The Prosperous Era of Longwan

"Don't lie to me, officials. If it had been in the past, it would have been nothing. But today, when Eunuch Chen comes here, he still doesn't want anyone to call you back. He must have something important to tell you, and he is worried about being known outside."

Xu Jianglan was certainly not stupid. She had already figured this out before in the room, so she pouted and said.

Hearing this, Wei Guangde knew that it was hard to hide it. His daughter-in-law was very smart. As long as she figured it out, it would be hard to fool her.

After thinking for a moment, Wei Guangde whispered in Xu Jianglan's pure ear: "Brother Chen brought the news that Governor Lu Binglu might have been killed."

"Ah? How could this happen? Didn't you say before that Governor Lu was testing elixirs for the emperor in the palace and died because he couldn't bear the erysipelas? Could it be."

In an instant, Xu Jianglan thought more. Could it be that the emperor was dissatisfied with Governor Lu and did it deliberately?

But soon, Xu Jianglan gave up this idea.

Is this necessary for the emperor to take action?

Shouldn't Lu Bing's house be confiscated directly after his death, and he should be given enough honors and honors, and Governor Zuo should be responsible for Abbot Lu Bing's funeral? None of this is logical.

"Don't think blindly."

Wei Guangde said angrily: "The matter is not as simple as you think. This time it may be a poisoning operation against Governor Lu. I don't know who the murderer is, but since he attacked important officials in the court, Brother Chen comes over." You are telling me this, and the second thing is to remind me to be careful and pay attention to my diet and daily life."

"Then you should go home and eat. I'll be the chef in the kitchen. You can rest assured. They're all born in the same family."

Xu Jianglan said to Wei Guangde a little anxiously.

"Actually, it's okay for my colleagues and I to go out drinking. If he is so crazy that he dares to attack Hanlin, I don't know what to say. Should I praise him for his courage or call him stupid."

Wei Guangde pretended to be casual and continued: "Brother Chen just kindly came to remind me. After all, this matter is also a secret in the palace and the East Factory is investigating, but I think it's okay.

Think about it, who is Governor Lu?

That was Jin Yiwei, and the people he offended were not ordinary people. Maybe it was someone who did such a thing because of old grudges.

Anyway, I think that for the little official I only have, it's probably not worth his while. "

Wei Guangde said this to dispel Xu Jianglan's worries.

Wei Guangde would choose some simple things to talk about when it comes to the party struggles in the DPRK, but not the complicated ones.

However, Xu Jianglan was not one of those ordinary women who never left the house. She often visited the residences of Duke Cheng and other nobles, and she could hear a lot about the affairs of the court.

At this time, she seemed to have thought of something.

"Tell me, could it be the handiwork of Mr. Yan Ge?"

Just as Wei Guangde thought, Lu Bing never participated in the fight between the two kings. No matter when he met King Jing or King Yu, he always bowed to the two kings according to the rules and did not act arrogantly because of his own status.

Therefore, Xu Jianglan, who knew the situation in the capital, naturally dismissed King Jing at this time, and instead thought of Yan Song, who was at odds with Lu Bing.

Others didn't know it, but she had heard it said that the two families were very good friends in the early years, but in recent years they often criticized each other for unknown reasons, and they seemed to be fighting each other.

At this time, Wei Guangde had taken off his coat and put on his pajamas. He didn't want Xu Jianglan to think so much, so he put his hand on Xu Jianglan's shoulders and pushed her onto the bed.

"Daughter-in-law, it's time to rest, don't think about that"

There was nothing to say all night, but Wei Guangde still showed up on time the next day, even though there was nothing going on in the Hanlin Academy.

In the afternoon, Wei Guangde went directly to Xifeng Tower after leaving the Hanlin Academy gate. Today he had an appointment with Gao Gong here.

"Serve food and drinks as usual."

Wei Guangde said to the shopkeeper who followed him when he entered the private room.

This is also one of the properties of Prince Yu's Mansion, but it is located on the street and is not as hidden as the restaurant behind the Prince's Mansion.

Now Gao Gong has left Prince Yu's Mansion, so Wei Guangde does not hide his whereabouts as deliberately as before, even though most officials in the capital know that Gao Gong almost represents Prince Yu.

Not long after, Gao Gong came over. Wei Guangde hurriedly stood up and took a few steps to meet him.

"Brother Suqing, please sit down and rest for a while. The food and wine will be ordered and will be served immediately."

The two of them chatted for a few words and then sat down. Not long after, the waiter brought the food and wine that Wei Guangde ordered.

After the food and wine were placed, the waiter quickly left.

Everyone here has been cleared upstairs, downstairs, left and right, so I don’t have to worry about being eavesdropped.

However, if it was someone from Jinyiwei or Dongchang, Wei Guangde would not dare not let others eavesdrop, lest others end up guessing, which would also be troublesome.

