Chapter 447 446 Balance

"I met with Lord Xu, and he said that His Majesty summoned him and Lord Yan to discuss this matter. His Majesty has already decided that Guo Pu will be appointed as the Minister of Personnel."

The news that Li Fang brought back was very big. The result of the push was Guo Pu, the Minister of the Chancellery, and Li Jikan, the Minister of the Nanjing Ministry of Rites, but Emperor Jiajing had already decided that Guo Pu would replace Ouyang Bijin.

Everyone in the room was silent.

Wei Guangde finally understood that Emperor Jiajing was actually tightening the power in his hands, from delegating power to Yan Song in the past to tightening it now, and appointing those officials who wrote Qingci for him before to take office.

They naturally know what they rely on to get their current official positions, and they will also act closely around Emperor Jiajing. Perhaps this is also Emperor Jiajing's preparation for Prince Yu's enthronement. He cannot allow strong political forces to exist during the succession of the throne.

Yan Song, this once prominent figure, has finally reached the end of his political career and is about to come to an end.

Wei Guangde didn't know what other people thought, he just understood it this way.

In fact, it seemed that people in the palace had already seen this, so Chen Ju pointed out the names of those people.

Thinking of the conversation that Yan Song had with him, Yan Shoufu should have expected this day.

Ouyang Bijin retired, and Yan Song's power in the six ministries and nine ministers was completely disintegrated, and this was just a thought of the emperor.

Look at Yan Song now, and Wei Zhongxian, who was scolded badly in later generations, are actually just a chess piece of the emperor and a target set up.

Wei Guangde was still thinking about this, and he heard Li Fang say again: "There is another thing, Xu Ge Lao said that it is better to tell His Highness first."

"What is it?"

Prince Yu was in a bad mood at the moment, and when he heard Xu Jie had something to say, he asked casually.

"Xu Ge Lao said that Tang Ruyi's entry into Prince Yu's mansion has been decided, and he will be ordered to enter the mansion in the next two days."

Li Fang replied hurriedly.

"Yes, I got it."

Prince Yu nodded. The palace had known about this beforehand, but the cabinet might not know about it, so Xu Jie told Li Fang about it.

Yin Shizhen saw that Prince Yu was not in a good mood, so he said, "Tang Xiuzhuan is the son of Tang Shangshu, and everyone may know who he is, so you should be more careful when you speak and do things in the palace in the future."

Zhang Juzheng and Wei Guangde naturally knew what Yin Shizhen meant. Wei Guangde didn't know whether Tang Long was Yan Song's man, after all, Wei Guangde was still in Bengshanbao and mud at that time.

But everyone said so, Wei Guangde should not be too different, at least Tang Long and Yan Song had a good relationship, even if they didn't surrender, they had a deep friendship.

What is Prince Yu's Mansion?

Why did Emperor Jiajing throw Tang Ruyi into Prince Yu's Mansion?

Did Emperor Jiajing not know about Tang Ruyi's situation?

No, it's all spread in the court, the palace can't be unaware of it, otherwise the East Factory would just be a mess.

Wei Guangde felt that Emperor Jiajing must know about this, and there must be some purpose for sending people to Prince Yu's Mansion.

But why do you want to mix sand in Prince Yu's Mansion?

Wei Guangde couldn't figure it out, wouldn't it make people in Prince Yu's Mansion uncomfortable?

In the afternoon, Wei Guangde got on his own carriage and walked home slowly. The car suddenly stopped halfway, and then it felt like the front of the car was leaning to the side of the road.

It should be giving way to the car on the opposite side.

Wei Guangde thought to himself, and after waiting for a while, there was a shouting sound outside the car window. It was the sound of the sedan bearers carrying the sedan in unison.

Wei Guangde knew that they must have reached a narrow place on the road, and the person on the opposite side should have a higher status than him, so the carriage had to give way.

After waiting for a while, the sedan bearer on the opposite side had passed by, and the carriage started moving again. Wei Guangde asked, "Which mansion was it from before?"

The driver Li San replied, "It was the sedan of Ouyang Shangshu of the Ministry of Personnel, so I gave way."

"Okay, I see."

Wei Guangde answered casually. Ouyang Bijin's sedan was fine, so he would give way. He would not stay in the capital for long.

Officials who retired were required to return to their hometowns according to the system. This was also a way for the Ming Dynasty to control the population of the capital.

Of course, there were also those who stayed in the capital, but they needed a good reason, such as their son was an official in the capital, and there was no one to take care of them when they returned to their hometown. In this case, they could apply to stay in the capital.

Thinking about these things casually in his mind, Wei Guangde suddenly felt a flash of inspiration, as if he had figured out the thoughts of Emperor Jiajing.

What thoughts were naturally the purpose of Tang Ruyi entering Prince Yu's Mansion.

Retirement, of course, had nothing to do with Tang Ruyi. He was only in his forties and was still far from retirement.

Why did Emperor Jiajing send people related to the Yan family to Prince Yu's mansion?

