prosperous age

"Hiccup."

As Xu Guo stepped out of the sedan chair, two beautiful maids immediately came forward to support the swaying master and led him slowly out.

"Hiss."

Xu Guo, who was already quite drunk, took two deep breaths, his nose almost touching the maid next to him, before happily saying, "It smells so good, really so good."

"ah."

Xu Guo almost bumped into her, and the maid beside her cried out in surprise, then tried to remain calm and said, "Master, you're drunk."

"Whoever gets drunk, the master can still drink two more jars, hehe."

After saying that, Xu Guo looked around and saw two servants in the mansion. He immediately shouted, "Bring two more jars of wine over to the master. He hasn't had enough to drink yet."

"Sir, you're drunk. Let me help you to Madam's to rest."

The maidservant hurriedly said.

"Is the lady asleep?"

Xu Guo seemed to have calmed down a bit by this time and asked a question.

"Madam was unable to hold her liquor and has already gone back to the backyard to rest."

The maidservant hurriedly replied.

Xu Guo shook his head, seemingly trying to shake off his drunken state, before saying, "Then..."

"master."

Just then, the Xu family steward hurried up and, despite Xu Guo's strong smell of alcohol, whispered in his ear, "There's news coming from Nanjing, urgent."

"Nanjing, what happened to Nanjing?"

Although Xu Guo still had some sense, he was indeed quite drunk; otherwise, two maids would have been able to support him.

There's a phrase to describe someone who's truly drunk: "completely intoxicated." When someone is really drunk, they're so heavy that it takes two strong servants to help them walk.

"It seems that Lord Zhao has already submitted a memorial regarding the matter at home, and the memorial should arrive in the capital in the next few days."

Seeing this, the butler had no choice but to speak in a low voice.

"At home, Lord Zhao, ouch."

Xu Guo seemed to suddenly come to his senses, recalling the things mentioned in the letters from home.

"Help me to the study, and you come with me."

Xu Guo shook his head and gave the order. The maid helped him walk to the back. When the steward followed, he instructed the servant beside him, "Go and get some hangover soup. The master is back and we didn't prepare any. He has no sense at all."

A servant left to fetch some hangover soup, and the steward called another attendant to follow, worried that if the master got too drunk, they would have to help him up.

"Who toasted the master at the Jiangnan Guild Hall today, and drank so much?"

"They were scholars from the same hometown as the master. Among them, Wang Shiqi, the son of Master Wang from Taicang, also came to the capital to participate in the imperial examination. So the master was in a good mood and drank a little more."

The attendant immediately replied.

"Is he the young master of the Wang family, who was the top scholar in Nanjing this year?"

The butler immediately pressed for an answer.

"Yes, Young Master Wang has a high alcohol tolerance, and his household has a close relationship with the Wang family, so he drank a couple more cups than he should have, and we couldn't stop him."

The attendant took the opportunity to complain.

When officials go out to banquets, they always arrange for several people to keep an eye on them. If anyone shows signs of drunkenness, they will find an opportunity to help the official out of the banquet to prevent him from making a fool of himself.

After all, they are officials. Getting drunk and embarrassing themselves is a small matter, but if they blurt out something taboo, that would be a big deal.

However, since Xu Guo was visiting the Jiangnan Guild Hall today to celebrate the New Year with the candidates preparing for the imperial examinations in Beijing, and also to wish them success in the next year's examinations, there was less of a taboo involved.

In reality, such banquets are usually just for show; people can drink a little and that's fine. The main purpose is to demonstrate the official's concern for his fellow townsman and to build rapport.

After all, once they passed the imperial examination and became officials, they would naturally be allies, and might even join the Xu family's service.

Xu Guo was already a cabinet minister, so naturally he wanted to take the opportunity to gather a group of new officials.

The Xu family of Huizhou and the Wang family of Taicang have a close relationship and have had business dealings since their early years. In recent years, as Xu Guo's career has progressed smoothly, their relationship has become even closer. Xu Guo inevitably indulged himself once and drank heavily with Wang Shiqi.

When Xu Guo arrived at the study, he drank a bowl of hangover soup and seemed to sober up considerably.

"What about the letter?"

Upon seeing the butler enter, he immediately asked.

Just now, the housekeeper instructed someone outside the door to prepare hot water, as Xu Guo has a habit of taking a bath after drinking alcohol.

If it weren't for the fact that it wasn't yet New Year's Day and the court would have a little more time to relax, Grand Secretary Xu would probably be resting in his villa outside the city by now.

Upon hearing the master's question, the steward hurriedly took the letter out of his pocket and handed the still-warm letter to Xu Guo with both hands.

Xu Guo took the letter, quickly tore it open, and carefully examined it. Suddenly, he slammed the letter on the desk and cursed, "That Zhao Yongxian, we've given him too much face, and he's so ungrateful!"

Xu Guosheng had his reasons. Back then, Zhao Yongxian was just a Hanlin Academy reviewer. He and Wu Zhongxing, an editor, and others impeached Grand Secretary Zhang Juzheng for not voluntarily returning to his hometown to observe mourning for his parents. As a result, they were ordered by Emperor Wanli to be flogged in court.

