Chapter 284 283 Zhang Juzheng

"Wenhua was sick with a poisonous poison, and when he was sent to lie on the boat, he felt bored. One night, he touched his abdomen with his hand, and his abdomen was torn, and his internal organs came out. He died."

Zhao Wenhua died. After the news reached the capital, there was another big shock.

Everyone was a little horrified. What kind of death was this?

Many people thought Zhao Wenhua was pretending to be sick before, but when he left the capital, many people saw Zhao Wenhua being carried out of the car at the gate of the Zhao family, which seemed to indirectly confirm that Zhao Wenhua was indeed seriously ill.

After leaving the capital, a place of right and wrong, everyone thought that the matter was over, but who knew that he died on the boat in just two or three days.

The key reported death was extremely strange, "He touched his abdomen with his hand, and his abdomen was torn, and his internal organs came out."

The stomach was torn?

Most people were shocked after hearing about this, then laughed a few times, and then shouted loudly, "Rebellious ministers and traitors, everyone can punish them." No matter what their relationship with Zhao Wenhua was before, they quickly cut off ties with the Zhao family at this time.

Only a few people could remain calm, and they looked towards the direction of the Northern Pacification Office in fear.

Unheard of way of death, no matter whether Lu Bingcheng admitted that this was done by the Jinyiwei, officials who thought of this would think that he had instructed others to do it.

When Emperor Jiajing received the report, he was also stunned. First of all, he felt it was extremely absurd. He could burst his belly by slapping it. Could Zhao Wenhua practice iron sand palm?

Let him die. I have already let him go once for Yan Song's sake. This is fate. I threw the report aside and ignored it.

When it came to Wei Guangde's ears, Wei Guangde was more willing to believe that Lu Bing sent someone to stab Zhao Wenhua, who was pregnant. No one in later generations had heard of any disease that could split a person's stomach.

Acute appendicitis can cause the intestines to rupture, but that is in the stomach, it is impossible for the stomach to rupture.

Zhao Wenhua's death seems to have put an end to this anti-Zhao movement, and everything should be over.

Wei Guangde went to work every day to revise his leave memorial, and others were doing their own things. Even if there was nothing to do, they had to find something to do. They couldn't let people say that they were just sitting there doing nothing.

At this time, in the lobby of the Ministry of Rites, the Minister of Rites Wu Shan and the left and right assistant ministers were a little worried about how the court should deal with this matter.

For others, Zhao Wenhua died, but he was a second-rank official in the court after all. Although he was dismissed by Emperor Jiajing, he was not guilty. According to the rules, the court should express its opinion.

For high-ranking officials such as the six ministries and nine ministers, should the court allocate some burial expenses to his family and posthumously give him a posthumous title?

These matters are beyond the control of other government offices and belong to the Ministry of Rites.

Everyone knows what happened to Zhao Wenhua, but when Zhao Wenhua hurriedly left the capital, Emperor Jiajing did not pursue his guilt, which made the Jinyiwei's previous work useless.

Of course, the Jinyiwei did not gain nothing. At least they had a large number of prisoners in their hands, most of whom had admitted their crimes, and they were naturally not allowed to leave alive.

According to the order of Emperor Jiajing, the stolen goods were recovered.

Those who had rich family backgrounds, could afford to pay silver and give red envelopes, were naturally released early, while those who could not pay silver could only be confiscated and exiled.

Wu Shan and others were a little uncertain, not knowing whether they should submit a memorial to Zhao Wenhua for an imperial decree.

After hesitating for two days, they could no longer delay. The Ministry of Rites must discuss a result today. If they wanted to ask for an imperial decree, they would send the memorial to the palace early tomorrow morning. This was also the system of the court.

"Are you still hesitant?"

Wu Shan asked the two ministers under him while sitting at the top. In fact, he also had such thoughts.

Normally, the court should be asked for permission to allocate some burial expenses and give a posthumous title. Even if there are some problems with that person, it is nothing more than a posthumous title that is not good enough.

"Sir Wu, we all know how Sir Zhao left the capital. If he hadn't left, he would have died in the prison. How can a guilty minister ask for permission?"

"Yes, but the difficulty is that the court had not made a final decision when he died, and had not added any crimes. It is really difficult to decide."

It was still the same rhetoric as the previous two days, nothing new. Wu Shan looked at them helplessly. Could it be that he could only do what he wanted and write a memorial to the palace to see the reaction of Emperor Jiajing?

Wu Shan was upright, but he was not an old stubborn man who did not know how to adapt.

Of course, he looked down on Zhao Wenhua, but since the person was dead, he naturally did not say anything.

Just when Wu Shan was about to make a decision and was about to write a memorial, or kick the ball to Emperor Jiajing, a clerk outside the door suddenly popped his head out and looked inside.

That was the clerk beside him. He was usually very perceptive. I don't know what happened today. He was so reckless. Didn't he know that the people in the room were discussing business?

"What's the matter?"

