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

Emperor Chongzhen's words were so powerful that the voices of admonition outside the hall suddenly disappeared.

If beating in court was what they were looking forward to and could boost morale, then beating to death was totally out of place.

The beating in the imperial court was only a slight physical pain, and one could still be admired by scholars. One might even leave his name in history, but at least he was still alive.

Although being beaten to death will definitely leave a name in history, but... the person is dead, what is the use of the name?

A different atmosphere began to spread, and many court officials immediately backed out, looking at Zheng Sanjun and Liu Yuliang who were leading the charge.

The chief minister of the cabinet, Liu Yuliang, was also having a headache. Based on his understanding of the emperor, with such a big scene, the emperor should have compromised long ago under normal circumstances.

But now, not only did he not compromise, he actually said such words, and for a moment I felt scared.

Ever since Zhang Shikang entered the court, he increasingly felt that he did not understand the emperor well enough. This was really bad news.

"Prince, should we continue to make death-defying appeals?" an imperial censor asked in a timid voice.

Although it was just an inquiry, his intention to retreat was already evident.

Liu Yuliang's brows have been furrowed ever since he heard what Emperor Chongzhen said. He couldn't make up his mind, so he discussed it with the Minister of Personnel Zheng Sanjun.

Everyone understood that although Liu Yuliang was the prime minister of the cabinet, Zheng Sanjun had the highest say in Donglin.

If there had not been an unspoken rule in the Ming Dynasty that the Minister of Personnel could not enter the cabinet, Zheng Sanjun would have been the chief minister of the cabinet.

"In my opinion, Your Majesty may just be trying to intimidate us.

His Majesty also specifically stated that it would be a quarter of an hour later, which should give us some time to consider.

Alas, I cannot fathom what your Majesty is thinking."

It was also the first time that Zheng Sanjun saw the emperor so determined. Although his analysis made some sense, everyone present still frowned.

This is a gamble, a gamble on whether the emperor really dares to beat them to death or dismiss them from their posts.

But, this is gambling with your life, right?

Even dismissal from office is a consequence that most people cannot bear.

I don't know how much effort they have put in to climb to this position. If they are fired, all their efforts will be in vain.

"Brother Yongzhang, why don't you go back first and we will discuss it from now on?" Liu Yuliang suggested to Zheng Sanjun. Yongzhang is Zheng Sanjun's courtesy name.

Liu Yuliang didn't want to gamble either, but he wouldn't say it directly.

"Alas, that is all that can be done."

Seeing the two big guys say this, everyone present breathed a sigh of relief.

Soon, the court officials outside the Qianqing Palace stood up, supporting each other, and ran towards the palace gate.

However, there were exceptions. There were still five or six people kneeling outside the Qianqing Palace, and the leader of them was Li Banghua, the Right Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate.

He scoffed at the retreat of Zheng Sanjun and others. He had never gotten along with that group of people. The reason he opposed this edict was not for his own benefit, but for the overall situation.

He generally admitted that in such a chaotic situation, if someone with extraordinary military talent came forward to take charge of the overall situation, it might be of great benefit to the court.

But at the same time, if this person has ulterior motives, doing so would push the Ming Dynasty into an irretrievable situation.

Before the Song Dynasty, countless changes of imperial power were caused by generals.

The reason why this situation disappeared after the Song Dynasty was that from then on, military power was no longer controlled by one person.

What the emperor is doing now is that he has forgotten the lessons of the previous dynasty.

Even if Li Banghua died and his blood splattered on the palace walls, it would serve as a warning to the emperor and make him return to the right path.

Confucius said to become a martyr, Mencius said to pursue righteousness, die for your advice, die for your advice, but you retreat at the mention of death. You have no backbone at all. You are unworthy of being a scholar!

"Your Majesty, since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, there has been no one in power for 270 years. The risk is even greater than that of the Jianlu bandits. There is no way back, Your Majesty.

I hope Your Majesty will take back your order for the sake of the long term!"

Li Banghua shouted until he was hoarse, his voice had long been hoarse, but he still refused to give up. He slapped the blue bricks with his hands, as if he was insensitive to the pain, hoping that the emperor would take his opinion seriously.

Behind him were Fan Jingwen, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, Ni Yuanlu, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, and two Deputy Ministers of the Ministry of Personnel.

They all shared Li Banghua's thoughts and felt that it was too dangerous to entrust military power to one person.

Even if Zhang Shikang had some achievements in military affairs, he could not gamble with the country, not to mention that he was so young. Such an edict was really too hasty.

As a court official, receiving salary from the emperor, if you see the emperor going astray, you naturally have to point it out, even if you die you cannot retreat.

A quarter of an hour later, seeing Fang Zhenghua and a dozen guards coming to arrest the man, Ni Yuanlu shouted towards the hall:

"I hope that our death can help Your Majesty to return to the right path. Even if we die, we will have no regrets!"

Li Banghua and Fan Jingwen were not afraid either, and at the same time they shouted for the emperor to revoke his order.

Fang Zhenghua looked back at the Qianqing Palace with some hesitation, but did not hear any other orders from the emperor.

He still admired these old gentlemen very much. Those who dared not leave at this time were generally ready to die.

However, the imperial caning was not something that could be taken lightly; the severity of the caning depended entirely on the emperor's will. If it was just a slight punishment, no one would die.

But if he wanted to establish his authority, a few blows with a jujube wood stick would be enough to kill these fragile scholars.

Not to mention that the emperor directly ordered him to be beaten to death.

"Why are you doing this, gentlemen? You'd better leave quickly and don't make things difficult for our family." Fang Zhenghua advised.

"If we were afraid of death, we would not be here. Your Majesty, we will never agree to this move, even if we die!" Fan Jingwen bowed his head and waited to be executed, with a determined look on his face.

"You don't understand Uncle Champion at all. In fact, Uncle Champion doesn't want to be in this position at all. He is the Emperor... Well, whatever."

Fang Zhenghua knew that it was impossible to convince these stubborn civil servants, so he sighed and ordered the guards to start taking off the official uniforms of Li Banghua and others.

At the same time, Emperor Chongzhen in the Qianqing Palace of course heard the noise outside the palace. He didn't expect that there was actually someone who was not afraid of death.

He is very angry at the moment. Since you want to die, he will grant your wish.

Wang Chengen was waiting beside him, but his face looked as if he wanted to say something but hesitated. After hesitating for a while, Wang Chengen finally couldn't help but said:

"Your Majesty, the last time I went to the military camp, I asked Uncle Guanjun which ministers in the court were available. What do you think Uncle Guanjun said?"

Wang Chengen knew that the emperor trusted Uncle Guanjun very much, so he immediately brought out Zhang Shikang.

Knowing that the emperor was angry, he spoke gently with a smile on his face, for fear of angering the emperor again.

But when he thought of what Uncle Guanjun had said, he felt that not saying it would be disloyal to the Emperor.

Emperor Chongzhen knew that Wang Dabanban wanted to find a talented person for him, so he was not angry. When he heard that it was Zhang Shikang who recommended him, he immediately became interested.

"What did Shi Kang say?"

"Master said he didn't know who was loyal and who was capable."

Isn't it just a waste of time to say this?

Seeing that Emperor Chongzhen began to frown, Wang Chengen quickly said:

"But Master also said that generally any scholar who is not afraid of death can be used."

……