The Prosperous Era of Longwan

Guo Pu was removed from the cabinet, leaving four people. Xu Jie had complete control over the cabinet's say.

When Guo Pu was in the cabinet before, the cabinet ministers who were not Xu Jie's party members were Li Chunfang, Guo Pu and Chen Yiqin, but now the comparison is two to two.

However, as far as the current situation is concerned, it seems that it has little to do with Wei Guangde.

It was a cabinet fight, but it wasn't actually a fight. After Xu Jie eliminated his dissidents, he seemed to have returned to his original self. He always liked to discuss things with Li Chunfang, Chen Yiqin and others when encountering problems.

It looks like democracy, but in fact it allows everyone to work together, take credit together, and take the blame together.

Xu Jie is really the same person as Yan Song. Even though he is over sixty, he is still energetic and does not look old at all.

"He is actually a scholar."

At this time, in the official duty room, Wei Guangde was looking through Li Chengliang's information.

Wei Guangde didn't know much about the generals of the Ming Dynasty, that is, Qi Jiguang, Yu Dayou and Li Chengliang had some impressions in later generations.

Qi Jiguang has an impression, which is also due to the fact that later generations praised him a lot. Whether in the Ming Dynasty, the later Qing Dynasty, or after the Republic of China, Qi Jiguang has always been very famous and is called a national hero.

As an official, who doesn't like subordinates who can win battles and flatter them, and the most important thing is to flatter them by giving them gifts.

As for Yu Dayou, there is actually very little introduction. Wei Guangde knew that he had read an essay in which Yu Dayou was described as "the best master in the world" recorded in history books. If you know the history books, they will not record any strange people and strange things in the world, but they can It is difficult for Wei Guangde to forget Yu Dayou as the best player in the world.

Although Yu Dayou never recognized this title in front of him, he actually hit the Shaolin Temple with a stick. From this, Wei Guangde also felt that there are not many people in the world who can beat Yu Dayou in a duel.

As for knowing Li Chengliang, it was purely because the Qing Dynasty was able to rise, and it was all thanks to this fierce general.

If Li Chengliang hadn't underestimated the ambition of the "slave" and the successor he trained, Li Rusong, died unexpectedly, the Jianzhou Jurchens might not have had the chance to change things.

However, he also had the opportunity to become famous in later generations, otherwise Wei Guangde would never have known that such a number one person existed in the Ming Dynasty.

What he is looking at now is Li Chengliang's information copied from the Ministry of War.

Li Chengliang's great ancestor Li Ying came from Korea in the early Ming Dynasty. He was awarded the rank of Tieling Guard and commanded Qianshi for his military merits. This was also the foundation of the main line of the Li family. It was similar to Wei Guangde. He was from a military family, but the Li family was hereditary. The military position is much higher than that of the Wei family.

However, according to the comparison of military positions, it is actually of little use, because no matter how high the Li family official is, he is still on the border, while the Wei family has roots in rich lands.

Li Chengliang's luck in the imperial examination was not good. He was still a scholar in his forties, and his path to becoming an official through the imperial examination was almost dead, so he chose to inherit the family business and took advantage of the lack of command of the Tieling Guard. Since there were already people in the Tieling Guard, , in other words, the official position had been occupied, so in desperation, Li Chengliang had to change his place, which was Xianshan Fort.

Starting from the 16th year of Chenghua in the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty successively built Tangzhan, Fenghuang and other forts and stationed troops to guard the border.

In the twenty-fifth year of Jiajing's reign in the Ming Dynasty, six forts, including Gushan and Xianshan, were built on remote roads. Among them, Xianshan Fort was the first among the forts in Liaodong and served as a military base camp.

In the forty-third year of Jiajing's reign, the imperial censor Wang Zhigao appointed a dangerous mountain general to station in the main fort, with jurisdiction over thirteen castles and more than 3,000 officers and soldiers. This should be the situation in the east of the Ming Dynasty.

Li Chengliang's military career began as a general in Xianshan Fort.

During this period, although the Nine Borders of the Ming Dynasty were severely suppressed by the Mongols, in Liaodong, the Ming Dynasty still had an overwhelming advantage over the Jurchens.

Therefore, the newly built Dangerous Mountain Fort was actually an action by the Ming Dynasty to expand the border, including the later Li Chengliang's efforts to build Kuandian Six Forts to expand the Ming Dynasty's territory by hundreds of miles, directly pushing the border forward to join North Korea.

In the early Ming Dynasty, when delimiting the territory, the Ming Dynasty intentionally left a buffer zone with North Korea. This is also the reason why some people are clamoring for territorial disputes.

However, during the Jiajing Dynasty, most of these buffer zones were occupied by the Ming Dynasty, and they were directly included in the Ming Dynasty's territory.

Many people in later generations regard the places where the Ming army once visited as the territory of the Ming Dynasty, but whether it is ancient or modern, in fact, one of the most important signs of territory is "actual control."

No matter how many reasons there are, as long as there is no actual control, the so-called "territory" is just a joke.

