prosperous age

Chapter 402 Chapter 401

Jiajing 39 years
Due to heavy exploitation by the government, taxes and servitude, Japanese pirates plundered various states and counties, resulting in extreme poverty, and people from all over Fujian rose up to resist one after another.Among them, there are the cellar people in Dapu, the boat people in Nanwan, the mountain people in Youxi, the miners in Longyan, the refugees in Nanjing, Yongding and other places, and the uprising of Zhang Lian, the most powerful cellarman, and others. defeat.Liu Tao, the governor, was overwhelmed, but slaughtered cattle and gave them to the rebels, and supported the crowd for self-defense.The imperial court charged him with crimes and arrests.

Following the governor of Fujian Liu Tao, the petitions of the Fujian censor and the procuratorate were sent to the capital, and the situation in Fujian once again entered the eyes of the officials in Beijing.

In the Imperial Academy, Wei Guangde and other hospital officials gathered in the courtyard, discussing memorials from Fujian.

"Liu Tao avoided the seriousness and ignored it. He only said that the governor of Longyan County Magistrate Tang defeated the Feilong army and killed the leader of the army, Xiao Xuefeng, but he was vague and perfunctory about the previous peace talks.

I think the rumor that Liu Tao sent pigs and sheep to people in order to prevent the rebel Zhang Lian from attacking the surrounding counties is probably true, shame on you. "

Hanlin editor Lin Shizhang stood in the flower pavilion and said loudly.

He was a candidate for the palace examination last year, and now he has less contact with various forces in the DPRK and China, so he can say whatever he thinks, and he is not afraid of being hated by others.

In his opinion, Governor Liu Tao's behavior of sending cattle and sheep to Zhang Lian's rebels was no less than seeking skins from tigers. He even said that these people gathered to guard against Japanese pirates.

It's all right now, everyone has ascended the throne and proclaimed themselves emperor, and raised the flag of rebellion, but at this time they say that they were deceived by the rebels to win sympathy, it is really shameless.

"Shizhang's words are justified. It is these local officials who have acted indiscriminately, which led to the civil uprising in Fujian. You should have heard that the people in Jiangnan are not only responsible for the additional dispatch of Hu Zongxian, but also the increased miscellaneous labor of the local government. In Fujian, people in the whole south of the Yangtze River are full of dissatisfaction."

The reason why the officials in the Imperial Academy are Qingliu is because they have no experience in local governance, so many things are more idealistic.

Hu Zongxian’s additional faction cannot be controlled, it is approved by the imperial court and the emperor, and local officials, as the imperial court stationed in one side of the herdsmen, should be sympathetic to the people under their rule, and do everything possible to reduce local expenditures and miscellaneous taxes.

But they don't know that when they really go down to the localities, only the appointed officials will know the difficulties of the party in charge.

The local forces are deeply intertwined, and even a little carelessness may not be able to implement the government order. It is not that the local gentry dare to openly resist, but that people in the government will also have objections.

If their interests are not touched, they may still be able to make peace, but once their interests are touched, they will also adopt a non-cooperative attitude to fight.

People are not all high-spirited people as mentioned in the book, they all have their own selfishness.

At this time, the Hanlin officials were all discussing in one go, expressing their own opinions.

Wei Guangde was also happy to sit and listen at the side. Most of the people here are editors and editors of the Imperial Academy, and there are no bachelors involved, so they can speak freely and feel no pressure, even if there are two Jinyiwei captains by the courtyard in this way.

At this moment, Wei Guangde felt a gust of wind blowing around him, Wei Guangde looked sideways, and there was already a person sitting beside him.

"Brother uncle."

Wei Guangde hastily cupped his hands and said in a low voice.

The person who came was Zhang Juzheng. Although I don't know how he returned to the Imperial Academy from the Imperial Academy, could it be that the students of the Imperial Academy are on winter vacation?

"Shandai, are they discussing local ills again?"

Zhang Juzheng had just arrived, and now the focus of everyone's conversation has shifted to the local government, criticizing the exorbitant taxes imposed by the local government, accusing local officials of being corrupt and breaking the law, so Zhang Juzheng came here and listened to a few sentences and thought they were talking about this thing.

Wei Guangde shook his head lightly, "The business in Fujian has now shifted to criticizing local bad governance."

Zhang Juzheng nodded slightly, expressing his understanding.

After listening for a while, Wei Guangde suddenly remembered that he had received letters from Jiujiang a few days ago, one of which was written by his old acquaintance Zhu Shilong Zhu Gongzi, saying that he was studying his homework at home, and felt that there was nothing much to learn in Jiujiang, mainly for some difficult problems I couldn't find anyone to answer, so I plan to go to Beijing to study at the Imperial College next year, and wait for the exam in two years.

After failing two consecutive exams, Zhu Shilong let himself go a little bit, and now he finally plans to pick up the books again to pursue fame, which is naturally a good thing. According to his letter, Duan Mengxian is also with him.

