Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

On the seventeenth day of the first lunar month, just after the Lantern Festival, Zhu Youjian made an adjustment to the officials in Zhuolu District.

Chen Renxi, the captain of the guard army of Zhuolu garrison, was promoted to the fifth rank after his meritorious service, and served as the acting chancellor of the Zhanshi Mansion, which became a fifth rank position after the adjustment, and was in charge of the daily affairs of the Zhanshi Mansion.

Normally, this kind of adjustment of low-ranking officials would not attract the attention of the court at all.

However, when the crown prince was about to be enthroned and the news came out that the emperor intended to make Zhuolu District the crown prince's fief, the adjustments of officials in the Zhanshi Mansion and Zhuolu District were naturally noticed by all officials who paid attention to the matter.

Yuan Keli looked at the transfer order issued by the Ministry of War and sighed to the Privy Council officials:

"It seems that His Majesty really intends to grant fiefs when he confers the title of Crown Prince. I really don't know whether this is a good thing or a bad thing!"

With a fief, the prince's position will be more stable, and the ministers will not have to worry about taking sides over the successor.

But the prince's position was too stable and might pose a threat to the emperor.

Taking sides between the emperor and the prince is an even more dangerous matter.

Min Mengde, Minister of Logistics, said:

"There is no movement from the cabinet, but our Privy Council must advise the emperor."

"The three guards of Zhuolu are too close to the capital and cannot be assigned to the prince."

Equipment Minister Bi Maokang, Border Defense Minister Liu Zunxian, Navy Minister Yu Anxing and others all echoed this proposal, believing that the Privy Council should make its position clear and not allow the prince to have an army.

Yuan Keli had the same idea in his mind, otherwise he would not have convened the Privy Council to discuss the matter.

However, he had some doubts about whether the Privy Council should submit a memorial to the Cabinet.

Listening to the attitudes of the Privy Councilors, he said:

"Wait and see!"

"We'll talk about it later."

"The appointment of the crown prince is the responsibility of the cabinet and the Ministry of Rites, so they should submit the petition first."

He planned to wait a little longer and let Han Yu, the Prime Minister, make the decision.

As the head of all officials and the prime minister appointed by the emperor, Han Yu was no different from a prime minister except that the word "prime minister" was not in his title.

As a civil servant and a neutral party member who was inclined towards the Donglin Party, Yuan Keli had to protect the authority of Han Yu, the chief minister of the Donglin Party, and did not submit a memorial to the emperor before him.

Yuan Keli had the same idea, and so did Cheng Jiming, the Minister of Rites who was also a member of the Donglin Party.

After Han Yu had been slow to make a statement regarding the prince's fief, Cheng Jiming went directly to Han Yu's residence and asked:

"Mr. Han, the whole world is watching, why are you so slow to express your opinion?"

"Whether you support or oppose, you must express your opinions!"

Facing Cheng Jiming's questioning, Han Yu couldn't say that he was thinking about his family's future generations and didn't want to be hated by the prince in the future.

So he prevaricated:
"Your Majesty has kept all the memorials on this matter. How can I give my opinion?"

"The cabinet can only draft decrees on existing memorials. Your Majesty, what do you want the cabinet to do with this?"

Cheng Jiming looked at Han Yu in surprise. He never expected that the current leader of Donglin would evade him like this. He asked:
"After Lord Han became the Prime Minister, has he never submitted a memorial?"

"Your Majesty, please keep it in your possession and submit it yourself!"

"And at the court meeting, isn't there any chance for me to make a report?"

Han Yu was indeed not easy to answer these questions. He said:

"Wait and see, or wait and see!"

"If you have any objections from the Ministry of Rites, you can continue to submit petitions."

He let Cheng Jiming lead the Ministry of Rites to take the lead, while he himself remained hidden behind.

Cheng Jiming had no choice but to leave, feeling extremely disappointed with Han Yu, the Prime Minister.

Now he finally understood why Han Yu only served as Prime Minister for four months after his teacher Ye Xianggao retired before he was also retired.

This person is really irresponsible. Faced with such a big event, he can't even come up with any ideas.

This may not be a big deal for ordinary officials, but for the Prime Minister, it is a serious dereliction of duty.

Especially the prime minister whose power has greatly increased after the current emperor became prime minister.

Han Yu was forcibly pushing away the power granted by the emperor.

If he did not belong to the Donglin Party like Han Yu, he would have mobilized people to drive Han Yu out now.

However, thinking about the cabinet's second assistants Shi Fenglai and Li Guopu, both of whom were remnants of the eunuch party, he could only suppress this idea and clean up Han Yu's mess.

Soon, the Minister of Rites Cheng Jiming, the Left Vice Minister Qian Xiangkun, the Right Vice Minister Li Biao, as well as the Right Vice Minister Qian Qianyi, Zeng Chuqing, Liu Zongzhou and others, all submitted memorials to the emperor on this matter.

