Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 395: Resignation

After hearing this, Ding Kuichu felt that it was feasible. Meng Jun's power was growing stronger and stronger. Since he could not be restrained, he might as well get rid of this villain for the country. However, Ding Kuichu knew that negotiating peace with the enemy country has always been the most taboo thing in the Ming Dynasty. This matter must not be known to the upright people in the court, especially the people in the Wu Party. Once the Wu Party caught him, his reputation would surely be ruined.

Therefore, Ding Kuichu secretly placed the Qing envoy in his mansion, and contacted Liu Xiangke, Meng Zhengfa, and Jin Bao.

Meng Zheng expressed his approval of the Qing court's peace talks, saying: "Meng Jun is ambitious and wants to usurp the throne. The court has issued a decree declaring Sun Kewang a traitor, but Meng Jun has ignored the court and taken in Sun Kewang, and even made him his confidant. His ulterior motives are obvious. The alliance with the enemy is only a temporary measure. Once Meng Jun surrenders, we can use the rich land of Jiangnan to drive out the enemy army, which has been severely weakened. It will be easy!"

However, Liu Xiangke, the Minister of Rites, refuted the idea sternly: "The barbarians have invaded and tyrannized the world, and have even shaved their heads and changed their clothes, which is a way to cut off the world's culture. No matter how domineering Meng Jun is, his rebellious intentions are not clear. He has made great contributions to the country. He raised the banner of rebellion, killed the barbarian king, recovered vast lost territory, and now he is leading an army to the north. If our dynasty disregards justice and conspires with the barbarians, how will the glorious history be recorded!"

Seeing that the two disagreed, Ding Kuichu asked Jin Bao. Jin Bao pondered for a long time before saying, "The imperial court must not negotiate peace with the enemy. At least, it cannot be put on paper to give people an excuse. However, if we want to revive the Ming Dynasty, it will be difficult to restore it if Meng Jun is not removed."

After finishing his words, Jinbao added: "However, Meng Jun has made great contributions to the restoration of the country. If possible, he should be treated well. In my opinion, Your Majesty can issue an edict to order Meng Jun to go to Kunming to meet the emperor. Meng can be conferred the title of Grand Marshal of the Army of the World, but he must completely return the wealth and political affairs of Nanzhili, Jiangsu and Zhejiang, Huguang, Huaibei, and Huainan to the court. In this way, it may be possible to create a good story between the monarch and his subjects!"

Ding Kuichu thought Jinbao's words were unrealistic. Whenever the world was in chaos, ambitious people would emerge in endlessly. Would Meng Jun abandon the foundation he had built with great difficulty and become a caged bird for the Ming Dynasty? Even if Meng Jun really came, Ding Kuichu dared to guarantee with his own head that Meng Jun would definitely die in the future.

Ding Kuichu heard this and sighed, "How can this be possible? If Meng Jun is willing to do so, I can even give him my position as Prime Minister. But look at his every move over the years. He has never taken the court seriously. I am the Prime Minister after all. Meng Jun doesn't even send anyone during festivals, let alone the usual practice. I am afraid he will look down on me!"

The four discussed for a long time, and only Liu Xiangke still expressed his opposition. Ding Kuichu, Jin Bao, and Meng Zhengfa all believed that they could not negotiate peace with the Qing court, but they could tacitly launch a military attack.

In Jinbao, after Meng Zhengfa and the other two left, Ding Kuichu left Liu Xiangke behind. Ding Kuichu sternly warned him not to reveal any information, otherwise the Chu party would completely lose power.

The next day, Ding Kuichu entered the palace and met Yongli privately. He dismissed his attendants and then, in front of Yongli, he denounced Meng Jun's harm, saying that Meng Jun's harm was worse than that of Dong Zhuo and Zhu Wen. If he was not eliminated as soon as possible, this man would be the one to overthrow the world in the future.

Yongli nodded repeatedly in response to Ding Kuichu's straightforward words, but when he went on to say that the Qing court wanted to form an alliance with the imperial court to attack Meng Jun, Yongli shook his head repeatedly.

Zhu Youlang was very conflicted at this time. On the one hand, he was worried that Meng Jun would usurp the throne in the future, but when he really had to fight Meng Jun face to face, Zhu Youlang was a little scared, fearing that he would be defeated and die immediately.

However, Ding Kuichu repeatedly advised and suggested to Yongli that he should first issue an imperial decree to confer the title of Grand Marshal of the Army of the Nation on Meng, to command all the armies of the Ming Dynasty, and then allow Meng to come to Beijing to meet the emperor.

