prosperous age

Chapter 321 Chapter 320

The three of them were drinking and eating meat at Wei Guangde's house, guessing wildly who arranged Wei Guangde to go south and what was the purpose?
Naturally, they didn't think of anything. After all, the three of them were like blind people touching an elephant, and they couldn't see the whole picture at all.

But Wei Guangde also heard that the two of them were not very optimistic about their future entry into the cabinet, but thought that it was possible for them to be in charge of one of the six departments, or even the Metropolitan Procuratorate.

Thinking about Wei Guangde, he probably understands that although "non-Hanlin do not join the cabinet" was not a prerequisite for cabinet ministers in the Ming Dynasty, there were indeed very few cabinet ministers who had no experience in the Imperial Academy.

Compared with the saying of the previous dynasty that "the prime minister must come from the state", the cabinet members in the Ming Dynasty did not have rich local administrative experience, and it can even be said that they had no local experience.

However, this does not mean that the cabinet selection system in the Ming Dynasty was unreasonable.

First of all, Hanlin officials belonged to the emperor's close servants, and they might even be the emperor's teachers. They were familiar with each other and it was easy to establish a "trust relationship". In the imperial power society, there is nothing more important than the emperor's trust in governing.

Secondly, Hanlin officials are the most successful in the imperial examinations. Taking this as a qualification can reduce the struggle for power and internal friction within the bureaucracy, and it is easier to be recognized by colleagues in the officialdom.

Third, Hanlin officials have no local administrative experience, which does not mean that they have no experience in handling government affairs. They have served in the central government for a long time, responsible for drafting edicts and other affairs, and are familiar with document exchanges and administrative operation mechanisms.

In the end, these imperial officials did not engage in local politics, so they had nothing to do with the local forces. After they came to power, they had to avoid suspicion of their hometowns. Instead, they were able to "balance the water in a bowl" and handle the relations of all parties in a more balanced manner. .

Wei Guangde has the qualifications to join the imperial court, but his flaws are still obvious, that is, his literary talent is not obvious.

Wei Guangde had prepared a large number of model essays for the imperial examination, and with a little bit of luck, he was able to get to where he is today.

For those who are not familiar with him, Wei Guangde is a biography, and his ranking is very high, so he will naturally feel that he has a pen and ink, but those who are familiar with him know that Wei Guangde's literary talent is not outstanding, but very ordinary.

Well, literati look down on each other, probably so.

As for joining the cabinet, there are actually two ways to talk about it, one is appointed by the emperor, or one is selected and recommended by the court.

First of all, the most simple and direct is the appointment of the emperor. In the Ming Dynasty, there were not many cabinet ministers like this, because most of the ministers who were favored by the emperor would directly reject the emperor's order. They would rather resign than enter the cabinet through the emperor's unilateral will.

Because the cabinet formed in this form is difficult to get the support of the six ministries, it is easy to cause chaos in the country, and they will become criminals of the country.

For the selection, of course, the Ministry of Officials will determine the candidates based on the results of the previous years' assessments for the emperor to decide, or the court will recommend two or three officials with a rank of three or more in the court, and submit them to the emperor's circle for use.

The cabinet ministers who come out in this way, let alone their ability to handle affairs, must meet the most basic condition of "high morality and respect", so that someone will support you, otherwise you will not be on this big list at all.

Morality and prestige, these two things, are relatively difficult to deal with based on their familiarity with Wei Guangde.

Of course, this is not to say that Wei Guangde's moral character is unworthy or flawed, but that this character actually needs to be reflected in poems and articles to a large extent, and this is Wei Guangde's weakness.

Chinese people are accustomed to judging a person's character by his works. If the poems and articles are well written, the person's character is good, and there is no problem with his moral character.

As for prestige, this needs to be accumulated, and it is not something that Wei Guangde can possess now.

Of course, Wei Guangde is only twenty years old now, so he is not in a hurry.

After sending the two away, Wei Guangde did not go back to his room to rest, but sat in the study alone thinking.

As Zhang Ke said, Wei Guangde felt that the route he was assigned now seemed to deviate from what he originally wanted.

The first goal of officials entering the Imperial Academy is naturally to join the cabinet, and Wei Guangde is no exception.

However, he seems to have become an outlier among his colleagues in the Imperial Academy.

As a Hanlin official, he was constantly sent out on business.

It's not that the officials of the Imperial Academy cannot be sent abroad, but most of them are errands such as canonization of vassal kings, and what he does overlaps with the work of the Metropolitan Procuratorate.

