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

Chapter 421: First Taking Power
After finishing all this, the framework of the cabinet was finally set up, which also made Emperor Chongzhen breathe a sigh of relief.

In order to be a good ruler, Emperor Chongzhen showed great enthusiasm. He was completely different from his brother Emperor Tianqi who was fond of carpentry. Emperor Chongzhen had no personal hobbies at all. Since he took the throne, he had been strict with himself. Moreover, because of the flattery of the civil service group, Emperor Chongzhen had a strong determination to manage the country well and lead the Ming Dynasty to become strong again.

For these reasons, the young Emperor Chongzhen was very perseverant. He insisted on attending court on time, reading every memorial carefully, and discussing state affairs, no matter how big or small, with the cabinet elders and court ministers repeatedly.

Since Emperor Chongzhen had a low level of education and had not received the formal education that an imperial heir would receive, and he was also young, it was very difficult for him to accomplish all these things.

You must know that the Ming Empire had a vast territory, and the affairs from the central government to the local governments were endless. The reason why the court established the cabinet was because the emperor had limited energy. Except for the energetic Zhu Yuanzhang, subsequent emperors could not handle such heavy work, so the cabinet was set up as the emperor's secretariat to share the burden. Later, Xuanzong established the Silijian to divide the power of the cabinet, and gradually formed the approval procedure, which has continued to this day.

But Emperor Chongzhen was different. Perhaps it was because of his character flaws, or perhaps he was too eager to be a wise ruler. In addition, Emperor Chongzhen personally eradicated the eunuch party headed by Wei Zhongxian. In order to avoid being criticized by the civil service group and the people of the world, after getting rid of Wei Zhongxian, Emperor Chongzhen directly weakened the functions of the Silijian and merged most of the work of the Silijian with his functions as the emperor. The Silijian suddenly became a department that only stamped and went through procedures from an auxiliary agency of the emperor.

This approach greatly increased the workload of Emperor Chongzhen, but also created a huge disadvantage.

You should know that the Silijian was not only set up to work for the emperor, but also to prevent the cabinet from having too much power. The Silijian was set up to help the emperor share power from the cabinet. The Silijian was run by eunuchs, and the eunuchs were dependent on the imperial power. In this way, the emperor could join forces with the Silijian to fight against the power in the hands of civil servants, thus forming a three-legged balance.

As an emperor, all he needs to do is find a balance. The eunuchs of the Imperial Household Department can handle the chores and bad guys. If one side is strong, he can support the other side to suppress it and keep his seat on the throne securely.

This was the case with the previous Emperor Jiajing, who was a master at playing with political balance. The Emperor Tianqi went a step further and directly supported Wei Zhongxian to suppress the civil service group in order to consolidate the imperial power.

But Emperor Chongzhen knew nothing, and he had a mysterious self-confidence in his heart. Perhaps it was because he had solved the problem of Wei Zhongxian that made him so confident that he thought he was the greatest ruler in the Ming Dynasty. In addition, Emperor Chongzhen did not trust anyone, and he did not know how to use people. In order to prevent another Wei Zhongxian from appearing, Emperor Chongzhen simply rolled up his sleeves, threw the Silijian aside, and went into battle bare-chested.

This practice of Emperor Chongzhen not only reduced the power of the Imperial Household Department, but also caused the emperor himself, who was supposed to be the arbitrator and the final decision maker, to become a direct participant on the stage. This is no different from the referee personally participating in the game. This practice has great disadvantages. Unfortunately, no one could remind Emperor Chongzhen, and Emperor Chongzhen himself did not think of this.

The consequences of doing so were not only these, but also made Emperor Chongzhen devote a lot of energy to trivial matters. He got up before dawn every day and worked until midnight before he could go to bed. Even so, he was still happy to do it with less than four hours of sleep a day. He was as excited as if he had been injected with chicken blood all day long. If it were put in a few hundred years later, this person would definitely make the 996 social animals bow down to him.

