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

Chapter 704

At the court meeting today, Zhu Shenzhu originally thought that the Minister of Rites Fang Fengnian would jump out first, or Zhang Fengxiang, Fang Kezhuang and others would be the vanguard, but he didn't expect that the first one to come out was Gong Dingzi, the military secretary. Moreover, Gong Dingzi didn't talk about the welcoming ceremony a few days ago, but instead proposed to assist in the military affairs of the Beijing camp, which was a bit surprising.

However, Zhu Shenzhui understood Gong Dingzi's plan in an instant. It seemed that the other party did not want to talk about the welcoming ceremony, but was preparing to use the position of assistant manager of the military affairs of the Beijing Camp to seize the power of the Beijing Camp first. In their view, nothing is more important than military power. As long as the military power is in hand, everything else is trivial.

Now Wang Jinwu has returned to the capital, and the Beijing troop that went out to fight has also returned. This army has been reborn after experiencing the baptism of war, and its combat effectiveness is much stronger than before. If this army is still in the hands of Wang Jinwu, doesn't it mean that it is controlled by Zhu Shenzhui?
Furthermore, not only the Beijing Camp, but also Zhu Shenzhui's trump card new army, is a sharp sword hanging over everyone's head. With the sword held upside down, how can they feel safe? At present, it is naturally impossible to fight for military power openly. Don't forget how Zhu Shenzhui ascended to the position of regent, especially his new army, which is impossible for anyone to touch. This is the basis for Zhu Shenzhui to ensure his power and status. The Donglin Party is not so stupid as to do such a thing.

But the fact that the new army will not move does not mean that they will not use other methods. The best way is to take the position of assistant manager of the military affairs of the Beijing Camp. As long as this position is in hand, the Beijing Camp will be controlled by the civil service group as before, that is, the Donglin Party. In this way, they will have the capital to confront Zhu Shenzhui and be more confident.

"Haha, what a good plan." Zhu Shenzui laughed secretly in his heart, his eyes looked at the ministers below, and soon stopped on Yang Sichang.

Yang Sichang was one of the important ministers of the Chongzhen Dynasty. He had previously served as the Prime Minister. Unfortunately, he lost the political struggle with Wen Tihen, lost the post of Prime Minister and withdrew from the cabinet. After leaving the cabinet, Yang Sichang still stayed in the court as an official, and his status was not low.

After Zhu Shenzhu entered the capital, Wen Tiren quickly joined him. When reorganizing the cabinet, Wen Tiren suggested to Zhu Shenzhu that Yang Sichang be dismissed from his post and sent back to his hometown. However, Zhu Shenzhu disagreed with this suggestion. He knew that Wen Tiren's purpose in making this suggestion was not because of Yang Sichang's ability, but because he and Yang Sichang had a personal grudge. As a political opponent, Wen Tiren knew his old partner too well. If Yang Sichang continued to stay in the court, there was no guarantee that he would not pose a threat to him one day.

Wen Tiren was just planning to use Zhu Shenzhui to kick out his old rival. But Zhu Shenzhui was not so easy to trick. He had known about the personal conflicts between Wen Tiren and Yang Sichang, and he also knew Yang Sichang's ability. Zhang Xijun had not been in the capital for nothing. He had known the situation of all the officials in the court. He knew who was capable, who belonged to which party, who was close to whom, who was hostile to whom, etc. All this information was in Zhu Shenzhui's hands. How could Zhu Shenzhui not know?

In the end, Zhu Shenzhui not only did not accept Wen Tiren's suggestion, but instead appointed Yang Sichang as the Minister of War, making him one of the chief officials of the six ministries. Although Yang Sichang was not a cabinet elder at the moment, his official position was no less than that of a cabinet member. In addition, he and Wen Tiren did not get along well, and the two of them could play a restraining role in the court. Why not?

