After the North Korean envoy left, Zhu Youzhen instructed Wang Chengen on the side: "Let the celebrant supervisor, the three banks, and the maritime association each send representatives to form a negotiation team to negotiate with the North Koreans." They were able to sign the right to issue banknotes in the territory of the Joseon Kingdom, the right to explore minerals north of the Han River, and the free trade agreement between the Ming Dynasty and the Joseon Kingdom. ”

Wang Chengen agreed, and said in a low voice: "Your Majesty, there seems to be some excitement outside the palace recently, and some officials seem to want to connect and ask the court to reward Mr. Sun on the grounds of rewarding military exploits. ”

Zhu Youzhen asked a few questions, and after understanding what had happened, he couldn't help but smile and said, "If they can use their energy to get down to business, maybe I will be much easier." ”

Wang Chengen was silent for a moment, and when he heard that the emperor didn't continue, he couldn't help but take the initiative to say, "Do you want to do something to sabotage their actions?" ”

Zhu Youzhen thought about it for a long time, and finally waved his hand and objected: "Ignore them first, and make suggestions to the imperial court, it was originally their power." We have just changed a number of officials, and we are taking this opportunity to see their character and political leanings, so that we can find someone to rely on. ”

Speaking of this, Chongzhen stopped thoughtfully, and came over for a while before continuing: "I think the finishing work over there in Zunhua is almost complete, let Mr. Sun arrange the rest of the work, and then return to the capital with the wartime base camp and the new army first." The Ministry of Internal Affairs, together with the General Staff, will prepare a triumphal ceremony to welcome our victorious division back to Beijing, and on the day of the triumphal ceremony, order all workshops in the capital to rest for a day..."

Huang Liji stood in the foyer inside the Qianqing Gate, waiting for the emperor's summons. After the Lantern Festival, this was the third time he had come to see the emperor, and the first two requests were stopped by Wang Chengen. It is said that the emperor is either by the side of the two new concubines these days, or he is accompanying the little princess and the little prince.

The emperor likes to stay in the harem and enjoy, and has no intention of paying attention to political affairs, if it was in the past, Huang Liji did not think it was a bad thing. For the bureaucrats of the Ming Dynasty, the ideal model of the imperial court they hoped for was similar to that of the temple.

The subjects of the world are pilgrims, and the emperor is the idol worshipped by the pilgrims, and the bureaucrats are the monks in the temple, and the cabinet is the presiding officer of the temple. Although the pilgrims worship the statues of the gods in the temple, the idols only need to enjoy the incense, and the affairs of the temple are naturally in charge of the hosts, and the incense oil money offered by the pilgrims is shared by the monks.

It should be said that in the first month of the third year of Chongzhen, this ideal of civil officials has almost been realized. However, Huang Liji, as the presiding officer, did not feel any joy, because he found that when the emperor really delegated power to himself, the officials who originally wanted to fight against the imperial power focused most of their attention on him.

Although the officials were quite unanimous in their stance on the power of the emperor to preside over the throne, it did not mean that they were willing to see him receive the fruits of this victory. Especially those Qingliu who claim to be righteous gentlemen think that people like Huang Liji, who have once taken refuge in the eunuch party, are not worthy of and cannot be the host of the temple of Daming.

Although the Qingliu people did not hold any power, their influence in public opinion and local areas had to force Huang Liji to rely on Chongzhen's support in order to barely sit in this presiding position.

Although the political reforms promoted by Huang Liji have allowed him to promote many of his own people. However, it is clear that the power of the individual cannot compete with the Qingliu official group linked by the academy and the literary society. In fact, after nearly two years of political reform after Chongzhen ascended the throne, the originally chaotic and unclear political pattern between the DPRK and China has begun to slowly evolve into four political factions.

Although the reformers represented by Hwang Li-ji were the smallest in number, they held most of the power in the DPRK. Then there are the former eunuch members who have no political leanings, but cling to Chongzhen's thighs, who are neither willing to follow the reformers such as Huang Liji, who betrayed the eunuchs, nor can they be tolerated by Qingliu, who can only retain their power by being effectively loyal to the emperor. The number of these officials is comparable to that of the reformers, but their power is much smaller, and they are mainly distributed among the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Transport and Construction.

Then there are the large number of Qingliu officials, and although Qingliu has always existed in the DPRK, the mainstream of Qingliu officials has changed dramatically. When Chongzhen first ascended the throne, most of the opinion leaders who led Qingliu were Donglin Party members who lost in the Apocalypse Party struggle.

However, these Donglin Party members, who were famous all over the world because of their struggle with the eunuch party, did not make any inspiring feats after returning to the court, nor did they clean up the treacherous evil in the court and regain the power to govern the government, but tacitly acquiesced in the eunuch remnants like Huang Liji to continue to preside over the overall situation, which undoubtedly made many scholars and doctors who regarded the Tianqi party struggle as a dispute between good and evil.

In the eyes of these scholars, the eunuchs who want to make money from them all day long are villains, so the Donglin party who fought against the eunuchs and failed is naturally a righteous man and a gentleman. Since Wei Zhongxian, Cui Chengxiu and other eunuch leaders were expelled from the capital, and Qian Qianyi, Yuan Keli, Liu Zongzhou, Sun Chengzong and other righteous gentlemen returned to the court, then it is natural that they should set aside the chaos and preside over the court and completely expel all the villains in the court from the court.

