Chapter 441 440 Jiahe Appears

The deputy envoy Wang mentioned by the staff refers to Wang Yizhong, courtesy name Zhengshu, who was born in She County. He was a Jinshi in the 23rd year of Jiajing. He was promoted from Kaifeng to Jiangxi as deputy envoy.

He died in the battle when the rebels attacked Taihe a month ago. Before that, Wang Rui, the commander of the Jiangxi capital, received a message from Fujian and sent troops to escort 700 rebels including Guangbing, Huang Feng, Yuan San, etc. back to Fujian. However, they lost control halfway and united with thousands of refugees. The thieves attacked Taihe, causing this disaster.

No matter what, Wang Rui cannot escape the crime of dereliction of duty.

"Boss, no matter whether the people in the capital know what's going on in Ganzhou or not, we here have to kill the thieves who were attracted by the rebels sent out by Wang Rui. As for the ignorant local people who followed and caused trouble, they were all exiled. The thief did it as a last resort and had nothing to do with the government. "

Speaking of which, if the people of Ganzhou were forced to rebel by the government due to taxes and servitude, he, the chief envoy, would also be at fault, no matter how big or small.

Yao Yiyuan naturally didn't want to take the blame. Why should he help take the blame for the bad things done by the officials of Ganzhou Prefecture?

Before, I was still thinking about how to explain the chaos, but now that I heard the suggestions from my staff, Yao Yiyuan thought it was feasible.

It doesn't matter if it's true or not, as long as you report it seriously.

However, Yao Yiyuan thought further. In order to bring trouble to Jiangxi, in addition to Wang Rui's mishandling and dereliction of duty, he also accused the officials in Fujian and Guangzhou of being incompetent and unable to bring peace to the local areas.

Yao Yiyuan felt that this plan was very clever. According to the wishes of his staff, he just made a fuss about this matter and sued Wang Rui.

Jiangxi was peaceful under his own rule, so how could he help Wang Rui and the mediocre people of Fujian and Guangxi take the blame?

"The situation in Jiangxi is worse. It will be easy for the boss to write a letter asking for the tax money to be used as military pay."

The staff member continued to come up with ideas.

The official document has just been rejected. It is definitely unrealistic to ask for money in the short term. We need to think about it in the long term. Just dig a hole and bury the people who can't deal with it first.

Yao Yiyuan nodded, then prepared pen, ink, paper and inkstone to start writing a letter.

Yao Yiyuan had a good relationship with Zhang Yi, the current military commander, and he complained to him and told him the real situation in Jiangxi, especially Wang Rui's dereliction of duty and the incompetence of Fujian and Guangzhou officials. and other matters.

After writing the letter, he called his cronies and sent it to the capital overnight.

Ten days later, the fasting ceremony hosted by Emperor Jiajing ended, and all the court officials returned to government affairs. However, bad news continued to come from Fujian, Guangdong and other places, which also frightened the court officials.

Zhang Lian's rebels have been sending troops to attack surrounding prefectures and counties in recent times. Although their main area of ​​activity is in Fujian, they have also invaded Guangdong, Jiangxi and other places from time to time.

On this day, the left officer of the military department reported to Zhang Yi that the three provinces of Fujian, Guangxi, and Jiangxi were full of thieves. He begged the generals to use the excuse that the military pay in Guangdong, Guangxi, and southern Jiangxi would be stopped in recent years to prepare for conquests there, so as not to send more troops to disturb the people. He also said that the deputy envoy When Wang Yizhong died and Wang Yingshi was captured, Wang Ruishi, commanded by Jiangxi Dusi, sent his troops to send rebel soldiers Yuan San and others. He also ordered Guang to attack the thieves and caused him to communicate with the thieves, thus defeating our division. This crime is unforgivable.

