Became the first assistant of the cabinet, Qian Shisheng is ambitious, as the oldest minister in the cabinet, to be able to reach the position of the first assistant of the cabinet, it can be regarded as a complete merit, of course, Qian Shisheng understands very well, he, the first assistant of the cabinet, wants to live a peaceful and stable life, his responsibilities are completely different.

The Ming court is facing too many problems, the fall of Kaifeng Fucheng, so that many problems are directly exposed, for example, the arrears of taxes in various places are getting bigger and bigger, and the amount of silver that can be collected by the household department is constantly decreasing, including the richest Nanzhili and other places in the Ming Dynasty, because of Zheng Xunrui's insistence, the grain is offset by taxes, and the silver handed in is not much, not to mention the rest of the places, but the expenses of the imperial court are getting bigger and bigger, Liaodong and Liaobei need stability, and the need for defense after the Golden Tartar, and the military salary of the Shanhaiguan garrison is huge. In order to be able to exterminate the Liukou, the emperor and the imperial court levied and expropriated the salary, which made the burden of the common people more and more great, and the cost of exterminating the Liukou was even greater, often more than one million taels of silver.

However, the biggest problem facing the emperor and the imperial court is Zheng Xunrui and Zheng Jiajun.

Qian Shisheng's ability to serve as the first assistant to the cabinet has a lot to do with Zheng Xunrui.

The emperor regarded Zheng Xunrui and Zheng Jiajun as a thorn in the flesh, and wanted to get rid of them quickly, but unfortunately the strength of Zheng Xunrui and Zheng Jiajun was too strong, and the court did not dare to act rashly, and what was even worse was that the invasion of the Houjin Tartars and the rebellion of the rogues made the emperor and the court have no energy to deal with Zheng Xunrui and Zheng Jiajun at all.

Qian Shisheng became the first assistant of the cabinet to help the emperor solve this biggest problem, that is, to put the main energy on dealing with Zheng Xunrui and Zheng Jiajun. There was no upheaval, and as for the Houjin Tartars, it took longer to invade Liaodong and Liaobei.

After Qian Shisheng took office, the first thing was to rein in the power of the cabinet, and when Zhou Yanru served as the first assistant to the cabinet, the deputy cabinet assistant and the cabinet ministers all had the power to vote. And presiding over the cabinet to discuss major matters, is also rotated, whoever presides over a certain cabinet meeting, can vote on the matters discussed, so that the power of the cabinet chief assistant is greatly weakened, Qian Shisheng will not allow such a situation to occur, he specially wrote a note to the emperor, asking that the cabinet chief assistant preside over the cabinet to discuss many things, and the cabinet deputy assistant to assist.

The second thing Qian Shisheng did. It is to consolidate the foundation of the Donglin Party in the imperial court, in principle, the officials below the fifth grade, the cabinet consultation can basically be determined, the emperor's energy is limited, it is impossible to care about the appointment of all officials, it is very good to be able to grasp the appointment of officials above the fifth grade, Qian Shisheng in the cabinet for many years understands the mystery of this, so he skillfully uses the cabinet to discuss the appointment of officials. A large number of Donglin Party members were arranged to serve as officials of the seventh, eighth, and even ninth ranks.

Don't underestimate these low-level Beijing officials, they often do specific things. Familiar with government affairs, and have rich experience, basically the backbone of the department, these capable people around the around, there is enough strength.

The third thing is that Qian Shisheng clarified the strategy and tactics of exterminating the Liukou and defending the Houjin Tartars. With regard to the extermination of the rogue bandits, the operational arrangements set by the Ministry of War for ambushing on all sides and in four corners and six corners have been adhered to, but major changes have taken place in the specific implementation. From the rapid extermination of the Liukou, to the gradual blockade and weakening of the strength of the Liukou, and the final blow when the time is ripe, in terms of defending the Houjin Tartars, the main thing is to stabilize the Guanningjin defense line, abandon the idea of building Dalinghe City, and try to ensure the stability of Liaodong and Liaobei as much as possible.

Qian Shisheng's all the twists and turns, the emperor almost played, especially in the consolidation and concentration of cabinet power, perhaps the cabinet has had a long period of fluctuations, so that the emperor feels that if the cabinet can not be united, then it will not be able to do anything, maybe the master of ceremonies has slowly taken control of the power, has been able to limit the cabinet, and has become the emperor's main helper.

Of course, these twists and turns put forward by Qian Shisheng were all put forward under the condition of full consideration and speculation of the emperor's thoughts, and the imperial court was ready to put the main experience on dealing with Zheng Xunrui and Zheng Jiajun, and other aspects would naturally be weakened.

Donglin Party and Zheng Xunrui are mortal enemies, so in dealing with the calculation of Zheng Xunrui and Zheng Jiajun, Qian Shisheng spared no effort, Qian Shisheng is not stupid, he knows that the emperor uses the Donglin Party to play with Zheng Xunrui, he also knows that the strength of the Donglin Party is not as good as Zheng Xunrui, the consequence of this is that the Donglin Party people pay a heavy price, but as long as there is the support of the emperor, as long as the Donglin Party people can gradually gather together, accumulate enough strength, as long as they can gradually grasp the power, one day, The Donglin Party will have enough power to influence the imperial court, and their strength will even exceed that of Zheng Xunrui and Zheng Jiajun today.

If you want to take it, you must first deal with it, and Qian Shisheng, who is familiar with history books, understands this truth very well.

