Qian Qianyi was shocked. His long gray hair trembled, and the paper fan in his hand stopped swaying instantly.
"How dare he, Ma Shiying, how dare he?"
A group of Donglin Party members were so angry that they blew their beards and stared, their chests rising and falling.
It's such a shame that Ma Shiying took the lead for such a huge support.
"The eunuchs, the eunuchs, this is the restoration of the eunuchs, and the Ming Dynasty must not repeat the same mistakes."
Qian Qianyi immediately labeled Ma Shiying as an eunuch, ignoring the fact that he was originally demoted because of being a eunuch, and denounced him heavily.
This is the Donglin Party’s special skill.
"King Lu is a wise king and must never surrender."
Jiang Yueguang said in a deep voice, every word was like an iron nail: "I will never recognize King Fu. For the sake of righteousness, we loyal people must not give in."
Zhang Shenyan, the Minister of Civil Affairs in Nanjing, was even more furious: "I am like an eunuch, and I am incompatible with each other. I can never support King Fu."
For a time, the Donglin Party in Nanjing denounced Ma Shiying and even sent troops to prevent King Fu from coming to Nanjing.
Donglin sects such as Fushe and Jishe continued to preach among the people that King Fu was unfit to be the king. For a time, an undercurrent surged.
At night, Nanjing City received news that King Fu's ship had arrived at Yizhen.
The next day, Qian Qianyi, Jiang Yueguang, Lu Daqi and other Donglin bosses looked at each other, not knowing how to face it.
"The King of Fortune is here..."
Lu Daqi hesitated for a moment and said softly.
"Yes, we can't drive them away, right? All the nobles in the city and the garrison eunuchs have gone to greet them, but we are the only ones missing."
Zhang Shenyan had no choice but to look at Qian Qianyi, whose expression remained unchanged, and couldn't help but said: "Ma Shiying supports the establishment of King Fu, but we cannot let him control him. Under the guidance of Chun Chun, he can be regarded as a wise king."
The meaning of this sentence is very clear.
The facts are before our eyes. The nobles, eunuchs, and military ministers have all recognized King Fu, but they are missing the civil servants.
The opinions of Donglin Party members are really not that important.
Once King Fu actually enters Nanjing, I'm afraid he won't even be able to drink soup.
After a long time, Qian Qianyi sighed: "What a shame, Shi Kefa believed Ma Shiying's trick and missed a good opportunity."
Lu Daqi said unwillingly: "In the final analysis, there are still insufficient troops and horses."
"Ma Shiying has an army of 100,000 men in Fengyang. He colludes with Xu Hongji, Duke of Wei in Nanjing City. He is not as sincere as Liu Kongzhao. He also forms an alliance with 100,000 soldiers and horses in Huai'an. We have to admit it."
"Isn't there Zuo Liangyu in Jiujiang?"
Gao Hongtuo can't help but wonder.
"I heard that he was defeated by Sun Chuanting's son-in-law, Zhu Yixi, and half of Huguang was occupied by him."
Lu Daqi said in a deep voice.
"good!"
Qian Qianyi was overjoyed and said hurriedly: "He, Ma Shiying, has reinforcements, and our Donglin Party also has reinforcements. Once we enter Nanjing, he will not be able to make the decision."
For a time, everyone was convinced and decided on the policy of calling in foreign troops.
And all this is very similar to how prime ministers invoked warlords for aid after the mid-Tang Dynasty.
Unfortunately, they habitually ignore it.
On April 30th, King Fu came to Nanjing and was greeted by his ministers.
On the first day of the fifth lunar month, King Fu visited the Xiaoling Mausoleum, the mausoleum of Ming Taizu, and the Mausoleum of Prince Yiwen.
That night, Yang Wencong, representing Ma Shiying, exchanged interests with the Donglin Party members. Cabinet ministers and six ministries promised one by one that the Donglin Party would occupy 70% of the positions.
For a time, the guests and hosts were enjoying themselves, and the previous unhappiness had completely dissipated.
