Chapter 499 498 Hu Zongxian's Ten Crimes

The top priority in the Ming Dynasty now is, of course, to clean up the bad governance left behind by Yan Song during his reign, and to remove the party members promoted by Yan Song. Even the wars in Jiubian and Jiangnan have to be put back a little.

In fact, this is also the big boss in the DPRK and China dividing the cake.

There are only so many official positions in the DPRK, and each official position brings different benefits. Whoever takes the position naturally needs to negotiate and compromise with each other.

Who is Xu Xu?

Wei Guangde was not interested, but he was absolutely disdainful of his opinions.

In the Ming Dynasty, there were many hidden fields and hidden houses.

Since there is a population, the consumption of salt cannot be very small. Yan Maoqing's increase in surplus salt will not actually make the market unsalable due to flooding of salt. The so-called infringement of the interests of merchants is pure nonsense.

The massive increase in salt imports and the increase in salt supply will actually affect private salt dealers.

Although private salt dealers are more profitable, their risks are also high.

Since the salt merchants were able to obtain salt imports, they naturally had strong official relations.

When salt in their sales range is slow to sell, they naturally know that it is because private salt has entered the market. The price of private salt is cheaper than official salt. Many salt merchants are even a combination of official and private salt.

In this way, it is natural for local governments to vigorously crack down on illegal salt dealers to protect their own interests.

No matter how you think about it, if there is a large supply of official salt, it is definitely not as good as if there is less official salt, in which case the profit will be greater.

Wei Guangde is not surprised that officials are mentioning this matter now. It is just a matter of time.

In response to Wei Guangde's question, Yin Shizhen said with a smile: "What else can the Ministry of Household Affairs Council say? Of course, it is agreed that the increase will be waived and 600,000 taels will still be collected every year."

"The Ministry of Finance is really rich, with more than 400,000 taels of silver. If you don't want it, you won't want it."

Wei Guangde mocked unconsciously.

The Ministry of Revenue often complains that they are poor. If something goes wrong, they will say that the Ministry has no money, this expenditure cannot be made, and that expenditure must be postponed. However, in the face of such a large amount of income, if they give up at any time, it is inevitable that Wei Guangde will not think that they are among them. You should also be able to get a piece of the pie.

Yin Shizhen also heard that something was wrong in Wei Guangde's words. He immediately understood that Wei Guangde and Zhang Juzheng were the same type of people. When the two of them were together before, Zhang Juzheng's attitude was similar to Wei Guangde's. They both felt that these hundreds of thousands should not be exempted. Two pieces of silver for the salt tax.

Thinking of the embarrassing situation, Yin Shizhen didn't know which end he should take.

However, this matter is a matter of the Ministry of Revenue. No one on their side seems to object. They are just worrying about it. Then he smiled and asked: "I heard from my uncle that you went to the Metropolitan Procuratorate?"

"Yes, I haven't been there for some time. So I still have the title of censor, so I can't justify not going there for a long time."

Wei Guangde smiled.

"Have you seen Jiang Zhen and Wang Daren?"

Zhang Juzheng became a little more interested and asked casually.

"Hey, uncle, have you heard the news too?"

Wei Guangde turned to look at Zhang Juzheng and smiled.

"Hey, you know, none of the adults in the court object to His Majesty's indulging in Taoism. This requires arranging for two censors to go out to visit and ask for the alchemists' Dharma books. That is to say, they dare not say it openly in front of the emperor, but in private."

Zhang Juzheng said casually that he had only heard about it yesterday. Considering that Jiang Zhen was from Nanchang, Jiangxi, he thought Wei Guangde should be familiar with him.

Wei Guangde nodded, "Although the adults are opposed to it, what can you do if your Majesty persists? He will set out about two years ago to visit various places in the south and north."

Wei Guangde didn't see Wang Daren today, but he did see Jiang Zhen, so he also knew that he got the job.

It's just a search in various places. It may take a long time to gain much. In the end, it is hard to say whether it is merit or hard work. Wei Guangde is not envious.

"By the way, I heard some news at the Metropolitan Procuratorate, but I'm not sure. There's no memorial in Fujian either."

Wei Guangde suddenly remembered that he saw several Fujian censors chatting in the corner of the courtyard in the Metropolitan Procuratorate. When he passed by to say hello, he listened to the news he got.

"Fujian, what happened again?"

Zhang Juzheng asked curiously.

"They said that the plague in Quanzhou, Fujian, seemed to be very serious and had been going on for several months. The chief envoy, Sidu, and the capitals together sent troops to blockade the place."

Wei Guangde said, "A few censors from Fujian are saying that if they don't see Fujian reporting this matter again, they will impeach them. They don't treat the people of Fujian as human beings. If something like this happens, You should ask the imperial court for relief."

"Another plague?"

Zhang Juzheng sighed while stroking his beard.

"The blockade is right to prevent the spread of the disease, but it still depends on whether the Chief Envoy sends medical officers to collect medicines for disaster relief. If they don't know this, the most they can do with this impeachment is to get them scolded."

