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

Chapter 770 Cutting the Trouble with a Quick Sword

Before Zhu Shenzhui could speak, the person arranged by Zhang Xijun stood up and said, "Such a villain cannot be tolerated by the law! I beg you to punish him severely!"

"I second the proposal!"

"I also second the proposal!"

"If these villains are not killed, the people's anger will not be appeased. They should be dealt with according to the law of the country!"

At that time, many people expressed their opinions on the spot, saying that this person should be severely punished. Among these people, there were Zhang Xijun's people, Xu Xiancheng's people, and even many officials who took the initiative to stand up out of indignation. For them, corruption is a small matter. Officials are officials for money. How can officials not make money? But there is a limit to what you can make money. What can you make and what can't be made? Don't you understand this principle?

If it was just normal corruption, people would not have such a strong reaction, but this guy was greedy for the money from the imperial examinations and even extended his hands to rituals and sacrifices. His audacity is truly shocking.

Except for the nobles and a few military commanders, all the people present were civil officials. They were all scholars who had studied hard for ten years. Who didn't know how difficult it was to study? Moreover, many officials came from humble backgrounds. Compared with the children of wealthy families, it was even more difficult for them to take this path.

If all officials were like this man, embezzling even the silver and cutting off the path to the imperial examinations, then the children from poor families would never have a chance to succeed. I would be even more angry if I could relate to him. How could I let this kind of parasite go?
As a result, almost half of the officials in the court pointed their fingers at this man. Because of this man's public outrage, two other guys who had embezzled military funds and supplies were implicated. Faced with the scolding from everyone, the three men were frightened and trembling with despair on their faces.

As for the several leaders of the Donglin Party, they did not dare to risk the world's condemnation and speak for the other party under such circumstances. They were not stupid and knew that this matter was fundamentally different from ordinary corruption. If they spoke in such a situation, they might bring trouble upon themselves. How could they put themselves in such a dilemma?

Moreover, this person's behavior is indeed shameful. This behavior is despised by not only others but also their own people. Such a greedy fool, why would he take this money when there are other money to be taken? Isn't this courting death?
Worse still, it involves rituals and sacrifices. Cheating and enriching oneself is a crime of deceiving the emperor, which is almost the same as treason. In this case, there is no hope of salvation. Now I just hope that this matter is just his doing, and it doesn't involve too many people, let alone myself.

Zhu Shenzhui was so furious that his face turned blue. He immediately ordered the Jinyiwei to arrest the three men and throw them directly into the Tianlao. They were strictly interrogated by the Supervisory Office and the Jinyiwei to punish them.

In a blink of an eye, several ferocious-looking Jinyiwei came up to the hall and dragged out the three people who had collapsed on the ground with fear. Only then did the three people remember to struggle, but before they could shout that they were innocent or ask the Regent to spare their lives, their mouths were blocked tightly and they were taken away like dead dogs.

After dealing with these three people, Zhu Shenzui was still very angry and took the opportunity to criticize all the ministers in front of everyone. That was not all. He then expressed his extreme dissatisfaction with the Ministry of War, Ministry of Works, Ministry of Rites and even the Censorate that were implicated, and directly dealt with several important officials.

Because several previous ministers of war, such as Liang Tingdong and Zhang Fengyi, had died, Xiong Yuming was dismissed by Emperor Chongzhen, and Yang Sichang had not been the Minister of War for long. Although he had responsibility, it was not the main responsibility. However, as soldiers themselves, the officials of the Ministry of War were also responsible for negligence and failure to investigate the embezzlement of military pay and supplies.

Therefore, Zhu Shenzhu fined Yang Sichang half a year's salary, stripped him of his promotion to Doctor Zishan, and ordered him to continue serving as the Minister of War to make up for his crime.

As for the Minister of Works and the Minister of Rites, it was not so easy. The Minister of Works Zhang Fengxiang and the Minister of Rites Fang Fengnian were both the backbone of the Donglin Party, and were even the leaders of the Donglin Party. These days, it was this group of people who were jumping up and down and making trouble. Today, no matter whether they were involved or not, they could not escape the responsibility. Moreover, everyone in the court knew the background of these three people. If they were not relying on the Donglin Party, how could they have such courage?

