The Prosperous Era of Longwan

". I secretly believe that the rule of the Six Divisions is the ancestral system and will remain the same no matter in the past, present or future.

Wei Guangde said, but what he didn't say was that the best management was to divide and conquer, and merging would be troublesome.

Zhang Juzheng sensitively noticed the slight change in Empress Dowager Chen's face. It was obvious that Wei Guangde's emphasis that Myanmar and its surrounding areas were divided into six divisions was determined by the ancestors and could not be changed.

In fact, he somewhat understood what Wei Guangde meant by emphasizing this, that is, no matter what the situation in Myanmar is now, as long as it is not the original Sixth Division, the Ming Dynasty seems to be able to intervene.

It was nothing more than translating a petition for help from a certain Xuanwei Department back then to explain the matter, and Ming Dynasty would have reasons to intervene.

In the past, the court officials felt that there was really no need to pay attention to the small southwestern border states, so they pretended to be deaf and dumb after receiving the memorial from there. After a long time, they naturally ignored it.

In fact, this was also his original intention for introducing the examination method.

Many state affairs have been delayed because of this attitude, which has led to the growth of corruption and indolence in the court. Officials only care about matters related to their own interests and ignore others.

"What's the chief assistant's opinion?"

Queen Mother Chen quickly regained her composure, looked at Zhang Juzheng and asked.

"Reporting to the Queen Mother, Juzheng's opinion is consistent with Guangde's and believes that Myanmar and its surrounding areas should restore the old system, which is conducive to local stability."

Zhang Juzheng said.

"In this case, the cabinet will comply with the order and go down to inform the Jin Yiwei, asking them to find out what is the current situation in Myanmar and report it in time."

Queen Mother Chen said.

After the two of them said goodbye and exited Ciqing Palace, Queen Mother Chen took the hand of the young emperor Zhu Yijun and said, "Your Majesty, do you think it is good or bad to restore the ancestral system?"

Zhu Yijun is twelve years old. Under Wei Guangde's education, he has already developed the habit of thinking about problems by himself.

Regarding Queen Mother Chen's words, he just smiled and said: "Queen Mother, the ancestral system must have its own reasons. If the situation does not change, we should follow the ancestral system."

"Oh, what if the situation changes?"

Queen Mother Chen noticed that there seemed to be another meaning in the little emperor's words, so she asked.

Queen Mother Li on the side just sat quietly, watching the conversation between her son and Queen Chen.

"It depends on whether the situation is conducive to the imperial court. If it is favorable, it should be ignored. If it is not favorable, we should take action to restore the ancestral system."

The little emperor replied.

"Let's just talk about Myanmar. What if the six divisions of Myanmar merge into one, as Mr. Wei Ge said?"

Queen Mother Chen asked patiently now.

She didn't just ask casually, but wanted to see what it was like for Zhang Juzheng to preside over the education of the little emperor in the past two years.

Royal education is naturally different from that of the private sector. The emperor, not the ministers, must be trained, so he must be taught to calculate gains and losses and balance them.

Empress Chen was quite satisfied with the little emperor's answer just now, and she did not teach the little emperor to be a sour scholar who only knew the basics.

The emperor cannot be like this.

For Chen Hou, as long as the emperor understands the trade-off between virtue and gain, she does not know that the emperor's education, power and means are also very important.

Only by skillfully using power and means can the emperor achieve the goals he wants to achieve.

And this was actually what Wanli Emperor Zhu Yijun lacked the most, which caused him to suffer a great loss in subsequent battles with civil servants. In the end, he could only shrink in the palace, basically ignoring government affairs unless there was something important.

Even if he later figured out how to divide the ministers and draw one faction against another, it was too late.

The most important thing is that because of his anger, the new official atmosphere that Zhang Juzhang easily formed was directly abolished, and the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty returned to its original state.

This makes the operation of the entire government seem slow and careless, with no one willing to really deal with the problem.

Everyone is looking for and uniting with "comrades" for help, criticizing each other in order to consolidate power, and openly forming so-called parties. The same parties fight against different parties, which plunged the Ming Dynasty into party strife in the last years of the Ming Dynasty.

It should be said that the fact that Emperor Wanli hid in the palace and did not ask about court affairs was the beginning of the party struggle.

At the very least, when the emperor wants to intervene in government affairs, neither the local township parties nor the cross-regional Donglin Party dare to be active openly.

Although there is a de facto Township Party, the Township Party is not as harmful as the Donglin Party.

After all, even major imperial examination provinces like Zhejiang and Nanzhili can produce many officials.

The formation of the Donglin Party was the real fate of the Ming Dynasty. The so-called people who are upright and prosperous in the Ming Dynasty are the greatest irony.

The Donglin Party came to power twice during the Tianqi and Chongzhen dynasties, but was quickly abandoned by the two emperors. This has to do with the fact that the Donglin Party is really a pure talk party.

Apart from being good at writing and writing, he had almost no political wisdom. The period when the Donglin Party formed a cabinet and came to power was precisely the period when the situation in the Ming Dynasty collapsed most rapidly.

Most of the Donglin Party members were from Jiangnan, and Jiangnan was the richest place in the Ming Dynasty.

