Chongzhen Daming: Starting from Coal Mountain

Chapter 308 I want to learn from Dong Zhuo
When it was nearly [-] o'clock, the civil servants and generals in the hall were already impatiently waiting.

Zhu Cizhao also got impatient with the wait, and when He Zhikong was about to send someone to remind him,

Gao Hongtu, Jiang Yueguang, and Xie Xuelong finally walked 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 split into two hostile camps.

A dozen Donglin Party officials headed by Shi Kefa and Liu Zongzhou have officially left the Donglin Party.

Although Shi Kefa and the others refused to admit it, the other faction of the Donglin Party and even the officials of the neutral faction 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 faction, and they occupy the key positions of the six departments, five temples, two courtyards and one mansion, and their control over the court can be said to be watertight.

"Everyone, something big happened last night!"

As soon as Gao Hongtu entered the main hall, he took the lead.

It stands to reason that Gao Hongtu should have invited Shi Kefa, the real chief assistant 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 problem in doing so procedurally. The acting chief assistant is also the first assistant, and is qualified to preside over the court meeting.

On the contrary, Shi Kefa has self-dismissed at home, and now he ran back by himself without three or four invitations from the Holy Majesty.

Seeing this, Shi Kefa turned blue with anger.

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

Gao Hongtu bowed far away in the direction of Yangzhou, wept bitterly and said: "The Holy Majesty was assassinated at the pier of the Yangzhou Canal, and the dragon has already ruled Bintian!"

"Holy!"

"Long live Lord!"

The hall fell to its knees in an instant.

All the civil and military officials and servants, the big Han generals, 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 Holy One to win the day, but at this time they could only kneel on the hall and weep loudly.

Even if the Holy Majesty has not yet had a real Bintian, just being assassinated is worth their tears.

Zhu Cizhao also cried tears, and finally was supported by two young eunuchs to sit back on the throne.

Gao Hongtu howled a few times, and said again: "Shang Yujifan has been in power for eighteen years. Although there were many inappropriate governance in the early years, after Meishan enlightened, he is indeed a holy king."

"Leading Jiuqing out from the capital's siege, and then traveled thousands of miles to return south successfully. It can be said that he used soldiers like a god."

"Set up the Municipal Exchange of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, issued bonds to pay for the payment, and personally led the frontier army to defeat twice in Xuzhou to build slaves, consolidating half of the rivers and mountains in the south of the Yangtze River, and his martial arts and martial arts are no more than the Taizu and Chengzu's rebirth."

It's okay, Gao Hongtu finally affirmed Chongzhen's achievements, but didn't completely deny them.

After a pause, Gao Hongtu continued: "Just when the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty and the billions of Li people in the south of the Yangtze River hoped that the Holy Majesty would lead the Ming Dynasty to expel the slaves, calm down the thieves, and create a prosperous age for all nations to come to court. Unexpectedly, the Holy Majesty was assassinated in Yangzhou. Unfortunately passed away, hearing this sad news, the ministers are really heartbroken, what a pain! Alas!"

Civil and military officials beat their chests and feet and wept again.

Among them, Zuo Guangxian, the censor of Zuoqian capital, cried the loudest.

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty! Your Majesty!" Zuo Guangxian cried while banging his head on the floor tiles, "I scolded you not for fame, but to persuade you, Your Majesty! It's really for the sake of my great Ming Dynasty. Hearing the bad news today, the old minister is really heartbroken, the sage is not here, and the minister does not want to live alone, so I will go with the sage today!"

After finishing speaking, Zuo Guang jumped up and slammed headfirst into the pillar.

Seeing this, several censors nearby quickly stretched out their hands to pull it, and it took a lot of effort to finally pull it.

"Master Zuo's condolences." Gao Hongtu sighed, and continued, "If it weren't for the important responsibilities of the family and the country, the old minister would really like to follow the late emperor to the spring."

"Old Wangge cherishes it." All the officials urged him one after another.

Gao Hongtu waved his hand, and said: "The sky cannot live without a day, and the country cannot live without a king. The Holy One has already controlled the sky. As subjects, the most urgent thing for us now is to welcome a new king and stabilize the court."

"Gao Hongtu!" Shi Kefa couldn't bear it any longer, and shouted angrily, "Although the Holy Majesty was assassinated, it is still unknown whether he has already controlled Bintian. Don't you feel guilty? Don't you think it's too hasty to discuss the establishment of a new king at this time?"

In fact, Shi Kefa also felt that Chongzhen's chance of surviving was very slim.

The whole imperial ship was blown to pieces by underwater mines, how can people survive?
But even if the Holy Majesty has really controlled Bintian, as a subject, you must send someone to verify it, right?Then always arrange someone to thoroughly investigate the case, right?This can be regarded as the minimum respect for the Holy Majesty.

But if you don't do anything now, you are anxious to establish a new king, it's really ugly to eat.

If you do this, 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 collapsed, and he said to himself that you asked for it.

At the moment Gao Hongtu winked, Zhang Youyu, Minister of the Household Department, came out of the class and said sarcastically: "Old Shi Ge, didn't you dismiss yourself and stay at home? When did the late emperor ask you to come back?"

