Chapter 245 244 Imperial Edict

Wei Guangde now lives a leisurely life. He signs in at the Hanlin Academy on time every day. If he is bored, he will go to the Taichang Temple.

There are no major sacrificial activities during this period, and the Taichang Temple is also very idle.

In fact, the Taichang Temple has not always been so idle. During the two months when Wei Guangde was away on the expedition, the Taichang Temple was responsible for organizing the death anniversaries of Empress Xiaozhuang Rui, Empress Xiaomu and Empress Renxiaowen, and held sacrificial ceremonies in Fengxian Hall.

At the same time, there was also a sacrificial activity held in Fengxian Hall on the death anniversary of Emperor Chengzu Wen.

It can only be said that Wei Guangde was sent to the Taichang Temple when it was the most relaxed time for the Taichang Temple, and there were no activities to be held.

Of course, these three queens have nothing to do with Emperor Jiajing. Speaking of Empress Xiaozhuang Rui, Ming fans all know her husband, the famous Emperor Yingzong.

Speaking of which, Empress Xiaozhuang Rui was the first empress to be brought into the Forbidden City from the Daming Gate since the founding of the Ming Dynasty. She had a good relationship with Emperor Yingzong, but she did not give birth to a son, so her later years were very miserable.

Of course, this involves the feud between Empress Qian and Zhu Jianshen. As time goes by, as a person with a clear status in Emperor Yingzong's will, she is still qualified to enjoy the imperial temple, although that also went through a political storm.

The daily life of the Taichang Temple is to show up at the grand court meetings and grand ceremonies, and the rest is such sacrificial activities.

After receiving the imperial edict of promotion, Wei Guangde wrote a letter to the owner of the trust hall to find someone to take it back to Jiujiang.

After being appointed as an official before, I left in a hurry and had no time to write a letter home. Now is the time.

There is actually nothing in the letter, just talking about his promotion again and asking about his family's well-being.

When a fleet of a Jiujiang merchant set out from Tongzhou Wharf and headed south along the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, a speedboat from Nanjing docked at Tongzhou Wharf. A sturdy man stepped off the boat and soon disappeared in the crowded wharf.

That afternoon, a sedan quietly appeared in a corner not far from the back door of Yan's mansion. It was a pawnshop, but few people came here on weekdays, so it seemed very deserted.

After the sedan landed, the person in the sedan got out of the sedan, looked around, and found that no one noticed this place before stepping into the shop. The sedan bearer carried the sedan to the street and waited.

Not long after, the door of a family next to the pawnshop opened, and a man who looked like a servant hurried out of the house and turned into the alley, and soon appeared at the back door of Yan's mansion.

There was a rhythmic knock on the wooden door, and soon the door was opened, and the servant walked in immediately.

It took about a quarter of an hour before a man who looked like a housekeeper came out from the back door of Yan's mansion, and the servant who had just entered the door was following him.

"Are you sure that man is from the Imperial College?"

When he was about to walk out of the alley, the man who looked like a housekeeper suddenly stopped and asked sideways.

"Second Master Xin, there is no mistake. I have seen him in the Imperial College."

The servant hurriedly took two steps closer and said respectfully.

"Then why is he running here at this time? There is no official position for him to be promoted in the Imperial College? Even if he wants to be an official outside, it is just a small official. How can he, a juren, get so much money?"

The housekeeper called Second Master Xin said suspiciously, but then shook his head again, who cares, as long as the silver is delivered, everything will be fine.

Thinking of this, Second Master Xin no longer hesitated, walked out of the yard quickly and walked towards the pawnshop.

It was already dark, Yan Shifan was drunk outside, and returned to his yard with the help of two tall and pretty maids, but at this time, there was already a person standing quietly in front of the yard waiting.

"Who is there?"

Although he was very drunk, Yan Shifan could still vaguely see someone at the gate of the courtyard under the light of the lantern held by the maid in front of him, so he asked.

In the past, no one was allowed to approach his courtyard.

"Sir, it's the servant Yan Xin."

The man bowed and answered hurriedly.

"Butler Yan, is there something wrong?"

Yan Shifan had just come back from outside, and Yan Xin was standing here. Naturally, he knew that there must be something wrong, but he didn't know how big it was that made the second butler of the Yan family wait for him so late.

"The matter at the pawnshop."

Yan Xin simply mentioned the source and said no more. He looked at Yan Shifan's staggering appearance at this time, knowing that the young master was very drunk, and didn't know whether he could tell the eldest young master about this matter tonight.

With the help of two maids, Yan Shifan barely stood up, "Is there anything I can't do?"

