prosperous age

"Does the Grand Secretary really intend to let His Majesty cause a court turmoil in the first year of his personal rule?"

Zhang Hong frowned and reminded him.

Wei Guangde frowned slightly and immediately said, "That's precisely why we can't break the rules from the start."

"It's true that without rules, nothing can be accomplished. If things are like this in the first year, what will happen in the future? I don't need to say, I think my father-in-law can imagine."

"Does this matter really need to be brought up to the Emperor to be interesting?"

Zhang Hong was silent for a moment, then asked.

"This matter really requires His Majesty's approval, which sets the tone."

Let me be frank: the Ministry of Revenue simply cannot afford to shoulder the financial burden of this Aoshan Lantern Festival's problems; it's simply too much for them to bear.

The outer court would only bear half of the overspending, and the accounts would have to be reviewed first to ensure they were correct before the outer court would take responsibility.

Anyone who reached out for it had to return double the amount of silver.

As Wei Guangde spoke, his tone became increasingly fierce.

Zhang Hong's brows furrowed even deeper at this moment. In fact, he was not young at this time, and his eyebrows were gray, making him look even older.

“Eunuch Zhang, you must know the origin of this matter.”

Zhang Jing is a man of wicked intentions who uses flattery to please the emperor, and there is much dissatisfaction in the court regarding his actions.

Although the Aoshan Lantern Festival was very well organized this time, the investment was far too large.

Such extravagance, if this person were to seize power in the central government, who knows how he would bring disaster to the country in the future.

However, His Majesty trusts him greatly, and this is precisely an opportunity.

Given His Majesty's favor towards him, this incident is unlikely to have a significant impact on him, but His Majesty must have developed a grudge against him.

He may have escaped this time, but if he commits another offense, His Majesty will likely not forgive him again.

This seems to offer only benefits and no drawbacks for the eunuch's efforts to reorganize the inner court.

Wei Guangde tentatively said.

Zhang Hong wanted to persuade Wei Guangde to settle things with the outer court, and Wei Guangde had the same idea.

At this time, Chen Ju had just left the capital, and he lacked someone in the inner court to mediate.

Zhang Hong's presence suggests that he intends to downplay the matter, or that he has other motives.

Wei Guangde had frequent contact with Zhang Hong, and with Chen Ju's opinion as a reference, he actually felt that Zhang Hong, serving as the Inner Chancellor in the inner court, seemed like a very good partner.

He wasn't as greedy and ambitious as Feng Bao; he was a man of action who rose through the ranks by gaining seniority.

What does this show? It shows that he is an upright person who disdains opportunism and flattery.

At the same time, they maintained their integrity and purity, so that even in a place like the palace, no one could find a reason to criticize them.

In fact, this kind of person, although not as good as Hai Rui, is not much different.

At the very least, the heart is pure.

Collaborating with Zhang Hong seems to be a better option than the combination of Zhang Juzheng and Feng Bao.

Thinking of the shady dealings between Zhang Jing and Zhang Siwei, Wei Guangde's heart stirred, because he thought of someone: Wang An, the eunuch who served the emperor.

Wang Anke was Feng Bao's adopted son, but after Zhang Hong took charge of the inner court, he did not make significant changes to the people that Feng had retained.

It was merely a matter of reassigning the guards of a few key government offices, such as the warehouse, to other locations; in reality, it was a show of leniency.

With many such changes, most of those people would be transferred outside the palace.

The imperial court had many businesses outside the capital, such as imperial estates, imperial shops, and even imperial palaces in China.

However, Wang An was an honest man, so Zhang Hong kept him by the emperor's side, which seems to indicate that Zhang Hong had a good impression of Feng Bao.

Chen Ju had mentioned it before: the Emperor was dissatisfied with Zhang Juzheng and Feng Bao, and several senior eunuchs in the inner court were well aware of this.

According to Chen Ju, Zhang Hong had also advised Zhang Jing to stop focusing on Zhang Xiang's affairs.

