Chapter 669 668 King Liao’s Affairs

Chapter 669 668 King Liao’s Affairs

The next day, Wei Guangde saw the copy of Zhang Juzheng's Memorials and Emperor Longqing's imperial review in the Ministry of Rites.

After seeing at the end that "the ministry will read and hear the discussion", Wei Guangde knew that Zhang Juzheng's memorial ended without any problems.

Although I don’t know if others have discovered the smell of gunpowder in Zhang Juzheng’s memorial, Wei Guangde believes that he is not the only smart person in the world, and there should be someone who can discover the hidden meaning.

Of course, Wei Guangde's guess might be that he was wrong, and Zhang Juzheng had no such intention at all.

But this is not important. What is important is that he believes that he will not be the only one who thinks of it.

Just as Wei Guangde thought, after the memorial was issued, there was a lot of discussion between the government and the public. There were some supporters, some doubters, and more calm ones.

For a moment, the attention of the court officials seemed to be attracted by "Chen Liu Shi Shu".

However, as Wei Guangde thought, although everyone discussed a lot, no Yamen reported what they discussed.

This also shows that what Wei Guangde thought at the beginning was right. Everyone was not stupid, and they all more or less felt something was wrong from the memorial.

Even the "king of loudmouths" in the court in the past, such as the Kedao Yanguan, no one spoke out for this, neither supporting nor refuting.

According to Zhang Juzheng, both the censor and the minister can only discuss the matter as it is, and cannot criticize politics as freely as before. Moreover, they have to come up with solutions after the discussion. How can these "talkers" live?

Since the six departments and other yamen remained silent, they were naturally not stupid, and instinctively agreed with the cold treatment attitude of their colleagues.

But what surprised Wei Guangde the most was that Zhang Juzheng seemed to have returned to normal after submitting this memorial. It seemed that there was no such thing, and he didn't know whether he was frustrated or something else.

The Ming Dynasty court quickly returned to its original state, with Li Chunfang and Chen Yiqin handling government affairs step by step, and of course Zhang Juzheng.

Li Chunfang is a good old man, Chen Yiqin talks little and does little, and Zhang Juzheng hates fighting. Although he still has the intention to do something, he has little status in the cabinet.

The cabinet under the leadership of Li Chunfang is lifeless and lacks courage.

But if the emperor didn't say anything, Li Chunfang would do nothing.

Perhaps, from Zhang Juzheng's perspective, both Li Chunfang and Chen Yiqin were complacent in advancing and retreating gracefully.

If the cabinet is like a pool of stagnant water, it is even less possible to hope that the morale of each yamen will be boosted and they will work hard.

Coupled with the decline of discipline over the years, the laxity of laws and regulations, and the proliferation of empty words and nonsense, the entire court seemed lifeless.

But at this time, a memorial from Huguang broke the tranquility of the court.

"The first assistant and the second assistant should take a look at this memorial."

In the duty room of Li Chunfang in the cabinet, Zhang Juzheng took out a memorial he had just received and handed it to Li Chunfang.

"What memorial?"

Reaching out to take it, Li Chunfang didn't forget to ask.

"The Huguang patrol impeached the King of Liao for lawlessness according to the memorial of Chen Sheng, the censor."

Zhang Juzheng answered calmly.

"King of Liao?"

Li Chunfang frowned when she heard Zhang Juzheng's words.

Although they, the ministers, are not afraid of this group of people in the clan, they also know that they are very difficult to deal with.

Emperor Yongle took away the rights of these people, and then allowed them to feed the common people. As long as they did not rebel or cause anger and resentment, the local authorities basically turned a blind eye.

Now someone finally couldn't help but file a petition for impeachment. It can be seen that the King of Liao must have done all kinds of bad things now, and the local authorities couldn't bear it anymore.

After opening the memorial and browsing it quickly, Li Chunfang frowned. What was said in the memorial was indeed a bit excessive.

"The king of Liao was cruel, abusive and indulgent, or believed in Fu Shui. Many treacherous young scoundrels returned to him and did whatever they wanted."

What Li Chunfang is actually concerned about is not "sexual cruelty, abuse, or indulgence", but "most of the treacherous young scoundrels will return there."