Ding Kuichu also said that an envoy could be sent to verbally tell Meng Jun that if he did not come, then the emperor would make it clear to the world that Meng Jun was an ambitious usurper.

And in order to be prepared for any eventuality, two preparations must be made. On the one hand, the King of Jin is ordered to reorganize the army and be ready to dispatch troops to Huguang at any time. On the other hand, the King of Zhennan is ordered to gather troops in Nanxiong Prefecture and the King of Nangan to gather troops at the border of Fujian and Zhejiang. In this way, with the three parties pressing on the border and forcing him with military force, perhaps Meng Jun will obey the order.

After Ding Kuichu's repeated suggestions, Yongli finally nodded. Then Yongli ordered someone to bring an imperial edict, which he wrote himself and then stamped with the seal.

If it was a traditional imperial edict, the process of the edict would involve multiple steps and institutions. First, the emperor would issue an edict to the cabinet and the six ministries. The cabinet would draft the imperial edict according to the emperor's requirements. After the emperor looked at it and thought there was no problem, the East Factory would check the material of the imperial edict. After everything was normal, the imperial edict would be sent to the six departments for signature. Only in this way could it be considered an imperial edict with legal procedures.

But in the Yongli court today, many departments are missing, and some procedures are adapted to local conditions and saved if possible, but according to common sense, it is still necessary to pass the six departments. It's just that Ding Kuichu doesn't want to publicize this matter, so he wants Yongli to directly issue an imperial decree and send some Jinyiwei to get the job done.

However, although Ding Kuichu had good intentions, he did not carry out his plan well. The information about Lu Shi, the Qing envoy he had taken in, was leaked out from somewhere. For a time, there was an uproar in the court and the public. Some soldiers broke into Ding's house and captured Lu Shi.

The upright officials in the court accused Ding Kuichu of secretly keeping the foreign ministers and having ulterior motives. The Wu party attacked him even more. Zhang Xiaoqi, the imperial secretary, questioned Ding Kuichu, saying, "The country has fallen to this point because of the Liao incident. Ding Gebu, as the prime minister of the country, secretly colluded with the foreign ministers. What is his intention?"

Li Yongji, the assistant minister of the Ministry of War of the Wu Party, gloated over the misfortune and said, "There is a lot of discussion in the court and the public. Some people even say that Minister Ding wants to surrender to the Qing Dynasty. At today's court meeting, Minister Ding can prove his innocence."

Ding Kuichu was caught red-handed, and Lu Shi was also arrested, which made the Chu party members at a loss as to how to defend themselves.

After Lu Shi's confession, Wu's party leader Yan Qiheng pointed at Ding Kuichu in anger and called him by name, saying, "Ding Kuichu, what is the difference between your behavior and that of Qin Hui of Song Dynasty?"

Facing the uproar in the room, Ding Kuichu's face was gloomy, and a hint of anger flashed in his eyes. When Yan Qiheng directly compared him to Qin Hui, Ding Kuichu was furious and said without thinking: "You haven't heard of Chen Xinjia's story in the past. I fought for the country and my reputation. You only know one side of the story, but not the other. How can you make arbitrary speculations and slander me at will!"

Hearing the name Chen Xinjia, all the ministers looked up at Emperor Yongli. Upon hearing this, Yongli's face turned red and he remained silent for a long time.

Ding Kuichu suddenly felt that he had spoken out of turn, and said anxiously: "The state affairs have come to this point, without a major strategy, there is no way to reverse it. Meng Zhou has already occupied one-third of the country. If we don't control it, the Ming Dynasty will be in danger!"

Naturally, the ministers of Wu's party could not accept such an explanation. For a moment, the sound shook the steps of the palace. The emperor was terrified and covered his face with his sleeves and retreated in panic. Zhang Xiaoqi, the Imperial Censor, and several officials from the six departments stepped forward to block Yongli's retreat and forced Yongli to issue an edict to deal with the treacherous ministers.

Yongli saw that everyone in the court was speaking out to deal with Ding Kuichu, and very few people spoke up for Ding Kuichu. Seeing this, Yongli had no choice but to issue an edict to dismiss Ding Kuichu from his position as prime minister.

After Ding Kuichu was dismissed, the Wu party took advantage of the situation and launched an all-out attack on the Chu party. The Chu party officials were unwilling to accept defeat, and for a time, the party struggles in the Yongli court became increasingly intense.