Chapter 395 394 Fujian Incident

Gao Gong was still actively seeking a solution to the bomb that Wei Guangde had planted for him unintentionally. Now Wei Guangde was also a banner of Prince Yu's Mansion in the court, and no mistakes could be made.

That night, Gao Gong and Wei Guangde had a secret talk. Although they did not clarify what to do next, they had a general idea, which was to find an opportunity to take the initiative to expose the matter in front of Emperor Jiajing to avoid being reported to the emperor privately by political enemies.

The reason why they did not immediately set a response strategy was because the incident happened suddenly. Both Wei Guangde and Gao Gong still hoped to find a better way. After all, although they could gain some initiative by taking the initiative to expose the Qingci incident, it was difficult to guess what kind of punishment Emperor Jiajing would make.

In the next few days, Wei Guangde did not relax because he had a contingency plan, but instead sought other ways to break the deadlock.

During this period, because nothing major happened in the court, the Western Garden no longer summoned ministers. The memorials from the cabinet were sent to the palace step by step every day, and returned to the cabinet for processing after being approved by the Silijian the next day.

That is why, although Wei Guangde knew that some things could not be thrown behind his mind just because of luck, he was not so anxious.

Ten days passed in this way.

In the half month, Wei Guangde did not do nothing. He made an appointment with Chen Ju to meet secretly and told him the details of Qingci.

Although no final countermeasures were decided, Wei Guangde felt that it would be better for people in the palace to know in advance, whether actively or passively.

There were people in the palace, whether it was to support Gao Gong or to prevent someone from making a false accusation alone, at least the palace knew what was going on, and would not be caught off guard and not know how to deal with it.

Those who were familiar with Emperor Jiajing were actually those around him. In addition to the important officials in the court, there were the eunuchs around the emperor.

To be able to be an important official in the Jiajing Dynasty, in addition to being valued by the emperor for their ability or integrity, they must also be a wise person, at least not to make the emperor hate them, otherwise it would be impossible to reach that position.

As for the eunuchs around the emperor, in addition to their ability and good eyesight, they can understand the emperor's intentions, see the emperor's preferences, cater to his preferences, and serve the emperor comfortably. In addition, they must be loyal.

Wei Guangde explained the matter clearly, and also wanted to see how Chen Ju and Gao Zhong behind him viewed this matter. Based on their understanding of the emperor, Emperor Jiajing would be furious or just laugh it off after knowing this.

Just two days later, Wei Guangde received a note sent by Chen Ju. To his disappointment, there was no answer in the note.

The Qingci incident happened in Wuyi Hall at that time. There was a young eunuch outside the hall, and he naturally heard every word of the conversation in the hall.

That is, eunuchs like Chen Ju who were not of sufficient quality did not know that Huang Jin and Gao Zhong had already known about it that night.

However, even though they knew it, they had no obligation to help Wei Guangde, so they all took a laissez-faire attitude. At least before Wei Guangde took the initiative to find him, they would not go to the pole to get close to him.

If Wei Guangde had a deeper understanding of the officialdom and the palace, he might be able to analyze it from the clues.

In fact, in the eyes of Huang Jin and Gao Zhong, Wei Guangde's Qingci literary talent was a little lacking, but what they were worried about was not what Emperor Jiajing cared about.

In other words, even if this matter was directly reported to Emperor Jiajing, it would normally be just a few words and a slight punishment, of course, provided that there were no other incidents.

In fact, in court struggles, even if mistakes were made, timing was also very important.

If the timing was right, even if a big mistake was made, it might be reduced to a small matter or even invisible, while if the timing was not right, a small mistake might be caught and magnified infinitely, and eventually irreversible.

However, these were not what Gao Gong, who had just entered the palace, and Wei Guangde now could understand.

Although Gao Gong had been in great glory in the past two years, don't forget that he was just an official of Prince Yu's Mansion for more than a decade before, without much real power, and was also very unfamiliar with the court.

Although Prince Yu's Mansion and Prince Jing's Mansion have been fighting openly and secretly, those fights are no different from children playing house in the eyes of powerful men like Yan Song and Xu Jie.

It seems that the two princes are fighting fiercely, but in fact, it has no impact on the government.

But just as they worry, if others make this mistake, perhaps no one is willing to mention it, but if it is the opponent's people and Yan Shifan is behind the scenes, then it is naturally another matter.

As for Xu Jie, he actually captured these keenly when Gao Gong visited him, but he did not tell Gao Gong the truth, but simply agreed to it.

In Xu Jie's view, it was just a favor. When the emperor summoned him one day, he would find an opportunity to talk about this matter.

However, it seems that everything did not develop according to their ideal plot.

On this day, Xu Jie was dealing with memorials on the case in the cabinet, and a clerk hurried in and whispered a few words in Xu Jie's ear.

