Chapter 140: Party Struggle

"Godfather, yesterday His Majesty secretly met with Yin Zhiming and Zuo Hongjiang in the palace.

During the conversation, everyone was dismissed; I fear it will be disadvantageous to you."

Zuo Tianjun said in a low voice.

Since the Tianyuan Emperor passed away, the Eunuch Party camp had fallen into panic.

After sensing the new monarch's attitude, many officials who originally followed the Eunuch Party defected to the other seven regents.

Even the power of the Directorate of Ceremonial was divided up by a large chunk.

The new emperor, whom the eunuchs had high hopes for, not only did not provide them with support but instead showed that he was happy to see it happen.

Such changes made the core members of the Eunuch Party very anxious.

"Yin Zhiming, Zuo Hongjiang, these two pieces of trash, the Emperor actually dares to use them.

It seems the late Emperor really misjudged people this time!"

Zuo Guangen said coldly.

All of Great Dayu knew that Yin Zhiming and Zuo Hongjiang were the vanguard of toppling the eunuchs.

The new emperor secretly meeting with the two, the political signal released was simply too obvious.

Destined to stand on opposite sides, Zuo Guangen was too lazy to be polite.

What he couldn't figure out was that among the many regents, he was the first to defect.

Under normal circumstances, if the new emperor wanted to hold power, he would definitely accept him as a lackey first.

Even if he didn't like him, he would have to wait until he governed personally and held power before slowly marginalizing him.

Because of his precedent, the other seven regents all showed extraordinary coldness.

It wasn't that everyone didn't want to get close to the Emperor, it was really that ministers also needed face.

If they defected and the Emperor refused to accept, they would lose face.

The only one who could put down his face and defect directly was Zuo Guangen.

If the new emperor wanted to conquer the other seven, he needed to show enough sincerity.

One must at least give enough face for everyone to cooperate and gradually hand over power.

Frankly speaking, these requirements were not high at all.

As regents, they only asked for a decent exit; if it were any other emperor, they would be overjoyed.

The new emperor seemed to have a brain cramp and simply didn't see this point.

Meetings were all formulaic, making the regents wonder what the Emperor was thinking.

Without getting a definite answer, no one mentioned the transfer of power, and the matter dragged on.

Anyway, there was still time before the Emperor governed personally; at worst, they would drag it until after he governed personally before slowly transferring power.

Everyone followed normal procedures, and there would be no loss.

Taking advantage of the opportunity to hold power, they could also insert more of their own people into key positions.

Even if the Emperor governed personally, they would still be an important political force in the court.

The fact that the Eunuch Party camp's little brothers were pulled away by other regents was also partly due to Zuo Guangen's deliberate indulgence.

It was mainly because he wanted to defect to the new emperor earlier but was worried about being feared by the new monarch, so he carried out a strategic contraction.

After all, the Eunuch Party at its peak was a force that could suppress the Pure Stream group.

Whether it was the Cabinet or the Six Ministries, he had his political allies.

Such power, if not controlled by someone completely trusted, would make any emperor unable to sleep.

"Left Minister, we cannot sit and wait for death.

If this continues, the new round of political storm will definitely be aimed at us!"

Pang Chengjie said indignantly.

If his Eunuch Party label wasn't too deep, he would have wanted to jump ship too.

Unfortunately, the biggest taboo in politics is being fickle.

Small officials below can sway left and right, and no one cares.

A core figure like him, if he dared to betray, Zuo Guangen would definitely not let him go.

"Don't call me Left Minister; now just call me Left Eunuch.

In extraordinary times, don't leave handles for others.

Yin Zhiming and Zuo Hongjiang have entered the capital, and they are definitely aimed at us.

Since the Pure Stream intends to launch a great war, then you all don't be polite either.

I remember that the two of them still have many disciples in the court.

Send people to watch them; whoever contacts them, take them down first.

Now is not like before; things cannot be done so crudely; people must be taken down reasonably and legally.

I will go and discuss with the other seven regents; compared to me, a eunuch, those two idiots Yin Zhiming and Zuo Hongjiang are more capable of attracting hatred.

The Pure Stream Party doesn't need so many leaders; the new emperor has pulled them in, so Pang Hengsheng and Xu Wenyue won't lean toward the new monarch.

Based on their two advocating for the reduction of armaments, Jing Guoliang and Li Yuan couldn't possibly give them a good look.

The other regents were also scolded by them in the past, and I don't believe they don't hold any grudges."

Zuo Guangen said mockingly.

