The Prosperous Era of Longwan

The top priority in the Ming Dynasty now is, of course, to clean up the bad governance left behind by Yan Song during his reign, and to remove the party members promoted by Yan Song. Even the wars in Jiubian and Jiangnan have to be put back a little.

In fact, this is also the big boss in the DPRK and China dividing the cake.

There are only so many official positions in the DPRK, and each official position brings different benefits. Whoever takes the position naturally needs to negotiate and compromise with each other.

Who is Xu Xu?

Wei Guangde was not interested, but he was absolutely disdainful of his opinions.

In the Ming Dynasty, there were many hidden fields and hidden houses.

Since there is a population, the consumption of salt cannot be very small. Yan Maoqing's increase in surplus salt will not actually make the market unsalable due to flooding of salt. The so-called infringement of the interests of merchants is pure nonsense.

The massive increase in salt imports and the increase in salt supply will actually affect private salt dealers.

Although private salt dealers are more profitable, their risks are also high.

Since the salt merchants were able to obtain salt imports, they naturally had strong official relations.

When salt in their sales range is slow to sell, they naturally know that it is because private salt has entered the market. The price of private salt is cheaper than official salt. Many salt merchants are even a combination of official and private salt.

In this way, it is natural for local governments to vigorously crack down on illegal salt dealers to protect their own interests.

No matter how you think about it, if there is a large supply of official salt, it is definitely not as good as if there is less official salt, in which case the profit will be greater.

Wei Guangde is not surprised that officials are mentioning this matter now. It is just a matter of time.

In response to Wei Guangde's question, Yin Shizhen said with a smile: "What else can the Ministry of Household Affairs Council say? Of course, it is agreed that the increase will be waived and 600,000 taels will still be collected every year."

"The Ministry of Finance is really rich, with more than 400,000 taels of silver. If you don't want it, you won't want it."

Wei Guangde mocked unconsciously.

The Ministry of Revenue often complains that they are poor. If something goes wrong, they will say that the Ministry of Revenue has no money, this expenditure cannot be made, and that expenditure must be postponed. However, in the face of such a large amount of income, if they give up at any time, it is inevitable that Wei Guangde will not think that they are among them. You should also be able to get a piece of the pie.

Yin Shizhen also heard that something was wrong in Wei Guangde's words. He immediately understood that Wei Guangde and Zhang Juzheng were the same type of people. When the two were together earlier, Zhang Juzheng's attitude was similar to Wei Guangde's, and they both felt that these hundreds of thousands should not be exempted. Two pieces of silver for the salt tax.

Thinking of the embarrassing situation, Yin Shizhen didn't know which end he should take.

However, this matter is a matter of the Ministry of Revenue, and no one on their side seems to object. They are just worrying about it, and then he smiled and asked: "I heard from my uncle that you went to the Metropolitan Procuratorate?"

"Yes, I haven't been there for some time. So I still have the title of censor, so I can't justify not going there for a long time."

Wei Guangde smiled.

"Have you seen Jiang Zhen and Wang Daren?"

Zhang Juzheng became a little more interested and asked casually.

"Hey, uncle, have you heard the news too?"

Wei Guangde turned to look at Zhang Juzheng and smiled.

"Hey, you know, none of the adults in the court object to His Majesty's indulging in Taoism. This requires two imperial censors to go out to visit and ask for the alchemist's Dharma books. That means they dare not say it openly in front of the emperor, but in private."

Zhang Juzheng said casually that he had only heard about it yesterday. Considering that Jiang Zhen was from Nanchang, Jiangxi, he thought Wei Guangde should be familiar with him.

Wei Guangde nodded, "Although the adults are opposed to it, what can you do if your Majesty persists? He will set out about two years ago to visit various places in the south and north."

Wei Guangde didn't see Wang Daren today, but he did see Jiang Zhen, so he also knew that he got the job.

It's just a search in various places. It may take a long time to gain much. In the end, it is hard to say whether it is credit or hard work. Wei Guangde is not envious.

"By the way, I heard some news at the Metropolitan Procuratorate, but I'm not sure. There's no memorial in Fujian either."

Wei Guangde suddenly remembered that he saw several Fujian censors chatting in the corner of the courtyard in the Metropolitan Procuratorate. When he passed by to say hello, he listened to the news he got.

"Fujian, what happened again?"

Zhang Juzheng asked curiously.

"They said that the plague in Quanzhou, Fujian, seemed to be very serious and had been going on for several months. The chief envoy Sidu, together with the governor, sent troops to blockade the place."

Wei Guangde said, "A few censors from Fujian are saying that if they don't see Fujian reporting this matter again, they will impeach them. They don't treat the people in Fujian as human beings. If something like this happens, You should ask the imperial court for relief."

"Another plague?"

Zhang Juzheng sighed while stroking his beard.

"The blockade is right to prevent the spread of the disease, but it still depends on whether the Chief Envoy sends medical officers to collect medicines for disaster relief. If they don't know this, the most they can do with this impeachment is to get them scolded."

