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

The popular riot in Hefei city finally happened.

However, the situation in Hefei City is just a microcosm of many counties and cities in the south and north of the Yangtze River.

Since the end of the first month of the year, people from south and north of the Yangtze River, including Yingtian Prefecture and Nanzhili, who could not make a living due to the tax reform, started to make noises at the same time.

At the same time, the news that the lineage of Duke Yansheng was exterminated by the imperial court was quickly spread across the country through interested people.

When the students, scholars, and gentry in various prefectures heard the news, they were all shocked, and after being shocked, they were angry.

The Confucius Mansion was burned down, and along with it, the spiritual pillar in the hearts of all the literati was destroyed.

The imperial court! What on earth are you trying to do?

The Marquis of Guanjun dared to do such a thing, which showed that he did not take Confucius seriously and was showing contempt and ridicule to the scholars of the world.

For a time, writers from all over the country denounced the city. In addition to the rioters in the city, there were also articles of condemnation written by writers.

These articles severely criticized the champion Zhang Shikang. They were very convincing and every word was brilliant. They listed all the evil things Zhang Shikang had done in the past year.

Articles were flying everywhere, and even ordinary people knew that the culprit behind all this was a dissolute playboy named Zhang Shikang.

On the 29th day of the first lunar month, Qian Qianyi, a great scholar of the time, and Zhang Shenyan, the Minister of Personnel of Nanjing, jointly wrote an article denouncing Zhang Shikang.

The wording of this article is sharper than that of other writers. It starts with Zhang Shikang's arrogance and domineering behavior in the capital when he was young, and then goes on to describe how he disrupted the court, misled the emperor, and framed loyal officials.

From the experiences of the Shanxi merchants to the Duke of Yansheng, to the imposition of taxes on the people that caused them to live in misery, the author quotes extensively and cites classics.

In other words, if this traitor is not eliminated, the laws and rituals will be difficult to maintain, the people will perish, and the Ming Dynasty will perish.

Qian Qianyi and Zhang Shenyan were Confucian scholars throughout the Ming Dynasty and the spiritual leaders of the Donglin School. Their appeal was enormous and they pushed the entire movement among the literati and gentry to denounce the traitor Zhang Shikang to its peak.

Zhang Shenyan was promoted to the position of Minister of Personnel in Nanjing. With the cooperation of these two people, the literati all over the world not only criticized verbally and in writing, but also took to the streets.

They mostly gathered near county schools and prefectural schools, where most of the people were students seeking to study. These students were young and energetic, and were most easily infected and easily ignited.

In just a few days, the great scholars took the lead, with students and scholars from the south and north of the Yangtze River as the main force.

They were very excited and shouted slogans such as "If the traitors are not eliminated, the world will not be at peace and the country will no longer exist" and they took to the streets together.

……

The 30th day of the first lunar month, Yangzhou military camp.

Liu Liangzuo, the general of Yangzhou, looked gloomily at an old man who looked like a scholar sitting opposite him.

"Master General, can't you see it?

If the Marquis of Guanjun is not removed, not only will we in Donglin have no way to survive, but even you, the general, will have no chance to rise to prominence." Zhang Shide advised earnestly.

Zhang Shide is fifty years old. He is a scholar who has failed many times and has no hope of a career in politics. Now he is promoted by his fellow villager Zhang Shenyan and becomes an aide to Zhang's family.

He came to Yangzhou on the orders of Zhang Shenyan, intending to persuade Yangzhou General Liu Liangzuo to join this unprecedented movement.

Several other colleagues from the mansion came with him, and Zhang Shide was in charge of Yangzhou.

Although his expression was relatively calm, he was actually feeling a little anxious inside.

Yesterday, he learned that his mortal enemy in Zhang Mansion had already persuaded Gao Jie, the general of Sizhou.

He had already stayed in the Yangzhou military camp for several days, but Liu Liangzuo had been wavering and had refused to give a positive answer.

"What Mr. Zhang said is a bit alarmist.