Two days later, the censor of Jiangxi Province came to report that the war in Jiangxi was caused by Zhang Qimo, the governor of Fujian, who sent a message to the army gate to send Guang soldiers, Huang Feng, Yuan San and other seven hundred people to return, while the governor of Jiangxi Province sent Wang Ruixie, the governor of Jiangxi, to send them back. Yuan San and other 400 people were then appointed to control the situation in Rui. Thousands of local thieves merged with them and caused a serious problem. They also asked Li Tingzhan, the magistrate of Yushan, and Lu Tianyou, the magistrate of Yongfeng County, to arrest Qi Mo and abandon the city. , and please set up an additional garrison to station troops in Wan'an to protect the counties.

After analyzing the official documents sent from Jiangxi, the Ministry of War also concluded that Wang Rui had mishandled the situation and was guilty. Qi Mo was equally guilty as Rui, and Ting Zan and others were arrested. Regarding the additional Wan'an garrison, a report to Emperor Jiajing was required.

Emperor Jiajing agreed to all the reports submitted by the Ministry of War.

Emperor Jiajing would not refuse as long as it was conducive to annihilating Zhang Lian's rebels as soon as possible.

Not only did he order the patrol censors of Jiangxi and Fujian to arrest Wang Rui, Zhang Qimo and others to evacuate the capital, but he also ordered the governors to suppress the thieves and calm down the local area.

But even so, reports of prefectures and counties being attacked by rebels were still sent to the capital, making Emperor Jiajing very worried in Xiyuan.

Fortunately, good news finally came from the Xuanfu, which comforted the emperor's heart.

The prisoners captured Xuan Mansion and entered several roads. The deputy general Ma Fang and other supervising soldiers defended him and captured the chieftain Wu Heqi and others. Fourteen people were captured, eighteen were killed, and more than 240 horses were captured. The prisoners escaped. .

There were heads, prisoners, and seizures. This was a rare victory in the border town this year, but Emperor Jiajing was still not very happy.

It was on days like this that another thing happened that made Wei Guangde, who was content to stay in Prince Yu's Mansion, gain knowledge again.

In July of the 40th year of Jiajing's reign, the Imperial Heavenly Supervisor reported, "It is a solar eclipse, and rescue is not required for one minute and five seconds."

Yuan Wei, the Minister of Rites, immediately went on to report: "I heard that Tang Yixing said that the emperor's way has not changed. In ancient times, there was peace. If the sun did not eat or the moon changed, he would avoid it, or the five stars would hide under it to protect him from insults. , or the relationship is shallow, or when the yang is strong and the yin is weak in the solar calendar, you don’t eat, or when the virtue is not bright and there is a small illness, then the sky is hidden, but you don’t eat even though you have friendship, these four are all the source of the virtue education, Your Majesty Serving heaven as a father, serving the sun as a brother, all the clouds retreat and all things are radiant, and the sun is prosperous, and the clouds are gone. Stopping eating even a little is the same as not eating at all, and the ministers will not be happy or angry."

On the first day of July, Wei Guangde heard the news of a solar eclipse early in the morning. Although it was only one and a half points, and according to later generations it was a partial eclipse, he still had some small expectations.

have a look.

The last solar eclipse was huge, almost total, but I was so focused on other things that I forgot to appreciate the eclipse.

This time it’s a partial solar eclipse, which is also good.

Therefore, Wei Guangde spent a day watching the sun in the palace courtyard, but Mao didn't even see a single bit of it.

According to Qin Tianjian, it is impossible to not see a solar eclipse of one minute and five seconds at all.

In ancient times, eclipses were measured in minutes and seconds, but this did not refer to the duration of the eclipse, but to the degree of the eclipse.

In the Ming Dynasty, solar and lunar eclipses were divided into ten points. If a solar and lunar eclipse is predicted to be ten points, it is similar to what later generations called a "total eclipse." If the prediction is three points, the solar and lunar eclipse will cover approximately three-tenths.

This time it was another solar eclipse after the February solar eclipse, lasting one minute and five seconds, but in fact Wei Guangde did not see a solar eclipse occur at all.

At night, Wei Guangde, who was sleeping in bed, finally realized that it was not a farce caused by Yuan Wei colluding with the Qintian Prison to deceive the emperor.

Last time, Qin Tian Jian was making remarks about "not eating when he should be eating". In order to avoid unnecessary trouble, Prince Yu's Mansion helped to cooperate. In the end, Qin Tian Jian was not only not punished for his inaccurate prediction, but also received a reward.

