Chapter 47 Entering the Imperial Capital

  When the old servant handed things over to Xu Guangqi, Zhou Zhenglong's heart returned to his stomach and he opened his mouth: "Mr. Xu, let me go outside and wait for a while! If there is anything, you can call me." As for this matter, Zhou Zhenglong knew the severity of it, and Lord Luo had personally entrusted him with repeated reminders to keep it confidential, obviously an extremely secret matter, he didn't want to be exterminated as soon as he returned to Beijing.

  "Let Zhou Qianhou stay! A gentleman has nothing to hide from others, I am open and aboveboard, there is no one I won't see. Xu Guangqi had been through ups and downs in his official career for a lifetime, he could naturally see through Zhou Zhenglong's mind, but he would never let this person get away, sometimes people who share common secrets are more reliable."

  Seeing Xu Guangqi's smile, Zhou Zhenglong knew he couldn't leave. Although this Mr. Xu spoke so candidly, but when it came to doing things, he was absolutely cunning and ruthless, not just clever and calculating.

  Gently opening the wooden box, they revealed what was inside. After seeing these three things, all three people were stunned. There was a yellow scroll, golden silk that was dazzling in the sunlight. But even more dazzling were the two characters on the scroll, Imperial Decree.

  After seeing this thing, Xu Guangqi's body suddenly shook violently, and he hurriedly knelt on the ground, saying loudly: "Minister Xu Guangqi pays homage to Your Majesty, long live, long live, long live!" It wasn't until after a while that he slowly got up. Of course, there was also Zhou Zhenglong kneeling behind him. At this time, Zhou Zhenglong's heart finally put down, that is the imperial edict! This time back, it will be a great achievement, and maybe even further become a high-ranking official of the Brocade Guard!

  With trembling hands, he took out the imperial edict and slowly opened it. Xu Guangqi cast his gaze at Zhou Zhenglong standing behind him and said solemnly: "Zhou Qianhu, this imperial edict was brought by you, and as the emperor's personal guard, it is reasonable for you to read it aloud."

  After listening to Xu Guangqi's words, Zhou Yinglong immediately shook his head like a rattle drum and said with a slight hesitation: "Mr. Xu is joking, since Your Majesty is so secretive, it can be seen that the contents of the imperial edict cannot be leaked out. Let Mr. Xu take a look himself! It seems that Your Majesty also means this."

  After a moment's hesitation, Xu Guangqi also understood this point, nodded slowly and solemnly opened the scroll, lowering his head to read.

  What disappointed Xu Guangqi was that this imperial edict said nothing at all, only saying that after receiving the imperial edict, he should follow the person who came to immediately enter the capital.

  Ming History, Tianqi Emperor's Basic Annals.

  In the first year of Tai Chang, March (October 1620), Emperor Tianqi secretly summoned Xu Guangqi to enter the capital. This matter was extremely confidential and few people knew about it. After Xu Guangqi entered the capital, he disappeared without a trace.

  Two flowers bloom, each representing a branch. While Xu Guangqi was preparing to enter the capital, Emperor Tianqi was worried. On the second day after Emperor Tianqi left the Ministry of Personnel, he received the resignation letter from Li Ruhua, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel. Without much hesitation, Emperor Tianqi approved it. Next came the appointment of a new Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, but at this time, Emperor Tianqi had not yet found a suitable candidate in his mind. On that day's morning court, Emperor Tianqi threw this question to the ministers.

  "If there is something to report, report it early; if there is nothing to report, withdraw from court."

  With Chen Hong's familiar shout, a new day began.

  "Yesterday, the Minister of Personnel Li Ruhua submitted his resignation to me. Although I am reluctant to let him go, I have to approve it considering his old age and frail health. However, the Ministry of Personnel cannot be without a leader, so I wonder if any of you, my dear ministers, have a suitable candidate in mind?" As soon as he ascended the throne, Emperor Tianqi threw out this question, wanting to see what kind of excuses these officials would come up with. This was also a test by Emperor Tianqi to see how the struggle among his civil officials would play out.

  After listening to the words of Emperor Tianqi, the following fell into a brief silence. Many ministers suddenly realized that this matter was not so simple. Many people had already gotten wind of it, and two days ago, Emperor Tianqi went to the Ministry of Personnel, and now the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel has resigned after just two days. Many people have come to realize that this matter is not as simple as it seems, but for these people, none of this matters; what's important is who will take over.

  The bigwigs of each party cast their eyes on their respective leaders, and naturally, the Qi-Zhe-Chu Party is now led by Prime Minister Fang Congzhe. Li Ruhua was originally a member of the Chu Party, and if they cannot let someone from the Chu Party succeed this time, it will undoubtedly be a great loss for them.

  Compared to the anxiety in the hearts of the Zhejiang Party, the Donglin Party was secretly excited. If they could win this time's Minister of Personnel, the Donglin Party would have more things to do. Just being able to arrange Donglin Party officials more conveniently made these high-ranking officials extremely excited. Their eyes were now on Yang Lian, the Secretary of the Board of War, who had become the leader of the Donglin Party in the imperial court since the last incident.

  Looking at the ministers below exchanging glances, Tianqi Emperor's heart was filled with a sigh of sorrow. The first thing these people thought of was not to promote the virtuous, but to gain the greatest benefit for their own party. Such disregard for national interests can be said to be the sorrow of the Ming Dynasty, the sorrow of an era, the sorrow of the Huaxia nation, and the sorrow of history as a whole.

  "I have a memorial to present." Just as the Tianqi Emperor was lost in thought, someone suddenly stood up. He took a look and found that he wasn't familiar with him, apparently not someone in an important position. When the Ming dynasty's partisan struggle began, it was always insignificant people who came on stage first to test the emperor's reaction. If the emperor didn't have any extreme reactions, then it would be time for a major crackdown.

  He glanced back at Chen Hong, who naturally understood the meaning of Emperor Tianqi. He whispered in Emperor Tianqi's ear: "This is Chen Qi, a member of the Donglin Party and an official in charge of household affairs." Although the database for information on officials from various parties was still under construction, it had already achieved some initial results. The person in charge of these materials was none other than Chen Hong, who followed Emperor Tianqi closely, this newly favored eunuch.

  The Emperor Tianqi nodded expressionlessly and said in a light tone, "Since Minister Chen has something to say, then speak! The Great Ming does not have the matter of blocking the way of speech."

  "I recommend Zhou Jiayu, the Minister of Revenue of Nanjing, as the Minister of Personnel." Chen Qi spoke loudly to Emperor Tianqi.

  Zhou Jiamou was one of the thirteen guardians, although he held the title of Nanjing Minister of Revenue, he was in the capital at that time and also on the grand hall. Historically, Zhou Jiamou has a very positive evaluation, at that time the party struggle in the Ming Dynasty was very severe, and the officials' promotion and demotion were not controlled by the Ministry of Personnel. Until this Mr. Zhou became the Minister of Personnel, he selected and appointed virtuous and capable people, but ultimately because his power was too small, he failed to achieve anything. Later, he was driven away by Wei Zhongxian and eventually killed by Wei Zhongxian.

  Chapter 3 is here, please recommend, collect and support!