Summary of the previous chapter: Ma Xiaoquan dragged his exhausted body back to Ma's house. He was first interrogated by Bei Mingxue, and then gave an explanation to Li Qinghan...
Half a month has passed in a blink of an eye. Since these days, Ma Xiaoquan's Heaven and Earth Club has been operating smoothly. Although there are occasional small problems, due to its high-end positioning and the status of the guests, the problems will always be minimized, but...
..The group of people who came recently made the atmosphere in the club become more subtle...
"Donglin Party..." Ma Xiaoquan held a page of paper in one hand and tapped the desk rhythmically with the other hand.
In fact, Ma Xiaoquan does not welcome the Donglin Party in his heart. No matter what good things or bad things they have done, he always has a negative attitude towards the Donglin Party.
After all, a school of scholar-bureaucrats that was originally mainly about giving lectures slowly developed into a party. Such "evolution" was originally a wrong existence in the Ming Dynasty where royal power was supreme.
Furthermore, Wei Zhongxian's rise is an unstoppable fact, and the massacre of the Donglin Party also started with Wei Zhongxian's rise to power.
Since the Donglin Party is about to face the massacre by Wei Zhongxian, Ma Xiaoquan naturally does not want to get too involved. Although he and Wei Zhongxian also have a deep feud, so far, neither of them has the actual intention to kill the other.
action.
The Donglin Party is different. Among this group of people, there are only a lot of officials who are full of food. They have nothing to do. Impeach this and that. Today, I will impeach a minister. Tomorrow, I will impeach the minister. Which day?
When he was in a bad mood, the emperor dared to contradict him in person.
As someone who knows the historical development of the Ming Dynasty, Ma Xiaoquan is well aware of the consequences of mingling with the Donglin Party, so during the days when the Donglin Party gathered at the Heavenly and Earthly Hall, Ma Xiaoquan never showed up.
Wei Zhongxian was not idle either. He learned that the Donglin Party had recently gathered at Ma Xiaoquan's Heaven and Earth Club, so he found a way to get close to this group of people.
In fact, Wei Zhongxian's starting point is good. He is just a eunuch, and he just wants to become a successful "big eunuch". However... the scholars of the Donglin Party not only do not buy Wei Zhongxian's face, but
He also used Ma Xiaoquan's Heaven and Earth Club to suppress Wei Zhongxian.
Wei Zhongxian is also persistent. Since he can't enter heaven and earth, he won't enter.
After discussing with the dog-headed military adviser Dai Zheng, Wei Zhongxian changed to the "party's mass line", that is, giving gifts first and treating guests later. Wei Zhongxian's purpose was very clear: I, Old Wei, want to be friends with your Donglin Party.
But... Wei Zhongxian once again underestimated the Donglin Party. Not only did this group of people refuse to accept his gifts, but no one went to his invitation. Not only that, they also reported to Emperor Tianqi on this grounds.
I wrote a copy of it, euphemistically titled "On the Moral Corruption of Eating, Drinking, and Flirting."
The Emperor of Tianqi, Zhu Youxiao, was not very literate, but as he became the emperor, he saw more and naturally understood who the Donglin Party was referring to. That evening, Zhu Youxiao scolded Wei Zhongxian and asked him to restrain himself.
Wei Zhongxian has been frustrated by the Donglin Party one after another, and the hope he originally had has suddenly turned cold to his heels. He can't afford to offend him, so why don't we hide?
Dai Zheng gave Wei Zhongxian another idea and suggested that he go find Xing.
Xing is one of the leaders of the Donglin Party, and he is also a fellow villager with Wei Zhongxian. Wei Zhongxian feels that because of this relationship with a fellow villager, Xing must give face to him no matter what.
But...Xing once again explained what "you go your way, I'll go mine" means.
Wei Zhongxian made many appointments and even visited Xing, but he turned him away.
Wei Zhongxian is still tolerant of this, because he feels that as long as he continues to do public relations, there will always be hope.
Until...that thing happened...
It was a coincidence that the emperor was suddenly in a good mood, so he sent a message to summon all the ministers to chat.
Chatting with the emperor is a good thing that one never dares to think about. If the emperor becomes comfortable chatting with him, it is possible to be promoted on the spot, or even rise to the top in one step.
The ministers were all gearing up, waiting for the emperor's summons. Wei Zhongxian, as the Supervisor of Ceremonies, was in charge of the eunuchs, and naturally he was with them twelve hours a day.
Originally, Wei Zhongxian had already thought about it. As long as a few important figures from the Donglin Party appeared, he would ask the emperor to smooth things over and rely on the emperor to be a "matchmaker" to get close to the Donglin Party members. But...
The sudden appearance of a person completely disrupted Wei Zhongxian's plan.
This person is...
Ma Xiaoquan.
It is said that Ma Xiaoquan also received the emperor's summons order, and he was the first to be summoned.
Ma Xiaoquan was very happy and hurried to the Forbidden City.
On the way, Ma Xiaoquan met several figures from the Donglin Party. Originally, Ma Xiaoquan wanted to meet the emperor alone, but these people insisted on dragging him along.
Okay... This "let's go together" made Wei Zhongxian look at it seriously.
Immediately, Wei Zhongxian believed that the Donglin Party and Ma Xiaoquan were the same group, and he decided not to get close to the Donglin Party anymore.
...
Originally, it was okay for Wei Zhongxian to decide not to be close to the Donglin Party anymore, but the Donglin Party members were not idlers. After meeting the emperor with Ma Xiaoquan, they chatted for a few words and began to use different methods to harm Wei Zhongxian.
They knew that Wei Zhongxian had no education, so they felt confident.
Seeing that the situation was not good, Ma Xiaoquan quickly looked for factors to escape halfway. Unfortunately, Wei Zhongxian at this time had already equated Ma Xiaoquan with the Donglin Party.
That night, Wei Zhongxian made up his mind and decided to break up with the Donglin Party.
It's just... I have a dog-headed military advisor like Dai Zheng beside me, so I don't have enough manpower.
After thinking about it, Wei Zhongxian decided to "recruit troops."
The first person who "caught" Wei Zhongxian's eyes was Gu Bingqian.
Gu Bingqian was a Jinshi in the 23rd year of Wanli (1595 AD), and he was the former Minister of Rites. This old man was disrespectful and wanted to be the chief minister of the cabinet. However, he had no real ability. As the Minister of Rites, he was given gifts.
, so after he retreated to the second line, he was always looked down upon by other ministers.
Instead of realizing his shortcomings, Comrade Lao Gu hated those who looked down upon him. In this way, before Wei Zhongxian could find him, he had already taken the initiative to visit him.
When Gu Bingqian arrived, he also recruited a person who used to be his subordinate. After he retired to the second line, he became the current Minister of Rites.
This person is Wei Guanghui.
...
Wei Jinzhong's recruitment attracted the attention of a group and a person. This "group" was the Donglin Party. However, this group felt that Wei Zhongxian was just an eunuch and could not afford to cause any big trouble, so they ignored it.
That "person" is Ma Xiaoquan.
Seeing that the table was filled with recent information, Ma Xiaoquan had a headache. Wei Zhongxian's movements were too fast, much faster than he expected. More importantly, historical records said that Wei Guanghui was forced to go on the road by Xing.
He chose to join Wei Zhongxian, but in fact, Wei Guanghui was directly pulled over by Gu Bingqian, which is very inconsistent with history.
