Chapter 309: The Donglin Royalist Party!

When he said this to Hou Xun, Zhu Cilang had already deeply grasped the truth that "it is hard to be a filial son." He was the foremost filial son under heaven — not only a good son to the Chongzhen Emperor, but also a good son to the people of the Great Ming. So why did some people fail to understand?

Zuo Liangyu never stopped to think — if he had a fine son like himself, how delighted he would be! He could retire right now and not have to work until death! Would he still complain that such a son was unfilial? The same reasoning applied to the Chongzhen Emperor! The Chongzhen Emperor had never said he was unfilial — at least not to his face.

"Thousand Years, should this subject still go and propose marriage to the Marquis of Zuo?" Hou Xun asked uncertainly.

His son had already had his nose rubbed in the dirt — did his own family still have to steel themselves and go through with it?

"It must be proposed!" Zhu Cilang paused. "However, We and Zuo Mengmei seem fated not to be. You shall propose it on behalf of the Prince of Yong."

"The Prince of Yong?" Hou Xun was taken aback. "Thousand Years, but the Prince of Yong is only twelve!"

"No matter," Zhu Cilang said with a smile. "Doesn't the saying go, 'A wife five years older brings in golden bricks'?"

Hou Xun thought for a moment. "Thousand Years, this subject recalls it is 'three years older.'"

"It has now been changed," Zhu Cilang said seriously. "Changed to five years older!" He smiled. "Doesn't Zuo Liangyu want to back the Prince of Yong? Then let him marry his daughter to the Prince of Yong as his consort. The Prince of Yong can be re-enfeoffed as the Prince of Shu, stationed at Chengdu Prefecture. Zuo Liangyu can be re-enfeoffed as the Duke of Qing, stationed at Chongqing Prefecture. Henceforth, Sichuan will be entrusted to this father-in-law and son-in-law pair."

So Zhu Cilang still wanted to shove Zuo Liangyu and Zuo Menggeng off to Sichuan!

Once they left, Huguang would fall into the hands of the Nanjing court. And Huguang was a fine place indeed — according to Wanli-era statistics, its total farmland exceeded 226 million mu. Truly, "When Huguang ripens, the whole realm has surplus!"

"Then this old subject shall set out for Wuchang at once."

"There is no need for such haste." Zhu Cilang waved his hand and smiled. "Go after the Donglin Congress has concluded."

"The Donglin Congress?" Hou Fangyu, standing nearby, asked, "Thousand Years, what is the Donglin Congress?"

At the Shangxin River dock he had encountered a clan member who claimed to be distributing notices for the Donglin Plenary Congress, but he still did not understand what sort of assembly this "Congress" was.

"It is the Donglin Faction's National Congress," Zhu Cilang said with a smile. "Donglin talents from every prefecture and subprefecture across the realm who hold the rank of juren or above may attend. We, the successors of Donglin, shall at this Plenary Congress elect the Donglin General Assembly, the Seven Masters of the General Assembly, and a new term of the Three Gentlemen of Donglin. We shall also elect the presiding gentlemen of each prefectural and subprefectural branch. Henceforth our Donglin Faction will have a leadership, a backbone, and a grassroots base — truly able to devote every effort to the great affairs of the realm!"

Zhu Cilang was about to usurp the leadership of the Donglin Faction!

The matter of usurping the throne would have to be postponed, but usurping the Donglin Faction could still proceed step by step.

Right now, the Donglin Faction was falling, step by step, into the grasp of the Crown Prince Zhu!

The so-called Donglin Faction National Congress was simply a gathering of Donglin juren who had come for the spring metropolitan examination, convened to discuss the great matter of Donglin unity — in the past, the Donglin Faction had been no more than a loosely organized clique, not a modern political party in any true sense.

One might say the Donglin Faction was a party in name only, with none of the substance.

It had no party leadership organ, no party grassroots organization, no party charter, no party discipline, and no party political platform.

And this Donglin Faction National Congress was meant to transform the Donglin Faction into a modernized — or at least semi-modernized — royalist party.

