Xiyuan is originally a royal garden. Although Jiajing built palaces and many Taoist buildings here, it still retains a large number of landscapes and preserves many original lakes and mountains.

Jiajing got up this morning and looked in good condition, as if there was a will in the dark. He had just finished washing up, but he took a look at the skylight and suddenly wanted to turn around in the West Garden for the first time.

"Master, do you really want to take a walk?" Huang Jin had just sent the palace maids to retreat, as if he couldn't believe his ears, and looked at Jiajing in disbelief.

Jiajing's face looked slightly upright, and he looked angrily instructed Huang Jin, "Go and call Yuan Wei over. If Mr. Xu is fine, let him go together!"

"Sister obeys the order!" Huang Jin recovered from his loss of composure and immediately turned around to make arrangements.

The emperor's trip, even if he is in this Western Garden, would not be a trivial matter. But it is not only necessary to guard against assassins, but the road the emperor has to pass naturally needs to be cleaned up by the palace servants.

Yuan Wei was able to climb to the position of the Ming Dynasty's submissive master, but not only because of his good skills in Qingci, but he knew Jiajing's character very clearly, so he was quite happy with Jiajing.

When Yan Song was in power, Xu Jie had already successfully created the image of a loyal and honest man. Now when he heard Jiajing's summons, even if there was a big deal, he would accompany Jiajing, who was rarely walking around.

The group first went to Wanwan Garden to watch the spirit beasts, then went to the Jinao Yufeng Bridge to appreciate the sparkling waves of Taiye Pond, then went to the Jinggu to taste tea and fish, and finally went to the Tianmu Pagoda on Qionghua Island to see the infinite scenery below.

Ha ha……

Yuan Wei is an interesting person. His nature is originally unruly and even has the nickname of an old naughty boy. With Huang Jin working hard next to him, he made Jiajing laugh a lot.

Xu Jie was not outstanding in his performance, and even looked a little dull, but he responded appropriately to Jiajing's questions and adhered to his duties as a minister.

If you make a metaphor, Yuan Wei is a minister who flatters his favor, Xu Jie is an important minister who adheres to his duties, and Huang Jin is a slave who tries every means to make the emperor happy.

Tianmu Pagoda is located on Qionghua Island and is five stories high, which is the highest point of the entire Xiyuan. At this moment, they are standing on the top of the tower and looking at the scenery everywhere, and they have a vague experience of "willing to the top of the mountain and looking at the small mountains".

To the east is the towering Forbidden City, to the west is the imposing Wangfu Street, to the south and north is the infinite lake light of Taiyechi. From the distance, you can only vaguely see rows of houses.

Under this cool autumn sky, standing on the Tianmu Tower, everyone seemed in a good mood.

Xu Jie paid attention to Jiajing and observed which side Jiajing's gaze was facing, but found that he looked to the south. He just didn't know whether Jiajing looked at Xiaoyongfang, or the Temple of Heaven in the outer city, or the southeast.

While pleasing to the emperor, Yuan Wei secretly observed Xu Jie. Although the two of them got along well, he had already regarded the chief assistant next to him as an imaginary enemy in his heart.

Yuan Wei was one of the few people in the Ming Dynasty who could be called "child prodigy". He showed extraordinary talent at a very young age. He began to specialize in eight-legged essays at the age of ten, and recited them after reading.

When he was a child, he followed his father to Qingdao to watch the magistrate's case for trial. Although he was young, his emotions were focused and extraordinary. In addition, his eyes were dark, which attracted the attention of the magistrate and he studied it on the spot.

When the county magistrate saw two white cranes flying above the Taoist temple, he came out with a pair: "Two cranes flying in the Sanqing Hall", Yuan Wei replied: "Six dragons are sailing among the five-colored clouds."

Then the county magistrate sent another couplet to Yuan Wei: "They open all directions and open all sides", and Yuan Wei immediately expressed his confrontation: "My husband is virtuous and capable of three talents", which made his name "child prodigy" publicize.

In the third year of Jiajing, Yuan Wei was worthy of being a child prodigy and became a scholar at the age of seventeen.

However, during the imperial examination, his aura of "child prodigy" gradually faded, but he repeatedly encountered walls in the provincial examinations.

On the other hand, although Xu Jie did not have the name of a child prodigy, he was a real young man. As early as the year before Yuan Wei won the reputation of a scholar, Xu Jie, who was only 20 years old, had already studied in Tanhualang and officially entered the officialdom.

In theory, the two of them should not have any intersection, but they are fate.

Xu Jie paid the price for his youthful aura. Because he offended Zhang Cong, he was directly demoted to the Yanping Prefecture Promotion Office. Fortunately, Zhang Cong was not accepted by the mainstream of the officialdom, and Xu Jie's career was not greatly affected.

In the 13th year of Jiajing, Xu Jie served as the deputy inspector of Zhejiang, managing and supervising local schools below the provincial level. At this time, Yuan Wei, who was only four years younger than Xu Jie, had wasted ten years of his life and was still a well-known scholar in Ningbo Prefecture, Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

Xu Jie is a province in Zhejiang to study, while Yuan Wei is also an "old scholar". Although the two do not have the reality of teachers and students, to a certain extent, there seems to be a certain degree of "teacher-student" relationship.

