When Wang Chengen accompanied Qian Qianyi into the apse of the Imperial Palace, the literary leader, who had always shown the demeanor of a celebrity in front of people, had a very gloomy face.

Zhu Youzhen glanced at him before he said, "I have already read the manuscript that Mr. Qian sent the day before yesterday. I think it's very good, I don't know when the whole book will be completed? ”

Hearing that Chongzhen was asking about the manuscript, Qian Qianyi's heart, which had been up and down because of the turmoil that had just occurred in the court, finally calmed down.

He hurriedly replied: "Thanks to the help of the princess of Portugal and the assistance of several Jesuit missionaries, this book on the history of the rise and fall of the Kingdom of Portugal has been roughly completed, and it will be completed in about two months."

The first six chapters are presented to His Majesty for preview, and there are still 4 chapters that have not yet been sorted out, plus 2 chapters that are still collecting information, and there will be a total of 12 chapters after the completion of the book..."

Perhaps the talent of the leader of Donglin is not very good in politics, but in terms of writing history books, he is the author who is most in line with Chongzhen's heart.

It is not that the Ming Dynasty does not have the talent to govern history, but it lacks the talent who is willing to write history according to his wishes. For example, this book "History of the Rise and Fall of Great Powers", which tells the history of the sea power of the Kingdom of Portugal, is bound to be written by many scholars.

In the records of Chinese historical classics, where will anyone pay attention to the history of a small Western country that is not well known? In particular, it is necessary to add the words "rise and fall of great powers" in front of it in a big way, doesn't it make people laugh?

Only this Mr. Shui Tailiang meticulously followed Chongzhen's instructions and conscientiously collected information about the Kingdom of Portugal from the Jesuit missionaries and Isabella.

Turning a small European country into a sudden rich because of a right and bold choice. However, because of the defects of the congenital small country and the widows, and the stubbornness and conservatism of the descendants, the performance of decline is truthfully portrayed.

What Zhu Youzhen needs is such a book, to study the history and politics of other countries on an equal footing, and to tell a history that happened in the past from an objective rather than a subjective perspective.

This book will not only be used to broaden the horizons of the Ming people, but more importantly, he hopes that future Ming scholars can also study the history, culture and customs of various countries and nationalities in the world with the same attitude.

The History of the Rise and Fall of Great Powers is divided into 12 chapters, which tell the history of the Kingdom of Portugal for more than 400 years, starting with the independence of the Kingdom of Portugal led by Alfonso Henriquez in the 12th century, to the fall of Portugal in 1578 during the Battle of the Three Kings.

Of course, the focus is on how "Henry the Navigator" brought Portugal from a small European border country to the journey of a maritime empire.

"I am the greatest man,

Stampore the earth under your feet!

I have a lot of money and unlimited power;

I am the scepter, the crown and the throne,:

It can make the earth and the sea tremble!

My prestige is far and wide,

widely known

I am Portugal,

I'm bigger than the whole world! ”

This is a famous poem by the Portuguese poet Roope de Vega, which fully demonstrates that when a country chooses the right path, even a small country will not find it impossible to conquer the world.

However, it is a great irony that this Portuguese poet, who lived through the heyday of the Portuguese kingdom, witnessed the fall of the Portuguese Empire.

Of course, Zhu Youzhen asked Wang Chengen to bring Qian Qianyi over, not just to talk about this book.

When Qian Qianyi's somewhat flustered mood began to calm down because of the discussion of his own work, Zhu Youzhen suddenly interjected and said: "Mr. Qian, what do you think of the Donglin Party and the Donglin Party?" ”

The unsuspecting Qian Qianyi looked up at the emperor a little blankly, he didn't understand the purpose of this question.

After 3 or 5 moments, Qian Qianyi said with some trepidation: "Back to Your Majesty, the minister has never heard that there is a party in Donglin.

Donglin, Donglin Academy also. In the past, after Gu Xiancheng was dismissed and returned to his hometown, he repaired the Donglin Academy where Yang Shi lectured in the Song Dynasty in Changzhou, and lectured in the academy with Gao Panlong, Qian Yiyi, Xue Fujiao, Shi Menglin, Yu Kongjian and his younger brother Gu Yuncheng.

Because in addition to lecturing, his generation often commented on national affairs and hid negative figures, which had a great influence on Jiangnan Shilin, which led to the dissatisfaction of some officials in the DPRK and China, so it was called Donglin Academy to form a party.

At that time, some officials in the court, such as Sun Piyang, Gong Nai, Zou Yuanbiao, **Xing and others, spoke out for Donglin Academy to refute this statement, and as a result, the matter of Donglin's party formation was known to the world.

At that time, after the government and the opposition and some local scholars heard the news, because they agreed with the remarks spread by the Donglin Academy on weekdays, they simply claimed to be members of the Donglin Party.

And when it came to the first emperor, the ministers of the court and the central government formed a party to fight, and simply branded all the people who were similar to the Donglin Party on weekdays into the Donglin Party, and even the ministers gave the name of Zuo Chunfang, the prodigal son of Tianqiaoxing.

So Daming has Donglin Party members with similar opinions, but there is really no Donglin Party, Your Majesty. ”

Qian Qianyi defended the Donglin Party members while not forgetting to wash the floor for himself. He really hoped in his heart that there would be no more party strife between the DPRK and China.

Now he is no longer the Donglin Party member who was insignificant in the DPRK in the past, but a real Donglin leader and cabinet minister.

Among the cabinet ministers, Huang Liji is 61 years old, Shi Fenglai is 66 years old, Xu Guangqi is 67 years old, Guo Yunhou is 59 years old, Zhang Ruitu is 59 years old, and he himself is only 47 years old, and the others do not need to worry.