Some of them agreed that the prince should have fiefs, while others thought that the prince, like the emperor, had a country and did not need fiefs. At the same time, they all agreed that the Three Guards of Zhuolu should not be given to the prince.

The Privy Council also submitted a memorial, arguing that even if the Zhuolu district was granted to the prince as a fief, the prince should not be allowed to command the army, and the Three Zhuolu Guards should be commanded by special officials sent by the Privy Council.

Other ministers in the court expressed their opinions one after another, but the cabinet remained silent.
-
In the east of the city, in Wen Tiren's residence, Zhou Yanru was discussing this matter with him and asked Wen Tiren:
"Hasn't Lord Wen always supported Your Majesty in the court?"

"Why has there been no sound this time?"

Because of their previous interactions and the fact that they were both disliked by the Donglin Party, these two people became close.

Nowadays, it can be said that they are a party in the court and have a certain influence.

Especially after Wen Tiren entered the cabinet, many officials became attached to him.

Wen Tihen also valued Zhou Yanru very much because the Independent Commission Against Corruption headed by Zhou Yanru had the ability to take down all officials who were not so honest.

This is also a very important supplement for him as a university scholar, as he can use the name of corruption to defeat his political enemies.

Facing Zhou Yanru's question, he asked back while enjoying the maid's massage:
"You said this matter, why didn't the Prime Minister say anything?"

Zhou Yanru waved his hand to dismiss the maid beside him, sat up and responded:
"It should be for the sake of future generations. I don't want to offend the prince over this matter."

"After all, he is different from us. He is the primary person responsible for enthroning the crown prince."

"If the Crown Prince suffers a loss this time, when he understands the truth in the future, the first person he will be resentful of will definitely be the Prime Minister."

"Isn't it because of this that Shen Shixing, the Prime Minister, is blamed by the current emperor?"

Many people believe that the reason why Shen Shixing was not included in the Purple Pavilion and his descendants were tormented by the emperor was related to Emperor Guangzong's failure to successfully become the crown prince. The subsequent dispute over the foundation of the country also started from this.

After seeing Shen Yongmao's current fate, Han Yu naturally became very wary of the various events that might arise when he was enthroned as the crown prince.

Wen Tiren closed his eyes and said:

"That's exactly why Prime Minister Han is different from us."

"With the precedent of the Shen family, who dares to take this matter lightly?"

"The cabinet ministers did not submit a petition, of course, to support Prime Minister Han and show that the cabinet is united!"

The cabinet is united?
Zhou Yanru almost laughed out loud when he heard this.

Who would dare to believe that Han Yu, the leader of the Donglin Party, would be in the same mind with the remnants of the eunuch party, such as Shi Fenglai and Li Guopu?

Outsiders don’t know about the factions within the cabinet’s grand secretaries, but Wen Tihen is one of them, so how could he not know?
Those who say this are just fooling people! "Fooling me?"

"This shouldn't be the case!"

Zhou Yanru thought of himself as the best person under Wen Tihen, and of course he didn't believe that Wen Tihen would fool him with such a simple reason.

Could it be that the reason he gave was true, and that the cabinet did not submit a memorial just to show that all the grand secretaries were of one mind and had a unified attitude toward foreign affairs?

After thinking it over and over, Zhou Yanru still couldn't figure it out. He scratched his head anxiously and said:

"Mr. Wen, please stop keeping us in suspense!"

"I really don't understand now."

Wen Tiren laughed, opened his eyes, asked the maid to retreat, and said:

"You still need to learn this skill of nourishing your Qi!"

"Everyone in the cabinet is of one mind. Of course, someone wants to put Prime Minister Han on the spot and force him to make a decision."

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"What do you think of this move? How should Prime Minister Han respond?"

Zhou Yanru finally understood, patted his thigh and said:

"It seems that Prime Minister Han is going to have to overcome a difficult situation this time."

"No matter what choice he makes, there will be consequences."

If Han Yu chose to fully support the emperor, it would mean that the prime minister had betrayed the officials who submitted memorials to the emperor.

It will be difficult for Han Yu to let them take the lead again in the future.

Standing on the side of the officials and opposing granting the prince a fief, or only opposing granting him troops, may not be a problem in the short term, but it will bring disaster to future generations.

This is the situation of the Shen family. No matter which minister, he does not want his descendants to be tormented after his death.

What's more, after the establishment of the Purple Pavilion, this also concerns his posthumous reputation and future status in history.

Han Yu is really being roasted in the fire this time, and he will suffer losses no matter what choice he makes.

Who in the cabinet could come up with this idea and have the cabinet ministers implement it tacitly?

Zhou Yanru looked at Wen Tiren and felt that it shouldn't be him. Wen Tiren didn't have the prestige, and if he had done it, he wouldn't have explained it to him so calmly.