The most taboo thing in the palace is that the feudal king accepts such ruffians and associates with bandits. As for why, everyone knows what is going on.

He handed the memorial to Chen Yiqin, who also quickly read it.

His attitude was actually similar to Li Chunfang's. He was very worried about the King of Liao gathering local gangsters, and then the two of them looked at Zhang Juzheng.

"How does uncle want to deal with it?"

Chen Yiqin asked.

In fact, they had already made a plan in mind, and they still followed the previous regulations, which was to send ministers to the Liao Palace to investigate and verify the situation, and then see whether and what crime should be punished.

However, the current location of the Liao Palace is in Jiangling, and Zhang Juzheng is also from Jiangling, which makes them have to consider Zhang Juzheng's position.

"I'd better avoid this matter and let the two pavilion bosses make the decision."

What surprised them was that Zhang Juzheng actually asked to recuse himself, and it was up to them to decide the matter.

Since Zhang Juzheng chose to follow the court's system, they had nothing to worry about.

"Yifu, ask the Ministry of Justice to send someone to verify?"

Li Chunfang said, seemingly asking for advice.

"That's exactly what happened. I remember last year, it seemed that Huguang's Inspector-General Gao Guangxian had also submitted an impeachment petition, so the Huguang Inspector-General's Department could also participate."

Chen Yiqin replied casually as if he was reminiscing.

"Indeed, at the beginning of the first year of Longqing, Huguang's envoy Gao Guangxian also impeached the King of Liao for lawlessness. At that time, His Majesty issued an edict."

Zhang Juzheng said.

Li Chunfang nodded, seemingly unaware, while Chen Yiqin just glanced at Zhang Juzheng in surprise, obviously surprised that he knew so much about the matter.

You must know how many documents their cabinet ministers deal with every day. Such matters are usually forgotten within two months after being dealt with, and he only has a vague impression of them.

"This matter should be investigated as soon as possible. After all, it has been delayed for a long time and some things are difficult to verify."

Zhang Juzheng reminded again.

Li Chunfang Fu Xu agreed: "I violated etiquette and violated the rules during the great mourning period of the late emperor. It is indeed necessary to find out the truth as soon as possible. If it is false, we must punish it. If it is false, we must restore the person's innocence."

With that said, Li Chunfang looked at Chen Yiqin.

"Okay, then I'll draft it now and send it to the palace later."

Chen Yiqin understood what Li Chunfang meant and said immediately.

In fact, the cabinet has dealt with many impeachments related to the clan, but few have directly pointed the finger at the prince.

Ever since Emperor Jiajing dealt with multiple relatives, princes and princes in succession, the lawless clan had become very honest for a while.

In the past two years, lawlessness in the clan has emerged again, but most of them are low-level royals such as generals and lieutenants of the royal palace, and the handling is extremely simple.

Punish crimes and reduce titles.

As long as Wang Jue is not involved, basically no one inside or outside has much to say.

The memorial was sent to the Qianqing Palace on the same day, and Emperor Longqing quickly gave instructions and checked it.

Immediately, the imperial court sent Hong Chaoxuan, the minister of the Ministry of Punishment, and Shi Duchen, the deputy envoy of the Huguang Envoy Department, to Jiangling to verify the matter.

Hong Chaoxuan set out from the capital, and the journey was far away, so he naturally took a step slowly.

But it doesn't matter. Anyway, it's just a verification based on Chen Sheng's accusation. In the end, the witness and physical evidence Hong Chaoxuan will have to be checked in court.

Although Chen Yiqin was a little surprised by Zhang Juzheng's attitude, he didn't take it seriously.

You know, Zhang Juzheng was hailed as a "child prodigy" in Jiangling when he was in his early teens. For such a family, Chen Yiqin did not think that anyone in Jiangling would go against them.

Even if the King of Liao didn't open his eyes, he shouldn't have the guts to have a quarrel with someone who might become an official in the court.

Although the civil servants could not do anything about the royal family, it was very uncomfortable to report impeachment reports every day and be reprimanded by angels sent by the emperor every day.