After they came to power, they used their power to redistribute taxes. They not only favored the south of the Yangtze River when it came to raising taxes, but also focused the tax increase on the north because the war took place in the north. They put forward the slogan that northerners should protect the northern soil. The increase in taxes was unreasonable. In the end it directly led to a civil commotion.

Of course, from the perspective of later generations, the Donglin Party is actually very broad, because its internal struggle is also very fierce. At least there are two major factions within Donglin, the moderate and the radical. Moreover, many non-Donglin officials also like to consider themselves Donglin. Lin, made the entire court party struggle so chaotic that even in later generations it would be difficult to explain clearly what the situation was at that time.

A few more days passed, and the Ming government was still operating according to the original rules.

Reports from various places were sent to the General Affairs Office and then to the palace.

After the cabinet received the memorial, Zhang Juzheng, Wei Guangde and Lu Tiaoyang drafted the votes, and finally approved and sent it back.

For a while, nothing major happened, so it seemed very calm.

"Sir, the Ministry of War has sent news that Li Chengliang has arrived outside the city and will enter the city tomorrow to present prisoners."

Wei Guangde was sitting behind the desk processing official documents when Lu Bu came in and reported in a low voice: "The Meridian Gate has also been arranged by the Ministry of Rites. Please go and see if it needs to be changed."

"Um."

Wei Guangde snorted, but made no other move until he finished reading all the documents in his hand, took out a note, prepared a ticket, and affixed it to the memorial. Then he raised his head and asked, "Tomorrow is the prisoner dedication ceremony."

Although nothing major happened, there were a lot of documents sent from all over the country every day, and it was very time-consuming for three people to read them separately.

"Yes, sir."

Lu Bu replied.

"Then go and have a look."

Wei Guangde put down his official duties, stood up, took Lu Bu out of the cabinet, and went directly to the Meridian Gate.

At this time, the Meridian Gate had been cleaned two days ago because of the major events tomorrow, and it looked much cleaner and tidier.

When Wei Guangde arrived here, he took a look at the Meridian Gate first. The throne in the middle of the couplets in front of the Meridian Gate Tower had been placed.

Wei Guangde did not go over, but stood directly by the city wall and looked down.

When Wei Guangde came over, officials from the Ministry of Rites came to greet him.

Wei Guangde asked in detail about the positions of the officials tomorrow, the arrangements for the ceremonial guards, and the positions of the Bell and Drum Department and the Jiaosi Square Band.

Yes, all major ceremonial events in the Ming Dynasty were inseparable from drumming and music.

After understanding the ritual procedures in detail, Wei Guangde suddenly asked: "Has the palace approved the memorial to the Ministry of Punishment?"

Two days ago, Wei Guangde had already drafted the memorial to the Ministry of Punishment, which was also the rule.

Although he had already arranged the treatment of the prisoners of war during the prisoner presentation ceremony, he still had to go through the procedures, that is, the Ministry of Punishment recommended execution, and the cabinet and the Supervisor of Ceremonies proposed to approve it.

During the prisoner presentation ceremony, the Minister of Punishment had to read the memorial once more, and then the emperor issued an order to deal with it.

"Maybe not."

Naturally, the officials of the Ministry of Rites couldn't answer Wei Guangde's words, but Lu Bu, who was following him, said.

"In a moment, you go to the Ministry of Punishment and ask about Wang Zhigao's situation. If the Chief of Ceremonies has not approved it yet, let him go and urge it in person. Don't delay the official business."

Although he is in the palace, he will not personally come forward for such a matter.

This is the errand of the Ministry of Punishment, so naturally the Ministry of Punishment must handle it on its own.

"Have the notices from the Ministry of Etiquette been posted?"

Wei Guangde turned around and asked the official from the Ministry of Rites next to him.

"Mr. Geng Ge, the notice was posted the day before yesterday, and both the civil and military officials of the DPRK and Zuojin Township have been notified."

Posting notices is just a formality. The Ministry of Rites will specially arrange scribes to inform various government offices and some highly respected squires in and outside the capital.

"The etiquette department did a great job."

Wei Guangde nodded. This time the ceremony department prepared the ceremony on time and arranged the ceremony venue well. Wei Guangde expressed his satisfaction.

Turning his head, Wei Guangde asked Qianhu, a Jinyi guard who was following behind him and was wearing a Feiyu uniform: "Jinyi guard of honor, I will enter the venue later to get familiar with it, and try to make sure everything is as good as possible."

"Yes, Mr. Wei Ge."

Qianhu in Jinyi cupped his fists and bowed before answering.

After getting off the Meridian Gate Tower, Wei Guangde walked out of the Meridian Gate. A large case had been placed on the east side of the Royal Road. This was a case for presenting the victory report.

When he got down there, Wei Guangde said to the officials of the Ministry of Rites: "Let the rites guide take a look, and I'll take a look."

As soon as he finished speaking, more than a dozen ceremonial officers from the Ministry of Rites retreated outside amidst the greetings, and then walked to different positions under the Meridian Gate and stood at different positions. The doctor next to him from the Ministry of Rites quietly introduced who the ceremonial officers should lead.

