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

Chapter 420: The Fall of the Eunuch Party
After Cui Chengxiu was dismissed from office, Emperor Chongzhen began to take action against Wei Zhongxian.

In early October, Lu Chengyuan, Qian Yuanqu, Qian Jiazheng and others successively impeached Wei Zhongxian with extremely fierce words, listing ten "heinous crimes" including "unifying the emperor", "disrespecting the empress", "playing with soldiers", "ignoring the ancestors", "reducing the fiefdoms", "being unsage", "abusing titles", "covering up the merits of the border", "oppressing the people" and "colluding with the joint forces". In the past, Wei Zhongxian would not have worried about these at all, because the Emperor Tianqi was standing behind him. But now Emperor Chongzhen not only did not reprimand Lu Chengyuan, Qian Yuanqu, Qian Jiazheng and others, but instead used their impeachment to rebuke Wei Zhongxian, which made Wei Zhongxian panic.

In order to save himself, Wei Zhongxian cried bitterly in front of Emperor Chongzhen, shouting that he was wronged, saying that he had not done these things at all and that they were slandering him. However, Emperor Chongzhen was not moved at all and had people read out these impeachment memorials in front of Wei Zhongxian at the court meeting. This attitude made Wei Zhongxian "shocked and frightened" and he once again offered to resign.

This time, Emperor Chongzhen did not try to persuade Wei Zhongxian to stay, but directly agreed to his request to resign. He also approved Xu Yingyuan's recuperation.

Speaking of Xu Yingyuan, he was logically a man of Emperor Chongzhen, because he and Wang Chengen were both old men in Prince Xin's Mansion.

After Emperor Chongzhen ascended the throne, he placed Xu Yingyuan and Wang Chengen in the Imperial Household Department in order to divide the power in Wei Zhongxian's hands and have them work for him.

But Xu Yingyuan, who could not see the situation clearly, was a complete fool. When he arrived at the Imperial Household Department, he not only did not fight with Wei Zhongxian for power, but instead became attached to Wei Zhongxian. Perhaps the attitude of Emperor Chongzhen towards Wei Zhongxian deceived not only Wei Zhongxian himself, but also Xu Yingyuan. He thought that Emperor Chongzhen would favor Wei Zhongxian as much as Emperor Tianqi did, so he approached him directly.

Not long after that, the situation changed. Emperor Chongzhen began to take action against Wei Zhongxian. Xu Yingyuan suddenly realized everything. But it was too late to regret. As Wei Zhongxian's resignation was approved, Xu Yingyuan nervously told Emperor Chongzhen that he was in poor health and had a serious illness. He needed to rest and could no longer perform the duties of the Silijian.

In consideration of the fact that Prince Xin had served him for many years, Emperor Chongzhen spared Xu Yingyuan's life and agreed to his request to recuperate. He then gave the position of Imperial Household Department to Cao Huachun, who had just returned from Nanjing.

After forcing Wei Zhongxian to resign, Emperor Chongzhen took advantage of the victory and less than a month later, he officially issued an edict to announce Wei Zhongxian's crimes to the world. Wei Zhongxian was demoted to the ancestral mausoleum in Fengyang to manage incense and offerings, and Keshi was sent to the laundry bureau for custody.

With this, the powerful eunuch Wei Zhongxian, who was 9,900 years old, completely fell. After the order was issued, Wei Zhongxian left Beijing with his entourage. On the day of leaving Beijing, Wei Zhongxian had mixed feelings. He looked back at the capital and couldn't help but burst into tears.

After leaving the capital, Wei Zhongxian headed southwards towards Fengyang. Three days later, he arrived in Fucheng, when suddenly a group of Jinyiwei came from the capital on horseback, bringing the order of Emperor Chongzhen to arrest Wei Zhongxian.

The decree stated that Wei Zhongxian "has a group of desperate criminals who are carrying weapons, countless in number, surrounding him and protecting him, and appear to be rebelling", and ordered him to be arrested and brought to Beijing.

