prosperous age

Gao Gong's death was decided almost hastily by the cabinet, giving him basic face, but not much.

However, just as Zhang Siwei was about to leave to deliver the memorial, Lu Bu came quickly over with a letter and whispered a few words in Wei Guangde's ear.

Wei Guangde frowned slightly, took the letter, pulled out the paper inside and took a look at it.

Then, the frown on his face relaxed.

"Ziwei, please send the memorial directly to the Imperial Household Department first."

Wei Guangde said to Zhang Siwei.

"Okay, I'll go right away."

Zhang Siwei agreed and then left the duty room with the memorial.

At this time, Wei Guangde also picked up the letter in his hand and started reading it.

Wei Guangde was very familiar with the handwriting on the letter, and he knew it was definitely Zhang Juzheng's letter.

However, there was something strange about the letter from Zhang Juzheng, as it was sent to the capital along with the Xinzheng government's announcement of Gao Gong's death.

The document went to the Ministry of Rites, but the letter was sent to Wei Guangde's home.

Wei Guangde read the letter carefully, then folded the letter paper, put it back into the envelope, and put it in his arms.

Wei Guangde had some impression of it. He had read quite a few articles discussing Zhang Juzheng in later generations. They all knew that he was liquidated after his death. One of the important ones seemed to be the book Gao Gong wrote before his death.

Wei Guangde didn’t know what specific book it was, but it was this book that eventually became the fuse for the overthrow of Zhang.

However, the letter in his hand was indeed written by Zhang Juzheng earlier and handed over to the Gao family in Xinzheng.

Considering that there was news report before that Zhang Juzheng went to Xinzheng to visit Gao Gong on his way south, it is not surprising that the Gao family had Zhang Juzheng's letters.

However, what is strange is that in this letter, Zhang Juzheng instructed Wei Guangde that if Gao Gong died of illness before he returned to Beijing, Wei Guangde must help Gao Gong obtain pensions and grace from the court.

This letter was sent by the Gao family. It was obviously written by Zhang Juzheng and given to the Gao family when he was in Xinzheng.

In this regard, Wei Guangde had to consider the possibility that Zhang Juzheng was already bedridden when he met Gao Gong.

Wei Guangde had long stopped paying attention to Gao Gong.

With Zhang Juzheng and Feng Bao in the court, even with the little favor from the emperor, Gao Gong could never make a comeback.

That is why when he saw the news of Gao Gong's death, the first thing he thought of was whether Zhang Juzheng's purpose of going to Xinzheng was to kill Gao Gong.

But now it seems that I am being a little mean-minded.

Zhang Juzheng wrote a letter asking him to help seek grace from the court. Did the two of them resolve their past grudges after meeting?

Wei Guangde was not quite sure, but on the surface the conflict between the two was just a difference in political views. But on a deeper level it was because Gao Gong was not tolerant enough. He seemed to have always been worried that Yu Ji's old men would usurp his power, so he had been suppressing his former colleagues ever since.

However, Gao Gong seemed to have always been an exception for Zhang Juzheng.

This forced Wei Guangde to consider whether Gao Gong, who was too arrogant, had always looked down on his former colleagues, including Chen Yiqin, Yin Shizun and himself.

Perhaps, only the knowledgeable Zhang Juzheng could barely catch his eye, so he would be on guard against him while also taking appropriate care of him.

The relationship between the two was very good in the past.

Wei Guangde knew clearly that whether in Prince Yu's Mansion or in the Imperial College, the two of them were close friends and could talk about anything.

Although there are arguments, they are all due to different concepts, but the purpose is the same.

I think that in the years after being expelled, Gao Gong should have been able to see that the court presided over by Zhang Juzheng was actually quite good and had done many bold things that his predecessors did not dare to do.

Wei Guangde didn't know what Zhang Juzheng and Gao Gong talked about when they met, but at least the possibility of Zhang Juzheng assassinating Gao Gong was infinitely reduced.

With Zhang Juzheng's letter, Wei Guangde believed that the bill he had previously drafted had a high chance of being passed in the inner court.

Although Gao Gong did not get all the relief and grace he requested, at least it was enough to save the court's face.

The news soon spread outside the palace, and officials in the six ministries and other government offices in Beijing were also discussing it.

In fact, everyone's attitude towards Gao Gong was quite consistent, that is, Gao Gong's temperament made it unsuitable for them to serve as a minister in the same palace.

However, after Zhang Juzheng vigorously promoted reforms and implemented the performance evaluation system and land survey, they felt that if Gao Gong was in power, it might be much easier than working under Zhang Juzheng.

Yes, Zhang Juzheng’s reforms affected their interests, and when Gao Gong was in power, he was cracking down on dissidents. As long as they did not go against Gao Gong, the stick would not fall on their heads.

For this reason, the current officials have begun to remember the good things about Gao Gong. At least Gao Gong only knew how to rectify the administration of officials, but would not touch their fundamental interests.

