"But the emperor..." Qian Taichong remembered the emperor's instructions.
"The canal is currently frozen. When spring comes, the opening of the port will be finalized."
At two o'clock in the night, Chongzhen finished approving the memorial in his hand and looked through the memorial just sent by the Secretary of General Affairs. More than ten memorials contained pornographic references. After browsing through them, there was nothing too urgent about the military and state affairs. He felt slightly relieved. Take a breath.
I don’t know if it’s because his day and night prayers to the ancestors and gods have had an effect these days, or for some other reason. The three major troubles on the screen of Qianqing Palace: Donglu, bandits, and rogue bandits are all relatively peaceful, and there is no bad news that will shock him anymore. came.
I went to bed early today because my body was too tired. The emperor also summoned his concubines to sleep with him and went directly back to the Nuan Pavilion to sleep.
At night, he had a dream. In the dream, there was a monkey crying under the cliff. I don’t know why, but it attracted a group of monkeys to ask each other. The crying monkey pointed to the sky, the sun and the moon, and beat its chest angrily. The group of monkeys I wanted to go up to the sky and touch the sun and moon, but I couldn't. I also saw the sun and moon in the water, and a group of monkeys took a boat to catch the moon.
While he was busy fishing for the moon, suddenly a group of monkeys came and wanted to fish for the moon. The first group of monkeys refused, and the three parties started fighting. After seeing it in his dream, he laughed, which unexpectedly made the group of monkeys angry. They rushed towards him. He hurriedly called for the guards on his left and right to escort him, but no one responded. He was forced under an old locust tree. Suddenly, a raft appeared on the lake, and another group of monkeys came to take advantage of the opportunity to fish for the moon. Three groups of monkeys were making a fuss when they saw a monkey king popping out of the monkeys on the raft. He was tall and mighty, and he beat the other two groups of monkeys with a golden cudgel, making them scream. Suddenly the monkey king shouted to Chongzhen. It was Sun Wukong. A mere mortal dared to laugh at me and give me a stick. Chongzhen was suddenly awakened by a nightmare and broke into a cold sweat. Only then did he realize that it was a dream. The sun and moon in this dream must be Refers to the Ming Dynasty. The monkeys took boats to fish for the sun and the moon, presumably to steal the mountains and rivers of the Ming Dynasty. It is really ridiculous, the sun and the moon move in the sky, how can you monkeys get involved. These monkeys are just wasting their efforts. Thinking about this, Chongzhen calmed down a little. .
After breakfast, the imperial eunuch brought "Southern Fruits". The emerald plate contained yellow and orange jade-shaped round fruit pulp, which looked very bright and lovely in the gray and dark palace in winter.
It is said to be a "Nanyang fruit", but in fact everyone knows that it is bought from the thieves. This unknown Nanyang treasure is packed in expensive glass bottles, filled with sweet juice, and brought all the way from the south. After being transported to the capital, the fruit still retains its original sweetness and refreshing taste after being opened. Taking a bite in winter is truly the highest enjoyment in life.
Naturally, the high price is not affordable for ordinary people. This plate of fruit only has three or four pieces, which costs nearly ten taels of silver.
The emperor has always felt that such enjoyment is too luxurious and has deliberately avoided such enjoyment. Therefore, the Nanyang fruits currently enjoyed by the emperor are all brought from Tian Guifei's family - her family has the largest number of Nanyang products.
When he saw the Nanyang fruits, he thought of Kun Thief, but now, the emperor's hatred for Kun Thief was much lessened. At first, Kun Thief had too many useful things. Not to mention the Nanyang fruits in front of him, the governors everywhere In the petition to the imperial court for permission to purchase "Southern guns and artillery", the Denglai Army and the Guangning Army used Nanyang guns and artillery, and repeatedly defeated the Donglu's attacks. Although there were no exciting "big victories", they were not always defeated and could win. There were dozens and dozens of real prisoners’ heads.
If the peace negotiation with the Kun thieves can be successful, not only the pressure in the southeast can be alleviated, but more guns and ammunition may be obtained from the Kun thieves. According to the "Zhikun" officials, the Kun thieves do not distinguish between good and bad, the enemy or friend, and just give money.
Sell.
After eating the fruit, the emperor summoned the cabinet elders to discuss government affairs in the Wenhua Palace.
The cabinet of the tenth year of Chongzhen was headed by Wen Tiren as the chief minister, and cabinet ministers such as Xue Guoguan, Liu Yuliang, and Zhang Zhifa were mostly his party members. It can be called Wen's cabinet.
Wen Tiren has a very bad reputation in history books. He spared no effort in flattering his favor and rejecting dissidents. However, he was very capable in doing things, especially in practical matters such as punishing names, money and valleys. Most of the cabinet ministers could only sit and talk, and some were even dumbfounded, not knowing what he meant. But he
Being able to follow the law and be honest as an official, even political opponents cannot find a reason to do so. In a state of turmoil, internal and external troubles, he can handle various complicated government affairs, and his ability to do things is evident. Therefore, the Chongzhen Dynasty is known as
There were more than fifty ministers, but Wen Tiren reigned the longest and was the most trusted by the emperor.
Of course, this kind of trust is also due to another quality that the current emperor loves very much: "prudence and independence."
When Wen Tiren was in power, he was always able to convince the emperor that he was "not a party member." "Party fighting" was the thing that the emperor disliked the most. If any official was suspected of "being a party member," he would definitely arouse the emperor's disgust or even dismissal. The Donglin Party
From the early years of Chongzhen, "everyone was in court", but within a few years he was excluded from the core of power, which had a lot to do with the emperor's mentality.