After a pause, he continued teasingly: "Ah, Mr. Shige probably wants to take back his order, right? To do so would be against Zaifu's dignity. In the Ming Dynasty, there was never a case of self-dismissal and self-dismissal." The reinstated Prime Minister of the Cabinet, Mr. Shi Ge probably wants to set a precedent for this, right?"

Suddenly there was a whisper 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, his hands and feet were cold.

After a long while, Shi Kefa said: "It is true that the old man has resigned from his post and stayed at home. This time he is not participating in the court meeting as the chief assistant, but just a retired official. Don't Da Situ think that the old man is not worthy of standing here?"

"Shi Ge's old saying is serious." Zhang Youyu said sarcastically, "The first assistant who became an official is also the head of the civil service class."

"It's good to admit that this old man is the first assistant to become an official." Shi Kefa snorted, and then asked Gao Hongtu, "Old Gao Ge, you haven't answered a few questions from this old man."

"Old Shi Ge, the Yangzhou government has repeatedly verified the matter of the Holy Dragon controlling Bintian." Gao Hongtu said, "Otherwise, how dare the Ministry dare to claim that the Holy Dragon has already controlled Bintian?"

"Has it been verified again and again?" Shi Kefa was taken aback when he heard the words.

The Tongzheng Envoy Liu Shizhen came out of the shift and said: "Reporting to Mr. Shi Ge, the Tongzheng Envoy has received the latest official document from the Yangzhou government, saying that the imperial ship that the Holy Majesty was riding on is completely broken, and it is difficult for the staff to distinguish it."

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

Hearing this, the Chinese and military people in the palace beat their chests and stamped their feet again: "My lord, my lord!"

Shi Kefa and other officials of the imperial party were also disappointed, so the Holy Majesty really died?
Meng Zhaoxiang, Wu Linzheng, Wu Ganlai, and Chen Liangmo especially felt that it was unacceptable. Hundreds of thousands of thieves surrounded the capital. The Holy Majesty led them out, and the [-] Jiannu army surrounded Xuzhou. The Holy Majesty survived. , but finally capsized in this small gutter in Yangzhou?This is ridiculous.

But the cruel facts were in front of them, and they couldn't help but not believe it.

Gao Hongtu went on to say: "In order not to give Jiannu and thieves any opportunity to take advantage of it, and for the sake of the eternal stability of the Ming Dynasty, this cabinet thinks that King Yong should be established as the emperor!"

"My minister seconded the proposal." Jiang Yueguang went out of the class to agree.

Immediately afterwards, Zhang Youyu, Lu Daqi and other Donglin party officials also came out of the class and echoed: "The ministers also seconded the proposal."

In a blink of an eye, more than half of the civilian and military generals in the hall fell to their knees, leaving Shi Kefa, Meng Zhaoxiang, Wu Linzheng and dozens of other civilian and military generals standing alone.

Among the standing generals is Xu Hongji, the Duke of Wei.

What is quite surprising is that Fan Zhongjie, the left servant of the Ministry of Officials, also stood and did not kneel.

What was even more surprising was that Xie Xuelong, who was ranked fourth, was still standing.

Seeing this scene, Gao Hongtu's face instantly collapsed, which was unexpected.

Xu Hongji didn't express his opinion immediately, Gao Hongtu expected this.

Because Xu Hongji said a long time ago that he does not stand for any party, but only for the cabinet. As long as the cabinet reaches a consensus, he will firmly 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 came back cheekily, Jia Lu Zhenfei would only have two votes, the situation is three vs two, basically it is sure to win.

However, when things came to an end, Xie Xuelong suddenly turned his back on him?
"Old Xie Ge?" Gao Hongtu looked at Xie Xuelong with an extremely complicated look in his eyes.

"Old Gaoge." Xie Xuelong gave a shallow bow to Gao Hongtu, stood up and said, "My servant also thought that a country cannot live without a king. Since the sage controls the sky, he naturally wants to welcome a new king. However, my Ming Dynasty has established a heir. , the Holy Majesty passed away, so naturally the crown prince should take the throne, dare to ask Mr. Gao Ge, why did you abandon the crown prince and establish Yongwang?"

Gao Hongtu frowned and said, "The crown prince is far away in Xuzhou, and he is in a hurry."

"So what if we wait for a few days?" Xie Xuelong snorted coldly, "I don't believe that the thieves and Jiannu can get the exact news so quickly and invade the country. It’s too late to send it to Xi’an or Beijing, let alone confirm the authenticity and mobilize the army to invade our border.”

"No." Gao Hongtu said decisively, "at such an extraordinary time, the position of the monarch must not be left in vain for a day."

Lu Zhenfei said in a loud voice: "A country cannot be without a king for a day. I agree with this statement. If Mr. Gao Ge is worried that the position of the king will be vacant for too long, he can rush to Xuzhou to ask the prince to take the throne in Xuzhou, and then Returning to Nanjing to preside over the overall situation is better than passing the crown prince and King Ding, and making King Yong the emperor."

"Not bad." Xie Xuelong said, "It is absolutely possible to ask the prince to ascend the throne in Xuzhou."

"The lower officials and others seconded the proposal." Dozens of civil servants and military generals including Fan Zhongjie also echoed.

(End of this chapter)