Fu Shanhe

Chapter 140 Party Struggle
“Godfather, yesterday His Majesty had a secret meeting with Yin Zhiming and Zuo Hongjiang in the palace.

During the conversation, I dismissed everyone, which might be disadvantageous to you."

Zuo Tianjun said in a low voice.

Ever since the death of Emperor Tianyuan, the eunuch party camp has fallen into panic.

After realizing the new emperor's attitude, many officials who had originally followed the eunuch party turned to the other seven ministers.

Even a large part of the power of the Imperial Household Department was divided up.

The new emperor, who was highly expected by the eunuchs, not only did not provide them with support, but instead seemed to be happy to see it happen.

Such changes made the core members of the eunuch party very anxious.

“Yin Zhiming and Zuo Hongjiang, these two losers, the emperor dares to use them.

It seems that the late emperor really misjudged the person this time!"

Zuo Guangen said indifferently.

The whole Dayu knew that Yin Zhiming and Zuo Hongjiang were the vanguards of the anti-eunuch movement.

The political signal sent by the new emperor's secret meeting with the two was too obvious.

Destined to stand on the opposite side, Zuo Guangen was too lazy to be polite.

What he couldn't understand was that he was the first among many ministers to defect.

Under normal circumstances, if the new emperor wanted to take power, he would definitely accept him as his henchman first.

Even if you dislike him, you have to wait until he takes power and then gradually marginalize him.

Because of his previous experience, the other seven ministers all behaved exceptionally coldly.

It’s not that everyone doesn’t want to be close to the emperor, but the ministers also want to save face.

If I surrender to the emperor and he refuses to accept me, I will lose face.

The only one who was able to put aside his pride and switch sides was Zuo Guangen.

If the new emperor wants to win over the other seven, he needs to show enough sincerity.

At least we need to give enough face so that everyone will cooperate and gradually transfer power.

Frankly speaking, these requirements are not high at all.

As a regent, he only asked for a dignified exit. Any other emperor would be overjoyed.

The new emperor seemed to be out of his mind and was unable to realize this.

The meetings were all so formulaic that the ministers had no idea what the emperor was thinking.

Without getting a definite answer, no one mentioned the transfer of power and the matter was delayed.

Anyway, there is still time before the emperor takes power. At worst, we can delay the transfer of power until after he takes power.

If everyone follows the normal procedures, there will be no loss.

Taking advantage of the opportunity of being in power, you can also place more of your own people in key positions.

Even when the emperor was in power, he was still an important political force in the court.

The younger brothers in the eunuch party camp were pulled away by other assistant ministers, which was to a certain extent a deliberate indulgence of Zuo Guangen.

The main reason was that they had wanted to surrender to the new emperor, but were worried that the new emperor would be wary of them, so they carried out a strategic retreat.

After all, the eunuch party at its peak was able to suppress the Qingliu Group.

He has political allies in both the cabinet and the six ministries.

No emperor would be able to sleep well if such power was not controlled by someone he completely trusted.

“Left Prime Minister, we cannot just sit there and wait for death.

If we continue like this, a new round of political storm will surely come to us!"

Pang Chengjie said indignantly.

If he hadn't been labeled too strongly as a eunuch, he would have wanted to change jobs.

Unfortunately, the most taboo in politics is to change one's mind frequently.

The petty officials below can sway this or that, and no one will care.

If a core member of the eunuch party like him dared to betray, Zuo Guangen would definitely not let him go.

"Don't call me Zuo Xiang, just call me Zuo Gonggong of the Za family.

In extraordinary times, don't give others any handle against you.

Yin Zhiming and Zuo Hongjiang have both entered Beijing, they must be coming for us.

Since Qingliu intends to start a war, then you don't have to be polite.

I remember that Yin and Zuo had many disciples in the court.

Send someone to keep an eye on them, and take action first against anyone who contacts them.

Things are different now than before. We cannot be so rough in doing things. We must take people down in a reasonable and fair manner.

I will discuss this with the other seven ministers. Compared to me, the eunuch, Yin Zhiming and Zuo Hongjiang are two idiots who can attract more hatred.

The Qingliu Party does not need so many leaders. If the new emperor wins them over, Pang Hengsheng and Xu Wenyue will not lean towards the new emperor.

Since the two of them advocated reducing arms, it was impossible for Jing Guoliang and Li Yuan to treat them well.

The other ministers were also scolded a lot in the past, and I don’t believe that they don’t feel jealous at all.”

Zuo Guangen said sarcastically.

The tense situation made him regain his rationality.

