Outside the Meridian Gate of the Imperial City in the south of the Forbidden City, the stars and moon in the night sky have not dispersed, but there are already crowds of people.
Except for those people who prepare breakfast in the market, the officials of the Ming Dynasty probably got up early and had to go to Wumen Houchao before dawn. The capital is not as small as Tongcheng. If you live in the outer city, it is very inconvenient to get in and out. The distance is
It was too far away, so many court officials rented houses on East and West Chang'an Street in order to go to court in the morning.
Various lanterns were swaying outside the Meridian Gate, and there was an endless stream of creaking sedan chairs. Officials got off the sedan chairs one by one and greeted everyone they saw.
An official sedan had just stopped. Before the bearer could lift the curtain, a hand stretched out from the sedan to open the curtain. A middle-aged civil servant wearing Yunyanbuzi civilian uniform came down and followed his hand.
After receiving the tooth tag, the servant was still preparing the official's front and back clothes, but the official waved his hand and hurriedly took the tooth tag towards the Meridian Gate.
At this time, many officials were waiting outside the Meridian Gate. Some people had no time to eat and were still eating steamed buns when they got off the sedan. Some people who were afraid of the cold were wearing warm ears, and some were scolding their servants in a low voice. More people were
Talk in low voices according to their respective circles. Before and after the morning court is a good time for official socializing. Officials have a lot of details about formally visiting each other, especially when they are cross-departmental. However, there is no need for red tape during the morning court, so many officials will take this opportunity to communicate.
.
"Master Shaoqing is here. What we talked about yesterday about Dr. Tang..."
"Master Xue, do you have time to discuss the matter of Siyi Pavilion today?"
People kept greeting people along the way. The middle-aged official nodded politely, exchanged a few words in a hurry and continued to the Meridian Gate. He walked to the right gate outside the Meridian Gate. The middle-aged official stopped for a moment to tidy up his clothes, and then came
Go to the door of a room in Beiying.
There were several people who looked like servants standing in front of the door. One of them recognized the middle-aged official and ushered him in without saying much.
There was a brazier burning in the large straight room in Beiyingnuo, which was much warmer than outside. The middle-aged official glanced at it and saw that there were only three people in the room, two of them were followers. Wen Tiren was sitting in the first position on the left, closing his eyes and concentrating.
The straight rooms on the left and right sides of the Meridian Gate were used by officials in the Hou Dynasty. The lower three rooms were used by the Imperial Academy. The first one, the North Couplet, could only be used by academicians. Recently, Wu Zongda, Wen Zhenmeng and Wang Yingxiong left their posts, and now there are only
Three bachelors, even so, other Hanlin officials cannot come to this room to attend court.
At this time, the other two bachelors had not arrived yet, and the middle-aged civil servant quickly came to Wen Tiren and said, "Old sir..."
Wen Tiren opened his eyes, glanced at the middle-aged civil servant and said, "Prime minister, you have your tooth plate upside down."
The middle-aged civil servant looked down, quickly turned over the tooth plate, and said to Wen Tiren, "I am so hasty that I made the old gentleman laugh."
Wen Tiren said in a gentle tone, "Sit down and talk."
This middle-aged civil servant known as the Prime Minister is Xue Guoguan, who was the Shaoqing of Taichang Temple. Because he favored Wei Zhongxian during the Tianqi period, he was an enemy of the Donglin faction. In the early years of Chongzhen, he was almost included in the counter-case and left briefly.
After three years in the officialdom, he narrowly avoided the limelight and entered the court again as an official. Because of his bad relationship with Donglin, he could only rely on Wen Tiren as his political support. He was Wen Tiren's right-hand man, but he currently lacked qualifications. He was promoted to Taichang last year.
For Xue Guoguan, this position as Temple Shaoqing is just a transition to the fourth grade. With Wen Tiren's political support, he has a bright future.
Xue Guoguan sat down carefully and said, "Mr. Sir, I know that there is news from the Director of Ceremonies. The emperor has issued a decree to appoint Chen Qixin as an official. I think the emperor has something to say."
Wen Tiren's eyes narrowed slightly. After hearing this, he nodded to the servant. The servant immediately left and closed the door. Only two people were left in the huge Beiying. He asked, "What do you think this means?"
"The emperor controlled Donglin with his lone ministers, and Donglin controlled his lone ministers with science and education. This was the overall situation of the court affairs in the past few years. But since the emperor promoted Xie to the post of Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, it was to suppress the number of people in important positions in Donglin. This time Chen Qi Xin entered the civil service examination because of his status as a military examiner and advocated the abolition of the civil service examination. It can only be used by the emperor. It is a nail that the emperor put into the civil service. The emperor does not even want the civil service to be controlled by Dong Lin anymore. "
"That's all?"
