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

"Thank you for your mother's head! Zhang Shikang, you traitor, you will die a miserable death sooner or later!"

Zhu Changxun was escorted by soldiers to the prison car, but he was still cursing.

"Zhu Changxun, do you really think that I dare not kill you?"

Zhang Shikang spoke anyway, drew out the imperial sword, and walked towards Zhu Changxun with a slightly gloomy expression.

Zhu Changxun didn't dare to look Zhang Shikang in the eye, but just stiffened his neck and refused to yield.

Zhang Shikang hung the Imperial Sword around Zhu Changxun's neck. Zhu Changxun felt a chill on his neck, and before he could say anything, his legs began to tremble unconsciously.

“Where’s the energy from just now?

Otherwise, you can be tougher and say something like 'If you dare, chop me down'.

Just see if I dare to chop you down."

Zhang Shikang understood that this was a guy who looked powerful but was actually weak.

Everything he has comes from imperial power. Without this fig leaf, he is nothing. But this kind of people always think that those things belong to them before they die.

"You...you...you can't do this."

Zhu Changxun stammered for a long time. Even in this warm and cold weather, his forehead was already covered with sweat.

"I respect you by calling you Your Highness. If I don't respect you, you are nothing.

Reforming the tax system is a national policy, and nationalizing land, re-measuring land, and allocating land taxes are also national policies.

No one can stop the implementation of national policies, and those who disobey will be killed.

I will ask you one last time, are you sure you want to obstruct the national policy?"

No matter what, Zhu Changxun is Chongzhen's uncle after all. Even though Chongzhen has compromised on the issue of the royal family, Zhang Shikang still decided to give him a chance.

To be more precise, this was done for the sake of Emperor Chongzhen's face.

But that’s all. If Zhu Changxun still refuses to compromise, Zhang Shikang will not hesitate at all with the sword in his hand.

To catch a thief, one must first catch the leader. As the most honorable member of the royal family of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Changxun was destined to bear the brunt of this turmoil.

If Zhu Changxun cannot be dealt with, then there is no need to think about other princes, and land reform is doomed to be incomplete.

Whether to kill one vassal king or to kill more vassal kings is actually a very good choice.

"I...I..." Zhu Changxun no longer had the arrogance he had at the beginning.

From the initial bombardment to the sword hanging around his neck now, he no longer doubted Zhang Shikang's words.

"This king... This king does not want to die."

Zhu Changxun did not answer, but his answer was better than an answer.

Zhang Shikang smiled contemptuously and took the Emperor's Sword away from Zhu Changxun's neck. Zhu Changxun immediately became like a deflated ball.

Even though the two soldiers escorting him tried their best, they still failed to hold him back. Zhu Changxun's 300-pound weight lost its support and he sat down on the ground dejectedly.

"Then I want to ask you, is the food in the palace donated by Your Highness for the implementation of national policy and to help Your Majesty suppress the rebellion?"

"If you say so, then so be it." Zhu Changxun said weakly.

"So, the money deposited in the palace is also included?"

Zhang Shikang smiled. Although the imperial court was not short of silver for the time being, the more silver the better. Moreover, it was definitely not a good thing for the princes to have too much money and grain.

Zhu Changxun's eyes suddenly showed despair.

"Zhang Shikang, you took away the land of the palace and looted all the money and grain. There are so many people in the palace. Is there any way to survive?"

Zhu Changxun spoke in a relatively low voice. He did not dare to anger Zhang Shikang again, but as the head of the royal palace, he had to plead tactfully for the sake of his offspring.

“Your Highness should know that what His Majesty gives you is yours.

Whether they can survive depends on you."

Seeing that Zhu Changxun had basically given up resistance, Zhang Shikang's words became calmer.

“I can cooperate with you. There are five silver vaults in my mansion, with a total of more than four million silver coins stored. You can take them all.

But you have to give me and my family a chance to survive!" Zhu Changxun looked painful.

He knew the price of resistance and the price of compromise. Now that things had come to this, all struggles were in vain. He could only give up his dignity and beg for his life like King Lu did.

“The shops secretly controlled by the palace will also be taken back, but considering your good performance so far, the jewelry, jade and other valuables will be kept for you.

However, Prince Fu's mansion occupies too much land. I suggest demolishing half of it and returning it to the people of Luoyang. All the servants in the mansion should also be reduced."

Zhu Changxun still did not have the courage to refute this proposal.

In a standard feudal dynasty, the royal family is absolutely indispensable, but the royal family, like the nobles and relatives, are dependent on the imperial power and should be in solidarity and unity with the imperial power.

After all, once a dynasty is overthrown, apart from the emperor, the royal family and noble relatives will be the first targets of the new dynasty to be destroyed.

This should have been the emperor's most loyal support.

But what about now? Under the interests, they have become obstacles.

Even though he was mentally prepared and knew that reform would inevitably encounter many obstacles.

But when we really got to this point, we found that there were obstacles everywhere. The more thorough the reform, the more enemies we would have.

But Zhang Shikang did not regret it, nor did he feel powerless. He was sure that this path was the right one.

I am also glad that I did not act hastily at the beginning, but instead launched a general offensive against the Donglin Party and all internal enemies only after stabilizing most of the troops.

Although there are many obstacles nowadays, with the strong support of the army, most of the problems are no longer problems.

Come on, please make the storm stronger.

"I will write letters to all the vassal kings in your name.

I will tell them that if they want to rebel, they should do it as soon as possible. If they succeed, you will be awesome and I and His Majesty will admit defeat.

But if this fails, Your Majesty and I will sentence all three of their clans to death.

If you don't dare, just hand over the money and grain honestly, don't hesitate and embarrass yourself!" Zhang Shikang said coldly.

With the previous experiences of Prince Lu and Prince Fu as examples, Zhang Shikang could not tolerate running around like playing whack-a-mole.

The Ming Dynasty was just a broken jar. Now that it has been broken, it might as well break it more recklessly.

If they dare not speak, I will speak for them and make what they think clear.

Come on, I'm standing right in front of you. Either you fight or you kneel. Please don't hesitate and waste my time.

"You really are a... crazy person."

When Zhu Changxun heard Zhang Shikang's wild words, he was shocked, but at the same time he was even more glad that he did not take the risk of resisting.

To force the princes of the world to rebel, it is better to do it openly.

This Zhang Shikang is a madman.

"I'll take that as a compliment. Well, since you're so cooperative, I'll forget about the prison van.

You can go and ride in the carriage of the King of Lu." Zhang Shikang said generously.

Zhu Changxun's expression suddenly softened a lot. No matter what, as the most honorable prince in the world, being dragged around in a prison cart to be displayed to the public was more painful than being killed.

But his expression did not relax for long, when Prince Lu's carriage appeared in front of him, Zhu Changxun was stunned again.

It was a donkey cart, or more precisely, an open cart without a roof.

Prince of Lu Zhu Shouyong sat at the front left of the cart with his legs drooping and a whip in his hand.

Zhu Shouyong bowed to Zhu Changxun, then pointed to the front right of the donkey cart with a smile and said:

"Uncle, please get in the car."

……