Turning to the new year, the seventeenth year of Chongzhen has become a thing of the past, and the world has ushered in the first year of Hongguang.
For the South, last year was thrilling.
The former emperor was gone, Beijing was gone, a new emperor was re-established, and the cabinet was fighting, it could be said that everything was a mess.
Nanjing, with its Qinhuai River, is as lively and prosperous as ever.
Ma Shiying, the chief minister of the cabinet, completely controlled the cabinet and was deeply trusted by the emperor. The eunuchs in the inner court also supported him.
Outside, the four towns in Jiangbei also cared deeply about him and acted as his support.
Therefore, the Donglin Party had to shrink to six units. It could not do a head-on confrontation and could only fight softly.
If you say you want to tax, I will resist; if you ask for food, I will shirk.
It can't help anyway, but it can certainly hinder it.
But Ma Shiying really had no choice.
Although he controlled the cabinet, he had too few people at his disposal. The Donglin Party was so powerful that it spread throughout the court. It formulated policies but could not implement them.
Therefore, he had to cooperate with Qian Qianyi, which was really frustrating.
The imperial court, where the undercurrent was flowing, was suddenly silenced by a head.
"Is this Dodo's head?"
Emperor Hongguang looked at the ferocious head and turned pale with fright, but his desire for knowledge made him unable to help but explore.
"should be!"
Ma Shiying was not happy at all.
King Yu's execution of tens of thousands of slaves was a good thing for the Ming Dynasty, but it was extremely bad for the Hongguang court.
Because there is no reward.
You can't just pretend to be stupid and say it's a lie!
Ruan Shicheng also looked at it and sighed: "If the King of Yu has such strength, why not regain Shaanxi and avenge the late emperor? Why did he offend Jiannu?"
"In this way, the negotiations with Jiannu may be ruined."
These words really resonated with everyone.
During this period of time, Jiannuhaug has been tossing back and forth in Shandong, causing the four towns in Jiangbei to be extremely frightened and complaining constantly.
To put it bluntly, it was to pressure the imperial court to seek peace with the Manchus.
There is definitely no hope of regaining Beijing, so we just want to divide the north and the south.
Ma Shiying wanted to cheer up, but the civil and military officials in the court had no intention of returning to Beijing. In other words, there were very few people from the north of the court, and their willingness was really not strong.
This is different from the Southern Song Dynasty.
In the late Northern Song Dynasty, most of the senior officials in the imperial court were from the north, and military generals such as Yue Fei, Han Shizhong, Zhang Jun, etc. were all from the north. Therefore, the Northern Expedition was to regain their hometown, and naturally their morale was high.
The Hongguang court was different. The Six Ministries in Nanjing were originally the headquarters of the Donglin Party. Letting them go on the Northern Expedition was equivalent to asking them to spend money and sacrifice their lives to attack their hometown. How could it be like this?
Apart from righteousness, the Northern Expedition did no good to the Nanjing court.
"If you don't reward your merits, you will be criticized!"
Qian Qianyi started to apply eye drops and said.
Although he knew that Zhu Yixi was the great enemy of the imperial court, it was nothing if he could create problems for Ma Shiying.
"Wei Chen thought that he could be given Shang Fang's sword and let King Yu command the troops of Henan, Huguang, Shanxi, and Hebei to attack the intruders and avenge the late emperor."
Ruan Dacheng pinched his beard and easily solved the problem.
In the final analysis, King Yu is already in a desperate situation, so it would be better to change his mind and let him fight with Li Zicheng in the name of revenge, and it would be best for both parties to lose.
"This is a very good plan!" Ma Shiying clapped his hands and praised.
Emperor Hongguang, who was sitting high, also lost interest in the heads: "In this case, this is the only way to do it!"
"In addition, I will choose a good time to worship the Ancestral Temple in person and offer sacrifices to my ancestors!"
After yawning, Emperor Hongguang announced his resignation.
