Chapter 488 487 Chaos in Fujian

Xu Jie returned to the cabinet, and while arranging for officials from the Ministry of Personnel to come to the cabinet to discuss the following matters, he also sent someone to inform Prince Yu's Mansion.

It was not that the matter was of great importance, but mainly because Xu Jie considered that Zhang Ke's appointment and dismissal was entrusted by Wei Guangde, so he sent someone to inform him.

He also knew that Lao Kan and Wei Guangde had a good relationship, but when Yan Song was there, he just thought that Yan Song wanted to deal with Wei Guangde and remove his help, so he deliberately transferred Lao Kan's position, and did not object at the time and wrote it down.

In fact, this matter had already spread in the Ministry of Justice, but neither Lao Kan nor Wei Guangde asked him to deal with the matter, so Xu Jie thought they had tacitly agreed, so after Yan Song retired, he did not make any changes, and this time he also passed the news to Wei Guangde.

When the news reached Prince Yu's Mansion, Zhang Juzheng kindly asked Wei Guangde for his opinion, of course, referring to Lao Kan's exile.

"Should I talk to the teacher about Ren Zhi's matter and arrange for him to stay in Beijing again?"

Zhang Juzheng didn't know that the matter was a foregone conclusion. When he heard that Wei Guangde's good friend Lao Kan was also going to be sent out, he asked with concern.

"I asked him before, and he had no objection to being sent out."

Wei Guangde smiled bitterly. Of course, he would not tell Zhang Juzheng that this was actually arranged by him early on, so he could only act helpless.

After hearing Wei Guangde say that this was Lao Kan's choice, Zhang Juzheng naturally didn't say much.

But thinking that Wei Guangde was still in the capital, it was not difficult for him to return to Beijing. He didn't see his fellow villager Ouyang Yijing wrote a letter to complain, and finally Wei Guangde brought him back.

Zhang Juzheng thought so, while Wei Guangde was thinking about visiting Xu Ge Lao again in the next two days.

Before, Zhang Ke sent a letter and sent a lot of things, all of which were used to manage the officialdom in the capital.

Zhang Juzheng told him before that he had visited Xu Jie once and presented some gifts after Xu Jie agreed. This time the matter was settled, so he would naturally go again.

It was also unlucky, because Zhang Ke sent the letter to him.

Come to think of it, although Wei Guangde did not have much power in the capital now, he had the name of Prince Yu's Mansion behind him. No matter who he asked to do things, the other party had to give him three points of face. In this way, he became the best contact person for those fellow villagers and peers in the capital.

The Ministry of Rites and the Imperial Clan received a note from the inner court and sent a document to the princes' mansions in various places. It was not until the next day that it was passed to Prince Yu's Mansion. After all, it was not a big deal.

But obviously Zhang Juzheng did not go to Xu Jie's mansion last night, so he did not know about it.

When he saw the mention of re-recording the ceremony, he realized what the document sent to the princes' mansions in various places meant.

He had heard Xu Jie talk about the re-recording of the Encyclopedia before. Now he knew that it was a foregone conclusion, but his promotion was far away, so he was in a daze all day.

In Prince Yu's Mansion, he naturally couldn't ask for leave to go out, and went to the cabinet to ask his teacher for details.

Wei Guangde didn't know that the "Yongle Encyclopedia" was going to be re-recorded, although he had mentioned it to Chen Ju at the beginning, but it was a sudden inspiration.

Chen Ju only told Wei Guangde when he proposed it in front of Emperor Jiajing. After so long, he thought it was already a failure.

When he saw this all of a sudden today, he was still very surprised, and he was still staring at the note in his hand.

"Re-recording the Encyclopedia is a good thing, but it is too wasteful. It would be a good idea if the expenses were borne by the various princes' mansions."

At this moment, Yin Shizeng said to Prince Yu.

The only set of "Yongle Encyclopedia" in existence now is difficult for even people in the Hanlin Academy to borrow, and only Emperor Jiajing can use it at will.

Therefore, for Prince Yu, he only knew that such a set of books was compiled during the reign of Emperor Chengzu, and he had never seen it with his own eyes, so he naturally had no feelings.

"I heard that there are tens of thousands of copies of the book, and copying one is indeed a waste of money and grain."

Prince Yu just said lightly.

"I heard that during the reign of Emperor Chengzu, he once thought about printing this book, but it was shelved because of the huge cost."

Yin Shizhen continued: "Printing costs too much, and copying a copy for preservation is also a good idea. There have been frequent fires in the palace in recent years, and it is indeed necessary to do this."

"Mr. Yin, have you seen this "Yongle Encyclopedia" when you were in the Hanlin Academy?"

Hearing that Yin Shizhen valued this book and supported the re-recording, Prince Yu asked casually.

However, Yin Shizhen shook his head and said: "This book is strictly kept, and you will not have the opportunity to see it unless you are a bachelor. Unless you need it, you have to ask the head of the academy."

Prince Yu is still only Prince Yu, not the crown prince, so he has no right to see this book without the permission of Emperor Jiajing.

