Lord Wei nodded and agreed with Gu Bingqian's very sincere answer.

"Brother, don't toss around, these thoughts of yours are placed here, if my father hears it, he will hammer you." Zhang Zhiji thought he was joking.

Wei Bao knew that Zhang Zhiji was relieving himself, so he smiled disapprerovingly, and secretly thought that since I said it, there would be no need to pass tonight, and everyone around the Jingshi, including the officialdom of the Jingshi, including the father-in-law Zhang Weixian, including the emperor, including Wei Zhongxian, would know what I just said clearly.

I'm afraid people will know?

If you are afraid, Lao Tzu will not say it.

Although everyone at the table was opposed, Wei Bao didn't take it too seriously.

If someone opposes anything, there will always be someone who supports it.

Besides, Wei Bao also knew that this matter was very important, and it could not be so smooth.

Now it is the Ming Dynasty that needs silver to tide over the difficulties, not Wei Bao, anyway, the current development trend of the Heaven and Earth Society is quite good, so Wei Bao can maintain a good attitude.

The banquet was dispersed, and Wei Bao stayed at the President's Mansion behind Wangfujing Street in the capital that night.

The president's mansion in the capital is actually quite large, but there is no sign.

Shanhaiguan does not have a president's office, and Shanhaiguan only has a maritime chamber of commerce.

The president's palace in Weijiazhuang is comparable to the imperial palace, regardless of the scale or architectural pattern, it is the top floor of the world.

Although the president's mansion in the capital cannot catch up with the president's mansion in Weijiazhuang, it is also the top among the princes and nobles in the capital, which is opened up by several large courtyards, and has been carefully renovated, and the materials used are also extremely luxurious, and it cost more than 100,000 taels of silver at the beginning.

From Wei Bao's point of view, the people of the Ming Dynasty seem to be very keen on architecture, which can be regarded as development.

In Wei Bao's eyes, the Ming Dynasty has developed in many aspects, and as far as Wei Bao's officialdom is concerned, the official system is very advanced.

Basically, the prototype of the modern era is already in place.

In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, Wanli did not personally deal with the government most of the time, which made future generations evaluate all aspects of the Ming Dynasty too lowly.

Compared with the feudal history of more than 2,000 years from the Qin to the Qing Dynasty, it lasted for more than 260 years, and there was no generational division, such as the Western Han Dynasty and the Eastern Han Dynasty, only the Tang, Ming and Qing dynasties.

This cannot but make people wonder, just like the Qing Dynasty historian and famous Ming Hei Zhao Yi once sighed: "I don't know how the main virtue is like this, how can it still be extended for one hundred and sixty or seventy years in the world without being lost, it is incomprehensible." ”

This has to show that the official system of the dynasty is very advanced and very practical, and it can maintain the normal operation of the country, even if the emperor does not work, it can operate normally, which is all the credit of Zhu Baba and Zhu Di, and there is no thing in the world.

The official system is an important organizational system of the political power organs, which has a bearing on the rise and fall of the regime, on the social stability or turmoil at that time, and on the lives of the people at that time.

Moreover, the Qing Dynasty inherited the Ming system, so it can be said that the imperial bureaucracy lasted in China for nearly 500 years, supported and maintained the rule of the Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty in China, and even affected some political systems in New China.

The Ming Dynasty's rule over Yunnan was far greater than that of its predecessors, laying the foundation for the southwest territory of the Han Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty as the capital of Guanzhong, attaching more importance to the northwest, but underdeveloping the southwest.

The Han Xi Lou Boat, the Tang Biao Iron Pillar, the Song Dynasty wielding the jade axe, and the Yuan Kuan leather bag describe the major events in the history of Yunnan.

The Han and Tang dynasties briefly conquered and ruled Yunnan, but soon lost it, the Song Dynasty did not even cross the Dadu River, and Yunnan's real inclusion in the Chinese territory began in the Yuan Dynasty, but it was the Ming Dynasty that really implemented effective governance.

The Ming Dynasty finally established China's effective rule in the southwest frontier by dividing the Mu Dynasty into feudal lords, setting up prefectures, prefectures, and counties in the interior of Yunnan at the same time, and implementing the rule dominated by liuguan, and the establishment of the Xuanfu Division, the Xuanfu Division, the Pacification Division, the Changguan Division, and the "Yuyi" Prefecture in the remote areas.

Under the rule of the Ming Dynasty, Yunnan's output of silver and copper ranked first in the country.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, Li Dingguo was able to fight against the Qing Dynasty in the southwest corner for nearly 20 years, which was also due to the continuous development of Yunnan and Guizhou after more than 200 years of continuous development of the Ming Dynasty.

The population of the Ming Dynasty far exceeded that of its predecessors.

Before the Ming Dynasty, the population of China's feudal dynasties was only 50 or 60 million when the Han and Tang dynasties were at their peak, and at the peak of the Song Dynasty, later scholars speculated that it was at most 120 million, and they did not dare to speculate more.

