The First Corrupt Official of Ming Dynasty

Chapter 277: The civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty forced the palace for Mr. Ye, Zhu Yuanzhang was shocked, and Xu Da was worried about his good son-in-law!
In the spacious study, the butler lit the last candlestick and then left the study.

At the same time, he also told the messenger wearing a bamboo hat: "Just stand here and wait."

"Yes!"

In Jiang Wei's eyes, the messenger sent by Hu Weiyong was very well-behaved. He just stood here motionless, neither taking off his hat nor raising his head.

After a while, the butler's voice came from outside the door again.

"Master, please slow down!"

Jiang Wei tilted his head slightly in the direction of the voice. He only saw the housekeeper holding a lantern and leading the way. A young girl about sixteen or seventeen years old supported Li Shanchang and came all the way to the study.

Just by looking at the silk and satin that this little girl is wearing, one can tell that she is definitely not just a little maid.

Then, he thought of the little girl's true identity.

Legend has it that Li Shanchang resigned himself to depravity in his later years. After he retired to Fengyang, he took a 60-year-old concubine with his 16-year-old body.

The key is that he is not very low-key, and he will make the show as big as possible, as if he is afraid that Zhu Yuanzhang will not know.

"Old Xiangguo, you are always imitating Guo Ziyi and degrading yourself!"

Just as Jiang Wei thought, Li Shanchang had never touched her since she took a concubine. She was just using her as a maid in silk and satin.

Finally, Li Shanchang, supported by his concubine and protected by the butler's lamp, slowly walked to the door of the study.

But just when the housekeeper closed the study door from the outside, Li Shanchang suddenly became extremely tough!

He doesn't want anyone to help him, and he still walks with a wind!
Jiang Wei looked at Li Shanchang who simply sat down, and secretly praised in his heart: "You are not only degrading yourself, but you are also pretending to be in poor health. You are really good at acting!"

Just when Jiang Wei was praising him like this, Li Shanchang said in a low voice: "Give me the letter!"

Hu Weiyong's messenger took out the wax-sealed letter from his arms and handed it to Li Shanchang with both hands.

On the candlestick on the desk, Li Shanchang was not as rude as Zhu Yuanzhang when he opened the letter. He took a knife and very slowly pried open the wax seal bit by bit.

The speed was so slow that Hu Weiyong's messenger was anxious, and so was Jiang Wei, who was lying on the roof.

Finally, Hu Weiyong's autographed letter appeared in Li Shanchang's eyes and also in Jiang Wei's eyes.

Content of the letter: "Good luck to the country, old prime minister:"

"Ye Qing, the magistrate of Yanmen, successfully defended Yanmen Pass. When Xu Da's army gathered and annihilated more than 20 enemy troops below the city, his own casualties were minimal."

"Not only that, Xu Da also followed his idea and successfully captured Yuanting Hara and Lin, and recovered the imperial seal!"

"In this tax increase, his various political achievements are much higher than others, not to mention that he has also established a war preparedness granary, a disaster preparedness granary, and a liquidation granary."

"."

"His Majesty, Long Yan, is very pleased and is ready to promote him to the position of official in the capital."

"If this person enters Beijing, he will definitely become His Majesty's right-hand man, and we will be in a huge passive position."

"Please ask the old Prime Minister to give the student some advice on what we should do to prevent him from entering the capital as an official without knowingly offending His Majesty!"

Li Shanchang looked at these contents that would make ordinary people's jaws drop, but his expression was as calm as water from beginning to end.

He just slowly turned his head to look in the direction of Yanmen County, and still said calmly: "He is really a versatile man in both civil and military affairs!"

"It's a pity that he doesn't want to be my disciple!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he took off the candlestick lampshade, lit the letter, and let it burn up in the inkstone.

Jiang Wei could tell that Li Shanchang must be very shocked deep down in his heart. Otherwise, he would not give Ye Qing such a high evaluation.

But his external performance is always so calm and gentle. It is his performance that perfectly interprets the six words "happiness and anger are invisible".

"No wonder His Royal Highness the Crown Prince cares so much about the old Prime Minister, he is the oldest old fox!"

