Chapter 221 Stripping of Authority

Who is Li Dongyang?

A talented man who became famous at a young age.

The contemporary leader of the Huguang Township Party.

The current chief minister of the cabinet.

A literary leader who leads the gentry with his articles.

No matter which identity he holds, he is worthy of respect.

But this guy is an uneasy politician!

In fact, Tang Hao did not have much intention to kill Li Dongyang at first.

After all, Zuo Yidao was right. Li Dongyang was a member of the East Palace Cabinet system. He was a close minister of the East Palace of Emperor Hongzhi in the past and had a half-teacher relationship with him.

Even when Tang Hao teamed up with Zhu Houzhao to pursue the Huguang Township Party, he left some face for the cabinet minister and did not directly dismiss him from office and expel him from the court. He just drove away Liu Daxia, who was in charge of the Ministry of War.

After all, among the high-ranking officials of the Huguang Party, Liu Daxia, the Minister of War, has the most power. Li Dongyang, the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, is suppressed by Liu Jian, the Prime Minister of the Cabinet, and can't make any waves at all. In addition, there is Xiong Xiu, the Assistant Minister of the Ministry of War, who was also driven away to become the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi.

Without the power of the Ministry of War, Li Dongyang's Huguang Party is actually equivalent to having its core power taken away. It is almost difficult for a suppressed Grand Secretary of the Cabinet to turn over.

However, even Tang Hao did not expect that Li Dongyang would have the day to become the Prime Minister of the Cabinet!

It seems that in history, it is indeed Li Dongyang who succeeded Liu Jian and succeeded as the Prime Minister of the Cabinet.

At that time, it was precisely when Liu Jin was in power, the cabinet was in name only, and Li Dongyang, the Prime Minister of the Cabinet, was of no use at all.

But now it seems that the light words in the history books are full of conspiracies and intrigues!

Facing the strange looks from the ministers, Li Dongyang remained calm, but he was extremely angry in his heart.

Tang Hao, the damn barbarian, had been planning to throw dirty water on Li Dongyang from the beginning!

He wanted to force the death of Tang Shaozong on Li Dongyang himself.

After all, if it weren't for Li Dongyang's instigation, Tang Shaozong would not have committed such bad acts as rebellion and backstabbing the head of the family, so that he had to die to apologize in the end.

In other words, Tang Shaozong was actually forced to death by Li Dongyang.

Tang Hao's behavior was unlikely to bring down Li Dongyang. After all, he had only been the prime minister of the cabinet for a few months. How could he step down so quickly? Isn't it a joke for an important official in the court?

So, throwing a basin of dirty water on Li Dongyang was real.

After today's incident, everyone in the court and the public will know that the new cabinet chief is ruthless and unscrupulous. Even those who flatter and curry favor with him will carefully consider whether Li Dongyang is worthy of their loyalty!

However, it is far from enough to just get here, otherwise Tang Hao's thirty court canes would not have been in vain?

So the Marquis of Zhongshan continued to speak with grief and indignation: "Your Majesty, all the ministers, I wonder if you still remember that before I, Tang Hao, went out to sea to suppress the Japanese, I was assassinated by the Japanese deputy envoy!"

With Tang Hao's reminder, the monarch and his ministers in the hall immediately reacted.

Yes, it seems that this is indeed the case.

At that time, it was said that the Marquis of Zhongshan Tang Hao was assassinated by the Japanese deputy envoy Ouchi Hongzhen, but the assassination failed and Ouchi Hongzhen and eleven others were killed on the spot. Then the Marquis of Zhongshan forcibly mobilized troops to surround Huitong Hall and took away all the Japanese envoys and detained them.

Then, the Japanese envoy Ashikaga Yoshitsugu personally testified in the court that Ouchi Hiromasa accepted money from others and went to assassinate Zhongshan Marquis Tang Hao, and the clue was finally cut off at the Huguang Guild Hall where the Huguang folks gathered...