Fortunately, Wei Guangde's current official position is humble, and he should not be able to reach the level of the legendary Jin Yiwei who can monitor him from all directions.

While drinking and eating, neither Wei Guangde nor Gao Gong was in a hurry to say anything. Although Gao Gong knew that Wei Guangde had invited him over for something, he was not in a hurry.

If it was really a big deal, I would have said it when I sent the message yesterday. It wasn't urgent at the time, so naturally it wouldn't be a big deal.

After three rounds of wine and five tastes of food, Wei Guangde decided to get down to business.

"Brother Suqing, I invite you here this time mainly because I want to talk to you about two things. Please help me think about it."

Gao Gong knew that Wei Guangde was about to serve the food, so he put down his chopsticks and looked attentive.

Wei Guangde did not intend to talk about the affairs in the palace at the beginning, but first took out the drawing drawn by Yu Dayou from his arms, unfolded it and handed it to Gao Gong.

Gao Gong took it in his hand, looked at it, and asked a little strangely: "Unicycle? What does Guangde mean by giving me this?"

Unicycles in the Ming Dynasty were very popular and could be seen everywhere from south to north because they were highly adaptable, suitable for use on a variety of terrains, and were lightweight and cheap.

"This was designed by a senior to resist the cavalry assault of the Mongolian Tatars."

Wei Guangde saw that Gao Gong was still holding the drawing in his hand and looking at it carefully, so he immediately explained and introduced Gao Gong in detail about the battle that took place outside Niuxin Fort in Datong.

After listening to Wei Guangde's words, Gao Gong looked at the drawing of the wheelbarrow in his hand again, and somewhat understood the purpose of the things drawn on it.

"Who made this thing?"

Gao Gong asked curiously.

"Yu Dayou, former commander-in-chief of Zhejiang Province."

Wei Guangde replied.

"It's him. I know this man. Although I haven't seen him before, he has been mentioned many times in the war reports against Japanese invaders in Zhejiang. He is a very capable general."

Gao Gong nodded and said.

"Yes, this time Yan Song and Hu Zongxian forced him to be dismissed from office. Not only did he lose the family's protection, but he was also sent to Datong. Alas."

Wei Guangde sighed as he spoke.

"There are probably not many people in the capital who don't know about his affairs. It's a pity."

Gao Gong agreed with Wei Guangde's words. It was not just that the official struggle was either/or, he really valued Yu Dayou's commanding ability.

Gao Gong was still aware of the strength of the Ming Military Guard.

It is quite good that Yu Dayou can command the guardsmen to fight the battle like this.

"It is even more commendable that he was sent to Datong and could still think about state affairs all the time."

Gao Gong continued, but then changed the subject and said to Wei Guangde: "Guangde, you should understand that the time at Niuxinbao alone is not enough to explain the power of this unicycle chariot, and more actual combat tests are needed. , to verify whether it can really withstand the impact of the Tatar cavalry, it is a bit difficult to convince the people in the Ministry of War to build a large number of them now."

"My lord is right, Guangde has learned a lesson."

This time Gao Gong was invited. Wei Guangde had no intention of rolling out the wheelbarrow now and asking the court to allocate funds to build equipment for the border town. He just gave Gao Gong a hint that Yu Dayou had a good relationship with him and was considered a member of Prince Yu's palace.

Gao Gong obviously understood and didn't even ask about the relationship between Wei Guangde and Yu Dayou.

Yu Dayou was protected by Lu Bing before. Now Wei Guangde has Yu Dayou's drawings in his hands. According to him, he made this after Yu Dayou was sent to Datong.

What this means is already obvious. There should be some kind of connection between Wei Guangde and Lu Bing in the past.

Unfortunately, Lu Bing is dead.

"Will the Governor of Datong and Governor Xuanda allow them to build more of these unicycle chariots for actual combat?"

Gao Gong suddenly asked.

"Li Wenjin, the governor of Datong, should be supportive. He knew General Yu when he was in Zhejiang, and he funded the construction of this chariot from the Yamen of Datong.

As for Governor Xuanda, by the way, has the court decided who will succeed Lord Jiang Dongjiang? "

Gao Gong just said it casually and really forgot that Jiang Dong, the minister of the Ministry of War, who had previously acted as the temporary governor of Xuanda, had been transferred to Nanzhili to replace Zhang Hao as the minister of the Ministry of War of Nanjing. The decree had been issued, but the candidate for governor of Xuanda seemed to be different. It has not been decided yet.

"No, I don't know the specific situation."

When asked by Wei Guangde, Gao Gong also remembered that there was no one in Xuan Da Governor, and government affairs were handled by the governors of Xuan Mansion and Datong.

After talking about the wheelbarrow, Wei Guangde did not immediately tell him what he had just learned last night. Instead, he and Gao Gong had a few more bites of food and drank two glasses of wine.

