The Prosperous Era of Longwan

Wei Guangde was concerned about Huang Jin's incident because he was actually thinking about Huang Jin's care for them. That night, Chen Ju came over and talked about it a little sad.

After all, it was Huang Jin who arranged Gao Zhong's death, and it was Huang Jin who told him that he could keep his job afterwards.

People are all grateful.

Even if Chen Ju doesn't say it with his mouth when others are kind to him, he remembers it in his heart.

Wei Guangde was a similar person, and he didn't think Emperor Longqing should treat the Huang family like this.

However, no one knew what Huang Jin had done to offend Emperor Longqing, making him unhappy and making this decree.

The three of them finally left the palace gate and looked up at the gray sky. Although it was not snowing anymore, the temperature was very low. Even though he was wrapped in fur clothes, Wei Guangde still felt bitingly cold.

"Let's find a shop to drink hot wine."

Wei Guangde said.

"That's fine, it's quite cold."

"Well, it feels like it will be colder this year than last year."

"In previous years, the canal was frozen at the end of October, but this year it has been postponed to November. It looks like it will be cold until the end of February."

Several people walked and talked, and soon found a restaurant, entered a private room, ordered food, and gathered around the stove to warm themselves up.

"I remember Shandai said before that whenever there is a disaster, the Tatars will choose to go south, break through the wall and loot supplies. I don't know what the situation will be like this year."

Chen Yiqin said worriedly at this time.

Reminded by his words, Wei Guangde immediately reacted, "The temperature dropped late this year, but it seems to last longer. It has already started to warm up at this time in previous years."

"Yes, if it's still so cold, those people from the north won't go south to plunder again."

Yin Shizhen answered.

"I don't know if the Ministry of War has sent a message to the border town to remind them to take precautions."

Wei Guangde asked.

"did not see."

Chen Yiqin frowned and said.

"So, the border town may not be prepared."

Yin Shizhen said slightly anxiously.

"It's not urgent. Since they are guarding, if they don't have this vigilance, it can only mean that they are incompetent. The court just takes this opportunity to clean up and replace them with competent people."

Wei Guangde didn't take it seriously. The Ministry of War had the obligation to remind them of this kind of thing, but if something really happened, the blame would eventually fall on the general officers and guards of the border town.

"By the way, Shandai, the cabinet received a memorial from Zhang Chong, governor of Southern Jiangxi Province the day before yesterday."

Chen Yiqin seemed to suddenly remember and spoke again.

But at this time, the store brought wine and food, and the three of them stopped talking and continued talking after they had arranged and left.

"What did Zhang Chong say?"

The governor of Southern Jiangxi is actually in charge of the border area between the south of Jiangxi and Guangdong and Fujian, so he also has the responsibility of taking charge of the Jiangxi side.

But since it was brought up outside, it must have something to do with Jiangxi.

As a Jiangxi official in the capital, Wei Guangde is naturally very concerned about the situation in his hometown, and he always has to speak up for those who need support.

"Did you know that Zhengyi Zhengyi of Longhu Mountain? The minister of Jiangxi Province said that Zhang's official title was not recorded in the official seal, and he hid taxes and evaded public service. He devoured it without merit and was harmful to the people. He should be dismissed forever. .”

Chen Yiqin said.

"Um?"

Wei Guangde became suspicious. Zhengyi Zhengyi of Longhu Mountain was actually the Tianshi Mansion of Longhu Mountain in later generations. Of course he knew this.

After failing the provincial examination, Wei Guangde also traveled around Jiangxi, including Longhu Mountain.

But at that time, he was just a young scholar, so naturally he could not be received by Zhang Tianshi, but he did become friends with two Taoist priests on Longhu Mountain.

However, Wei Guangde is not interested in the title Zhengyi Zhenren, but is surprised that he doesn't know about it.

Requesting the imperial court to revoke the title of "Zhenren" seems to be an errand of the Ministry of Rites. Why was this memorial not sent to the Ministry of Rites but directly to the cabinet?

Looking at Wei Guangde's suspicious eyes, Chen Yiqin explained: "Zhang Chong reported that Lan Hu in Wanyang Mountain seemed to be unstable, so he reported in advance and asked the court to grant him the power of discretion. If Lan Hu rebelled, he would dispatch troops to suppress it in time. "

The so-called blue households are actually households that grow a plant that can extract indigo dye. Because these blue households often live together, they are called blue households locally.

"As for the matter of Zhengyi Zhenren in Longhu Mountain, although it was mentioned casually, I feel that this should be a test move by Governor Zhang."

Chen Yiqin looked at Wei Guangde and whispered.

Indeed, great changes have taken place in the year since Emperor Longqing ascended the throne, especially to Taoism.

Zhang Chong was afraid that he was not sure of the emperor's attitude, so he mentioned this in his memorial to other matters to see the emperor's reaction.

If the memorial is successfully approved, it is estimated that the Ministry of Rites will soon receive a memorial requesting the dismissal of "Zhengyi Zhenren".

"The title of Master Longhushan Zhengyi does not seem to exist in the classic system."

