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

Chapter 826 Year Number
Qian Qianyi was indeed a useful guy. It was a right move to let him come to Beijing. If it weren't for Qian Qianyi, the plan to become emperor might have had to be delayed, or even had some setbacks.

As Qian Qianyi completely turned to Zhu Shenzhui, the Donglin Party could no longer unite and make trouble. You must know that Qian Qianyi had a very high status in the Donglin Party and was even known as the leader. His appeal was unmatched by others.

Although some people in the Donglin Party expressed opposition to this matter, and even accused Qian Qianyi of forgetting his original intention and fully siding with Zhu Shenzhu for the sake of fame and wealth, these accusations were nothing to Qian Qianyi. When it came to writing articles and speaking big truths, Qian Qianyi was never afraid of anyone. What's more, Qian Qianyi directly invoked the Donglin Party's original idea of ​​taking the world as its own responsibility, took the initiative from the moral high ground, and put big hats on him one after another, making it impossible for his opponents to do anything to him.

In addition to his identity, status and appeal, Qian Qianyi easily dealt with most of the Donglin Party. Moreover, many officials of the Donglin Party were not in the same mind as Fang Fengnian, Zhang Fengxiang, Fang Kezhuang and others. As early as the Tianqi period, the Tianqi Emperor almost destroyed the Donglin Party by using Wei Zhongxian. If the Tianqi Emperor had not died early, if he had been given another two or three years, the Donglin Party would probably have become the dust of history and ceased to exist.

Although the surviving Donglin Party members deceived Emperor Chongzhen after his death and made him give up his martial arts, they killed Wei Zhongxian first, and then eliminated Wei Zhongxian's followers in the name of cleaning up the eunuch party, and then restricted the power of Jinyiwei and Dongchang, thus turning the tide. However, after all, the destruction of the Donglin Party by Emperor Tianqi and Wei Zhongxian was too serious, especially the disappearance of Donglin backbones such as Yang Lian, Zuo Guangdou, Yuan Huazhong, Wei Dazhong, Zhou Chaorui, and Gu Dazhang, which led to a great loss of Donglin Party's strength and the lack of strong appeal figures in the Donglin Party.

Fang Fengnian, Zhang Fengxiang, Fang Kezhuang and others were not even on the list when the Donglin Party was at its peak. Even Qian Qianyi, now the leader of the Donglin Party, was just a cheerleader behind the six Donglin gentlemen. In addition, several Donglin leaders in the cabinet have either passed away or been sent back to their hometowns due to old age and illness. The current Donglin Party is in a state of transition and is no longer as strong as it was in the early years of the Tianqi period.

In addition to these reasons, Emperor Chongzhen came to his senses a few years after he ascended the throne and realized that he had been deceived by the Donglin Party, so he also adopted a policy of suppressing the Donglin Party. This was also one of the reasons why Qian Qianyi was expelled from the capital at that time.

If it was just Wen Tihen and Yang Sichang who joined forces, it would not be so easy for Qian Qianyi to be kicked out of the capital given his position in the Donglin Party. Emperor Chongzhen at that time was just going with the flow. Otherwise, how could he have just let Qian Qianyi live freely in Nanjing with just a word from Cao Huachun?

Looking at Qian Qianyi's excited expression, Zhu Shenzui also noticed the subtle changes in the expressions of Prime Minister Wen Tihen and Yang Sichang. He certainly understood the grudges between the three of them. He was also aware that Qian Qianyi had been in the limelight these days. Wen Tihen had felt the pressure, and Yang Sichang was also restless, especially after Qian Qianyi became the Minister of Rites, he was even more worried that he would enter the cabinet directly.

Once Qian Qianyi entered the cabinet, Wen Tihen's control over the cabinet would inevitably be weakened, and Yang Sichang would also be targeted by him. You have to know that it was they who joined forces to drive Qian Qianyi out of the capital.

Perhaps at this time, Wen Tiren and Yang Sichang were already thinking about whether to join forces again to prevent Qian Qianyi from joining the cabinet. And what they wanted was exactly what Zhu Shenzhu expected, or it could be said that all this was done deliberately by Zhu Shenzhu.

Qian Qianyi can be used, but he must not be used on a major basis. Firstly, he is the leader of the Donglin Party. Once he enters the cabinet, the Donglin Party's momentum will inevitably be greatly boosted, which is not a good thing for the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Shenzui never suppressed the Donglin Party openly, but he made many small moves in secret by relying on the Beijing Inspection System and other means. Before, officials from various factions in the court had been adjusted, and nearly half of them were from the Donglin Party. But under Zhu Shenzui's fair and open handling, the adjustment or even dismissal of these people could not be criticized at all, not to mention that other factions had to accept it, so what could the Donglin Party say?
Secondly, Qian Qianyi had the ability, but he was not good at governing the country, and he had no political vision. Qian Qianyi was very knowledgeable and had a high status among scholars, but he was not a practical person. The cabinet did not need such an official, and it was more appropriate to put him in the position of Minister of Rites. To put it bluntly, it was to let Qian Qianyi do more empty work and make the best use of his talents, which was also a good thing for Qian Qianyi.

In addition, Zhu Shenzhu used Qian Qianyi not only to divide the Donglin Party internally and win over the speculators in the Donglin Party for his own use, but also to deliberately enhance Qian Qianyi's status and position so that he could better influence the Donglin Party and avoid trouble from those in the Donglin Party.

Moreover, he put Qian Qianyi in the forefront and made gestures from time to time as if he would be given important positions, as if he would be able to enter the cabinet soon. This would also make Wen Tihen, Yang Sichang and others feel a sense of crisis. In this way, he could balance all parties, urge them to do good things for the country, and let them further rely on Zhu Shenzhui and get support from Zhu Shenzhui. This was his real purpose.