Zhu Shenzhui immediately issued an order to remove Zhang Fengxiang and Fang Fengnian from their positions as ministers, but did not dismiss them directly. Instead, they were demoted from minister to right vice minister and fined one year's salary as a warning to others. Zhang Fengxiang and Fang Fengnian were helpless about this punishment. As officials of two ministries, their subordinates had caused such a big disaster and aroused public anger, so it was impossible not to punish them.

What's more, even Yang Sichang, the Minister of War, got the spoils, let alone the two of them? You should know that Yang Sichang didn't serve as the Minister of War for long. During the reign of Chongzhen, the Ministers of War of the Ming Dynasty changed like a revolving lantern. The longest one served for two or three years, and the shortest one only served for a few months. Moreover, the previous Ministers of War before Yang Sichang either died or were dismissed from office long ago. You can't just drag a dead person out of the coffin and dispose of him, right?

Yang Sichang was in trouble, let alone the two of them? They had been in the position of Shangshu for a long time, and they could not escape this responsibility.

Moreover, Zhu Shenzhui only demoted them from Shangshu to Youshilang, which was considered as a leniency. It was not that Zhu Shenzhui did not want to directly dismiss them all and bring them down to dust. If he could do this, Zhu Shenzhui would have done it long ago. The reason why he only dealt with them in this way was that Zhu Shenzhui considered the stability of the court on the one hand, and worried that if the action was too big, it would cause a strong backlash from the Donglin Party and others. Therefore, this treatment was the most appropriate from a practical point of view. It not only directly deprived them of their real power, but also left some face for the Donglin Party, and took this opportunity to promote useful officials. As for the Censorate, it goes without saying that Deputy Censor-in-Chief Fang Kezhuang was also demoted two levels. His position was taken over by Zhang Ruitu, the former Minister of Rites and Grand Secretary of the Eastern Pavilion. Zhang Ruitu was a famous Confucian official who had served as an important official in the Tianqi Dynasty and the early Chongzhen Dynasty. However, because he was somewhat close to Wei Zhongxian at that time, when Emperor Chongzhen was cleaning up the "eunuch party", Zhang Ruitu displeased Emperor Chongzhen because of the list of imperial examination admissions. Coupled with the outbreak of the Wei Zhongxian case, Zhang Ruitu was eventually expelled from the capital and returned to his hometown to retire.

After returning to his hometown, Zhang Ruitu gained a great reputation in the local area, and his books and articles were widely praised. In terms of qualifications and fame, Zhang Ruitu could easily become a deputy censor-in-chief, let alone be reinstated to Beijing as the chief minister. This time, Zhu Shenzhu chose Zhang Ruitu as the candidate to replace Fang Kezhuang. He not only wanted to borrow Zhang Ruitu's reputation, but also valued his political clarity and tact.

In addition to Zhang Ruitu, Zhu Shenzui also promoted another person. No one expected that this person was Qian Qianyi, who was driven out of the capital by Wen Tihen and Yang Sichang a few years ago.

Qian Qianyi was also a member of the Donglin Party, but he was more of a literati and had a great reputation in the literary world. During the Tianqi period, Qian Qianyi was the Minister of Rites. During the Chongzhen period, because he was competing with Yang Sichang for the position of Cabinet Elder, Qian Qianyi secretly instructed his disciples to impeach Yang Sichang in order to prevent the other party from competing with himself, thus creating a feud.

Afterwards, Yang Sichang and Wen Tihen joined forces. The two of them used some means to catch Qian Qianyi's handle and jointly expelled him on the grounds of Qian Qianyi's corruption and imperial examination cheating. If Qian Qianyi had not had a good relationship with Cao Huachun, and Cao Huachun had said a lot of good things about him in front of Emperor Chongzhen, Qian Qianyi might have been killed by Emperor Chongzhen.

In the end, Qian Qianyi was dismissed from his post and left Beijing. He went to Nanjing and left the central government. As soon as Qian Qianyi left, Wen Tihen and Yang Sichang, who had just been allies, started fighting each other. In the end, Yang Sichang was unable to defeat the more insidious Wen Tihen and was driven out of the cabinet by Wen Tihen. Thus, the cabinet entered the era of Wen Tihen.

