Chapter 384 383 Seeking an Official Post and Becoming a Vassal
"Sir Huang, we toast you."
At this moment, Wei Guangde and several young censors from the Metropolitan Procuratorate stood behind an old man in his fifties wearing red official robes to toast.
This is a restaurant near the Metropolitan Procuratorate. It was noon and the entire second floor was booked. Although most of the officials present were in green robes, they were officials from Beijing, and even a group of people that all officials in the world did not want to offend.
At this time, they gathered here, naturally to celebrate with wine.
"I don't deserve it. We are all colleagues. Let's drink this cup together."
The old man smiled and raised his glass, clinked glasses with Wei Guangde and others, and then drank it all.
"Sir Huang has worked hard and made great contributions. The Miao rebellion in Sichuan was fickle, but only when you were the governor of Sichuan, it was quelled and there was no more rebellion. This is unique."
The censor behind Wei Guangde flattered loudly.
"Yes, the court promoted you to the position of Right Censor-in-Chief, and you are in charge of the Miao rebellion in the three provinces of Hubei, Guizhou and Sichuan. I think the rebellion in the three provinces will soon be completely quelled. The cabinet and the Ministry of Personnel have chosen the right person this time."
"That is the result of Mr. Huang's painstaking efforts and the appointment of people based on their merits."
At this time, Wei Guangde stood quietly aside, watching Huang Guangsheng talking with those people, but in his mind he was recalling Huang Guangsheng's resume and another thing he had planned.
Huang Guangsheng was promoted to the Right Minister of Sichuan Provincial Administration in the 30th year of Jiajing, and later served as the Left Minister of Administration and the Governor of Sichuan.
During his nine years in Sichuan, he had a thorough understanding of the people's sentiments and weaknesses. He had reorganized the Yao registers of the whole province and adjusted the dosage, so that the officials could not be too high or too low. He checked the autumn grain and the surplus rice was used to exempt the grain and materials for the powerful and cunning people, so he was permanently appointed as the leader.
These practices gradually stabilized the society of Sichuan.
In fact, the rebellion of ethnic minorities was not only due to the refusal of some people to obey the king, but also the oppression of local officials was one of the important reasons.
During his tenure, Huang Guangsheng worked hard to resolve this contradiction, so that the ethnic groups in Sichuan gradually settled down.
His practices were naturally noticed by the court, so after nine years in Sichuan, he was ordered to return to Beijing to report on his work. He was also promoted to the right assistant minister of the Ministry of War and the right assistant censor of the Censorate, and the governor of the military affairs of Huguang, Sichuan and Guizhou provinces.
In ancient times, ethnic minority areas have always been appointed by the central government and belonged to the state of autonomy. Since the Yuan Dynasty, the Tang "Jie Mizhou" system was changed to the Tusi system. Tusi was also called native official, which was used to stabilize the border.
In the Ming Dynasty, the court tried to stabilize the situation in the southwest by combining kindness and power and checking and balancing ethnic minorities, but large and small Tusi rebellions occurred frequently, and the turmoil in the southwest could not be quelled throughout the Ming Dynasty.
Since the pacification of the southwest during the Hongwu period, there have always been wars in the minority ethnic settlements in the southwest. Therefore, the degree of unrest in the southwest region of the Ming Dynasty was no less than that in the northern border. There were often large-scale social conflicts, and sometimes the harm was even worse. It is not an exaggeration to say that "a small rebellion every five years and a big rebellion every ten years".
In the Ming Dynasty, the creation of the governor-general was closely related to the continuous ethnic conflicts in the southwest.
Speaking of which, the position of the governor-general of Hu, Gui and Sichuan was naturally established because of the frequent rebellions in the jurisdiction. The first governor-general of Hu, Gui and Sichuan was established in the 27th year of Jiajing, and the governor at that time was Zhang Yue.
In the twelve years since the establishment of the governor-general, five governors have been frequently replaced. Huang Guangsheng is the sixth governor appointed by the court. The purpose is naturally to let him use the practices in Sichuan to promote Huguang and Guizhou to quell the local minority rebellions.
In fact, Huang Guangsheng, the right assistant censor, was just a temporary position, but since he was in the capital, he also had to go to the Censorate to get acquainted.
So, today, when he came to the Censorate, his colleagues naturally pulled him to the restaurant to celebrate his promotion from Right Deputy Censor-in-Chief to Right Censor-in-Chief.
Huang Guangsheng has now been promoted from Governor to Governor-General, and he will definitely be a big shot in the future. Although the censors are not afraid of these high-ranking officials, they are not willing to give up this network easily.
Although the Censorate has great power, after all, the ranks are there, and only a very small number of people can be promoted in the court. The final way out for the censors is to serve as officials in the six ministries or local governments, and it may be under this person.
After the toasts gradually dispersed, Wei Guangde thought about it and finally made up his mind. While everyone was slightly drunk, he went up to talk to Huang Guangsheng.
