The Prosperous Era of Longwan

"In the case of engineering affairs, Li Zhenyuan impeached the university scholar Gao Gong for being impatient and lacking in ministerial integrity. His maternal aunt was seeking to retreat, but she harbored worries and losses. She was impeached and argued over and over again, and the Chinese and foreign officials looked away. It is not a smile that is appropriate in prosperous times. I would like to urgently grant him dismissal or special gifts to show his integrity."

In the Ministry of Personnel, Wei Guangde was on duty. He had a note sent by Ouyang Yijing in his hand.

In addition to accusing Gao Gong of making mistakes, Li Zhenyuan's memorial mentioned that he had been impeached so many times and still shamelessly stayed in the cabinet. He refused to confess honestly but kept making sophistry. Everyone was still watching. Removal or preferential treatment, Emperor, you should give me a happy one.

As soon as I entered the check-in room early in the morning, without even taking a sip of water, Ouyang Yijing's people came.

Wei Guangde was not surprised that Li Zhenyuan impeached Gao Gong. He had long expected that Mr. Xu Ge would instigate people to continue taking action. If Gao Gong could not be brought down after spending so much effort, he would really have no choice but to consider leaving.

Li Zhenyuan's memorial was almost an attempt to force the emperor into the palace.

Either Gao Gong is dismissed, or he is given preferential treatment to let everyone know whether he is right or wrong.

What follows is that Li Zhenyuan was active in the Sixth Section and encouraged other subjects to actively report the impeachment of Gao Gong.

You know, many people have petitioned for impeachment before Ke Dao, but the results were not satisfactory.

Now Li Zhenyuan is impeaching again and has contacted other colleagues to act together. The purpose is naturally to set off another wave of impeachment frenzy.

Moreover, when Ouyang Yijing's note finally asked about his attitude, Wei Guangde knew that the other party was not asking about his opinion on the impeachment letter, but whether he wanted to submit the memorial.

Previously, Ouyang Yijing also prepared for impeachment, but was temporarily suppressed by Wei Guangde on the grounds that the time was not right.

This time Ke Dao seemed to be taking action again under the leadership of Li Zhenyuan, and Ouyang Yijing couldn't bear it anymore.

After thinking about it, Wei Guangde wrote a note back to Ouyang Yijing, asking him to wait for another day to take a look. At the same time, he also wrote a note to Yin Shizhen and Chen Yiqin, inviting them to his home for a banquet that evening.

Yu Zhuan's senior officials in the court, Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng, have been excluded by them and will naturally not be considered.

In the evening, in Wei Mansion's study, the three of them were a little tipsy after dinner, but they were sober and knew the purpose of coming here tonight.

Wei Guangde closed the door and came back to sit down. "I have made arrangements outside. No one will come near here."

"How did the cabinet vote for Li Zhenyuan's memorial to force the palace?"

Yin Shizhen asked directly.

"I didn't write it."

Chen Yiqin replied very bachelorly: "Now the cabinet basically has no votes on the impeachment memorial. There are too many. What should we do?

The current situation is that the Northern and Southern Secretaries all regard attacking Gong as a quick task. Even this afternoon, several memorials were handed in, all of which impeached Gao Gong. With the current situation of the cabinet, they don't know what to do. "

"Then we can't let Li Zhenyuan act recklessly. If he doesn't reprimand him, I'm afraid Ke Dao will follow his example and everyone will force His Majesty to express his position."

Yin Shizhen said with a frown.

"Your Majesty is still in middle school, so if you write, it will be in vain."

Chen Yiqin just shook his head and said.

"Your Majesty gave me a note before, asking me to find a way to calm this turmoil. I guess you also received it."

Wei Guangde interjected.

After both of them nodded, Wei Guangde said: "It seems that this matter cannot be resolved. I plan to transfer Qi Kang out of the capital first to see if the Metropolitan Procuratorate can be more peaceful."

"Downgraded and released?"

Chen Yiqin frowned slightly. Letting Qi Kang out at this time was actually a very bad signal.