The tense situation allowed him to regain his rationality.

Yin Zhiming and Zuo Hongjiang's ability to attract hatred wasn't as exaggerated as he described, but it was true that they were disliked.

No one wanted to work with sprayers.

If these two were really allowed to enter the court, everyone's ears wouldn't be clean.

However, wanting to suppress the two wasn't that easy.

Because of their long-term time out of office, the handles on Yin Zhiming and Zuo Hongjiang were truly hard to grasp.

Just mouth-off a few sentences, and it couldn't be convicted.

Old accounts, the Tianyuan Emperor had already dealt with them years ago, so it wasn't suitable to dig them up again.

Within the rules of the game, there were actually not many things everyone could target the two with.

If they didn't have reliance, Yin Zhiming and Zuo Hongjiang wouldn't dare to enter the capital at such a time.

Yangzhou Camp.

"My lord, the wind in the court is not right recently; the Eunuch Party and the Pure Stream are fighting again."

Li Mu, who had just finished training the army, had just taken off his armor when he received this bad news.

Living two lives, the thing he hated most was party struggle.

This kind of political opposition eventually develops into opposing for the sake of opposing.

Everyone is busy with party struggle, and no one has the heart to do things, which is truly harmful to the country and the people.

"Mr. Lan, tell me in detail.

What happened in the capital to make these two groups fight again."

Li Mu asked curiously.

Now is the era of the Eight Regents, power is balanced to this extent.

Under normal circumstances, the court should remain stable.

"Yin Zhiming and Zuo Hongjiang entered the capital and launched a great war to topple the eunuchs.

Rumors in the streets say this is supported by the Emperor behind the scenes.

Now officials from both sides are arguing in the court every day.

As of now, seven Eunuch Party officials have fallen.

More Pure Stream Party members have been arrested, especially the students of Yin and Zuo, who have been wiped out.

With the expansion of the conflict, other factions have slowly been drawn in.

The Emperor is watching the show and doesn't think it's a big deal; Pang Gelao tried to suppress it several times but was destroyed by him.

Now the chaos has a trend of spreading to the provinces.

Many officials of the Pure Stream faction, under pressure from public opinion, have also joined the battlefield.

The current situation is very unfavorable for the Eunuch Party."

Lan Linjie said calmly.

Following Li Mu for a year, he was no longer the youth he once was.

Looking at problems, he no longer had the concept of black and white, and no longer believed that the Pure Stream was necessarily correct.

"I remember that Lu Gelao and Shi Gelao had a good relationship with the Eunuch Party; didn't they take action?"

Li Mu asked suspiciously.

The Eunuch Party that lost the Emperor's support was bound to lose to the Pure Stream.

Great Dayu is not the Great Tang; the power of eunuchs was not rampant to the point of monopolizing power.

It seems they control the Depot and Guard, but if the Depot and Guard want to kill, they must obtain the Emperor's permission to exert maximum lethality.

Otherwise, they have to follow the rules of the game, find evidence first, and then take people.

With the current reputation of the Eunuch Party, even if they get evidence, the outside world might not believe it.

The best way to handle Great Dayu officials is anti-corruption.

As long as you investigate deeply, there are few who are clean.

Fighting each other for so long, the Pure Stream is not a fool either.

Those who can hide have hidden, and the floating wealth left on the surface is difficult to substantiate.

Taking Li Mu himself as an example, the money obtained was all turned into the army.

Other officials naturally have corresponding means to gradually turn the money that cannot be seen into clean family property.

In the past, the Depot and Guard could harvest continuously; that was to catch people first and then look for evidence.

In the imperial prison, with heavy torture, few people could hold on.

Even if the officials didn't confess, the stewards and servants who handled it below would confess the problem.

"My lord, the two Gelao have already completed the cutting with the Eunuch Party.

Judging from the intelligence collected so far, they have not been bound by the Eunuch Party.

The so-called Eunuch Party members are mostly Pure Stream Party members, a hat hard-pinned to exclude dissidents."

When explaining, Lan Linjie was secretly glad.

Fortunately, his family was just a small gentry, unable to enter the eyes of the Pure Stream group, and everyone didn't want to play with him.

If he really joined the Pure Stream group and entered officialdom through party promotion.

A small character like him without background is the best cannon fodder in party struggle.

Similarly, entering the imperial prison, some people were fished out quickly after entering.

Some people died directly after entering.

The so-called classmates and teachers, these relationships can only be used in favorable situations; when encountering headwinds, not being kicked while down is considered a good teacher and friend.