Huang Liji, the head of the cabinet, has served two terms at most, and the two terms are 10 years, and he will only be 57 years old after 10 years, which is the time of his prime, and several others are already dying.

With the habit of ranking seniority in the Ming officialdom, Qian Qianyi felt that the distance between him and the first assistant was 10 years. If something happens in the middle, it can be shortened by a few more years.

However, if a party struggle is set off between the DPRK and China now, it may not be him who wins the first assistant, and he is not the only one with outstanding prestige among the Donglin Party.

But if he loses, he will give up everything he has now and go back to the countryside to be an idle squire, this kind of unreasonable gamble, Qian Qianyi obviously doesn't want to join.

It's just that he relied on the support of the Donglin Party to get into the position, and now he really can't get out of touch with the Donglin Party, so he can only desperately wash the ground for the Donglin Party in front of Chongzhen.

Being able to hear a lot of old things about Donglin from the mouth of this Donglin leader is also a good thing for Chongzhen.

Although he had also ordered people to collect information about the party struggle, in view of the fact that the people he was relying on now had some connection with the eunuch party, some of the information was somewhat inaccurate when it was sent.

Moreover, the Donglin Party has a large number of members, and as Qian Qianyi said, this is a group with pan-political beliefs, not an organized political group.

The self-proclaimed Donglin Party members don't even need to apply to a few Donglin leaders, as long as the family background is good, and there is no bad news in the local Shilin, they have two meals with a well-known Donglin Party member, and then ask the Donglin Party member to publicize it, which is considered to be a Donglin Party member.

Even, some people don't want to join the Donglin Party at all, but because of their good reputation, they have local appeal. Some Donglin Party members want to use his reputation to make friends in the local area, and they often regard him as a model for the local Donglin Party members, and they are inexplicably killed by the Donglin Party members.

It is simple to become a Donglin partyman, and it is not difficult to turn his back on the Donglin party, when the party struggle was big and the eunuch party was in full swing, many Donglin party members turned around and took refuge in Wei Zhongxian.

It can be seen from this that the Donglin Party is indeed not an organization, but more like a political group that has labeled itself.

After Zhu Youzhen listened to Qian Qianyi's defense, he cleared his throat and said, "I understand the difference between the Donglin Party and the Donglin Party.

Since there is no party in Donglin, and the Donglin Party members have complicated character, why didn't Mr. Qian organize a political party by himself and make a cut with these unscrupulous Donglin Party members? ”

After talking endlessly for himself and the Donglin Party, Qian Qianyi, who had beads of sweat on his head, heard Chongzhen's meaning, and suddenly became a little overwhelmed.

"Isn't Your Majesty the most disgusted with forming a party? How..."Qian Qianyi asked cautiously.

Zhu Youzhen smiled at him and said: "What I am disgusted with is the party of villains who form parties for personal gain, and the party is the same as the party, not the party of gentlemen with direct political ideas.

In other words, it was the Donglin Party that I hated rather than the Donglin Party. The sound of wind and rain, the sound of reading, the sound of the ear; Family affairs, national affairs, world affairs, everything is concerned.

If Gu Xiancheng's actions really deserve this couplet, how can I dislike the Donglin Party? ”

Although Chongzhen also agreed with the difference between the party of gentlemen and villains, Qian Qianyi always felt that this was a trap, and he hesitated for a long time before asking: "Then Your Majesty thinks that those are the Donglin Party members with bad character?" ”

Zhu Youzhen looked at him and said firmly: "The first is a hypocrite who says one thing and does another, such as Li Sancai, who amassed millions of family assets, but asked the emperor's grandfather to cut down on food and clothing and not compete with the people; For example, Gu Xiancheng, who retreated to the countryside, tried in vain to manipulate the government..."

The emperor's words suddenly made Qian Qianyi sweat, and he didn't dare to take the conversation. According to Chongzhen's request, this undoubtedly made him completely break with the Donglin Party, which made Qian Qianyi feel as if he was forced to the edge of a cliff.

Seeing Qian Qianyi's sweaty forehead and his delay in answering, Zhu Youzhen couldn't help but sigh in his heart. The indecision of this Qian scholar is indeed not far from history, he does not dare to refuse his own demands in person, and he is unwilling to obey his orders to break with the Donglin Party.

Maybe if it were Chongzhen in history, this Bachelor Qian should be put into another book. However, for the current Zhu Youzhen, the slightly weak Qian Qianyi is the most suitable candidate to split the Donglin Party group.

After all, what he needed was not a strongman and careerist to integrate the forces of the Donglin Party and erect a strong political opponent for himself. What he needed was a weak but somewhat organized and appealing New Donglin Party, which would divide the Jiangnan gentry clique, which was now ostensibly united.

Based on Zhu Youzhen's understanding of the history of the Southern Ming Dynasty, as long as these gentry are given a reason, this group of Jiangnan gentry who seem to be powerful can toss themselves to death.

Qian Qianyi's hesitation, on the one hand, was the moral feeling that existed in his heart, and on the other hand, it was estimated that he could not see his own benefits in this matter, so he seemed hesitant.

Zhu Youzhen thought about it and put down a fragrant bait for him, "Mr. Huang is not young anymore, his health is not very good, and the five-year term of Shoufu really requires a lot of energy."

Mr. Huang mentioned to me a few days ago that he hoped to go home to recuperate after finishing this term.

After Mr. Huang's term is over, the remaining cabinet ministers are old and young, and except for you, it seems that they are not very suitable to take over the position of first assistant.

And I have been thinking about what qualifications are needed to hold the position of first assistant and be the candidate for the helm of the Ming Dynasty.

After careful consideration, I found out that Mr. Qian, except for one flaw, you are very suitable for the position of first assistant. ”