Chapter 425 424 The Beginning of the Great Change in the Imperial Court

Hearing Gao Gong said that he was going to visit Wu Peng, Wei Guangde and Zhang Juzheng below thought that he had accepted their opinions and targeted the vacancies in the official department.

But then, Gao Gong's words broke their guess.

"The palace still needs someone who can speak for the palace in the position of minister. I am betting on both sides."

Gao Gong turned to look at Wei Guangde and Zhang Juzheng, and then said: "The main goal is still to get the position of Minister of Rites, but I will also go to Wu Peng. If there is no hope of the position of the Ministry of Rites, I will settle for the second best and strive for the position of the Ministry of Personnel."

Wei Guangde felt that Gao Gong might have been confused by the smoothness of his official career in the past two years, and thought that Emperor Jiajing was really planning to increase the power of Prince Yu's Palace in the short term.

But this time, he didn't stop him, even though he thought Gao Gong's idea was inappropriate.

At the very least, having watched many palace battle dramas in later generations, especially the battle for the throne of the Nine Dragons in the Kangxi Dynasty, Wei Guangde knew that as the emperor, he would never support Prince Yu's Mansion before his deadline came, and maybe he would pave some way. But they will never be allowed to take power while they are still in good health.

However, thinking about some of the information he had seen and heard before, Wei Guangde somewhat understood why Gao Gong had this idea.

In the 17th year of Jiajing, after the death of Emperor Jiajing's biological mother, the Empress Dowager Jiang, after long thought, Emperor Jiajing decided to bury his biological mother and Zhu Youqi together in Xianling Tomb. Due to water seepage in the underground palace of Xianling Mausoleum, Emperor Jiajing decided to go to the underground palace in person, driven by his filial piety.

Emperor Jiajing was going on a tour to the south, so he naturally had to arrange matters of all sizes in the capital. At this time, Emperor Jiajing's choice was a bit unexpected.

He issued a decree and appointed the four-year-old prince Zhu Zaiheng as the prince's supervisor.

Of course, such a supervisory state was in name only, and the actual power in the DPRK was still in the hands of important ministers in the DPRK and the emperor who was on tour in the south.

These are the records that Wei Guangde saw in the Hanlin Academy, but now, Wei Guangde has heard someone put this matter into another version, that is, Emperor Jiajing was devoted to cultivating immortals, so he arranged for the prince to supervise the country so that he could devote himself to Put yourself into practice.

Wei Guangde didn't even bother to refute this, it's a pity that people like them could think of it.

If you say this, you are either taking it for granted out of ignorance, or you have ulterior motives.

Although Wei Guangde was not sure whether Gao Gong had some ideas, perhaps because Emperor Jiajing was absent from the court for a long time and was rumored to be often with the alchemists in Xiyuan, he took it for granted that the emperor neglected government affairs and devoted himself to cultivating immortality, or that Emperor Jiajing had no regard for the secular world. Power is seen very lightly.

However, based on Wei Guangde's observation, if Emperor Jiajing really wanted to delegate power to King Yu, he would never personally review the memorials every day.

Thinking of the many memorials sent by the inner court in the past and recently, which contained Emperor Jiajing's instructions, Wei Guangde judged that Emperor Jiajing had never planned to let go of power.

After that, Gao Gong didn't stay in Prince Yu's Mansion for long before he left.

After sending Gao Gong away, King Yu said hello to Yin Shizhen and Wei Guangde, and then hurried back to the inner courtyard of the palace.

"Your Highness has been a little strange these past few days. In the past, he would stay here for a while even if there was no class. These two days, he only came when there was class, and hurried back to the inner courtyard after class."

Wei Guangde looked at King Yu's back and whispered to Zhang Juzheng beside him.

In addition to giving lessons to Prince Yu, Yin Shizhen now also has to manage some trivial matters in the palace. That is to say, Wei Guangde and Zhang Ju, who have just joined the palace recently, have less business to do. They will inevitably get together to chat and pass the time when they have nothing to do.

"I heard from Eunuch Li that the palace has recently hired a new group of maids. You also know His Highness's preferences, so that's it."

Zhang Juzheng replied calmly.

"That's right, then you have to find an opportunity to persuade me. Excessive indulgence is not a good thing."

Wei Guangde frowned and said.

Although it seems natural that the prince likes women, as an official of the prince's palace, he still has to tell Prince Yu some things, at least to fulfill his duties.

"Forget it, Mr. Yin has told His Highness before, but His Highness agreed happily, but do you think it has any effect?"

Zhang Juzheng smiled and replied at this time, "Our Highness is like this. He admits mistakes faster than anyone else, but it is difficult for him to really change.

What's more, Master Yin also has the same thoughts as you, and wants to tell His Highness, because this is our responsibility, but we don't force it. After all, His Highness has no children yet, and it will be when His Highness has a son and a half. It’s time for us to take it seriously. "

Having said this, Zhang Juzheng looked at Wei Guangde again and said jokingly: "Shandai, you have been in and out of the palace recently, and you are not in good spirits during the day. Let me think about it, you don't know how."

