Chapter 357 356 Comeback

After seeing the prosperity of the capital and having a meal of "ordinary people" at Wei Guangde's house, King Yu thought he had a certain understanding of the living standards of the common people.

However, after leaving the Wei family and returning to Prince Yu's Mansion, Prince Yu fell into deep worry from the moment he entered the house.

Of course he was not worried that Gao Gong would harm him. He was still very satisfied with today's trip and he also ate well at the Wei family. However, the moment he entered the mansion, he felt a little guilty, wondering if he had been too indulgent today.

Another layer of worry is that what his father will think of him when word of what he did today reaches the palace.

As Wei Guangde said during the banquet, he only needs to be himself, and as long as he makes no mistakes, his position will be as stable as Mount Tai.

So what I have done today, will my father approve of it?

I don’t know, King Yu really doesn’t know. He can only sit down and think randomly when he is alone, because the image of Emperor Jiajing is very strange in his mind, so strange that he can’t remember what he looks like or what his temper is. It was also analyzed by Gao Gong and others.

Can't figure it out.

Inadvertently, King Yu suddenly felt a sense of regret. If he had not listened to Gao Gong and Wei Guangde today and had not gone out for this trip, there would be no worries.

Just staying in the palace, drinking and listening to music seemed to be a pretty good life, although it was really nice outside, with all kinds of people on the road and a dazzling array of goods in the street shops.

Thinking of this, King Yu couldn't help but feel that the country under his father's governance was not bad.

Although Gao Gong and the others often criticized the emperor in front of him for delaying national affairs due to cultivating Taoism and appointing treacherous ministers to govern the country, which led to the spread of thieves and people's livelihood, but at this moment, King Yu suddenly felt that their opinions were too one-sided, and a little scabies was not worth it. All the fuss?

Even at this time, King Yu felt that his father's decision was right, and it seemed good to leave the government affairs to those civil servants.

There is also the former Emperor Hongzhi, who can be regarded as his great grandfather. At that time, he elected three cabinet ministers and governed the country very well.

King Yu felt that he should learn from him and choose a few better officials to help him manage government affairs, so that he could do what he likes with peace of mind.

Gao Gong counts as one, Chen Yiqin can also do it, and Yin Shizhen has to look at it again.

At this time, King Yu suddenly forgot his previous worries and began to think about who he should arrange to join the cabinet to help him manage the country.

As for the others, King Yu was not familiar with them, but he also knew that he could not use all the subordinate officials of his own palace.

Gao Gong and Chen Yiqin were people he thought were pretty good, capable and loyal.

These two people should be enough, and the remaining position must be reserved for Xu Jie. In any case, Xu Jie has been very supportive of him over the years.

King Yu felt that since Xu Jie supported him, he should reciprocate the favor and give others some benefits.

Moreover, judging from his experience with Xu Jie, this person is still very capable. Maybe he may not be as good as Yan Song in some aspects, but the fact that he can serve as the second assistant for a long time also explains the problem.

For those who are mediocre, my father should not let them stay in high positions for a long time.

Thinking of this, King Yu suddenly felt better and relaxed. Then he thought of the jugglers he saw on the street today. Those children were really powerful and could perform various performances on such a high pole.

Thinking of this, I couldn't help but feel excited. It's very exciting. When can I find some people with special acrobatic skills to come to the palace to perform? I will get tired of listening to music and watching operas every day.

As for Wei Guangde, he entertained the future emperor at home today, and his mood has not calmed down yet, he is very excited.

At this moment, he was rubbing his hands and walking back and forth in the bedroom, watching Xu Jianglan and her maid on the side, covering their mouths in joy.

After turning around for an unknown number of times, Wei Guangde finally stopped and sat on the edge of the bed.

"You go down first."

At this time, Xu Jianglan watched Wei Guangde finally sit down, no longer wandering around in front of his eyes, and said to the little maid behind him.

After the little maid went out and closed the door, she said, "Why do you think so highly of Prince Yu? I heard my brother say that His Highness Prince Yu is not favored by the emperor, and His Highness Prince Jing is more likely to inherit the great treasure."

Xu Jianglan's words were a bit presumptuous, but fortunately she was at home, and I heard her continue: "And I heard from my uncle and the others that it is still unclear who will win between the two highnesses. The best way is not to say anything. If we don’t do it, we can just follow the emperor’s orders and do it.”

"That's because he is a distinguished person who lives with his country, so he doesn't need to take sides or compete for the glory of the dragon."

Wei Guangde replied casually. At this time, Wei Guangde was thinking exactly what he said.

He knew very well that the uncle Xu Jianglan was talking about should be Xu Yande. He was already the Duke of Dingguo. What else could he do with some merit? How could he still expect to be awarded the title of King in his lifetime?

Even if the emperor wanted to give it, he wouldn't dare to ask for it.

