Chapter 1200 1291 Wei Mansion Decision

After Zhang Han, Wu Zhongxing also publicly submitted a memorial to oppose "seizing love" and requested that Zhang Juzheng be allowed to go home to attend his father's funeral. The news was still fermenting in the capital.

It can only be said that the power of example is infinite. In this era, etiquette is indeed more important than heaven.

Just when some people could only oppose in their hearts due to the power of the Prime Minister but did not dare to put it into practice, the successive memorials of these two people were considered to be a boost for them.

With the beginning, there is naturally no shortage of successors.

The next day, Wei Guangde was still in the duty room dealing with memorials. Lu Bu came into the room with a gloating look on his face and whispered in Wei Guangde's ear: "Master, the Tongzhengshisi has received another memorial impeaching the Prime Minister."

As someone around Wei Guangde, Lu Bu naturally hoped that Wei Guangde could go one step further and become the Prime Minister of the cabinet of the Ming Dynasty.

In this way, the people around him, the Prime Minister, whether in the cabinet or outside, also spoke in a different tone.

Since Wei Guangde was still a minister, he felt the change in the attitude of the people around him towards him.

The gentle tone and respectful attitude were all achieved after Wei Guangde was promoted to higher positions.

If Wei Guangde could be called the Prime Minister of the Cabinet, his influence outside would not be as great as that of Zhang Ji, the Grand Steward, but he was still very powerful, at least the second steward.

Here, even Zhang Ji could not come, and only Lu Bu could serve.

So, although Wei Guangde did not want to compete for the position of Prime Minister, the people around him, although no one said it to his face, were helping him behind his back.

If Zhang Ji had not been warned before, I am afraid that when Zhang Ji saw other court officials at this time, he would desperately instigate them to impeach Zhang Juzheng for being unfilial.

Zhang Ji is now cautious outside because of Wei Guangde's warning.

In the cabinet, Lu Bu does not have so many scruples. These days, he is arrogant and walks with a flutter.

Wei Guangde retracted his gaze, looked up at Lu Bu and asked, "Who is impeaching the Prime Minister again?"

"Zhao Yongxian."

Lest Wei Guangde didn't know who he was, Lu Bu added considerately, "He is a reviewer of the Hanlin Academy, and also a Jinshi in the fifth year of Longqing. Hehe, a student of Prime Minister Zhang."

"Was he responsible for compiling the "Da Ming Hui Dian" before?"

Wei Guangde still remembered this name, because when Zhang Juzheng proposed to recompile the "Da Ming Hui Dian" the year before last, this name seemed to be on the list of editors, but he was not sure whether it was the same person.

"Yes, it's him. He is the editor of the "Hui Dian."

Lu Bu replied hurriedly.

"What a wolf-hearted thing."

Wei Guangde frowned and cursed.

Being recommended by Zhang Juzheng to participate in the recompiling of the "Da Ming Hui Dian" was giving credit to the people of the Hanlin Academy for free, and he had benefited from it.

But such a person would actually jump out at this time to oppose the person who recommended him, who was still his master.

Even if you think Zhang Juzheng's behavior is inappropriate, you can go to him and remind him in person, or pretend to be an ostrich and do nothing, but you can't stab him in the back.

But he did it anyway.

"I don't know if he is a ruthless person, but I'm afraid the Prime Minister will be in trouble.

Two students have impeached him, how dare he steal the cabinet position?"

Lu Bu still had that face and said happily.

Wei Guangde glanced at him and said nothing.

Zhang Ji behaved well outside, and did not become arrogant and domineering because he saw that he might be promoted.

But if everyone around him is like this, it is inevitable that it is abnormal.

If Wei Guangde wants to deceive the people around him, he must have Zhang Ji and Lu Bu, two people with obviously different behaviors, around him, so that outsiders think that he is interested in the Prime Minister's throne, but also very restrained.

This is also the reason why Wei Guangde did not show Lu Bu before, he only reminded Zhang Ji.

Perhaps, only Zhang Ji guessed what he meant.

After all, Wei Guangde had a private conversation with him and asked him to keep a low profile recently.

"Hehe."

Wei Guangde just sneered. He didn't want to pay attention to the fate of these people who were betraying their own people.

Zhang Han was once a good friend of Zhang Juzheng. Now, two of the people who jumped out to impeach Zhang Juzheng were his disciples. It is conceivable that the impact on the literati is great.

At this time, Wei Guangde also thought of Liu Tai, who was now on the road to exile. He set a very bad precedent.

Wei Guangde was not isolated from the news. He also heard that although Liu Tai had lost his official position, he had left a good reputation in the literati.

On the road of exile, it was not deserted as most people thought, but received generous help from the gentry along the way. When they met, they all called him "Mr. Liu".

As long as such a person did not die, there was a high probability that he would overturn the case after the court changed.

Those gentry who flattered him did not have the idea of ​​burning the cold stove.

