Chapter 769 868 Slander

Wei Guangde did not return to the cabinet after the Ministry of War finalized the strategy. Instead, he rested in the Ministry of War until San Yamen.

After leaving the gate of the Ministry of War, he was stopped by Chen Yiqin's attendant before he even got on the sedan.

"Mr. Wei Ge, my master invites you to gather at my house tonight."

The chief attendant around Wei Guangde knew him, so when he came over, he asked him why and let him in.

"Did your master say anything?"

Wei Guangde asked curiously.

When I came out of the cabinet this morning, I didn't hear Chen Yiqin say anything was wrong.

There is something weird about sending someone to invite him now.

Ordinarily, given their relationship, it wouldn't be okay to treat them to a drink someday? Do you still need to send someone to find him?

The answer, of course, is that I don’t know how Chen Yiqin would mention such a thing to the senior attendant around him. After all, it concerns another pavilion elder.

After Wei Guangde got on the sedan and went back home first, changed his clothes, and then set off for the Chen Mansion.

Xu Jianglan returned to Nanjing, and would go back to Jiujiang to live for a while. After all, he was arrogant and never returned to Jiangnan after arriving in the capital.

It’s so easy to go home after such a journey, so naturally I want to stay there for a while.

What's more, the two sons haven't seen their grandfather and uncle since they were born, so this trip took a long time to plan.

On the way, we also want to take a look at Wei Guangde's property in Jiangxi. Father Wei has bought a lot of property for his two sons, not only fields, but also shops, which have even opened from Jiujiang to Nanjing.

Tonight's banquet, Chen Yiqin only summoned Yin Shizhen and Wei Guangde because no one else could help.

If Gao Gong wants to launch the intercessory inspection, he only needs to raise it in the cabinet and discuss it, and it can basically be decided, because the final decision is made by Emperor Longqing in the Palace of Qianqing, and it is difficult for him to refuse Gao Gong's request.

"Brother Yifu, I'm afraid it will be difficult for the Chief Assistant to clearly reject Jingcha."

Only after Wei Guangde sat down at the banquet did he know what Gao Gong had said after he left.

Wei Guangde has long thought about using the capital to attack dissidents, but he has no way to do it, because the most powerful people here are the Ministry of Personnel and the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and these two yamen are not in his hands, so how can he activate it?

As for Chen Yiqin, who was worried that Gao Gong was using the Beijing Police to make small moves, he planned to contact the cabinet ministers to oppose it with all his strength. Wei Guangde was not very optimistic either.

On this issue, there is not much that Chen Yiqin and others can do, that is, they can win over Li Chunfang to reject Gao Gong's appeal during the cabinet meeting, so that the cabinet meeting cannot be formed.

Without cabinet discussion, Gao Gong could only report the matter personally or in the name of the Ministry of Officials.

But even if Emperor Longqing approved this memorial and the decree was sent to the cabinet, the chief minister of the cabinet could reject the emperor's decree because the cabinet meeting did not approve it.

Wei Guangde understood what Chen Yiqin was thinking, but he didn't think Li Chunfang would get into trouble unless he didn't want to do it anymore.

"But, if we allow Gao Suqing to act recklessly, it will only bring down the atmosphere in the court, and ministers will imitate him in the future. What should we do?"

After Chen Yiqin returned to the check-in room, the more he thought about it, the more worried he became, so he decided to have a banquet tonight.

"Unless the Chief Minister takes office and you take over, it will be difficult for the cabinet to reject his idea."

Wei Guangde picked up the wine glass and drank it all in one gulp, then looked at Chen Yiqin and said.

"Although Li Zishi said he wanted to become an official, in the past two years, apart from his self-report at the beginning of the year, when did he express his intention to return to his hometown to retire?

