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In Jiangbei, Gao Jie was attacking Huang Degong, and Liu Zeqing was fighting with Zuo Liangyu. Fortunately, Li Zicheng, who had retreated to Shanxi, was organizing a counterattack, and the Dashun Army and the Qing Army were also fighting, and they had no spare energy to move south.
In the city of Nanjing, undercurrents were also surging, and factional struggles inevitably became the main theme;
When the new emperor was first enthroned, the ministers in the court were divided into the "pro-Lu faction" and the "pro-Fu faction", and this division was by no means newly formed, but had continued since the Wanli period.
This time, the pro-Fu faction won the battle of enthroning a new king with the help of the guns in their hands, but in the end, after the pro-Fu faction pushed Prince Fu to the throne, they found that the ideal was good, but the reality was a bit fucked up.
They worked hard for a long time, but in the end, most of the important positions in the court were occupied by the pro-Lu faction, mainly composed of the Donglin Party. The chief minister was a member of the Donglin Party, the Minister of Personnel Zhang Shenyan, who was in charge of personnel appointments and dismissals, was also a member of the Donglin Party, and most of the other ministers of various ministries were also members of the Donglin Party.
And they are constantly filling the court with their own people.
The Fu faction could not even get anyone into the court. Liu Kongzhao, who sincerely suggested using Ruan Dacheng, the former Minister of the Ministry of Rites, was strongly opposed by the Donglin Party members, including Zhang Shenyan, the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet and the Minister of Personnel. The reason for the opposition was that Ruan Dacheng had once been a vassal of Wei Zhongxian and was listed in the "rebellion case" of Wei Zhongxian designated by Emperor Chongzhen.
This made the Tingfu faction very unhappy, and they started to gossip in front of Hongguang.
Li Zan, a member of Ma Shiying's faction and the Shaoqing of Taichang Temple, gave Emperor Hongguang a detailed account of the debate among Nanjing officials in supporting the new emperor, and revealed that Lu Daqi, Zhang Shenyan and others advocated supporting Prince Lu and opposed supporting him.
Emperor Hongguang was very generous. He replied to Li Zan: "I was born in an unlucky time. I am deeply saddened by my father and emperor. How can I care about the great treasure? I just take on the important task because it is related to the country. I have already seen the loyal ministers who made the decision. There is no need to ask for more!"
After hearing about this, the Donglin Party felt that Hongguang had not pursued the matter for the time being. But that didn't mean he would never pursue it. What should they do? Now they can only recommend more of their own people to control the court, which might still ensure safety.
On May 23, the 17th year of Chongzhen, Zhang Shenyan, who was in charge of the Ministry of Personnel, recommended Wu Shen for appointment in the court. Wu Shen had been promoted by Chongzhen to the positions of Prince's Guardian, Minister of Revenue and Minister of War, and Grand Secretary of Wenyuan Pavilion (that is, the Second Assistant of the Cabinet) in the 16th year of Chongzhen.
This pile of titles was quite frightening. At that time, Li Zicheng proclaimed himself king in Xiangyang and established the Dashun regime. Chongzhen ordered Wu Shen to lead the army to Wuchang, but he was similar to Hou Xun and waited and watched. In a rage, Chongzhen stripped him of his official position, handed him over to the court for trial, and exiled him to Yunnan in November.
When he was halfway there, the capital was captured. After Emperor Hongguang ascended the throne, the Donglin Party members immediately requested an imperial decree to pardon Wu Shen.
It's okay to pardon him. But Zhang Shenyan also recommended Wu Shen to the court, which made the pro-Fu faction completely furious.
We recommended Ruan Dacheng, but you said he was a "rebel" person appointed by Emperor Sizong. He cannot be used.
Now, Wu Shen was also a criminal sent into exile by the Emperor Sizong, and you not only cleared his name, but also recommended him to serve as a high official in the court. This is simply outrageous.
