Chapter 394 393 If There Is Something Wrong, Go to Zhi, if There Is Nothing Wrong, Go to the Cabinet

When the sun disappears in the western sky, only a gray earth is left.

On the streets of Beijing, the number of pedestrians, vehicles and horses has decreased significantly at this time. Although there is still some time before the curfew, people are also on their way home quickly.

It was at this time that Wei Guangde's house welcomed a guest.

"Don't be offended if you come uninvited."

After Gao Gong entered the door, he looked at Wei Guangde who came out and said.

"There, Brother Suqing comes to the door. The plum blossoms are shining brightly. Please come inside."

Wei Guangde invited Gao Gong in with a smile on his face, but he still looked at the official uniform he was wearing with some surprise.

Except for official business, usually when visiting people, they would put on their regular clothes. No one would run around in official uniforms. Firstly, official uniforms are expensive and difficult to clean if they get dirty. Secondly, they are a bit ostentatious.

But seeing Gao Gong come here today without changing his clothes, Wei Guangde couldn't help but wonder where he came from.

After entering the room and sitting down, Gao Gong noticed Wei Guangde's curious eyes and said directly: "I just came out of Xiyuan and didn't have time to change."

Hearing Gao Gong say this, Wei Guangde understood, "Businessmen from my hometown came over two days ago and brought a lot of local products. I have asked the kitchen to prepare a table of wine and food, and we can chat while eating."

"I will definitely eat and drink at your place tonight, but let me ask you first, did you write the Qing Ci you handed in today?"

Gao Gong first nodded and smiled, and then asked seriously.

When Gao Gong asked about Qing Ci, Wei Guangde began to feel guilty. Could it be that Gao Gong saw that he had pieced together Qing Ci.

Wei Guangde tried his best to keep the expression on his face unchanged, but he saw that Gao Gong's face was already filled with sadness.

"Is there anything wrong with that Qing Ci?"

Wei Guangde asked in a low voice.

"You didn't write Qing Ci before. I didn't expect you to write Qing Ci today."

Gao Gong shook his head and smiled bitterly: "You should have seen those Qing Ci poems before, they are all archived in the Hanlin Academy."

Wei Guangde nodded when he heard this, but then he heard Gao Gong's cold words.

"Those poets in the past, whether it was Mr. Yan Ge, Mr. Xu Ge, or Yuan Wei, were all gods who brought His Majesty to earth for experience. But what did you write in your poems? You still have to live in this life. ”

"ah?"

Hearing what Gao Gong said, Wei Guangde felt chills all over his body. How could he have ignored such an important thing.

In Wei Guangde's consciousness, there is no such thing as a god or a man. Even if he is an emperor in folk mythology or a real dragon emperor, Wei Guangde's soul has traveled through time after all, so he doesn't really have much awe in his heart.

Of course, Wei Guangde was also in awe of Emperor Jiajing, but that was awe of power, not his identity.

Do princes and generals like Xiang Ning have the guts?

Not many monarchies have survived in later generations, and most of them have limited monarch power. They are more of a symbol of the country and a mascot.

In Wei Guangde's impression, tribes in the Middle East and Africa still have reservations, and monarchs still have real rights. Even if other countries retain monarchs, they still adopt a constitutional system.

Therefore, when Wei Guangde wrote the Qing Ci, he naturally wrote it according to this consciousness. He regarded Emperor Jiajing as an ordinary person. He was lucky enough to be born in the emperor's family and could have resources to practice Taoism. become.

The writing background of that Qing Ci was actually very simple, but now after listening to Gao Gong's words, Wei Guangde felt that the trouble that Qing Ci might cause him seemed to be more serious than a bad attitude.

Thinking of this, Wei Guangde looked at Gao Gong anxiously.

If that Qing Ci was used by someone with ulterior motives to gossip about Emperor Jiajing, it would be troublesome.

Although he knew that the Qingci would not reach Emperor Jiajing, it would be troublesome for others to see it and speak it out.

If you do more, you will be wrong; if you do not, it will be good.

Wei Guangde felt a little guilty at this time, so he might as well just pretend to be stupid and get through.

Seeing Wei Guangde's look, Gao Gong softened his tone and said, "I stopped your Qing Ci, but many people have seen it. Yan Shifan also saw it and picked up your Qing Ci." Come out and make a donation.”

Having said this, Gao Gong looked at Wei Guangde dissatisfied.

Wei Guangde knew that he had not thought carefully this time and could not say anything, but his heart was already in turmoil.

Qingci will not be sent directly to the emperor, and it seems to be nothing, but Yan Shifan sees it, and it may be dug out one day. It seems to have become a time bomb, and it may explode at any time.

Wei Guangde frowned and thought for a while, then suddenly said: "Since Yan Shifan knows about it, Brother Su Qing shouldn't stop him."

