My eunuch godfather

Besides his black tea business, Zhang Kun also plans to open a branch of Guangwenhao in Nanjing.

The Nanjing Guangwen Publication Bureau did not publish a Guangwen newspaper, but only a monthly Guangwen journal.

The content is selected from ten issues of the Guangwen Daily last month, excluding news and articles.

Through the Nanjing Guangwenhao, Zhang Kun will continue to hold poetry gatherings, literary gatherings, opera gatherings, and novel gatherings in the form of Jinyunhui.

The frequency will not be as high as it is now, almost daily, but rather twice a month for each type.

The investment will not be as high as it is now, but will be divided into several levels according to the type:

The first category is the literary gathering, where scholars and intellectuals write their articles before coming over.

The show was hosted by Wang Wei, a top-tier celebrity who was packaged as a "beautiful scholar," and the investment was the highest.

The second and third categories are poetry gatherings, where participants are given various topics and must compose poems on the spot.

The topics are given in advance and hosted by Wang Wei, or by top talents such as Zheng Tuoniang, Ma Ruyu, and Zhu Wuxia.

The questions for the following episodes are not given in advance and are hosted by popular actresses such as Xu Fo and Yang Wan.

The fourth category is for opera and novel writing sessions, where participants also write their works before coming.

Hosted by popular young actresses such as Lin Tiansu, Wang Yuesheng, and Li Zhenli, with minimal investment.

These gatherings serve as a platform to promote various products or conduct other forms of advertising.

Zhang Kun engaged in various businesses, and the Southern Zhili and Zhejiang provinces in the Jiangnan region were very important markets, and they became increasingly important over time.

The north suffers more disasters, there are more and more civil uprisings, and it will become increasingly difficult to do business.

On the other hand, it can continuously channel benefits into the literary circles of Jiangnan, recruit talents willing to cooperate, and achieve mutual benefit.

They tried to win over factions such as the Donglin Party, the Zhejiang Party/Eunuch Party, the Kun Party, and the Xuan Party, especially the Donglin Party.

Zhang Kun had limited knowledge of the history of the late Ming Dynasty, but he did know about what happened after the death of the Wanli Emperor.

During the Taichang and early Tianqi periods, the Donglin Party enjoyed a period of great prosperity and influence, with "a multitude of upright officials filling the court."

After suffering a severe blow from Wei Zhongxian, it revived during the Chongzhen era and remained one of the largest factions in the late Ming Dynasty.

Although the Donglin Party was not as regionally focused as other political parties, most of its members were still from the Jiangnan region.

According to the "Donglin Ancestral Homes", there were 43 people from Southern Zhili in Jiangnan, 16 from Jiangxi, and 11 from Zhejiang.

There were 20 people from Hubei and Hunan in the central region, 18 from Shaanxi, 15 from Shanxi, and 13 from Shandong in the north, all of whom had more than ten people.

Moreover, the capital inspection in the 45th year of the Wanli reign had already concluded.

Before and after this inspection in Beijing, the Qi, Chu, and Zhe parties could be said to have tried to exterminate the Donglin Party!

Even before the capital examination, the Shen Tonghe cheating case last year forced Wu Daonan, the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet who was in charge of the imperial examination, to submit a memorial to plead guilty.

The Qi, Chu, and Zhe factions seized this opportunity and arranged for two censors from the Censorate to repeatedly submit memorials impeaching Wu Daonan.

There was also a supervising secretary of the Ministry of Works who had a past grudge against Wu Daonan, who instructed the imperial inspector of Henan.

The story tells of how, during the Shunzhi provincial examination in the 34th year of the Wanli reign (1665), the fourth-place candidate was exiled because he was illiterate.

The matter was brought up again, along with the Shen Tonghe cheating case, to attack Wu Daonan.

Sensing the impending factional strife, the Wanli Emperor temporarily halted his inaction and began to slap the situation in the face:

The supervising secretary of the Ministry of Works was sent to Guizhou, and the imperial inspector of Henan and two censors of the Censorate were fined half a year's salary.

Shen Congzhe, the Grand Secretary and leader of the Zhejiang Party, immediately submitted a memorial to plead for leniency for the engineering official who had been demoted to Guizhou!

Subsequently, several officials from the Censorate submitted memorials pleading for leniency, but Emperor Wanli kept them in the archives without issuing any replies.

Wu Daonan witnessed the strength of the Qi, Chu, and Zhe factions and realized their determination to eliminate him.

He secluded himself at home and repeatedly submitted memorials requesting to resign.

