prosperous age

Chapter 428 Chapter 427
"Look at your majesty's court, there are ministers who can monopolize the court affairs, although Yan Song is favored, but there are old Xu Ge who joins the cabinet to restrain him, and Wu Shan, Wu Shangshu, Yang Bo and others form a force in the court.

In order to maintain stability in the court, it is not necessary for the two factions to be controlled, but to form a triangular relationship. "

Speaking of this, Wei Guangde unknowingly moved out the theory of "triangular stability" from later generations.

"If the important ministers in the court were only divided into two factions, what would happen then would be left and right, either the east wind would overwhelm the west wind, or the west wind would overwhelm the east wind.

Although His Majesty often lives in Xiyuan, he can still manipulate the imperial court. The fundamental reason is that Yan Shoufu is the strongest, followed by Xu Ge. In order to maintain the struggle with Yan Shoufu, Xu Ge only It can win over third-party strengths such as Wu Shan and Yang Bo.

It seems that there are still two factions fighting, but in fact it represents stability. Neither faction is capable of resisting the pressure of the other two factions. This is the essence of it.

If the strategy proposed by either party is wrong, it will naturally be opposed by the other two forces. No matter what the battle is, at least it can represent the views of the vast majority of ministers, and this can maintain the stability of the court. "

Wei Guangde shut his mouth after finishing speaking, Yu Wang frowned and thought deeply, and even Yin Shizhen and Zhang Juzheng seemed to have realized something.

Fortunately, the officials in the palace at this time have not really entered the court, and have not yet formed their own faction. If there is one, it is the Xu Jie faction that Zhang Juzheng belongs to.

But here, the hats on the heads of the three of them are: the hidden ministers of King Yu.

At this time, the three of them still had the primary purpose of teaching King Yu, and hadn't considered their own interests, otherwise Wei Guangde's words would be backlashed immediately.

Of course, if Gao Gong was here, Wei Guangde would never say these words.

After a long time, King Yu hesitated and said: "The words of good loan are very reasonable, I have to go back and think about it, it's too deep."

It is good that King Yu can understand, this is also Wei Guangde's foreshadowing in advance for the possibility of facing Gao Gong in the future. At least at that time, King Yu should not trust and support Gao Gong unconditionally.

King Yu's words also awakened Yin Shizhen and Zhang Juzheng who were still in deep thought, and they both nodded slightly.

"If you want to divide the tripod into three parts, and even the balance should be combined, it should be determined by time."

Zhang Juzheng's lips moved slightly, and he read a passage from "Book of the Later Han Dynasty", which is actually the source of the tripartite confrontation.

Afterwards, Yin Shizhen also said: "What Shan Loe said is very insightful, but I think Shan Loe should contact the palace and ask His Majesty if there are candidates for the Minister of Rites and the Ministry of Officials."

Yin Shizhen's words naturally made them face the reality.

Emperor Jiajing had already removed two ministers, and naturally these two positions could not be left vacant for a long time, they had to be appointed, but who was appointed was the key.

Now it's not about fighting for the opportunity for someone to take the throne, Wei Guangde said before, it seems that Emperor Jiajing came prepared this time, maybe His Majesty already has a candidate in mind.

At this time, naturally, don't stretch out your hands indiscriminately, so as not to be jealous by His Majesty.

"Yes, what Zhengfu said is absolutely correct. If the emperor has a candidate, we must fully support him."

King Yu spoke at this time.

Wei Guangde nodded, "I know, just go down and ask."

While discussions were still going on in Prince Yu's mansion, the gray-haired Yan Song was slowly walking into the gate of Yongshou Palace, holding a memorial in his hand.

In such a situation, the servant in front of the gate of Yongshou Palace was very surprised. What kind of memorial was sent by the chief assistant of the dynasty in person. Maybe another major military incident happened?

According to the usual practice, the memorials of the outer court are all sent to the supervisor of ceremonies, and will not be sent directly to the imperial court.

Only the eunuchs and servants who had stayed in Yongshou Palace for a long time knew what was going on. It should be that Yan Shoufu had sent a secret report to the emperor. After all, there was no news of border emergency.

For the officials of the Ming Dynasty, the normal process of submitting memorials is to send the memorials to the Tongzheng Envoy. This kind of memorial is public, and the Tongzheng Envoy will copy a copy for archives. The system was later changed to the cabinet draft system, which has become a common practice.

But in addition to this, there is another way for officials to submit secret performances, which is to send them directly to the emperor.

It is not only the yamen of the Tongzhengshi who receives the memorials. In fact, the Beijing officials will put the secret memorials into the Huiji Gate, and the Huiji Gate will also record the secrets and send them to the inner court office. The office will quickly send them sent to the Supervisor of Rituals for processing.

However, these are all procedures for receiving memorials for ordinary ministers. For cabinet ministers, "the cabinet will reveal the secret, and seal it with the seal of Wenyuan Pavilion to enter the imperial court, and the left and right servants will not be able to peek."