In Wei Guangde's view, if there is a mistake, it is better to expose it directly and deal with it head-on. At least there will be someone who can help him correct the problem in front of the emperor. If Yan Song and Yan Shifan report it to the emperor privately

"What do you mean? Did I do something wrong?"

Gao Gong was already unhappy, but when he heard what Wei Guangde said, he felt even worse.

However, Wei Guangde raised his hand to him and then said: "Shandai would like to thank Brother Suqing for protecting me, but Shandai still feels that since Qingci has been seen by Yan Shifan, it is better to send it directly to His Majesty. , Your Majesty will continue to scold and punish you. It would be better to tell him clearly in person than to be assassinated by them.

Anyway, aren't there brother Su Qing and Mr. Xu Ge in Xiyuan? "

"Are you worried that Yan Shifan will report it to His Majesty in private?"

After being reminded by Wei Guangde, Gao Gong also woke up.

Although the Qingci was stopped, if the emperor was offended and wanted to punish him, as long as someone poked him in front of him, Wei Guangde would not be able to escape punishment. After all, those Qingci would be properly kept, regardless of the quality of the Qingci.

Gao Gong was a little impatient at this time and began to rub his hands.

Wei Guangde was considered a general in the Prince Yu's Mansion. Although his official position was not high, he had well-informed information in the palace and sometimes could put forward valuable opinions.

It can be said that both Prince Yu and Gao Gong attached great importance to Wei Guangde.

Of course, the most important thing was that they were 100% confident in Wei Guangde. Think about what the Prince Yu's Mansion was like when Wei Guangde joined.

At that time, Prince Yu was almost completely desperate. The finances of Prince Yu's Mansion were almost collapsed, and the mansion was about to collapse. People in the palace were in turmoil.

As for Wei Guangde, the Prince Yu's Mansion must do its best to protect him, even if it angered Emperor Jiajing. Moreover, there was only a hidden worry now, and it was not time to despair.

Wei Guangde blinked at this moment, just trying to control his emotions, and his mind was also quickly calculating how to solve this hidden danger.

It is definitely better to solve it actively than to accept it passively. At least the initiative is in his own hands, not in the hands of Yan Shifan, who might be caught at any time.

This is the first mistake Wei Guangde made after crossing over. In the past, he was very cautious in what he said and did, for fear that he would express the views and habits of later generations, which would conflict with the current concepts and be regarded as alien by others.

As for the shirt-like things he wore at home, most people would look sideways when they saw it, because there were really few clothes with double-breasted breasts in this era.

Fortunately, the mandarin duck war jacket and armor of the Ming army uniforms were of this style, and he was born in a military household, so it only attracted people's attention and was still easily accepted.

People who are familiar with him even know that Wei Guangde even has a mandarin duck war jacket and a set of mountain-patterned armor in his wardrobe, and this mountain-patterned armor was sent by Ma Fang from Xuanfu.

The armor of the Ming army in this era was all handmade, and the cost was not cheap, not to mention the armor.

For scholars, what to wear is still very sensitive, and the main reason is of course because the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang, set the system.

With the idea of ​​actively solving the hidden dangers, Wei Guangde gradually came up with an idea, but he didn't know if it would work.

"Brother Su Qing, if you find an opportunity, when you are summoned by the emperor alone, you can mention it casually, saying that I am not talented but want to make a profit, I can't write Qingci but force myself to write it, and the result is that the words are messy and unreadable."

Wei Guangde didn't care whether it would tarnish his reputation as a Chuanlu, and he directly said what he thought.

In the joint examination and palace examination that year, Wei Guangde was originally ranked at the bottom, but he was picked up just because of a word from Emperor Jiajing. If the outside world didn't know, how could Gao Gong not know.

It's called self-defilement, but in fact it's just telling the truth. His Hanlin Academy was also given by Emperor Jiajing, otherwise he would have been assigned to one of the six ministries. If he wants to be selected as a scholar, he's probably still asleep.

Gao Gong was stunned for a moment when he heard the solution proposed by Wei Guangde, and then he understood what he meant. He took the initiative to defile himself in front of Emperor Jiajing, and then exposed the matter. Although it may still cause the emperor's dissatisfaction, if it is handled properly, the crisis can be controlled within an acceptable range.

However, Gao Gong soon thought of another problem and couldn't help but say, "But the number of times I was summoned by His Majesty alone is very limited, and there are not many such opportunities."

Seeing Wei Guangde's puzzled look, Gao Gong continued to explain: 'Although I am often summoned to the West Garden, I can't see the emperor most of the time. The officials on duty in the West Garden stay in the Wuyi Palace, and His Majesty will summon them when there is something.

In fact, most of the time, it is to help the cabinet deal with some official documents and memorials in their respective yamen. His Majesty directly approves them, and rarely summons them. ’

“Is that so?”

