Chapter 1201 1292 Receiving the Order

Wei Guangde's repeated orders are still effective. At least Jiangxi officials, especially those who have just entered the court and are in the hot-blooded period, are the new Jinshi. Only Jiangxi Jinshi remained silent at this time.

As for other people, whether they were Shuji scholars in the Hanlin Academy or government officials from various ministries, they also wrote their first memorials in their lives, praising and criticizing Zhang Juzheng for "stealing love".

Among the turbulent provincial officials in the capital, officials from Huguang can be said to have caused the most trouble.

Many of the officials who took the lead and spoke fiercely against "stealing love" were Zhang Juzheng's fellow Huguang residents.

In this regard, some Huguang people who had benefited from Zhang Juzheng also stood up at this time and tried their best to defend Zhang Juzheng's position as chief and assistant.

Why don't we just let the Huguang Guild Hall be filled with battles and quarrels every day?

Wei Guangde was still processing the memorials sent to him in the cabinet duty room. As the palace decree was issued, not only did it not stop the memorials from officials opposing "seizing love", but it made such memorials become more and more violent.

Nearly one-third of the memorials Wei Guangde handled every day were related to Zhang Juzheng, either supporting or opposing him.

But faced with such a memorial, Wei Guangde couldn't just let Zhongshu draft it casually. He had to send it to his and Zhang Siwei's office for the two of them to draft it in person.

That afternoon, Wei Guangde had lunch in the cabinet. Just after taking a nap, Lu Bu came in quickly.

"What's going on?"

Wei Guangde was still squinting on the recliner when he saw Lu Bu coming in and asked casually.

"Sir, I just received news that Ma Ziqiang, the Minister of Rites, took several adults from the Ministry of Personnel to the residence of the First Assistant."

Lu Bu stood in front of Wei Guangde and whispered.

"Going to express condolences?"

Wei Guangde asked with a frown.

Although Wei Guangde had some guesses when he thought of what Wang Xilie said the day before yesterday, he still asked.

"No, I heard that he was going to persuade the chief minister not to accept the order."

This time, Lu Bu spoke with caution.

"Haha, Ma Ziqiang is also crazy. As the Minister of Rites, he actually encouraged the ministers to resist the decree, haha."

Wei Guangde's smile was very free and easy, but it was very harsh in Lu Bu's ears and he lowered his head unconsciously.

"Has Wang Xilie gone?"

Wei Guangde suddenly stopped smiling and asked.

"Here we go, Minister Wang is in the crowd."

Lu Bu replied immediately.

"Where's Pan Sheng?"

Wei Guangde continued to ask.

"Shilang Pan didn't go."

Lu Bu answered quickly, and he obviously remembered all the people who had gone to the Ministry of Rites very well.

Wei Guangde nodded slightly, then waved his hand and said: 'I understand, go down and tell me any news in time. ’

After Lu Bu left the check-in room, Wei Guangde no longer had the intention to squint, and sat upright on the recliner to think.

The reason why the Ministry of Rites went there this time was not because of the decree issued by the palace the afternoon before yesterday.

Wei Guangde drafted it and sent it to Zhang Siwei. The next day he drafted the edict and sent it back to the Li Ke Superintendent. Then there was a problem with the Li Ke Department. After all, there were many people in the Six Sections who opposed Zhang Juzheng's "stealing love".

In fact, although the people in the six subjects nominally surrendered to Zhang Juzheng because of the entrance examination method, they would not be willing to do so.

You know, the only one who could punish them before was the emperor.

If you do something wrong or do something wrong, you can only be punished by the emperor himself.

But now that the emperor has handed over the power of supervising the six departments to the chief assistant, they have an extra person in charge of them, how can they be willing to do so.

By impeaching Zhang Juzheng, we have the opportunity to regain this power of supervision.

The cabinet drafted the imperial edict in accordance with the palace's decree and did not refute it, but the Sixth Section still had such rights, and they wanted to fight again.

But perhaps because Feng Bao was out of the picture, today's official imperial edict still passed the six subjects and was sent to the Ministry of Rites. That's why today's officials from the Ministry of Rites, Zhang Fu, and his entourage were born.

This is a formal imperial edict, not a central edict.

If the edict was issued, Zhang Juzheng would never dare to accept it.

As the chief minister, if you dare to accept the order, you will really break the rules. After all, this involves the power of the cabinet.

A formal imperial edict is different.

However, when the Ministry of Rites conveyed an edict to so many people, Wei Guangde knew that it must be more than simply conveying an edict.

Sure enough, an hour later, when Wei Guangde returned to his desk and began to deal with official duties, Lu Bu hurried in from the outside, came to him, and whispered the news from Zhang Mansion.

Although Ma Ziqiang and others tried hard to persuade him for a long time, Zhang Juzheng still accepted the order.

