I, the Ming Dynasty, can still save me

Chapter 5

After the morning court, the court officials had to return to their respective posts, and Fang Congzhe, the chief assistant of the cabinet, returned to Wenyuan Pavilion.

Logically speaking, when the new emperor succeeds to the throne, everything should be changed, and the courtiers should work together as one. However, judging from the situation in the morning today, the reality is not like this.

At present, within the imperial court, there is the "Zhe Party" headed by Fang Congzhe, the chief minister of the cabinet; the "Chu Party" headed by Ying Zhen, Wu Liangsi, and Huang Yanshi, the officials from Huguang, and the "Chu Party" headed by Qi Shijiao and Zhou Yongchun, both from Shandong "Qi Party".

They are collectively known as the Qi Chu Zhe Party.

Their common enemy is the Donglin Party headed by Gu Xiancheng, Liu Yisui, Yang Lian and others.

In comparison, the Qi, Chu and Zhe parties were more obedient and dependent on the imperial power.Today's Donglin Party is still relatively advanced. They advocate revitalizing officialdom, focusing on performance, and opening up their opinions, so they sometimes go against the emperor.

Therefore, the two are like water and fire, incompatible with each other, and both regard the other as an enemy that disrupts Chao Gang.

Therefore, they often attack each other with party affiliation and the capital inspection every five years as a means.As long as they are not their people, no matter how high their abilities are, they will try their best to depose them. The attack on Xiong Tingbi is an example.

The struggle between the two was originally dominated by the Qi, Chu and Zhejiang Party. Because Emperor Shenzong ignored government affairs during his reign, in the later period, there were only one or two cabinet members, which was very small in number, and many times people from the Zhejiang Party were in power.

But after Shenzong's death, when Guangzong first came to the throne, he worked hard to correct the shortcomings of the Wanli Dynasty and expanded the cabinet to seven members. However, three of them were still at home when they were appointed and are still on their way here. I can't get to the capital even if I meet.

Therefore, there are only four people in the cabinet now, namely the first assistant Fang Congzhe and the cabinet ministers Shen Guan, Liu Yishui, and Han Xu.

And these four people were divided into two groups:

One faction, headed by Fang Congzhe and assisted by Shen Guan, belongs to the Zhejiang Party. Among them, Fang Congzhe has been independent for seven years and is the leader of the Zhejiang Party with a deep-rooted position.

But last month, he recommended Li Kezhuo to Guangzong to present "red pills" to Guangzong, which led to Guangzong's sudden death. In addition, as the chief assistant, he blocked the Donglin Party's way forward and made the Donglin Party regard it as a traitor. , want to get rid of it quickly.

The other faction is the Donglin Party, headed by Liu Yishui and assisted by Han Xu. They have been promoted to cabinet ministers since Guangzong succeeded to the throne, trying to reform the old and bring out the new, and sweep away the situation of neglect since Wanli.

Originally, the two factions were united in supporting Guangzong and Zhu Youxiao and opposing Concubine Zheng Guifei and Li Xuanshi. But now that Zhu Youxiao has ascended the throne and there is no common enemy anymore, they naturally start to fight internally.Today's impeachment of Donglin Party member Hui Shiyang is a signal.

Fang Congzhe understands this very well. In fact, he also wants to resign as soon as possible. Otherwise, if he keeps being attacked like this, it will not be as simple as resigning by himself.

So he thought for a while and ordered someone to call Liu Yishen.

After Liu Yishui came in, he bowed to him Congzhe, sat down and said first:
"Mr. Ge, the impeachment memorial against Yi Hui Shiyang happened suddenly today, and I didn't know about it. Otherwise, I would never have allowed him to submit a letter like this.

This year Shenzong and Guangzong have great power. It is all thanks to you, the elder, to preside over the affairs of the court, so that the emperor can return to his throne and prevent the harem from chaos.All the officials in the court saw this.Your Majesty also sees it, otherwise he would not say this in court."

After Fang Congzhe heard this, he took a sip of tea:

"Hearing what Ji Mei (Liu Yishen's word) said made me feel much better, but now that I think about Hui Shiyang's words about impeachment, it makes sense.

