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

Chapter 791 Entering the King of Wu

The Donglin Party has always taken the world as its responsibility and praised itself as a clean and honest party.

If we cover up these people secretly and let it pass lightly, how will people in the world view the Donglin Party? And how will they view these clean officials?
If it came to this, then the Donglin Party's gorgeous outer robe would be directly stripped off, and who in the world would believe in the Donglin Party's tricks? Faced with such a situation, the Donglin Party leaders could only bite the bullet and try their best to "leniency" within the reasonable scope of the law, but this was not something they could decide, because Zhu Shenzhu not only pulled in the Donglin Party, but also other parties. The various parties and the Donglin Party had political struggles, so how could they watch the Donglin Party use such means?
Moreover, among the officials involved in the incident, there were not only members of the Donglin Party, but also members of other parties. How could people believe that one member of the Donglin Party was ruthless and impartial for the same crime, while the other member was lenient? Naturally, the other party members would not agree to this, so they had to keep an eye on the Donglin Party and not let them do anything secretly. As time went by, the conflict between the two sides became more and more intense, and in the end, everyone broke up. These officials were treated equally, strictly and quickly, and in the end, no one got away with it.

The Donglin Party was seriously damaged in this incident, and the other parties did not fare any better. On the contrary, although Zhu Shenzui did not take any action on the surface, he used various means to manipulate the situation with ease, won over many people from various parties, and thus strengthened his own strength.

In addition, with the end of the Liaodong war, Shandong was about to open to the sea, and other parties, including the Donglin Party, were also eager to see the opening of the sea.

You should know that Shanxi's border trade is now in full swing, and the border trade between the Ming Dynasty and Mongolia has been extremely profitable over the past year. Although the imperial court did not directly participate, but handed over the border trade rights to Shanxi merchants and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, everyone can see clearly how much silver the Shanxi merchants alone have earned from it. It is no exaggeration to describe it as a mountain of gold and a sea of ​​silver.

Once Shandong's maritime trade resumes, it will inevitably be another huge profit window. Moreover, those merchants who went to Shandong first because of the Liaodong war have already made money. Moreover, because these merchants tried their best to get sea ships and intervened in this matter first, among these merchants are not only northern merchants, but also southern merchants. When the news spread to the south, how could the southern merchants not be jealous?

Southern merchants knew very well how much profit maritime trade could bring. The fundamental purpose of merchants was to pursue profits, no matter what means they used or what the political representatives behind them thought. Because of various reasons before, Zhu Shenzhui could not control the South for the time being, and the merchants and gentry in the South had complicated feelings towards Zhu Shenzhui, and they were always on the sidelines or in a state of ambivalence.

However, as time went by, many situations in the north changed, especially after the border trade in Shanxi and the opening of the sea in Shandong, the mentality of merchants and gentry in the south also began to change. For them, who sat on the throne of the Ming Dynasty had no effect on them at all. The key was whether their own interests could be satisfied. Zhu Shenzhui's actions made them see opportunities. It was not impossible to make appropriate concessions or cooperation in the face of huge interests. This change in mentality also gave Zhu Shenzhui the opportunity to extend his tentacles to the south.

When Wen Tihen's people first proposed to ask Zhu Shencui to be promoted to the prince, many officials immediately stood up to express their agreement. Among these people, apart from those arranged by Wen Tihen, there were naturally many officials who supported Zhu Shencui, and even many nobles.

Zhu Shenzhui did a good job in the nobles. The position of the nobles in the court of the Ming Dynasty was very embarrassing after the Battle of Tumu. Although their status was not low, the power in their hands was greatly weakened, and they almost became decorations in the court. However, since Zhu Shenzhui became the regent, although he made substantial adjustments to the Beijing Camp, the Beijing Camp still exists in name, but in fact it is in name only. The control of the nobles in the Beijing Camp is the weakest since the founding of the Ming Dynasty. However, Zhu Shenzhui did not use this to suppress the nobles. Instead, he secretly supported the nobles, especially after the establishment of the Imperial Guards, allowing the children of the nobles to enter the military from the Imperial Guards, and the path of being sent out to lead troops, the nobles instantly became as excited as if they had been injected with chicken blood, and saw the hope of revival.

Compared with the civil service group, the nobles are much more reliable. After all, the nobles live and die with the country. If the Ming Dynasty is gone, their wealth and glory will also be gone. The nobles and the Ming Dynasty (the emperor) are actually tied together. This is completely different from the civil service group. The nobles can be won over, even if there are good and bad among them, but there are some talented people after all.

It is quite necessary to reuse and promote these talents to form an imperial party around oneself. Zhu Shenzhui is doing this now, and it has achieved certain results. As the nobles successively surrendered to him, Zhu Shenzhui's voice in the court became more and more powerful, which is why the nobles supported Zhu Shenzhui to become a prince.

Apart from these people, there were also some fence-sitters who were unwilling to lag behind and expressed their support immediately. Then, most people from various parties also expressed their agreement. Although there were still a few people who opposed it in their hearts, how could they dare to speak out in this situation? They could only watch this scene happen silently.

In the end, this matter was passed with Zhu Shenzhui "reluctantly", and the chief minister Wen Tiren proposed to promote him to the King of Wu.