Yin Zhiming and Zuo Hongjiang's ability to attract hatred is not as exaggerated as he described, but it is true that they are unpopular.

No one wants to work with a troll.

If these two guys were really allowed to enter the court, no one would be at peace.

However, it is not so easy to kill two people.

Because they have been in the opposition for a long time, it is really difficult to find any evidence against Yin Zhiming and Zuo Hongjiang.

Just a few casual remarks are not enough to convict you.

This is an old account that Emperor Tianyuan had already dealt with back then, so it’s not appropriate to bring it up again.

According to the rules of the game, there is actually not much that people can do to target these two people.

If they had no support, Yin Zhiming and Zuo Hongjiang would not dare to enter Beijing at this time.

……

Yangzhou Camp.

"Sir, there has been some bad news in the court recently. The eunuch party and the Qingliu party have started fighting again."

Li Mu, who had just finished training the army and had just taken off his armor, received this bad news.

In his two lives, what he hated most was party strife.

This kind of political confrontation will eventually develop into opposition for the sake of opposition.

Everyone is busy with party struggles and no one has the mind to do anything, which is definitely a disaster for the country and the people.

"Mr. Lan, please tell me in detail.

What happened in Beijing caused these two gangs to fight again."

Li Mu asked curiously.

This is the era when eight great ministers coexist and power is balanced to this extent.

Under normal circumstances, the court should remain stable.

"Yin Zhiming and Zuo Hongjiang entered the capital and launched a campaign against the eunuchs.

Rumor has it that His Majesty is supporting this behind the scenes.

Now officials from both sides are engaged in verbal battles in the court every day.

Up to now, seven eunuch party officials have been brought down.

Even more members of the Qingliu Party were arrested, especially the students of Yin and Zuo, who were all caught in one fell swoop.

As the conflict expanded, other factions were slowly drawn in.

Your Majesty enjoys watching the fun and never minds the trouble. Several times when Lord Pang tried to suppress it, he sabotaged it.

There is chaos now, and there is a tendency for it to spread to other places.

Many officials from the Qingliu faction also joined the battlefield under pressure from public opinion.

The current situation is very unfavorable to the eunuch party."

Lan Linjie said calmly.

After following Li Mu for a year, he is no longer the young boy he used to be.

When looking at issues, there is no longer a black-and-white concept, and we no longer believe that the clear stream is necessarily correct.

"I remember that Elder Lu and Elder Shi had a good relationship with the eunuch party. Didn't they take action?"

Li Mu asked doubtfully.

It was inevitable that the eunuch party, which had lost the emperor's support, would be unable to defeat the upright party.

Dayu is not the Tang Dynasty, and the eunuchs' power is not rampant to the point of monopolizing power.

Although he seems to be in control of the Imperial Guards, if they want to kill someone, they must obtain the emperor's permission to achieve maximum lethality.

Otherwise, you have to follow the rules of the game and find evidence first before you can arrest someone.

Given the eunuch party’s current reputation, even if they had evidence, the outside world might not believe it.

The best way to control Dayu officials is to fight corruption.

If you investigate thoroughly, you will find that there are few honest people.

After fighting each other for so long, Qingliu is not a fool.

Everything that could be hidden was hidden, and the remaining wealth that was visible was difficult to prove a crime.

Take Li Mu himself as an example. All the money he earned was turned into an army.

Naturally, other officials also had corresponding means to gradually turn the shady money into clean assets.

In the past, the factory guards were able to reap continuous rewards by arresting people first and then looking for evidence.

Few people can withstand the severe torture in the imperial prison.

Even if the official does not explain, the housekeepers and servants who are in charge of the matter will explain the problem.

"My Lord, the two ministers have already cut ties with the eunuch party.

Judging from the intelligence collected so far, they are not bound by the eunuch party.

The so-called eunuch party members are actually mostly members of the Qingliu party, and this label was given to them in order to exclude dissidents. "

While he started to explain, Lan Linjie was secretly feeling fortunate.

Fortunately, he was just a small country gentleman and was not in the eyes of the Qingliu Group, so no one was willing to take him out to play.

If he really joins the Qingliu Group, he can enter the officialdom with the support of the party.

A small character like him with no background is the best cannon fodder in party struggles.

Although some people were sent to the imperial prison, they were quickly pulled out.

Some people died immediately after entering.

The so-called classmates and teachers, these relationships can only be used when the wind is favorable. When encountering unfavorable times, as long as they do not take advantage of you, they can be regarded as good teachers and friends.

