The Prosperous Era of Longwan

Hearing the footsteps getting louder behind him, Wei Guangde naturally couldn't turn a blind eye. Standing under the door porch of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, he turned around and bowed to Yin Shizhen, who came angrily. "Wei Guangde, a junior student, has met Mr. Yin," he said.

Although Yin Shizhen was in a state of rage at this time, his good upbringing still allowed him to suppress his anger at the moment and smiled at Wei Guangde: "Oh, it's Guangde, come to the Ministry of Household Affairs."

After saying this, he saw Li Shuli and four government officials saluting him one after another. Yin Shizhen naturally knew the reason why they came to the Ministry of Revenue, so he asked casually: "Is the matter done?"

"It's done, I'm about to go to the courtyard."

Wei Guangde replied respectfully.

"It'll be fine once it's done."

Although Yin Shizhen is only in his thirties now, Wei Guangde's tone of voice feels a bit old-fashioned. Thinking about the current situation of Prince Yu's Mansion in the capital, Wei Guangde feels a little bit more understanding.

Looking at the sky, it was almost noon. Wei Guangde turned back to Secretary Li and said, "You go back to the Yamen first."

Then he turned to Yin Shizhen and said, "Master Yin, it's getting late. Let's have lunch outside."

"Forget it, I have to go back to Prince Yu's Mansion."

Yin Shizhen excused himself, saying that although he had not achieved his goal in the household department, he still felt that the news should be sent back first.

"Master Yin, look at the sky and you are not in a hurry. Guangde has just entered the Hanlin Academy and doesn't understand many things. I happen to meet Master Yin here today. I hope you can give me a favor and explain it to Guangde." Confused."

Wei Guangde continued to invite him very diligently. Although he didn't know Yin Shizhen's status in Prince Yu's Mansion, Wei Guangde knew that there were only three members of the Hanlin Academy in Prince Yu's Mansion, and Yin Shizhen was one of them. It was not long, so he thought he should be able to It’s only right to have some status in front of King Yu.

Yes, Wei Guangde wanted to get closer to King Yu. This was something he had already decided when he was in Jiujiang Mansion.

Unless King Yu died, Wei Guangde would not consider joining King Jing, so even if King Jing's palace sent someone to send gifts and invite him to come over, he would find reasons to shirk it. Although he didn't break his heart, it was really perfunctory.

"That's fine."

Yin Shizhen nodded, and Wei Guangde invited him repeatedly. If he didn't agree, it would be a bit disrespectful. After all, they were all from the Hanlin Academy.

After arguing with the officials at the Ministry of Household Affairs for a long time, they still failed to achieve their goal. They still could only receive one month's salary from Prince Yu next month. Thinking about the current dire financial situation of Prince Yu's Mansion, Yin Shizhen felt a headache.

The two people walked out of the door of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Affairs and walked along the long street.

There are government offices all around here, so there is no commercial atmosphere at all. They are all buildings with green tiles and red walls. Only by walking through this street can you see the shops and restaurants on the street.

Wei Guangde asked Yin Shizhen about some things about the Hanlin Academy. In fact, he had already asked about most of these things, especially about book repair, but now he could only find something to talk about, and the two of them couldn't move forward stupidly. Go ahead and say nothing.

"Are you studying with Wu Qing?"

When he heard Wei Guangde say that Yin Tai arranged for him to study with Wu Qing, Yin Shizhen suddenly laughed.

Wei Guangde was puzzled and asked curiously: "I wonder why Mr. Yin is laughing?"

"Wu Qing Wu Qing."

Yin Shizhen saw Wei Guangde's confused face and smiled: "Speaking of Senior Wu, he was also the top student in the same subject as me, and he is much more famous than me."

"What about Wu Qing?"

Wei Guangde continued to ask.

"You entered the Hanlin Academy not long ago, so you may not know about your teacher's past, haha."

Yin Shizhen said: "He was a scholar at the age of 19 and a civil servant at the age of 27. He failed to pass the examination of the Ministry of Etiquette three times. Then he got angry and finally passed the examination in the 23rd year of Jiajing. During the palace examination, his score was ranked second. First, he should have been the top pick."

Yin Shizhen said this and glanced at Wei Guangde who had a surprised expression before continuing: "Senior Wu's original name was Wu Ruwei, but he changed his name to Qingqing because he failed three times.

According to him, it was for good luck and he hoped that God would open his eyes and show more kindness to him.

As expected, my fate changed once I changed my name. I passed the exam easily and ranked first in the palace exam.

Unfortunately, I heard that after the seal was opened, His Majesty didn't like his name and said, "There shouldn't be a ruthless number one scholar in the world." Then he became a prodigy. "

The two people were talking about things in the Hanlin Academy, and soon they walked out of the official street and came to Chang'an Street. There were many shops on both sides of the street, and it was a busy scene.

The two of them found a restaurant and went up, picked a seat by the window and sat down. After asking Yin Shizhen, Wei Guangde ordered wine and food. The food and wine were quickly served, and the two started chatting while eating.

