My father is Chongzhen? Then I have no choice but to rebel.

Chapter 75 Are you trying to force the emperor to abdicate?
Just as everyone was astonished, Li Banghua had already arrived in front of the hall.

Then Wang Chengen began to read the imperial edict:
"By the providence of Heaven, the Emperor proclaims: Nanjing Minister of War Li Banghua is loyal, dedicated, honest, and selfless, and has made numerous contributions in Nanjing. He is hereby recalled to the capital to serve as Minister of War, and is granted the title of Grand Tutor to the Crown Prince and the Imperial Sword!"

"Appreciate this!"

Li Banghua quickly knelt on the ground.

"Your Majesty, I, Li Banghua, thank you for your grace!"

Seeing this, Zhou Yanru on the side could no longer bear it.

He knelt down on the ground and said loudly:

"Your Highness, I believe this is unacceptable! I wish to meet with Your Majesty and explain the pros and cons of this matter. I beg Your Highness to grant my consent!"

As soon as Zhou Yanru said this, several other cabinet ministers and civil and military officials also knelt on the ground.

Shouting "No!"

It is obvious that they all stand on Zhou Yanru's side!

These people are not fools. They have already seen that Chongzhen is behind all this.

The purpose of doing this is most likely to seize the military power from the hands of civil officials!

After all, everyone knows that although Li Banghua is close to the Donglin Party, he has never been a member of the Donglin Party. In fact, his actions are more like those of an imperial party!
An imperial party that tried to return the power in their hands to Chongzhen!
If such a person were allowed to serve as the Minister of War, the military power in their hands would most likely return to the emperor, which was something they would absolutely not allow.

You have to know that the civil service group back then had to put in a lot of effort, even killing an emperor, to seize the military power from the emperor, and it has been more than a hundred years since then.

How could I just give away something I've held in my hands for over a hundred years?
"Your Majesty, please take back your order!"

"This old minister requests an audience with Your Majesty. This matter is absolutely unacceptable!"

"You must not do this! Your Highness!"

All of a sudden, numerous civil and military officials began to kneel on the ground and shouted in unison.

This is no longer a personal matter for them, but a matter of seizing power, which makes them feel more uncomfortable than taking their lives!
When seeing this scene, Xue Guoguan, the number one lackey of the emperor, jumped out without waiting for Zhu Cilang to speak.

He pointed at the ministers kneeling on the ground and cursed:
"What on earth are you guys trying to do? Are you trying to force the emperor to abdicate?"

"You're eating the emperor's salary and not sharing his worries, which is bad enough. You actually want to force him to abdicate! All of you deserve to be killed!"

When Zhou Yanru heard this, he jumped up in anger.

He really couldn't stand Xue Guoguan, this big troll.

In the past, Xue Guoguan, the big troll, always went against them, and he is still doing so now. This guy really deserves to be the emperor's number one lackey!

"Xue Guoguan, that's enough! Stop putting blame on the ministers all the time!"

Zhou Yanru scolded angrily.

"What? Isn't what I said right?"

Xue Guoguan sneered and said:

"The former Minister of War formed a clique and intended to rebel. Your Majesty appointed Li Banghua as the new Minister of War. What are your problems with this?"

"Mr. Li Banghua was the Minister of War in the capital ten years ago. After he went to Nanjing, he is still the Minister of War!"

"Now that he continues to serve as the Minister of War, isn't this what everyone wants?"

"Could it be that someone among you is more suitable than him to be the Minister of War?"

"If there really is such a person, this old man won't say anything!"

When he heard this, Zhou Yanru was speechless for a moment.

After all, everyone knows that Li Banghua is indeed a very talented person. He has a unique set of methods and insights on the training and reorganization of the army.

It's simply not something that people like them can compare to.

This guy is simply the chosen Minister of War!

But then again, this guy is not one of theirs!

He is the emperor's man!
If he really becomes the Minister of War and then transfers the military power to the emperor, then everything will be over!

Thinking of this, Zhou Yanru still said with a stiff upper lip:

"Lord Li is old after all, and the Ministry of War is very busy. I'm sure he doesn't have enough energy, so I think we should select some younger officials to take on this task!"

"This elder thinks that Yu Fangliang, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, is a good candidate. It is also popular to have him serve as the Minister of War."

When Yu Fangliang, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, heard this, he was so frightened that he broke out in a cold sweat.

He is only in his forties this year, so he is indeed young. But then again, being young does not necessarily mean being capable, right?

Especially when facing a veteran official like Li Banghua, who completely surpassed him in terms of seniority and strength, and had served as the Minister of War for more than ten years. How could he compare with him?
But he couldn't refuse directly. If he did, where would Zhou Yanru's face be?
Where would the Donglin Party put its face?
So he could only bite the bullet and say:

"I think we can give it a try!"

However, as soon as he said this, Xue Guoguan angrily cursed:
"What the hell are you trying?! Do you really think national affairs are just a game? You want to try everything?"

"It's a tragedy for the country to have officials like you!"

"Your Highness, I think we should ignore these people. The position of Minister of War should be given to Lord Li!"

Zhu Cilang looked at the scene below the stage and felt relieved.

