Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 217: Beyond the transaction, there are probably some human feelings involved

"Your Highness is not only studious and inquisitive, but also thoughtful. I think this method is very good!"

"I second the proposal!"

Seeing that Yue Qijie had agreed to be with the Crown Prince before him, Qian Qianyi hurried to catch up while constantly regretting that he had lost his focus. But deep down, he was not surprised at all.

Now in the room, except for Xu Yu, who still didn't understand where His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was pointing his sword, everyone else knew it clearly.

Regardless of the name or the method, these clerks from Yingtian went to the local area in accordance with the order of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

Whether the civil servants were willing or not, and whether the local authorities rejected him or not, it was a foregone conclusion that Zhu Cilang would successfully seize local power from the civil servants and the powerful families.

At this moment, after Qian Qianyi had gone over in his mind all the actions of the Crown Prince since he entered the room, he had to admit that this kind of conspiracy was truly unpredictable.

Even if he were given another chance, the result would probably be the same, not the slightest bit different.

People are the sum of social relations, and these social relations can be divided into closeness and distance.

Take Qian Qianyi for example. He was a citizen of the Ming Dynasty, a civil servant in the imperial court, and the leader of the Yingtian faction.

When the interests of these identities are consistent, in general terms, Qian Qianyi is a good citizen, a good civil servant, and a good leader.

But if the interests of these identities conflict, then he will have no choice but to sacrifice the car to save the driver.

When Duoduo arrived in Yingtian and Hongguang fled in a hurry, in order to protect the interests of the civil officials and the leaders, he had to give up his identity as a citizen of the Ming Dynasty.

When the Yingtian faction had to rely on imperial power to maintain its independence, he could unburden himself in damaging the interests of the civil service group for the benefit of his leader.

Similarly, Yue Qijie naturally has various identities. When he needs to make choices between the interests represented by several identities, he will naturally make reasonable judgments based on the weight these identities hold in his heart.

Now that I have come this far, I have to chat a little more.

By the end of the Ming Dynasty, due to the almost simultaneous action of various elements, the contradictions between various forces became public and the struggle became increasingly intense.

If you are unable to understand the context, when watching this period of history, you will feel that the behavior of every emperor and every court official is crazy and illogical, and you will feel that even if the Ming Taizu were to come, he would be powerless.

But in fact, the conflicts of interest here are not complicated, and this is not the first time it has appeared in China's thousands of years of history.

The civil servants and the imperial power competed for control of the court, and the various factions competed for the right to speak for the civil servant group.

Going into the details, there was financial collapse, war with the Jurchens, internal unrest, and disunity among various forces.

All kinds of contradictions are intertwined and seem to be difficult to sort out, but to put it bluntly, these are just the result of the complete corruption of the administrative system of the old empire after hundreds of years.

After understanding this, you will be able to understand why those emperors as individuals need to bear the primary responsibility for the collective collapse of the Southern Ming Dynasty.

Hongguang once had the support of powerful departments and could be regarded as the emperor with the greatest hope of saving the situation among all the Southern Ming emperors.

But although he learned the lesson from Chongzhen being fooled by Donglin, he did not realize that he was ultimately in Donglin's lair.

After allowing Ma Shiying and his party to suppress the Donglin faction without restraint, it lost the support of its foothold, which in turn led to a frenzied counterattack by local forces, and ultimately caused the Southern Ming, which had strong paper strength, to collapse when it encountered the Qing army moving south.

The following few people each have their own faults and problems, but if we sum them up in one sentence, we can only say: they failed to sort out the internal relationships.

Of course, these eight short words are not so easy to do.

Throughout Chinese history, there are only a handful of people who can recognize these eight characters, and even fewer who can successfully put them into practice.

Zhu Cilang had a clear understanding of these, and he naturally knew that suppressing them blindly was not a good strategy.

Therefore, after gaining the support of several trusted and loyal officials, he said casually: "Mr. Xu, I heard that there is a great scholar named Liu Zongzhou near Shaoxing, but I don't know if he can be of great use?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Qian Qianyi's eyelids twitched, and Yue Qijie seemed to have some guesses.

