Saving the Ming Dynasty: I can exchange bodies with Chongzhen

Chapter 98: Strengthening the Cabinet?

The three major charges, like three heavy hammers, hit Yang Sichang's heart directly.

Huang Daozhou and others' attack on Yang Sichang was entirely based on the standpoint of Neo-Confucian ideology.

The Ming Dynasty ruled the country with filial piety. Since the time of Hongwu Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, it had become a practice that even if the world was short of talent, ministers had to go back home to observe mourning.

Those who do not go back to observe the mourning period are "unlucky people".

For someone like Yang Sichang, whose parents had both passed away and who should have been in mourning, an "ominous person" was still staying in the court. This was against the will of heaven and against the will of heaven.

Zhu Changgan was stunned for a moment. Yang Sichang's father died a thousand years ago, and Chongzhen issued an edict to deprive him of his love and let him take over as the Minister of War. But his stepmother died at this time?

He turned his head and asked Wang Chengen, "Is this true?"

"Your Majesty, Minister Yang submitted a memorial to you last night regarding this matter." Wang Chengen whispered in his ear, "But you have taken away my love again."

Zhu Changgan nodded and suddenly remembered that there seemed to be such a thing.

……

"I beg Your Majesty to punish Yang Sichang!"

"Your Majesty, you are a wise and enlightened monarch. Can you please allow such an ominous person to stay in the court?"

"His Majesty,"

Huang Daozhou's status and reputation were far beyond what those ordinary censors could achieve before.

His reputation and the impact of his impeachment were also extraordinary.

With him as a banner, almost 90% of the officials in the court stood up. In such a trend, it almost became a consensus in public opinion that Yang Sichang was harming the country by appeasing the invaders.

No one spoke up for Yang Sichang. The achievements he had made in the ten-sided network he had carefully planned were avoided, and no one was willing to praise him.

At this time, the eunuch came to report, "Your Majesty, the director of the Imperial Observatory has reported."

"Mars was moving abnormally, moving retrograde from the Tail to the Heart, and was once covered by the Moon."

Wow~
As soon as these words were spoken, the court officials present suddenly became confused and even a little panicked.

"Your Majesty, the moon is eclipsing Mars! This is a very bad omen!"

"Your Majesty, it must be the evil man Yang Sichang who caused the chaos."

"The heaven shows signs, and the saints follow them!" Huang Daozhou cried out in tears, "The emperor will be favored by heaven and the country will prosper if he follows the will of heaven. Otherwise, he will fall into disaster and suffer catastrophe."

"Your Majesty, it is recorded in the "Binglue Xun" of Huainanzi that when the moon eclipsed Mars, King Wu attacked King Zhou, and King Wu of Zhou destroyed Zhou and established the Zhou Dynasty."

"In the seventh year of Emperor Qin Shi Huang's reign, the moon eclipsed Mars, and the famous general Meng Ao died in the battles against Long, Gu, and Qingdu. In the ninth year of Emperor Qin Shi Huang's reign, the moon eclipsed Mars, and the Lao Ai Rebellion broke out..." Zhang Sizhi, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, stepped forward and said in tears, "Your Majesty, you didn't make a decision when you should, and you are now suffering from the chaos. How can you keep a disloyal and unfilial minister like Yang Sichang in the court?"

"His Majesty……"

Yang Sichang once again faced strong attacks from the Donglin Party and civil servants.

Since the Western Han Dynasty, astrology has gradually developed into an integral part of orthodox Confucianism, and is closely integrated with the theory of the interaction between heaven and man.

According to this theory, the sky in the dark is the master of all things in the universe. Heaven expresses its will and wishes through a variety of symbol systems. Only saints on earth can understand these symbols and act according to the will of Heaven.

The so-called saint is the emperor who rules the world.

If Emperor Chongzhen, who had been immersed in orthodox Confucian teachings since childhood, had believed this, he would certainly have believed it.

But for Zhu Changgan, this was just a regular natural phenomenon of the apparent motion of the planets and there was nothing strange about it.

However, he also understood that it was precisely because of this theory of the correspondence between heaven and man that the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty had the so-called orthodox status. Otherwise, after the death of Chongzhen, how could the Manchu Tartars enter the pass under the slogan of revenge for Chongzhen?

Zhu Changgan narrowed his eyes and called Wang Chengen over, "Have the students from the Imperial College left?"

"Your Majesty, not yet. We are waiting for Your Majesty to announce the results!"

"That's just right. I'll give them another question. Mars is moving abnormally, retrograde from the Tail to the Heart..." Zhu Changgan asked Wang Chengen to go to the back and ask quickly.

He knew that the court officials' attack on Yang Sichang was simply an attempt to remove him from his position as Minister of War.

Although Yang Sichang was not completely on his side now, at least he did not have any obvious opposition in military affairs and did not hinder him.

Just based on this point, isn't it possible to let Yang Sichang return to his hometown to observe the mourning period?

……

The teachers and students of the Imperial College had not expected that they would be able to use their skills so soon.

They racked their brains and began to petition for this.
Xu Cifu wrote: "I have heard that the moon eclipses the five planets. There are many records of such phenomena in history. However, whether it is a disaster or a good omen depends on the situation at the time and the virtue of the monarch. It is not consistent."

Then he quoted from classics and said that the same phenomenon had occurred many times in history, but most of the time it ended peacefully and was even a good omen.

In particular, when citing history, he cited several examples of defeating barbarians and appeasing rebellious officials.