The cabinet ministers have an independent system of secret rehearsals. It is not necessary to go through the hands of the eunuch's ceremonial supervisor and clerk, and the secrets are generally kept in the middle. Therefore, it is recorded in the history of the Ming Dynasty that "the story, the cabinet All the ministers who reveal the secrets will stay in the middle."

Therefore, it is written in the history textbooks of later generations that Emperor Yongzheng of the Qing Dynasty created the "secret book system" as the origin of the secret book system, which is actually not correct.

Emperor Yongzheng created the "Secret Zhe System" only to strengthen the secret performances of local officials. In the Ming Dynasty, local officials' secret performances were actually ineffective, because after the secret performances were sent to the capital, they were still received by the Tongzheng Envoy and copied for archiving. , but not sent to the cabinet but sent to the inner court document study, lack of confidentiality, so it was abandoned by foreign ministers very early.

However, Beijing officials, especially cabinet ministers, still have a secret way to enter the palace.

As Yan Song walked into the main hall of Yongshou Palace, soon, the maids standing in the hall were kicked out.

Standing in front of the main hall gate, Chen Ju was a little at a loss at this moment.

The maids and servants who came out of the hall ran to the square in front of the hall, far away from the hall, and Chen Ju was standing in front of the hall right now, wondering if he should follow them away from the hall .

Just when he was in a dilemma, an old figure appeared in front of the hall, and Huang Jin walked out of the hall step by step.

When he reached the gate of the temple, he stretched out his hand and began to close the gate.

Chen Ju stepped forward immediately, and closed the palace door with Huang Jin on the left and right. Huang Jin turned to look at Chen Ju, nodded slightly, and then ordered meaningfully: "You stay here and guard."

After speaking, Huang Jin walked out a few steps and sat on the steps in front of the hall.

Huang Jin left the palace gate and sat down with his back facing him. Chen Ju had no choice but to stand in front of the palace gate, standing upright like a general in front of the palace.

When the door was closed just now, Chen Ju could still see the scene inside, but after all, it was a little far away from the location of the emperor and Yan Song, and the conversation inside could not be heard intermittently.

Chen Ju always felt that Huang Jin's eyes were a bit deep when he ordered him earlier. This was the first time Chen Ju saw Huang Jin was also called out of the hall by Emperor Jiajing, and he didn't know what Yan Shoufu was going to show the emperor. The density.

Standing in front of the main hall, Chen Ju was concentrating and calm. Few words from the conversation between Emperor Jiajing and Yan Shoufu in the main hall seemed to float into his ears.

Although he knew that this was a big taboo, but his curiosity was so strong that Chen Ju took a small half step back, and his heel even lightly touched the door panel under the palace door, so he gave up.

He stood in the middle of the hall door. Although the two hall doors were closed, there was a small gap. At this position, the conversation between the two people in the hall could be heard a little more clearly, but it was still intermittent.

That is, words and sentences with heavier pronunciation can only be heard, while some lighter words cannot be heard clearly.

That is to say, Huang Jin asked him to guard in front of the palace gate, otherwise, even if Chen Ju had 120 guts, he would never dare to eavesdrop on the conversation inside.

In the afternoon, when Chen Ju received a note from Wei Guangde, he nodded and went to the appointment after thinking about it for a while.

During the rotation of eunuchs in Yongshou Palace, Chen Ju was on duty and asked for a leave of absence for Eunuch Huang before leaving Xiyuan. the palace gate.

After walking not far, Gao Zhong saw the carriage driven by Li San, and immediately got on it, leaning on the shaft, jumped up, opened the curtain and got into the carriage.

After Chen Ju got into the carriage, Li San waved his horsewhip, and there was a sound of "squatting", and the horse was suffering and dragged the carriage slowly along Chang'an Street.

"Brother Chen, I'm taking the liberty to meet you today. I really have to ask you something."

In the carriage, Wei Guangde and Chen Ju were sitting opposite each other. As the carriage bumped, their bodies shook slightly.

"what's up?"

Chen Ju asked curiously.

In the past few days, nothing happened in the palace about Prince Yu's mansion, and now that King Jing has left the capital, King Yu's position is as stable as Mount Tai. According to what he and Wei Guangde said before, the current King Yu only needs to be stable.

In front of Chen Ju, Wei Guangde didn't bother to beat around the bush, and said bluntly: "In the past two days, Your Majesty let Wu Shan Shangshu Guandai stay idle, and let the Ministry of Officials appoint him an official. I heard that Wu Shangshu's resignation letter has been submitted just now."

"Wu Peng's letter of appointment has been handed over?"

Chen Ju smiled and asked casually.

"It has been delivered to the Secretary of General Administration."

Wei Guangde replied.

"Then why are you looking for me?"