"Pass the order down, all the generals in the Yangzhou camp are forbidden to discuss state affairs.

During the next period of time, I will be feeling unwell and will not be able to meet guests.

If someone from the government comes to visit you, find an excuse to decline the invitation!"

Li Mu gave the order decisively. If people are not in the capital, there will be trouble.

As a well-known middleman in the officialdom, as the party struggle escalates, family members will definitely ask him for help in rescuing people.

The situation in Beijing is constantly changing, and he won't be foolish enough to get involved if he can't figure out the specific circumstances.

In order to avoid being involved in the turmoil, Li Mu could only "get sick" strategically.

“My lord, I’m afraid you can’t avoid it.

According to convention, after the new emperor ascends the throne, officials from all over the country will take turns to visit Beijing to pay homage to the new emperor.

If nothing goes wrong, you will be in the second batch.

Even if the second batch is full, your name will definitely be among the third batch of officials coming to Beijing."

Lan Linjie reminded.

The order in which officials enter the capital also represents their status.

The first batch of people who came to Beijing were mainly governors and provincial governors from various places, as well as some generals with outstanding military achievements.

The second batch to arrive in Beijing were the provincial governors, provincial governors, and some powerful military generals above the third rank.

As the acting lieutenant general, Li Mu could be assigned to either the second or third batch.

The specific list will be determined by the Ministry of Rites and will be adjusted based on actual conditions.

For example, the fighting on the Liaodong front is so intense now that the person in charge certainly cannot be transferred away.

In the peaceful Yangzhou, there is obviously no reason to stay where you are.

"We can hide as long as we can. We will deal with other issues after we arrive in Beijing.

We need to keep a low profile when we go to Beijing this time.

The new king doesn’t like extravagance, so he arranged for someone to deliver the gifts in advance.”

Li Mu said with a slight displeasure.

Those who like local officials to come to Beijing the most are naturally the Beijing officials who hold real power.

Every time I go there, I offer a generous gift of respect.

People like Li Mu, who just went to Beijing to report on his work last year and have to go again this year, are definitely unlucky guys.

With so many government offices coming down, it would take several thousand taels of silver to keep them together.

Those who want to curry favor with officials or build connections will need to spend even more, and it will be easy for them to spend tens of thousands of taels.

……

In the capital, Yin Mansion.

“Brother Yin, the situation seems a little bad.

The momentum we created seemed to be very strong, but in fact it did not hit the eunuch party's lifeline.

The attitudes of the other ministers are even more worrying. They are implicitly resisting us.

Including Pang Hengsheng and Xu Wenyue, they clearly agreed, but in the end they just shouted a few slogans.

If we continue like this, I’m afraid this operation will end in failure again!”

Zuo Hongjiang said worriedly.

Anyone who has experienced political struggle knows that having a big momentum does not necessarily mean victory.

On the contrary, if the momentum is too loud, it will backfire on itself.

If it were another emperor, seeing the fighting power displayed by the Qingliu Group, he would probably have run to support the eunuch party long ago.

Although the new emperor still supported them, several other ministers began to have concerns about them.

I thought I could rely on justice to force Pang Hengsheng and Xu Wenyue to join the war, but these two guys just started to slack off.

The slogans were loud and clear, but when it came to actual actions, they fell silent.

Not only did he not take any action himself, he also brought his direct subordinates along to join in the fun.

It's not that they didn't take any action at all. The huge momentum created by the Qingliu Group was due to the efforts of these two people.

Without the approval of a powerful person, the two of them, just two rural wise men, could not organize so many people to fight against eunuchs.

But after Pang Hengsheng and Xu Wenyue made a lot of noise, they disappeared, pushing the two of them to the forefront.

It seems to be a beautiful scene, but in fact it is like dancing on the edge of a cliff.

If you are not careful, you will fall off the cliff and be smashed to pieces.

“There is no way, we overestimated your majesty’s power.

Who would have thought that those people wouldn't buy it!"

Deep down in his heart, Yin Zhiming couldn't help cursing.

I thought that bringing down the emperor and casting him into eunuchhood was a sure thing.

Who could have thought that after the emperor joined, they would be put at a disadvantage.

Not only did the new emperor have no direct descendants in the court, but his relationship with several regent ministers was also a mess.

A massive anti-eunuch movement was launched. In addition to the gathering of civilian supporters, most of the people in the court were shouting slogans.

Seeing that the eunuch party's wall was about to collapse, the people on the sidelines were still watching the excitement and refused to step forward to give it the final push.