"What else can we do? Do you really want His Majesty to force us to submit a memorial to attack Xu Jie?"

Wei Guangde sighed, "No matter what Xu Jie says at this time, it's all his own fault.

According to Hai Rui's words, although Xu Gong had flaws in his early years, he had already made up for his mistakes, so what else could Xu Jie have to attack.

On the other hand, Gao Suqing had offended too many people and did not know how to restrain himself. He became even more aggressive after His Majesty ascended the throne, and finally reached this point.

It's your own fault, it's your own fault. "

"You want to give up the high arch?"

Yin Shizhen asked.

"I was worried before, but after the last court meeting, I think Xu Jie should only target Gao Gong and will not be disadvantageous to us anymore."

Wei Guangde said calmly.

In the last court meeting, the side supporting Kaihai was actually in a very unfavorable situation. However, after Yu Zhuan came forward to express support, the disparity was greatly reduced.

I think Mr. Xu Ge should also understand the impression of Yu Zhuan's old people working together, but there is no place for Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng in it.

While Chen Yiqin and Yin Shizhen were thinking about it, Wei Guangde asked again: "Brother Yifu, has the cabinet recently written down the regulations regarding the opening of the sea?"

"Zhang Juzheng prepared the charter and we discussed it, but we contacted the six ministries and nine ministers to discuss it, but we were never able to finalize it."

Chen Yiqin sighed and said: "Now that there is no chief assistant in the cabinet, everything is somewhat restricted. Xu Jie and Li Chunfang are unwilling to come out to do things. Qi Kang's memorial offended Li Chunfang to death."

Having said this, Chen Yiqin seemed to understand what Wei Guangde meant, "Do you want to punish Qi Kang to make Li Chunfang calm down?"

Wei Guangde nodded, "Although this treatment may give a bad impression to the outside world, if Mr. Li can be allowed to leave the government and return to the cabinet to do errands, it will always be an explanation to His Majesty.

Although I also know that Mr. Xu Ge will not give up easily,"

Xu Jie is now confident, why?

It was not just Qi Kang's memorial that sent the first and second assistants home at once.

Gao Gong, who is able to shoulder the burden of the cabinet, is also pushed down by the wall and unable to come forward to serve on the board of directors.

The remaining ministers in the cabinet lacked qualifications and prestige, and could not get the support of the court, so they hesitated and hesitated in doing things.

If according to Wei Guangde's intention, punishing Qi Kang can bring Li Chunfang back to the cabinet, it will indeed reduce the pressure on Gao Gong, and at least the court is expected to resume operation.

I have something to do, so I naturally don't have the time to think about how to impeach Gao Gong all day long.

"It's a bit risky."

Chen Yiqin analyzed.

"It's feasible. It's just a matter of letting Gao Suqing become an official. Even if he can survive this time, there will be another storm like this next year."

Yin Shizhen said bluntly.

"The top priority is to get the cabinet running as soon as possible and complete the opening of the sea as soon as possible. Gao Suqing still has time to wait. After all, Mr. Xu Ge, who is in his sixties, how long can he stay in the court?"

Yin Shizhen showed his feelings, and Wei Guangde felt that there was no need to worry too much. Everyone didn't like Gao Gong anyway, so it didn't matter if he said it here. He had even thought about how to deal with Emperor Longqing.

Chen Yiqin looked at Yin Shizhen and then at Wei Guangde, and then he seemed to have made up his mind, "I will go into the palace tomorrow to tell His Majesty that I will send Qi Kang out first to see if I can let Mr. Li return to the cabinet to handle errands."

"Your Majesty cannot ignore Li Zhenyuan's memorial and must refute it severely."

Wei Guangde reminded.

"I see."

Chen Yiqin nodded and replied.

"In the next two days after tomorrow, a large number of memorials should be sent to Kedao Yanguan, all of which impeached Gao Gong, Li Zhenyuan."

Wei Guangde told the two of them the news that Ouyang Yijing had passed to him, "Sizhi was a little overwhelmed. He also wrote an impeachment memorial. It's not that Zhen and Gao Gong can't get along, it's the general trend."

