The Prosperous Era of Longwan

The news brought by Chen Ju was naturally very bad for Wei Guangde.

Yan Song had already obtained the Tianguan of the Ministry of Personnel first, and Ouyang Bijin had a close relationship with Yan Song. Although sometimes it seemed that he and Yan Song were not in sync with each other, they were relatives after all, and they would definitely turn to his family at critical moments. .

As for the other vacant position of Minister of Rites and the opportunity for the cabinet to replace the cabinet minister, Wei Guangde was still curious whether his elder brother Chen also had accurate information.

Although Yuan Wei's recent promotion has almost confirmed the position of Minister of Rites, Wei Guangde still wants to ask.

"Brother Chen, I also want to ask a question, that is, for the position of Minister of Rites, has His Majesty already chosen Yuan Wei?"

Chen Ju blinked and thought for a while before saying: 'It's hard to say. Your Majesty will only keep this kind of thing in your heart. ’

However, looking at Wei Guangde's slightly disappointed expression, he smiled and said: "Actually, based on my observation, Yuan Wei may not be the Minister of Rites."

"How to say?"

Wei Guangde asked in surprise.

"Yuan Wei's promotion path is not so much preparing to be promoted to Minister of Rites, but rather rushing to join the cabinet."

Chen Ju talked eloquently: "If Yuan Wei is really put into the cabinet by the emperor, the position of Minister of Rites will not be vacant. You know, although the cabinet ministers all have the title of minister, they are not in charge."

"Brother, what do you mean, Yuan Wei may join the cabinet this year?"

Wei Guangde sensitively grasped the hint of Chen Ju's words and asked.

"Lu Ge has been in office for a long time. Now the cabinet only consists of Yan and Xu. It will definitely not work."

Chen Ju smiled and said: "Yuan Wei is a very loyal person to the emperor. The emperor can rest assured that he will be included in the cabinet."

The meaning of Chen Ju's words was a bit deep. Wei Guangde was silent for a moment before he slowly figured out the meaning.

Now the two ministers in the cabinet have their own power in the court. Although they are still dependent on the emperor, after all, there are still small group interests, and it is difficult to say whether they will have entanglements with the imperial power.

By then, even if Emperor Jiajing can forcefully advance his will, the situation will definitely be very bad.

If an obedient person was put in the cabinet to mix in the sand, the situation might be better.

As for the obedient people, in fact, the officials and ministers who made great contributions to Qing Ci should be those whom Emperor Jiajing could rest assured and could make great use of.

Because these people were considered by the outside world to be flattering the emperor with their Qingci, they had a bad reputation in official circles and scholars. For this reason, they could only rely on the emperor with all their strength.

They have only been out of Qingshui Yamen like the Hanlin Academy for a short period of time, and have little connection with the court. They have not yet formed their own interest groups, so they can naturally use them with confidence.

"If Yuan Wei joins the cabinet, who will be the Minister of Rites in the end? Is it Yan Ne?"

Yan Ne is now the Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of Personnel, and the person closest to the position of Minister of Rites.

"Yan Na, Guo Pu, Li Chunfang, and Gao Gong are all possible, but Gao Gong is most likely to serve as the Zuo Shilang of a certain ministry."

Chen Ju said calmly, "I heard from my godfather that the emperor seems to have a bad opinion of him recently, and I don't know if the factory guard has reported anything recently.

By the way, Li Chunfang's situation is similar to Gao Gong's. He may also hold the position of Zuo Shilang. It's hard to say which one it is. But his situation is different from Gao Gong's. His starting point is slightly lower now. After all, he has not yet retained his position. Ministry, in charge of the Hanlin Academy. "

Hearing this, Wei Guangde was horrified.

What shocked him was of course not that Gao Gong and Li Chunfang might stay as Zuo Shilang, but what Chen Ju said earlier about the surveillance by factory guards.

I have heard before that if the emperor wants to reuse someone, he will definitely not decide on it at once. Instead, he will send factory guards to monitor him, and he will consider whether to use it after observing for a period of time.

"Brother Chen, you have many connections in the palace. I wonder if my little brother has been secretly secreted."

Wei Guangde didn't finish his words, but he still expressed his feelings.

"The officials from the capital are all within the scope of factory surveillance, but they have different priorities."

Chen Ju just answered ambiguously.

Saying it means not saying it.

Wei Guangde thought in his heart, but it was hard to continue asking.

"Yan Ne is the left minister of the Ministry of Rites, and Guo Pu is the right minister of the Ministry of Personnel. They are not the candidates chosen by His Majesty as ministers."

Wei Guangde suddenly felt something in his heart and whispered smoothly.

"Maybe. I remember last year, my godfather told me that the Ministry of Rites might need to be replaced. At that time, Wu Shan was still busy with King Jing's vassal appointment. I didn't know until later."

At this point, Chen Ju suddenly stopped, as if he realized that he had made a mistake. He looked at Wei Guangde opposite and said with a smile: "Is there anything else you want to know? I'm still at ease with you, brother. If you have anything, just ask me. Okay, I’m sure I’ll tell you everything.”