Now Yang Sichang was standing in the front position, frowning slightly as if he was a little surprised by Gong Dingzi's words. At a glance, Zhu Shenzui knew that Yang Sichang did not know about this matter in advance and was caught off guard.

"The Beijing camp is still in the process of reorganization, so there is no urgency for the post of assisting in military affairs." Zhu Shenzhui said calmly.

"No!" Gong Dingzi stood up straight and said loudly, "Since the 29th year of Jiajing, this position has been established in the Ming Dynasty to assist in the training of the Beijing Camp. This position has existed since the Jiajing, Longqing, Wanli, Taichang, Tianqi and previous dynasties. Now the Regent is reorganizing the Beijing Camp and eliminating its malpractices. This is the right thing to do. As the saying goes, there is no order without rules. Now the position of assisting in military affairs is vacant and there are no subordinate officials. How can military generals do a good job of reorganization? As a military official, I should make suggestions on national affairs. I ask the Regent to establish this position and select officials to reorganize the Beijing Camp!"

"I second the proposal!"

"I also second the proposal!"

"I implore the regent to appoint an official to this post according to the rules..."

"I agree..."

As Gong Dingzi finished speaking, several people stood up instantly. Some of them were censors, some were secretaries, and there were even officials at the vice-minister level. Although they were from different departments, they had one thing in common: they were all members of the Donglin Party.

Wen Tiren, who was standing at the front, had a very ugly expression on his face. He did not expect such a situation to occur in today's court meeting. As the chief minister of the cabinet, Wen Tiren's role was equivalent to that of the head of all officials. But the problem was that now this group of people jumped out to force Zhu Shenzhui to appoint someone to assist in the military affairs of the Beijing Camp, and also to fill in the subordinate officials. What was their intention? How could Wen Tiren not know it?

Just as Wen Tiren was feeling uneasy and was planning to signal his men to let them come out and refute the argument first, and then help Zhu Shencui refute the matter to express his attitude to Zhu Shencui, Zhu Shencui spoke first.

"Wang Jinwu!" "I'm here!" Wang Jinwu, who was standing among the nobles, stood up and saluted Zhu Shenzhui who was at the top.

"You are the commander-in-chief of the Beijing Camp. What do you think about this matter?" Zhu Shenzhui asked directly.

"I am a military general and a noble. I listen to the regent. I will do whatever the regent tells me to do!" Wang Jinwu answered without hesitation. After hearing this, Gong Dingzi, who originally thought that Wang Jinwu would directly oppose it, was stunned and swallowed back the words that were already on his lips.

Zhu Shenzhui smiled and nodded: "You are right, I asked the wrong person, it is indeed inconvenient for you to answer this question." Zhu Shenzhui then turned his gaze to Yang Sichang and asked: "Mr. Yang, you are my soldier, what do you think of this matter?"

Yang Sichang cursed Gong Dingzi and his gang in his heart. What good could these guys do to bring up this matter? Who doesn't know how Zhu Shenzhui entered the capital? How did he ascend to the position of regent? If it was Emperor Chongzhen sitting on the throne, you would say these problems are not a big deal, but now it is Zhu Shenzhui! This is the ruthless man who broke the imprisonment of the emperor in the capital. Not long ago, he defeated Huang Taiji and won a great victory that the Ming Dynasty had never won in decades.

It's only been a few days since we returned to the capital, and you can't wait to target the Beijing camp, intending to seize military power from Zhu Shenzhui? Do you really think that Zhu Shenzhui, the regent, is a soft persimmon?

As the former Prime Minister, Yang Sichang was not lacking in vision and ability. Soon after Zhu Shenzhui came to Beijing, he learned that Zhu Shenzhui continued to employ Wen Tihen. At first, Yang Sichang secretly sighed that his career as an official had come to an end. He and Wen Tihen were political rivals, and they had fought each other to the death in previous years. In the end, Yang Sichang was one step behind and left the cabinet miserably, losing his position as Prime Minister.