However, this relationship is actually very subtle. Although Xu Jie served as the Zhejiang Province to study, there were many scholars in Zhejiang, and neither of them had even met each other and had no titles as teachers and students.

Yuan Wei entered the officialdom during the 17th year of Jiajing and never gave Xu Jie a pupil, and had no contact with Xu Jie, so he naturally could not be considered a teacher or student.

Now the two are both cabinet ministers, Yuan Wei maintains respect for Xu Jie, but there is no teacher-student etiquette, nor does he have the status of teachers and students. He still wants to replace Xu Jie.

As soon as Xu Jie withdrew his gaze, he found that Yuan Wei looked at him and nodded gently. He and Yuan Wei did not have a strong conflict of interest. At present, he wanted to maintain a friendly relationship with Yuan Wei and let this "student" stay in the position of the secondary assistant.

In the blue Taoist robe, Jiajing, facing the autumn wind, saw the bare trees below, passing through the lake surface of the Dalichi Lake, but looked at the house of Xiaoyongfang further away, and said with emotion: "At this time, climbing up to the high point is indeed refreshing!"

In this era, it is not easy to climb a high place to see the distance.

For the lower class people, they can only climb the top of the mountain and appreciate the scenery of the fields. However, for the high-ranking officials and nobles, they choose to climb towers, so high towers in various places are quite popular.

Huang Jin saw Jiajing so happy, and immediately expressed his smile: "If the master likes it, the slave will accompany the master every day!"

"If I come up every day, my body will not be able to withstand such troubles!" Jiajing stood with his hands behind his back and said, "Maybe in a few years, my body will be like Master Yan, and I have to be carried by someone to climb this tower!"

Feng Bao behind him heard this, but he noticed a different smell, and carefully looked up at Jiajing.

Yuan Wei's personality has always been optimistic, and he immediately said with a smile: "According to my opinion, if it is a few years, the emperor will definitely climb the tower!"

Jiajing's eyes immediately flashed with expectation, but then he felt lost again and did not express his compliment to Yuan Wei.

Xu Jie was observing Jiajing all the time, and immediately bowed seriously: "If the emperor wants to climb the tower every day, I will follow the emperor to climb the tower together like Master Yan, even if he is inconvenient in his health!"

Huh?

Yuan Wei knew that he had not stepped on the emperor's point just now. When he heard Xu Jie throw out his loyal words, he looked at Xu Jie thoughtfully. Although he could make the emperor happy, when it comes to his contemplation of the emperor's thoughts, he was inferior to Xu Jie.

Jiajing also did not express his opinion on Xu Jie's words, but turned from south to west, and his eyes were already looking towards Wangfu Street.

When Xu Jie and Yuan Wei saw this action, they faintly captured the emperor's thoughts.

These days, the situation in the capital has actually changed greatly. When some people were still discussing whether Lin Junran was the right assistant minister of the Ministry of Justice or the left assistant minister of the Ministry of Revenue, a bigger news suddenly came from the palace: Since Chen Yan, the left assistant minister of the Ministry of Rites, returned to his hometown to guard the system, it was rumored that Gao Gong, the minister of Taichang Temple and the Imperial College, would take over as the left assistant minister of the Ministry of Rites.

After learning about this, some officials with a keen sense of smell heard a greater political opportunity from it. They went to Prince Yu's Mansion quietly. Because Gao Gong was valued, some people have interpreted that the emperor's move was intended to be a crown prince.

As King Jing became a vassal for two years, Prince Yu was born again, and many ministers became more and more optimistic about Prince Yu. Now that they learned that Gao Gong was valued, some officials were ready to submit memorials and suggestions to establish a crown prince, and were ready to make political bets.

Jiajing looked at the direction of Wangfu Street from afar, with no expression on his face, and asked coldly: "I wonder which mansion is the most lively in the capital now?"

When Huang Jin heard this question, his face turned pale.

"Qi Zhui, as far as the old minister knows, King Yu has been staying in the mansion evenly and keeping too many visiting officials out!" Xu Jie's eyes turned, but he knelt down and said with a choice.

However, Yuan Wei did not follow the action, but looked at the emperor secretly, hoping that the emperor would help Xu Jie, who was entrusting with King Yu, to severely punish him, and even directly dismissed Xu Jie.

Jiajing seemed to be tolerant for a long time, and the blue veins on his forehead suddenly rose and said, "Even if I am old now, I have to wait until my body enters the tomb. Otherwise, whoever dares to mention the matter of becoming a crown prince with me will definitely kill me!"

The last four words are obviously filled with a strong murderous intent. Unlike those emperors who received orthodox education, Jiajing inherited the great clan with a small clan, but he always wanted to kill his ministers.

"I respect my teachings!"

Xu Jie and Yuan Wei let go of their intrigues, knowing that the recent rumors about the appointment of the crown prince have caused great dissatisfaction from the emperor, and they seem to be respectful and respectfully polite.