"Last time we had a drink in the courtyard, I heard that your Excellency spends most of his time at Prince Yu's Mansion. Are you here today about the salary of the Prince's Mansion?"

In fact, the news that the Ministry of Revenue had owed Prince Yu's salary and annual gifts for more than two years had already spread in the official circles of the capital, so it was not unexpected for Wei Guangde to know about it.

"Guangde also knows, hehe, hey."

Yin Shizhi was open-minded and just smiled after hearing Wei Guangde's words. Then he thought about money and couldn't help but sigh again.

"The Ministry of Finance still excuses itself because it has no money?"

Wei Guangde asked.

"There will be no money. There may be no money sent out of the capital, but the expenses in the capital have been prepared early in the morning, which is just telling lies with open eyes."

Yin Shizhen shook his head and said.

"If the Ministry of Finance is doing this, wouldn't His Highness Prince Yu submit a memorial to him?"

Wei Guangde never understood why King Yu didn't complain to the emperor. This was bullying the emperor's son. If he didn't give him face, wouldn't he be slapping the emperor in the face?

Yin Shizhen just shook his head this time but said nothing.

Wei Guangde immediately guessed that he might have consulted the emperor privately, so he did not submit a memorial, but the result was probably ineffective.

In fact, this was also Wei Guangde's wrong guess. King Yu did go to the palace, but he didn't directly go to Emperor Jiajing to talk about these things, because he usually couldn't see Emperor Jiajing at all.

Emperor Jiajing firmly believed in the motto "Two dragons never meet". Although foreigners heard about it, most of them laughed it off with disdain.

However, what Wei Guangde didn't know was that the reason why most of the ministers thought that Emperor Jiajing favored His Royal Highness Prince Jing more, and even had the idea of ​​letting His Highness King Jing inherit the treasure, was because King Yu could not see the emperor, but King Jing could. Occasionally he went to the palace to see Emperor Jiajing.

From this, hundreds of officials came up with the saying that Emperor Jiajing liked King Jing but not King Yu, and it spread.

However, Wei Guangde has not been in officialdom for a long time, so he has naturally not heard of these things.

It was also because King Yu had told people in the palace about this matter, but the result remained the same, which made him unable to find a way out. He was also influenced by the rumors from the outside world, thinking that his father really disliked him and did it deliberately.

Prince Yu lived a life of trepidation in the palace, walking on thin ice, and Yin Shizhen, the subordinate officials of the palace, naturally felt the same way.

At this time, what Wei Guangde was thinking was indeed true. Judging from Yin Shizhen's reaction, King Yu should have approached the emperor, but nothing changed.

It seemed that it was really a play arranged by the emperor, perhaps to test King Yu's adaptability. He did not intend to care about this matter.

"It will be fine if we wait for a few more years. When the time comes, we will become feudal lords when we go out, and we will no longer be subject to these bird-like things."

Whether intentionally or unintentionally, Yin Shizhen said this to Wei Guangde, which made King Yu want to give up that position.

Hearing what he said, Wei Guangde frowned, but all the changes in his expression fell in Yin Shizhen's eyes.

"According to the ancestral system, the person who goes out to join the feudal clan should be King Jing, how can it be His Royal Highness King Yu."

Wei Guangde shook his head and said.

At this time, he was completely unaware that Yin Shizhen was also testing him.

Today's encounter with the Ministry of Finance can be said to be an accident. Wei Guangde warmly invited him. As a newly admitted scholar of the Hanlin Academy, it makes sense. However, when he asked about Prince Yu's palace, he was so interested that Yin Shizhen couldn't help but deal with it more carefully. What's more, Wei Guangde Still from Jiangxi.

"I heard that in the same year when I was in charge of government affairs at the Ministry of Household Affairs, I heard that the Ministry of Household Affairs only paid salaries to the palace every few months. If this continued, it would be difficult for the palace to meet its expenses."

Wei Guangde sighed. At this moment, he was still considering whether to take this opportunity to throw out the solution he had thought of and tell Yin Shizhen that as for whether to do it or not, Wei Guangde would have nothing to do with him.

"Yes, but the Ministry of Revenue said there was no money, and used the famine in Shanxi Province as an explanation. They said that they had prepared money, but they had all been diverted to disaster relief money and food."

Yin Shizhen curled his lips in disdain, obviously fed up with the anger of the people in the Ministry of Revenue, and wanted to provoke Wei Guangde. After all, Wei Guangde had contributed to the last time the court allocated money and food for disaster relief.

"Master Yin, Master Gao and others, haven't you thought of any good way to solve this matter?"

Wei Guangde asked strangely. He wanted to know more about the situation, so that he would not come up with the idea that came to his mind. The result was that others had already tried it and it would be embarrassing to speak out.

After all, that method is really embarrassing and may not be effective.

