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

Chapter 771: Persuading Again

"No way! If this goes on, without the emperor's favor, I will sooner or later meet a miserable end." The more he thought about it, the more frightened he became. Beads of sweat broke out on Wen Tiren's forehead. Although he did not love money, it was impossible to trouble him for corruption. The problem was that Wen Tiren loved power!
He had finally climbed to the position of Prime Minister, and now he was enjoying his job as Prime Minister. Compared with Emperor Chongzhen, Zhu Shenzhu was really willing to delegate power. The feeling of holding power was as intoxicating as fine wine. Isn't this what a real man lives for?
If he lost his power, Wen Tiren would rather die. Power and status were almost as important to him as life.

Thinking of the previous dispute, Wen Tiren finally realized what he had done wrong. Although Zhu Shenzui had not touched him yet, the current blow was real. If he continued to insist on his own way, the result would be predictable.

Thinking of this, Wen Tiren no longer hesitated. He immediately stood up, ground ink, picked up the pen, and wrote a memorial. After the memorial was finished, he read it over and over again, carefully modified a few words, and then copied it neatly before putting the copied memorial into an envelope.

"Someone come here!" Wen Tiren shouted.

As soon as he finished speaking, the servant guarding the door responded, "Master, do you want to eat?"

"What's the meal? Go and arrange the sedan chair. Come in and help me change my clothes. The master wants to go to the cabinet!"

"Master, it's getting dark soon. It's better to ..."

"Why are you talking so much nonsense? Don't you know the rules?" Wen Tiren scolded sternly.

The old servant dared not speak again and skillfully helped Wen Tiren change his clothes. After he put on his official uniform and black gauze cap, Wen Tiren put the memorial in his arms and walked out of the study. After a while, he left the mansion, sat on the prepared sedan chair, and headed towards the palace.

Half an hour later, Wen Tiren entered the palace. It would not be easy for an ordinary official to enter the palace, but Wen Tiren was different. He was the chief minister of the cabinet, and the cabinet office was located in the palace. Moreover, the cabinet has always had a duty system. Both the chief minister and the elders would be on duty in batches to ensure that there would be someone in the cabinet 24 hours a day.

When he arrived at the palace, he first went to the cabinet and greeted the elders who were on duty in the cabinet today. Then he looked at some reports received by the cabinet, went to his duty room and sat for a while, then picked up a report he had just found out, found an excuse for Liaodong military affairs, and went straight to Wenhua Hall to ask for an audience with Zhu Shencui.

In the Wenhua Hall, Zhu Shenzhui had just finished his dinner. As the regent, he was equivalent to the emperor, and his dining habits should be different from those of ordinary people.

Although the meals in the Ming Dynasty were far less complicated than the meals of the Qing emperors in history, where hundreds of dishes were served at one meal and one dish was randomly picked with chopsticks to taste, such meals looked good, but the actual taste was not good at all, because many dishes had lost their original flavor after being heated several times.

The last emperor Puyi said in his memoirs that the food in the palace was like chewing wax, which was not suitable for human consumption. But the problem was that this was the rule of the Qing Dynasty, which was set at the beginning of the Qing Dynasty. Even if the emperor didn't like it, there was nothing he could do. He had to bite the bullet and eat it.

Although the meal was not tasty and was extremely wasteful, the real purpose of doing so was not to show off the emperor's style, but to avoid poisoning.

The Qing emperors were more cautious about meals than any other emperor in history. This method was used to prevent people from poisoning food. Since there were hundreds of dishes at each meal, no matter how capable the poisoner was, it was impossible for him to poison so many dishes. In addition, each dish had to be tested for poison by a dedicated person, which completely avoided this situation.

But Zhu Shenzhui didn't do that. Such extravagance and waste were too much. The Ming Dynasty was in financial difficulties. If he did that every day, the food expenses alone would be a huge expense. How could Zhu Shenzhui spend the tight funds on this? Besides, he was only the regent now. Even if he was the emperor, he couldn't do that. If he did that just for food, the censors would scold him in the court.

Therefore, Zhu Shenzui's diet was very simple. His three meals a day were prepared in the small kitchen of Wenhua Hall. The cook was someone he could trust absolutely, and the meals were not complicated. There were usually only two or three dishes, both meat and vegetables, plus rice or noodles, which was no different from that of ordinary people.

After a simple meal, Zhu Shencui drank tea to digest the food and sat there thinking quietly. Just as he was thinking about something, someone suddenly came from outside and reported that Prime Minister Wen Tiren wanted to see him. Zhu Shencui didn't think much about it and asked someone to bring Wen Tiren in.

"Your servant Wen Tiren greets the Regent..." Wen Tiren entered the side hall and saluted Zhu Shenzui.

"It's getting dark, sir, why do you want to see me at this time?"

"Reporting to the Regent, I came here for the war in Liaodong. The cabinet just received the news from Liaodong. I know the Regent is concerned about Liaodong, so I dare not neglect it and specially ask to see the Regent." "Oh, what important news is there in Liaodong? Is there any unusual movement of Huang Taiji? Or other changes?" Hearing that it was related to Liaodong, Zhu Shenzhu hurriedly asked. Wen Tiren handed over the report from the cabinet. Zhu Shenzhu took it with one hand, opened it and started to read it, and did not forget to say to Wen Tiren, "Sir, please take a seat first."