At the court meeting that day, Zhang Shenyan had just recommended Wu Shen when Liu Kongzhao, the Earl of Chengyi, jumped out. Like an angry lion, he pointed at Zhang Shenyan's nose and cursed: "Avenge the humiliation and eliminate the evil, defend the river and the river, all the officials in the court should devote their full energy to this. Today you are talking about recommending officials, tomorrow you are talking about promotions, excluding military officials, selecting civil officials, forming a clique and doing private things. Recommending Wu Shen is against the established constitution, he is really a traitor."
As soon as Liu Kongzhao finished cursing, Lingbi Marquis Tang Guozuo, Xincheng Earl Zhao Zhilong and other nobles also stood up, pointed at Zhang Shenyan's nose and cursed him. They were so aggressive and fierce that Zhang Shenyan was frightened and dared not to defend himself.
At this time, the cabinet chief Shi Kefa had already left Nanjing to go to Yangzhou to supervise the army. The Donglin Party was led by the cabinet minister Gao Hongtu. When he saw Zhang Shenyan being besieged, he quickly stepped forward and shouted: "The Ministry of Personnel has its own priorities when hiring people. Why make a fuss about this in the hall!"
When Hongguang saw that things were getting out of hand, he stepped forward to stop it, but it was obvious that none of the officials in Nanjing took him seriously.
Especially people like the Marquis of Chengyi, who thought he had made great contributions by following the emperor, were even more arrogant. He suddenly pulled out a knife from his bosom, drove Zhang Shenyan out of the court, and threatened to kill Zhang Shenyan, which frightened Zhang Shenyan so much that his heart and liver turned cold and his face turned pale.
At this time, the eunuch Han Zanzhou came out and shouted, "Lord Chengyi, this is the Jinluan Palace, not your home. It has never been a court rule to drive a minister out of the court with a knife."
Liu Kongzhao could ignore Emperor Hongguang, but he dared not ignore Han Zanzhou, because he knew very well who was behind Han Zanzhou and who he was representing. This was an era where strength spoke.
Only after being scolded by Han Zanzhou did Liu Kongzhao put away the knife reluctantly.
The court meeting that day was in such a mess that it could not continue. The civil service group and the noble group had completely fallen out, and the open and covert struggles were about to become fierce.
In this case alone, although both were cases decided by Emperor Chongzhen, Wu Shen could be pardoned and recommended, but Ruan Dacheng could not. The Donglin Party was in the wrong first, but Liu Kongzhao's actions could definitely be described as lawless.
Liu Kongzhao is a descendant of Liu Bowen, the Marquis of Chengyi, a founding hero. At first glance, his bloodline seems noble, but this guy is actually not a good person. His grandfather was Liu Shangzhong, who had two sons. The second son, Liu Laichen, was born to his wife, Hu.
The eldest son, Liu Xunchen, was born to Liu Shangzhong and a maid named Mo Qiaoyun in his family. Liu Kongzhao was the son of Liu Xunchen.
According to the system of inheritance by legitimate son, Liu Kongzhao and his father originally had no chance of inheriting the title.
But when Liu Shangzhong died, his first wife, Hu's son Liu Laichen, was still very young, so Liu Xiuchen usurped the title of Marquis of Chengyi.
At that time, Liu Xiuchen reached an agreement with Hu that after his death, the title would be passed on to his younger brother Liu Laichen. It is unknown why Hu made such an agreement with Liu Xiuchen and what tricks were involved.
However, after Liu Xiuchen's death, his son Liu Kongzhao usurped the title of Marquis of Chengyi, and in order to eliminate future troubles, he murdered his uncle Liu Laichen.
From these things, we can see that Liu Kongzhao is definitely not a good person. When he scolded Zhang Shenyan, he said righteously that all the ministers in the court should focus on avenging the humiliation and eliminating the evil, and defending the rivers. In fact, that was not the case at all, and he himself did not focus on this.
