prosperous age

Chapter 1171 1262 Gift
“Although the imperial court has issued an order that Burma should take me as its leader, we must meet his demands.”

Li Chengliang looked at Li Rusong and said, "Send a message to the second and third brothers to bring them back as soon as possible.

You lead 20,000 troops south first, and then I will send them with 10,000 Ming troops and 30,000 Burmese troops as the rear guard to catch up with your troops."

After hearing his father's arrangement, Li Rusong asked hurriedly, "Dad, what about Pagan City? Who should we send?"

"Let Qi Jimei lead 10,000 troops, and let him train another 20,000 Burmese troops during this period. Then we will follow him when the time comes."

Li Chengliang had already thought about it. He sent Mu Changzuo to clean up the territories of the chieftains in northern Myanmar, and also let them take part of the Ming army and train some Burmese troops.

However, now that he has incorporated the Burmese troops who surrendered first, Mu Changzuo should also let them start to take action.

Since it was planned to let Qi Jimei train the Burmese army, there was no reason to suppress Mu Changzuo.

“The remaining Burmese troops will stay in Ava for now.

The geographical location here is still very important. It is an important channel to enter northern Myanmar and can also limit the Burmese army’s east-west connection.”

Li Chengliang spoke.

"Yes, father, I will send someone to tell my second and third brothers to come back as soon as possible."

Li Rusong clasped his fists in response.

Two days later, Li Rusong led 20,000 Ming troops on a southward expedition, with the target being Toungoo City.

Li Chengliang stood on the city wall and watched his eldest son go to the battlefield.

In order to ensure Li Rusong's safety, Li Chengliang sent most of his personal guards to him.

"Master, this is a note from the Ministry of Rites. Please take a look."

Today it was Wei Guangde's turn to give a lecture in Wenhua Hall, but he still had the habit of going back to his duty room first to see if there were any important memorials that needed to be dealt with in advance.

However, there is no major event in the court at the moment, and even if there is a major event, it will be suppressed for the time being.

When Emperor Wanli was about to choose a queen, he would not report any troublesome things to his superiors in a hurry, but would wait until after this period of time had passed.

Unless it is an extremely urgent military or national affair that cannot be delayed for a moment, all officials in the court will tacitly suppress the matter first.

"Oh, let me see."

Wei Guangde sat down, took the reed cloth handed to him by the prince, and took a look at it.

"Oh, that's it."

After reading the content of the note, Wei Guangde said something nonchalantly, then smiled and said to Lu Bu: "Okay, I understand, you can go down.

I will be sitting here for a while before I go to Wenhua Hall for class. If there are any important memorials, you can just put them on the desk separately."

"Yes, sir."

Lu Bu was already very familiar with Wei Guangde's habits in handling government affairs, so he nodded and left immediately.

"It would be better to send him to the palace. Then Feng Bao can handle the problem and let him worry about it."

After everyone left, Wei Guangde murmured.

Unlike Zhang Juzheng who played the role of a strict teacher in front of the Wanli Emperor Zhu Yijun, Wei Guangde always treated the little emperor with a kind face from the beginning.

What a joke! Even he, who has only a vague knowledge of history, knows the final fate of Zhang Juzheng, who was once regarded as a father figure by Emperor Wanli.

Of course, it should not be said that Zhang Juzheng had a miserable end. It would be more accurate to say that it was the fate of Zhang Juzheng's descendants.

After all, Zhang Juzheng had already died at that time, but unexpectedly, his coffin was still not finalized and he was almost dug out and whipped by the little emperor.

Zhang Juzheng was not a stupid man. Didn't he ever think that being too strict might be a deterrent to the young emperor, but once the little emperor grew up and had his own thoughts, wouldn't he be dissatisfied?

Is Zhang Juzheng blind and can’t see this?
Wei Guangde was actually a little skeptical.

He was not in a position to get involved in such matters because he suspected that Zhang Juzheng's attitude towards the young emperor was actually influenced by Feng Bao and Empress Dowager Li.

Because from Chen Ju, Wei Guangde knew that Empress Dowager Li was extremely strict with Emperor Wanli in the harem, and only Empress Dowager Chen was caring towards the young emperor.

Perhaps, Empress Dowager Li was too concerned and confused, and only knew how to find ways to teach the emperor well, but she didn't know that young people have changeable minds and that if they were suppressed too much, the backlash would often be even stronger in the end.

Wei Guangde basically leaves his children alone.

You must read books, which takes half a day, and you can arrange your own time in the afternoon.

The eldest child is not good at studying, and the second child can’t tell yet.

However, Wei Guangde already has plans for his boss.

Wait another two years and let him return to Jiangxi to take the imperial examination, use his connections, and get the status of a juren.

As for the official position in the future, there are still many ways.