Wei Guangde was a little suspicious at this time. Yuan Wei saw that the emperor was in a bad mood because of the news from the south, so he collaborated with Qin Tianjian to create auspicious signs to flatter the emperor.

Emperor Jiajing was obviously different from the previous Emperor Ming. He seemed to like these frivolous things.

Although there were speculations, Wei Guangde did not want to be a messenger of justice. He did not understand astronomy, so he could not be sure whether the report from the Qintian Supervisor was forged, let alone what good would it do?

Being a bad person makes the emperor unhappy and offends Yuan Wei and the people in Qin Tianjian.

However, after this incident, Wei Guangde also learned what it means to "go with what others like".

For this reason, Wei Guangde felt a little proud in his heart, thinking that he had seen through Yuan Wei's tricks.

Of course, Wei Guangde did not tell his guess to King Yu and others, nor did he think about how to copy such auspiciousness, Emperor Bojiajing Longyan was delighted.

"I heard that the Ministry of War is discussing who should be appointed to the post of Wan'an garrison. Guangde, have you received a letter from home recently?"

On this day, when Wei Guangde arrived at Prince Yu's Mansion, he was pulled aside by Zhang Juzheng and asked in a low voice.

"Wan'an Guard?"

Wei Guangde was just stunned for a moment before he understood the meaning of Zhang Juzheng's words.

As a garrison officer, your rank is at least the level of a guard commander. Even though he has been an official in Beijing for many years, his father's family is still a thousand households and he has not found a way to be promoted.

When asked by Zhang Juzheng, Wei Guangde thought of this matter, and it seemed that he could do something about it.

However, Wei Guangde quickly gave up this idea and established a Wan'an garrison, which was linked to the annihilation of Zhang Lian's group of rebels.

Can Zhang Lian and his gang of rebels be suppressed?

Not easy to suppress.

Zhang Lian would indeed find a stronghold and build his base in the mountains of Fujian, making it impossible for officers and soldiers to attack in large numbers. The terrain was too complicated.

Not to mention that the defense only needs to protect the place. When you get to that position, if the military order tells you to go out to fight, you have to send troops to fight. Do you think you can refuse to go out to fight just because you are a local security force?

That would be a great sin.

To be honest, Wei Guangde doesn't want his father to get involved in the war again. This is no joke.

Although he was in the capital, Wei Guangde had read the Fujian Report and knew that Zhang Lian's men had trapped more than 100,000 desperadoes.

Don't look at the hundreds of thousands of government troops stationed in Fujian, Jiangxi and other places, but what kind of combat power is that?

Although it is unclear how strong Zhang Lian's group is, you can tell from the battle reports that they seem to be much stronger than the official army. More than a dozen prefectures and counties have been captured by the rebels, but it seems that the enemy has not started yet. The meaning of expanding the territory is to occupy the city, loot it and then retreat to the mountains.

Thinking of this, Wei Guangde smiled and shook his head.

"That group of rebels has a habit of pretending to be poor people and stealing the city. When my army arrives, it will retreat to the mountains and resist. I can fight this battle easily."

Wei Guangde opened his mouth and said, "I didn't receive the letter from home. Although I don't know if my father meant this, but even if he really meant it, I wouldn't help him run this matter."

"Oh, that's fine."

Zhang Juzheng didn't say much, just nodded.

"Uncle, but Mr. Xu Ge has a way to talk to Yang Shangshu and recommend him to the post of Wan'an garrison?"

Wei Guangde asked casually.

"Your Majesty has approved the report from the Ministry of War, but there are obvious differences in who should be appointed to the post of Wan'an garrison. Most of the vacant generals have suffered heavy losses in the war to suppress bandits and Japanese invaders, while Wan'an garrison is responsible for preventing The rebels' invasion of Jiangxi is a heavy responsibility."

Suffering heavy losses actually means that these people have suffered defeats in battles. The Ministry of War has judged that these people are incompetent, so they are unwilling to re-activate them.

