In Ye Shaoyuan's mansion, Qian Qianyi was trying his best to persuade this friend to accept the marriage with the emperor. Although Ye Shaoyuan and Qian Qianyi are only 7 years apart, their qualifications in the imperial examination are far apart.

Qian Qianyi was a jinshi in the thirty-eighth year of Wanli, while Ye Shaoyuan was a jinshi in the fifth year of the Apocalypse. The qualifications of the two are very different, and there should not have been any intersection.

However, Qian Qianyi is the leader of the literary world in Jiangnan, and the Fenhu Ye family is the most famous scholarly family in Jiangnan, on the same level as the Songling Shen family of Wenyuan. Therefore, between Qian Qianyi and Ye Shaoyuan, they can also be regarded as acquaintances of poetry and literature.

After Chongzhen rectified the palace ban and vigorously abolished the palace personnel, the connection between the inner court and the outer court was almost broken. The emperor's intention to accept a Portuguese princess as a concubine also caused concern in the cabinet.

After all, they didn't want the emperor to favor a Xiyi woman, causing confusion among the bloodlines of the Ming Emperor's family. And Chongzhen's focus on the implementation of the new policy also made these officials feel more and more pressure.

The new policy promoted by this young emperor was more radical than the Wanli New Deal presided over by Zhang Juzheng in the past, but the party struggle in the last few years of the Apocalypse had actually cleaned up some of the most stubborn bureaucrats in the DPRK. At present, most of the officials in charge of affairs in the DPRK and China are officials who are unwilling to have a head-on conflict with the emperor and are prone to compromise.

The reform of the cabinet system and the court council system has also shifted the power of the court to discuss politics from a court meeting of several hundred people to a cabinet meeting of eight people and a state council of dozens of people.

The reform of the parliamentary system not only strengthened the ruling power of the emperor and the cabinet, but also greatly weakened the power of the speech officials and the clear stream. In the past, they influenced the behavior of the government and the government by swaying public opinion and thus the government, but now they have lost a stage for performance. The emergence of the Daming Times also replaced the private public opinion of some officials and the guidance of public opinion on the streets.

By this time, the civil servants in Beijing finally realized that the drastic reduction in the palace manpower was not a good thing for them. The common people may feel happy because the emperor has reduced the expenditure of the palace personnel, and think that this is a manifestation of Chongzhen's hard work.

But for these officials who know the inside story, they know that this is nothing more than a trick. The palace personnel dismissed by the emperor were only stripped of their palace registrations, but these people still worked for the emperor under the industries controlled by the inner government.

Strictly speaking, the power of the inner court has not shrunk, but expanded. It's just that the palace people who relied on imperial power in the past have now turned into a group of imperial businessmen.

To be more precise, in the past, the palace relied on power, and always wanted to cut a piece of cake from various industries for free for the court and the emperor to spend. Now the inner court doesn't do this kind of business, but they take the whole cake away, leaving only some scraps for others.

This behavior of the inner court naturally aroused the dissatisfaction of the original vested interests. But the way in which the Inner Court seized these interests did not use the power they possessed, at least not on the surface. And with the entry of the inner court into these industries, the prices in the market also began to fall, and the people also fell into some benefits. It is only a small number of people who really suffer.

The more the property under the name of the Inner Court developed, the more worried the officials became. After all, the foreign dynasties had no excuse for the emperor to take out the assets obtained through these industries, and they could not control the amount of this part of the wealth.

What worries them the most is that the new army, which the emperor has armed with the wealth of the inner treasury, has completely escaped the control of the cabinet. In the past, the armed forces of the capital were divided into two categories, the Beijing camp guarding the capital and the Jinyi Guard army guarding the imperial city.

The former was under the joint jurisdiction of civil officials and nobles, while the latter was under the orders of the emperor. Since both are not very combative, officials are not worried about this.

For the emperor, the Jingying was stronger than the foreign army and was a symbol of the stability of the imperial power. But for civil servants, internal and external balance is the foundation of political stability. An emperor with the support of a strong army is not a good thing for the civilian clique.

But now the new army has a faint trend like this. The emergence of the new army not only suppressed the Xungui clique in the Gyeongyeongyeong, but also took away the military control of the civilian officials in the Gyeonggi region.

Although the General Staff under the leadership of Sun Chengzong had complete control over the New Army, the clear separation between the General Staff and the Cabinet made it impossible for civilian officials to meddle in the affairs of the New Army. Even the post of military garrison, which used to bind the local army, has been replaced by the logistics department.

At this time, the cabinet naturally wants to make a move. On the one hand, Huang Liji actively repaired the relationship with Wang Zaijin, hoping that this secretary of the military department could contain the General Staff a little. On the other hand, these civil officials proposed a draft to the emperor on the grounds that there were a large number of layoffs in the palace and were afraid that Chongzhen's side would be understaffed.

But Chongzhen not only rejected this proposal, but also introduced the school-age daughters sent by the officials to the palace on the Qianqiu Festival, and asked the queen to be a matchmaker to introduce some military attachés. This obviously disappointed several civil leaders and nobles, but when they found out that the emperor had given Ye Xiaojun and Ye Xiaoluan sisters some books as gifts, they suddenly had a little hope.