Could it be that Wu Peng is a hidden pile buried in Yan's house by Prince Yu's mansion?
Hearing Wei Guangde talk about Wu Shan and Wu Peng, it is impossible for a person like Wu Shan to rely on King Yu, even if the status of King Yu is basically settled, but it is hard to say for Wu Peng.

Outsiders all said that Wu Peng was from Yan Song, so could it be that Yu Wang's mansion
Wei Guangde noticed that Chen Ju's expression was different, although he didn't know what he was thinking of, but he hurriedly explained: "No, Your Highness actually wants to know if His Majesty has a candidate for the Second Minister."

Hearing Wei Guangde's words, Chen Ju's face became even weirder, but he also understood that he was wrong just now.

Think about it too, how could Wu Peng be from Prince Yu's Mansion.

"Brother Wei, my brother said something inappropriate here. His Royal Highness King Yu wants to get involved in these matters. You should stop him. How can you let him be involved in the court?"

After a moment of silence, Chen Ju spoke.

Wei Guangde understood that Chen Ju's words made sense, but Yu Wang also had to pay attention to the changes in the court, so he had to answer: "People are in the Jianghu, and they can't help themselves."

"Uh"

Chen Ju was a little surprised by Wei Guangde's answer, but after thinking about it carefully, he probably understood the meaning.

In Fan Zhongyan's "Yueyang Tower", the most famous sentence is naturally the phrase "worry about the world's worries first, and enjoy the world's joy later", but for people in the officialdom, there is actually another sentence they prefer.

"If you live in a high temple, you will worry about your people; if you live far away from the rivers and lakes, you will worry about your ruler. It is also worrying about advancing, and worrying about retreating."

"Ha ha."

Chen Ju smiled casually, and pointed at Wei Guangde, but he didn't answer, but fell into deep thought.

Wei Guangde was still thinking at the beginning that today he actually wanted to ask Chen Ju to bring a message, and he must wait until tomorrow for the answer.

Because of Chen Ju's ability, Wei Guangde felt that he probably didn't know, maybe only Huang Jin or Gao Zhong could guess something.

As for the personnel arrangement of the court officials, Emperor Jiajing definitely would not discuss it with the eunuchs in the inner court. He must have a secret plan in his heart, but he would never tell others.

However, seeing Chen Ju's appearance, Wei Guangde suddenly felt that something was going on.

For a long time, Chen Ju said with a little hesitation on his face: "If you asked me a day in advance about this matter, I really couldn't answer it."

Then, Chen Ju told Wei Guangde about the first assistant Yan Song's visit to Yongshou Palace in Xiyuan at noon today.

"Brother Chen, where did you hear that who is going to be the Minister of the Ministry of Officials?"

Wei Guangde listened to Chen Ju's narration, knowing what happened in Yongshou Palace today, he naturally became anxious in his heart.

Chen Ju thought for a while before saying: "This word comes out of my mouth and into your ear, even if it is from King Yu, it is not allowed to utter a word before the holy edict comes down."

Having said this, Chen Ju shut up again, and just stared at Wei Guangde in a daze.

Wei Guangde nodded, knowing the situation at that time, everyone in the hall was kicked out, which shows that Emperor Jiajing attached great importance to this.

If it really spread before the decree was issued, the emperor might be angry, and the one closest to the hall would be unlucky.

Immediately, Wei Guangde nodded without hesitation.

He has already thought about it, as long as he is sure that there is someone to choose, then he will report directly to King Yu and let him not have any extravagant thoughts.

In fact, it doesn't matter who it is.

"It seems that Yan Shoufu recommended Ouyang Bijin, Minister of the Ministry of Industry. At that time, I didn't hear it very clearly, but who are the ministers with the surname Ouyang in the court, so I can be sure it is him."

Chen Ju said in a low voice.

"How could it be him? Are they all sick?"

Wei Guangde was a little surprised by Chen Ju's name.

"Although Ouyang Shangshu is sick, it's just a minor ailment. It can't be cured, so he can only rely on support. But it's not as serious as Zhou Yushi's, and he can hardly work anymore."

Chen Ju replied.

Wei Guangde thinks about it too, although he and Ouyang Bijin belong to different camps, there are really people in Prince Yu's Mansion watching them.

Relatively speaking, the vacancy of Zuodu Yushi of the Metropolitan Procuratorate is the most likely vacancy, because Zhou Yan has not been to the Yamen for three months.

Wei Guangde thought in his mind, judging from what was discussed at Xu Jie's mansion last time, Prince Yu's mansion obviously followed Xu Jie's way.

At that time, Mr. Xu Ge confessed to Yuwangfu that he had arranged for someone to compete for the title of Zuodu Censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and he was willing to help Yuwangfu to compete for the power of the Ministry of Officials.

Yan Song played in the form of cabinet secrets, and Xu Ge probably knew about it beforehand.

(End of this chapter)