"Let him in."

Xu Jie immediately put down the things in his hands and sat upright.

In a moment, a young eunuch came into the room, bowed to Xu Jie and said loudly: 'Lord, His Majesty summons you to the West Garden for an audience. '

"I know."

Xu Jie stood up and the clerk beside him quickly helped him to sort out the memorials on the table, as if he wanted to sort out the memorials that had been approved and send them to the palace together.

"Lord Xu, His Majesty is still waiting."

The young eunuch said again.

The subtext of this statement is naturally to not waste time, and to talk about these things later.

Xu Jie glanced at the young eunuch, who had no expression on his face and could not tell anything. Xu Jie could not figure out what had happened in the Western Garden, so he had to nod in agreement.

Then he took a step and followed the young eunuch out of the door, and saw the back of Yan Song getting into the sedan chair.

He was a little startled, and something must have happened, otherwise he and Yan Song would not both go to the Western Garden.

For ordinary small matters, only one of him or Yan Song would be chosen to go, and only when the matter was serious would both of them be called.

Not long after, the sedan chair arrived in front of the gate of the Western Garden, and the two got off the sedan chair, exchanged a few words, and then entered the Western Garden one after the other.

When the two entered the Yongshou Palace, they felt that the atmosphere was not right. The eunuchs of all sizes standing around were all well-behaved and did not dare to make any big noises. It was obvious that the emperor was not in a good mood at the moment.

Before receiving the summons, the clerk beside him only said that something might happen in the West Garden, and several young eunuchs were sent out from the Yongshou Palace, but they didn't know what happened specifically. Now it seems that what happened is not small.

When they stopped in front of the palace gate and waited for the eunuchs to go in and report, Yan Song and Xu Jie looked at each other, but this was not the place to talk.

"Two elders, the emperor wants you to go in."

The young eunuch who went in to report had already walked out quickly and made a gesture to invite them.

Yan Song and Xu Jie stepped into the hall. Emperor Jiajing was not sitting on the throne, and no one was seen in the main hall, but soon they saw Emperor Jiajing sitting in the side hall.

At this time, Emperor Jiajing sat there with a serious face, and Huang Jin also stood on one side with his eyebrows lowered and respectful. On the other side stood Zhu Xizhong, the Duke of Cheng, who was wearing the Duke's uniform. He also lowered his head slightly at this time. Like Huang Jin, he didn't even look at them.

The two immediately walked over to salute, but after bowing, they didn't get the words of Emperor Jiajing "stand up".

"Can Hu Zongxian really wipe out the Japanese pirates? How much time do I have to give him?"

The continuous questions stunned Yan Song and Xu Jie, who were still bending over.

It is not easy to wipe out the Japanese pirates. Their bases are all overseas, and their whereabouts are erratic. It is not easy to wipe them out.

"Your Majesty, has something happened in Jiangnan?"

As the chief minister, Yan Song was the only one who could speak at this time.

"In order to give him military funds to fight the Japanese pirates, I promised him to increase taxes and labor service. In order to raise military funds, I also promised him to collect lijin, but how many years have passed?"

At this point, Emperor Jiajing stood up and walked back and forth in front of the throne twice, then stood still and said: "Before, there were memorials from all over Jiangnan, saying that taxes and labor service and lijin were levied. The people in Jiangnan were already suffering. If the levies continue, it may be difficult to maintain. What do you think?"

When Emperor Jiajing said this, Yan Song and Xu Jie knew that something must have happened in Jiangnan. They just saw how big the loophole was and whether it could be plugged.

Unconsciously, the two men bent their bodies even lower.

"At the beginning of the year, Wei Guangde came back from Jiangnan and said that the people in Jiangnan could still survive for a year. After a year, he was afraid that something unbearable would happen. I didn't expect that Jiangnan would be restless in just half a year."

After saying this, Emperor Jiajing turned around and sat back on the throne, waving to Zhu Xizhong next to him, "Let them see it."

"As ordered."

Zhu Xizhong agreed, and then he didn't know when there was a document in his hand. He walked a few steps to Yan Song and handed it to them.

Xu Jie, who was behind Yan Song, also stood up at this time, and his eyes fell on the document that Yan Song unfolded.

The documents submitted by the Jinyiwei to the palace were not unfamiliar to them. Although they had few opportunities to see them, they had seen them before, not to mention that Zhu Xizhong was here.

But soon, they frowned.

At the junction of Fujian and Guangdong, there was an uprising of bandits. It was not as simple as proclaiming himself king. He actually held a ceremony to worship the sky, wanted to ascend the throne to become emperor, and changed the era name to "Zhaoli".

Now, Yan Song and Xu Jie knew where the dissatisfaction of Emperor Jiajing came from.