In the past, Chen Ju would not be so generous and say everything he knew in front of Wei Guangde.

After all, one moment and another, now that King Yu's position has been stabilized, Chen Ju, as a chamberlain, will have to consider the issue of the new emperor sooner or later.

Try to make good friends with King Yu now, and you will naturally feel at ease when King Yu takes the throne in the future.

For people in the inner court, the emperor's trust is the most important.

After separating from Chen Ju, Wei Guangde directly asked Zhang San to drive the carriage back to Prince Yu's Mansion.

It was already four or five o'clock in the afternoon in later generations, and all the major offices in the imperial court had already dispersed. Usually, the subordinate officials in Prince Yu's Mansion, except Yin Shizhen, Wei Guangde and Zhang Juzheng, usually left directly if they had nothing to do.

But today when Wei Guangde returned to the palace, not only Yin Shizhen and Zhang Juzheng were still at the academy, but also Gao Gong.

Thinking about it, when Wei Guangde left the palace to see Chen Ju, King Yu sent someone to call Gao Gong.

When Wei Guangde walked outside, he heard people talking and laughing in the room. He thought he was invited to the palace for a banquet as usual.

Now King Yu is in a really happy and relaxed mood, and hosting wine and banquets has become more and more frequent.

After all, not only Wei Guangde, but also everyone in the palace did not expect to get any useful information from Chen Ju today.

In King Yu's opinion, only old eunuchs like Huang Jin and Gao Zhong might be able to guess something.

After Wei Guangde entered the room to meet with King Yu and others, he did not show off and directly told everyone the news he heard from Chen Ju.

Hearing that at noon today, Yan Song had taken the position of Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the expression on Gao Gong's face changed from nervousness and anger to final loss.

Although Gao Gong had already realized that something was wrong when Yuan Wei moved to the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and his status was not that high in the eyes of Emperor Jiajing, he could not hide his disappointment after all.

"Qing Su, although there is no chance this time, it is still possible to win the official position of Zuo Shilang. I am just waiting for the next opportunity."

Of course Yin Shizhen noticed Gao Gong's expression and hurriedly tried to persuade him.

Gao Gong showed a wry smile, but said nothing.

What Wei Guangde said before was naturally only related to the possible arrangements for official positions in the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Personnel. After all, the emperor had not consulted anyone, and Chen Ju only told Wei Guangde what he heard from Gao Zhong and what he had guessed.

In addition, Wei Guangde once again mentioned the matter of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, which Xu Jie had mentioned before, but he didn't know whether Gao Gong knew about it.

Yin Shizhen spoke again at this time and continued: "On the contrary, we have to learn from Mr. Xu Ge. He has already set his sights on the position of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, but he has never shown his talent."

Hearing what Yin Shizhen said, Wei Guangde glanced at Zhang Juzheng.

To be sure, Xu Jie was really sophisticated. He had already targeted the Metropolitan Procuratorate and even arranged for people to do so, but he did not let the outside world notice.

"No wonder."

At this time, King Yu suddenly laughed and said: "When Pan Shilang succeeded Zheng Shangshu as the left minister of the Ministry of Punishments and took over the Ministry of Punishments, he took leave to recuperate within a few months. I was still wondering why he resigned before the position of Shangshu was confirmed. , turned out to be waiting here."

Not many people knew about Pan En at that time. Wei Guangde noticed that except for Gao Gong, everyone else in the room seemed to have expressions of surprise, including Zhang Juzheng.

Now Pan En has recovered from his illness and returned to the court, but the Minister of Punishment has been appointed, and when he returned from illness, the right censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate was vacant, so he entered the Metropolitan Procuratorate directly.

Now that I think about it, Xu Ge's method of finding a job is really clever.

However, these are not comparable to those in Prince Yu's palace. With Mr. Ge in charge, he can naturally accomplish many things that others cannot.

"Yes, Mr. Xu Ge's reputation with His Majesty is still not as good as that of Chief Assistant Yan. He cannot directly apply for an official position from Master Pan like Mr. Chief Assistant, so he can only find ways to wait for the official position to be vacant and gain seniority."

Yin Shizhen said.

Saying this is actually an expression to Gao Gong. You have only been in the Ministry of Etiquette for a short time. If you lack the holy family, don't think about rising to the top. You are incomparable with Yuan Wei and others. You still have to wait for qualifications. as well.

Wei Guangde was thinking that if he had time in the past few days, he would study Xu Jie's employment methods and learn some experience from him so that he could promote and appoint his own people, such as Lao Kan, in the future.

Wei Guangde also realized the importance of the Metropolitan Procuratorate because of the impeachment memorial, so he had the idea of ​​pushing Lao Kan to take charge of the Metropolitan Procuratorate.

Looking at Paine's promotion and the career of those former Zuodu censors, it's time to start working hard and prepare a team for yourself.

Everyone in the room had their own thoughts and soon dispersed.

Today, King Yu saw that Gao Gong was in a bad mood, so he naturally did not arrange a banquet for him, fearing that no one would be willing to drink from it.

