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

The hall fell silent in an instant. Only Yuanzhou Lu took the order and left immediately without any hesitation.

Although he was about to kill more than a hundred new scholars in one breath, Zhang Xianzhong remained calm and summoned Zhang Dashou.

After Zhang Dashou came in to pay his respects, Zhang Xianzhong fell in love with this handsome man as soon as he saw him.

After a long conversation with him, he liked him even more and rewarded Zhang Dashou with a lot of gold, bows, horses, and other rewards that day.

At the court meeting the next day, Zhang Dashou came to the court to express his gratitude for the emperor's grace. Seeing that Zhang Dashou was so favored, the group of civil servants immediately began to praise Zhang Dashou for his intelligence and ability, and his knowledge of poetry and songs.

Zhang Xianzhong was even happier after hearing this, and immediately ordered people to prepare a banquet to entertain Zhang Dashou, and also invited civil and military officials to participate.

When the banquet was over, Zhang Xianzhong gave all the gold and silver utensils at the banquet to Zhang Dashou.

On the third day of the court meeting, Zhang Dashou once again entered the court to thank the emperor for his grace. The ministers still praised him highly, especially the right prime minister Yuan Zhoulu, who said in an exaggerated and excited manner:

“Your Majesty has just established Daxi, and God has given you such a talented person. This is a sign that our Daxi Kingdom will have a long-term peace and prosperity.

Your Majesty should consider its image and spread it everywhere, so that the subjects of our Great Western Kingdom know that our Great Western Kingdom has such a talented person, then the enemy can be defeated without fighting!"

Zhang Xianzhong was so happy when he heard this that he couldn't stop smiling. He immediately ordered a painter to paint a portrait of Zhang Dashou, held a banquet for Zhang Dashou again, and rewarded him with five beauties, a luxurious mansion, and twenty servants.

Zhang Dashou was naturally very grateful for this. He was so excited that he couldn't sleep well that night, thinking about how to express his gratitude the next day.

But on the fourth day of the court meeting, when Zhang Dashou once again knelt outside the Meridian Gate to ask for thanks, Zhang Xianzhong, sitting in the main hall, said:

"This Zhang Dashou is a talented person. I like him from the bottom of my heart. When I saw him, I loved him even more. I even became a little afraid of him."

A group of court officials were about to echo Zhang Xianzhong, but they heard him say:

"Go and kill him quickly. I don't want to see him again."

As a result, Zhang Zhuangyuan's entire family, including the beauties and servants who were rewarded, were all beheaded.

During the entire process, none of the court officials dared to speak out against it. Zhang Xianzhong seemed very satisfied with his decision and asked the court officials to continue reporting on their affairs.

The Minister of Rites Qin Donglai reported:

“Your Majesty, there are monks from local temples who have reported to the government, hoping that the court can allocate some land to them.

The officials of the government office did not dare to issue an order on their own, so they submitted the memorial to Your Majesty for decision."

Zhang Xianzhong frowned and asked:

"How did the monks live before?"

"Your Majesty, monks originally had land and were exempt from taxes. The number of monks in various temples has increased dramatically recently, and the original land is not enough to support them, so we have made this request."

"What a jerk! He doesn't pay taxes to me, but I want him to have more land. How can this be justified?" Zhang Xianzhong became even angrier.

"Anyone who pays taxes is a citizen of our Great Western Kingdom, and anyone who does not pay taxes is not a citizen of our Great Western Kingdom.

Since you are not a subject of our Great Western Kingdom, but you dare to ask for this and that in our Great Western Kingdom, you deserve to die!

Spread Laozi's order to kill all the monks in the temples and distribute the temple lands to the people!"

Zhang Xianzhong had almost no hesitation. He did not believe in gods or Buddhas, he only believed in the knife in his hand.

He thought that the concubine he disliked was trying to please him again, and might want to take the opportunity to assassinate him, so he killed her to eliminate future trouble.

There were too many smart candidates who might plot against his kingdom of Dashi in the future, so Zhang Xianzhong killed all of them.