Wei Guangde suddenly realized. He thought that after entering the Western Garden, he would be beside Emperor Jiajing and be present when the emperor dealt with memorials. It turned out that he was just waiting in the Western Garden.

“Strictly speaking, I was only temporarily transferred to the Western Garden for duty. The people who really followed Your Majesty to the Western Garden, in addition to the two cabinet elders, were Zhu Xizhong and Zhu Xixiao, as well as the Minister of Rites Wu Shan and the relative Fang Chengyu. They were the ones who really followed Your Majesty to the Western Garden.”

Gao Gong explained that although Wei Guangde was somewhat favored, he actually spent very little time with the king, and Emperor Jiajing was a famous homebody in history. Except for necessary circumstances, he rarely summoned foreign ministers. So Gao Gong explained to Wei Guangde in detail the real situation of the officials who entered the Western Garden.

Emperor Jiajing began to move to the Western Garden in the 18th year of Jiajing. His trusted civil and military ministers, eunuchs from the Silijian system, and Zhongshu officials followed the emperor to the Western Garden.

The civil and military officials can be divided into meritorious officials, close officials, cabinet officials and ministers, especially the Minister of Rites, who belong to the political core of this period.

"Zhu Xizhong and Zhu Xixiao are naturally the representatives of meritorious officials, and the close official is Fang Chengyu. After all, he is the brother of the late Queen Fang and one of the few people close to Your Majesty. As for us, except for Minister Wu, we are only summoned temporarily when Your Majesty wants a poem."

After listening to Gao Gong's explanation, Wei Guangde understood a little bit. Xiyuan could not be selected casually, but only a few powerful people in the dynasty. People like Gao Gong, Li Chunfang, etc. It seems to be just a reserve team trained by Emperor Jiajing.

"Are those two pavilion elders often summoned by His Majesty?"

Wei Guangde actually still doesn't understand the relationship between Xiyuan and the cabinet.

After all, Xiyuan already belongs to the palace, and it is still taboo to spy on the palace. Before, he only knew that the people who entered Xiyuan seemed to be very important to Emperor Jiajing, but he had not inquired about the details.

Gao Gong is here now. Although he is not included in Xiyuan, he has been called in frequently in recent years, so he naturally knows more than outsiders.

"The two cabinet elders are summoned sometimes, that is, when there are difficult matters, His Majesty will summon them."

Speaking of this, Gao Gong thought about it and said: "I heard someone say two days ago that His Majesty intends to let the two cabinet elders go to Wuyi Hall to work every day, and the cabinet will be temporarily left alone."

"Your Majesty wants to abolish the cabinet?"

Wei Guangde said in surprise.

"Of course not. The cabinet ministers have been assigned to Xiyuan, but their offices are still in the cabinet. Now they just ask the General Affairs Department and the various government offices to hand over all the documents originally sent to the cabinet to Wuyi Palace for processing, so as to prevent the cabinet elders from running away.

In fact, many times in the past, when His Majesty wanted to summon someone, the eunuch would go to the cabinet to find someone.

His Majesty used to have an hour each morning and afternoon to deal with government affairs. The two cabinet bosses would mostly go to Wuyi Hall at that time. However, if His Majesty was delayed or there were major events, they would be called in from the cabinet.

Being admitted to the pavilion does not mean that he will be admitted to Xiyuan. Mr. Lu Ge has not been admitted to Xiyuan. Of course, this has something to do with his poor health. "

Gao Gong continued to reveal the details he knew to Wei Guangde.

There were some things that had been speculated about in the court before, but it was hard to tell whether they were true or not. Most of the officials in Xiyuan kept silent about it. Now that Gao Gong had opened his mouth, Wei Guangde certainly seemed to know more.

"From the outside, we are often called to Xiyuan, so we think we are also in Xiyuan. This is actually wrong.

Are you curious, what is the difference between joining the direct committee and joining the cabinet? "

Gao Gong suddenly asked.

Wei Guangde nodded, he was indeed curious.

"If there's anything going on, stay in the office. If there's nothing going on, stay in the cabinet."

Gao Gong said: "This is what Mr. Xu Ge told me. If there is an important matter, they will stay in Wuyi Hall and wait for summons at any time. If nothing happens, they should go back to the cabinet to handle official business."

"That is to say, Mr. Xu Ge has more opportunities to meet His Majesty alone?"

Wei Guangde said.

"We can only discuss this matter with Mr. Xu Ge and see how to deal with it. By the way, your people in the palace can also inform you. It would also be good to help with a few words."

Gao Gong glanced at Wei Guangde and said again.

The solution proposed by Wei Guangde, in Gao Gong's view, is also the best solution to this hidden danger, but it must be fully prepared.