"It's not making a fuss."

Wei Guangde suddenly interrupted, interrupting Lu Bu who was talking endlessly.

"Uh, no, no one said there was a quarrel in the Zhang Mansion. They were just trying to persuade the chief minister not to accept the order, but to abide by filial piety and return to his hometown to abide by the rules."

Lu Bu was stunned and said immediately.

"That's good."

Wei Guangde nodded, just persuading, that's not bad, but he was afraid that the stupid Qing would annoy people with his fierce words in front of Zhang Juzheng, and that would be out of control.

Not to mention anything else, just a label that encourages "resistance and disobedience" is enough for many people to drink a pot.

Officials could reject the emperor's imperial edict with their heart. In order to show his broad mind, the emperor generally did not care.

But instigation is another matter. It is naked contempt for the emperor. To make others disobey the emperor is to deceive the emperor.

However, what Ma Ziqiang did this time was somewhat out of line.

"well"

Finally, Wei Guangde sighed and murmured, "Knowing it was an open conspiracy, Uncle Da still went in headfirst."

Zhang Juzheng and Wei Guangde have been friends for many years. Knowing that Zhang Juzheng was being plotted against, he could do nothing.

In fact, Zhang Juzheng knew it, but at this point, he could only go all the way and there was no turning back.

Even in order to preserve his reputation before and after his death, he had to do a better job in the new policy to stop the gossip, just like Emperor Taizong of Tang Li Shimin.

When people talk about him, they will only remember the "Zhenguan Reign", "Heavenly Khan", and the good stories of humbly accepting advice and "water can carry a boat but can also overturn it". Who will remember the "Xuanwu Gate Incident"?

For the throne, he shot and killed the crown prince Li Jiancheng and injured Li Yuanji with his own hands, and then led hundreds of cavalry and the gate guards to defeat the two thousand elite soldiers of the East Palace and the Prince of Qi's Mansion, and took the opportunity to kill all his nephews.

Afterwards, Li Yuan appointed Li Shimin as the crown prince, and two months later he abdicated the throne and became an emperor.

Regarding the "Records", Li Shimin asked to speak frankly, and this move by Li Shimin also preserved the fact that he personally killed his brother in the history books.

Unfortunately, Zhang Juzheng was ultimately unable to realize his idea, and he died before the new policy of the Ming Dynasty was fully implemented.

Although he had not met Zhang Juzheng since Wei Guangde came to pay his respects, he could still guess that he should have realized the danger.

At night, Wei Guangde returned to the mansion, and after dinner, he sat in the study, and soon Zhang Ji came in.

"Master."

Zhang Ji stood respectfully in front of Wei Guangde and called softly.

Wei Guangde looked up at him, and then said, "Tell me, what happened in the capital today?"

"The Ministry of Rites sent an imperial edict to Zhang's house, but the people in the Ministry of Rites are said to have persuaded the Prime Minister not to accept the edict."

Hearing this, Wei Guangde waved his hand and interrupted, "I know about this, is there anything else?"

"Song Yaoyu, Zhang Fengxian and others at the gate of Zhang's house bid farewell to Zhang's house and moved to the Imperial College and other places."

Zhang Ji whispered again, "These people are all those who opposed "seizing love" and insisted that they should return to their hometowns to mourn."

"Oh, interesting."

Hearing this news, Wei Guangde nodded. There are people around Zhang Juzheng who understand.

With these people, even if Zhang Juzheng himself can't think of it, he should be able to see it after their reminder.

In addition, these people also chose to avoid danger and leave the vortex of Zhang's house first.

Although it may affect their future status in the Imperial College, it will not affect their normal careers, at least they don't have to worry about being liquidated.

"Is there any news from the Prime Minister? When will he leave the house and return to the cabinet to work?"

Wei Guangde asked again.

"No news yet."

Zhang Ji replied hurriedly.

Although "love is taken away", it does not mean that Zhang Juzheng will not stay at home to observe mourning.

In fact, even if love is taken away, it does not mean that they are completely free from the constraints of mourning etiquette. In fact, in addition to not returning to their hometown to observe mourning, they still have to abide by many etiquette.

For example, they are not allowed to participate in or preside over court ceremonies, engage in entertainment activities, marry and have children, etc. If an official violates these regulations, even if love is taken away first, he will be impeached by other officials, and serious cases will also be punished.

Now, Zhang Juzheng must stay at home for the full seven-seven mourning period before he can leave the house to work.

Zhang Juzheng has just received the imperial edict, and he must thank the emperor tomorrow, and then make it clear how long he will take leave before he can return to the cabinet to work.

