The Prosperous Era of Longwan

On the night of the secret meeting at Prince Yu's Mansion, Wei Guangde and Zhang Juzheng went to visit Xuge's old manor to discuss impeachment.

After Xu Jie listened to Zhang Juzheng's story, from surprise at the beginning to solemnity at the end, he also realized that he could give it a try, and it was even an opportunity to test Emperor Jiajing's mind.

If Emperor Jiajing had no intention of touching Yan Song, then the impeachment of Wu Peng initiated by them would have ended like before. But if Emperor Jiajing had plans to change his chief minister, then cutting out Wu Peng would be a necessary choice.

It is impossible for an official to reach Xu Jie's level and not want to replace him with Yan Song.

Moreover, Xu Jie also discovered from some details that it seemed that Yan Song's holy family had reached its peak and was in decline.

"Tomorrow, I will send someone to contact Liang Menglong to arrange this."

The candidates for impeachment proposed by Wei Guangde were appropriate and no one could say there was anything wrong with impeaching the officials. It was more reasonable than impeaching the censor from the Metropolitan Procuratorate.

Wei Guangde and Zhang Juzheng said goodbye and left the Xu Mansion, and the next step was to wait for the result of the impeachment.

That night, Yin Shizhen also went to Gao Gong's house and told Gao Gong that Prince Yu's house planned to propose to Mr. Xu Ge to launch the civil affairs department to impeach Wu Peng, the minister of civil affairs.

"Wu Peng?"

Gao Gong stroked his beard and thought for a while, and after some calculations, he felt that it would not be a serious problem.

These days, the high-ranking officials in the court are a little nervous. There is no one to represent Zhou Yan in the Procuratorate because of Zhou Yan's complaint. All the censors have been studying who should be impeached all day long, so that they can show their faces in front of Emperor Jiajing, so as not to be considered to have taken advantage of them. Salary does not work.

However, although the officials in the DPRK were a little nervous about this, they were not alarmed because they all knew that this was Ke Dao's reaction to Emperor Jiajing's reprimand.

Since the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, Gao Gong naturally would not object, nodded and said to Yin Shizhen: "Zhengfu, this loan proposal is a good one.

At the beginning, I wanted to get him into Prince Yu's Mansion to make suggestions for the prince, but now it seems that I really made a mistake.

I really didn't expect to target officials of Yan Song's line and initiate impeachment. Based on His Majesty's instructions, we can see whether King Jing's attitude towards Yan Song remains the same after he left the capital. "

"What do you mean, Qing Su, that His Majesty's attitude toward Yan Song might change?"

Yin Shizhen immediately grabbed Gao Gong's words and asked.

"It's hard to say right now, but precisely because it's hard to say, it's time to use the impeachment of Wu Peng to see if His Majesty has changed."

Gao Gong said calmly, "As you just said, my uncle is right. I am afraid there will be a relatively big change in the six departments and nine ministers of the Central Government. If we operate properly, it will be good to win one or two positions. "

"This should be the opinion of Mr. Xu Ge, who is more senior than my uncle."

When Yin Shizhen said this, he saw Gao Gong waving his hands and saying: "Whether this is Mr. Xu Ge's opinion or Uncle Shu's opinion, it is all for the sake of King Yu.

Over the years, Mr. Xu Ge has helped the palace a lot. Everyone knows this and is considered one. "

The next day, Wei Guangde got the news at Prince Yu's Mansion. At noon, Li Ke Du's memorial regarding Liang Menglong's impeachment of Wu Peng, the Minister of Civil Affairs, was sent to the cabinet.

After Xu Jie received Liang Menglong's impeachment memorial, he immediately transferred it to the hands of his chief assistant, Yan Song.

However, Yan Song did not accept the memorial, but said to Xu Jie with a smile: "Since it is an impeachment memorial, and the letter is distributed to Cunzhai, it can be drafted by Cunzhai. It is not a major military matter, and the cabinet is needed. Let’s discuss and report later.”

Who is Liang Menglong? He directly impeached the Minister of Civil Affairs. Yan Song didn't believe that Liang Menglong didn't inform Xu Jie beforehand. At this time, he came to him in a pretentious manner. He really thought he was old and confused.

At this time, Yan Song just felt that Xu Jie was disgusting him.

Although Xu Jie seemed to be standing with him most of the time, Yan Song didn't know that he had accumulated a lot of power in his hands, but it was just not enough to see in front of him.

At least, among the officials at the level of Shangshu, although some are close to Xu Jie, they do not listen to Xu Jie, unlike his own side, which can control the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Industry.

That night, Emperor Jiajing saw Liang Menglong's memorial in the Yongshou Palace.

When he heard the chamberlain read out the memorial, a sneer appeared on Emperor Jiajing's face, "There have been a lot of impeachment memorials these days."

