Chapter 346 345 Lu Yi

Lu Bing died, and apart from his family and close associates, perhaps Xiyuan was the only one who grieved for him.

Emperor Jiajing stood in the garden and looked up at the bright moon in the sky, thinking that the moon was still the same, but things and people had changed.

If he dies, he will never come back.

There were not many friends left who had played together in Anlu Prince's Mansion, who had accompanied him all the way to the capital, and who had walked out of Anlu Prince Xingxian's Mansion.

These people were all his humeral ministers when he faced the intimidation of Yang Ting and those old diehards when he first ascended the throne. They were all his humeral ministers. Without their silent support behind him, Emperor Jiajing would not have been able to survive. I don't know if I could have survived such a chaotic court struggle.

After all, he was only a fourteen-year-old kid at that time.

"Your Majesty, it's midnight, it's time to rest."

Footsteps sounded behind him, and Emperor Jiajing knew who it was without turning around.

He is also old.

He sighed in his heart, "Huang Jin, tomorrow I will pass a decree and order the left governor Zhu Xixiao to handle the funeral and protect his family. Hasn't the cabinet discussed Lu Bing's funeral yet?"

Suddenly, Emperor Jiajing remembered that he had sent an order to the cabinet this morning, asking them to discuss Lu Bing's posthumous title and what kind of treatment he should give.

"this"

Huang Jin hesitated when he answered. Apparently the cabinet had not yet discussed the matter and reported the result to the inner court.

"Forget it, prepare the pen and ink, I will decide it myself."

Emperor Jiajing planned to issue the edict himself without waiting for Yan Song and his gang of old men.

Thinking of the mutual criticism between Lu Bing and Yan Song, I felt a little upset. Maybe the Yan family was having a big banquet at this time.

"Check for me, who have invited guests to their houses in the past two nights?"

When turning around to return to the palace, Emperor Jiajing suddenly gave an order.

As he walked quickly to the palace gate, Emperor Jiajing suddenly stood still and almost bumped into Huang Jin, who was following him closely.

"I remembered that the elixir refined this time should not have such a strong effect. Please quickly find someone to take a look at the remaining elixirs and repay them to me."

After practicing for many years, I don’t know how many furnaces of elixirs I have refined. The current Emperor Jiajing is considered a master at it.

To be honest, many folk medicine refining masters are afraid that they are not as proficient in medicine refining as he is, and there are not many people in the world who can refine medicine better than him.

Before, he was only sad because of Lu Bing's death, but when he thought that someone might hold a banquet at home and entertain guests when he was sad, he felt a little uncomfortable in his heart.

In just a few dozen steps, Emperor Jiajing thought of more, and he unconsciously analyzed the medicinal materials of this potion of elixirs before he came up with this suspicion.

It's very strange. Even if the furnace medicine is poorly made, it shouldn't be so powerful.

Hearing Emperor Jiajing's words, Huang Jin instinctively shrank his neck.

He could feel the icy chill from Emperor Jiajing's words. What did the emperor suspect?

Huang Jin felt a little guilty. You must know that he is the admiral eunuch in the palace. If the eunuchs below are really involved, he, the admiral, is also involved. It is the so-called leadership responsibility.

But thinking about it, the emperor's order must be resolutely implemented. Even if there is something fishy about Lu Bing's death, it must be investigated. They are all people from the palace of Prince Xingxian in Anlu, even though he was once one of the informants sent by the inner court to Anlu to monitor Prince Xingxian. one.

"yes."

Huang Jin just nodded slightly and answered in a low voice.

"In the afternoon, I saw Chen Ju came back?"

Emperor Jiajing turned around and continued walking into the palace, asking as he walked.

"I arrived in the capital this morning. It was almost noon when I entered the palace. I asked him to rest for two days before coming back to work."

Huang Jin hurriedly followed and replied.

"Nanjing did a good job this time and deserves a reward."

Emperor Jiajing walked to the imperial book case. He wanted to personally write an edict for Lu Bing. This was the only thing he, the emperor, could do at this time.

Upon hearing this, Huang Jin just raised his head slightly and glanced at the emperor's back, but he kept walking and followed him.

Early the next morning, Emperor Jiajing's edict was sent to the cabinet.

Yan Song accepted the imperial edict written by the emperor, but after reading it, his mouth felt a little bitter. Xu Jie stood aside and watched everything coldly.

Lu Bing's unexpected death made Xu Jie feel a sense of danger, although he didn't know where this feeling came from.

In fact, up to this point, even the darkest "conspiracy theory enthusiast" would never have thought that Lu Bing's death was just a plot, a daring plot.

In this game, the person who set up the game has considered everything.

According to the words released from the palace after Lu Bing's death, he died suddenly of illness while in office, and the Jin Yiwei patrolled the streets. This was to prevent the officialdom and the people from talking about the matter, and no one was allowed to mention that the real cause of Lu Bing's death was a new refining for Emperor Jiajing. He died trying the elixir to preserve the emperor's reputation.

