Chapter 651 650 Entering the Imperial Court

On birthdays, I would like to express my gratitude to my assistant ministers and old lecturers.

Chen Yiqin's words immediately made Wei Guangde feel hot.

If he could take this opportunity to advance to another level in his current official position, wouldn't he be a minister?

Tsk tsk

Just after Wei Guangde was filled with joy for a moment, he suddenly calmed down.

The current Minister of Rites is Gao Yi, who has recently been organizing their joint request for the appointment of a crown prince. He is also in charge of the celebration ceremony for His Majesty's birthday. Could it be that he has had a premonition?

But, no matter how you think about it, something feels wrong.

Chen Yiqin was a little surprised to see Wei Guangde calm down.

He didn't expect that Wei Guangde would calm down so quickly when he had the opportunity to touch the minister's position at such a young age.

"Your Majesty plans to promote me and Zhengfu to the rank of minister without being in charge?"

Wei Guangde asked.

"Whether it is Gao Shangshu or Yang Shangshu, the court has no reason to remove them."

Chen Yiqin's words were actually equivalent to acknowledging Wei Guangde's guess, but then he saw him smiling and saying: "Although he is not a minister and cannot be regarded as a real minister, he can push open the door to the pavilion. Shouldn't you? Buy me a drink?"

Wei Guangde nodded, it was indeed true.

The imperial court did not give the official position of Shangshu casually, except for Emperor Zhengde and Jiajing who were more casual.

A carpenter can be awarded the title of Minister of the Ministry of Industry because he builds a palace well.

A medical officer who saved the emperor's life would be granted the title of Minister of Rites.

Although the code stipulates that the six departments are divided into one minister and two ministers, the actual situation is not the case at all. The number of ministers and ministers has long been overnumbered. In order to improve their rank, all ministers in the cabinet have the title of minister.

"Am I the Minister of Ceremony?"

Wei Guangde asked.

In his opinion, since Chen Yiqin knew about this, Emperor Longqing must have discussed it with him.

"Ministry of Staff."

Unexpectedly, when Chen Yiqin opened his mouth, he said the name of another yamen, "Zhengfu is the Minister of the Ministry of Etiquette."

Wei Guangde blinked, then nodded as if understanding.

But in fact, he didn't understand Emperor Longqing's idea of ​​​​not being promoted to minister in his yamen, but to another yamen.

"If you were the Minister of Rites, it would be very awkward to meet Gao Yi. The same goes for Zhengfu."

Chen Yiqin was the first to explain, "But the original position remains unchanged."

Wei Guangde actually understood this, which was to do the work of a minister and enjoy the treatment of a minister.

But thinking that he would soon become a heavenly official, the smile that had disappeared reappeared on his face.

"Haha, by the way, why did you invite me here?"

Chen Yiqin asked again.

After being asked by him, Wei Guangde remembered the purpose of looking for him and hurriedly told Chen Yiqin the news he heard yesterday.

"Is this happening?"

Obviously, Chen Yiqin didn't know that Li Fang was sent home by Emperor Longqing to live idle.

In the past, their news was conveyed from the palace by Li Fang. Now that Li Fang committed a crime, the source of news was naturally cut off.

And Wei Guangde is not only on Li Fang's side, he also has Chen Ju's side.

"Chen Ju came to me last night and said that I feel that your Majesty has changed a lot since he ascended the throne."

Wei Guangde said.

"His Royal Highness has become His Majesty. He has changed a lot. Li Fang still used the same method as Yu Zhuan to persuade him."

Chen Yiqin put down his chopsticks and lowered his head in deep thought.

"I have tried to persuade him before, but you also know Li Fang's temperament. He only said, 'I hope you have a clear conscience.' What else do you want me to say."

Wei Guangde sighed and said.

"Too straight."

For Li Fang, people from Yu Zhuan's family actually admired him very much. Even Gao Gong, such an arrogant person, treated Li Fang as an equal.