Hiss... So it seems that this is not the first time that the cabinet chief Li Dongyang has calculated Zhongshan Marquis Tang Hao!

Tang Hao angrily asked: "Your Majesty, when I was assassinated, the clue was finally cut off at the Huguang folks, and the Jinyiwei arrested a group of people."

"However, today, after I went to sea and returned to Beijing, I heard that the case was unresolved, and even those involved in the case had been released long ago!"

"Is there no law in the country? Can the assassination of important officials in the court be fooled? Or am I, Tang Hao, the Zhongshan Marquis, not as good as him, Li Dongyang, the cabinet chief, and deserve to die even if I die?"

As soon as this was said, the whole court was in an uproar.

The ministers immediately talked a lot, and most of their eyes were focused on Li Dongyang.

At first, the ministers were quite puzzled by the case and could not believe that Li Dongyang would do such a mean and vicious thing. However, now that Tang Hao mentioned Li Dongyang's "criminal record", even the dumbest people could think that Li Dongyang was indeed very suspicious!

What is the Huguang Guild Hall?

The base of Li Dongyang, the leader of the Huguang Township Party, would drink and have fun in the Huguang Township Party every day after the court, and feast his students and old friends.

Since the case of the assassination of Zhongshan Marquis by the Japanese Deputy Envoy involved the Huguang Guild Hall, it must be inseparable from the Huguang Party leader.

What is this?

The assassination failed once, and he planned a second time?

Last time he wanted someone's life, this time he was even more vicious and wanted to expel the person from the clan?

What a great hatred and resentment!

The ministers talked about it, and the spearhead was pointed directly at Li Dongyang.

Even the Minister of War Yang Yiqing was a little confused now. He asked the Minister of Rites Zhang Sheng beside him, and then he understood the whole story of the assassination of the Japanese deputy envoy.

But it sounds like Li Dongyang is indeed a big suspect!

Yang Yiqing knew Li Dongyang very well. He was in a high position and lived a life of luxury. He only cared about the results and not the process. To put it bluntly, he would do anything to achieve his goal!

Hey, it really seemed like something Li Dongyang could do!

For a moment, Li Dongyang's face flushed and he was about to explain.

However, Zhu Houzhao seemed to have thought of something and suddenly shouted: "I still have some impression of the case of the Japanese deputy envoy assassinating Zhongshan Hou!"

"Haven't the people involved in the case been tortured by the Jinyiwei? Who released them without authorization?"

Hearing this, Li Dongyang's heart suddenly became extremely uneasy.

However, Zhu Houzhao did not give him a chance to react at all, and directly summoned the commander of the Jinyiwei, Mou Bin.

"Ti Shuai, who let the people involved in the assassination of the Japanese deputy envoy go?"

Mou Bin immediately knelt down and pleaded guilty after hearing this.

"Please forgive me, Your Majesty!"

"This was done by Qianhu Song Yu on his own initiative!"

"All the people involved in the case, including Li Zhaofan, were released by Song Yu!"

"Song Yu?" Zhu Houzhao continued to ask with a puzzled look on his face: "Which Song Yu?"

Zhang Yong, who was standing by, added a knife at the right time and reminded in a low voice: "Your Majesty, this Song Yu is the newly adopted son of Liu Dayong!"

Speaking of which, eunuchs adopted people as their adopted sons for the sake of interests, so they did not care about the age difference between the two parties.

After all, one is willing to fight and the other is willing to be beaten. Song Yu became Liu Jin's adopted son and was immediately promoted to Qianhu of Jinyiwei. At one time, he forced the commander Mou Bin to be unable to check and balance. Under such power and interests, even if he was Liu Jin's adopted son, it was completely worth it.

The people in the palace only value relationships and the benefits brought by relationships, that's all.