Duan Mengxian did not let himself go like Zhu Shilong, and failed three consecutive exams. This time, he also planned to live in the capital to prepare for the exam. The reason for writing to Wei Guangde was naturally to ask him to find a place near the Imperial College.

It was just a little effort, Wei Guangde naturally would not refuse, he had already ordered Zhang Ji to look at the house, although the rent of the houses around the Imperial College was not cheap, but Zhu Shilong was also a man with a family background, so he would not care about the rent.

Now that Si Ye of the Imperial Academy is by his side, Wei Guangde naturally planned to talk to Zhang Juzheng about it first.

It is naturally allowed to recruit people to enter the Imperial College, and they meet the basic conditions for students to enter the prison.

The students of Guozijian in the Ming Dynasty were mainly divided into two categories, namely official students and people's students.

Official students are appointed by the emperor, including not only the children of officials at all levels, but also the children of chieftains and overseas students sent by overseas vassal states.

And Minsheng is a handsome folk who is recommended by local officials and a person who fails in the general examination.

The students who entered the Guozijian were generally called Jiansheng, and the children of officials were called Yinjian, and Yinjian could be divided into official students and Ensheng.

In the previous system, the father and brother were awarded official positions because of their merits, which was called the system of appointing sons.

At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, this system was followed, and it was stipulated that civil officials of the first rank to the seventh rank could let a son inherit their salary, but now, the threshold for asking for shade has been raised, and only Beijing officials of the third rank or above can ask for shade.

As for Ensheng, it was the emperor's decree that some officials' children could enter the Guozijian to study, regardless of the rank of officials.

Therefore, sometimes the words "Yin Yizi" mentioned in the imperial decree's rewards to certain officials actually belonged to the category of Ensheng. After all, after graduating from the Imperial College, they could be awarded official positions without entering the ranks, but they were still officials anyway.

Different from the children who were born in the family of officials, Minsheng came from the families of ordinary people, and can be divided into tribute prison and eunuch.

Juren, in fact, refers to the Juren who failed the general examination to enter the Guozijian for tutoring. There are two ways out.

One is purely studying in the Imperial College to prepare for the exam, preparing to take the next exam, and entering the officialdom as a Jinshi. Once these people succeed, their future will be limitless, while the other part of the people enter the Imperial College for the purpose of selecting officials.

Scholars who pass the provincial examination and become Juren will be permanently qualified to participate in the general examination and select officials. Sometimes, due to special needs, they will be directly awarded the administrative position of Juren. Generally, this situation is mainly concentrated in the Hongwu period when the supply of talents was in short supply and the selection of officials was eclectic. .

Later, with the increase in the number of scholars, it became extremely difficult to become an official as a juror. Therefore, the only way out for these people was the Imperial College.

The tribute prison refers to the entry of tribute students into the prison. The tribute prison is divided into four categories, namely Sui Gong, Xuan Gong, En Gong, and Paying Gong.

These people are similar to recommended students in later generations. The top students from various prefectures, prefectures, and counties are sent to study at the Imperial Academy in the capital, and the students with lower grades are sent to the Imperial Academy in the central capital.

However, the examinations for these students are also very strict, that is, the year-old students will undergo an assessment before entering the Imperial College, and for unqualified students, the instructors, promotion officers and students will be punished together.

Therefore, if Juren in this period wants to give up the imperial examination and become an official, he needs to go to the Imperial College.

Most of the direct appointment of officials by Juren existed in the early Ming Dynasty, and it became an exception in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, which is very rare.

In principle, as long as they meet the entry requirements, they should be admitted, but in fact, in addition to not rejecting those who are admitted to the prison, the Imperial College also has to conduct some examinations for admission, especially for the southerners who sit in prisons in the Beijing Imperial College. .

In order to facilitate the examination, many students are willing to stay in Beijing to prepare for the examination, which leads to the reduction of the number of students in Nanjing Guozijian and the overcrowding of Beijing Guozijian.

Although there is no need to go through the back door for Zhu Shilong and Duan Mengxian, it is still possible to ask Siye of the Imperial Academy to take care of them a little bit.

Wei Guangde whispered the situation of Zhu and Duan to Zhang Juzheng. He heard that it was just for the next year's exam preparation, Zhang Juzheng nodded and agreed, "They will come over next year, I will arrange it directly."

"By the way, why is uncle uncle free to go back to the Imperial Academy, the Imperial Academy?"

After Wei Guangde dealt with Zhu Shilong's affairs, he asked casually.

Zhang Juzheng is now on a real job, so it stands to reason that the Hanlin Academy is not used anymore, even if there is something in the academy to find him, it will only send someone there.

"In the first two years, Su Qing and I were rectifying the style of study in the Imperial College. Now the style of study in the prison has improved a lot. Naturally, I have nothing to do as a secretary, haha"

Zhang Juzheng laughed at himself in a low voice, and after laughing, Zhang Juzheng asked Wei Guangde in a low voice: "I heard that the imperial court may replace Fujian Yushi, and it is said that you may be called to come over, do you know?"