Now Wen Tiren continued to serve as the Prime Minister and was said to have gained Zhu Shenzhu's trust, which made Yang Sichang feel bleak about his future. But unexpectedly, Zhu Shenzhu suddenly summoned Yang Sichang a few days later and had a conversation with him. It was this conversation that gave Yang Sichang hope.

Afterwards, Yang Sichang not only did not lose his job, but became the Minister of War, and directly stood in the position of an important official in the central government. Although Yang Sichang is no longer a cabinet minister, he still has a lot of power in his hands. In addition, he still remembers the conversation between him and Zhu Shencui that day. This conversation made Yang Sichang understand why Zhu Shencui kept him and what he needed him to do. He also admired Zhu Shencui's methods and vision.

Compared with Emperor Chongzhen, Zhu Shenzhui was much stronger. Even Emperor Tianqi was not as good as Zhu Shenzhui. How could a minister easily fool such a superior? The Donglin Party was simply obsessed with profit. They actually used such means to force Zhu Shenzhui? Where did they get the courage?
Yang Sichang stood up, saluted Zhu Shenzhui, and then said: "As a soldier, my opinion on this matter is acceptable..."

Hearing what Yang Sichang said, many people were delighted, and the Minister of War expressed his support. This matter was settled. But before they could continue to be happy, Yang Sichang said, "But I think that now that the Beijing camp has just returned, there are many military affairs. Appointing an assistant to manage military affairs is not a trivial matter. We should carefully select the right person to take on this important matter. There is no rush for such a big thing. I suggest that we postpone it and discuss this matter after the Beijing camp is stable and the military affairs are dealt with. This is the safest way."

What Yang Sichang said sounded quite reasonable, and it seemed that he did not offend either side. In fact, he was helping Zhu Shencui to delay for a while. After all, he was not clear about Zhu Shencui's true intention yet, so he wanted to stabilize the situation first. Moreover, as a native soldier, it was impossible for him not to express his opinion when Zhu Shencui asked him directly.

"Master Yang is really good at dealing with people!" Wen Tiren stood up and sneered, "You are a soldier, but you say this? Could it be that you, Master Yang, want to be the assistant military official?"

"I dare not." Yang Sichang said calmly: "The Ministry of War has many affairs to deal with. How can Sichang have so much energy? I am just discussing the matter and replying to the regent according to the rules."

"Hehe, according to precedent? So Lord Yang seems to want to use precedent to make this argument?"

Wen Tiren asked bluntly, which made Yang Sichang a little angry. He immediately said, "What's wrong with arguing with precedents? This position has existed for a long time. Whether it is appointed or not, and how it is appointed, all depends on the regent. As a minister, we are just answering truthfully. The elder is so aggressive, is it targeting me?"

"I dare not!" Wen Tiren sneered: "Since Lord Yang mentioned precedents, then I will talk to you about precedents. As early as the Tianqi period, the late emperor abolished this position. Now that the Beijing Camp is reorganized, why do we have to establish it again? Besides, the Beijing Camp today is no longer the Beijing Camp of the past. If it could be abolished back then, there is no need to establish it again today!"

Yang Sichang was not angry either, he stood there in silence, seemingly not taking Wen Tihen's rebuttal seriously. However, Gong Dingzi and others could not help but directly refute Wen Tihen's remarks, saying that although Emperor Tianqi abolished this position, it was restored after Emperor Chongzhen ascended the throne, and this position was very important. How could an army like the Beijing Camp be directly controlled by military men and nobles? You must know that the Beijing Camp is to ensure the safety of the capital, and it is the emperor's personal army. If the military men and nobles completely control the Beijing Camp without restraint, then what will happen if there is a change?
Don't forget the military mutinies in history and how Zhao Kuangyin was crowned emperor. It was a rule of the Ming Dynasty to use civil officials to control military officers and use civil officials to restrain military generals. Since it was a rule, how could it be changed at will?
(End of this chapter)