Chapter 150: The Tacit Understanding between the Emperor and His Subjects
Chongzhen tapped the table and said after a moment of silence: "That is why I need a capable minister to assist me in implementing these two laws!"

Shi Fenglai shuddered. He finally understood why Chongzhen summoned him into the palace in the middle of the night and gave him a seat.

If possible, Shi Fenglai really wanted to say: Your Majesty, I will not sit on your stool...

However, at this moment, Shi Fenglai no longer had the opportunity to refuse.

Because Chongzhen walked out of the imperial desk again, holding a pile of memorials in his hands, and threw them at Shi Fenglai's feet with disdain, pointing at the memorials and cursing: "Prime Minister, look at these Donglin Party members, they are getting more and more outrageous now!"

"It's fine for retired officials to submit memorials to me, but some students from the Imperial Academy and the Imperial Scholars also submit memorials to me! I don't know what benefits those bastards from the Ministry of Public Administration have received from them, but they dare to send such treasonous documents to the capital!"

Chongzhen picked up a book at random and said, "Look, this is a memorial submitted by a scholar named Mao Xiang. A useless person without any official title dared to submit a memorial to impeach the Prime Minister. I wonder who gave him the courage!"

"I have just asked the Jinyiwei about this. Mao Xiang is just from a family of officials in Jiangnan. I heard that he even joined a Fushe Society. The Fushe Society also has some scholars who call themselves Donglin scholars. They talk about saving the country all day long, but they can't even pass the exam. It's really funny!"

Chongzhen called Mao Xiang a good-for-nothing and useless person. Although he was pretending to be good in front of Shi Fenglai, he was not completely wronged.

Moreover, Mao Xiang almost became Chongzhen's brother-in-law.

Mao Xiang was known as one of the Four Young Masters at that time. He came from a family of officials and always regarded himself as a scholar. In fact, he failed the provincial examinations six times and could not even pass the examination to become a scholar.

Not only that, Mao Xiang was also a legendary pimp. Dong Xiaowan and Chen Yuanyuan, two of the Eight Beauties of Qinhuai, were both his lovers.

You have to know that the so-called Eight Beauties of Qinhuai at that time were not comparable to ordinary prostitutes, and being able to become their lover was a skill in itself.

However, Mao Xiang did not use this ability to obtain official titles or to serve as an official to save the country. Instead, he used it to indulge in romantic affairs and sleep with prostitutes. He also liked to comment on current affairs, acting like a man with great talent who was not appreciated.

Moreover, this person is quite heartless. To use modern words, he doesn't recognize people even after he puts on his pants.

Back then, Chen Yuanyuan encountered banditry and all her property was looted, so she wanted to seek refuge with her old lover Mao Xiang and marry him.

So the two of them spent the whole day having fun on the pleasure boat, but Mao Xiang put on his pants and returned home. He remained unmoved by Chen Yuanyuan's repeated letters urging him to do so. It was not until Chen Yuanyuan was kidnapped to the capital by Tian Hongyu that he pretended to rush to Suzhou to pick her up.

Tian Hongyu, father of Concubine Tian.

At that time, Concubine Tian was frail and sickly. Tian Hongyu was worried that if Concubine Tian died of an accident or something, the Tian family would lose the favor of Chongzhen.

Therefore, when he saw Chen Yuanyuan in Yangzhou, he came up with the idea of ​​giving her to Chongzhen in order to please him.

However, the Ming Dynasty was in tatters at that time, and Chongzhen was not a man who liked women. So even though Tian Hongyu followed the path of Concubine Tian and sent Chen Yuanyuan into the palace for three full months, he still did not receive Chongzhen's favor.

Therefore, Tian Hongyu took Chen Yuanyuan back home and enjoyed her himself.

The story that followed is well known to later generations. In order to win over Wu Sangui, Tian Hongyu gave Chen Yuanyuan to Wu Sangui.

Thinking about it now, it was too dangerous. If Chongzhen had touched Chen Yuanyuan, his reputation would have been ruined.

Chongzhen first brought out the impeachment memorial of the imperial censor Luo Yuanbing, and now he directly brought out a bunch of them, and even picked out a few small Karamis like Mao Xiang as examples, saying that Shi Fenglai's current situation is precarious, and no matter which demons jump out to attack him. The implication is simple, looking around the world, there is no second choice except Emperor Chongzhen who can save him.

At the same time, it was also a subtle threat to Shi Fenglai that if he did not obey, Chongzhen could easily kill him with any memorial without any objection from anyone.

Because as a "cabinet minister of the Wei family", it doesn't matter whether Shi Fenglai is a eunuch or not. Everyone in the world thinks he is a eunuch and they all wish he would die.

Moreover, Chongzhen's words revealed his dissatisfaction with the Donglin Party. Although Shi Fenglai considered himself not a eunuch, he also had no good feelings towards the Donglin Party.

On this point, Shi Fenglai and Chongzhen had the same views, and Shi Fenglai's wealth and status were all tied to Chongzhen. To a certain extent, the two of them belonged to a community of interests.

Chongzhen's remarks were exactly in line with Wang An's strategy of forming alliances and making coalitions.

He intended to take advantage of the fact that Shi Fenglai was recognized as a eunuch party member to reach a tacit understanding with Shi Fenglai, suppress Donglin and make his own policies more smooth.

It has to be said that although Chongzhen had never been trained as a crown prince, his learning ability was indeed not weak.

Wang An only gave a few pointers and Chongzhen was able to put his knowledge into practice.

Of course, Chongzhen was not without better choices, such as Wen Tihen, who called himself a "lonely minister", but at that time Wen Tihen's status was not as high as Shi Fenglai.

Moreover, Chongzhen was eager to employ people, so he waited for Wen Tiren to enter the cabinet and appear in Chongzhen's vision.

As a member of the "Eunuch Party", Shi Fenglai had a natural hostility towards the Donglin Party. Most importantly, like Wei Zhongxian, he had a bad reputation, which made him the best shield for promoting policies that were more likely to be criticized.

Although Shi Fenglai was a "transitional" cabinet chief, he was able to remain in the cabinet during Wei Zhongxian's reign, and his wisdom should not be underestimated.

Chongzhen's actions were almost a naked hint, how could Shi Fenglai not understand?
After thinking for a while, Shi Fenglai knelt down and kowtowed, saying: "On behalf of the people of the world, I, your Majesty, thank you for your kindness!"

The king and his minister immediately formed a tacit understanding with this flattery.

Given Shi Fenglai’s current situation, he had no choice but to accept the olive branch extended by the emperor.

It is indeed as Chongzhen said. Shi Fenglai is now surrounded by enemies on all sides. The Donglin Party is eyeing him covetously and is eager to kill Shi Shilai, the eunuch party.

People like Zhou Yanru and Wen Tihen were eager for Shi Fenglai to die so that they could make room for him.

So rather than saying that the problem is still the lone minister, it is better to say that Shi Fenglai is the real lone minister today.

Moreover, there was another benefit for Chongzhen to win over Shi Fenglai, which was that he could unite those ministers who had been labeled as eunuchs.

When Chongzhen wanted to distribute the tax rate according to the amount of land he owned, his biggest enemy was not the royal family or the landlords in the north, but the gentry and powerful people in the south.

(End of this chapter)