However, in the court situation at the end of the Ming Dynasty, if the cabinet ministers did not have party members, they would not even be able to sit in this position. Not only did Wen Tiren have party members, but the entire cabinet was basically under the control of his party members, but the emperor remained completely undisturbed, as if he had no party affiliation.
Thought he was "lonely loyal".
The sunshine at noon rarely shines into the Wenhua Hall and is projected onto the dragon columns of the palace, making the golden-winged dragons that sit on the columns appear to be spreading their wings and ready to fly.
The winter gatherings are not arranged in the empty and tall main hall, but in the Dongnuan Pavilion.
Wen Tiren was the last of the cabinet ministers to come to the Nuan Pavilion. His late arrival was not to show his status as chief minister, but more to show his "cautious independence" attitude of not discussing with others in private.
There are usually six or seven cabinet ministers, but not all of them are present when the cabinet is called. However, since Jiajing, the chief minister of the cabinet has the most power, and the power of voting is basically controlled by him. As long as the chief minister is present, government affairs can be handled.
Already.
He came to the Nuan Pavilion, met with the cabinet officials, and then sat upright in the Nuan Pavilion, closing his eyes and saying nothing.
Although the eunuchs were all on duty outside, the emperor knew every move they made in the Nuan Pavilion and even what they said. Therefore, he simply kept silent, firstly to show that he had no personal relations with the cabinet ministers, and secondly,
To prevent trouble from coming out of his mouth, he said something "shouldn't" - he was the one who caught Zhou Yanru's unintentional words and kicked him out of the cabinet; thirdly, he also prepared the content of today's call in advance
Go through it again.
It is not certain what the emperor summons his cabinet ministers to discuss specifically, but they are usually about recent important government affairs. Although some of them are old events, there will be signs of bringing them up again in the past. It is necessary to prepare a draft in advance, and the emperor will have something to say once he consults.
The disposal plan must be in line with the emperor's wishes. This requires a lot of guesswork.
If we talk about the important government affairs in the past few years, they are nothing more than the three major bandits that worry the emperor the most and the endless natural disasters, but this is not what Wen Tiren is concerned about. Because although these things are important, there are old practices from previous years that can be used. According to the rules
There will be nothing wrong with the handling of the service ticket. As for how it will be handled next, that is another matter.
What he is most concerned about right now is not military affairs, but the restoration of society.
Donglin and Fushe were Wen Tiren's mortal enemies. Especially after he framed Qian Longxi, dismissed Qian Qianyi, and Zhou Yanru, he and Donglin and Fushe were in the same situation.
He had received news from last year that Fushe was secretly moving to get Zhou Yanru to step down and join the cabinet.
Zhou Yanru was his ally at the beginning. The two worked together to bring down Qian Qianyi. However, they later turned against each other in order to compete for the position of chief assistant. Now he will rely on the power of Donglin and Fushe to return.
This is Wen Tiren's biggest crisis right now.
Once this person returns to the court and joins the cabinet, he will quickly gather into a powerful anti-Temperature group within the court. Wen Tiren knows that he has offended many people in the court over the years. As long as someone stands out, there will be people who will attack him. What's more,
Behind him stood the two major political forces in the government and the opposition.
Zhou Yanru was not a member of the Donglin Party, but he had a deep connection with the Donglin Party. He was a disciple of Donglin Party leader Ye Xianggao. Although he had offended Donglin because of Qian Qianyi, he blocked it after he became the cabinet and took charge of the government.
He made Chongzhen appoint Wang Zhichen and others who were implicated in the eunuch party's rebellion, and used the opportunity of presiding over the general examination to promote people in the Donglin Party and Fushe - including Tongtian Sect advocate Pu in the "Loudong Erzhang".
After losing power and returning to his hometown, Zhou Yanru seemed to be living a secluded life living in the mountains and rivers and retreating to the forest. In fact, he had a closer relationship with the Donglin Party and Fushe. This is why the Donglin Party and Fushe tried their best to
The reason that contributed to Zhou Yanru's resurgence was that although Zhou Yanru was not Donglin, he was better than Donglin, and he had impeached Qian Qianyi and Qian Longxi, important members of the Donglin Party, which was more deceptive and could easily gain Chongzhen's trust.
"The Tongtian Cult Master's methods are really powerful!" Wen Tiren thought to himself. He didn't care too much about the Donglin Party, because after several major events in the early years of Chongzhen, especially after the Yuan Chonghuan incident, the emperor was very taboo about "forming parties" and had no regard for the Donglin Party.
The Lin Party members were even more wary, and consciously excluded the Donglin Party from entering the core of power. However, the "Fushe", known as "Little Donglin", was deceived because of Zhou Yanru's deliberate actions in the past few years.
Support has gradually become the norm, and now it is a powerful force in the court. Although they have no spokesperson to enter the center, their influence has spread throughout the capital and localities.
Zhang Pu's plan for Zhou Yanru's comeback is self-evident. He is also the one who leads the way. Even Qian Qianyi, who was offended by Zhou Yanru at the beginning, is now involved in this comeback plan. Naturally, this kind of support is not without cost.
Yes, it is very likely that Zhou Yanru has promised to help him return to the court once he is resurrected - maybe he will be admitted to the cabinet again.
Compared with the somewhat infamous Zhou Yanru, Qian Qianyi is a much greater threat. His reputation is much better than that of Zhou Yanru. He is also a literary figure and one of the leaders of Donglin. Once he rises again, he will definitely join forces with Zhou Yanru to deal with him.
You must know that you were trying to kill him in the first place...