Although the controversy caused by the prince's education was quickly suppressed by Chongzhen's proper disposition, he also realized that the basis of party strife in the court had not disappeared. Although the struggle between these officials with different political views became less acute under the easing of the contradictions between the social classes after the Ming reforms, the contradictions between them did not disappear.

When confronted with issues like those that concern the vital interests of both parties, their butts are exposed. For example, in the matter of establishing a prince, the important thing is not the difference between the young and the old, nor the difference between the concubines, but what their opponents choose. Isn't this way of fighting for the sake of struggle the essence of party struggle?

Zhu Youzhen then pondered for a week in Xiyuan, and finally came to the conclusion that this party struggle was actually a form of bureaucracy. The unchecked power of officials has led bureaucrats to form small circles with each other, and these small circles exist to gain greater power. And the exclusivity of power makes it impossible for the bureaucratic circles vying for power to back down in the struggle, because it is a winner-takes-all game.

As a result, the officials in the circle can only give up right and wrong and only talk about their positions. Because those who win power are qualified to talk about ideals and right and wrong, while those who lose will lose everything. If he wants to eliminate bureaucracy, he naturally can't do it, but how to curb bureaucracy, Chongzhen knows a little bit about it, and it is nothing more than the introduction of social supervision.

After thinking about this, he summoned Choi Chengxiu. After completing the land restructuring in Hebei, Cui Chengxiu began the land restructuring work in Shanxi and Shandong for more than a year. Compared with Hebei's land reform, Shanxi and Shandong, which have been continuously suppressed by the imperial court and local forces, are obviously much more honest.

Therefore, after being summoned by the emperor, Cui Chengxiu reported on the land restructuring work of the two places, and finally concluded: "... Judging from the current progress, the land restructuring work in Shanxi and Shandong will be completed before the beginning of spring next year. Although the minister did not dare to say that the local people had their own land, the Haoqiang of the two places across the state and county had been basically cleaned up.

The minister thought that next year he could carry out land restructuring in the remaining areas of Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia and other places, and the gentry in these areas were even less powerful than other regions, and the minister expected that this work would be completed within a year next year..."

After listening to Cui Chengxiu's report, Zhu Youzhen pondered for a moment and said: "Cui Qing's work is still very effective, I have already read the population and land summary table submitted by the local county order, which is roughly the same as the content of your report today. However, I have summoned you today not to discuss the work of land reform, but to talk to you about another matter. ”

Cui Chengxiu immediately replied respectfully: "If Your Majesty has any orders, just come to me." The minister will definitely do his best for His Majesty. ”

Regarding Cui Chengxiu's performance, Zhu Youzhen only smiled slightly, and asked him straight to the point: "What do you think of the gentry meetings in various places?"

Cui Chengxiu thought carefully for a while before replying to the emperor: "The minister thinks that the gentry meeting has played some good roles at present, such as suppressing the illegal acts of local powerful forces and local officials. ”

Zhu Youzhen continued to ask interestingly: "What about the disadvantages? ”

Cui Chengxiu glanced at the emperor's expression, and then said carefully: "Although the gentry council can check and balance each other now, but after the ministers worry for a long time, these gentry reach a compromise, and then the gentry council will become a place for the local gentry to make profits and confront the central government." ”

Zhu Youzhen nodded and said, "You are right, after all, there are more common interests among the gentry than differences. I am also very worried about what you have said. Therefore, I plan to expand the gentry council and introduce more class representatives, so as to better represent the voices of all classes in the local area, and avoid the gentry council being dominated by a small number of people.

In addition, the expanded gentry council could be renamed the local council, and I hope that the council will not only continue to play the role that the gentry council has played in the past years, but also that the council will strengthen its responsibility for the supervision of officials in the future. Of course, if this matter starts with the imperial court, I am afraid that it will cause a backlash from the gentry everywhere, so I hope that you will promote this matter, what is your problem? ”

Cui Chengxiu thought for a while, and then asked the emperor, "Then how does Your Majesty plan to expand this parliamentary representative?" ”

For this point, Zhu Youzhen seems to have already thought about it, and he said confidently: "One-third of the deputies are appointed by the imperial court, and two-thirds of the deputies are elected by the local election committee, and the reform of the parliament will start from your hometown of Jizhou..."

When Cui Chengxiu left the palace, he felt a little proud in his heart. He could feel that he was returning to the center of power, and it was a pleasant experience.

After being summoned by the emperor, Gushi Khan hesitated for more than half a month, until he heard that the Chechen Khan Shuolei, one of the three Khans of Mobei, personally sent an envoy to the Ming Dynasty to pay tribute to the Ming Emperor, and he finally made a decision to bow his head to the emperor.

At the beginning of November, Chechen Khan Shuolei arrived in Beijing and presented the Jiubai tribute to the emperor on behalf of the Mobei tribes, which attracted the attention of the people of the whole city, and also made Gushi Khan finally convinced that the Mobei tribes did have the sincerity to defect to the Ming Dynasty this time. Gushi Khan was very puzzled, and he tried his best to finally inquire about the reason why the Mobei tribes would send Chechen Khan Shuoli to openly proclaim himself to the Ming Emperor.

