prosperous age

In the backyard of the Ministry of Works in the capital of the Ming Dynasty, Wei Guangde was fluttering among the crowd like a butterfly, constantly chatting with the officials from the six ministries present there.

After talking to Chen Zan about the transfer of Lao Kan to Beijing, he asked about the progress of the investigation in Liaodong.

"According to the report, most of what Governor Zhang reported was true."

When asked about this, Chen Zan felt a little embarrassed.

After all, this result was actually expected by everyone.

"So what is the next step for the Censorate?"

Wei Guangde asked expressionlessly and seemingly casually.

"I have sent a letter to Huguang to arrest Liu Tai and interrogate him."

Chen Zan opened his mouth and answered.

A case must naturally have a beginning and an end.

Since someone has reported it, the Censorate has sent out imperial censors to investigate the case. Now that they have clues, they naturally have to get to the bottom of it.

We cannot be timid and fearful of causing political risks just because it involves the Prime Minister.

In fact, Chen Zan was in a difficult situation at this time.

Since it involves the Prime Minister, he has no choice but to be cautious.

"Then should Liu Tai be taken back to the capital, or should he stay in Jiangnan?"

Wei Guangde continued to ask.

"Well, what advice do you have, Lord Wei?"

This time, Chen Zan did not respond, but bowed and asked in a low voice.

"Don't let him show up in the capital, lest there be another disturbance."

Wei Guangde said calmly.

"Been taught a lesson."

Chen Zan nodded slightly. Liu Tai’s matter was bound to be exposed and no one could save him.

However, the results will be very different depending on where it is processed.

When a case is tried in Beijing, people will think of Zhang Juzheng behind the scenes.

And if the trial were held in Nanjing, people would still think of him, but at least few people in the Beijing officialdom would mention him.

As the saying goes, out of sight, out of mind. If no one around says anything and can't hear anything, just play ostrich.

"Haha, easy to talk about."

Wei Guangde smiled and continued, "The position of the Minister of Personnel is vacant recently. Does Lord Chen have anyone to recommend?"

Wei Guangde continued to ask in a low voice with a smile on his face.

Chen Zan's expression changed slightly this time. He was the head of the Censorate and had some eyes and ears and knew some things.

It was very abrupt that Wei Guangde suddenly asked him about the Ministry of Personnel at this time.

Because up to now, he had no idea what problems had arisen in the Ministry of Personnel, and Wei Guangde seemed to have never been involved in the affairs of the Ministry of Personnel before.

"Are there any changes in the Ministry of Personnel?"

Chen Zan asked in a low voice.

"Mr. Zhang may have to retire, and the Prime Minister intends for Mr. Wang to take over his position."

Wei Guangde could see that Chen Zan was not Zhang Juzheng's man, and had little relationship with Zhang Siwei, so he intended to make friends with him.

The Censorate is so important.

After saying this, Wei Guangde glanced at Zhang Juzheng, who was chatting and laughing with Feng Bao, and the Minister of Revenue Wang Guoguang who was beside him.

Following Wei Guangde's gaze, Chen Zan also understood the meaning of Wei Guangde's words.

It is obvious that the current Ministry of Personnel official Zhang Han is going to retire, and Zhang Juzheng wants Wang Guoguang to take up his vacant position.

Wei Guangde was not very interested in the Ministry of Revenue, but he planned to get a position of Vice Minister in this personnel adjustment of the Ministry of Personnel.

Looking for him was actually a test to see if Chen Zan was willing to get involved and recommend someone in his pocket to participate in this matter.

Now in the ministry's discussion, the cabinet has two votes, and if Wei Guangde does not win over the other nine ministers, it will not be easy to achieve the position he wants.

In order for Zhang Juzheng's subsequent reforms to truly take place, he needed to firmly grasp the power in his hands.

The personnel power will definitely be firmly secured.

"Who does Wei Guangde plan to recommend?"

The news came so suddenly that Chen Zan had no reaction for a moment and couldn't figure out whether he should get involved in this matter.

However, when he saw Wei Guangde, he knew that it would be better for him not to fight for this position.

If they argued, they would have to face both sides and might have offended Wei Guangde.

It is better to listen to Wei Guangde's recommendation and try to grab one of the other positions yourself.

Changes in officials at the Shangshu level will actually lead to the replacement of many Shilang officials.

Some of them were too old and had no backing, so they were kicked out of the court. It was definitely more than one minister who was replaced.

"Chen Wenhui."

Wei Guangde uttered a few words softly.

"It's him."

Chen Zan nodded. He knew this person and he had more seniority than him.

Then, Chen Zan realized that no one was paying attention, so he pulled Wei Guangde's sleeve and walked to the wall and asked in a low voice: "Shandai, are you sure you want to fight for this position?"

When Wei Guangde heard him address him by his given name, he nodded slightly and said, "Brother Yuting, to be honest, if I don't get someone involved, I won't have any say in the cabinet."

Wei Guangde's words were somewhat alarmist, but to outsiders they seemed to be true.

With two Zhangs in the cabinet, naturally there is no place for someone like Wei.

"Okay, I'll help you with this."