He now felt more and more that bringing Xue Guoguan into the cabinet was a very correct thing to do.

Because in the court, probably only the old man Xue Guoguan could control the other civil and military officials.

After all, everyone knew that Xue Guoguan was a pure emperor party, and his words basically represented Chongzhen's intentions. So as long as Xue Guoguan opened his mouth, the others would at most argue a few words, but would never dare to disobey.

Then, Zhu Cilang spoke:

"Everyone, there is no need to discuss this matter any further. This is the will of our father, and we must not disobey! Dismiss the court!"

After saying this, Zhu Cilang left without looking back, leaving behind only indignant officials.

At this moment, these officials were furious about Chongzhen's appointment.

On the other hand, Li Banghua still looked calm.

From beginning to end, Li Banghua said nothing except expressing his gratitude. Even when other civil and military officials tried to stop him from becoming the Minister of War, he still didn't say a word.

In fact, this was also a test of Chongzhen and Zhu Cilang by Li Banghua.

If Chongzhen and Zhu Cilang were once again bewitched and shaken by the ministers at the scene of his appointment today, he would most likely resign from the post of Minister of War on the spot.

From then on, he returned home to retire and would never set foot in the court again!
Because he doesn't want to go through what happened ten years ago again.

But now it seems that Chongzhen and Zhu Cilang's idea of reorganizing the Beijing camp is far more determined than he imagined!

In other words, he can really realize his ambitions this time!

After the court was dismissed, the ministers dispersed and Li Banghua prepared to take up his post at the Ministry of War.

As the saying goes, a new official has three things to start with, so he has to think of a way to start these three things.

After all, if you want to reorganize the Beijing Camp, you must first appease the Ministry of War. If you cannot appease the Ministry of War, the problems in the Beijing Camp cannot be solved.

Just as Li Banghua was thinking and walking out, a voice suddenly sounded from behind him.

"Minister Li, wait a moment!"

Li Banghua stopped and turned his head to see that the person who was speaking was none other than Xue Guoguan.

Li Banghua did not have much good feelings towards Xue Guoguan. Ten years ago, when he was the Minister of War, the two had a conflict due to their different political views.

But today in the court, Xue Guoguan helped him, which alleviated Li Banghua's dissatisfaction a little.

Furthermore, he had already seen that Xue Guoguan was a member of the imperial party. To a certain extent, they were now on the same front.

Thinking of this, Li Banghua hurriedly bowed and said:
"What's the matter, Elder Xue?"

Xue Guoguan smiled slightly and said:
"Meng An, you and I both work for His Majesty and the Crown Prince, so there's no need to be so polite. I just came over to say hello. If you have any trouble in the future, just tell me and I'll help you handle it."

"Also, you have to be careful of those guys. They might not let you go so easily."

As Xue Guoguan spoke, he glanced at Zhou Yanru and others who were watching this side not far away.

Meng An is Li Banghua's pen name, and only some relatives and friends call him that.

But to be honest, Xue Guoguan is definitely not included!

However, considering that Xue Guoguan was actively showing goodwill, and that he had just arrived in the capital and needed an ally from the imperial party like Xue Guoguan, Li Banghua didn't really care about him calling him that.

Following Xue Guoguan's line of sight, Li Banghua indeed saw the Donglin Party headed by Zhou Yanru watching him not far away.

On the other side, realizing that he had been discovered, Zhou Yanru snorted coldly, then waved his sleeves and left.

Li Banghua pretended not to see anything, then bowed to Xue Guoguan and said:

"Thank you, Lord Xue, for your reminder. I will pay attention to it."

After exchanging a few more pleasantries, the two of them left.

Xue Guoguan went to the cabinet to work, while Li Banghua returned to the Ministry of War.

Although the imperial edict in the court was just announced, the Ministry of War had already received the news.

So when Li Banghua arrived at the Ministry of War, several gatekeepers came up to greet him with smiles on their faces:

"Greetings, Your Excellency! Congratulations on your appointment as the Minister of War!"

Those who can work in an office like the Ministry of War are all smart people without exception, and they are naturally good at dealing with people and things.

In response to the compliments from the yamen runners, Li Banghua simply nodded lightly without saying much.

Afterwards, a doctor from the Ministry of War came out and took Li Banghua into the Ministry of War.

However, unlike the flattering servants at the door, the officials in the lobby of the Ministry of War all had stern faces, as if someone in their family had just died.

Li Banghua ignored them and walked straight into the inner hall of the Minister of War.

The room had been rearranged, apparently to welcome him, the new minister.

After Li Banghua sat down, he looked up at the doctor in front of him:
"Call the left and right assistant ministers of the Ministry of War over to me."

The left and right assistant ministers of the Ministry of War are considered the second and third in command of the Ministry of War. Since I have arrived at the Ministry of War, I naturally have to meet these two first.

Upon hearing this, the doctor bowed and then ran out.

But not long after, he ran in again, looking a little embarrassed and said:

"Sir, the Left and Right Vice Ministers of the Ministry of War are not here."

"what?"

Upon hearing this, Li Banghua frowned immediately.

He clearly remembered seeing these two people when he went to court just now, so why are they gone now?

Something's wrong!
(End of this chapter)