Nanming Engineer

Chapter 269 Partisanship
Emperor Yongli waited for all the officials below to take their seats safely, then straightened up and looked at the heads below with a smile on his face.

An official from Guanglu Temple stood beside the imperial table, and when he saw Yongli sitting upright, he immediately sang loudly: "Kaijue pours wine!"

Countless palace people poured out from behind, and each person was in charge of a table, filling the cups with wine in front of the officials sitting on the Xiudun, and then the drums sounded, and the musicians of the Jiaofang Division played ritual music, accompanied by the music, Emperor Yongli stood up happily, and the ministers, led by the officials of Guanglu Temple, shouted together like a parrot: "Your Majesty, wait and respect!"

Yongli raised his wine glass, touched his lips symbolically, and the ministers drank it all down. Wang Yingxiong's eyes glowed, his face was flushed, and he drank the glass with great honor, but Wang Huan didn't understand this. Dizzy, followed by a drink.

I just feel that the wine is high-quality, much better than the rice wine I drank in Kuizhou, it seems to be the best daughter red.

The wine toast was empty, and the persuasive music stopped. Everyone sat down, and Wang Huan sat down, thinking that it was time to eat, but he didn't want to just pick up the chopsticks, and the music started again.

The official of Guanglu Temple sang again with a sharp voice: "Second injection of wine!"

The palace people rushed up again and used jade pots to fill the wine glasses of the ministers. Then everyone stood up again and shouted together: "Your Majesty, wait and respect!"

After another drink, nine times in a row, the ministers toasted the emperor with nine glasses of wine, and the minister of Guanglu Temple sat down and sang: "After the wine is finished, thank you, all ministers!"

The ministers respectfully knelt down and kowtowed, thanking the emperor for the banquet. Emperor Yongli kindly said that it was nothing, and all the ministers were flat, and everyone was done. The minister of Guanglu Temple finally sang: "Receive the royal prince, and enter the soup!"

Wang Huan was speechless. There were so many rules and regulations in this banquet, and it was extremely complicated. It was so troublesome to have a meal. I really don't know why the ministers were so excited.

Accompanied by a group of dancers swaying and dancing into the open space in the center of the banquet, the sound of drums and music reappeared, and all kinds of delicacies were delivered to the short tables in front of everyone like a revolving door. Wang Huan, who had been watching for a long time, was eye-opening.

He picked up a piece of translucent Dongpo meat, looked at it, put it back, and poked a ball of duck breast with a good color and fragrance on the plate, and put it in his mouth. The fat but not greasy taste was excellent, and he swallowed it lightly. In his heart, he couldn't believe that Emperor Yongli had only been safe from fleeing for a few days, and he was actually living such a good life.

Looking at the group of dancers with charming faces and jade lotus roots in the empty field, singing gracefully and dancing gracefully in neon shirts and feathers, people are fascinated by their beautiful looks like flowers and waists. Accompanied by the charming silk music and the reflection of the bright moon, it is almost Wang Huan almost forgot that he was in the small imperial court of Nanming in the southeast corner of An'an, not the imperial garden of the Forbidden City in Beijing.

Emperor Yongli, who was sitting south on the high platform, looked confused and followed the figure of the dancer. All the princes and ministers under the seat were all smiling, either chewing according to the table, or tasting a little bit, they were as happy as in the peaceful and prosperous times. hapiness.

"When the emperor has reached this level, he is comparable to the Empress Dowager of the Southern Tang Dynasty, and the country deserves to die." Wang Huan shook his head secretly, playing with the white jade porcelain cup in his hand, and sighed inwardly.

Finally, the dance was over. With the clouds rising, the music stopped, and the dancers retreated. The banquet temporarily returned to calm, and everyone's eyes turned to Emperor Yongli on the high platform.

"My dear friends, today is a beautiful day. I have a banquet in the Shuiyue Palace to gather with all my dear friends. It is really a great joy." Emperor Yongli rinsed his mouth with the clean water provided by the maid and wiped his mouth with a white towel , and then said with a smile: "There are two happy events, and Qu Aiqing will come for everyone one by one."

Qu Shichun, who was sitting first on the left, stood up when he heard the sound, bowed deeply to Emperor Yongli, and said loudly: "I obey your orders!"