This should also pave the way for Prince Yu to rule in the future, or to place forces from all sides of the court around Prince Yu so that he can have an advance understanding of the court affairs. Perhaps this is also a way of imperial education.

Let's look at what was happening around Prince Yu before Tang Ruyi entered the mansion. The Prince Yu faction headed by Gao Gong quickly gathered around Prince Yu after entering the court and served Prince Yu. The purpose was naturally to make a fortune after Prince Yu ascended the throne.

However, these people have also been tested. When Prince Jing was in Beijing, these people stayed with Prince Yu, at least they were loyal.

Who else?

Xu Jie's forces.

Prince Yu's mansion was suppressed by Prince Jing's mansion and had a hard time, and Xu Jie was suppressed by Yan Song in the cabinet and could not move forward.

Two weak forces came together, and they were born to be opponents of the Jingwang Mansion and the Yan family.

As for the third force in the court, it was free between the two factions. Although it would lean towards the Yuwang at some times, it did not come over.

It can be said that the Yuwang had never had much contact with the Yan officials, which was naturally not conducive to his promotion and employment in the future and balancing the court.

Now the Jiajing Emperor arranged the Yan officials to the Yuwang Mansion, perhaps because he was worried that after the Yuwang came to power, he would listen to the instigation of these officials in the palace and get rid of the Yan officials regardless of the consequences.

What would happen at that time? One party dominated, and there could be a unified voice but lack of checks and balances, which was not good for the imperial power.

Let the Yuwang contact the Yan officials in the palace, so that he could understand them, at least he would not listen to one side and believe it, at least retain this force and balance the court.

As for why Wei Guangde thought of this, it was naturally because of Ouyang Bijin who had just passed away. He was ordered by the Jiajing Emperor to retire.

At this time, Wei Guangde had a bold guess in his mind. In half a year or a year, Yan Song might follow in Ouyang Bijin's footsteps.

Once Yan Song was in trouble, Yan's party members would inevitably disperse. At that time, they would be in a panic, which was not conducive to maintaining the stability of the court.

Naturally, at this time, Emperor Jiajing had to start taking some actions, and letting Tang Ruyi enter Prince Yu's Mansion to serve as a lecturer in the palace was one of the actions. Otherwise, with Prince Yu in his twenties, there would be no need for so many lecturers to teach.

In fact, even now, there are still three people in Prince Yu's Mansion, Yin Shizhen, Zhang Juzheng and himself, who don't have much to say on weekdays.

With Tang Ruyi by Prince Yu's side, other Yan party officials will naturally feel much more at ease, and they can slowly sort out which people should be dealt with and which people should be retained.

When the carriage arrived in front of his own gate, Wei Guangde finally figured out the intention of the person in Xiyuan.

However, he did not intend to say this guess yet. At least he had to wait and see which way the wind was blowing, and then quietly tell Prince Yu whether he would find time to talk to Chen Ju one day.

The next day, the memorial sent to the West Garden by the Ministry of Personnel was approved and sent back to the cabinet, and Prince Yu's Mansion naturally knew the details first.

At the end of the memorial, Emperor Jiajing still wrote his own comments: The ministers who wrote the text have not been good at making changes for a long time. Here, I will follow the simple example and propose a reason.

Several important officials in the court saw Emperor Jiajing's comments, and they were still writing memorials of apology in their respective duty rooms.

"What does your majesty mean? Is there anyone else to be dismissed?"

Yin Shizhen was a little puzzled. He didn't understand whether Emperor Jiajing's comments meant that the ministers were incapable of doing things or something, but now those people were busy writing memorials of apology, which showed that they knew what the reason was.

After all, the cabinet is always the cabinet. Even if Prince Yu is already the crown prince, he is not legitimate after all. It is normal that many court news here are not known.

Just like Yang Bo's war strategy against Fujian bandits, the Ministry of War must know more details than Wei Guangde in Prince Yu's mansion, so they can propose targeted countermeasures, while Wei Guangde can only think about going to Jiangnan to see the actual situation and come up with countermeasures.

As for this matter, Wei Guangde only subconsciously thought that Emperor Jiajing should have told those people before, but he didn't expect that the person who would be pushed in the end would be Li Ji in addition to Guo Pu. Now let them use Guo Pu as a countermeasure and say their own opinions.

What era is it now? The emperor is definitely more important than the sky. He speaks the law and his words are followed by the law. Who dares to argue with him? Naturally, they can only say that Guo Pu is the most suitable candidate for the position of Minister of Personnel.

A bunch of memorials were sent to the Western Garden and were soon sent back to the cabinet by Emperor Jiajing's imperial approval. The speed was very fast.

After all, the position of Minister of Personnel cannot be vacant for too long, and even Emperor Jiajing wants to implement this matter as soon as possible.

This time, Emperor Jiajing only wrote a comment after Yan Song's memorial: The officials who wrote the articles worked tirelessly day and night, and although it is not appropriate to delay the regular transfer, it is also not allowed to arbitrarily change it. Now, all the officials are not dedicated, but they are dedicated to the official justice. I will not ask Bi Jin for the time being. He has been diligent and cautious. Since the successive transfers, he has been arbitrary and has lost the dignity of a minister. I will temporarily retire and Pu will replace him. I tell Pu not to resign.