Although Liu was born in a humble family, he is now employed by the emperor and should serve the court. Although I have no friendship with His Excellency the Grand Marshal, he has never harmed me.

I just want to manage my small piece of land in Yangzhou well, and whether I can make a success or not is not up to Mr. Zhang to decide. "

Liu Liangzuo took a sip of wine and seemed to disagree with Zhang Shide's words.

Although the Marquis of Guanjun did not have a very good reputation in Jiangbei, he had defeated the Jianlu after all. He was the son of a duke and a favorite of the emperor. There was no need for him to take risks because it was not worth it.

In Liu Liangzuo's view, whether it was the extermination of the Yansheng Duke family, the false accusations against the Shanxi merchants, or the tax reform, none of them had anything to do with him, Liu Liangzuo.

"General, you are short-sighted. Let me tell you that General Gao Jie of Sizhou has already chosen to join this movement.

Do you know why General Gao is so determined?" Zhang Shide continued.

Liu Liangzuo didn't say anything. He picked up the food with his chopsticks and gestured to Zhang Shide to continue.

Gao Jie chose to join Donglin, but he did not expect that the two were old acquaintances. Both were former subordinates of Li Zicheng and surrendered to the court for their own reasons.

"The traitor Zhang Shikang arrested more than 1,400 officials in Beijing in one night on the 15th day of the first lunar month, the Lantern Festival, and implicated many others, killing tens of thousands of people in just three days!" Zhang Shide said angrily.

Although he was acting on orders, Zhang Shide had been very indignant since he learned the news last night.

He had never seen such arrogance and domineering. Not only did he want to exterminate the descendants of Confucius, he even spared no effort to kill all the scholars of Donglin. More than a thousand people of lofty ideals and tens of thousands of their families were to be exterminated without anyone's permission. How could a human being do this?

Liu Liangzuo frowned when he heard this. He was not really aware of this news. Killing so many officials in three days was indeed a big deal.

But this has nothing to do with him, and Zhang Shikang didn't kill him.

He did receive a letter from the Grand Marshal a while ago, but it was just an encouragement for his work over the past two years. Although there was no substantial reward, it was still polite.

He had no reason to go against the Grand Marshal, even if the Grand Marshal was cruel and unpopular.

"Is this really true? It's so cruel!" Liu Liangzuo sighed.

He was born a rebel, so he doesn't care about these things, let alone the so-called loyalty to the country. It has nothing to do with him.

Zhang Shide didn't expect Liu Liangzuo to be so difficult to talk to. Zhang Shikang had done things that were abhorrent to both humans and gods, and everyone had the right to kill him.

This Liu Liangzuo is so calm, he is really a short-sighted and immoral guy. That's right, he was born a bandit, if he really cares about morality, who would rebel?

Instead, he surrendered again. He was disloyal, immoral, unkind and unjust. He was the same kind of person as Zhang Shikang.

Thinking of this, Zhang Shide said:

"Humph, this traitor slaughtered my Donglin only for money.

I have heard that the general is good at making money in Yangzhou, and he must also know the principle of "the lips and teeth are cold".

I won’t say more, goodbye.” After saying that, Zhang Shide stood up, bowed and left.

Liu Liangzuo did not try to persuade him to stay, but he eventually listened to Zhang Shide's words.

His brows were furrowed for a long time. He didn't care about the life or death of the Shanxi merchants, nor did he care about the Duke of Yansheng, or even the Confucian scholars of Donglin.

Because the life and death of those guys had nothing to do with him. Although what Zhang Shide said just now was unpleasant to hear, he did make a lot of money in the past two years.

Yangzhou is a wealthy place. In the past two years, he has not only taken bribes, but also plundered the surrounding areas. It cannot be said that he is hated by God and people, but it can only be said that he has no reputation at all.

He also had his own difficulties. Who told the court not to pay food and wages?

Of course, he himself was also quite greedy.

Hiss - what if the cruel Zhang Shikang really coveted his military power and property?

……