Wu Shan still suppressed his dissatisfaction and asked the person outside the door.

After hearing Wu Shan's question, the clerk walked in carefully. After entering the hall and bowing to the three adults, he said: "Three adults, I just heard the news from outside that Luo Jiabin, the military official, wrote to the emperor to impeach Zhao Wenhua for embezzling military pay, the amount was as high as more than 100,000 silver."

"What?"

Wu Shan couldn't help but say in a lost voice. He just planned to write a petition to Zhao Wenhua to ask for grace, and he also thought that the people were dead, and the previous grievances should be written off, but he never thought that there were still some people who were unwilling to let Zhao Wenhua go and chose to continue impeaching.

The ministers on the left and right were also surprised. This kind of thing was rare in the past. If a person dies and the debt is gone, any grievances in the past should be wiped out. But they didn't expect that someone would write a letter of impeachment at this time.

With this impeachment memorial, Wu Shan knew that the Ministry of Rites' side of the memorial would have to wait a little longer to see what the palace wanted.

If he is punished for this, naturally there is no need to mention the posthumous title given to Zhao Wenhua. Why should the guilty minister enjoy the posthumous title? If he is not guilty, he will immediately ask for a reward.

After thinking for a moment, Wu Shan came up with a plan, and then said to the ministers on his left and right: "That's good. We don't have to worry about whether to report it to the emperor. We will know what to do when this memorial is approved."

"Exactly."

"It makes sense, it depends on what the palace wants."

The two ministers naturally supported Wu Shan's decision. News of such a memorial should come out in a day or two. Even if the Ministry of Rites moves slower this time, other colleagues should be able to understand their embarrassment.

"Go to the General Affairs Department and give me a copy of Luo Jiabin's memorial."

After the left and right ministers left, Wu Shan gave instructions to the scribe.

At this time, the news about the impeachment of Zhao Wenhua by the Ministry of Military Affairs to Luo Jingyan once again spread in the officialdom of the capital. The difference from before was that most officials frowned slightly after hearing about the incident. They no longer looked like they had before hearing about the impeachment. Zhao Wenhua was so happy.

When Wei Guangde heard the news, he just shook his head. Why should he complain if he is dead? Are you planning to get involved?

If you don't understand, you don't understand. Wei Guangde definitely won't get involved. He didn't intend to get involved in the beginning. It would be bad for his little arms and legs.

Most of those who impeached Zhao Wenhua wanted to use impeachment to gain power, hoping to clear their names and benefit their own career.

Now Wei Guangde has no chance to be promoted, so naturally he doesn't want those false reputations.

Zhao Wenhua is dead, and Yan Song's resentment towards him has naturally disappeared. Looking back on the past, it is still a bit sad.

It was just that when Luo Binbin's memorandum reached the cabinet, he had to deal with it. According to the customary rules, he suggested that a supervisor should check it and that would be it. As for what choice Emperor Jiajing would make in the end, he didn't bother anymore.

Yan Song smelled a dangerous atmosphere from this impeachment memorial, because the memorial mentioned that Zhao Wenhua embezzled military expenditures from the year before last, which was the 34th year of Jiajing.

When was that?

That was the most troublesome time for the Japanese rebellion in the southeast. The imperial court was greatly troubled by the Japanese rebellion in the southeast. Under extremely difficult circumstances, it mobilized a large number of troops and military resources to suppress the Japanese. At this juncture, Zhao Wenhua's greed for Mo was really confirmed. I don’t know if Emperor Jiajing’s anger will be ignited again.

"Can the Zhao family eat all the 140,000 shi of military rations?"

Yan Song muttered something in a low voice. It's not that he didn't believe in Luo Jiabin. It was really possible that something like this could be done. This was the right time. It was really...

In the evening, this memorial was sent to Yongshou Palace.

Neither the cabinet nor the Supervisor of Ceremonies dared to suppress any memorial about Zhao Wenhua at this time, and could only release it and send it to Emperor Jiajing's imperial desk.

When we saw that the year before last, during the most difficult period for the Ming Dynasty, Zhao Wenhua, the governor of Jiangnan, embezzled 140,000 shi of military rations, which was more than 100,000 taels of silver.

Ever since the construction of the city wall outside Beijing, the central finances of the Ming Dynasty were extremely tight. At that time, in order to repel the harassment of Japanese pirates, some people actually took advantage of this batch of grain squeezed out of the canal.

Before the chamberlain could finish reading the memorial, Emperor Jiajing reached out and motioned for the memorial to be handed over to him. He wanted to read it in person.

Soon, Huang Jin got Luo Jinbin's impeachment memorial from his chamberlain and presented it to the emperor. Emperor Jiajing read it over and over several times. Several pieces of evidence mentioned in the memorial did not seem to be forged. Then he thought about Zhao Wenhua's occupation of Xiyuan's building materials and construction. In his mansion, new and old hatreds suddenly broke out.