Gao Gong actually didn't have a good attitude toward eunuchs. Even Feng Bao, who had once been the chief eunuch and eunuch Bingbi, had no other words for him when he was in Yuzhuan.

"Who will succeed Li Fang in the palace now?"

Chen Yiqin asked the important point. Li Fang was an old friend for many years, so it was impossible not to help. Moreover, with him by the emperor's side, they felt at ease, knowing that he would watch over the emperor and prevent him from making mistakes, at least not big ones.

"Li Fang is just living idle and has not been dismissed from office."

Wei Guangde said.

"Then there is hope."

Chen Yiqin immediately made a judgment, "I will ask to see Your Majesty this afternoon to test the situation."

"Well, be careful with your words in front of His Majesty. After all, we are no longer hiding."

Wei Guangde just reminded.

This matter cannot be put off. There are a lot of things going on in the palace every day, and it is impossible to keep the position of admiral vacant forever.

If it's too late, I'm afraid other eunuchs in the palace will intervene and divide Li Fang's errands.

What they didn't know was that Chen Hong, Teng Xiang, Feng Bao, Zhang Jing and others in the palace had actually reached an agreement privately in the morning, and now they were singing in harmony in front of Emperor Longqing to divide it up on a temporary basis. Li Fang's rights.

Regarding the news and reaction speed involving the palace, the foreign ministers are always unable to match the internal ministers. Moreover, most of the so-called great eunuchs were taught by Hanlin officials in the inner study hall, and the knowledge of many of them is no worse than that of the Jinshi. , even better.

This is also the reason why emperors often chose eunuchs to suppress the court in the middle and late Ming Dynasty.

Of course, Wei Zhongxian and a few other eunuchs were exceptions.

At the end of the banquet, when the banquet was about to end, Wei Guangde suddenly asked about the appointment of the crown prince and how the cabinet voted for it.

"We discussed this matter this morning, and we definitely support it. Gao Zixiang has seized the opportunity very well."

Wei Guangde nodded. It seems that the cabinet is also very clear about the fact that Empress Chen is not favored in the palace.

When he walked to the door of the private room, Chen Yiqin suddenly stopped again and blocked the door.

When Wei Guangde was surprised, he heard Chen Yiqin say in his ears: "In fact, after knowing about Li Fang, I am most worried that His Majesty intends to depose the queen."

Wei Guangde couldn't help but open his mouth wide. He hadn't thought about this matter in this way, because his memory was not deep about Emperor Longqing, and he didn't know whether the emperor did this.

However, Empress Chen's situation today is actually similar to Li Fang. Because her advice made the emperor unhappy, she was forced to move out of Kunning Palace and move to another palace.

If there was no Li Fang, Chen Yiqin would not have thought of this, but since the eunuch who had followed the emperor for many years could be punished, the fate of Empress Chen became unpredictable.

But the empress is always the mother of the country. No matter whether Emperor Longqing likes her or not, she is the successor selected by the previous emperor. As long as she does not make any big mistakes, she should not be abolished, otherwise it will easily lead to chaos in the harem.

Besides, no one in Yuji’s old family has anything bad to say about Empress Chen’s behavior.

It is really not up to the outsiders to decide how many concubines Emperor Longqing wants to take, but it is just about the empress that the outsiders can really say.

“Brother Yifu, you can rest assured at this time. Even if you have to quit your job, you can never let your majesty do this.”

Wei Guangde said.

Chen Yiqin nodded first, then shook his head, sighed, and pushed the door open.

Wei Guangde also shook his head, followed him out of the private room, and went back to the Ministry of Rites.

Soon after returning to the Ministry of Rites, Wei Guangde took a large group of officials to Shuntianfu Gongyuan for inspection. Although the chief examiner for this year’s exam had not been determined, Wei Guangde knew that he had a high probability of being selected, so he paid special attention to this matter and did it himself.

You know, he couldn't leave the Imperial Academy for half a month after the exam started, and he had to live there from the day the decree was issued until the results were posted.

On the second day, Wei Guangde hadn't heard from Chen Yiqin yet, but he had a bad feeling.