Liu Zongzhou was the genuine leader of the Zhejiang faction, but he was dismissed from office during the Hongguang reign because he was defeated in the political struggle with Ma Shiying's party.

However, his influence was not weakened by this. On the contrary, after Donglin's power in the court suffered a severe blow, he seemed to surpass Qian Qianyi.

When His Royal Highness the Crown Prince mentioned this person at this time, it was probably with the intention of giving a slap in the face and a candy in return, but Mr. Qian was not yet the real Prime Minister.

If this person is really allowed to enter the court, he will definitely have another strong rival on his way to becoming the prime minister.

In this situation, how could he not have his eyelids twitching?

This matter must be disturbed!

With this in mind, Qian Qianyi suddenly came up with a lot of ideas.

But no matter how much he thought about it, he finally realized that it seemed impossible to stop Liu Zongzhou from entering the court without offending His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

With this understanding, Mr. Qian couldn't help but start to weigh the pros and cons in his mind.

Without the support of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, it would be difficult for the Yingtian Clique to compete with the Zhejiang Clique. But if Liu Zongzhou were allowed to enter the court, would the Zhejiang Clique, which was originally leaderless, still be a full-weather support for his Yingtian Clique?

As his thoughts turned, Qian Qianyi's gaze inevitably shifted to Zhu Cilang.

This gentleman not only commands a large army, but also has various means at his disposal. No matter how you look at it, he is someone you cannot offend. But what if I also learn from him and give him a date after a slap?
Will His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, who lacks support, turn against the Yingtian faction over such matters?

"Mr. Qian."

Just as Qian Qianyi's mind was gradually calming down, Xu Yu's praise of Liu Zongzhou had ended, and Zhu Cilang's voice reached his ears at the right time.

Upon hearing this, not only Qian Qianyi was shocked and at a loss, but even Xu Yu, who was a little slower than Chao Zheng, couldn't help but widen his eyes.

The Minister of Rites was originally a preparatory cabinet minister, so after Hongguang fled south, the court officials who remained in Yingtian all used the title of Grand Secretary to address Qian Qianyi.

But this was in private. After all, Qian Qianyi's current official position was only the Minister of Rites, not the Grand Secretary of Wenyuan Pavilion, which was close to the prime minister.

Therefore, when the title "Lord" was uttered by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince for the first time, its meaning was far more than a simple title.

"When the great scholar arrives, you can meet me."

The dates are here, should I accept them or not?

Faced with the bargaining chips thrown by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, Qian Qianyi, who had originally made up his mind to prevent Liu Zongzhou from entering the court, could not help but hesitate.
It's not that Liu Zongzhou has to stop it. After all, this is the will of that master. His Yingtian faction is currently weak, so how can he easily offend his greatest reliance?

What's more, right.

"Old minister accepts the order."

Having made up his mind, Mr. Qian bowed to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince with the most solemn ceremony. However, when he stood up, he received another gift that surprised and moved him.

"The elder will need to give him more advice in the future."

"Your Highness! How dare this old minister not do his best!"

At this point, the interests and concerns of all parties have been largely met.

The Yingtian faction received the support of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince; although no one from the Hangzhou faction attended the meeting, after suffering a slight loss in their interests, their leader was able to enter the court.

The rest are the so-called "eunuch party" and those who returned north.

It can be imagined that they will be able to extend their reach to Jiangnan after supporting the decision of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

Of course, it is impossible to stretch this hand too far in this transaction, and it is likely to be excluded and suppressed by the local forces in Jiangnan.

But as a group of outsiders, how could they have too much extravagant expectations when all they could get was just verbal support for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince?

The rest were the nobles. After watching the actions of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, although Xu Yinjue was still a little confused, he was generally aware that His Royal Highness had completed some kind of deal with the difficult civil servant in just a few words.

Therefore, he began to wonder whether His Royal Highness the Crown Prince had also given some hints in his previous words, but his understanding was too low to understand the meaning.

In short, after this meeting, Zhu Cilang's ideas were supported by his trusted forces. Afterwards, everyone talked to him for a few more words and the meeting ended successfully.

On the way back to his mansion, Qian Qianyi felt mixed emotions.

