prosperous age

"dong dong dong"

There was a knock on the door, and then another maid shouted from outside: "Madam, the master should get up."

Then there was a rustling sound in the room, and after a while, a lady inside was heard saying, "I know."

At this time, Wei Guangde was sleeping soundly, and was suddenly pushed and shaken by the beauty next to him. The woman said in his ear with a smile: "Master, it's time to get up. Today is the winter solstice, and there will be a grand court meeting."

Wei Guangde slowly opened his sleepy eyes and looked out the window, but it was still pitch black.

But soon, the words "grand court meeting" came to his mind. He sat up suddenly and said, "Ask them to come in and help me change clothes. You can sleep for a while. It's still early."

As Wei Guangde dressed and washed up with the help of the maid in the house and went out, the sky was still gray and there was no trace of light.

It's been a long time since this happened.

Although the two Empress Dowagers were strict with the young Emperor Wanli and Zhang Juzheng also arranged a heavy workload for him, he was still their beloved emperor after all.

Therefore, after the cold winter came, in addition to the regular court meetings that had been cancelled, the grand court meetings on the 15th of each month were also cancelled, and the emperor only held court at the Huangji Gate on the first day of each month.

However, there were three particularly important court meetings that the Ming Dynasty could not avoid, namely the Winter Solstice, New Year's Day and the Emperor's Birthday.

In principle, these three grand court meetings were not for official business but for congratulating the emperor.

Such an environment made Wei Guangde, who was accustomed to "getting up late" and only going to the cabinet to "report for duty", somewhat uncomfortable.

After Wei Guangde had some breakfast and drank a bowl of meat soup, he went out and got into the sedan chair. The sedan chair was carried to the imperial city with the sound of the wind blowing slightly.

Along the way, carriages and sedan chairs continued to flow into the street, illuminated by lanterns in front and behind, like a fire dragon winding towards the imperial city.

There were Wei Mansion logos on the front and back lanterns of Wei Guangde's sedan chair, so when it approached the imperial city gate, many sedan chairs had already pulled over to the side of the road, but Wei Guangde's sedan chair was still moving forward in the middle of the road.

When they arrived outside the imperial city gate, Wei Guangde got out of the sedan chair with a small hand warmer in his hand.

"Mr. Deputy."

"Mr. Wei Ge."

As soon as Wei Guangde showed up, officials around him kept bowing to him.

Wei Guangde also returned the greeting with a smile, but he looked a little out of place with a hand warmer in his hand.

Fortunately, it was still dark and didn't attract much attention in the dim light.

Wei Guangde went to the front and went directly into the "court room" outside the Meridian Gate to wait.

"Zi Wei arrived first."

When he entered the room, Wei Guangde saw Zhang Siwei already inside, so he greeted him and also greeted a few other people before sitting in the middle to rest.

When the time came, Wei Guangde led the civil and military officials into the Meridian Gate first, crossed the Jinshui Bridge to the south, and lined up according to their rank, waiting for the whip to be sounded, and crossed the bridge in order until they reached the Danbi of the Huangji Gate. At this time, the civil officials were on the left and the military officials were on the right. The two teams continued to pass through the left and right Yemen and moved forward. The Huangji Hall came into view again.

At this time, musicians in front and behind the square outside the Huangji Hall began to play music. Amid the sound of stringed instruments, Wei Guangde and other court officials had already walked to the front of the Danbi and stood on both sides of the imperial road, waiting for the emperor to arrive.

At this time, the sound of bells and drums disappeared, leaving only the sound of whips. As the emperor's carriage appeared, it was carried directly to the white jade steps. The young emperor Zhu Yijun came down, stood under the yellow silk umbrella, glanced at the ministers who were waiting, then turned around, walked up the steps, and slowly walked into the Huangji Hall.

Ceremonies are not usually held in the three main halls, and are only held here during the three major court meetings.

In the past, most of the court meetings on the first and fifteenth days of the lunar month were held at the Huangji Gate.

