Stir it up, the more messy the better!
Chongzhen looked at Wang Hongzuo kneeling on the ground, and a huge wave of murderous intent surged in his heart.
Why do later generations say that the Ming Dynasty fell during the Wanli period?
The reason for this was that Wanli did not attend court for many years, which led to factional disputes.
Party struggles intensified from Wanli to Chongzhen!
Party struggles also existed before Wanli.
The factional struggles during the Jiajing period were among the Yan Party, the Qingliu Party and the Eunuch Party.
The factional struggles during the Longqing period originated among several cabinet members.
During the Wanli period, he neglected state affairs, which led to the loss of imperial power.
The court was in a semi-shutdown state, and then cats, dogs, and all the rest came out to fight overtly and covertly.
Some people may ask, doesn’t the cabinet work for the emperor?
As long as the prime minister of the cabinet works hard, the court will function well.
It makes no difference!
The system of keeping students at the center was invented by Emperor Wanli.
The memorials were shelved, their processing postponed, no statement was made, and they kept dragging their feet!
After Zhang Juzheng's death, the system of retaining officials in the central government was brought to its extreme.
Other matters were not dealt with, and the appointment and dismissal of officials were also left on hold. Elderly officials were unable to retire and return home, while those who were incompetent were retained.
As time went by, many officials simply left without saying goodbye. There were not many officials in the Ming Dynasty, and nearly one-fifth of them left during the Wanli period.
Zhu Geng served as Prime Minister for three years, but he never met Emperor Wanli!
Ye Xianggao, the highly respected chief minister of the cabinet, fell into despair during his tenure.
Crown Prince Zhu Changluo had no teacher for eight years. Ye Xianggao wrote to the emperor many times requesting him to select famous teachers, and Wanli accepted all of them.
The direct result was that Taichang and Tianqi had low levels of education.
Not to mention Chongzhen.
With his father and brother as role models, how strong can he be?
Insufficient innate ability and poor acquired education. Neither Tianqi nor Chongzhen received complete training in the art of ruling, and without their own team, it was difficult for them to deal with the old foxes in the court!
Tianqi was quite talented. He used Wei Zhongxian's eunuch party to suppress the Donglin Party and temporarily stabilized the court.
Chongzhen was so good that he directly destroyed Wei Zhongxian and the eunuch party before he could establish a foundation!
Now that Wei Zhongxian has fallen, how could he possibly defeat those old foxes alone?
In the end, the Ming Dynasty fell due to party strife!
Party strife! Party strife! Isn’t it necessary to have party strife?
Then let you fight to your heart’s content!
Chongzhen looked at Wang Hongzuo, who was about to die, and said with concern: "Minister Wang, stand up and talk."
Wang Hongzuo thought Chongzhen really cared about him, and stood up with emotion: "Thank you, Your Majesty, this is my memorial!"
Wang Chengen took the question book expressionlessly, took a few quick steps to Chongzhen and handed it to him.
Chongzhen opened the question book and read it carefully, then put it down with a serious face.
Wang Hongzuo reported that Li Banghua instructed Cheng De, a doctor of the Arsenal of the Ministry of War, to embezzle money under the pretext of distributing pension silver.
The amount of embezzled silver reached several thousand taels.
In addition, he also reported that Li Banghua had occupied people's land and evaded taxes.
Chongzhen looked at Li Banghua and said, "Li Banghua, Wang Hongzuo has reported that you embezzled pension money and evaded taxes. Do you plead guilty?"
Li Banghua clasped his hands and said, "I am innocent."
Chongzhen looked at Wang Hongzuo and asked, "Minister Wang, are you sure you didn't make a false accusation?"
"Your Majesty, it is absolutely true! I am willing to guarantee it with my entire family's lives!" Wang Hongzuo answered confidently.
Wang Hongzuo certainly has his reasons for saying such things.
In order to find out Li Banghua's crimes, he not only visited the families of the fallen soldiers in person, but also went to Shuntian Prefecture to check the records of tax payment for the land under Li Banghua's name.
With these evidences, he dared to openly oppose Li Banghua.
"Your Majesty, please investigate thoroughly!"
"I second the motion. Please, Your Majesty, order a thorough investigation of this matter and clear Lord Li's name."
"I second the motion!"
More than half of the officials in the court bowed and demanded a thorough investigation of the matter.
Looking at those "united" officials, Chongzhen knew that this was a premeditated campaign to overthrow Li.
Strictly speaking, it was not an overthrow of Li, but rather an act of shorting the imperial power.
Although Li Banghua served as Prime Minister for only four months, he cooperated very well with Chongzhen.
On the basis of mutual trust, the communication of various policies of the imperial court was particularly smooth.
The increasingly bright court frightened some officials!
They were afraid that Li Banghua would secure his position as Prime Minister and that Chongzhen would use Li Banghua to strengthen the imperial power.
It is impossible to overthrow Chongzhen, but we can try to overthrow Li Banghua.
Chongzhen was indecisive and suspicious by nature.
As long as the evidence of Li Banghua's guilt is confirmed, the Prime Minister of the Cabinet will definitely be replaced!
Faced with the "forced abdication" by nearly half of the court officials, Chongzhen wanted to refuse directly. But when his eyes swept over Li Banghua, he saw excitement on his face.
Could it be...this is Li Banghua's trap?
Chongzhen thought for a moment and nodded, his eyes falling on Li Ruolian in the corner of the hall: "Commander Li, check this matter thoroughly after the court meeting."
"Your Majesty!" Chongzhen was about to end the topic when Song Quan, the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, stepped out again and bowed, saying, "This matter is of great importance. Your Majesty, please order the Jinyiwei to jointly investigate the case with the three judicial departments."
Chongzhen said nothing.
His original intention was that even if Li Banghua really made a mistake, he would let the Jinyiwei cover up the matter.
The trial by three courts is different, as everything will be laid out in the open.
Black is black, white is white.
"Your Majesty, please let the Royal Guards and the three judicial departments jointly try the case!"
More than a dozen ministers knelt on the ground, expressing their demands and kowtowing.
"No!" Chongzhen's eyes were sharp.
"Your Majesty, please let the Royal Guards and the three judicial departments jointly try the case!"
Dozens of ministers knelt down and asked Chongzhen to agree to their request.
They did not trust the Jinyiwei in this matter because the Jinyiwei were the emperor's men.
Faced with the ministers' pressure to abdicate, Chongzhen was furious. He clenched his fists and glared at the ministers fiercely.
This was the first time he was forced to abdicate since he traveled through time, and one can imagine the anger in his heart.
The ministers kneeling below were not afraid at all, they were determined to make Chongzhen compromise!
This is a matter of principle!
Li Banghua is the chief minister of the cabinet and the head of the civil officials. He can be investigated, but it needs to be fair, just and open!
Only a joint trial by three judges can ensure that these principles are not violated.
Seeing that Chongzhen was getting more and more angry, some ministers began to back down in their hearts.
What will happen if you anger Chongzhen?
There is a high probability that he will be caned in court!
Not only does that thing hurt when it hits you, it can also kill you.
Faced with the possible beating in court, some people are afraid, while others are fearless.
Isn’t it just the beating in court?
Hit! Hit me at will!
As long as they are not killed, they will keep kneeling.
As the saying goes, one cannot blame the masses, they didn't believe that Chongzhen would dare to take action against them!
Seeing that the situation was going nowhere, Li Banghua bowed and said, "I ask Your Majesty to have the Royal Guards and the three judicial departments jointly try the case and clear my name."
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