It was just a casual remark, but it was full of coercion. Huang Jin and Gao Zhong couldn't help but wonder if the emperor was a little impatient with the recent impeachment of Yan Guan.

Think about it, is there anything new in what you have seen before and this impeachment memorial?

It seems like they are all repeating the same old tunes, and they are all talking about things that have been said before.

Just when Huang Jin and Gao Zhong thought that this memorial meeting to impeach Wu Peng would be left to the Central Government to deal with it directly as before, Emperor Jiajing asked seemingly unintentionally: "The memorial said that since Wu Peng took charge of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, justice has been blocked. , have you ever heard that the promotion of virtuous ministers and mediocre officials puts the cart before the horse?"

Huang Jin and Gao Gaozhong were surprised when they heard this, and their faces suddenly became wonderful.

Normally, what the emperor said was okay, and they would not over-interpret it. However, after the news came out of the palace walls, the ministers outside might think a lot. But at this time, when Emperor Jiajing said such words, they could not help but think too much. The meaning of the emperor's words.

After finishing speaking, there was no answer for a long time. Emperor Jiajing couldn't help but look at Huang Jin.

"Your Majesty, I have been in Yongshou Palace all day long. I don't know what the outside world thinks of Wu Shangshu. I just vaguely remember that Wu Shangshu's memorials do exist."

Huang Jin replied a little glibly.

How could Dongchang not know about the affairs of the official department? Moreover, although Huang Jin was guarding the emperor, he was not deaf.

However, he always kept his stance on such issues that concerned important officials in the court, so he only talked about what he could know in the palace. As for what Emperor Jiajing thought, that was the emperor's business.

Emperor Jiajing nodded slightly after hearing this, and then looked at Gao Zhong with a questioning look in his eyes.

Although Gao Zhong is also a big figure in the inner court, after all, he only spends one or two hours in Yongshou Palace all day long. Compared to Huang Jin, he naturally knows much more about the outside world.

Gao Zhong naturally understood this, so his answer could not be like Huang Jin's, which was to play Tai Chi directly and kick the ball back to the emperor.

How to answer?

If you say no, it seems a bit deceiving. If you say yes, you will offend Yan Song.

In Gao Zhong's eyes, Wu Peng really is nothing. He values ​​the backers behind Wu Peng more.

Although the inner court had many contacts with the emperor and gained the emperor's trust, Yan Song was not a vegetarian.

This old man's status in the heart of Emperor Jiajing could only be matched by a handful of people such as Huang Jin and Cheng Guo Gong Zhu Xizhong. He was still far behind.

After a quick weigh, Gao Zhong said: "I have heard someone say this before."

"Oh, Wu Peng works in the Ministry of Civil Affairs, is he really that stupid?"

Emperor Jiajing frowned and then asked.

"Of course I don't understand the important matters of the imperial court. I just vaguely remember hearing someone say this about Wu Shangshu."

Gao Zhong said this, and in his opinion, he should be able to deal with Emperor Jiajing. Otherwise, how can we say that the current Minister of the Ministry of Personnel is nominally Wu Peng, but is actually Xiaoge Lao Yan Shifan?

Gao Zhong didn't want to offend the Yan family to death. What he said today might reach the ears of Yan Song and Yan Shifan the next day, so he probably wouldn't offend them.

Before Yan Song's holy family was lost, the eunuchs in the inner court were unwilling to offend him. This was the main reason why Yan Song and his son dared to run rampant in the capital.

"It seems that Wu Peng can no longer continue to serve as the official of the Ministry of Civil Affairs."

Emperor Jiajing spoke in a calm tone at this time, and then said to Gao Zhong: "Draw up the decree and order Wu Peng, the Minister of Personnel, to serve."

"According to the order."

Gao Zhong suppressed the fear in his heart and hurriedly agreed, and then recorded Emperor Jiajing's just statement behind the draft of Liang Menglong's memorial.

However, it seems it's not over yet.

Gao Zhong, who had just finished recording, looked up and saw Emperor Jiajing taking two deep breaths, as if he was making an important decision. For a moment, he didn't dare to breathe out, and he could only continue to hold the brush in his hand. , seems to be worried that the action of placing the pen will make noise and affect the emperor.

"well"

Emperor Jiajing suddenly let out a long sigh, then turned to Huang Jin and said: "The memorial of Li Donghua's impeachment of Wu Shan has been translated out and dealt with together."

Ignoring Huang Jin's surprised expression, he turned back to Gao Zhong and said, "Let Wu Shangguan, the Minister of Rites, stay at leisure."

Wu Shan was not required to become an official like Wu Peng and lived idle. It seemed that he still retained his position as Minister of Etiquette. However, anyone familiar with official positions in the Ming Dynasty knew that in fact, Wu Shan was deprived of the rights of the Minister of Etiquette, or in other words, Wu Shan only retained The title of Shangshu, but no actual position.

But this is not the most important thing. In less than a moment, the Ming Dynasty suddenly vacated two ministerial positions.