In fact, Chechen Khan Shuolei surrendered to the Ming Dynasty on behalf of the Mobei tribes, which was really a last resort. Since Lin Dan Khan disappeared in the desert wilderness, the three Khalkha Mongol Khans have been infamous for colluding with the old enemies of the Jin Dynasty to murder the Mongol Khan, which put the three Khans in a morally disadvantageous position.

The Mongolian local council, which was changed from the Kuritai Congress, constantly criticized the three khans of Mobei, and relied on the orthodox position of Mongol in the Mongol tribes to preach the idea of resisting the three khans of Mobei among the Mobei tribes, and lured some tribes to the grasslands of Monan.

In addition to the Mongol local councils and the Ming caravans, the Khalkha Mongols also faced external threats from both the east and the west. One is the threat of Houjin in the east; The other is the threat of Oirat Mongols to the west.

The threat of the Houjin in the east was also easy to deal with, because the Houjin national strength was insufficient, so although the military was strong, it could not garrison the army in Mobei Mongolia for a long time. In the face of such an enemy, the Mongols are very experienced, but the enemy surrenders when he comes, and then rebels when he leaves, consuming the opponent's national strength on long-distance attacks, and finally dragging the opponent down.

However, the Oirat Mongols are different from the Houjin, the living habits, religious beliefs, language and culture of both sides are the same, once the Oirat Mongols gain the upper hand, they will definitely completely wipe out the Khalkha Mongols and turn them into their own tribes. Therefore, they treated the Houjin army and surrendered if they couldn't defeat it, but when they encountered the army of Oirat, these nobles of Mobei Mongolia would rather die in battle than surrender.

Originally, due to the rise of the Later Jin, the decline of the Chahar tribe, and the maneuvering of Gushi Khan, the contradictions between the Oirat Mongols and the Khalkha Mongols had been eased. However, with the detention of Gushi Khan by the Ming Dynasty and the death of the leader of the Dzungar tribe last year, Batur Huntaiji officially inherited the Dzungar tribe and received the title "Erdeni Batur" from the lamas, becoming the most powerful tribal leader of the four Oirats in one fell swoop.

Batur Huntaiji was a representative of expansionism among the Dzungar aristocracy, whether it was the Kazakhs, the old enemies of Oirat, the Russians, the new enemies, or the Khalkha Mongols, he advocated the use of force to solve the problem.

However, among the four Oirats, the Mongols of the other tribes were more in favor of Gushi Khan's ideas, and reconciled with the Khalkha Mongols, relieving Oirat's worries in order to deal with the Kazakhs and Russians with all their might. As for Gushi Khan himself, he had a further idea, annexed the Tibetan Plateau, personally mastered the source of the Mongol faith, and then used the power of religion to bring the Khalkha Mongols under the wing of Oirat.

However, after he was captured by the Ming, Batur Huntaiji united with his nephew to purge the forces supporting him in the four Oirats and changed his diplomatic strategy to use force to force the three Khalkha Mongol Khans who were suffering from internal and external difficulties to submit to the Oirat Mongols.

After Batur Huntaiji and his Dzungar troops defeated the Kazakh coalition at the end of last year, he was a little too superstitious about his own strength. And the anxious situation of the three Khans of the Khalkha Mongols also made Batur Huntaiji feel that as long as he exerted a little pressure, the three khans would have to surrender to him.

But what he didn't expect was that the pressure he exerted on the Three Khans pushed the Three Khans to make up their minds to throw themselves into the Ming Dynasty. This is not only because of the influence of the Ming caravans and the Mongol local councils among the Mobei tribes, but also because the Ming Dynasty completely occupied the Qinghai-Tibet region, and even the * lamas went to Beijing to meet the emperor.

The three Khans only discussed it for a while, and thought that it would be better to take advantage of the threat of war from the Oirats to run to the Ming to submit and ask for protection, at least they could use the trade of the Ming Kingdom and the influence of the * lama to eliminate the discontent within the tribe.

In the face of such a development of events, Gushi Khan could only remain silent. Without the mutual support of the Khalkha Mongols, the fragmented Oirats would not have been able to reunite the Mongol tribes. Coupled with the entry of the behemoth of the Ming Dynasty, no matter how talented Batur Huntaiji is, no matter how brave and good the soldiers of the Dzungar Department are, they will not be able to change the destruction of the Oirat Department who are outnumbered.

At such a moment, Gushi Khan could only think about the future of his own and Shuote tribes first. He accepted Chongzhen's suggestion in exchange for his own chance to return to the Heshute Ministry.

At the beginning of December, the anxious Gushi Khan gave up the opportunity to spend the New Year in the capital, and left the capital with his retinue and a group of guards arranged by the emperor beside him. Among this team of guards, there are Li Zicheng and others.