I see, he is still very happy with the position of chief assistant and will definitely not choose to leave. "

Yin Shizhen said at this time, "Besides, everything is just your guess now, Yifu. It's too early to make a conclusion. Why don't we wait until the end of the year to see the situation? Maybe Gao Suqing just said it casually, and maybe he didn't mean it." ”

"You think I'm being alarmist. When Hu Yingjia was still in office, he impeached Yang Weiyue for harboring Shanxi fellow villagers and being suspected of being a country party member."

Chen Yiqin immediately answered.

When Wei Guangde heard what Chen Yiqin said, he couldn't help but curl his lips. For an official like this, no one has close confidants, and they were either from the same year or from the same hometown, and the township party in the Ming Dynasty actually existed during the Hongwu period.

Yin Shizhen obviously disagreed with Chen Yiqin's words, but he still insisted: "Wait a little longer and see what his actions are at the end of the year. It's really too early to discuss it now. No one has taken any action. You are here worrying about the country and the people." Why bother? ’

At this point, Yin Shizhen planned to change the topic, looked at Wei Guangde and asked: "How is it going at the Ministry of War today? What's the plan?"

"The Ministry of War."

Wei Guangde followed Yin Shizhen's words and explained in detail the actions of the Ministry of War today. Hearing that the various defense stations below were already on the alert, they were relieved.

"That's fine. I just have to wait for news from Datong and the court will react."

Yin Shizhen smiled and said, "Have you said hello to Hu Bu?"

"Not really. The Ministry of Revenue should also have heard the news. After all, there is no airtight wall in this capital. The whole court knew about the Datong War at noon."

Wei Guangde smiled and said, "Tomorrow I will go to the cabinet and leave a note to the Ministry of Household Affairs, asking them to make plans first."

As the Ministry of War sent messengers to Datong one after another to ask for news about the war, messengers from the direction of Datong also continued to express war reports back to the DPRK. Gradually, the entire war in Datong was gradually fully controlled by the Ministry of War.

I don’t know whether it was because Altan Khan was old and lost his spirit or because the winter frost disaster had a great impact on the grassland. Although Altan’s troops came with great momentum this year, after repeated attacks in Laoying, Shuofang, Huaishan and other places, this sneak attack on Weiyuan Fort was very successful, but it was ultimately fruitless because the Ming army fought to the death.

According to the battle report, Lieutenant General Yang Jin fought in the west of the city, retreated slightly, and Weiyuan was almost broken.

As the generals Hu Zhen and Bai Tianfu, who heard the change, led their troops to the vicinity of the battlefield first, pinning down the troops of Altan’s troops, the offensive of the enemy cavalry against Weiyuan Fort was immediately greatly reduced, allowing the Ming army to catch a breath.

Hu Zhen and Bai Tianfu led their troops to join Ma Fang’s troops who came to rescue, and Altan’s troops were in a standoff more than ten miles outside the city.

Later, Altan Khan sent thousands of cavalry to attack the settlement fort, and at this time, Lieutenant General Ma Kongying of Jinglu Fort in the east had led his troops to the fort, and guarded the fort with the remaining garrison Hao Shijue.

Governor Fang Fengshi sent troops to rescue, and in a very short time, the surprise attack plan of Altan Khan's army failed, and the surrounding Ming army rescue troops gathered more and more.

Although the war had not officially started, the pressure on Altan Khan was huge.

By this time, the Ministry of War had confirmed that the war should end here, and Altan Khan would not gain any advantage if the war continued.

Although the battle report of the retreat of the enemy cavalry had not yet been delivered, the optimistic mood in the Ministry of War had already prevailed. Although many previous arrangements had failed, the fact that the enemy cavalry could not break through the pass was the greatest achievement for the Ministry of War.

While the Ministry of War was still waiting for the military report of the escape of the enemy cavalry in the direction of Datong, Wen Chun, the chief official of the military department, suddenly made a memorial, saying that the merits of the generals did not make up for their crimes, and asked for stricter verification of their merits and demerits.

