Chapter 649 Chapter 648 Ge Yin

The first year of Longqing seemed to have passed with the rise of the Prince Yu faction. If Gao Gong had not left the court sadly, the old people of Yu Ji should have been able to control the court very quickly.

The so-called "a new emperor, a new minister" is probably true.

At the end of the year, the palace issued two edicts in succession.

The first edict: change the name of Longqing Hall to Qingyuan Hall with the reign of Jianyuan, send the governor Jiang Hua to offer sacrifices to Xianling; change Longqing Prefecture to Yanqing Prefecture, Wei to Yanqing Wei, and change 66 seals.

The second edict was due to a memorial from Wei Guangde, saying that Shizhou was captured and destroyed and the people had no determination to stick to it, and asked the governor to repair the city and dredge the pond, and work to settle down and gather them, and exempt them from corvée for three years. In addition, "Shi" in Shizhou means "lost", and the meaning is unclear, so it is recommended to change the name.

In fact, the "Shi" in Shizhou means stable and as solid as a rock, which originally has a good meaning, but it happened that the city was captured, which is called "lost", so it naturally aroused the interest of Emperor Longqing.

This is also the news Wei Guangde got from Chen Ju. For some reason, it seems that the people of the old Zhu family believe in gods and Buddhas.

It is said that Zhu Yuanzhang has been looking for Zhang Sanfeng since then, wanting to worship him as a national teacher and find the way to longevity. Later emperors such as Zhu Di and Zhu Houcong also supported the construction of temples.

Emperor Longqing did not show much when he was in Prince Yu's Mansion before, but now that he is the emperor, he seems to be a little superstitious about Taoism.

It can only be said that genetic genes may be really strong. Since Zhu Yuanzhang became a monk to make a living, the old Zhu family seems to be involved with these monks and Taoists, and the origin is quite deep.

Emperor Longqing frowned several times when he saw the memorials about "Shizhou", saying that this place name is not good.

When the news reached Wei Guangde's ears, he naturally had to cater to his preferences for the sake of his future. After thinking about it, he simply made a memorial and suggested that Shizhou be Yongningzhou, which means eternal peace and tranquility.

It's not that he didn't think of using the name Yong'an Prefecture, but it was already used somewhere, so it was naturally not good to continue using it, otherwise a place would have to change its name.

Yongning, Yongning.

Emperor Longqing liked this name very much, so when he changed the name of Longqing Palace and Longqing Prefecture, he also changed Shizhou.

Afterwards, Wei Guangde took the time to meet the deputy general of Shenjiying who had just arrived in the capital. This person was naturally Qi Jiguang, the former general who guarded Fujian Fuxing Quanzhang and Zhejiang Jinwen. The deputy general of Shenjiying he served as was actually the position he held when he was an official in the capital. It was considered that he inherited his father's business.

Wei Guangde didn't quite understand why Qi Jiguang came to visit Wei's mansion, but he still met this great hero who was praised by later generations.

Unlike the image in his mind, Qi Jiguang didn't seem to be a military general, but more like a civil official. Although he knew that he had never passed the imperial examination, he seemed to be a young man in his hometown before, and he was born with a good appearance.

Afterwards, Wei Guangde asked Zhang Ji to inquire about his whereabouts and found out that he was visiting the ports, and he started with the nobles, and visited several dukes' mansions in the capital, and then other marquis' mansions and earl's mansions.

Of course, there would be no shortage of ports in the Ministry of War.

As for Wei Guangde, it should be because of his status. Even though he was a favored civil official in the court, he was a military household and had relatives with the Duke of Wei and the Duke of Ding.

The old saying that courtesy is not blamed is always true.

In fact, many officials in the capital knew him. Maybe they knew him but had no contact with him. He visited ports everywhere when he arrived in the capital, and quickly integrated into the circle of officials in the capital.

Of course, it was mainly the circle of military officers.

However, what amazed Wei Guangde was the financial strength that Qi Jiguang showed in a short period of time. According to Zhang Ji's estimation, in more than half a month, the money that General Qi spent was probably more than two or three thousand taels of silver.

For some reason, Wei Guangde always felt that he was naturally not close to anyone who was related to Zhang Juzheng. He didn't know whether it was because he knew Zhang Juzheng's final outcome, so he was just trying to protect himself or something else.

Even though he had increased his visits to Feng Bao, with whom he wanted to deepen his relationship, he was not very satisfied with the results.

It was similar to Qi Jiguang. They were of similar backgrounds, but talking to him was not as natural as talking to Yu Dayou. He always wanted to be on guard against something.

That day, Wei Guangde went to attend the birthday party of Liu Guangji, a doctor in the Qingli Division of Fujian. He got to know him because Wei Guangde had been paying close attention to the situation in Fujian and Guangdong in recent years, especially when Fujian was about to open the sea.

Now the cabinet and the local government in Fujian have reached a preliminary resolution on opening the sea. It is expected that the first merchant ship in Yuegang will be able to go to sea before the end of the year. Liu Guangji also played a significant role in this, mainly in terms of tax distribution.