The cabinet requested that Gao Gong's official position be restored and that he be buried according to his rank, and few people objected.

This also includes those newly-appointed Jinshi.

They didn't know about Gao Gong's previous situation. Even if they knew, they only heard it from people among the public and had not experienced it personally.

Therefore, such people are easily influenced by the comments of people around them.

Now most of the officials around him are remembering Gao Gong's good deeds, which makes them wonder why such a good official would be dismissed by the court?

So, from this year on, rumors about the collusion between Zhang Juzheng and Feng Bao began to spread more unscrupulously in the court and the country.

These were not things that Zhang Juzheng and Wei Guangde, who were in high positions, could know.

After all, these were private communications between the lowest-level officials and they had no way of knowing.

In the evening, Wei Guangde returned to the mansion. When he entered the house, he said to Zhang Ji, "Send someone to contact me. I want to know the whole process of the Prime Minister's trip to the south, especially what he said to Gao Gong in Xinzheng. If you can find out, bring back the news."

In fact, when Zhang Juzheng went south, the Wei family sent people to follow him. This had become a habit.

It’s like although Zhang Juzheng has left Beijing, he believes that there are people in the Zhang Mansion who are paying attention to the Wei family’s every move these days.

It doesn't necessarily mean that you have to do anything to the other party, but you always have to be on guard.

However, due to the lack of information transmission in that era, it was naturally impossible to report in real time, and they could only monitor and record along the way. Only when an emergency occurred would they arrange for people to quickly deliver the news to the Wei Mansion in the capital.

Zhang Juzheng's journey south was relatively normal, so there was naturally no need for urgent reporting, so the government never received any news.

The news of Zhang Juzheng's march south was mostly conveyed by merchants heading north.

They would see something on the road or hear something from others, and then bring the news to the capital to spread it.

After entering the room, Wei Guangde seemed to remember the news he had heard, so he instructed Zhang Ji again: "Report to me the recent rumors in the streets."

Wei Guangde vaguely remembered what was said about Zhang Juzheng's reforms in later generations, which were the Single Whip System and the Performance Evaluation System. Other things were rarely mentioned, but one thing was always written about, and that was the sedan chair that Zhang Juzheng sat in when he returned to his hometown in Huguang.

Wow, legend has it that it was a sedan chair carried by thirty-two people. It was much larger than any other sedan chair. It was said that there were partitions inside the sedan chair, dividing it into a bedroom, study, toilet, etc.

What are the specifications of the sedan chair carried by thirty-two people?

You should know that the emperor's dragon sedan was carried by no more than sixteen people, and officials above the third rank had at most eight people carrying it. The legendary thirty-two people carrying the sedan chair already exceeded the emperor's specifications.

If there really was such a sedan chair, Zhang Jiangling would have been stopped and beheaded by the Jinyiwei Tiqi sent by the emperor before he even got back to his hometown. However, in later generations, this news was spread with details and was able to fool many people.

Wei Guangde didn't quite believe it either, but he suddenly thought of it and ordered someone to find out the news.

It should be noted that the sedan chairs in ancient times were not faster than carriages and horses, but they were better in terms of stability.

It is true that the more people carry the sedan, the more comfortable it becomes.

In the past, Wei Guangde was used to riding in carriages and horses, and he didn't care about the speed of sedan chairs at all.

It was only after he entered the Six Ministries and became a minister that Wei Guangde gave up riding in a carriage and took a sedan chair instead.

As for the sedan chair, the more people carry it, the more comfortable it is to sit in, but the slower it goes.

In fact, the sedan chair carried by two people runs the fastest, followed by one carried by four people, and the one carried by eight people is the slowest.

Wei Guangde had never enjoyed a sedan chair carried by sixteen people, so he didn't dare to enjoy this one.

As the second-in-command of the cabinet, he could ride in a sedan chair carried by eight people in the capital. However, for the sake of speed, he usually used a sedan chair carried by four people instead of one carried by eight.

In fact, there were very few officials in the capital who rode in a sedan chair carried by eight men. Even Zhang Juzheng usually rode in a sedan chair carried by four men.

Although Beijing was one of the largest cities in the world at that time, except for a few spacious streets near the imperial city, other streets were not necessarily very wide.

There are many carriages and horses in the city, and the sedan chairs carried by eight people take up a lot of space and easily block the road.

If it weren't for the sake of style, there would be no need to add those four sticks.

Yes, it is actually very simple to change a sedan chair from four bearers to eight bearers. All you need to do is replace the bearers in the sedan chair with bearers, and one position will become two people carrying the sedan chair.

There is no need to make any changes to the sedan chair, just add more people.

After dinner at the mansion, Wei Guangde examined the books his youngest son had read in the past few days and then went to the study alone.

After sitting down inside and drinking two sips of tea quietly, Zhang Ji had already delivered the news.

Wei Guangde stared at the note in his hand. Although Zhang Ji was considerate enough to bring him another candle, Wei Guangde had already seen what he wanted to see.

