prosperous age

Feng Bao's initial request, or test, to Wei Guangde was only partially met and partially rejected, which made Empress Dowager Li think that Wei Guangde was not a suitable candidate.

Yes, at that time, some of Feng Bao's seemingly corrupt and lawless deeds actually had the shadow of Empress Dowager Li behind them.

Empress Dowager Li was not a woman from a wealthy family, but was born in a poor family. It was only because of her pretty face that she had the opportunity to be selected as a maid in Prince Yu's palace.

And she has become a typical example of a mother being honored by her son.

Although the Ming Dynasty selected concubines from the common people to enter the palace, and then either entered the palace or married into the royal palace, this was not something that ordinary people could have access to.

The so-called selected girls, besides having a clean family background, must also have a certain level of beauty.

But as for the latter point, the daughter of an ordinary family has to do housework at such a young age, so how could she possibly meet the standards for selection as a concubine?

In fact, most of the women selected were daughters of local military officers or small landlords. Only such families could raise outstanding women who could withstand the layers of selection by the Ministry of Rites and the Inner Court.

However, most of the women from the more advantageous families of local gentry and high-ranking officials would fail to be selected for various reasons.

Empress Xiaoyizhuang, surnamed Li, was Zhu Zai's first wife. She gave birth to a son and a daughter for him, but unfortunately both died young. Li only accompanied Zhu Zai for five years. After Zhu Zai ascended the throne, he posthumously conferred the title of Empress Xiaoyi on his first wife.

Later, Empress Chen became Zhu Zaigui's successor princess. She was originally a concubine chosen by Emperor Jiajing for Prince Yu. She was young, beautiful and dignified. She was the daughter of the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and a true lady from a noble family.

After Zhu Zaigui ascended the throne, Chen was named the empress who ruled the country.

Empress Dowager Li's father was a poor man from the suburbs of Beijing. He was a bricklayer who came to the city to work. Because of his difficult life, he sent his daughter to the prince's palace to be a maid. At least she had food to eat, and the salary from the palace could also subsidize the family.

After living in Prince Yu's Mansion for a few years, Empress Dowager Li's rustic air faded away, and she was favored by Prince Yu because of her outstanding appearance.

The Jiajing Emperor's sons either died young or had difficulty in having offspring.

Even Prince Yu, although he had many children, not many of them survived, and the ones who survived were the ones born to Empress Dowager Li.

Naturally, as the only flesh and blood of Emperor Longqing, the eldest son would inevitably ascend the throne and become the emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

Empress Dowager Li also jumped from a commoner to the emperor's biological mother and became the empress dowager.

Before she gave birth to Zhu Yijun, Emperor Jiajing had no idea that she existed, and she was not the princess he chose for his son.

Coming from the grassroots, he naturally knows the living conditions of the lower-class people in the Ming Dynasty, and also knows what the people think of the officials.

Therefore, she turned a blind eye to Feng Bao's private transactions and selling of official positions and titles, and even judged the officials' loyalty to the inner court based on whether they helped Feng Bao.

As the saying goes, when beating a dog, you have to look at its owner first.

Feng Bao is just a dog under her.

Of course, Feng Bao did these things in order to gain leverage over Feng Bao.

When he is no longer needed, you can just arrest him directly without making up any charges.

Empress Dowager Li knew the attitudes of Zhang Juzheng and Wei Guangde in the cabinet towards Feng Bao's request, so she was more inclined to use Zhang Juzheng.

When Zhang Juzheng helped Feng Bao deal with some things, he was actually handing the knife handle to Empress Dowager Li, so she was not worried at all that the knife would backfire on its owner one day.

As for Wei Guangde, Empress Dowager Li did not have many handles to use against him. The main one was that the Wei family was involved in merchants' affairs, which damaged the reputation of the court.

As for what Feng Bao would report to Empress Dowager Li, they would naturally be about the Li family.

Empress Dowager Li was not the only daughter of the Li family. In fact, she had three older brothers and a younger sister.

Thanks to the relationship with Empress Dowager Li, they were naturally able to receive rewards from their nephew, Emperor Wanli. However, if they wanted to continue to get promoted and make money, they needed someone in the court to support and protect them at all times.

She left all these matters to Feng Bao to handle.

In fact, it was not just the matters concerning her brothers and sisters, but also some matters that were entrusted to Li Wei, for which Feng Bao helped to find people to handle them.

The Empress Dowager Li now asked Feng Bao about his opinion on Zhang Juzheng's new policies, in fact, she also wanted to weigh the pros and cons.

Feng Bao entered the inner study hall in his early years, and was selected into the Silijian because of his good calligraphy. He gradually became one of the eunuchs in the inner court.

As a knowledgeable and insightful eunuch, Feng Bao was naturally one of the important advisers to Empress Dowager Li.

Also because of his special status, Empress Dowager Li attached great importance to his opinions.

“Your Majesty, Zhang Taiyue’s new policy is actually beneficial to the court.

