The Prosperous Era of Longwan

After Liu Shouyou waved, the two captains behind Tang Ruji reached out and pushed Tang Ruji, and he was immediately taken away.

As Tang Ruji and Liu Shou passed each other and walked towards Beizhen Fusi, the captain in Jinyi behind him also turned around and escorted Tang Ruji away.

After all the Jinyi guards behind him turned around and took a few steps, Liu Shouyou, who had been standing still, took two steps forward and whispered, "Master Wei, please forgive me. This happened because of the discovery of letters between the Tang family and the Yan family."

"What letter?"

After hearing Liu Shouyou's words, Wei Guangde subconsciously asked.

"this"

Liu Shouyou hesitated for a moment, then looked back at Captain Jinyi who had walked out behind him, and then replied in a low voice: "From the letters withheld by the Yan family, I found that Mr. Tang had an affair with the Yan family before he went to Beijing to take the exam. There was an exchange of letters between the two times. In the letter, Mr. Tang once said, "This imperial examination is entirely dependent on you." Therefore, the superiors suspected that Mr. Tang's number one scholar was involved in fraud."

Because Tang Ruji's home was not searched, Jin Yiwei only had a letter written by Tang Ruji to the Yan family. Who was Yan Song at that time?

He had just killed Xia Yan, the former chief minister, and became the new chief minister of the Ming Dynasty. Tang Ruji came to Beijing to take the exam and actually said such words. No wonder he was suspected of using Yan Song's back door.

After saying this, Liu Shouyou felt that he had said too much, and hurriedly cupped his hands at Wei Guangde, then turned around and walked away quickly.

Although the conversation between them was not loud, Yin Shizhen and Zhang Juzheng were not far away from them. Even if they didn't listen, Quan Ke could still get a general idea, and they were all silent at this time.

With Yan Song's power at the time, it was completely possible to submit him to Tang Ruji for the imperial examination, but everyone didn't know what to say.

"Si Ji was the number one scholar in the 29th year of Jiajing, right? Can this number one cheat?"

Wei Guangde turned around at this time and happened to see the expressions of Yin Shizhen and Zhang Juzheng. From their silence, Wei Guangde felt that maybe these two people were really thinking about this matter, so he spoke.

"You can exert influence, but the final decision lies with His Majesty."

Yin Shizhen said at this time.

Yin Shizhen had not participated in the process of reading papers, but he had heard about it. As for Zhang Juzheng, it was the same, but don't forget that he also had a teacher. Xu Jie had participated in reading papers countless times, and he was obviously very clear about the tricks. .

Not to mention, as for Wei Guangde's time, why did Wei Guangde's paper be selected and placed in the third class? In fact, it was not just to give him a chance.

At that time, after Yan Song picked up Wei Guangde's paper, they were still not sure, but they finally understood the secret when Emperor Jiajing changed positions.

That is to say, Wei Guangde didn't use any connections during the proficiency examination, so his ranking in the proficiency examination was low. If he really wanted to get the results of the imperial examination, his ranking would be raised during the proficiency examination, so that many things would fall into place.

As the chief minister of the cabinet, can Yan Song affect the ranking of the examination results?

sure.

Even though the examiner of the 29th General Examination was Zhang Zhi, who was regarded as a bachelor of Wenyuan Pavilion, and Yan Song did not deal with him, Zhang Zhi and Tang Long also had a deep relationship.

He Jingming, an important figure among the "Four Elites" in the Ming Dynasty and one of the famous "First Seven" in the Ming Dynasty, was a leader in the literary world together with Li Mengyang. After his death, his collection of essays "The Great Fu Collection" edited by Kang Hai was Zhang's work. Zhi and Kanglong edited and selected it, and Kang Hai and Tang Long wrote the preface.

In the general examination, with Zhang Zhi as the examiner, how could Tang Ruji's ranking be low?

When it comes to the palace examination, with Yan Song among the examiners, Tang Ruji's papers will naturally be placed in the best position.

Zhang Juzheng didn't even need to ask his teacher, he could think of this himself.

So after hearing Wei Guangde's words, Zhang Juzheng just smiled bitterly, and Yin Shizhen just shook his head and said, "Go back and tell Prince Yu."

The three of them turned back to Prince Yu's palace and told Prince Yu about the matter.

King Yu didn't quite believe that Tang Ruji would be suspected of fraud. Although King Yu had not participated in the difficulty of the imperial examination and the provincial examination, he had heard about it more or less when he was with people like Wei Guangde and Yin Shizhen.

Tang Ruji's ability to pass the imperial exams shows that he is quite knowledgeable.

If he can become the number one scholar, then his imperial examination papers will naturally be good. Don't think that Emperor Jiajing is so easy to fool.

The number one scholar is the face of an imperial examination. Wei Guangde's reputation can be faked, but the level of the top three candidates must be high enough, otherwise they will not be able to convince the public.

"Si Ji was taken away, what should the palace do?"

At this time, King Yu wanted to know even more what they should do to prevent people outside from talking about it.

"Now the DPRK and China are liquidating the Yan Party. Si Ji has been identified as a member of the Yan Party. I'm afraid it will be difficult to clear away the suspicion."

