Daming: Apocalypse of Longevity

Chapter 78
Zhu Tianqi got rid of Wei Zhongxian, the eunuch who held the pen, dismissed Wang Tigan, the eunuch who held the seal, and then made Wang Yuanbao, a young eunuch who did not know a few characters and had no background, the new eunuch of the hand seal, and also served as the eunuch of the pen. In fact, It means taking back the power of the Supervisor of Ceremonies into his own hands.

At this point, Zhu Tianqi took back both the "prime minister power" and the "imperial power" in his hands. However, even if Zhu Tianqi got rid of the cabinet and the ceremonial supervisor, it was still difficult to do anything because the officials in the court did not cooperate. Jiuding.

Therefore, he could only control the officials by controlling the Jinyiwei, leaving the errands to a few of his newly supported cronies, and starting from scratch, setting up new directly affiliated agencies like the Taxation Department. Otherwise, if he expected the ministers in the DPRK , I’m afraid he can’t accomplish anything.

Zhu Tianqi's wishful thinking was successful, but it could not be hidden from the smart people in the court, such as Qian Longxi.

After Qian Longxi was silent for a long time, he finally took action, and he hit the point straight away. His memorial neither mentioned the tax reform nor impeached Sun Chengzong or Xu Guangqi, but advised Zhu Tianqi to choose the right one as soon as possible. The candidates should be selected to fill the vacancies in the cabinet and the six ministers.

After Zhu Tianqi saw Qian Longxi's memorial, he suddenly became nervous. Zhu Tianqi had to admit that Qian Longxi was a smart man. He knew very well that if he wanted to compete with the imperial power, he must rely on the cabinet and control the cabinet. It is the best way to help the Donglin Party regain power and ascend to power!

Naturally, Zhu Tianqi would never allow the Donglin Party to control the cabinet, but he could not openly oppose Qian Longxi's proposal. After all, Qian Longxi's suggestion was legitimate, reasonable, and beneficial to the country. This is for the sake of the imperial court and the country!

Moreover, Zhu Tianqi didn't have anything to do with Qian Longxi. Although the ministers' night meeting was at Qian Longxi's house, Qian Longxi publicly expressed his support for the emperor's tax reform plan, and He also advised the ministers to support the emperor's reform plan and not to cause trouble. This is a sign of loyalty to the emperor!

Then Zhou Yanru made a lot of nonsense and said something contemptuous of the Holy One. Qian Longxi also looked on with cold eyes and did not participate in the discussion, let alone show his approval. To put it bluntly, this matter had nothing to do with him.

Then when the officials fawned over Sun Chengzong and Xu Guangqi and gave them gifts and bribes, Qian Longxi did not participate. There was really no way for Zhu Tianqi to catch him. Zhu Tianqi naturally had no way to counter Qian Long. Xi, so Zhu Tianqi was also in trouble at this time.

According to Zhu Tianqi's plan, the seats of the six ministers cannot remain vacant, but they must be filled by people he trusts. The same goes for the ministers in the cabinet. He must not let a group of disobedient people work against him all day long. person to take charge.

However, Qian Longxi did not seem to intend to give Zhu Tianqi a chance to slowly choose. The day after Qian Longxi's memorial was delivered, more than a dozen memorials were sent to Zhu Tianqi's Long Shun by Wang Yuanbao. Advise Zhu Tianqi to fill the vacancies in the six ministers and cabinet as soon as possible.

Zhu Tianqi felt the pressure instantly. He knew that the civil service group had found a way to deal with him. This time they would definitely not give up. Now Qian Longxi and the Donglin Party took the lead, and other ministers also They're not idiots, and when they think about it, they will definitely go to school together and force themselves to submit.

At this point, it was no longer enough to continue pretending to be deaf and dumb. All the ministers were twisted into a rope. It would be unreasonable for me not to give them an explanation.In the Ming Dynasty, it was impossible to be a tyrant and engage in tyranny, because for these civil servants in the Ming Dynasty, if you beat them, scold them, or even kill them, it would be a reward for them, especially if they were reasonable. when.

So what they like to do most is to stand on the "moral high ground" and desperately challenge the limit of the emperor's patience. Once you can't hold it back for a moment, you may be infamous for the ages, or you may "lose the heart of a scholar in the world"!
Therefore, if the emperor wanted to kill anyone, he would have to find ways to make the other party black and disgraceful first, and lay several charges on him before he could take action. This was quite troublesome and difficult.

Now these ministers have stood on the "moral high ground." Although they have not yet begun to publicly "mockery" themselves, Zhu Tianqi believes that if he continues to ignore their memorials, they will begin to quote scriptures in detail. Count how many unqualified things you have done as an emperor!
Maybe a few radicals will appear and pull some tricks like death remonstrance. Then someone will really die, and the situation will be difficult to deal with.

Don't think that these ministers' remonstrance to death is just a show, and those radicals really dare to come to the truth. After all, since ancient times, being a minister has been "remonstrating to the death, fighting to the death with military", which means that civil officials should fight for justice. He spared his life to make an admonition, and the general fought with his life for the victory of the war.

Therefore, civil servants have always been proud to die to give advice, and they are also willing to die to gain the reputation of a "straight minister". At the same time, they can also trap the emperor into being unkind and unjust, and label the emperor a "tyrant" or "foolish emperor" hat of!

Zhu Tianqi didn't want things to develop to that point. His own reputation was second to none. What he was worried about was that if things got really big and he offended the world's scholars and they rebelled, it would be no joke. Damn it!
Therefore, Zhu Tianqi had no choice but to reply to the ministers, saying that he would carefully consider their suggestions and select suitable candidates as soon as possible to fill the vacancies in the six ministers and the cabinet. He also said that if they had suitable candidates, they could also recommend them to him.

The ministers really didn't expect that the emperor would be so easy to talk to this time. Some of them had indeed been prepared to remonstrate to the emperor. Many of them had already written the second memorial and were about to submit it. , the words in these memorials are not as respectful and polite as the first memorial.

Now that the emperor had made concessions, the ministers naturally did not dare to press forward step by step. Otherwise, if the emperor was forced to change his mind, the gains would outweigh the losses.

But at the same time, they were not in a hurry to celebrate, but quickly began to discuss the selection of the six ministers and cabinet members.

Today, there are many parties in the Ming Dynasty. Although everyone showed unprecedented unity when they were admonished by Shang Shu, now that they have to divide the "spoils", naturally they all have to think about themselves.

The six ministers and cabinet members all hold important positions. Whoever occupies more positions will have more say in the court. Therefore, the "spoils-sharing meeting" held by the ministers was not pleasant, and could even be said to be very noisy. Make a deal.

(End of this chapter)