Gao Gong saw that although Wei Guangde was looking at the wine table, the expression on his face was that he was hesitant to speak, so he asked with a smile: "Is there anything else? Isn't it Guangde who wants to plot against the Governor-General?" Official position."

"hehe."

Wei Guangde put down his chopsticks and said with a smile: "I wonder, is it possible?"

"Disaster."

Gao Gong also answered unabashedly.

"I also knew it was impossible, so I never thought of such a good thing."

Wei Guangde laughed at himself, but that's all he said, Wei Guangde also stopped smiling and looked at Gao Gong with a serious face.

The sudden change made Gao Gong's heart tremble slightly. Wei Guangde's change was too obvious, and the relaxed atmosphere in the room suddenly disappeared.

"If Guangde has anything to say, just say it."

Gao Gong didn't know what Wei Guangde wanted to say, but judging from his appearance, it seemed like it was no small matter.

"Brother Su Qing knows about Governor Lu, right? How much more do you know?"

Wei Guangde suddenly asked confusedly.

"How much do you know? Governor Lu died because he tested the medicine for His Majesty. Don't talk about it in the future. It's taboo."

Gao Gong's upright temperament does not mean that he is stupid. The series of operations followed by Emperor Jiajing have actually explained a lot of things.

"It seems that the adults don't know about this yet."

Wei Guangde said seriously, then lowered his voice and said, "I got news that the palace is looking for the person behind the death of Governor Lu."

"What?"

Although Wei Guangde's words were vague, Gao Gong was not an idiot.

Officials in the capital, as long as they were of some rank, all knew that Lu Bing was infected with erysipelas because he gave Emperor Jiajing a medicine test, and died of ineffective medicine and stone treatment.

But what did Wei Guangde say just now?

Investigating the mastermind behind the scenes, doesn't this make it clear that Lu Bing's death was not as simple as it appeared? Was he killed by someone?

Immediately, an even more terrifying thought emerged in Gao Gong's mind. Who is the target of the mastermind behind this?

Is it Lu Bing or Emperor Jiajing?

Wei Guangde looked at Gao Gong's changing expression and knew what he was thinking about. He also thought about it this way.

However, Gao Gong is still not as quick as Wei Guangde. After all this time, he didn't expect the speed of Lu Bing's illness before. Can Emperor Jiajing be poisoned at that speed?

Wei Guangde had no choice but to say: "Brother Su Qing, the mastermind behind this should only target Governor Lu, not anyone else."

"Why?"

Gao Gong hadn't figured it out yet, so he just asked casually.

"If you want to kill the king, the toxicity should be chronic, and the onset will never be so acute."

Wei Guangde said calmly.

"ah"

After Gao Gong heard this, he realized that indeed, he had heard that Lu Bing had an attack soon after trying the medicine, so even before Emperor Jiajing had time to take the medicine, Lu Bing was already dying, so he hurriedly called the imperial doctor for treatment.

"Then why did he target Lu Bing?"

Gao Gong said suspiciously, those who can take action in the palace are naturally very powerful, and their intentions are not small, but they obviously have more valuable goals, but they are only targeting Lu Bing.

Although Lu Bing is very powerful, there is no one more valuable after all.

"I don't know the specific reason, but I have heard from people that the day before Guo Xiyan was executed, His Majesty and Lu Bing spoke alone for a while in the Yongshou Palace. Even Eunuch Huang was called out of the hall. Legend has it that someone once I heard a few words in front of the window, His Majesty and Lu Bing once talked about 'the vassal state'."

Wei Guangde told Gao Gong one by one the news that Chen Ju told him, which also helped Gao Gong analyze the inside story.

If the information is incomplete, it is easy to make wrong judgments.

At the end, Wei Guangde said: "That rumor is just hearsay, and it cannot be taken as accurate. I have not found out which little Huangmen said it anyway. I guess it is not necessarily who is talking nonsense. After all, that is the Yongshou Palace." .”

"If that's the case, then the mastermind behind it might as well attack His Majesty directly instead of just targeting Lu Bing."

Gao Gong thought about it and nodded, "The only ones who can take action are Yan Song and King Jing. No one except them has the ability to do such a thing. It is rumored that they were released just to stir up trouble."

"What's the meaning?"

Wei Guangde asked curiously.

"If anyone investigates this matter, they will be the first to think of them. If there are these rumors, it will be enough to establish the charges. As long as the source of the rumors is found."

Gao Gong suddenly said in an unpredictable and profound way: "But you just can't find it. If you can't find enough evidence of the crime, naturally some people will doubt whether this matter is framed by someone."

When Gao Gong said "stirring up the water" before, Wei Guangde felt strange. Now when he heard him say "putting blame on someone", Wei Guangde realized that he seemed to be prepared for the conspiracy to be exposed.