Zhang Juzheng said.

"I haven't received any news before. It was probably just rumors at first, but now there are letters, alas."

Yin Shizhen still shook his head.

Letters are physical evidence at this time, more useful than anything else, and so are the words in them.

"Then let Mr. Yin arrange for people to pay attention to this matter, and let the court handle it."

In Tang Ruji's case, Prince Yu's palace really had no way to intervene and could only wait and see what happened. Prince Yu could only say this.

Ordinary letters can also be said to be normal interactions between official families. In any case, Tang Ruji's father, Tang Long, was a Jinshi in the Zhengde Dynasty. He was an official and was the Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, so he could actually have correspondence with the Yan family. It's also normal.

But if you say sensitive words at a sensitive time, it's really hard to clean yourself up.

Prince Yu's Mansion began to pay attention to the subsequent trial process of Yan Shifan's case, and Wei Guangde and Zhang Juzheng also devoted themselves to the work of re-recording the ceremony during this time.

Youdao is that everything is difficult at the beginning. Once the work is straightened out at the beginning, the rest can be handed over to the scribes below. Branch officials like them only need to wait for them to complete a part of the copying work and conduct inspections.

From Wei Guangde's point of view, the admission ceremony is actually just for gold plating, and there is no need to invest too much in it. He is not someone like Qu Jingchun or Ding Shimei, who is busy in the Hanlin Academy all day long and wishes the court would arrange something to do. Demonstrate value.

On this day, Wei Guangde held a banquet in the mansion for Zhang Ke, who had returned to Beijing from Shaanxi to report on his duties. He had been transferred to Zhejiang and would go to the post immediately after returning to Beijing to report on his duties with his appointment documents.

"Today the cabinet, the Ministry of Personnel and the Metropolitan Procuratorate will listen to your work report. It's a big deal."

Wei Guangde smiled and said to Zhang Ke.

Today, Wei Guangde also had something to say to Zhang Kesuo, so he did not invite anyone else. Lao Kan had already set off south to Guangdong a few days ago.

"Shandai, is the court going to touch Hu Zongxian?"

Zhang Ke asked softly at this time.

"Are you allowed to control the troops in Zhejiang and South Zhili?"

Wei Guangde just smiled and said casually.

"It's not about control, it's just about meeting more with those generals and listening to their advice to the court."

Zhang Ke thought about it before saying.

"You are going there to be the censor, so you naturally have the responsibility to supervise them. To tell you the truth, in two days the court will issue an order to seize Hu Zongxian's military affairs in Jiangxi and Guangdong, and only retain the governor-general of Nanzhili, Zhejiang and Fujian provinces. Military affairs.”

Wei Guangde told Zhang Ke the news Qian heard two days ago, letting him know that he should not go to the south to get involved with Hu Zongxian in order to better carry out his work.

With the information provided by Wei Guangde, Zhang Ke naturally knew what to do in this appointment. Fortunately, during today's meeting, he was given a secret order to arrest Hu Zongxian.

"You don't need to pay too much attention to the South Zhili side. Most of those soldiers are related to Nanjing nobles. A single move can affect the whole body. You should pay more attention to the Zhejiang side. For example, Qi Jiguang, who reads military reports from the south, or Very capable.

Once the imperial court arrests Hu Zongxian, as the censor of the two Zhejiang provinces, there is a high probability that the responsibility for suppressing the Japanese will fall on you.

Fortunately, there are signs of Japanese pirates migrating southward in the past two years. In the past two years, they should have mainly been in Fujian and Guangdong, but we cannot take it lightly. "

Wei Guangde said calmly.

"Where are you taking me? Aren't you afraid that I won't be able to defeat the Japanese pirates and will be dismissed from my position?"

Zhang Ke asked curiously.

When I first exchanged letters with Wei Guangde, Wei Guangde did not support him going to Zhejiang to take up a post at the beginning. At that time, the Japanese pirates in Zhejiang were making trouble, but his attitude has changed a lot in recent years.

"Hu Zongxian was promoted by Yan Song. After so many years, Fujian and Guangdong have caused such big troubles, and Hu Zongxian cannot escape the blame."

Wei Guangde stopped when he clicked, believing that Zhang Ke understood what he meant.

At first, Wei Guangde wanted Lao Kan to go to Zhejiang, but he was unwilling to go, so he chose Guangdong. Later, he convinced Zhang Ke and then asked Xu Jie for help.

These are all resumes, and Wei Guangde also calculated the time accurately, thinking that this time would be the perfect opportunity to go south to Zhejiang and other coastal provinces to pick peaches.

It is better to take advantage of others than to take advantage of one's own people, especially since the court may want to move Hu Zongxian. Once Hu Zongxian resigns, Zhang Ke can directly take over Zhejiang's anti-Japanese affairs, which is considered a big deal.

Although the Japanese pirates are still there now, their momentum is no longer as strong as it was a few years ago. After years of continuous encirclement and suppression, the Japanese pirates' momentum is no longer what it used to be.