Just when Jiang Wei secretly commented on Li Shanchang, Li Shanchang suddenly picked up the brush.

At the same time, the messenger standing in front of him and Jiang Yu lying on the roof focused their attention on the tip of his pen.

For Hu Weiyong's messenger, Old Xiangguo's pen was a good strategy to prevent Ye Qing from entering the court as an official!

For Jiang Wei, only by knowing their good strategy to prevent Ye Qing from becoming an official in the court can the emperor and his family come up with the best 'strategy to defeat the enemy'!
As for Jiang Wei personally, he also hopes that Ye Qing can enter the court as an official. All the Jinyi guards hope that Ye Qing can enter the court as an official!

After all, just a little reward from Mr. Ye is enough for them to work for ten years!
The key is that they can take Master Ye's reward in front of the emperor, which is not very satisfying!

"Why don't you write it?"

Courier Hu Weiyong and Jiang Wei, whose eyes were filled with anticipation, looked at the pen tip that had not yet landed on the paper, and complained in their hearts at the same time.

But just when the two of them were complaining like this, Li Shanchang simply accepted the Four Treasures of the Study.

"What do you mean?"

"Does the old prime minister have no idea?"

Just as the two of them were thinking about this subconsciously, Li Shanchang called the messenger to come over.

Jiang Wei only saw Li Shanchang whisper a few words, and the messenger nodded immediately.

Unfortunately, from Jiang Wei's perspective, he could neither see Li Shanchang's mouth shape nor the subtle changes in expressions such as the messenger's eyes after hearing the whisper.

All he could see was a big bamboo hat covering his two heads. If the bamboo hat hadn't been shaking up and down a little, he wouldn't have known that the messenger had nodded after hearing the whisper.

"Old Prime Minister, I will definitely bring you the message."

In Jiang Wei's eyes, the messenger stepped aside, gave a brief fist-cup salute, and then decisively turned around and left.

After a while, Li Shanchang also walked out of the study, holding his hands behind his back and looking at the starry sky in the direction of Yingtian Mansion.

He just said to himself in a leisurely tone: "I am really happy for him that he is so versatile in both civil and military affairs and he has found the jade seal passed down to the country!"

"If he can become my disciple, I will definitely ensure that he becomes the left prime minister!"

As soon as Li Shanchang finished speaking, his concubine and housekeeper, who were treated as maids, hurriedly came over.

On the way back to his room, Li Shanchang became the old man again who needed support and a lamp to see the way forward.

Any passerby who saw him like this would only think, "Half of his body is already buried in the soil."

If Jiang Wei didn't witness his performance in the study with his own eyes, he would definitely think so.

After Jiang Wei watched Li Shanchang go back to his room, he gently sat up, and then began to summarize and analyze the scene he just saw!
"Obviously, it's not that he didn't have any ideas in his mind, but he felt that the idea he came up with was a little special, so special that he didn't want to write a letter!"

"The letter may fall into the hands of Jin Yiwei, but dictating it can guarantee that only the messenger and Hu Weiyong will know!"

"What's the idea?"

"."

Jiang Wei sat here and thought for a long time, but couldn't come up with a clue.

There was no other way but to go back quickly and ask my mentor Mao Xiang to help analyze it.

He came out to run errands for the prince, but he didn't bring back any news. It was still somewhat inappropriate. Although the responsibility was not his, as a person who was promoted by the prince, he still hoped to find some clues that would be useful to the prince.

The next morning, when the city gate of Fengyang Mansion opened, Jiang Wei was the first to leave the city, and then ran all the way to Yingtian Mansion.

In the evening, Jiang Wei returned to the palace dusty.

But he did not go to the Prince's Mansion in the East Palace immediately. Instead, he came to the Jinyiwei Commander's Office and found Commander Mao Xiang.

"Teacher, this is what happened."

"Please help me analyze it. What trick did Li Shanchang come up with?"

"Even if it's just a few clues, it would be great, otherwise I would be too embarrassed to do the job!"