Not thinking about anything else, he turned to Huang Jin and said, "It is reported to Lu Bing that after verification, the house will be ransacked and compensation will be paid. The more than 100,000 taels of silver must be spit out to me."

"According to the order."

Huang Jin answered with a low eyebrow, then took two steps back before turning around and leaving the palace gate to order people to do things.

Early that morning, Wei Guangde left his house in his carriage and headed for duty.

In the past, he always walked, but today it was a bit special. He had to go to the General Affairs Office to submit a leave application and prepare to go home to get married.

That's right, when Wei Guangde wanted to ask for leave, he didn't ask Yin Tai for approval, but asked Emperor Jiajing for instructions. The emperor could only leave after he nodded and approved the memorial.

Silently all the way, the carriage carried Wei Guangde to the gate of the General Affairs Office. The clerk at the door saw Wei Guangde and greeted him with a smile, but there were countless flames of gossip burning in his eyes.

Wei Guangde has not been here for a long time, but the deeds of two memorials about defeating a first-grade military general and a super-grade prince are still circulated in the yamen.

Obviously, the petty officials thought that Wei Guangde's sudden visit to the General Affairs Department might, should, or maybe impeach someone again.

Ignoring the eyes of the person at the door, Wei Guangde walked directly into the General Affairs Office and handed in his leave request.

"Congratulations, Master Wei, from which family are you marrying?"

Naturally, the General Secretary wanted to read the contents of Wei Guangde's memorial, and they also had to copy and file it first. The news that Wei Guangde was getting married naturally could not be hidden from others, and it soon spread in the yamen, and then spread.

After the Zhao Wenhua incident, the Ming court fell into a brief news vacuum. There was no major event recently, and the trivial family affairs became the main content of the dissemination during this period.

Zhao Wenhua's incident was completely exposed. Nothing else can be said. The more than 100,000 taels of silver cannot be lost.

The officials who were ordered to confiscate the Zhao family's property searched the Zhao family four or five times, but only found property worth tens of thousands of taels of silver, which was far from offsetting the public funds embezzled by Zhao Wenhua. Most of the silver was used for gifts and expenses.

As a result, before reporting to Emperor Jiajing's imperial case, Emperor Jiajing first scolded the officials in charge of the confiscation, and then issued an extremely severe imperial edict, accusing Zhao Wenhua of corruption, transferring the stolen money, selling his family members and women as official slaves, and sending men to the army to pay off debts.

At this time, naturally no one cared about the Zhao family anymore. They were already drowned dogs, and it would be fine if they were beaten again.

After submitting the memorial, Wei Guangde returned to the Hanlin Academy to take up his duty. After signing the roll call, Wei Guangde walked straight inside and entered the building in a few steps.

"Hmm?"

At this time, Wei Guangde noticed something different from the past. Today, many people stood in the garden inside the gate of the Hanlin Academy, chatting enthusiastically around an official in his thirties.

Wei Guangde had good eyesight and soon saw that the man's rank was the same as his own, both of them were seventh-rank officials, but he had never seen this man in the academy before.

When Wei Guangde walked into the gate, he was soon discovered by the people in the crowd. A colleague waved to Wei Guangde. Wei Guangde naturally could not bypass the crowd and left. He put on a smile on his face and walked over.

When he got closer, Wei Guangde saw the man clearly. He was handsome, with bright eyes and a beautiful beard, which was a beard that was combed very neatly.

"Come on, Guangde, let me introduce you. This is Uncle Zhang Juzheng. Like you, he is an editor in the Hanlin Academy."

At this time, the official next to Wei Guangde who was familiar with him naturally acted as an introducer to introduce the two parties. After all, they would work in the academy in the future and would see each other every day.

Zhang Juzheng, this handsome guy is Zhang Juzheng?

Wei Guangde was slightly surprised. There were several portraits of Zhang Juzheng circulating in later generations, and it was unknown whether they were true or false. It was said that they were portraits of Zhang Juzheng. One of them was wearing a walking dragon robe, and another was wearing a sitting dragon robe. However, Wei Guangde was not impressed by the characters in the paintings and just glanced at them casually.

However, since he was a senior, although they were all editors, Wei Guangde still took the initiative to bow deeply, and Zhang Juzheng immediately returned the greeting.

Zhang Juzheng asked for leave in the 32nd year of Jiajing to go to his hometown in Huguang to recuperate. He just returned to the Hanlin Academy today to cancel his leave. He was not familiar with Zhu Dashou, Tao Dalin and others, and he did not know Wei Guangde either.

Joining the conversation, Wei Guangde soon learned about Zhang Juzheng's past in the Hanlin Academy.

Zhang Juzheng passed the imperial examination in the 26th year of Jiajing, was selected as a scholar, and was appointed as a reviewer in the Hanlin Academy after the selection. He was later promoted to editor, and then took leave to recuperate. His resume is simple.

"Yesterday, the three provinces came to see me and told me about you"

Seeing Wei Guangde so young, Zhang Juzheng might have thought of himself nine years ago.