Chapter 955: Long Wilbur's Tiger Power
Nanjing was ruled by the Duke of Wei and six ministers of state, but emperors of all dynasties were still not at ease.
The fact that the territory was too large was one thing, but after the capital was moved to Peking, the north and the south gradually became alienated, which made the emperor worry about changes in the south, so he let his trusted eunuchs stay in Nanjing.
Wang Yan, the eunuch who guarded Nanjing, was very thin, the kind that a gust of wind could blow him away. Wearing a robe, one would think he was just a skeleton.
Wang Yan's face was also thin, which made his eyes appear bigger and more ferocious.
"Today I feel uneasy and groggy. It's strange that in the past there would be birds singing on the roof in the morning, but today there was complete silence."
Wang Yan was eating. As the eunuch guarding Nanjing, he had the responsibility to monitor the entire South. In other words, he could have a hand in all the affairs of the South.
So in terms of power, those civil servants would not have to bow and scrape when they saw him, but they still had to be polite.
Whatever he asked for, as long as it was not excessive, he would grant it.
People can still live without that thing!
If you don't want to live like a walking corpse, you have to find a hobby and a goal for yourself.
Wang Yan loves nothing but power and food.
He is particular about food, and the dining table must be made of fine wood. The lingering wood fragrance can make people relax and whet their appetite.
The bowls and plates came from the best kilns and craftsmen, and were similar to those used by emperors in the palace.
When Wang Yan was in the palace, he ate northern cuisine. After getting used to it, when he arrived in the south, fish and shrimp became the main dishes on the table, which made Wang Yan quite uncomfortable.
After he got used to southern food, he would bring his cook with him every time he went back to Beijing to report on his work. It was because he couldn't get used to northern cuisine.
Today's main dish is Suzhou noodles, which may seem like a simple soup, but is actually very rich. The soup is made by boiling a variety of ingredients overnight, filtering out the dregs, adding special thin noodles, pouring on the toppings, and finally a handful of chopped green onions, which instantly brings out the aroma.
There are five dishes, not many in number, but quite exquisite.
Fish is indispensable. The wild yellow croaker that is sought after by the rich in later generations is Wang Yan’s favorite. After steaming it, he adds secret seasoning, which makes it tender and tasty.
Wang Yan took a bite of the yellow croaker and felt a little uninterested.
The eunuch who was waiting on him was his trusted confidant Li Xin, who picked up a duck tongue with sauce and said with a smile, "Are you worried about the situation in Songjiang Prefecture?"
"What you think about during the day, you will dream about at night. Last night I dreamed of His Majesty's wrath..." Wang Yan nodded, picked up the braised duck tongue nonchalantly, and slowly ate the two thin pieces of meat.
"This matter has nothing to do with you. You have submitted a petition of apology, so His Majesty should not be angry with you." Li Xin followed Wang Yan in Nanjing and lived a good life, wishing that old Wang could stay in Nanjing forever.
"You don't understand your Majesty's temper." Wang Yan said, "People in the south say that your Majesty is stubborn, but they don't see that if your Majesty hadn't been so strong, the world would have been in chaos long ago. Take Yang Tinghe for example, he has a very good reputation in the south. When he led the officials to force your Majesty, he was praised in the south as speaking for the people of the world. You bastard!"
Wang Yan spat out the duck tongue bone in his mouth and cursed: "Yang Tinghe has wolfish ambitions. Most of those who praise him are of the same kind."
"Eunuch Wang."
The doorman stood outside the door, "Duke Wei sent a message saying that we will hold a meeting in the garrison hall later."
Ever since Emperor Yongle moved the capital to Beijing, Nanjing has become a stepmother. Even though the framework of a small court has been retained, most of the power has been diluted.
For example, the Nanjing Ministry of Personnel should be in charge of the officials in the south and be solely responsible for the selection of officials. But unfortunately, the power of selection lies with the Beijing Ministry of Personnel, which is in the hands of Xiong Jia. As for the Nanjing Ministry of Personnel, it only has one power, which is to examine the officials in the south.
Even when inspecting officials from the south, the inspection results still have to be submitted to the Ministry of Personnel in Beijing, which has the final say.
