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

Wei Ke walked to the front of the court with unsteady steps. As he walked, many civil servants cheered him on, telling him to speak boldly.

But Wei Keyong ignored him and knelt down to pay tribute to Emperor Chongzhen.

"Your Majesty, your Majesty, is greeted by your humble servant Wei Keyong."

He called himself a criminal as soon as he opened his mouth, which made Zheng Sanjun feel a little uneasy.

"Tell me truthfully what you have seen and known." Emperor Chongzhen said with a cold face.

Regardless of whether Wei Keyong colluded with Shanxi merchants, Emperor Chongzhen would never treat him well, either publicly or privately.

Wei Keyong calmed down, calmed down, knelt in the hall and said loudly:

"On the day of Wang Yongfa's birthday, I was celebrating his birthday at his residence.

I am guilty! Since I took office as the prefect of Taiyuan, I have accepted bribes from Wang Yongfa and others many times, totaling more than 60,000 taels.

I have used my position to provide convenience to Shanxi merchants such as Wang Yongfa and Fan Yongdou.

The Shanxi merchants smuggled ironware and grain through the border, and all the guilty officials knew about it.

On the day of his birthday, Sun Chuanting launched an attack on Wang Yongfa on the pretext of celebrating his birthday. Wang Yongfa was desperate and ordered his family's assassins to resist, which led to his end.

I am guilty! I am guilty! "

After Wei Keyong finished speaking, he banged his head on the ground, kowtowed loudly, and blood appeared on his face in just a few moments.

The civil servants were dumbfounded when they heard this.

You, the boy with thick eyebrows and big eyes, have also betrayed the revolution?

"What nonsense! Wei Keyong, what benefit did you get from them?

Have you read all the teachings of the saints into your dog's stomach?" Liu Zongzhou, the Grand Secretary of Jianji Hall and the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, angrily scolded.

Wei Keyong ignored Liu Zongzhou's questioning and said seriously:

"Every word I said is true. I hope Your Majesty will understand!"

Ever since he witnessed the bloody massacre in Wang Yongfa's mansion, he knew that he would definitely not survive.

Sun Chuanting killed so many people without blinking an eye, and he had no doubt that if he did not report according to Sun Chuanting's words, not only he would die.

Even his entire family, including his beloved only son, would all die.

If a person dies, his family may survive. If Sun Chuanting keeps his promise, his Wei family can also keep the bloodline, and at least they will not bring disgrace to their ancestors.

After several days on the road from Shanxi, Wei Keyong had already figured it out, so no matter how Zheng Sanjun and others urged him, Wei Keyong ignored them.

"Your Majesty, Wei Keyong must have been threatened. Even if it is true as he said, it cannot explain why none of the twenty-one Shanxi merchants survived." Liu Zongzhou bowed.

After Liu Zongzhou finished speaking, the group of imperial censors behind him became restless, but before they could even open their mouths, Zhang Shikang got angry first.

“Mr. Liu and Mr. Zheng, you asked for physical evidence, and Governor Lu and Governor Sun produced physical evidence, and you said that physical evidence can be falsified.

You wanted witnesses, and they both sent witnesses, who were eyewitnesses of the accident. And you said Lord Wei was lying.

What do you mean? So as long as the witnesses and physical evidence don’t match your wishes, they are fake, right?”

Zhang Shikang looked around at Zheng Sanjun and others and asked bluntly.

Just as Zheng Sanjun and others were about to refute, Zhang Shikang continued:

"I am very curious. The Shanxi merchants are just a bunch of bad apples. The confiscated property alone is nearly 20 million taels of gold and silver. How much is the annual income of the Ming Dynasty?

Several businessmen are so wealthy, no wonder the imperial court is so poor!

Don't you have any responsibility?

You are making excuses for the Shanxi merchants, is it possible that you have gained some benefits?"

Zhang Shikang's words were extremely sharp, and the expressions of the ministers in the court suddenly changed.

Some of them lowered their heads slightly, which was a sign of guilt and fear of being found out by others, while others pretended to refute with anger on their faces, which was a sign of anger and shame at being guessed.

Of course, there were also people who were truly indignant and felt that Zhang Shikang was slandering them. This group of people had reason to be angry because they did not receive any money.

"Marquis Guanjun, how can you slander important officials of the dynasty at will?" a censor from the Censorate asked loudly.

"You are just a bunch of censors who do nothing but make up stories. How many loyal ministers and brave generals have died at your hands?

You guys claim to be well-versed in the books of sages, but what you do would make Confucius and Mencius pinch their noses!"

Zhang Shikang said this bluntly. Although he was pointing at that censor, he was actually referring to the entire group of censors.

In Zhang Shikang's opinion, half of the responsibility for the chaos in the court lies with this group of censors.

Zhu Yuanzhang's original intention in establishing the censor system was good, and the censors did play a significant role during his reign.

At that time, whenever the censors impeached an official, they almost always had solid evidence that the facts were true.

After all, Zhu Yuanzhang was not someone who could be easily fooled. Once he discovered that a censor had deliberately framed someone, he would immediately have the censor executed, which was almost like a counter-attack.

But later, after the efforts of successive emperors and court officials, the censor system eventually became a runaway horse.

What does it mean to "report things upon hearing the news"? It means that as long as the censors hear that a certain official has done something, they can write a memorial to impeach him at will.

As for whether the story is true or not, it doesn’t matter, they just heard it anyway.

But this makes it hard for those who are impeached. It takes only a little effort to spread rumors, but it takes a lot of effort to refute them. The impeached officials have to rush from their place of office to the capital to explain.

If this group of censors are determined to get you, you won't be able to explain yourself even if you have a hundred mouths.

You are impeached for corruption, and you go to great lengths to prove that you are not corrupt, but what about your family members? What about your fellow tribesmen? Have they used your prestige to do bad things?

What? No? These censors don't believe it. Even if you really don't have it, they can make you have it.

Unless you pay the money.

I don’t know how many wars had to reach a critical moment when the commander-in-chief had to give up the great opportunity to fight and return to the capital to engage in verbal battles with a group of civil servants because of impeachment.

The censors have developed into a deformed existence. This group of people are not only united, but also have their own organization. They are the loyal thugs of the Donglin Party and are the type who will hit wherever they are told.

"you you……"

The censor was scolded by Zhang Shikang. He was so angry that he didn't know how to refute, or he was afraid of the Duke of Yingguo and all the nobles behind Zhang Shikang.

During the four-day long war of words, almost all the nobles and relatives stood on the side of Zhang Shikang.

Anyway, this matter has nothing to do with the nobles and relatives of the emperor. Without the Shanxi merchants, perhaps their business will be even better. It would be better for them to do a favor to Zhang Shikang.

"What do you mean? If you can't speak, don't speak!" Zhang Shikang glanced at the censor and ignored him. Instead, he looked at Zheng Sanjun and said:

"Lord Zheng just asked so many questions, I also have a question to ask.

The twenty-one Shanxi merchants had a fortune of 19,180,000 taels of gold and silver, but how much tax did they pay to the court?