It had a sedan chair carried by 32 people, and it also had bedrooms and a study.

Nonsense, that's not happening at all.

According to the information brought back by the person sent in the note, Zhang Juzheng was in a hurry to go south this time. There were eight sedan chair bearers who took turns to get on. The sedan chair Zhang Juzheng was sitting in was actually carried by four people in order to ensure speed.

After all, the journey from the capital back to Jingzhou is not short, and it is completely acceptable for eight sedan bearers to take turns carrying the sedan.

As for the ceremony of returning home, it was actually very simple. The ceremonial procession was no different from that in the capital, except that there were a few more carriages accompanying them.

If we have to say there were more people involved, it was that the young Emperor Wanli sent a team of Jinyiwei to clear the way for Zhang Juzheng.

However, officials along the way did try their best to curry favor with us, and local officials went directly to the border to welcome us.

It can be said that officials from neighboring state capitals can almost always meet each other.

When the people who came to see them off returned, officials from the new territory came to greet them.

It is understandable that local officials want to rise to prominence and make friends with Beijing officials and curry favor with the Prime Minister, but this is a bit too much.

This is news that can be said to be very true. The information reported back by the people sent by Wei Guangde will naturally not be wrong.

However, when Wei Guangde saw the rumors, he laughed.

Well, there is no news about a sedan chair carried by thirty-two people in the market. I guess people of this era also know that this is impossible.

If Zhang Juzheng really rode such a sedan chair to travel between states and prefectures, and the local officials saw it but did not report it, they would have no chance of continuing to wear their official hats.

However, during his trip back home, apart from the ceremonial guard that stayed silent and avoided, the most eye-catching among the guards accompanying him were the Jinyiwei and a team of musketeers from the Beijing camp.

This had never been seen in previous ceremonial guards, and the young emperor had specially ordered the Jinyiwei to send guards and also dispatched a team from the Beijing camp to accompany him.

However, up to this point, no one mentioned that it was the emperor's order. Instead, they said that the accompanying officers and soldiers from the Beijing camp were from Jizhen, sent by General Dong Yiyuan to please Prime Minister Zhang Juzheng. They were also the elite musketeers of the Jizhen army, and all of them were sharpshooters who never missed their shots.

If someone fabricated a general title of Changping or Baoding, Wei Guangde might not be able to react for a while, and he might even ask the Ministry of War to investigate if he didn't know whether it was true or not. But when it came to Dong Yiyuan, Wei Guangde was no stranger to him.

Over the past ten years, Wei Guangde and Dong Yiyuan had not had much contact on the surface, but after all, he was the first military general he knew, and his official position had risen rapidly over the years.

In the 37th year of the Jiajing reign, Dong Yiyuan was only a guerrilla general in Jizhen, leading a few hundred cavalrymen.

However, in the 43rd year of Jiajing's reign, the Tuman, Heishitan and other tribes invaded Yipanshi with more than 10,000 cavalry. The generals Hu Zhen and Dong Yiyuan resisted against the city wall. The bandits were unable to defeat them and fled when the Ming reinforcements arrived. The Ming army took advantage of the situation to pursue them and beheaded more than 70 of them.

Later, they defeated the enemy in Weizi Valley and killed more than 370 enemies. Among them, Dong Yiyuan made the greatest contribution and was awarded the third-level salary as an exception and was promoted to the Lieutenant General of Shimen Village.

In the first year of Longqing, the Ming army defeated the bandit army at Bangchui Cliff. Dong Yiyuan made the greatest contribution and was promoted two levels again to deputy general and stationed in Gubeikou.

Up to now, because Wei Guangde transferred Qi Jiguang to Liaodong to replace Li Chengliang, he promoted him from deputy general of Gubeikou garrison to general of Jizhen, thus putting the safety of the capital in his hands.

But after experiencing those battles, Wei Guangde felt more confident in him and believed that he was not a person who was overconfident.

Dong Yiyuan was promoted so quickly that he surpassed his elder brother Dong Yikui.

Dong Yikui is now just serving as the deputy general in Datong.

Putting down the small note in his hand, Wei Guangde instructed Zhang Ji: "Tell Commander Liu to check the origin of these rumors and find out who is maliciously spreading rumors about important officials in the court and generals at the border."

"Master, most of these rumors were spread by merchants from the north."

Zhang Ji hurriedly explained.

“That being said, we still have to check and find out where it all started.

We know they are rumors and we also know that rumors cannot be believed, but some things are taken seriously as they spread.

When the question is asked later, it will be a troublesome matter for Dong Yiyuan.

It would be good to find out more about it as soon as possible and report it to the Jinyiwei file."

Wei Guangde explained.

As for Dong Yiyuan's promotion, the important officials in the court could more or less guess who was helping him.

To drag Dong Yiyuan down at this time is just to disgust Wei Ci Fu, as if he is trying to please Zhang Juzheng.

"Yes, sir."

Zhang Ji agreed, and when he saw that Wei Guangde had no other instructions, he left. (End of this chapter)