The Prosperous Era of Longwan

"Mr. Wei."

"Good morning, Mr. Wei."

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

"Everyone, get busy."

Wei Guangde kept a warm smile and said to them.

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

Every day was like this, there were always endless memorials to read and endless official business to deal with.

The key is that he couldn't let others do this, he had to read it himself and make his own votes.

If it were other officials, such as local officials, it seems that many official duties could be handed over to the recruited teachers and clerks, and they would have enough time to enjoy the mountains and rivers.

Yes, local officials actually have an easy job, that is, they make decisions, and their subordinates complete the procedures. Even the official documents reported and transmitted are written by others.

Unfortunately

Thinking of this, Wei Guangde couldn't help but think of how he had been selected for the imperial examination.

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

In fact, his ranking was placed in the top three, but Emperor Jiajing accidentally picked his paper and put it directly in the first place of the second class, which led to his current position as the second assistant of the cabinet.

Otherwise, the top three Jinshi would have no chance to stay in Beijing and would have been sent to the local area to serve as a parent official.

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

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

The annual turnover of the sea trade business he invested in is so much.

He participated in the shares by influence, but did not ask for real money, so his share was not much.

The main thing is to contribute to the competition for ship tows, which is critical, 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 get through the officialdom of Fujian and obtain the ship's license. The difference is nothing more than the amount.

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

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

"Oh, good, before the Ming Dynasty, yes, try it well."

Wei Guangde said happily, picked up the teacup and gently skimmed the floating tea leaves on the water with the cup lid, put it to his mouth, and the unique fragrance of Longjing was already filled in his nose.

Among the green tea varieties in my country, Longjing tea is relatively the most famous. Longjing tea can be harvested for three seasons in a whole 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, and spring tea can be divided into before the Ming Dynasty tea and before the rain tea, among which the quality of before the Ming Dynasty tea is the best.

Mingqian tea is tea picked and made before Qingming Festival. The season at this time 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 picked before Mingqian is green and translucent, the leaves are uniform and shiny, and the fragrance of the tea is sweet. When the tea is brewed, the buds and leaves are stretched, and the leaves float in the water. It is fresh and beautiful, giving people a sense of natural purity and excellent ornamental value.

It tastes sweet and delicious, and the entrance is soft and fragrant, giving people a sense of freshness and nature. It is Wei Guangde's favorite tea.

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

The tea sent from the palace is actually a reward for the minister, that is, for him.

The tea tastes good, so Wei Guangde naturally wants to take some back and taste it at home.

But he can't take it all away. The duty room is also a place he comes to every day, so he naturally has to leave some.

"Yes, Master."

Lu Bu agreed very obediently. He was already familiar with Wei Guangde's routine. He must take some good things back.

Unfortunately, the amount of Mingqian Longjing given 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 Mingqian.

Wei Guangde finally started to handle official business, picked up a memorial and flipped through it, and Lu Bu quietly left the duty room and stood outside the duty room.

Not long after, he saw several eunuchs surrounding a eunuch in red robes and walking towards the duty room of the Prime Minister.

Lu Bu knew the person who came, it was Feng Bao, the current internal minister.

"He hurried here so early, maybe something happened in the palace."

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

Is this something he can think of?

Anyway, since the person didn't come, he didn't bother to care, and he would go in and tell the master later.

Just thinking about this, he saw a eunuch from the Prime Minister's duty room walking quickly towards this side.

There really is something going on.

Lu Bu guessed it instantly.

This is to call Wei Guangde over.

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

Lv Diaoyang, the old man, has arrived without asking for leave.

“The old man Wei has arrived.”

Just as Lu Bu seemed to be thinking about it, the eunuch had already walked up to him and asked in a low voice.

“He’s here, eunuch, do you want me to pass it on?”

“Quickly pass it on, the Prime Minister and Eunuch Feng over there invite the old man Wei to come over.”

“Okay.”

After a brief exchange, Lu Bu went in first, and then the eunuch followed him into the house.

Not long after, Wei Guangde led them out and walked towards Zhang Juzheng’s duty room.

"Brother Shu, Brother Shuanglin, why are you calling me here so urgently?"

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

"This is the news sent by the Nanjing garrison. The queen said that they were all old people from the Eastern Palace, so let us deal with it."

As he said, 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 to ask him to return to the capital to retire, but he refused to listen."

The document was sent by the eunuch of Nanjing garrison, notifying that the chief steward Li Fang died in Xiaoling last month.

At the beginning, Li Fang angered Emperor Longqing because of his direct remonstrance. Not only was he imprisoned, but he was also sent to Nanjing to guard the mausoleum.

After Wanli ascended the throne, Empress Dowager Chen remembered Li Fang's kindness and naturally pardoned him, wanting to call him back to Beijing to retire.

However, he was rejected by Li Fang. He didn't want to return to this sad place and still guarded Xiaoling.

As old people in 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, Li Fang was unmoved.

At the beginning, Li Fang was framed, mainly because Teng Xiang and others secretly planned and plotted. Feng Bao did not directly break up with Li Fang, but he just didn't like him.

Now Feng Bao has already accomplished things in and outside the palace, so naturally he is not afraid of Li Fang coming back.

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

Wei Guangde whispered to Feng Bao, eunuchs with ranks naturally have various rituals and rules.

"That's what I mean, although he was exiled by the late emperor, the queen issued an imperial decree to pardon his crime."

Feng Bao replied, "Just where to bury him? Nanjing, or transport him back?"

