Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 182 The Emperor is Wise
"This old fox!"

Tianqi cursed inwardly when he heard this. Ye Xianggao's words did sound impartial and very practical, and even seemed to be slightly biased towards Xiong Tingbi.

But in fact, what Ye Xianggao said was not the case at all. You must know that after Yuan Yingtai's disastrous defeat in Liaodong, Shenyang, Liaoning and other places all fell into the hands of the Later Jin. The Liaodong defense line originally arranged by the Ming Dynasty was completely gone, the front line retreated in strides, and the territory of the Ming Dynasty outside the Great Wall also shrunk significantly. Now the only strong city on the Liaodong front line is Guangning, and after Guangning are the two rear defense lines of Ningyuan and Qiantun.

In other words, Guangning is already the most advanced position on the front line of the Liaodong battlefield, and the importance of Guangning can be imagined. Once the war breaks out, Guangning will be the first to bear the brunt. Whether it is taking the initiative to start a war or defending, Guangning is the most important.

On the surface, Ye Xianggao let Wang Huazhen be in charge of Guangning, and Xiong Tingbi be in charge of Liaodong affairs except Guangning, which seemed to be no problem. But if this arrangement was made, Xiong Tingbi's significance in Liaodong would be completely gone.

Due to the special nature of Guangning, Wang Huazhen was in charge of it. So what could Xiong Tingbi, the governor of Liaodong, do? You should know that all of Xiong Tingbi's plans and defense arrangements were centered around Guangning. Now Guangning would not let him intervene. Xiong Tingbi, the governor of Liaodong, could not do anything, and he could not even mobilize a single soldier from Guangning, because Wang Huazhen had the final say in Guangning, and everything was in his hands.

Ye Xianggao's words immediately brought the Donglin Party members back to their senses, and everyone had to admire that the old ones were still the wisest.

This arrangement superficially solved the problem of the economic and governor of Liaodong, but in fact it made it clear that the economic and governor of Liaodong were each in charge of their own affairs. It was equivalent to taking away the power of Liaodong from Xiong Tingbi. More importantly, it made it impossible for anyone to find fault with it.

Ye Xianggao is Ye Xianggao, and only he can make things sound so high-sounding and irrefutable. Immediately, Donglin Party members stood up one by one to agree with Ye Xianggao's suggestion, believing that the dispute over the Liaodong issue could be temporarily shelved and that solving it in this way was the most appropriate.

Even though Li Jingbai and others understood Ye Xianggao's plan, it was difficult for them to refute it at this time. After all, judging from the surface of the matter, the Donglin Party had already made a concession, and Xiong Tingbi was still the governor of Liaodong, so there was no basis for further opposition.

Emperor Tianqi remained silent. He felt a little uncomfortable. Originally, he wanted to trick Ye Xianggao, because everyone knew that Wang Huazhen was Ye Xianggao's disciple. If Ye Xianggao spoke in favor of Wang Huazhen, it would be a blow to Ye Xianggao's reputation, and he could then make something of it.

If Ye Xianggao didn't want to damage his reputation, he would definitely support Xiong Tingbi impartially, which would fall right into the calculations of Emperor Tianqi. Using Ye Xianggao's hand, he could directly dismantle the current Donglin Party's support for Wang Huazhen. After all, Ye Xianggao was not only the Prime Minister, but also the leader of the Donglin Party and Wang Huazhen's teacher. He said so, so what are you Donglin Party members still making trouble for?
The plan was good, but Tianqi never expected that Ye Xianggao, this old fox, would be so cunning. His attitude was really beyond Tianqi's expectations. He made a suggestion that no one had expected in a way that he had not thought of, and this suggestion seemed so fair and impeccable. This made Tianqi's prepared punch miss, and he felt extremely uncomfortable.

For a moment, Tianqi didn't know how to make a decision. It would be awkward for him whether he agreed or disagreed, because Tianqi's original idea was to use today's court meeting to transfer Wang Huazhen back to the capital, and give full authority to Xiong Tingbi in Liaodong.

But things had reached a point that was beyond Tianqi's expectations. After much thought, Tianqi decided to learn from his grandfather Wanli and act like a rogue. He immediately announced that the court meeting would come to an end because the matter was too serious. He would go back and think about it carefully before making a decision.

Hearing the emperor say this, Ye Xianggao did not urge him. He bowed respectfully to the emperor to express his agreement. Then Tianqi announced that the court meeting was over, and he stood up and returned to the harem.

After returning to the Qianqing Palace, Tianqi had a very ugly expression. Just now, Ye Xianggao had given him a soft rejection and also dug a trap for him. Although he did not agree, judging from the current situation, he, the emperor, had lost this contest.

Because the court debate had no conclusion, it meant that the current dispute between the governor and governor of Liaodong had not been resolved. This was no loss at all for the Donglin Party. After all, Wang Huazhen was still the governor of Liaodong, just like before.

With a gloomy face, Tianqi was very dissatisfied. He sat there for a long time without moving. Wei Zhongxian, who was serving on the side, did not dare to breathe. He was standing not far from the emperor during the court meeting just now, and he saw and heard everything that happened in the court.

After a long while, Tianqi suddenly asked, "I remember that Li Jingbai was originally the governor of Shandong, right?"

"Your Majesty has a good memory." Wei Zhongxian said hurriedly, "Li Jingbai was a Jinshi in the 41st year of Wanli. He later served as the magistrate of Xiajin County. He made outstanding achievements in his post as a county magistrate, so the late emperor promoted Li Jingbai to the governor of Shandong. As the governor, Li Jingbai implemented policies well and was evaluated as excellent. He was transferred back to Beijing last year and is now the right assistant censor of the Censorate."