Yin Shizhen said leisurely.

During this period of the Ming Dynasty, there was no good way to deal with the plague. In fact, before the emergence of antibiotics, there was no good way to deal with the plague.

Although doctors in the Ming Dynasty were already studying the treatment of plague, actual progress was not great. The so-called sending out medical officers and distributing medicinal materials was actually more about appeasing the local area.

After listening to Yin Shizhen's words, Wei Guangde and Zhang Juzheng nodded.

It actually makes sense that Fujian did not report the matter in time.

When a local epidemic occurs, if the province feels that it can handle it, it will naturally solve it first. After the epidemic is over, it is also possible to report the process and ask for merit for meritorious officials. If it does not cause trouble to the court, the court will naturally be happy.

Fujian has also had too many things happen in the past few years. I guess I am afraid that reporting it early will make the superiors unhappy and affect my career. It is not necessarily that I deliberately concealed the report.

Moreover, such a big matter can be concealed no matter what one wants to. They cannot pass the test of Fujian officials in Beijing alone.

From ancient times to the present, officials have a tradition of reporting good news but not bad news. Except for important military and state affairs, they dare not delay them. Other matters are covered up when they can, and they are solved privately. They report it when they really can't cover it up.

Let's talk about Zhang Lian. They started the uprising in the 37th year of Jiajing reign. At that time, people who occupied the mountains were the kings and those who fell on the grass were the bandits. Who knew there was such a number one figure in the court?

It was only in the 39th or 40th year of Jiajing that he ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor. Only then did the local Jinyi guards find out the news and report to the capital. Only then did the imperial court know about it.

In the two years before this, the Fujian government also organized a campaign to suppress bandits, but the results were poor and they were defeated repeatedly. Naturally, they did not dare to report it.

After staying in Prince Yu's Mansion until Sanya, Wei Guangde left Prince Yu's Mansion and went home directly.

Time flew by and several days passed. Anyway, during this period Wei Guangde did not receive any report from Fujian about the plague disaster in Quanzhou Prefecture. He also wondered why the Fujianese censors were not making trouble. If they continued not to speak, should they? I, the Fujian Taoist censor, revealed the matter.

Until now, Wei Guangde still adheres to the principle of not offending others without offending others. Officials in Fujian may not know when they will be needed.

Therefore, he had no consciousness that he was still a Fujian Taoist censor. Even Wei Guangde wondered whether those Fujian censors who talked about the Quanzhou plague when they saw him did so intentionally.

For them, impeachment of their parents-in-law seems to be even more detrimental to them.

As an official in Beijing, it is impossible for the clan members in your hometown not to do something to bully others. These all require the help of local officials to deal with them. Naturally, they are unwilling to offend if they can.

The court was also calm during this period. The matter of allocating the Yan family's big cake was something that the big bosses had done while joking. Naturally, Wei Guangde, a young man, couldn't get involved. At least it had to be done by the Minister and the Minister. Only those with higher qualifications are qualified to sit in that position and talk.

Even if Prince Yu's Mansion wants to run for someone, Gao Gong and Xu Jie are still involved. Sometimes they just stand on the platform during the banquet to let people know that this is Prince Yu's Mansion's intention.

On this day, Wei Guangde and Zhang Juzheng were still looking through several copies of the "Yongle Dadian" they had just copied. A clerk came over from outside and whispered a few words in Wei Guangde's ear.

The person was Lu Bu, the scribe assigned to him in the Hanlin Academy. Wei Guangde didn't go to the Hanlin Academy much anymore, so he asked someone to come over to help keep an eye on the work of transcribing the canon. Wei Guangde felt relieved, after all, he was not there all the time. It's all here.

"Let us go back immediately?"

Wei Guangde asked in surprise.

"Yes, sir, that's what the chamberlain said."

Lu Bu whispered.

"Okay, let's go right now. Keep an eye on this side. We haven't finished reading these books yet. You can put them away later."

Wei Guangde gave an order, and then said to Zhang Juzheng next to him: "The palace has summoned us, let us go there immediately."

"What happened?"

Zhang Juzheng said curiously.

Wei Guangde shook his head and said he didn't know either.

They copied books here in several separate courtyards found by the imperial court. On weekdays, there was not much contact between this place and other yamen, and the information was not as well-informed as other yamen.

The two of them hurried out, got into their cars, and rushed back to Prince Yu's Mansion.

Not long after, when they entered the palace and saw Yin Shizhen, King Yu had already arrived.

Before they could ask, Yin Shizhen said: "A few days ago, the imperial court just appointed Zhang Zhen as the governor of Guangdong, Guangxi and Fujian. Today, they got the news that Nanjing Huke reported to Lu Fengyi to impeach Zhejiang Governor Hu Zongxian for bullying and corruption for ten years. A great sin.”

"Lu Fengyi?"