When Xu Jie saw that the emperor did not punish him, he secretly let out a breath of turbid air, and a flash of success flashed through his eyes.

It was at this moment that an eunuch came to report: "Your Majesty, Qin Minglei, the right assistant minister of the Ministry of Rites, found a treasure in the street market today and was looking for a meeting outside the palace gate!"

If anyone is the greatest lucky person in the history of the Jiajing imperial examination, he will definitely belong to Qin Minglei, the current Right Minister of the Ministry of Rites.

Qin Minglei was from Wuxi, Nanzhili. He performed very mediocrely in the 23rd year of Jiajing, and only passed by more than 200 Jinshi.

According to common practice, such people are destined to be sent to the local government as magistrates or promoters. Only with a small chance of becoming a censor can they have the opportunity to return to the capital, and their careers can only touch the ceiling of the prefect.

But things happened in the Jiajing Dynasty, and many impossible things became possible. Just as Zhang Cong, a second-level Jinshi, was able to become the prime minister in a very short time, Zou Song Lei's life ushered in a major turning point.

When Jiajing heard that the minister who reviewed the papers designated Wu Qing as the top scholar, he was dissatisfied with the name Wu Qing's homophonic "Wuqing". He said that he was praying for rain and dreamed of thunder at night, so he should find a person with the name "thunder" as the top scholar.

If we face the integrity of the review minister, we must fight for this matter related to the talent ceremony, but our minister's minister has long become a lackey who is wagging his tail and begging for mercy, but he agrees with this ridiculous plan.

The minister who reviewed the papers was obedient to Jiajing. He looked down from the second place among the Jinshi and found more than 200 people before he found a person named Qin Minglei and selected him as the top scholar.

That's why a likable poem was circulated at that time: "The ruthless son Wuqing Emperor, and the thunder happened to pick the cheap one."

Qin Minglei picked up this huge advantage. He should have been exiled to the place, but he entered the Hanlin Academy as the top scholar to serve as a Hanlin editor of the sixth rank, and gradually climbed to the position of the right assistant minister of the Ministry of Rites.

Xu Jie and Yuan Wei were not surprised when they heard this.

Chen Sheng, the left assistant minister of the Ministry of Rites, had to resign from his post and return to his hometown to mourn. Even if Qin Minglei was a lucky man who "looked the top scholar", he could maintain his ambitions and naturally wanted to obtain the position of left assistant minister of the Ministry of Rites through active performance.

The Ministry of Rites is not as powerful as the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Revenue, and is even lower than the Ministry of War, but it is a springboard for entering the cabinet. The current cabinet ministers Xu Jie and Yuan Wei both entered the cabinet from the Ministry of Rites.

Nowadays, once you can become the Left Minister of the Ministry of Rites, if you are not transferred to the Left Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, you will be the Minister of the Six Ministry of Justice, and even go directly to the cabinet and become the prime minister like Yuan Wei.

That's right. If we talk about the value of the six ministers, the Left Minister of Rites is only lower than the Left Minister of Personnel, and it is a big springboard for becoming an important minister of the court. No wonder Zuominglei tried every means to get this position.

"Now the autumn wind is blowing, and the will of heaven is silent. Who can withstand the cold winter?" Jiajing looked at the vegetation on the island and said something inexplicable, but he changed his mind and said, "Let him go back! He won the top scholar back then, that was God's will, but the Left Minister of Rites is already someone who has the will of heaven!"

"The person whom God will belong to? Is it really Gao Gong?"

Gao Gong's name flashed through Yuan Wei's mind, because Gao Gong's word is "Suqing", and the pronunciation of "Su" is similar to "Zu". Isn't this exactly what "Owned to You" means?

It was also at this time that he finally understood why it was reported in the palace that Gao Gong took over as the Left Minister of the Ministry of Rites, and why everyone ran to Prince Yu's Mansion one after another.

Xu Jie's brows frowned slightly. He thought that the important position of the Left Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Rites would belong to his fellow villager Qin Minglei, the Right Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Rites, but now he is probably really Gao Gong.

As Chen Sheng, the left assistant minister of the Ministry of Rites, suddenly returned home to mourn, a sudden turmoil occurred in the officialdom of the capital, and even made Emperor Jiajing angry. However, all this seemed to have nothing to do with Yangzhou City far away from the capital.

In the yamen of the Lianghuai Yanzhou Prefecture, the official kneeling in the main courtyard had raised his head and looked at Eunuch Li holding a bright yellow imperial edict, hoping that he would announce Lin Yanran's whereabouts, whether he was the Right Minister of the Ministry of Justice or the Right Minister of the Ministry of Revenue.

Eunuch Li already knew the answer, stared at the imperial edict clearly, and said to everyone: "The Emperor Fengtian Chengyun, the emperor, said: Lin Xuran, the left deputy chief censor of the Censorate, was ordered to rectify the salt affairs of the Lianghuai. During this period, he worked diligently and worked hard to crack down on private salt gangs and implemented the new salt law. His achievements were great and I was deeply loved. Now he was relieved of the position of the left deputy chief censor..."
Chapter completed!