Chapter 1191 1282 The Love Drama Begins

In the capital of the Ming Dynasty, in the backyard of the Yamen of the Ministry of Industry, Wei Guangde came here again to check the map of the Yellow River produced by the Ministry of Industry.

"Mr. Wei Ge, most of the project to regulate the Yellow River started in Xuzhou has been completed. In addition to strengthening the original embankment, another embankment has been built one mile behind the embankment. Between the two embankments is the reserved flood channel. trough, and two flood discharge areas are prepared here to ensure the safety of the canal."

A doctor held a long wooden stick and pointed out on the map the flood control plan adjusted by the Ministry of Works. According to the method of later generations, two river embankments were built to prevent the river from bursting.

"At present, only the middle and downstream sections of the river embankment have not been completed, and the flood control area has not been completed either."

After Wei Guangde listened quietly to the doctor's introduction, he just nodded slightly.

He didn't understand water conservancy at all. What little he knew was what he saw on TV in later generations. He was just a layman.

"The remaining projects must be accelerated and completed before the flood season next year. Is it difficult?"

Wei Guangde asked casually.

"It's a bit difficult, but Mr. Pan is already trying his best to mobilize service workers to the remaining areas to speed up the progress of the project."

The doctor hurriedly replied, "The remaining areas are mostly barren land with small population and land, so it is not possible to recruit enough workers in a short period of time. They need to be mobilized from surrounding prefectures and counties, so a lot of time is wasted."

While the two were talking, a red-robed official walked into the backyard. Wei Guangde bowed his hand to him when he saw it.

"Shan Loan, the department is busy with business, so there was a delay."

The person who came was Jiang Zhi, who was now in charge of the engineering department. He had been dealing with an urgent document before.

"Is it the batch of tools sent to Fujian?"

Wei Guangde knew that recently the Ministry of Works was mainly rushing to produce measuring carts and other items, which were all tools prepared for the comprehensive survey of Fujian in the coming year.

"Yes, before, the Ministry of Works hurriedly completed the required measuring tools. Before some of them could be measured, the Ministry of Accounts came to ask for the goods."

Jiang Zhi smiled bitterly.

"Fujian Qingzhang is a major event that has been prepared for a long time by the first minister, and the Ministry of Industry must make every effort to ensure the necessary measuring tools.

In addition, do more and don’t be afraid of leaving things idle, as they will always be useful. "

Wei Guangde said to Jiang Zhi in a low voice.

Jiang Zhi nodded slightly. Although the cabinet did not say it clearly, he had some guesses when Wei Guangde said this to him.

In fact, this is a conspiracy, and none of the courtiers would have thought of it.

It's just that Zhang Juzheng's power in the court is too strong now, and no one dares to openly stand up to oppose it.

Therefore, at the beginning, many people prioritized instigating Wei Guangde. Only the second assistant took the lead in opposing the first assistant, and others dared to follow.

However, although Wei Guangde made it clear in the cabinet that he did not want to clear the father-in-law, which was a waste of money and people, he still did not do his best to stop this matter, which made other talents stop thinking.

Wei Guangde's external hint was that he was under pressure from Zhang Juzheng, so he could only remain silent.

In the middle of the court, there was some news that Wei Guangde owned 10,000 acres of farmland in Jiangxi.

These are actually Wei Guangde's expressions of his attitude towards Qing Zhang.

After all, if Qingzhang goes to Jiangxi, his family's fields will also be affected.

If Zhang Siwei had not joined the cabinet, perhaps the outside world would still sneer at this reason, but now that there are two in the cabinet, Wei Guangde's words become more credible.

Who doesn't know that Zhang Juzheng and Zhang Siwei are in the same group.

"What Mr. Ge said is absolutely true. When I get down, I will ask the craftsmen to continue making measuring tools and be ready to ship them to Fujian at any time to replace the damaged ones."

Jiang Zhi also whispered.

"These measuring tools will be a major event for the imperial court in the next few years. The Ministry of Industry must not take it lightly, and must..."

While Wei Guangde was talking, a man dressed as an attendant came in outside. Wei Guangde could tell at a glance that he was the attendant beside him.

The man entered the yard, glanced around and saw Wei Guangde, and immediately bowed and walked over quickly, whispering a few words in his ear.

"Where did the news come from?"

After hearing what Chang Sui said, Wei Guangde's face was slightly startled and he asked directly.

"Steward Zhang sent someone to inform him. He also said that the Chief Assistant has returned to the house and changed into mourning clothes. The Zhang House is also decorating the mourning hall. The memorial should have been delivered to the palace."

Na Changsui whispered.

After confirming the news, Wei Guangde's expression kept changing.

"What's wrong?"

Jiang Zhi asked with concern.

"Uncle Zhang's father is dead."

Wei Guangde said calmly.

"hiss."

Hearing this, Jiang Zhi couldn't help but take a breath, "When did it happen? There was no news at all before."

"I guess I didn't enter Xiangcheng until the city gate opened today, so I was in such a hurry."

Wei Guangde said.

