Ming politicians

(Thank you for choosing to take the middle route without being left or right, and thank you for your long-term support, thank you.)

Su Tiancheng made another big move in Dengzhou, and Zhou Yanru was no exception, and he also made a big move in the capital.

The cabinet has its own characteristics. The ministers of the cabinet are actually the prime ministers. Although it is said that the prime minister system was abolished in the dynasty, the cabinet established later gradually evolved into a prime minister system, and the power of the cabinet has increased, and it can even be used to deceive others. The role of the emperor was completely kept in the dark.After hundreds of years, seeing this kind of situation is somewhat unimaginable, but in the Ming Dynasty, where communication was not developed at all, such a situation completely existed.

The memorials from all over the country are first entered into the cabinet. After the cabinet reads these memorials and thinks it is necessary to submit them, they will be presented to the emperor, otherwise they will be suppressed directly. If all the memorials are made, let the emperor decide. Even if the emperor does not eat or drink for 24 hours, he cannot handle so many memorials.

In the cabinet, the final decision on whether to submit the memorial to the emperor depends on the opinions of the chief minister of the cabinet. Many cabinet ministers each have a part in charge, and the matters related to this part should be dealt with together with important memorials. Report to the chief minister of the cabinet, and the simple things are determined at that time. When major issues need to be studied, the chief minister of the cabinet convenes many cabinet ministers, and even six ministers participate in the study together, and after giving their opinions , and finally presented it to the emperor to make the final decision.

From this perspective, the power of the chief minister of the cabinet is very great, but because the cabinet ministers are not the real prime ministers, the meaning of setting up the cabinet at the beginning is equivalent to the meaning of the emperor's secretary team, so the power of the cabinet depends on the key points. It still depends on how the emperor bestows power.The emperor himself is lazy and doesn't like to meddle in government affairs. Under such circumstances, the power of the cabinet is very great. If the emperor is very diligent, he can control all affairs in the court.The cabinet does not necessarily have that much power.

Zhou Yanru once again became the chief assistant of the cabinet. Of course, he wanted to pursue the highest power. The confrontation with Wen Tiren left him too deeply stimulated. Although Wen Tiren had passed away and was removed from the position of the cabinet chief assistant, Zhou Yan Ru was really not reconciled, the first thing he had to do was to clean up as much as possible the officials Wen Tiren had promoted back then.Next, Zhou Yanru will do his best to maintain his own power and eliminate all possible threats.

It is precisely because under the guidance of such thoughts, Zhou Yanru behaved differently when he took office.

Through the adjustment of officials this time, many civil and military ministers have understood one thing, that is, Zhou Yanru can decide the positions of officials, except for cabinet ministers, even if they are six ministers.I am afraid it is also possible to adjust.As for the cabinet ministers, they understand this truth even more.Compared with Zhou Yanru, they are unmatched in terms of qualifications and experience, so this also encourages Zhou Yanru to concentrate power more.

If you want exclusive power, there is another most important aspect.That is how to deal with the emperor. On the one hand, you must gain the trust of the emperor, and on the other hand, you must hide it from the emperor. You cannot let the emperor know everything, which is not conducive to monopoly.

But Zhou Yanru has mastered the biggest weakness of the emperor.That is, they like to listen to good things, like to be praised, like to be complacent, and think that they are stronger and more powerful than Tang Zong and Song Zu.Knowing the emperor's weakness, Zhou Yanru naturally has a way to deal with it. The most obvious thing is the negotiation between the imperial court and the Houjin Tartars. Zhou Yanru always picks up good things to say, for example, saying that Huang Taiji especially respects and respects the emperor. They are extremely afraid of the emperor's wisdom. The Han people in Shenyang and other places miss the emperor's grace all the time. The emperor's prestige is not only spread in Liaodong, but even in Heilongjiang, which is farther away.

It is impossible to say that the emperor completely believes these words. After all, Zhu Youjian is not an idiot, and he is very diligent, but years of diligence and repression have made Zhu Youjian's character a bit weird. Hearing Zhou Yanru like this Singing praises, he was very happy, and after hearing many praises, he really thought that was the case.

Of course, there are some facts in this. At least there is silver in the imperial treasury, which is enough for expenses, and the disasters in various places have also been relieved. There are no bandits rebelling. Most places have basically calmed down. He came to the capital and surrendered obediently. Years of hard work have alleviated the riddled situation, which is why Zhu Youjian is happy.

It was precisely because of these circumstances that Zhu Youjian began to rest assured that Zhou Yanru would take power. He had always believed in Zhou Yanru, even during the period when Zhou Yanru returned to seclusion.

The most important thing that Zhou Yanru started to deal with was the submission of the Later Jin Tartars.

In fact, in the cabinet, there are also different views. Chen Xinjia fought with the Houjin Tartars and was defeated miserably. He was deeply impressed by the bravery of the Houjin Tartars. , but also focused on how to arrange the army of the Houjin Tartars, at least to accept the control of the court, and Fan Jingwen also insisted on this opinion.

