Chapter 187 186 Court debate

It was noon in a flash. Wei Guangde was thinking whether he should go out for dinner, but he heard Jin Da's voice outside, "Is Guangde here?"

Then the sound of Lu Bu's speech came.

Wei Guangde immediately stood up and went out to greet him. At this time, he was already a Hanlin editor and a seventh-rank official, but he was not comparable to his own Shujishi who had no official position or no rank.

"Brother Defu."

Wei Guangde clasped his fists when he went out.

"Guangde, let's go out for dinner, everyone is waiting for you in front of you."

Jin Da smiled when he saw Wei Guangde coming out.

"good."

Wei Guangde spoke, turned around and took the door with him, and followed Jin Da out.

There is nothing here now, and Wei Guangde is too lazy to lock the door. Isn’t there Lu Bu still here?

Following Jin Da, he saw Zhu Dashou and Tao Dalin were also outside, and there were a few people together.

After Zhu Dashou's introduction, Wei Guangde learned that they were Chen Jin, Cao Dazhang and Wen Yinglu in the last palace examination, and there was no one else.

Wei Guangde was still puzzled. He chose Shujishi in the last imperial examination. I don’t know how many of them were. This is also the reason why this imperial examination has long been decided not to recruit Shujishi.

Since the eighth year of Jiajing, the subsequent imperial examinations adopted the rule of selecting Shuji Shi every two sessions, but this time, the 35-year imperial examination in Jiajing broke this rule.

Actually, it's not a break, it's just a freak.

As for the Hanlin Academy now, there are no Shuji scholars in the Hanlin Academy. Several Shuji scholars ordered in Jiajing in 32 years were disbanded in advance last year. They either gave the lecture or added the subjects, making Wei Guangde the only Shuji scholar in the Hanlin Academy.

Several of the best people from the Hanlin Academy gathered together and soon found a nearby restaurant. They went to the second floor to order food and sat down and chatted.

In fact, it was mainly Chen Jin and Cao Dazhang who were teaching experience to the new Jinshi. During the conversation, Wei Guangde also learned that Zhu Dashou and the others had nothing to do in the Hanlin Academy this morning, they were just familiar with the environment.

"In the afternoon, I will take you around the Hanlin Academy and recognize the door."

Chen Jin, the top student in the last palace examination, said to them with a smile, "Three years later, the new Jinshi will come in. This is what you do. This is the tradition of the Hanlin Academy, haha."

Wei Guangde and others were laughing. Perhaps Wei Guangde might not have a chance. After all, he is a Shujishi, so it might be possible that the restaurant would be disbanded in advance.

Once he left the Hanlin Academy, this matter had nothing to do with him, that is, Zhu Dashou and the others could do it.

As the wine and food were served, the atmosphere of the banquet became warmer with the sound of the wine.

Chen Jin and others were talking about the affairs of the Hanlin Academy. The four new Jinshi listened quietly, and the topic gradually turned to the court. After all, many bachelors in the Hanlin Academy had other titles, such as Min Rulin, a scholar of the Hanlin Academy, who also had the titles of Zhanshi Mansion and the Left Minister of the Ministry of Personnel. However, the Ministry of Personnel was only on duty. He is now the boss of the Zhanshi Mansion and the person in charge of the affairs of the Ministry of Personnel.

Yin Zhanshi, who is in charge of the Academy, is also the second-in-command of the Zhanshi Mansion, helping Min Rulin to manage the Zhanshi Mansion, but more of it is in charge of the Hanlin Academy.

Well, Wei Guangde soon felt that the Hanlin Academy was really a school for reserve cadres. As long as there were people in Zhanshi Mansion and Taichang Temple, they would probably find someone to make up for it from the Hanlin Academy, and then they would also be given the title of Minister of the Sixth Ministry when there were vacancies. It was indeed a bit quick to get promoted. No wonder scholars wanted to enter the Hanlin Academy.

"Guangde, you're afraid you don't know. The most fiercer thing in the court recently is not the official position, but the topics. I found the policy you wrote two days ago, which was the provincial examination and the imperial examination papers. Your remarks are very consistent with the current prevailing faction in the officialdom."