Let him take the examination on his own. If he is lucky, everything will be fine. If he fails, he can ask for grace and be given an official position.

A juren is qualified enough to become an official.

There are a lot of businesses at home, so there is no need to strive for fame and fortune, it would be good enough to have an official token to protect yourself.

In fact, Wei Guangde knew very well what the situation was at home.

It is said that like dragons, like dragons, like phoenixes, and this actually makes sense.

It is rare for a family that comes from a military background to produce a scholar, and this is the case with my family.

If it weren't for this outlier like me, I'm afraid we would still be just a family of a hundred households in Jiangxi.

If you can't study but insist on going to the court, that is dangerous and a way to death. As long as the two children at home don't do evil in the capital, it's fine.

Soon the time came, Wei Guangde got up and went to Wenhua Hall to start giving lectures to the little emperor.

The eunuch accompanying the court today was Zhang Hong. Chen Ju was not seen, so Wei Guangde didn't care.

After a class, the next step is to check the little emperor’s previous homework.

Wei Guangde said casually, "Your Majesty, the matter you mentioned last time has come to fruition. The selected candidates have already moved into the Chuxiu Palace, so I can't help you here."

"Master Wei, has the person been sent to the palace?"

The little emperor was a little surprised, wondering how it could be so fast.

"Choosing a queen for your majesty is a major event, and the Ministry of Rites cannot delay it.

After the name list was reported, the people were immediately brought to the capital for screening. After careful selection, people were immediately sent to verify their identities.

The day before yesterday, everyone came back and nothing happened, so we contacted the palace yesterday and sent everyone in."

Wei Guangde smiled and said, "Congratulations to Your Majesty in advance. According to the rules, Your Majesty's wedding should be arranged before the end of the year."

"In Chuxiu Palace?"

The little emperor murmured to himself.

The Chuxiu Palace is located on the west side of the central axis of the Forbidden City's inner court, symmetrically distributed with the Zhongcui Palace on the east side.

During the Ming Dynasty, Zhongcui Palace was mainly used as the residence of concubines, while Chuxiu Palace was where the beauties who entered the palace for selection lived.

The history of Chuxiu Palace can be traced back to the construction of Beijing City in the 18th year of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty. It was originally named Xianyang Palace.

It was renamed Chuxiu Palace in the 14th year of Jiajing's reign. Together with Zhongcui Palace, it formed part of the six eastern palaces of the inner court, with the same layout as the other five palaces.

The little emperor was naturally familiar with his own home. Before entering school, he had visited all the palaces in the imperial city.

"Your Majesty, the concubine is now staying here. If Your Majesty wants to go and see her, I'm afraid it's not appropriate."

Wei Guangde gave a reminder.

If no one had lived in Chuxiu Palace before, it would have been natural for him to go there whenever he wanted.

But the situation is different now. Ciqing Palace and Cining Palace must have sent people to watch over there, and further screen the more than 30 girls sent in, looking at their speech, behavior and living habits, especially the court etiquette they learned in Chuxiu Palace, which are all the criteria for the selection. Therefore, if the little emperor rushed there, I am afraid that the news would be heard by the two empress dowagers in the first place.

Seeing the little emperor looking a little discouraged, Wei Guangde said with a smile: "Your Majesty will be checking for you. Your Majesty should wait for two months and the person will be sent to you."

The young emperor was actually just a teenager at heart. He knew that he would soon have to choose a queen, so he was a little nervous at first, but after the nervousness he became a little excited.

But it didn't take long for the excitement to start to worry.

After all, the beauties presented to him had all been selected by others, and the little emperor was somewhat worried about whether they met his own aesthetic standards.

A fifteen-year-old boy actually already has the ability to distinguish.

It was because of this that he was eager to try and wanted to see in advance what the wife chosen for him would look like.

Now, when the little emperor heard Wei Guangde say that "the Empress is checking for him", he knew that Master Wei was reminding him, and if he was not careful, the news would reach his mother's ears.

Thinking of how harsh Empress Dowager Li was towards him, the little emperor couldn't help but feel a pang in his heart.

Seeing the performance of his student, Wei Guangde knew that the reminder had been given. He smiled lightly and thought that what should be done had been done. It was no longer his responsibility to do anything else.

6◇9◇Book◇Bar

However, someone still needs to pass a message to Chen Ju, telling him not to be instigated by the little emperor to help him do this.

Empress Dowager Li has quite a few tricks up her sleeve, especially when it comes to the current harem.

Empress Dowager Chen had a higher status and was more respected, but she did not like to be in charge of things, so most of the affairs of the harem were left to Empress Dowager Li and Feng Bao.

Perhaps it was because of Emperor Longqing during those years that she was heartbroken.