If it was an ordinary matter, Yan Xin could actually make the decision. As long as he received the money, Yan Shifan would naturally help him get the job done, but he would not casually destroy his own brand.

Yan Shifan, the eldest son of the Yan family, was still very trustworthy.

"Yes, yes, that's what you said, but this time..."

Yan Xin wanted to talk more, but was interrupted by Yan Shifan, "Go inside and talk."

Soon, a group of people walked into the yard.

"You mean it's the Duke of Wei who asked for a favor this time? What is it, tell me clearly."

After entering the house and dismissing the people around him, Yan Shifan understood the whole thing from Yan Xin's intermittent words. Yan Xin looked very uncomfortable. He was drunk at the moment and didn't want to deal with these trivial matters at all.

But if it was the request of the Duke of Wei in Nanjing, it seemed to be another matter.

After all, he is a founding figure, and his influence in the south is quite large. He is now making money in the south, so naturally he will not offend him if he can, not to mention that they are here to give him money.

"Mrs. Wei Guogong died young. Now the most favored one is his concubine Zheng. What he wants to ask this time is to ask the court to make her his wife and get a royal title."

When Yan Xin said this, he raised his head and glanced at Yan Shifan. At this time, Mr. Yan was lying on the chair, his head moving little by little. He didn't know whether he was drunk or something.

Just when Yan Xin didn't know whether to continue talking or to ask the maid outside the door to serve Yan Shifan to rest, he heard Yan Shifan's dissatisfied voice, "Continue to talk, why are you hesitating today? What did you find out? Let’s talk about it all together.

In the past, I have never found you to be so timid and afraid of getting into trouble. You can't explain everything clearly. "

"Yes, yes, the young master taught me a lesson."

Yan Xin hurriedly nodded and bowed in agreement, and then continued: "The person here is Wang Jihuai, the assistant coach of the Imperial Academy, he should be the spy of the Wei Guo Public Security Bureau in Beijing.

After he left, I asked someone to inquire, and found that the matter here was a bit complicated, and it was not a simple matter of sealing a royal title."

As Yan Xin told it, Yan Shifan gradually understood that Wei Guogong Xu Pengju was planning to secretly assassinate Chen Cang.

His first wife died early. At this time, asking the court to make his beloved concubine his wife naturally means to strengthen the family. Then the son of this beloved concubine will naturally no longer be a concubine, but a legitimate son, and he can inherit the Duke of Wei in the future. Yes, because the first wife did not give birth to a son or a daughter for him.

"What do you mean, his beloved concubine gave birth to a younger son, so he can't win in an open and honest way?"

Yan Shifan was such a smart person. He had already had a premonition when he heard Yan Xin say that he would make his concubine a royal decree.

Sure enough, just as he suspected, there was a fight in the backyard.

However, the title of Duke of Wei is worth fighting for.

"His two sons, the eldest son Xu Bangrui, the younger son, the son born to the concubine Zheng, is named Xu Bangning."

Yan Xin introduced immediately.

"Hmph. The eldest son of a common concubine, what a big deal it is, and you are still afraid of being like this."

Yan Shifan looked at Yan Xin and felt a little dissatisfied.

"Sir, there are a lot of complications behind this matter. After all, it involves the inheritance of the Wei Kingdom's dukedom, and there are other things involved. It's completely deceiving the imperial court. No matter how favored the Zheng family is, they are still concubines after all."

Yan Xin wiped the sweat from his head and said to Yan Shifan.

"You think everyone in Beijing knows about things in Nanjing."

Having said this, Yan Shifan braced himself and sat up straight, "Your concerns are reasonable. This matter is not big, but it is troublesome. If you want to deal with it, you must cut it off quickly.

Also, how much money did he give? "

"Send me a vote of five thousand taels of silver."

Yan Xin replied immediately.

"Tsk tsk. Xu Pengju is quite generous. He is willing to spend so much money just for a concubine."

Yan Shifan sneered and said, "Five thousand taels of silver, you can get as many beautiful ladies as you want, and you still care about a concubine, you know~~"

"What the master said is, what can he do if the slave comes back tomorrow?"

Yan Xin listened to Yan Shifan's tone and said that this matter can still be handled.

Well, he has never seen anything that Master Yan Shifan couldn't do.

However, this is always a lie. According to the imperial system, concubines cannot be named wives.

"Go back, it's not a big deal, I will make arrangements."

Yan Shifan didn't take this matter seriously at all. It was just a royal decree. The court issued many such royal decrees every year. It was really not a difficult thing.

It's just that this matter involves the succession of the Duke of Wei, which is a bit on the line. It is indeed easy to be criticized by those guys who claim to be Qingliu.