But at this time, officials from the Ministry of Rites gathered in the main hall to receive the decree.

The Ministry of Rites requested the crown prince to be enthroned, and Emperor Longqing agreed. He ordered the Ministry of Rites to handle it and choose a day to report the ceremony.

In the afternoon, Chen Yiqin still didn't contact Wei Guangde. He was desperate and knew that Li Fang was not going to do anything, otherwise Chen Yiqin would not deal with it in this way.

If there was good news, Chen Yiqin would have sent someone to inform him last night.

Feng Bao

Wei Guangde couldn't help but think of this name again.

On the third day, the emperor issued a decree to increase the favor of the assistant ministers and the old lecturers.

Xu Jie, a university scholar, appointed one of his sons as the secretary of the Ministry of Imperial Treasures. Li Chunfang was appointed as the Grand Tutor of the Crown Prince and the Grand Scholar of Jianji Hall, and received the salary of the first rank. Chen Yiqin was appointed as the Junior Tutor of the Crown Prince, and Zhang Juzheng was appointed as the Junior Guardian of the Crown Prince. Each of them was granted a set of clothes. Wei Guangde, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites and the Academician of the Hanlin Academy, was promoted to the Minister of Personnel. Yin Shidan, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel and the Academician of the Hanlin Academy, was promoted to the Minister of Rites and still held the original position.

Led by Xu Jie, all the officials who had received favors submitted petitions to resign, but the emperor gave them all a favorable edict and refused to approve them.

Because the enthronement of the Crown Prince had been decided, all the ministers in the court submitted their congratulations, and immediately went to the Wenhua Hall to present congratulatory letters to the Crown Prince. The seal officials set up the throne for the Crown Prince in the hall.

However, just when everyone was in high spirits, Wei Guangde was called back from the Imperial Examination Hall by Gao Yi.

After entering Gao Yi's duty room, the two exchanged greetings, and Gao Yi went straight to the point and said, "Shan Dai, today I looked at the ceremony for enthroning the crown prince and found many inappropriate things."

"Is this true?"

Wei Guangde was suspicious. The ceremony was a copy of the previous enthronement ceremony, so there shouldn't be anything wrong with it.

"In the 15th year of Jiajing, the East Palace had already changed to yellow tiles, and the late emperor also set up a throne in the Wenhua Hall at that time."

Gao Yi said.

After being reminded by him, Wei Guangde immediately woke up.

Unlike the Forbidden City seen by people in later generations, the Qing Dynasty covered almost the entire palace with yellow tiles to show its nobility, but it was not the case in the Ming Dynasty.

Only the emperor and empress's bedroom, as well as some palaces where the emperor was active, such as the three main halls, could use yellow tiles, while other palaces were green tiles, in order to avoid the suspicion of usurpation.

The term "green tiles and red walls" came from this.

When the Forbidden City was completed in the 18th year of Yongle, Wenhua Hall was located on the east side of Fengtian Hall. Like Wenhua Hall in Nanjing Palace, it was also used to assist the government of the East Palace.

Wenhua Hall is located on the north side of Wenhua Gate, facing south. The front and rear halls are connected by corridors. The plane is in the shape of a "工" character, which is basically the same as the structure of Wenhua Hall today , but the roof is covered with green tiles.

According to the theory of the Five Elements in the Book of Changes, the royal family belongs to the center of the earth, and the earth is yellow, so yellow becomes the most noble color, and royal buildings are often topped with yellow.

However, yellow is not the color that can be used by all members of the royal family. For example, if the roof of the Prince's Hall is covered with yellow tiles, it would be suspected of usurpation, so Wenhua Hall is covered with green glazed tiles.

Green belongs to the east in the five elements, which is consistent with the location of Wenhua Hall; green also represents growth, which is commensurate with the status of the crown prince.

In the early Ming Dynasty, it was stipulated that when the emperor went on tour, the crown prince would supervise the country in Wenhua Hall; when the emperor was seriously ill, the crown prince would attend court in Wenhua Hall.