Even if someone is suspicious, they would never dare to jump out and say anything at this time, not to mention that from the perspective of people who know the details, is it weird to kill people with pills? It's not like things like this have never happened in the palace before.

Of course Xu Jie would not think that Emperor Jiajing poisoned Lu Bing. He was just sad because there was one less helper in the court who dared to confront Yan Song.

"His Majesty praised Wenfu for his service to the country, exposing the traitors, fulfilling his duties, and writing Qingci. He posthumously awarded him the title of Uncle Loyalty and the posthumous title of "Wu Hui" (which means "defending against insults, working hard and selflessly"). This is easy to say.

He was granted 16 altars of sacrifice, which was a bit beyond the rules. He was also granted 50 stone of linen and food, and the Ministry of Works was ordered to prepare a coffin and build a tomb for him.

As for asking the Ministry of War to appoint his son Lu Yi as the commander of the guard, and to ask Zhu Xixiao to take care of his family, these were reasonable. ”

The imperial edict reached the cabinet, and the cabinet must reach a consensus before it can be issued by the six departments with a seal. This is the imperial edict.

Emperor Jiajing sent this edict to the cabinet first instead of directly to the six departments, because he was naturally worried that the people in the six departments would pretend to be crazy and deliberately make trouble during the period, so he asked them to do a good job of appeasement first.

"Everything else is easy to say, but the 16 altars of sacrifice, I don't know if anyone in that group will make trouble. "

Xu Jie naturally knew the meaning of this, but sixteen jars of sacrifice were the specifications for the emperor. Using them on Lu Bing would indeed easily cause criticism from those below him. If they were rejected by the six departments, there would probably be another storm in the court.

"We will deliver them personally. If anyone disagrees, just write a note and ask the Ministry of Personnel to send the person away. I have worked with Wen Fu for many years, and there must be no mistakes on this last leg. "

Yan Song stroked his pale beard and said to Xu Jie.

Xu Jie nodded slightly. It was the only way. He forced the six departments to pass this decree.

The meanings of issuing an imperial decree and issuing an imperial decree are completely different.

In any case, the person is gone. The emperor gave this respect, and the people under them should not mess around.

Sure enough, the six departments still had some opinions on the emperor's posthumous honors for Lu Bing, mainly about the sixteen altars of sacrifices. At the beginning, they were resolute and opposed.

Although Yan Song's power encroached on the court, he was often helpless against the six departments and the group of censors in the Censorate, not to mention the deputy assistant Xu Jie.

There was no other way, so he had to take out the business. The countermeasures were to directly threaten with official positions. Those who opposed could just wait for the documents from the Ministry of Personnel, and then go home to pack their bags and set off to the southwest to be the king of the mountain.

The first and second assistants made such threats, but they were still exiled to the remote and poor places like the southwest. They were afraid that they would never return to the prosperous Central Plains.

In fact, there were also their people in the six departments, but after all, there were not many, just a few people.

But at this time, they also played a huge role. When they saw the two elders coming, they knew that they hurriedly came out to act as a peacemaker and persuaded the most determined opponents.

"Lord Lu's matter has been delayed for a day, and it can't be delayed any longer. After all, it is a posthumous honor given by His Majesty, and it is decent. ”

After constant persuasion, and with the threats from Yan Song and Xu Jie still ringing in his ears, he thought, since the person is gone, what is there to argue about?

Finally, the Rites Department nodded in agreement first, and the edict itself was approved by the Rites Department.

The other officials saw that the Rites Department had already given in, so it was not easy to continue to oppose, and the edict was quickly filed and issued.

After the imperial edict was issued, the Left Commander Zhu Xixiao hurriedly left the Left Army Commander's Office and rushed to the Lu family to take care of the Lu family's funeral.

In fact, this edict should have been issued yesterday, but the cabinet had not come up with a charter, and Emperor Jiajing was in grief again, so it was issued a day late.

Zhu Xixiao is a descendant of Zhu Neng, the King of Dongping, and the younger brother of Zhu Xizhong, the current Duke of Chengguo. He got the official position because of Zhu Xizhong's relationship.

Lu Bing is the commander of the Left Army Commander's Office, but he is in charge of the Jinyiwei , compared to other people, Emperor Jiajing naturally trusted his brother more.

Zhu Xixiao was also a person who was good at making friends. In addition, he had good ability and had a relationship with his brother, Duke Cheng, Zhu Xizhong. Therefore, he was also successful in his career after entering the officialdom and became the person in charge of the Left Army Commandery.

Of course, at this time, most of the powers of the Five Army Commandery had been hollowed out by the Ministry of War. The actual power to command troops had long been lost, leaving only an empty shell, but it could not withstand the high rank.

