Chapter 766 865 Admiral and Prime Minister

"Uncle. Haha"

When Wei Guangde heard that Zhang Juzheng wrote a letter to Zhu Daqi, he was stunned for a moment, then smiled and shook his head and entered the backyard.

In Wei Guangde's eyes, Zhang Juzheng was looking for trouble for himself by doing this.

In fact, protecting Xu Jie was beneficial to everyone. Wei Guangde was worried that Zhu Daqi could not withstand the pressure from Gao Gong, so he gave advice.

Unexpectedly, Zhang Juzheng climbed up on the pole himself. It seemed that he had not understood Gao Gong's intention of recommending Zhu Daqi.

Just after the gate of Wei Mansion was closed, the sound of horse hooves hitting the ground was heard in the alley. A fast horse rushed to the gate of Wei Mansion and reined in the horse. Perhaps the movement was too big, and the hoofs of the war horse flew into the air. , the knight's body is almost integrated with the horse's body.

The knight on the horse was covered in dust, and it was obvious that he had traveled a long way.

After stopping in front of the Wei Mansion, he immediately got off his horse and hurried to the side door next to the main entrance before he had time to fasten the reins.

"Dong dong dong"

There was a rapid knock on the door. At this point, most of the people who had gone out in the Wei Mansion had returned, so the door was closed. The only way to enter was to knock on the door and call for help.

"Who's out there?"

After a while, someone asked from the door.

"Nanjing Wei Duke's Courier, please open the door quickly."

The knight outside the door replied loudly.

As footsteps approached, the side door was half opened, revealing a servant-like figure.

"Hey, it's you, come in."

As he spoke, he made room for his knight to enter, and then waved to a servant, "Go and take the horse to the side door and send it to the stable."

As the servants came out and led the horses away, the side door was quickly closed again, as if no one had been there before and nothing had happened.

At this time, on the road leading to the inner courtyard, the man walked quickly in with the messenger from Nanjing.

The two of them stopped in front of the inner courtyard door. Although the courtyard door was open, they also knew that they could not enter casually inside.

"Quickly go in and inform Madam that a letter has arrived from Nanjing."

The man said to an old woman in front of the inner courtyard.

The old nanny just glanced at the person behind him, nodded, turned around and went into the inner courtyard to report.

With the return of the messenger, the messenger was taken into the backyard. Soon, a piece of news spread in the Wei Mansion.

Xu Pengju, Duke of Wei in Nanjing, died.

Wei Guangde received the notice from the maid when he was thinking about something in the study, and knew that his wife Xu Jianglan was heartbroken at this moment.

Although Xu Pengju was not kind to the brothers Xu Bangrui and Xu Jianglan, he gave them what they deserved. Except for the fact that he only wanted to pass the title to Xu Bangning, he did not treat them harshly.

So knowing the news of her father's death, Xu Jianglan's sadness can be understood.

Although there are some complaints about his father, family affection still prevails at this time.

Half of the people in the Wei Mansion were from Jiujiang and half were from Nanjing, so a sad atmosphere instantly filled the Wei Mansion.

Wei Guangde went to the main room in the backyard and read the letter sent by the messenger. He knew that a funeral was coming, so he asked: "When you set out, were the people from the Nanjing Rites Yamen also on their way?"

"They should arrive in Beijing one day late. I think they should arrive in the next two days."

The messenger lowered his head and shrugged his shoulders from time to time, looking very sad.

But whether it was sincere or not, Wei Guangde didn't want to explore.

"I'll write a post to Duke Ding's Mansion, and Duke Cheng's Mansion will also notify you."

Wei Guangde patted his wife who was still crying and said.

Wei Guangde was hesitant as to whether he should tell the palace or not. After all, it should be the Nanjing Yamen that reported it.

"Husband, I want to go back to Nanjing."

Suddenly, Xu Jianglan stopped sobbing and spoke.

"Okay, I'll let someone arrange it."

Wei Guangde did not stop him and agreed immediately.

