December 8, 11th year of Chongzhen. （）

The news of the evacuation of the Golden Tartars from Gubeikou under the leadership of Dolgon reached the Forbidden City.

Qianqing Palace, the eunuch Wang Chengen, the eunuch of the ceremonial eunuch, the eunuch of the ceremonial eunuch Jingying Cao Huachun, the eunuch of the ceremonial eunuch Dongchang Admiral Wang Dehua, the eunuch of the ceremonial eunuch Gao Qiqian and others are all here.

This lineup makes people feel strange, you must know that eunuchs rarely come to the Qianqing Palace en masse, the Qianqing Palace is a place where the emperor and the ministers of the court discuss matters and deal with daily government affairs, unless it is the Bingbi eunuch who follows the emperor's side, or the eunuch with the palm print, other eunuchs will not come to the Qianqing Palace easily.

However, this time it was Zhu Youzhen who specially summoned these eunuchs to the Qianqing Palace.

Zhu Youzhen was very disappointed in the cabinet, Zhang Zhifa, the first assistant of the cabinet, lacked the ability to make constant decisions, and was bent on being a peacemaker, which led to a lot of political affairs being delayed, and today's cabinet is quite like a plate of loose sand.

Zhu Youzhen doesn't want the civil and military ministers under his command to be close, but he doesn't want mediocre people to be full of mediocre people in the court, especially in the cabinet, which is very fatal.

At this time, Zhu Youzhen is a little nostalgic for the former cabinet chief assistant Wen Tiren and the former former cabinet chief assistant Zhou Yanru, no matter what the defects of these two people are, they can handle government affairs very well, small things are completely handled in the cabinet, and major things will be voted on, which allows Zhu Youzhen to consider big things with peace of mind, you must know that no one is perfect, and everyone has shortcomings.

The cabinet is scattered, even more unfavorable, the Donglin party represented by Qian Shisheng, gradually expanded the power of the Donglin party within the imperial court, some time ago Qian Shisheng even proposed that the imperial court should enable Qian Qianyi, headed by the cabinet deputy Zhang Fengyi, can be called the army faction, focusing on promoting officials in the army, the cabinet first assistant Zhang Zhifa is a peacemaker, although there is no sign of forming a party for personal gain. But almost everything was not handled well, among the other cabinet ministers, Yang Sichang was loyal to the emperor, Huang Shijun gradually favored Qian Shisheng, He Fengsheng preferred Zhang Fengyi, and Kong Zhenyuan remained neutral.

The Zhejiang Party, represented by Wen Tiren, was dismissed as the first assistant of the cabinet after Wen Tiren was dismissed. suffered a heavy blow, even after Wen Tiren died of illness. The Zhejiang Party is in a state of leaderlessness and cannot be called a force.

Zhu Youzhen is very aware of these situations, and he also knows that many ministers in the court are racking their brains for their own interests, but they do not take the affairs of the court to heart.

After the world grew up, Zhu Youzhen lost confidence in too many ministers of the DPRK and China, and he began to trust the eunuchs around him.

Perhaps at this time, Zhu Youzhen understood why his brother Emperor Tianqi trusted Wei Zhongxian and let Wei Zhongxian handle a lot of government affairs. Zhu Youzhen understands even more that the real family members are the eunuchs around him, they are the servants of the royal family, they rely on the royal family, and they will be loyal all their lives.

This is too ironic, in the first year of Chongzhen, Zhu Youzhen severely punished Wei Zhongxian. Completely overthrew the so-called eunuchs, at that time the prison in the army was withdrawn, and the cabinet of the imperial court discussed and made a decision, but in the fourth year of Chongzhen, out of distrust and disappointment with the ministers of the court, Zhu Youzhen began to give eunuch duties again.

Zhu Youzhen entered the Qianqing Palace. All the eunuchs knelt down.

After everyone got up, Zhu Youzhen spoke with a serious face.

"You are all the people around me, and you are also the people I trust the most, I hope you can help me to govern the country, although the Houjin Tartars have been evacuated, but there are many problems left, I have been thinking hard these days. I can't make up my mind, and I hope you can come up with a good solution. ”

The things that the emperor needs to think about hard must be a major problem, and if he does not consult with the cabinet ministers, he asks the eunuchs to propose a solution, and others must be yes, but everyone knows that if the emperor relies on such means and methods to deal with the government, there will definitely be a big problem.

"The first thing, who will be the first assistant of the cabinet, Zhang Zhifa's ability, if I continue to let Zhang Zhifa serve as the first assistant of the cabinet, I am afraid that the court will make a mess, and I will clean up the trouble when the time comes."

After Zhu Youzhen raised this question, the rest of them were Wang Chengen, and now Wang Chengen is the highest status among all the eunuchs and the most trusted by the emperor.

These eunuchs have been by the emperor's side for many years, and they still know the emperor's temper and temperament, although the emperor has shown the greatest trust and asked them for their opinions on major matters in the court, but they also need to be conscious and not to talk nonsense.

Wang Chengen groaned slightly, following the emperor every day, he knew what the emperor was thinking.

"The slave recommended Zhou Yanru to be the first assistant of the cabinet."

After Wang Chengen said this, Wang Dehua, the commander of Dongchang, couldn't help but speak.