In addition to diligence, there is also inspection.

There is really nothing wrong with the name. The "Jian" in Zhu Youjian is correct at all. After he ascended the throne, he sent out good palace maids from time to time to reduce the expenditure in the palace. He repeatedly ordered to reduce his own food and clothing expenses. He was a unique emperor.

Because Emperor Chongzhen was so diligent, he was praised by everyone. Some civil servants even praised him as a rare talent since the Han and Tang Dynasties. This made Emperor Chongzhen more convinced that he was doing the right thing.

"Your Majesty has not gone to bed yet?"

When Cao Huachun arrived at the Qianqing Palace, he saw that the candlelight was still on in the side hall where Emperor Chongzhen worked, and he couldn't help but ask Wang Chengen.

Wang Chengen nodded with a wry smile. The two of them were old acquaintances. They had served Zhu Youjian together long before Emperor Chongzhen became Prince Xin. However, Cao Huachun was Wang An's man. After Wei Zhongxian killed Wang An, he found a reason to send Cao Huachun to Nanjing. After Cao Huachun left Prince Xin's mansion, his position was replaced by Xu Yingyuan.

The first thing Emperor Chongzhen did after he ascended the throne was to arrange Wang Chengen and Xu Yingyuan into the Imperial Household Department, and at the same time sent people to Nanjing to recall Cao Huachun.

Later, Xu Yingyuan failed to see the situation clearly. Instead of helping Emperor Chongzhen to suppress Wei Zhongxian, he defected to Wei Zhongxian. Eventually, with the downfall of Wei Zhongxian, he also lost his position as the Imperial Household Department.

If Emperor Chongzhen had not spared Xu Yingyuan out of their old friendship, Xu Yingyuan would have been finished. So when Cao Huachun came back, he replaced Xu Yingyuan and entered the Silijian. Now he and Wang Chengen are both the chief eunuchs of the Silijian.

However, it was slightly different from Wang Chengen. Although they had the same rank in the palace, their division of labor was different. Wang Chengen was used to serving Emperor Chongzhen, and Emperor Chongzhen was also used to his service, so Wang Chengen's job was to stay by Emperor Chongzhen's side and serve him. Therefore, Cao Huachun became the actual head of the Silijian, helping Emperor Chongzhen control the Silijian.

From this point of view, although their current power is not as strong as that of Wei Zhongxian, it is not weak. But in fact, since the fall of Wei Zhongxian, the power of the eunuchs has been deliberately suppressed by Emperor Chongzhen, and Emperor Chongzhen has taken away many of the actual powers of the Silijian, resulting in the current Silijian being unworthy of its name.

Not only that, Emperor Chongzhen also greatly weakened the authority of the Jinyiwei and Dongchang under the advice of the civil service group, which greatly reduced the power of these two largest spy and intelligence agencies in the Ming Dynasty. His approach was greatly appreciated by the civil service group and made Emperor Chongzhen proud, but in Cao Huachun's view, Emperor Chongzhen's behavior was very inappropriate. In terms of ability, Cao Huachun was much better than Wang Chengen, who only knew how to serve people. Don't forget that his godfather was Wang An, whose status was far higher than Wei Zhongxian at the time. He was the head of the Silijian and a veritable internal minister.

In Cao Huachun's view, Emperor Chongzhen's actions were like cutting off his own arm. Whether it was the Imperial Household Department, the Imperial Guards, or the East Factory, they were all the emperor's minions. Weakening the power of these institutions was tantamount to handing over the imperial power. Cao Huachun knew very well that this was a conspiracy of the civil service group, with the purpose of competing for the power of the court, but he knew it was useless. Emperor Chongzhen had now been flattered by the civil service group and could not tell the difference between right and wrong. In addition, because of Wei Zhongxian, he was extremely wary of these eunuchs. Even though he was now the head of the Imperial Household Department, he could not persuade Emperor Chongzhen at all.