Upon hearing the news, Wei Zhongxian turned pale, realizing that Emperor Chongzhen wanted him to die and did not leave him any leeway. He would surely die once he returned to Beijing.

On that day, Wei Zhongxian and his henchman Li Chaoqin both hanged themselves after drinking heavily. With the death of Wei Zhongxian, the eunuch party that was so powerful during the reign of Emperor Tianqi came to an end. Less than three months after Emperor Chongzhen ascended the throne, he killed the confidants left to him by his brother, destroying the sharpest knife in the world against the civil service group, but he was secretly pleased with himself because he did not know that his actions had laid the hidden danger of the collapse of the empire.

When the news of Wei Zhongxian's suicide came, Emperor Chongzhen immediately ordered people to execute Ke Shi in the laundry bureau. Then he issued an edict to deprive Wei Liangqing of his title of Duke of Ningguo, and then arrested him on the charge of treason, intending to execute Wei Liangqing according to the law.

After being arrested, Wei Liangqing was still confused, he had no idea what was going on. When he was put into the Tianlao, someone told him that his uncle Wei Zhongxian had committed suicide, and Emperor Chongzhen was going to kill him now, and he was also charged with treason and was about to chop off his head. Wei Liangqing was so scared that he trembled and shouted that he was innocent.

On the day of the Ming Dynasty's execution, Wei Liangqing was tied up and taken to the execution ground. When he was about to be executed, Wei Liangqing cried and shouted: "I am just an ordinary farmer who grows crops. I used to live well in my hometown. Although it is hard to work hard, I can still get by."

"Because of my uncle Wei Zhongxian, I suddenly became rich and was brought to the capital from my hometown. I haven't done anything bad in the past few years in the capital. I stayed at home peacefully, eating and drinking well and sleeping with a few beautiful women. Besides, I never asked for this wealth, but you forced it on me."

"Take me, the Duke of Ningguo, for example. I have never thought of becoming a Duke. It was completely forced upon me by you, Emperor Chongzhen. You gave me the title yesterday and praised me to the skies, but today you suddenly accuse me of treason? Not only did you take away my newly conferred title of Duke, you also want to chop off my head. You can't be a human being like this! You have to be honest! Even if you are the emperor, you have to be reasonable. You wouldn't do this. I am really wronged...!"

But it was of no use to protest his injustice, as Wei Liangqing was beheaded.

After Wei Liangqing was executed, Emperor Chongzhen won a great victory. With the fall of the eunuch party, the whole court was full of praises. Civil officials commented that Emperor Chongzhen was wise and brave, and was a rare wise ruler since the founding of the Ming Dynasty. They also commented that Emperor Chongzhen's killing of Wei Zhongxian was "quiet and subtle, and it was impossible without his natural bravery." Less than three months after ascending the throne, he overthrew the powerful Wei Zhongxian. The victorious Emperor Chongzhen was complacent in the midst of flattery, thinking that being an emperor was not difficult at all, and that he was born to be an emperor.

If he was not a few years younger than his brother, Emperor Tianqi, and the fifth oldest among his brothers, if he had become the emperor in the place of Emperor Tianqi, the Ming Dynasty would probably have prospered under his rule, and the eunuch party would not have caused harm to the country and the people.

Now that Wei Zhongxian has been executed, the next step is to eliminate the remnants of the eunuch party and clean up the court.

At this moment, the young Emperor Chongzhen was already dizzy with the flattery of the Donglin Party and the civil servants. He decided to make a career and become a wise monarch comparable to Taizu and Chengzu, and revive the Ming Dynasty.

Next, Emperor Chongzhen began to clean up the remnants of the eunuch party. He was extremely enthusiastic about this matter. As long as someone had connection with Wei Zhongxian, he would agree to the impeachment of the civil service group. At one time, countless officials in the court were implicated, and the scope of the attack also extended from clearing out the eunuch party to all aspects of party struggles.