Wei Guangde suddenly felt a little feverish on his face. He and Xu Jianglan had been married for several years and still had no children.

I received a letter from Jiujiang some time ago. My sister-in-law is pregnant again. This is her second child. Naturally, I am writing this letter to ask him about the news.

Therefore, Wei Guangde has also worked more during this period. The most important thing is that Wei Guangde has a different concept from people of this era. In this era, everyone works at night, but he does not have this concept. I felt a little worse mentally afterwards.

He knew it was inappropriate to do so, but Wei Guangde could only work hard at home, otherwise it would be difficult to write a letter home next time.

Today, Wei Guangde was in Prince Yu's Mansion until he had gone to San Yamen. He walked out of the Prince's Mansion because he had a banquet with his colleagues, so naturally he couldn't go home right away.

However, at the banquet, Wei Guangde unexpectedly heard the news. In front of the official office, Li Donghua was informed by the Li Ke that he had once again impeached Wu Shan.

After hearing Wu Shan hand in the book this morning, Wei Guangde had wondered whether the Ministry of Rites would submit a report in time this time, so as to avoid being fined for no reason like last time.

"Lord Li's action this time is quite decisive."

Wei Guangde said to the person who told the news with a smile, and his words caused everyone to laugh.

The news that Li Donghua was fined had already spread in the court, and everyone knew that it was because Wu Shan offended the emperor that he was punished. For Li Donghua, it was a bit of an unprovoked disaster.

However, laughing aside, Wei Guangde also realized that Gao Gong's calculations this time might be in vain.

The punishment after the last impeachment was considered by most people in the court to be over, and no one expected Wu Shan to continue to make remonstrations at this time, and the Ministry of Rites also reacted very quickly to impeach this time.

Obviously, the process of this impeachment was much faster than before, which also indicated that if Emperor Jiajing really planned to change people, Wu Shan's departure time would be very close.

Gao Gong still wanted to seize two positions, was it too late?

The stay or departure of an official of Wu Shan's level is usually not sudden, and it is usually brewed for a long time. There is no situation where the emperor suddenly makes a decision and immediately issues an edict.

The officials in the capital discussed Wu Shan in private, and Wu Shan, who returned to the mansion, naturally learned about this matter through his disciples.

Wu Shan seemed to have expected such a result and did not show any surprise.

After the disciples left, Wu Shan returned to the backyard. Mrs. Wu had already learned the content of the conversation in the outer courtyard from the servants and was a little concerned about Wu Shan.

"Haha, what's there to worry about."

Wu Shan was very calm about his wife's worries, "It's just right to take this opportunity to rest at home for a few days. If the emperor really punishes me, it's just to ask me to retire, and there will be no other punishment."

Wu Shan chose to make a remonstrance here, and naturally there was no brainless busywork, and he also considered the possible punishment.

The most serious situation is to ask him to retire and go home, that is, to lose his official position, and the next level is to be exiled to Nanjing, far away from the emperor, so that he can't see it and not be bothered by it.

This may also be the wisdom of these loyal ministers.

When the emperor makes a mistake, as the Minister of Rites, he must point it out. This is his responsibility.

If he lets it go, future history books will not only say that the emperor is stupid, but also that the then Minister of Rites is a flatterer who only cares about his own future and does not follow the rules of etiquette, and will lose his reputation in his later years.

Wu Shan also made the decision after repeated considerations, that is, to preserve his reputation and not suffer unbearable punishment.

If he wants to be honest in his later years, can Emperor Jiajing ignore it?

At this time, Emperor Jiajing in the Yongshou Palace in the Western Garden was also very entangled. When he saw that Wu Shan did not know what was good for him and submitted a memorial saying that he should not write something to offer to the Grand Prayer Ceremony in the Grand Guangming Hall, Emperor Jiajing really wanted to punish Wu Shan.

Thank God for my blessing, what's wrong with me writing a book?

The Grand Guangming Hall is located in the Western Garden and is the royal pavilion. What does it have to do with you, a minister in the court?

However, even though he was angry, he shared the same view as Wei Guangde, Wu Shan and others. He also knew that if he really punished Wu Shan for this, it would be recorded in his "Records" in the future, which would not look good.

No matter how he punished him, it would not be good. Emperor Jiajing could only consider waiting and seeing. Anyway, he would not continue to promote Wu Shan. If he was promoted to the cabinet, he would find fault with him every day.

The emperors of the Ming Dynasty, except for the founding emperors, were relatively lenient towards civil servants.

Even if Emperor Jiajing killed Xia Yan at the beginning, it was actually done in a fit of rage, but as the emperor, he did not want to show his regret.

However, since then, he has been very cautious about punishing important officials in the court.

As for the death of former Minister of Personnel Li Mo, as far as he knew, it was an accident. Li Mo died of illness in prison.