The succession of the late emperor cleared away the haze, and many talents came to the court, who were about to make a difference, but suddenly Long Yu passed away. In the final analysis, I am also responsible.I have long been ashamed of this matter. Besides, I am over eighty years old and have a lot of cabinet affairs. In addition to the frequent events this year, I am already exhausted mentally and physically and want to retire and return home. "

Upon hearing this, Liu Yishen stood up and cupped his hands to persuade:
"Why did Mr. Ge say this? Now that the situation of the court has been decided, we really need to work together. We must not ignore all officials because of this matter."

Fang Congzhe waved his hand and motioned Liu Yishui to sit down:
"There is no need for Ji Mei to be like this. I have made up my mind. I have been making a speech to His Majesty in the past few days. I am calling you this time. In addition to explaining the matter to you, I also want to recommend you to your Majesty as the temporary chief minister of the cabinet. "

Liu Yishui had already understood Fang Congzhe's intention at this time. He was showing favor to Donglin and wanted to recommend him as the chief assistant in exchange for his safe career. Otherwise, if the "Red Pill" and other cases were investigated, the consequences might be serious. .

After understanding in his heart, he felt that he could not accept this proposal hastily. There were many upright people in the Donglin Party who hated evil as much as hatred.If he heard that Fang Congzhe, the evil leader, actually recommended himself as his successor, wouldn't he be criticized as well?

This makes him how to deal with himself in Donglin.But the position of chief minister of the cabinet was too tempting, and it was difficult for him to make a decision for a while.

Fang Congzhe saw that he was silent for a while, so he said:
"What? Is Ji Mei worried? When the previous emperor was in power, many people in Donglin were promoted. When the new emperor ascended the throne, people in Donglin contributed a lot, and the Holy Emperor also favored you. If you are the chief assistant, you can let him Donglin has made great progress, this is a perfect move."

Liu Yishen seemed to have figured it out, stood up and said to him:
"Thank you, Mr. Ge, for your recommendation. However, as ministers, we still have to follow the emperor's will, and everything depends on the emperor's holy decree."

After the meaning was clear, Fang Congzhe did not insist on keeping Liu Yisui. After a brief chat, he let Liu Yishen leave.

Watching Liu Yishen's leaving figure, Fang Congzhe thought for a moment, and then ordered someone to call his assistant minister Shen Guan.I briefly told him about my deal with Liu Yishen.

This can't help but frighten Shen Guan. Shen Guan and Fang Congzhe are both members of the Zhejiang Party and have always been hated by the Donglin Party. Now that Fang Congzhe, the chief assistant, has allowed him to land safely, wouldn't he be Donglin's number one target in the future?

"It doesn't have to be like this," Fang Congzhe said soothingly.

"Judging from the situation in the DPRK in the past few months, it is the general trend for Donglin people to take charge of the DPRK. Unless we can stop it, we might as well retreat to advance and avoid the sharp edge for the time being."

Shen Guan couldn't help complaining, you were temporarily avoiding the edge, but I was attacked.

"Mr. Ge, the Donglin people hate us to the core. We are afraid that we will retreat step by step. What should we do if the Donglin Party insists on biting the rest of us?"

After hearing this, Fang Congzhe couldn't help but smile and said:

"I have already anticipated this possibility, but Donglin is not monolithic. I recommend Liu Yishen to your Majesty as the chief assistant, which will definitely make other people in Donglin dissatisfied and give them a gap.

After he becomes the chief auxiliary, you can second him more. As long as nothing goes wrong, everything will be fine. It will also cause Donglin to be dissatisfied with him. When the time comes to criticize each other, His Majesty will naturally be dissatisfied. Then we will seek opportunities to stir up trouble. It is not impossible to defeat Donglin. "

After hearing this, Shen Guan also felt that under the current situation, it might not be a bad idea.

He also did this in history. After Fang Congzhe became an official, he quickly colluded with Wei Zhongxian to form the eunuch party, which severely attacked the Donglin Party, further intensifying the party struggle in the late Ming Dynasty.

　Ask for recommendation, ask for collection~
　　


(End of this chapter)