By the end of the Si hour, today's lessons were considered completed. Wei Guangde sent the little emperor back to the palace, and then returned to the cabinet to continue handling government affairs.

After the court was dismissed in the afternoon, Wei Guangde left the palace and got into the sedan chair. He felt a sway and the sedan chair was lifted up. He then casually took out a piece of paper from the drawer on the right and took a look at it.

"This guy."

The content of the note was actually about the situation at home. The eldest son of the family went out of the city to race horses in the afternoon with a group of princes and sons of nobles from the capital.

Although Wei Guangde let his sons do what they wanted, he did not completely ignore their actions.

The people arranged by Zhang Ji will report their whereabouts at all times.

In fact, if someone taught his son some bad habits, Wei Guangde would teach those people a lesson behind the scenes.

Horse racing, that doesn't matter.

After all, our family is a military household. If we can’t even ride a horse, we would be ungrateful to our roots.

When he was young, he often played this with those young masters.

After reading the note above, there is another one below.

Wei Guangde opened it and took a look, then narrowed his eyes and opened the curtain of the sedan chair. An attendant from outside hurried over.

"Go to Bao Da Fang's house."

Wei Guangde whispered something to the people outside, and then lowered the curtain of the sedan chair.

Now Wei Guangde has not just one mansion in the inner and outer cities, but several.

There is also a smaller house in Baodafang in the inner city, where he would visit occasionally.

As for the origins of these houses, most of them were loans lent by the Wei family. If they could not get the money back when due, they could only use the houses as payment for the debts.

Although the imperial court has always banned usury these days, Wei Guangde has never stopped this business.

But he would not lend money to the poor. After all, those few dollars were really meaningless.

If something goes wrong, it's easy to get yourself into trouble.

The Wei Mansion's loan targets were all merchants in the city, and since they had collateral, the interest rates were naturally slightly lower.

If an ordinary person were to do this kind of business, he would have long been approached by people in the city who specialize in this business.

But who is he? He is the dignified Wei Gelao, who would dare to cause trouble with him?

Even if those people mortgaged an asset multiple times, as long as it was mortgaged to Wei Guangde, other lenders would have no choice but to accept it.

They absolutely dare not compete with the Wei family for things.

This is how business is. The Wei family’s loan sharking business is booming, and among those who borrow money, some have made a comeback while others have fallen into the abyss.

After all, business is risky, and no one knows the outcome, whether you make money or lose money.

The sedan quickly changed direction and did not go home after entering Nanxunfang. Instead, it went north along the street and soon entered Baodafang.

Not long after, Wei Guangde was in a house and saw several boxes placed in front of him.

I opened one at random and was immediately dazzled by the glittering jewels.

Of course, it’s not that exaggerated in reality. There are just a lot of things in the box, placed seemingly randomly on the wooden tray inside.

Wei Guangde was actually immune to these things. He just chuckled and opened another box, which contained a lot of neatly arranged old ginseng.

"This is what Qi Yuanjing gained this time."

Wei Guangde asked casually.

Zhang Ji on the side took a half step forward and whispered to Wei Guangde: "These are part of the things seized by Marshal Qi when he raided Hongli Village. He said they are all good things."

After saying that, he handed a list to Wei Guangde.

Wei Guangde took a look and saw that there were quite a few things, which also showed the financial strength of the Wang family tribe in Liaodong.

Of course, without these financial resources, Wang Gao and his son would not have the confidence to resist the Ming Dynasty.

"Tell him that part of the spoils from Shaji City should be given to the people, and part should be handed over to the court."

Wei Guangde gave an order.

"Yes, sir, this Marshal Qi is really good at fighting."

Zhang Ji sighed in a low voice.

"It seems that he has shown you a lot of respect."

Wei Guangde said with a smile.

"Ah, hehe."

Zhang Ji sneered when he heard this and immediately shut up.

"Alas, they are fighting in the front and have to take care of the back. It's pitiful."

Wei Guangde shook his head slightly, feeling sad for the military generals of the Ming Dynasty.

In fact, these things are meaningless to him. What does it matter if there is one more box or one less box? You can't bring them with you when you are born and you can't take them with you when you die. He already has enough money.

However, if someone gives him something as a gift, he has to accept it, otherwise he would feel uneasy.

"Okay, send the things back to the mansion quietly."

Wei Guangde threw the gift list directly into the box and was about to walk out, but Zhang Ji stopped him in a low voice.

"Master, in addition to these boxes, Marshal Qi also sent some other things over."

Zhang Ji whispered, his face looking a little weird
"What is that? Bring it up and let me see it."

Wei Guangde said casually.

"Wait a moment, sir."

After Zhang Ji finished speaking, he went to the side room and opened the door. Then four slim women came out from the side room and walked towards him.