The Prosperous Era of Longwan

Wei Guangde now lives a leisurely life. He goes to the Hanlin Academy to sign in on time every day. If he is bored, he goes to Taichang Temple.

There are no major festivals during this time, and Taichang Temple is also very leisurely.

In fact, Taichang Temple has not always been so leisurely. During the two months when Wei Guangde was away on the war, Taichang Temple was responsible for organizing the death anniversaries of Empress Xiaozhuangrui, Empress Xiaomu and Empress Renxiaowen, and held memorial ceremonies in the Xian Palace. .

At the same time, there is also a memorial ceremony held in Fengxian Hall on the anniversary of the death of Emperor Cheng Zuwen.

It can only be said that Wei Guangde was sent to Taichang Temple just when Taichang Temple was at its most relaxed, and there were no activities to be held.

Of course, these three queens have nothing to do with Emperor Jiajing. Just talking about Queen Xiaozhuangrui, and talking about her husband, all fans know that she is the famous Emperor Yingzong.

Speaking of which, Empress Xiaozhuangrui was the first empress to be carried into the Forbidden City from the Ming Dynasty since the founding of the Ming Dynasty. She had a good relationship with Yingzong, but she did not give birth to a son, so she was very miserable in her later years.

Of course, this involves the previous grudge between Queen Qian and Zhu Jianshen's mother and son. Times have changed, and as a person with a clear status in the Yingzong's edict, he is still qualified to enjoy the Ancestral Temple, even though it also experienced a political storm.

The daily life of Taichang Temple is to show off one's face at major court meetings and ceremonies, and the rest are such sacrificial activities.

After receiving the edict of promotion, Wei Guangde wrote a letter asking the guildkeeper to find someone to take him back to Jiujiang.

After I was awarded the title, I left in a hurry and didn't have time to write a letter home. Now is the time.

The letter actually didn't contain much content. It just told him that he had been promoted again and asked about his family's well-being.

When a Jiujiang businessman's fleet set off from Tongzhou Pier and headed south along the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, a clipper ship from Nanjing docked at Tongzhou Pier. A sturdy man got off the ship in a few steps and quickly disappeared into the crowd. On the rough dock.

On the afternoon of that day, a small sedan appeared quietly in a corner not far from the back door of Yan's mansion. It was the location of a pawn shop, but few people came there on weekdays, so it seemed very deserted.

After the sedan landed, the people in the sedan got off the sedan, looked around, and found that no one was paying attention, then they stepped into the shop. The bearer carried the sedan to the street and waited.

Not long after, the door of a house next to the pawn shop opened, and a man who looked like a young boy hurriedly walked out of the house and turned into the alley, and soon appeared at the back door of Yan's mansion.

There was a gentle knock on the wooden door rhythmically. After a while, the door was opened and the boy walked in immediately.

It took about another quarter of an hour before a man who looked like a butler came out of the back door of Yan's mansion, and the boy who had just entered was following behind him.

"Are you sure that person is from the Imperial College?"

When he was about to walk out of the alley, the man who looked like a butler suddenly stopped and asked sideways.

"Second Master Xin, you can't be wrong. I once met him in the Imperial College."

The boy hurriedly took two steps closer and said respectfully.

"Then what is he doing here at this time? There is no official position in the Imperial College for him to be promoted? Even if he wants to be promoted to an official, he is just a small official. How can he get so much money by just promoting people?"

The steward, who was called Mr. Xin, said suspiciously, but then shook his head. It doesn't matter to him, as long as the money is sent in vain, everything will be easy.

Thinking of this, Mr. Xin stopped worrying and quickly walked out of the yard towards the pawn shop.

It was already dark, and Yan Shifan was very drunk outside. He was helped back to his yard by two tall and pretty maids. However, at this time, there was already a person waiting quietly in front of the yard door.

"Who's there?"

Although he was very drunk, Yan Shifan still vaguely saw someone at the entrance of the courtyard under the light of the lantern held by the maid in front, so he asked.

In the past, no one else was allowed near my yard.

"Young master, I am my servant Yan Xin."

The man quickly bowed and replied.

"Steward Yan, is something wrong?"

Yan Shifan just came back from outside, and Yan Xin was standing here. Naturally, he knew that something must be wrong, but he didn't know how serious it was, so that the second housekeeper of the Yan family was still waiting for him so late.

"It's about the pawn shop."

Yan Xin simply mentioned the source and said no more. Looking at Yan Shifan's swaying appearance, he knew that the young master was very drunk, and he didn't know if he could tell the eldest young master this tonight. thing.

With the support of two maids, Yan Shifan managed to stand still, "Is there anything else that I can't do?"

