The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 314: Zhejiang Party Falls Out of Favor
Yu Youcai left.

Wanli was depressed throughout the New Year.

Especially when he heard the news of Yu Youcai's death, he lost his appetite for several days.

However, this is the critical moment for the Ming Dynasty to revive, so he has to cheer up and make good arrangements to let Shen Li take over Yu Youcai's position.

Just after the New Year, at about noon on the 16th day of the first lunar month, he ordered someone to summon Shen Li to the imperial study.

After the king and his subject exchanged greetings, he stared at Shen Li.

Shen Li is obedient and upright. He is not greedy or corrupt and never abuses his power for personal gain. But this guy doesn't understand his thoughts as well as Yu Youcai.

He thought about it carefully, then sighed softly and said, "Bingzhong is gone and will never come back. I will trouble you with the cabinet affairs."

This means that Shen Li will be appointed as the chief minister of the cabinet.

When Shen Li heard this, there was no excitement on his face.

Instead, he bowed with a solemn expression and said, "I understand. Thank you, Your Majesty, for your grace."

It’s difficult to manage the court right now.

If it was Yu Youcai, it would be easier to manage, because Yu Youcai and Shen Yiquan are from the same hometown and are easy to talk to.

Although his surname is also Shen, he has nothing to do with Shen Yiquan.

In fact, he was quite disgusted with Shen Yiquan's actions, and he didn't want to talk to such a person!

When Wanli saw Shen Li's expression, he couldn't help but nodded secretly.

This person did not become an official for the purpose of fighting for power and profit.

If those civil servants with ulterior motives heard that they were going to become the prime minister of the cabinet, they would definitely be extremely excited.

The power of the current cabinet chief is extremely great. It can be said that all the major and minor matters in the court are under the jurisdiction of the cabinet chief.

As the emperor, he only decides whether to do it or not. As for how to do it, that is up to the chief minister of the cabinet.

Especially since he, as the emperor, often led the army to war in person, and would be away for several months at a time, the chief minister of the cabinet would manage the entire court on his behalf.

One can imagine how powerful the prime minister of the cabinet is at this moment.

Power represents benefits, and the greater the power, the greater the benefits that can be obtained.

At least, that's what those civil servants with ulterior motives think.

When Shen Li heard that he was going to be extremely powerful, his face was not excited but solemn.

From this we can see that Shen Li never thought of using power to seek personal gain.

Not bad.

Wanli nodded secretly, then said solemnly: "Zhonghua, with Bingzhong gone, the cabinet is missing someone. What do you think of promoting Shen Yikuan to the cabinet to assist in government?"

what?
How did you get this guy into the cabinet?

Shen Li was stunned for a long time before he quickly bowed and said, "If His Majesty thinks it's okay, then it's okay."

You really have no talent.

If I were talented, I would have understood immediately that I was promoting them in name only and demoting them in reality, restricting the Zhejiang Party and supporting the Donglin gang to fight against the Zhejiang Party.

However, there are really too few people in Donglin at the moment, and it is difficult to help them.

Who can he help?
Gu Xiancheng?

No, this guy has to preside over Donglin Academy, so that Donglin’s reputation among the elite will become more and more famous.

Who is left in Donglin now?
Li Sancai, Ye Xianggao, Zhang Wenda, Zhao Nanxing, and Cui Jingrong.

The problem is, these are all insignificant officials. The one with the highest position, Li Sancai, is just a doctor in the Ministry of Revenue. How can we help him?
Forget it, I'm too lazy to think about it, I'll just help him out.

He now has enough military power to act arbitrarily.

Anyone who dares to go against him will be dealt with!
If you don't contradict him and just fight back, the most you'll get is dismissal from office and stripping of your status. If you dare to contradict him, beheading will be the least of your punishment!

Wanli thought for a moment and said simply, "Shen Yikuan has gone to the cabinet, and the position of Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel is vacant.

Go and tell your dream that Li Sancai, the doctor of the Ministry of Revenue, was promoted to the position of Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, Zhao Nanxing was re-employed as the doctor of the Ministry of Personnel's Selection Department, Zhang Wenda was promoted to the position of Deputy Director of the Ministry of Personnel, Cui Jingrong was transferred to the position of Director of the Ministry of Personnel's Selection Department, and Ye Xianggao was promoted to the position of Chief Academician of the Imperial College.

The former Langzhong of the Ministry of Personnel's Selection Department, Chen Younian, and the former Director of the Ministry of Personnel's Selection Department, who would be transferred to the Langzhong and Director of the Ministry of Personnel's Examination Department? "Huh?
These all seem to be clean officials, and they are relatively well-known in the court.

It turns out that His Majesty knows everything.

It seems that His Majesty is going to help the Qingliu to deal with the Zhejiang Party.

