet. As he walked, the clerks and secretaries around him stopped what they were doing and saluted him.

"Everyone, get busy."

Wei Guangde maintained a warm smile and spoke to them.

When Wei Guangde walked into his duty room and looked at the two piles of memorials on the desk, he felt a headache.

It's like this every day. There are always endless memorials to read and official business to deal with.

The key point is that he cannot delegate this matter to others. He has to look at it himself and make the draft by himself.

As for other officials, such as local officials, it seems that many official duties can be handed over to the recruited advisers and clerks under them, so they have plenty of time to enjoy the mountains and rivers.

Yes, local officials actually have an easy job. They just make decisions and have their subordinates complete the procedures. Even the official documents that are reported and passed down are written by others.

  unfortunately

Thinking of this, Wei Guangde couldn't help but recall how he had become a member of the imperial examination in the past without knowing it.

After many years, he had already learned from the eunuchs in the palace what had happened in the Huagai Palace.

His ranking was actually in the top three, but Emperor Jiajing accidentally picked his paper and put him directly in the first place in the second class, which led to his current position as the Second Assistant Minister of the Cabinet.

Otherwise, the top three Jinshi would have had no chance to stay in Beijing and would have been exiled to serve as local officials long ago.

Perhaps, by now I should have made hundreds of thousands of taels of silver in the local area.

Of course, hundreds of thousands of taels of silver nowadays are really not very attractive to Wei Guangde.

The annual turnover of the maritime trade business in which I invested is this much.

I got my shares based on my influence, but I didn't ask for any real money, so my share is not that much.

The main thing is to make efforts in the fight for the boat guide, which is crucial but not necessary.

Yes, as long as the sea merchants make an effort and spend hundreds of thousands of taels of silver, they can also gain access to the officialdom in Fujian and obtain ship permits. The difference is just a matter of amount.

"Master, this is the Mingqian tribute tea that was just sent from Jiangnan. It was delivered to the cabinet last night."

Wei Guangde sat there in a daze, and Lu Bu came in with freshly brewed tea and placed it next to him.

"Oh, okay, before the Qingming Festival, yes, let's try it."

Wei Guangde said cheerfully, picked up the teacup, gently skimmed a few tea leaves floating on the water with the cup lid, put it to his lips, and his nose was already filled with the unique aroma of Longjing tea.

Among the green tea varieties in my country, Longjing tea is relatively the most famous. Longjing tea can be harvested and produced in three seasons throughout the year, which can be called spring tea, summer tea, and autumn tea.

Among them, the quality of spring tea is better than the latter two. Spring tea can be divided into pre-Qingming tea and pre-rain tea, among which pre-Qingming tea has the best quality.

Mingqian tea is tea picked and made before Qingming Festival. This season has sufficient sunlight and abundant rainfall, which is very suitable for the growth of tea trees. The quality of the picked tea raw materials is also the best, and the quality of the tea produced naturally is also the best.

The Longjing tea leaves picked before the Qingming Festival are bright green, with even and shiny leaves and a sweet fragrance. When the tea leaves are brewed, the buds and leaves unfold, floating in the water, looking bright green and beautiful, giving a sense of natural purity and excellent ornamental value.

It tastes sweet and delicious, with a soft and refreshing fragrance, giving people a fresh and natural feeling. It is Wei Guangde's favorite tea.

"Not bad, not bad. Please pack some for me and send it to my house later."

The tea sent from the palace was actually a reward to the minister, that is, it was given to him.

The tea tastes good, so Wei Guangde naturally wants to take some back so that he can enjoy it at home.

But he couldn't take all of it away. The duty room was where he had to come every day, so naturally he had to leave some behind.

"Yes, sir."

Lu Bu agreed obediently. He was already familiar with Wei Guangde's routine, and he must bring some good things back.

Unfortunately, the amount of Mingqian Longjing tea provided by the palace is limited, and it won’t last long.

Fortunately, this thing is available every year, and there are other teas before and after it.

Wei Guangde finally started to handle official business. He picked up a memorial and started reading it. Lu Bu also quietly left the duty room and stood outside the door.

Soon, several eunuchs were seen escorting a eunuch in a red robe towards the Prime Minister's duty room.

Lu Bu recognized the visitor, who was the current Prime Minister Feng Bao.

"You're in such a hurry to come here so early. Could something have happened in the palace?"

Lu Bu thought to himself, but then he was shocked by himself.

  Is this something he could have thought of?

Since no one was coming, he was too lazy to care. He would just go in and tell the master later.

Just as I was thinking this, I saw a eunuch from the Prime Minister's duty room walking quickly towards me.

Something really happened.

Instantly, Lu Bu guessed it.

This is to call Wei Guangde over.

But it's strange that only one person came out. Normally, if there is something happening in the palace, the three cabinet ministers would be summoned to deal with it together.

Lü Diaoyang, Lord Lu, did arrive without asking for leave.