When the Ministry of War was preparing to submit a memorial to refute, the Datong Censor reported that Zhang Gang, the Lieutenant General of Pinglu City, thought that the defense of Xin was lost and was afraid that the enemy would penetrate deep into the city. He secretly conspired with the garrison Zhu Jin, Zhang Jian, Dong Shangwen, and Xu Bangji to make generous gifts to the enemy so that the troops could move to attack Weiyuan. The news immediately caused an uproar in the court and the public.

When Wen Chun impeached him, Wei Guangde originally planned to stand up to support the Ministry of War and refute Wen Chun's words, but he immediately retreated after knowing what Zhang Gang had done.

He should not be too familiar with giving generous gifts to Altan Khan to make the enemy cavalry change their route to attack other castles.

When he just came through, the Datong general did this, which directly led to the Gengxu Incident. Altan Khan led his troops to the vicinity of the capital, making the court lose all its majesty.

Unexpectedly, at this time, another censor reported such a thing.

As the memorials of Governor General Chen Qixue, Governor Jin Xueyan, Fang Fengshi and others arrived in Beijing, the Ministry of War immediately changed its attitude.

The Ministry replied that Zhang Gang was the main culprit, and he argued that Zhu Jin, Zhang Jian, Dong Shangwen, Xu Bangji and others were guilty of their crimes. The rest of the governors and ministers had meritorious service in managing the country, and should be rewarded accordingly.

"Shan Dai, do you think they should be rewarded?"

On the throne of the Qianqing Palace, Emperor Longqing was high above, and asked Wei Guangde below.

Wei Guangde hesitated for a long time and bowed and said, "Your Majesty, merits are merits, and faults are faults. Zhang Gang and others who are not qualified to be ministers should be punished, while the governors and governors have merits in managing the country, and the generals have merits but no faults. The hearts of the soldiers in the border towns should not be chilled."

Just the day before, Emperor Qianlong called Wei Guangde and Huo Yi to the Qianqing Palace and scolded them, because seeing the memorial of Datong reminded him of the incident in the 29th year of Jiajing, because it was because the general of Datong, Qiu Luan, assisted the enemy, that Altan Khan led his troops to bypass and break through Gubeikou to the city of Beijing.

Unexpectedly, more than 20 years later, such a thing almost happened to him again.

If such a thing happened to the father and son again, Emperor Longqing didn't know how the future generations would view them.

However, today, it seems that the emperor's anger has mostly subsided, and his reason has returned. He knows that rewards and punishments are clear, and calling Wei Guangde is just to find a reason to go downhill for his rage the day before.

"Ma Kongying and Yang Jin both fought and retreated from the Altan tribe, what about it? Are they also rewards?"

Emperor Longqing asked again. In the discussion of the Ministry of War, Ma Kongying's merits and demerits were offset, and although Yang Jin was defeated, he saved Weiyuan Fort and was considered to have more merits than demerits.

"At that time, the enemy was large, and it was rare for Generals Ma and Yang to dare to lead troops out of the city to fight, but they had to be punished for the defeat. The two generals can be fined two months' salary as a punishment."

Wei Guangde heard that Emperor Longqing still wanted to punish some people to let the border generals know how powerful they were.

But at the moment, they had won a victory, so punishment was just a meaning. Salaries were dispensable to generals, and their way of making money was not the salary issued by the court.

Deducting salaries became the best way to punish military generals, letting them know that the emperor was dissatisfied with their actions, but not to the point of alienating them.

"After returning to the cabinet, discuss the merits with the Ministry of War and let the military department participate. For the matter of verifying the merits, let Wen Chun represent the court to go to Datong and check it out on the spot."

"As ordered."

After Emperor Longqing finished speaking, Wei Guangde immediately took over.

"Let the Jinyiwei go to Datong with Wen Chun and bring Zhang Gang and others back to the capital to be punished."

When Wei Guangde resigned and left, Emperor Longqing gave another order.

When Qiu Luan's incident happened, it was only after his death that "someone" reported the incident. He was eventually convicted of treason and Emperor Jiajing ordered the coffin to be opened and the body to be killed.