"There has never been a prisoner presentation ceremony in many years, so we need to be cautious and go through it several times to avoid mistakes."

Wei Guangde said to the doctor of the Ministry of Rites before leaving, and then returned to the cabinet alone.

Before dawn the next day, all the officials and dignitaries in the capital got up and washed themselves, put on their court uniforms and prepared to attend the ceremony.

Soon, officials gathered outside the Meridian Gate and were waiting.

Just like the ceremonies of later generations, every step is timed. When morning comes, the ceremonial guard in brocade clothes has already marched neatly from Chengtian Gate to the Meridian Gate.

One step at a time, full of power.

This is also a unique step of the palace guards, creating a solemn and majestic atmosphere, showing the atmosphere of heaven.

As the Jin Yiwei honor guard arrived, all the officials along the way stepped out of the way and watched quietly as the honor guard marched in neat steps to stand on both sides of the Meridian Gate.

The three people in the cabinet were standing in front. They turned around and looked at each other, but didn't say a word.

Wei Guangde knew that Zhang Juzheng didn't like this form. He preferred to be pragmatic, but he couldn't say much about the rules set by Zhu Yuanzhang.

After all, it is the Ming Dynasty Palace, so it naturally has the appearance it deserves.

The censor over there had already started counting people to see if there were any late officials, and the officials from the Ministry of Rites appeared from both sides of the Meridian Gate. Behind them were the staff from the Jiaofang Department who were responsible for the rituals and music in the palace. They soon arrived behind the guard of ceremony. The music is arranged on the east and west sides, facing north.

Honglu Temple, which is responsible for national ceremonies, set up two praising officials in front of the Meridian Gate, as well as a conducting officer and an announcing officer. They were also quickly put in place.

The palace door was closed at this time. Although I didn't know what was going on inside, according to protocol, Emperor Wanli Zhu Yijun should have finished washing and was ready to come over at this time.

All civil and military officials, envoys from the Tibetan kingdoms, and guests, etc., stood at the south of the imperial road in front of the Meridian Gate Tower, arranged according to Wen Dong and Wu Xi.

"The three pavilion elders have to arrange their shifts."

At this time, a ceremony official from the Ministry of Rites came over and said to them.

"Okay, just make arrangements."

Zhang Juzheng answered casually.

The three of them retreated slightly under the guidance of the ceremonial officer. After arriving at the ceremony and music, other civil and military officials, nobles, envoys and guests from various Tibetan kingdoms also stood at the Meridian Tower under the guidance of the ceremonial officer. To the south of the former imperial road, stand in order according to Wen Dong and Wu Xi.

When the rising sun rose in the east and cast its first ray of sunshine on the earth, the bells and drums above the Meridian Gate rang in unison, and then the musicians began to join in with the rhythm of the bells and drums, and for a while a majestic and solemn movement sounded in the venue.

As the announcer shouted: "Get up", it heralded the official start of the ceremony.

Under the leadership of the ceremony officials, Zhang Juzheng, Wei Guangde and other cabinet ministers led the civil and military officials to stand under the Meridian Gate.

In the direction of Chengtianmen, Li Chengliang and his son, who were escorting the prisoners of war, and other generals who presented the prisoners were already standing in the end gate, waiting to come on stage.

They set out before dawn this morning, and arrived here with people escorting the prisoners of war after the city gate was opened.

After passing through two palace gates, he saw another tall palace gate in front of him, and outside the palace gate was a large and dark group of people. Li Rusong, who was seeing such a formation for the first time, couldn't help but rub his hands and whispered to His father asked, "Dad, if you go through this door, is it the place where the emperor went to court?" ’

"I don't know, I've never been here."

Li Chengliang only whispered.

He had been to the capital in order to take up his post, but he had only wandered around the Ministry of War. He was not qualified to attend court meetings, and naturally he had never entered the palace.

"We will just follow that adult in a moment."

Li Chengliang pursed his lips in front of him and added.

Today, their father and son, as well as the Liaodong generals they brought, all put on brand-new armor and military uniforms specially issued by the Ministry of War yesterday.

There was a huge difference between the brighter Ming soldiers and the disgraced Wang Gao and his men they escorted.

Although Wang Gao had a tough talk, he had never been to the capital and was escorted all the way from the Liaoxi Corridor. He already deeply regretted it.

He saw the vast territory of the Ming Dynasty, the cities he passed and the people he saw, which made him feel a little regretful.

How could he have imagined that there was such a big difference between the outside of the Pass and the inside of the Pass? He always thought that the Han people said that the inside and outside of the Pass were the same, with a vast land and sparsely populated areas, so he did not believe that the Ming Dynasty had a so-called million-strong army.

But along the way he saw many towns and countless people, which made him realize that his knowledge was still limited.

There was no way. The Ming Dynasty had banned the Jurchen tribe from coming to the capital decades ago, and those who had come before had died long ago. Naturally, they lacked a true understanding of the Ming Dynasty.

I see it now, but it's too late.

At this time, he was led into the Forbidden City by Wu Hua Da Da. He was shocked and inexplicable just by walking through the two palace gates.