prosperous age

"How much do you know about Sato's entry into the mountains and the situation at Iwami Ginzan? Have you reported this to the palace?"

Wei Guangde asked.

Previously, the Ministry of Works had selected a group of experienced miners and escorted by the Ministry of War to Sado Island and the Iwami region for secret mining exploration. During this period, the secret agents of the Imperial Guard in Japan also provided assistance.

Therefore, the Embroidered Uniform Guard actually knew quite a bit about the "gold and silver mountains" mentioned by the officials in the capital, especially the Iwami Silver Mine. More than ten mines there had been developed, and even these experienced miners could not get in without the Embroidered Uniform Guard pulling strings.

"I don't know much about the exploration situation on Sado Island, but I've heard that the mineral deposits there seem to be distributed throughout the island, though in some scattered areas."

They came out of the island to inspect the existing mine shafts and discovered several other potential mine shafts.

However, judging from the tone of these craftsmen, the mineral deposit must be very large.

As for the Iwami area, there are even more mineral deposits.

After the Embroidered Uniform Guards returned the artisans, they had already reported this to the palace, which also proved that the gold and silver mountains did indeed exist.

Liu Shouyou explained the situation in a low voice, emphasizing that as imperial henchmen, they could not deceive the emperor with any discoveries.

"Well, I was just asking. After all, at the last minute, His Majesty still needs to issue an edict before the army can launch its eastern expedition."

All the work done by the Embroidered Uniform Guard wasn't in vain.

Wei Guangde replied with a smile.

In fact, over the past two months, the signs that the two empress dowagers were returning power to the emperor have become increasingly obvious. According to information obtained by Chen Ju, the two empress dowagers no longer read the memorials from the previous dynasty, but instead sent them to the Qianqing Palace for review.

Although the Empress Dowager would patiently listen to Feng Bao's reports in the past, she has not expressed her own opinion on the last few occasions, but instead sent Feng Bao to the Qianqing Palace.

Therefore, the task of sending troops to Japan actually fell to the Wanli Emperor and him.

As for Emperor Wanli, although he initially showed great enthusiasm, as the date of the military expedition approached, especially as the Ministry of War began its intensive preparations, the emperor's attitude seemed to become somewhat hesitant.

The initial excitement stemmed from hearing about the existence of mountains of gold and silver and the thought that it could completely alleviate the financial difficulties of the Ming Dynasty.

But when it came to actually sending troops, they became cautious, because it was war after all. Not to mention that the outcome was uncertain, even if the fighting started, who knew how many Ming soldiers would be buried in foreign lands.

"Compile a report on the situation in Japan soon and submit it to the Cabinet, the Ministry of War, and the Imperial Household Agency."

Wei Guangde suddenly looked at Liu Shouyou and said something meaningful.

In fact, as the end of the year approached, not only Emperor Wanli began to waver, but some officials in the Ministry of War were also worried about the enormous pressure the Ministry of War would have to bear if the eastern expedition failed.

To be honest, even now, the Ming Dynasty court still turns pale at the mention of Japanese pirates.

After all, they were a group that once stirred up half of the Jiangnan region.

Now that the imperial court is about to send troops to attack the stronghold of the Japanese pirates, facing even more and more vicious pirates, the difficulty of winning is self-evident.

Moreover, there were the lessons learned from the two failed Mongol expeditions to the east.

"The general understands."

Liu Shouyou bowed and replied.

Afterwards, Liu Shouyou took his leave, and Wei Guangde finally had a short rest before settling down to deal with the pile of memorials.

The news of Zhang Juzheng's death had spread throughout the officialdom. People initially did not believe it, but after the Ministry of Rites confirmed it, they had no choice but to accept the fact.

In the afternoon, Xu Xuemo, the Minister of Rites, along with Vice Ministers Yu Youding and others, came to the Grand Secretariat again to discuss issues such as Zhang Juzheng's posthumous title.

The Qianqing Palace has issued an edict ordering the Grand Secretariat to oversee this matter and, after deliberation, to report to the Qianqing Palace for final decision.