"Shandai, you can arrange a suitable place for Qi Kang at the Ministry of Civil Affairs tomorrow. I will give you the news after I have an audience with His Majesty."

Chen Yiqin whispered to Wei Guangde.

Through tonight's discussion, Yuzhuan's faction has completely abandoned Gao Gong and no longer considers the issue of protecting him.

Xu Jie and the court were under too much pressure, and taking action would be the target of public criticism. It was not cost-effective and would not be beneficial to Emperor Longqing.

"Today Governor Tu has another memorial arriving in Beijing. I'm afraid Shandai doesn't know about it yet."

Finally, Chen Yiqin suddenly said again.

"Oh? What are you talking about?"

Wei Guangde pretended to be surprised.

"This memorial is more detailed. It is not like the previous one that just talked about the benefits of opening up the sea. It has many more details. It is somewhat similar to what you and Mr. Xu Ge thought."

Wei Guangde nodded slightly when he heard this.

Delayed by the fight at Xu Jie Gaogong, Wei Guangde really forgot about his previous letter to Tu Zemin.

Chen Yiqin just stared at Chen Jianguo for a moment. Seeing that there was nothing else on his face, he continued: "Ma Sen, the minister of Nanjing Ministry of Industry, also submitted a memorial in support of opening up the sea."

"Mason?"

Wei Guangde muttered the name in a low voice, feeling as if he had heard it somewhere before and it seemed a bit familiar.

"Minister of the Nanjing Ministry of Industry? Ma Sen?"

Yin Shizhen was also surprised. At this time, everyone's attention should not be on Dougao Gong, so why were there still people trying to open up the sea?

"Shan Loi has forgotten this person?"

Chen Yiqin smiled.

"Somewhat familiar, but I can't remember where I've seen or heard of it."

Wei Guangde said bluntly.

"In the 34th year of Jiajing's reign, Ma Shilang should have been serving as the Zuobu envoy in Jiangxi."

Chen Yiqin reminded.

"Oh, I remembered. I saw him at the Deer Ming Banquet."

Wei Guangde remembered that at the Luming Banquet after the provincial examination that year, all the high-ranking officials in Jiangxi Province were present, including Ma Sen.

But at that time, he was ranked low, so he naturally stepped back after going up to pay homage. Later, because of the Japanese pirate incident, several high-ranking officials in Jiangxi left early.

However, Wei Guangde was a little surprised. Why did Chen Yiqin suddenly talk about him? Is it because he supported Kaihai?

Seeing the surprise in Wei Guangde's eyes, Chen Yiqin glanced at Yin Shizhen, who was still confused, and then said: "I must be aware of the memorial handed over by the Ministry of Revenue today.

Ge Shangshu did not sign his name. To be honest, it would be difficult for him to stay in the Ministry of Households for a long time. "

Yin Shizhen opened his mouth, but in the end he didn't speak.

He wanted to say "no", but then he thought about the Ministry of Rites. If all the officials below were to sign memorials except for one person, then this person would probably be isolated in the yamen.

Even though Shangshu is the biggest official in the yamen, in order to exert his real power, he still has to rely on the people below him to do it.

If you make a fuss, others will only laugh at you for not being strict with your subordinates. You can't even control someone under you.

But what situation Ge Shouli had to face was that none of his men could suppress it.

"Brother Yifu wants him to succeed Ge Shouli? Can he be in charge of the household department?"

Wei Guangde asked in surprise. He had never heard of any relationship between Chen Yiqin and Ma Sen before.

"Because of today's memorial, I checked him out. Before he took office in Jiangxi, Shu requested that grains from the south be diverted to another route, saving tens of thousands of money.

He also talked about the harm caused by private salt, and asked him to build a bridge and a pass in Xiajiang County to restore the old amount of Huai salt.

I feel like this person has unique insights into economics, so I might give it a try. "

He can save money and make money at the same time. Isn't this what the imperial court needs now?

