Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 165 Conglong hero
Han Xuqi's reinstatement as a bachelor was not what the Donglin Party wanted to see. Because they are more reminded of the chief assistant of the Donglin Party, and do not want Huang Liji, the chief assistant of the Donglin Party, to appear on the stage to show that the Donglin Party has not yet been defeated and the Donglin Party has not yet taken power.

However, the emperor always said that Huang Liji had made great achievements in assisting him to reach the throne, and he praised him with kindness and praise. This made the Donglin Party officials very helpless, sighing secretly that they had never met such a good emperor before.

According to the attitude of the current emperor, Yang Lian, Zuo Guangdou and other officials who helped Emperor Tianqi ascend to power will not be imprisoned at all. He can even rely on this merit to consider himself a hero of Conglong for the rest of his life.

This was the previous practice, and it was also the reason why many people actively participated when there were twists and turns in Emperor Tianqi's ascension.

Emperor Tianqi also followed this convention at first. He praised Yang Lian and others a lot, and his official positions were promoted quickly. However, after Yang Lian was involved in Wei Zhongxian's twenty-four major crimes, Yang Lian was imprisoned. He also recharacterized the case of moving the palace, saying that Yang Lian, Zuo Guangdou and others "used the move to corrupt the government" and sentenced them to death.

The consequences of this incident were so serious that when Zhu Youjian ascended to the throne, the ministers only followed the procedures stipulated in the "Huang Ming Ancestor Instructions" and no one took the initiative to rely on him——

People are worried that the current emperor, like the previous emperor, will say that Conglong's meritorious officials are "greedy in making decisions". Therefore, no one risks death to get this credit, which is to allow the emperor to ascend to power normally.

As for whether Zhu Youjian was frightened during this process, or whether it would be difficult to open up the situation without Conglong's hero, it was not within the scope of the officials' consideration.

Anyway, after the ministers suffered a big loss, no one dared to take the lead. They just let the emperor figure it out on his own, and after the emperor expresses his attitude, they will get closer.

Zhu Youjian struggled for several months to let the courtiers know his attitude, and then used the impeachment wave initiated by officials to drive Wei Zhongxian out of the capital and execute him.

This experience made him very emotional. I feel that Emperor Tianqi's handling of the palace transfer case was really wrong. Even if someone is really deliberately seeking to gain the honor of making a decision, they cannot be executed directly.

Otherwise, without the heroes of Conglong, ministers would be like Lai Zongdao, who flattered Wei Zhongxian when Emperor Tianqi was dying, asking Wei Liangqing to live in the countryside and enjoy the imperial temple on behalf of the emperor. How could the emperor Zhu Youjian control power?

So no matter what, Huang Liji, as the head of the hundred officials who assisted Zhu Youjian in ascending to the throne, and the official who made the greatest contribution on the surface, he must be guaranteed as the first assistant to Zhu Youjian. Let him serve as the first assistant for at least two or three years, and then retire normally.

Zhu Youjian also gave him the task of compiling history books. Let Huang Liji leave a posthumous name and even become a wise minister of Zige.

Only in this way can the influence of Emperor Tianqi's execution of Yang Lian, Zuo Guangdou and others be eliminated, so that the courtiers can be more active when the emperor succeeds to the throne, take the initiative to serve as heroes when there are setbacks, help the emperor grasp power, and eliminate the powerful officials of the previous dynasty.

Even if Zhu Youjian didn't mention this consideration, many courtiers understood it. That's why they lamented that the current emperor is really a better emperor than the previous emperor. He respects the rules of the court very much, and it can even be said that he is reshaping the order of the court.

Although a lot of private thoughts have been added to this order, they are even competing for power with the ministers. But most of the courtiers agreed with this, because the emperor's methods were within their understanding. Unlike Wei Zhongxian, who was appointed by Emperor Tianqi, he did not follow any rules at all.

Compared to the time of the late emperor, it is really great now. It can be said that the current emperor is fighting chaos and reshaping the order of the court that was destroyed by Wei Zhongxian.

Therefore, they did not firmly oppose the various changes made by the emperor in the court, but actively discussed with the emperor.

Now, Zhu Youjian helped Huang Liji retain his position as chief assistant, which was considered by the officials as another favor to the hero who had ascended to power.

This made the officials even more lamented that Huang Liji was really unlucky, and for nothing he was considered by the emperor to be a hero of Conglong——

In fact, what credit Huang Liji had, he just followed the normal procedures like other officials. He did not take the initiative to attach himself to the emperor and become a hero of Conglong.

Otherwise, with the help of him, the chief minister of the cabinet, Zhu Youjian would like to deal with Wei Zhongxian where he needs to test. It can be executed directly or quietly and violently, and then with the help of the cabinet, the power of the court can be held in hand.

The emperor did not do this and was not particularly close to Huang Liji, which let everyone know that he was not the emperor's confidant and did not gain the emperor's complete trust.

Later, the emperor raised the status of the Nine Ministers and weakened the powers of the cabinet, which also showed this point.

It can be said that everyone knows that Huang Liji, the hero, was forcibly appointed by the emperor in order to eliminate the influence of Emperor Tianqi's execution of Yang Lian and others and forcefully give him the credit.

The officials in the court knew how great his actual contribution was, but no one said it out——

The eunuch party was formed because Huang Liji assisted in ascending to the throne, and they also had merit. As long as the rebellious behavior is not too obvious, the emperor will not punish them severely.

The Donglin Party did so because they needed to overturn the palace transfer case. If the emperor, like the late emperor, did not acknowledge Cong Long's contribution, Yang Lian, Zuo Guangdou and others would never be able to overturn the verdict.