"Your Majesty, how can your body bear this every day?" Since returning to Beijing, Cao Huachun has been working in the Imperial Household Department. During these days, Emperor Chongzhen has hardly had a chance to rest on time. He is busy until late at night every day and gets up at dawn the next day to read memorials.

"Don't you know the emperor's temper? What can we servants do?" Wang Chengen sighed softly with a worried look on his face. His master was too strong-willed. Although Emperor Chongzhen was young and in good health, even a strong man could not bear such long-term torture.

"By the way, what brings you here at this time?" Wang Chengen suddenly asked. It was already such a late hour, and Cao Huachun still came to the Qianqing Palace.

"The Emperor has instructed that we must report it immediately no matter what time it is."

"Why do you have to come here in the middle of the night?"

"It's about Liaodong." Cao Huachun replied softly. Wang Chengen's face changed immediately when he heard it. He hurriedly asked if there was another fight in Liaodong? Didn't they say that everything in Liaodong was peaceful before?

Cao Huachun told Wang Chengen that the fighting in Liaodong had not yet begun, but the situation was not very good. The Jiannu seemed to have made some unusual moves. Wang Zhichen, the governor of Liaodong, was recently dismissed for being a member of the eunuch party. After his dismissal, Liaoning now has no governor, and the soldiers in various departments are in a state of unrest. The temporary military supervisor and the imperial censor were worried about accidents, so they hurriedly wrote a memorial and sent it to the capital. The Silijian got it first. After reading the memorial, Cao Huachun did not dare to delay at all, and hurried to report to Emperor Chongzhen.

"Where is the governor Yuan Chonghuan?" Wang Chengen asked with a frown.

"Have you forgotten? Yuan Chonghuan resigned due to illness and returned home three months ago." Cao Huachun said in a low voice.

Wang Chengen came to his senses after thinking carefully. He had indeed forgotten about this matter. It was related to Liaodong, and Emperor Chongzhen had given instructions that this matter must be reported immediately. He immediately asked Cao Huachun to wait for a moment and went into the side hall first. After a while, Wang Chengen came out of the side hall and waved to Cao Huachun, who hurried forward.

"The Emperor asked you to come in, be careful in answering."

"Thank you, Brother Wang..." Cao Huachun bowed and then stepped into the side hall.

After entering the hall and walking inside, he soon arrived at the office of Emperor Chongzhen. He saw Emperor Chongzhen sitting upright and reading memorials, and the table in front of him was piled with memorials. He hurried forward, kowtowed and shouted "Long live the emperor".

"Get up," Emperor Chongzhen said, putting down the memorial in his hand and looking at Cao Huachun: "Wang Banban said Liaodong seems unstable? When did the news come? What happened?"

"Your Majesty, this is the news I just received. Your Majesty, this is the memorial I just received." Cao Huachun got up from the ground and handed over the memorial in his hand.

Emperor Chongzhen took it and opened it to read it carefully. After a while, his expression became a little displeased. He closed the memorial and threw it on the table, snorting coldly.

"They are all a bunch of rubbish! By the way, where is Yuan Chonghuan now? Why did he suddenly claim to be ill?"

"Your Majesty, Yuan Chonghuan has returned to his hometown to recuperate. He has been in Liaodong for a long time in recent years. The climate in Liaodong is bitterly cold. Yuan Chonghuan is from the south. He has been in the north for a long time after moving from the south. He may have some health problems..."

"You are good at speaking for him. Why? Do you have any relationship with Yuan Chonghuan?" Emperor Chongzhen asked coldly with a cold light flashing in his eyes.

Cao Huachun remained calm, for he knew his master too well. Furthermore, because of Wei Zhongxian, Emperor Chongzhen did not trust eunuchs very much. Although he seemed to value him, he was also on guard against him. Compared with Wang Chengen, who had always served the emperor, Cao Huachun was now in the most dangerous position.

(End of this chapter)