The Prosperous Era of Longwan

"Hey, brother, you don't know that the emperor has been working hard for your official position. It's because you are too young. The emperor can't give you an official position. But don't worry, you have all the credit. Make a note of it, there will be plenty of opportunities in the future.”

Chen Ju became a eunuch in the true sense, no longer a rankless chamberlain. At this time, his speech was different from before. He no longer called the emperor your majesty, but changed his name to the emperor.

With rank, he can be considered a minister.

Although admirals like Huang Jin called themselves "slaves" in front of Emperor Jiajing, they were being self-effacing.

Strictly speaking, Huang Jin was a second-grade admiral eunuch, and he had to use the word "chen" to represent himself in his memorial to Emperor Jiajing.

"Your Majesty, are you worried about my reward?"

Wei Guangde looked at Chen Judao in disbelief.

"Of course. Look, we have saved the 'Yongle Original' this time. What a great achievement that is. Let me tell you, many of the books are already unique copies, and the original books can no longer be found outside. If If the original is destroyed, then it’s really gone, it’s gone, you know?”

Chen Ju smacked his lips at this moment, and continued: "Besides, this book was compiled by our ancestors. It's just like this. Is it worthy of our ancestors to burn it?"

It's a pity that several adults had a fierce argument about your reward. In the end, the emperor listened to Xu Jie's words and said that you were still young and needed training, so he hired Zuo Si Zhilang from Zhan Shifu.

Your Majesty doesn't even have a crown prince anymore, so what kind of gangster is there in Zhan Shifu? You'd better get through your seniority slowly, if you had been born a few years earlier."

Soon, the ordered food and drinks were served, and the conversation between the two people moved from the lobby to the dining room.

"Today the emperor left Xiyuan and went up the city wall. He said he wanted to see the lives of the people in the capital, hehe."

The two of them chatted every word. Wei Guangde talked about the affairs of the Hanlin Academy, and Chen Ju told Wei Guangde the latest happenings in the palace. It could be regarded as a quiet exchange of information between the two.

But no matter how you look at it, the information from the yamen that Wei Guangde told is not as strong as the information from the palace that Chen Ju revealed.

"The emperor went to the Zhengyang Gate Tower and said that the tower was old and broken and that it needed to be rebuilt. Maybe it was because he thought of the fire in the palace. Now the emperor always talks about building a new one when he sees everything."

While drinking from the glass of wine and eating the dishes on the plate, Chen Ju continued to talk about Emperor Jiajing's schedule today.

"Has the word been conveyed to the cabinet?"

Wei Guangde was really shocked at this moment. How much money would it cost to rebuild the three main halls? There was an uproar in the yamen. The current financial resources of the Ming Dynasty could not support such a large project.

Those corridors are okay, the wood is ready-made, and the craftsmen can be dispatched directly. It doesn't cost a lot of money, and the construction can start with just an order.

But the Zhengyangmen Gate Tower is a huge building with several floors, and the amount of money to build a palace is not much higher. With that money, it is better to build one of the three main halls first.

What's more, the inner city wall is also in disrepair. In the past few years, all the money spent on repairing the city wall was poured into the construction of the outer city wall. As a result, there has been no money to repair other city walls in recent years.

After Zhengyangmen is repaired, do the surrounding sections of damaged city walls also need to be repaired?

"Sent the message, but no reply yet."

Chen Ju said.

A few days passed in a flash, and the news that Emperor Jiajing had issued a decree to rebuild the Zhengyang Gate Tower had spread in the court, which naturally caused hundreds of officials to talk about it.

The Ministry of Works, which had been very active in building such projects in the past, was uncharacteristically silent this time, and its attitude was a bit unpredictable.

The current minister of the Ministry of Industry is Zhao Wenhua. In ancient and modern times, at home and abroad, if you are involved in a project, it means that there is a lot of money to be made.

What kind of person is Zhao Wenhua?

Let’s not talk about this person’s ability to do things, but he knows how to behave and is always willing to follow the crowd.

In the eighth year of Jiajing reign of the Ming Dynasty, he passed the Jinshi examination and was initially appointed as the head of the Ministry of Punishment. Later, he was transferred to the Imperial College. At that time, Yan Song was the Imperial College's sacrificial wine minister.

He recognized Yan Song as his adoptive father and embarked on the Yan family ship. Yan Song's subsequent development also proved that he had a good vision at that time.

Shortly after Yan Song entered the cabinet, Zhao Wenhua was appointed as the general envoy. All memorials had to go through his hands before being sent to the palace, which naturally allowed Yan Song to grasp a lot of information at the first time.

After Yan Song killed Xia Yan and became the chief minister of the cabinet, any memorial to impeach Yan Song would be sent to Yan Song for review first, and then submitted to Emperor Jiajing. This gave Yan Song enough time to prepare for the response. After all, his son Yan Shifan also He is not a cover-up, he is very good at seizing the loopholes in the memorial to counterattack.

Of course, not all blame was taken. When it was time to admit his mistakes, Yan Song was willing to admit his mistakes to Emperor Jiajing. He was especially keen on taking the blame for Emperor Jiajing, so he continued to favor him, and Emperor Jiajing trusted him even more.