"Princess, the relationship between Zhou Yanru and Zheng Xunrui is not ordinary, Zhou Yanru's daughter Zhou Bingyan married Zheng Xunrui's younger brother Zheng Kaihua, this is an in-law relationship, if Zhou Yanru is allowed to serve as the first assistant of the cabinet, wouldn't Zheng Xunrui's strength be even stronger, the emperor, the slave maid thinks this is not good."

Zhu Youzhen Wang Chengen, a faint smile appeared on his face.

"Admiral Wang, what you said is right, Zhou Yanru and Zheng Xunrui do have a certain kinship, and there are some connections between Zhou Yanru and Zheng Xunrui, after Zheng Xunrui became the governor of Caoyun, Zhou Yanru even visited in person, and it is precisely because of this that the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty think that the relationship between Zhou Yanru and Zheng Xunrui is very good, in fact, Dongchang once specialized in investigation, Zhou Yanru only visited Zheng Xunrui once, Zheng Xunrui served as the governor of Caoyun for nearly three years, what can a contact say."

Wang Chengen's gaze became deep.

"Your Majesty, the slave maid can guarantee that after Zhou Yanru becomes the first assistant of the cabinet, he must be loyal to the emperor, and the slave and maid even think that Zhou Yanru can use the identity of the first assistant of the cabinet to limit the expansion of Zheng Xunrui's strength, while Zheng Xunrui is not good at speaking out, so he can only endure it silently."

When Wang Chengen said this, everyone else understood the meaning, and the eunuch's mind was particularly sensitive and keen, and it was much more complicated than the others, and they quickly knew the mystery.

"Your Majesty, the slave thinks what the prince said is very reasonable."

Cao Huachun, who was the commander of the Jingying, immediately spoke.

Zhu Youzhen set his sights on Gao Qiqian.

Xiong Wencan was defeated, and Gao Qiqian not only did not get punished, but became a palm seal eunuch under the recommendation of Wang Chengen.

Gao Qiqian looked up and spoke.

"Your Majesty, the slave maid thinks that if Zhou Yanru wants to be the first assistant of the cabinet, he must first show his loyalty, and he must understand that he cannot protect Zheng Xunrui, only if Zhou Yanru understands this, what the prince said can be truly realized."

Zhu Youzhen nodded, in fact, he also knew that the few eunuchs in front of him were not of the same mind, each had their own interests, which was also unavoidable, but as long as these eunuchs were loyal, it was fine, as for whether they were united with each other, it was not a big deal.

The second thing is how to reward Zheng Xunrui and Zheng Jiajun.

In this expedition, Zheng Xunrui and Zheng Jiajun have made great contributions, it is unjustifiable that the court has no reward, but the reward is too great, Zhu Youzhen's heart is not comfortable, and several eunuchs in front of him know that he Zhu Youzhen already has a deep wariness of Zheng Xunrui, and the Zheng family army under Zheng Xunrui is too strong.

It was still Wang Chengen who spoke first.

"Your Majesty, the slave maid thinks that it is enough to entitle Zheng Xunrui as the crown prince, and as for the Zheng family, it is enough to reward a certain amount of silver."

The crown prince Taibao is from the rank of a product, but this is just a false name, without any power, in the final analysis, it is more expensive, the identity is more noble, and it is an honorary position, such a reward does not have much practical significance for Zheng Xunrui, but it can be regarded as affirming Zheng Xunrui's merits.

After Wang Chengen put forward this suggestion, everyone agreed.

Finally, Zhu Youzhen said the most critical matter, how to limit Zheng Xunrui's power, which is the problem he is most concerned about and the problem that needs to be solved urgently.

Zheng Jiajun is stationed in Huai'an, Shaanxi and Fuzhou and other places, the control of the area is very large, from the actual situation, the imperial court is not afraid to make adjustments, Shaanxi is the nest of the Liukou, once the Zheng Jiajun evacuates, it is very likely to let the Liukou run back, then the problem is big, Fuzhou and Gaizhou Haizhou and Yaozhou and other places confront, Gaizhou and other places are controlled by the Houjin Tartars, only let the Zheng Jiajun stationed here, in order to ensure the stability of this place, so that the Houjin Emperor Taiji is not peaceful.

As for Huai'an, the Wei Cao soldiers have been withdrawn, and their tasks are in charge of the Zheng family's army, and it is also necessary to garrison troops.

Based on these reasons, the third question raised by Zhu Youzhen fell into a blind spot, and he did not say that he could think of a better way.

Wang Chengen spoke, he thought that such a thing could not be rushed, it was necessary to come step by step, first let Zhou Yanru become the first assistant of the cabinet, restrict Zheng Xunrui from all aspects, and then let the conflict between the Donglin party and Zheng Xunrui break out, let them fight openly and secretly, weaken each other's strength, and finally wait until Zheng Xunrui's strength is weakened, and the imperial court can directly control the Zheng family's army.

No one has mentioned the idea of doing it now, Zheng Xunrui's strength is too strong, if he thinks about his plot when he arrives in the capital, I am afraid that the Ming Dynasty will not be able to keep it, and once the Zheng family army rebels, the consequences are unimaginable.

Zhu Youzhen is most concerned about how to limit and weaken Zheng Xunrui's strength, but he is the most dissatisfied with the discussion of this issue, and Zhu Youzhen, who listened to everyone, had to agree, after all, from the actual situation, the time is not yet ripe to limit and weaken Zheng Xunrui's strength. (To be continued.) If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for the recommendation ticket, your support is my biggest motivation. )