"Lord Wei has arrived."

Just as Lu Bu was lost in thought, the eunuch quickly approached him and asked in a low voice.

"Here we are. Father-in-law, do you want me to pass the message?"

"Hurry up and tell the Prime Minister and Eunuch Feng to invite Elder Wei over."

"it is good."

After a brief exchange, Lu Bu went in first, followed by the eunuch.

Soon, Wei Guangde led them out and walked towards Zhang Juzheng's duty room.

"Brother Shu, Brother Shuanglin, why are you calling me here in such a hurry?"

Wei Guangde went straight into the Prime Minister's duty room. He was not surprised to see Zhang Juzheng and Feng Bao waiting inside. He just bowed and saluted.

"This is the message from the Nanjing garrison. Her Majesty said that they are all former members of the Eastern Palace, and asked us to handle them accordingly."

As he spoke, Feng Bao handed a document from the inner court to Wei Guangde.

Wei Guangde took it and unfolded it, and couldn't help but sigh slightly.

"Alas, I wrote a letter asking him to return to the capital to retire, but he refused to listen."

The document was sent by the eunuch guarding Nanjing, informing the chief eunuch Li Fang that he had died in Xiaoling Mausoleum last month.

At the beginning, Li Fang angered Emperor Longqing because of his direct criticism. Not only was he thrown into prison, but he was also exiled to Nanjing to guard the mausoleum.

After Wanli ascended the throne, Empress Dowager Chen, remembering Li Fang's kindness, naturally pardoned him and wanted to summon him back to Beijing to retire.

However, after being rejected by Li Fang, he did not want to return to this sad place and continued to guard the Xiaoling Mausoleum.

As old members of the Eastern Palace, Wei Guangde, Zhang Juzheng, and Feng Bao all wrote letters to persuade him to come back.

But naturally there was no result and Li Fang remained unmoved.

Li Fang was framed at the beginning mainly because of the secret planning by Teng Xiang and others. Feng Bao did not directly break up with Li Fang, but he just didn't like him either.

Now that Feng Bao has accomplished something inside and outside the palace, he is naturally not afraid of Li Fang coming back.

"According to the highest rules of the inner eunuchs, his status is worthy of it."

Wei Guangde whispered to Feng Bao that eunuchs of different ranks naturally had various ceremonial rules and regulations to follow.

"That's what I mean. Although he was exiled by the late emperor, the queen issued an imperial decree to pardon him." Feng Bao replied, "But where should he be buried? In Nanjing, or should he be brought back?"

Wei Guangde glanced at Zhang Juzheng and saw that he had no intention of speaking, so he said carefully: "Since he was unwilling to come back at the beginning, then he should be buried in Nanjing and buried with him in the Xiaoling Mausoleum. This is in compliance with the will of the late emperor."

After saying this, Wei Guangde saw Zhang Juzheng nodding, and it was obvious that this was what he meant.

"Then let's discuss it and write an epitaph for him and send it to Nanjing."

Zhang Juzheng said.

"That's how it should be."

Wei Guangde nodded in response.

Afterwards, the three of them got together to write an epitaph for Li Fang, which mainly included Li Fang's life story. In the end, Zhang Juzheng was the main writer and sent it to Nanjing.

“Speaking of which, of the old brothers in the capital, there are only you and me left.

Now Yifu is in Bashu, and Zhengfu has returned to Qilu. I am afraid we will never be able to meet again in our lifetime."

Zhang Juzheng said with some emotion at this time.

Wei Guangde and Feng Bao both nodded slightly, and the three of them tacitly did not raise their heads, because this man was actually their enemy.

No one likes him, so naturally no one speaks to him.

"I'll set up a table at my house tonight, and the three of us can have a drink together, how about that?"

Zhang Juzheng then continued.

"Being respectful is worse than obeying orders."

Zhang Juzheng invited him, and Wei Guangde had no other invitations today, so he nodded and agreed immediately.

Feng Bao did not refuse, and the three of them immediately made an appointment to go to Zhang Juzheng's house for a drink in the evening.

After the court was dismissed in the afternoon, Wei Guangde returned home, washed up simply, changed into casual clothes, said goodbye to his family, and went out to Zhang's house.

The Zhang Mansion is some distance away from the Wei Mansion, because Zhang Juzheng's mansion is not in the inner city, but on Mule and Horse Market Street in the outer city, close to Liulichang.

After all, the inner city is a place where every inch of land is worth a lot of money. When Zhang Juzheng lived in the capital for a long time and served as a Hanlin Academy scholar for a long time, his family did not have the money to buy him a house in the inner city.

Therefore, Zhang Juzheng chose to buy land and build a house in the outer city. Even after he rose to prominence, he did not move but continued to live here.

Of course, Zhang Juzheng also had a courtyard in the inner city, which was a reward from the emperor. It was not big and was used for his living when he was busy.