If it is an ordinary matter, Yan Xin can actually make the decision. As long as the money is collected, Yan Shifan will naturally help him get the matter done, and he will not ruin his own brand casually.

Mr. Yan Shifan, Mr. Yan, is very trustworthy.

"Yes, yes, that's what Young Master said, it's just this time."

Yan Xin wanted to talk more, but was interrupted by Yan Shifan with a wave of his hand, "Let's go inside and talk."

Soon, a group of people walked into the courtyard.

"You mean you are asking Duke Wei this time? Please explain clearly what is going on."

After entering the house and retreating, Yan Shifan understood something from Yan Xin's intermittent words. Yan Xin looked very uncomfortable. He was drunk at the moment and didn't want to pay attention to such trivial matters.

However, if it is a request from Duke Wei Guo of Nanjing, it seems to be a different matter.

After all, he is a founding figure, and his influence in the south is quite large. He is now making money in the south, so naturally he will not offend him if he can, not to mention that they are here to give him money.

"Mrs. Wei Guogong died young. Now the most favored one is his concubine Zheng. What he wants to ask this time is to ask the court to make her his wife and get a royal title."

When Yan Xin said this, he raised his head and glanced at Yan Shifan. At this time, Mr. Yan was lying on the chair, his head moving little by little. He didn't know whether he was drunk or something.

Just when Yan Xin didn't know whether to continue talking or to ask the maid outside the door to serve Yan Shifan to rest, he heard Yan Shifan's dissatisfied voice, "Go on, why are you hesitating today? What did you find out? Let’s talk about it all together.

In the past, I have never found you to be so timid and afraid of getting into trouble. You can't explain everything clearly. "

"Yes, yes, the young master taught me a lesson."

Yan Xin hurriedly nodded and bowed in agreement, and then continued: "The person here is Wang Jihuai, the assistant coach of the Imperial Academy, he should be the spy of the Wei Guo Public Security Bureau in Beijing.

After he left, I asked someone to inquire, and found that the matter here was a bit complicated, and it was not a simple matter of sealing a royal title."

As Yan Xin told it, Yan Shifan gradually understood that Wei Guogong Xu Pengju was planning to secretly assassinate Chen Cang.

His first wife died early. At this time, he asked the court to make his beloved concubine his wife. Naturally, it meant to straighten things up. Then the son of this beloved concubine was naturally no longer a concubine, but a legitimate son. He could inherit the Duke of Wei in the future. Yes, because the first wife did not give birth to a son or a daughter for him.

"What do you mean, his beloved concubine gave birth to a younger son, so he can't win in an open and honest way?"

Yan Shifan was such a smart person, he already had a premonition when he heard Yan Xin say that he would make his concubine a royal decree.

Sure enough, just as he suspected, there was a fight in the backyard.

However, the title of Duke of Wei is worth fighting for.

"His two sons, the eldest son Xu Bangrui, the younger son, the son born to the concubine Zheng, is called Xu Bangning."

Yan Xin introduced immediately.

"Hmph. The eldest son of a common concubine, what a big deal it is, and you are still afraid of being like this."

Yan Shifan looked at Yan Xin and felt a little dissatisfied.

"Sir, there are a lot of complications behind this matter. After all, it involves the inheritance of the Wei Kingdom's dukedom, and there are other things involved. It is completely deceiving the imperial court. No matter how favored the Zheng family is, they are still concubines after all."

Yan Xin wiped the sweat from his head and said to Yan Shifan.

"You think everyone in Beijing knows about things in Nanjing."

Having said this, Yan Shifan braced himself and sat up straight, "Your concerns are reasonable. This matter is not big, but it is troublesome. If you want to handle it, you have to cut it quickly.

Also, how much money did he give? "

"Send me a vote of five thousand taels of silver."

Yan Xin replied immediately.

"Tsk tsk. Xu Pengju is quite generous. He is willing to spend so much money just for a concubine."

Yan Shifan sneered and said, "Five thousand taels of silver, you can get as many beautiful ladies as you want, and you still care about a concubine, you know~~"

"What the young master said is, what can he do if the slave comes back tomorrow?"

Yan Xin listened to Yan Shifan's tone and said that this matter can still be handled.

Well, he has never seen anything that Master Yan Shifan couldn't do.

However, this is always a lie. According to the imperial system, concubines cannot be named wives.

"Come back, it's not a big deal, I will make arrangements."

Yan Shifan didn't take this matter seriously at all. It was just a royal decree. The court issued many such royal decrees every year. It was really not a difficult thing.

It's just that this matter involves the succession of the Duke of Wei, which is a bit on the line. It is indeed easy to be criticized by those guys who claim to be Qingliu.

Seeing that his affairs were finished, Yan Xin quickly said goodbye knowingly and left Yan Shifan's yard.