"What else can we do? The Ministry of Finance has no money to evade, so we can only keep running to the Ministry of Finance to ask for money."

Yin Shizhen took a sip of wine and said to Wei Guangde with a wry smile.

Wei Guangde hurriedly filled up the wine glass in front of Yin Shizhen. There was a hint of hesitation on his face. He was still debating whether he should say this or not.

To be honest, Wei Guangde really didn't want to bring up that method. It was a bad idea.

But when he first entered officialdom, the only way he could think of was that.

The slightly struggling expression on Wei Guangde's face naturally caught Yin Shizhen's eyes, and Yin Shizhen's heart also moved slightly.

Prince Yu's Mansion naturally paid attention to the Jinshi in this subject. Wei Guangde's name had already been noticed by Prince Yu's Mansion before he took part in the examination.

But that's all. A little knowledge and the ability to do things are two different things. It's not like there has never been a person like Zhao Kuo in the Ming Dynasty. He talks about everything, but is full of loopholes in doing things, which is what the people say. 'High-minded but low-handed'.

Prince Yu's Mansion paid attention to Zhu Dashou, Tao Dalin and Jinda in Yijia, and Wei Guangde also paid attention, but he didn't pay too much attention to it, especially after discovering that someone from King Jing's Mansion had visited Wei Guangde. After all, his place of origin determined a lot. thing.

In the Ming Dynasty, rural parties were actually very common, and in the early Ming Dynasty, many high-ranking officials were from Jiangxi. Therefore, in the eyes of most people, Jiangxi people were very powerful in clumping together, and they provided help to each other and joined forces to suppress people from other provinces.

For this reason, in the late Ming Dynasty, most of the Jiangxi Jinshi failed in their official careers and were marginalized. It has to be said that Yan Song and Zhang Juzheng played a huge role in this.

Needless to say, Yan Song was not only close to Zhang Juzheng, but officials from Huguang and Jiangxi were also mostly involved. Therefore, the main forces formed in the court in the late Ming Dynasty were the Qi Party in Shandong, the Chu Party in Huguang, and the Zhejiang Party in Zhejiang. As a result, Jiangxi officials have mostly faded out of people's sight.

However, through this conversation, Yin Shizhen also realized that Wei Guangde and Jinda seemed to be from the same group. At least they were not from the same group as Yan Song. They were serious scholars who knew etiquette, justice and shame. Among the current sons of Emperor Jiajing, Prince Yu was the most valuable. A person who is qualified to ascend to Dabao.

Thinking of Wei Guangde's previous question, Yin Shizhen realized that Wei Guangde seemed to have thought of a way to break the situation.

Now Prince Yu's Mansion is really at the end of its rope because of the money issue.

For example, Prince Yu's Mansion didn't want to make friends with this outstanding scholar, but he was really short of money and couldn't buy gifts.

In this day and age, there is no reason to arrive empty-handed.

Prince Yu's Mansion is a big business, but the things given by the emperor cannot be touched. They can be used but cannot be sold. Only gold and silver can be used. All expenses of Prince Yu's Mansion depend on Prince Yu's salary and the gold given during the New Year. Silver lives.

Ever since the Ministry of Household Affairs suddenly blocked the palace's salary and annual gold and silver gifts more than two years ago, the palace's life has gone from bad to worse, and now it has reached the point where it can only make ends meet.

He, Gao Gong and others also went to the Ministry of Finance one after another to talk to their friends, but to no avail.

As for how this matter developed, it is still shrouded in fog. King Yu suspected that it was the emperor's instruction. Although their subordinates thought it was not the case, it was difficult for them to believe that Yan Song and King Jing would dare to do it. Such a thing.

"Guangde, if you have any good ideas, you might as well tell me. I'd be very grateful."

Yin Shizhen is an official of Prince Yu's Palace, but he cannot represent Prince Yu's Palace. Although most of the time, in the eyes of others, he can actually represent it, but his words cannot mean this.

Wei Guangde looked at Yin Shizhen, and thought about Zhang Qing's opinions that he had heard in Jiujiang Mansion before. He quickly went through it in his mind, and felt that whether from a legal or logical perspective, as long as King Yu did not die prematurely, he, as the emperor, should It's done.

In fact, now that King Yu is already twenty years old, it is no longer his turn to die young, as he already has a son.

Taking a deep breath, Wei Guangde looked around and saw that no one was paying attention, and then whispered to Yin Shizhen: "Guangde came to the capital in December last year, and it has been half a year now. In this half year, the sentence he heard the most That is, 'Old Xiao Ge loves money as much as his life, and uses money to do things'.

As long as he dares to collect money, he will definitely handle the matter for you. As for how to do it, there is no need to worry about the process. "

When Yin Shizhen heard Wei Guangde's words, his eyes widened immediately and he stared at Wei Guangde.

"Master Yin, drink."

Wei Guangde ignored his unkind look, raised his glass and tipped it in Yin Shizhen's direction, and then drank it in one gulp.