At the time, all the officials were afraid of Zhang Juzheng and dared not speak out. It was Xu Guo who stepped in to appease them.

After they were dismissed from their posts, he was the only one who showed them the care and concern of colleagues.

At that time, Xu Guo gave Wu Zhongxing a jade cup with an inscription that read: "What are the mottled marks? They are the tears of Bian Sheng. What are the bright and beautiful marks? They are the vitality of orchids. Carve them and polish them, and they will become a precious vessel forever."

I presented Zhao Yongxian with a rhinoceros horn cup, inscribed with the following poem: "A single horn of a ram, its meaning profound and dark. I would gladly part my heart, even at the cost of my broken head. The yellow liquid within symbolizes the longevity of a gentleman."

This demonstrates his high regard for the two individuals and praises their spirit.

In fact, the news of several people impeaching Zhang Juzheng had already spread throughout the capital, and they were praised by the literati as role models for us.

Xu Guo was only afraid of Zhang Juzheng's retaliation and wanted to gain fame, so he chose to act this way.

However, Xu Guo also contributed to the reinstatement of these people after Zhang Juzheng's death; otherwise, they might not have been reinstated so quickly.

No matter what, Xu Guo had done Zhao Yongxian a great favor, yet he repaid kindness with enmity, showing no regard for his attitude whatsoever.

"Those who are passionate and grateful may accomplish one or two things by chance, and then become arrogant and arrogant, calling on frivolous and pleasure-seeking people to form cliques, attack those who disagree with them, and deceive their superiors for personal gain. This trend should not be allowed to continue."

Thinking about how their reputation had been ruined by Zhang Juzheng's affair, Xu Guo felt a lump in his throat, but he still cursed aloud.

At this point, he was already considering how to get Zhao Yongxian out of officialdom.

For cabinet ministers, getting rid of a mid-to-low-ranking official is no big deal. They only need to say a few words during the evaluation, and the official will be dismissed due to poor performance.

This is the influence of cabinet ministers in the court; there are plenty of people eager to curry favor with them.

"Sir, what should we do now?"

The butler then spoke up and asked.

"You don't need to worry about it. I will inform the Secretariat tomorrow, and once his memorial arrives, I will send it directly to my office for processing."

Xu Guo gritted his teeth and said, "Also, take me to write a letter home and tell them to shut up. A little money is just an external thing."

Zhang Jiangling has only been dead for less than a year and they're already making this and that. The imperial court hasn't even introduced any new policies for those taxes yet, so just behave yourself.

"Wait until other places start doing this, and then we can take action when there are too many cases to punish. What's the rush?" "Yes, sir."

The steward wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. He knew about this. In the past two years, due to tax reforms, the family had to pay an extra 20,000 to 30,000 taels of silver in taxes every year, which made the masters in the mansion very dissatisfied.

Therefore, after Zhang Juzheng's death, they contacted local gentry and the Huizhou government to discuss and draft some policies, hoping to break the new tax law and give them a breather.

Local people had long been dissatisfied with Zhang Juzheng's new laws. What was originally a gradual test was eventually broken down, and in the end, the imperial court could only let it go.

After all, Emperor Wanli did not like Zhang Juzheng at that time, so he naturally did not take Zhang Juzheng's previous policies seriously.

By the mid-Wanli period, it had become too powerful to control.

It can be said that Zhang Juzheng's reform achievements were destroyed in less than twenty years, and Zhang Siwei, Shen Shixing and others bear some responsibility for this.

As a result, when taxes could not be collected, Emperor Wanli frantically collected mining taxes in order to make up for the fiscal deficit, while also misappropriating large amounts of silver from the Imperial Stud's treasury, directly pushing the Ming Dynasty into an abyss.

"Zhao Yongxian, Zhao Yongxian"

After the butler left, Xu Guocai squinted and pondered how to deal with him.

If they wait until the evaluation to take action against him, the waiting time will be too long, and Xu Guo cannot tolerate it.

We need to think of some way to make him make a mistake while in office and punish him severely.

Unconsciously, Xu Guo began to think about who he could use in Nanjing to help him vent his anger.

As the saying goes, "It's easy to dodge a spear in the open, but hard to guard against an arrow in the dark." As long as we make proper arrangements, we can definitely take him down quickly.

At this time, Wei Guangde had not yet received the report from Zhao Yongxian in Nanjing.

He had just been drinking at the Jiangxi Guild Hall last night, and today he went to the Jiujiang Guild Hall for a banquet to encourage the candidates to pass the imperial examinations next year.

When he returned to the mansion, Zhang Ji had already prepared a hangover soup and hot water, and he was helped by servants to walk to the back.

"Master, Madam says she wants to leave the city tomorrow and stay in Tangshan. She says she'll go there after the New Year's Day court assembly."

Zhang Ji followed behind and whispered to Wei Guangde.