But the population of the late Ming Dynasty reached 200 million or more!

The Ming Dynasty was a golden period in the history of the Chinese population.

The genealogy of most of the people in later generations was revised from the Ming Dynasty.

The Ming Dynasty had a developed economy, far surpassing the previous Ming Dynasty, whether it was iron, shipbuilding, construction, or silk, textile, porcelain, printing, etc., it was far ahead in the world, accounting for more than 2/3 of the world's output, much higher than the proportion of agricultural output in the world.

Among them, the iron output was only 5,000 tons in the Tang Dynasty, 75,000 tons in the Song Dynasty, 150,000 tons in the Ming Dynasty, and the iron output in Britain until 1788 was only 76,000 tons, which shows the economic development of the Ming Dynasty.

The Ming Dynasty also restored China's influence in East Asia and Southeast Asia, Zheng He went to the West, Korea, Vietnam's suzerainty, and later resisted Japan and aided Korea, and so on.

Of course, the Ming Dynasty also had many shortcomings and shortcomings, such as extremely uneven development, and the south and northwest of the Yangtze River were completely two worlds.

In the later period, the political ecology of officialdom deteriorated severely, and problems such as continuous party strife gathered, which eventually destroyed this once prosperous dynasty.

But the Ming Dynasty was still a golden age after the Han and Tang dynasties.

In the Ming Dynasty, there were no relatives of the Han Dynasty, the town of the Tang Dynasty, the age of the Song Dynasty, and the Han Dynasty, Tang and Song Dynasties!

Whenever Wei Bao lives in his own ancient buildings, especially in these brand-new ancient buildings, he will be extremely proud that he is in the era of the Ming Dynasty, which once haunted his soul and now everything is a reality.

Wei Bao was just about to rest, and he had already washed and changed his clothes under the service of a group of beautiful secretaries, when someone came to report.

There is a beautiful secretary who comes to report something so late, Wei Bao knows that it must not be simple.

After Wu Xuexia asked about the matter in person, she went to Wei Bao's side and said softly: "It's the British public who wants the president to come over." ”

"W-what time has it been?" Wei Bao frowned, he didn't want to go, it was almost time, that is, it was more than twelve o'clock, what else could he do?

Especially thinking of the remarks he just threw out on the wine table that he wanted to open a treaty port and annex all the sailors of the Ming Dynasty, it is estimated that his father-in-law Zhang Weixian must be looking for himself for this matter.

Wei Bao really didn't have much contact with his father-in-law, and the father-in-law was more upright, and he definitely didn't want to say anything to him like he did to Zhang Zhiji.

Not to mention that there is any estrangement between the two people, it is a little alienated anyway, mainly because Zhang Weixian likes to put on the elder shelf.

Wei Bao and Wu Xiang will not be like that, and they get along very well with Lizheng and Zhao Kehu.

I didn't want to go back and didn't want to go, President Wei still obediently changed his clothes.

I know that I can't hide, because I don't go today, I still have to go to see Zhang Weixian tomorrow, I am a public figure now, and I am ordered to return to Beijing, and the whole world knows it, and I can't hide it.

However, Wei Bao is still very satisfied with the Zhang family's first-class status in Daming, and it is indeed a good tree.

In the first year of Taichang, when Mingguangzong died, Mingxizong should inherit the throne as the crown prince.

And Li Xuanzhi, who raised him, and his confidant eunuch Li Jinzhong, who later became Wei Zhongxian, wanted to take advantage of Xizong's young age to control the government.

Because Li Xuanzhi has been deeply favored by Mingguangzong since entering the palace, he was ready to make him the imperial concubine when Guangzong was seriously ill, but Li Xuanzhi, who was not ambitious, directly took this opportunity to ask for the queen.

Guangzong knew that Li Xuan's scheming was deep, and in the case of raising young Xizong, he was able to control the government from time to time to obtain this title, but he was never allowed.

Until Guangzong's violent death, Li Xuanshi's intentions at this time were revealed, and he took this opportunity to sit in the Qianqing Palace, which belonged to the emperor and empress's special office and accommodation.

wants to use Zhu Youxiao to control the government and control the palace.

Seeing this situation, Yang Lian's ministers knew Li Xuanzhi's plan, and with the efforts of Yang Lian himself as the minister of care, he joined Zhou Jiamo, Li Ruhua and others to hurriedly find the first assistant Fang Congzhe at that time, and the ministers went straight to the palace together after discussing it again and again.

Yang Lian took the lead in running into the palace, and the eunuchs held sticks to stop him.

Yang Lian angrily reprimanded: "The emperor summoned me to wait here, now Yan is driving, the heir is young, you are not allowed to enter, what do you want?" ”

The eunuchs were at a loss for a moment, so they had to give way, and the ministers were able to enter.

When the ministers saw the spiritual position of Guangzong Zhu Changluo, they couldn't help but cry bitterly, and then asked to see the emperor's eldest son, Zhu Youxiao.

