When it was almost midnight, the civil servants and military officers in the main hall were already waiting impatiently.
Zhu Cizheng was also impatient with waiting, and was about to ask He Zhikong to send someone to urge him.
Gao Hongtu, Jiang Yueguang, and Xie Xuelong, the three pavilion elders, finally walked slowly into the main hall with their confidants such as Lu Daqi, Zuo Guangxian, Zhang Youyu, Liu Zhengzong, and Li Jinglian.
So far, the Donglin Party has completely split into two hostile camps.
More than a dozen Donglin Party officials, led by Shi Kefa and Liu Zongzhou, have officially separated from the Donglin Party.
Although Shi Kefa and others still refused to admit it, the other faction Donglin Party and even the neutral officials already regarded them as members of the imperial party.
The remaining faction headed by Gao Hongtu, Jiang Yueguang and Xie Xuelong is still regarded as the Donglin Party.
There are hundreds of officials in this sect, and they occupy key positions in six departments, five temples, two courtyards, and one government office. Their control over the court is impeccable.
"Everyone, something big happened last night!"
As soon as Gao Hongtu entered the hall, he dominated the room.
Logically speaking, Gao Hongtu should have asked Shi Kefa, the real chief minister of the cabinet, to preside over the meeting, but he pretended not to see Shi Kefa, even though the two were half a step apart.
Of course, there is no procedural problem with this. The acting chief minister is also the chief minister and is qualified to preside over the court meeting.
On the contrary, Shi Kefa had resigned from his post and was at home. Now that he came back without the Holy Father's three invitations, he would inevitably look a bit shameless and would inevitably be told behind his back that he was unwilling to go.
Shi Kefa was so angry that he turned blue when he saw this.
However, good self-discipline still allowed him to maintain restraint.
Gao Hongtu bowed his head in the direction of Yangzhou and cried bitterly: "The Holy Emperor was assassinated at the Yangzhou Canal Wharf, and he has already conquered Bintian!"
"Your Majesty!"
"Long live my Lord!"
Everyone in the hall instantly fell to their knees.
All the civil and military officials, chamberlains and generals of the Han Dynasty burst into tears.
Although Shi Kefa, Lu Zhenfei and Meng Zhaoxiang still had doubts in their hearts and felt that it would not be so easy for the Holy Emperor to win over him, at this time they could only kneel in the temple and cry loudly.
Even if the Holy Emperor does not have a real Bintian, just being assassinated is still worth their tears.
Zhu Cizheng also cried with tears, and was finally helped by two young eunuchs to sit back on the throne.
Gao Hongtu howled a few times and then said: "In the eighteenth year of the Holy Emperor Yu Jifan's reign, although there were many missteps in his governance in the early years, he has truly become a saint since he attained enlightenment on Meishan Mountain."
"Leading the Nine Qings to defeat the siege of the capital, and then successfully return south after traveling thousands of miles, it can be said that he used troops like a god."
"He set up the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Trade, issued bonds to pay for his wages, and personally led the border troops to defeat Xuzhou and establish slaves, consolidating half of our rivers and mountains south of the Yangtze River. His civil and military achievements were nothing more than that of Taizu and Chengzu."
After a pause, Gao Hongtu continued: "Just when the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty and the hundreds of millions of people in the south of the Yangtze River were bowing their heads and hoping that the Holy Emperor could lead the Ming Dynasty to expel the slaves, pacify the bandits, and create a prosperous era when all nations came to court, unexpectedly the Holy Emperor was assassinated in Yangzhou and...
Unfortunately, he passed away. Hearing this bad news really hurts my heart and lungs. What a pain! How sad!"
All the civil and military officials beat their chests, stamped their feet and cried again.
Among them, Zuo Guangxian, the censor of Zuo Qiandu, cried the loudest.
"Your Majesty! Your Majesty! Your Majesty!" Zuo Guangxian cried while banging his head against the floor tiles, "I am not scolding you just to gain fame, but actually to advise you! It is actually for the sake of my permanent stability in the Ming Dynasty.
! I heard the bad news suddenly, and my heart is really hurt. The Holy One is not here, and I don’t want to live alone, so I will go with the Holy One today!"
After saying that, Zuo Guang jumped up and hit the pillar with his head.
When the censors nearby saw this, they quickly stretched out their hands to pull it. It took a lot of effort to finally pull it.
"My condolences, Master Zuo." Gao Hongtu sighed, and then continued, "If I had not shouldered the important responsibility of my family and country, I would have really wanted to follow the late emperor at the foot of the spring."
"Old Wangge takes good care of you." All the officials advised him one after another.
Gao Hongtu waved his hand and said: "The sky cannot live without sun, and the country cannot live without a king. The Holy Emperor has already appointed a dragon to control the sky. As ministers, our top priority is to welcome the new king and stabilize the situation of the court."
"High ambition!" Shi Kefa couldn't bear it anymore and yelled angrily, "Although the Holy One was assassinated, it is still unknown whether the Holy One has already conquered Bintian. Without final verification, it is asserted that the Holy One has already conquered Bintian. As a minister,
Don’t you feel guilty? Don’t you feel that it is too hasty to propose a new king at this time?”
In fact, Shi Kefa also felt that Chongzhen's chance of survival was very slim.
The entire imperial ship was blown to pieces by underwater mines. How could anyone survive?
But even if the Holy One has really conquered Bintian, as a minister, you have to send someone to verify it, right? Then you have to arrange for someone to thoroughly investigate the case, right? This can be regarded as the minimum respect for the Holy One.
But you don't do anything now, and you are so anxious to establish a new king. It's really ugly to eat.
When you do this, you really don’t even want to have the dignity of being a courtier. Do you want to imitate Dong Zhuo?