It is important to remind you that although the residences of Wei Guangde and Zhang Juzheng were both called mansions, in fact this term was only used after the late Qing Dynasty. Strictly speaking, they could only be called "houses" during this period.

The Zhang Mansion is naturally the Zhang residence, and Wei Guangde’s home is just the Wei residence.

During the Ming Dynasty, there was a strict hierarchy system. Despite his high position and power, only the house of a prince could be called a "mansion", while the residence of an ordinary official was called a "house", even for a powerful foreign minister.

This is the difference between the Ming Dynasty system and the Song Dynasty system.

According to the "History of the Song Dynasty: Records of Vehicles and Clothing", "The houses of the prime minister and prince are called mansions, the houses of other officials are called houses, and the houses of common people are called homes." The general meaning of this sentence is that only the houses of the prime minister and prince are called mansions, the houses of other officials are called houses, and the houses of common people are called homes.

The Ming Dynasty abolished the position of prime minister, making the residence of the princes the only residence that could be called "mansion", which further emphasized the uniqueness and noble status of the prince's residence.

In the Qing Dynasty, only the residences of royal family members could be called mansions.

The titles of the royal family in the Qing Dynasty included twelve levels: Prince, Duke, Beile, Beizi, Zhenguogong, Fuguogong, Zhenguojiangjun, Fuguojiangjun, Fengguojiangjun, and Feng'enjiangjun. Only the residences of those with these titles could be called mansions.

The homes of other officials, including Heshen and Oboi, could only be called mansions and could not be called palaces.

When Wei Guangde arrived at Zhang's house, he was welcomed in by You Qi, the housekeeper of Zhang's house.

A sumptuous banquet had been set up in a waterside pavilion in the mansion's garden.

"Haha, sorry, I'm late."

When Wei Guangde came in, Zhang Juzheng and Feng Bao had already arrived.

"No, no, I just arrived too."

Feng Baole replied happily, "Come on, sit down quickly.

When we were in the palace, we often sat together to drink and chat when we had nothing to do. I didn’t expect that later on, due to the busy work, we rarely met to drink together.”

"Yes, well, since we are gathering together today, why not make a rule and take turns hosting every month?"

Wei Guangde said casually.

No matter what, we are all officials in the same dynasty. We will meet each other sooner or later. There is no need to be estranged.

Following up Feng Bao's words, Wei Guangde simply made a suggestion.

No matter whether you are happy or not, you have to do your job well.

"Okay, that's exactly what I meant."

Zhang Juzheng said happily, and Feng Bao beside him also nodded with a smile, not avoiding the topic.

All three of them are powerful figures in the court. Logically, they should avoid suspicion and try not to meet each other.

However, Feng Bao came here in such a high profile today that Wei Guangde guessed that he must have obtained approval from the palace, otherwise he would have come in secret and would have come late rather than early.

So, people were drinking and chatting here, while free singers and dancers were dancing to liven up the atmosphere.

They are all women who are carefully selected by the Ministry of Education and have undergone rigorous training. They are official prostitutes and are responsible for serving at official social gatherings and banquets.

Although the Ming Dynasty prohibited official prostitutes from serving officials, it was only strictly enforced in the early Ming Dynasty, and naturally not many people followed it after that.

The Prime Minister held a banquet at his home and wanted some singing girls and dancing girls to accompany him. Naturally, the Ministry of Education would take the initiative to select the best ones to serve.

As for whether the news would have a bad impact if it were to spread, that is unnecessary worry.

Except for a very small number of censors who are strict with themselves, few people would file a complaint about such things.

As long as you find out who is hosting the banquet, any smart person will know what to do.

The three of them seemed to have returned to the time when they were still in Prince Yu's Mansion. At that time, Prince Yu often invited them to the back garden to drink and admire the moon. There was really a big banquet every three days and a small banquet every five days.

Halfway through drinking, Prince Yu got drunk and went back to hug the beauty to rest, while they continued drinking.

Only at this time did Feng Bao have the opportunity to attend the banquet.

As for Li Fang, he had to follow Prince Yu and serve him well.

So, in a sense, the three of them are old brothers in the bar.

The three of them were soon drunk and had almost finished talking about the past.

Finally, after Wei Guangde once again picked up the wine pot to fill the wine glasses, Zhang Juzheng put his hand on Wei Guangde's shoulder and said, "Shandai, do you know that I am the Prime Minister?"

"What's going on? Is there someone trying to take your position? Then just give it to him and see if he can manage the government well."

Wei Guangde chuckled.

"I am also doing this for the court, but the people below..."

"Hey, if anyone disagrees, tell me your name and I'll see if I can't kill him."

Feng Bao interrupted.

"Shuanglin, just because we have different political views, it won't lead to life or death."

Zhang Juzheng shook his head and said, "But what Shandai did is what worries me the most.

When the war started, the imperial court's money and grain were spent like water."

Wei Guangde narrowed his eyes and glanced at Zhang Juzheng and Feng Bao casually.