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

Chapter 178 Eunuch Party
Imperial Palace, Ouchi.

Wei Zhongxian was in a good mood these two days because Liu Yirong, the chief minister of the cabinet who had just taken office, was about to be over.

After dealing with Wang An, Wei Zhongxian drove Wang Guochen out of the Imperial Household Department. Liu Kejing had now become a marginal figure in the Imperial Household Department and was completely unable to fight against him.

Wei Zhongxian, who controlled the Imperial Household Department, did not forget his responsibilities. He knew very well that the reason he had his current power and status was because of the trust of Emperor Tianqi. The reason why Emperor Tianqi trusted him was because he wanted to rely on him, Wei Zhongxian, to fight against the Donglin Party.

Wei Zhongxian was a very smart man who knew what he should and should not do. He eliminated dissidents in the palace, and even if they did something slightly wrong, as long as it did not touch the bottom line of Emperor Tianqi, the emperor would not take it to heart.

In the court, he was like a knife in the hand of Emperor Tianqi. The Emperor Tianqi would not ask who the knife was used on or how it was used. The emperor only wanted the result, not the process, and Wei Zhongxian was very clear about this.

In order to defeat the Donglin Party, Prime Minister Liu Yirong was the first to bear the brunt.

Since Fang Congzhe retired, Liu Yirong became the chief minister of the cabinet, and Liu Yirong's promotion also made the Donglin Party in the court the most powerful. Without mentioning others, let's just talk about people like Yang Lian and Zuo Guangdou. They have been making a lot of trouble in the court these days, jumping up and down, making it very lively.

Yang Lian was originally just a Censor of the Military Department, but now he is the Junior Secretary of the Ministry of Rites. This speed of promotion is simply astonishing.

You should know that Bingke Jieshizhong is only a seventh-rank official, while Taichang Shaoqing is a fourth-rank official. Taichang Temple is one of the Nine Ministers, in charge of rituals and music, suburban temples, altars, and mausoleums. Don't underestimate these functions. They are not only first-class clean officials, but also have high authority.

The same is true for Zuo Guangdou. He originally held the same position as Yang Lian, but now he is the Left Censor-in-Chief, which is also a fourth-rank official position. In addition, the Left Censor-in-Chief is also a censor, so his authority is also not low.

There were many Donglin Party members like Yang Lian and Zuo Guangdou who were promoted several levels in one year. In particular, the Donglin Party had basically taken control of the censors. In addition, the Donglin Party also had the upper hand in various ministries, including the cabinet. It was no exaggeration to say that more than half of the court was Donglin Party.

Some time ago, Wei Zhongxian started to deal with the Donglin Party. To be cautious, Wei Zhongxian originally planned to start with the ordinary officials of the Donglin Party in the court to weaken the power of the Donglin Party in the court. But he didn't expect that before he could finish his work, the Donglin Party was in an uproar and wrote to the emperor to accuse Wei Zhongxian of interfering in the court affairs as a eunuch of the Imperial Household Department, forming a party to exclude dissidents, and framing the loyal officials of the court.

For a time, calls for the killing of Wei Zhongxian were heard everywhere in the court, led by the Donglin Party. Some people inside and outside the capital even compared Wei Zhongxian to Liu Jin, calling him a eunuch party and saying that he was a disaster to the country and the people. This made Wei Zhongxian very angry.

Wei Zhongxian was so angry that smoke came out of his nostrils. He never expected that the Donglin Party would do such a thing. Not only did they throw dirty water on him, but they also slandered him as a member of the eunuch party. They wanted to be the second Liu Jin?
Who in the world doesn't know that the Donglin Party is the leader in forming factions? You Donglin Party members can form factions and unite to fight against dissidents, but you don't allow others to do the same? Don't scholars say that gentlemen don't form factions? This double standard is too much.

I am just a servant of the emperor, working for the emperor, how can I be a member of the eunuch party? I want to be the second Liu Jin? This is simply to kill me! Once the emperor becomes suspicious of me, everything will be over. Although Wei Zhongxian, the eunuch, is becoming more and more powerful, without the emperor's trust, all this is just a castle in the air.

Wei Zhongxian knew that the situation was not good, so he hurried to find Emperor Tianqi, knelt before the emperor with tears and snot, kowtowed and cried, and repeatedly claimed that he had absolutely no intention of being a Liu Jin, and that the so-called eunuch party was nonsense.

He is the emperor's man in life and the emperor's ghost in death. He only knows to serve the emperor loyally. If this is a sin, then he, Wei Zhongxian, will repay the emperor's kindness even if he is torn to pieces.

Emperor Tianqi was not angry. He comforted Wei Zhongxian with a pleasant face, saying that Wei Banban did not need to be like this. I absolutely trust you. This is how the world is. People who do things will be attacked, and people who do nothing will naturally not be annoying. Although he did not understand other great principles, he understood this. As long as he was loyal to him and did things well, he would never believe those rumors. He could rest assured.

With the emperor's comfort, Wei Zhongxian finally felt relieved.

After this incident, Wei Zhongxian also got angry. Since you Donglin Party members used despicable means to mess with me, don't blame me for doing the same. When I was fighting in the streets, what did these Donglin Party scholars count for? If you want to fight, let's fight it out and see who wins.

In this way, the conflict between Wei Zhongxian and the Donglin Party intensified. Originally, the two sides were just fighting secretly and were polite on the surface. But now the situation has changed. Wei Zhongxian is not an easy person to deal with. He is a gangster. How can you get away with angering him?

