Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 143 Compromise
The anger in his heart grew stronger and stronger, and Tianqi was so angry that he gritted his teeth. If Yuan Yingtai stood in front of him, he would not be able to get rid of the hatred in his heart even if he chopped this guy into meat paste.

But as an emperor, Tianqi tried to calm himself down despite his anger. Things were irreversible now, and the most important thing now was not to find someone to be held accountable. Yuan Yingtai was a member of the Donglin Party and was nominated by the Donglin Party to succeed Xiong Tingbi as the governor of Liaodong, and he had already committed suicide heroically.

Death is the greatest thing. If Yuan Yingtai were still alive, it would be a different story. But now he is dead, and died in such a way. Given the nature of the Donglin Party, they will not punish Yuan Yingtai. On the contrary, they will praise Yuan Yingtai for this action and even brag about the Donglin Party's loyalty to the emperor and patriotism.

Tianqi could imagine what the Donglin Party would do next. They would definitely do this. Otherwise, wouldn't it be like telling the world that the defeat in Liaodong was the responsibility of the Donglin Party? Only by praising the deceased Yuan Yingtai highly and putting all the main responsibilities on the military generals, the Donglin Party would not only not be responsible, but would become the pillar of the country and be famous all over the world.

After taking a deep breath, Tianqi's expression gradually calmed down. He returned to his seat and sat down, thinking about the next question.

Leaving aside the matter of Yuan Yingtai, he had guessed what the Donglin Party would do, but the problem in Liaodong became more and more difficult. After much deliberation, Tianqi decided to use Xiong Tingbi once again. Now someone had to clean up the situation in Liaodong, and perhaps only Xiong Tingbi had the ability to do so.

"Go! Let Wei Zhongxian come to see me!" Tianqi said after calming down.

Liu Ruoyu responded quickly and walked out of the side hall quickly. After a while, Wei Zhongxian rushed over.

When he saw the emperor, Wei Zhongxian kowtowed to him respectfully. Tianqi waved his hand to let him stand up and asked directly: "Where is Xiong Tingbi now?"

Wei Zhongxian was stunned for a moment, then immediately responded, "Your Majesty, Xiong Tingbi has resigned and returned home, and should be waiting for his post at home now."

Nodding slightly, Tianqi said, "You go to the cabinet and talk to Mr. Liu in private. Tell him that I intend to posthumously confer the title of Minister of War on Yuan Yingtai. Also, ask Mr. Liu what the cabinet thinks of reinstating Xiong Tingbi given the current situation in Liaodong."

Wei Zhongxian quickly agreed. The Imperial Household Department had already known about the disastrous defeat in Liaodong, even earlier than the emperor. The military report that Tianqi saw was sent by Wei Zhongxian. The court was in a panic after the defeat. The cabinet was already in a mess. As the actual controller of the Imperial Household Department, he was also very busy. Now that Tianqi said this, he immediately understood that Tianqi was using Xiong Tingbi to clean up the mess in Liaodong.

Although Wei Zhongxian was illiterate, he was extremely smart, and in his heart, Tianqi was his only master, and Tianqi's will was an order he would execute without compromise. Since the emperor said so, Wei Zhongxian did not dare to delay at all, and went directly to the cabinet after leaving the Qianqing Palace. When he arrived at the place, he heard a quarrel inside before he even entered the door.

The death of Yuan Yingtai made the Donglin Party panic. After all, Yuan Yingtai was a member of the Donglin Party and was supported by the Donglin Party to the position of Liaodong governor. Now that Liaodong was defeated, how to hold him accountable? How to end it? There were disagreements within the Donglin Party for a while, and they couldn't help but quarrel with each other.

Standing at the door and listening for a while, Wei Zhongxian could not help but frown and winked at the eunuch beside him. The eunuch immediately understood and stepped forward.

Seeing someone from the Imperial Household Department suddenly coming, the cabinet, which had been noisy just now, suddenly became quiet. When they saw Wei Zhongxian appear, everyone's eyes fell on him.

"Why is Eunuch Wei here?" Prime Minister Liu Yirong stood up and asked politely.

"The Emperor asked me to come here to ask the elder some questions." Wei Zhongxian was very polite and bowed to Liu Yirong first.

"Oh, I wonder what Your Majesty wants the eunuch to convey to you?" Liu Yirong asked.

Wei Zhongxian didn't say anything, but just glanced around. Liu Yirong immediately understood what he meant, stood up and left the cabinet, leading Wei Zhongxian to another office room nearby.

"There is no one else now, please let me know, father-in-law."

"My Lord, the Emperor was deeply worried when he heard about the war in Liaodong. He even lost his temper just now and was very angry." Wei Zhongxian did not talk about the business right away, but instead talked about Tianqi's attitude.

Liu Yirong's expression darkened, the defeat in Liaodong came too quickly and was too unexpected. What was even more fatal was that the defeat was to such an extent that Liu Yirong was caught off guard.

As the chief minister of the cabinet, all the pressure now fell on Liu Yirong. Liu Yirong knew that this defeat was mainly due to Yuan Yingtai, but if Yuan Yingtai was held responsible, how would the Donglin Party members deal with themselves? Wouldn't it be like telling the world that they were wrong to recommend Yuan Yingtai to replace Xiong Tingbi?
Moreover, Yuan Yingtai is already dead, and he died in such a tragic way. So it is not appropriate to hold Yuan Yingtai responsible. The quarrel in the cabinet just now was for this reason. Some people think that even if Yuan Yingtai is dead, the guilt is the guilt. If it were not for him, the situation in Liaodong would not have deteriorated to such an extent. But the Donglin Party believes that Yuan Yingtai’s mistakes must not be admitted. Once this is done, the reputation of the Donglin Party will be ruined. How can they control the court? Not only that, everyone also thinks that they should make a big fuss about Yuan Yingtai’s death for the country, turn a bad thing into a good thing, publicize Yuan Yingtai’s loyalty to the emperor and patriotism, inspire the hatred of the people of the world against the Later Jin, and establish Yuan Yingtai as a great hero and a great loyal minister. In this way, not only can the attention of the people of the world be diverted from the tragic defeat in Liaodong, but the matter can also be easily fooled.

