Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 315 The fierce confrontation between the two factions of gentry

Although it is necessary to end the eunuch.

But now the 24 yamen of Daming, such as Silijian and Yumajian, are still Zhu Youjian's special guarantee to protect the imperial power.

In other words, Zhu Youjian still cannot revoke these government offices.

Besides.

If you want to get enough human resource services for yourself and your harem, you must either be an eunuch or a court lady. Of course, men can’t do it, and they can be responsible for guards, but serving the inner court is not what men are good at, and it is easy to cause troubles. I don't want my harem to be green.

But now that the appearance of new eunuchs is to be terminated, Zhu Youjian can only let court ladies replace the role of eunuchs in the past.

That is to manage the administration of the inner court and the royal life service.

Therefore, Zhu Youjian's selection of concubines this time not only increased the age but also increased the number of places. The reason was to add the number of eunuchs that should have been newly recruited to the selection of palace ladies.

However, these policies of Zhu Youjian are regarded as lustful and foolish policies by some people with ulterior motives.

"Your Majesty, there have been rumors and discussions among literati all over the place recently, saying that Your Majesty is a cowardly and lustful woman, and that you did not hesitate to increase your age and increase the number of court ladies you recruit in order to accumulate beautiful women."

Wang Chengen, the admiral of the East Factory, informed Zhu Youjian of this phenomenon when he was making a daily public opinion supervision report.

After hearing this, Zhu Youjian couldn't help but his face turned cold. He hurriedly summoned Liu Zongzhou, Minister of the Ministry of Rites, and threw the report of Dongchang in front of Liu Zongzhou:
"What's going on here, it was your civil servant's suggestion that I accept concubines so that I can have children!

This proposal has been made since the 17th year of Chongzhen. You, Liu Zongzhou, the great scholar in the south of the Yangtze River, shouted the most fiercely. Now, according to what you said, I have chosen concubines. It is good for you civil servants, give me a slap, and say that I have become lewd and lustful!
Liu Zongzhou, tell me the truth, are you deliberately letting me go into a cage so that you can slander me?You are a treacherous and loyal guy! "

When Zhu Youjian scolded him like this, Liu Zongzhou felt quite astonished on the spot, and hurriedly crawled down:

"Your Majesty, appease your anger, I have never dared to think so! Your Majesty's choice of concubine is the official business of the imperial court. The people below don't know what to do and slander the holy reputation indiscriminately. They should be severely punished and should be affirmed!"

"Very well, the Ministry of Rites is in charge of the world's rites and controls the direction of public opinion in the world. As a scholar of Dongge University and Minister of Rites, you must handle this matter well. Don't let people with ulterior motives misinterpret my intentions. I will let Dongchang review Regarding rumors, your Ministry of Rites should also guide public opinion through newspapers and various channels!"

After Zhu Youjian confessed to Liu Zongzhou a few words, he asked him to retreat.

In fact, Chongzhen Zhu Youjian himself could have guessed that there must be political enemies who refused to accept his New Deal making waves here, I'm afraid it was these gentry in the south of the Yangtze River who were dissatisfied with him.

These people are best at creating public opinion. If they don't stop and deal with it, their prestige among the people will be greatly damaged.

Liu Zongzhou, Shangshu of the Ministry of Rites, was originally a scholar-official without rich experience in political struggles, so he did not expect such a conspiracy to be hidden in a small selection of concubines.

But he cares more about his own reputation than Zhu Youjian. He proposed the choice of concubine this time, and he doesn't like being said to be a courtier blindly flattering the emperor.

Therefore, when the people in Dongchang put an article in front of Liu Zongzhou that a scholar said that he was a courtier who searched for beauties for the emperor, Liu Zongzhou was also very angry.

"Who wrote this, it's nonsense!"

Liu Zongzhou was so angry that he slapped an article published by Guanghua Daily on the table, his eyes were full of anger, and he wanted to kill the person who wrote the article.

"The writers of Guanghua Daily are all fictional pen names. It is generally difficult to find out who wrote it, but since it is a speech that slanders Liu Butang, it can naturally be checked, but you need Liu Butang. You need to submit a memorial to ask His Majesty's will. , so that our East Factory can also help you inquire and understand;
But the important thing is not this matter, but this kind of remarks can't just grow like this, it has to be stopped as soon as possible. At present, this issue of Guanghua Daily has not been sent out, Shi Gong can stop it, but there is no way to stop the comments in the public , You have to write an article by yourself, Liu Butang, and publish it in Guanghua Daily, and explain it clearly to the people all over the world. "

When Admiral Wang Chengen of the East Factory said this, Liu Zongzhou also understood what he meant, and hurriedly wrote a ten-thousand-character article to defend today's son Zhu Youjian's choice of concubine for himself, and at the same time he denounced the rumors. Those with ulterior motives.

Liu Zongzhou had a very high status in the literary circles of scholars. When he spoke in person, it caused a great sensation, and a large number of scholars in the south of the Yangtze River also followed suit.

Immediately afterwards, Liu Zongzhou published more than a dozen articles and announcements one after another, explaining the policy of choosing a concubine this time. At the same time, Huang Daozhou, Wang Siren, Shi Kefa, etc. also responded positively.

In the Guanghua Daily, which is several feet square, Liu Zongzhou and other non-South Zhili court officials started a fierce battle without gunpowder smoke with the South Zhili scholar officials.

From the dispute over whether Liu Zongzhou, Minister of the Ministry of Rites, is a courtier to whether the current imperial court is in power, although it is called a quarrel between scholars over the court, it is a struggle between two gentry groups with different interests and needs.

Whether Liu Zongzhou is a courtier is equivalent to saying whether Zhu Youjian is a faint emperor.

Whether the court is a traitorous official is equivalent to saying whether the government is correct.

Most of those who supported Liu Zongzhou's remarks were officials and scholars from the non-Southern Zhili lineage. Most of them were from traditional gentry backgrounds.

Most of those who did not support Liu Zongzhou's remarks and even desperately slandered Liu Zongzhou and other court officials were scholars from Nanzhili or some business-oriented scholars. There is dissatisfaction with the many acres of land in Songjiang Mansion, Qingzhang.

Therefore, the quarrel became more and more serious, and the sales volume of Guanghua Daily was also getting higher and higher.

More and more people are engaged in selling and reading newspapers.

That's right, some low-level scholars have started to read newspapers to meet the needs of the low-level people for information, but most of the low-level people are not interested in government affairs and court disputes.

They are only interested in whether the current emperor is a good emperor or a bad emperor.

Runing, Henan.

"Yan Xianggong, you said whether the current emperor is a good emperor or a bad emperor. Why does the newspaper say that corrupt officials are rampant and that the court is full of prosperity? What does this mean?"

An old farmer with a hoe asked Yan Xiucai, a newspaper reader in his village, and handed him a silver dollar.

This Yan Xiucai was just a boy student, but he became a granary student because he became a sociology teacher, and he didn't do business. He was naturally very satisfied with the government, so he replied with a smile:

"Old man, whether the emperor is good or not can't be seen in the emperor's newspaper. As the saying goes, justice is in the heart. Think about what our village was like three years ago, and what our village is like this year. You can tell if His Majesty is a good emperor."

"Three years ago, I starved to death two daughters. This year, I have a daughter, a son, and a grandson. I don't need to eat bark. The year is naturally better."

"Then do you think the emperor is a good emperor or a bad emperor?"

"Of course he is a good emperor!"

(End of this chapter)