As for going home to bury his father, that will be next year. When the time comes, Zhang Juzheng will naturally apply for leave in advance.

my country has been known as a country of etiquette since ancient times. In ancient times, people summarized social etiquette and customs into the simple and easy-to-understand "five rituals", namely "auspicious rituals, ominous rituals, military rituals, guest rituals, and auspicious rituals".

Among them, "ominous rituals" mainly involve a number of customs related to funerals.

The feudal hierarchy is strict, and the emperor's funeral and funeral rituals are strictly regulated.

"The Book of Rites: The Royal System" clearly stipulates that "the emperor will be buried for seven days and buried in the seventh month. The princes will be buried for five days and buried in the fifth month."

The "funeral" here refers to the coffin being kept but not buried, and "burying in the seventh month" means that the emperor needs to be buried for seven months after his death before he can be buried.

Many scholars in modern times have conducted research and investigation on the day of the funeral, and one of the most important reasons is to make sure that the deceased has really died to avoid misjudgment.

This reason may sound absurd, but it is indeed historically documented.

Because there was a lack of various medical auxiliary equipment in ancient times, the diagnosis of diseases mostly relied on the doctor's "observation, smelling, asking and palpation".

However, pure human diagnosis is bound to have errors. Sometimes the patient may still be alive, but because of the extremely weak heartbeat and breathing, it is very likely to be misdiagnosed as having no vitality, and then hastily buried and killed.

This is not alarmist. The story of the great doctor Bian Que in the Spring and Autumn Period consulting the prince of Guo State is the best proof.

It is said that when Bian Que traveled to the territory of Guo State, he heard that the prince of that country suddenly died in the early morning.

As the saying goes, a doctor has a kind heart. Bian Que felt that the sudden death of a young man was indeed strange. He was worried that there were other reasons, or that there was still a possibility of treatment. Therefore, he knocked on the palace gate and asked to see the prince.

Although everyone in the Guo Kingdom palace felt that what Bian Que said was nonsense, the emperor loved his son so much that he agreed to Bian Que's request.

After Bian Que's consultation, he inserted a silver needle into the Three Yang and Five Hui acupoints of the Prince of Guo Kingdom, and the Prince gradually regained consciousness.

After the prince gradually improved, Bian Que told the people around him the reason.

It turns out that the prince of Guo Kingdom suffered from a sudden illness similar to "stroke". The patient often fainted suddenly in the early morning, and his breathing was intermittent and extremely weak. It was extremely easy to diagnose the patient as dead without paying attention.

But if the rescue is timely, there is still room for improvement.

Following the case of Bian Que's "resurrection from the dead", later generations have become increasingly cautious in determining whether the deceased was really dead.

They all advocate the need to wait for a period of time before proceeding with subsequent funeral arrangements.

This practice has also been confirmed in the "Book of Rites" "Wen Ming" chapter. The book says, "Those who collect it after three days are waiting for it to live. If it does not live for three days, it will not live."

That is to say, after the death of the deceased, it is necessary to wait for a few days to confirm that there is no possibility of resurrection of the deceased before the subsequent final farewell ceremony can be performed.

The "soul-calling" ritual in the funeral process also serves this purpose.

Zheng Xuan once commented on the "Book of Rites": "When the Qi is gone, it will cry. If the Qi is exhausted, it will cry again. If it does not revive, it can be a matter of death."

Because people in the old days believed that the fact that the deceased was not breathing did not mean absolute death. Only if the deceased could not wake up after performing the soul-calling ceremony did it mean that the deceased had truly passed away.

"If not, then there won't be."

Wei Guangde didn't say anything, but suddenly he remembered something and asked: "In the memorials submitted to the General Affairs Office today, how many are in support of the chief minister and how many are against the chief minister?"

"Sir, there are eleven memorials in favor of seizing love, and twenty-two against it. There are still more opponents than supporters."

Zhang Ji hurriedly replied, "We have recorded all the officials' names."

"It was also more than thirty copies yesterday?"

Wei Guangde asked after thinking about it.

"Yes, one less than today. Wu Zhongxing and Zhao Yongxian also submitted memorials."

Zhang Ji replied.

"These people are not afraid of getting into trouble even though they have written numerous reports."

Perhaps in order to express their determination, these officials who strongly support the opposition to "stealing love" continue to lobby other officials to join in. Not only do they also continue to file reports themselves, explaining their positions, stating that in the absence of major national affairs, they should not "steal love" at will. ".

"The holy dynasty governs the world with filial piety" is the fundamental political program of all dynasties. It does not matter whether it is true or false in its specific implementation, but it must be absolutely adhered to on the surface.

That's why they persist.

Of course, the deeper reason is that there is a person who breaks the rules, a person who harms the interests of vested interest groups, and an unprecedented "dictator" who makes those officials restless and want to get rid of him quickly.

"The disciples and villagers don't know what their final outcome will be."

Wei Guangde muttered in his heart. (End of chapter)