Wei Guangde lowered his head and thought about it before saying: "However, this title was given by Taizu after all. Since there is no record in the canon, it must be abolished. I'm afraid it doesn't make sense.

As for the others, they are just excuses. If they are true, Governor Zhang should collect the witnesses and physical evidence and send them to Beijing for his own decision. "

Wei Guangde doesn't think that just the title of a real person will have any impact on Jiangxi.

Later generations talk about Longhu Mountain as a "celestial master", and few people talk about "Zhengyi Zhenren", so Wei Guangde does not intend to help and say anything on this matter, just let it be.

The Aoshan Lantern Festival in the second year of Longqing was a grand event.

In the first year of the year, because of the emperor's popularity, both the scale and style were basically copied from the previous year, and there was nothing new.

But this year, the inner court seems to be making a big deal out of it. After all, Emperor Longqing loved this event before he ascended the throne.

On the 15th day, Emperor Longqing went to Chengtian Gate early to celebrate with the people.

In the first month of the year, nothing major happened in the court, so it passed smoothly.

In February, Wei Guangde saw an official document from Jiangxi Province suggesting that the title of Longhushan Zhengyi should be abolished.

Calculating the time, Zhang Chong's memorial to the Ministry of War should have been issued, and it was indeed well prepared.

However, he had already made up his mind to leave this matter alone, not to mention that no one came to him to complain during this period.

In February, the Ministry of Rites had a lot of things to do, and the examination was about to begin, but the palace had not revealed the candidates for the examiners.

However, when Gaoyi called Shangshu to discuss the matter, Wei Guangde only expressed his own opinion, which was that there was indeed no canonical one and it should be cut, even though it was a real person conferred by Zhu Yuanzhang.

Wei Guangde's change of attitude was mainly due to the fact that he saw a scandal involving contemporary Zhengyi Zhenren in official documents. If it hadn't been for this, officials in Jiangxi would not have had to mention it.

After listening to Wei Guangde's words, Gao Yi didn't say much, just nodded slightly, and then took out another memorial and handed it to Wei Guangde, "Please take a look at this memorial first. I intend to submit it in the form of a Chenwen from the Ministry of Rites."

Wei Guangde was a little curious and reached out to take it. He didn't know what Gao Yi planned to report.

But when he got the memorial, he opened it and took a few casual glances and was shocked.

They are all human beings.

It turned out that this memorial was about Gao Yi, the Minister of Rites, who was planning to revive the appointment of the crown prince.

Gao Yi actually mentioned this matter when the prince bestowed the golden title last year, but Emperor Longqing rejected it at that time, thinking that it was not good to appoint a prince during the national mourning period. Unexpectedly, Gao Yi mentioned this matter again now.

But at present, Emperor Longqing only has one son, Zhu Yijun. I heard that Concubine Li seems to be pregnant again, but I don't know whether the baby is a boy or a girl.

Gao Yi, who signed the memorial to establish the crown prince at this time, should also know some of the situation in the palace. Queen Chen is not favored, and it is difficult to give birth to the emperor's legitimate son. In this way, Concubine Li's reputation is basically stable.

Thinking of that child back then, Wei Guangde couldn't help but smile knowingly.

After a quick scan of the full text of the memorial, I saw that there was no problem. The memorial had been signed by Gao Yi, and Wei Guangde naturally signed it with his own name.

Next, Gao Yi should communicate with other officials in the Yamen of the Ministry of Rites and ask them to jointly submit a memorial. However, I don’t know whether Emperor Longqing will agree to canonize the prince this time.

But no matter what, Wei Guangde didn't lose anything whether he succeeded or not.

If Zhu Yijun is appointed as the crown prince at this time, he will be considered an imperial master in a few years when he leaves the imperial court to study.

Wei Guangde was still a little complacent at this time, but Emperor Longqing had made such arrangements verbally before. After all, there was no crown prince, so there was no decree.

But thinking about it, given his relationship with the emperor, he would not change his words.

However, after all, he came from a later generation, and there was no one like him in the court originally. If there were no accidents, Xiao Zhu Yijun's teacher would be Zhang Juzheng.

Thinking of Zhang Juzheng, Wei Guangde sometimes really felt that this was a trouble.

But when it comes to finding a way to overthrow him, Wei Guangde doesn't think he has the strength. Xu Jie is still in the government, and Emperor Longqing seems to be well versed in dividing the court, so he certainly won't be able to overthrow the Xu Party with one stroke.

Anyway, Wei Guangde felt this way. The emperor trusted these old people, but he also seemed to be interested in protecting other powers in the court.

In the evening, the happy mood that was originally there was suddenly gone because of Chen Ju's sudden visit.

Originally, Wei Guangde was happy today, holding his youngest son and playing with Wei Dacheng, but when Chen Ju brought news, the emperor ordered Li Fang to go home and stay for a while in the afternoon.

"how so?"

This change is really big. There was no news before.

"Isn't that right? I was present at the time and was shocked when I heard the emperor say these words."

Chen Ju sat there with his head drooped, not knowing what he was thinking.

"Eunuch Li is just admonishing me. This was often the case before, but why did I cause such a big trouble this time? What happened in the palace in the past two days?"