The next day, as expected, the cabinet received Xiyuan's decree.

Two lanes.

The people in Prince Yu's palace had already heard the news yesterday and were not surprised. However, the news came to the surprise of all the ministers.

Wu Peng became an official, and Wu Shan stayed idle. Two ministerial positions were suddenly vacant. Many people thought that it would be a battle between dragons and tigers. When it comes to promotion, the competition will be very fierce. However, they did not expect that Emperor Jiajing directly decided on the person. .

"Yuan Wei, the left minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, was promoted to be the minister of the Ministry of Rites and the crown prince Shaobao."

"Change Ouyang Bijin, Shaobao and Prince Taibao, Minister of the Ministry of Industry, to Minister of the Ministry of Personnel."

After all, he got the news first, and Wei Guangde was still very calm when confirming the news. He had no chance in the first place, but he was thousands of miles away.

Just a few days later, Prince Yu's Mansion did not wait for the good news that Gao Gong had moved to the Ministry of Civil Affairs, Zuo Shilang, but received another news from Xiyuan.

On the fifth day after Yuan Wei was promoted from the position of Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of Personnel to the Minister of Rites, a decree came from the Yongshou Palace in Xiyuan: "Yuan Wei, the Minister of the Ministry of Rites and a scholar of the Hanlin Academy, is ordered to enter Zhixiyuan to write Xuanxiu."

Gao Gong couldn't hide the envy in his heart when he saw his immediate superior, Yuan Wei, receiving the order. With this order, Yuan Wei officially entered Zhi Xiyuan.

At the beginning, like Yuan Wei, he would be called to Zhilu by the chamberlain sent by Xiyuan, but instead of consulting on government affairs, he would help Emperor Jiajing select Qing Ci, which would be enviable.

After all, after selecting Qing Ci, you will have the opportunity to meet the emperor and have a few words.

If you don't see those ministers, many of them may not be summoned by the emperor in one or two months.

Now that Yuan Wei has received the decree, it can be regarded as the basis for him to legitimately enter Zhixi Garden and truly become a close minister of the emperor.

Having a position in Zhi Xiyuan is even better than getting a ministerial position. It means that the emperor favors you.

Suddenly, more officials came to visit the already lively Yuan Mansion. Even Yan Shifan went to Yuan Wei's house to sit for a while.

The Yan family are veterans of the current emperor, while Yuan Wei is a rising star.

Yan Shifan's actions caused quite a shock in the circle of Beijing officials. At several banquets attended by Wei Guangde, everyone was filled with envy and disdainfully rebuked Yuan Wei for being favored by Qingci. Villain.

Of course, this was what Yuan Wei said when he was not present. If Yuan Wei had come face to face, I think everyone would have said something different.

Since that day when it was confirmed that the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel had determined that Ouyang must enter, and that the Minister of the Ministry of Rites would most likely give it to Yuan Wei, Gao Gong's target had been transferred to the Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of Personnel.

Yuan Wei was promoted to Minister of Rites, and the position of Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of Official Affairs was naturally vacant, and Gao Gong naturally wanted to compete for it.

When Wei Guangde came back with the message, he didn't say the second half of what Chen Ju said.

Emperor Jiajing was slightly dissatisfied with Gao Gong. Although he didn't know the reason, Wei Guangde could probably guess some.

Gao Gong didn't know that this promotion had nothing to do with him.

But no matter what, for him, he should first be promoted from the right minister to the left minister and gain some qualifications, so that next time there is a vacancy for the position of minister, he will be more competitive.

For this purpose, Gao Gong was quite busy these days. Not only did he secretly meet with Xu Jie, but he also went to Yan's house to visit Yan Shoufu. As for the newly appointed Minister of Rites and Officials, there were naturally no shortage of them.

In the past, Gao Gong and Yuan Wei had more contact with each other not in the Hanlin Academy, but in the Wuyi Hall of Xiyuan. They discussed choosing Qingci together. But it is different now. They meet every day in the Ministry of Rites, but Gao Gong still chooses to visit. Yuan Wei.

The purpose is naturally very clear. As long as he can speak to the emperor, Gao Gong doesn't care about anything else. He must maintain a good relationship.

When Ouyang Bijin arrived, in the eyes of Gao Gong and others in the court, Ouyang Bijin's ability to move from the local area to the center was all because of Yan Song's push behind him.

Since he is a member of Yan Dang's family and a relative of Yan Song, he will naturally act on the side of Yan Dang. What's more, Mr. Xiaoge has been selling officials and titles in the capital these years, relying not only on his control of the staff.

When Wu Peng became an official, he immediately sent Ouyang Bijin to the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and his intentions were clear.

To be honest, contacting Ouyang Bijin was not as pleasant as dealing with Wu Peng. Gao Gong had always had a good relationship with Wu Peng, but he didn't expect that he would be dismissed at the critical moment.

It's just that Gao Gong's actions have nothing to do with Wei Guangde. His lectures at Prince Yu's Mansion already covered the Zhengde Dynasty.