In the following years, although there were constant impeachment memorials against Yan Song, his position as chief minister of the cabinet was still secure.

The relationship between Zhao Wenhua and Yan Shifan is also good. After all, they are the same type of people, greedy for money and living a luxurious life.

In recent years, the Japanese invasion in Jiangnan has become increasingly serious. Zhao Wenhua saw this as an opportunity for promotion. Not only did he actively make suggestions, but he also went to Zhejiang twice to supervise the war. By the way, he received Hu Zongxian's profits from increasing taxes in the Jiangnan area, and he also began to get involved in military glory.

When dealing with the former governor of Jiangnan, Zhao Wenhua secretly impeached Zhang Jing for being cowardly in fighting and colluding with Japanese pirates. Zhang Jing was eventually killed, and the military exploits were successfully snatched away by him, Zhao Wenhua.

Later, after overthrowing Li Mo, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, and forcing Wang Yongbin, the Minister of the Ministry of Rites, to vacate two official positions in a row, he finally succeeded in being promoted to the Minister of the Ministry of Industry.

Rebuilding the Zhengyangmen Gate Tower was such a big project, but Zhao Wenhua was not tempted, which had to make people in the Yamen below speculate whether there was something going on at Yan Song's side.

Naturally, the first thing everyone speculated was the financial problems of the imperial court. Perhaps it was so bad that even Yan Song, the chief minister who always obeyed Emperor Jiajing's orders, did not dare to continue to follow blindly.

After all, even if the city tower is rebuilt, the money will be provided by the court. For the officials of the Ministry of Industry, they have no losses, but only benefits.

But soon, a news quickly spread throughout the major government offices in Beijing. Zhao Wenhua, the Minister of Industry, had fallen ill due to overwork on consecutive missions to Jiangsu and Zhejiang to fight against the Japanese.

The order from the palace to the cabinet was very clear. The reconstruction of the Zhengyang Gate Tower was supervised by Zhao Wenhua, the Minister of Industry. Now that the person in charge fell ill, the natural project had to be delayed.

However, due to the clever timing of Zhao Wenhua's illness, not many people really believed that he was really sick. Although it was endorsed by the imperial doctor of the Taiyuan Hospital, there were jokes circulating in the capital that said "prescriptions from the Taiyuan Hospital" could not be trusted.

The drastic change in the direction of the court made all the low-level officials in Beijing a little confused and unclear about the situation. Perhaps only the cabinet ministers and the six ministers and nine ministers knew the reason.

Wei Guangde naturally knew these things, but he didn't care.

The officials of the Ming Dynasty were like carrots and pits. Even if the carrots on top were pulled out, they would not be replaced by him.

As Chen Ju said, he is too young.

Think about it when you go to court or Xiyuan to report to the right, you will be surrounded by a group of officials in their forties, fifties, fifties and sixties, all with white hair, bright heads, and unshaven beards. Standing among them is a young man like him. I think everyone will feel uncomfortable.

In terms of qualifications, maybe that’s how it came about.

Zhao Wenhua has not offended Wei Guangde yet, so naturally he does not want to offend him.

When I visited Yan Mansion before, I would be dragged to drink when I met Yan Shifan, and Zhao Wenhua was often seen during the dinner.

The two of them had dealt with each other, but it was always a matter of taking advantage of the situation.

Wei Guangde didn't know what would happen to Zhao Wenhua if he openly disobeyed Emperor Jiajing's will, but thinking about it made his heart tremble. Wei Guangde would never do such a stupid thing, even if it was really Yan Song's instigation.

If you can't do it right, you have to face the thunder's anger.

However, although Zhao Wenhua claimed that he was ill and unable to work, the Ministry of Industry continued to operate effectively under the management of the left and right ministers.

During the discussion on the reconstruction of the three main halls, the Ministry of Industry requested to inquire about the restoration plan for the three halls from the Yongle Nineteenth Year to the Zhengtong Period, and also requested an accounting of the huge reconstruction project and related expenses.

Naturally, such a memorial was quickly approved by Emperor Jiajing, who issued an order to the Second Department of Rites and Gong saying that there is no rule in the palace that cannot be restored, and only when it is loyalty that upholds benevolence and love and does not sell out, can we show respect, otherwise we may be in trouble. also.

The Minister of Rites, Wu Shan, and the Minister of Industry, Zhao Wenhua, jointly submitted a letter stating that the important site of the imperial court was in urgent need of restoration, but the work would be heavy and costly, and management must be organized in order. Rong Chen and others, together with the ministers of the Ministry of Rites, Internal Affairs, Supervision, Jinyiwei, etc., made a decision to petition.

However, after the memorial was introduced into Xiyuan, Emperor Jiajing directly determined the order of construction. The Chaomen and Meridian Towers should be built first, and the construction of the three main halls could be postponed later. All relevant matters would still be discussed and discussed by the officials.

However, this has little to do with Wei Guangde, because he received a letter from Ma Fang, who was already the deputy commander-in-chief of the Xuanfu, asking for help in obtaining a batch of military pay from the imperial court for the Xuanfu.