Wei Guangde asked strangely.

"It's not a big deal. Yesterday, Eunuch Li asked for a suspension of the tax collection. In recent years, we have added 4,500 shi of white cooked fine japonica rice and 30,000 jins of white and green salt. At that time, the emperor nodded and agreed. Nothing else seemed to happen."

Chen Ju looked up at Wei Guangde and said.

"Who will take over Eunuch Li's errand?"

Wei Guangde asked again.

"Your Majesty didn't say that Eunuch Li would be suspended from his duties. He just asked him to go home and rest. Naturally, he didn't say that the errands would be reassigned."

The eunuchs in the palace are actually similar to the officials in the yamen. The minister is in charge of the overall situation, and the official affairs below are handled by the left and right ministers respectively.

It seems that the left and right ministers are higher and lower, but it is actually a way of saying that the rights are actually the same, but the ranking order has an impact.

Those high eunuchs have also divided their own affairs long ago, and generally will not easily interfere with other people's errands, unless they are punished by the emperor and lose their positions.

Wei Guangde did not expect that Li Fang seemed to be about to fall so soon, but he still asked: "Eunuch Li, does he live in the palace or outside the palace now?"

"Still in the palace."

Chen Ju replied.

The eunuchs' homes were all in the palace, and the houses outside the palace could only be regarded as foreign residences. After all, they were servants of the royal family, and the emperor had to give them a nest no matter what.

Emperor Longqing asked Li Fang to go home and live. Naturally, he did not dare to leave the palace, but could only stay in the palace.

"Then please take more care of me and go check on me if there's nothing wrong."

Wei Guangde whispered, "I'll talk to Yifu about this tomorrow and see if he can help."

The next day, Wei Guangde went to the Ministry of Rites to deal with the official documents first, and then contact Chen Yiqin. When he came out to sit down at noon, he received a memorial from the cabinet that had been approved.

"The imperial edict was issued to change the name of a real person, seize his seal, and use his descendant Zhang Guoxiang as the Shangqing Guan Ti Dian to cast the Ti Dian seal."

The Zhang family started from Zhang Daoling's practice of talisman water in the Eastern Han Dynasty. It is said that there was Zhang Lu for several generations, who was known as the Five Dou Rice Thief in history. He was said to be able to capture ghosts and fool the people and gods. Lu's son Yuanzhong was Daoling. , set up an altar to teach alchemy.

In Huichang of the Tang Dynasty, the name Zhenxian was first given. Wang Qinruo's memorial to Guan Dazhongxiangfujian in the Song Dynasty was changed to Shangqingguan. In the Yuan Dynasty, he was named the leader of Zhengyi. Zhenzhen took charge of the talisman affairs. The imperial dynasty inherited it by order and passed it down to his descendant Zhang Yongxu as a prostitute. Even if I heard that Shuxu died, he would have no heirs.

There are some things that cannot be written in the imperial edict, so the official documents use the names of "not containing legal regulations" and "hiding taxes and evading military service".

The name is unfair and the words are wrong, so it is natural that he should be dismissed.

Sign it quickly and arrange for people to send it out. Naturally, people from the Renhe Department and the Rites Department will go to Jiangxi to announce the decree and take back the real person's seal.

This was actually a sign of Emperor Longqing's grace. Although he withdrew the title of Zhenren and changed it to Tiidian, Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang's edict to let Master Zhengtian take charge of Taoism across the country for generations was not taken back. Zhang Tianshi is still the leader of Taoism across the country, but has been changed. Individuals can no longer be called "real people" in the future.

At noon, Wei Guangde was waiting for Chen Yiqin in a nearby restaurant. When he saw him smiling, he was obviously up to something good.

"Brother Yifu, do you want to take a concubine?"

Wei Guangde joked casually.

"Originally I wanted to tell you the good news, but when I heard what you said, forget it, I won't say it anymore."

Chen Yiqin said with a straight face.

"Don't mind your random nonsense. Mr. Chen, please take a seat."

Wei Guangde laughed and said, after Chen Yiqin sat down, he said: "Looking at Brother Yifu's face, does this mean something good has happened to him?"

"A good thing for everyone."

Chen Yiqin smiled again.

"Then let's hear it?"

Wei Guangde said suspiciously.

"I'm afraid you forgot what day it will be soon, haha"

Chen Yiqin stroked his beard and smiled.

"What date will you try?"

Wei Guangde asked tentatively.

These days, I mainly focus on the examination. There are quite a lot of applications for Jinke, and the Gongyuan Academy has arranged for people to clear them out in a hurry. Therefore, Wei Guangde took it for granted that it was about the examination.

"meeting"

Chen Yiqin shook his head and said, "February is His Majesty's birthday. You can forget such a big thing and pay it back to the Minister of Rites."

"Yeah, it seems so, but I'm busy trying it out right now, so that's not my business."

Only now did Wei Guangde want to go. It really happened. He just didn't care about the preparations.

"Celebrating His Majesty's birthday, I would like to express my gratitude to my ministers and old officials. Haha, you get it."

At this time, Chen Yiqin started to show off.