As the hour approached, the civil and military generals in the main hall were already waiting impatiently.

Zhu Cizhi was also impatient to wait, and was about to ask He Zhikong to send someone to urge,

Gao Hongtu, Jiang Yueguang, and Xie Xuelong, the three elders, finally walked into the hall slowly with Lu Daqi, Zuo Guangxian, Zhang Youyu, Liu Zhengzong, and Li Jinglian and other henchmen.

At this point, the Donglin Party was completely divided into two hostile camps.

More than a dozen Donglin Party officials, headed by Shi Kefa and Liu Zongzhou, have officially separated from the Donglin Party.

Although Shi Kefa still refused to admit it, the other faction of the Donglin Party, even the neutral officials, already regarded them as members of the Imperial Party.

The remaining faction led by Gao Hongtu, Jiang Yueguang and Xie Xuelong is still regarded as the Donglin Party.

There are hundreds of officials in this faction, and they occupy the key positions of the six departments, five temples, two courtyards and one government, and the control of the court can be called leaky.

"Guys, something big happened last night!"

As soon as Gao Hongtu walked into the main hall, he was noisy.

It stands to reason that Gao Hongtu should invite Shi Kefa, the real cabinet chief, to preside over this court meeting, but he directly pretended not to see Shi Kefa, although the two were half a step apart.

Of course, there is no problem in doing so, and the acting first assistant is also the first assistant and is qualified to preside over the court meeting.

On the contrary, Shi Kefa has already resigned himself at home, and now he runs back by himself without being invited by the saint three times or four times, so he can't help but look a little cheeky, and it is inevitable that people will say behind his back that he can't go to the stack.

Seeing this, Shi Kefa was immediately so angry that his face turned blue.

However, good self-cultivation still allowed him to maintain restraint.

Gao Hongtu shook his head in the direction of Yangzhou, and cried bitterly: "The saint was assassinated at the Yangzhou Canal Wharf, and he has already controlled Bintian!" ”

"Holy!"

"Hooray!"

The hall instantly fell to its knees.

The civil and military officials, the servants, and the Han generals all cried bitterly.

Although Shi Kefa, Lu Zhenfei and Meng Zhaoxiang still had doubts in their hearts, they always felt that it was not so easy for the saint to bintian, but at this time, they could only kneel on the hall and cry loudly.

Even if the saint has not yet been truly Bintian, it is worth their crying even if he is assassinated.

Zhu Cizhi also cried tears, and finally sat back on the throne by the two little eunuchs.

Gao Hongtu howled a few times, and then said: "The Holy Emperor has been extremely ordinary for eighteen years, although there were many improper administrations in the early years, but since the enlightenment of the coal mountain, it is true that he is a holy monarch. ”

"Led Jiuqing to break out of the siege from Beijing, and then successfully returned south after thousands of miles, which can really be called a god with soldiers."

"Set up the internal affairs government of the city, issue bonds to offset the silver, and personally led the border army to defeat and build slaves in Xuzhou, consolidating half of the rivers and mountains south of the Yangtze River, and its cultural and martial arts are nothing more than the reincarnation of Taizu and Chengzu."

It's okay, Gao Hongtu finally affirmed Chongzhen's merits, but did not deny it entirely.

After a pause, Gao Hongtu said again: "Just when the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty and the billions of trillion Li Shu in Jiangnan were hoping that the Holy Lord could lead the Ming Dynasty to expel the Jiannu, pacify the thieves, and create a prosperous era for all nations to come to the dynasty, I didn't mean that the Holy Lord was assassinated in Yangzhou and unfortunately collapsed. Alack! ”

The civil and military officials beat their chests again, and they wept again.

Among them, Zuo Guangxian, the emperor of Zuo Yushi, cried the loudest.

"Holy! Holy! Holy Heaven! Zuo Guangxian cried while hitting his head on the floor tiles, "The minister scolded you not to fight for fame, but to advise the king!" It's really for me that the Ming Dynasty will be forever! Today, I suddenly heard the bad news, the old minister is really painful, the saint is not there, and the minister does not want to live alone, so he will go with the saint today! ”

After saying that, Zuo Guangxian jumped up and hit the pillar headlong.

Seeing this, a few imperial historians next to him hurriedly reached out to pull it, and it took a lot of effort to finally pull it.

"Lord Zuo's Day condolences." Gao Hongtu sighed, and then continued, "If it weren't for the heavy responsibility of the family and country, the old minister would actually want to follow the first emperor Yu Quanxia. ”

"Wangge is always cherished." The officials admonished one after another.

Gao Hongtu waved his hand and said: "The sky can't be without a day without a day, the country can't be without a king for a day, the saint has already controlled the sky, and as a courtier, the top priority is to welcome the new monarch and stabilize the court." ”

"Gao Hongtu!" Shi Kefa couldn't bear it any longer, and shouted angrily, "Although the Holy Lord has been assassinated, it is still unknown whether he has already controlled Bintian, and it is asserted that the Holy Lord has already controlled Bintian without final verification, don't you feel sorry as a courtier?" At this time, don't you think it's too hasty to set up a new king? ”

In fact, Shi Kefa also felt that Chongzhen's chances of survival were very slim.

The entire imperial ship was shattered by underwater mines, how can people survive?

But even if the Holy Lord has really mastered Bintian, as a courtier, you have to send someone to verify it, right? And then you have to arrange for someone to investigate the case thoroughly, right? This is also the minimum respect for the saint.

But if you don't do anything now, you are in a hurry to establish a new king, and the appearance is really ugly.

You really don't even want the dignity of being a courtier, do you want to learn from Dong Zhuo?

Hearing Shi Kefa's words, Gao Hongtu's face fell, and he said in his heart that you brought it on yourself.