"Pass the order down, generals in the Yangzhou Camp are strictly forbidden to discuss court politics.

For the next period of time, my body will be uncomfortable, and it is not convenient to see guests.

If there are people from officialdom visiting, just find an excuse to decline!"

Li Mu ordered decisively.

Not in the capital, the same trouble will come to the door.

As a famous middleman in officialdom, with the escalation of party struggle, there will definitely be family members looking for him to help fish people out.

Now the situation in the capital is constantly changing, and he can't figure out the specific situation, so he won't stupidly intervene.

In order not to get involved in the storm, Li Mu can only strategically "get sick."

"My lord, I'm afraid you can't avoid it.

According to custom, after the new monarch ascends the throne, officials from all over the country will take turns entering the capital to pay respects to the new monarch.

If there are no accidents, you will be the second batch.

Even if the second batch is full, there will definitely be your name among the officials entering the capital in the third batch."

Lan Linjie reminded.

The order of officials entering the capital also represents status.

The first batch entering the capital are mainly governors, provincial governors, and some regional commanders with fierce combat achievements.

The second batch entering the capital are provincial administration commissioners, provincial military commissioners, and some real-power military generals above Rank Three.

As an acting Assistant Regional Commander, Li Mu can be classified into the second or third batch.

The specific list is determined by the Ministry of Rites, and adjustments will be made according to the actual situation in the middle.

For example, the Liaodong front line is fighting so fiercely, it is definitely impossible to transfer the person in charge away.

The calm Yangzhou obviously has no reason to stay in place.

"Hide as long as you can, other problems will be decided according to the situation after entering the capital.

This time entering the capital, you need to be low-key.

The new monarch doesn't like extravagance, arrange for people to send the gifts in advance."

Li Mu said with slight displeasure.

Those who like local officials entering the capital the most are naturally the capital officials who hold real power.

Every time they go, they have to send a portion of ice and charcoal respect.

Like Li Mu, who just entered the capital to report on his duties last year and has to go again this year, they are all proper unlucky eggs.

Walking through the various offices, it won't stop without a few thousand taels.

Those who want to run for official positions and pull relationships, the expenses required will only be greater, and spending tens of thousands of taels is easy.

In the capital, Yin Mansion.

"Brother Yin, the situation seems a bit bad.

The momentum we launched seems very large, but in reality, it didn't hit the lifeline of the Eunuch Party.

The attitude of the other auxiliary ministers is even more worrying; they are vaguely resisting us.

Including Pang Hengsheng and Xu Wenyue, they clearly promised well, but in the end, they just shouted a few slogans.

If this continues, I fear this action will end in failure again!"

Zuo Hongjiang said with worry.

Anyone who has had political struggle knows that great momentum does not mean you will definitely win.

On the contrary, momentum that is too high will also backfire on oneself.

Change an emperor, seeing the combat effectiveness displayed by the Pure Stream group, he reckoned he would have run to support the Eunuch Party long ago.

The new emperor still supports them, but the other regents have ideas about them.

Originally thinking that they could rely on righteousness to force Pang Hengsheng and Xu Wenyue to participate in the war, the result was that these two goods just paddled.

The slogans were shouted earth-shakingly, but when it came to specific actions, they were dumb.

Not only did they not take action themselves, but they also brought their direct little brothers to paddle together.

It's not that they didn't take action at all; the great momentum launched by the Pure Stream group was the credit of these two.

Without the nod of real-power figures, just the two of them, rural hermits, couldn't organize so many people to oppose the eunuchs.

But Pang Hengsheng and Xu Wenyue went into hiding after creating momentum, pushing the two of them to the front.

Seemingly infinitely glorious, in reality, they are dancing on the edge of a cliff.

A slight carelessness, falling off the cliff, will be smashed to pieces.

"No way, we overestimated the Emperor's power.

Who could have thought that those few wouldn't buy it!"

Deep down, Yin Zhiming had long been unable to help cursing.

Originally thinking that pulling the Emperor to topple the eunuchs was a sure thing.

Who could have thought that after the Emperor joined, it made them fall into a disadvantage.

The new emperor not only had no direct line in the court, but his relationship with the regents was also a mess.

Launched a great anti-eunuch action, except for the gathering of supporters among the people, most of the court was just shouting slogans.

Seeing that the Eunuch Party wall was about to fall, the people on the side were still watching the show, stubbornly refusing to step forward to push the last bit.

After tossing for a while, suddenly discovered that their power alone couldn't push down the wall in front of them.