The general of Jianshan Ginseng is stationed in Xianshan Fort, which has jurisdiction over Xin'an Fort, Caohe Fort, Yanyang Fort, Samaji Fort, Ningdong Fort, Jiangyan Tai Fort, Tianshui Zhan Fort, Qingguyu Fort, Zhenyi Fort, Zhenyi Fort, There are 13 castles, including East Fort, Phoenix Castle, and Tangzhan Fort, 74 side piers, and more than 40 belly piers. There are more than 7,000 officers and soldiers in total, and the side walls are more than 40 kilometers long.

The construction of these military facilities allowed the Ming Dynasty to expand the territory actually controlled by the Ming Dynasty. The Ming army's pressing step by step naturally made the Jurchens feel like they were in trouble, so military friction continued.

Li Chengliang grew up in Liaodong, and his family was originally a military family. At that time, various tribes in the Liaodong region continued to conquer and conflicts were frequent. Therefore, although Li Chengliang focused on the imperial examination, he continued to increase his knowledge and abilities.

Liaodong is a place where Han people, Mongolians and Jurchens live together. The situation is very complicated. His enemies include both Jurchens and Mongols.

Li Chengliang's performance has been good since he took office as Dangerous Mountain General, and he has accumulated enough capital for his promotion.

In the forty-fifth year of Jiajing, nearly a thousand troops from the Mongolian Khanju and Kewa tribes plundered Dongjianwei, and all the nearby villages were defeated. At the critical moment, Li Chengliang led 300 cavalry to attack the Mongolian Kewa tribe. Prince Luntu Khan immediately returned to his army after learning about it, but was ambushed by Li Chengliang. More than 100 people and 10,000 kilograms of grain were plundered and recaptured.

After this battle, Li Chengliang was promoted due to his meritorious service. However, due to the obstruction of the state funeral, he was transferred from the dangerous mountains a few days ago. Now he is the deputy chief military officer, leading an army of 2,000 to guard the important town of Liaoyang.

After reading the information, Wei Guangde understood the reason for Li Chengliang's rapid rise.

In Liaodong, as long as you fight a few battles a year and report your victories, it is really not difficult to accumulate military merit and get promoted.

But fighting a war, with your head in your belt, is risky.

Within a few years, Li Chengliang was promoted to deputy commander-in-chief of Xiezhen due to his merit. If he had further military merit, he could still control one side even if he could not be promoted to commander-in-chief.

If you want to catch Li Chengliang and train him, at least you can't let him put the slave back to do what Nurhaci does. In this way, the Ming Dynasty will lose a strong enemy in Liaodong.

But it was under the control of the Ministry of War, and although he was a big official in the Ministry of Civil Affairs, it was difficult for him to reach out.

"Forget it, let's wait a little longer. It's still early anyway, so let him develop on his own until he becomes the King of Liaodong."

Wei Guangde thought to himself, "But we can also let the businessmen from Liaodong have contact with him first."

Wei Guangde did not forget that he also had a group of businessmen who dealt in mountain products from Liaodong. They traveled around Liaodong all year round, collecting ginseng, velvet antlers and other mountain products and transporting them to the mainland for sale. Most of them held his post in their hands.

As a businessman, his status is really low in this era. Although he has money, it is of no use. He has to rely on his connections in the officialdom to be able to move around.

The post of the Minister of Civil Affairs is very useful no matter where it is, and local civil and military officials must give it face.

Of course, the reward for posting these posts is news from all over the world and a lot of money.

This is the source of money for Beijing officials to live in Beijing. Relying on the salary from the court, Wei Guangde can only eat dirt to raise a large family.

The current court has finally calmed down after Guo Pu left. In addition, with the completion of the new river channel, the court seems to feel that the world is peaceful again. The water transportation will soon be restored to its original state, and the grain squeezed in the south will soon be transported in. Beijing, that is, the imperial court has always been short of money, and there is really no big deal elsewhere.

Against this background, Wei Guangde also continued to take actions in private. Among those who jumped out to impeach Guo Pu this time, he repeatedly combed through and found many officials suspected of being Xu Party officials.

Wei Guangde plans to clean out some of them with more misdeeds during the next year's inspection in Beijing. There are not that many official positions for them in the local area.

The vacant official positions were filled by new and old Jinshis one after another.

With the big framework in place, Wei Guangde's life in the official department became easier. After he was dismissed, he also had time to gather with his colleagues and fellow villagers to live a comfortable life.

"Sun Zhi from your criminal department recently heard that he offended someone from the household department in the Yamen."

At the wine table, Wei Guangde looked at Ouyang Yijing and asked with a smile.

"He's not from the military department, so he doesn't care about my business."

Ouyang Yijing replied, "But because of the Nine Taxes in the Capital, I did offend a lot of people."

The Chaoguan in the Ming Dynasty was not necessarily located on the main transportation routes, such as Jiujiang or the Chaoguan on the Grand Canal. There was also a Chaoguan in Beijing, namely the Nine Gates of the Capital.

Officials are responsible for taxing all goods entering and exiting the city. The original practice has long been in vain. In recent years, taxes have been doubled, causing many disadvantages.