Yin Shizhen said leisurely.

During this period of the Ming Dynasty, there was no good way to deal with the plague. In fact, before the emergence of antibiotics, there was no good way to deal with the plague.

Although doctors in the Ming Dynasty were already studying the treatment of plague, actual progress was not great. The so-called sending out medical officers and distributing medicinal materials was actually more about appeasing the local area.

After listening to Yin Shizhen's words, Wei Guangde and Zhang Juzheng nodded.

It actually makes sense that Fujian did not report the matter in time.

If an epidemic occurs in a local area, if the province feels that it can handle it, it will naturally solve it first. After the epidemic is over, it is also possible to report the process and ask for merit for meritorious officials. If it does not cause trouble to the court, the court will naturally be happy.

Fujian has had too many incidents in recent years, and they are probably afraid that reporting it too early will make the higher authorities unhappy and affect their careers, but they may not have deliberately concealed the incident.

Moreover, such a big incident cannot be concealed just because they want to. They cannot pass the test of Fujian officials in Beijing.

From ancient times to the present, officials have the tradition of reporting good news but not bad news. Except for military and national affairs, they dare not delay. Other matters are covered up as much as possible and solved privately. They will report it only when they can no longer cover it up.

Take Zhang Lian's incident. They started the rebellion in the 37th year of Jiajing. At that time, they were still occupying the mountains and becoming bandits. The court had no idea that such a person existed.

It was not until the 39th and 40th years of Jiajing that he ascended the throne and became emperor, and the local Jinyiwei found out about it and reported it to the capital, and the court knew about it.

In the two years before this, the Fujian government also organized an anti-bandit campaign, but the results were not good, and they were defeated repeatedly, so they naturally dared not report it.

Wei Guangde stayed in Prince Yu's Mansion until the court was dismissed, and then he left Prince Yu's Mansion and went home directly.

Time passed in a flash, and a few days passed. Anyway, during this period, Wei Guangde did not receive any reports from Fujian about the plague disaster in Quanzhou Prefecture. He was also wondering why those Fujian censors did not make trouble. If they did not speak up, should he, the Fujian Dao censor, expose the matter?

Until now, Wei Guangde still adheres to the principle of not offending people if he can. Officials in Fujian may need to ask for help from them at any time.

Therefore, he did not have the consciousness that he was still the Fujian Dao censor. Wei Guangde even suspected that those Fujian censors talked about the Quanzhou plague when they saw him. Was it intentional?

For them, impeaching the parents of their hometown officials seemed to be more disadvantageous to them.

Being an official in Beijing, it is impossible for the relatives in the hometown not to do some bullying. These need the help of local officials. Naturally, they don't want to offend them if they can avoid offending them.

The court was calm during this period. The distribution of the big cake of the Yan family was a matter that the big men completed with laughter. Naturally, it was not something that Wei Guangde, a small horse-washing horse, could get involved in. At least the Shangshu and Shilang were qualified to sit in that position to discuss.

Even if the Prince Yu's Mansion wanted to run for some people, Gao Gong and Xu Jie were involved. Sometimes they just stood on the platform during the banquet to let people know that this was the intention of the Prince Yu's Mansion.

That day, Wei Guangde and Zhang Juzheng were still flipping through several copies of the Yongle Encyclopedia that had just been copied, and a clerk came outside and whispered a few words in Wei Guangde's ear.

The person was Lu Bu, the clerk assigned to him by the Hanlin Academy. Wei Guangde rarely went to the Hanlin Academy, so he asked him to come over to help watch the work of copying the classics. Wei Guangde felt more at ease, after all, he was not here all the time.

"Let us go back immediately?"

Wei Guangde asked in surprise.

"Yes, sir, that's what the eunuch said."

Lu Bu said in a low voice.

"Okay, we will go now. You keep an eye on this side. We haven't finished reading these books yet. You will clean them up later."

Wei Guangde gave an order and then said to Zhang Juzheng next to him: "The palace summoned us and asked us to go there immediately."

"What happened?"

Zhang Juzheng asked in surprise.

Wei Guangde shook his head, indicating that he didn't know.

They copied books here in a few courtyards found by the court alone. On weekdays, there was not much communication between here and other government offices, so the news was not as well-informed as other government offices.

The two hurried out, got on the sedan chair, and rushed back to Prince Yu's Mansion.

Not long after, when they entered the palace and saw Yin Shizhan, Prince Yu had already arrived.

Before they asked, Yin Shizhen said, "A few days ago, the court just appointed Zhang Nie as the governor of Guangdong, Guangxi and Fujian. Today, we got the news that Lu Fengyi, the secretary of Nanjing Household Department, impeached Hu Zongxian, the governor of Zhejiang, for ten crimes of tyranny, greed and lust."

"Lu Fengyi?"