Qu Shixuan had a thin face, bright eyes, and a long beard hanging down his chest, blowing with the wind, the air of Taoism and immortality did not lose the style of a famous minister. He smiled and said to the ministers, "what the emperor said The first happy event is that Mr. Li, the Duke of Huiguo who is stationed in Guangzhou, has ordered troops at the school grounds, and he will soon have millions of troops to attack Nanxiong. I think my Ming Dynasty has the Ming Lord Zhongxing and Zhuguo to lead the army, and the Northern Expedition will be invincible. , Waiting for Nanxiong and Ganzhou, Jiangxi and Guangdong will become one piece, and half of the country will be returned to the Ming Dynasty. The Tartars will be exhausted, and the recovery of Nanjing will be just around the corner. Gentlemen, is this a happy event?"

He spoke in a cadence, impassioned and powerful, and his words were full of confidence, which was very contagious, and the banquet was full of cheers.

One person stood up, raised his glass and shouted: "What a joy, what a joy! Colleagues, please raise a glass, let us all respect our emperor and congratulate our Ming Dynasty for having such a bright master!"

The officials echoed loudly, the wine bottles were swaying, and people stood up one after another to raise their glasses to Yongli on the high platform. Yongli, with a smile on his face, also raised his glass to the occasion and took a sip.

Wang Huan took advantage of the opportunity to stand up and asked Wang Yingxiong in front, "Who is this shouting person?"

Wang Yingxiong didn't seem to like this person very much. When Wang Huan asked about it, he touched the wine glass to his lips without drinking. He turned his head and said to Wang Huan in a low voice: "This person is the most deceitful minister in the dynasty, and he is the auspicious horse of Yong'an. This kind of human nature He is cunning and proficient in writing, but he was born in a high-ranking official, and he is the best at specializing in affiliated companies. He was originally a lackey of Gao Qiqian, the great eunuch of the Chongzhen Emperor, and served as the capital secretary. Later, he ran various businesses without any military merit. He was promoted to the governor of Jinyiwei and the deputy general of Anton. Soldier, this time the emperor went to Wugang to escape danger. He accompanied him and stayed at all times. The emperor loved him for his loyalty, so he promoted him to the commander's envoy and granted him the title of Marquis of Yong'an. The holy family is high, and he has a good relationship with the Duke Hui, and his power is overwhelming to both the government and the public. He is the most popular person in this dynasty."

Wang Huan suddenly realized that this person was Ma Jixiang, a treacherous minister of the Yongli Dynasty. He was not very capable and had a strong desire for power. He was very flattering, but he was loyal to Emperor Yongli. He never left him until he fled to Burma, and finally died. In front of Emperor Yongli, he was considered loyal.

However, this person is extremely harmful to the country, he has almost never done good things, but he has done a lot of bad things. He has been full of greed in his life, and he has never recognized anything except money. From time to time, he attached himself to Sun Kewang, and finally Li Dingguo became the leader of the army, and he turned to Li Dingguo again.

Seeing Ma Jixiang at this moment, Wang Huan took a closer look, only to feel that this man's face and facial features are correct, with a Chinese character face with a high nose bridge, an upright face, a tall stature, and being with him in difficult times, no wonder Emperor Yongli would trust him. add.

Taking advantage of the fact that everyone was laughing and chatting loudly while drinking, Wang Yingxiong said again: "This person in the court, Li Chengdong, Meng Zhengfa, Yuan Pengnian and others, formed an alliance with Qu Shixu, plus He Tengjiao, also known as the Chu Party. Trusted by the emperor, he called the wind and rain in the court, and controlled the officials and other powers, which is extremely beautiful."

He licked his lips, looked around cautiously, and said in a low voice: "There is another party in the court, which is Zhu Tianlin, a scholar of the cabinet, Wu Zhenyu, the servant of the official department, Zhang Xiaoqi, Li Yongji and others in the matter, and the external governors. Du Yinxi, Wang Huacheng, etc. also said that the Wu party could not understand the behavior of the Chu party's cover-up and manipulation of the court, and they wanted to maintain orthodoxy, support the emperor, and take it as their responsibility to help the country. A lot has happened."

Wang Huan was not surprised when he heard this. The party struggle in the late Ming Dynasty had been going on for a long time. It lasted for hundreds of years and never stopped. A lot of manpower and material resources were consumed in it. It has developed to a purely contentious struggle, regardless of whether the other party's opinions are beneficial to the country or not, regardless of right or wrong, as long as the other party agrees, you will oppose it, and if the other party opposes it, you must agree.

Therefore, historians have a theory that the Ming Dynasty died of party disputes, which has some truth.

So Wang Huan listened and just asked, "Then which faction is Governor Wang on?"

Wang Yingxiong blinked his eyes and said righteously: "I'm not from that faction either. I'm just trying to make ends meet and pull chestnuts out of the fire!"

(End of this chapter)