The Prosperous Era of Longwan

When Wei Guangde came out of Chen Yiqin's duty room and returned to his own duty room, he did not immediately deal with the backlog of official duties. Instead, he directly spread out a piece of paper, wrote a note, and then called the secretary and asked them to send it to the Metropolitan Procuratorate. go.

The content of the note was naturally to meet with the Censor of Zuodu and the Censor of Tuntian in the afternoon.

The same operation was done, and another note was written, but it was sent to the Ministry of Revenue, asking Ma Shangshu to come over in the afternoon.

Wei Guangde was accustomed to doing everything in advance. The nobles had already greeted him, and the next step was to greet the Metropolitan Procuratorate and the Ministry of Revenue to let them know about it.

The Ministry of Household Affairs will also report the matter of Zhuang Tian again, so that no one will jump out to express dissatisfaction.

Generally speaking, the central government's policy plans are communicated to the upper and lower levels before they are announced, and they are never subject to comments and modifications after they are released.

In later film and television works, fierce disputes at court meetings are actually very difficult to occur. Only when party disputes are fierce will there be situations where the disagreements cannot be made in the audience and the differences must be brought to the table.

Although the Ming Dynasty had secretly split into several factions, there were only three factions with the greatest strength.

First, the strength was led by the old man Yu Zhuan. They relied on the emperor's trust, and they were headed by the three elders of the cabinet, who were the most powerful.

The second is Xu Jie's group of people, but now that Xu Jie has left the court, Zhang Juzheng is still gathering and appeasing these people, so there will be no big moves in the court in the short term.

The last force is actually not the fence-sitting faction, but the Qingliu, a group of people led by Hanlin Academy and Kedao Yanguan. However, there are also many small groups among them, which is very complicated.

If they were twisted into a rope, their strength would be very terrifying, because they represent public opinion.

Wei Guangde did not want to cause trouble, but also wanted to handle the matters assigned by Emperor Longqing well, so he naturally had to choose a safe way to handle this matter.

No one from the Xunqi, the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Metropolitan Procuratorate should be missing. If the work is completed and the test is passed in one go, everyone will be happy.

After he made arrangements, he started to deal with official business and picked up the first memorial on the table, which was the one that Chen Yiqin mentioned earlier, the Ministry of Household Affairs' memorial on Jiangxi's trial implementation of the "one whip method" to collect taxes and services.

I opened it and took a look. It was not much different from what Chen Yiqin said. The Ministry of Household Affairs discussed that in order to avoid various disadvantages after trying this method, it planned to conduct a pilot project in Jiangxi to improve this method.

After all, after Gui E put forward the idea and summarized it with Liang Cai, the minister of household affairs, to formulate specific methods, although various places were trying, local officials were all acting according to their own understandings, and there was no unified collection regulations.

This is the whipping method that has led to implementation in various places. In fact, it is essentially that local supervisors act according to their own understandings.

In most cases, taxes and levies were calculated and levied twice during the summer grain and autumn tax seasons, and no taxes were levied at other times. However, there was still a big difference in terms of apportionment.

This is also the key to why there are supporters and opponents after the implementation of the whip law in various places.

As a result, many so-called one-whip methods appeared in various places, most of which were designed by officials according to local conditions and were not uniform.

For example, the Zhengyi method practiced in Jiangnan, the rat tail book in Jiangxi, the Shiduanjin method in the southeast, the equal silver method in Zhejiang and Guangdong, and the Gangyin method in Fujian all have the content of transferring the silver from the corvee to the farmland.

This time, the Ministry of Household Affairs wants to use Jiangxi as an example to perfect a set of practical standard regulations, and then implement them first in the south of the Yangtze River, and then gradually expand to the north, so as to achieve the goal of promoting the same whip law all over the country.

Although Wei Guangde also felt that the Ming Dynasty was a vast land with abundant resources and the environment varied greatly from place to place, so it would be difficult to form a set of tax laws that could be implemented nationwide, but the idea of ​​​​the Ministry of Revenue was advisable.

It is hard to imagine that all regions in the Ming Dynasty have their own tax laws, which will only lead to confusion in tax laws.

This was actually one of the reasons why Ge Shouli wanted to stop the whipping method in the first place.

It’s messy, it’s too messy.

Wei Guangde did not object to using Jiangxi as a pilot project. After reading the memorial from the Ministry of Household Affairs, he felt it was very rigorous and immediately posted a note on the memorial saying: Yes.

Just when he put away the memorial and was about to continue handling official duties, there were footsteps outside the door.

Wei Guangde subconsciously looked up, with a surprised look on his face.

Outside the door was a young chamberlain. At first Wei Guangde thought it was the person Chen Ju had called to deliver the message, but when he entered the room, he announced the emperor's decree: Wei Guangde was ordered to enter the palace immediately to pay an audience.

When he heard that Emperor Longqing wanted to see him, Wei Guangde naturally couldn't sit still and simply folded the memorials he had read and put them back.