Seeing that his affairs were finished, Yan Xin quickly said goodbye knowingly and left Yan Shifan's yard.

Ten days later, a document of the imperial edict flew out of Beijing.

According to their grades, the imperial wives of the Ming Dynasty can be divided into Yipin madam (first grade), Madam (second grade), Shuren (third grade), Gongren (fourth grade), and Yiren (fifth grade).

In addition, those of sixth rank are called Anren, those of seventh rank and below are called Ruren, and those without titles are called Niangzi. These two levels are not imperial titles, but imperial titles, and naturally they cannot be called wives.

However, among the people, the wives of officials who have obtained a rank are collectively referred to as Mrs. Gaoming.

As for the privileges of Mrs. Gaoming, the first privilege, all Mrs. Gaoming have a "salary", which varies depending on the grade, but they have no real power.

Secondly, the imperial wives in the capital, especially those of the first and second grades, have the opportunity to be invited by the queen to attend the banquet, which is definitely a status symbol.

Thirdly, when Mrs. Gaoming sees someone of lower rank than herself, she does not have to kneel or greet her. However, when officials of lower rank see Mrs. Gaoming of higher rank, they must salute. Even if they have no real power, they must salute. This is the rule.

The title of the imperial edict was only that of a second-grade lady, which was naturally low for the Duke of Wei's status as a super-grade duke.

However, officials who have read this decree don't think there is any problem.

It was just a side room, and the title given to a second-grade wife was quite appropriate, so no one in the court noticed anything wrong with the title, and the relevant yamen happily approved the title.

There are officials in the capital who have eyes and ears, and many of them know the details of Duke Wei's family, but no one said it at this time.

Duke Wei's own family affairs, there is no need to offend a hereditary noble for such a trivial matter.

For these officials, they need to be smooth in dealing with things. It is not that they cannot "preside over justice" in this matter, but they need to have enough interests, or someone has rushed to the front, and the matter has been broken up, so they will follow up.

No one understands the principle of shooting the first bird better than them.

Wei Guangde also saw this imperial edict. He just smiled and sighed in his heart that these dignitaries are really good. He has a super-grade hereditary title, and even his wife can get an imperial edict.

For low-ranking officials, imperial edicts are a bit far away.

If he got married before this, perhaps he could also get a royal title of a lady with his merits in Baoan Prefecture this time.

Whether it is an imperial edict or a conferment, it is based on the official rank. Generally, it will not happen that the wife is conferred a higher rank than the official, so if Wei Guangde has a wife, she will only be conferred the seventh rank.

At this time, Xu Pengju, the Duke of Wei in Nanjing City, had already known the news before the imperial edict was delivered, and the five thousand taels of silver were not wasted.

Now that his favorite concubine has been conferred the title of Madam, she naturally becomes the mistress of the Duke of Wei's Mansion, and Xu Bangning can be regarded as a legitimate son.

So now is the time to start the second step of the plan.

After Zheng was conferred the title of Madam by the court, although she was considered the principal wife, there was still a little trouble, that is, when it came to the succession assessment.

In the Ming Dynasty, the succession of meritorious officials was jointly inspected by the Five Military Commander's Office, the Ministry of Rites, and the Ministry of Personnel. Xu Pengju was already in charge of the Nanjing Central Army Mansion. As long as he could deal with the officials of the Nanjing Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Personnel, the matter would be finally settled.

Xu Bangrui and Xu Bangning are the two sons. Xu Bangrui naturally has an innate advantage when inheriting the title. Although he is not a legitimate son, he has the title of the eldest son of a concubine.

Although Xu Bangning is now a legitimate son, Zheng has always been the legitimate son, not the original wife.

If the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Personnel insist that he is only a concubine's second son, then Xu Bangrui will have the last laugh.

Xu Pengju has already spent a lot of money on this matter, so he naturally does not want to cause any more waves. He must make things clear.

At this time, he has to use his previous crooked thoughts. He did that on a whim back then, but he didn't expect that it would have such a miraculous effect at this time. It's really wonderful.

A dozen days later, Xu Pengju took a sedan chair to the Nanjing Military Department Yamen. Xu Pengju wanted to send his second son Xu Bangning to the Military Department to learn strategies and prepare for inheriting the title and commanding the army in the future.

He had some connections with Liu Cai, the Nanjing Minister of Military Affairs, so he naturally hoped that Liu Cai could open a back door for him.

At this time, Wei Guangde also moved into his new home. After the hustle and bustle of the previous two days, today he finally settled down.

Knowing that Wei Guangde had moved into a new home, his peers and colleagues naturally sat together to have fun. Not only the Hanlin Academy, but also the Taichang Temple came.