This is a useless Ministry of Personnel.
This is the case with five of the six ministries, with the Ministry of War being the only one that is better.
There are countless things happening in the South every day, and small things are handled by the localities themselves. When something big happens, someone has to make the final decision, right?
The Ming Dynasty established a system for this purpose, called the garrison system.
This garrison system is divided into three parts. The first is the garrison military officials, who are currently the Duke of Wei. The second is the garrison eunuchs, who are Wang Yan. The third is the counselor of the aircraft, who has been the Minister of the Nanjing Ministry of War since the Chenghua years. Therefore, the Ministry of War has the greatest power among the six ministries in Nanjing.
He is equivalent to Xu Jie, who served as the Minister of Rites part-time in the Zhengshi Hall. Although he was suppressed by Yan Song and his son in the Zhengshi Hall, at least he still held the Ministry of Rites in his hands and was not idle.
"Got it." Wang Yan ate some casually, stood up, and sat down again, "Forget it, let's eat the fish belly."
Wang Yan enjoyed the rich fish fat very much.
After eating the most delicious part, he stood up again and said, "If there is any news from the north, report it immediately."
"Yes."
Wang Yan left the dining room and squinted at the spring scenery. "It's a nice day."
Li Xin smiled and said, "It's been cloudy a lot lately, and now it's clearing up, which means that the matter should have a good outcome."
The three garrison troops check and supervise each other and control the south together. When encountering major events, the three parties will discuss and make decisions in the garrison hall.
The garrison hall has a bit of the flavor of Beijing's government affairs hall.
The garrison office is set up relatively simply. In the words of the former garrison eunuch, these people in the south are whores but want to be virtuous.
what for?
The three garrison commanders lived a rather extravagant life, but in order to fool the court, they cleaned up the garrison office, hoping that the emperor and the court would think that they were loyal to their duties and were not greedy or corrupt...
As soon as you enter, you can see three chairs. There should be four: the garrison commander has a deputy, but last year the deputy fell ill and has not recovered. For some reason, the Jiajing Emperor has not appointed anyone to take over. So there are only three chairs.
As for the walls... Looking at the empty walls, Wang Yan felt that it was just like his mood at the moment, as lonely as the Qinhuai River during the day.
The Qinhuai River is most lively at night.
"Duke of Wei." Wang Yan bowed.
Xu Chengzong cupped his hands, "Eunuch Wang."
Wang Yan looked to the right, where Nanjing Minister of War Lin Zhian was sitting in a daze. He sneered, "Is Minister Lin dissatisfied with me?"
Lin Zhian was stunned for a moment, then he stood up and said, "I was thinking about something and didn't take it into consideration for a moment... I'm sorry." Most of the six ministers in Nanjing are people who have failed in their official careers. If these people give up on themselves, they won't even give face to Xu Chengzong.
You are a military official, and we are civil officials. The South is the world of our scholars and officials. If you have the guts, Xu Chengzong, come out and fight us.
Most of the successive Dukes of Wei were cautious, and therefore they were able to maintain a peaceful relationship with the civil officials.
But the eunuchs garrisoning Nanjing were different.
Someone once said that eunuchs lack that thing and have extreme temperaments. If others think it is normal, they will think you are mocking them.
Once such eunuchs were angered, they would send a secret report to the emperor, and thunder and lightning would come in an instant.
Therefore, it is better to offend the Duke of Wei than to offend the garrison eunuch.
This is of course biased. If the Duke of Wei is really angered, the energy that has been accumulated for many years will burst out, and no one can stop it.
Only after seeing Lin Zhian apologize did Wang Yan sit down.
He and Xu Chengzong sat side by side, while Lin Zhian's chair was slightly further back.
That's the rule.
After Wang Yan sat down, he coughed dryly and asked, "Duke Wei, is there something important going on?"
Xu Chengzong nodded, "In Songjiang, Chen Lian sent a message saying that the people in Songjiang are in turmoil."
"What the hell!" Wang Yan sneered, "They were the ones who set the fire and killed people. They were also the ones who cried out for injustice and said the court was unfair. They can't take all the good things in the world, right? What does Chen Lian mean? Is he trying to defend the murderer?"