Li Xuanzhi left Zhu Youxiao in the warm pavilion and did not let him go out.

There was an upright old eunuch named Wang An in the palace, and he tried to coax Li Xuanzhi, so he invited Zhu Youxiao out.

The ministers hurriedly kowtowed and shouted long live.

Zhu Youxiao stood there, not knowing what was going on, he just said, "Don't dare to be!" Don't dare to be! ”

The ministers are invited to enter the Wenhua Palace.

Then, Zhu Youxiao boarded a small sedan chair.

At this time, the sedan chair man who carried the sedan chair was still in the future, in order to avoid Li Xuan's servant from sending someone to snatch Xizong away, the ministers Liu Yijing, Zhou Jiamo, Zhang Weixian, and Yang Lian carried the sedan chair and hurriedly moved forward.

At this time, Yang Lian's position was in the right of the military department, and Zhang Weixian was the Duke of England and the Duke of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhou Jiamo served as a secretary of the ministry, and Liu Yijing was a scholar of the Ministry of Rites and a scholar of Dongge University, and the unprecedented senior sedan chair man left like this.

The weight of the sedan chair in the Ming court is not light, in order to show the identity of the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, it is called the dragon chariot, and the weight of the dragon chariot generally needs eight people to lift.

Calculate the cumulative weight of the dragon chariot in the selection of materials, decoration, etc., but in this case, the ministers should use a small sedan chair instead.

It is worth mentioning that these four people were in their fifties at the time, and they were relatively weak literati, so they could show that they would not exercise much all year round, even if it was a small sedan chair, guessing the experience of carrying a bucket of water in their youth, it was already their old life to be able to carry such a sedan chair away.

It can be said that whether it is Zhu Youxiao, the Emperor of the Apocalypse, or Zhu Youzhen in the back, they were all carried to the dragon throne by the British public, so Wei Bao has such a backer, and at the political level, he is still very popular.

In February of the seventh year of the Apocalypse, Chengcheng Zhixian tortured and urged the department, provoked a civil uprising, was killed by the people, and the peasant war at the end of the Ming Dynasty officially began, which was the great achievement of Wei Gonggong "gathering wealth for the country".

Wei Zhongxian's power is indeed so great that it is difficult to shake the sky with one hand.

It's just that the premise of covering the sky is that the sky does not fall.

Although the power of the eunuch comes from the emperor, the power of the emperor cannot be carried out by himself.

The civil official group at the end of the Ming Dynasty has always been criticized, but no matter how bad the civil officials are, they can't do it if they don't have them, and the imperial power must be executed by someone to be the real power.

The Emperor of the Apocalypse relied on eunuchs to enforce part of his imperial power, if he was really a wise king, it would be okay to do this, the problem was that Zhu Youxiao didn't have this ability.

The emperor's source of information depends on the eunuchs, and the execution of power still depends on the eunuchs, if he is not fooled by the eunuchs, it will be unreasonable.

The eunuch can't grab the throne, and it is difficult to really overthrow the emperor without holding the military power, but it can make the emperor more and more deaf and blind.

Therefore, Wei Zhongxian's existence is definitely a threat to the imperial power.

Apocalypse is actually a bit of a big deal, relatively speaking, although there are a lot of rotten people in the group of eunuchs used by Chongzhen, they are at least much safer than Wei Zhongxian.

Chongzhen wanted to kill Wei Zhongxian openly, but Wei Zhongxian had no way to resist.

But there is also a risk here, because the power of the eunuchs goes deep into the inner courtyard of the palace, forcing the dog to jump over the wall, there is a possibility of threatening the emperor's personal safety.

It is very likely that the emperor who is particularly unreliable in this matter will die of a violent illness.

And Chongzhen is a particularly cautious and suspicious person, who is decisive in killing, just Kewei Zhongxian, no matter what tricks you have, kill first and then talk.

is like the ten permanent servants of the Han Dynasty, who can deal with people like He Jin who play Game of Thrones with them.

When you meet Yuan Shao and Cao Cao, you can finish the game immediately, no matter what tricks you have, just crush the truth of the iron armor steel knife.

If Wei Zhongxian wanted to resist, he would either have to win the support of the courtiers, or the governors, the gentry, or the military generals, but he didn't win any of them.

The power of the eunuchs came from the use of imperial power, and naturally they could not confront the imperial power head-on, and Wei Zhongxian was never able to cultivate other sources of power during his reign.

The situation in the Tang Dynasty was more special, the eunuchs also served as foreign ministers, and even had military power, so that they had other sources of power, and it was not easy for the imperial power to move.

In terms of fighting with his courtiers and maintaining imperial power, Chongzhen's level was actually very high, and he insisted on his cadre program until March 16, the 17th year of Chongzhen.

The reason why he didn't hold on was because Li Zicheng surrounded Beijing from 17 March and then hanged himself on 19 March, so his high level was not of much use.

There is a first-class grandfather like the British Duke Zhang Weixian in charge, and he also has military power like Jingying in his hands.