It is conceivable that after the memorial is issued tomorrow, the ministers of the Manchu Dynasty will not start a fight for these two positions.

Naturally, on the second day, Wei Guangde got the news that the two second-rank official positions of the Minister of Rites and the Minister of Personnel were vacant.

Although the decree had just reached the cabinet and had not yet been officially issued, the news spread at an extremely fast speed.

What was planned the day before yesterday came to fruition the next day. After Prince Yu's Mansion received the news, Yin Shizhen planned Zhang Juzheng's lectures and discussed with them.

"The result of this impeachment is really unexpected."

Yin Shizhen handed the note with the news to King Yu, who still looked in disbelief.

What struck him about Wei Guangde's idea was that it had no downside, but he didn't expect to get any benefits from it. It wasn't until Yin Shizhen passed Gao Gong's words back yesterday that he realized it later.

"this"

King Yu shook the note in his hand, looked at Yin Shizhen, then at Wei Guangde, and said hesitantly: "If this is understood, does it mean that the father no longer likes Yan Song? Should we find someone to impeach Yan Song and his son once? .”

A few years ago, he, Prince Yu, was bullied by Yan Shifan. Although Yan Song was always polite to him every time he met Yan Song, he would never forget what Yan Shifan did to him.

Why is Yan Shifan so unscrupulous? Isn't it because of his father Yan Song?

Yan Song pretended to be a good person in front of him, and Yan Shifan was a bad person behind his back. King Yu didn't believe that Yan Shifan's behavior did not make Yan Song aware of it.

Since you, Yan Song, don't know how to teach children, you are conniving.

Therefore, the more humble Yan Song behaved in front of King Yu, the deeper King Yu's hatred towards his father and son were. The two father and son were just acting in front of him, playing with themselves.

At this time, thinking of the strategy used by Wei Guangde just now, the first thing that King Yu thought of was to follow the gourd's example and find someone to impeach Yan Song.

In this matter, King Yu still knew that his judgment could not be accurate.

Although he was the one who made the final decision on matters in the palace, Gao Gong recognized them. He knew his shortcomings and these were really not his strengths.

After being unable to express his thoughts, King Yu habitually looked at others, but his eyes quickly shifted from Yin Shizhen to Wei Guangde.

Many of Wei Guangde's ideas were finally recognized by Gao Gong and adopted by the palace. Thinking about Gao Gong's evaluation of Wei Guangde, King Yu thought it was best to listen to Wei Guangde's words on this matter before Gao Gong made a statement.

Wei Guangde noticed the change in King Yu's gaze and was a little surprised, but he forced himself to calm down.

There is still a long way to go to replace Gao Gong's position in King Yu's heart. He has only been here a few months and there is absolutely no way he can surpass Gao Gong.

However, after thinking about it, Wei Guangde shook his head decisively when King Yu cast a questioning look.

"Shandai, do you think this king's plan is bad?"

Seeing Wei Guangde shaking his head, King Yu frowned and asked.

When his name was called, Wei Guangde could only hold up his hands and said: "Your Highness, do the math. This time, the two departments of the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Personnel are freed up, as well as the two key departments of the Ministry of Works and the Metropolitan Procuratorate. Seven important yamen are all at once. There are four people to replace, which is already a huge change in the court.

If my guess is correct, after Lu Ben takes office, there should be someone else who will be added to the cabinet. Although I don’t know who the final winner will be, half of the important ministers have been changed at once. If the chief ministers are also changed, how can the new cabinet It's a bit hard to say whether the situation can be controlled. "

"You mean you can't impeach?"

King Yu asked hesitantly.

"No, you can play other ministers, but you can never play the elder Ge."

Wei Guangde replied, suddenly he seemed to have thought of something, and added: "The Minister of the Ministry of War cannot be moved. Now that His Majesty is concerned about Fujian affairs, the Ministry of War must not be moved at this time."

"Why are we playing Yang Bo? He is not a member of the strict party."

King Yu said with a smile.

When Wei Guangde heard this, he had a new understanding of the relationship between Prince Yu and Yan Song, but he still immediately answered: "Your Highness, it doesn't matter if you say this as a prince, but in the future, when you become the emperor of the Ninth Five-Year Plan, think about it The problem cannot be that simple.”

Seeing that King Yu's attention was attracted, as a general in the palace, Wei Guangde felt that he should talk about something. These should have been taught by Gao Gong and Yin Shizhen, and were not within Wei Guangde's responsibility.

“The imperial court cannot be a one-word court, because that means power is being devolved to others, so for ministers, you cannot judge whether they are good or bad based on whether they belong to someone’s faction.

You see, in your Majesty's reign, there are ministers who can monopolize the affairs of the court. Although Yan Song is favored, there is still Xu Gelao who joins the cabinet to restrain him, and there are also Wu Shangshu, Yang Bo and others who form a force in the court."