Therefore, no matter how unwilling they were, facing the emperor's efforts to protect Huang Liji, they could not think that the emperor was acting recklessly. He can only be regarded as the emperor resetting the rules of the court and adding favor to the most meritorious officials.
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As for Zhu Youjian's official taking back the right to appoint the chief minister, many people had expected it and didn't care at all. Many officials did not realize that the emperor had not officially confirmed this matter before, and everything was their own speculation.

Now that Han Xu, the former chief minister, has been reinstated as the minister of government and no longer the chief minister, this matter is considered confirmed and has become a rule of the court——

From now on, in addition to the names of the cabinets, the ranking of the cabinet will also include the titles of auxiliary minister and minister of state affairs.

If a certain bachelor does not suit Zhu Youjian's wishes or offends Zhu Youjian, he can adjust the title and the distribution of cabinet power.

It can be said that Zhu Youjian's control over the cabinet is strengthening step by step. It’s hard to say whether Huang Liji and other cabinet bachelors were unwilling to do so, but they were cooperating with the emperor in their actions.

It was precisely because of the obedience of these four people that Zhu Youjian decided to keep them and forcibly designated Huang Liji as the leader of the heroes who ascended to the throne to reassure these people.

Regardless of whether Huang Liji and others took the initiative to defect to him, or whether they would defect to him in the future, Zhu Youjian felt that it was good to be like this now. Otherwise, he would not know any reason to reduce the power of the cabinet.

Now, under the standing committee system, the relationship between the cabinet bachelor and the nine ministers is being adjusted step by step. Zhu Youjian is not prepared to let the cabinet truly become a decision-making body, and the six ministries and other departments can only implement it.

Now that the cabinet has lost Zhan Shifu, it is unable to control the subsequent candidates for the cabinet. The six tribes have standing meetings, affiliated monasteries, and tribal authority.

It can be said that the Six Ministers are following Zhu Youjian's idea of ​​transforming from a minister to a deputy prime minister in charge of one stall. This is a fundamental change and he has some cross-departmental decision-making power.

If the future cabinet is not in line with Zhu Youjian's wishes, he can completely ignore the cabinet and discuss political affairs with the six ministers. Matters of voting can also be done through the previously adjusted independent voting power, allowing an obedient cabinet minister to formulate the will.

Han Xu, a bachelor who had previously served as chief minister, would find that the power of the cabinet had shrunk sharply after he arrived in the cabinet. I don’t know what his attitude is about this and how he faces this situation.

This is an unstable factor for Zhu Youjian, and it is also the reason why he is unwilling to reinstate Han Xuqi as his first assistant. He needs Huang Liji to be the first assistant for a few more years to fix this change.

Zhu Youjian already had a headache for Han Xu, a bachelor who was out of control. Faced with the demands of some Donglin Party officials to retaliate against Liu Yishui and Zhu Guozhen, he certainly refused without hesitation.

Especially Liu Yishen, in Zhu Youjian's view, he would never be able to recover, so he used Liu Yishen's resignation as an excuse and said to the ministers:
"Liu Yijian cannot lie down, which shows that he is seriously ill."

"Even if the court is short of people, there is no reason for officials to serve while sick."

"By decree, Liu Yishen will be promoted to official position with the rank of Zuozhu, in addition to his original official status."

"Send officials to his home to express condolences and let him recover well."

As soon as this decree came out, all the officials knew that the emperor had a prejudice against Liu Yishen for some reason. While the current emperor is on the throne, it is impossible for Liu Yishen to be resurrected.

And with Liu Yishen's age, it is basically impossible to wait for the next emperor. Therefore, Liu Yishen's official career has been completely ended.

This incident made many Donglin Party officials feel cold, knowing that the Donglin Party had lost another minister. But it is really difficult for them to oppose this will. Because the emperor's will was to increase favor, Liu Yisui was also given the title of Zuozhuguo. Letting him recuperate is even more caring and caring for the body of the subject.

Anyone who opposes such a decree demands that the emperor must use Liu Yishui, who is "hard to lie down". How many people would agree with this unreasonable request?
Some people were even secretly vigilant, feeling that they could not beg for leave due to illness at will in the future, otherwise the emperor would take their illness seriously, and then they would really be granted leave.

As for Zhu Guozhen, another former cabinet scholar, the reason why Zhu Youjian could not afford to reinstate him was equally valid, that is, Zhu Guozhen was already seventy years old. Recruiting an official of this age is not the right way to treat an old minister favorably.

Just as he was about to give Zhu Guozhen a rank as he did to Liu Yishui, to show his preferential treatment to veterans, Zhu Youjian heard an official mention that Zhu Guozhen was compiling history.

This made him very vigilant, worried that Zhu Guozhen would be like some literati, arranging Taizu to become Emperor, so he immediately said:

"Zhu Guozhen is tireless in his studies and can be regarded as a model for civil servants."

"It is planned to set up a National History Museum in the Hanlin Academy to specially revise history books and annotate the dates of the original history books with the Huangdi era."

"Everyone, please tell me, what position should Zhu Guozhen be given so that he can compile history at the National History Museum?"

"In the future, court officials who still want to write books after becoming official will be allowed to apply to the Hanlin Academy."

It is planned to include Zhu Guozhen in the National History Museum and not allow him to study history privately.

Zhu Youjian did not intend to let go of the private revision of history books.

　In the case of Ming history in the early Qing Dynasty, the manuscript of Zhuang Tinglong's "A Brief History of the Ming Dynasty" was derived from Zhu Guozhen's "Book of the Ming Dynasty".

　　"Book of Zhuang's Prison in Huzhou": Bought the former Prime Minister Zhu Gongguo Zhen Qingmeitang.

　　Zhu Guozhen also wrote "A Summary of the History of the Emperor Ming Dynasty", which included the incident of Fang Xiaoru's execution of ten tribes into history through literary creation.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)