The posthumous titles of civil officials in the Ming Dynasty began with the character "文" and consisted of two characters. They were the official evaluations of deceased ministers by the imperial court. Among them, "文正" was regarded as the highest-ranking posthumous title, which was awarded to very few people and required final approval by the emperor. It reflected the combination of Confucian morality and political status.

In the Ming Dynasty, the posthumous titles of civil officials were all two characters long. The first character was always “Wen”, and the second character was determined based on morality, achievements, and other factors.

Although there is no official ranking system, there is an implicit ranking in practice.

Wenzheng is the highest rank, symbolizing "moral and knowledgeable, and respectful of one's position".

The next highest posthumous title was Wenzhen, which was the highest title before Emperor Renzong of Song. Later, to avoid the taboo of Emperor Renzong's name, it was changed to Wenzheng, which was retained in the Ming Dynasty.

The others, in descending order, are Wencheng, Wenzhong, Wenduan, Wending, Wenjian, Wenyi, Wensu, Wenyi, Wenxian, Wenzhuang, Wenjing, Wenyu, Wenjie, Wenyi, Wenjing, and Wenmu.

These are the specific names and order of the eighteen posthumous titles for civil officials, which are clearly annotated in the "Collected Statutes of the Ming Dynasty".

"Governor Zhang's contributions to the court, the Ministry of Rites believes that he can be selected from Wenzheng, Wencheng, and Wenzhong."

Xu Xuemo directly proposed three suitable posthumous titles for Zhang Juzheng while on duty in the cabinet, but notably skipped Wenzhen, and there was a reason for this.

Since Wei Zheng was also known as Wenzhen, this posthumous title was mostly given to censors of the Censorate to commend them for daring to speak frankly and offer honest advice. Zhang Juzheng was clearly not suitable to use the posthumous title Wenzhen.

After Xu Xuemo finished speaking, he sat down and waited for the cabinet to discuss the matter.

Wei Guangde didn't speak, but looked at the others.

In fact, the posthumous title for a former chief minister certainly couldn't be too low, but it definitely didn't have to be "Wenzheng".

In the history of the Ming Dynasty, there were not many officials who were posthumously honored with the title "Wenzheng". Only Li Dongyang and Xie Qian were posthumously honored with the title "Wenzheng". The others were not.

So many high-ranking officials before him did not receive the posthumous title "Wenzheng," but we cannot say that Zhang Juzheng's failure to receive it was an act of suppression by the emperor.

Wei Guangde knew that Zhang Juzheng's posthumous title was actually Wenzhong, which was the worst one among the posthumous titles recommended by the Ministry of Rites.

Undoubtedly, this was the emperor's reaction to Zhang Juzheng's somewhat dissatisfaction, but the posthumous title of Wenzhong was certainly not low.

When no one spoke for a long time, Wei Guangde knew that this was the Ministry of Rites' attitude.

So he spoke up, saying, "The Ministry of Rites' intention is to submit three posthumous titles for Your Majesty's decision. Are there any other opinions? For example, which posthumous title would be more suitable for Grand Secretary Zhang?"

Wei Guangde pressed Xu Xuemo for answers.

"Your Excellency, the Ministry of Rites discussed this morning and found that everyone actually values ​​Wencheng quite a bit. They believe that it would be more appropriate to bestow the title upon Wencheng in recognition of Grand Secretary Zhang's meritorious service to the court."

He didn't say that giving Wenzheng the posthumous title was a bit too high. As for why Xie Qian and Li Dongyang were able to receive the posthumous title of "Wenzheng," it's hard to say.

After all, the bestowal of posthumous titles was often not strictly based on the official's merits, but also on the political environment at the time and the emperor's attitude.

Wei Guangde looked at the other two vice ministers of the Ministry of Rites and asked about their attitudes.

So the two men stood up one after the other, and both had similar views, agreeing to bestow upon Zhang Juzheng the posthumous title of "Wencheng".

Yu Youding also said so, which basically shows that the Ministry of Rites viewed Zhang Juzheng's achievements relatively objectively, believing that a second-class posthumous title was sufficient to commend Zhang Juzheng's contributions to the court.

However, Wei Guangde did not make a decision immediately, but instead looked at Zhang Siwei and Shen Shixing.