Of course, this party had to be controlled by Zhu Cilang, had to promote Zhu Cilang. The prefectural and subprefectural branches could not be allowed to run wild — they had to heed the words of the Crown Prince Zhu, properly "protect the emperor" of the Great Ming, and absolutely no revolution-mongering!

"Thousand Years," Hou Fangyu asked with a smile, "when will this Donglin Faction National Congress be held?"

Zhu Cilang smiled. "Naturally, it will be convened immediately after the spring metropolitan examination!"

"Immediately" meant after the provincial examination and before the results were posted!

The juren attending the congress would all have to use their heads when they spoke — otherwise they would surely find their names at the very bottom of the list. As long as everyone harbored this thought, the direction of the Donglin Faction National Congress would be firmly controlled by Zhu Cilang, and thus they could elect the "Seven Masters of Donglin" and the "Three Gentlemen of Donglin" that Zhu Cilang favored.

The Seven Masters plus the Three Gentlemen — ten men in all — would form the Executive Committee of the Donglin General Assembly. And the various rules of the Donglin Faction would be discussed and formulated by this ten-man group. The presiding gentlemen of the various local branches would also be elected by their vote!

And the candidates for the Three Gentlemen and the Seven Masters had, of course, long since been decided.

Zhu Cilang said with a smile to Hou Xun and Hou Fangyu, father and son: "Master Hou is of course one of the Three Gentlemen. The other two should be Master Qian and Chief Grand Secretary Wei.

As for the Seven Masters: one is Damu, one is Dagong, one is Taichong, one is Master Gong, one is Master Wu, one is Secretary Bi, and one is Secretary Su."

Hou Fangyu strained his ears listening to the list of the Seven Masters of Donglin and was rather disappointed — why was he not among them? Could it be because he had failed to bring Zuo Mengmei to Nanjing this time? A splendid future, ruined by that old madman Zuo Liangyu!

While Hou Fangyu was lost in these rambling thoughts, Zhu Cilang spoke to Hou Xun again: "Master Hou, Huang Degong has submitted a memorial saying he has finished reorganizing the old troops that Liu Liangzuo and Xu Dingguo left behind in Guide Prefecture. About five thousand men remain, but he does not wish to use them. You are a celebrated scholar of Guide Prefecture and enjoy great prestige there. Why not go to Guide Prefecture after your trip to Wuchang and take these five thousand men under your command?"

Hou Xun was startled. "Thousand Years, this subject is the Minister of Revenue!"

Zhu Cilang smiled. "Master Hou is thoroughly versed in military affairs — a rare talent in both civil and martial matters. Appointing you Minister of Revenue is truly a waste of your abilities. Now that the Tartars are about to sweep south, the Marshal's Office must begin deploying the defenses north of the Yangtze. Therefore We wish to establish the post of Governor-General of Jiangbei Military Affairs, and have you fill it."

Hou Xun frowned slightly. "May I ask exactly what territory the Governor-General of Jiangbei Military Affairs will govern? And where will his office be located?"

"It will govern the military defense circuits of six prefectures — Guide, Kaifeng, Fengyang, Runing, Luzhou, and Anqing," Zhu Cilang said. "Its headquarters will be established in Fengyang Prefecture, and the post will concurrently hold the governorship of Fengyang."

"Then what of Ma Yaocao..."

"Governor-General Ma will enter the court; he has another great appointment." Zhu Cilang smiled. "We wish to ask him to take up the post of Governor-General of the three provinces of Sichuan, Yunnan, and Guizhou."

Ma Shiying was a native of Guizhou and came from a family of Guard Commanders; his family wielded great influence in Guizhou and Sichuan. Appointing him Governor-General of Sichuan, Yunnan, and Guizhou would, first, rally the Ming guard-station forces in Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan; second, win over the local chieftains and powerful clans; and third, spur Zuo Liangyu and Huang Shu to advance westward at once — lest Ma Shiying beat them to it!

The Crown Prince Zhu said with a smile: "Henceforth, for the defense north of the Yangtze, We shall rely upon Master Hou, Governor Lu, Commander Zhu, Commander Huang, and Commander Gao."

(End of Chapter)