Facing Shi Kefa's questioning, Wang Chengen deliberately avoided his gaze and muttered, "Your Majesty is really fine."
Shi Kefa raised his voice and said, "Unless I see Your Majesty with my own eyes, I will not believe what you eunuchs say."
"We, a bunch of eunuchs?" Wang Chengen was very angry at Shi Kefa's accusation.
He pointed at Shi Kefa's nose and said, "What's wrong with eunuchs? They can still help the Ming Dynasty and help His Majesty share his worries. On the contrary, you Donglin Party members are good at internal fighting, but you are no good at external wars!"
Although Shi Kefa was also a member of the Donglin Party, he did not align with Xie Sanbin and Qian Qianyi.
Belongs to the middle.
Shi Kefa certainly didn't want to be lumped together with Xie Sanbin and Qian Qianyi.
He pointed at Wang Chengen's nose and said, "Speak clearly, who is good at internal fighting and who is not good at external fighting?"
"Haha," Wang Chengen sneered, "Last May, the Ping Liao army invaded Hetuala and recovered Liaodong. But more than a year has passed, and they have not been able to completely wipe out the Jiannu. What else can they be but a layman in foreign wars?"
"Nanjing's Zhu Guobi, Xu Wenjue and others privately minted Ming Yuanbao, and Fujian's Zheng Zhilong smuggled and colluded with the enemy. This was exposed last year, but it has not been investigated this year. As for why, I think it has something to do with the internal struggle of the Donglin Party."
"Isn't this an infighting exercise?"
Shi Kefa also sneered: "According to what Eunuch Wang said, as long as one person in the Ming Dynasty commits a capital crime, everyone else should die?"
"You..." Wang Chengen was left speechless by Shi Kefa's words.
However, he did not dwell on this matter, but asked: "I came here to inform you to draft an imperial edict. Are you going to draft one or not?"
Shi Kefa shook his head: "I will not listen to the orders of you eunuchs before I see your Majesty in person."
"Okay, okay," Wang Chengen snorted coldly, "Since you can't write an imperial edict, then write an imperial decree."
After saying this, Wang Chengen turned around and was about to walk out.
Before he could even walk out the door, he met the cabinet chief, Xie Sanbin.
Xie Sanbin was a little surprised at Wang Chengen's arrival. After asking the reason, Xie Sanbin was even more surprised.
Regardless of whether Chongzhen was truly ill or faking it, he probably had only one idea in mind when he summoned Prince Ding to Beijing: to change the crown prince.
For others, such violations of ancestral rules must be firmly opposed.
But for him, changing the crown prince might not be a bad thing.
You must know that there was a life-and-death struggle going on within the Donglin Party.
Nanjing has already bet on the prince, but he has little interaction with the prince.
Once the crown prince inherits the throne, Xie Sanbin will soon be squeezed out of the center of power and suffer retaliation from the Donglin Party in Nanjing.
If he was just an ordinary minister, he could express his support for changing the crown prince.
But he was the chief minister of the cabinet and the head of civil officials after all.
To represent the opinions of the majority of officials.
While he was thinking, Shi Kefa said, "Thank you, sir. Your Majesty has not appeared for a long time, and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is not in the capital! Summoning Prince Ding to the capital at this time may cause an uproar."
"A huge uproar?" Xie Sanbin pretended not to understand. "What's the big uproar?"
Shi Kefa explained indignantly: "Your Majesty urgently summoned the imperial physician to the palace late at night a few days ago. He must be ill. According to common sense, the crown prince should be summoned to the capital at this time to prevent any accidents, instead of letting Prince Ding go to the capital."
"Your Majesty did the opposite. He ignored the Crown Prince in Nanjing and allowed Prince Ding to come to the capital."
"Although the purpose of this move was not stated, no matter how you look at it, it seems to be an attempt to replace the crown prince."
"Change the prince..." Xie Sanbin continued to pretend to be confused, "This..."
"This is absolutely unacceptable!" Shi Kefa puffed out his chest. "The Ming Dynasty has been established for 285 years, and this has never happened before. It was unacceptable before, it is unacceptable now, and it will be even more unacceptable in the future! Lord Xie is the chief minister of the cabinet and the head of the civil officials. He should explain the truth to His Majesty and uphold the law and order."
"Yes, yes, yes, I must explain the matter to His Majesty!" Xie Sanbin promised, "I will go to the palace to see Him right away."
Wang Chengen waved his hand: "Your Majesty has ordered that you will not see anyone."
At this time, other cabinet members who had received the news also arrived at the scene. After learning the whole story, they immediately surrounded Xie Sanbin and expressed their opinions: "No, the crown prince must not be replaced. This is not in line with the rules set by Emperor Taizu Gao."
"Yes, Your Majesty should summon the Crown Prince to the capital immediately instead of asking Prince Ding to come to the capital."
"We cannot draft this decree, let alone agree to it."
“That’s right!”
Seeing the cabinet members all speaking in unison, Wang Chengen smiled and said, "Okay, you're disobeying my order, right?"
Minister of Rites Shi Kefa answered seriously: "The Cabinet is not going to disobey the order, but to meet with Your Majesty to inquire about the intention of urgently summoning Prince Ding to the capital. If Your Majesty intends to replace the crown prince, the Cabinet can only disobey the order. If Your Majesty does not have this intention, the Cabinet will draft an order. And even if it drafts an order, it will be to let the crown prince come to the capital!"
Wang Chengen frowned and said, "His Majesty said he would not see anyone! Since you want to disobey his order, then do it."
Without waiting for everyone to say anything else, Wang Chengen turned and left.
After he returned to the inner court, he immediately began to draft the imperial edict.
As a prince, Prince Ding would certainly act according to the order, whether it was an imperial decree or an imperial decree.
The court officials in the capital also had ways to deal with it.
The Ministry of War immediately sent official documents to the garrisons of Guangning, Jinzhou and Ningyuan.
They were required to escort Prince Ding back to Shenyang immediately after seeing him and not to enter Beijing.
At the same time, they surrounded the palace gate, demanding to meet Chongzhen and ask him what his purpose was.
Chongzhen was still the same as before, lying in bed pretending to be sick and refusing to see anyone.
This move may work normally, but it doesn't work now.
My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It’s even more exciting later!
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