This dog eunuch spews poison as soon as he opens his mouth... Lin Zhian said: "Chen Lian is not having a good time now."
"What does it have to do with us whether he is doing well or not?" Wang Yan picked up the teacup, glanced at Lin Zhian and said, "Let's take care of our own family first."
What a bastard... Lin Zhian cursed inwardly, but smiled bitterly, "Who said it wasn't? But we still have to wait for the court to decide on this matter. By the way, Duke Wei asked us to come and discuss this, but have you made a decision?"
"I don't know what's going on in the court yet." Xu Chengzong said calmly, "But since the public sentiment in Songjiang Prefecture is turbulent, there must be someone stirring up trouble. I wanted to wait for His Majesty and the court to make a decision before acting according to your orders, but now it seems that those people can't wait any longer. If the situation is allowed to spread, I'm worried that something big will happen."
Xu Chengzong said resolutely, "We are entrusted with great responsibility by His Majesty. How can we just sit back and watch?"
Tsk!
Lin Zhian felt that Xu Chengzong was a little abnormal today.
Everyone knows that the Wei Guogong family has always been cautious. After this incident, Lin Zhian judged that Xu Chengzong would definitely choose to wait and see, waiting for the development of the situation and the decision of the court.
But this guy actually took the initiative to attack today. Is this the sun rising from the west?
If something goes wrong, it’s a monster!
Lin Zhian asked cautiously: "Did Duke Wei receive any news?"
"No." Xu Chengzong shook his head.
Wang Yan chuckled, "It's rare for Duke Wei to be like this!"
This was a clear mockery of Xu Chengzong's cowardice, but Xu Chengzong remained calm. "Once the incident in Songjiang Prefecture came out, voices opposing the new policy became rampant in various places. I'm worried that someone will follow suit."
Wang Yan was a little hesitant. He knew that there must be a reason why Xu Chengzong could make such a bold decision.
He was an airborne faction, and the Duke of Wei's Mansion had always been in Nanjing. In terms of being well-informed, he was far inferior to the local tyrant Xu Chengzong.
Do we support or...
If he supports it, he will have to take the blame if something goes wrong. If he doesn’t support it, once the Jiajing Emperor thinks that he, the eunuch in charge of the garrison, is incompetent, he will have to return to Beijing and eat northern cuisine.
Lin Zhian was also very worried. The two looked at each other and cursed Xu Chengzong in their hearts.
You bastard, you knew the news but didn't tell anyone.
Xu Chengzong looked at the two of them. According to Sun Qi's analysis, he had to make a decision before the news of Jiang Qingzhi's southward journey reached Nanjing, and he had to make it known widely.
——Let Nanjing, and most importantly, let the capital see the Duke’s loyalty!
"I have sent people to Songjiang Prefecture!" Xu Chengzong said, "It's not an investigation."
It is taboo to investigate alone.
"Just give Chen Lian a word."
"What?" Wang Yan asked.
Duke Wei had a resolute look on his face.
"We must use thunderous means to deter lawlessness. If anything goes wrong, I will take the responsibility!"
At this time, Li Xin appeared outside the door.
There is also an official from the Ministry of War.
"Eunuch Wang."
"What's the matter?" asked Wang Yan, who was wondering about Xu Chengzong's intention.
"Long Wilbur has been traveling very fast and is now less than a hundred miles away from Nanjing!"
"It turned out that Long Wilbur was heading south?"
Wang Yan looked at Xu Chengzong in astonishment, cursing in his heart: Damn it, Xu Chengzong, you are pretending to be ignorant even though you know the truth!
Lin Zhian did the same. An official from the Ministry of War came in and said, "Minister, there is a letter from the Ministry of War in Beijing. The express horse just arrived. Chang Wei Bo led the Tiger Guards to the south!"
Lin Zhian stood up suddenly, "The matter of Songjiang Prefecture must be investigated strictly!"
"Investigate strictly!" Wang Yan said solemnly, "No matter who we find, we will investigate thoroughly!"
(End of this chapter)