Emperor Jiajing sent Zhu Xixiao to be in charge of Lu Bing's funeral, which was naturally to raise the status of the Lu family. Don't let people bully you just because Lu Bing is gone.

After all, when he was in charge of the Jinyiwei, Lu Bing offended many dignitaries.

The speed of news spread in the capital was extremely fast. At noon that day, Wei Guangde got the information.

"Tsk tsk. "

Wei Guangde lamented that Emperor Jiajing favored Lu Bing and treated his milk brother with the emperor's standard, but then he shook his head and said that it was not worth it for Lu Bing.

Wei Guangde thought that Emperor Jiajing's summons might be postponed for a few days until the Lu family's funeral, but he was wrong this time.

That night, a young eunuch came to convey the news from the palace and went to the West Garden to meet the emperor early the next morning.

Wei Guangde also guessed that this summons was just a routine meeting. After all, he was an imperial envoy sent by the court. He asked about the work and might talk about what he saw and heard along the way, especially the Nanjing Zhenwuying incident in which Wei Guangde was involved.

However, Wei Guangde also thought that Emperor Jiajing probably didn't have the heart to talk about these things at this time. He should just ask casually and then end the meeting, and then let Wei Guangde rest for a while.

Sure enough, in the second day's meeting, Emperor Jiajing was more interested in the current situation of Nanjing City and asked about his experiences in Nanjing City.

As for Zhenwu Camp, it was not touched at all.

Yes, the information about Zhenwu Camp was explained in detail in the report sent by Nanjing, including not only the cause but also the development process and the final disposal.

When Wei Guangde learned from him that Nanjing City had suffered a series of disasters and the business on the market was declining, he was silent for a long time.

The whole interview process was very short. Emperor Jiajing didn't speak much. He mostly asked questions, and then Wei Guangde answered them.

When Wei Guangde withdrew from Yongshou Palace, he was given a half-month vacation by Emperor Jiajing, allowing him to have a good rest at home.

Although he did not receive a reward from the emperor in Xiyuan, Wei Guangde knew that before the holiday was over, an imperial edict would definitely be given to him, just to see where he would go with this promotion.

If he continues to stay in Zhan Shifu for promotion, it means that the emperor seems to have no intention of releasing him yet, and may still stay in the Hanlin Academy to polish and wait for opportunities.

Such an official position is naturally what Wei Guangde hopes for. Whether he stays in the Hanlin Academy or the Zhanshifu, he still has the opportunity to impact the cabinet. If he is released, whether he goes to the Metropolitan Procuratorate or the Sixth Ministry, or even to another place, it means It seems that he has lost the opportunity to become a cabinet minister.

Wei Guangde was still very uneasy when he left Xiyuan. The emperor didn't talk much, so Wei Guangde couldn't see any clues.

After returning home, Wei Guangde took the time to go to the Lu Mansion to pay homage to Lu Bing. Because of the high standards given by the emperor, many officials came to pay homage in front of the Lu Mansion, and Wei Guangde's appearance was inconspicuous.

Entering the mourning hall, Wei Guangde paid homage in a junior manner according to the rules. Lu Bing's third son, Lu Yi, was waiting for guests in the mourning hall.

Lu Bing had four sons, the eldest son Lu Jing died young, the second son died young, the third son Lu Yi is now the head of the Lu family, and the fourth son Lu Cai is still young, so naturally he will not be arranged.

Wei Guangde only met Lu Bing three times, but never with the rest of the Lu family. What's more, on such an occasion, he didn't expect that he would be invited to the side room by Lu Yi after they just exchanged a few words.

After a while, Lu Yi saw off this group of guests and entered the wing. He cupped his hands at Wei Guangde and said, "Yi often heard my father mention Wei Chuanlu, but it's a pity that I have never seen him before, but he met me on such an occasion. Meet."

Wei Guangde was slightly stunned when he heard this. He didn't expect that Lu Bing had mentioned him in front of Lu Yi. It seemed that he really didn't know anything about it.

"I never thought it would be like this. It's really disappointing."

Wei Guangde said in a mournful manner, which naturally revealed his true feelings. Although he did not have a close relationship with Lu Bing, after all, he was missing a channel to obtain information, and the loss to him was huge.

"My father passed away suddenly, and many things were not explained. In the future, please ask Shandai to take more care of me."

Having said this, Lu Yi suddenly bowed deeply to Wei Guangde.

Although he has been promoted to the rank of commander of the Imperial Guard, he also knows that his father is gone, and the relationship between him and the palace is separated by a layer after all. He needs someone in the court to help him.

Lu Bing also had arrangements in the court. After all, Qian Jinyiwei had offended too many civil servants.

It's a pity that none of these preparations were handed over to Lu Yi.

When I saw Wei Guangde today, I naturally remembered that I had heard my father say that this man was trustworthy, and that was why this happened.