In order to be able to implement many things, Qian Shisheng is extremely busy, Hou Xun in the cabinet is his most powerful assistant, Huang Shijun, Kong Zhenyuan and He Fengsheng and others, see the current situation of the cabinet clearly, and gradually get closer to his side, as for the cabinet deputy Chen Xinjia, the main energy is still on the military department, which allows Qian Shisheng to quickly integrate the cabinet.

According to the rules, the total number of cabinet ministers should be on the scale of seven to nine, and now there are only six, at least one more person needs to be added, but Qian Shisheng temporarily suppressed this matter, the more cabinet members, the more decentralized the power, which is very unfavorable for him.

In terms of attitude towards the celebrant eunuch, Qian Shisheng was also very flexible, he quickly established a relationship with the chief eunuch Wang Chengen, and even put down his body to visit Wang Chengen, and also sent a generous gift, and Qian Shisheng also looked down on Cao Huachun, Gao Qiqian and Wang Dehua and other ceremonial eunuchs.

Qian Shisheng's efforts were rewarded, and in a short period of time, his relationship with the celebrant was also handled well.

Qian Shisheng's actions are reminiscent of Zhang Juzheng in the Wanli period, when Zhang Juzheng, the first assistant to the cabinet, had a good relationship with Feng Bao, the chief eunuch of the celebrant and eunuch, and all his decrees could be carried out smoothly.

In less than three months, the imperial court has basically stabilized, and many ministers of civil and military affairs are optimistic about Qian Shisheng, thinking that Qian Shisheng can stabilize the situation, gain the trust of the emperor, handle the relationship with the celebrant and supervisor, and is the oldest among the cabinet ministers.

Qian Shisheng's mansion has become the most lively place in the capital, and after the daily dispersal of the court, there is an endless stream of people who come to visit, but Qian Shisheng has always been very low-key and has not shown a complacent attitude.

Qian Shisheng is sixty-eight years old, he has seen through a lot of things at this age, he will not be easily tempted and bewitched, he is determined, sleek and old, Qian Shisheng at this age, one of the biggest problems is that his understanding is completely fixed, he does things his own way, and he will not look back no matter who dissuades him.

Den.

Qian Shisheng and Hou Xun were discussing.

The study is not accessible to anyone, and the people who come to visit the mansion, even if they are Chen Xinjia, the second assistant of the cabinet, may not be able to enter the study at some times, but Hou Xun is a frequent visitor to the study, and Zhang Pu, Zhang Cai, Yang Yi, Wu Changshi, and Gong Dingyu, the backbone of the Donglin Party, also have many opportunities to enter the study.

"Lord Hou, the emperor is a little anxious, and he thinks about Zheng Xunrui and Zheng Jiajun almost every day, but I think the time is not very ripe, and the current strength of the Donglin Party cannot compete with Zheng Xunrui."

In front of Hou Xun, Qian Shisheng still told the truth, he was not reckless in doing things.

Hou Xun pondered for a moment and then spoke.

"My lord, the cabinet has not moved for a long time, the emperor is afraid that he is even more worried, the lord now has a high reputation in the court, and has been respected by many adults, the lower officials think this is a good thing, but the emperor does not necessarily see it this way, if the adults always want to stabilize the court first, gather the strength of the Donglin Party, and wait until the strength is strong enough to deal with Zheng Xunrui and Zheng Jiajun, the lower officials are worried that the emperor will be angry."

"What you said is very good, in fact, I already feel the problem, Wang Chengen, Cao Huachun, Gao Qiqian and Wang Dehua and others of the celebrant supervisors, their attitudes are lukewarm, their attitude is the attitude of the emperor, the lessons of Zhou Yanru, Wen Tiren and Zhang Zhifa and others, I see it in my eyes, if I always think about integrating the cabinet, I am afraid that when the cabinet is really ironclad, I don't want to be the first assistant of the cabinet."

"Yes, adults still have to find a way to move, even if it's not a very successful action, so that the emperor won't worry too much."

"Well, my idea, first of all, is to adjust the officials in Nanzhili, Shaanxi and Shandong, through a large adjustment of officials, let's see what Zheng Xunrui's attitude is, if Zheng Xunrui is clearly opposed and does not obey the emperor's will and the edict of the household, it will be a rebellion, and then the emperor and the cabinet can warn Zheng Xunrui, and I can also see that Zheng Xunrui has not yet had the courage to openly rebel, so he will completely lose support in Nanzhili, Shaanxi and Shandong."

Hou Xun didn't nod, his face was not good-looking, Zheng Xunrui made several moves to deal with the Donglin party, he was very impressed, you must know that Zheng Xunrui's means are not simple, the cabinet adjusts the officials in Nanzhili and other places, Zheng Xunrui must have a way to deal with it, when Zhang Pu and others went to the Caoyun Governor's Mansion in Huaibei, they didn't leave in disgrace.

But there's no good way to do it yet.

Seeing that Hou Xun did not speak, Qian Shisheng spoke again after careful consideration.

"I know what you think, I think this will not work much, but this is the first step, whether it is successful or not, we will not suffer too much loss, through this step, let the emperor completely see the essence of Zheng Xunrui, let the emperor and Zheng Xunrui completely oppose, our goal will be achieved."

Hou Xun immediately understood, looked at Qian Shisheng, and showed admiration on his face. (To be continued......)