As early as the Jiajing period, the court was often in financial difficulties, and it was often the case that Lord Yan was robbing Peter to pay Paul to keep the court going.

In fact, most people and low-level officials despised what Yan Song did. They believed that he was trying to curry favor with Emperor Jiajing, disregarding the lives of ordinary people for the sake of his own power, and condoning the emperor's lavish spending on fasting and offering sacrifices and building temples.

But in fact, the top officials of the court knew very well that even if it was not Yan Song, anyone else who became the Prime Minister had to guarantee the needs of Emperor Jiajing, otherwise his position as Prime Minister would be in jeopardy.

Even if we change people, we still have to ensure the supply to the inner court.

In fact, Yan Song was valued by Emperor Jiajing because he was able to maintain the operation of the court under very difficult circumstances.

It took Xu Jie many years of study to barely master this skill of his.

Therefore, at the end of the Jiajing period, after the emperor abandoned the Yan family, Xu Jie was able to maintain the normal operation of the court without it coming to a halt due to lack of money.

Zhang Juzheng's current reforms are actually to help the court collect all the money that should be collected.

Before, Yan Song, Xu Jie and others were concerned about the attitudes of the officials, so they did not do so, but Zhang Juzheng did it.

“Your Majesty, Taiyue’s actions actually offend all officials and only benefit the court.

To be honest, no one but Mr. Taiyue would be willing to do what he did.”

After the analysis, Feng Bao concluded.

"Zhang Juzheng has already started the new policy. Can't Wei Guangde and Zhang Siwei continue along this path?"

Empress Dowager Li asked in confusion.

"Disaster."

Feng Bao answered directly, "The more time passes, the more people we offend. It will only become more and more difficult. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is difficult to move forward. It will not work without the support of powerful people.

Wei Guangde should have realized that the court system had reached a point where it had to be changed, so although he did not support what Zhang Taiyue was leading, he did not oppose it either.

Judging from this, Wei Guangde will not proceed further.

Once Zhang Taiyue returns to his hometown to mourn, Wei Guangde and his men will definitely give up and stop pushing forward. "

"So, for the sake of the court's plans, he can't leave?"

Empress Dowager Li finally spoke out the issue that concerned her most.

“Only when Taiyue is in power can the new policies that have been launched continue to be implemented.

Once Taiyue returns to his hometown to mourn, all the work done before will be wasted. Even if Taiyue returns one day, it will be difficult to restart. "

Feng Bao was not exaggerating, but speaking the truth.

In fact, if Wei Guangde really replaced Zhang Juzheng, he would not continue the reforms.

He would look outward, make use of the capable generals of the Wanli Dynasty, expand outward as much as possible, and seize money from the barbarians to enrich the Ming treasury.

History has proven that the price that the leading reformers of feudal dynasties had to pay was extremely heavy.

Of course, Feng Bao also understood these. Don't think that he couldn't see it because he was in the game. In fact, he didn't participate too much in it. He just approved and stamped the documents, so he could still see the danger as an outsider.

However, with Empress Dowager Li's approval, he didn't think there was much danger.

As long as Empress Dowager Li insists, it is impossible for the little emperor to go against his mother's wishes.

With this idea in mind, Feng Bao never thought about what would happen next, but was happy to support Zhang Juzheng.

After all, in his opinion, Zhang Juzheng's new policies were beneficial to the court and were not harsh.

"You go down, I am tired."

After Feng Bao finished speaking, to his surprise, Empress Dowager Li directly ordered him to expel him.

For the next two days, Zhang Juzheng did not appear in the cabinet, and all memorials to the cabinet were handled by Wei Guangde and Zhang Siwei.

Although a little nervous, everything was still organized and there were no delays.

The government at this time was still influenced by the performance evaluation system. The administrative efficiency of government offices at all levels was very fast and there was no delay. All government orders were issued in an orderly manner.

The past few days have been a bit sensitive, and Wei Guangde has stopped going out to drink. He goes home after office hours and goes to the cabinet on time in the morning to report for duty. From the outside, it seems that he is ready to replace Zhang Juzheng as the chief minister of the cabinet.

Three days later, Zhang Juzheng finally submitted a petition to the palace, requesting to return to his hometown to observe the mourning period.

The memorial was in the cabinet. Wei Guangde drafted it and sent someone to deliver it to the palace. There was no need to wait. It was sent to the palace together with other memorials.

This is also the special treatment that the Prime Minister should have.

"Sister, I brought Huang'er to see you."

In Ciqing Palace, Empress Dowager Li walked in with Emperor Wanli and first bowed to Empress Dowager Chen.

Although Zhu Yijun was the emperor, he was still a child in front of his two mothers, even though he had just been punished by his biological mother to kneel for a long time.

Because Zhang Juzheng was not on the court, he naturally would not go to the Wenhua Hall to supervise Emperor Wanli's studies during those days. After getting through the lecturer's classes, the little emperor started to act naughty, not paying attention to his lessons, and even completing his homework hastily.