Hearing Zhang Juzheng say this, Wei Guangde's heart moved, he just pretended not to care and said: "It's good to be a censor, I heard that the censor is still very prestigious when he comes down to the local government."

"You still want to go to Fujian to be a tyrant? Hehe, the Japanese pirates over there are more troublesome than Zhejiang recently, and there are Zhang Lian and other rebels."

As he said that, Zhang Juzheng pointed to a few people in the circle who were talking loudly and said: "If you go to Fujian, if you can't suppress the rebels in a short period of time, you will become their talk."

"It will definitely be difficult to suppress the bandits in a short period of time. Fujian is also a place with high mountains and dense forests. I don't think much about the above-mentioned purpose of suppressing bandits within a limited time."

Speaking of this, Wei Guangde pointed at himself again, and said: "As for whether I will be sent, it is very hard to say before the decree comes down."

Although Fujian is coastal, it is not a plain, but mainly mountainous and hilly. There is a saying that "eight mountains, one water and one field". The small area of ​​the plain is not conducive to the development of planting. of.

"The prefectures in Zhangquan are surrounded by mountains and seas, with few fields and many people, and the rice produced is not enough for the people's food." This is the ancient people's view of Fujian.

It is also for this reason that Fujianese naturally turn their attention to the vast sea, and use the sea as their field to engage in ocean fishing and ocean transportation.

Especially after the loss of control of the Northwest in the Song Dynasty blocked the land Silk Road, long-distance ocean navigation was forced to become a viable alternative. Fuzhou and Quanzhou gradually became the starting point of the Maritime Silk Road.

Wei Guangde, who came from later generations, naturally knows the importance of international trade. It can be said that the rise of countries in later generations has contributed to the rise of international trade, but what about modern times?

Wei Guangde still thinks this is the case, not to mention that when he first became an official, he thought about expanding the production of the advantageous industries of the Ming Dynasty, especially exporting a large amount of silk in exchange for gold, silver and grain to deal with the natural and man-made disasters that the Ming Dynasty will face in the future.

So Wei Guangde actually didn't have much resistance to Gao Gong's plan to send him to Fujian, so he might as well go and have a look.

He has never been to Fujian in his past and future lives.

Later generations said, "Without investigation, there is no right to speak", and the principle of "True knowledge comes from practice", has actually penetrated into Wei Guangde's bone marrow.

"There is not enough time to suppress the thieves. Two days ago, I heard people talking about it. If the thieves are to be suppressed, it must be completed before February of the next year. Otherwise, the success will fall short. The army will move to the coastal counties to defend against the Japanese pirates."

Zhang Juzheng obviously knew a lot, and when Wei Guangde said that it would be difficult to suppress the thieves in a short period of time, he couldn't help but speak up.

"Yes, in March, April, and May, the northeasterly wind blows on the sea, which is suitable for Japanese pirates to land on the beach. It is also the same in September and October. Although there are occasional Japanese raids in normal times, most of them are small groups of thieves. There are several waves of Japanese pirates attacking."

Wei Guangde nodded in agreement and said that he spent a lot of time in the Imperial Academy, so Wei Guangde naturally read the memorials handed over by many officials to understand the actual situation of the Japanese invasion in Zhejiang, Fujian and other places.

"If Shandai is really sent to Fujian, what book should be used to suppress the bandits?"

Zhang Juzheng asked suddenly at this moment.

Zhang Juzheng watched the whole battle with Alta Department last time, and he could get a lot of latest news from his teachers Xu Jie and Gao Gong.

He was shocked by Wei Guangde's analysis and countermeasures at the beginning. Although he didn't fully realize it in the end, the ending was good. The Ming Dynasty was able to win a round against the northern Tartars.

At that time, Wei Guangde put forward the strategic concept in the Imperial Academy. Right now, he wanted to inquire whether Wei Guangde had a plan to quickly wipe out the Fujian rebels.

But obviously, Zhang Juzheng overestimated Wei Guangde, he didn't know the history of Zhang Lian and his group, so naturally he was at a loss as to how to exterminate them.

Although Zhang Juzheng had no idea, since Zhang Juzheng asked, Wei Guangde couldn't help spreading his hands, and after thinking for a while, he said: "As the saying goes, soldiers are impermanent, and I don't understand Zhang Lian's rebels, so I can't figure it out for a while."

However, given the terrain of Fujian, to wipe out the rebels must be well-planned before we can do it. Either we don't fight, or if we fight, we have to deal with it in one go. '

In fact, Wei Guangde already had a secret plan in his heart. If he was really asked to go to Fujian to suppress the bandits, he would definitely ask Yu Dayou to be the commander-in-chief and command the army.

With Yu Dayou as a super thug, he would be a fool if he didn't make good use of it.

"Well, that's exactly what it should be."

Zhang Juzheng stroked his beard and nodded in response, then looked up at the sky, "Shan Loan may have a social event today, why don't we have a drink together after we leave the office."

(End of this chapter)