prosperous age

625 Chapter 624 Repression
In Wei Mansion's study room, Wei Guangde sat alone behind the desk, and there was a note on the desk, which was sent by Chen Yiqin.

If he didn't think of it at the beginning, now that Chen Yiqin reminded him, Wei Guangde finally realized that what happened this time might really become a high-profile Waterloo.

Lifting the sea ban and opening the sea, no matter how you look at it, is against the ancestral system. As a cabinet minister supporting such a resolution, if it is used by someone with a heart, it is really an excuse for criticism.

The key reason is that it caters to the views of most people in the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty. The inviolability of the ancestral system has become the creed that many people insist on.

In fact, preventing change is not the response of officials who want to preserve the existing privileges and interests.

The so-called ancestral system has long since disappeared in the Ming Dynasty. Since the Yingzong, the ancestral system has been changed little by little to what it is now.

During Zhu Yuanzhang's period, the anti-corruption efforts were unprecedented, but after several emperors, the entire officialdom fell.

Officials have deliberately distorted the so-called ancestral system, which is what they hope to get now.

They also hope that their family can enjoy these preferential treatments forever, and enjoy the interests they have worked hard to gradually strive for through subtle influence, and the class has also begun to solidify.

However, the Ming Dynasty implemented imperial examinations to select candidates, and stereotyped selection of scholars, so it is also very important to urge family members to study.

However, what if there is really no material for studying in the family?
Then achieve this goal by manipulating the imperial examinations.

Many people think that the ancient imperial examinations were relatively fair. In fact, this was true in the early days of the New Dynasty. However, in the middle and late periods, records of imperial examination fraud were common for this reason.

With this understanding, the officials are uncharacteristically keen on maintaining the ancestral system, and any change is unacceptable to them.

Because they are satisfied with the current situation, maintaining the existing system is very important.

The reason why Emperor Jiajing made it official, or that the historical records of the dynasty are generally negative, is because he changed the ancestral system many times after he succeeded to the throne, which was considered a bad omen by the civil officials of the Ming Dynasty.

It's just that Emperor Jiajing was really good at playing power tricks. During his reign, he divided courtiers and fought with each other in order to stabilize his rule and became a very successful emperor.

The reform of the Ming Dynasty started in the Jiajing Dynasty and finally won a decisive victory in the 11th year of Wanli. After conservative officials successfully counterattacked Zhang Juzheng, they finally achieved a decisive victory.

Wei Guangde was not familiar with these things, and only had a vague impression that after Zhang Juzheng fell, it seemed that the end of the Ming Dynasty was already doomed.

And at this moment, what he thought in his mind was that if Gao Gong really went down, Xu Jie would definitely continue to be in power, so what about after that?

Although the power will be handed over to Zhang Juzheng in the end, Wei Guangde is still worried that Xu Jie will use this time to crazily suppress Yu Yu's old man.

You know, driving away Gao Gong would have offended the present day and people like them. Instead of waiting for them to counterattack, it is better to do nothing and keep trying to drive Yu Yu's people out of the court as much as possible.

Thinking of this, Wei Guangde was a little worried about the situation of himself and Yin Shizhen.

When Chen Yiqin entered the cabinet, he already had a gold medal for exempting him from crime. At worst, he would be an official. If he quit the power struggle, he would be safe. But what about him and Yin Shizhen?
Can you leave without being defeated?
Wei Guangde didn't know if Emperor Longqing would be able to keep them at that time.

Gao Gong seems to be a key point. If the emperor can't keep him, it seems that he and Yin Shizhen can't be kept either.

It has to be said that whether it is Chen Yiqin, Yin Shizhen, or Wei Guangde, at this time, they only think that Xu Jie's reason for attacking Gao Gong is because he wants to change the ancestral system, even Gao Gong himself has not noticed it, and he is proud of it Yes, the strong influence on Emperor Longqing was the fundamental reason why all the officials could not accept him.

Because the impression of Gao Gong was too negative, it gave many people a feeling of arrogance and self-willedness, especially his strict requirements on the administration of officials, so many people could not accept him as the chief assistant of the court.

He is too assertive, he can't listen to other people's opinions, and how can people work with him.

At this time, Emperor Longqing had seen Tu Zemin's memorabilia in Qianqing Palace, and naturally he also saw the proposals of the cabinet ministers.

Sure enough, there are supporters, and opponents seem to have a higher status.

Emperor Longqing did not express his attitude immediately, but chose to stay in China.

After the next day, the cabinet ministers returned to their own rooms one after another, and all of them were waiting for the emperor's reply from the supervisor of ceremonies.

What these emperors decided was the official duties that they had to deal with every day.