However, these well-known leaders of the Donglin Party actually gave up the struggle against these villains after returning to the court, which undoubtedly made many scholars who believed in the indiguration of good and evil dissatisfied. Originally, because of his hatred of the eunuchs, the sacred aura that blessed the Donglin party naturally faded.

At the end of the second year of Chongzhen, the Donglin Party members who had influenced the public opinion of Qingliu Shilin began to be slowly marginalized, and the Fushe scholars, who claimed to inherit the legacy of the gentlemen of Donglin, carried the banner of reviving retro learning and making those who are different from the sun useful; With the call of the political ideals of renting, abolishing the nationality, withdrawing the envoys, and stopping the chaotic government, he began to gather the public opinion of Qingliu and Shilin around him.

The last remaining officials in the DPRK and China have chosen the attitude of neutrality and riding the wall, and whoever speaks louder in the DPRK will fall to which side.

If it is said that when Chongzhen ascended the throne before, everyone did not understand the emperor's preferences, so they tolerated Huang Liji's stay in the cabinet as an excessive figure in the transfer of power between the old and the new.

Then by the end of Chongzhen's second year, everyone understood or thought they understood Chongzhen's preferences in employing people. Since promoting reform can win the emperor's support, many people believe that it is not very difficult to replace Huang Liji as the first assistant of the cabinet. As long as Huang Liji is brought down, they can also obey the emperor's orders to promote reform.

At the end of the second year of Chongzhen, the empty state of the treasury began to improve, and there was the victory won by the emperor to repel Houjin, which made the national situation of the Ming Dynasty seem to have a little sign of rising, which made many people's fame heart begin to move. After all, now taking over the position of the first assistant to the cabinet, there is a good chance to win the honor of a famous minister of Zhongxing.

As a result, some officials deliberately instigated public opinion, trying to force Huang Liji to fight against the emperor and weaken the power of the General Staff, so as to restore the original pattern of the Governor's Office and the Military Department of the Five Armies jointly ruling the Ming army.

Huang Liji was naturally unwilling to let a group of low-level officials kidnap him, and asked Chongzhen to knight Sun Chengzong, so as to cut off the thickest pillar of the General Staff and make himself an enemy of the General Staff. While pressing the letters of those officials, he asked to see Chongzhen several times, wanting to communicate with the emperor.

However, at such a critical moment, Chongzhen was actually infatuated with Xinna's concubine and newborn heir. As more and more books appeared on his desk, Huang Liji had to run to see the emperor for the third time.

He looked at the sealed wooden walls on the east and west sides of the foyer and knew that it was being remodeled as well. Except for an inner left door on the east side of the foyer, the remaining rooms are set up as the Imperial Secretariat, and on the west side of the foyer, except for the inner right door, the remaining rooms become the military and political office of the Imperial Liaison General Staff.

He stepped on the white marble floor under his feet, looked at the renovated rooms on both sides, and couldn't help but think about the impact of this newly established military and political office on the current court pattern.

Huang Liji had just made some gains, when he heard a sound of footsteps coming from inside the Qianqing Gate. He looked up and turned to see that Xu Guangqi and Lu Qi were walking up the steps of the white marble.

Huang Liji arched his hand at Xu Guangqi, and then pretended to be calm and asked Lu Qi: "Since Xu Shangshu has come out, does Your Majesty have time to see the ministers?" ”

Lu Qi glanced at Xu Guangqi and then at Huang Liji, then nodded and said, "Your Majesty has already decreed, please invite Huang Ge Lao to enter and see you." ”

After finishing speaking, Lu Qi bowed to Xu Guangqi and said, "Mr. Xu, please take care of yourself, the miscellaneous family wants to bring the old Huang Pavilion into the palace, so I won't delay Mr." ”

After Huang Liji said hello to Xu Guangqi, he grabbed the hem of the official robe and crossed the threshold and went towards the Qianqing Palace. Although Huang Liji thought about it for a long time in Qianqingmen, he also thought about how to open his mouth to Chongzhen. But after meeting the emperor, he changed his mind again, and just honestly told the facts, without exaggerating with oil and vinegar.

Zhu Youzhen looked through the music brought by Huang Liji, and couldn't help but smile and said: "... Impeachment of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for demolishing the palace wall outside the Chengtian Gate without authorization, and is suspected of changing the feng shui of the capital... Who's in this book? It's a waste for him to go to the street to criticize the hexagrams.

I request that the normal functions of the Governor's Office and the Military Department of the Five Armed Forces be restored, and that the Chief of the General Staff and the staff officers of the General Staff should be rotated with the officers of the Military Department, so as to prevent anyone from monopolizing military power and threatening Shenjing..."

After Zhu Youzhen finished reading it, he placed the piece on the table, then looked at Huang Liji and asked, "Mr. Huang is looking for me today, just for these things?" ”

Huang Liji smiled bitterly at Chongzhen and said: "Your Majesty has not seen the situation of the minister's room, hundreds of pieces are piled up there, and the minister is about to have no place to stand." Some people send three folds a day, talking about the content that the ministers have shown His Majesty. The minister has to ask His Majesty for an attitude, otherwise the minister will not be able to deal with these twists and turns.

In addition, now that the Lantern Festival has been over for a long time, His Majesty should also go out of the palace to see things. Whether it is a post-war reward or a reform of administrative divisions, His Majesty needs to preside over it..."