Could it be that I really have no hope of joining the cabinet?
Wei Guangde never thought that he would not be able to join the cabinet. In fact, after learning that he was selected as a scholar of the Imperial Academy, his ultimate goal in his official career was already aimed at the cabinet, and that was his end point.

However, Zhang Ke's words today, as well as the errands he received, all secretly revealed another possibility. He may survive in the Imperial Academy until the end, and he will still be sent to a department in the Six Departments like most of his colleagues. , or simply go to the Metropolitan Procuratorate as an errand.

In the end, you might be able to become a court official, and become the official second-rank minister of the court.
Although a little reconciled, it was the first time Wei Guangde had such a thought in his heart, maybe the sixth part was his final destination.

As for which Yamen he will go to in the end?
Wei Guangde also had some doubts in his heart. After the First World War in Baoan Prefecture, the Ministry of War wanted to get him there, but in the end Emperor Jiajing probably thought that he still needed to sharpen his mind and rejected this proposal.

The Ministry of War is naturally one of his most likely destinations.

However, this is at least 20 years later, and the person who makes the decision may not be the same as today.

Thinking of this, Wei Guangde couldn't help thinking of King Yu.

When meeting Gao Gong before, Gao Gong mentioned that after knowing that Wei Guangde gave up entering Yuwang's mansion, Yuwang seemed to be a little disappointed, but Wei Guangde's words made sense so he didn't say anything.

When Wei Guangde entered Prince Yu's Mansion, all he could do was to come up with some ideas, and to work in Zhan Shifu's office to supervise King Yu's words and deeds. It was really no more helpful to Prince Yu's Mansion than when Wei Guangde gained some power as an errand outside.

Although the current Emperor Jiajing has always been in good health, as Jia Yingchun gained a firm foothold in the household department and became more powerful, some aspects of the Yu Palace began to loosen.

Such a change naturally made King Yu slowly develop some ideas, and his desire for power is rapidly rising.

However, although Gao Gong is no longer on duty in Yuwang's mansion, he privately asked Yin Shizhen and others to pay more attention to Yuwang's performance, especially his greed for power.

These are what Gao Gong and Wei Guangde said. When he was chatting with Zhang Juzheng in the Imperial College, Zhang Juzheng reminded him many times to pay attention to King Yu's recent words and deeds.

Nowadays, when the two kings are both in the capital, it is very important to be consistent in words and deeds.

In front of Wei Guangde, Gao Gong did not shy away from admiring Zhang Juzheng, saying that he is talented, decisive in handling things, and his ability is quite reassuring.

Wei Guangde could hear that the relationship between the two seemed to have progressed quickly after they met in the Imperial College.

Perhaps, if Gao Gong hadn't died early, Zhang Juzheng might not have had the chance to succeed.

Wei Guangde didn't hear much about Gao Gong in later generations, but Zhang Juzheng's name was often seen, and it was said that he was the last hope of the Ming Dynasty, but he died in the end.

From this, Wei Guangde can only speculate that it may be because of Gao Gong's early death that he did not leave his name in history, but Zhang Juzheng was taken advantage of.

These days, the level of medical care is like this. The emperor's son died as soon as he said it was young. This shows that the mortality rate of illness is still very high. Didn't King Yu just die?
In private, Gao Gong has always insisted that King Yu is the crown prince chosen by Emperor Jiajing.

Well, if even the people around King Yu like them have no confidence in this, how can they gather a group of people around King Yu.

Because of this, Gao Gong often chatted with Wei Guangde about the current situation and how to get rid of the evils of the imperial court.

At this time, Gao Gong had an upright personality, and he was able to listen to other people's opinions. In his opinion, the Ming Dynasty was struggling so far. The root cause was the improper employment of officials, which led to the rampant lawlessness of corrupt officials. It is only necessary to clean up the court and let the officials be clear. , the Ming Dynasty will gradually recover its vitality.

Wei Guangde was noncommittal about this. There are so many corrupt officials that they can't be arrested or killed. Taizu's outrageous anti-corruption efforts failed to curb corruption in the end.

Wei Guangde read articles about the demise of the Ming Dynasty in later generations. In fact, most of them mentioned a word, "death due to financial collapse", but until now, although Wei Guangde knew that the Ming Dynasty's financial problems were serious, he really didn't see that the court was short of money. .

Without him, there is plenty in Chang Ying's treasury, but the conditions for withdrawal are very strict. When the country is in crisis, it is impossible for this money to wait in the treasury for the new owner.

Therefore, when he was still studying in the countryside, what Wei Guangde wanted was to find a way to solve the financial problems of the court after entering the court, change history if he failed, and make himself a figure comparable to Zhang Juzheng.