In the 23rd year of Emperor Guangwu of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the moon eclipsed Mars. The next year, the Xiongnu was defeated and the Great Chanyu Huhan surrendered in Wuyuan.

In the seventh year of Yuanhe reign of Emperor Xianzong of Tang Dynasty, Mars was occulted in the moon. That year, Tian Xing, the governor of Weizhou, was defeated and surrendered.

In the third year of Taiping Xingguo reign of Emperor Taizong of Song Dynasty, the moon eclipsed Mars. The next year, he led an army to destroy Northern Han and conquer Khitan, but suffered repeated defeats. Later, he followed the advice of Prime Minister Zhang Qixian and adopted a peaceful policy of maintaining internal stability and promoting external peace. As a result, the country became stable.

In his memorial, he elaborated, "The natural disaster is not something to be feared. Perhaps we can take advantage of it to defeat the Qing Dynasty!"

……

When Zhu Changgan saw this article, he couldn't help but applaud, "Wang Chengen, pass this memorial around to the officials for their review." Yang Sichang became excited when he saw the memorial.

Trembling all over, "That's right, the natural disaster is nothing to be afraid of. The Ming Dynasty should take advantage of this natural disaster to reverse the situation of the Ming Dynasty in one fell swoop."

When Huang Daozhou and others looked at this memorial, their faces turned pale.

But they still didn't give up.

Huang Daozhou: "Your Majesty, all three charges against Yang Sichang are true. I hope Your Majesty will examine them carefully!"

"This is a matter of justice and human ethics. Please make a ruling, Emperor!"

"..."

suddenly,

"Bang~"

There was a loud bang, and it turned out that the emperor pushed the memorial to the ground.

"You haven't solved any of the problems of frequent natural disasters, banditry, lack of frontier pay, and chaotic administration. Instead, you are holding the man who can win the war accountable."

Zhu Changgan glared at everyone. No one paid attention to the complicated affairs of the court. Instead, everyone turned their attention to those who did practical work.

This is very annoying. If they are allowed to use attending funerals and observing mourning as a means of attacking traitors, it seems that Lu Xiangsheng's father had died not long ago, and he submitted five petitions in succession requesting to return to his hometown to attend the funeral and observe mourning. Chongzhen took advantage of the situation and let him take over as the Governor of Xuanfu.

Zhu Changgan had to think about one problem, that is, these people under his command must be replaced...Xuanfu Governor Chen Xinjia seemed to be in mourning at this time, observing the mourning period in his hometown in Sichuan.

"If Yang Sichang goes back to mourn, then there is a problem. Who will take over the position of Minister of War?" Zhu Changgan retreated and looked at the many court officials in the hall. "If we can't win the battle, who should I hold responsible?"

"You? You... or you?"

Zhu Changgan stared at several of them one by one.

The people who were asked turned pale.

This was not the first time Chongzhen killed the Minister of War.

Even though they cursed so harshly just now, they really wouldn't dare to take the position of Minister of War.

The emperor's expression relaxed.
The next sentence stunned everyone present.

"It is better to do it today than to wait for a better day. I want to strengthen the cabinet, so I will conduct a test today. All senior ministers can participate. The capable ones will be promoted and the mediocre ones will be demoted."

Strengthen the cabinet?

The capable ones are promoted and the mediocre ones are demoted?

What does your majesty mean?
All the court officials had flickering eyes and looked at each other with full vigilance.

But there are also many people whose first thought is four words.

Compete for official position and advancement!

But none of them noticed the emperor's upturned mouth corners.

……

Outside the Great Wall, inside the Qing army’s central camp.

"Zu Dashou still has no response?" Huang Taiji used a bowl to catch the blood from his nose.

Hauge gritted his teeth and said angrily: "This man is not trustworthy at all. It's a waste of the emperor's greetings and gifts to him."

"If it were you, I would have killed his wife, children, brothers, and hundreds of people in his family."

“Set as a warning to others!”

Huang Taiji shook his head and said, "No hurry. I just wrote to him, informing him that the Qing army had conquered Korea and Pi Island, and asked him about his plan to march west to the Ming Dynasty. Let's see how he responds."

At this moment, there was a loud sound of horse hooves outside.

"Report! Intelligence reports came in that troops from Daming, Xuanfu, Jizhen, Shanxi, Datong, Qingzhou, Laizhou, Tianjin, and Baoding were mobilized, and they seemed to be heading towards Tongzhou."

The messenger came running in and knelt on the ground.

The traitors planted by the Qing Dynasty in the Ming Dynasty finally reported the troop movements of the Ming Dynasty back to Liaodong.

Huang Taiji stood up suddenly and took it, "So many soldiers have moved?"

When he received the news of Yuetuo's second defeat, he sent messengers to pass on a message to Dorgon and his men, asking them not to divide their troops, but to head east, avoid the capital, and plunder the prosperous Shandong province.

The reason why they dared to enter the pass five times was because they knew that the Ming Dynasty did not have soldiers and horses that could snipe the Manchu and Mongolian cavalry. The Ming Dynasty did not have the teeth to swallow the Eight Banners of the Qing Dynasty.

That's why they are so unscrupulous.

But now that the Ming Dynasty has shown signs of strength, he has to be on guard.

Coupled with the current transfers in various places, he instantly became alert.

Huang Taiji looked at the map and finally understood the intention of the Ming Dynasty. "Come here, send a message to Dorgon and ask them to withdraw."

After thinking for a while, he gave another order: "Hauge, you must quickly lead 40,000 troops to Qiangziling and be ready for Dorgon and Yuetuo to return at any time."

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(End of this chapter)