The same goes for Feng Bao. It is said that he had a high opinion of Feng Bao, saying, "Senior Feng Gong, the Master of Ceremonies, is a man of integrity. Keeping him around will bring many benefits."

Of course, this is also because Feng Bao can indeed bring many benefits to the inner court from the outer court.

The connections between the inner court and the outer court before Zhang Juzheng's death can be seen from this.

Faced with someone who held positive views on Zhang Juzheng and Feng Bao, Wei Guangde finally tried to ask: "Zhang Jing previously spoke ill of Eunuch Feng and Chancellor Zhang, and also offered many slanderous words to His Majesty."

It is said that Yang Keli had contacted Li Zhi and others beforehand regarding this impeachment.

Li Zhi had previously had dealings with Zhang Jing.

If we don't seize this opportunity to give Zhang Jing a good beating, who knows what kind of trouble he'll cause later.

Upon hearing Wei Guangde's words, Zhang Hong's expression darkened, and he said unhappily, "Does Prime Minister Wei also intend to punish the eunuchs?"

"I wouldn't dare, but Zhang Jing has repeatedly caused trouble."

Zhang Xiang's actions back then, though not exactly saving the dynasty from collapse or turning the tide, were still extraordinary contributions to the Ming Dynasty.

To put it bluntly, even someone as arrogant as Prime Minister Gao probably wouldn't have dared to set things right and implement sweeping reforms like Prime Minister Chang.

I dared not, so although I disagreed with many of the policies, the land survey and tax reform were indeed crucial to the continuation of the dynasty.

Even if such a person makes some mistakes, they are actually tolerable.

Yet it is precisely this kind of person who has been repeatedly slandered by Zhang Jing before His Majesty; this is truly unacceptable.

Wei Guangde continued, "This warning will make him behave, which is a great thing for our outer court and definitely not a bad thing for the inner court."

"Since Prime Minister Wei has made his decision, I have nothing more to say."

Hearing Wei Guangde say this, Zhang Hong knew that Wei Guangde had probably been planning to take this opportunity to put Zhang Jing in a bad light.

But thinking about it, it makes sense; Zhang Jing, that traitor, really is disobedient.

When Feng Bao was brought down, Zhang Jing and Zhang Siwei were in close contact, constantly making moves together.

Although Zhang Hong was also dissatisfied with Feng Bao, it did not warrant his demotion to the Xiaoling Mausoleum in Nanjing.

Initially, Emperor Wanli merely dismissed Feng Bao from his post and sent him home to live a quiet life.

However, it's no wonder Zhang Hong wouldn't give a friendly look to Wei Guangde, who represented the outer court in scheming against the inner court.

If they can scheme against Zhang Jing today, who will they scheme against tomorrow?
Whether it's Zhang Hong or Zhang Cheng, bringing down either of them will be a step forward for Chen Ju.

Zhang Hong was well aware of the relationship between Wei Guangde and Chen Ju.

However, Chen Ju lived up to his name and was truly disciplined, so Zhang Hong never had any conflicts with him.

Sensing Zhang Hong's bad mood, Wei Guangde quickly smiled apologetically and said, "Eunuch Zhang, this action is actually for the sake of the court, and it is absolutely not because Shandai has any other greed towards the people in the inner court."

Zhang Jing has really gone too far in this matter, and I bet that he embezzled at least 100,000 taels of silver out of the 700,000 to 800,000 taels spent this time.

Eunuch Zhang may not know, but he has heard that Zhou Xiang, Wan Fushun, and Sun Changxiu, among others, from the outer court, have bribed him quite a bit.

Zhang Jing, however, used his connections to seek personal gain for them, sending the official documents directly to the Ministry of Personnel.

"Heh, Zhang Jing is just a eunuch, only a fifth-rank official, yet he can command the officials of the Ministry of Personnel."

Zhang Hong sneered.

"He's a favorite of His Majesty; which of the officials in the Ministry of Personnel dares to mess with him?"

Wei Guangde said this intentionally for Zhang Hong's ears. Zhang Jing not only caused trouble in the inner court, but also used his status to influence the court outside.

