Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Having served as a Grand Secretary for several years and even as Prime Minister for a few months, Han Yu had considerable political ability and insight.

After arriving in the capital, with the help of the Donglin Party, he had a clear understanding of the situation in the court.

In the current court, it seems that the eunuch party and the Donglin party coexist. In fact, neither of them is the mainstream and it is difficult for them to influence the court structure.

After defeating Wei Zhongxian, the emperor recruited the remnants of the eunuch party through Wang Tiqian, Huang Liji and others. These people had committed the crime of treason and could only rely on the emperor. Otherwise, they might be dealt with by the emperor at any time, and no one sympathized with them.

At the same time, the emperor lifted the ban on political parties and reinstated the Donglin Party. Donglin Party officials who had previously been expelled from office because of their family background were reinstated on a large scale.

It can be said that in the past six months or so, the Donglin Party has been holding its head high. Many of the local governors and provincial governors who have been elected are members of the Donglin Party.

However, there were not many high-ranking officials of the Donglin Party in the court. Strictly speaking, there was only one person, Cheng Jiming.

Grand Secretary Sun Chengzong was supervising the army outside the capital and had no influence on the court.

Although his good friend Yuan Keli was close to the Donglin Party, he was not a member of the Donglin Party.

As for Liu Zongzhou and Qian Qianyi, who could be called the new generation leaders of the Donglin Party, they were well-known among scholars and were even honored as "Mr." by the emperor. However, their official positions were only the Chief Censor and the Junior Secretary of the Imperial Academy, which were inferior to the assistant ministers such as Li Ruoxing, Zhai Fengchong, Dong Yingju, Li Banghua, Bi Maokang, and He Ruchong. They were still a little short of becoming ministers.

Therefore, the current court is not dominated by the Donglin Party or the Eunuch Party, but by the emperor. The will of the current emperor can be transformed into court decisions through court recommendations and discussions.

The large-scale replacement of high-ranking officials in the court and local areas once again proved this point. The appointment of various officials was almost entirely based on the emperor's will. Only the positions that the emperor did not care about were truly recommended by the court officials.

Han Yu felt a little disappointed when he thought of this, because he already knew that he had completely lost this time. The current emperor was not the Taichang Emperor who completely trusted the civil officials, nor was he the Tianqi Emperor who could only trust the civil officials at the beginning of his reign.

This was a political genius, as some people said, quite similar to Emperor Sejong!
What is the best way to deal with such an emperor?
Xu Jie had already set an example, that is, he would stay in the court no matter what, and wait for the opportunity in the future.

At that time, Xu Jie managed to stay because he married his granddaughter to Yan Song's grandson and wrote poems for the emperor.

Now the emperor did not let him do anything, and he was recommended by the court officials to be the Grand Secretary, but he was not satisfied and wanted to gain more power.

As a result, the emperor was disgusted with Yuan Keli, who was the Minister of War, and directly promoted him to the position of Minister of State Affairs, which in fact made him the Second Assistant and took his place.

Even if he entered the court now, he would have to rank behind Huang Liji and Yuan Keli.

This is really a case of not stealing the chicken but losing the rice instead!
Now, Han Yu was no longer thinking about how to become the first or second assistant minister, but rather how to finalize his appointment as a Grand Secretary, gain a firm foothold in the cabinet, and become one of the cabinet ministers.

But looking at the imperial physician sent by the emperor, he knew that if he wanted to truly take office, he had to pass the emperor's test.

Otherwise, the emperor would force him to recuperate, or even retire like he did with Liu Yirong.

Sitting in the study, Han Yu pondered all night, looking at Xu Jie's three-language political platform, and finally made a decision:

"Return power and blessings to the sovereign, return government affairs to the various departments, and return punishment and reward to public opinion."

"These three words of Mr. Xu are truly wise words!"

Starting from these three sentences, the various policies implemented by the current emperor after he ascended the throne are summarized into a memorial.

He affirmed the necessity of the emperor's power and wealth, and agreed that the emperor should hand over government affairs to the six ministries and nine temples, hand over major policies to the court for discussion, personnel to the court for recommendation, and punishment and reward to the court for investigation. At the same time, in the memorial, he requested to serve on the trial committee of the treason case to completely put an end to the treason case.

When Zhu Youjian received this memorial, he also felt inspired when he saw Han Yu explain his various policies using Xu Jie's three-language political platform. He also realized that Han Yu was expressing that he was willing to serve him like Xu Jie served Emperor Jiajing.

This made him very happy, and he felt that Han Yu was finally available and could serve as a cabinet minister.

The reason why he chose Han Yu was that he felt that Han Yu's fighting ability was a bit poor. He was not a party member like Liu Yirong who would disregard personal gains and losses and fight for the Donglin Party.

Now it seems that Han Yu is indeed like this. After being arrogant for a while, he found that this approach did not work for him, and soon decided to give in.

Zhu Youjian was very satisfied with his application to serve on the Trial Committee for the Rebellion Case, because he had long realized that only by letting the Donglin Party members judge could these people be satisfied, or at least have nothing to say.

As a member of the Donglin Party, Han Yu was very famous among the party members. Zhu Youjian had already decided to let him be in charge of the trial of the rebellion case. Han Yu was the first one to be appointed as a member of the trial committee of the rebellion case.

Now, Han Yu took the initiative to apply to serve on the anti-revolutionary case trial committee, which means that he fully accepts his appointment. At the same time, he is willing to use his reputation to suppress party disputes.

This was what Zhu Youjian needed him to do most, so he quickly approved it, allowing Han Yu to end his "recuperation" and serve as the director of the treason trial committee as a cabinet minister.

He is primarily responsible for the trial of the reverse case.

Right Censor-in-Chief Cheng Jiming was appointed deputy director.

Chief Censor Liu Zongzhou, Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice Kong Zhenyun, Left Junior Secretary of the Dali Temple Yao Shishen, and Senior Minister Dong Qichang still serve as members.

The trials of all those who committed counter-accusations were decided by them.

Although Han Yu was not ecstatic after receiving the appointment, he still felt happy when he saw more carriages and horses appearing in front of his door.

At this moment, he understood why Xu Jie paid so much to stay in the court.

Faced with an emperor who holds all the power, the only way to be seen by the emperor and his ministers is to stay in the court.

If you leave the court, you are nothing.

Before, he had not left the court, but because he was disliked by the emperor, many people did not dare to visit him.

Now that I have been re-employed by the emperor, I realize how precious the previous opportunity was.

Therefore, he made up his mind to complete the trial of the rebellion perfectly so that the emperor and the officials of the Donglin Party and the Eunuch Party would be satisfied.

Only in this way can the emperor realize his abilities and realize that he can regulate yin and yang, and after Huang Liji leaves office next year, he will become the prime minister.

However, before the trial of the counter-case, there are three more cases that he needs to worry about -

That is, the Tang Fan case, the Chu Fan case and the Xinjian Earl dispute case that the emperor had previously handed over to Kong Zhenyun, and the emperor gave him to re-examine. (End of this chapter)