It can be imagined that there is no more appropriate punishment for Zhang Gang and others after they were brought back to the capital except for lingchi.

In the Battle of Datong, Emperor Longqing had a clear attitude towards the situation. After Wei Guangde returned to the cabinet, he discussed with Li Chunfang, and then called Huo Yi to ask the Ministry of War to redraft the memorial.

"Remember to call the people from the military department to co-sign the memorial."

Wei Guangde felt that Emperor Longqing seemed to dislike the people from the six departments.

This incident was started by Wen Chun, and within one day it became known throughout the capital, and the people were in an uproar.

Regarding such a scandal, the emperor naturally wanted to cover it up and prevent it from being known to the outside world. As a result, the impeachment of the Bingke directly became known to everyone.

The people scolded those people, but it also undermined the dignity of the court.

After arranging the affairs of the Ministry of War, Wei Guangde was about to say goodbye and leave. Li Chunfang handed him a memorial drafted by Gao Gong and asked him to read it.

Wei Guangde was still a little strange. Thinking of what happened a few days ago, he thought that Gao Gong would start another inspection at this time, but he was really surprised when he opened it.

Gao Gong reported to his colleagues that the governor of Xuanda, Chen Qi, was not knowledgeable and could almost cause a disaster. He should be transferred back to the capital as soon as possible to explore and use it. Xuanda was an important place and another good minister should be selected to guard it.

Wei Guangde's face was slightly red at that time. As soon as he asked Chen Qixue for merit in front of the emperor, Gao Gong immediately impeached Chen Qixue for not doing his job. He felt that he was being targeted by him.

"What do you think, Mr. Chief Assistant? Do you think Chen Zongmeng made a mistake in appointing Zhang Gang and others?"

Wei Guangde humbly asked for advice at this time and wanted to hear what Li Chunfang thought of this matter.

"The important thing is not what I think, but what your Majesty will think of this person if the memorial is handed over."

Li Chunfang did not answer Wei Guangde's question, but said.

Seeing that Wei Guangde was thinking and didn't answer, Li Chunfang whispered again: 'I heard that he said in front of that person in the palace before that Yifu's recommendation of Zhao Zhenji was nepotism and a provincial party member. ’

"really?"

Wei Guangde was shocked. When he spoke in front of Emperor Longqing before, he always pretended to be stupid when encountering similar things, and never talked about people behind their backs.

From what Li Chunfang said, it seemed that Gao Gong was speaking ill of him, Chen Yiqin and others behind his back.

"It's true or not, just ask for it yourself. With your relationship with the palace, you should be able to find out the news."

Li Chunfang just sighed and said, "That's why you and I didn't recommend a candidate for the general constitution, so we didn't give him a reason to criticize."

Wei Guangde understood the meaning of Li Chunfang's words, that is, he had no recommenders recently, so Gao Gong could not find a reason to attack him, so he gave himself eye drops during the Datong War.

He helped the Ministry of War and spoke for Chen Qixue and others. Gao Gong backhandedly told Chen Qixue that he was not in charge and that he should be assigned another position.

"There's another thing you need to know."

Li Chunfang looked at Wei Guangde and lowered his voice and said: "When your Majesty summoned me a few days ago, he ordered that all ministers in the previous dynasty who offended the ministers through posthumous edicts, recruitment and gifts of pensions would be punished."

"Is there an edict? Why didn't I see it?"

When Wei Guangde heard what Li Chunfang said, he was immediately surprised and asked.

"Your Majesty's oral instructions were worried about causing an uproar in the government and the public, so he did not issue an edict."

Li Chunfang said.

Wei Guangde remained silent after hearing this. He already understood the meaning of this decree, which was actually aimed at Xu Jie.

At the beginning, Xu Jie gained a lot of goodwill by donating shirts, and the banner was to bring order to chaos. I guess this was Gao Gong's handiwork.

When Wei Guangde left Li Chunfang to check the room, he couldn't help but look back, shook his head, and left directly.