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

"My dear ministers, there is no need to discuss the Donglin issue any further. No matter how these traitors are killed, they will not relieve the hatred in my heart.

The same goes for the case of Duke Yansheng. Shixiu has submitted a letter of surrender. Such a countryless person is not worthy of being a noble in our dynasty. I will draft an edict later to remove his title and inform my people.

There is no need for you to waste paper writing impeachment memorials. Marquis Guanjun's merits outweigh his faults, so I will not blame him.

There are serious vacancies in the court now. I will issue an order to promote officials. You will receive the order. "Emperor Chongzhen rolled his eyes at Zhang Shikang and said to all the court officials.

The tone of Emperor Chongzhen was full of unquestionableness and even a bit of arrogance.

Because if it were usual, the emperor would never say such words unless he was so angry that he lost his mind. After all, it is the freedom of officials to impeach or not.

What's more, such a major event as the removal of Duke Yansheng's title should generally be discussed by all court officials together, rather than decided by the emperor alone.

In addition, the promotion of officials is not decided by the emperor alone, especially important positions in various ministries and cabinet ministers.

All court officials had to recommend candidates, then be selected by the cabinet ministers, and finally the list would be handed over to the emperor for his selection.

But Emperor Chongzhen skipped all the procedures, and his expression was calm and composed, without any intention of testing.

Li Banghua and Ni Yuanlu frowned, but ultimately did not stand up to refute.

Zhang Shikang showed a look of relief. This was what a king in troubled times should be like. It was worth it that he had brainwashed this brother repeatedly over the past year.

After Emperor Chongzhen finished speaking, all the civil and military officials in the court knelt on the ground.

"Ni Yuanlu, the Minister of Personnel, was given the title of Junior Tutor.

Cai Guoyong, the Minister of Revenue, was transferred to be the Minister of Rites and was given the title of Junior Tutor.

Hai Zhongqi was the director of the Shandong Qingli Division of the Ministry of Revenue, and was promoted to the Minister of Revenue and entered the Dongge to participate in politics. "

Emperor Chongzhen glanced at Hai Zhong and said.

This order made everyone present gasp for cold noodles.

Although there have been promotions across levels in every dynasty, the Chongzhen dynasty was the only one in which a sixth-rank official skipped four levels and was directly appointed as a minister and entered the cabinet.

In fact, Emperor Chongzhen did not like Hai Zhongzhong very much. He was already annoyed enough by Li Banghua who was always finding fault with him. It was obvious that Hai Zhongzhong was a guy who was even more difficult to deal with than Li Banghua.

However, this was the only person recommended by Zhang Shikang, so Emperor Chongzhen endured it.

"Li Banghua, the Minister of War, is promoted to Junior Guardian.

Fan Fucui, the Minister of Punishments, was promoted to Junior Tutor.

Fan Jingwen, the Minister of Works, was promoted to Junior Tutor.

Zhang Shikang, the champion marquis, was given the title of Grand Master.

After saying that, Emperor Chongzhen looked at Zhang Shikang again. Zhang Shikang grinned, and got another eye roll from Emperor Chongzhen.

In fact, Zhang Shikang already had many titles, including Admiral of the Beijing Camp, Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, Hereditary Champion Marquis, Grand Marshal of the Army of the World, Pillar of the State, Grand Tutor of the Crown Prince, and Grand Tutor.

This time, another grand master was added.

Being able to rank among the Three Dukes while still alive is the lifelong wish of all civil and military officials in the court, but Zhang Shikang not only conferred the titles of Taibao, but also Taizi Taibao and Taishi to the crown prince.

This was enough to make everyone present extremely envious.

Even the dozen or so upright civil officials could not hide their envy on their faces.

They may not be greedy or corrupt, but most people in this life are no exception. They have to live for something.

If not for profit, then for fame, a name that will go down in history.

However, Zhang Shikang didn't care about these newly added titles. In his opinion, they were useless.

How much is reputation worth? How many divisions is it worth?

Can we destroy the bandits and the Jiannu?

If other people knew what Zhang Shikang was thinking at this moment, they would probably be shocked.

"Chen Daozhi, formerly the Imperial Censor of the Ministry of Revenue, was promoted to the position of Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue.

Ma Chengguo, formerly Langzhong of the Ministry of War, was promoted to Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of War.

Wen Jingtian, formerly the Right Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, was promoted to the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate.

......"

Emperor Chongzhen had already drawn up the promotion plan two days ago, and today he was only there to directly announce the appointment.