Because it was one of the three major court meetings, almost all officials in Beijing were present, including nobles who usually did not attend court, and they all appeared in the team in neatly dressed clothes.

After the emperor took his seat, Wei Guangde once again led the civil and military officials and nobles to slowly walk up the jade platform and enter the Huangji Hall as the officials of the Honglu Temple sang "Enter the Class".

Only officials of the fourth rank and above had the opportunity to enter the palace. Officials of the fifth and sixth ranks had already filled the jade platform, and the rest could only retreat under the jade platform.

This was the grand court assembly, a major ceremony in which all civil and military officials in the capital had to attend, and it was the focus of everyone's attention.

Afterwards, Wei Guangde led the team and followed the procedure until the end of the ceremony. As the ministers saw him off respectfully, Wei Guangde raised his head and glanced at the back of the little emperor who was limping away, and his mind fell into thought.

People in later generations said that Emperor Wanli had not attended court for decades. Seeing the emperor ascending the throne and leaving the court just now, Wei Guangde seemed to be thinking about something.

The Wanli Emperor's leg disease was no secret in the official circles of the capital, but when he was young and a teenager, he walked in an unsteady and lively manner, so it was not noticeable.

However, after the election, Zhu Yijun also began to gradually learn to be steady.

However, what Wei Guangde saw today, in addition to the emperor's slightly immature majesty, was also the discomfort he felt while walking.

Perhaps he was trying hard to show the momentum and majesty that a king should have, but his limping greatly reduced his image.

Why did Emperor Wanli not attend court for a long time and only receive officials in the palace? It seems to be the same as Emperor Jiajing, but Emperor Jiajing did so in order to practice Taoism in the Western Garden, while Emperor Wanli did not. He still lived in the palace.

After exiting the Huangji Hall and entering the Zuoye Gate of the Huangji Gate, Wei Guangde looked back at the spacious square and finally decided to go back and write a memorial to simplify the court meeting process.

Perhaps, Emperor Wanli’s unwillingness to attend court was also related to his leg disease.

Wei Guangde did not know why the later Emperor Wanli was "lazy in government affairs" and hid in the palace and did not come out to see people, but judging from his decisive actions in handling such important events as the "Three Major Expeditions", he was not a person who did not know the importance of the matter.

What's more, since the Zhengde period, regular court meetings have actually become dispensable, and Wei Guangde has also become accustomed to the current life where all court meetings are cancelled except for the grand court meetings.

After exiting the Huangji Gate, all officials had to leave the palace and return to their respective offices to report for duty, but Wei Guangde went directly to the cabinet.

At this time, Zhang Juzheng was already working in the cabinet, and he was still in mourning clothes.

Wei Guangde did not go to discuss with Zhang Juzheng, but went straight back to the duty room and asked the reed cloth to be ground. He then thought about how to write this memorial and how to make it easier for the emperor to go to court.

In the Ming Dynasty, court sessions began at "meishuang", which was just after dawn. In order not to be late, officials had to go out before dawn and gather outside the Meridian Gate to wait.

Although Wei Guangde really wanted to postpone the time, he thought better of it.

If I write it down, I'm afraid it will cause criticism from the upright officials in the court.

However, it was imperative to carry the emperor's sedan chair directly to the throne so that the emperor could reduce the distance he had to walk after getting off the sedan chair and getting on the throne.

After all, walking with a limp does undermine the dignity of the royal family.

Even such changes in the court only applied to the Wanli period.

Soon, Wei Guangde finished writing a memorial. Whenever Emperor Wanli attended court, whether he was "holding court at the imperial gate" or entering the palace, his carriage was carried directly to the Huangji Gate or the Huangji Hall.

In this way, the emperor did not have to walk to the throne under the gaze of his courtiers.

However, there had never been such a change in the "Da Ming Hui Dian" before, and the cabinet had to discuss and revise it together with the nine ministers.