Chen Zan nodded and said in a low voice.

"Thank you, Brother Yuting, for your help."

Wei Guangde raised his hand slightly and said.

The reason why Wei Guangde went directly to the Censorate to find Chen Zan last time was actually because the two had a special relationship.

If it weren't for him, Chen Zan would have been the one who climbed the fastest and had the smoothest career among officials of that period.

Yes, Chen Zan was also a Jinshi in the 35th year of Jiajing, but he was from Changshu, and his home was next to that of Xu Ge Lao, so they were half-fellow villagers.

Chen Zan's rapid promotion was somewhat related to Lord Xu.

In fact, it was difficult for him to maintain his position when facing Zhang Juzheng and Wei Guangde.

But relatively speaking, his relationship is with the one in Songjiang Prefecture, not the current Prime Minister Zhang Juzheng.

All we can say is that he would not actively oppose Zhang Juzheng's policies, but as for others, everyone has their own thoughts.

As one of the most powerful people in the Ming Dynasty court, he also needed to rely on his friendship with Wei Guangde.

Otherwise, it wouldn't have been so easy for him to get promoted.

But Zhang Juzheng had to give the nod, and Wei Guangde couldn't object.

By chance, the position of Zuo Du Yushi of the Censorate seemed to be tailor-made for him.

However, because of his relationship with Zhang and Wei, neither of them dared to fully trust him or win him over, and could only show goodwill.

Because Chen Zan can be said to be Xu Jie's spokesperson in a certain situation.

The higher the position, the more people and things are involved. Many times, you need to think carefully.

It’s like Xu Jie cultivated Zhang Juzheng. Did he really feel at ease letting Zhang Juzheng and his family dominate the world?
That may not be the case. For the retired Xu Jie, balance is the most important thing.

When there is a dispute in the court, the opinions of senior officials are usually heard, and his influence can make the strongest voice heard.

After saying this, Wei Guangde chatted with others for a few more words, and finally walked to Jiang Zhi and whispered to him: "The matter of Chen Yu is 90% certain."

Jiang Zhi nodded without saying anything.

Speaking of which, Chen Yu is almost sixty years old, and Wei Guangde does not like such old and experienced officials.

Yes, Chen Yu was a Jinshi in the 20th year of Jiajing, so he really has seniority.

However, he was dismissed from office because he stood on the wrong side in the Zeng Xian case.

It was not until the transition from Jialing to Longlong that he was cleared of the charges. However, the capital city certainly could not accommodate such an experienced official, so he had to go to Nanjing to retire, first in the Nanjing Censorate, and then transferred to the Nanjing Ministry of Justice after passing the examination.

Wei Guangde didn't know whether Chen Yu and Yan Song had any contact in those days.

However, among the officials in Jiangxi, some did support Yan Song, while others did oppose him, and Chen Yu naturally contributed to this.

6◇9◇Book◇Bar

After all, the Zeng Xian case and the later Xia Yan case were both manipulated by Yan Song behind the scenes. When the two tigers fought, a group of people fell, and naturally people from Jiangxi were at the top of the list.

It was at that time that the Jiangxi officials had strong morale and could withstand the turmoil.

During the reign of Yan Song, officials from Jiangxi Province still occupied most of the nine ministers.

Chen Yu must have been sitting on the bench for too long and wanted to make a real comeback instead of waiting for a few more years in Nanjing to retire, so he wrote a letter to his fellow villagers in Beijing, reminding Wei Guangde and others that there was a vice minister of the Ministry of Justice in Nanjing. It seemed that he could give him a push and try to compete for the position of minister.

"Shandai, it's time for us to go back. The cabinet still has a lot of things to deal with."

At this time, Zhang Juzheng called out.

"it is good."

Wei Guangde smiled, then bowed and said goodbye to the officials present.

In fact, today's work has been completed, and everyone is ready to leave and return to their respective offices to do their work. However, several cabinet members have not said they are leaving, so it is not convenient for them to say goodbye first.

They were traveling the same way as Feng Bao, all returning to the imperial city, so naturally they left the Ministry of Works together.

"Good loans."

Just when Wei Guangde was about to walk towards his sedan chair, Feng Bao suddenly called Wei Guangde.

"Brother Shuanglin, what advice do you have?"

Wei Guangde turned around and asked with a smile.

"There is something that His Majesty asked me before I left the palace this time, and I don't know how to answer it."

Feng Bao said.

Wei Guangde looked at Zhang Juzheng beside him suspiciously, then smiled and said, "You can talk about it."

"Your Majesty asked, the Yellow River disaster has existed since ancient times, but why has it become more and more serious in this dynasty?"

Feng Bao asked, "I asked Uncle Da just now, but he didn't know either."

Zhang Juzheng, Wei Guangde and Feng Bao stood together without separating. Zhang Siwei, who had already taken a few steps, noticed it, but no one called him at this time, and it was not convenient for him to go back, so he could only slowly move towards his sedan chair.

Wei Guangde glanced at Zhang Siwei, and finally looked at Zhang Juzheng seriously. Seeing that he also had a curious look on his face, he asked tentatively, "Brother Uncle, don't you know either?"