In Wei Zhongxian's mind, didn't you Donglin Party say that he was a member of the eunuch party? Didn't you slander him for forming a clique in the court and framing loyal officials? I didn't do that before because of various concerns. Now, since you say so, then I am one. From today on, Eunuch Wei is a member of the eunuch party, and he wants to form a clique and frame you Donglin Party members. What can you do?

The stimulated Wei Zhongxian completely turned his face and immediately adjusted his original plan. He had intended to use ordinary Donglin Party members in the court to warn the other party, but now he didn't do that. As the saying goes, to catch a thief, you must catch the leader. Wei Zhongxian directly targeted the leader of the Donglin Party, that is, the chief minister of the cabinet, Liu Yirong. He would either not take action or beat the Donglin Party half to death. Liu Yirong was the most suitable candidate in terms of identity and status.

To this end, Wei Zhongxian made careful preparations. He found some officials in the court who had defected to him and conspired with other party members. After some discussion, he directly placed the breakthrough point on Hou Zhenyang and others.

Hou Zhenyang was a member of the Donglin Party. Before the wedding of Emperor Tianqi, Hou Zhenyang led the memorial, claiming that since the emperor had married, the emperor's wet nurse Keshi should be expelled from the palace and could no longer stay in the harem. The memorial was full of eloquence and fierce words. Although Emperor Tianqi did not agree to this in the end and Keshi continued to stay in the palace, once this incident came out, both the emperor, Keshi and Wei Zhongxian were embarrassed.

They wanted revenge. Hou Zhenyang and his companions had already offended the emperor, Keshi and Wei Zhongxian. When they submitted a memorial to the emperor, they also cursed the college student Shen Hong and Wei Zhongxian for colluding with each other, which directly offended Shen Hong as well.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Wei Zhongxian dragged Wang An into the matter. Wang An had already been driven out of the palace, and dragging him in now was nothing but a waste. He used the matter of Wang An to submit a memorial to the emperor, saying that Hou Zhenyang and others had colluded with Wang An when the previous emperor passed away. He impeached them for colluding with internal officials and taking advantage of the previous emperor's death to do improper things.

Because Emperor Tianqi always remembered the thrilling scene of the palace move, and was even more aware that Wang An was indeed secretly flirting with foreign officials at the time. So when Wei Zhongxian directly raised the matter, and the university student Shen Hong personally submitted a memorial to prove it, Emperor Tianqi was immediately furious.

Then, after the incident of Hou Zhenyang, they directly dragged in the Prime Minister Liu Yirong, accusing Liu Yirong of being the mastermind behind Hou Zhenyang and others, and that the collusion with Wang An was also instructed by Liu Yirong.

When the incident became a big deal, Liu Yirong hurriedly wrote four memorials to defend himself. Unfortunately, Emperor Tianqi had long suspected that the previous incident with Wang An was related to the Donglin Party. Liu Yirong was the leader of the Donglin Party and the chief minister of the cabinet. He said that he had not done this. Although Emperor Tianqi did not say it, he absolutely did not believe it in his heart.

Emperor Tianqi tried to appease Liu Yirong on the surface, but in fact he did not take any substantial action. He did not even do anything to help Liu Yirong eliminate the influence, and allowed the rumors to spread and grow bigger.

Seeing the attitude of Emperor Tianqi, Wei Zhongxian felt more confident. He continued to pursue Liu Yirong and others, creating public opinion, and even obtained a "confession" written by Wang An to prove that Liu Yirong and others were indeed in collusion with Wang An.

The collusion between foreign ministers and the inner court has always been what monarchs fear the most, let alone the Donglin Party, which is known for its integrity, doing such a thing.

Liu Yirong was overwhelmed by this matter. Hou Zhenyang resigned directly. Seeing that the situation was not good, Liu Yirong knew that he could not continue to stay in the cabinet and could only resign on the grounds of illness.

Ye Xianggao, another Donglin Party leader who had just returned to Beijing, disagreed. Emperor Tianqi also hypocritically comforted Liu Yirong. On the surface, he tried to keep Liu Yirong, but in his heart he was smiling from ear to ear, wishing that old guy Liu Yirong would get out of here as soon as possible.

At present, Liu Yirong is "recuperating" at home. For the sake of face, Emperor Tianqi has not formally approved Liu Yirong's resignation. However, Wei Zhongxian knows that he is sure to win this time. After this year, Liu Yirong's resignation will be a foregone conclusion. Once this old guy is gone, the power of the Donglin Party in the cabinet will be sharply reduced. In addition, Hou Zhenyang and others were implicated in this matter and were kicked out of the court. He, Eunuch Wei, has won an unusually beautiful victory.

While he was thinking about who to deal with next after Liu Yirong left, a eunuch walked in, came to Wei Zhongxian and whispered something to him.

"Where is he from? What's his background?" Wei Zhongxian frowned slightly and asked back.

The eunuch reported to Wei Zhongxian in detail. After listening to the report, Wei Zhongxian nodded slightly.

"So, Liang Qing has been very close to Mr. Zhang these days, and he is even planting crops in the back garden of his house?"

"My godfather, this is what I found out," the eunuch replied.

A faint smile appeared on Wei Zhongxian's lips. He thought for a moment and said with a smile: "Interesting, this is interesting..."

"Godfather, do you want me to let the East Factory...?"

Without waiting for the eunuch to finish his words, Wei Zhongxian waved his hand and said, "We know about this matter. You can go down now."

“Yes…” the eunuch lowered his head and left quickly.

After the eunuch left, Wei Zhongxian silently recited Zhang Xijun's name and suddenly laughed out loud, "This man is quite a smart man. He can actually come up with such a trick. As for Liang Qing... hey, this kid is honest and likes farming... haha, hahaha!"

(End of this chapter)