Everyone knows these things perfectly well, but they just haven't brought them to the forefront.

The cabinet couldn't impeach him for this, and the censors dared not.

Don't think of censors as mad dogs, biting anyone they see. In reality, they're very shrewd and know how to avoid danger. Zhang Jing is the head of the Eastern Depot; people would avoid him like the plague. Who would willingly approach someone like that?

"That's a matter for the outer court; it's not appropriate for the inner court to inquire further."

After saying this, Zhang Hong stood up, cupped his hands in farewell, and took his leave.

Wei Guangde had no choice but to send it out. Although it seemed that the negotiations had not gone well, Wei Guangde already had a general idea of ​​Zhang Hong's attitude.

He left decisively because he didn't want to get involved. Otherwise, if word got back, people would say that he wasn't helping his own people and was colluding with the outer court to suppress his colleagues.

Yes, the eunuchs were also a circle, just like the civil officials.

If they really wanted to protect Zhang Jing, they'd have to get into a lot of trouble with Wei Guangde.

Even though Zhang Jing had been expelled from the palace, he was still a member of the palace, so he couldn't let outsiders bully him.

Wei Guangde watched Zhang Hong's departing figure, and wondered if he would inform Zhang Cheng.

Recently, there's been some news from Liu Ruoyu's side, saying that Zhang Cheng and Zhang Jing seem to be getting quite close.

Although Zhang Cheng wouldn't actually cooperate with Zhang Jing, Zhang Cheng is somewhat impatient and eager for quick success.

However, this approach wasn't very effective against Zhang Hong, since Zhang Hong valued stability and avoided making mistakes.

If it were any other eunuch, they would probably have discovered this trend and tried every means to suppress it and break up their group.

Wei Guangde shook his head and returned to his duty room. Looking at the memorial he had left behind, he immediately began to draft a resolution.

Meanwhile, Shen Shixing was processing the memorials submitted by the Ministry of War, which included war reports from Japan and Wang Xijue's request for support from the imperial court.

This time, they weren't asking for soldiers, but rather for gunpowder and firearms, explaining that the recent fierce battles with the Japanese pirates had resulted in heavy losses of gunpowder and equipment, and that they needed to replenish them.

However, Shen Shixing breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the last document from the Ministry of War.

He flipped through the Japanese war report again, muttering to himself, "Two hundred thousand? Does Japan really have that many troops?"

Previously, he had read a report from the Embroidered Uniform Guard in Wei Guangde's office, which said that Japan had amassed an army of more than 400,000 to counterattack, but he was quite skeptical at the time.

It would be difficult for the Ming Dynasty to assemble an army of 400,000, yet the mere Japanese nation has so many troops.
Even if North Korea, which is next door, were to be mobilized, it would be several times larger than Japan, and even if the entire nation's army were mobilized, it probably wouldn't be enough to gather that many troops.

However, since the memorial had been delivered here, Shen Shixing thought about it and got up to go find Wei Guangde.

When Wei Guangde was still the second-in-command, all important military and national affairs passed through his hands.

Now that he is the Grand Secretary, he naturally has overall control and cannot still be in charge of the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Works.

Naturally, important reports would first be delivered to Shen Shixing.

Soon, Shen Shixing arrived outside Wei Guangde's duty room and asked Lu Bu, who was standing at the door, "Is the Grand Secretary inside?"

"The master is inside. I will inform him immediately."

After finishing his sentence, Lu Bu quickly went into the duty room and came out a moment later.

This was just for show; since Shen Shixing had come, Wei Guangde naturally had no reason not to see him.

Soon, Shen Shixing was led by Wei Guangde to the reception area, where the two sat down in armchairs, separated by a tea table.

Since Shen Shixing has come here, there is no need for Wei Guangde to take the position of the head of the household.

Soon, Lu Bu brought in tea.

"Rumo, have a taste. This tea arrived just two days ago; it's early spring tea from the Sichuan-Chongqing region, and it tastes very fresh and refreshing."

Wei Guangde laughed.