The most important thing is that in Wei Guangde's impression from later generations, when it comes to the Japanese pirates in the Ming Dynasty, it seems that they only made trouble in the Jiajing Dynasty. During the other emperors, they only made small troubles and did not cause much trouble at all. .

If he didn't have to cling to Wang Yu's thick thigh, Wei Guangde would sometimes want to go south and work hard.

Not two days after seeing Zhang Ke off, Wei Guangde saw another letter from Fujian in his house.

The letter was naturally written by Yu Dayou.

During this period, the imperial court continued to receive good news from Fujian, and it could be said that it was almost numb.

First, Yu Dayou attacked Wushipu to lure Zhang Lian's army to come back for reinforcements. He annihilated one of the enemy troops halfway and captured Xiao Wan, the leader of the bandit. Later, Zhang Nian and Chen Wangmo defeated the bandit army and successfully captured the leader of the bandit, Zhang Lian.

After that, Yu Dayou led his army with great victory to defeat Lin Chaoxi, the leader of the local bandits, and others, and captured his younger brother Lin Chaojing in Yinna Mountain. Fujian officers and soldiers also took advantage of the situation to attack the old bandits in Longyan County, and successfully captured Su Apu, the leader of the dragon bandits, and others. .

With the successive victories of the Fujian army, the shaky situation a year ago was completely reversed, and the turbulent situation in Fujian and Guangdong caused by Zhang Lian's incident calmed down.

Naturally, Wei Guangde would not take Yu Dayou's letter lightly. After the screen faded away, he opened the letter and read it, but he soon became a little stunned.

According to the order of Emperor Jiajing, the previously captured thieves Zhang Lian and Xiao Wan were not escorted to the capital to be punished, but were killed on the spot. The three provinces shocked Xiaoxiao. No one expected that this Zhang Lian was not the other Zhang Lian. .

This letter was sent together with a new piece of good news. Lin Chaoxi, the last force in Zhang Lian's rebellion, had been annihilated. Lin Chaoxi, the leader of the bandits, was killed in the rebellion. It can be said that Zhang Lian's story since the 37th year of Jiajing The Lian rebellion lasted for several years and has been completely subsided.

However, according to what Yu Dayou wrote in his letter, the so-called Zhang Lian was actually Luo Pao, and the real Zhang Lian had already separated from Lin Chaoxi in Ma Yi, Yunxiao County.

Lin Chaoxi led most of his troops to attract the main force of Yu Dayou's army to go south, while he led more than a thousand remaining bandits to cross Zhangpu and go out to sea near Zhangjiang Prefecture.

The information about Zhang Lian's whereabouts was obtained from the prisoners after interrogation after Yu Dayou led his troops to annihilate Lin Chaoxi's troops, and most of the people who followed him were from coastal boat people.

However, the soldiers and horses sent by He Jing failed to catch up with the remnant bandits led by Zhang Lian, and in the end they could only watch them leave across the sea.

At this time, Yu Dayou did not dare to report the truth, so he could only pretend to be deaf and dumb and watch Zhang Nian, Chen Wangmo and others punish "Zhang Lian" and Xiao Wan.

With a long sigh of relief, Wei Guangde folded the letter and put it into the envelope.

Wei Guangde knew the danger of Zhang Lian's escape from the Ming Dynasty.

Wild fire, in spring.

Regarding these thieves, his consistent position is to eliminate evil and do their best.

Now that people have really gone to sea, it is even more difficult to catch them.

Yu Dayou was right. He didn't dare to report the truth at this time. Once this matter was made public, it would be a revelation, and Prince Yu's Palace might not be able to save his life.

It's not that telling the truth is bad, but the impact is so great that most civil servants will be hostile to Yu Dayou, and it will be difficult for him to move forward in his future official career.

In fact, Wei Guangde had the intention to burn the letters at first. Keeping such things would be a disaster. Once they fell into the hands of others, confessing them would be a crime of deceiving the emperor.

Wei Guangde could only make up his mind that he would not go to the transcription ceremony tomorrow morning, but would go to Prince Yu's Mansion first. Just let Prince Yu know about it, and then he would not be able to keep this letter.

What Wei Guangde is most worried about right now is actually when this Zhang Lian will pop up again.

At that time, if King Yu ascends the throne, it will be fine. If Emperor Jiajing is still in power, with his face-saving character, Zhang Zhen and Chen Wangmo will not be able to do well, and Yu Dayou is afraid that he will also be implicated.

Telling King Yu was also to give them a vaccination. At least when Emperor Jiajing died, even if Zhang Lian jumped out, it would not do much harm to them.

Wei Guangde had already thought about his reply to Yu Dayou, so he could only say "don't mention this matter" and did not dare to put the details on paper. Yu Dayou's trap this time was a bit big.

We can only hope that Zhang Lian has been defeated by the Ming army and will not dare to return to the mainland in the short term.

It is conceivable that after the report of the Fujian battle spreads in the court tomorrow, when everyone is celebrating, Guangdong will send an emergency report saying that Zhang Lian has appeared again, and will Emperor Jiajing directly flip the table and kill people.

After spending a night on tenterhooks, Wei Guangde hurried to Prince Yu's Mansion with his letter early the next morning.