"What do you two think?"

Wei Guangde asked.

Shen Shixing was the first to state his opinion: "Ru Mo agrees with what the Ministry of Rites has said, and Wen Cheng is more suitable."

Since it was the result of a public discussion by the Ministry of Rites, the cabinet would generally not contradict the Ministry of Rites and would choose to agree with it.

Zhang Siwei's attitude was similar to Shen Shixing's.

"I also agree with what Ru Mo said, that the posthumous title proposed by the Ministry of Rites is more appropriate."

However, since this matter concerns the final verdict of the former Grand Secretary, I suggest that we convene the Nine Ministers to discuss it further and then report the results to the Qianqing Palace.

Although His Majesty has already given the decree, it would be more appropriate for the Nine Ministers to discuss such a significant matter before reporting it to the emperor. "Ziwei is right."

Although His Majesty has instructed the Cabinet and the Ministry of Rites to discuss the matter, it would be more appropriate to invite the Nine Ministers to join the discussion.

Wei Guangde nodded, then smiled at the people from the Ministry of Rites and said, "Everyone may take a short rest. The cabinet will immediately send someone to invite the Nine Ministers here."

Xu Xuemo, Yu Youding, and the others exchanged glances and then nodded.

Therefore, the cabinet quickly dispatched several people to the Six Ministries, the Censorate, and the Court of Imperial Sacrifices to summon the Nine Ministers.

In less than half an hour, everyone had arrived.

Thus, the memorial drafted by the Ministry of Rites was passed around among the people.

Yu Youding, as the representative of the Ministry of Rites, also explained in detail the results of the discussions held by the Ministry of Rites that morning.

The entire afternoon was spent debating Zhang Juzheng's posthumous title, and in the end, none of the Nine Ministers objected to the Ministry of Rites' suggestion.

This was just a matter of going through the list. If, after the list was submitted to the Qianqing Palace, Emperor Wanli still disregarded the opinions of the previous dynasty and gave the posthumous title of "Wenzhong" instead of "Wencheng," then it would have little to do with the cabinet.

In Wei Guangde's view, if only the Grand Secretariat and the Ministry of Rites had submitted this memorial, and the Wanli Emperor had ultimately not chosen "Wencheng," it was highly likely that rumors would have circulated that the emperor was dissatisfied with the Grand Secretary or the Minister of Rites.

This was naturally a big problem for Wei Guangde, who had just taken up the position of Grand Secretary.

If people feel that the emperor is dissatisfied with him, how can he, as the chief minister, carry out his duties in the future?

Then, the people below will likely outwardly comply with his wishes but inwardly defy him.

Wei Guangde could not possibly win over all the court officials to his side; that would be a death sentence.

As long as we can get more support on key issues and get it passed smoothly, that's enough.

To seize control of the government? Forget it, only a fool would do that.

He never intended to rebel, become emperor, or do anything else. What was the point?

Therefore, before the end of the yamen, the formal memorial was sent directly from the cabinet to the Directorate of Ceremonial.

After finishing their business, everyone took their leave in twos and threes. The only people left in the duty room were Jiang Zhi, Zhang Ke, Zhang Xueyan, and Chen Kai, who were the people Wei Guangde had arranged among the Nine Ministers.

The fact that four of the Nine Ministers held four positions, and that these four were powerful figures, already indicated their considerable influence.

"Shan Dai, what posthumous title do you think His Majesty will bestow upon Zhang Jiangling?"

Chen Zi wasn't originally part of this circle, but since they were from the same hometown and met privately quite often, he was considered a semi-insider.

I didn't rush to leave today, but waited until the very end, actually because I wanted to see the extent of Wei Guangde's influence on the harem.

At this point, even Chen Zi, who was neither a member of any party nor part of any group, had to consider the issue of choosing sides.

If he, as the head of the Censorate, was unaware of the underhanded dealings of Zhang Siwei and Feng Bao, then he would be severely derelict in his duty.

When the others heard Chen Ti ask the question directly, they all perked up and looked over.

"Everyone thinks the posthumous title 'Wencheng' is good, so why is anyone asking this question?"

Wei Guangde laughed.