Wei Guangde glanced at Zhang Juzheng, and seeing that he didn't mean to speak, he said carefully: 'He didn't want to come back at the beginning, so he should be buried in Nanjing and buried with Xiaoling Mausoleum, which is considered to be in compliance with the will of the late emperor. ’

After saying that, Wei Guangde saw Zhang Juzheng nodding there, which was obviously what he meant.

“Then let’s discuss it and write an epitaph for him and send someone to Nanjing.”

Zhang Juzheng said.

“That’s right.”

Wei Guangde nodded in response.

Afterwards, the three of them got together to write an epitaph for Li Fang, which was mainly about Li Fang’s life story. Finally, Zhang Juzheng wrote it down and sent it to Nanjing.

“Speaking of which, there are only three of us left among the old brothers in the capital.

Now Yifu is in Bashu, and Zhengfu has also returned to Qilu. I’m afraid it will be difficult for us to get together again in our lifetime.”

Zhang Juzheng said with emotion at this time.

Wei Guangde and Feng Bao both nodded slightly, and the three of them tacitly did not raise their heads. In fact, this person was considered an enemy of the three of them.

No one liked him, so naturally no one talked to him.

“I’ll set up a table at home tonight, and the three of us will have a drink. How about it?”

Zhang Juzheng then said.

"It's better to obey than to be respectful."

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 agreed to go to Zhang Juzheng's house for a drink in the evening.

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

Zhang's house is a little far from Wei's house, because Zhang Juzheng's house is not in the inner city, but in the outer city Mule and Horse Market Street, near Liulichang.

After all, the inner city is a place where every inch of land is worth a lot of money. At the beginning, 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 in the capital.

So, Zhang Juzheng chose to buy land and build a house in the outer city. After that, he did not move even though he was rising rapidly, but continued to live here.

Of course, Zhang Juzheng also had a yard in the inner city, which was rewarded by the emperor. It was not big and was used for his daily life when he was busy.

It is important to remind you that although the residences of Wei Guangde and Zhang Juzheng were both called mansions, this was actually not the case until the end of the Qing Dynasty. Strictly speaking, they could only be called "houses" during this period.

Zhang's mansion was naturally Zhang's house, and Wei Guangde's home was only Wei's house.

The strict hierarchy during the Ming Dynasty meant that only the prince's house could be called a "mansion", and the residences of ordinary officials were called "houses", even for the powerful foreign ministers.

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

According to the "History of Song Dynasty: Records of Vehicles and Clothing", "The ruling and the prince's house are called mansions, the other officials' houses are called houses, and the common people's houses are called homes". This sentence roughly means that only the prime minister and the prince's house are called mansions, the houses of other officials are called houses, and the houses of grassroots people are called homes.

The Ming Dynasty abolished the position of prime minister, making the residences of the vassal kings the only residences that can be called "mansions", which further emphasized the uniqueness and noble status of the prince's residence.

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

The titles of the royal family of the Qing Dynasty included twelve levels of titles, including Prince, Duke, Beile, Beizi, Zhenguogong, Fuguogong, Zhenguojiangjun, Fuguojiangjun, Fengguojiangjun, Fengenjiangjun, etc. The residences of these titles can be called mansions.

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

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

In a waterside pavilion in the garden of the mansion, a sumptuous banquet has been set up.

"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 answered cheerfully, "Come on, sit down quickly.

When we were in the palace, we would often sit together, drink wine and chat when we had nothing to do. Unexpectedly, later on, due to busy work schedules, we rarely met to have a drink together. "

"Yeah, okay, since we are gathering today, why not make a rule that everyone takes turns to be the host every month?"

Wei Guangde said casually.

No matter what, we are all officials in the same dynasty, and we will always meet each other sooner or later, so there is no need to get angry.

Following Feng Bao's words, Wei Guangde simply suggested.

Regardless of whether you feel happy or not, you have to do your job with dignity anyway.

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

Zhang Juzheng said cheerfully, and Feng Bao next to him also smiled and nodded, not shying away.

The three of them are all powerful people in the court. It is said that they should avoid suspicion and try not to bump into each other.

But today Feng Bao came with such a high profile, Wei Guangde guessed that he must have obtained the approval of the palace, otherwise he should have come in hiding, and he would have come sooner rather than later.

So, here they were drinking and chatting, while over there the free singers and dancers were dancing to add to the fun.

They are all women who have been carefully selected by the priests and have undergone strict training. They are official prostitutes and serve people at official dinners.

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

There was a banquet at the home of the chief minister, and he wanted some singers and dancers to accompany him. Naturally, the priest would go up the pole and select the best ones to serve.

As for whether the news will have a negative impact if it spreads, that's too much to worry about.

Except for a few strict self-disciplined censors, few people would complain about such a thing.

As long as you ask who is hosting the banquet, smart people 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 would often invite them to drink and admire the moon in the back garden. It was really a big banquet for three days and a small banquet for five days.

Halfway through the drink, King Yu got drunk and went back to rest with the beauty in his arms while they continued to drink.

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

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

So speaking of it, the three of them are still old brothers in the wine shop.

The three of them drank wine and talked about the past.

Finally, after Wei Guangde once again carried the jug and filled the wine glasses, Zhang Juzheng put his hands on Wei Guangde's shoulders and said, "Shandai, do you know that I am sitting in the position of chief assistant?"

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

Wei Guangde chuckled.

"I have passed the law examination for the sake of the imperial court, but those people below"

"Oh, whoever is dissatisfied can tell me his name and see if I can kill him."

Feng Bao interrupted.

"Shuanglin, even if we have different political views, we will not live or die."

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

With this war going on, the court's money and food will be spent like a flowing stream."

Wei Guangde squinted his eyes and inadvertently glanced at Zhang Juzheng and Feng Bao.