The rapid footsteps woke Liu Jun up from his shallow nap. The bright sunlight shone into the room through the window. He sat up from the bamboo bed, walked to the window and looked down.￡∝,

A team of Jinyiwei wearing flying fish suits and embroidered with embroidered spring swords were protecting a few people to arrive on horseback. Liu Jun also saw Li Chunjiang, dressed in white.

White clothes and mourning clothes. Liu Jun was stunned and thought of something bad. His teacher Mei Zhihuan had been in poor health since the New Year. His condition worsened after the New Year. The imperial doctor said that he could not hold on for this year.

Liu Jun quickly went downstairs, and Li Chunjiang was turning over and getting off the horse. When he saw Liu Jun, there was no smile on his face.

"Is it the teacher?"

Li Chunjiang nodded, "Three days ago, the old man left. I will go all the way from the capital to Tianjin to go to sea to notify you."

When the two entered the house, Li Chunjiang told him another even more shocking news, "My uncle has also gone."

"How is this possible? Isn't my body very strong?"

When Li Chunjiang, who won the first place in the imperial examination at the beginning of this year, was appointed as the top scholar by Chongzhen and then selected Shuji to join the Hanlin area. It was the time for spring breeze to be proud. But now his face was pale, and he sighed to Liu Jun, "Mr. Mei died in the capital three days ago. After hearing the news, the uncle lamented for it and wrote a poem to mourn. Then suddenly the immortal went there that night. He left peacefully without any pain."

Liu Jun still couldn't believe that Li Changgeng died just like this. Although he was about Mei Zhihuan in terms of age, both of whom were over 70 years old, Li Changgeng's body had always been very strong before, but he suddenly left.

"Have you checked it carefully?" Liu Jun asked.

Li Chunjiang said, "The emperor has sent the imperial doctor to carefully examine it, but he died of illness. He is mainly because he is old."

"I'll pack up immediately and set off for the capital immediately." Liu Jun said.

"Repeat!" Li Chunjiang called him. "I came here according to the emperor's will. The emperor said that the war in Liaodong is now at the critical moment, and Liaoning is indispensable to the commander."

"But the two gentlemen are my teachers. They have passed away. How can I, a disciple, not go?"

"The successor is the priority of national affairs. The emperor is very happy to know that you have won a lot of victories after entering Liao. The emperor was very sad. He has issued an order to host the court for three days and earned Mr. Mei's Grand Tutor, my uncle and tutor, and ordered the Ministry of Rites to personally choose the posthumous title and give silver to preside over the funeral."

Liu Jun walked to the stone table under the big locust tree in the yard and sat down, stroking his head with his hand, feeling very sad. This was a heartfelt feeling. Mei Zhihuan and Li Changgeng not only helped him greatly in his career, but also were both teachers and friends, and were caring for him everywhere. It can be said that without the support of these two people, he would not have been today.

He still remembered the first meeting with Mei Zhihuan. On the way to Suokouhe Liu's family, the two met by chance, but they were like confidants.

"No. I want to go back to Beijing, I will go back immediately. Leave me here in Liaonan for the time being. It won't be a problem. I'll inform my junior sister now."

Even if the emperor gave an order, Liu Jun planned to resist the order.

Liu Jun immediately asked someone to prepare mourning clothes and mourning clothes. Although he was just a disciple of the two, he was still wearing heavy filial piety and dressed as a filial son.

Mei Qing is now the Qianzong General in Jinzhou. She is in charge of guarding Nanshan Fort. She is patrolling the fortress. When she saw Liu Jun coming, she was following Li Chunjiang, and both of them were wearing mourning clothes. Her face immediately changed.

"Junior sister, please feel sorry for me!"

"Carry it out and go back to the capital with me immediately." Liu Jun said.

Mei Qing nodded silently and went back to clean up.

Liu Jun called the officers of Nanshan Fort and briefly explained to them, and appointed another officer to temporarily preside over the defense of Mei Qing in the fort.

After a while, Mei Qing came out, the three of them returned to Jinzhou first. Liu Jun said to senior officers such as Fu Shan who came after hearing the news, "Three days ago, the chief assistant Mei Gong and the second assistant Li Gong passed away one after another. They are my teachers. At this moment of grief, I must return to Beijing to attend the funeral. During my departure, I will leave it to you."

Everyone was extremely shocked when they heard that Mei Li passed away.

"Mr. Marquis, please feel sorry for me."

"During my absence, the military affairs of Liaonan were presided over by Fu Shan, and Zhang Shan and Wang Qian, you are responsible for assisting. You are also generals with a long experience in battle formations, so I don't need to say much. I will say one thing first. Before I come back, you will send troops to continue to sweep the coastal islands as planned, guard the Jinzhou well, and don't go north rashly."

"If I haven't come back within a month, then you will send some troops to land in Jinzhou and the Yalu River, burn the crops that are about to mature, and do not leave them to the Qing army. But remember that you can only attack small groups and not fight against hostilities, and wait for me to come back."

He was prepared for Mei Zhihuan's death, but what he didn't expect was that Li Changgeng also passed away. While his heart was so sad, he had to consider more.