I heard that his health was not very good now. I heard Xu Jianglan say several times that he might not be able to live well for a few years, and by then the title of Duke Dingguo would be passed on to Xu Wenbi.

Wei Guangde had met this Xu Wenbi several times, but except for the first time at Dingguo Gongfu, the rest of them had bumped into each other in restaurants and brothels.

At that time, Wei Guangde accompanied his colleagues to listen to music and compose poems, but he was not doing anything dirty. As for Mr. Xu, he seemed to be similar to him, and he was with a group of noble sons from the capital.

Through Xu Wenbi, Wei Guangde got to know all the young second generation nobles in the capital.

Wei Guangde's impression of Xu Wenbi is that he loves to play, but he seems to know the importance and is very cautious. He will make trouble when it is time to make trouble, and be quiet when it is time to be quiet. He knows how to measure things.

Among those second-generation people, I feel that Xu Wenbi is still a bit of a figure.

This is Wei Guangde's understanding of the current and next generation of Duke Dingguo. If you are a relative of such a family, at least you won't have to worry about encountering bad luck like the Red Mansion.

"Actually, you don't have to fight. Just keep going step by step. With your ability and the help of your uncle and the others, you will be able to reach a high position sooner or later."

Xu Jianglan said on the side.

"You women don't understand what happens in the court."

Wei Guangde shook his head. If he really had a relationship with the nobles, it was unlikely that his official position would be promoted very high.

Wei Guangde now consciously draws a clear line with Ding Guogong's family, because he is worried that other colleagues will classify him as a member of the Wuxun family.

Even though the civil and military ministers in the court were very polite when meeting each other, the civil service group was always on guard against the Wu Xun family, which was why the Beijing camp was firmly controlled by the Ministry of War.

For example, although Zhu Xizhong said that he was commanding the army in the Beijing camp, in fact, without a note from the Ministry of War, his soldiers could not command at all, and they could not even leave the military camp.

The Ministry of War has officials stationed in each battalion of the Beijing camp, and they are the actual commanders of each battalion.

"I don't understand. You just want to please King Yu. In the future, after King Yu ascends the throne, he will see if he can promote you to a bigger official and let you join the cabinet. From now on, when others see you, they will first call you 'Wei Ge Lao' ,hehe"

As he spoke, Xu Jianglan's mouth burst into laughter like a silver bell.

"For all of our officials who passed the imperial examination and entered the government, their ultimate goal is to enter the cabinet. What's more, if your family is just on the road to becoming a cabinet official, they will naturally have to redouble their efforts to succeed in joining the cabinet.

To wake up and hold the power of the world, to be drunk and lie in the lap of a beautiful woman, this is our lifelong pursuit. "

Wei Guangde said casually.

"You still want to get drunk and lie on the lap of a beautiful woman, who will you sleep with? Don't think I don't know. You guys, a bunch of Hanlin people, just ran to that place when they had nothing to do. When you came back, you said you were dragged there by your colleagues. Hum, don't think I don't know. In fact, you are the one who is making the most noise."

At this time, Xu Jianglan had already stood up and walked to Wei Guangde, saying with an unkind expression, while saying that she clenched her jade hands into small fists and shook them in front of Wei Guangde's eyes.

Xu Jianglan was born in the palace of the Duke of Wei. She was not only good at playing music, chess, calligraphy and painting, but also learned some tricks and embroidery, perhaps to strengthen her body and to have more self-defense and life-saving abilities. In short, when Xu Jianglan saw Wei Guangde getting up to box in the morning, he even Wei Guangde "discussed" with each other.

Of course, Wei Guangde's boxing skills were not fancy, but he didn't dare to attack arbitrarily, so he was beaten by Xu Jianglan in a few blows and ran away, which made her very arrogant at home for a while.

However, Wei Guangde didn't intend to spoil her today. He reached out and grabbed one of Xu Jianglan's arms and held her in his arms. Then he turned over and pressed her under him. He said with a frivolous smile: "Who will I sleep with? I'll sleep with you tonight." ”

In the days that followed, Wei Guangde lived a leisurely life.

He had already written Yu Dayou's reply and gave it to the servant to take back to Datong.

If you want to request an order to build a chariot camp, you must first win a real victory in Datong to show the superiority of chariots against the Mongolian cavalry. Otherwise, given the current financial situation of the imperial court, it will definitely be unable to support it, and the Ministry of War will definitely You won’t spend money building a wheelbarrow without seeing the results.

In fact, the officials of the Ming Dynasty did not lack outstanding foresight. If they were different from readers, it was also affected by the times.

For example, after seeing the Franco machine guns and bird guns introduced from the West, officials saw the effects in actual combat. When compared with the firearms originally equipped by the Ming army, it was easy to see the advantages.

