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Throughout the history of China, there have been cases of courtiers assisting the emperor in governing the country. Some ministers were diligent and earnest, helping the emperor to promote the whole country, but some of the country's important ministers, with their own power, ruined the entire court.
Throughout the history of the Ming Dynasty, there have been many cabinet chief assistants, but only one of them is surnamed Chen, and his full name is Chen Wen. Chen Ge's old calendar went through three generations of emperors- Ming Yingzong, Ming Dynasty Emperor, and Ming Xianzong, of which Chen Wen became the first assistant to the cabinet during the Ming Xianzong period.
Although Chen Wen had entered the cabinet as an official at an early age, he did not intend to assist Li Xian, the head of the cabinet at that time, and Chen Wen was dismissive of the work that Li Xian had arranged for him. However, during the reign of Emperor Mingxianzong, he obstructed the actions of Qian Pu and his gang who wanted to replace Li Xian's first assistant in the cabinet.
First, why Chen Wen was dissatisfied with Li Xian, but helped Li Xian suppress those who wanted to replace the top assistant position in the cabinet
Chen Wen's contradictory behavior can be mainly explained by two reasons, the first of which is Chen Wen's desire for the position of first assistant in the cabinet. In the seventh year of Emperor Ming's reign, Chen Wen smoothly entered the cabinet and began his career path.
It is no exaggeration to say that as long as anyone who has entered the cabinet as an official, he must want to sit in the position of the first assistant of the cabinet. At that time, the position that Chen Wenli Xinzhong had been longing for was a little bit closer to him. At that time, the first assistant of the cabinet was Li Xian, and after Chen Wen entered the cabinet, he began to make all kinds of stumbling blocks for Li Xian, and did not listen to Li Xian's words at all.
Soon after, however, one of Chen Wen's friends, Qian Pu, took advantage of Emperor Mingyingzong's serious illness and secretly plotted with the eunuch Wang Lun to succeed to the throne, and the two of them wanted the crown prince Zhu Mishen to succeed to the throne, and the first assistant of the cabinet was replaced by Qian Pu.
Chen Wen, as Qian Pu's good friend, was not included in the list of personnel who needed to be guarded against by Qian Pu, and with this advantage, Chen Wen heard the news. After some time, Ming Yingzong died.
Li Xian was going to write a suicide note to meet first, when Chen Wen suddenly said to Li Xian, "No, there are already people who are planning to write a letter of criticism." Chen Wen told Li Xian the news he had heard from Qian Pu, and Li Xian was furious when he found out, and immediately reported the conspiracy of Wang Lun and Qian Pu to Zhu Jianshen, who had just succeeded to the throne.
At this time, the eunuch Wang Lun was already in power and arrogant, and the people around him were very disgusted with him, and Wang Lun even made some disrespectful behaviors at the funeral of Emperor Mingyingzong.
Emperor Mingxianzong originally wanted to suppress his arrogance, so Shunshui pushed the boat to take advantage of Li Xian's denunciation to expel Wang Lun. At the same time, Qian Pu was also demoted and transferred away from the capital.
Not only in this matter, Chen Wen helped Li Xian, but also in politics, Chen Wen helped Li Xian. Luo Lun, who had always been in a state of political hostility with Li Xian, was overthrown by Chen Wen, and Chen Wen was trusted by Li Xian.
However, after that, Chen Wen's temperament changed greatly, and Chen Wen, who was originally dedicated to the country, began to become silent and taciturn, could not be seen through, and indulged in drinking and entertainment, and kept singing and dancing all day long.
At the same time, Chen Wen's personality has also become prone to irritability, as long as someone in the DPRK openly goes against his will, Chen Wen will find ways to retaliate against him, and in the long run, there will be more and more hostility towards Chen Wen in the DPRK.
2. Li Xian died of illness, and Chen Wen successfully ascended to the throne as the first assistant to the cabinet
In the second year of Chen Hua, that is, in 1466, Li Xian had to return home to guard filial piety due to the death of a relative in his family, and Chen Wen was able to sit in the long-awaited position of first assistant in the cabinet. Li Xianshou died of illness not long after his return, and Chen Wen also naturally officially became the first assistant to the cabinet.
Without Li Xian, the roadblock, Chen Wen was even more arbitrary, acting arbitrarily and arrogantly with the power he held at his disposal, which attracted the curses and complaints of many officials in the imperial court, and his achievements in handling political affairs were not very good.
There was another reason why Chen Wen helped Li Xian in the first place, that is, to clear the way for his later work. When Li Xianding returned home worriedly, during that period Chen Wen briefly took over the position of first assistant to the cabinet, taking the opportunity to sweep away many troubles for his later work.
And although Qian Pu and Chen Wen are good friends, they still hold opposite opinions on the views and handling of some things. Therefore, under the influence of interests, Chen Wen also killed his relatives in righteousness, and without hesitation, he betrayed his friends and became the first assistant of the cabinet.
However, in his later political career, except for recommending the still young eunuch Huai'en when Chen Hua was three years old, so that Huai'en appeared on the historical stage to write the "Records of Emperor Yingzong", leaving a reputation of wisdom for future generations, Chen Wen did not make much contribution to the imperial court.
Because of the successful selection of a capable eunuch Huai'en, Chen Wen was also promoted to prince Shaobao and held the position of a scholar of Wenyuange University. But those ministers of culture and military affairs knew that Chen Wen was really a person, so they hated him very much.
Chen Wen had used many disgraceful means in order to become the head of the cabinet, and if he could do things well for the country after his promotion, he would barely count, but Chen Wen acted recklessly in his official position and exhausted the means, causing serious chaos within the imperial court.
Chen Wen died of illness in the fourth year of Chen Hua's reign, and was given the additional title of Shaofu (少傅) and his courtesy name Zhuang Jing (庄靖). Many officials believed that Chen Wen did not deserve Zhuang Jing's title at all, so they wrote to the emperor to withdraw it, but they were rejected by Emperor Mingxianzong. In the end, Chen Wen still ended his short life with a body of infamy.
Reference: "Myo history"