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

After Emperor Chongzhen had vented his anger, he turned around again and said:

"We will discuss this matter later, let's talk about the bandits first.

Is Zhang Xianzhong really dead?"

Emperor Chongzhen was really caught off guard by Zhang Shikang's sudden desire to start a family.

I originally wanted to marry Kunyi to Zhang Shikang, so that no matter what, this kid would have to work hard for the Ming Dynasty.

But...Alas.

Emperor Chongzhen was a little confused, so he decided to change the subject.

Although Zhang Shikang had already reported the matter of the bandits very clearly in the battle report, Emperor Chongzhen still wanted to confirm it again.

It was true that the bandits over the years had left Emperor Chongzhen with some psychological trauma.

After all, Zhang Xianzhong surrendered several times. If he jumps out again, he will have a heart attack.

"Your Majesty, he is indeed dead. I have seen his head, it was covered in blood.

I also asked Li Dingguo to personally check it out. Your Majesty, Li Dingguo, you know, he is very powerful, and he is Zhang Xianzhong’s adopted son.”

Although Zhang Shikang didn't know why his brother was angry just now, seeing that he looked very unhappy and a little painful, Zhang Shikang decisively chose to answer honestly.

If it were in the past, he would have made a few sarcastic remarks. Dead is dead, why is he still suspicious?

"You always say this is great, that is great, but I only see that you defeated them one by one.

I know why you always say this. Alas, you...why are you so lazy?"

Emperor Chongzhen just felt a headache. Before this, Zhang Shikang said that Lu Xiangsheng was powerful and Sun Chuanting was powerful. Later, he said that Cao Bianjiao was a talent and Huang Degong was not bad either.

Now he even praises the characters among the rebels.

Emperor Chongzhen knew very well that this guy just wanted to promote these people so that he could resign and go back to his bullshit plan of lying down.

No way!

He admitted that people like Lu Xiangsheng generally had some ability, but definitely not much.

Otherwise, why was the imperial court in that state back then?

As for the adopted son of the rebel, if he was really powerful, how could he be defeated by you one after another and even surrender?

Humph, I will never fall into your trap.

You kid clearly just want to be lazy!

OK! The logic is closed.

Zhang Shikang had nothing to say, and he did not refute, simply pretending not to hear.

"What about Li Zicheng? Why didn't you kill him? Did you know that this traitor dug up the Fengyang Imperial Mausoleum?" Emperor Chongzhen asked again.

Zhang Shikang actually knew that this brother wanted to ask about Li Zicheng, so he told Chongzhen the words he had prepared:

"I know your majesty is anxious, but please wait and listen to my explanation.

At that time, Li Zicheng had an army of more than 70,000, which was basically elite, and he also controlled the strategic Jianmen Pass.

If we have to fight, I am confident that I can win, but it will cost at least tens of thousands of people.

Some book says that those who are good at fighting do not necessarily have great military achievements. Another book also says that the best strategy is to defeat the enemy without fighting.

It has not been easy for our Guards to develop to this point. If we can defeat the enemy without fighting, why not do it?

This is the first reason. The second reason is that Li Zicheng must have put a lot of effort into his 70,000-strong army in the past two years, otherwise how could Zhang Xianzhong resist grabbing the territory?

My Ming Dynasty can get 70,000 elite troops without losing a single soldier. Why should we fight?

Li Zicheng had a very high prestige in his army. If he was killed, his subordinates would certainly feel resentful, and these soldiers would be useless.

Even if it is used, there is always the possibility of rebellion.

I have seized control of all the relatives of Li Zicheng and his generals, and exiled them outside the Great Wall.

Your Majesty should know about this outside the pass, right?

Whether it is the Mongolian Tartars or the Jiannu Tartars, they are all mortal enemies of our Ming Dynasty.

I told Li Zicheng to kill the Mongolian Tartars and the Jurchen Tartars to atone for his sins, otherwise he would never be allowed to enter the pass.

Your Majesty, don't you want to see the two former enemies of the Ming Dynasty kill each other? Isn't it interesting to see dogs bite each other and get a mouthful of fur?

The third... Oh, I won't talk about the third." Zhang Shikang saw that Chongzhen's face had softened a lot, so he decisively shut up.

Sure enough, after Zhang Shikang’s explanation, Emperor Chongzhen felt much more relieved.

He actually knew that Zhang Shikang must have his reasons for doing this, so when he learned about this, although Emperor Chongzhen was dissatisfied, he did not issue an order to stop it. He just wanted to hear the boy's explanation.

However, Emperor Chongzhen still wanted to see what this kid's third thing was, so he asked:

"What's the third one? Why don't you tell me?"

"I guess His Majesty will be angry again after I told you this. The above two points are enough. As the emperor, Your Majesty should consider the world instead of ignoring the world because of personal anger." Zhang Shikang advised.

Although this is somewhat double standard and he himself often cannot control it, but he still has to say it, after all, you are the emperor.

If you can't control yourself, and often mess up the import and export trade, it won't be a big deal no matter what.

But if you can't control it, brother, the people of the world will suffer.

"Just say what I tell you to say, don't be so long-winded." Emperor Chongzhen said dissatisfiedly.

His temper was a little out of control today, and his speech was not as calm as usual, but he still suppressed his anger and continued to ask.

Seeing Brother Chongzhen like this, Zhang Shikang could only say:

“The third one is also very simple, whether it was Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong, or Gao Yingxiang back then.

They rebelled because they could no longer survive.

Those who starved to death didn't even have a place to be buried because their land had been taken away by the landlords.

If the landlords don't agree, they will have no choice but to leave their bodies exposed in the wilderness.

Then there was the group of people who didn’t want to die like this. They stood up and wanted to change the way they lived.

The imperial court would not allow this and would kill them all. If they wanted to survive, they had to use any means necessary.

Killing landlords, officials, and royal family members, including digging up imperial tombs.

Because only in this way can they continue to strike at the imperial court. If they cannot reach them, they might even kill Your Majesty.

Your Majesty will feel that he is wronged, because Your Majesty is always thinking about governing the Ming Dynasty well. It is all because of those corrupt officials who are stirring up trouble that the people of the world are living in misery.

That’s right, Your Majesty can indeed feel wronged.

But what’s wrong with those people who can’t survive?

If I can't survive, do I have to wait for death?

They have worked hard and honestly all their lives, do they deserve this fate?

This is because the way of heaven is imperfect, Your Majesty!

I have discussed this issue with Your Majesty before, and Your Majesty thought it was a fallacy.

But Your Majesty, think about it carefully, is this really a fallacy?

I once gave an example: let Eunuch Wang go hungry for three days and see what would happen.

It is human instinct to survive."

……

PS: Here is the 7th update with words. I’ve been typing all day and my whole body aches.