Because Emperor Chongzhen was too influenced by the Donglin Party and other civil service groups, he did not care how deeply those officials were involved with Wei Zhongxian, nor did he care whether these officials were capable. Anyone involved in the eunuch party was not considered at all. Some were arrested, some were demoted, and some were killed. In a blink of an eye, the struggle in the court became fierce, and officials were constantly dismissed. After a long time, Emperor Chongzhen also felt that something was wrong.

With the purge of the eunuch party and the fall of many officials, there were huge vacancies in official positions in various ministries, especially in the most important cabinet.

You have to know that when Wei Zhongxian was alive, the cabinet was already controlled by the eunuch party, and basically everyone from top to bottom was Wei Zhongxian's people. Now that Wei Zhongxian is finished, these cabinet elders will naturally not escape the fate of being dismissed, but without these cabinet elders, the cabinet will not be able to function, and the same is true for other ministries. The missing officials must be filled as soon as possible, otherwise how can the Ming Dynasty rule?

Faced with this situation, Emperor Chongzhen had no choice but to start selecting new cabinet members. However, there were many people eyeing these positions. The revived Donglin Party and members of other civil service groups were all jealous and were eager to take office immediately and become the next cabinet member.

For this reason, dozens of cabinet candidates were nominated at one time. Nearly half of them were nominated by the Donglin Party, and the other half were nominated by civil servants from other factions, representing the interests of all parties.

After this list of nominations was sent to Emperor Chongzhen, he had no idea what to do after reading it. He had just become emperor and was not familiar with these people at all. He probably had never even met them, let alone their abilities and actual situation.

However, these people were nominated by all parties who supported him, and Emperor Chongzhen could not refute it. But there were more monks than porridge, and the number of cabinet members in the Ming Dynasty was limited, usually more than three. When there were fewer cabinet members, there were also cases where there was only one person, just like during the Wanli period.

Emperor Chongzhen couldn't agree to all the names of dozens of people, right? If he disagreed, he would have no idea how to select the right people to join the cabinet, because he didn't know these people at all. As for asking the parties who recommended the candidates, it was useless. Of course, all parties would speak to their own people. After all, the original cabinet was over after Wei Zhongxian's fall. Rebuilding the cabinet was equivalent to fighting for power. Becoming a cabinet elder or even the prime minister was equivalent to strengthening one's own power. Everyone had their own job. How could one accept that someone else took over the position if his own people didn't take the stage?

In desperation, Emperor Chongzhen racked his brains and came up with a solution that was not a solution. This solution was to leave the choice of who would enter the cabinet to God.

In other words, the cabinet members are decided by drawing lots.

In the great Ming Empire, the cabinet and its members, the highest administrative authority after the emperor, actually decided their candidates by drawing lots. This was unprecedented since the founding of the Ming Dynasty and extremely rare in all dynasties.

Such an outrageous thing really happened. Emperor Chongzhen, who was touted as an wise ruler and the one who would restore the Ming Dynasty, began his dramatic operation. He first bathed and changed his clothes in front of all the officials in the Qianqing Palace, then worshiped heaven and earth and begged God to bless the Ming Dynasty. Then he wrote the names of all the candidates on small pieces of paper, put them in a golden bowl, shook the bowl with both hands, muttered something, and picked up the pieces of paper from it with chopsticks to determine the final candidates for the cabinet.

Through this ceremony, Emperor Chongzhen first held Qian Longxi, Li Biao, Lai Zongdao, and Yang Jingchen hostage. The ministers felt that the number was too small, and in order to increase their chances of entering the cabinet, they suggested that the current situation was difficult and asked the emperor to expand the number of cabinet ministers. So Emperor Chongzhen held Zhou Daodeng and Liu Hongxun hostage.

From then on, these six people became the first cabinet members selected by Emperor Chongzhen himself after he ascended the throne. The selection of the chief minister went through some twists and turns, but in the end it was decided in the same way, and Li Biao was selected as the chief minister of the cabinet.

(End of this chapter)