If they really wanted to train a successor, they would have chosen some smart children and would have protected them more. Naturally, they would not be like Song Yu, who was directly pushed out by Liu Jin and slaughtered like pigs and dogs by Tang Hao!

Liu Jin's adopted son Song Yu released Li Zhaofan and other suspects for no reason!

As soon as this news came out, the expressions of the court officials present became more and more ugly.

Because, who is Li Zhaofan?

The stepson of Li Dongyang, the chief minister of the cabinet!

You still dare to say that you did not collude with Liu Jin, the damn eunuch? !

For a while, the eyes of all the civil and military officials in the court looked at Li Dongyang, and all became unfriendly.

But this is far from enough!

Zhu Houzhao continued to pursue and asked: "It's simply unreasonable!"

"Where is the thousand-household Song Yu now? Summon him to the court!"

"I want to ask, who gave him the courage to ignore the laws of the country!"

However, when Mou Bin heard this, he smiled bitterly and shook his head.

"Your Majesty, Song Yu can't come!"

"Hmm?" Zhu Houzhao frowned, "What does Ti General mean by this? Could it be that this thief fled for fear of crime?"

"It's good that he fled, the Jinyiwei can still search for him with all their strength!"

Mou Bin hurriedly explained: "But this Song Yu is dead!"

"On the day when Zhongshan Hou returned to Beijing, Song Yu, under the order of someone unknown, led some Ti cavalry to surround Zhongshan Hou, trying to prevent Zhongshan Hou from entering the palace to meet the emperor, and was later beheaded on the spot by Zhongshan Hou!"

Hearing this, the ministers suddenly reacted.

It turned out that the person who was beheaded by Zhongshan Hou in the street was this Song Yu, the adopted son of the eunuch Liu Jin!

At this point, all the truth was revealed, and all the recent shocking turmoil in the capital was connected.

First, the Marquis of Zhongshan suddenly rushed back to Beijing to meet Liu Jian, the former chief minister of the cabinet. He was about to enter the palace to meet the emperor, but was stopped by Song Yu under the command of Liu Jin. Therefore, the Marquis of Zhongshan angrily killed Song Yu, and then a series of shocking changes broke out, such as the Marquis of Zhongshan trespassing into the forbidden area of ​​the palace!

After that, the Marquis of Zhongshan was thrown into prison for committing treason, and Li Dongyang began to take action, instigating and instigating Tang Shaozong to fabricate a series of rumors, intending to expel the Marquis of Zhongshan from the clan, causing the Marquis of Zhongshan to be ruined and die without a burial place!

Hiss...

What a cruel method!

What a poisonous method!

You, Li Dongyang, dare to say that you did not collude with Liu Jin? !

This series of plans, weren't you, Li Dongyang, concocted by you and Liu Jin in cooperation?

After understanding these facts, the faces of the ministers present immediately changed, and even many court officials looked at Li Dongyang with sharp eyes.

Speaking of which, many court officials also made great efforts to make the former cabinet chief Liu Jian retire.

They seized the breakthrough of Liu Yu and attacked and impeached Liu Jian, making Liu Jian, the cabinet chief, quite infamous.

After all, Liu Jian had recommended Liu Yu many times during the Hongzhi period, and Liu Yu was Liu Jian's fellow villager. As a result, Liu Yu accepted bribes and embezzled his own money. With irrefutable evidence, he would naturally be imprisoned. So Liu Jian, the cabinet chief who recommended and promoted Liu Yu many times, would naturally be implicated.

Liu Jian took the initiative to retire, and there was also a reason for this.

These court officials originally thought that taking the opportunity to force Liu Jian to retire and return home, and replacing him with Xie Qian, the cabinet chief who hated evil, would be more conducive to their profiteering.

However, no one expected that Xie Qian, who was strong-willed, would resign directly, allowing Li Dongyang to succeed as the cabinet chief.

What the officials didn't expect was that this damn Li Dongyang, who was obviously a well-known scholar and leader in the literary world, chose to collude with Liu Jin in secret in order to gain power. He was really despicable!