Qian Qianyi's face was calm, but when he returned home, he was furious.
The cabinet has completely become Ma Shiying's talking point. He, the leader of Donglin, can hardly speak. It is really uncomfortable.
At this time, Jiang Yueguang, Lu Daqi and other Donglin bosses also came one after another.
King Yu sent the head of the false king Duduo to Nanjing, causing huge waves.
Those scholars who don't understand politics naturally celebrate with their hats, which is more lively than the Chinese New Year.
The common people also listened happily to the story of King Yu's defeat of the slaves. The restaurants and teahouses were full, and the whole city of Nanjing was extremely noisy.
People with high political sensitivity will naturally understand the meaning.
"The King of Yu is a serious problem for the court!" Jiang Yueguang gritted his teeth and said: "Building a slave is just a fire from afar, but the King of Yu is actually a close trouble, and the court must deal with it."
"Ma Shiying's cabinet is arbitrary and really hateful."
Lu Daqi also said: "The behavior of King Yu is the result of Ma Shiying's connivance. Overthrowing Ma Shiying is the key to the revival of the imperial court."
"Your Majesty trusts Ma Shiying to the point of becoming possessed. His eunuchs and eunuchs are really deceiving people."
Qian Qianyi pretended to be angry and stood up immediately, as if he was desperate for his life: "The imperial court is declining day by day. Seeing this, I wish I could risk my life!"
Everyone here was busy helping and pulling, and they all admired his integrity. He was worthy of being Mr. Qian, and worthy of being the leader of the Donglin Party.
After appeasing him for a long time, everyone spread their hands again, helpless.
Without soldiers and power, it is easy to let them do bad things, but it is difficult to do things. There is no good idea.
After thinking for a long time, Qian Qianyi finally said: "Ma Shiying covers the sky with one hand, just like Yan Song of the Sejong Dynasty, which is a disaster for the court."
"In my opinion, it depends on your Majesty's trust to be able to act like this."
"We have given many suggestions, but His Majesty just refuses to accept them!" Jiang Yueguang tossed his sleeves and said angrily:
"I don't know what kind of ecstasy soup he poured into his mouth to make His Majesty obey his words."
Everyone also lamented, bluntly saying that Emperor Hongguang was hopeless and would only trust treacherous ministers and not honest men.
Some even shouted that this was a sign of national destruction.
Qian Qianyi thought about it and realized that the real root cause lies with the emperor:
"Your Majesty is nearly forty years old. Although he has been wandering around the harem in recent times, he still has nothing to do in the past six months. This is really a worry for the court."
The emperor has no heirs, which really shakes the foundation of the country.
But, you don’t have a younger brother yet, and you can’t be satisfied with your younger brother. This has to be shocking.
After the father dies, the son succeeds, and the elder brother succeeds the younger brother. This is the ancestral system of the Ming Dynasty.
"You mean, King Lu?"
Some smart people immediately thought of King Lu of Hangzhou.
Everyone's thoughts were still on King Lu again.
Since the emperor has no heirs or brothers, no wonder they supported others. It was really for the sake of the future of the Ming Dynasty!
Since there is no meat to eat in the Hongguang Dynasty, then the table is turned over, another emperor is elected, and the court is controlled.
Historically, the Donglin Party members were forced to panic, so they asked Zuo Liangyu to march eastward with troops, preparing to overthrow Nanjing and crowd out King Lu.
You must know that at that time, the Manchu Qing Dynasty was moving south, and the actions of the Donglin Party made the Nanjing court suffer from enemies on both sides.
As a result, Zuo Liangyu died of illness on the way, Zuo Menggeng led 200,000 people to surrender to the Qing Dynasty, and the Nanjing court was destroyed.
Only the Donglin Party can pull off such a saucy operation.
"This matter needs to be considered in the long run!"
Qian Qianyi shook his head slightly and said: "It's not appropriate for people to know, especially Ma Shiying. You have to come quietly."