How did he know that Zhang Juzheng's family seemed to have some unexplained grievances with the Liao Prince's Palace.

Zhang Juzheng was a child prodigy born in Jiangling for hundreds of years. He took the scientific examination at the age of twelve, and Lien Zhan and Lianjie went directly to the provincial examination.

The governor actually deliberately "went through the back door" to let him fail. The reason was: this kind of genius is too rare, and in order to train him, he cannot be allowed to be too smooth.

This backdoor led to Zhang Juzheng becoming a "Young Juren" at the age of fifteen.

Zhang Juzheng won the imperial examination as a young boy, which shocked Huguang, and the Zhang Mansion immediately shone brightly.

As the most noble family in Jiangling, the Liao Palace had to express its gratitude. Zhu Xian hosted a banquet for Zhang Juzheng's grandfather Zhang Zhen to celebrate.

Speaking of which, the Zhang Mansion has a close relationship with the Liao Prince's Mansion. Zhang Juzheng has been studying with Zhu Xian since he was a child, and Zhang Zhen works as a guard in the Liao Prince's Mansion.

Being a distinguished guest in the prince's house was something Zhang Zhen had never enjoyed in his life.

Therefore, Zhang Zhen drank a lot that night until he was drunk and never woke up.

The grandson won the lottery, and the grandfather drank to death that day. It was really a joy that led to a tragedy.

Regarding the grievances between Zhang Juzheng and the Prince of Liao's Palace, later generations focused more on Zhang Zhen's drunken death after attending a banquet at the Prince of Liao's Palace. They believed that it was precisely because Zhang Zhen's death was unclear that Zhang Juzheng became resentful towards the Prince of Liao's Palace, and then personally promoted the Liao Dynasty. Wang Wangjue was deposed.

Because it was Jiangling, there were rumors that Zhang Zhen's death was deliberately caused by Zhu Xian to vent his dissatisfaction with Zhang Juzheng.

As for venting dissatisfaction, it was naturally Zhang Juzheng, who was accompanying Zhu Xian, and became "someone else's child" in the words of Zhu Xian's mother.

From this, it can actually be seen that Zhang Juzheng may have already had a rift with Liao Wang Zhu Xian when he was studying with him in the Liao Prince's Mansion.

No matter who caused the conflict in the first place, it is very likely that Zhang Juzheng took the opportunity to retaliate against the King of Liao.

Of course, flies don't bite seamless eggs.

If the King of Liao had not committed many evil deeds in Jiangling, Zhang Juzheng would not have done anything extraordinary in spite of the disapproval of the world.

You know, that's his hometown.

People's words are terrible. Although no one dares to say anything in front of the Zhang family, pointing fingers behind his back is enough to ruin the Zhang family's reputation.

Neither Chen Yiqin nor Li Chunfang knew that Zhang Juzheng's grandfather was rumored to have died in the Liao Prince's Palace. After dealing with this, they did not take it seriously, but quietly waited for the response of Hong Chaoxuan.

Wei Guangde had naturally heard about such a big thing when he sent an imperial envoy to investigate the prince, but he didn't know that one of the so-called major crimes of Zhang Juzheng was the Liao Palace, so of course he wouldn't do anything.

In fact, even if Wei Guangde knew about the Liao Palace, he would not do anything.

Perhaps this is the Zhang family's calamity after all, and they can only solve it themselves.

In fact, the so-called case of Zhang Juzheng framing the King of Liao, if you think about it carefully, you can understand that it was just a so-called crime concocted by the then Emperor Wanli to take revenge on his teacher.

The case of the King of Liao was the way Emperor Longqing ordered it to be dealt with, which was to cut down the vassals and raise the walls. This was also because the contemporary King of Liao had no heirs, and Emperor Longqing did not allow any successors to inherit.

The reason is also very subtle and can only be understood but cannot be explained.

The imperial court continued to function, and several months passed by. During this period, many large and small things happened.

The biggest thing among them was that Emperor Longqing, despite the objections of the Minister of Household Affairs, Ma Sen, and the cabinet, resolutely ordered the Ministry of Household Affairs to purchase all kinds of jewelry. At the same time, he did not forget the decree at the beginning of the year, and ordered a number of draft girls from all over the world to enter the palace.