The literati and eunuchs were hostile groups.

Let's not talk about personal ideas, just political stance.

To put it bluntly, eunuchs are the emperor's slaves, and naturally represent the imperial power.

The civil officials and literati are the ministerial power, and they strive for power.

When the prime minister still existed in the past, this thing was called the prime minister's power, which represented the power of the subjects.

Then Emperor Taizu Gao took the opportunity to abolish the prime minister system in one fell swoop, and the prime minister's power no longer existed, and no one could check the imperial power.

The imperial power and the ministerial power are naturally full of contradictions.

And this also means that the literati group and the eunuch group are naturally standing on the opposite side.

This was the case in the Han Dynasty, the Sui and Tang Dynasties, and even more so in the early Song Dynasty.

I don't know how many eunuchs who have caused chaos in the country have appeared!

As a result, you, Li Dongyang, are very good. You secretly colluded with the eunuch Liu Jin. You really have no scholar's character and no scholar's bottom line!

Tang Hao noticed the strange expressions of the ministers, and the corners of his mouth couldn't help but rise slightly.

This is what he wants to see!

Give Li Dongyang the title of "eunuch party" and split the power in his hands!

The eunuch party refers to those officials who benefit from the power of eunuchs.

Eunuchs interfered in politics and the eunuch party was rampant. This has happened in many dynasties in Chinese history. For example, the "Party Imprisonment Disaster" and "Ten Eunuchs Rebellion" in the late Eastern Han Dynasty were one of the important reasons for the decline of the Eastern Han Dynasty; in the late Tang Dynasty, eunuchs participated in the internal disputes of the royal family; and the famous Wei Zhongxian of the Ming Dynasty, the emperor was "Long Live" and he, Wei Zhongxian, was "Nine Thousand Years Old", which shows how powerful he was.

The relationship between eunuchs and emperors is the relationship between slaves and masters.

The relationship between literati and emperors is the relationship between the emperor and his subjects, or even the relationship between opponents.

For example, the slogan shouted by the literati of the former Song Dynasty, "The emperor and the literati share the world", clearly shows that they want to fight with the imperial power. It is best to undermine His Majesty the Emperor, let the emperor be a mascot, and then the literati can govern the country.

House slaves are at least family members.

Therefore, compared with the outsiders who were fighting for power, the emperor was naturally more willing to trust these family slaves.

In each dynasty, the role played by eunuchs was like the slaves in each room of a wealthy family helping their masters to fight for property, but the power of the slaves was not so great that they could seize the property of the entire family, because their power all came from their masters (the emperor).

The disaster of eunuchs and the prosperity of the eunuch party, from Zhao Gao in the Qin Dynasty to the Ten Constant Attendants in the Han Dynasty, to the Ganlu Change in Li Tang, and then to the most famous Ming Dynasty, even the East Factory and the West Factory, two minions that specialized in serving eunuchs, appeared.

Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang once issued an edict strictly prohibiting eunuchs from interfering in politics. In the hands of Taizong Zhu Di, this iron discipline underwent a subtle change. Not only was he no longer wary of eunuchs, but he also began to regard eunuchs as his confidants and an important force to control the ministers of the outer court.

After Yongle, the emperors of later generations trusted eunuchs more. When Emperor Xuanzong Zhu Zhanji began to set up an inner book hall in the palace to teach eunuchs to read and write, the root of the evil of the eunuch party dictatorship in the Ming Dynasty was sown.

Emperor Yingzong Zhu Qizhen ascended the throne at a young age and favored the eunuch Wang Zhen. The eunuch party began to form. Wang Zhen, the first powerful eunuch in the Ming Dynasty, stepped onto the historical stage and set a good example for eunuchs in later generations.