No matter how both sides emphasize their own justice, this is nothing more than a factional dispute over shit.
The Donglin Party had no army and could not use force, so they could only threaten with collective resignation. As soon as the court meeting was over, Gao Hongtu, Jiang Yueguang, Zhang Shenyan and others went on strike and went home, then submitted a petition requesting to resign.
Emperor Hongguang received a large number of resignation petitions in one day, which made him very anxious. He immediately sent officials from the Honglu Temple to the homes of these people to appease them. He also summoned Gao Hongtu, Jiang Yueguang, and Ma Shiying, three cabinet ministers.
Hongguang said sincerely: "The capital has fallen, and the late emperor has not yet avenged his death. At this time when the country is in danger and the survival of the country is at stake, you are all ministers whom I rely on. I hope you will put the country first and do not resign lightly."
Gao Hongtu sighed and replied, "The court should employ people through the Ministry of Personnel, and choose the most virtuous people. This is the court's rule. But now we say yes, and the ministers say no. This confuses right and wrong, and we don't follow the rules. We really don't know what to do."
"I have just ascended the throne and have little knowledge of state affairs, especially the selection of talents. Therefore, I have always relied heavily on the ministers. I hope that the ministers will not misunderstand me."
Emperor Hongguang was very humble and spoke sincerely. His words meant to tell Gao Hongtu and others not to misunderstand that the Marquis Chengyi and others supported him, and that he would favor the Marquis Chengyi and others.
Judging from the fact that the Donglin Party opposed his enthronement, but after he ascended the throne, the Donglin Party was able to control the six important positions in the cabinet, Hongguang did not deliberately favor the faction that supported him.
He divided all the candies in his hand equally and even gave more to the Donglin Party, which fully demonstrated his magnanimity. Judging from his actions after he ascended the throne, he had the breadth of mind and bearing of a leader of the revival of the country. He also hoped to eliminate party disputes and let all the ministers in the court work together to restore the Central Plains.
But his wish was destined to fail. The factional strife in the Ming Dynasty had been going on for a long time, and the parties had already developed too deep a hatred that it was impossible to resolve all at once.
For example, now, even if Hongguang has no intention of dealing with the Donglin Party, the Donglin Party, because of their guilty conscience, will be careful to guard against him and constantly insert their own people into the Chao Party in order to increase their own strength to fight against the imperial power.
Emperor Hongguang made his attitude clear, but this did not win the trust of the Donglin Party. What they wanted was not for Hongguang to be humble, but to no longer be constrained by meritorious officials, or even by the emperor.
Therefore, no matter what Hongguang said, they insisted on resigning.
Emperor Hongguang was forced into a corner and finally had to agree to their request to resolve the issue of meritorious officials hindering personnel recruitment as soon as possible.
After hearing this, Gao Hongtu and others took advantage of the situation and decided to get off the ground.
But for Emperor Hongguang, how could he solve this problem? It was simply a dead end that could not be untied.
The meritorious officials were not only the ones who supported him, but also controlled the city and river defenses of Nanjing.
If we favor Gao Hongtu and others too much, it will definitely cause dissatisfaction among the meritorious officials. If they also collectively give up their responsibilities, what will happen to the defense of Nanjing
Qin Mu didn't care how to stir up the turbid water in Nanjing City. He knew very well that unless the Qing army came to kill everyone, the party struggles that had lasted for generations in the Ming Dynasty could not be eliminated.
This is the reason why he rarely used members of the Donglin Party and was cautious about accepting the support of the noble group and preferred to use minor officials like Liu Boquan.
On May 28th, Qin Mu welcomed another long-awaited talent, a person who was proficient in astronomy, calendar, mathematics and mechanics, and was the talent that Qin Mu had asked Ye Bushu to "kidnap" with all his strength early on.
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ps: monthly tickets, recommendation tickets, tickets, tickets. Thank you.
.(To be continued..)
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