Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Cheng Jiming's successful passage through the ordeal and his appointment as head of the Secretariat had a tremendous impact.

The courtiers all recognized that his promotion to Grand Secretary was a foregone conclusion.

As long as Han Kuang remains in office, the cabinet will have two Donglin Party Grand Secretaries.

The next three years will surely be an era of great prosperity for the Donglin Party and a time for Han Kuang to make his mark.

"This is truly unexpected!"

"An impeachment for forming a faction actually helped the Donglin Party get out of trouble."

"Isn't Your Majesty worried that the Donglin Party will flourish and the court will once again resemble the early years of the Tianqi Emperor's reign?"

At Yang Jingchen's residence, a group of remnants of the eunuch faction gathered together to discuss the matter.

Of course, they were the ones most afraid of the Donglin Party taking power.

When the emperor first ascended the throne, although he was determined to punish Wei Zhongxian for plotting to usurp the throne, he chose to retain some of the eunuchs who were on the periphery of the eunuch faction in order to stabilize the court.

Will this attitude change now?

If the emperor allows the Donglin Party to prosper, will he use the Donglin Party to settle scores with them?

When this concern was raised, Guo Yunhou said:
"That's unlikely."

"The Emperor has always suppressed factional strife, and what he hates most is the suppression of dissent."

"The Donglin Party is currently very popular, but it is actually limited by its members avoiding splitting up."

"They shouldn't dare to act recklessly; once they seize power, they'll start forming cliques and eliminating dissidents."

Many people agreed with his views and mentioned the relationship between Huang Lijie and Cheng Jiming. They believed that these groups, after separating from the Donglin Party, would not be so ungrateful.

Anyone who knew the emperor's attitude would no longer openly engage in factionalism and suppression of dissidents.

However, some people were worried. Yu Huang said:

"The older generation of the Donglin Party won't do it, but we're afraid the younger generation won't give up!"

"They don't care about the big picture; they just want to grab as many official positions as they can."

This startled those present, who realized it was indeed possible.

Back when the Donglin Party and the eunuch party were vying for power, it wasn't just high-ranking officials who stepped forward; many young officials actively drove out other factions and competed for official positions in the court.

Those people are in their prime now, how could they possibly give up this opportunity?

What worries them most is that the emperor has become lazy and is loosening his control over the court. The emperor, who used to be eager to control the officials of the Six Ministries, now seems somewhat indifferent even to the selection of vice ministers.

If those younger members of the Donglin faction rely on the fact that the Donglin faction is thriving to compete for official positions, how can they possibly compete with these people?
Faced with Yu Huang's concerns, Yang Jingchen, as the leader of the group, had no choice but to speak up:
"Officials of the Censorate and the Censorate are not allowed to appoint party members, nor can they come from social groups, or have kinship or other similar relationships with ministers."

"Without these people leading the charge, you don't need to worry too much."

"Besides, the Emperor only looks at impeachments with solid evidence and completely ignores those based on rumors."

This put some people at ease.

Indeed, the current emperor usually ignores those impeachment memorials with alarming language.

They even demanded that the Censorate formulate official document formats to clearly state the reasons for impeachment and the actual evidence.

There's nothing to worry about as long as they don't make mistakes.

Yu Huang, however, was still not at ease and said again:
"That being said, you can always find fault if you want to."

“Especially after the death of Chief Justice Cui of the Supreme Court, Zheng Sanjun was vying for the position.”

"This person is a key figure in factional struggles, and also has disciples and followers such as Huang Daozhou and Hou Xun."

“These people are all radicals of the Donglin Party. They are using the Supreme Court to convict our family members. What should we do?”

Hearing this, everyone felt worried.

Indeed, just because they themselves do not make mistakes does not mean that their families are completely clean.

If the Donglin Party were to seize upon this as grounds for a trial and conviction, they would certainly be implicated and might even be impeached.