"Great loyalty looks like treachery!

Being able to become a regent, who is willing to give up the power in their hands.

As the Eight Regents, toppling Zuo Guangen is also weakening the special status of the regents.

For their own interests, it is normal for them not to help.

What I fear is that they collude with each other and want to control the government for a long time; that would be a big trouble!"

Zuo Hongjiang couldn't help but curse angrily.

"Control the government, not quite.

The power of the eight of them is too scattered, and their political differences in private are too large, so they can't unify their stance at all.

If they really colluded, you and I would have entered the imperial prison long ago, and maybe we could see grass on our graves.

I reckon it's our relationship with the Emperor that makes them jealous, wanting to borrow the Eunuch Party's hand to block us from entering the court.

Wanting to break their conspiracy, I fear someone needs to sacrifice now!"

Yin Zhiming said with difficulty.

"Brother Yin means?"

Zuo Hongjiang asked suspiciously.

To oppose the eunuchs, the Pure Stream Party has already sacrificed many people.

If just dying a few people could bring down political opponents, that wouldn't be a matter at all.

"Our advantage is in the provinces, not in the court.

Without the support of the regents, relying solely on political struggle in the court, we can't topple the Eunuch Party at all.

For the current plan, we can only exert our advantage in the provinces.

Grasp the handle of the Eunuch Party, create a bloody case that shocks the court and the public, and nail the Eunuch Party to it!

If the things created are big enough, maybe we can even kick Pang Hengsheng, that old thief, out of the court together!"

Yin Zhiming said with a hard heart.

It's not that he wants to break the political bottom line, it's that the current situation requires using off-board moves to win.

"Brother Yin, you don't want to make trouble on the Liaodong battlefield, do you?

This is inappropriate!

All parties in the court are watching, if our people take action, it's hard not to leave flaws.

Once investigated, the first one to turn against us will be the Emperor!"

Zuo Hongjiang hurriedly shook his head.

The Liaodong Great War involves the national destiny; if action is taken on this, if it spreads, they will be dead.

"Brother Zuo, what are you thinking.

Am I that kind of person who doesn't care about the consequences!"

Yin Zhiming's refutation didn't work.

Zuo Hongjiang's distrustful look directly explained the problem.

The two have known each other for more than thirty years and know each other too well.

"Cough cough..."

"Actually, I want to make an article on mining taxes.

The Eunuch Party sends mining tax supervisors everywhere to collect wealth, which has long made the gentry uneasy.

Only a little spark is needed to trigger the contradiction.

Coincidentally, the White Lotus Sect has been relatively active recently; we only need to push it a little, and someone will go to detonate it.

Just a group of cult members, even if they raise troops to rebel, they won't become a climate.

In order to shock the court and the public, we need the students you have in Guangxi to help.

When sending troops to suppress, don't move too fast, leaving time for things to ferment!"

After using coughing to cover up the embarrassment, Yin Zhiming directly dragged out the plan.

"If it's a rebellion in Guangxi, it's not unacceptable.

It's just Brother Yin, how do you ensure the situation can be under our control.

What if the trouble caused is too big, and we can't clean up the mess later, what should we do?"

Zuo Hongjiang asked with a frown.

Theoretically speaking, Guangxi is remote.

Even if chaos occurs, the damage caused to Great Dayu is relatively small.

The problem is that to the south of Guangxi, there is still an uneasy neighbor.

If the imperial court doesn't suppress the rebellion in time, and lets people take advantage of the fire, that's a big trouble.

"Brother Zuo, actually choosing Guangxi is also a last resort.

Many of these provinces in Great Dayu cannot be touched.

Especially the northern provinces, because of supporting the Liaodong Great War, the pressure on all provinces is very high.

The people have accumulated too many grievances, and in recent years, they have often encountered natural disasters.

Once chaos occurs, it won't end in a short time.

The southeastern provinces are important financial areas and cannot have accidents.

The situation in the southwest is slightly better.

But since ancient times, there has been a saying that 'the world is not chaotic, but Shu is chaotic first; the world is governed, but Shu is governed last.'

No matter where chaos occurs in Yunnan, Guizhou, or Sichuan, it will eventually spread to Shu.

If history repeats itself, we won't be able to clean up the mess later!"

Yin Zhiming explained with difficulty.

The bottom line can be broken, but the risks must be considered.

Essentially, his goal is to get to the top.

If the plan goes smoothly, the pits dug in the party struggle now will all have to be cleaned up by them in the future.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 141 =====