Wei Guangde had no impression of this man, but just thinking about it, he probably knew that after seeing the appointment of Zhang Nian and the court's continuous cleaning up of the strict party, this man bet that the court planned to move Hu Zongxian, so he rushed to impeach him. .

"It's kind of self-defeating."

Zhang Juzheng said calmly.

Yin Shizhen thought about it at the beginning, so he specifically mentioned Zhang Nian's appointment when introducing it earlier. Zhang Juzheng also said the same, so he naturally knew that the court did not intend to move Hu Zongxian so soon. It should be that he planned to let Zhang Nian take control of Fujian before considering it. This is why there is a saying that it is self-defeating.

In fact, the news of Hu Zongxian's move was not a secret in Prince Yu's palace. Xu Jie had already communicated the plan to promote Zhang Zhen.

When Fujian was still suppressing thieves, they really didn't dare to take advantage of the opportunity of deposing Yan Song to deal with Hu Zongxian, fearing that he would take the opportunity to cause trouble.

Now that Zhang Lian is being executed, the Yan family has not stabbed anyone and has accepted the punishment from the court obediently. Therefore, they do not want to push Hu Zongxian too hard and want to slowly take back his power. Unexpectedly, Lu Fengyi impeached him and completely destroyed the cabinet plan. Messy.

"That's what happened. There were notes from Master Gao and Mr. Xu Ge, let's see, should we take down Hu Zongxian directly, or should we take it slowly according to the previously agreed plan?"

At this time, King Yu also spoke.

"Hu Zongxian should have known that he would reach that point sooner or later. He has been slow to take up the official post, and now that he is being impeached, it will be difficult for him to escape unscathed."

Wei Guangde sneered, but he was also thinking about the top ten crimes that Lu Fengyi could concoct for Hu Zongxian.

Out of curiosity, Wei Guangde looked at King Yu and Yin Shizhen unconsciously, looking for the copy of the impeachment memorial.

Wei Guangde's probing gaze was naturally not hidden from King Yu and Yin Shizhen. King Yu did not speak, and Yin Shizhen said: "The news has been passed on, but the manuscript has not been sent yet. It is probably going to be soon. The memorial should be sent to Xiyuan." , I think your Majesty will soon summon two pavilion elders, and perhaps ministers from various ministries."

When he heard that the memorial was not copied, Wei Guangde also looked away and waited with peace of mind.

Impeaching a governor who holds military power is not a trivial matter. The memorial should be sent to Xiyuan as soon as possible. It is probably because the matter is so big that Xu Jie and Yuan Wei still have to discuss it, so they don't have time to have someone copy it, so they can only do it first. Get the word out.

A few people sat and waited, but they also started chatting.

"When Mr. Yan Ge left the field, there was no movement from Hu Zongxian. During that time, I didn't find any correspondence between Hu Zongxian and the Yan family. I think he was moved as soon as he was moved. He shouldn't dare to do anything."

This is Wei Guangde's opinion. He does not believe that in today's world, anyone would respond to raising a flag of rebellion.

Zhang Lian made such a big fuss that after leaving Fujian and Guangdong, very few people responded.

In this era, the idea that the Ming Dynasty was the orthodoxy has long been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and it is not easy to change.

After listening to Wei Guangde's words, King Yu nodded, but he didn't say much. Yin Shizhen recognized it very much. I think Yin Shizhen also analyzed it like this before they came over.

In fact, there is not much to discuss about this matter, at least Wei Guangde thinks so. As for why Xu Jie and Gao Gong still want to pass on the news, it is probably because of Hu Zongxian's official position. After all, he has a high and powerful position, and he can be regarded as a figure like a feudal official.

However, Zhang Juzheng didn't speak, he just sat quietly, seemingly indifferent.

Not long after, the transcript of the memorial was delivered. When the transcript reached Wei Guangde, he could not help but frown, thinking to himself that if Hu Zongxian could not be impeached and removed from power this time, you, Lu Fengyi, would be the number one sinner.

Look at the crime Lu Fengyi convicted Hu Zongxian, "Zong Xian originally lived in the same hometown as the bandit leader Wang Zhi. When he was in charge of Cai, Jiang Zhou, Chen Keyuan and others were all spies among the bandits. Fang Zhi kidnapped the Japanese and invaded Cengang. Not long ago, Zongxian used troops to play with the bandits, sacrificed his money, destroyed the defense inspections, and exchanged cross-examinations. He was granted the post of Zhihai Defense. Zong Xian, on the other hand, established his own merit temple in Wushan. He wanted to spend the whole night drinking and watching the Jiangxi and Fujian invaders without firing a single blow. He only spent his days collecting food and wages from post officials and civilians and cutting them off. The governor's office accumulated as much silver as a mountain. "They gathered together like hedgehogs, like the village officials. Lu Xizhou, Tian Rucheng, and Mao Kun all talked about it and handed it to their guests as guests, and they even proclaimed their excessive lewdness."

From the very beginning, it was said that Hu Zongxian hooked up with Wang Zhi. Doesn’t this mean that Emperor Jiajing didn’t know people well?