At that moment, Gao Hongtu made a look, and Zhang Youyu, the head of the household, came out of the class and sneered: "Old Shi Ge, aren't you self-resigned at home?" When did the emperor decree that you should come back? ”

After a pause, he continued teasingly: "Ah, Shi Ge Lao shouldn't want to take back his life, right?" This is against the dignity of the Zai Fu, our Ming Dynasty has never had a cabinet assistant who was reinstated after his resignation, Shi Ge Lao should not want to set this precedent, right? ”

A whisper suddenly sounded in the hall.

Zhang Youyu's words were almost a slap in the face.

Shi Kefa was so angry that he was trembling all over, and his hands and feet were cold.

After a long time, Shi Kefa said: "The old man has indeed resigned at home, and this time he is not participating in the court meeting as the first assistant, but just an official, Da Situ will not think that the old man is not worthy of standing here, right?" ”

"Shi Ge's old words are serious." Zhang Youyu said abruptly, "The first assistant of Zhishi is also the head of the civil official class. ”

"It's good to admit that the old man is the first assistant of Zhishi." Shi Kefa snorted, and asked Gao Hongtu again, "Gao Ge Lao, you haven't answered a few questions from the old man." ”

"Elder Shi Ge, the matter of the Holy Dragon Dominating Bintian has been repeatedly verified by Yangzhou Mansion." Gao Hongtu said, "Otherwise, how dare this cabinet department dare to say that the Holy Lord has already controlled Bintian? ”

"Already double-checked?" Shi Kefa was stunned when he heard this.

Liu Shizhen, the envoy of the general government, came out of the class and said: "Back to the old Shi Ge, the general political envoy has received the latest official letter from the Yangzhou government, and it is said that the imperial ship that the saint is riding on has been shattered, and it is difficult to distinguish the personnel. ”

The implication is that everyone on the ship has been blown to pieces.

Hearing this, the Chinese martial arts people in the hall beat their chests again: "Holy Shang, Holy Shang!" ”

Shi Kefa and several other imperial party officials were also stunned, so the saint really died?

Meng Zhaoxiang, Wu Linzheng, Wu Ganlai and Chen Liangmo and other four people especially felt unacceptable, hundreds of thousands of thieves surrounded the Jingshi such a nirvana, the saint took them out, 400,000 Jiannu army surrounded Xuzhou, the saint also survived, but in the end he actually capsized in the small gutter of Yangzhou? This is ridiculous.

But the cruel truth was in front of them, and they couldn't help but believe it.

Gao Hongtu continued: "In order not to give Jiannu and thieves a chance to take advantage of, for the sake of the Ming Dynasty's eternal plan, the cabinet department thinks that King Yong should be the emperor!" ”

"The minister seconded the proposal." Jiang Yueguang echoed the class.

Immediately afterwards, Zhang Youyu, Lu Daqi and other Donglin Party officials also came out one after another to echo and said: "The ministers also seconded the proposal. ”

In the blink of an eye, most of the civil and military generals in the main hall knelt down, leaving only dozens of civil and military generals such as Shi Kefa, Meng Zhaoxiang, and Wu Linzheng standing alone.

Among the military generals standing was Xu Hongji, the Duke of Wei.

What is quite surprising is that Fan Zhongjie, the left attendant of the ministry, also stood without kneeling.

And what is even more surprising is that Xie Xuelong, who is ranked in the fourth auxiliary, is still standing.

Seeing this scene, Gao Hongtu's face instantly collapsed, I didn't expect this.

Xu Hongji did not express his position immediately, which was expected by Gao Hongtu.

Because Xu Hongji has said a long time ago that he does not stand with any party, only the cabinet, and as long as the cabinet's opinions are agreed, he will resolutely support it.

So this duel is actually a duel between cabinet ministers.

Gao Hongtu plus Jiang Yueguang and Xie Xuelong, that is three votes, even if Shi Kefa comes back cheekily, Jia Lu Zhenfei only has two votes, and the situation is three against two, which is basically a sure victory.

However, when it came to the end, Xie Xuelong suddenly turned back?

"Elder Xie Ge?" Gao Hongtu looked at Xie Xuelong, with an extremely complicated look in his eyes.

"Gao Ge Lao." Xie Xuelong Chao Gao Hongtu shook slightly, got up and said, "The servant also thinks that the country cannot be without a king for a day, since the saint controls the sky, he naturally wants to welcome the new king, but my Ming Dynasty has long established a prince, and the saint died, so naturally the prince should be enthroned, dare to ask Gao Ge Lao, why do you want to give up the prince and establish the eternal king?" ”

Gao Hongtu frowned and said: "The prince is far away in Xuzhou, and it is difficult to reach him urgently. ”

"So how about a few days of waiting?" Xie Xuelong snorted coldly and said, "I don't believe that the thieves and Jiannu can learn the exact news so quickly and raise troops to invade the border, just a few days of hard work, I'm afraid that even the secret letter will not have time to be sent to Xi'an or Beijing, let alone determine the authenticity and mobilize the army to invade our border." ”

"Nope." Gao Hongtu said categorically, "At this extraordinary time, the position of the monarch must not be vacant for a day. ”

Lu Zhenfei said loudly: "The country can't be without a king for a day, this servant is also in favor, if the elder Gao Ge is worried that the throne of the monarch will be vacant for too long, you can urgently tell Xuzhou for 800 miles, ask the prince to be the emperor in Xuzhou, and then go back to Nanjing to preside over the overall situation, which is better than crossing the prince and the king, and establishing the Yongwang as the emperor." ”

"Not bad." Xie Xuelong said, "You can ask the prince to take the throne in Xuzhou." ”

"The lower officials and others seconded the proposal." Fan Zhongjie and dozens of other civilian and military generals also chimed in.

(End of chapter)