Zhu Shenzhui flipped through the report and quickly finished reading its contents. He frowned slightly. He originally thought that the report was about something big, or that there were some major changes in the situation in Liaodong. However, he did not expect that after reading it from beginning to end, the contents were simply commonplace. It was nothing more than the current situation in Liaodong, the movements of various departments, and so on. This information was sent from Liaodong to the capital almost every day, and it could only be regarded as a normal report on Liaodong's dynamics.

Is it necessary for Wen Tiren, a prime minister, to solemnly ask for an audience and submit these things at this time? Did he read it too quickly and neglected some of the information in it? Zhu Shenzhui immediately read it again, and after reading it again, he found that there was indeed no difference, which made Zhu Shenzhui puzzled.

"What do you mean, sir?" Zhu Shenzhui threw the thing aside and asked Wen Tiren directly.

Wen Tiren was not panicked at all. He stood up and bowed to Zhu Shenzhui again, then took out another memorial from his arms: "Your Highness, I have another memorial!"

Looking at Wen Tiren, Zhu Shencui didn't understand what this old guy was up to. However, considering that he was the Prime Minister, Zhu Shencui didn't scold him. Instead, he motioned for him to present the memorial. After taking the memorial, Zhu Shencui opened it and when he saw what was written on it for the first time, his face suddenly changed and he sat up straight subconsciously.

Wen Tiren did not sit back, but stood aside with his hands hanging down. Zhu Shenzui looked intently at the memorial he presented. The more he looked, the weirder his expression became. After he finished reading, he closed the memorial, raised his eyes and looked at Wen Tiren again, with a half-smile on his lips.

"Why did the Prime Minister submit this memorial?"

"This memorial is written after careful consideration. Today, I dare to ask for the promotion of the Regent again!" Wen Tiren suddenly knelt down and said to Zhu Shenzhui in a serious tone: "Since the Regent took office, he has eliminated advantages and disadvantages, rectified the government, eliminated internal worries, resisted foreign enemies, carried out border trade, opened up sea trade, and reduced taxes. Our Ming Dynasty has made great progress, and politics has become increasingly stable. The people of the world are living and working in peace and contentment. The Regent's achievements are known to the world, and the Regent's talented ministers admire him even more..."

"As the Prime Minister, I assist the Regent in governing the country, and I can relate to the same feelings. With the Regent's ability, he should be promoted to the throne! A sage once said that the world's capable people should occupy the throne, and the Regent is popular, so why can't he go one step further? Every time I think of this, I worry about the Regent. I know the Regent's intention and he has no intention of replacing me, but I think the Regent is wrong to think so. As the saying goes, a name without right cannot make sense. As long as the Regent does not advance, the court will not be completely stable. What's more, the Regent is just a Regent after all!"

Wen Tiren's words were sincere and heartfelt, as if he would not give up until Zhu Shenzhu agreed to his request. And his words were not without reason. Although the government of the Ming Dynasty was now completely under the control of Zhu Shenzhu, Zhu Shenzhu was only the regent after all. He was still not worthy of the title of regent, and he was in charge of the government and the country with the power of a prince.

The northern provinces were better off, but the southern provinces always pretended to obey the central government, and the government's orders were not implemented smoothly. Even some officials in the court did not dare to criticize it on the surface, but they had objections in private. What was the reason? It was simply that Zhu Shenzhu was not the emperor, but only the regent.

As long as Zhu Shencui does not ascend the throne, his status and rights cannot be truly determined by ruling in the name of regent, because the emperor is still Chongzhen, and many things can change at any time without a legitimate reason. Those officials who have defected to Zhu Shencui will also develop estrangement over time. They think that if Zhu Shencui falls from the position of regent one day and Emperor Chongzhen reigns again, then none of them will have a good ending.

The only way to have no worries is to let Zhu Shencui take over as soon as possible. As long as Zhu Shencui ascends to the throne, everything will be settled. These people will have no worries at that time, and various places in the south will no longer have the idea of ​​​​playing both sides. With the throne in hand, everything will be legitimate and can never be changed.

It has to be said that what Wen Tiren wrote in the memorial, including what he said, moved Zhu Shenzhui very much, and Zhu Shenzhui also felt the problems that Wen Tiren reminded him of. After all, the regent is not the emperor, and as long as he does not ascend the throne, even if he controls the power, changes may occur.

Throughout the dynasties, there were many cases where ministers held power over the emperors, and there were countless cases where they controlled the world in the name of regent and treated the emperor as a puppet.

The more distant ones include Huo Guang, Wang Mang, Cao Cao, Sima Yi, Gao Cheng, Zhao Kuangyin, etc., and the more recent ones include Zhang Juzheng and Dorgon, who was known as the regent in history.

These people were in high positions and had great power. When they were at their peak, they were almost like emperors. However, except for a few of them who eventually replaced the emperors, the rest of them all ended up badly. Eventually, their families were implicated and they ended up dead and their families were wiped out. We must learn from the lessons of the past.

Although Zhu Shenzhui is now the regent, holding great power and controlling the government, this hidden danger cannot be eliminated as long as Emperor Chongzhen is in power. Wen Tiren is extremely smart. He knows that if he just persuades Zhu Shenzhui to ascend the throne, he will probably refuse again, but this time is different. Wen Tiren speaks directly and clearly, especially pointing out that if Zhu Shenzhui does not ascend the throne, the rule of the Ming Dynasty cannot be completely stabilized, leaving hidden dangers, and this problem must be solved as soon as possible.

(End of this chapter)