As for the responsibility, it was easier to deal with. Didn't several military officers die in the Liaodong battle? Why not let these military officers take the blame? Anyway, there was absolutely no problem with the civil officials. The problem must be with the soldiers. If it weren't for these soldiers who didn't follow Yuan Yingtai's orders and respond to the war correctly, the battle wouldn't have been lost like this.

As the Prime Minister, Liu Yirong was not easy to talk to, nor was he easy to take sides. He was very clear about the division of responsibilities and why they were discussing this. But his status was different. As the Prime Minister, he knew very well that even if he wanted to do this, he had to get the emperor's approval first. Only when the emperor nodded, the cabinet would be able to do it.

If Wei Zhongxian didn't come to Liu Yirong, Liu Yirong would probably find time to find Wei Zhongxian today, intending to ask Wei Zhongxian about the emperor's attitude. But before he took any action, Wei Zhongxian came to the cabinet to find him, and told him about Tianqi's anger at the defeat in Liaodong.

Liu Yirong sighed and shook his head. "I never expected the defeat in Liaodong would be so serious. Please tell Your Majesty that the cabinet is trying to find a way to deal with the aftermath. I will urge the cabinet to come up with a plan as soon as possible and present it to Your Majesty."

"You have worked hard for the country, Lord." Wei Zhongxian flattered with a fake smile, and then lowered his voice and said, "Lord, the emperor asked me to tell you that the emperor intends to posthumously confer the title of Minister of War on Mr. Yuan. I wonder if you..."

Wei Zhongxian did not continue to say the following words, but Liu Yirong could clearly see the expression on his face.

Hearing this, Liu Yirong was slightly stunned, but at the same time he felt relieved.

He was thinking about how to convince the emperor. If the emperor was determined to hold Yuan Yingtai accountable, it would not be a good thing for the Donglin Party. Although the Donglin Party is now quite powerful in the court, it has not yet been able to cover the sky with one hand. In addition to the Donglin Party, there are other factions in the court, such as the Zhejiang Party, the Chu Party, the Qi Party, and the Kun Party. When the news of the Liaodong defeat came, the Donglin Party was like a bereaved family, while the other parties were ready to take this opportunity to attack the Donglin Party.

If he used force, with his position as the prime minister and the support of the Donglin Party, it was possible to force Tianqi to make concessions. But doing so was not the best strategy. Forcing the emperor to yield was not the way for a minister to be a minister. Once the news got out, it would easily ruin the reputation of the Donglin Party.

Now Wei Zhongxian actually told him that Tianqi intended to posthumously confer the title of Minister of War on Yuan Yingtai. This was equivalent to telling Liu Yirong in this way that Tianqi had made a decision and did not intend to hold Yuan Yingtai accountable, and that posthumously conferring him the title of Minister of War was also a posthumous honor.

Although this posthumous title is optional and even less significant than a normal posthumous title.

According to Yuan Yingtai's rank and his martyrdom, a posthumous title of Minister of War was too low, and there was not even a mention of a posthumous honor.

How could Liu Yirong not understand the meaning of this? This showed that Tianqi was also extremely dissatisfied with Yuan Yingtai. The so-called posthumous title was just an attitude, and there was no need to think about the rest.

Liu Yirong sighed inwardly and thought that this was a good thing, at least it would save everyone's face. With this posthumous title, Yuan Yingtai's guilt would be eliminated, and he would have an explanation to the Donglin Party and the people of the world.

But Liu Yirong also thought of one thing. Since Tianqi took the initiative to ask Wei Zhongxian to come to him to deliver this message, it might not be that simple. Although this young emperor had not been on the throne for a long time, Liu Yirong's feelings about Tianqi after getting to know him were different from what he did at the beginning.

At first, he just thought Tianqi was a young emperor who knew nothing, but in the past few months, especially after becoming the prime minister and dealing with the emperor, Liu Yirong has felt Tianqi's intelligence and means. This young emperor is definitely not as simple as imagined. He is an emperor with means and ideas. I am afraid that it is not only Yuan Yingtai's thing that asked Wei Zhongxian to bring such words to him today.

Sure enough, when Liu Yirong asked Wei Zhongxian if the emperor had any other instructions, Wei Zhongxian whispered three words "Xiong Tingbi" in Liu Yirong's ear.

Hearing Xiong Tingbi's name, Liu Yirong finally understood Tianqi's real purpose. Tianqi was using this method to exchange interests with him. The emperor took the initiative to give in on Yuan Yingtai's matter, and also needed Liu Yirong's support in using Xiong Tingbi. It must be admitted that Tianqi did this at the right time.

Liu Yirong thought about it and quickly made a decision. He nodded and told Wei Zhongxian to report to the emperor that he would recommend Xiong Tingbi to the emperor in the name of the chief minister in the court tomorrow.

After getting Liu Yirong's promise, Wei Zhongxian left contentedly. After seeing Wei Zhongxian off, Liu Yirong returned to his chair and sat down with a gloomy face, and no one knew what he was thinking.

(End of this chapter)