With Mei Li's death, the court will inevitably usher in a huge change. This will have a great impact on Liu Jun and the Nine-Headed Bird, and he must go to the capital.

Injustice is to mourn the two gentlemen, and to quickly grasp the next changes in the court.

Liu Jun took a boat from Jinzhou Bay to Liaonan and headed for Tianjin Port that day.

"Public album, do you think there will be a position to be the first auxiliary of the cabinet in the court today?"

Li Chunjiang said calmly, "I'm afraid it's Zhou Yanru."

"Zhou Yanru? This person is not Donglin. Now all the court is full of Donglin. Can he be the chief assistant?"

Li Chunjiang said to him, "You are not in the court and don't know what happened in the court. Although the emperor used Mr. Mei Li to lead the cabinet and appointed Donglin in large quantities, the emperor was still a little wary of Donglin. Now that Mei Li's two assistants have passed away, there is no person of enough weight in Donglin to take over, and the emperor will definitely not use Donglin to continue to preside over the cabinet immediately, so as not to become the Donglin's one-man ruler in the court. After all, not every Donglin is as selfless as Mei Li."

Liu Jun shook his head. Things were indeed as Li Chunjiang said. Donglin was not all gentlemen. The earliest Donglin was indeed a group of gentlemen, but now there are many speculators. There are also many Fushe, which is called Xiao Donglin, and there are even more good and bad people. Many people in Donglin Fushe have become interest groups that are dedicated to the common people and fight against the differences. Apart from empty talk and party struggles, they do not have the ability to be a real director.

Some of them are called gentlemen, but gentlemen are not good officials. Just being moral can't be good officials or doing good things. When a true gentleman and capable leader like Meilin dies, no one can tell where the huge and loose organization of Donglin Fushe will go.

After Liu Jun arrived in Tianjin, he immediately heard the latest news from the Korean Central Committee.

"Zhou Yanru, Minister of Personnel, Jin's first assistant, and Minister Wu Yan, Jin's second assistant."

When Liu Jun heard this news, he was not surprised at all. Chongzhen had no use to use another Donglin Prime Minister, who was a non-Donglin man who had served as the Prime Minister, but now he has a good relationship with Donglin.

It is somewhat surprising and not surprising that Wu Yan served as the second assistant. Wu Yan was a 51-year-old Donglin this year, and even had a reputation among Donglin that was not inferior to Meili and others. He was born as a Jinshi, served as a county magistrate, served as an inspector, served as a prefect and minister. He can be said to have rich resumes.

Moreover, when he was the censor, he fought with Wei Zhongxian to the death, so he seized the official position and later settled the eunuch party and was able to return.

Wu Yan is a powerful figure in Donglin. He is good at fighting, and he is not only good at literary and martial arts. He is a person who is as good as Mei Zhihuan as literary and martial arts. He was a Jinshi in Wanli period and was deeply involved in party struggles during the Tianqi period. Not only did he fight to the death with Wei Zhongxian, but later he also fought with Wen Tiren.

The case of the imperial eunuch party rebellion in the early years of Chongzhen was originally due to his suggestion. In the end, the emperor launched a massacre of Wei Zhongxian's group, which was caused by him, so he gained the name of Wu Yan at that time.

However, what is different from many Donglin Party members is that he is not only a good writer, but also has strong practical skills. During his patrol, many bandits were in trouble at that time, but he suppressed them fiercely and decisively. Later, he also governed Shanxi. The bandits were in trouble everywhere, making Shaanxi and Henan a thousand miles away, but the Shanxi area where he governed was peaceful. Not only did there not many bandits enter the country, but there were not even local thieves.

He governed Shanxi, and for three consecutive years, no thief crossed the river and entered the country.

Later, he became the Minister of War, and was one of the few experienced officials among the court's civil officials. This time Chongzhen chose him as a secondary assistant, which can also be regarded as a kind-hearted person.

Use a non-Donglin chief assistant and Tiedonglin as secondary assistant.

Wu Yanchao was promoted to the Minister of Rites and the Grand Secretary of Wenyuan Pavilion as the second assistant to the cabinet, Donglin Zheng Sanjun, the Minister of Personnel of Jin, and the Grand Secretary of Ni Yuan Luka Dongge, and entered the cabinet to assist in the government.

Yao Ming, a Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, begged his bones to return home.

There were six Grand Secretary of Mei Zhihuan's cabinet, and three were replaced at once.

After landing in Tianjin, Liu Jun and his party rushed into Beijing with horses. When he arrived at the capital, Wang Zhixin, the admiral of the East Factory who replaced Cao Huachun, personally brought people there to greet him.

"Your Majesty heard that the marquis has entered the capital, so he ordered our family to come and welcome the marquis."

Liu Jun bowed to him.

"Your Majesty asked the Marquis to worship the two mentors before, and then went to the palace to see the emperor."

"OK."

