Late Ming Dynasty: Oops, I am surrounded by the Donglin Party

Ever since the news reached the palace, Emperor Chongzhen never left the Qianqing Palace again, and even did not hold a court meeting.

Officials from the cabinet and six ministries were very anxious about this, but Emperor Chongzhen refused to summon them.

For a whole day, he almost locked himself in the Qianqing Palace and did not see anyone.

He drove out all the close ministers and palace maids, including Wang Chengen, and left himself alone in the huge palace.

Then, he cried bitterly behind the high walls of the palace.

He was like a madman, letting tears run down his face. He held a sword and madly chopped at the tables and chairs in the hall.

He continued until the table and chair were chopped into pieces and his arms were left with no strength left.

He was disappointed.

Everything was an illusion. Yang Sichang deceived him after all, shattered this dream, and laid the stark reality before him.

He thought that the good situation had returned to its original state, and returned to the reality of internal and external troubles.

He suffers.

He felt like a clown, and those Donglin Party members must be laughing at him behind his back, laughing at his failure to judge people and his great ambitions but little talent.

As soon as the news of the suppression of the bandits came, he announced it to the world, wanting all the people in the world to share this great event, and wanting all the people in the world to know that he, Zhu Youjian, was also capable and could allow the people to live a peaceful life.

However, it has now become a reason for people all over the world to laugh at him. Look, the emperor actually believed a liar. What did this liar do except impose additional taxes on them?

The emperor is so incompetent that he has come to this situation because he trusted villains!

He was angry.

He felt that he had given Yang Sichang all he could. When Yang Sichang asked for food, he mobilized all the food and fodder he could from the two capitals and thirteen provinces.

Yang Sichang wanted military pay, so he repeatedly cut down on palace expenses, and even used the money for disaster relief for military use.

Yang Sichang needed swords and military equipment, so the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Revenue worked almost day and night to make the necessary equipment for him.

Yang Sichang wanted power and honor, so he conferred upon him the titles of Pillar of the State and Grand Tutor, making him one of the Three Dukes, and conferred upon him the title of Commander-in-Chief, giving him the power to control the Governor-General.

He ignored the impeachment of court officials, and even the impeachment of generals. Not only that, in order to show his trustworthiness, he even handed the impeachment letters to Yang Sichang to handle.

But the result?

Yang Sichang still fooled him like this. He didn't understand why. What had he done wrong to him? Why did he treat him like this?

Let him become a laughing stock of the world and completely destroy his dream of reviving the Ming Dynasty.

This news will reach Jiannu sooner or later. By then, even the fake emperor of Jiannu will probably laugh at his incompetence, right?

When he thought of this, his heart ached and he wished he could cut Yang Sichang into pieces to relieve the hatred in his heart.

As much as he trusted Yang Sichang before, he hated this man now.

It wasn't just Yang Sichang. After this incident, everyone in the court, including the civil and military officials, looked like a liar to him. This was also the main reason why he didn't want to see anyone.

He knew that this was wrong, but he could no longer stop thinking about it. He felt that everyone was fooling him and only wanted to gain power, status and honor from him.

It is said that the emperor is alone and helpless, and now he gradually understands it.

He had no one to talk to.

The inner distress, the worsening situation, the noise and quarrels of the civil and military officials in the court, they were still blaming each other for where the only hundreds of thousands of taels of silver in the national treasury were spent.

No one cared about his loss, no one cared about his pain or his anger.

Now that the Jian Nu were still wreaking havoc, Zhang Xianzhong took the opportunity to defect, and Li Zicheng also rose up again.

Because of Yang Sichang's grain collection in Sichuan, Huguang and other places, the people had no rice to survive the winter. Li Zicheng raised his arm and called for help, and in just a few days he gathered tens of thousands of people.

This situation is even more terrifying than when the bandits were at their most rampant. It has spread across most of Huguang and the entire Sichuan province.

For a moment, Emperor Chongzhen wondered as if the Ming Dynasty had really lost its mandate.

But he really tried his best. He did everything he thought he could do. Why did it still turn out like this?

He didn't want to be a king who lost his country, that would be more painful than killing him.

But even if he admitted his incompetence, who could help him?

Emperor Chongzhen sat on the steps in front of the imperial desk in dishevel, staring blankly at the palace gate.

"Your Majesty, I have returned to the palace to report your order. Minister Yang and Admiral Zhang are already waiting outside the palace." Fang Zhenghua's voice came from outside the hall.

Emperor Chongzhen's dull eyes suddenly came back to his senses, and he shouted as if he had grabbed the last straw after drowning:

"Quickly call Zhang Shikang in!"

Emperor Chongzhen spoke in an urgent tone, his voice a little hoarse. After he finished speaking, he remembered his miserable appearance. He wiped the tears from his face and quickly tidied his clothes.

He was in extreme pain and anger, and for a moment he even forgot about Zhang Shikang, the man who had always been afraid of power and authority but who had strategies and always brought him unexpected surprises.

Although he had been in office for less than a year, Zhang Shikang not only raised five million taels for him with just a few words, but also solved the urgent needs of the court.

Moreover, even though the Beijing Camp had been in disarray for a long time, it took only half a year to reorganize it into an elite force.

Before the news of the great victory in Jiazhuang came, although Emperor Chongzhen approved of Zhang Shikang's plan, he was not clear about Zhang Shikang's combat capabilities on the battlefield.

But in the battle of Jiazhuang, the Beijing camp with only 24,000 men took on the fierce attack of nearly 30,000 Jiannu Yuetuo troops.

Not only that, the best proof of this is that they actually defeated the Jiannu army head-on and captured Yuetuo, the prince of the pseudo-Qing Dynasty, alive.

For more than a decade, no army of the Ming Dynasty had been able to defeat the Jiannu head-on when the field forces were equal, but Zhang Shikang did it.

It was simply a miracle. Zhang Shikang had never let him down.

"Your Majesty, Minister Yang is also outside. Should I summon him as well?" Fang Zhenghua asked in a low voice.

The hall was in a mess, almost all the tables and chairs were chopped to pieces. Fang Zhenghua didn't dare to look around, but just lowered his head and waited for instructions.

Emperor Chongzhen frowned when he heard this.

"Let him kneel outside the palace and wait." Emperor Chongzhen said coldly.

If the news of Zhang Shikang's return had not diluted his anger, Emperor Chongzhen would have wanted to send Yang Sichang in to be killed immediately.

Even now, Emperor Chongzhen could not guarantee that he would not be unable to resist chopping Yang Sichang to death on the spot after meeting him.

It seems that Lord Yang can't escape this disaster this time, Fang Zhenghua sighed in his heart. As a close minister of the emperor, he certainly knew how glorious Yang Sichang was a while ago.

The people of the entire capital were praising Yang Sichang's great achievements, and the people of the entire Ming Dynasty knew about this happy event because of the imperial edict.

Alas, Fang Zhenghua sighed inwardly and went out to announce the meeting.

Zhang Shikang had actually heard the call from his brother Chongzhen outside the hall. After Fang Zhenghua read out the oral order, he walked in with a serious expression.

He glanced at the messy hall, then at his depressed brother. Before he could salute, he heard Emperor Chongzhen say:

"Shikang, I... regret not listening to your advice. This country... will no longer be a country."

As he spoke, Emperor Chongzhen choked up again and his eyes turned red.

……