Wei Guangde didn't have much impression of this person, but he knew that after thinking about it, he should have seen the appointment of Zhang Nie and the court's continuous cleaning of the Yan Party. This person bet that the court was going to move Hu Zongxian, so he rushed to impeach him.

"It's a bit of a self-defeating."

Zhang Juzheng said lightly.

Yin Shizhen also thought of it at the beginning, so he specifically mentioned Zhang Nie's appointment when introducing it earlier. Zhang Juzheng also said so, so he naturally knew that the court didn't plan to move Hu Zongxian so soon. It should be that it planned to let Zhang Nie control Fujian before considering this matter, so there is such a saying as self-defeating.

In fact, the news of Hu Zongxian's move was not a secret in Prince Yu's mansion. Xu Jie had already informed this side of the plan to promote Zhang Nie.

At the beginning, Fujian was still suppressing bandits, so they really didn't dare to take the opportunity of deposing Yan Song to deal with Hu Zongxian, fearing that he would take the opportunity to cause trouble.

Now that Zhang Lian has been executed, the Yan family has not made any thorns and has obediently accepted the punishment of the court, so they don't want to push Hu Zongxian too hard, thinking of slowly taking back power. Unexpectedly, Lu Fengyi's impeachment completely disrupted the cabinet's plan.

"That's the thing. Master Gao and Lord Xu have sent notes, let's see, should we take action to take down Hu Zongxian directly, or follow the previously agreed plan and take it slowly?"

At this time, Prince Yu also spoke.

"Hu Zongxian should know that it will come to that step sooner or later. He has been slow to report to retire. Now that he has been impeached, it is probably difficult for him to get away with it."

Wei Guangde sneered, but he was also thinking about the top ten crimes that Lu Fengyi could concoct for Hu Zongxian.

Out of curiosity, Wei Guangde looked at King Yu and Yin Shizhen unconsciously, looking for the copy of the impeachment memorial.

Wei Guangde's probing gaze was naturally not hidden from King Yu and Yin Shizhen. King Yu did not speak, and Yin Shizhen said: "The news has been passed on, but the manuscript has not been sent yet. It is probably going to be soon. The memorial should be sent to Xiyuan." , I think your majesty will soon summon two pavilion elders, and maybe ministers from various ministries."

When he heard that the memorial was not copied, Wei Guangde also looked away and waited with peace of mind.

Impeaching a governor who holds military power is not a trivial matter. The memorial should be sent to Xiyuan as soon as possible. It is probably because the matter is so big that Xu Jie and Yuan Wei still have to discuss it, so they don't have time to ask someone to copy it, so they can only do it first. Get the word out.

A few people sat and waited, but they also started chatting.

"When Mr. Yan Ge left the field, there was no movement from Hu Zongxian. During that time, I didn't find any correspondence between Hu Zongxian and the Yan family. I think he was moved as soon as he was moved. He shouldn't dare to do anything."

This is Wei Guangde's opinion. He doesn't believe that in today's world, anyone would respond to raising a flag of rebellion.

Zhang Lian made such a big fuss that after leaving Fujian and Guangdong, very few people responded.

In this era, the idea that the Ming Dynasty was the orthodoxy has long been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and it is not easy to change.

After listening to Wei Guangde's words, King Yu nodded, but he didn't say much. Yin Shizhen recognized it very much. I think Yin Shizhen also analyzed it like this before they came over.

In fact, there is not much to discuss about this matter, at least Wei Guangde thinks so. As for why Xu Jie and Gao Gong still want to pass on the news, it is probably because of Hu Zongxian's official position. After all, he has a high and powerful position and can be regarded as a figure like a feudal official.

However, Zhang Juzheng didn't speak, he just sat quietly, seemingly indifferent.

Not long after, the transcript of the memorial was delivered. When the transcript reached Wei Guangde, he could not help but frown, thinking to himself that if Hu Zongxian could not be impeached and removed from power this time, you, Lu Fengyi, would be the number one sinner.

Look at the crime Lu Fengyi convicted Hu Zongxian, "Zong Xian was originally from the same hometown as the bandit leader Wang Zhi. When he was in charge of Cai, Jiang Zhou, Chen Keyuan and others were all spies among the bandits. Fang Zhi took the Japanese to Cengang, and the thieves Not long ago, Zongxian used troops to play with the bandits, sacrificed his property, destroyed the defense inspections, and exchanged cross-examinations. He was assigned to the post of coastal defense. However, Zong Xian built his own merit temple in Wushan. He wanted to spend the whole night drinking and watching the Jiangxi and Fujian invaders without firing a single blow. He only spent the day collecting food and wages from post officials and civilians and cutting them off. The governor's office accumulated as much silver as a mountain. "They gathered together like hedgehogs, like the village officials. Lu Xizhou, Tian Rucheng, and Mao Kun all talked about it and handed it to their guests as guests, and they even proclaimed their excessive lewdness."

From the very beginning, it was said that Hu Zongxian hooked up with Wang Zhi. Doesn’t this mean that Emperor Jiajing didn’t know people well?