Zhu Shenzhui's decision to employ Qian Qianyi this time was a well-considered one. He had long heard of Qian Qianyi, who was known as "a man of iron" and "a man of steel". Although Qian Qianyi was a leader in the literary world and a member of the Donglin Party, he was actually an egoist at heart. In other words, Qian Qianyi's identity as a Donglin Party member was not what outsiders imagined. For him, it was nothing more than political capital and a political tool. Such a person was actually a villain, and a villain who could be easily controlled. Coupled with his fame, it was most appropriate to put him in the Censorate.

In addition, Qian Qianyi's feud with Yang Sichang and Wen Tihen was well known to the world. If the latter had not joined forces, Qian Qianyi would not have been driven out of the capital. Recruiting him back now would also cause trouble for Yang Sichang and Wen Tihen, and use this as a warning to them. Therefore, while appointing Xu Xiancheng from Right Censor-in-Chief to Left Censor-in-Chief, Zhu Shenzhu directly reinstated Qian Qianyi to fill the vacancy of Right Censor-in-Chief and ordered him to return to Beijing as soon as possible.

Zhu Shenzhui announced the appointments in no time, and before anyone could react, he announced the end of the court meeting.

When Zhang Fengxiang, Fang Fengnian and Fang Kezhuang walked away with gloomy faces and staggering steps, Wen Tihen and Yang Sichang's faces also looked unhappy. The two of them secretly exchanged glances and saw helplessness and loss in each other's eyes.

After returning to the mansion, Wen Tiren locked himself in the study for a long time and did not come out. Although today's events did not involve Wen Tiren, and even the cabinet's responsibility was not mentioned at all, Wen Tiren felt an unprecedented crisis and fear.

The last time he had this feeling was when Zhu Shenzui led his troops into the capital. So much time has passed in the blink of an eye. As Wen Tiren's position as Prime Minister has become increasingly solid over the past two years, he has gradually forgotten all this.

But no one expected that Zhu Shenzhui would do such a thing in the court today. If others couldn't understand it, could Wen Tihen not understand it either?

What is the Jingcha? How was the Supervisory Office established? Who do Xu Xiancheng and Zhang Xijun work for? Who is behind the man who directly impeached three officials today? Wen Tiren has guessed all these.

The player of this chess game was none other than the Regent Zhu Shencui. He chose the best target at the best time and defeated the opponent in an instant. Before the court meeting today, Wen Tiren received the news that the Donglin Party was going to use the court meeting as an opportunity to stir up trouble with the Liaodong war. Originally, Wen Tiren was prepared to rescue Zhu Shencui directly as the Prime Minister if such a situation occurred, and use this attitude to ease the conflict and rift between him and Zhu Shencui due to the disagreement over insisting on using a civil servant as the commander-in-chief in reinforcing Liaodong.

But Wen Tiren didn't expect that before he could make a move, Zhu Shenzhu's men took action first. And if he didn't make a move, it would have been fine, but once he made a move, he hit the opponent's weak spot directly, not only directly killing the person arranged by the opponent in the court, but also taking advantage of the situation to demote Zhang Fengxiang, Fang Fengnian and Fang Kezhuang, and reinstated the two old guys Zhang Ruitu and Qian Qianyi.

What was the purpose of doing this? Wen Tiren knew it very well. This not only suppressed the momentum of the Donglin Party, but also gave them a strong handle to prevent them from making any rash moves. Now that the three men have been imprisoned, no one knows what they will confess next, and whether they will involve more people and bigger cases.

As long as Zhu Shenzhui was willing, he could take advantage of this opportunity to control all the civil and military officials in the court and open a major case. What's more, the Beijing inspection had just begun. Who could guarantee that this fire would not burn himself in the future?

As for punishing Yang Sichang, this was also a warning to Yang Sichang and Wen Tiren. When thinking of this result, Wen Tiren felt like sitting on pins and needles, as if a thorn in his back was in his side. Wen Tiren only then realized that Zhu Shenzhui's methods were cruel. Zhu Shenzhui was not Emperor Chongzhen, nor was he the previous Emperor Tianqi, and even Emperor Wanli was different. In Wen Tiren's opinion, the only person who had such methods and could do it without leaving any trace was Emperor Jiajing, who played his ministers in the palm of his hand. Compared with Emperor Jiajing, Zhu Shenzhui was much more powerful. Don't forget that this gentleman was a powerful monarch who held military power and could be compared with Emperor Taizu and Emperor Chengzu!
(End of this chapter)