At this time, Wen Yinglu, who had spoken less before, spoke, saying that he was the last Tanhua, and his sense of existence was probably similar to that of Wei Guangde. He had two big Buddhas on his head, so he naturally didn't talk much on weekdays, so he started talking to Wei Guangde at this time.

"What remarks? What are you fighting in the court?"

Wei Guangde was still a little curious.

"When it comes to this, it's true that Yiyong searched for your paper that day and we also read it."

Chen Jin continued at this time: "One is to pacify the Japanese, and the other is to pay the financial tuition theory. It is the papers for your provincial examination and the imperial examination, which is exactly the same as the current trend of the imperial court."

"Tell me in detail, let's listen carefully."

Zhu Dashou immediately said.

For those who are new to the officialdom, they naturally hope to learn more about the current affairs in the court. No matter what it is, they will come into contact with them in the future. The more you know, the better.

For the three first-class people in this imperial examination, they also heard the news faintly. Wei Guangde seemed to have received the holy family, so the strange thing that jumped from the end of the third-class to the first-class first-class happened.

For the Jinshi elected for this imperial examination, most people looked down on Wei Guangde at the beginning because they thought he had gone through the path of Master Yan, and it was only the fellow villagers in Jiangxi who praised him so much.

However, after the Rong En Banquet incident, many people's impression of him changed slightly. Later, they even heard that the improvement of his ranking was definitely not something Yan Song could control. The only person who could decide all this was the Nine Five Supreme. Only then did everyone abandon their prejudices against him and make friends with him.

Wei Guangde was very busy all those days. He had to take time to read Taoist books and receive visitors. Some people from Beijing officials sent posts, and some people from Jinshi visited him. He had to come back to visit him after he had time.

Those Jinshi were almost the same as Wei Guangde, and they were also constantly visiting Beijing officials from their hometowns. After their guidance, the Jinshi knew what happened.

It is also a skill to be able to win that person's favor.

Now, when hearing Wei Guangde's provincial examination and the policy of the imperial examination were consistent with some discussions in the court, and it was still the upper hand, Zhu Dashou, Tao Dalin and Jin Da thought that he had found the reason why Wei Guangde was promoted by the emperor. I am afraid that what he wrote was recognized by the emperor.

In fact, many times, such attention is a political trend.

Chen Jin and the others looked at each other and laughed.

"First talk about the one you made after praising officials on the Imperial Street. We went to the ritual office of the Ministry of Rites. We were shocked when we heard it in the Hanlin Academy. I wonder which one you were going to make. Later, we realized that it was because of the Shanxi earthquake, so we breathed a sigh of relief."

Chen Jinyu said relaxedly: "The imperial court is not useful enough. You should have felt it more or less after this. I heard from my predecessors that Jiajing was 29 years ago, and the imperial court's income and expenditure were barely balanced. Although it was a bit stretched, it could still support it.

If it weren't for the Taoist being addicted to Taoism, although there were still constant natural disasters, they could always deal with it. It was nothing more than just tearing down the east wall and repairing the west wall. It would be a little frugal, but the court would still have some surplus.

However, since 29 years after Jiajing, military expenditure has increased significantly, and the Japanese pirates in the south have become in chaos, taxes in Jiangsu and Zhejiang have also been greatly reduced, and military use between the north and the south has caused serious shortage of national use and the situation of eating food for the first time.

I remember that one of the strategies for the suppression of Japanese in Guangde last year was to say that the funding for suppressing Japanese was the source of funds. Now, the Zhejiang Censor and Governor-General of Punishment of Japanese was Hu Zongxian and Hu, who kept handing over to the court, demanding additional military expenses. They wanted to recruit new soldiers to suppress Japanese, and the guards could only defend and advance to suppress them.

But you think, where can the imperial court have the money to recruit soldiers for him?"

Speaking of this, Chen Jin kept it a secret, picked up the chopsticks on the table, picked up the dishes, and chewed them slowly.

"Oh, Senior Chen, Brother Deyan, don't keep it a secret, just say it."

Tao Dalin couldn't sit still and asked afterwards.

"For Yong, you have read his paper for a long time and understand it the most."

Chen Jin kicked the ball to Wen Yinglu, but Wei Guangde also understood why it was wrong. It should be the extra tax on suppressing Japanese taxes.