In the absence of external intervention, the Ministry of War naturally hopes to select a highly capable military attache to serve as the Wan'an garrison. Otherwise, if there are constant reports of defeats, Emperor Jiajing may have doubted their ability that day.

"I heard from the teacher yesterday that the Ministry of War has begun to expand the scope of selecting generals. If the Shandai family is interested, they should talk to me as soon as possible. We can also operate it in the Ministry of War. If it doesn't work, let my teacher come forward."

Zhang Juzheng continued.

Wei Guangde nodded slightly, knowing that the official career of a military general was actually the same as that of a civilian official. It was a carrot and a pit, and promotion was extremely difficult.

This was the case when it was still a hundred households, not to mention that now my father is a thousand households.

After finally adding a new military position, it seemed like an opportunity. However, thinking about the war he would face when he took office, Wei Guangde still strengthened his mind and let his father stay in Jiujiang Wei. That was the foundation of the family. .

General, it's better not to move away easily.

While making tea and chatting with Zhang Juzheng, Yin Shizhen next door was still giving a lecture to Prince Yu.

"By the way, I heard that His Majesty intends to add more lecturers to the palace. Has Shandai heard about this?"

While they were talking, Zhang Juzheng suddenly mentioned something else.

"Add more lecturers?"

Wei Guangde was a little surprised. In fact, as Prince Yu got older, his basic courses had been completed long ago. Now, most of the lectures given by Yin Shizhan, Zhang Juzheng and others are reviewing the old and learning the new. Who would have thought that Emperor Jiajing would arrange someone to be a lecturer in the palace at this time.

Curious, Wei Guangde smiled and asked, "Who?"

"Tang Ruji, the editor of the Hanlin Academy."

Zhang Juzheng replied.

"Him."

Zhang Juzheng said the name, and Wei Guangde certainly knew who it was.

Speaking of it, Tang Ruji is a junior of Zhang Juzheng, but a senior of him.

Tang Ruji, whose courtesy name is Siji, calls himself Xiaoyu, is from Lanxi. He is the son of Tang Long, the former Minister of Personnel, and the top scholar in the 29th year of Jiajing.

However, this person's position in the Hanlin Academy is a bit awkward. As for the reason, it is because of his father.

It is said in the Hanlin Academy that Tang Ruji's father Tang Long and the current Prime Minister Yan Song have a close relationship. It was Xia Yan's idea that Tang's father was dismissed.

Well, that means that Tang Long should be very close to Yan Song, so he was affected in the fight between Yan Song and Xia Yan, which seems to be an ironclad evidence of Tang Long and Yan Song's good relationship.

Knowing who it was, Wei Guangde couldn't help but become more curious and asked, "Is it the Prime Minister's suggestion?"

"I don't know about this."

Zhang Juzheng shook his head, "Your Majesty asked about Tang Ruji's situation in the Hanlin Academy, and laughed that Chen Yiqin was in mourning, and someone had to be arranged to take over."

"Oh, so that's it."

Although it is not certain whether it was the emperor's intention or someone else's suggestion, Wei Guangde felt that Tang Ruji's entry into Prince Yu's Mansion seemed to be a foregone conclusion.

After all, Emperor Jiajing had this intention.

At this time, footsteps sounded outside the door, and a eunuch hurried in.

When he arrived outside, he heard someone outside say: "Mr. Zhang, Mr. Wei, the news just came from the palace that auspicious signs were found in Yutian. Yutian official Yan Shoufu has personally gone to see it and said that he would go to the West Garden to offer auspicious signs."

"What auspicious signs are there in Yutian?"

Wei Guangde and Zhang Juzheng looked at each other and asked curiously.

"Jiahe, 81 plants with two ears on one stem, 6 plants with three ears on one stem, and 1 plant with four ears on one stem."

The eunuch outside the door answered.

"Haha. In the early years, there were white deer, white turtles, and sweet dew from the sky. Finally, it's Jiahe again."

Zhang Juzheng laughed softly here.

Wei Guangde also reacted and echoed softly: "Jiahe this time, it should be auspicious wheat next time, and see if the river is clear, and then a phoenix and a unicorn will appear."