Just as the whole city was celebrating, news suddenly came from Xiangyang that Zhu Yixi, the commander-in-chief of Guyuan with an army of 100,000, would support King Rui to supervise the country.
King Rui, Zhu Changhao, is the fifth son of Shenzong, the younger brother of Guangzong, and the uncle of the late emperor. He still belongs to the close relatives of the royal family.
Although King Fu has the best relationship, King Rui is also qualified to inherit the throne.
This disrupted the plans of the entire Nanjing imperial court.
If two imperial courts appear in the south, Nanjing's authority will be undermined, and the vital interests of the Donglin Party members will be threatened.
In a sense, the East leaders were already tied to the Nanjing court.
"What can I do?"
King Fu is in his thirties. Although his political ability is still immature, he deeply understands that there are no two days in the sky and no two masters in the country.
He can only be the one and only emperor.
Ma Shiying is still supervising the army in Fengyang, and now he can only rely on the Donglin Party members.
Qian Qianyi had just received the title of Minister of Rites and was very happy. At this moment, he couldn't help but squint his eyes and said:
"In my humble opinion, Zhu Yixi is a drunkard who doesn't care about drinking."
"If he wanted to support King Rui, more than a month has passed since the death of the late emperor. How could he wait until today?"
As soon as this was said, everyone felt it was reasonable.
"So, he just wants to seek official position."
Lu Daqi snorted coldly and said: "These warriors are all so virtuous, greedy and short-sighted."
"Zhu Yixi holds King Rui and King Qin in his hands, and defeats Zuo Liangyu. His strength should not be underestimated!"
Jiang Yueguang pondered for a moment and sighed softly.
"Then let's talk! After all, it's a clan, and it won't be good if it makes it ugly."
Prince Fu nodded and said: "First of all, please comfort me and urge Governor Ma to come to Beijing as soon as possible. We can't live without him here."
Ma Shiying, who was scheduled to be the chief assistant of the cabinet, although he was in Fengyang, had 50,000 troops stationed on the north bank of Nanjing, giving him a strong sense of presence.
On the third day of the fifth lunar month, King Fu officially supervised the country and granted amnesty to the whole country.
After many urgings, Ma Shiying learned of the changes in Xiangyang and could no longer calm down, so he rushed straight to Nanjing.
Before he stopped, he received the envoys from Xiangyang.
"King of Chu? Governor of Huguang?"
When Ma Shiying heard this, he almost vomited blood: "Absurd, ridiculous, absolutely impossible."
"Although the direct line of the Chu vassal has died, there are still some branches. In terms of inheriting the throne, it is not the Qin vassal's turn."
"Besides, since the founding of the People's Republic of China, I have never heard of military generals holding civilian positions concurrently."
Ma Shiying refused such ridiculous conditions.
"The first assistant, King Rui of Xiangyang, has been teasing my lord. This condition was promised by King Rui himself. I hope you will think twice!"
Yan Chongxin lowered his head and spoke softly, with a smile on his lips, and the threat in it was very strong.
Hearing this, Ma Shiying suppressed his anger: "The cabinet is not my opinion. I will reply to you later."
"Then I'll wait a few more days. I just need to return to Xiangyang before the 10th."
Nanjing Cabinet.
The first assistant was Ma Shiying, the second assistant was Shi Kefa, the cabinet ministers Wang Duo and Jiang Yueguang.
Although the position of chief minister was robbed, the Donglin Party still has an advantage in the cabinet.
Ma Shiying had the same interests as everyone at this time. Regarding Xiangyang's proposal, he directly said publicly: "These two conditions are absolutely unacceptable."
Shi Kefa said in a deep voice: "Although they are members of the clan, the title of the King of Chu must not be given away. Otherwise, where is the prestige of the court?"
"Not even the Governor of Huguang," Wang Duo confided.
Jiang Yueguang said helplessly: "It's impossible to just sit back and watch Xiangyang establish another court, right? In this case, other vassal kings will also be ready to take action."
"After all, he is a descendant of the clan. He must be the King of Chu if he has a different surname. Other princes should consider it as appropriate."
Ma Shiying was silent for a long time before he slowly said.