At the beginning of the year, Zhang Jinchao, the envoy of the Nanjing Dyeing and Weaving Bureau who was the instigator of the incident of drafting girls in Jiangnan, was executed in Nanjing, and his accomplices were all sentenced to exile.

Now half a year has passed, Emperor Longqing remembered this problem again, and naturally issued an order to urge it to be done.

As for the trivial matter, of course, Ma Fang, the chief military officer of the Xuanfu who was ordered to do so, was determined to change his past, passed Wei Guangde's secret report again, and planned to choose an opportunity to go out of the fortress and attack the grassland Anta headquarters.

In the past six months, Ma Fang has also been paying attention to the movements of the Tartars on the grassland.

I had previously known that Ma Fang had been imprisoned for dereliction of duty, so I was careful to prevent the Xuanfu army from retaliating.

Half a year has passed, and the defense has gradually relaxed, and Ma Fang has become itchy.

In addition, two months ago, the rebel chief Feng Jizu of Yunnan was executed, and Chen Qixue, the governor of Shanxi Province, and others petitioned the superior surrender officials Bai Chun, Wei Liangxiang, Tian Ruguang, Tian Huai, Wang Xian, etc. to negotiate for surrender and reward.

These people all defected to Mongolia with Qiu Fu, the White Lotus cultist. Five of them, Bai Chun, Wei Liangxiang, Tian Ruguang, Tian Huai, and Wang Xian, established their own tribes on the grassland, producing rich livestock. .

But he still chose to return to the Ming Dynasty, which made Emperor Longqing very happy. He issued an edict to commend him, "If there are wise, courageous and knowledgeable people who understand the love of captives, they should be appointed by all the governors and declare the favor of the imperial court to attract more people."

After the meeting, the Ministry of War issued a reward report. Bai Chun and others were awarded posts to hundreds of households and were rewarded with fifty taels of silver. Others who returned home also received rewards.

At the same time, the imperial court issued a decree to set a reward for the captive chiefs: "Any captive who can behead and present the head of a great chief like An Da, and who can lead 500 men and 300 men and women to return will be rewarded according to the rules and regulations of the meeting. The fifth Those with one hundred people will still be rewarded with one hundred taels of silver, those with three hundred will still be rewarded with seventy taels of silver; those with more than 200 people will still be rewarded with a thousand households, and those with more than 150 people will still be rewarded with fifty taels of silver; those with more than 150 people will be rewarded with Those who serve a thousand households will still be rewarded with 40 taels of silver; those with more than 100 households will still be rewarded with 30 taels of silver; those with more than 50 or 60 households will be rewarded with 20 taels of silver; Those who have more than twenty people will be awarded with crowns, belts and flags, and will still be rewarded with one or two taels of silver; those who have more than ten hereditary members will be rewarded according to the actual number of the border. If they can capture the rebels such as Zhao Quan and Zhou Yuan, the heads of them will come to present. , that is to say, he will be given the command of the capital and will be rewarded with a thousand taels of silver, and he may be able to kill anyone who is not as good as beheading himself and surrender in return."

In addition, if those who surrendered could persuade the Han people from outside the border to return, in addition to the above-mentioned rewards for the returnees, they would also be given five coins of silver to each of the people who persuaded them to surrender, etc.

The purpose of this was to divide and dismantle the strength of the rebels outside the Great Wall, especially since a large number of Han people around Bansheng City cultivated land for Ada Khan. These outputs undoubtedly enriched the food sources of the Mongols and were not conducive to maintaining the war against Mongolia.

Finding ways to recall the lost population can effectively combat the Mongols' logistical supplies.

On the grasslands today, Mongols and Han people do not trust each other, so Ma Fang believes that an opportunity for revenge has come.

But on this day, Wei Guangde and Chen Yiqin went to Yin Shizhen's house for a banquet. Chen Yiqin was also telling them an interesting story that he saw in a memorial today.

"Today, Shanxi's imperial censor Song Gao reported that there was a man named Li Liangyu in Jingle County, Taiyuan Prefecture, who for some reason turned into a woman."