, brought Liu Zongzhou into the court, one to appease the Zhejiang faction, and the other to firmly tie down the Yingtian faction.

If we only talk about these, they are nothing more than ways to balance all parties and increase the influence of imperial power, but they are also nothing more than inhumane political schemes and will never make Mr. Qian feel mixed emotions.

But after His Royal Highness the Crown Prince completed this series of transactions, he asked him to "give some advice" to Liu Zongzhou, which made Qian Qianyi feel that "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince still appreciates his hard work."

What is a tip?

The purpose of promotion and inspection is to give advice, and the key lies in the fact that this is the guidance of subordinates by superiors.

This is a promise, a promise that is given only after the transaction is completed.

In his opinion, if he had not stood firmly by the side of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince that night, if he had not remained fair in the fight between His Royal Highness and Liang Yungou, if he had not worked diligently to defend Yingtian for His Royal Highness in the past two months.

So, will His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, who is known for his cruel heart and ruthless hands, make this promise at such a time?

From this point of view, this is not a promise at all, but a recognition of his loyalty to the country!
"Master, I'm back home."

As the carriage stopped, Qian Qianyi gently wiped the corners of his eyes with his sleeve before walking out of the carriage.

Although the streets were a little noisier than in the previous two months, the people's long-suppressed emotions had been released in the process of welcoming His Highness's triumphant return. Apart from Qian Qianyi's disciples, not many people could be seen outside the mansion gate.

"Teacher, His Highness, where is it?"

As soon as Qian Qianyi got off the car, his favorite disciple came forward to ask him questions.

Before welcoming His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, the people of the Yingtian Clique had already realized that going north or south was a matter of life and death, so when they saw Qian Qianyi's expressionless face, they became a little nervous.

"Why are you so impatient?"

Mr. Qian finally maintained his immortal demeanor in public. When he saw that his disciple was about to ask him about such an important matter as soon as they met, although he did not show it on his face, there was still some blame in his voice.

During the Chongzhen period, since Qian Qianyi was defeated in the struggle with Wen Tihen and Zhou Yanru, few of his disciples were able to enter officialdom.

Afterwards, those two men successively became prime ministers, and there was no chance for his people to make a name for themselves.

However, Mr. Qian was not a pushover. After Hongguang ascended the throne, he reached an agreement with Ma Shiying's party, and thus got the position of alternate cabinet minister.

However, the Hongguang Dynasty did not last even a year, and during that period, all parties fought against each other without restraint.

As a result, before he could complete his operation, the Tartars would cross the river and most of his disciples would still be poor.

For this reason, the matter of going north and south is almost equivalent to everyone's official career, and it is common to forget the rules of one's own teacher when one is so concerned about the career.

The Qian Mansion covers a large area, and the people waiting today are all close disciples, so it took quite a while for the group to arrive at the study room located at the junction of the front and back yards of the Qian Mansion.

Normally, at this point they should talk about the meeting with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, but Qian Qianyi waited until the incense and tea were ready, under everyone's constant glances, before he gave a general account of the situation.

"Teacher, it seems that His Highness is inclined to go south?"

Following the words of an older scholar, everyone in the room was startled, and then they ignored their teacher's rules and started whispering to each other.

"You have followed me for many years, why are you still blinded by superficial things?"

Seeing his disciple perform like this, Qian Qianyi felt a little disappointed.

Normally, he could have given some additional explanation while describing the process, but these people were his direct disciples after all, so it was reasonable for him to give some instruction and consideration when discussing the matter.

After all, these people will become his helpers in officialdom in the future. If he does not teach them carefully and if trouble really occurs, he, as a teacher, will not be able to escape the blame.

"Your Highness has a certain degree of discipline in his actions. Although I have no merit in Yingtian, I have worked hard. Do you think Your Highness is a heartless person?"

Hearing their teacher use such words, everyone knew that he was really angry. Although they knew more than ordinary people, they still had not reached the point of seeing the whole picture from a small part.

So after a long silence, no one could really figure out the secret.

Qian Qianyi was naturally a little upset in this situation, but when he was about to say something else, he saw the older disciple stand up again.

"Teacher, could you tell me more about going out to sea to buy food?"

I tried my best, yeah

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(End of this chapter)