"Sir Huang, this time as the Governor of Hu, Guizhou and Sichuan, I wonder how you plan to quell the rebellion in the three provinces, and will you promote the reorganization of corvee labor in Sichuan?"
Wei Guangde felt that one of the important reasons why he was able to quell the ethnic rebellion in Sichuan was that he restricted the exploitation of ethnic minority villages by local officials.
One province did this before, and now the three provinces will naturally do the same.
However, the cost of doing so is very high, and it is very easy to offend local gentry and chieftains, because it is not only the local officials appointed by the court who exploit the common people, but more of them are actually the chieftains.
Wei Guangde personally thinks that Huang Guangsheng's set is good, but it is very difficult to implement, and it requires strong military force to rely on to deter the villains.
Huang Guangsheng slightly opened his drunken eyes and looked at Wei Guangde, and replied with a smile: "In fact, most of those Miao people are not barbarians in our eyes. What they want is just food and clothing. As for those with ulterior motives, they still need to be suppressed by force."
"Use both kindness and force?"
"Yes, let the Miao people enjoy the kindness of the court, use force to deter the villains, and the world will be peaceful, hehe."
Huang Guangsheng replied with a smile.
"Are you from Quanzhou, Fujian?"
Wei Guangde also laughed in agreement.
"Yes, from Quanzhou, Jinjiang, Panhu, Linzhang, and you, Lord Wei?"
Huang Guangsheng asked back with a smile.
"I am from Pengze, Jiujiang Prefecture."
Wei Guangde smiled and said, "I wonder if you have heard of Yu Dayou."
"You said Zhifu, he is also from Jinjiang County, and I am a fellow villager, but he is a military household of Quanzhou Guard."
When Huang Guangde heard Wei Guangde mentioning Yu Dayou, Huang Guangsheng's drunken eyes narrowed slightly, thinking about what Wei Guangde was doing when he mentioned Yu Dayou.
Speaking of which, Huang Guangsheng knew Yu Dayou. Yu Dayou was three years older than Huang Guangsheng, and Yu Dayou's books were not in vain. He was considered a celebrity in Jinjiang County at the time. After all, he was a scholar in his teens.
Jinjiang County is so big, Huang Guangsheng naturally knew Yu Dayou, but later Yu Dayou took over his father's position and joined the army, while he passed the imperial examination and had a different path in civil and military affairs. It was said that he had not seen him for many years.
He naturally knew before that Yu Dayou had committed crimes in suppressing the Japanese in Zhejiang, but now he had just won the battle in Datong. Although the reward from the court was a bit short, he had resumed his hereditary military position after all, so he had not failed his ancestors.
Huang Guangsheng didn't know why Wei Guangde mentioned Yu Dayou, so he started to be cautious, but he soon felt relieved.
"My father once worked with General Yu to suppress Japanese invaders in Zhejiang, and I admire him very much."
Wei Guangde first briefly talked to Huang Guangsheng about the relationship between him and Yu Dayou, and then began to introduce in front of him Yu Dayou's record of moving from Fujian to Guangdong and Guangxi, then to Zhejiang, and finally to Shanxi.
Huang Guangsheng nodded slightly while listening. Naturally, he knew a lot about this old classmate. Although he had not met each other since he became an official, he still heard his name often in newspapers and official circles.
Speaking of which, Yu Dayou has fought countless battles, big and small, and now he has returned to work as a hundred households, which is really disappointing.
"With General Yu's ability, he is definitely more than enough to serve as the commander-in-chief of a province."
At this time, Wei Guangde had almost finished speaking, and then looked at Huang Guangsheng to see his reaction.
At this time, if Huang Guangsheng still didn't understand what Wei Guangde meant, his job as an official would have been in vain. He was helping Yu Dayou by recommending himself.
Of course, Huang Guangsheng didn't know Wei Guangde before. If he hadn't met him at the Metropolitan Procuratorate this time, he would have only heard of his name but not who he was.
"After we break up later, we will find a place to discuss this matter."
Huang Guangsheng understood what Wei Guangde meant, nodded slightly and responded in a low voice.
After all, it was now the banquet of the Metropolitan Procuratorate. They had stood aside and whispered for so long, which had attracted some people's attention.
"good."
Wei Guangde nodded with a smile and whispered back.
While everyone in the Metropolitan Procuratorate was drinking in the restaurant and keeping in touch with each other, the atmosphere in the main hall of Yongshou Palace in Xiyuan was very depressing.
Ordinarily, Datong has won the war and completely resolved the crisis on the northern border. The Anta Ministry has withdrawn from the Great Wall Pass. There should be a joyful and peaceful atmosphere in the government and the public at this time. However, yesterday a memorial to the Ministry of Household Affairs broke it. A cheerful atmosphere.
"I called you here, you guys should have guessed the reason."
At this time, under the throne, cabinet ministers Yan Song and Xu Jie stood on the left, while on the right stood Gao Yao, the minister of household affairs.
After Emperor Jiajing finished speaking, the three of them bowed slightly.