All the original cabinet ministers were given additional titles, and the surviving upright officials such as Hai Zhongqi were all promoted, some even promoted above their level.

In addition to the important official positions of the Six Ministries, the Censorate and other important government offices being read out during the court, the surviving officials in Beijing were also promoted.

But even so, there are still a lot of vacancies in the court.

Yes, there is one hole for each carrot, but now there are many holes but no carrots.

This situation only occurred in the early years of the Ming Dynasty.

"Please stand up, everyone." After talking about the transfer of officials, Emperor Chongzhen said calmly to the court officials.

"Nowadays, there are serious vacancies for officials. Years ago, I ordered the Ministry of Rites to issue a notice to open a special examination.

I think the date should be set as soon as possible.

Guanjun Hou is the chief examiner of this special examination and has the final say over all matters including the examination questions.

Cai Qingjia, I will leave this matter to you."

Emperor Chongzhen looked at the new Minister of Rites Cai Guoyong and said.

Cai Guoyong's beard twitched when he heard this. The chief examiner was Marquis Guanjun, who had the final say over all matters. So this matter was handed over to him?

If he is the one who takes care of all the things, then what does the Marquis do?

Although he felt something was wrong, Cai Guoyong dared not refute and quickly bowed and said:

"I accept the decree."

Although many important appointments were announced at this morning court session, the ministers were surprisingly quiet and no one raised any major questions or objections.

Emperor Chongzhen was also in a good mood. Zhang Shikang was right. He increasingly felt that this was the confidence given to him by the army.

All wisdom is fake; the only real thing is the gun in one's hand.

After announcing the adjournment of court, Emperor Chongzhen immediately called Zhang Shikang to his side.

"Shikang, the Donglin Party controls a lot of land, how do you plan to deal with it?

Also, what did you say to that middle-level sea cultivator just now in the court?"

Emperor Chongzhen had a quick temper and he did not hide anything. He immediately asked the question that had been on his mind for a while.

"A method that can completely resolve the problem of land annexation." Zhang Shikang knew that this brother was very curious, so he did not hide it.

"Oh? There is such a brilliant idea? Why didn't you tell me earlier?" Emperor Chongzhen's eyes lit up when he heard it.

Land annexation is the main reason for the fall of dynasties throughout history, and Zhang Shikang has told Emperor Chongzhen more than once.

Although Emperor Chongzhen was not a very good emperor, he knew the history of all dynasties.

As the private land of the royal family, the Huangzhuang has actually been expanding continuously over the past twelve years. As a vested interest and mascot in the palace, he simply did not realize the crux of the problem before.

Now, after Zhang Shikang's constant explanation, he has already realized the seriousness of land annexation.

It was precisely because he realized the seriousness of the situation that he was absolutely certain that the Ming Dynasty was already showing signs of national demise, and that what Marquis Guanjun said about the country being destroyed in six years was not an exaggeration.

But discovering a problem does not mean that it can be solved.

Just like the last emperors of every dynasty, there were many things they were powerless to do, or they were unable to do so because the resistance was too great.

However, these problems that seemed extremely difficult to him did not seem to be problems in Zhang Shikang's eyes. Although Emperor Chongzhen was curious, he was not too surprised.

“It’s no use saying it earlier, the time is not right.

Whether it can be done or not depends on your majesty's determination." Zhang Shikang did not keep the matter a secret and kicked the ball back.

"As long as this is accomplished, it will be no problem for the Ming Dynasty to prolong its reign for another hundred years!"

Zhang Shikang added another piece of firewood. When Emperor Chongzhen heard this, he became impatient.

"Of course I have my determination. You know me, so why ask me this?"

"But what if I want all the princes and clans in the world, including your Majesty, to hand over their lands?"

Emperor Chongzhen was silent.

To be fair, he could agree to hand over the imperial farm without hesitation. After all, the Ming Dynasty now has money, and even if the imperial farm is gone, the expenses of the harem should not be a problem.

But the vassal kings of the world...

Emperor Taizu treated his descendants well, which is written in the Ming Dynasty's ancestral precepts.

"Well, that's all I have to say. It's still too early for this matter to be finally implemented.

What we need to pay attention to now is still the elimination of the Donglin Party members.

Although the capital has been cleared, Your Majesty should know that Jiangnan and the coastal areas are the base and gathering places of the Donglin Party.

I have a feeling that something bad will happen in Jiangnan soon."

Zhang Shikang thought of Zheng Sanjun's hideous smile before his death, and his brows were filled with worry.

……