The funeral of Mei and Li was very grand, and their departure also hit Chongzhen a big blow. Although they didn't preside over the cabinet for a long time, they were extremely satisfied with Chongzhen. However, they both left after only one year of presidency of the cabinet, which made Chongzhen very sad. Even though the court's finances were tight, Chongzhen still pulled 200,000 silver dollars from the treasury, so that the Ministry of Rites could handle the funeral of the two.

The emperor stayed for three days and all officials paid homage.

Liu Jun knelt in front of the two of them for a long time.

"Sad to be ashamed of the changes!" Liu Qiao, the commander of the Jinyiwei, came over and put on a pillar of incense and sighed to Liu Jun.

The two left the mourning hall and sat down aside.

"When you come back at this time, many people are going to pick on you again." Liu Qiao said, "As soon as Mei and Li left, the emperor sent Yao Ge Lao back to his hometown. Many people were speculating on the intention of the emperor's move, jumping up and down. Many people even have their eyes on you. Some people say that you have added the title of the department as a military general and are not in line with the ancestral system, and it is even unprecedented for you to be the admiral."

"What's more, you have a great victory in southern Liaoning, but they impeached you to abandon Guai and restore the two states, which means to raise the thief's self-respect."

"Some people also say that you are minting coins and stamping coupons, corruption and corruption, etc. This bad trend is very fierce, you have to be careful."

Liu Jun snorted coldly, "Some people like to randomly understand the holy intentions. These people are just sad dogs, and I don't have to pay attention to them at all." Liu Jun knew very well that he could stand here today, although with the help of Mei and Li, he was still the ability he showed in the end. He did not rely solely on the position of Admiral of Huguang, but that he could fight well and had the position of Admiral of Huguang.

Chongzhen now needs him to hold this official position and needs him to command the Chu army. Especially at the critical moment when the Liaodong war is at its critical moment, Liu Jun's position is stable and worry-free. Even in a certain aspect, the death and departure of Mei and Li have further consolidated his position at this time.

Those who thought he was sitting in his position today with two assistant ministers were very wrong.

"How about the new chief assistant after he came to the stage?" Liu Jun asked.

Liu Qiao shook her head, "As soon as Zhou Yanru came to power, he was immediately busy asking his eunuch party friends Feng Quan and Zhang Jie and others to come back. He hoped that Wu Qi would support him, but Wu Qi joined forces with the Censor Liu Daozhou and Zhou's Minister of Personnel Zheng Sanjun and others to obstruct. When discussing affairs in the palace yesterday, Zhou Yanru proposed to the emperor to appoint Feng Quan and others, but Wu Qi, Zheng Sanjun and others openly opposed it.

Afterwards, Zhou Yanru was furious and had lost peace for the first time. Alas, this is another sign of party struggle. How long has it been calm?"

Liu Qiao said to Liu Jun, "Do you know, there are rumors in Beijing that there are two parties in the court, Jiang Party and Chu Party. There are also three parties, Jiangbei Party, Jiangnan Party, Chu Party, and four parties, Jiangbei Party, Jiangnan Party, Chu Party, and Fushe Party, and five parties, Jiangbei Party, Jiangnan Party, Chu Party, Fushe Party, and eunuch Party."

"It seems that no matter how many parties, the Chu party is among them. Let me guess, this Chu party is just referring to us, right?"

As early as before, the court had the Donglin Party and the Qi, Zhejiang and Chu Party. Later, the Qi, Zhejiang and Chu Party joined the eunuch party and became the two major parties. Liu Jun unexpectedly thought that after so many years, there are rumors about this and that party.

The so-called wind will not cause waves. There is such rumors in the capital. It must be that those who are interested have spread the news. Eunuch Party? There are no eunuch Party now. Maybe some people have stood with Wei Zhongxian in the past, but they should not be tucked with such a label for the rest of their lives.

Now some people are talking about the eunuch party again. Why? The drunkard's intention is not to drink, and it is obviously the old trick of party struggles.

"Jiye, now you are the leader of the Chu Party, at the forefront of the storm." Liu Qiaodao, as Liu Qiao's uncle, naturally became one of the Chu Party.

"Zhou Yanru is the Jiangnan Party, and Wu Yan is the Jiangbei Party."

Liu Jun shook his head, "Well, if I guess well, Zhou Yanru, the Jiangnan Party, is probably mainly based on the backbone of the Fu Society?"

"That's true. Zhou Yanru took advantage of the power of Fushe to take office and has now become the spokesperson for Fushe in the court. However, some Fushe people are not satisfied with this situation. They oppose Zhou Yanru and Wu Yan and some Donglin people such as Wu. Alas, now, we can't tell which party is clear, and the people are still those people, so we have to put a mark. Now, we can no longer tell who is Donglin, who is Fushe and who is the eunuch party of Chu."

"Of course we can clearly distinguish it. The so-called party is the same party as the party and the other party. A group of people hug each other for common selfish interests is to form a party." Liu Jun's opinion, the party today is indeed no longer the party of the past, and the people of the present are equivalent to a reorganized party. In these new interest groups, whether in Jiangnan or Jiangbei, there will be conflicts with him, among which, the conflict between the Jiangnan party members and him will be even greater.
Chapter completed!