"The decree was for the Cabinet and the Ministry of Rites to discuss this, but you have summoned us all together. This makes one wonder if there are other reasons behind it."

Chen Kai looked at Wei Guangde and smiled, a glint of shrewdness flashing in his eyes.

It can only be said that those who can climb to the position of Left Censor-in-Chief through their own efforts have unique insights into people and things.

From the moment the Nine Ministers were summoned for discussion, Chen Kai realized that the matter was probably not so simple. Wei Guangde had objections to the Ministry of Rites' decision, but he just didn't want to say it out loud.

Wei Guangde subconsciously looked around. There was no one in the house, but Lu Bu was waiting outside the door.

Seeing his reaction, the others naturally knew that Chen Zi's guess was correct, and they all became curious as well.

Zhang Xueyan wondered if the emperor was going to give Zhang Juzheng the posthumous title of "Wenzheng".

In fact, Zhang Ke and Jiang Zhi were also considering this idea.

"Wenzhong".

Finally, Wei Guangde uttered two words, and the expressions of the others changed slightly upon hearing them.

The Ministry of Rites offered three options: "Wenzheng", "Wencheng", and "Wenzhong", with "Wenzhong" being the lowest rank.

They had all thought things through in a positive light, and the posthumous title that they believed His Majesty was most likely to choose turned out to be the worst option given by the Ministry of Rites.

This matter is of great importance, enough to show that Zhang Juzheng's position in the eyes of the Wanli Emperor was far from as good as everyone thought, and the relationship between the two did not seem as close as people had previously perceived.

No one spoke; everyone waited for him to continue.

Wei Guangde smiled. "You can't exactly say that Emperor Wanli designated him as 'Wenzhong' in his previous life, can you?"

However, at this point, Wei Guangde still needed to have his own explanation.

"Actually, the Ministry of Rites' conclusion is appropriate. Granting the title of Wenzheng is too much; Wencheng is the most suitable."

Wei Guangde began by affirming the results of the Ministry of Rites' discussions.

Many people in later generations felt sorry for Zhang Juzheng, believing that he deserved the title "Wenzheng," but how many of them actually understood the true value of posthumous titles in those days?

Xie Qian and Li Dongyang received honors that could only be obtained during a specific period. Why didn't Liu Jian, who was more famous than them and was the Grand Secretary, receive the same honor?
The History of Ming records: "Dongyang used poetry and prose to guide younger generations, and scholars throughout the country were all discussing literature. Jian, however, did not listen and only taught people to study the classics and investigate principles. Qianyi was a man of outstanding talent and integrity."

Li Dongyang, Liu Jian, and Xie Qian were all cabinet ministers, each with their own strengths. Together, they assisted Emperor Xiaozong of Ming in bringing about the "Hongzhi Restoration".

Li Dongyang was able to obtain the title of Wenzheng because he had been mentoring younger generations for many years, so even after his death, officials still remembered his good deeds.

As for Xie Qian, it was entirely because he contradicted the Zhengde Emperor, his character was recognized by officials, and he had accumulated forty years of achievements in officialdom.

Ultimately, bestowing the title "Wenzheng" upon Emperor Wuzong was a collective slap in the face from the civil officials.

Since then, the Ming Dynasty has never had a "Wenzheng" again, at least not until now.

"However, they had concerns that His Majesty might be displeased, so they also placed Wenzheng first."

As for Wenzhong, it seems some people in the Ministry of Rites disliked him, so they brought it up, but most people didn't agree, haha.”

Wei Guangde laughed.

"Then why do you say His Majesty might choose Wenzhong?"

Chen Zi hurriedly asked.

"Zhang Jiangling became the Grand Secretary when His Majesty was still young. Now that His Majesty is in power, he can see more clearly whether Zhang is loyal or not."

Wenzhong may seem slightly inferior to Wencheng, but perhaps he is more in line with His Majesty's wishes.

Wei Guangde said casually.

There was something he dared not say: the emperor also used this to express his dissatisfaction with Zhang Juzheng, which was suspected of being an attempt to speculate on the emperor's intentions.

Too strict, so students only recall it in their old age, and at that time, all they feel is resentment towards their teacher. (End of Chapter)