Just a little investment, there is a possible bright future, why not do it?

Xunzhou is located in the southeast of Guiping City, Guangxi Province in later generations. The Ming Dynasty Da Tengxia-Yao Uprising and the Qing Dynasty-Taiping Heavenly Kingdom-Jintian Uprising were all within the territory of Xunzhou Prefecture.

Guiping City has beautiful mountains and rivers, and a collection of scenic spots. "A Different World", "Phoenix is ​​Famous Scenic Spots", and "Beautiful Covering the South Sky" are tourist attractions and Buddhist holy places where "you can come to the top".

Xunzhou Prefecture was established in the Ming Dynasty, and governed three counties: Guiping, Pingnan, and Guixian.

Liu Tai was exiled to Xunzhou, Guangxi, which is here.

At this time, in the duty room of the Fengyi Guard of Guixian County in Xunzhou Prefecture, the guard commander Pang Shiqi was standing respectfully beside a middle-aged man.

"Do you understand what I mean?"

The middle-aged man asked.

"Master Yao, I understand what you mean, but do we have to take action right after this man arrives in Xunzhou? It would be safer to wait a little longer."

Pang Shiqi suggested cautiously.

"No, I'm leaving soon, and I must watch him die before I leave."

The man stared at Pang Shiqi and said, "As for the rest, you should follow the normal procedures. Don't be afraid. I have made arrangements.

No matter it is the Dusi or the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Justice in the capital, they will not embarrass you."

Pang Shiqi hesitated for a moment, and finally bowed his head and said, "I understand. Tomorrow evening is his death date."

"Very good, I will leave the day after tomorrow and rush back to Jingzhou. When the time comes, I will report your name to my master, and naturally you will benefit."

The man surnamed Yao finally smiled and said to Pang Shiqi happily.

"Everything is troublesome to Master Yao."

Pang Shiqi raised his head, also smiling, and said flatteringly.

After saying this, Mr. Yao stood up and said goodbye, no matter how Pang Shiqi tried to persuade him to stay.

After Pang Shiqi sent the man away, he couldn't help but sigh at the carriage leaving.

This Mr. Yao was none other than Yao Kuang, one of the housekeepers in the mansion of Zhang Juzheng, the Prime Minister. In name, he was sent by Zhang Juzheng to Jingzhou to attend the funeral.

However, in fact, his destination, or the first stop, was Xunzhou, Guangxi.

For such a big thing, Zhang Juzheng would not let others do it, but sent the most profitable person around him to watch it until it was completed.

Wei Guangde realized the value of "Liu Tai" later, but Zhang Juzheng would not do so.

After experiencing a betrayal, Zhang Juzheng was no longer at ease with the people around him, especially those disciples.

Therefore, the only way he could deal with it was to use more ruthless means to intimidate them.

However, it was still a step too late.

Before the news of Liu Tai's death reached the capital, his good students actually began to roll up their sleeves and take action against him.

Another day passed in a flash. Early in the morning, countless eyes were staring at the Tongzhengshisi to see if anyone would come forward to impeach Zhang Juzheng today and ask him to return to his hometown in Huguang immediately to attend his father's funeral.

Not surprising to these people, as Ai Mu, the deputy minister of the Ministry of Justice, and Shen Sixiao, the chief, walked into the Tongzhengshisi, it was soon reported that the two of them had jointly submitted a petition to impeach Zhang Juzheng, still asking him to return to his hometown to observe mourning.

Wei Guangde heard the news in the cabinet. In the past three days, there have been memorials about Zhang Juzheng sent in every day, all of which were against "seizing love" and asked him to return to his hometown to observe mourning.

However, Wei Guangde had approved Wu Zhongxing's memorial and sent it to the palace, but after two days, he did not see the memorial returned to the cabinet.

It can be seen that Wu Zhongxing's memorial should have been kept in the palace, and the palace did not give any opinions.

As for Zhao Yongxian's memorial yesterday, it should have the same result.

Thinking of the joint memorial of Ai Mu and Shen Sixiao, Wei Guangde didn't know how long the palace could keep calm.

However, once the palace exploded, I'm afraid they would raise the butcher knife against those who submitted the memorial.

After all, at least he, the second assistant of the cabinet, knew the attitude of the palace, which was to favor Zhang Juzheng.

In the afternoon, the dam of a thousand miles finally collapsed due to an ant hole. More than a dozen Beijing officials walked into the Tongzhengshisi one after another and submitted their memorials, all of which opposed the emperor's "seizing love".

Wei Guangde read the memorials of Wu Zhongxing, Zhao Yongxian and others together.

Among them, Zhang Juzheng's student, Hanlin Academy editor Wu Zhongxing, submitted a memorial saying that Zhang Juzheng's seizure of love was "a matter of eternal principles and moral principles, and it is heard by all quarters. Only if there is no overdoing today, there will be no future generations' criticism."