"What is his relationship with Zuo Guangdou?" Tianqi asked again.

Li Jingbai was the Right Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, and Zuo Guangdou was the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate. The two had equal positions and often interacted with each other on weekdays.

Wei Zhongxian told Tianqi that Li Jingbai was a smart and capable person who never boasted. Although he was a colleague of Zuo Guangdou, he had never heard of any friendship between the two. Apart from work, they had no personal contact. Moreover, Li Jingbai did not belong to any party or faction in the court, neither the Donglin Party nor the Zhejiang Party or the Chu Party. He was a practical person.

Hearing this answer, Tianqi finally smiled. "What do you think of Zhang Heming?"

Wei Zhongxian was slightly stunned. He was just talking about Li Jingbai. Why did he suddenly mention Zhang Heming, the Minister of War? He pondered in his mind and soon came to his senses.

Wei Zhongxian replied: "It is difficult for me to comment on Zhang Heming. This old man has a long history in the court and has many friends. Moreover, he has a good reputation both in the local government and in the court. However..."

Having said this, Wei Zhongxian paused, and the Emperor Tianqi glanced at him: "But what?"

"But I heard that Zhang Heming and Xiong Tingbi have a personal grudge. Your Majesty, you also know that although Xiong Tingbi is very talented, he has an arrogant personality. When the late emperor was here, he offended Zhang Heming because of the Liaodong incident."

Nodding, Tianqi indicated that he understood. No wonder Zhang Heming supported Wang Huazhen so enthusiastically. When it comes to the dispute over the economic and pacification of Liaodong, Zhang Heming had a lot of responsibility.

Zhang Heming is currently the Minister of War. As a soldier, Zhang Heming has considerable influence and say in Liaodong. Theoretically, although the Liaodong Governor has great powers, he is also subject to the Ministry of War in many aspects.

Since Zhang Heming and Xiong Tingbi had conflicts before and looked down on each other, when Wang Huazhen and Xiong Tingbi disagreed, Zhang Heming directly supported Wang Huazhen. It was also because of Zhang Heming's attitude that Wang Huazhen had the confidence to compete with Xiong Tingbi in Liaodong. Coupled with the influence and backing of the Donglin Party, Wang Huazhen and Xiong Tingbi fought more and more fiercely in Liaodong.

So from this point of view, Zhang Heming's actions were the original reason for the dispute over the economic and trade unions in Liaodong. If Zhang Heming had not supported Wang Huazhen at the beginning, Wang Huazhen would not have dared to quarrel so fiercely with Xiong Tingbi. Thinking of this, and recalling that just now in the court, when Zhang Heming clearly supported Wang Huazhen, Tianqi frowned even more.

For a time, Emperor Tianqi had a very bad impression of Zhang Heming, and at the same time, he was secretly somewhat dissatisfied with Xiong Tingbi. He felt that although Xiong Tingbi was talented, his character was really not very good. Since the Wanli period, although Xiong Tingbi was valued, his temper was really bad. He offended people every other day and didn't know how to get along well with his colleagues. Even if he had the support of the emperor behind him, he couldn't always be like this.

If Xiong Tingbi could improve in this aspect, he wouldn't have to be so smooth-talking, as long as he wasn't so arrogant and had a good relationship with his colleagues. In this way, there wouldn't be so many people dissatisfied with Xiong Tingbi, and I wouldn't have to worry about cleaning up Xiong Tingbi's mess every other day.

No one is perfect. Although Tianqi knew this, he could not help but feel a little angry. He sighed, thought for a while and said, "Li Jingbai is loyal to the country and honest in his official duties. I am very pleased. I have ordered the Imperial Household Department to draft an edict to confer the title of Zhongyi Dafu on Li Jingbai, the Right Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, as a token of encouragement."

"I obey your order!" Wei Zhongxian responded quickly, thinking to himself that Li Jingbai was lucky. He had a heated debate with the Donglin Party in the court today and was noticed by the emperor.

Now Emperor Tianqi conferred the title of Zhongyi Doctor on Li Jingbai. Although this title was only an honorary title, it was of great significance, indicating Tianqi's recognition and appeasement of Li Jingbai.

For a moment, Wei Zhongxian also began to think about Li Jingbai. Li Jingbai was the Right Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, and his official position in the court was not low. Moreover, he was very capable and did not belong to the Donglin Party or any other party. Now that the emperor took a fancy to him, there was a high possibility that he would be reused in the future.

In this case, such a person can be won over. Wei Zhongxian will continue to fight with the Donglin Party. Compared with the strength of the Donglin Party, Wei Zhongxian is still far inferior. Winning over those court officials who are dissatisfied with the Donglin Party and uniting to deal with the Donglin Party, among them, isn't Li Jingbai the best candidate?

Thinking of this, Wei Zhongxian had his own plan in mind. He planned to take advantage of the opportunity of Emperor Tianqi's appointment to Li Jingbai to visit him in person and find out what the other party was thinking. If Li Jingbai could join him, he would be more confident in dealing with the Donglin Party in the future.

"Your Majesty, since you have bestowed favor on Li Jingbai, what about Xu Yang first..." Wei Zhongxian asked tentatively.

Tianqi smiled and said, "You are quite clever. I almost forgot about this person. Since you mentioned him, I will give him a favor. Pass on my order to appoint Xu Yangxian as the imperial doctor. And pass on the order together."

"Your Majesty is wise!" Wei Zhongxian immediately flattered him, and Tianqi's mood improved and he burst into laughter.

(End of this chapter)