At the same time, there was also an imperial edict delivered, "Guo Pu, a scholar of the Hanlin Academy and the head of the Zhanshi Mansion, will return to the Ministry to manage the affairs, and will be promoted to the Minister of Personnel and the Prince's Guardian."

There was a sentence in Emperor Jiajing's comment that said "tell Pu not to resign", so Guo Pu naturally would not follow the others and make a "three-time resignation" drama, but he still expressed his gratitude overnight.

Guo Pu's replacement of Ouyang Bi Jin as the head of the Ministry of Personnel was completely confirmed, and he was naturally excited to get the lofty title of Prince's Guardian.

Emperor Jiajing actually gave Guo Pu's thanksgiving memorial a serious review, and naturally praised him highly.

"You are pure and prudent in nature, diligent and sincere in writing, and I am pleased to take up the position as ordered. You should be carefully evaluated for common positions before the governors, so as to fulfill my sincere wishes."

Emperor Jiajing's evaluation of Guo Pu immediately made him a new noble in the court. There was a long queue in front of Guo's house, and there was an endless stream of dignitaries who visited and made friends with him.

For the important officials in the court, it was not bad. They just bowed and congratulated each other when they met. The middle and lower-level officials were all trying to curry favor with them.

I don't know when it started, but the lower-level officials gradually regarded Yuan Wei, Guo Pu, Yan Ne and Li Chunfang as the new "Qingci Prime Minister" after Yan Song.

Comparing them with Yan Song, they naturally didn't have any good intentions, but no one dared to say these words to his face, just a few words behind his back.

It's hard not to think of these four people. In fact, after the beginning of the new year, these people's positions were quickly promoted by the emperor, and they all entered the ranks of important ministers. But what about them before?

In the eyes of the officials below, it is nothing more than relying on Qingci to invite favors.

In fact, only they know whether it is jealousy or something else, at least Wei Guangde is very envious.

Time flies by, and November is about to enter in a blink of an eye, and the winter solstice is here again.

However, Wei Guangde did not expect Emperor Jiajing to hold a court meeting on this day. It seems that the court meeting has not been held normally since Wei Guangde entered the court. All court meetings are free of ceremony. I think this year will be no exception.

However, just at such a calm moment, the news suddenly came to the Engineering Department that Zeng Tingzhi had impeached Governor Xuanfu and Imperial Censor Chi Fengxiang for corruption and cruelty.

This official who had only received a commendation from the imperial court two months ago was accused by the censor of corruption and cruelty under his command. The memorial was sent to Xiyuan. News soon spread that the emperor wanted to investigate the matter thoroughly and sent an order to arrest Chi Fengxiang and return to Beijing for questioning. He was replaced by Zhao Kongzhao, the censor of the capital of Qiandu on the right side of Cao River.

The governor of Xuanfu was going to be arrested and interrogated by Beijing. Wei Guangde was a little confused about the twists and turns, but he always felt that there must be something going on that they didn't know about.

Chi Fengxiang was soon escorted back to the capital and sent to the prison of the Ministry of Justice. Wei Guangde asked Lao Kan to help find out about this matter. After all, he was arresting the governor of Xuanfu, and he was worried that Ma Fang would be involved.

If someone was really interested in Ma Fang, he would have to take action in advance and find a way to deal with it, but Lao Kan hadn't heard the news yet.

Within two days, Wei Guangde entered Prince Yu's Mansion in the morning and was pulled aside to talk by Zhang Juzheng, who had arrived first.

"You are so calm."

Wei Guangde was startled when Zhang Juzheng opened his mouth and didn't know what he meant.

"what's up?"

Wei Guangde asked in surprise.

"Aren't you worried about Chi Fengxiang?"

Zhang Juzheng didn't shy away from it, he opened his mouth and said.

Wei Guangde narrowed his eyes, "Why, someone wants to touch Ma Fang?"

The relationship between Wei Guangde and Ma Fang is not a secret in Prince Yu's palace. This was the news that came from the palace.

"That's not true, but it does involve the first-level general of the Xuan Mansion."

Zhang Juzheng replied.

Seeing his expression, Wei Guangde knew that Ma Fang was fine and that Zhang Juzheng was just scaring him, so he smiled and said, "Brother, uncle, let's just tell you what is going on. My curiosity has been aroused."

"hehe."

Zhang Juzheng just stroked his beard and looked at him with a smile, but said nothing.

Wei Guangde pretended to be anxious on his face, but he felt very calm in his heart.

Ma Fang mentioned in his letters to him that there was a rift between Chi Fengxiang, the governor of the Xuan Mansion, and Li Xian, the commander-in-chief, but they knew that he was from Prince Yu's Mansion, so they did not involve him.

Thinking of Chi Fengxiang in prison, Wei Guangde had a guess.