Thinking of this, they couldn't help but feel a chill run down their spines. They realized that once the Donglin Party broke free from the constraints of the two high-ranking officials, they would face enormous trouble. Guo Yunhou immediately said:
"The head of the Supreme Court is one of the Nine Ministers, and he certainly has the ability."

"None of the three judicial departments should be given to Donglin, to prevent them from using it to form cliques and suppress dissent."

He looked at Yang Jingchen, asking him for an idea.

Facing the gazes of everyone, Yang Jingchen had no choice but to take responsibility for this matter.

Who made him head the Integrity and Justice Commission, giving him the most influence over the three judicial branches?

"If we don't want Zheng Sanjun to become the head of the Supreme Court, we need to put forward a more suitable person."

"Who do you think is suitable to challenge him and defeat him?"

Having previously rejected Zhou Yanru's bid for the position of head of the Supreme Court, Yang Jingchen hopes there will be a more suitable person.

However, it is really difficult to choose this person. Given Zheng Sanjun's reputation and qualifications, there are very few people who can rival him.

Left with no other choice, Yang Jingchen was considering whether to promote a neutral faction. Suddenly, a message arrived that caused his expression to change drastically:

“Someone submitted a memorial stating that Lin Yuji and I are both from Jinjiang, and since we are fellow townsmen, we should recuse ourselves and not be included in the list of candidates for Grand Secretary.”

"This is an attempt to prevent him from joining the cabinet; it's the work of the Donglin Party!"

I sat there motionless in my chair, my mind in turmoil.

It wasn't that his reaction was excessive, but rather that he knew that if the emperor approved of this reason, Lin Yuji and the other people from Jinjiang would have no chance of obtaining the position of Grand Secretary.

Even the Nine Ministers were somewhat uncertain; the emperor often referred to ministers and chancellors together, but they also had to avoid doing so.

This is a huge blow to the Jinjiang Party, which is composed of people from a specific region.

Not only could they not help each other in officialdom, but they even had to avoid each other because of their hometown ties.

That would make them competitors in the officialdom, and they would have to pull others down in order to step down themselves.

Especially when it comes to place of origin, unlike a triad society, it's something you can't change. Even if you wanted to form a branch of the Donglin Party, there's no way to avoid it.

What should we do?

At this moment, Yang Jingchen, a former marginal figure in the eunuch faction, truly realized the cruelty of factional strife.

It would have been better if the Donglin Party hadn't made a move; once they did, they wiped out his Jinjiang Party.

Guo Yunhou, with his greater experience, offered the following advice:
"The avoidance of fellow townsmen is indeed in the newly formulated avoidance method, and no one can change that, not even the Emperor."

"But the relationship between people from the same hometown is not necessarily close, and it can't be more restrictive than that between people from the same party."

“In the past, the Donglin Party had two high-ranking officials, so our fellow townsmen should also be allowed to have two.”

"It's the Grand Secretary... I'm afraid there will be no more opportunities for us to serve as Grand Secretaries in the Cabinet."

Since ministers and high-ranking officials belong to different institutions, the procedures for avoiding conflicts of interest are relatively lenient.

However, the cabinet is an institution, and recusal is arguably unavoidable.

Therefore, Guo Yunhou believed that this should be the starting point, and suggested to the emperor that two officials from the same hometown could be appointed as ministers.

Yang Jingchen, as if grasping at a lifeline, immediately said:

"Exactly!"

"I will make this suggestion to His Majesty immediately."

"We cannot suppress talent just because people are from the same hometown. Even if two ministers are from the same hometown, they cannot control the court."

The emperor has now decided to write a memorial to the throne in order to exert his influence over the emperor.

Otherwise, if the emperor decides that there is only one fellow townsman among the ministers, it will be a big problem, and his Jinjiang faction may fall apart.

He must find a way to help his fellow townsman obtain a position among the Nine Ministers, so that people will be willing to follow him.

He had his eye on the Grand Secretary of the Supreme Court, and he planned to push Lin Yuji into that position. (End of Chapter)