However, in the afternoon, Li Donghua's impeachment of Wu Shan was delivered to him, and Emperor Jiajing was a little shaken.

In the morning, he was still thinking about whether to let it go and wait for some time to find Wu Shan's fault before punishing him. Now someone handed him a knife, but the reason was not sufficient and it was not enough to punish Wu Shan.

Suddenly, Emperor Jiajing thought of the memorial of Wu Peng, the Minister of Personnel, a month ago, saying that the position of Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel was vacant. He thought that if Wu Shan was punished, wouldn't there be two important positions vacant.

Emperor Jiajing didn't have a good impression of Wu Peng. People said that Wu Peng was in the Ministry of Personnel, but the Ministry of Personnel followed Yan Shifan's instructions on the promotion of officials and did not dare to act on its own. For this, Wu Shan, the Minister of Rites, had impeached Wu Peng many times.

Ministry of Rites, Ministry of Personnel.

Emperor Jiajing ignored Gao Zhong and others who were still waiting for him to make a decision, but fell into deep thought.

Faster than Wei Guangde imagined, Emperor Jiajing was already reconsidering the new court structure.

The Ming Dynasty court's administration was mainly carried out through the six ministries, so the appointment of the six ministries' officials was very important, even more important than filling the cabinet ministers.

Emperor Jiajing also knew about Wu Peng's actions, but he reluctantly let him stay in office only to ensure the dignity of Yan Song's cabinet, and in fact, to ensure the smooth implementation of the court's government affairs.

There was also the Minister of Works Ouyang Bijin, who had resigned many times, and the cabinet also needed to be filled.

After thinking for a long time, and after Gao Zhong and others waited for a long time, Emperor Jiajing finally made his own decision.

"Find Wu Peng's last memorial."

Emperor Jiajing instructed Huang Jin. At that time, he kept the memorial in the court without giving any instructions.

The memorial was left in Yongshou Palace, and Huang Jin was naturally responsible for keeping it.

Huang Jin took the order and soon took Wu Peng's memorial and handed it to Emperor Jiajing.

He flipped it open and took a look. It was the memorial of the Ministry of Personnel asking for a recommendation for the vacancy of the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry. He handed it to Gao Zhong in front of him and said, "Draft an order. There is no need to recommend the vacancy of the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel. Yuan Wei will be appointed as the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel."

After that, he turned to Huang Jin and ordered, "Keep Li Donghua's impeachment memorial."

"Yes."

Huang Jin agreed, picked up the memorial on the imperial desk and stepped aside, while Gao Zhong took Wu Peng's memorial and returned to his seat, quickly writing down Emperor Jiajing's instructions.

Although they didn't know what the emperor was thinking before, Huang Jin and Gao Zhong both sensitively felt that there might be a big change in the Ming Dynasty court.

"How is Zhou Yan's health?"

Before the eunuchs below continued to read the memorial, Emperor Jiajing seemed to have just remembered and asked again.

Huang Jin, who had just retreated, took another half step forward and replied: "I'm afraid that Censor Zhou's health is not good. The imperial physician said."

"What did you say?"

The Jiajing Emperor was a little displeased with Huang Jin's hesitant look, and asked.

"At most three months, he can't move. If he returns to his hometown to recuperate at this time, he may not be able to leave Northern Zhili."

Huang Jin hurriedly answered.

Zhou Yan, the Left Censor of the Censorate, was from Jishui, Jiangxi. Last year, he resigned many times due to poor health. However, at that time, Emperor Jiajing had not considered a major change in the six ministries and nine officials, so he did not approve it. Similar people included Cabinet Minister Lu Ben and Minister of Works Ouyang Bijin.

Since the end of last year, Zhou Yan has been unable to manage affairs due to illness, but he didn't expect that Zhou Yan's condition has reached this point after only two months.

"I'm old, it's time to change."

Emperor Jiajing whispered casually, then opened his mouth, but in the end he didn't say anything, just waved his hand at Gao Zhong, indicating that they should continue reading the memorial.

Li Donghua's memorial was kept by Emperor Jiajing. In just a few days, the emperor's attitude towards Wu Shan changed 180 degrees. Although Wu Shan was not punished for Li Donghua's memorial, everyone with a discerning eye knew what would happen next.

What surprised all officials even more was that Yuan Wei was promoted directly to the left vice minister after he was transferred from the Ministry of Rites to the Ministry of Personnel.

Yuan Wei moved to the Ministry of Rites from the Hanlin Academy and the Zhanshi Mansion last year. He was ordered to stay in the Ministry after only one month in charge of the academy. The Hanlin Academy was taken over by Li Chunfang, who was the right vice minister of the Ministry of Rites.

In total, Yuan Wei, who had only been in the Ministry of Rites for a month, moved to the Ministry of Personnel. His speed on the road to entering the cabinet can be said to have created history. No official can be promoted faster than him.

Although Yuan Wei has not yet entered the cabinet, his official career is a standard Hanlin path to the cabinet, and others can't help but want to join.