"Let her go if she wants to. If it weren't for the political affairs that are keeping me occupied, I would have gone there long ago."

Wei Guangde muttered, "Sometimes I really feel that being an official is meaningless. It's not as comfortable as being a rich man."

As for the Tangshan Hot Spring mentioned by Zhang Ji, Wei Guangde had actually arranged for people to purchase land there and build a villa two years ago, and introduced hot spring water into it, making it a place for the Wei family to ward off the cold in winter.

Actually, there are quite a few hot springs around Beijing, but Tangshan Hot Spring is the best.

The Northern Wei dynasty scholar Li Daoyuan wrote in his "Commentary on the Waterways Classic" that "North of Yuyang is a hot spring, three hundred li away from Yanjing."

Despite its rise and fall several times, its reputation has never waned. In addition, there was a superstitious belief in the ancient people that hot springs could cure diseases and prolong life.

However, it was a bit far from the capital, so Wei Guangde thought it over carefully before sending someone to build a villa there.

Of course, his actions also inspired other nobles and officials in the capital to follow suit, and they snapped up all the available hot spring land near Datangshan and Xiaotangshan in no time.

Of course, the main spring had already been requisitioned by the royal family as early as the Yuan Dynasty. In the early Ming Dynasty, a railing made of white marble was built near the main spring to prevent outsiders from entering, so it was a royal villa.

The location of Wei Guangde's villa is relatively close to the main spring, making it a fairly good hot spring pool.

Well, this is yet another minor alteration of history by Wei Guangde.

The development of Tangshan Hot Springs can be traced back to the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty, when a royal palace was built on the site during the construction of the Chengde Mountain Resort.

Emperors Kangxi and Qianlong frequently came here to soak in the hot springs, and Kangxi even built several imperial palaces here.

Whenever he was busy with official duties and physically and mentally exhausted, he would come to Xiaotangshan Tangquan Palace to immerse himself in the soothing hot springs and dispel the fatigue of the day.

During his 61-year reign, Emperor Kangxi built four hot spring palaces, among which the Xiaotangshan Hot Spring Palace was the closest hot spring resort to the capital.

As he aged, Emperor Kangxi's health gradually declined. However, even in the year before his death, he still visited Xiaotangshan Imperial Palace many times, seeking the healing power of the hot springs.

However, Wei Guangde's power and wealth have now reached the peak of the Ming Dynasty, and he may even have become the world's richest man after the King of Spain, so he naturally began to pursue enjoyment.

Well, his position as prime minister couldn't compare to the speed of making money through outright robbery. Spain now possessed gold and silver mines throughout Mexico and South America, and its wealth was truly vast, far exceeding the capital he could control.

Therefore, although the Ming Dynasty was a prosperous industrial and commercial center at that time, the position of the world's richest man was firmly held by the King of Spain.

"The New Year is just around the corner. Are there any festive events in the city?"

Wei Guangde casually asked another question.

"Everything is as usual, except..."

Zhang Ji answered immediately, but soon became hesitant and stammering.

"Just what? What are you hesitating about?"

Wei Guangde glanced at Zhang Ji and said with dissatisfaction.

"It was that foreign monk who caused all this trouble."

Zhang Ji hurriedly said.

"What trouble could a missionary like him possibly cause?"

Wei Guangde was puzzled, but he stopped walking.

“He used to set up a stall outside Zhengyangmen to preach and recruit believers. At first, it worked well, and many wealthy merchants went to listen to his teachings.”

However, these past few days, with the weather getting colder and fewer people around, he actually tricked the children on the street into going to that church to listen to his sermons.

Then the children's families, thinking their children had been abducted, reported it to the authorities. The Shuntian Prefecture temporarily closed his church, and the matter became quite a big deal.

Zhang Ji said in a low voice.

"Ha, missionary work should start from childhood."

Wei Guangde was delighted to hear this. He remembered that in Western churches, when they held events, they would give people candy or something to let them feel the sweetness of faith in God.

Unexpectedly, Matteo Ricci lured the children to the church without informing their parents.

"He wasn't arrested, was he?"

Wei Guangde asked with a smile.

"He was arrested, but the Xu family bailed him out."

After that, whenever they saw him on the streets, they would keep a close eye on their children, fearing that he would abduct them again.

Rumors are circulating that their so-called cult is just a place that lures children into its trap.

In particular, previous cases of human trafficking among the Southeastern Yi people were circulating in the streets and alleys, so there was some resentment among the people who felt he should be arrested.

Zhang Ji didn't laugh, but instead explained the situation outside clearly.

Anyway, because of that incident involving the abduction of children, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Rites probably spread some information about things from years ago. Now, people have a very negative view of his religion, fearing that they might abduct their children overseas, where they would never be found again.

"Never mind him, I'll call him over after the New Year. I have something to say to him."

What they were talking about was finding him a job at the Four Barbarians Bureau, giving him something to do so he wouldn't think about those crooked ways to deceive believers.

"Yes, sir."

Zhang Ji hurriedly agreed. (End of Chapter)