He directly believed that if Zhang Juzheng could "seize love" in this way, then all officials in the future who encountered similar situations could seek to "retain office and observe the system", resulting in the loss of the national principles and endless troubles.

If Wu Zhongxing was just worried that this precedent would break the principles and moral principles, then Zhao Yongxian's memorial to impeach Zhang Juzheng was to directly rebuke him for being greedy for power and believed that he could not cite the stories of the previous dynasty to create a basis for Zhang Juzheng's seizure of love.

It can be said that their memorials were more intense than each other.

However, not all the memorials sent in at this time were opposed to this matter. There were also memorials supporting Zhang Juzheng.

It's just that compared with the opponents, the supporting memorials were really insignificant.

Similar to Wei Guangde's consideration, even those who agreed with Zhang Juzheng's staying in office would not stand up to support him, because they were at a disadvantage from a moral perspective. They could only use the ancestral system to oppose the judgments of those impeachers.

No matter how they argued, they were despised by the traditional scholar-official class. With Yang Tinghe's role model in front and the moral code behind, Zhang Juzheng was not worthy of being a prime minister.

When Yang Tinghe was about to leave Beijing, the officials in Beijing came forward to retain him, but Yang ignored them and truly did not covet power.

The capital was so lively that the newly-appointed scholars could not sit still. Led by Zou Yuanbiao, they also began to discuss the matter, and the ultimate goal was naturally to oppose "seizing love".

It can be said that for a while, Zhang Juzheng was like a rat crossing the street, and everyone was shouting and beating him, and they were desperately asking him to return to his hometown to observe the mourning.

In the past few days, Zhang Juzheng stayed in the mansion, not going out of the main gate or the second gate, and his life was very sad.

He was sad about his father's death and disappointed with the current court.

After all, he worked hard while in office, but he didn't expect to end up with such a result.

Especially, the main force of opposition was actually his students and fellow villagers, which made him even more unacceptable.

Why were many of the people who sang the opposite tune his students and fellow villagers?

The reason was very simple. Liu Tai and Fu Yingzhen were role models. Although they did not get a good end because of impeaching Zhang Juzheng, they left a good reputation for a while.

If someone else spoke, it was just a different political opinion, which was not very meaningful.

As a student or fellow villager, if you dare to oppose your mentor or fellow villagers, you will appear to be fair, which is a good opportunity to earn a reputation.

"Shan Dai, should we also report this matter?"

In the garden of Wei Mansion, Tan Lun, Jiang Zhi and others, and even Wang Xilie, who had always had a bad relationship with Wei Guangde, came here.

There is no doubt that this was a meeting of fellow villagers.

What they want to discuss is naturally the crisis facing this war, because just this afternoon, the palace returned Zhang Juzheng's memorial, and Emperor Wanli accepted all of Zhang Juzheng's requests, agreeing that he would stay in office to observe mourning, govern the country in plain clothes, and not participate in other court activities. He even promised that Zhang Juzheng could return to his hometown to bury his old father next year.

"Alas, let's not join in the fun of this matter. Uncle Da must be upset enough at this moment."

Wei Guangde glanced at everyone, and finally said, "I understand your heart, but this matter really can't be handled this way.

Now, among those who oppose, how many of them are really standing up for the moral principles, either for fame or for profit, I really don't want to be with them.

Ask yourself, is the Prime Minister's governance biased?"

Wei Guangde questioned.

It must be admitted that although many of Zhang Juzheng's policies have received different reactions from the court and the public, they are all beneficial to the court.

Wei Guangde just took this point to suppress them from participating in this storm.

"For your own career, remember, you must not get involved.

Whether to seize the love or not, that is the decision of the palace.

The decree has been issued today, and the attitude of the palace is clear. Do we still need to continue to argue?"

Wei Guangde said again.

After saying this, Wei Guangde spread his hands and smiled bitterly: "It's really unnecessary."

Wei Guangde's attitude was already very clear, and naturally no one else could say anything, even Wang Xilie was silent at this time.

He was just indignant that Wei Guangde had risen to a high position at a young age and was quickly promoted by flattery.

However, this time, facing the temptation of the position of the prime minister, Wei Guangde held back and did not allow them to participate in it, which inevitably made Wang Xilie look up to him, Wei Guangde.

Putting himself in their shoes, he was afraid that he would find it difficult to do it.

"Someone in the Ministry of Rites is colluding and wants to go to Zhang's house to talk to the prime minister in person about this matter."

Wang Xilie suddenly took over.

"You can express your attitude, but the words should not be harsh. Friendly reminders are fine, but threats are definitely not allowed."

Wei Guangde said this, glanced at Wang Xilie, and continued: "If a colleague is too aggressive, you should step in to ease the situation.

The Prime Minister is still the Prime Minister after all."

Hearing this, Wang Xilie nodded slightly.

No matter what, Zhang Juzheng is still the Prime Minister of the Ming Dynasty, the head of all officials, and his dignity cannot be taken away. (End of this chapter)