After struggling for a while, they suddenly realized that their strength alone was not enough to push down the wall in front of them.

“Great loyalty seems like treachery!
Who would be willing to give up the power in order to become a regent?

As one of the eight great ministers, toppling Zuo Guangen was also a way to weaken the special status of the ministers.

It is normal for them not to help for their own interests.

I am afraid that they will collude with each other and try to control the government for a long time, which will cause great trouble!"

Zuo Hongjiang couldn't help but curse.

“It’s not enough to control the government.

The power among the eight of them was too dispersed, and their political views were too different privately, so they were simply unable to reach a unified position.

If we really were in collusion, you and I would have been thrown into prison long ago, and there might even be grass on our graves.

I guess it’s because of our relationship with His Majesty that they are jealous, and they want to use the eunuch party to prevent us from entering the court.

If we want to break their conspiracy, I'm afraid someone will have to sacrifice themselves now!"

Yin Zhiming said with a little embarrassment.

"What does Brother Yin mean?"

Zuo Hongjiang asked doubtfully.

In order to oppose eunuchs, the Qingliu Party has sacrificed many people.

If simply killing a few people could bring down political opponents, that would be no big deal.

“Our advantage lies in the local area, not in the court.

Without the support of the ministers, it would be impossible to overthrow the eunuch party by relying solely on political struggles in the court.

The only solution for now is to leverage our local advantages.

Get hold of the eunuch party's handle, create a bloody case that will shock the court and the country, and nail the eunuch party to death!

If the trouble is big enough, maybe even that old villain Pang Hengsheng can be kicked out of the court!"

Yin Zhiming said with a cruel heart.

It's not that he wants to cross the political bottom line, but given the current situation, he must resort to unconventional tactics in order to win.

"Brother Yin, you don't want to cause trouble on the Liaodong battlefield, do you?

This is not appropriate!

All parties in the court are watching, and if our people take action, it will be difficult to avoid leaving loopholes.

Once we find out, the first person to turn against us will be Your Majesty!"

Zuo Hongjiang shook his head hurriedly.

The Liaodong battle involves the destiny of the country. If they take action on it, they will be doomed once the news gets out.

"Brother Zuo, where are you thinking about?

How can I be such a person who doesn’t care about the consequences? "

Yin Zhiming's rebuttal had no effect.

Zuo Hongjiang's distrustful look directly explained the problem.

The two have known each other for more than 30 years and know each other too well.

"Cough cough..."

“Actually, I want to make a fuss about mining tax.

The eunuch party sent mining tax supervisors everywhere to collect money, which had long made the gentry restless.

It only takes a little spark to trigger a conflict.

It just so happens that the White Lotus Sect has been quite active recently. If we give it a little push, someone will go and detonate it.

They are just a group of cult members. Even if they rebel, they will not be able to achieve anything.

In order to shock the government and the public, Brother Zuo’s students who are working in Guangxi are needed to lend a hand.

When sending troops to suppress, don't act too quickly, and give things time to ferment!"

After coughing to cover up his embarrassment, Yin Zhiming directly dragged out the plan.

“If a rebellion had occurred in Guangxi, it would not be unacceptable.

But Brother Yin, how can you make sure that the situation is under our control?

What if the mess is too big to be cleaned up later? "

Zuo Hongjiang asked with a frown.

Theoretically, Guangxi is located in a remote area.

Even if chaos occurs, the damage caused to Dayu will be relatively small.

The problem is that there is an uneasy neighbor to the south of Guangxi.

If the imperial court failed to suppress the rebellion in time and allowed others to take advantage of the situation, it would have been a big trouble.

“Brother Zuo, we had no choice but to choose Guangxi.

Many of these provinces of the Dayu Dynasty cannot be touched.

Especially the provinces in the north, because of their support for the Nine-Frontier War, each province was under great pressure.

The people have accumulated too much grievance, and natural disasters have frequently occurred in recent years.

Once chaos breaks out, it will not be resolved in a short time.

The southeastern provinces are important financial and taxation centers, so no accidents can happen.

The situation in the southwest is slightly better.

But there has been a saying since ancient times that "Shu will be in chaos before the world is in chaos, and Shu will be in order after the world is in order."

No matter where the unrest happens in Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan, it will eventually spread to Sichuan.

If history repeats itself, there will be no way to end it! "

Yin Zhiming explained with an embarrassed look on his face.

The bottom line can be broken, but the risks must be taken into consideration.

Essentially, his goal is to gain power.

If the plan goes well, they will have to clean up the mess created by the current party struggles in the future.

(End of this chapter)