Moreover, if Han Yu suffered damage, he would not be the beneficiary. Wen Tiren was now the second to last in the cabinet.

Not to mention that Han Yu had only suffered a loss, even if Han Yu retired, it would not be his turn to be the Prime Minister. The emperor did not value Wen Tihen to this extent.

"Then who should it be?"

From common sense, when the Prime Minister leaves office, the Second Prime Minister is most likely to take over.

Even though the current emperor holds the power to appoint the Prime Minister, he no longer allows the Second Prime Minister to take the position in order as before.

However, if the Prime Minister resigns before the end of his term, the emperor will not easily bypass the Second Prime Minister and appoint someone else as the Prime Minister.

Shi Fenglai and Li Guopu, the two deputy ministers, are the most likely to benefit.

However, this is just common sense. Zhou Yanru knew that these two people were simply not capable of doing this.

As remnants of the eunuch party, they do not have such great prestige in the cabinet that others would obey them.

Moreover, the emperor's attitude clearly showed that he did not want the eunuch party to continue to serve as prime minister.

Otherwise, when people look at the court, they still think that the eunuch party is in power, which is quite unfavorable to the image of the emperor.

After excluding these two people, Yang Jingchen, who was also a minister and ranked only after the two, fell into Zhou Yanru's sight.

Thinking about the emperor's regard for Yang Jingchen, Zhou Yanru said:

"It seems that this matter should be done by Master Yang."

"Why would he do this? Could it be that he couldn't even wait three years?"

As a popular candidate for the next prime minister, Yang Jingchen has always been the focus of attention from both the government and the public.

Many people believe that if Han Yu resigns in the next term and the emperor does not choose Shi Fenglai and Li Guopu, the two remnants of the eunuch party, Yang Jingchen is likely to become the new prime minister.

This person is most likely Zhang Fujing chosen by the current emperor, and he will be of great use in the future.

However, Yang Jingchen is still relatively young, having just turned fifty this year. Logically, he should not be so anxious to get promoted.

Zhou Yanru was very puzzled as to why he did this.

Wen Tiren said at this time:
"What does it mean to wait three years?"

"What if Prime Minister Han does a good job and Your Majesty lets him continue?"

"That could be six years, nine years, or even a new candidate could emerge."

"So if Lord Yang wants to ascend to the throne, he must make things difficult for Prime Minister Han."

"The financial and economic affairs that Prime Minister Han is in charge of cannot be easily touched. Can't he be allowed to make a choice on such matters?"

This was his speculation, and he believed that Yang Jingchen acted in this way in order to allow Han Yu to wear down the emperor's favor.

This time, Han Yu was reluctant to express his opinion for the sake of his family and descendants, which would surely disappoint the emperor who regarded him as the prime minister.

If this happens a few more times, Han Yu will inevitably resign after his term ends.

It might even anger the emperor and prevent him from completing his entire term.

But generally speaking, it should not be to this extent. Because after the emperor established the term system, court officials generally hoped that the current cabinet could serve a full three-year term and achieve a smooth transition.

As a wise man, Yang Jingchen should not go against the wishes of most officials, especially the current emperor, who also has this intention.

Therefore, Wen Tiren, Zhou Yanru and others all thought that Yang Jingchen was just making trouble. They did not think that he wanted to pull down Han Yu and make the emperor change the prime minister.
-
However, these people were all thinking about Yang Jingchen in his normal state. What Yang Jingchen thought now was completely different from before.

After suffering a serious illness last year and nearly dying, Yang Jingchen's previous idea of ​​slowly rising through the ranks completely changed. He felt that time was running out:
"Life and death are unpredictable, opportunities cannot be missed."

"If I keep waiting, I might be able to become the Prime Minister safely, but who knows if I won't get sick or if a new person will appear in the court?"

"Han Yu has not done enough to satisfy His Majesty. I will seize the opportunity to drive him out as soon as possible."

"At least they should be sidelined and strive for greater power."

This is what Yang Jingchen is thinking now, and it is also the reason why he has joined forces with other university scholars to target Han Yu.

Others thought that he just wanted to undermine Han Yu's prestige and gain more power for the cabinet ministers. However, they did not expect that he really wanted to pull Han Yu down and climb to the position of prime minister himself.

Granting the prince a fief this time was a small matter, but it allowed the emperor to see that Han Yu was irresponsible and unqualified for the position of Prime Minister.

He was confident that he could make Han Yu look bad and even drive him out of office by exposing the case in Shanxi officialdom later.

As the head of the Anti-Corruption and Judicial Committee, he is well aware that there are many hidden dangers in Shanxi today.

Han Yu's close relationship with major Shanxi families such as the Zhang and Wang families meant that anything that happened in Shanxi would implicate him.

If he is not careful, he will be implicated and unable to continue to sit in the position of Prime Minister. (End of this chapter)