When the eunuch Chen Hong, the supervisor of ceremonies, brought stacks of memorials with his servants, several cabinet ministers opened the door and walked out at the same time.

"Eunuch Chen."

The cabinet ministers were actually very polite to the eunuchs around the emperor, and only Gao Gong was an exception.

It seems that the only people with the same attitude as Gao Gong are officials of the middle and lower ranks.

"The memorials approved by the emperor yesterday are all here, please keep them for now."

Chen Hong politely returned the salute to several cabinet ministers who greeted him, and handed over all the memorials behind him to the cabinet's Zhongshu, who then assigned them to the cabinet ministers to be on duty.

"Will Your Majesty review Governor Tu's memorial yesterday?"

Li Chunfang, the second assistant, came out at this time and asked immediately.

Can't tolerate him not caring about this matter, many disciples came to visit him at his house last night, without exception, they were inquiring about this matter, and asking about the teacher's attitude in the cabinet.

They don't believe all the rumors in the market. With a teacher in the cabinet, it is naturally more accurate than listening to outsiders.

"Governor Tu's memorandum was sent to Qianqing Palace yesterday, but it was sent back to the ceremonial supervisor's memorandum. It seems that I didn't see that copy."

Chen Hong replied.

"No?"

Li Chunfang asked in surprise.

If he didn't return the memorial, it meant that Emperor Longqing chose to stay in China, or he might be hesitating and not sure about his attitude.

There are many categories of memorials given to the emperor by courtiers in ancient times, but there is one category that will be kept indifferent by most emperors, and that is matters related to the palace.

For such memorials, the emperor generally considered them to be private matters of the Tian family and was unwilling to involve courtiers.

Tu Zemin's memorial, of course, has nothing to do with the Tian family, and was kept by the emperor, so there is only one possibility. The emperor was moved by the memorial, but he has not made up his mind and is still hesitating.

Hesitation not only means that the emperor is considering the feasibility of the matter, but also may be worried about the attitude of the courtiers after the approval.

In fact, after Yingzong, the dictatorship of the Ming emperor was greatly weakened.

Although the emperor can still force his will through the appointment and removal of people, Jin Yiwei and other methods, courtiers have many ways to fight.

The emperor's decree cannot go out of the capital, which is really the current political environment.

The emperor retained control over the personnel of the six departments in order to ensure the legitimacy of the imperial decree.

But the officials of the Sixth Section said that they were too big, and they were still part of the civil service group, so it was difficult to guarantee which side they would stand in the face of the imperial power and the collective interests of the civil service.

There are some things that the emperor knows how to do, but the courtiers oppose fiercely, and the six departments and even the cabinet can refute the imperial decree.

If Emperor Longqing easily agreed to Tu Zemin's request for Kaihai's memorial, and the decree was sent to the cabinet or rejected by the Six Divisions, he would lose all face. You must know that he has only been on the throne for less than a year.

Therefore, when the new emperor ascends the throne, he will always be careful about the will he sends out to avoid such things from happening.

Because at this time, his power is not stable, and he does not have his own team to help him stabilize his rule.

At this time, staying in the middle school, to some people, seems to be a mother-in-law, but it is the most appropriate strategy. Look at the attitude of the courtiers, and then decide whether to do it or not.

When Li Chunfang looked back at several colleagues, she found that Xu Jie's face was full of gloom, while Gao Gong, Guo Pu and others were looking happy, and seeing Zhang Juzheng and Chen Yiqin, their expressions were very Calm, don't see much emotion.

Ask Zhongshu to receive the memorial, and after a few courtiers exchanged greetings, they returned to their respective rooms and waited for the memorial to be delivered.

But at this time, the Office of the General Secretary was extremely lively, there were unusually many officials delivering memorials today, and the clerks were so busy transcribing the memorials that they didn't even have time to drink tea.

Beijing officials all have the right to submit memorials. There is a saying that "there are more than one hundred people, all kinds of people, all kinds of strange things".

Different people have different ideas, because every official comes into contact with different circles, so there are naturally some people who hope to attract the attention of the higher-ups through speculation.

After a night of fermenting, most of the Beijing officials knew about this matter, and they also knew that the cabinet was arguing about it fiercely. Naturally, some people wanted to be the first to stand out and choose a side in order to get their attention.

Most of the officials who came to the Tongzhengshi Siyamen submitted memorials against Tu Zemin, and they wanted to express their views as soon as possible, lest they be left behind by others.

They don't care what the emperor will approve, anyway, write down their deliberate wishes in the memorial, submit it, and then just wait for the result.

At this time, in the Metropolitan Procuratorate, many censors also came to the duty room of Zuodu censor Wang Ting to submit their memorials.

At this time, Wang Ting only felt that one head and two big.

