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

The warm room was empty, and there was no sign of the emperor.

It turned out that the emperor was not sick, but was not in the palace at all!

Where did the emperor go?

Zheng Sanjun's expression changed several times in a short moment.

"Fang Zhenghua! Where is the emperor?"

Zheng Sanjun turned his head and stared at Fang Zhenghua, as if he wanted to see some clues from the other's face, and also seemed to be threatening him.

As long as Fang Zhenghua refuses to speak, he will definitely gather all his ministers to question him, and then things will not be so easy to deal with.

Unexpectedly, Fang Zhenghua did not hide anything and told the whereabouts of Emperor Chongzhen with a calm expression.

"Dingzhou."

Since he didn't know how long he would be away, Emperor Chongzhen had instructed them before he set out that they only needed to do everything they could to keep the secret for three days.

In three days, even if the court officials knew about it, he would probably already be in the military camp.

At the same time, Emperor Chongzhen also instructed that if the ministers forced him to abdicate, he should tell the truth and there was nothing to hide.

Zheng Sanjun and Liu Yuliang and the others looked at each other and were stunned for three breaths. Zheng Sanjun muttered:

"It must be the instigation of that Champion, it must be him!"

Based on his understanding of the current emperor, he would never come up with such an idea.

The emperor has lived in the capital since he was a child and has never even left the city walls, let alone outside the capital.

Moreover, the emperor had always been well-behaved and had never expressed any intention of leaving the capital.

"Yong Zhang, the Jiannu should be in Dingzhou right now. Your Majesty...could he have gone to the military camp?" said the chief minister of the cabinet, Liu Yuliang, in surprise.

Liu Zongzhou had the worst temper, and angrily said in front of Fang Zhenghua:

"To encourage Your Majesty to take a risk is a capital crime! Since Chief Steward Fang knew about this, how could he not stop it?"

Fang Zhenghua had seen all kinds of situations, so he was not afraid of the questioning of these old officials. He immediately said:

"We are the emperor's servants. How can we, as slaves, issue orders on behalf of our master?

Besides, the Emperor is the Son of Heaven, and the whole world belongs to the Emperor. There is no law requiring the Emperor to stay in the Imperial City."

These three sentences choked Liu Zongzhou so much that he was speechless.

"If Your Majesty returns safely, I will impeach you!" Zheng Sanjun was furious.

"Dingzhou is a battlefield. If your majesty fails on this trip, you and Wang Chengen must die to pay for your sins!"

Zheng Sanjun's words were harsh, but if he was facing Wang Chengen, who had a relatively good character, he would probably be intimidated by them.

But who is Fang Zhenghua? He is a fierce man who can fight with bandits with a knife and kill dozens of them. He immediately replied with wide eyes:

"If your Majesty has made any mistakes, I will die to atone for my sins. You are so anxious to be my minister, but you have run the court like this. Are you innocent?

If it really comes to that, would you dare to die to show your resolve?"

People do not fear death, but how can they be frightened by it? Every word Fang Zhenghua said was sonorous and righteous.

As an old man in the palace, he had actually long felt that this group of foreign officials were not of the same mind as the emperor, but the emperor had previously trusted this group of court officials very much, and as a servant he did not dare to say much.

But now it is different. The emperor has the assistance of Marquis Guanjun, and he has long seen through the true colors of this group of people. Perhaps in the eyes of outsiders, these people are the backbone of the country who hold heavy fists, but Fang Zhenghua is not afraid of them.

"You..." Zheng Sanjun was frightened by Fang Zhenghua's ruthlessness. He pointed at Fang Zhenghua for a long time, then shook his sleeves and left.

Liu Yuliang and others also snorted coldly and followed Zheng Sanjun away.

Fang Zhenghua looked in the direction of the Meridian Gate for a long time, and finally let out a long sigh.

Although he was not afraid of death, he could no longer hide his worries about Emperor Chongzhen.

He once commanded the Tengxiang Four Guards Camp and knew how cruel the battlefield was. In fact, when Emperor Chongzhen first told him that he wanted to leave the palace, he tactfully dissuaded him.

But Emperor Chongzhen refused to listen. As a slave, he had no choice but to hope that Earl Guanjun could be more reliable.

In addition, the group of Taoists who were proficient in martial arts joined the guard team at his recommendation.

In his early years, he had often practiced martial arts with the old Taoist priests in Dongyue Temple and was very familiar with the people there. With their protection, he would be able to be well protected as long as there were not thousands of troops.

But even so, he still couldn't feel at ease. It was none of his business, but if it concerned him, it would cause chaos. He had served the emperor for more than ten years, and this was the first time he felt so uneasy.

"May the Heaven and Earth bless you, and may you return home safely. Even if I die, I will have no regrets."

……

However, Liu Yuliang and others returned to Wenyuan Pavilion, still unable to get over the fact that they were deceived by the emperor. Some of them denounced Fang Zhenghua's rude remarks and claimed that they would definitely impeach him.

Some of them complained in a low voice that the emperor was immoral and even deceived old ministers like them who were devoted to the country.

Zheng Sanjun discussed with Liu Yuliang and others and believed that if Zhang Shikang, this troublemaker, was allowed to continue to act recklessly, something big would happen to the court, and they had the responsibility to persuade the emperor to come back.

This proposal received unanimous agreement from the officials present. In order to ensure safety along the way, Zheng Sanjun and others each brought their own servants. Due to the urgency of the matter, the group set out in several horse-drawn carriages at noon that day.

After leaving the capital and being away from outsiders, Zheng Sanjun finally expressed his real concerns.

"Everyone, we didn't take Zhang Shikang seriously before. Now it seems that we may have been wrong."

Zhang Shikang was a playboy, and everyone originally thought so. The emperor had been deceived for a long time, and they originally thought that Zhang Shikang would commit a big crime sooner or later.

By then, the emperor will surely come to his senses and realize that they are the only real pillars of the court.

But more than half a year passed, and the emperor became more and more fond of Zhang Shikang. Zhang Shikang not only did not fail in his expedition against the Jiannu, but also won a great victory.

This made the emperor trust Zhang Shikang even more. Now the emperor even dared to leave the palace without permission, and go to such a dangerous place as the military camp.

The emperor's absence from the palace was almost equivalent to being out of their sight, which was definitely not a good thing for them.

"Brother Yong Zhang is absolutely right. I also think we can't just sit there and wait for death.

All along, the emperor has always kept a distance from us, not alienated but never close, this is to guard against us Donglin." Liu Yuliang sighed.

"This is not what I am worried about. My dear friends, His Majesty is in the military camp now!" Zheng Sanjun said meaningfully.

The emperor never entered the military camp, nor did he get close to the military generals. Even if he wanted to employ people, he would always select them from the civil servants.

Although the emperor is always on guard against them, there is always room for maneuver as long as civil servants are employed.

After all, regardless of whether they are in the Donglin faction or not, civil servants always have to abide by the unspoken rules of officialdom. In this regard, Yuan Chonghuan, Yang Sichang, and even Yang He are all examples.

However, the emperor skipped everyone and went directly to the military camp, and actually got together with those border military generals. This was an extremely dangerous signal to them.

The source of all this was the dude they once looked down upon.

……