After thinking about it, he took the household notice he had drafted and followed the waiter out.

"My father-in-law, did your Majesty only summon me?"

After leaving Wenyuan Pavilion, Wei Guangde asked in confusion.

In his opinion, Emperor Longqing summoned him at this time, most likely because of Li Fang's affairs.

After all, Chen Yiqin went to plead for mercy early in the morning. He and Yin Shizhen went to Tianlao to see people, and even brought them in to a doctor for treatment.

Don't underestimate the abilities of Dongchang and Jinyiwei. Perhaps their conversations in the prison have been well recorded and handed over to Emperor Longqing for reading.

Wei Guangde was the first to not believe that there were no spies from Jinyiwei in a sensitive place like the prison of the Ministry of Punishment.

Chen Yiqin said, and His Majesty seemed to believe those words, which meant that Li Fang was dissatisfied with him and said bad things in private.

To make Emperor Longqing mind, I think Teng Xiang, Meng Chong and others must have taken great pains to come up with it, and it would make Emperor Longqing unable to let go.

All I can say is that it’s impossible not to admire these people. Within one year, they figured out Emperor Longqing’s temperament and knew what kind of words could irritate him.

"I don't know. The order I received was just to summon Mr. Wei Ge to the palace to see him."

The waiter was also very polite and immediately bowed and said.

"okay."

Wei Guangde smiled and continued to follow the young chamberlain.

The two of them soon arrived outside the Qianqing Palace. Wei Guangde had to wait for orders at the palace gate before he could enter, while the young chamberlain entered the palace to report.

After a short wait, the waiter hurried out again and asked Wei Guangde to come in.

Emperor Longqing met Wei Guangde in the side hall. This is where he usually handles memorials. At this time, after Wei Guangde entered, the door of the main hall was closed from the outside.

When the door is closed, the light in the room becomes dim.

At this time, Emperor Longqing did not deal with the memorial. Instead, he sat on the throne with some boredom and looked at Wei Guangde who came in.

Although the palaces in the Forbidden City are the crystallization of the ingenuity of skilled Chinese craftsmen, after all, they are limited by technology and materials, and the indoor lighting is not very good.

In particular, the palaces of the Ming Dynasty were built very grandly, in a heavenly style, with long-span columns supporting the roofs. This layout limited the amount of natural light that could enter the palaces.

In fact, when Chinese people build houses, they mostly choose to face north and south, which is the so-called orientation, because this layout is most conducive to building lighting.

Most ancient buildings in my country are laid out in this way. For example, the pre-Qin document "The Book of Songs·Xiaoya·Sigan" records, "Kuai is upright, Kua is dark. Gentleman You Ning", which means that only the main hall (North Room) is spacious and bright. , the side hall is magnificent, which is conducive for the king to rest.

The eaves of the roofs of ancient buildings in the Forbidden City project outwards and have a slight upward curve, forming a graceful curve called eaves.

The upturned eaves of this curved roof block less sunlight and are conducive to lighting inside the building.

There are obvious differences between the methods of overhanging eaves in ancient buildings in the Forbidden City and modern buildings. Modern buildings generally do not have large overhangs. Sunlight enters the room directly through the window glass, making the room bright. However, in summer, excessive light entering the room will also bring in A large amount of heat leads to an increase in air conditioning energy consumption, and because the window brightness is high, it causes direct glare and reflected glare interference to people indoors.

In comparison, the large overhangs of the ancient buildings in the Forbidden City block a large amount of direct light from entering the palace through the doors and windows. A small amount of direct light enters the building ground and is diffusely reflected through the ground to other parts of the palace. External direct light is filtered by the overhangs. and occlusion softened.

Not only that, the overhanging eaves of ancient buildings in the Forbidden City help prevent sunlight from entering the interior at noon in the summer, while in winter the sunlight can penetrate into the deepest part of the building at noon to obtain the best lighting effect inside the building.

The materials inside the building can reflect the light source, and the building materials can have a significant impact on the lighting. The ancients used materials with higher reflectivity to introduce light into the internal space of the building more effectively.

For example, "Guihai Yuhengzhi" written by Fan Chengda in the Song Dynasty contains: "The natives used lime to build the walls and wiped them with talc powder when they were still wet, and they were as shiny as jade." This means that after smearing talc on the walls of the building's interior, , the walls will sparkle.

Li Yu's "Li Weng Occasion Collection·Bedroom Department" written by Li Yu in the Qing Dynasty contains: "The lime chalk wall is polished to make the aurora shine; secondly, paper is used to paste it, and the paper paste can make the roof pillars and window lintels all of the same color", which means Paint the walls with white ash and then paper them to increase the light in the room through reflection.

The lighting of the Forbidden City palace buildings is inseparable from the reflection of light inside the building, and this reflection is mainly carried out through wall and floor materials.