After Wei Guangde finished writing the memorial, he read it over carefully again. When he saw that the ink was slightly dry, he stood up and took the freshly written memorial to the Prime Minister's duty room.

"Brother, His Majesty came to court today. Although he tried hard to show the majesty of the emperor, he still has a chronic illness, so I made this report."

In the Prime Minister's duty room, Zhang Juzheng had finished reading Wei Guangde's memorial and was pondering in silence.

Wei Guangde had no choice but to take the initiative to speak and break the silent atmosphere in the room.

"What Shandai said makes sense. It was our fault that we neglected it before."

After a long while, Zhang Juzheng finally spoke.

"It is not against the rules for the emperor to drive directly to the Dragon Throne, and it can also avoid the eyes of the court officials."

Zhang Juzheng nodded and said, "Will my uncle and I jointly report this matter?"

Wei Guangde asked solemnly.

The reason he came here was to have Zhang Juzheng sign a petition with him, so that no one in the court would use this as an excuse in the future.

As for those in the palace, everyone knew that Zhang Juzheng did not participate in various ceremonial activities such as grand court meetings, and naturally they also knew that this memorial was actually written by him, Wei Guangde.

Well, the one who really cares about the emperor is Master Wei.

"it is good."

Zhang Juzheng didn't think much about it. This little trick was actually useless, so Zhang Juzheng didn't care.

He picked up the pen and signed his own name next to Wei Guangde's. He then said with a smile, "This memorial should be sent directly to the Imperial Household Department. There is no need to go through the Ministry of Public Security."

At this time, neither of them mentioned the existence of another minister in the cabinet.

"By the way, has the Ministry of War made all the arrangements for Baker to go to Tianjin and take a ship back to Southeast Asia?"

Zhang Juzheng put down his pen and asked.

"It has been arranged. We have already dispatched warships from the South China Sea Navy to Tianjin. The year after next, warships from the South China Sea Navy will escort him to our Ming Dynasty to attend the emperor's wedding."

Wei Guangde smiled.

A few days ago, under the guidance of Wei Guangde, King Baker of Sulu saw Emperor Wanli at the court meeting on the first and fifteenth day of the first lunar month. The little emperor was also very interested in this king from Southeast Asia and asked him many questions.

Afterwards, the young emperor rewarded Bakker with royal robes, a jade belt, ten thousand taels of silver, a hundred pieces of silk and other items in recognition of Sulu's contribution to the Ming Dynasty in terms of both sending troops and making contributions.

Generally speaking, these rewards were decided after discussion by the cabinet, and if you really want to settle the accounts, the Ming Dynasty actually did not lose out.

After all, the cost of mobilizing thousands of soldiers across the sea to fight in Luzon can be imagined.

Apart from bringing back a small amount of Ming silver dollars, Baker used most of the silver to purchase various Ming goods in the capital.

It is a rare opportunity to come here. Although I have to come again in two years, I have the emperor's grace in my hands. I can take this opportunity to purchase a large number of high-quality goods from the Ming Dynasty. I plan to bring them back to Southeast Asia and make a fortune.

Wei Guangde didn't care about it, he just notified the Ministry of Rites to express his support.

It's funny to say that Baker actually purchased a lot of furs that were so popular among the nobles and ministers in the capital of the Ming Dynasty.

You have to know that the Sulu Kingdom is in the tropics, so there is no chance to wear fur.

Wei Guangde was happy to see this.

He also had shares in those furs, and his profits were almost doubled.

"By the way, have you read the memorial sent in by the Ministry of Revenue yesterday?"

Just when Wei Guangde was about to say goodbye and return to his duty room to work, Zhang Juzheng suddenly asked again.

"Are you talking about the annual account?"

Wei Guangde asked with a smile.

"Yes, I didn't expect that after working so hard for a year, the Ministry of Revenue of the Ming Dynasty is still in deficit."

Zhang Juzheng sighed.