After leaving the house, he called Zhang Ji and told him to arrange for his wife to go south to Nanjing, and asked him to pack up. In addition, he was asked to remember to send news to Xungui's mansion in the capital.

Come to think of it, every family will send people south to express their condolences.

Back in the study, Wei Guangde quickly put this matter behind him, because he was more concerned about the battle over the candidates for the Zuodu Censor in the Metropolitan Procuratorate.

Somewhat unexpectedly, in addition to Gao Gong who recommended Wang Ziqiang, the censor of the right capital of the Nanjing Metropolitan Procuratorate, Chen Yiqin recommended Zhao Zhenji, the left minister of the Ministry of Rites, and Zhang Juzheng recommended Ge Shouli, the former minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, Yin Shizhen also came to join the competition. It was lively.

Perhaps it was because the probability of Zhao Zhenji taking over as the censor of Zuodu was too low, and he also wanted to muddy the waters.

Anyway, when Yin Shizhen told Chen Yiqin and Wei Guangde about the person he wanted to recommend, neither of them had any objection.

Cao Bangfu, courtesy name Zizhong, Haodong Village, a native of Caolou Village, Heze, Shandong Province, is a fellow villager of Yin Shizhen. He is now in charge of the affairs of the Nanjing Metropolitan Procuratorate as Youdu Yushi of the Nanjing Metropolitan Procuratorate. He is half a rank higher than Wang Ziqiang recommended by Gao Gong. After all, It's the chief courtyard.

However, Cao Bangfu was different from other members of the Imperial Procuratorate. In the first year of Longqing's reign in the Ming Dynasty, he served as the deputy censor of the left capital to assist in the affairs of the court, and later became the assistant minister of the Ministry of War in charge of military affairs. Not long after, he became the minister of the left and the censor of the right capital, and served as the governor-general of Ji, Liao, Baoding, etc. In military affairs.

Due to physical reasons, he was later transferred to the Nanjing Metropolitan Procuratorate. It can be said that he was a person who did things, but he dealt more with military affairs.

In fact, this matter was not a big deal to begin with, but what puzzled Wei Guangde was that Emperor Longqing summoned him alone this afternoon and asked him what he thought of Cao Bangfu, and he seemed to intend to use it.

It can be said that Wei Guangde cannot understand the recent series of operations of Emperor Longqing.

Could it be that the emperor was planning to support Yin Shizeng and hand over the Censorate to him?

But Wei Guangde had considered it many times before, and he felt that letting Ge Shouli serve as the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate was actually the best choice. After all, Cao Bangfu was more of a military and civil servant. Although he was in charge of the Nanjing Censorate, there was not much to do there, and it was considered a retirement job.

If an imperial decree was issued to recall him to the capital, Cao Bangfu would probably not be able to hold on as the Left Censor-in-Chief.

However, the funniest thing was that when Wei Guangde went back to the cabinet after leaving the palace, he asked Yin Shizeng about it, and Yin Shizeng actually said that he had not told Cao Bangfu about it.

In other words, whether Cao Bangfu was willing to return to the capital to serve as the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate was still unknown.

At that time, Wei Guangde pointed his finger at Yin Shizeng, not knowing what to say.

"You know Cao Zizhong is not in good health. He has submitted a petition for resignation before. If the imperial edict is issued and he is unwilling to come, what do you think we should do?"

"I just said it casually at the time. Don't tell me that Your Majesty really means this."

Yin Shizhen knew that Wei Guangde would not come here to talk about this matter for no reason, so he asked about it.

Wei Guangde told Yin Shizhen about the conversation with Emperor Longqing in the palace and asked him to send a message to others and ask about their plans. It would be funny if the imperial edict was issued and a petition was submitted and he refused to take the position.

There are so many people competing for the position. If the emperor picked someone out and he was unwilling to take the position, it would be a slap in the face of many people.

Now in the cabinet, only Li Chunfang and Wei Guangde did not nominate candidates for the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate. The competition is really fierce.