After a few words, he actually became interested and wanted to see the Yongle Encyclopedia.

"Shandai, have you seen the Encyclopedia before?"

At this time, Zhang Juzheng seemed to remember the past and couldn't help asking.

"When I first entered the Hanlin Academy, I studied with Wu Qing, a scholar, for a period of time. He did have a copy of the Encyclopedia. I was also fortunate to enter Wenyuan Pavilion and see the Yongle Encyclopedia because I returned the books."

Wei Guangde answered.

"Oh, Shandai has been to Wenyuan Pavilion, so is there really tens of thousands of copies of the Yongle Encyclopedia?"

Prince Yu became interested and moved his seat to Wei Guangde's direction and asked.

"I don't have time to ask, but the hundreds of bookcases in that room are said to all store the Yongle Encyclopedia. I guess there should be some."

Wei Guangde answered, and then thought that he had made a contribution that time, so he wanted to show off in front of Prince Yu, so he continued to burn the three main halls that day, and the fire even spread to the Meridian Gate and burned into the Zuo Shun Gate.

If he had not remained calm in the face of danger and decisively led people to demolish the corridors leading to the East Pavilion and Wenyuan Pavilion from the Zuo Shun Gate, I am afraid that the cabinet and the entire set of "Yongle Encyclopedia" would have been buried in the sea of ​​fire.

"It is indeed dangerous. No wonder the corridors leading to the three main halls were gone in the Fengtian Hall Square last time. I am afraid that such a scene will happen again."

Zhang Juzheng sighed.

This buddy is good.

Wei Guangde gave Zhang Juzheng a thumbs up in his heart.

That matter was not in vain. Emperor Jiajing later rewarded him for his merits and gave him a job in the Zhanshi Mansion. His rank was also raised by half a level, allowing him to catch up with the top scholar in his subject.

Even though it was only a half-level promotion, it was not easy. If there was no one behind him, he would have to wait for the full nine-year exam, and the assessment results would have to be above average to be promoted.

Luck, I can only say that I was really lucky.

The three main halls were not burned early or late, but they were burned when I went there, giving me a chance to show my face. This kind of merit is not common.

After that, there were not many major events inside and outside the court. It was only the military report sent from Fujian that made Wei Guangde pay a little attention. He knew that it was Yu Dayou, the deputy general of Nan Gan, who led his troops to attack Zhang Lian's old nest while he was attacking Pinghe County, but the result did not seem to be good.

The Ming army did not expect Zhang Lian to build his old nest so solid that he used the hilltop to build a fortress for defense, making it difficult for the Ming army to make a substantial breakthrough.

Such a battlefield environment was not expected even by the Ministry of War.

At first, Yang Bo only thought that it was a fortress built in the mountains. He never thought that because of the large population, Zhang Lian could occupy all the surrounding hills in a short time and build a huge and complicated defensive fortification.

However, the Ming army has approached Zhang Lian's lair, which also indicates that the war to encircle and suppress Zhang Lian's gang of rebels has come to an end.

As long as General Liu Xian can continue to support Yu Dayou, the Ming army will be able to capture this place sooner or later. By then, the rebels outside only need to be slowly sorted out and eliminated, and the chaos in Fujian can be quelled.

So after the news entered Beijing, Yang Bo, the Minister of War, immediately went to the Western Garden to ask for an audience with Emperor Jiajing. After returning to the Ministry of War, he sent several official documents to You Zhende in Fujian, Liu Xian in Guangdong, and Yu Dayou in Nan Gan, which was probably to urge this war to end as soon as possible.

The documents to the palaces of various places had been sent out. Emperor Jiajing could only wait for replies from various places even if he was anxious. However, the news sent by the Ministry of War that the victory of Fujian's rebellion was in sight was a comfort to him.

But such a good mood soon disappeared after the new memorials from Fujian and Guangdong were delivered to the capital.

Due to the heavy losses suffered by the strong resistance of Hu Zongxian's troops in Zhejiang, the area invaded by the Japanese pirates moved southward significantly in the 41st year of Emperor Jiajing's reign, and began to harass Fujian and Guangdong.

The Japanese pirates who set out from Wenzhou colluded with Fu'ning and Lianjiang to capture Shouning, Zhenghe and Ningde. A group of Japanese pirates from Nan'ao, Guangdong colluded with the Japanese pirates in Fuqing and Changle to capture Xuanzhongso. The Japanese pirates quickly spread to Longyan, Songxi, Datian, Gutian, Putian and other places.

Faced with such a situation, the most depressed person was Governor Hu Zongxian, who was stationed in Zhejiang.

A net was set up in Zhejiang to wait for the Japanese pirates to fall into the net, but what they waited for was the urgent documents from Fujian and Guangdong.

As a last resort, Hu Zongxian had to order Liu Xian to allocate some troops to suppress the Japanese pirates. At the same time, he also transferred Qi Jiguang in Zhejiang to Fujian to participate in the suppression of the Japanese pirates in Fujian.