When the title of King of Wu came out of Wen Tiren's mouth, everyone had nothing to say about Wen Tiren's shamelessness. Who doesn't know what the title of King of Wu means? This was the throne before Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang became emperor! Wen Tiren took the lead in persuading Zhu Shenzhu to be the King of Wu. Wasn't he afraid that he would be called a villain in the history books in the future? A traitor?
The problem is that Wen Tihen is not afraid at all. In his opinion, how history books will be written in the future is a matter for the future. What is most important now is to persuade him to ascend the throne. Moreover, history books are also written by people. Now these people call him a villain and a treacherous minister, but who can guarantee that there will be no changes in the future?
When Li Shimin launched the Xuanwu Gate coup, beheaded the crown prince Li Jiancheng, imprisoned his father Li Yuan, and directly seized the throne, he was later called a wise ruler. At that time, those who helped Li Shimin included Zhangsun Wuji, Yuchi Jingde and others. Among these people, except Hou Junji who died because of rebellion, which of the others did not also leave their names in history?

Li Shimin did such a great thing, which of the people around him was blamed? Wen Tiren knew very well what kind of person Zhu Shenzhu was. Compared with Emperor Chongzhen, Zhu Shenzhu was a true hero with great talent and strategy. In the future, when Zhu Shenzhu ascended the throne and ruled the world, the Ming Dynasty would be revived, and he would definitely be a wise ruler. How could he, who persuaded him to ascend the throne today, be a villain or a treacherous minister? He was obviously a great contributor to the revival of the Ming Dynasty!
Besides, what Wen Tiren pursued all his life was power. He had worked hard for decades to climb to the high position of Prime Minister. How could he fall from this position? If he lost the position of Prime Minister and was allowed to return to his hometown to retire, Wen Tiren might die of depression given his personality.

For the sake of power and status, Wen Tiren was determined to do it even if he had to bear the blame. Moreover, after the previous rescue of Jinzhou, Wen Tiren had already sensed Zhu Shenzhu's dissatisfaction and criticism towards him. If he did not do something to change Zhu Shenzhu's attitude towards him this time, he would definitely not have a good ending. The promotion to King of Wu was thus decided, but the subsequent procedures still had to be followed.

Zhu Shenzhu was the regent, and the imperial seal was in his hands. It was easy for him to become the King of Wu. He just needed to issue an edict in the name of Emperor Chongzhen and then have the cabinet approve it. Moreover, he was the chief of the clan affairs office, so it was very easy to do this. However, since he had to do it perfectly, Zhu Shenzhu sent the draft edict directly to the Qianqing Palace, and asked Emperor Chongzhen to review it and then stamp it with his private seal to ensure the rigor of the legal system.

Zhu Shenzhu did not show up in this matter, but sent Du Xun to make a trip. It is said that after Du Xun went there, he gave the imperial edict to Emperor Chongzhen. After reading the imperial edict, Emperor Chongzhen was so angry that he trembled all over and his face looked extremely ugly. Then he started cursing and kicked Du Xun, who was kneeling on the ground.

Zhu Shenzhui was really going too far. Not only did he promote him to the King of Wu, he also sent the imperial edict to him for his seal. This was simply a heart-breaking move!

The angry Emperor Chongzhen really wanted to burn the edict and fight to the death with Zhu Shenzhui. Even if he died, he would not let Zhu Shenzhui have an easy life. Don't you want to be the King of Wu? Well, I will die in front of you. You don't have to be the King of Wu anymore. You can just be the Emperor.

But at this time, Du Xun said something to Emperor Chongzhen, which calmed the furious Emperor Chongzhen. He stopped what he was doing, stared blankly at the edict in his hand, his face turned red and blue, and finally he sighed helplessly, and two lines of tears fell.

A few days later, Zhu Shenzhui was officially promoted to King of Wu. The throne of King Wu was the head of all kings and was also the title of Taizu. Becoming the King of Wu meant that the last step was not far away.

Everyone in the world understands this, and it won't be long before Emperor Chongzhen abdicates.

In the Wenhua Hall, Zhu Shenzui, who had just been promoted to King of Wu, was meeting a minister. This minister was none other than Qian Qianyi, who had just arrived in the capital a few days ago.

This was the first time Zhu Shencui had met Qian Qianyi, but he had heard of his great name for a long time. Previously, because of the Beijing inspection, Zhu Shencui took the opportunity to crack down on the Donglin Party members in the court and adjusted the structure of the court. Among them, two people were re-instated, one was Zhang Ruitu and the other was Qian Qianyi.

Qian Qianyi could be regarded as a big shot of the Donglin Party. He was driven out of the capital by Wen Tihen and Yang Sichang because of political struggles. This time, Qian Qianyi was reinstated and called back to Beijing to serve as the Right Censor-in-Chief. The purpose was to appease the Donglin Party that had been hit hard and stabilize the government.

In addition, Qian Qianyi had a grudge against Wen Tihen and Yang Sichang. The purpose of bringing him back was also to add insult to injury, to let him contain Wen Tihen and Yang Sichang and take the opportunity to hit the other side.

Compared with other Donglin Party members, Qian Qianyi was much easier to deal with despite his great fame and seniority. Zhu Shenzui, who knew Qian Qianyi's character well, felt that it would be more appropriate to place him in the capital rather than in a local area.

Looking at Qian Qianyi in front of him, the thoughts in his mind gradually overlapped with those in the history book "the water is too cold and my scalp itches". I have to admit that Qian Qianyi is handsome, graceful, and has a good appearance. He is a standard old handsome man. He is worthy of being the one who can outshine the other and bring Liu Rushi, known as the leader of the Eight Beauties of Qinhuai, into his mansion!

(End of this chapter)