The Ye family in Fenhu is a famous family in the south of the Yangtze River, and Ye Shaoyuan is a literati who is a little ignorant of world affairs, so Huang Liji and others naturally do not come forward in person, so as not to be self-defeating. Therefore, Qian Qianyi, who is quite famous, came forward to persuade Ye Shaoyuan to marry the emperor.

Although Ye Shaoyuan respected Qian Qianyi, the leader of the literary world in the south, after listening to his intentions, he immediately pulled his face down, "Your Majesty is a wise and benevolent lord, how can you be interested in a little girl because of a portrait." I divide the generations of the Hu Ye family, how can I do the act of a villain who sends a woman to seek glory.

Besides, Your Majesty has only been out of filial piety for a short time, and the world is in a time of internal and external difficulties, how can you ruin the reputation of Your Majesty and my Ye family because of this incident. What's more, I have discussed with my wife and am ready to marry my little daughter to my wife's nephew Shen Yongzhen. As for Xiaoluan, first, she is young, and second, she is not by her side, I will not be able to send her to the palace, and I will not see her from now on. Please also ask Mr. Makisai not to say anything about this. ”

Qian Qianyi looked at Ye Shaoyuan, who was pale, and thought about it for a long time before he spoke: "There are more than 100 famous ladies who enter the palace during the Qianqiu Festival, but only the two Jiao'er under Zhong Shao's knees are the ones who are personally gifted by His Majesty.

What does Your Majesty mean, do you still have to say it? The Fenhu Ye family is not only a famous family for generations, but also a courtier of my Ming Dynasty. What Zhong Shao is doing now, can it be regarded as abiding by the etiquette of the courtiers? Heaven and earth are the princes and teachers, and the righteousness of the monarchs and ministers is naturally ranked above the family affection.

It is precisely because Your Majesty is a wise and benevolent lord that I don't want Your Majesty to make a mistake, step on the previous emperor again, be deceived by the villain, and then set off a party dispute. Could it be that Zhong Shao wants to watch the party struggle rise again, and he is not willing to help? ”

Ye Shaoyuan was taken aback for a moment, and said hurriedly: "If it doesn't stop here, after His Majesty ascended the throne, he ordered a strict ban on party fighting, although the governance has deviated from the way of the sages, but a heart of hard work can still be seen, why should the elder be so alarmist?" ”

Qian Qianyi first looked left and right, and made sure that there were no outsiders in this study, and then whispered to Ye Shaoyuan: "You should also know that Your Majesty is in the prime of life, and he is full of interest in Xinxue.

His Majesty established primary schools and established universities in the north and south of Beijing, and the proportion of new learning content in teaching was unprecedented. Several of His Majesty's closest ministers, such as Xu Guangqi and others, were scholars and leaders who advocated new learning.

If this continues, I am afraid that in the future, in the court, those who sit and talk about the Tao will definitely be a new scholar, does Zhong Shao want to see that the court is full of vulgar people who are not Confucian and Mencius and are not willing to stand up for the way of sages? ”

After hearing this, Ye Shaoyuan really hesitated, and he resisted a little weakly: "It's not that I don't want to stand up, but to persuade Your Majesty to get close to the way of the sages, you don't necessarily have to do it, right?" I'd rather write to your majesty..."

Qian Qianyi hurriedly stopped him and said: "Although Your Majesty is only Chongling, he has always had his own opinions, Zhong Shao came out to criticize Xinxue at this time, I am afraid that Your Majesty will intensify it." What's more, if Zhong Shao's book angered His Majesty, wouldn't it become my sin. Even if Zhong Shao doesn't think about his wife and daughter, he should think twice about Lingtang. ”

At the mention of his mother, Ye Shaoyuan suddenly fell silent. He lost his father when he was a child, and he was raised by his mother, so he was very filial to his mother. Mother Ye is a very traditional woman, who has always respected the three obedience and four virtues, and for her son's teaching, in addition to studying hard in order to enter the official career, it is to earnestly induce him, telling him that after entering the official career, he should be like a father.

Because the emperor who was angered by the book not only violated his mother's teachings, but also caused his mother to be extremely worried, Ye Shaoyuan obviously didn't want to do this, he was silent for a long time before muttering: "According to the ancestral system, Your Majesty is not allowed to marry the daughter of a scholar, and it is forbidden for foreign officials to offer beautiful women to Your Majesty." ”

Hearing that Ye Shaoyuan's tone was a little relaxed, Qian Qianyi immediately persuaded again: "If the ancestral system cannot be changed, we will naturally not make such a decision."

But now, which of the new policies promoted by His Majesty is in accordance with the ancestral system? I heard that Zhong Shao's three daughters are all smart people in Bingxue, if the two Lingai can persuade the king to get close to the right path after entering the palace, it will also be a beautiful conversation between Empress E and Nuying..."

When Qian Qianyi left Ye Mansion, he was in a very happy mood. Although the New Donglin Party was established, it was still less valued by the emperor than Xu Guangqi's Scientific Progressive Party, which made him worry.

Taking advantage of the fact that Ye Shaoyuan's two daughters were favored by Chongzhen, he obeyed the wishes of Huang Liji and others to persuade Ye Shaoyuan, and by the way, he hoped to pull the future national abbot to his side. As far as today's meeting is concerned, he feels that his goal has been basically accomplished.