Yuan Chonghuan hurriedly hurried along and finally entered Chaoyang Gate in the dark.
He did not go to the inn, but went directly to visit Qian Longxi.
Qian Longxi, courtesy name Zhiwen, was born in Huating, Songjiang (now Shanghai). He later served as the second assistant to the cabinet.
He was a Jinshi in the 35th year of Wanli.
He is the right minister of the Nanjing Civil Affairs Bureau and the assistant manager of Zhan Shifu.
Later, he was dismissed from his post because he offended Wei Zhongxian.
After Chongzhen ascended the throne, he began to gradually adjust the cabinet candidates who were completely controlled by Wei Zhongxian.
Because he didn't know the details of many people, he thought of a way to ask the ministers in Beijing to recommend a list of candidates.
Preliminary candidates will be selected, and then cabinet members will be selected by drawing lots, so that no one can operate in secret.
What Chongzhen wanted at that time was to replace the person first. As for whether he was good or not, he would decide later.
Qian Longxi was the first to be drawn, followed by Li Biao, Lai Zongdao, and Yang Jingchen.
These people formed the new cabinet.
Historical records record that Emperor Zhuang Lie came to the throne, and his cabinet ministers Huang Liji, Shi Fenglai, Zhang Ruitu, and Li Guopu were all adopted by Wei Zhongxian. They were not enough to rely on, so he ordered the court officials to recommend them and list ten of them.
The emperor imitated the ancient divination code, stored it under the name Jin Ou, burned incense and worshipped, and then explored it. The first one was Longxi, then Li Biao, Lai Zongdao, and Yang Jingchen.
The assistant ministers asked one or two people to benefit from the many problems in the world, and recovered Zhou Daodeng and Liu Hongxun. They also paid homage to Longxi, the Minister of Rites and the Bachelor of Dongge.
In June of next year, when Long Xi entered the court, Li Ji and the other four people left first, and Zong Dao and Jing Chen also left in the same month.
Biao was the first assistant, Long Xi and Hongxun worked together to assist, and the government was slightly clearer. After finding the Shu invaders, he added the crown prince Taibao of Longxi and changed him to the bachelor of Wenyuan Pavilion.
In other words, Chongzhen dismissed all Wei Zhongxian and Huang Liji's cabinet and established a new cabinet through court recommendation and divination.
The first assistant is Li Biao, the second assistant is Qian Longxi,
At present, the court has confirmed that Qian Longxi will join the cabinet. A new cabinet is being formed.
When the emperor first ascended the throne, the political group that used him most and gave him the greatest hope was still the Donglin Party.
After all, the historical connections between the two parties have long existed. Chongzhen's father, Mingguangzong Zhu Changluo, and his brother, Mingxizong Zhu Youxiao, were both forcibly promoted to the throne by the Donglin Party in a brutal struggle with Concubine Wan Gui.
It can be said that without the Donglin Party, there would be no lineage from Zhu Changluo, the eldest son of Ming Shenzong Zhu Yijun, to the Chongzhen throne.
The throne had long fallen into the hands of King Fu's lineage. Concubine Wan Gui has long since become Queen Mother Wan.
More importantly, when Chongzhen ascended the throne, he wanted to gain a firm foothold.
The key target to be cleaned up was Wei Zhongxian, the political enemy of the Donglin Party.
The struggle between Donglin and Wei Zhongxian is actually the continued pursuit of Donglin by Concubine Wan Guifei's forces.
The so-called eunuch party is clearly the product of Concubine Wan Guifei and Prince Fu's group with the support behind the scenes. The essence of this struggle is still the battle for the throne between Guangzong's line and Fuwang's line.
Tian appointed Wei Zhongxian in order to balance the situation, but in fact he was playing with fire. In the end, he was burned down, he had no heirs, and he lost everything.
Therefore, the Donglin Party became a very important helper for Emperor Chongzhen.
When Chongzhen first came to the throne, he was very dissatisfied with the Wei Zhongxian cabinet left over from the Tianqi Dynasty. He jokingly adopted a joke method and used drawing lots to determine the new cabinet ministers and replaced all the previous cabinet bachelors.
Then after a year of adjustments, in December of the first year of Chongzhen, a new cabinet headed by Han Xu, Qian Longxi, and Li Biao was formed.
Among these three people, Han Xu and Qian Longxi are the core figures of the Donglin Party. Although Li Biao claims to be non-partisan and neutral, his teacher Zhao Nanxing is a veteran of the Donglin Party.