Mao Xiang, who was wearing a yellow-bottomed brocade robe, just rolled his eyes at Jiang Yu and said, "I think your boy's soul is a little wandering!"

Jiang Wei asked in confusion: "Teacher, what do you mean by this?"

Mao Xiang didn't look at Jiang Yu at all. While reading the prison documents in the capital, he said, "Do you know what roles we are?"

Jiang Wei immediately replied solemnly: "Our main responsibility is to take charge of the front guards, arrests, and prison matters. We are not under the jurisdiction of the Zhongshu Province and the Six Ministries, and are directly responsible to the emperor."

Mao Xiang still didn't look at Jiang Yu, but said casually: "To put it simply, they are the eagle and dog minions of His Majesty's family!"

"The hawks, dogs and minions don't need to analyze things. They only need to complete the tasks ordered by His Majesty and his family. They only need to tell them exactly what you heard and saw."

"As for what they can think based on what they saw and heard, that is their business, not ours."

"Even if they ask you what you think, you can only say 'I'm sorry for being stupid'."

"Those civil servants must learn to play dumb, and we must learn to play dumb. If the hawks, dogs, and minions are too smart, they will not be far from death!"

When Jiang Wei heard this, his eyes immediately lit up, and he instantly understood his role.

He is indeed somewhat eager to achieve success, and he does take himself too seriously.

Jiang Wei immediately bowed and said, "Thank you for your advice, master. I will go change my clothes and then meet His Highness the Crown Prince."

"What to change into?"

"For such an important matter, you should have gone to see His Highness non-stop. Do you want him to know that you have time to go back and change clothes?"

"He knows that you have time to go back and change clothes, but does he know that you have time to come see me?"

"Do you think your master and I are just like you, with my soul floating outside my body and not being at ease?"

After Jiang Wei received Mao Xiang's education, he went all the way to the Prince's Palace in the East Palace. He did not dare to delay at all along the way, but he had a lot on his mind.

As Mao Xiang said, when working in this golden cage called the palace, everyone must know their role and cannot go beyond it.

If you are not careful, your soul will not be as simple as "a little floating"!

It was a good thing that he had not been enlightened by Mao Xiang. Once he was enlightened, he had the same feeling as Mao Xiang, that is, being by the emperor's side was far less relaxing than being by Master Ye's side.

Even though he had never met Ye Qing, he only had contact with the prefects of Ye Qing's group, which made him have strong feelings.

In fact, the reason why he wanted to find out Li Shanchang's method of persecuting Ye Qing was not entirely because he wanted to be loyal to the prince, but also because he wanted to help Ye Qing.

It's a pity that he can't think of any clues. In this position, he doesn't dare to think about these things that he shouldn't think about.

Outside the gate of the Jinyiwei Commander's Office,

After Mao Xiang watched Jiang Yu leave, he looked in the direction of Yanmen County, and his eyes became complicated.

He hoped that Ye Qing could come to the capital and wanted to do something to help Ye Qing, but with his current status, he was determined not to do anything for Ye Qing.

Because he knew that as long as he made any obvious move to help Ye Qing, his life would be at stake, and Zhu Yuanzhang would point his knife at Ye Qing.

Therefore, him not helping Ye Qing is the greatest help to Ye Qing!

"Could it be."

Thinking of this, Mao Xiang's eyes suddenly lit up, because he felt that he might have guessed how Li Shanchang taught Hu Weiyong how to deal with Ye Qing.

But even so, he couldn't tell Zhu Yuanzhang what he had guessed.Just as he taught Jiang Yu how to serve as an official, as an eagle and dog's minion, he should be capable, but not too brainy.

Another thing is, if Zhu Yuanzhang asked him after hearing this, "Why are you so concerned about Ye Qing's affairs?" Not only would his life be sad, but Ye Qing's life would also be sad.

Thinking of this, the worry in Mao Xiang's eyes became even more intense!

"Lord Ye,"

"The person who wants to harm you is too smart and a little too shady!"

While Mao Xiang was thinking like this, Jiang Yu came to the Prince's Mansion in the East Palace.

