Huangming

Chapter 48 A beast in human clothing, a hypocrite

"The late Emperor suddenly passed away and a new emperor was suddenly enthroned. We failed to welcome him, which almost gave Liu Yizhu, Yang Lian and others the credit for supporting the new emperor. Fortunately, although His Majesty has lived in the deep palace for a long time, he is wise and decisive and was not deceived by them."

All eyes were on Fang Congzhe, and their eyes lit up when they heard the mention of the current emperor.

"What did His Majesty say when he met with the Grand Secretary this morning?"

Yao Zongwen seemed to have thought of something, and his old face turned red with excitement.

Is it
Is spring coming for the Zhejiang Party?

Liu Tingyuan's face lit up with a shrewd look. He said, "His Majesty issued an imperial edict suddenly, and Yang Lian led the Six Ministries to reject it. He must have angered His Majesty. Our chance has come!"

cough cough.

Fang Congzhe coughed and said, "His Majesty detests factional strife and wishes to make good use of those who are capable of doing practical work."

Yao Zongwen clapped his hands and laughed, saying, "The Donglin Party members are constantly engaged in factional strife, focusing on empty talk rather than practical matters, which has already angered His Majesty. Grand Secretary, what did His Majesty say to you?"

"Yes!"

"Your Excellency, please tell us quickly!"

All eyes turned to Fang Congzhe with great interest.

The dispute over the temple name and posthumous title of the deceased emperor had already dashed their hopes of regaining power.

After all, Fang Congzhe, who was their backer, was in dire straits due to the Red Pill Case.

How could they possibly stir up any trouble?

However, if one has the emperor's favor, then it's a different story.

Why did the Donglin Party rise to power?
It wasn't because of the help of imperial power.

If the imperial power were to aid them now, what would become of the Donglin Party members?
Fang Congzhe sighed inwardly as he watched their excited expressions.

How are you any different from the Donglin Party members?

He said with little interest, “Your Majesty wishes to eradicate the chronic disease that has plagued our Great Ming Dynasty for more than 250 years, and this old man also dares to make a bold statement before Your Majesty: I will be the vanguard.”

"Excellent, wonderful!"

Yao Zongwen almost burst into tears of joy.

He took Fang Congzhe's words as a clear signal:

They have the support of the imperial power!
"It seems that the Donglin Party members won't be able to keep up this momentum for long."

Upon seeing this situation, Huang Ruliang, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, immediately said, "I can persuade the Fujian merchants to donate 100,000 taels of silver to the Zhejiang Guild Hall as funding."

Huang Ruliang was born in Fujian and was assigned to the Fujian Party.

But seeing that the Zhejiang Party was gaining momentum, he naturally wanted to take advantage of this opportunity.

Investing money as equity demonstrates greater sincerity.

Upon hearing this, Fang Congzhe opened his mouth slightly, his face showing disappointment, but ultimately remained silent.

Everyone was in high spirits, already imagining what life would be like after taking power, and didn't notice Fang Congzhe's expression at all.

Perhaps they thought Fang Congzhe's current expression showed that he was so excited that he had forgotten to laugh.

"If that's the case, then we must immediately take them down with lightning speed before the Donglin Party members can even react!" Qi Shijiao's eyes flashed, his fighting spirit soaring.

Yao Zongwen said from the side, "His Majesty is currently conducting a thorough investigation into corruption. With the imperial power at our side, we can report the matter of the Donglin Party members' embezzlement and bribery to His Majesty, so that all these people can resign from their posts!"

Liu Tingyuan said with a sneer: "The Donglin Party members have seized school lands, embezzled and accepted bribes, formed cliques to disrupt the government, colluded with the Jurchens, and abused their power. If the Donglin Party is not eliminated, what will become of the world?"

Don't ask him how he knows so much, because that's what the Zhejiang Party did too.

Sometimes, the person who understands you best is not yourself, but your enemy.

"The Donglin faction, Donglin, are all vying for profit and fame; the Qingliu faction, however, is corrupt, misleading the country and harming the people. Our Great Ming Dynasty is saved!"

The crowd was buzzing with discussion, each with their own ideas, but Fang Congzhe, who had gathered everyone together, remained silent.