"Shan Dai, if you know, you might as well tell me.

I have also read the documents of past dynasties and found that the Yellow River floods continued, but they were never as frequent as those in the Ming Dynasty. I was puzzled as to why. "

Zhang Juzheng looked at Wei Guangde's expression and immediately spoke.

"Brother Shu, Brother Shuanglin, don't you find any difference between our dynasty and the previous one?"

Wei Guangde asked back with a wry smile. He did not choose to answer directly, but let them understand it themselves, which would make it easier to fully understand the difficulty.

"What is the difference?"

Feng Bao asked in surprise.

Wei Guangde looked at Zhang Juzheng again, and seeing that he was the same, he spoke up: "The Grand Canal was first dug by the Han Canal dug by King Fuchai of Wu in the late Spring and Autumn Period. It was later expanded twice on a large scale during the Sui and Yuan dynasties, and finally took shape during the Yongle period of our dynasty."

"Something about the canal?"

Feng Bao said in surprise.

He heard that Wei Guangde did not directly answer the question about the Yellow River flood but brought up the Grand Canal. Then he thought about the fact that it was he who had insisted on transporting grain to the sea. Obviously, Wei Guangde had seen through a lot of things.

"Canal? Could it be that the canal really caused the Yellow River flood to intensify?"

Zhang Juzheng asked with some uncertainty.

He had thought about the Yellow River flood countless times, but he could never find sufficient evidence to prove that the canal caused the flood.

After all, whether the Yellow River exists or not, silt will inevitably accumulate and it cannot be prevented.

“The canal doesn’t exacerbate the flooding, it fixes it.”

Wei Guangde smiled bitterly and said, "During the previous dynasty, although the Yellow River changed its course many times, it mostly flowed north into the sea.

However, during the Yongle period, the capital was moved and the canal had to be widened, which not only led to a surge in water consumption, but more importantly, it was necessary to allow grain ships to travel north through the Yellow River.

In subsequent dynasties, in order to ensure the transport of grain, they all chose to build river embankments, especially the Hongzhi period, when the embankment was built on the north bank of the Yellow River to directly block the Yellow River to the south, causing the Yellow River to flow into the sea via the Huai River.

Later, for the purpose of water transport, large-scale river projects were repeatedly built. In fact, judging from the repeated changes in the mouth of the Yellow River, it is believed that the Shandai Canal is at the best position for the Yellow River to enter the sea.

Unfortunately, if the Yellow River flows into the sea in Shandong, the canal will be cut off at Xuhuai, and the entire canal will be ineffective.

Therefore, the imperial court has been trying to maintain the existing course of the Yellow River.

But as you can see, the siltation of the Yellow River cannot be solved at all, and breaching the river and changing its course is the only way to follow the will of heaven.

However, the imperial court could not afford the consequences of changing the river course, so it had no choice but to choose not to select river construction workers and maintain the current river course.

As a result, you can imagine that every year there is a warning, and every year there is a flood."

"I think I understand what you mean."

Feng Bao opened his mouth slightly. He now understood why Wei Guangde saw that something was wrong but was unwilling to say anything, and could only push for changing the sea route.

In fact, although all dynasties have been dealing with flood control, each dynasty has its own unique approach to flood control.

The purpose of water control in the middle and late Ming Dynasty was to maintain the existing course of the Yellow River, which was almost a death order.

The previous dynasties only managed river embankments when controlling water.

As for diverting the dike after the breach, he will do it. After the diversion is completed, a new river embankment will be built on the new Yellow River channel for daily water control.

There is a huge difference here. Due to the change in terrain, although the losses caused by the flood will be huge, it is a one-time event after all.

When the Yellow River chooses to change its course, it must be a new river channel that is suitable for its flow.

Moreover, this river channel can remain unblocked for a long period of time, which may be decades or even hundreds of years.

When it is blocked next time, according to the nature of the Yellow River, it will naturally change its course again and find a suitable channel to flow into the sea.

The Ming Dynasty's current water control efforts are actually an attempt to change destiny with human power and to forcibly intervene in the course of the Yellow River.

The result is obvious. The Ming Dynasty had to pay a huge cost, but the result might not be satisfactory.

Wei Guangde certainly couldn't see it at first, but the Yellow River issue was too big, so he had to think about a solution.

He read ancient books and learned about the characteristics of the Yellow River's several changes of course, and finally came to this conclusion.

The root cause of the Yellow River floods during the Ming and Qing dynasties was actually the Grand Canal.

Judging from the several changes in the Yellow River estuary, except for the time when it flowed into the sea through the Huai River, most of the Yellow River estuaries are in the north, such as Shandong, and even once appeared near Tianjin.

It was precisely because of this that Wei Guangde superstitiously believed that the Yellow River flood could only be alleviated by allowing the water to flow northward.

But is it possible to change the course of the Yellow River?
Unless the canal was abandoned, the Ming Dynasty would never accept such an outcome.

"That"

Zhang Juzheng opened his mouth but did not continue. Finally, he sighed and said, "Let's discuss this matter in private." (End of this chapter)