The composition of the cabinet dominated by Donglin backbones marked the Donglin Party's magnificent turn from a down-and-out group beaten into dogs by Wei Zhongxian to dominating the court in the early days of Chongzhen's rule.
The Donglin Party has deep roots, strong strength, and the strongest economic foundation among all political groups in the late Ming Dynasty. Because Jiangnan was originally the money bag and training base for reserve officials of the Ming Dynasty. Half of the Jinshi who passed the imperial examination came here.
With the cabinet in charge, the emperor also trusted them very much. Coupled with the cooperation in the court of Hou Xun, Qian Qianyi, Huang Daozhou and other Donglin Party bosses with slightly lower official positions, Donglin survived Wei Zhongxian's brutal attack. Lin Dang, it seems that their spring has come.
Unfortunately, their beautiful vision did not last long.
In less than two years, the Donglin Party lost all its military capital and suffered a complete defeat in court.
Han Xu, Qian Longxi, and Li Biao resigned from the cabinet one after another in the third year of Chongzhen.
After that, Chongzhen changed his absolute trust in the Donglin Party, and until the end of the Ming Dynasty, he would not allow any Donglin Party members to join the cabinet to assist in government, and completely isolated them from the cabinet.
The transformation of Chongzhen is inseparable from our Governor Yuan. In a sense, Governor Yuan tricked the Donglin Party.
Yuan Chonghuan was appointed by Chongzhen in the first year of Chongzhen and became the governor of Jiliao in charge of military affairs in Liaodong. The recommender was Qian Longxi.
In addition, the first assistant Han Xu (successor) was also Yuan Chonghuan's tutor (the examiner of the imperial examination), and Yuan Chonghuan's formal teacher was the imperial tutor Sun Chengzong.
Yuan Chonghuan's background is very tough. This is what gives him the courage to be arrogant and domineering.
With these three levels of relationships, Yuan Chonghuan and the Donglin Party are both prosperous and disadvantaged. They can no longer be viewed separately.
The Qian Mansion was in Xirongxian Hutong, Xicheng City. After Yuan Chonghuan dismounted, he came to the gate with his entourage and gave the concierge a door bag.
He cupped his hands and said, "Yuan Chonghuan, the governor of Jiliao, wants to see Prime Minister Qian."
The concierge was an old man in his sixties. He looked kind-hearted, pinched it with his hand, and found about a tael of silver. He immediately put a smile on his face and said, "Master Yuan, please wait a moment. Please take a break and have a cup of tea." I'm going to report it here."
Yuan Chonghuan nodded, found a long bench in the concierge and sat down, and his servants served him a bowl of tea.
Yuan Chonghuan looked around and saw many people coming to Qian Longxi for business. They were all whispering.
While lowering his head to drink tea, he listened to these people chatting.
"Did you hear that Mrs. Fengsheng is dead?" said a businessman-like person.
"I've heard about it a long time ago. I heard that those who were arrested by Dongchang were stripped of their clothes, hung up, and beaten to death with whips in the Clothing Bureau. It was so miserable." Another man who looked like an official whispered. said.
"A beauty like Madam Feng Sheng, who is delicate and frail, with jade-like skin, was beaten so hard that not even a single piece of skin was left on her body. I heard that the execution eunuchs changed several times, and they couldn't do it."
"Alas! The late emperor's body is still cold, and this holy emperor is really cruel," lamented the Shanxi businessman with a northern Shanxi accent.
"Who says it's not the case? Today, I am a master who doesn't rub dirt in his eyes. When Jiu Qian was so powerful, who dared not to secretly communicate with the music? Now we don't know how to deal with those who are involved with the eunuchs. I’m just afraid that I’ll settle the score with you later in the year.”
Yuan Chonghuan felt chilled in his heart when he heard this. Today's emperor is cruel and ruthless, and he has the courage and bloodiness of young people to do things.
Today, it is entirely up to you to bring down Jiu Qiansui, not the Donglin Party.
This is someone with real ability. Looking back at the whole process, the depth of scheming and the ability to endure are beyond the reach of other people. It is simply chilling.
Yuan Chonghuan closed his eyes and reviewed in his mind what the new king had done since he came to power, and sighed.
This is a mean and unkind master who is very difficult to serve.
He was pushed out by Dong Lin, and he didn't know whether it was a blessing or a curse.
Just thinking about it here.
A voice came from my ear.
"Master Yuan, Mr. Qian, please come see me. Please come with me."