"Haha, not necessarily."

Wei Guangde smiled and said, looking at Zhang Juzheng's puzzled eyes, "Yesterday I looked at the account book of the Ministry of Revenue this year, and one of the items was obviously wrong.

They calculated that the court's fiscal deficit this year was about 330,000 taels, but they still had 400,000 taels of silver prepared for the emperor's wedding.

The emperor's wedding has been postponed to the year after next, so that sum of money is not a big expense at all.

In my opinion, the court's finances should actually have a surplus of 70,000 taels this year.

Seventy thousand taels of silver may not seem like much, but it is the first time in decades that the court has had a surplus of silver, so it should be a happy occasion.”

"hehe."

Zhang Juzheng laughed when he heard this, and then stroked his beard and said, "Shandai and I have the same idea. I will talk to Zhang Xueyan later and ask him to revise this memorial."

Zhang Juzheng attached great importance to fiscal revenue and expenditure, and had been pursuing ways to reverse the fiscal deficit that had emerged since the late Zhengde period.

It's just that in the past few years, the imperial court had some problems that were difficult to reverse, and disasters continued to occur in various places, which greatly limited the effectiveness of his efforts to cut spending.

The imperial court fought two wars this year. In fact, this was largely due to the advance allocation of reserve grain and fodder in the previous two years, which also delayed the rewards for the soldiers. This made the Ministry of Revenue's accounts look better, but there was still a deficit of more than 300,000 taels of silver.

The accounts were still the same set, but the accounting time was adjusted. In this way, the deficit of the court, which was not enough to cover its expenditure, was turned into a slight surplus, which was not easy.

The coincidence of views on the finances of the Ming Dynasty naturally made the atmosphere in the room better and the relationship between the two people closer.

Finally, Zhang Juzheng reached into his sleeve and took out a memorial and handed it to Wei Guangde.

"Good loan, this is what I have been thinking about these days. You may take a look and give me some suggestions."

Wei Guangde was just slightly stunned, then reached out to take it, opened it, and the big words "Please apply the old rules to regulate the education administration in order to revitalize talents" came into view.

Without reading the content, Wei Guangde guessed the meaning.

What Wei Guangde didn't expect was that Zhang Juzheng's counterattack came so quickly. Less than two months after returning to the cabinet, he was planning to take action against those who had slandered him.

In fact, Zhang Juzheng's "seizure of love" was not only criticized by the court and the public, but also by the scholars. They all believed that it was inappropriate for the head of the cabinet to take the lead in destroying the etiquette system. Therefore, many people, both official and private, said unpleasant things.

Ordinary people don’t understand public opinion; it’s all controlled by the literati.

The public opinion of the scholars can represent the people of the world, that is, the public opinion.

When Zhang Juzheng wanted to rectify the academic affairs, he naturally targeted these scholars and retaliated against some of them.

Of course, perhaps Wei Guangde was worrying too much, and Zhang Juzheng might not think so.

But at this time, Wei Guangde saw it and had some such speculation.

Old system, what is the old system?

Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, was deeply opposed to scholars' concern for politics, so he clearly stipulated in his "Inscription on the Lying Stele" that if it was related to military or national affairs, the common people, including "craftsmen", were allowed to write to the state, but only scholars without any official titles were not allowed to discuss political affairs.

Who is the scholar who has no official title?

In fact, it refers to scholars including scholars, and fame only refers to scholars above the rank of Juren.

It can be said that this regulation of Zhu Yuanzhang blocked the way for most scholars to discuss state affairs.

This is the old system.

But by the Wanli dynasty, Taizu's statement had long been thrown into the trash.

The reason why scholars can happily talk about state affairs is simple: scholars criticize the current political situation and often make radical comments.

Obviously, Zhang Juzheng's reputation among the people had plummeted due to the previous "Performance Evaluation System" and this "Seizing Love", and he was constantly criticized, so he wanted to suppress public opinion. (End of this chapter)