On the second day, Emperor Longqing summoned other cabinet ministers one after another. Wei Guangde didn't know what they talked about, but it was probably related to Cao Bangfu. After all, Gao Gong and others didn't look very good when they came back.

However, the Ministry of Rites finally received the news from Nanjing and hurriedly sent the news to the palace.

Xu Pengju inherited the title in the 13th year of Zhengde, guarded Nanjing in the 16th year, was in charge of the Central Military Governor's Office, and worshipped the Xiaoling Mausoleum. In the 4th year of Jiajing, he was promoted to the Prince Taibao until his death. Although he had no merits, he had worked hard.

Regarding the memorial submitted by the Duke of Wei's Mansion, Xu Bangrui followed Xu Pengju's will to decline the funeral and ask for a posthumous title, but Emperor Longqing certainly did not agree, and ordered the Ministry of Rites to offer sacrifices according to the 16 altars of the Huidian Dukes and Marquises.

After Xu Jianglan set off to Nanjing to pay his respects, Wei Guangde also received a reply from Nanjing Cao Bangfu in the cabinet. As expected, he firmly declined and was unwilling to serve as the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate.

"What should I do?"

Yin Shizhen was now in a big headache, because the news that Emperor Longqing intended to let Cao Bangfu take over as the Left Censor-in-Chief had somehow spread throughout the capital. It can only be said that the palace is a big sieve and no news can be blocked.

"According to the reply, his petition for leave should arrive in the capital in two days. You should think of a way to solve the current trouble."

After receiving the reply, Yin Shizhen went to Chen Yiqin first, and then the two went to Wei Guangde's duty room to discuss the matter.

"This matter is really..."

Wei Guangde was also scratching his head. The main reason was that the news that the emperor wanted to promote him had spread. At this time, it was really a bit embarrassing to submit a petition for leave.

Those who knew understood that Cao Bangfu knew about his physical condition, and those who didn't thought that he had complaints against the emperor.

Fortunately, after all, he was a member of the Censorate, and the censors of the Ministry of Justice did not submit a petition to impeach him for this.

Now we have to find a position to place Cao Bangfu. If we pretend that nothing happened, it won't work.

"He was the governor of Ji and Liao, and he knows military affairs."

Wei Guangde recalled Cao Bangfu's experience as an official, just wanting to find a suitable official position.

Don't mention it, he really thought of an official position for him that could solve the current troubles.

"Remember a few days ago, the officials Wei Ti and Shang Deheng of the Ministry of Personnel requested to promote the assistant minister for the renewal of military affairs.

Huguang Dao Censor Chen Yujie also reported that the soldiers in the camp have been weak for several years, but now they are not carefully selected and are still appointed to be frivolous, so that the camp will be difficult to change and the training will be ineffective. Please refer to the recent examples of selecting border talents and let the officials recommend their own people."

Wei Guangde's words made Chen Yiqin and Yin Shizhan a little confused for a while, and they didn't understand what Wei Guangde meant.

Wei Guangde looked at the expressions of the two and smiled, "Before, the censor impeached Huo Yi, in fact, because of the change of the Beijing camp. At that time, Huo Yi insisted on keeping it the same. Although Your Majesty did not allow Huo Yi to resign, the position of inspector of the three camps was not appointed."

Inspector is actually the original assistant, the official responsible for supervising the training of the Beijing camp. In the past, it was the assistant minister of the Ministry of War or the right censor.

"You mean, let Cao Bangfu be the governor of the Beijing Camp?"

According to the current cabinet and the Ministry of War, the Beijing Camp has changed its military system again, setting up a civilian governor to supervise the various armies of the Beijing Camp and abolishing the original assistant governor of the Beijing Camp's military affairs.

The governor is naturally one level higher than the assistant. Whether Cao Bangfu is transferred to the position of governor of the Beijing Camp or promoted to the governor of the Beijing Camp by the Left Censor-in-Chief, it seems reasonable.

