The Prosperous Era of Longwan

Wei Guangde weighed the pros and cons in the sedan chair, calculating whether the "pardon edict" could be used as a condition to get Yu Dayou out of prison.

But this matter is also very difficult to deal with. After all, Wei Guangde can imagine that the edict has been destroyed countless times. There is no physical evidence and only the confession of a Japanese pirate leader, how effective it can be.

Now the largest official in Hangzhou is none other than Hu Zongxian, but the leader in the matter of killing Wang Zhi was Zhejiang Inspector Censor Bengu.

In fact, based on Hu Zongxian's memorials before and after, Wei Guangde could still see that Hu Zongxian had really intended to ask the court to pardon Wang Zhi, but was firmly opposed by Wang Bengu.

Recalling the reception banquet when he arrived in Hangzhou two days ago, Wang Bengu was obviously very picky and unkind to Governor Hu Zongxian. He mocked Hu Zongxian for corruption many times, openly and secretly, which made the atmosphere of the banquet awkward.

According to the information Wei Guangde got from Wei Guangde, Wang Bengu is "mature, prudent and serious in speech".

It is said that this man was an upright and honest official, diligent and caring for the people, and had a character that hated evil as much as hatred. Apparently, it was because of his clear distinction between right and wrong that he chose to kill Wang Zhi.

Wei Guangde estimated that if future generations talk about this person, he will probably have a noble personal character but a slight lack of achievements.

The residence of Wei Guangde and his party was a courtyard for wealthy merchants arranged by the prefect of Hangzhou in the city. The courtyard was full of the charm of Jiangnan gardens.

Jiangnan gardens value water, and most of the sites for gardens are close to water systems. Even if there is no water system, a pond must be dug to store water, and the resulting earthwork is used to build a mountain of earth. The volume is not large, and it often imitates the shape of a mountain. Remaining veins or hills.

Most of the stacked stones are small pieces. Occasionally, strange stones are placed independently for appreciation.

It has been nearly two hundred years since the founding of the Ming Dynasty. Although it was affected by the Japanese invasion in the south of the Yangtze River, the overall economy was prosperous and the culture was developed, especially in the southern Zhili and Zhejiang areas. Therefore, the construction of residential gardens was also at its peak.

The style of Jiangnan residential gardens in the Ming Dynasty inherited the tradition of freehand landscape gardens in the Tang and Song Dynasties, focusing on the use of waterscapes, ancient trees, and flowers to create an elegant and wild artistic conception. Garden buildings were set up according to the scenery and skillfully borrowed scenery.

These gardens were developed on the basis of the freehand landscape gardens of the Tang and Song Dynasties, emphasizing the subjective expression of interest and mood, paying attention to creative techniques such as rolling mountains, stacking stones, and managing water; they highlighted the beauty of landscapes and paid attention to the literary interest of gardens.

The layout of the house garden is influenced by the palace garden. The number of garden spaces is small but the area is large. A symmetrical layout of the central axis is often used, and the layout of the garden has an obvious axis running through it.

Wei Guangde had heard before that Zhao Wenhua had more than ten large and small gardens in Hangzhou, Suzhou and other places. At that time, he thought that he had money and had no place to spend it, so he spent it randomly. After living in this garden for the past two days, Wei Guangde arrived. I am envious of the wealthy local businessmen.

No wonder those people are so obsessed with Jiangnan gardens, it is really a good place to live for the elderly.

My house in Jiujiang Prefecture actually looks a bit like this garden, with few buildings and a large garden. However, it is obviously not as refined as people here require, and it lacks a lot of charm.

After walking through the corridor and returning to his room, Wei Guangde whispered to Zhang Ji behind him: "You will ask the two Jin Yiwei men to come to my place later. I have something to say."

When Wei Guangde got back here and got off the sedan, he had already made up his mind to send a message to Lu Bing no matter whether it was possible or not. He didn't care whether he did or not, but he couldn't miss this opportunity.

The rumor of the "pardon edict", even if it cannot shake Hu Zongxian's position as the governor of Jiangnan, will at least have a great impact on him, especially the perception of Emperor Jiajing. I don't think the Yan family and Hu Zongxian are willing to take the risk of spreading the matter. of.

Letting go of an irrelevant person in exchange for all parties keeping the secret, Wei Guangde felt that there should be a play.

Unexpectedly, Hu Zongxian's pigtails would be discovered during his sentence.

Wei Guangde shook his head and walked to a brazier placed in the center of the room to warm himself up. The weather was getting colder now.

Not long after, Zhang Ji came to the door with two royal guards wearing blue jackets, and then led them in after announcing.

Wei Guangde waved to Zhang Ji and motioned for him to wait outside the door, and then said to the two people calmly: "In this weather, if I have a letter asking you to send it back to the capital as quickly as possible and hand it over to Lu Grand Governor, how long will it take?”