Hearing Shi Kefa's words, Gao Hongtu's face fell, and he said to himself that you asked for this.
At that moment, Gao Hongtu winked, and Zhang Youyu, the Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue, came out and sarcastically said: "Mr. Shi Ge, didn't you self-resign yourself and stay at home? When did the late emperor issue an order asking you to come back?"
After a pause, he continued teasingly: "Ah, Mr. Shi Ge wants to take back his life, right? Doing so is against the dignity of the prime minister. Our Ming Dynasty has never had someone remove himself from office and then take it upon himself to do so."
Isn’t it possible that the newly restored Prime Minister of the Cabinet, Mr. Shige, wants to set this precedent?”
There was a sudden murmur of whispers in the hall.
Zhang Youyu's words were almost a slap in the face.
Shi Kefa was so angry that he was shaking all over and his hands and feet were cold.
After a long while, Shi Kefa said: "I have indeed resigned from my post at home. This time I am not participating in the court meeting as the chief minister, but just as an official. Doesn't Grand Situ think that I am not worthy of standing here?"
"Shi Ge's old saying is serious." Zhang Youyu said suddenly, "The chief assistant who becomes an official is also the leader of the civil service class."
"It's best to admit that I am the first assistant to the official." Shi Kefa snorted and asked Gao Hongtu, "Mr. Gao Ge, you haven't answered a few of my questions yet."
"Mr. Shige, the matter of the Holy Dragon controlling Bintian has been verified repeatedly by the Yangzhou Prefecture." Gao Hongtu said, "otherwise, how could I dare to say that the Holy Dragon has controlled the Bintian?"
"Have you verified it again and again?" Shi Kefa was stunned when he heard this.
General Affairs Envoy Liu Shizhen came out and said: "Reporting to Mr. Shige, General Affairs Envoy has received the latest official document from Yangzhou Prefecture. They all say that the imperial ship on which His Majesty was riding has been completely broken, and it is difficult for the personnel to distinguish it."
The implication is that everyone on board the ship has been blown to pieces.
Hearing this, the civil and military people in the palace beat their chests and stamped their feet again: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty!"
Shi Kefa and several other imperial party officials also felt disappointed. So the Holy Emperor really died?
Meng Zhaoxiang, Wu Linzheng, Wu Ganlai and Chen Liangmo especially found it unacceptable. Hundreds of thousands of thieves surrounded the capital. The emperor led them to break out. An army of 400,000 slaves surrounded Xuzhou. The emperor also survived.
, but in the end, the boat capsized in a small gutter like Yangzhou? This is ridiculous.
But the cruel facts were before them, and they couldn't help but not believe it.
Gao Hongtu continued: "In order to prevent slaves and bandits from taking advantage of this opportunity, and for the sake of the permanent consolidation of the Ming Dynasty, we believe that we should establish King Yong as emperor!"
"I second the proposal." Jiang Yueguang agreed as he came out of the class.
Immediately afterwards, Zhang Youyu, Lu Daqi and other Donglin Party officials also came out to agree: "I also second the proposal."
In the blink of an eye, most of the civil and military generals in the main hall fell to their knees, leaving only Shi Kefa, Meng Zhaoxiang, Wu Linzheng and dozens of other civil and military generals standing alone.
Among the standing generals was Wei Guogong Xu Hongji.
What is quite surprising is that Fan Zhongjie, the left minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, also stood and did not kneel.
What is even more surprising is that Jie Xuelong, the fourth assistant, is still standing.
Seeing this scene, Gao Hongtu's face fell instantly. He didn't expect this.
Xu Hongji did not express his position immediately, which Gao Hongtu had expected.
Because Xu Hongji has long said that he does not support any party, only the cabinet. As long as the cabinet reaches consensus, he will firmly support it.
So this duel is actually a duel between cabinet ministers.
Gao Hongtu plus Jiang Yueguang and Xie Xuelong would have three votes. Even if Shi Kefa came back shamelessly and Lu Zhenfei would only have two votes, the situation would be three versus two, basically a sure win.
But when things came to a head, Jie Xuelong suddenly turned against him?
"Mr. Xie Ge?" Gao Hongtu looked at Jie Xuelong, with extremely complicated expressions in his eyes.
"Old Gao Ge." Jie Xuelong bowed to Gao Hongtu and stood up and said, "I also think that the country cannot be without a king for a day. Since the dragon controls Bintian, the Holy One will naturally welcome a new king. However, our Ming Dynasty has already established a prince.
, when the Holy Emperor dies, it is natural for the Crown Prince to take over the throne. I dare to ask Mr. Gao Ge, why do you want to give up the Crown Prince and establish the Eternal King?"
Gao Hongtu frowned and said, "The prince is far away in Xuzhou and is in a hurry."
"Then what if we just wait a few days?" Jie Xuelong snorted coldly, "I don't believe that the bandits and Jian Nu could get the exact information so quickly and raise troops to attack the country. In just a few days, even the secret message would be gone.
There is no time to send it to Xi'an or Beijing, let alone confirm its authenticity and mobilize a large army to invade our border."
"No." Gao Hongtu said flatly, "When this is an emergency, the position of the king must not remain in vain for a day."
Lu Zhenfei said loudly: "A country cannot live without a king for a day. This servant also agrees with this. If Mr. Gaoge is worried that the king's position will be vacant for too long, he can rush 800 miles to Xuzhou and ask the prince to take the throne as emperor in Xuzhou. Then
Returning to Nanjing to take charge of the overall situation is better than bypassing the crown prince and King Ding and making King Yong the emperor."
"That's right." Xie Xuelong said, "You can definitely ask the prince to ascend the throne in Xuzhou."
"I will second my suggestion." Fan Zhongjie and dozens of other civil servants and military generals also agreed.