Just as Mao Xiang taught him, he just told Zhu Biao exactly what he heard and saw.

After Zhu Biao heard this, he hurried to the imperial study.

in the imperial study,

After hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang, who was wearing a dragon robe, was still completely different from the 'Master Guo' in front of Ye Qing, and there was no sign of getting angry at all.

He just walked to the door of the imperial study with his hands behind his back, looked in the direction of Fengyang Mansion, and then said to Zhu Biao on the side: "Mr. Li, we have learned all the tricks of Guo Ziyi's self-destruction in the Tang Dynasty."

"We know that he has a concubine, and we understand his concerns, but what does he mean by pretending to be in poor health?"

"Do you want to tell us that he won't live for a few years, so that we can rest assured?"

"In his heart, are we the kind of person who is afraid that the hero will die after us?"

Having said this, Zhu Yuanzhang just smiled helplessly.

Zhu Biao did not express any opinion on this matter, but he had a thought in his heart, "In the eyes of all officials, you are just like this", and he really couldn't bear to say it to attack his father!
After a while, Zhu Yuanzhang stopped thinking about this matter. He just said with a deep look: "What kind of clever idea did he come up with, and he didn't write a letter, but just dictated it?"

Zhu Biao cupped his hands and said: "It is not difficult to explain this method without writing. It can be explained clearly in a few words, but it is enough to show that in Li Shanchang's opinion, this method must not fall into your hands."

After Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, he nodded thoughtfully.

But he also felt that Zhu Biao's words were of no use except to satisfy his curiosity.

He didn't want to use his brain to guess how Li Shanchang would prevent Ye Qing from entering the court as an official.

After all, he is the emperor and the final decision-maker!
He doesn't believe it. If he wants to be dictatorial in this area, can these people stop him?
Thinking of this, Zhu Yuanzhang immediately said loudly: "Prince, go and deliver the order."

"Tomorrow there will be a court meeting in the square outside the palace. All court officials above the seventh rank in Beijing and the seventh rank court official will not be absent without any reason!"

Zhu Biao knew that his father was going to announce his conferment on Ye Qing in public. At the same time, he also wanted to see who dared to go against him on this matter.

He won't do anything to these people now, but he will definitely keep the list of these people in his heart.

His father didn't remember much when he read, but he definitely had a better memory than Queen Ma, who had a photographic memory for things like holding grudges!
"My son obeys the order!"

At the same time that Zhu Yuanzhang made his decision, Hu Weiyong was also having a meeting with his people.

In the upper hall of Hu Weiyong's house, Kong Kebiao, Tu Jie, Zhu Liangzu and others also filled the seats on both sides.

Hu Weiyong was sitting on the throne and said: "Everyone, His Majesty will definitely hold a court meeting tomorrow. At that time, he will announce the title of Ye Qing in front of everyone."

"But before that, he will definitely ask us how to reward Ye Qing."

"This time, we can't take Ye Qing's life!"

"But even if we can't kill him, we still have to prevent him from successfully entering Beijing as an official!"

"I'm here to remind you that you must be, at best or at least, a third-grade imperial official."

"Xu Da and the others will definitely ask for credit for Ye Qing. You must not go against Wei Guogong, and you must do your best to ask for credit for Lord Ye."

When Kong Kebiao heard this, he was immediately unhappy.

In everyone's eyes, this six-foot-tall Confucius scholar, whose stature was enough to prove his identity as a descendant of Confucius, immediately retorted: "Isn't this just helping the emperor to do evil?"

"Is this the idea that Old Xiangguo gave us?"

After Hu Weiyong rolled his eyes at Kong Kebiao, he looked at Zhu Liangzu and said, "Yongjiahou, please come and tell me about Confucius' great scholar. Is this helping the emperor to do evil?"

How could Zhu Liangzu have thought of so much? He just said, "Please give me some advice from the Prime Minister" and pulled him down.

Hu Weiyong just sighed helplessly, feeling that all the talented people had gone to Xu Da's side!
Just when Hu Weiyong suddenly felt powerless, the censor, Prime Minister Tujie, held up his hands and said with a flattering smile: "This plan of the old prime minister is very clever!"