When he entered the cabinet for duty in the morning, Zhang Juzheng also went there, and the two of them joked a little at the door.

I just didn't expect that after he left the cabinet, Zhang Juzheng received news from the government and hurried back to the government for funeral arrangements.

In later generations, this would have been nothing, but it happened to be at the moment when Zhang Juzheng was about to start implementing reforms, especially since the Qingzhang Order of Fujian had been issued.

At this time, Zhang Juzheng's father died, and he was ordered to return to his hometown Dingyou.

Well, Wei Guangde has taken over the position of chief minister of the cabinet, so what to do next is a bit difficult for Wei Guangde.

Continue to promote Zhang Juzheng’s policies?

Wei Guangde didn't want to get involved and be criticized by the courtiers.

"Shandai, you should return to the cabinet as soon as possible.

Now that the Chief Assistant has returned home, Ding You is certain.

But what to do next requires careful planning. "

There was no joy on Jiang Zhi's face. Ordinarily, he should be very happy when Wei Guangde was promoted from the second assistant to the first assistant.

After all, he is a fellow countryman, and he is also the person they put on the table now.

But it is useless to see this. The policies of the DPRK and China are very sensitive now, and Zhang Juzheng is pushing for reforms. Although the ministers do not have much opposition, they are just because of Zhang Juzheng's power. In fact, there are many people who oppose him.

At the very least, they don’t support the decision-making of the first assistant.

Everyone knew that Zhang Juzheng and Feng Bao had a good relationship, and with mutual support from both inside and outside, few people dared to speak out against them.

Didn’t you see that those officials who objected to the imperial examination and the Qingzhang were sent out of the capital with gifts?

The most unlucky person was Liu Tai, who was sent directly to Guangxi, but still took his family with him, and they were all reunited.

After listening to Jiang Zhi's words, Wei Guangde came back to his senses and nodded slightly.

Just now, Wei Guangde had vaguely found a trace of memory in his past life, which was Zhang Juzheng's "love-stealing" incident. Could it be that this was what he was talking about.

According to the etiquette regulations of the Ming Dynasty, when a parent dies, the official serving in the court must be dismissed and return to his place of origin to observe mourning for three years.

Of course, it was actually 27 months, more than two years to be precise, and this uniform was called Dingyou or Shouzhi.

The court would severely punish officials who concealed their funerals and refused to be dismissed and returned to their places of origin.

After Ding You's official filial piety period expires, he applies to the Ministry of Personnel for "reinstatement" and returns to work.

Of course, during the Dingyou period, other officials were not allowed to petition the court to "resurrect" officials who abided by the rules, which shows how strict the regulations were.

Under normal circumstances, it is unlikely that an official who has been "reinstated" will return to his original position.

Especially for some important positions, new officials will be replaced immediately after officials leave due to Ding You.

When the resigned official is "reinstated", the replacement official will generally not leave office, so it is difficult to return directly to the original position.

Therefore, for Zhang Juzheng, once he leaves office and returns to his hometown, he will not return to the position of chief minister of the cabinet even if he "recovers" in three years.

Even according to the ranking of the cabinet, he still had to fall behind Zhang Siwei.

Because according to the current order of the Ming Dynasty cabinet, Zhang Juzheng and Ding You will be replaced by Wei Guangde as the first assistant, and Zhang Siwei will be the second assistant.

In order to ensure that the cabinet handles government affairs, it is necessary to add more people. When the time comes, Zhang Juzheng will be at the bottom of the queue when he returns to the court.

According to the view of later generations, Zhang Juzheng's time was ultimately ended with Emperor Wanli's order to seize love. He only returned to his hometown to bury his father before returning to the court again, and still served as the chief minister.

The upshot of this is that he remains foreign minister and can continue to push forward his reforms.

This affair had a huge impact. It not only divided the Ming Dynasty, but also greatly weakened Zhang Juzheng's reputation. Many officials who supported Zhang Juzheng began to oppose him because the incident exposed Zhang Juzheng's greed for power.

As for whether Zhang Juzheng is really greedy for power, or whether he has to do so because the reform in his heart is at a critical period, that is not what these people need to consider.

After all, there are not many real supporters of Zhang Juzheng's reforms.

"The Yellow River river engineering and clearing measuring tools are the top priorities of the Ministry of Industry during this period, and Shunqing must pay attention to them."

Wei Guangde reached out and pulled Jiang Zhi aside and whispered measuring tools in his ear.

Jiang Zhi kept nodding, indicating that he understood.

"Then I'll go back to the cabinet first. Please ask the Ministry of Industry. There can be no delay."

Now, we can only implement the affairs promoted by Zhang Juzheng as soon as possible to prevent the final thing from falling on him.

"Fujian Measuring Tools, do we really need to speed up preparations?"

Jiang Zhi asked softly at this time.

Wei Guangde was slightly startled and then reacted.

Zhang Juzheng must be staying in the government at this time. When the Ministry of Works completes the measuring tools, he will not be asked to issue documents and ship to Fujian. This seems to be inconsistent with his previous attitude towards the outside world.