In fact, Shen Congzhe, who held sole control of the cabinet, planned to use the Beijing inspection in the 45th year of the Wanli reign to completely expel the Donglin Party.

However, starting from the eleventh day of the first lunar month, Shen Congzhe's memorial requesting the initiation of the capital inspection was kept secret by the Wanli Emperor.

It's important to understand that leaving a message unsaid and not responding are two different things:

The latter involves following the normal procedures, but the emperor does not want to adopt the cabinet's proposal or issue an order.

The former was intercepted by the emperor, who directly interrupted the process and did not send it to the cabinet for review, thus making the memorial "disappear".

Clearly, the Wanli Emperor was trying to stop the Qi, Chu, and Zhe factions from launching an offensive against the Donglin Party.

However, the Qi, Chu, and Zhe parties, without obtaining approval, forcibly launched the Beijing Inspection on the eighth day of the third month!

Six members of the Donglin Party, including Ding Yuanjian, a principal of the Ministry of Rites, and Lu Dashou, a secretary in the Zhejiang Department of the Ministry of Revenue, were listed in the memorial for investigation and were dismissed.

Five days later, Sun Wei, Minister of War and concurrently Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, and Weng Zhengchun, Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel and concurrently Reader of the Hanlin Academy, were appointed.

Sun Shenxing, Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, and Qiao Yunsheng, Prefect of Shuntian Prefecture, were among those listed in the memorial for investigation.

Apart from Sun Wei, who was not heavily affiliated with the Donglin Party, the other six either returned to their hometowns to recuperate, remained idle despite holding official titles, or were dismissed from their posts.

At this point, the Donglin Party's influence in the government was almost completely wiped out.

Today, Gu Xiancheng of the Donglin Party is dead, and Zhao Nanxing and Zou Yuanbiao have been out of office for more than 20 years.

With Ye Xianggao retired, Li Sancai retired into seclusion, and Wu Daonan staying at home, it can be said that they are at an unprecedented low point.

For Zhang Kun, this was a perfect opportunity to gain experience from a previously untapped market.

Of course, Zhang Kun wasn't just targeting the Donglin Party; he also planned to target Wei Zhongxian's faction, hedging his bets on both sides.

At this time, Wei Zhongxian was still called Li Jinzhong, and he was preparing meals for Consort Wang, the concubine of Crown Prince Zhu Changluo.

No one could have imagined that this middle-aged eunuch, who was almost fifty and had not yet made a name for himself, would rise rapidly in just a few years.

He seized power and became the most powerful eunuch in the Ming Dynasty, without exception!

Wei Zhongxian was actually a simpleton.

The reason why Wei Zhongxian was able to seize power was because the Tianqi Emperor did not want to be in power.

Wang Tiqian, who was then in charge of the Directorate of Ceremonial, dared not take power, and the cabinet was unable to take power.

The Tianqi Emperor's policy of "lying down and doing nothing" was, in some ways, even more serious than that of the Wanli Emperor:

The Wanli Emperor held the seal firmly in his hand; if he didn't use it, neither could anyone else.

They would also be used in important matters such as war and factional disputes.

The Tianqi Emperor simply tossed the seal to the eunuch and said, "I'm going to have some fun. Don't bother me!"

Wang Tiqian was a scholar from the Imperial Academy, and having read many historical books, he knew what this seal meant and dared not accept it.

He who bears the shame of the nation is called the master of the state.

He who brings misfortune to the nation is the king of the world!

I am just a eunuch, and I cannot bear the weight of the two capitals and thirteen provincial administrations of the Ming Dynasty.

The cabinet was willing to take on the responsibility, but after Zhang Juzheng's disgrace, the Six Ministries, which had been suppressed by the cabinet for more than 60 years since Yang Tinghe, were suppressed.

They launched a counterattack against the cabinet, determined to reclaim the power that had been usurped. The cabinet struggle dragged on for a long time, making it difficult to produce a true leader.

Wei Zhongxian happily picked up the seal, became the vice emperor in a daze, and walked towards his demise in a daze.

Don't you even consider that the title of "Nine Thousand Years Old," second only to the Emperor, is so grand—are you really worthy of it?

The so-called eunuch party was actually the Donglin Party that "filled the court with righteousness" during the Taichang and early Tianqi periods, while other parties banded together for mutual support.

They formed an alliance, put Wei Zhongxian in charge, and then defeated the Donglin Party.

Of course, Zhang Kun doesn't need to think too much about these things four, five, or even eight or nine years from now.

Just keep investing, and one day these plans will bear fruit.