"The governor of the Beijing Camp is also fine. If Huo Yi resigns, he can take over."

Yin Shizhen stroked his beard and nodded with a smile. He thought that transferring him to the Beijing Camp seemed to be a good idea. He could keep an eye on the Ministry of War and fill the vacancy once there was one.

"Haha, you still want someone to manage the Ministry of War. Is the Censorate worse than the Ministry of War?"

Wei Guangde shook his head and laughed.

"Wait until Cao Bangfu's memorial arrives in two days before telling His Majesty about this matter. It seems that there is no obstacle for Ge Shouli to be the Left Censor-in-Chief."

Chen Yiqin also laughed.

He turned to Yin Shizhen and said, "Next time you recommend someone, talk to them first to avoid what happened today. It's really passive."

"By the way, the Ministry of Industry will report in the near future. Please appoint Shi Pan Jixun, the former right deputy censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, as Prime Minister Hedao. If your Majesty asks, please say a few kind words."

Wei Guangde spoke at this time.

After receiving approval a few days ago, Pan Jixun inspected many rivers in the lower reaches of the Yellow River and already has a new water control strategy. After looking at the current dam plan of the Ministry of Industry, there are some modifications, but it is generally completed.

Now that there is a new strategy, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Industry must give Pan Jixun the power to implement it, otherwise the general flood control strategy will become empty talk.

"Pan Jixun, Prime Minister He Dao, I have no objection."

Wei Guangde had communicated with them before and knew that Zhu Heng of the Ministry of Industry planned to let Pan Jixun try it to see how his water control strategy was.

After all, his previous flood control efforts that had cost the court money and food seemed to have failed.

"I have asked people about this in private. There are not many officials who know how to control water, especially in the Huanghuai line. Almost no one dares to work because the Yellow River is difficult to control.

Since Shandai has found Pan Jixun and is willing to give it a try, it is naturally the best. The court cannot always let the river get out of control. "

Yin Shizhen said.

"Actually, I asked him at the beginning whether he would be appointed as the governor of water transportation, but after all, water transportation only involves a small section of the Huanghuai waterway and does not have control over the Yellow River."

Wei Guangde explained again.

"You want to use the money transported by canal to control the water, but it's difficult."

Chen Yiqin understood the meaning of Wei Guangde's words. The imperial court did not have much money. The only yamen that had money was the water transport yamen. If the governor of water transport was allowed to prime the river, he could then use the water transport funds to repair the river, which would alleviate the pressure of insufficient money. .

But if you really do this, I’m afraid the resistance will be very great.

"Canal transportation cannot be moved, which affects the capital and Jiubian."

Yin Shizhen also echoed.

The Water Transport Yamen is responsible for the management of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, as well as the transportation of water grains.

In the past, Cao Liang was mainly used to ensure the cost of the capital. However, after the changes in the Salt Law, grain and grass in border towns also began to be allocated from Cao Liang, so it was of great importance.

As for the money earned from water transportation, in addition to the taxes collected along the canal, the money was mainly spent on river maintenance. When the water supply was cut off, a large number of carriages and horses were hired to transport the water supply to Beijing via land.

Of course, such efforts and mobilization of people rarely happen, after all, the price paid is too high.

However, the water transportation yamen also pays attention to the land transportation of grain.

It all shows that the court is poor, but in fact it is only the Ministry of Household Affairs that is poor, and the money from the Ministry of Household Affairs has to cover all the expenses of the court.

However, the six ministries and other yamen of the Ming Dynasty also had their own account books, and they could allocate taxes and money to various places, and the income also went to their respective yamen.

Therefore, the Ministry of Revenue has no money, but there is money in the warehouses of the Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of War and other government offices. No one will tell the emperor if he doesn't ask.

For the river repair work, the Ministry of Works was supposed to provide the bulk of the work, and the Ministry of Household Affairs was responsible for the vacancies. However, Zhu Heng decided to go to the water transport department instead.