The two captains had just finished their salutes and stood up when they heard Wei Guangde's words, and they were sure that they really had something to do with Governor Lu in the capital.

They were sent by Jinyiwei to follow Wei Guangde south on errands. In fact, it was also a kind of supervision. However, when they went south, they were told by their superiors to "listen to Mr. Wei together."

One of the older school lieutenants, a man in his thirties, immediately bent down and said with a smile: "Sir, the fastest thing is the spy in the guard, it will take seven or eight days no matter what."

"It takes so long?"

Wei Guangde frowned when he heard this. He thought Jinyiwei would have some special communication channel, and maybe the news could be sent to the capital in three to five days.

But I heard that it would take seven or eight days. Isn't this just using the fast horse at the inn to deliver the news?

However, his letter this time was written to Lu Bing, and it was not a memorial. He really couldn't use a post horse. It seemed that he could only let people from Jin Yiwei deliver the news.

"Can you get close to the person you met today without being noticed?"

Wei Guangde asked again.

"Sir, do you want to meet Wang Zhi in private?"

The man couldn't help but frown when he heard Wei Guangde ask this.

There is a Jinyiwei Baihu Station in Hangzhou, but the military man is not very sure whether it is capable of arranging this matter. When he said this, he glanced at the young captain next to him.

Although the young captain was also a royal guard, Wei Guangde could see a bit of bookishness on his face, and he should be someone who had read books.

In fact, among the children of various guards in the capital, there are many who have achieved fame through studying.

Moreover, because the literary style in the north is far inferior to that in the south, the chance of scholars in the northern guard office to achieve fame is actually far greater than that in the southern guard office. Many civil servants from military families have emerged, and even reached the position of chief assistant, as was the case with Li Dongyang in the previous dynasty. .

Li Dongyang was born on June 9, the 12th year of Zhengde, and died on July 20, the 11th year of Zhengde. His courtesy name was Binzhi and his name was Xiya. His ancestral home was Chaling, Huguang. Because his family had been in the military for generations, he joined the capital to garrison. Jinwu Zuowei Ji.

He joined the cabinet during the Hongzhi Dynasty and formed the "iron triangle" of the Hongzhi cabinet with Liu Jian and Xie Qian, which is quite famous.

After Zhengde succeeded to the throne, Liu Jian and Xie Qian resigned one after another, and he became the chief assistant of the cabinet. During the Zhengde period, he played a great role in stabilizing the political situation.

Therefore, Wei Guangde was not surprised to see such a literate Jin Yiwei. Who said that someone from a military family could not study, wasn't he?

"It's not me who goes to see him, but you guys."

Wei Guangde shook his head and said, he absolutely cannot go.

He now has a special status. Wei Guangde is not sure whether Hu Zongxian will be wary of him. If someone discovers that he has a private meeting with Wang Zhi, it will be a bit troublesome. Even if Jin Yiwei arranged it, he can't tell clearly.

"What is your purpose in wanting to see Wang Zhi?"

At this time, the slightly younger captain who had been silent next to him asked.

"You followed me into the prison today. You should have heard what Wang Zhi said about the imperial edict."

Wei Guangde made a suggestion and said, "You think of a way to see him without anyone noticing, find out what the edict is, whether it is still in his hand, and sign it."

Wei Guangde's request was very simple. According to the official document, Wang Zhi would be executed in three days. This was inevitable.

The person is dead, and just because they heard Wang Zhi's words doesn't matter. They have to keep Wang Zhi's confession. Otherwise, there is no way to persuade the Yan family to give in on Yu Dayou's case.

Wei Guangde had already thought about it, and he would blame the Jin Yiwei people for this matter.

When Wang Zhi said the "Edict of Pardon", the Jinyiwei people were there. When they heard it, they naturally collected evidence and reported it to Beizhen Fusi. This had nothing to do with him, Mr. Wei.

In this way, even if Lu Bing knew the news too late and Wang Zhi had already surrendered, he still had evidence to impeach Hu Zongxian.

If the Yan family is dissatisfied, then they will escalate the matter. Hu Zongxian deceived the emperor, forged edicts, and showed disobedience, which was enough to make the Yan family drink a pot.

The two of them had naturally heard the words of the "pardon edict", but like most people, they had no intention of delving into it because they were about to be executed, so who would care about what they said.

Perhaps, only a thoughtful person would be interested in this.

But obviously, Wei Guangde was one of the people with intentions. When the inspector Si Qianshi told him to leave the prison, Wei Guangde did not delve into the matter. Instead, he pretended not to know and fooled them. When he returned to the house, he asked the Jinyi Guards to use their own methods. Immediately afterwards, Wang Zhi obtained a confession.

The confession was originally meant to be given to Lu Bing, so Wei Guangde didn't bother with it and just left the job to the Jin Yiwei people.

