Chapter 67: Sun Chengzong

  Without the slightest regard for the angry gaze of the Donglin Party, Yang He hesitated slightly before speaking: "I do not agree with Ye Xianggao taking office as Grand Secretary. In the past, Ye Xianggao was forced to resign due to his inability to govern the court. This person is not capable of serving as Grand Secretary and Minister of the Imperial Cabinet. I have a more suitable candidate." Yang He's words were loud and shocked everyone present. No one expected that this Mr. Yang would suddenly turn against the Donglin Party.

  "Yang Ai Qing, who is that? Speak up and let's hear it." The Tianqi Emperor didn't pay attention to the expressions of his ministers, but instead looked at Yang He with a face full of expectation, as if he was filled with curiosity about the person mentioned by Yang He.

  Yang He looked up at the Tianqi Emperor and continued: "I recommend that Hanlin Compiler Sun Chengzong be appointed to the cabinet. Sun Chengzong is a jinshi by background and also a Hanlin, and has previously held an external appointment. Moreover, he was the teacher of the previous emperor, and in terms of both moral character and ability, he is a very suitable candidate, so I recommend that Hanlin Compiler Sun Chengzong be appointed to the cabinet."

  Yang He's words were finished, and he went back to his position. However, the grand hall fell into a brief silence. All the ministers looked at each other in dismay, but no one spoke up. The Donglin Party members also changed their expressions, as Yang He had just touched on Ye Xianggao's weakness.

  These Donglin Party members thought that after Fang Zongzhe's case, no one from the Qi-Zhe-Chu party would stand up to oppose them again, and other officials were not even within their consideration. Now that this Left Supervisor Yang He has stood out, the situation is completely different, and these Qi-Zhe-Chu Party members will definitely not let go of this opportunity. For them, as long as it's not a Donglin Party member who becomes the chief assistant, it's already good enough.

  "I think what Yang Gong said makes sense, I agree." As one person stood up, many people immediately followed suit. In addition to the officials of the Qi Zhe Chu Party, there were also some neutral officials. At this time, they saw the hope of gaining power, and once Sun Chengzong became a Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, those who would be reused would not be from the Qi Zhe Chu Party or the Donglin Party.

  These neutral officials are not without ambition for power, they just haven't had their own party for so many years. The Donglin Party is based on the Donglin Academy, and outsiders find it hard to get in. As for the Qi-Zhe-Chu Party, it is divided by region, with a stronger exclusionary nature than the Donglin Party, making it even more impossible for them to be accepted.

  But at this time, these people saw hope, with the emperor's teacher as the leader and the left imperial censor Yang He as the assistant. It seemed that a new force was rising in the court. For these neutral officials, it was absolutely attractive, even if they didn't join, it was good not to offend them. Moreover, the Donglin Party and the Qi-Zhe-Chu Party also had a lot of pressure on these officials, and they were not treated well in daily life. Now that there was an opportunity to step on one foot, these people would naturally not let it go.

  After a moment of hesitation, more than half of the officials in the imperial court supported Sun Chengzong, while only the Donglin Party members looked at each other in dismay. At this time, these people seemed to feel that something was wrong, but they didn't know where the problem lay, and they were all somewhat stunned.

  "Since all of you are in agreement, then this matter is settled! And since Sun Chengzong was the teacher of the previous emperor, his learning should not be inferior. Let's give him the title of Imperial Teacher and have him come to the palace to teach me when he has time." The Tianqi Emperor did not pay attention to the unpleasant expressions of the Donglin Party members, and thus settled this matter, and even said a sentence that seemed very reckless, but made most of the officials feel a sense of trepidation.

  The Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, the Imperial Teacher, these two words reminded them of one person, the same Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, the same Imperial Teacher, that person was Jiangling Xianggong, Taishi Zhang Juzheng.

  At that time, Zhang Juzheng was in power and made efforts to reform the corrupt government and implement new policies. The Donglin Party, which had not yet taken shape on the court, almost lost its footing. Gu Xiancheng, who founded the Donglin Academy, was even forced to return home and could only establish the Donglin Academy.

  The Donglin Party people looked as if they had lost their father, while the Qi Zhe Chu Party and those neutral officials were overjoyed, and the relationship between these two factions also seemed to have improved a lot. It seems that quietly, these two groups have formed an alliance.

  Everyone's gaze at Yang He turned suspicious, this Mr. Yang usually didn't show off his skills, but when the crucial moment arrived, he came up with such a move. This move was indeed extraordinary, and it could be said that it hit the mark in one strike.

  Yang He is not a well-known figure in history. During the late Ming dynasty, which was an era of talented individuals, Yang He's abilities were not particularly prominent. He was a good official but knew nothing about military affairs. Later, when peasant uprisings broke out in Shaanxi Province, Yang advocated for appeasement. This attitude was consistent in his treatment of the Mongols, the Tatars, and later the Qing dynasty.

  Yang He's reputation largely comes from his son, Yang Sichang. Yang Sichang was much more capable than his father, Yang He, and had fought alongside Xiong Wencan to quell the rebellion in Shaanxi, defeating Luo Rucai and Li Zicheng among others. However, due to a mistake in decision-making, he failed to pursue and annihilate the peasant army further, allowing Li Zicheng and others to recover and ultimately leading to the downfall of the Ming dynasty.

  These two father and son are both talented men and loyalists, but they are not people who can preside over the overall situation.

  The Caomiao Hutong in the capital is a place that everyone knows, where most of the officials in the capital live. The buildings and pavilions are numerous, with artificial hills and lakes everywhere. In a hutong not far from Caomiao Hutong, there were three houses that looked very ordinary. They were no different from those of ordinary residents, with tiles missing on the roof and many places stuffed with dry grass.

  There were no majestic stone lions at the entrance, only two crooked willow trees that looked very solemn. The gate was not a vermilion gate but a pomegranate fence, it's hard to imagine that in such a gathering place of officials and nobles, there would be such a dilapidated house.

  "Is Master Sun at home?" The usually quiet entrance was today crowded with a group of people, dressed in bright clothes and riding fine horses, with attendants swarming around them. They were all wearing official robes, clearly high-ranking officials from the imperial court.

  The one who opened the door was an old man who didn't look very old, wearing coarse cloth clothes and a pair of straw sandals on his feet, with a lot of mud still on them. The hem of his coarse pants was rolled up high, as if he had just been working in the ground and hadn't had time to brush off the dust yet. Seeing the people at the door, the old man was visibly startled, but slowly walked over to the door and opened the gate.

  "It turned out to be Lord Yang, I don't know what brought Lord Yang here?" The old man seemed to have no intention of letting these people in, he just stood at the door and looked at the people outside, and only nodded slightly to Yang He who was standing at the door.

  Yesterday was a power outage, and when the power came back on, my computer broke again. Luckily, I had just finished fixing it, and fortunately, the draft inside was still there. I'll post one chapter now, and another later tonight, that's all for today.

  I'm sorry to everyone for the past two days, so tomorrow I'll make up for it with a big update of five chapters, let everyone have a good read! Haha! Thanks for everyone's support, thanks for the suggestions you've made, I've taken them all seriously and replied to them.

  Thanks for the rewards from book friends 001 and Shang Yu, thanks to you guys! Five chapters tomorrow!