But after entering the court and learning more, Wei Guangde suddenly found that the analysis of later generations was wrong, so when Wei Guangde talked about Gao Gong's future policy strategies, he tried his best to show support and understanding, because he really Confused, not knowing what to do.

There must be problems with the administration of officials, but Wei Guangde thinks he can't do it if he wants to fight corruption.

Not to mention the Ming Dynasty, anti-corruption continued in later generations. Instead, anti-corruption has become a common method for political forces to confront each other and fight each other, and a sharp weapon for attacking political opponents.

When countless people applaud corrupt officials for subjugating the law, they never realize that they are just the result of a failed political struggle.

For Gao Gong's strategy, Wei Guangde didn't think much of it, it was basically a small-scale attack, and its effect on the court seemed to be very limited.

As for other issues, in Gao Gong's view, they are actually related to the administration of officials. If the right people are used, other mistakes can be avoided, and there is no need to make major changes to the imperial system.

That is to say, on external issues, Gao Gong's attitude is very staunch, just one word, "fight".

Gao Gong and Wei Guangde said this, but Wei Guangde knew it in his heart, maybe the important reason was to let Wei Guangde and others understand that Yu Wang is the real son of heaven, as long as he closely follows Yu Wang.

Speaking of which, Wei Guangde and Zhang Juzheng have not met more than three times at the wine table, and the time for communicating is pitifully small, because Zhang Juzheng spends most of his time at the Imperial College.

In the Hanlin Academy, there were not many errands, and when he returned from his illness, there was no work for him to do in the Academy.

Between Wei Guangde and Zhang Juzheng, there is only a relationship of familiar faces and mutual salutes.

Although he knew that Zhang Juzheng would be great in the future, Wei Guangde was not easy to flatter him, at least he couldn't do it when he didn't have a chance.

Thinking about this is because Wei Guangde has already realized that when King Yu comes to power in the future, the bureaucracy will be a high-ranking territory and will never allow others to get involved.

The only ones left are the Ministry of Households, the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Punishment. The Ministry of Accounting is good, but Wei Guangde really doesn’t want to get involved. The affairs are too complicated. The other two yamen seem to be a little worse. There are not many household departments, especially the criminal department.

As for the Ministry of Rites, Wei Guangde has never considered it, unless he can get a chance to take a peek there unless he can be a student in the Imperial Academy or a lecturer.

After finishing the errand this time, it is better to walk around with Zhang Juzheng more, and burn incense in advance. Anyway, his teacher is still the second assistant of the cabinet.

Wei Guangde sat in the study very late, and then he got up and went back to his bedroom. At this time, Xu Jianglan went to bed by himself after urging Wei Guangde several times to no avail.

Under the service of the maid, Wei Guangde undressed and climbed onto the bed. With the help of the weak light outside the tent, what caught his eyes was a picture of a beauty sleeping.

At this time Xu Jianglan turned her body sideways, with her arms raised and lowered in front of her chest, her beautiful hair was spread out on the pillow like a cloud, her beautiful eyes were slightly closed, her red lips were slightly parted, Qiong nose exhaled slightly, and she was sleeping soundly Quiet.

The soft quilt covered her body, showing her protruding breasts and slender waist, outlining a seductive curve.

At this moment, Wei Guangde felt his body start to heat up. He didn't know whether it was because of alcohol or what happened. He stared at it for a while, and after admiring it, he couldn't help sticking out his tongue and licking his dry lips. go in.

"Last night it was rainy and windy, and I couldn't sleep with the rest of my wine.

I tried the questionnaire, but Dao Haitang remained the same.

Do you know?It should be green, fat, red and thin. "

During the spring night, Wei Guangde's biological clock was still functioning. He woke up early, and Wei Guangde, who was lying on the bed, unconsciously recited Li Qingzhao's "Like a Dream Order" in a low voice.

After lying down for a while, Wei Guangde was fully awake. After the trouble last night, now Wei Guangde has already woken up from alcohol, and he feels refreshed.

Without waking Xu Jianglan who was still sleeping soundly, Wei Guangde quietly got up and got out of bed, called the maid in the outer room to fetch water to wash up, and went to the yard to exercise as usual.

The body is the capital of revolution.

At any time, you must have a good body.

For this life, Wei Guangde is still very satisfied, so he should eat well and live well.

But when he packed up and went out to go to the Imperial Academy for duty, Wei Guangde couldn't help but think of what happened yesterday, and sighed, he didn't know when the decree would come down, and he was afraid that it would be another trip just to leave.

Come early, it’s best to start before the canal freezes, at least you can take a boat to the south
(End of this chapter)