"He is still the Minister of Industry in Nanjing, and there should be no one behind him."

Wei Guangde nodded in agreement. Wei Guangde understood what Chen Yiqin meant. He probably wanted to win over this person, so he would say hello to Wei Guangde today.

Speaking of which, Wei Guangde and Ma Sen knew each other earlier.

Early the next morning, before leaving the house, Wei Guangde handed a note to Zhang Ji and asked him to send someone to deliver it to Ouyang Yijing. The content was naturally for him to write a memorial for impeachment.

Ouyang Yijing's memorial was a bit fierce, accusing Gao Gong of repeatedly commenting on the matter and not thinking about taking the blame. Instead, he accused officials of being party members, wanting to control the gentry, and specializing in state affairs.

Later generations also said that Ouyang Yijing was the "god scolding" of the Ming Dynasty. He had superb methods of impeaching people and had a surprisingly high success rate. This time he pointed out Gao Gong's two mistakes and was naturally very accurate, hitting the vital point at once.

This is also the reason why Wei Guangde delayed his performance at first, and even said hello to others in advance to prevent Chen and Yin from thinking that he was behind it.

When he arrived at the Ministry of Personnel, Wei Guangde called his subordinate, the doctor of the examination department, and asked him to find a position as a government official.

The promotion officials in the Ming Dynasty were the assistant and second-level officials of each prefecture. The promotion officials belonging to Shuntian and Yingtian Prefectures were in the sixth rank, and those in other prefectures were in the seventh rank. They were in charge of punishment names and praise and planning.

The Yamen of Tui Guan is called "Li Xing Guan". The word "Li Xing" means the duties of Tui Guan.

This position is naturally prepared for Qi Kang. Just choose a lower-middle-class mansion. If you are level-adjusted, you can change from a capital official to a local official. That is a proper downgrade.

Today's Emperor Longqing was in a very bad mood after meeting Chen Yiqin. No matter what Meng Chong and others proposed, he was not interested.

I dug out Li Zhenyuan's memorial yesterday and applied for it mercilessly. In the afternoon I saw a bunch of impeachment memorials. I flipped through a few of them. Then I saw Ouyang Yijing's memorial, which made me feel even worse.

During this time, the emperor was exhausted physically and mentally because of Xu Jie and Gao Gong, but he was still unwilling to let Gao Gong leave.

Even though Gao Gong had submitted his resignation several times before, he had not approved it.

Unexpectedly, Gao Gong's self-defense for his impeachment was seen as sophistry by these people. He left him alone and was said to be Gao Gong's shameless greed for power.

Then he thought about Chen Yiqin reminding him that there might be changes in the household department, which made him even more depressed.

Just because Shangshu Ge Shouli was unwilling to sign the memorial that denounced Gao Gong, the Ministry of Household Affairs might isolate the new Shangshu. He finally felt the tremendous pressure from the courtiers.

The emperor sometimes really can't make decisions with just one word. He has to look at the faces of his important ministers. No wonder my father would appoint obedient people as chief ministers and ministers.

At the very least, even though he was called a fool, he didn't have to face the trouble he encountered today.

As Chen Yiqin handed over the news and Emperor Longqing nodded, Wei Guangde immediately contacted the royal court and prepared to send the imperial censor Qikang to another place for the crime of blasphemy.

While preparations were still being made here, Wei Guangde received many notes from his past colleagues, who were actually the censors of the Metropolitan Procuratorate.

Wei Guangde ignored these notes at first, but as more people handed them in, Wei Guangde had to pay attention.

Without him, Wei Guangde's initial plan to promote the government to the government might not be successful.

In the eyes of the imperial censors, why was Hu Yingjia guilty of being transferred to another local government to be promoted to an official? Why was Qi Kang allowed to be promoted to an official?

They handed a note to Wei Guangde and Qi Kang, suggesting that he should be downgraded to one level, two levels, or even three levels.

Wei Guangde's resignation as censor does not mean that he does not value the power of this group of people. They are very terrifying existences. (End of chapter)