The Zhejiang Party has fallen out of favor!
Upon hearing this, Shen Li bowed repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty is wise."

What's wise?
You don't understand at all why I support these people.

Alas, if I were a talented person, I would definitely understand it immediately.

Wanli sighed secretly, and then taught carefully: "Zhonghua, you must remember that there is no right or wrong in court affairs, it only depends on what is beneficial to us.

Don't be like those upright people, acting on impulse and insisting on arguing about right and wrong. This will do us no good, do you understand?

You should learn this from Bingzhong: just watch them fight, don't interfere, and don't take sides. Let them fight each other."

Uh, well, is there no right or wrong in the court?

Shen Li thought about it carefully after hearing this, then said carefully, "Your Majesty, I dare to say that Shen Yi Guan is clearly forming a clique for personal gain. Once they gain control of the court, they will definitely abuse their power for personal gain, embezzle and pervert the law, and make the court a chaotic place. Isn't it wrong for them to do this?"

You really do tend to be more cautious.

This won't do. Donglin will lead you into trouble.

Wanli shook his head slightly and said, "Do you think Shen Yiguan and his gang are all bad people?
You should be very clear whether Lu Guangzu abused his power for personal gain, including Chen Younian. Do you think he listened to Shen Yiquan purely for the purpose of abusing his power for personal gain?
Also, do you think that all the Qingliu people are good people? Don’t they abuse their power for personal gain?

If you check their relatives and friends, you will definitely find that some of them benefited from their official positions. Aren't Lu Guangzu and Chen Younian also unable to deny their relationship as relatives and friends?
We cannot avoid this kind of thing, so we can only punish them. We will punish everyone we catch and deal with whoever dares to do something wrong.

Don't think that the Qingliu people will not abuse their power for personal gain after they come to power. Even if they don't abuse their power for personal gain, there will be people who take advantage of them to do so.

You should know about Xu Jie's affairs. Do you think it was he who wanted to annex so many fields or his son who wanted to annex so many fields?
Therefore, there is no right or wrong in the court, and you should not think that someone is necessarily a good person or a bad person. Just let them bite, and they will naturally find out the problems on the other side.

We will deal with every one they bite out, so that no one can complain.

If you insist on distinguishing right from wrong and picking on a group of people you think are bad people, you will cause a lot of unnecessary trouble, do you know?
We'll just let them fight it out on their own. Whoever gets kicked out of office or even killed is their own business. This way we can avoid a lot of trouble, you know?"

Every official has heard of Xu Jie's affairs.

He was the leader of the Qingliu movement. It was Xu Jie who led the Qingliu movement to deal with the corrupt officials Yan Song and his son.

Who would have known that this Qingliu leader actually owned hundreds of thousands of acres of land!

After Hai Rui found out, he was a little reluctant to believe it.

And what about Hai Rui? Wasn't he used by Xu Jie's political enemy Gao Gong and deliberately transferred to Nanzhili to investigate Xu Jie?
Gao Gong was not doing that to punish corrupt officials, he was simply doing that to deal with his political enemies!
Who is right and who is wrong in this matter? Who can tell?
Shen Li thought about it carefully after hearing this, then nodded slowly and said, "Your Majesty is wise. Let's let them fight each other, so that they won't have nothing to do and turn around and bite us."

Well, you finally understood.

Wanli nodded slightly, then pondered: "You are the first minister of the cabinet, and the second minister of the cabinet is vacant. Let Wang Xijue be the second minister."

Wang Xijue was the most inclined towards the Qingliu among the four cabinet ministers. Now the gap between the Qingliu and the Zhejiang Party was not that big, and the fight would not be one-sided.

Shen Li repeatedly bowed and said, "Your Majesty is wise."

Wanli thought about it carefully, then waved his hand and said, "Go ahead and deal with the memorials properly. Don't worry about these dog-eat-dog things."

Shen Li quickly bowed and said, "I understand. I will take my leave."

When Wanli saw his back disappear at the door, he ordered someone to call Luo Sigong over.

Luo Sigong was not on official business in the inner palace at the moment. He was waiting in the palace for Wanli to summon him.

After a while, he walked in quickly, bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you."

Luo Sigong seemed to know more than Shen Li, and he could use it with ease. Unfortunately, this guy was not a civil servant.

Wanli sighed inwardly, then gave detailed instructions: "Order your men to go to the streets and alleys of the capital and tell them that the reason I favored Shen Yiguan and his gang was purely because of Bingzhong. Now Bingzhong is gone, you understand."

This means that the cabinet chief Yu Youcai is no longer in office, and the Zhejiang Party has therefore fallen out of favor.

His Majesty wanted to support the Qingliu to deal with the Zhejiang Party, but he needed an excuse.

The excuse is that Yu Youcai is no longer around.

Luo Sigong quickly bowed and said, "Your humble servant understands."

(End of this chapter)