"This time, I thought the situation would be very bad, so the Ministry of Accounts raised money from various sources. It was very good, but it has raised as much as 300,000 taels, with hundreds of thousands more to come.
Ordinarily, if the battle is won, the extra money will naturally be of no use and should be returned to the warehouse. It can also be used to supplement the court's expenses in the future. But why are so many yamen trying to take it away now?
Now that Tila is gone, what will happen if the court wants to use the money in the future? Continue to issue IOUs? "
Emperor Jiajing frowned and looked at the three people below with a very unhappy expression.
Yesterday, the Ministry of Household Affairs issued a memorandum. It had collected money from many provinces for the war. The first batch collected nearly one million taels. They used official positions as threats to force local governments to recover the tax arrears over the years.
As a result, the battle was won at once, and naturally there was no such big expense.
There is money in the accounts of the household department. Although it has not yet been transported to the capital, many yamen have made up their minds.
The original use of this batch of silver was to prepare for the southern invasion of the Anda tribe. Various yamen wanted to take it away, but the Ministry of Revenue did not dare to agree easily. After all, it had been reported to the emperor.
In order to deal with this battle, Emperor Jiajing sent his servants to the Ministry of Household Affairs every day to keep an eye on the payment process, and personally witnessed the transfer of the money.
But people came to the Ministry of Finance with a note, and the Ministry of Finance couldn't keep delaying it. Seeing the pressure gradually coming to the Ministry of Finance, they had no choice but to hand over the conflict and let Emperor Jiajing decide whether to use the money first. Make up for some of the shortfalls over the years, or what to do?
At this time, Yan Song, the chief minister of the cabinet, took two steps forward slowly, bowed first and then said: "Your Majesty, I know about this matter. The notes taken out by the major yamen are all previous expenses. They should have been paid a long time ago." It’s settled, the IOU was issued just because the household department had no money.
Now that the Tatars have retreated, there shouldn't be any big moves in the short term. The various yamen may also be thinking that those accounts have been owed for a long time, and they happen to have such a sum of money, so they will pay some first. "
Yan Song stepped forward to answer, but Xu Jie, who was standing behind him, peeked at Gao Yao.
To be honest, he also sent someone to talk to Gao Yao two days ago about some related households who wanted to withdraw money from the Ministry of Household Affairs, but he didn't expect that Gao Yao would go directly to the emperor in the end.
When Xu Jie thought about it, when the money arrived, he should pay some first. Even if the emperor knew in the future, the money had been given and it was a legitimate expense, there would be nothing to say.
"If you give it, can the account be wiped out? There will be no deficit in the treasury this year, and there will be next year and the year after that."
When Emperor Jiajing said this, everyone in the hall already knew that the emperor was interested in this batch of money and planned to continue to hold on to the accounts.
Although he didn't know what Emperor Jiajing was going to do with the money, thinking about his annual cultivation expenses, not only Yan Song and Xu Jie, but also Gao Yao felt toothache and felt like he had done something stupid.
Emperor Jiajing did not notice the thoughts of the three people.
Because he was really interested in this batch of silver. After knowing that Datong might defeat the Tatars and knowing that the north could usher in a short period of peace, he was planning the use of this famous batch of silver.
However, what he said next shocked the three people below.
"No one can touch this batch of silver. The Ministry of Accounts must take it all back and temporarily store it in Taicang."
At this point, Emperor Jiajing had already stood up and continued: "The cabinet will come down, together with the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Household Affairs, to see where to build a palace, and submit a plan as soon as possible."
"Your Majesty, this is a new palace."
Yan Song looked up at Emperor Jiajing and opened his mouth to ask, but was interrupted by the emperor before he could finish his words.
"The palace is naturally the prince's palace, and my son should prepare to become a vassal."
After saying this, Emperor Jiajing looked at Huang Jin next to him. At this time, he also looked horrified.
I have been accompanying the emperor in the Yongshou Palace these days, but I have never heard anything about the vassal from the emperor. In other words, this is the arbitrary decision of the emperor Qiangang.
He waved his hands and said to Yan Song and Xu Jie: "You guys go down first. You can come up with the results of this matter as soon as possible and report it."
Yan Song and Xu Jie were shocked at this moment. No one thought that at this time, the battle between the two kings would come to an end.
Emperor Jiajing did not say who the new palace was for. Although they wanted to ask, they both kept silent. They bowed slightly and bowed slightly before exiting the hall with Gao Yao.
Yan Song and Xu Jie both had their own concerns at this time. After all, at the last moment, they had different support targets. It can be said that from this moment on, it was impossible for the two to continue to maintain their previous close relationship.
But Gao Yao was overjoyed at this time. In his opinion, the new palace was naturally prepared for King Jing, and it could only be King Jing.
His unintentional act actually contributed to this major event, asking King Jing to seize the domain and complete it as soon as possible. At this time, he had already made up his mind, mainly decided on the place, and immediately handed over the money to the Ministry of Industry, so that they could start work as soon as possible, and the money for the domain was Although it is troublesome, no matter how difficult it is, you must squeeze it out.