After that, the eunuch Wang Zhi during the reign of Emperor Xianzong Zhu Jianshen and the eunuch Liu Jin during the reign of Emperor Wuzong Zhu Houzhao had established their own party and monopolized the government; during the Tianqi period of Emperor Xizong Zhu Youjian, the great eunuch Wei Zhongxian monopolized power, and a large number of court officials relied on his power, and the eunuch party reached its peak in history; after Emperor Sizong Zhu Youxiao ascended the throne, Wei Zhongxian was first dismissed and exiled to Fengyang, and then forced to commit suicide on the road. The main members of the eunuch party were executed, and the eunuch party suffered a fatal blow, but the Ming Dynasty also collapsed immediately!

The Ming emperor allowed these servants to compete with the civil officials and scholars for power and defend the imperial power. This was understandable, but the problem was that these eunuchs acted cruelly and lawlessly. Once they gained power, they would get carried away and start to gang up on dissidents and eliminate dissidents, which wasted the Ming Dynasty's luck.

But no matter what, whoever was tainted with the name of "eunuch party" would be doomed to be excluded and suppressed by the scholar-official group, even Li Dongyang, the leader of the literary world, was no exception!

Now that it has come to this point, Tang Hao no longer needs to take action, because someone will not be able to sit still.

Even the powerful prime minister Zhang Juzheng, who saved the time, only secretly maintained a tacit understanding with Feng Bao to reach a political alliance. Do you think Zhang Juzheng dared to eat, drink and chat with Feng Bao openly?

What is the truth? The ministers are too lazy to investigate it. They now want to bring Li Dongyang down!

We must not allow a eunuch party that colluded with eunuchs to continue to sit in the position of the cabinet's chief minister and lead the civil officials and gentry. Wouldn't that mean that our own boss would become an internal traitor?

So after a brief silence, someone immediately chose to take action.

Hanlin scholar Huang Xizhai immediately stepped out and said loudly: "Your Majesty, according to the consistent system of the country, one person cannot be in charge of two things. Since Li Xueshi has succeeded as the cabinet's chief minister, the chief minister has many affairs, and Li Xueshi has been ill for a long time, I suggest that other cabinet scholars be selected to take charge of the Hanlin Academy!"

Hanlin scholars are the highest officials of the Hanlin Academy. They are in charge of literature and are available for consultation with the emperor. In the early Ming Dynasty, their actual power was equivalent to that of the prime minister, and their status was noble and respected.

However, with the strong rise of the cabinet, the Hanlin Academy inevitably conflicted with the cabinet's powers, and all powers were transferred to the cabinet. The Hanlin Academy was also managed by a certain university scholar in the cabinet and became a subordinate institution of the cabinet.

The status of the Ming Dynasty Hanlin can be roughly equivalent to the top intellectuals, similar to the academicians and academic committee members of later generations.

However, the difference is that under the imperial examination model, scholars and bureaucrats are integrated, and scholars and bureaucrats have a strong circulation mechanism. Therefore, the Hanlin of the Ming Dynasty is not only a top scholar, but also a senior civil servant, and even many Hanlin are the emperor's teachers.

There is a saying that you must take the imperial examination to enter the officialdom, and the cabinet will be a Hanlin.

After Yingzong Zhu Qizhen, thanks to the three Yangs in power, basically formed a promotion pattern that only Jinshi can enter the Hanlin, and only Hanlin can enter the cabinet, which became a custom.

Therefore, the Hanlin Academy became a place to nurture talents and store hopes. Although it is only in charge of writing imperial edicts, history books and literature, it is a source of cabinet ministers and a museum for prime ministers. The probability of rising to prominence is very high, and it has become a stepping stone for the promotion of the court's senior ministers and even local officials.

Huang Xizhai's words are actually depriving Li Dongyang of his power and even abolishing Li Dongyang's identity as a leader in the literary world!

From now on, Tang Hao’s purpose of beating the drum and filing a complaint to the emperor today will be achieved!