It is a pity that this opinion was actually put forward by Yang Sichang. At the beginning, Yang Sichang did not agree with the submission of the Later Jin Tartars because he considered the military issue of the Later Jin Tartars. Zhou Yanru held an objection, and they all knew it well. If the military issue of the Hou Jin Tartars was involved, the negotiation would not be possible, but Zhou Yanru's understanding was deeper, and it was not in line with the emperor's request to prevent the Hou Jin Tartars from surrendering.

So Zhou Yanru directly held the matter of negotiation in his hands.

When Jia Jihan visited the mansion for the first time, he sent gold. Zhou Yanru reported all the gold to the emperor and paid it into the treasury. This was greatly praised by the emperor. It is a pity that all of this, but It was a strategy that Zhou Yanru came up with, and the purpose was to completely control the progress of the negotiations and control all the decision-making power.

After that, Jia Jihan came to visit Zhou Kang several times. The gifts sent after that cannot be compared with the first time. There are night pearls, precious swords, Maxima, etc., all of which are priceless. Zhou Kang did not refuse , all accepted with a smile, in fact, Zhou Yanru accepted it with a smile.

Now that he has accepted so many gifts, it is easy to talk about the negotiation. Zhou Yanru only wants to look good. For some things, the two parties can sign an agreement. As for whether to implement it, that is another matter.

Jierhalang, who was only thinking about the success of the peace talks, naturally understood the meaning of this, so he made concessions on many key issues, and looked forward to the end of the negotiations as soon as possible.

Zhu Youjian is also very concerned about this negotiation. He has asked several times, and has personally read the relevant records. He is very happy that the Houjin Tartars can accept so many conditions. He thinks that Zhou Yanru is really capable. , For example, sending military officers to enter the Manchu Eight Banners and the Han Eight Banners. The Hou Jin Tartars agreed to such conditions, and it seems that they are thinking about true submission.

Hearing is believing, seeing is believing, seeing the record of the negotiation, Zhu Youjian was completely relieved, and entrusted Zhou Yanru to handle all the matters of the negotiation.

Zhu Youjian should understand a word, painting cakes to satisfy hunger, the negotiation between the imperial court and the Houjin Tatars already tastes like painting cakes to satisfy hunger, and the Houjin Tatars agreed to many conditions, some of which were principled conditions. Maybe he agreed, but Zhu Youjian didn't seriously consider why the Houjin Tatars agreed to these conditions, including that the court could send officials to enter Shenyang City, including Houjin's Huang Taiji who would come to the capital every year to see the emperor. If you can’t come, you have to send envoys to have an audience, etc., even including the post-gold tartars who have to pay a certain amount of gold and silver every year.

The conditions for the imperial court are also very clear. The first is to stop attacking the Houjin Tartars, and the second is to put them in some treaty ports so that merchants on both sides can do business freely. Of course, the Houjin Tartars also proposed There is a very important condition, that is, whether the Ming army stationed in Liaodong can be reduced. Zhou Yanru dare not agree to such a principled matter. Surrender, with too many question marks.

The negotiations with the Houjin Tartars ended in less than a month.

After signing the agreement, Jierhalang was anxious to return to Shenyang. He needed to report a lot of things, and during the time in the capital, he had more or less grasped some information.Judging from the many information we have, there is no doubt that the current situation is very beneficial to the Qing Dynasty.

Zhou Yanru hosted a banquet in honor of Ji Erhalang. As for what the two talked about, outsiders don't know.

Su Tiancheng, who was far away in Dengzhou, also got the rubbings of the agreement.

Su Tiancheng looked very carefully, but after seeing the back, his face changed a long time ago. Zhu Shenxin and Qu Qingze stood beside them, and did not speak for a while.

"It's a joke, it's really a joke. I don't even know what the emperor thinks. The result of this negotiation is really terrible. The Hou Jin Tartars completely surrendered to the court, and they almost handed over the army directly. It turns out that Zhou Yanru Your Excellency is so powerful, even if our hundreds of thousands of troops go to conquer the Houjin Tartars, we still can’t achieve this goal, but Master Zhou can destroy the hundreds of thousands of Houjin Tartars’ army with a few words, it’s amazing, really amazing."

What Su Tiancheng said was naturally ironic.

Zhu Shenxuan followed suit.

"It seems that this negotiation agreement has no effect at all. The many things mentioned in it may not be prepared to be implemented by the Jin Tartars."

Qu Qingze, who knew the situation inside, also spoke up.

"In the embassy of the Hou Jin Tartars, there was a person named Jia Jihan. It was this Jia Jihan who provoked the infighting between the Xibe tribe and the Daur tribe. If the Lord had not considered it in advance, he made a special I am afraid that these two tribes are fighting each other. This Jia Jihan, after arriving in the capital, is very active. He often goes out secretly, and he is free to come and go. The officials think that the Houjin Tartars may know that the court is facing situation."

Su Tiancheng's face became even more ugly.

"I thought that after Zhou Yanru became the chief assistant of the cabinet, he would do something earth-shattering. It turned out that it was this kind of coping and fooling around. This is called self-inflicted evil." (To be continued...)