Although the Zhang Lian mentioned in the document was not legitimate, he had raised the banner after all. He was the emperor of Feilong Kingdom and changed the reign and calendar. This was no longer an ordinary bandit, but a rebellion and a traitor.

The description of Zhang Lian's power at the end of the document made the two of them very frightened.

This Zhang Lian was originally a bandit who defected to Zheng Ba in Dapu. After Zheng Ba's death, he was elected as the new leader. Later, he joined forces with Xiao Wan to start an uprising and attacked nearby counties. The local government's encirclement and suppression of them also failed many times, which gradually made Zhang Lian's group famous and powerful.

After the power grew stronger, it joined forces with Lin Chaoxi of Chengxiang, Luo Pao and Yang Shun of Dapu, Zhang Gongyou and Lai Ci of Xiaojing, and Li Dongjin of Baitu. Now it has gathered a crowd of less than 100,000 people and constantly harassed Longyan, Shanghang and Longjing counties in Fujian and Chaozhou Prefecture in Guangdong.

Nearly 100,000 people?

Seeing this number, Yan Song and Xu Jie felt a little bitter in their mouths. This was no longer a group of small thieves.

But the key point is that the Fujian governor did not report this matter. It seems that the Jinyiwei letter was sent by the Jinyiwei Qianhu in Guangzhou.

Cover up.

At this moment, Yan Song and Xu Jie thought of the reason why the Fujian government did not dare to report it.

Maybe at the beginning, Fujian sent troops to suppress it, but it seemed that it must have failed.

After losing the battle, they naturally did not dare to report this matter.

"What do you think Liu Tao is doing now?"

Before the two answered, Emperor Jiajing asked coldly again.

Liu Tao is the governor of Fujian. According to the official document, most of the activities of this group of rebels are in southern Fujian, and there are also activities in the north of Guangdong. It is obvious that the Fujian government should send troops to suppress it.

Both of them lowered their heads and did not dare to bite. It was really difficult to answer this question.

In fact, this matter felt very unfair to Yan Song and Xu Jie. The cabinet did not receive any report on this matter from Fujian and Guangdong.

Naturally, they had heard that the governments in the south of the Yangtze River were unstable. In fact, not only the south of the Yangtze River, but also the north had been infested with thieves over the years. However, they did not expect that the people in the south were bolder and the situation was more severe than in the north. A large force of tens of thousands of people had actually appeared.

If the cabinet had known about this earlier, of course it would not have wasted any time and would have immediately issued an order to suppress it quickly.

However, after Yan Song quickly glanced at the official letter in his hand again, he immediately thought of what to say, bowed and said to Emperor Jiajing: "Your Majesty, September and October are the periods of Japanese pirate attacks. At this time, Governor Liu's main focus should be on exterminating Japanese pirates. "I might be a little helpless against Zhang Lian and his gang of rebels."

"Your Majesty, from the official letter, it appears that Zhang Lian is from Guangdong, and he initially committed crimes in Guangdong. It would be best if Guangdong and Fujian work together to eliminate this matter. If Fujian alone sends troops to encircle and suppress it, and if the rebels harass Guangdong and even Jiangxi, it will be difficult. Destroy them quickly."

Xu Jie also spoke at this time.

"What you mean is that this Liu Tao has no fault and has contributed to the suppression of the Japanese."

Emperor Jiajing said with a sneer on his lips.

"I don't dare. According to the official documents, the rebels are mainly Jiao people from Dabu, boat people from Nanwan, mountain people from Youxi, miners from Longyan, and refugees from Nanjing, Yongding and other places. Naturally, we cannot take them lightly. It should be eradicated as soon as possible.

It is now November, and the Japanese pirates along the coast have retreated. It is an opportunity to mobilize troops and horses for encirclement and suppression. Liu Tao should quickly order Liu Tao to mobilize troops to eliminate them. "

Yan Song immediately replied.

Regarding the countermeasures proposed by Yan Song, Emperor Jiajing was noncommittal and glanced at Zhu Xizhong, the Duke of Chengguo next to him.

Zhu Xizhong just lowered his head at this time, not knowing whether he was thinking about this.

Emperor Jiajing looked back at Xu Jie. As the second assistant, he should have his own opinions at this time.

Seeing Emperor Jiajing's gaze, Xu Jie knew in his heart that it was time for him to express his opinion. He hurriedly took half a step forward and bowed and replied: "Japanese invasions have been frequent in Zhejiang, Fujian, and Guangdong in the past year. The primary focus of local governments should be on Suppressing the Japanese might be a little lax on the lower side.

Fujian has made remarkable achievements in fighting Japanese invaders. Governor Liu’s contribution is indelible and he can be punished for his crimes.”