After the First World War in Baoan Prefecture last year, Ma Fang was promoted to the rank of General of the Xuanfu and assisted the general in guarding the front line of Xuanfu. His troops supplemented the guest army, which totaled nearly 3,000 troops.

In October, Anda's troops invaded Datong. Ma Fang was ordered to support and made another meritorious service. In November, he was promoted to deputy commander-in-chief of Xuanfu.

Since December last year, the food and pay that should be allocated by the court have never come, and the soldiers have not received military pay for nearly half a year. This has also made the soldiers at the bottom full of complaints, and the combat effectiveness of the entire Xuanfu army has declined rapidly.

Even if Ma Fang's troops obtained some food by taking back the occupied military fields, it was only enough for his soldiers to make ends meet, and now he couldn't hold on any longer.

Even the governor of Xuan Dynasty, Yang Bo, Datong and the chief military officer of Xuanfu, kept asking the court for pay, but to no avail.

At this time, Wei Guangde felt his head was as big as a bucket when he asked for payment from the court.

What was the situation at the end of last year? As far as Wei Guangde knew, the Ministry of Revenue almost couldn't even provide the salaries and annual gifts for officials in Beijing.

Now that Ma Fang has come to find him, if he can't help Ma Fang get things done, I guess Ma Fang should look down on him. But the problem is that he really doesn't have this ability, after all, his foundation is too shallow.

Wei Guangde received Ma Fang's letter, sent someone to settle Ma Fang's messenger, and sat in his study alone to think of a solution.

The only relationship that can still be used now is with Gao Zhong. Talk to Chen Ju.

Governor Xuanda and the general soldiers of the two towns all submitted the memorial. It is probably unknown whether they were suppressed by the cabinet or the Supervisor of Ceremonies. At this time, someone had to translate the memorial and send it to Emperor Jiajing.

Come to think of it, with Emperor Jiajing's temper, he would still urge the court to deal with border issues as soon as possible.

If the border troops cannot get military pay, the consequences can be imagined. Emperor Jiajing definitely does not want another embarrassing incident like the "Gengxu Incident" to happen again.

He called Zhang Ji and told him to wait for Chen Ju outside Xiyuan Gate and invite him to come to the house for a drink.

Now Wei Guangde's family still has several thousand taels of silver in savings. Xu Bangrui of Nanjing alone sent 5,000 taels of silver to help Wei Guangde establish a good relationship with the palace.

The money was delivered after Li Bin fell after the year, and two letters were sent urgently.

Xu Bangrui had previously thought of offering money to help get Li Bin down, but the money was sent and the first letter was also taken away.

But when news came that Li Bin had been imprisoned, he naturally understood that Wei Guangde had taken action, so he hurriedly wrote another letter and sent someone to rush to the capital.

Naturally, the second letter was still about money. Since Wei Guangde had defeated Li Bin, Xu Bangrui was going to pay him the money so that he could continue to make friends with the nobles in the palace.

Now Xu Bangrui has completely trusted Wei Guangde, and he also believes that Wei Guangde must have found a backer in the palace.

Regarding his own future, whether he can inherit the title of Duke Wei actually depends to a large extent on the emperor's heart. As the eldest son, he has a great chance. After all, Xu Bangning is not a legitimate son in the true sense. He can only inherit the title. behind him.

Now that the money is still in the warehouse of my house, I just want to send some to Chen Ju and Gao Zhong to get closer, and help ask about the military pay in the Xuan Mansion. After all, he was stopped in the ceremonial supervisor. Still in the cabinet.

If it was in the Supervisor of Ceremonies, it should be easier to handle. After all, it is official business.

If he is in the cabinet, it will be a little more troublesome. After all, he has no connections with the cabinet.

After thinking about it, it seemed that if Zuoshu was not in charge of the ceremony, he would have to talk to Gao Gong to see if Prince Yu's palace had arranged an informant in the cabinet.

Prince Yu should also be interested in competing for the throne. At least after contacting Gao Gong and others, Wei Guangde could feel the vigor in their bodies. Although Prince Yu's palace was in a difficult situation, they were still confident.

Zhang Ji acted very quickly. At noon the next day, Wei Guangde received the news. During lunch break, Wei Guangde went straight into the restaurant with Chen Juyue.

In front of Chen Ju, Wei Guangde did not hide anything. He entered the private room and bowed to Chen Ju before sitting down. When the restaurant had served the food and drinks and everyone had left, Wei Guangde told Chen Ju about the military pay. .

"I knew from the last interview that the Emperor didn't take your relationship with Ma Fang to heart at that time."

In front of Chen Ju, Wei Guangde didn't bother to hide anything. Even Emperor Jiajing knew about it, so he couldn't hide it from anyone. However, Chen Ju's next words still made Wei Guangde a little scared.

"At that time, Ma Fang's official position was different from what it is now. It was a big taboo for officials from the central government to interact with the generals of border towns. Of course, you are a low-key person now. The emperor is not worried about you. If you are in a high position in the future, I'm afraid it will not be a good thing. Son."

After eating and drinking, when the two of them got up and left the restaurant, Chen Jucai whispered: "I'll ask my godfather when I get back to see what's going on."