It was impossible for Emperor Longqing to eat alone. The commercial tax of Yuegang was divided into three parts, one for the local government and one for the Ministry of Revenue. The emperor could only get a share of it, and he took half of it.

However, because there were people at both the local and central levels, the number of ships for trade in Yuegang was restricted. There were only 44 ships in total, which naturally greatly limited the total amount of commercial tax collection.

But Wei Guangde thought that since the opening had been opened, he should not rush to expand it, but adapt to it for a while.

The best way was to make the sea merchants in other provinces jealous, either by proposing to increase the number of open ports or increase the number of ships, so that they could also successfully clean up.

The gradual implementation of the open policy will not make you fat overnight.

However, today, Liu Guangji privately discussed with him the idea of ​​re-posting him as an official in the local area, which was a bit difficult for Wei Guangde.

In fact, Liu Guangji was sent to other places at first. He started as an official in Linqing and was later transferred to the Ministry of Household Affairs as a member of the wailang and langzhong. Now he wants to return to his place.

Ordinarily, it is not impossible to give Liu Guangji a prefect and upgrade his rank to the fourth rank. But in today's chat, Liu Guangji revealed his intention to Wei Guangde. He wanted to take charge of a province and restart the "One Whip Method" that Ge Shouli blocked in the middle of the year. .

Yes, when Ge Shouli, the Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue, forced the discontinuation of the whipping method, the officials of the Ministry of Revenue reacted most severely, and Liu Guangji was one of them.

Today, in the conversation between Liu Guangji and Wei Guangde, they constantly emphasized the benefits of this method. They also reminded many times that it had the support of many colleagues in the Ministry of Revenue, which made Wei Guangde have to be cautious.

A doctor from the Ministry of Finance is someone who can arm-wrestle with a provincial chief envoy in the capital, so he would definitely not be willing to take up the position of magistrate.

When Beijing officials meet local officials, they are generally the senior official.

Wei Guangde's attitude towards the implementation of the one-whip method was wavering, but he knew that in his hometown of Jiangxi, this policy seemed to be implemented well. Many prefectures and counties had done this, but they had stopped now because of Ge Shouli.

From this, Wei Guangde couldn't help but think that he might as well give him a hand. There happened to be a vacancy in Jiangxi, and the former chief envoy requested to be appointed to the official position. However, for the appointment of this position, the Ministry of Personnel only had the right to propose, not to decide.

So, Wei Guangde went around the staff department the next day and found out that Yang Bo and others had no candidate for Jiangxi's chief envoy, and his words also revealed that he wanted to recommend a candidate.

Although they didn't get a positive answer, these were all tacit things, because they all had a silent attitude, which actually meant tacit approval.

In the afternoon, Wei Guangde went to Chen Yiqin's house to discuss the matter again. When he returned home that night, he asked the hired master to prepare a memorial recommending Liu Guangji as the chief envoy to Jiangxi.

In the next few days, Wei Guangde did not rush to take out the memorial. Instead, he met with Liu Guangji several times. After everything was settled, he sent the memorial to Shangshu Yang Bo's desk.

After completing this matter, Wei Guangde finally received the transfer order and changed the right minister of the Ministry of Personnel to the left minister of the Ministry of Rites, while Yin Shizhen was transferred to the Ministry of Personnel.

It is better for the county magistrate to take charge now. In fact, Chen Yiqin temporarily blocked this decree, which helped delay it for some days.

In the blink of an eye, on the first day of the first month of the second year of Longqing, on the first day of the lunar month, Emperor Longqing performed a ritual of worship to heaven. He held a banquet with Emperor Shizong of Fengtian Hall in the palace. After the completion of the Hongxiao and Shenxiao Halls, the civil and military ministers of Yuhuangji Hall and the pilgrim officials and tribute envoys from Siyi were on the way. Celebration gifts do not require public announcements, congratulations from married women, banquets for hundreds of officials, and gifts of money for festivals.

The first year after Emperor Longqing ascended the throne has finally passed. Although it was not satisfactory, it was just like that.

Wei Guangde knew that Emperor Longqing still had regrets in his heart, of course the main reason was Gao Gong's departure from the court.

At the beginning of the first year of Longqing, everything actually went smoothly. While he was busy carrying out the emperor's funeral, he also dealt with the gifts of gifts from the ministers who had advised the previous dynasty, which was able to win over a wave of people.

But after the funeral, everything seemed to go wrong. Gao Gong resigned, the border defense was lost, and things that worried Emperor Longqing happened one after another.

In the new year, Emperor Longqing naturally hopes that everything will go as he wishes and there will be no more twists and turns.

However, Chen Yiqin, Wei Guangde and others noticed the way he inadvertently looked at Xu Jie on the throne.

Their small actions in private were all carried out with the tacit approval of Emperor Longqing, and they were naturally targeted at the person with the most say in the court today.

On the way out of the palace, Chen Yiqin, Yin Shizhen and Wei Guangde got together by chance. As they walked, they talked about the way Emperor Longqing looked at Xu Jie at the Zhengdan Dynasty today.

"Brother Yifu, when your Majesty summons you in two days, please remind him at all costs. A small impatience will ruin a big plan."