However, he was still able to distinguish the importance of the matter and did not mobilize the troops under Yu Dayou. He only asked Liu Xian to transfer some of the troops that had been planned to be sent to Yu Dayou back to fight against the Japanese pirates.

However, at this time, Yu Dayou was riding a horse and strolling on the top of the mountain. Countless corpses were scattered from the mountainside to the foot of the mountain.

In the distance, a team of Ming troops was escorting the armored leader of the bandit army.

"General, we have confirmed with the captives that this person is Xiao Wan, the leader of this bandit army."

A captain in front had already ridden his horse quickly to Yu Dayou and reported with a fist.

"The defeated general, take him down for strict interrogation, and make sure to find out which bandit army Zhang Lian is in."

Yu Dayou didn't want to see such a defeated general, so he waved his whip and ordered.

"Yes, sir."

The general agreed, reined in his horse and returned, taking Xiao Wan aside for interrogation.

Looking around, Yu Dayou's face was calm, and he just ordered the captain of the personal guards behind him: "Send a few more scouts to find out the movements of the other three bandit armies."

For Zhang Lian's painstakingly built nest, Yu Dayou no longer had the heart to go to a mountain top or a fortress to eliminate it, but planned to use the simplest and most brutal way to end the war here as soon as possible.

He had already known the news that the Japanese pirates were rampant along the coast, and he knew that the court army could not stay here for a long time to suppress the bandits.

Although he had experienced countless mountains of corpses and seas of blood, Yu Dayou still felt reluctant to give the final order, because at that point, once it was launched, there would be no way to stop it in time. Even if the enemy army surrendered, countless people would still die.

Now Yu Dayou didn't know what kind of news he hoped the scouts would bring back, Zhang Lian returned to his nest or fled in panic after knowing that Xiao Wan's army was ambushed and annihilated.

Yes, he had planned to use fire attack to burn down those castles. Continuing to attack by force would only increase casualties.

If Zhang Lian's army returned to their old nest, they could wipe out the rebels in one fell swoop. But if they fled in all directions, they could kill less people, but it would also increase the difficulty of the subsequent encirclement and suppression.

However, after receiving the news that the Japanese pirates had invaded Fujian, Yu Dayou could not care about much.

The situation in Fujian was naturally unknown in the capital, but those well-informed people in the officialdom already knew that the cabinet was considering the personnel arrangements for re-recording the "Yongle Encyclopedia".

Since the inner court asked the Ministry of Rites to send a letter to the various royal palaces, the news could no longer be concealed, and there was no need to conceal it.

After all, it was a re-recording of the "Yongle Encyclopedia", a collection of ancient Chinese classics, many of which had been lost.

However, for them, it was just a private discussion, but they could not make plans. Only the officials of the Hanlin Academy and the Ministry of Rites could still find ways to participate.

They only needed to assign some work in the re-recording work, which would be a great achievement after a few years, enough to guarantee a promotion.

No one would think that the princes' palaces in various places would not buy into it. After all, it was a good policy. No one objected to the huge expense of re-recording the encyclopedia, even though the court's finances were still in a tight spot.

"My wife asked me yesterday whether every page of the Yongle Encyclopedia was made of gold."

In Prince Yu's palace, a group of lecturers had nothing to do at this time and were chatting casually to pass the time.

The news of the re-recording of the encyclopedia has been spread over this period of time and is no longer limited to the officialdom. Various versions of the Yongle Encyclopedia have also begun to spread rapidly among the people.

"The legend of the golden book has been circulating for a few days. The latest legend I heard is that there is a treasure map hidden in the encyclopedia. It was the property seized by Taizu when he wiped out Zhang Shicheng's troops and buried to guard against the Northern Yuan Dynasty."

"Haha. They didn't even understand the time when the encyclopedia was written, and they actually linked it to Zhang Shicheng."

Wei Guangde couldn't help but smile bitterly at their chat content.

He had also heard of the rumors among the people. If he had not seen the Yongle Encyclopedia with his own eyes, he would never have believed it.

Using gold to make a book, one or two books is fine, even ten books is acceptable, but tens of thousands of books, what a joke.

"Mr. Gao went to my teacher's house yesterday."

At this time, Zhang Juzheng suddenly spoke.

Everyone stopped talking quietly after hearing this, but soon they laughed or shook their heads.

Gao Gong went to Xu Jie's house for a self-evident purpose. Naturally, he was still rushing to the re-recording work. No one expected that Gao Gong also wanted to participate in it.

In their opinion, with Gao Gong's current situation, he only needs to take steady steps, and he will definitely have a place when the next Shangshu-level officials are adjusted.

"Is there a candidate for the chief editor?"

Wei Guangde also asked curiously.

This is obviously the purpose of Gao Gong's trip, but it was proposed by Wei Guangde in this way.

"It is said that His Majesty has decided on Qu Jingchun, and the others are still under discussion."

Zhang Juzheng looked at Wei Guangde and said lightly.