Xue Guoguan looked back at the door and said, "The emperor has been dissatisfied with the appointment of officials for the imperial examination for a long time. Instead, he favored military personnel. Except for this Chen Qixin, in the seventh year of the Huangmei Military Examination, Cao Fei knocked on the palace and submitted a letter, and he was immediately used for the affairs of the Ministry of War. Autumn is known in a leaf, but it is always used in military affairs. This time, it is unprecedented in ancient and modern times to use military examinations to enter the imperial examination. From this, it can be seen that the emperor is furious with the civil servants."
"The Prime Minister means that it is best to direct the Emperor's anger where it belongs."
"The first thing that the emperor is dissatisfied with is that the party is united against the different parties and empty talk harms the country. Donglin is second to none in these two points."
Wen Tiren closed his eyes again, "Parties are united against dissidents, and empty talk harms the country. Donglin is not like this today. It has been nearly ten years since the emperor succeeded to the throne. Since he founded the slave-headed imperial capital and invaded the sacred capital, he no longer believes in Donglin. However, Donglin and Donglin were in the imperial court. The place is so deep-rooted and lush that you have to use it even if you don’t want to. In the emperor’s heart, it is difficult to guess whether he wants Donglin to be dominated by others or whether he wants Donglin to collapse.”
"The lower official thought so before, but when Chen Qixin's decree came out, the lower official thought that the emperor might not be happy to see Donglin disintegrate. Furthermore, the old gentleman, the prime minister, has a lot of heart, even if he doesn't care about Donglin, but Donglin has never let us go, and he has never thought about court affairs. As long as the old man is still in the position of chief minister, not only will his governance be hampered by him, but Donglin impeached him several times last year. The old man is so generous. This is not the case in Donglin."
There was silence in the room for a moment, the charcoal fire in the brazier made a slight beeping sound, and the faint sound of Honglu Temple officials impeaching and impeaching officials lining up in the square outside could be heard.
"Where do you think we should start?"
"Restore society."
Wen Tiren opened his eyes slightly and nodded to indicate to Xue Guoguan to continue.
"Donglin Fushe seems to be connected with each other, but in fact, each has his own thoughts. Zhang Pu of Fushe was quite ambitious. He used the revival of ancient learning as a gimmick, acted in a ostentatious way to confuse young scholars, and then used the benefits of the imperial examination to win people's hearts. The imperial examination became the His private weapon. And Donglin had long regarded the imperial examination as a taboo. Zhang Pu's behavior was not only poaching the corners of the court, but also poaching Donglin. Therefore, Donglin expressed his admiration for Fushe, but in fact This is evident from Zhang Pu's wariness when he persuaded Wu Weiye to submit a letter, but no one in Donglin later supported him, forcing him to flee the capital in the name of Ding You."
Wen Tiren breathed a sigh of relief and said, "The emperor has read Zhou Zhikui's "Fushe or Wen", but what to do in the end has been left hanging. If Zhang Pu is pursued, Donglin will be happy to see him. Well, starting from the restoration of the society, we should have the least resistance, and it will be extremely beneficial to build momentum with us, but how to invite Dong Lin into the urn later, do you have any plans, Prime Minister?"
"Xiaoguan believed that Fushe controlled the imperial examinations in Jiangnan. Even for the college and rural examinations, he asked for help from all over the place. Starting from the imperial examinations, Donglin could be implicated in the situation."
Wen Tiren smiled approvingly and said, "Zhou Zhikui's "Fushe or Wen" has two key points. The family minister mentioned one point, but there is still one point that the emperor cares about most."
"Please give me some advice, old gentleman."
"Zhou Zhikui was originally an official in the Suzhou Prefecture. Due to a quarrel with Er Zhang, he was besieged by Fushe scholars and was appointed magistrate of Wujiang County. Later, he was still chased to Wujiang and besieged by Fushe people, who used public opinion to force Zhou Zhikui to be removed from office.
Where does the authority of the imperial court exist, and where does the dignity of the imperial court exist?"
Xue Guoguan's eyes flashed, "The scholars are lawless, Er Zhang uses public opinion to remotely control the place, and Dong Lin uses the country gentry to manipulate the power of the court. This is what he has figured out, and it is also the emperor's rebellion."
"Since the beginning of Donglin Academy, the Donglin school has been firmly entrenched and has been advocating for each other. Now it is really deep-rooted. It not only controls the science and education, but also holds important positions in various places. No matter what the matter is, regardless of the merits, the party will join the party and oppose the differences. In the long run, the imperial court will belong to Donglin, or will it belong to Donglin?
The emperor’s?”
Outside, the sound of morning drums could be heard from the Wufeng Tower at the head of the Meridian Gate. This was the third drum. The doors on the left and right sides of the Meridian Gate opened loudly, and bursts of footsteps sounded.