The monks refused to pay taxes but kept asking for benefits. Zhang Xianzhong naturally would not tolerate them, so he killed them!

Still no official came out to stop it. Those who dared to obstruct Zhang Xianzhong went to see his grandmother.

Among all the civil and military officials in the entire Atlantis Kingdom, only the advice of the four generals could be listened to by Zhang Xianzhong.

“Your Majesty, it has not rained in Chengdu for more than a month since the beginning of summer, and the people are suffering terribly because of this.

Some local officials believe that when Your Majesty ascends the throne, you should pray for rain for our Great Western Kingdom to increase the people's recognition of our Great Western Kingdom. "

Right Prime Minister Yuanzhou Lu came out of the group and reported.

“Damn it, no rain for two months?

It seems to be true. I haven’t seen rain for a long time.”

After hearing this, Zhang Xianzhong stroked his long beard and frowned in thought.

The court officials below did not dare to speak carelessly. Few people could guess His Majesty's thoughts, and most of those who could guess were already dead.

"This won't do!" Zhang Xianzhong pondered for a moment and seemed to have made a decision.

Yuanzhou Lu immediately wanted to say that this official was outrageous. He actually dared to ask His Majesty, the supreme ruler, to pray for rain for the people. He really did not know his place and should be punished by slow slicing.

But before he could say anything, he heard Zhang Xianzhong say:

"It won't work if it doesn't rain. If we can't harvest crops, we'll be doomed, right?

Our people are suffering!"

After saying this, Zhang Xianzhong actually looked sad.

"Yes, Your Majesty. The people of our Great Western Kingdom are suffering. I also implore Your Majesty to pray for rain for the people and teach them to feel the great grace of heaven!"

Yuanzhou Lu was a smooth person and he immediately changed his tone, a 36-degree reversal.

The rest of the court officials also bowed down one after another, begging His Majesty to pray for rain for the people of Atlantis.

"Need you to tell me, of course I'm going!

Not only do I want to go, you also have to go!"

As he said this, Zhang Xianzhong actually walked out of the hall on the spot and left the palace with a group of court officials.

Zhang Xianzhong rode his horses along with two thousand guards, and the scattered ministers in carriages behind him lagged behind for several miles.

Half an hour later, Zhang Xianzhong arrived in Huayang, where there was a large Dragon King Temple. Usually, when there was a drought in Chengdu, people would come here to burn incense and candles to beg the Dragon King to send down rain.

When Zhang Xianzhong arrived here, the people around him were stunned and quickly knelt down on the ground.

"Everyone, please stand up. I just learned about the drought here, so I ended the court meeting and rushed over.

It doesn't rain, so you can't farm well. I'm so worried!

I came here today to pray for rain for you."

After saying that, Zhang Xianzhong took three incense sticks from his subordinates and lit them. He even bowed slightly to the statue in the Dragon King Temple and inserted the incense sticks into the incense burner with his own hands.

"Dragon King, I am the Son of Heaven, the Emperor. Although you are noble, a king is not as great as an emperor.

So, you can be considered as my subordinate, but I have always been polite.

I advise you not to be angry with me. I will also offer you incense and candles. As a tribute, I will give you a cow. Please make it rain for me. Do you hear me?"

Zhang Xianzhong really felt that he was being very polite, and he actually ordered people to bring a cow as a sacrifice for praying for rain.

However, after waiting for such a long time, the weather was still clear and sunny, with the sun hanging high in the sky, showing no mercy at all.

Yuanzhou Lu originally wanted to remind His Majesty that one must be sincere when praying for rain, and it would be best if one could beg for three consecutive days.

But before he could open his mouth, Zhang Xianzhong became angry when he saw the people around him waiting for rain in ragged clothes.

With his eyes wide open, he pointed at the statue of the Dragon King and said loudly:

“Dragon King, what kind of Dragon King are you?

What you care about is peace and prosperity in the country, as well as good weather and good harvests, but it hasn't rained for two months.

The crops are not growing and the people are crying for their parents. Damn you, you sit here arrogantly and do nothing. Who are you, the Dragon King?

You are the deaf king!"

……