The interior of the Forbidden City building has a smooth jade-like gold brick floor, vermilion columns and light yellow walls. The surfaces are all shiny and have high reflectivity; while the turquoise ceiling inside the building has no luster and low reflectivity.

Then there is the best Korean paper used for the doors and windows of the palace. This kind of window paper is of high quality and has good lighting and windproof and cold-proof effects. The Forbidden City Palace is already the best-lit building in the country at this time. But the moment the palace door is closed, Wei Guangde feels His eyes were completely dark, and it took him a while to see anything.

After just a brief moment of confusion in front of the palace gate, Wei Guangde realized that he had failed to behave before the emperor. He hurriedly walked towards Emperor Longqing and knelt down in front of the imperial book case to salute.

"Your Majesty, Wei Guangde, has seen you. Long live, long live, long live."

"Ai Qing, please be fine."

On the throne, Emperor Longqing spoke.

Wei Guangde stood up, his body still hunched, maintaining a respectful look.

When he got up just now, Wei Guangde had confirmed again that no one else was present in the hall, at least publicly. Perhaps His Majesty was secretly playing against him again.

"What's going on with Li Fang now?"

Wei Guangde had just calmed down when Emperor Longqing's questioning voice reached his ears.

"Your Majesty, the doctor said Eunuch Li's injury will take half a month to heal."

Wei Guangde did not dare to deceive and answered directly.

"Li Fang, this slave, I am too good to him."

When he first heard that Emperor Longqing was concerned about Li Fang's injury, Wei Guangde had a hope in his heart that maybe he would have a chance to convince His Majesty to spare him once.

But the cold words that followed made Wei Guangde feel as if he had fallen into an ice cellar.

"Your Majesty, you still have to cherish your body and don't get angry because of Eunuch Li's behavior."

Wei Guangde had no choice but to say.

"I was so kind to him in vain. I didn't pursue any of the wrong things I did before. I just let him shut up at home and think about it for a while. Unexpectedly, he became dissatisfied with me because of this and made disrespectful remarks."

Emperor Longqing said with still some annoyance in his tone.

Wei Guangde wanted to ask him what he heard, but in the end he remained silent.

There are some things where the less you know the better, especially when it comes to the emperor.

In fact, Wei Guangde was not sure whether the Li Fang in front of him was the Li Fang in the palace. As the saying goes, you know the person but not the heart. This is the truth.

Wei Guangde understood what he said before. Li Fang made a mistake and Emperor Longqing did not pursue it.

However, this idea was shattered in an instant. He was not sure about Li Fang's behavior in the palace, but there were onlookers.

At least the Chen Ju he knew had never said anything bad about Li Fang. Does this mean that he still needs a postscript?

Those wrong things should be reported by those people behind their backs.

Wei Guangde had an idea in his mind, but he couldn't say it out loud. The more he explained it, the harder it became clear, especially the inner court matters.

"Your Majesty's kindness is a blessing to my ministers."

After a while, Wei Guangde spoke, and then he bowed to Emperor Longqing and continued: "But Eunuch Li is an old man who has served His Majesty for many years after all. He made a mistake, and it is just a matter of His Majesty's word whether he deserves to be beaten or scolded. I should not be too harsh on you." Word.

I just think of the time we spent together in Yu Zhuan, and I really can't bear to see him being imprisoned and suffering.

I beg your majesty to forgive him once more and let him out of prison. If your majesty is still not relieved, why don't you just let him go to Nanjing City to retire, which will be a good relationship between you and your majesty. "

"Hmph, you and Chen Yiqin are from the same group. I knew you would plead for that slave."

Emperor Longqing said displeased, "Stop pleading for mercy. You also said before that I have the final say whether he should be beaten or punished. Now I am going to punish him.

Let him sober up in prison first. Don't think that you can point fingers at me after serving me for many years. "

Hearing Emperor Longqing's words made Wei Guangde stop wanting to rescue Li Fang, but he could also tell that the emperor had no intention of killing him.

I'm just annoyed that he often points in front of him, saying this is wrong and that's wrong, and I don't want to see him.

"Can"

Wei Guangde just started to raise his head and then shut up.

No, I originally wanted to ask if we can release people after they are locked up in prison. People on the outside would see how bad it would be.

But then I thought about it, whether they were in the prison of the Ministry of Punishment, at least it would be more convenient for them to do something. If they were transferred to the imperial edict prison, although they would be able to go in and see people, it would be quite troublesome.

"I called you here today just to tell you not to worry about Li Fang's business."

Emperor Longqing said unhurriedly from his throne.

"yes."

In this situation, Wei Guangde would not argue with Emperor Longqing over Li Fang. There was really no need. He could just follow the emperor's wishes first and then look for another opportunity.

"The affairs of the cabinet are complicated. Don't be distracted by unimportant things. This is the purpose of calling you here."

"I understand."

"How is the Zhuangtian matter handled?"