Wei Guangde whispered to Chen Yiqin.

"You can see it too."

Chen Yiqin's face remained calm, he just nodded slightly and replied in a low voice.

"Not a few people have noticed the way His Majesty looked at Xu Jie, but it's hard to say whether they can guess what it means."

Yin Shizhen muttered.

"So when I'm in the cabinet, I have to cooperate with Mr. Xu Ge, lest things don't work out and there are rumors outside."

Chen Yiqin sighed and said.

"It's difficult. Mr. Xu Ge is not stupid. Last year I just mobilized people from the Department of Science and Technology and he noticed it. This time the Jingchao has to mobilize so many people. He will not be unaware of it."

Wei Guangde whispered.

"What did Yang Shangshu say?"

Chen Yiqin suddenly asked.

"I gave the first draft to Yang Shangshu, and there was no change in his face at that time."

Yin Shizhen replied that now he is in the Ministry of Personnel, and he is in charge of the capital inspection.

"Wang Ting is not worried. The main thing is the staff. Sometimes it feels like he and Xu Jie are in the same group, and sometimes it feels like they are not. It's really hard to figure out."

Chen Yiqin frowned and said.

"In my opinion, Yang Shangshu and Mr. Xu Ge only have a cooperative relationship, and there is some tacit understanding between them. They should not be members of the same party."

Wei Guangde whispered.

If Yang Bo had chosen who to rely on so easily, it would be impossible for him to remain in the position of minister now.

Emperor Jiajing used him first because he was not affiliated with the Yan Party, and later because he was not affiliated with the Xu Party.

Now Yang Bo is also highly respected in the court, and his right to speak is actually no more powerful than Xu Jie's.

It's a pity that he was not born in the Imperial Academy after all. Although he had reached the rank of Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, he still had no chance to join the cabinet.

Although the Ming Dynasty never explicitly stipulated it, the unspoken rules were also rules.

The most important thing is that Emperor Longqing is not Emperor Jiajing. Emperor Jiajing sometimes breaks the rules. For example, he insisted on promoting Zhang Cong to the cabinet. It didn't matter if he was not a Hanlin. He was transferred to the Hanlin Academy and forced to get the status of Hanlin.

Emperor Longqing didn't have such courage and would choose to go against the court officials.

Moreover, although Yang Bo has always been close to Prince Yu's Mansion, he has never publicly stood on the side, which even Xu Jie can't compare with.

How could Emperor Longqing break the rules for him?

Perhaps, as the rumors in the court said, Emperor Jiajing in the late period might really have the idea of ​​letting Hu Zongxian enter the cabinet, using foreign officials to restrain Beijing officials, even if his status was not qualified to enter the cabinet.

You know, when the ministers in the court knew that Emperor Jiajing intended to allow Hu Zongxian to enter the cabinet, they were trembling.

Because of this practice, Emperor Jiajing had a criminal record.

When it came to Emperor Longqing, even the three of them would not believe that the emperor would let Yang Bo enter the cabinet because it was against the rules.

The atmosphere became a little dull, and the three people were silent at this time, just walking slowly towards the palace gate.

Chen Yiqin and Yin Shizhe were not sure about Yang Bo, but they did not dare to give a definite answer like Wei Guangde.

Finally, when they were about to leave the palace, Wei Guangde finally asked after hesitating several times: "Brother Yifu, did His Majesty tell you about Eunuch Huang before?"

Hearing this, Chen Yiqin glanced at Wei Guangde, then shook his head and whispered: "I only heard about this later."

"Although His Majesty's decree was only implemented in the palace, Eunuch Huang had taken care of Yu Ji a lot at the beginning. It has not been long since he left, and he has abolished all the favors of the previous emperor and the current emperor. It seems that His Majesty is a little bit."

Wei Guangde just said in a low voice, but he still didn't say the words "unkind" after all.

"Until now, I still don't know what mistake Eunuch Huang made that caused His Majesty to issue an order to remove him."

Just a few days ago, Wei Guangde suddenly heard news from the palace that Emperor Longqing suddenly removed all the favors bestowed on Huang Jin for some unknown reason.

During the Jiajing period, Huang Jin's younger brother Huang Xiu had been appointed as a captain of the Jinyiwei, and later promoted to the governor of the rear army, and was given the title of special promotion.

After the death of Emperor Jiajing, Huang Jin and Grand Secretary Xu Jie went to the Yu residence to welcome Prince Yu Zhu Zaihou to the throne, so Huang Jin's nephew was appointed as the commander of the Jinyiwei and hereditary.

But within two months of Huang Jin's death, Emperor Longqing suddenly took back all the rewards and removed these people from their official positions.

Although it was an imperial decree, the news had long been spread to the outer court. Now it seems that even Chen Yiqin didn't know the reason, so Wei Guangde couldn't help but think about it.

"Don't you know Shandai?"

Yin Shizhen suddenly looked at Wei Guangde and asked.

Wei Guangde smiled bitterly and shook his head. If he wanted to know the inside story, he would not ask Chen Yiqin today. (End of this chapter)