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

The 19th day of the first lunar month is not a major holiday and is a regular court day. However, Emperor Chongzhen set the location of this morning court in the Huangji Hall rather than the Huangji Gate outside the hall.

Soon after the civil and military officials had stood in line according to the appointed shifts, Emperor Chongzhen walked into the hall wearing his dragon robe.

His expression was relatively calm, but he was somewhat nervous inside.

Such a big thing happened in the capital, and so many people died. He was sick before killing people, and he recovered after everyone died. Even a fool would know that he was definitely pretending.

Emperor Chongzhen was thin-skinned and could only cough from time to time to prove himself.

No matter what, as the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, he still needs court officials to help him handle state affairs.

The current relationship between the monarch and his subjects has reached a freezing point.

He stared at the train of civil servants in shock. Most of the familiar people were gone, and there were only a dozen or so civil servants qualified to enter the hall.

This made him very uncomfortable at the time. Except for Ni Yuanlu, Fan Jingwen, Li Banghua, Cai Guoyong and Fan Fucui, there was a serious shortage of officials in various ministries, and there was not even a single person in the Ministry of Rites.

Emperor Chongzhen didn't even know how to hold this morning court session.

After all the civil and military officials had paid their respects, Emperor Chongzhen glanced at Zhang Shikang and motioned for him to start.

Zhang Shikang was not vague when he saw this, and he immediately bowed to Brother Chongzhen.

Then Zhang Shikang turned around and faced the dozen or so civil servants. Under everyone's surprised gaze, he bowed and saluted again in the direction of the civil officials.

The nobles and their relatives were all stunned, and even the dozen or so surviving civil officials frowned, not knowing what Zhang Shikang meant.

“Please don’t misunderstand me. This gift from me is not out of apology, but for the Ming Dynasty and for the people of the world who are starving and suffering.

I know you hate me very much, and I wish Your Majesty would send me to the eighteenth level of hell today.

That’s okay, I understand.”

Zhang Shikang bowed and spoke sincerely to the dozen or so civil servants.

There is no doubt that governing the Ming Dynasty requires concerted efforts from civil and military officials.

Those who were able to stay here were all incorruptible and tough people who had been repeatedly investigated and screened by the 20,000 subordinates of the Eastern Depot and the Embroidered Uniform Guard for more than two months.

In this once corrupt court, they refused to go along with the Donglin scholars and stuck to their original intentions.

Even though he knew that the conflict between him and them was difficult to reconcile, Zhang Shikang still refused to give up.

He was only prejudiced against the Donglin Party, not against all civil officials. In fact, Zhang Shikang admired the proud literati.

Although such people are rare.

After hearing this, the dozen or so civil officials remained unmoved. One of them, whose official uniform was patched, even snorted coldly, thinking that Zhang Shikang was just being hypocritical.

Seeing that nice words didn't work at all, Zhang Jiakang frowned slightly and thought that he should change the way of communication.

"Hehe, but you guys can't bring me down now!" He was respectful at first but arrogant later, and smiled proudly.

Zhang Shikang's reputation among the literati today cannot be said to be infamous, it can only be said to be notorious, even worse than a pile of stinky dog shit.

No matter how much he tries to show his goodwill, it won't have any effect and will only make people feel he is hypocritical.

In that case, I'll stop pretending and get straight to the point. I'm just a piece of stinky dog shit and there's nothing you can do to me, hahahahaha

Just a few words raised the blood pressure of the dozen or so civil officials. Several of them were so angry that they trembled all over and their faces turned red.

"You are not worthy of being a consultant! You are not worthy of being a consultant!!!"

If someone hadn't held them back, several civil officials would have gone up to Zhang Shikang and given him a beating.

“If you don’t want to plan, then don’t plan. However… you’d better do your best to complete the tasks you are assigned.

If the factory guards find you guys trying to be sneaky, don't blame me for being merciless!" Zhang Shikang looked like he had the upper hand.

Emperor Chongzhen just felt a headache.

He thought that after purging the Donglin Party, the number of officials in the court would be greatly reduced.

But he never thought that even without that group of corrupt and bribe-taking Donglin Party members, the court would still be in such a confrontational state.

Both the Donglin Party and the Qingliu seemed to have great dissatisfaction with Zhang Shikang.

At this time, an official in his early forties stood up and stared at Zhang Shikang righteously and said:

"We are dedicated to our duties and honest in our work, so why should we be afraid of your minions?

As for you, the Champion Marquis, we cannot coexist with you and will definitely kill you!"

Although this man was thin, he spoke with his eyes straight ahead, full of energy and powerful voice, and immediately received support from several other civil officials.

Zhang Shikang took a look and knew that the man's name was Hai Zhongqi, his ancestral home was Qiongzhou, and he was the head of the Shandong Qingli Division of the Ministry of Revenue.

Each of the six ministries in the Ming Dynasty had a director, but only the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Justice set up Qinglisi in each of the thirteen provinces, which were specifically responsible for coordinating household registration, taxation and other matters in each province.

His ancestral home is Qiongzhou and his surname is Hai, which reminds Zhang Shikang of a celebrity. He just doesn't know if this guy is related to that person.

"Go ahead, go ahead, go ahead!

Considering that Sun Chuanting and Qin Liangyu had no military supplies when resisting the bandits and suffered a defeat, and considering the chaos in the southwest, the Jian Nu will certainly take the opportunity to make a comeback!

I will just die with you guys!"

Zhang Shikang retorted that ever since he entered the court, there has never been a shortage of people impeaching him, and that too many lice will not itch.

Upon hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen slammed the handle of the dragon throne with his right hand.

"Champion Marquis, don't talk nonsense!"

When he thought of the embarrassing situation a year ago when bandits were running all over the place, his brows furrowed into knots and he almost shouted subconsciously.

But as soon as he finished speaking, he immediately realized that he was too sensitive to the bandits and the Jian Nu, so he changed the subject with a strange look on his face:

"It is common for you to have different political views, but I do not want to see you ruin state affairs because of this.

All of you should have an idea of how many crimes the Donglin scholars committed in the two capitals and thirteen provinces.

Although Marquis Guanjun's actions were indeed reckless, I was also involved in this matter and I will not avoid it. It is normal for you to feel resentful.

However, severe punishments should be used in troubled times. If we do not take drastic measures and take drastic measures, the situation of our Ming Dynasty will not improve even in another ten or twenty years.

Why don't you listen to what we have gained from this trip first?"

After Emperor Chongzhen finished speaking, he looked at Zhang Shikang again.

Zhang Shikang curled his lips and thought to himself that this old man was really shameless. These words were originally said by him, but now he is quoting them without blushing or feeling nervous, making it sound as if he said them himself.

However, Zhang Shikang was quite surprised when Chongzhen admitted his involvement in the matter in front of all the civil and military officials in the court.

Although any scholar in the world who knew a little about politics could guess that the purge of the Donglin Party must have been ordered by the emperor.

But being able to guess it does not mean that someone dares to say it out loud. If Brother Chongzhen did not say it himself, he would be the only one to bear the blame. After all, the emperor is appointed by heaven and will never do anything wrong.

A little moved, Zhang Shikang took out a document from his sleeve pocket and read it in front of everyone:

"According to incomplete statistics, about 30% of the officials in Beijing have been investigated. A total of more than 18 million taels of gold and silver have been confiscated from the officials' residences in Beijing..."

……