They were not stingy with such practical equipment, and invested a large amount of money to manufacture equipment for the Ming army in various places in large quantities, even under financial constraints.

They are not complacent, but a group of people who are good at learning.

Of course, when the money is allocated, what those people involved in the production have done, they also know, after all, they can also profit from it, but this is not the main reason why they allocate the money, it is because this thing can really improve the Ming army. Combat strength.

You know, where the money is, it can be used to make other things without using it to make guns and cannons. It can still be floated away layer by layer. In fact, their interests will not be damaged.

It couldn't be easier for officials like them to make excuses for spending money.

The contact between Wei Guangde and Chen Ju has been restored, but the number of contacts has become less, and most of the information is conveyed by notes.

Wei Guangde also knew that Lu Bing's case was completely understood.

A major change occurred within the East Factory. Several servants who took action were poisoned overnight, and the clues were completely interrupted.

The resumes of several people in the palace were also very ordinary, and their origins could not be traced at all. Following this incident, there was another purge in the Dongchang, and Chen Ju actually managed to get a moderate brand name in the Dongchang.

Wei Guangde wanted to see Chen Ju wearing a pointed hat, white leather boots, brown clothes, and a small belt, but he also knew that the badge Chen Ju mentioned in the East Factory was probably only issued to facilitate his service in front of the emperor and to facilitate his work when the emperor ordered. It was unlikely that he would be transferred to the East Factory to be the chief criminal officer.

He was not qualified to be the governor of the East Factory, but his godfather Gao Zhong was qualified.

However, Huang Jin was the eunuch governor-general, the seal holder of the Silijian, and the governor of the East Factory. This trust was unmatched.

Without the approval of Emperor Jiajing, who could move Huang Jin's status.

Gao Zhong naturally did not dare to compete with Huang Jin, and he just did his job as the Silijian pen.

Beijing in August was cool and refreshing, and the court also ushered in a busy month.

The reason for the busyness was certainly not the sudden increase in official documents submitted from all over the country, nor was it that the border towns fought with the Mongolian Tartars again, or that the coastal areas of Jiangsu and Zhejiang were robbed by Japanese pirates, but the arrival of the Wanshou Festival.

With the issuance of the imperial edict to take 200,000 taels of silver from Taicang, the whole court became busy.

The birthday of Emperor Jiajing was approaching, and the censors in the court would naturally not criticize the emperor for asking the Ministry of Revenue for money at this time.

In the following days, the imperial edicts were issued from the Western Garden, one after another, to offer sacrifices to Confucius, the master, Li Ben, was ordered to perform the ceremony, to offer sacrifices to the great gods and grain, the Duke of Ying, Zhang Rong, was ordered to perform the ceremony, and to offer sacrifices to the emperor, the Duke of Cheng, Zhu Xizhong, was ordered to perform the ceremony.

In the past few days, the most concerned thing in the Hanlin Academy, or the most concerned thing for the officials of the major government offices in the capital, was whether Emperor Jiajing would drive to the Fengtian Hall on the day of the Wanshou Saint Festival.

In Wei Guangde's memory, it seemed that he had not seen Emperor Jiajing in the Fengtian Hall for many times, and up to now, the construction of the three major halls was still continuing and had not been completed. The wood purchased from the south was still being transported to the capital, and the Ministry of Works had only completed the reconstruction of the inner and outer palace gates.

However, the fact that the Fengtian Hall was not built did not mean that the ceremony could not be performed.

In fact, the huge square outside the Fengtian Hall had been cleared. Although the worship ceremony could not be held in the hall, it was possible to hold it outside the hall. The palace examination and subsequent ceremonies at the beginning of the year were conducted in this way, and Emperor Jiajing also arrived at the scene.

Their discussion soon ended. With the decree issued by the Western Garden, Zhu Xizhong, Duke of Chengguo, was ordered to worship the heaven in the Xuanji Hall on behalf of the emperor on the Wanshou Sheng Festival. He did not go to the palace. All officials wore court robes and went to the Great Court Gate to perform five bows and three kowtows. They still presented their congratulations and were exempted from banquets and gifts of money. King Li Yan of Korea sent his accompanying ministers, Liu Qian, the assistant judge of the Ministry of Households, and other Weiyi leaders such as Canning, and Geluge to come to the court for congratulations. Tribute horses and local products were given as usual.

After Emperor Jiajing issued the decree, the court quickly operated according to the decree. It seemed that August had passed smoothly. However, when an urgent memorial from Xuanfu was sent to the capital, the relaxed atmosphere in the court suddenly became tense again.

The main force of Altan Khan appeared outside Xuanfu, and there are signs of invasion. Please mobilize troops from Jizhen and other places to assist in defense.

After the Altan Khan invaded Xuanfu in a large scale in the 35th year of Jiajing, it seems that they are making a comeback again.