Those who came to submit the memorials were almost all impeachment memorials. Many people impeached Tu Zemin for attempting to change the ancestral system.

Of course, he knew how Wang Ting went from the position of Minister of Rites in Nanjing to the position of Yushi in Zuodu. It was all thanks to the help of his fellow villager Chen Yiqin and today, otherwise he might end up in Nanjing waiting for his death.

Regarding yesterday's incident, he also visited fellow villager Chen Yiqin overnight to know what happened in the cabinet.

They are all old fritters, so they naturally know that the matter is of great importance. Of course, they must ask someone to clarify the situation first, so as not to endanger themselves by standing on the wrong team, and may even hurt their old friends.

"Everyone, everyone, be quiet."

A group of people were huddled together in the room, discussing with memorials in their hands. Some people with political differences were still arguing fiercely there, and the whole room seemed noisy.

Following Wang Ting's words, the young censors in the room fell silent.

In the place of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, the old censor had already found an official position and was transferred away. He either entered the yamen of various ministries or found a place outside. Therefore, most of the censors who are still in the yamen are people who have not been in the officialdom for a long time.

This kind of people has a characteristic, that is, they are more passionate, and a little incitement is as exciting and aggressive as chicken blood.

Wang Ting could tell from a casual glance that none of the censors who had stayed in the Metropolitan Procuratorate for a long time did not show up, and they all entered the Metropolitan Procuratorate in recent years.

"No matter what your opinion is, whoever you want to impeach, put down the memorial, and the old man will hand it over to you naturally."

Looking at the censor who was all looking at him, Wang Ting continued: "My dynasty never blocks the way of speech, as long as your opinions are pertinent, the cabinet, His Majesty will definitely absorb them.

As for disagreement, everyone can discuss it calmly, and there is no need to be so excited. They are all in the same yamen, and they are all in the same yamen. "

"Master Wang, this Tu Zemin is a villain who has brought disaster to the country and the people, and actually provoked His Majesty to change the ancestral system"

"Zhou Yushi, what you said is wrong. Governor Tu is just discussing the matter based on Fujian's affairs. How did you become a villain in your mouth and bring disaster to the country and the people?"

"Isn't it? Gao Gong Gao Suqing is not a good person either."

The room was only quiet for a moment, and the Yu Shi who had been arguing fiercely before was about to quarrel again, Wang Ting hurriedly shouted: "Didn't you hear what I said just now?
Your opinions have already been formed into a memorandum, and I will submit it myself. Your Majesty and the cabinet will decide everything. What do you mean by arguing here? "

The two censors who were almost in an argument just now shut up immediately. Anyway, Wang Ting is also their immediate boss, and it would be bad to offend them.

"Okay, you all put down the memorial. I will go to the cabinet in a while and bring all the memorials. But before that, you can discuss it, but you are not allowed to speak maliciously to each other, and you are not allowed to slander anyone wantonly."

Today's situation, when they were at Chen Yiqin's house yesterday, the two had expected it, and knew that there would be stunned young people rushing to express their opinions.

After these two days, the courtiers should become rational.

Therefore, today is very important for the hall officials of each yamen, and they must suppress the aura of the most cheerful dancers below.

Chen Yiqin also gave him a thorough understanding, that is, His Majesty should support Kaihai, but he will be more cautious and try to open the sea little by little.

With the existing financial resources of the Ming court, it is already difficult to support the large-scale use of troops in the north and the south, so it is necessary to find a way to calm the Japanese plague as soon as possible.

Regardless of the vigorous siege by Qi Jiguang, Yu Dayou, Tang Kekuan and others, the large number of Japanese pirates along the coast have been wiped out, but the government and army still have to continue stationing along the coast, because there are still sporadic Japanese pirates haunting various places, it is really impossible to guard against.

At this time, the cabinet, several cabinet elders, after processing the memorial sent back from the supervisor of ceremonies, at the request of Chen Yiqin, several people began to discuss the current situation in Xu Jie's duty room.

Emperor Longqing kept the memorial, and they must consider the possible reactions of the government and the opposition in the future, and how to deal with it.

One of the responsibilities of the cabinet is to stabilize the court situation, and if the courtiers make trouble, it is definitely the fault of several cabinet ministers.

At this time, there were already several stacks of memorials sent by the General Secretary on the desk on duty. According to the preliminary screening of Zhongshu, more than [-]% of the memorials opposed Kaihai, and only [-]% supported it.

At this time, among the few people in the room, Gao Gong and Guo Pu didn't look good.

From these existing memorials, we can also see the views of most courtiers on this matter, and very few support them.

"Today, I have already sent a note to the six ministers, and they should come over to discuss soon, let's put the matter down first."

Xu Jie said.

(End of this chapter)