"Haha, that's OK, just for me."

Wen Yinglu smiled, "It's not that the court has no money. Lord Hu proposed to ask him to collect military fees locally in Jiangnan to suppress the Japanese. In addition to increasing taxes on the land in Jiangnan, he also wanted to collect lijin from past merchants along the canal. The taxed silver collected was used to suppress the Japanese in Jiangnan. From then on, the imperial court would not need to allocate additional military pay."

"Can Jiangnan bear it? They have already suffered heavy losses due to the Japanese turmoil, so they have to pay extra taxes and silver?"

Jin Da hesitated, obviously not supporting this idea, and then he thought of Wei Guangde, who was involved in this matter, was he supporting Jiangnan's tax increase?

Thinking of this, Jin Da looked at Wei Guangde, saw his old god sitting there, and even picked up the dish and put it in his mouth.

"These are not what we should consider. People above will naturally discuss this, because the six ministries argue very well, and neither Xiyuan nor the cabinet made any statements, but"

Wen Yinglu said that he looked at Wei Guangde here, "It's hard to say about other yamen. Most people in the Hanlin Academy think that they should mean the same thing.

The taxes imposed by Jiangnan were used to suppress the Japanese, which was also a good thing for the people of Jiangnan. Only by quelling the Japanese treasons could they live and work in peace, and the court also had money to use for disaster relief."

“Yes, yes.”

Jin Da Wenyan nodded. After all, he was a newcomer to the officialdom, so it is natural that he would not express too much of his opinion on these issues. He said that there are fierce debates in the court now, and obviously there are many people who have their own ideas.

When encountering problems, propose solutions, and discuss good or bad things. This is the policy way to deal with state affairs. You can’t just talk about it. It’s not a waste of talk.

"What about the test?"

Zhu Dashou asked again, and after knowing the questions in the provincial examination, they now want to know how to answer Wei Guangde's examination.

For them, they naturally knew about the question, but their policies and opinions were all just the norm, and they suggested that they were frugal, and they should be frugal on weekdays and save money to prepare for famines.

"Most of your papers are the views of saints, and they pay attention to reducing expenses. Guangde is talking about opening up the source, using foreign products like Jiangnan silk, tea and porcelain, to trade them with gold, silver and grain, and the court will have money to provide disaster relief."

Wen Yinglu's answer was very simple, but he also explained the difference between them and Wei Guangde's paper. "Of course, Guangde's paper was also said, just to use it in this way and make money."

After hearing Wen Yinglu's words, Zhu Dashou and others nodded repeatedly. This sentence was consistent with the strategy they wrote, but there was an additional trade open source.

"I heard that Guangde is good at dealing with problems, and today I have received teaching."

Jin Da nodded, Jiangnan people were naturally inconsistent with doing business.

He knew that business could make money. His family was not a family of merchants, so he naturally didn't care about the interests of merchants. Relatively speaking, he paid more attention to the previous one, asking Hu Zongxian to impose taxes on land in Jiangnan, which was related to his family's interests.

"The court wants to increase taxes on Jiangnan merchants?"

At this time, Zhu Dashou suddenly interrupted and asked.

"no."

Wen Yinglu immediately shook his head and said, "The amount of taxes is customized by our ancestors and cannot be changed without any changes."

"What is the court talking about?"

Zhu Dashou asked in surprise.

"Zhao Wenhua, the right assistant minister of the Ministry of Works, suggested changing rice seeds and mulberry trees in Jiangsu and Zhejiang to increase the output of raw silk and increase silk output. Not only can tax revenue be collected according to the system, but also earn a sum of silver for the court through the Maritime Bureau, thus solving the situation where the court is short of money."

Wen Yinglu shook his head and said.

"Change rice and seed mulberry?"

Wei Guangde, who had a look of inconcern before, suddenly screamed and said in a panic.

No wonder he had such a big reaction. In the memory of later generations, it seems that Wei Guangde had seen this scene. It was not good anyway. The local people were harmed by corrupt officials.

Wei Guangde proposed that the maritime trade was not for corrupt officials to acquire land at a low price, but it was a real solution to the financial problems of the Ming Dynasty.
To be continued...