"Why is the Grand Secretary silent?" asked Ying Zhen, a supervising secretary of the Ministry of Revenue.

“Party strife harms the country. Even the Donglin Party members were not to be completely wiped out. Many of them were capable officials.”

To be honest, Fang Congzhe is now having some regrets. He originally thought that he would just be fighting for the emperor and sacrificing himself, and that would be fine.

But given the current situation, Fang Congzhe is definitely not the only one who will be sacrificed.

“My teacher is wrong. How can we be soft-hearted in the struggle of the court? If we don’t eliminate the root of the problem, how can we restore the bright and clear world of my Great Ming Dynasty?” Qi Shijiao became anxious when he saw that Fang Congzhe was backing down.

We are ready to fight to the death, how can you hesitate, Your Excellency?
"Yes! We're too soft-hearted, but will Liu Yizhu and Han Kuang be?"

"Indeed, we must nip it in the bud with swift and decisive action!"

"Yes, are we afraid of them?"

Faced with the temptation of power, these officials were like sharks smelling blood, their eyes immediately turning red.

The die was cast, and Fang Congzhe knew that there was no turning back now, no matter how hard he tried.

perhaps
If the Ming Dynasty had less factional strife, things would have really gotten better!
Fang Congzhe looked around at everyone and said, "Since everyone is united in their efforts, I shouldn't spoil your fun. So, you will lead the Censorate to impeach the core figures of the Donglin Party."

Yao Zongwen nodded immediately.

"The thirteen censors are all our men, Your Excellency can rest assured."

"Yi Mei, you are tasked with gathering evidence of the Donglin Party members' crimes of forming cliques and plotting rebellion."

Huang Yanshi, one of the three leaders of the Chu Party, nodded emphatically and said, "I will handle this matter."

“Ji Zhong, you are ready to volunteer to shut down Donglin Academy and Guanzhong Academy under the pretext of ‘rectifying academic style,’ confiscate their school lands, and join forces with Huizhou merchants to suppress the Wuxi cloth merchants behind the Donglin Party and cut off their funding.”

Factional struggles also cost money; cutting off your financial resources and making you rebel won't be so swift.

Fang Congzhe continued speaking non-stop, outlining arrangements for various aspects, including manipulating public opinion, fabricating articles, extracting confessions through torture, and controlling the judiciary.

It can be said that he used every means possible to bring down the Donglin Party.

After hearing this, everyone fell silent.

They had initially thought Fang Congzhe was going to back down, but now it seems they were wrong, terribly wrong.

How can this be considered retreating?
This is an attempt to completely overthrow the Donglin Party!
"Please rest well, everyone. Afterwards, there will be bloodshed and chaos."

With that, Fang Congzhe flicked his sleeves and left the secret room expressionlessly.

Inside the secret room, everyone said their goodbyes and left.

The carriages and sedan chairs parked outside the Zhejiang Guild Hall quickly disappeared into the night.

at the same time.

At Liu Yiju's residence.

The core members of the Donglin Party also held a gathering.

They were discussing the posthumous title and temple name of the late emperor.

"If Fang Congzhe is willing to resign, we will not be so aggressive. It would be acceptable for us to back down a little."

"I am Liu Yiju, the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet," Liu said, stroking his beard.

Han Kuang snorted coldly and said, "No, we cannot back down even a step!"

Just then, the steward of the Liu family hurried over from outside the door, walked to Liu Yijuan's side, and whispered something in his ear.

Upon hearing this, Liu Yizhu's pupils constricted, and he straightened up from his half-bent back.

"Your Excellency, what happened?"

Looking at Liu Yijuan's somber expression, everyone had a bad feeling.

Liu Yiju looked around at everyone and said, "The core members of the Qi-Chu-Zhe Party have gathered at the Zhejiang Guild Hall tonight. Tomorrow, Fang Congzhe and his group may be planning something big!"

Yang Lian frowned, a look of doubt on her face.

"Hasn't Grand Secretary Fang already prepared to back down? What is the purpose of this gathering now?"

Han Kuang was as cold as ice.

"No matter what, we will meet force with force and water with earth. What do we have to fear from those who are scheming and despicable?"

(End of this chapter)