Although he knew that that kind of edict would most likely be destroyed, Wei Guangde still reminded him that it depends on whether Wang Zhi is smart enough.

But judging from Wang Zhi's mental state today, it's probably not going to work.

"I will contact you as soon as possible. I don't know when your Excellency will see the confession."

The young Jin Yiwei bowed.

"The sooner the better, tonight if I can."

Naturally, Wei Guangde would not drag his feet. Wang Zhi only had two days, and it would also take time to clear the guards of the Procuratorate's Prison. They couldn't afford to wait.

"I'll do my best."

Seeing that Wei Guangde attached great importance to this confession, the captain did not delay and immediately clasped his fists.

"You guys go down, be quick, don't be discovered."

After Wei Guangde gave his instructions, he waved his hand and motioned for the two of them to leave.

If Jin Yiwei is stubborn in front of officials, it depends on who he is.

If they were ordered to take someone, they would naturally be arrogant. But it was different now. They were ordered to follow Wei Guangde on errands, so naturally they had to stick to their duties and act according to Wei Guangde's instructions.

The two saluted again before leaving the house. Not long after the two left, Zhang Ji came in.

He blocked the others at the door, and he was the only one standing guard.

After following Wei Guangde for so long, he naturally knew that his master must have something to tell those two people, so he naturally didn't want others to hear about it.

Now that the two Jinyi guards left, Zhang Jicai entered the room to see if Wei Guangde had any other instructions.

"Get something to eat, I'm hungry."

Wei Guangde said directly.

Wei Guangde doesn't want to care about how Jin Yiwei completes his orders, nor does he want to know.

Insects have their own ways, and rats have their own ways. It may be a little troublesome for Jinyiwei to do things in rural areas and small counties, but in Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang Province, Wei Guangde thinks Jinyiwei should be able to handle such small things. In fact, the difficulty is whether there are people Wang Zhi has been monitored.

Wei Guangde did not underestimate Jin Yiwei's strength during this period, nor did he overestimate it.

The Jinyiwei claim to be able to monitor the entire Ming Dynasty, but in fact they only rely on government agencies at all levels and some powerful local families that need to be focused on control.

In these places, most of Jinyiwei's spies have low status and do some chores, but they monitor everything around them keenly and do their best to control everything that needs to be controlled.

In the prison of the Zhejiang Ancha Division, there really are spies of the Jinyiwei. Their public identities are as lowly servants, but in reality they are military households and members of the Jinyiwei army.

After the two Jin Yiwei left Wei Guangde's house, they naturally immediately contacted the Jin Yiwei Baihu stationed in Hangzhou for help. It was more reliable to do things with these local snakes.

At night, several men dressed as jailers carried vegetable baskets filled with food and wine and entered the prison of the Zhejiang Procuratorate.

The next day, Wei Guangde got up and exercised as usual, then sat in the lobby and picked up today's breakfast to start eating. Outside, Zhang Ji announced that the two Jinyi guards wanted to see him.

"Let them in."

Wei Guangde opened his mouth and gave instructions.

Soon, the two of them entered the house, but they didn't look as energetic as yesterday. Their eyes were red, as if they had suffered a lot.

"what happened?"

Wei Guangde was surprised when he saw their appearance.

"My lord, we went in there last night and got what you asked for."

The young captain whispered back at this time, then took out two pieces of paper from his arms and handed them to Wei Guangde.

"Didn't you get a good rest?"

Hearing this, Wei Guangde smiled, took the two papers and looked down at them, "Is he still cooperative?"

At the beginning of the period, Wei Guangde thought that both of them were oral confessions, but he soon discovered that they were both Wang Zhi's confessions, but the descriptions were different, and the signatures and signatures were consistent, and he couldn't help but frown slightly.

Then he looked through the second confession, his brows suddenly relaxed, and he couldn't help but look up at the captain.

They reported their names when they came over, but Wei Guangde didn't pay attention.

Both oral confessions described in detail who provided the pardon edict and the words in the edict. The target of the attack was naturally directed at Hu Zongxian.

In itself, the edict was indeed forged by Hu Zongxian. This was not a lie, but it was a pity that the edict had been taken away.

Regarding the whereabouts of the edict, one of the confessions detailed that it was taken away by people from the Governor's Mansion, and it even mentioned the record of hundreds of thousands of taels of silver that Wang Zhi brought with him. This is also included in Wang Zhi's case file. Unexpressed.

According to what Wang Zhi said, part of the silver was intended to be given to the dignitaries of the day, and some was intended to be donated to Emperor Jiajing.

Emperor Jiajing spent a lot of money cultivating Taoism, and even Wang Zhi, who was far away overseas, had heard about it.

Carrying silver was the reason why Wang Zhi believed that he could save his life, because he could contribute a large amount of gold and silver to the court and the inner court every year.