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

"Lu Xiangsheng/Sun Chuanting bows to the Grand Marshal:

The matter of Shanxi merchants was ordered by the Grand Marshal, and we dare not neglect it.

After much planning, we launched a thundering attack on the Shanxi merchants on the Wu Zi day of the Yi Hai month.

Fortunately, with the blessing of the Grand Marshal, everything goes smoothly.

A total of twenty-two Shanxi merchants were wiped out, and their family members, 1,486 in number, were killed, and 3,730 servants were used as soldiers.

Xiong Yinglong, the lieutenant general of Zhangjiakou Fort, intended to rebel, but we used a little trick and he was stabbed into pieces with hundreds of blows. This was all due to the power of the Grand Marshal.

We did not dare to delay and checked the warehouses of all Shanxi merchants overnight that day, and found more than 600 sets of armor, more than 4,600 swords and spears, and more than 900 bows and crossbows, all of which have been sealed.

The treasury of twenty-one Shanxi merchants received a total of more than 19,187,700 taels of silver and 190,000 shi of grain.

The treasury account books of various Shanxi merchants showed a total of more than 800,000 hectares of fertile land, more than 370 sealed-off shops, more than 60 mansions, and countless jewelry, jade, calligraphy and paintings, and antiques.

We will allocate a thousand donkey carts to transport the stolen goods. To be safe, this time Jingyuan Bohu will lead six thousand elite soldiers to escort them personally.

Many of the Shanxi merchants' account books showed trade with the Jiannu, which was tantamount to treason. The account books had been shipped along with the stolen goods. In addition, Taiyuan prefect Wei Keyong was used as a witness to give the commander-in-chief a legitimate reason to act.

The execution of the Shanxi merchants has enabled the Ming Dynasty to obtain a large amount of money to support state affairs, all of which is due to the merits of the Grand Marshal. "

The signature is the private seal of Lu Xiangsheng, the governor of Xuanda, and Sun Chuanting, the governor of Hanzhong.

The content of the letter was quite long, spanning several pages. It not only described the general process of the eradication, but also listed the seized proceeds one by one, and even prepared evidence and witnesses.

There was a lot of modesty in their words. Neither of them dared to take credit for the success. They repeatedly stated that it was all because of Zhang Shikang who anticipated the enemy's moves and planned the strategy. The only thing missing was to learn from Qi Jiguang and call him "my subordinate".

This was a memorial written specifically to Zhang Shikang. From the beginning, the plan to eradicate Shanxi merchants was not to do so under the banner of Emperor Chongzhen, as it was not very glorious after all.

Therefore, the two did not report the matter to the court in the form of a memorial, but instead reported the matter to Zhang Shikang, who then formally reported the matter at the court meeting.

However, both Zhang Shikang and Emperor Chongzhen automatically ignored most of the words in the letter.

At this moment, the only thing in their eyes and minds was the string of numbers behind the silver.

Zhang Shikang was fine, after all he knew it early. Emperor Chongzhen's breathing became heavy.

"Shikang, is this... true?" Emperor Chongzhen's face was full of disbelief.

No matter how hard he thought, Emperor Chongzhen would never have imagined that a few lowly merchants could own such a huge fortune.

The more than 19 million taels of silver alone are more than a hundred times the current silver reserves in the Ming Dynasty treasury.

The annual revenue of the Ming Dynasty was less than 19 million taels!

This doesn't even include the hundreds of carts of jewelry, calligraphy, paintings, antiques, and jade, as well as more than 800,000 hectares of fertile land and more than 300 shops...

It was not that Emperor Chongzhen did not dare to think about it, but he had been tired of being poor for so many years, and so much silver suddenly falling from the sky made him feel particularly unreal.

Even absurd.

"How could it be false? Your Majesty has met Lord Lu and Lord Sun. They are much more stable than me, right?" Zhang Shikang said with certainty.

Upon hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen's face began to turn red, and he paced back and forth in the Qianqing Palace excitedly, just like Zhang Shikang when he first saw the letter.

After two full breaths, Emperor Chongzhen looked at Zhang Shikang with a sharp gaze and said:

"Shikang, the Ming Dynasty... can be revived now."

Emperor Chongzhen said this with fervor and hope. Years of failure had already made him realize who he was.