Seeing Tu Jie speaking like this, Hu Weiyong nodded happily.

Then, he seriously warned again: "Anyway, I don't care if you understand it or not, just do it tomorrow!"

Although Kong Kebiao, Zhu Liangzu and others still didn't understand, they could only say that they would do it.

In the early morning of the next day, the first ray of morning light shone on the large square in front of Fengtian Temple.

On the pavilion-style dragon chair, the five-clawed golden dragon on Zhu Yuanzhang's body is shining with golden light under the sunlight.

In the eyes of all the civil and military officials, it was the dragon in His Majesty's body that was alive. It could also be said that the dragon in His Majesty's body made Zhu Yuanzhang even more powerful than before.

In Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes, the people standing below were all civil and military officials wearing red robes, blue robes, and green robes!
There are not many people, there is no room for them to stand in Fengtian Hall!

The military attache respected Xu Da and stood on the left column of the red carpet. The civil servant respected Hu Weiyong and stood on the right column of the red carpet!

Of course, all civil and military officials respect the prince!
In the eyes of the civil and military officials, Zhu Yuanzhang did not open his eyes. While he was waiting for the sun to rise, he was also waiting for the officials to pay their respects.

Finally, as the sun rose over Dongshan Mountain, following an order from an official of the Ministry of Rites, all civil and military officials and the prince all kowtowed in unison.

"I pay my respects to Your Majesty and wish Your Majesty the best of luck!"

Zhu Yuanzhang opened his eyes suddenly, and his whole person became solemn.

He looked at these red, blue and green robes kneeling at his feet, but in his eyes, there were so many unworthy thoughts.

There is loyalty, there is disloyalty, there is also black heart and greed!
Zhu Yuanzhang said loudly: "Pingshen!"

Just when all the cultural relic officials stood up, they suddenly saw an imperial edict in the hands of the eunuch who was always serving beside Zhu Yuanzhang.

In fact, all civil and military officials in the dynasty could guess what kind of imperial edict this was.

But none of them could have guessed that Zhu Yuanzhang used the 'blank check' method he learned from Ye Qing when he wrote the imperial edict!
Zhu Yuanzhang said loudly: "My dear friends, Ye Qing, the magistrate of Yanmen County, has not only made great achievements in governing the world, but also in protecting the country. He has done a great job in recovering the national jade seal for us."

"Let's focus on how much merit he has accomplished. You should know!"

"Right now, we have an imperial edict granting Ye Qing the title, but we didn't write down a specific official position!"

Hearing this, all the officials looked at each other in astonishment. How could His Majesty the Emperor have made an "empty imperial edict"?

Before they could figure it out, Zhu Yuanzhang continued: "We have nothing else to do at court today. I just want you all to tell me what official position we should give him."

"Let's get the words out of the way first. You can speak freely today. As long as you don't insult the emperor or curse the empress, you are all innocent!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhu Yuanzhang stopped talking and waited for Hu Weiyong and the others to take action.

After Xu Da heard this, he remembered what he said to Wang Baobao, Fu Youde and others yesterday.

He guessed right. This emperor, who is full of tricks, will definitely ask for everyone's opinions, but he will never really ask for everyone's opinions.

He, the emperor brother, is an out-and-out dictator at his core.

If anyone really dares to raise an opinion, he will fall into his trap!
Therefore, he emphatically reminded Wang Baobao that they could never recommend specific official positions. They only needed to prove Ye Qing's meritorious service.

Zhu Yuanzhang was sure of how to reward Ye Qing specifically!

Besides, they didn't care what official position Ye Qing was given, as long as they could get him to come to the capital.

Of course, it would be the best to be able to get him to be the third-grade governor of Yingtian Mansion.

And in Xu Da's opinion, if nothing unexpected happens, Zhu Yuanzhang will let Ye Qing come over to be this official.

After all, they thought about it and felt that the third-grade governor of Yingtian Mansion was the most suitable for Ye Qing. He could also bring out his political talents and restrain the civil and military officials living in Beijing to a certain extent!
Of course, even if he is brought here to be the magistrate of Jiangning and Shangyuan counties, because the capital is where these two counties are!
In the eyes of everyone, Xu Da was the first to stand up and ask for credit for Ye Qing.