Ten days later, a document of the imperial edict flew out of Beijing.

According to their grades, the imperial wives of the Ming Dynasty can be divided into Yipin madam (first grade), Madam (second grade), Shuren (third grade), Gongren (fourth grade), and Yiren (fifth grade).

In addition, those of sixth rank are called Anren, those of seventh rank and below are called Ruren, and those without titles are called Niangzi. These two grades are not imperial titles, but imperial titles, and naturally they cannot be called wives.

However, among the people, the wives of officials who have obtained a rank are collectively referred to as the wives of Gaoming.

As for the privileges of Mrs. Gaoming, the first privilege, all Mrs. Gaoming have a "salary", which varies depending on the grade, but they have no real power.

Secondly, the imperial wives in the capital, especially the first and second grade ones, have the opportunity to be invited by the queen to attend the banquet, which is definitely a status symbol.

Thirdly, when Mrs. Gaoming sees someone of lower rank than herself, she does not have to kneel or greet her. However, when officials of lower rank see Mrs. Gaoming of higher rank, they must salute. Even if they have no real power, they must salute. This is the rule.

The title of the imperial edict was only that of a second-grade lady, which was naturally low for the Duke of Wei's status as a super-grade duke.

However, officials who have read this decree don't think there is any problem.

It was just a side room, and the title of a second-grade wife was quite appropriate, so no one in the court noticed anything wrong with the title, and the relevant yamen happily approved the title.

There are also officials in the capital who have eyes and ears in all directions, and many of them know the details of Wei Guogong's family, but no one has spoken out at this time.

Wei Guogong's own household affairs, there is no need to offend a hereditary nobleman for such trivial matters.

For these people in the officialdom, they have to be tactful in dealing with things, not because they cannot "justice" in this matter, but because they need to have enough interests, or someone has already rushed ahead and the matter has been broken up before they can Will follow up.

No one understands better than them the principle of shooting the first bird.

Wei Guangde also saw the imperial edict. He just smiled and sighed in his heart that these dignitaries were really good. He had a super-grade hereditary title and could even get the imperial edict together with his wife.

For low-level officials, the imperial decree is a bit far away.

If he had gotten married before then, he might have been able to obtain the title of Ruren based on his contribution to Baoan Prefecture.

Regardless of whether it is a royal decree or an imperial title, it is based on the rank of the official. Generally, a wife will not be granted a higher rank than the official. Therefore, if Wei Guangde has a wife, he will only be granted a seventh-grade imperial title.

At this time, Wei Guogong Xu Pengju, who was in Nanjing, had already known the news before the imperial edict was delivered, and the five thousand taels of silver were not wasted.

Now that his beloved concubine has been named his wife, she will naturally become the mistress of the Duke of Wei's mansion. Xu Bangning can also be regarded as his legitimate son.

So now is the time to start implementing the second step of the plan.

After Zheng was granted the title of Madam by the imperial court, although she was regarded as the main wife, she still had some troubles, that is, during the inheritance assessment.

The Ming Dynasty honorary ministers inherited it, and it was jointly inspected by the Governor's Office, the Ministry of Rites, and the Ministry of Personnel of the Five Armies. Xu Pengju was already in charge of the affairs of the Central Military Office in Nanjing. As long as the officials of the Nanjing Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Personnel were dealt with, the matter would be finalized.

Of the two sons, Xu Bangrui and Xu Bangning, Xu Bangrui naturally had an inherent advantage when inheriting the title. Although he was not a legitimate son, he still held the title of eldest son.

Although Xu Bangning is now considered the legitimate son, Zheng has always been the supporter, not the original wife.

If the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Personnel insist that he is just the second son of a concubine, then Xu Bangrui will have the last laugh.

Xu Pengju had already spent a lot of money on this matter, so naturally he didn't want any more troubles to arise, so he had to settle the matter firmly.

At this time, it was time to use the crooked thoughts he had in the past. It was just a whim, but he didn't expect it to have such a miraculous effect at this time. It was really wonderful.

More than ten days later, Xu Pengju went to the Yamen of the Ministry of War in Nanjing in a sedan chair. Xu Pengju wanted to send his second son to Xu Bangning to go to the Ministry of War to learn Tao strategy and prepare for the future attack on Jue.

He has some connections with Liu Cai, the Minister of War in Nanjing, so he naturally hopes that Liu Cai can open a back door for him.

At this time, Wei Guangde also moved into his new home. After the hustle and bustle of the first two days, he finally felt peaceful today.

Knowing that Wei Guangde had moved to a new residence, his peers and colleagues naturally sat together and had a good time. Not only the Hanlin Academy, but also Taichang Temple came.