The two of them were still sitting in their original positions. The people entering the Meridian Gate at this time were the Jinyiwei Official School. They had to wait until these official schools had set up the guard of honor at the Huangji Gate and then the court bell rang before all the officials entered the court.
"What the old gentleman means is that now all parties want to deal with Fushe. We are openly dealing with Fushe, but in reality we are dealing with Donglin. But... Donglin has a large number of people, who should we target?"
"To capture the thief, capture the king first, then Donglin is the first to do it."
Xue Guoguan thought for a moment and then bowed and said, "I admire you. It turns out that the old gentleman has already planned it. Donglin Wenshou no longer participates in the imperial examination. Only this authority can implicate him. Mr. Xiaguan Zhao has pointed out before that there are already two people in his hands."
, as long as the verification and restoration of the society are critical, then the two of them will write a letter to report Dong Lin, the literary leader. Once the literary leader is arrested and taken to Beijing, Dong Lin can only scatter like birds and beasts."
Wen Tiren's eyes were focused and he spat out three words from between his teeth, "Qian Qianyi!"
Xue Guoguan continued in a low voice, "There is also Qu Shichun."
At this time, there was a sound at the door, and bachelor Zhang Zhifa appeared at the door. He entered the door and saw Xue Guoguan. He hesitated for a moment, turned around and asked the servant to stay outside, nodded to the two of them and walked to the other side, followed by Qian Shisheng.
Came in.
Xue Guoguan quickly stood up to greet him. Zhang Zhifa and Qian Shisheng both knew that Xue Guoguan was Wen Tiren's confidant, so they were very polite to him. After a brief greeting, they sat far away.
After the two bachelors sat down, Xue Guoguan sat down carefully. He bowed and whispered to Wen Tiren, "Now that there is no bachelor of Donglin in the cabinet, it is the right time."
Wen Tiren fell into meditation like an old monk, closing his eyes and saying nothing. Xue Guoguan waited patiently beside him. He knew that Wen Tiren was not completely sure. Since the defeat of Zhou Yanru in the sixth year of Chongzhen, the biggest struggle in the court was between Wen Tiren and Dong Lin.
, they will have a decisive battle with Donglin sooner or later.
Since last year, the two sides have had several peripheral contests, including two attacks by Zhang Guowei, the governor of Yingtian, one of which was the Tongcheng civil riot. Although Zhang Guowei was not defeated in the end, the attack was very effective.
Wen Tiren's hesitation this year is that Wu Zongda and Wang Yingxiong have resigned one after another. Although Qian Shisheng who is left in the cabinet is on his side, he is not a trustworthy confidant. Zhang Zhifa is a Qi party member and does not have a good relationship with Donglin.
, but at the critical moment of the struggle, it is difficult to determine whether it is reliable.
The greatest advantage of Wen Tiren was that the academicians Wen Zhenmeng and He Wuzou were also defeated at the same time last year. Wen Zhenmeng only took office for two months, and the emperor removed two people from each side. Although it was intended to be a check and balance,
Donglin didn't even have a bachelor, and Wen Tiren still dominated the cabinet overall.
In the Beiyingzhi room, three of the most powerful officials of the Ming Dynasty were present. The four of them did not say a word, and the room fell into a strange silence.
When a loud bell rang, the eunuch of the Bell and Drum Department rang the court bell of Wufeng Tower. The four people stood up at the same time. Wen Tiren took the lead and walked out of the North Column. In the square, civil servants and military officers closed their doors on the left and right, and the royal road in the middle was like Chu Chu.
The He-Han boundary marks a clear boundary between civil and military forces.
After Zhang Zhifa and Qian Shisheng walked farther away, Wen Tiren stopped and looked at Xue Guoguan, "Let that Lu Shengwen Shangshu impeach Zhang Pu and find out the emperor's intentions."
Xue Guoguan knew that Wen Tiren had made up his mind to fight Donglin as long as he found out the emperor's intentions.
Wen Tiren's eyes changed, "If you don't move, it will be over. When you activate it, it will be thunderous. Restoring the child will not harm the overall situation, but the old Donglin thief will be captured in one fell swoop."
The bells on the Wufeng Tower rang again, and the Zuoye Gate in front of them opened loudly. A grand square appeared inside the palace gate, with the Yudai River flowing through it and five Jinshui Bridges spanning it. Farther north was Huangji.
In the palace, on a three-story white marble platform, the Huangji Gate with nine couplets and three gates is majestic. Under the eaves, you can faintly see the golden throne, which is where the emperor listens to politics.
The official of Honglu Temple blew his whip, and Wen Tiren, with firm eyes and a solemn expression holding a dental plaque in his hand, took the lead and walked towards the imperial city.