Although it's only the beginning of the first month of the lunar calendar, and it's called early spring tea, it was actually picked and processed at the end of last year and then rushed to the capital. Ordinary people really can't get to drink it.

Even in the palace, there wasn't one.

After all, the palace couldn't afford to spend money on this; tribute tea was sent from various places every year during the peak season.

Tribute tea is naturally of the highest quality, but Wei Guangde is now only drinking something fresh, that is, new tea.

This means he had businesses in various places, which enabled him to collect and transport the goods to the capital at high speed.

Well, now he's paying more attention to enjoying life. After all, with this much money, it really is all about stuff, box after box.

In later generations, wealthy people said that having a lot of money is just a number, but for Wei Guangde now, it's just metal that you can look at but can't eat.

Shen Shixing picked up his teacup, looked at the tea leaves in it, took a sip, and nodded in praise: "The taste is refreshing, the buds are showing, and the aroma is wonderful. It is a good tea."

"Haha, then take a pack back with you later, I still have some here."

Wei Guangde laughed.

"Your Excellency, please take a look at this first, a Japanese military report."

Setting down his teacup, Shen Shixing didn't forget the purpose of his trip—he wasn't there to freeload—and immediately pulled out a memorial from his sleeve and handed it to Wei Guangde.

"Okay, I'll take a look."

Wei Guangde took it with a smile and casually added, "Just now, the Ministry of Revenue submitted a memorial saying that the inner court requested the Ministry of Revenue to provide 300,000 taels of silver, but they rejected it."

"Yes, that's exactly right."

Shen Shixing immediately nodded in support.

"Huh, it's strange that 200,000 Japanese troops besieged a city instead of launching a full-scale counterattack."

Wei Guangde naturally read the battle report first and learned that Japan had recently been conscripting soldiers on a large scale in preparation for a counterattack against the Ming army's invasion.

After that, there seemed to be no further news.

The two previous battle reports from the Ministry of War were both from Wang Xijue, who reported that General Qi was setting up border defenses and that the Japanese pirates were also sharpening their swords, and that a major battle could break out at any moment.

Okay, here's today's battle report: the two sides have finally started fighting, but the battle is concentrated in one city.

This is the city where Liu Ting was stationed. Qi Jiguang thought highly of him and considered Liu Ting to be a fierce general. It can be said that Qi Jiguang valued this place highly.

The fact that the Japanese pirates did the same shows that both sides shared similar views, which led to this fierce battle.

This was the result of poor communication. At this time, Japan had already begun to seek peace talks, while the people in Beijing were still receiving news that the two sides had officially started fighting.

Consider this: at its peak, the Mongol Empire's borders stretched from the western Pacific Ocean to the eastern Atlantic Ocean. It would take half a year for documents from Europe to reach the Khan's tent. This explains why the Mongol Empire's golden age was so short-lived, like a fleeting moment, and it quickly fragmented into several empires.

There's no way to manage it.

Even at its strongest point, Spain's management of the occupied territories was very loose, with local officials often acting independently.

In other words, the Spanish officials who expanded their colonies were clever; they only targeted weaklings, not truly powerful nations, which allowed them to repeatedly succeed by sheer luck.

The Spanish people's delusion of conquering the Ming Dynasty with only a few hundred or a few thousand men has become nothing more than a laughing stock for later generations.

"This time they didn't ask for reinforcements."

Upon reading to the end, Wei Guangde chuckled and said, "Gunpowder and firearms—I remember the Ministry of War had already transported large quantities to Tianjin a while ago."

"That's right. The Ministry of War immediately sent a document to Tianjin, instructing them to make the necessary transfers."

Presumably, loading onto the ship has already begun by now.

Shen Shixing echoed this.

"I trust the Ministry of War to handle things."

Wei Guangde smiled and praised the Ministry of War's efficiency.

peace of mind.

"However, it would be better to request the imperial decree to allow the Ministry of War to mobilize a troop each from Tianjin and Songjiang Prefecture for this draft proposal."

Wei Guangde suddenly spoke. (End of Chapter)