In addition, the prince used Wenhua Hall as his place of study and worship from the time he left the palace to study until he ascended the throne.

During the period of leaving the palace to study, the prince studied and had lunch in Wenhua Hall, and went back to the palace to sleep at night.

Around the age of 14, the prince held the "capping ceremony" in Wenhua Hall to mark his adulthood.

On important days such as the prince's enthronement and birthday, the crown prince also received congratulations from officials in Wenhua Hall.

It can be said that the "Eastern Palace" referred to by later generations is actually the Wenhua Palace, not the residence of the prince.

In the 15th year of Jiajing, the yellow tiles were changed and the throne was set up because the Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houcong was originally a vassal king living in a corner of Hubei. It happened that his cousin Emperor Zhengde died without a son, and his younger brother died young, so he was summoned to Beijing to be the emperor.

The process of ascending the throne was tortuous. After Zhu Houcong entered the Forbidden City, the Qianqing Palace, which was originally the residence of the emperor, caught fire in the previous dynasty and had not been repaired yet, so he could only temporarily live in the Wenhua Palace.

For Emperor Jiajing, the Wenhua Palace seemed to have served as his "Qianlong Residence" in Beijing to a certain extent. In the later "Great Ceremony Dispute", he tried to posthumously confer the title of his biological father and respectfully called him Huangkao to prove the legitimacy of his succession. Is this an important reason why the Wenhua Palace was later changed back to yellow tiles?

In any case, starting from the 15th year of Jiajing, the Wenhua Palace was no longer the prince's palace. It was covered with yellow tiles and became the emperor's side hall.

The ceremony of enthroning the crown prince was centered on Wenhua Hall, but the current situation of Wenhua Hall was no longer suitable for the enthronement of the crown prince, so Gao Yi felt it was very difficult and recalled Wei Guangde to discuss the matter.

As for changing the yellow tiles on Wenhua Hall to green tiles and removing the original throne of Emperor Jiajing, neither Gao Yi nor Wei Guangde dared to make such a proposal.

If they said it, the people from the Ministry of Rites and the Censorate would not know how to impeach them.

If the enthronement ceremony could not be held in Wenhua Hall, then where should it be held?

Changing the place seemed to violate the rules. The crown prince sat in Wenhua Hall, which was stipulated by the rules.

Wenhua Hall, Wenhua Hall.

Wei Guangde lowered his head and thought about the structure of Wenhua Hall, then suddenly raised his head and said, "Shangshu Gao, I remember that Wenhua Hall has the main hall and the back hall, as well as the side hall facing west on the east corridor.

Since the main hall has a throne, it is not suitable for the throne room. Can it be moved to the back hall or the side hall facing west on the east corridor?"

"The back hall cannot be used. That was the sleeping palace of the late emperor for a period of time after he entered the capital. I think it should be a side hall."

Gao Yi thought about it and made his own decision, "I will report it immediately, and we will sign it together."

"Okay."

Wei Guangde nodded immediately.

Coming out of Gao Yi's duty room, Wei Guangde went straight back to his duty room. He planned to go directly to Chen Yiqin's house after the court was dismissed to ask what was going on.

Chen Ju had not been to his house these two days, so he didn't know if there was any change in the palace.

But just when the court was about to be dismissed, an imperial edict suddenly appeared in the Ministry of Rites.

"The Bingxu examination for the tribute candidates of the whole country will be conducted by Li Chunfang, the Junior Tutor and Grand Tutor of the Crown Prince, Minister of Personnel, and Grand Secretary of Jianji Palace, and Wei Guangde, Minister of Personnel and Academician of the Hanlin Academy, as examiners."

After receiving the order, Wei Guangde was "escorted" by the eunuch who delivered the order all the way to the Shuntianfu Imperial Examination Hall.

When Wei Guangde walked into the gate of the Imperial Examination Hall, the wooden door behind him slowly closed. Looking at Li Chunfang, the Deputy Minister of the Cabinet in front of him, Wei Guangde hurriedly stepped forward to salute. (End of this chapter)