"Do the job well, don't report it yet, suppress it and then take a look."

Wei Guangde immediately changed his tune and no longer urged the preparation of measuring tools for Fujian. "The Ministry of Industry should focus on river construction recently and cooperate with the river to get things done."

Wei Guangde hurriedly left the Ministry of Industry and returned directly to the cabinet.

As soon as he entered the check-in room and his butt was still hot, Zhang Siwei came over.

"Ziwei, I'm aware of this matter. You and I are still in the cabinet on errands, so first of all we have to ensure that the memorial is processed in a timely manner and sent to the Director of Ceremonies for approval.

We will discuss the affairs of my uncle's house after the memorial from the Ministry of Rites comes up. "

Zhang Juzheng was the chief minister of the dynasty. Although his father did not have an official position, he still sent out sacrifices out of courtesy.

"So now, you and I should finish today's memorial in our respective rooms, and then go to my uncle's house to express my condolences after the office is dismissed."

Wei Guangde said.

"yes."

Hearing what Wei Guangde said, Zhang Siwei had no choice but to say.

"By the way, did uncle send any news to the palace before returning home?"

Wei Guangde suddenly asked again.

"Already handed it over."

Zhang Siwei said hurriedly.

"Then when we handle government affairs normally, the cabinet still needs to be functioning."

Wei Guangde nodded and said.

Watching Zhang Siwei leave, Wei Guangde turned his attention to the mountain of books. There were two thick piles of memorials. One pile should be what he should deal with, and the other pile was moved from Zhang Juzheng's duty room.

With one person doing the work of two people, Wei Guangde has had a hard time these days.

Ju Zheng's father, Zhang Wenming, was originally a poor scholar from the countryside who had accomplished nothing and failed in many exams. He was recruited as a government student when he was 20 years old.

In the era of imperial examinations, in order to obtain a good family background, he entered the examination room of the provincial examination seven times, but he failed every time.

It wasn't until his promising son Zhang Juzheng was admitted to the Hanlin Academy that he threw down his pen and basket, completely giving up on the imperial examination.

However, when talking about the emperor, it is often said that "the mother is more valuable than the son", but when it comes to ministers, it becomes "the father is more valuable than the son".

Although Zhang Wenming failed the imperial examination, he was still favored by the court because of his relationship with Zhang Juzheng.

Last year, Emperor Wanli knew that Zhang Juzheng's father was still alive, and he specially issued an edict, "Mr. Wen's parents are both here, and they are old and young. They are enjoying health and prosperity. I am very happy."

In addition, he was also given a red python robe, twenty taels of silver, seven jade flower pendants, and six pieces of colorful gauze, which were gifts from the Holy Mother.

Shaking his head, Wei Guangde walked to the desk, preparing to complete today's tasks first. Lu Bu hurried in from outside the door and whispered in his ear: "Master, I just received the news that Eunuch Feng Baofeng went to Zhang Mansion to express condolences."

Wei Guangde nodded and said softly: "I understand."

After saying that, he returned to the desk and began to pick up a memorial and read it.

What Wei Guangde fears most now is that history does not follow its original trajectory. Zhang Juzheng ran directly home to Ding You and threw all the bad things in the court to him.

Although he understands and supports Zhang Juzheng's reforms, it does not mean that he will take over the baton of Zhang Juzheng's reforms and move forward.

It's too dangerous.

The only bad thing was that he would end up being shattered to pieces, and he couldn't bear it.

"Lubu."

Suddenly, Wei Guangde shouted loudly.

Just as Lu Bu retreated to the door to go out, he hurriedly turned around when he heard Wei Guangde's voice.

"Send a message to the outside world and inquire about the conversation between Feng Bao and Zhang Juzheng."

"This, yes, sir."

Lu Bu hesitated only slightly, but immediately agreed and went out immediately.

Wei Guangde now only hopes that Zhang Juzheng can follow the original history, seek to win love, and continue to complete his reform cause.

And this time Feng Bao went to Zhang Mansion was undoubtedly the best opportunity.

Only when he expressed his true thoughts to Feng Bao could Feng Bao help him overcome this difficulty.

Zhang Juzheng seeks support from Wei Guangde, which is obviously unrealistic.

Under normal circumstances, it is impossible for Wei Guangde not to hope that Zhang Juzheng will return to his hometown and give up his position as chief assistant to Ding You.

As for whether Wei Guangde will continue his reform measures after taking office, it is better not to think too much. Zhang Juzheng believes that Wei Guangde can really achieve that position. If the previous policies are not directly revoked, even if he just presses the pause button, it is already valuable.

He didn't dare to bet, having already done so many things.

Wei Guangde was a little bit convinced about Zhang Juzheng at this moment, so he just went as usual.

Just as he was preparing to take over as the chief minister, after the palace issued the edict to seize love, he still wanted to persuade Zhang Juzheng to think twice and then ignore it.

Therefore, at this time, in addition to inquiring about information from all parties, we should do our duty.

Without Zhang Juzheng, the cabinet still has to run smoothly. (End of chapter)