Immediately afterwards, Ye Qing's defeated general Wang Baobao was the second to stand up and ask for credit for Ye Qing. Although he was not the first person to stand up, his eagerness to ask for credit for Ye Qing was not inferior to that of Xu Da!
Then, Fu Youde, Geng Bingwen, Lan Yu and others also stepped forward to ask for credit for Ye Qing!

But without exception, none of them expressed any opinion on whether Ye Qing should be given an official position!
In short, in one sentence, there are a lot of merits that should be requested. As for what officials should be granted, it is not something that they, the ministers, should think about.

When Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, he nodded with satisfaction.

"It must be Tiande (Xuda) who is measured!"

"Not only that, but Wang Baobao taught us so well."

Thinking of this, Zhu Yuanzhang glanced at the nobles in Huaixi again with his peripheral vision. How much he hoped that these people could be as measured as Xu Da.

In this way, he can ensure that everyone ends well!

But just as he was pondering this, Lv Ben, the Minister of Civil Affairs, who was standing among the civil servants, immediately frowned.

He also hoped that Ye Qing could enter Beijing smoothly, so that he would have the opportunity to make Ye Qing the teacher of his future grandson.

In his opinion, having such a teacher for his future grandson increases the possibility of becoming his eldest grandson!

But he also knew that if Ye Qing wanted to become an official in Beijing, it would never be so smooth!
The way to prevent Ye Qing from becoming an official in Beijing is actually very simple!
Now, he only hopes that neither Li Shanchang nor Hu Weiyong thought of this simple solution!

But just when Lu Ben was so hopeful, Hu Weiyong stood up holding the jade tablet: "Your Majesty, I have a plan to report."

After Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, his eyes immediately lit up.

What he was waiting for was Hu Weiyong, and he wanted to listen to Hu Weiyong and see how he could go against him.

"Prelude!"

In Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes, Hu Weiyong hugged the jade wat and bowed again: "Your Majesty, I believe that Mr. Ye is both civil and military, so he should be promoted to a noble rank, enter the capital to serve your Majesty, and benefit the country!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the censor Zhongcheng Tujie stood up holding the jade tablet in his arms and said: "My lord, I second the proposal!"

Immediately afterwards, Zhu Liangzu also stood up and said: "My lord, I second the proposal!"

In the eyes of everyone, the nobles of Huaixi and their minions stood up one after another to second the proposal. Even Kong Kebiao, who had always shouted that Ye Qing was a corrupt official and ruined the country, stood up and seconded the proposal.

The next moment, they began to actively recommend official positions.

Not to mention the somewhat reliable positions such as Ying Tianfu Yin, Hubu Shangshu, and left and right censors. Even the unreliable positions such as the Imperial Academy offering wine were all mentioned by the nobles of Huaixi.

Looking at this scene, Lu Ben, who was silent, just sighed and closed his eyes.

Sure enough, Li Shanchang and Hu Weiyong would never have thought of such a simple method.

After seeing this scene, Xu Da and others, as well as Zheng Shiyuan and Han Yike, first looked horrified, then frowned, and at the same time looked embarrassed!
I have to say, their move was really damaging!
This move of "many civil and military officials of the dynasty forced Lord Ye into the palace" is really too damaging!

Finally, the large square in front of the huge palace became quiet.

Hu Weiyong, who looked extremely respectful on the surface, just looked at Zhu Yuanzhang, who was looking troubled, with his peripheral vision, and at the same time secretly said in his heart: "Your Majesty, it's your turn to take action."

at the same time,

Xu Da also looked at Zhu Yuanzhang who was looking troubled with his peripheral vision, with a hint of worry in his eyes.

He is worried about his brother Zhu Yuanzhang, the emperor, and also worried about his good son-in-law Ye Qing who he unilaterally confirmed!
　Please follow up with the support of the officials, please recommend tickets, monthly tickets, and reward support, thank you!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)