In fact, most of the ministers in the DPRK and China are well aware of these issues.

But the imperial court was short of money, and it was naturally profitable for merchants to transport goods to the capital and sell them, so naturally no one made a fuss about this matter.

But this time, Sun Zhi, who was in the criminal investigation department, got mad for some reason, but he brushed the matter aside.

When the memorial came into the hands of Emperor Longqing, it was natural to write a large batch. From now on, it was assigned to a member of the army and horse of each censor committee of the five cities to collect it. At the end of the year, he would resume the memorial together with the officials. The original supervisors and officials were abolished and ordered to State the original rules and regulations, and publish the list.

Well, a group of superintendents and officials lost their jobs as a result. At the same time, the Ministry of Household Affairs also lost an income, and relevant officials also lost a layer of gray income.

It can be said that Zhang Zhi's memorial offended a large number of people in the court, and he has been scolded badly these days.

However, the memorial was reasonable and established as a rule, so the scolding could not be done in person, but could only be done behind the scenes, because scolding in person could not be justified by reason.

"Did someone ask your staff to punish him?"

Ouyang Yijing approached Wei Guangde at this time and asked in a low voice.

Wei Guangde nodded, the meaning was self-evident.

"How to deal with it?"

Ouyang Yijing asked curiously.

"What else can I do if he is released to the outside world? I don't want to stay in the capital and enjoy the blessings, so let him go somewhere else to avoid returning to the old practice."

Wei Guangde smiled and said that regarding these requests, Wei Guangde felt that he was actually helping these people by agreeing.

They don't know how to adapt, and will get into trouble sooner or later if they stay in the capital.

Rather than offending everyone and being framed to death, it is better to be a good person and transfer them away early to go to a place where they can benefit the people.

Of course, that's assuming he is such a person.

By the way, I also received the gratitude of a bunch of officials, so why not do it.

Wei Guangde sometimes feels that he has become dirty, but he was born in the Ming Dynasty. It seems that he can stay out of the mud. It is so difficult!

I just hope that Sun Zhi will see through his good intentions after seeing the suggestions handed over by the officials, and will not anger the officials.

"I heard that it was your idea to transfer Qi Jiguang to the capital camp?"

Ouyang Yijing suddenly asked.

"Huh? Where did you get the news?"

Wei Guangde was shocked. Supposedly, the people who knew about this matter were Chen Yiqin and Emperor Longqing. The person who promoted the matter was Chen Yiqin. How could he be involved?

"Guess."

Ouyang Yijing replied.

"How did you guess it?"

Wei Guangde asked curiously, but when he said these words, there was actually no more than three hundred taels of silver in this place.

"Young man, no one else but you knows this."

Ouyang Yijing replied, "What's more, if Qi Jiguang is transferred, the Jiangnan army will rely entirely on Yu Dayou to suppress the Japanese pirates and bandits. Those officials originally had a nose, not a nose, and eyes for Yu Dayou.

With your move, they will have to rely on Yu Dayou more in the future, so naturally they will not be able to manipulate Taozi from behind.

But I also know that Yu Dayou really doesn't know how to behave down here. He often offends his superiors without telling them, and he doesn't know how to show filial piety. It would be better for you to send him a letter later, and don't make the relationship so tense. "

Ouyang Yijing was in the military department and knew a lot about it. Yu Dayou's relationship with local officials in the south was very clear, but Wei Guangde didn't know much about it.

It was usually when something happened and Yu Dayou couldn't bear it anymore that he wrote to him.

"I came up with the idea, but it was not to protect Yu Dayou."

Wei Guangde calmly explained, but he couldn't admit it.

At the very least, if Emperor Longqing knew about it, he would probably have some objections to him.

The person you want to protect you actually doesn't tell me the truth, and even tells me that Qi Jiguang can train troops, but others can't.

"Your Majesty was angry about the Shizhou incident and planned to reorganize the northern army. He asked me for his general, so I recommended Qi Jiguang."

Wei Guangde whispered to him what happened before.

"I see. The Ministry of War is also considering transferring Tan Lun to Ji Liao, Governor of Ji Town, but I object."

Ouyang Yijing muttered in a low voice, "As far as I know, Yu Dayou is the only person in Guangdong and Guangxi who treats him slightly better. If he is really transferred to Ji Town, Yu Dayou's life in Guangdong and Guangxi will be difficult."

Wei Guangde was a little worried when he got the news from Ouyang Yijing that night.

When I wrote to Tan Lun before, I also asked him to help look after Yu Dayou, if he was really transferred to the north.

If I had known earlier, I would have asked Yu Dayou to follow Tan Lun to Jizhen.

Wei Guangde thought in hindsight at this time.

But obviously, Yang Bo and Huo Yi should be driving this matter.

After the situation in Shanxi stabilized, Guo Qian, the Minister of War, was dismissed from his post and Huo Yi became the Minister of War.

In the first year of Longqing, the heads of the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Households both changed hands. This shows that in the first year of Emperor Longqing's coming to power, the fighting in the court was fierce. (End of chapter)