Today, when the little emperor went to the Wenhua Palace, he arrived there late because he got up half an hour late.

When Empress Dowager Li found out, she took the little emperor to the Cining Palace and gave him a scolding.

The one who rescued him was Feng Bao, who brought Zhang Juzheng's memorial requesting to observe the mourning period.

Although Empress Dowager Li had already made up her mind about replacing such an important person as the Prime Minister, she did not dare to make the decision directly, so she took the little emperor to Empress Dowager Chen.

In the inner court, the two empress dowagers and the emperor had to maintain consensus.

Empress Dowager Chen was very happy about Zhu Yijun's arrival. She took the little emperor aside and asked him all kinds of questions without mentioning anything about what happened before.

She had also heard about what happened in Wenhua Palace and Cining Palace.

But Empress Dowager Li had already punished her, so she would no longer be a bad person.

Empress Dowager Chen talked and laughed with Zhu Yijun for a while, and then Empress Dowager Li took out Zhang Juzheng's memorial and said, "Sister, I just received a memorial from the Prime Minister, requesting to return home to observe the mourning period.

I think this is a big deal, and I need to discuss it with you before making a decision."

"Oh, what do you mean sister?"

Empress Dowager Chen didn't usually care about the affairs of the previous dynasty, so it was Empress Dowager Li who read the memorials.

In her opinion, as long as the cabinet ministers are watching, nothing serious will happen.

After all, they are knowledgeable and know how to handle state affairs.

With Feng Bao's Silijian keeping an eye on things, there was no need to worry about any unexpected changes. After all, the cabinet system had been around for many years and was already a mature political system.

However, when Empress Dowager Li mentioned it today, Empress Dowager Chen perked up and took Zhang Juzheng's memorial to read it.

In fact, many of the beauties selected in the Ming Dynasty were literate, after all, they came from wealthy families.

As for Empress Dowager Li, she probably wasn't educated as a child. Common people didn't have the money to send their daughters to school, so she must have learned it when she was in Prince Yu's mansion.

Empress Dowager Chen quickly finished reading the memorial and said, "Zhang Shoufu's father died, and it is the court system for him to return to his hometown to mourn. The cabinet also voted that it should be done. Does my sister have anything to say?"

Empress Dowager Chen was not stupid. It was a normal mourning period and there was no need to bring it to her attention. She could just approve it with her seal. There was no need to discuss anything.

"Sister, the Ministry of Revenue has just been relieved due to the Prime Minister's new policies. If we let the Prime Minister go back at this time, the new policies may fail.

My sister should still remember that during the reign of Emperor Jiajing, the imperial court always had deficits every year.

Although there has been a deficit in the past two years, the amount is now less than 100,000 taels.

If it weren't for the wars in Liaodong and Southwest China, the court would have been able to afford the Yellow River works, and the Ministry of Revenue would have had some money left over."

Empress Dowager Li explained, "I also asked Feng Bao before. Prime Minister Zhang's new policy has many opponents in the court, and Wei Ci Fu also does not support it.

If the Prime Minister leaves like this, the court will probably return to the state of previous years next year, with deficits every year and expenditures not enough to cover income.

Sister, you should still remember what the Prime Minister said to you and me before. The land reclamation is related to the foundation of the country. If it is fully implemented, the national treasury will be in trouble. "

"You mean, if Prime Minister Zhang returns to his hometown to mourn, then Second Prime Minister Wei is likely to change his ways?"

Empress Dowager Chen frowned slightly and said.

“At the very least, the land survey will be abandoned halfway, and the performance evaluation system that is being implemented now may also fail.

After all, the officials in the court were very opposed to the practice of evaluating their work and requiring them to complete it within a time limit.

Previously, even students of Prime Minister Zhang had taken the lead in opposing the new law, which shows how radical this law was.

The Prime Minister has lost his power, and all previous efforts have been wasted."

At this point, Empress Dowager Chen knew what Empress Dowager Li meant, but the government was stable now and she really couldn't find a reason to seize the love.

The most recent time a love affair was taken away from the court was when Wei Ci Fu was captured. However, that was the decree of Emperor Longqing before his death, asking Wei Guangde to return to the court to assist in the administration. That was why he interrupted his mourning period and returned to Beijing urgently.

The incident was extremely serious, so no one in the court opposed it.

But this time, something was clearly different.

The main reason why Empress Dowager Chen tacitly approved Zhang Juzheng's new policies was that she heard that Zhang Juzheng's book could solve the court's financial difficulties.

Now the problem has not been solved, and if Zhang Juzheng is let go, all previous efforts will be wasted, which makes people feel a little unwilling.

"Emperor, what do you think of your Master Zhang? Do you need him to stay with you?"

Empress Dowager Chen looked at Zhu Yijun and asked softly.

"The court needs Mr. Zhang."

Zhu Yijun answered without thinking.

"Next year, the emperor will also be getting married."

At this time, Empress Dowager Li said again.

Empress Dowager Chen looked at Zhu Yijun and said, "Then take away the love." (End of this chapter)