Even with such a large sum of money that was enough to ease the Ming Dynasty's financial situation, Emperor Chongzhen was still unsure about the restoration of the country and still needed to listen to Zhang Shikang's opinion.

He knew that the court officials would laugh at him, but Zhang Shikang never would.

"Your Majesty, it's hard to say. We can only say that we finally have the material foundation to fight with that group of people." Zhang Shikang thought for a while and said.

If it were before, Zhang Shikang would have started bragging a long time ago, but after a war with so many deaths, Zhang Shikang realized that there is great uncertainty in everything.

A natural disaster, a man-made disaster, or a fall into the water could end everything.

"This group of Shanxi merchants must be in collusion with certain people in the court. If we wipe out the Shanxi merchants, how could they let it go?

If I am not mistaken, tonight not only we have learned the news from there, perhaps Zheng Sanjun and others have also received the news.

Your Majesty, I'm afraid many people will not be able to sleep well tonight."

If we follow the normal case handling process, even if there is evidence, the criminal should be arrested and brought to the Ministry of Justice for trial.

If the case is serious, it will be tried jointly by the three judicial departments, namely the Ministry of Justice, the Dali Temple, and the Censorate.

If the evidence is indeed conclusive, the Ministry of Justice should be responsible for investigating the case and confiscating the property.

Zhang Shikang just went up and hacked people to pieces, and killed more than a thousand people from the Twenty-One Shanxi Merchants Family in one fell swoop. The procedure alone was wrong, and it was inevitable that people would think that he was killing people to silence them.

That’s right, Zhang Shikang was killing people to silence them.

Shanxi merchants are an important part of the Donglin Party coalition. It is reasonable to think that Zheng Sanjun and his group will never give up.

During this period, the Donglin Party members have been continuously submitting memorials to impeach Zhang Shikang. The number of memorials to impeach him has increased from five large boxes to eight large boxes.

However, too many lice will not itch, and with Emperor Chongzhen protecting him, no one could really do anything to Zhang Shikang.

Zhang Shikang even brought back a few boxes of memorials a few days ago and gave them to the chef in the Duke's Mansion for cooking.

But the matter of destroying the Shanxi merchants was much more serious than the trivial matters of the Donglin Party impeaching him. There was a chance that a fight would break out at the court tomorrow morning.

When Zhang Shikang mentioned this matter, Emperor Chongzhen's excitement cooled down, and he immediately thought that this was indeed a rather tricky problem.

After all, Emperor Chongzhen had worked with the Donglin Party for more than ten years and knew much more about that group's style of doing things than Zhang Shikang.

"Humph, this group of Shanxi merchants not only colluded with foreign countries, but also intended to rebel. Now that the evidence is irrefutable, let them make trouble if they want.

No matter what, I will never back down, and I will not return a single cent of this money!

As for you, Shikang, you can rest assured that even if I give up all the court officials, I will not give up you."

Emperor Chongzhen said solemnly.

He spoke with conviction, but did not offer any useful suggestions on the matter, acting like a dead pig that is not afraid of boiling water.

Zhang Shikang certainly had no doubt about Brother Chongzhen's sincerity, but he was somewhat speechless about his behavior.

When did this guy become so reckless?

Good man, now that he has some money, he dares to confront the counterattack of the Donglin Party.

However, Zhang Shikang did not refute. Although he was stupid, he was truthful and courageous.

He pondered for a moment and then said:

"Your Majesty, have you noticed that the officials of our Ming Dynasty always like to reconcile and compromise?

For example, if you say that the room is too dark and a window must be opened here, they will definitely not allow it.

But if you say you want to take the entire roof off the house, they will come to compromise and be willing to open the window."

Emperor Chongzhen was confused and had no idea what Zhang Shikang was trying to say. Zhang Shikang's attempt to show off failed, and he felt very uncomfortable. He could only tell the truth:

"Your Majesty, perhaps we can divert their attention."

"Oh? How to transfer? It's such an important matter. They are not fools. How can they be led by you by the nose?"

Emperor Chongzhen shook his head.

Although he was extremely disappointed with these court officials, if anyone said that the court officials were fools, then he himself must be a fool.

"That's easy. Let's find something bigger than the Shanxi merchants' matter."

……