To put it bluntly, this is the method used by the emperor. The so-called "wisdom and power" of the superior is nothing more than how to use people, how to control subordinates and how to maintain the balance of power in all aspects. This is what Emperor Jiajing did back then. As an extremely smart man, Emperor Jiajing played the whole world in his hands with his own strength. Both the cabinet and the court officials were pawns in the hands of Emperor Jiajing.

Zhu Shenzhui did not want to become Jiajing, nor could he become Jiajing, but Jiajing's imperial methods were indeed worth learning, and he used Qian Qianyi for this reason. As long as Qian Qianyi was in the court, Wen Tiren and Yang Sichang would have a knife hanging over their heads. Zhu Shenzhui did not need to keep an eye on them, as Qian Qianyi would be eager to find faults with them. He praised Qian Qianyi in front of everyone with a pleasant face, and specifically mentioned that he should work hard and make good efforts, and that he could see his contributions. These words made Qian Qianyi smile in his heart, as if he had seen that the position of the Prime Minister was waving to him, and at the same time made Wen Tiren and Yang Sichang feel a great crisis.

After talking about the ceremony, Wen Tihen pointed out that he was about to ascend the throne, but the reign title had not yet been determined. It would not be possible to be an emperor without a reign title, so determining the reign title as soon as possible was the top priority.

Speaking of the reign title, Zhu Shenzhui also realized that this was indeed a serious matter. He couldn't use the reign title of Chongzhen after ascending the throne, right? A new reign title was indeed necessary before ascending the throne.

"Does the cabinet have any proposal?" Zhu Shenzhui asked.

"Your Majesty, the cabinet has discussed it and has initially selected ten reign titles for your Majesty's review. Please take a look." Wen Tiren took out a memorial that he had prepared long ago and handed it over. Zhu Shenzhui took it and opened it for a closer look. There were ten reign titles listed on the memorial. When his eyes fell on the first title, Zhu Shenzhui almost lost his guard. Fortunately, he didn't drink water, otherwise he would have spit out a mouthful of water.

"Who chose this era name for the Military Control Commission? What's its meaning?" Zhu Shenzhui asked, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, while pointing at the memorial.

"Your Majesty, this reign title was proposed by me." Deputy Minister Zhang Zhifa replied happily, "This reign title is derived from the reign title of Kublai Khan, the emperor of the Yuan Dynasty, which was called 'Zhongtong'. Kublai Khan ascended the throne and named the country Yuan. This reign title means the unification of China. The Yuan Dynasty destroyed the Song Dynasty and finally unified China, so this reign title is well deserved."

"I believe that Your Majesty started an uprising with the army and saved the Ming Dynasty from danger. You defeated the Jiannu in the north and pacified the bandits in the south. Your military achievements are unmatched among the emperors of all dynasties. Now that you have ascended the throne, the Jiannu are still there. With Your Majesty's ability, you will surely be able to defeat the Jiannu and revive the Ming Dynasty. For this reason, I have the audacity to propose this reign title of Juntong, imitating Kublai Khan's Zhongtong, and unifying the world again with military achievements. This is the best!"

Zhang Zhifa was very proud and shook his head as he spoke. His explanation made the others nod their heads repeatedly. They all felt that the reign title of the Military Control Commission was indeed good, not only appropriate but also auspicious.

The Ming Dynasty was founded by Zhu Yuanzhang, who overthrew the Yuan Dynasty. However, politically speaking, the Ming Dynasty inherited the Yuan Dynasty's foundation. Even Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang acknowledged that the Yuan Dynasty was the orthodox Chinese dynasty, and Kublai Khan, who founded the Yuan Dynasty, was also the emperor of China.

Moreover, the establishment of the Ming Dynasty was a continuation of the Yuan Dynasty. The name Ming Dynasty came from the Book of Changes, in which there is "Great is Qian Yuan, the source of all things, the great unity. Clouds move and rain falls, all things circulate. The beginning and end of the Ming Dynasty, six thrones are established in time, and sometimes they ride six dragons to control the sky." The first sentence refers to the Yuan Dynasty, and the last Ming Dynasty refers to the Ming Dynasty. From this point of view, Kublai Khan's reign title Zhongtong and Zhang Zhifa's reign title Juntong just correspond to each other and fit together. No wonder Wen Tihen also thought this reign title was good and put it first.

Zhu Shenzhui didn't know what to say after listening to Zhang Zhifa's explanation. If he were a person of this era, he might think that the reign title of "Jun Tong" was good, just like others. But the problem was that Zhu Shenzhu wanted to be an emperor, not "Boss Zhu"! What was the point of using the reign title of "Jun Tong"? Others thought it was good, but he felt awkward no matter how he looked at it. He could not get over the fact that he would be written as "Jun Tong Emperor" in history books.

But he couldn't say this, and couldn't explain it to others. And looking down from the Military Control Commission, the second one was Xuantong, which made Zhu Shenzhu speechless. What's wrong with the cabinet? It's either the Military Control Commission or Xuantong. Is it about the word "tong"? It's not possible without "tong"?
Zhu Shenzhui suppressed the urge to curse and continued reading. The following reign titles finally looked much more normal, namely "Yanyuan", "Jiaxiang", "Yongyuan", "Xingping", "Zhongyuan", "Tongguang", "Yongjian" and "Xianqian".

But after looking at them, Zhu Shenzhui felt that these reign titles were not very good, and he had no preference when asked to pick one from them.

(End of this chapter)