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

"Even if I have to pay a huge price for this, I will not hesitate!" Huang Taiji's expression was very determined.

He firmly believed that the reason why the Qing Dynasty was in its current crisis and the reason why the Ming Dynasty was able to reverse its decline were not due to the sudden stupidity of one ruler or the sudden cleverness of the other ruler.

It was not due to any other objective conditions. The Qing Dynasty was still short of food and other military supplies. If it encountered a disaster, the Qing Dynasty would still be unable to survive.

In the past two years, the Ming Dynasty has still suffered from natural disasters and man-made disasters, and it is said that there has even been an outbreak of plague.

But it was precisely because of such objective conditions that the Qing Dynasty went from bad to worse, while the Ming Dynasty became more and more vibrant.

Putting aside those unrealistic ideas, there is only one answer, and that is because of that bastard named Zhang Shikang.

Without Zhang Shikang's interference, the Ming Dynasty would never have been in its current situation. The corrupt officials alone were enough to keep the Ming Dynasty from taking care of the affairs outside the Great Wall. What else could the Ming Dynasty do to cope with the bandits and natural disasters?

Now that the answer has been found, the idea of solving the problem becomes clear.

He, Huang Taiji, may not be able to solve the problem, but he can solve the people who caused the problem.

Based on his understanding of Han culture over the years, he knows that any reform in history, as long as the person who carried out the reform was eliminated, such as Wang Anshi, Zhang Juzheng, and today's Zhang Shikang.

Without the support of these people, a dying dynasty would quickly return to its old situation of rampant corruption, internal and external troubles.

As long as Zhang Shikang was killed, the Ming Dynasty would once again become the sheep that could be trampled upon by the warriors of the Qing Dynasty.

As long as Zhang Shikang is killed, those people in the south and north of the desert who are still watching or have ulterior motives will all behave themselves.

As long as Zhang Shikang is killed, the Qing Dynasty will still have a bright future.

All in all.

Just kill Zhang Shikang.

Even if it costs a lot.

But Huang Taiji firmly believed that this was the only way to solve the current predicament.

"Your Majesty, that bastard holds great power. Even if he comes in person, he must be heavily guarded..."

When Daishan said this, he suddenly realized his mistake. He glanced at Huang Taiji, and when he saw the determination on Huang Taiji's face, he immediately remembered what Huang Taiji had just said.

"Since Your Majesty has made up his mind, even if I have to sacrifice all the warriors of the Red Banner and the Red Banner, I will definitely kill that bastard for Your Majesty!"

Using all the strength of the whole country to kill just one person, as long as there is such determination and regardless of the cost, the probability of success is still very high. After all, they have full confidence in their Eight Banners warriors.

In fact, in the past two years, Daishan had thought about getting rid of Zhang Shikang through assassination, poisoning, etc. through spies inside the country.

But Zhang Shikang is like a rabbit. Whenever he encounters any unusual movement, he will run away no matter what he is doing, and he runs very fast.

As for poisoning, the guards around this bastard are like dogs. Whatever the bastard wants to eat outside, from the kitchen to the table, it will be checked countless times.

The security standards are much higher than those of His Majesty in front of him.

There is almost no chance of success by stabbing or poisoning. This bastard is too cunning and too difficult to kill.

But it is different on the battlefield. As long as a high enough reward is offered and enough elite troops are mobilized, once the killing machine is started, no matter how many tricks are used, they will be useless in the face of absolute power.

As for mobilization, Daishan was not worried at all. His eighth brother might not be good at fighting bravely, but in terms of boosting morale and arranging strategies and tactics, he was the best in the entire Aisin-Gioro royal family.

The two brothers conspired for a long time in the central military tent, including how to lay out the plan and how to win over the Zheng family. It was not until late at night that Daishan walked out of the tent.

After Daishan left, Huang Taiji left the central army tent alone, looked at the starry sky and sighed:

"May my father Khan bless my Qing Dynasty."

……

Quanzhou Prefecture, Anhai Town, Zheng family mansion.

Zheng Zhilong has been very depressed recently.

Although he came from a poor family and was looked down upon by some corrupt scholars in the court, he did, after all, commanded an army of 200,000 men, 3,000 ships, and was rich enough to rival a country.

The hard power is there. Even if those corrupt scholars look down on him, they can only think about it in their hearts. Those corrupt scholars have received a lot of money given to him over the years. At least on the surface, they all flatter him.

After getting acquainted with the Duke of Zhenguo of the time, Zheng Zhilong felt that he was safe. With the Duke of Zhenguo as a strong backer in the court, his Zheng family would not only make more money in the future, but would also gain a firm foothold in the court.

The Duke of Zhenguo said he wanted to set up a small navy, and he helped him. He not only sent a fleet and transported food, but also built ships for the Duke of Zhenguo at almost cost price.

Of course, the Zheng family also obtained the coveted title, the honor of four earls in one family.

At this point in the script, both parties benefit mutually and have a bright future.

But the Duke of Zhenguo went back on his word and only agreed to build a small fleet to demonstrate his majesty.

But this small fleet not only grew larger and larger, but also built military ports and shipyards.

Not only did he try to order ships from him, he even bought ships from his enemy, the red-haired barbarians, and transported ships openly in front of him, as well as that little Frenchman.

After careful investigation, he learned from Hao Jing last month that the Duke of Zhenguo not only ordered a large number of artillery from the French, but also ordered a number of merchant ships.

If it was just about expanding the Ming navy, he could still think that the Duke of Zhenguo was just ambitious and was just spending money lavishly. After all, he heard that the Duke of Zhenguo had never even been out to sea.

But ordering merchant ships definitely touched his most sensitive nerves.

It was also from the time he learned the news that Zheng Zhilong finally confirmed that the Duke of Zhenguo had been playing dumb all along, and that the expansion of the navy was a shrewd plan. All the excuses were meant to paralyze him.

This made him so angry, he rarely felt this way anymore.

But he did not dare to express it directly at first, and in the letters he wrote to the Duke of Zhenguo, he tried to use a negotiating tone as much as possible.

He originally thought that the Duke of Zhenguo ordered merchant ships just to make some extra money, so he proposed that the Zheng family pay three million taels of silver as a donation every year, hoping that Zhang Shikang would give up his plan to go out to sea for business.

Three million taels per year is an unimaginable fortune for any wealthy family in the Ming Dynasty. Even other families engaged in maritime trade may not be able to earn that much in many years.

Zheng Zhilong felt that he had shown enough sincerity.

However, the boy actually refused, and refused with confidence, making him feel sarcastic.

Even so, Zheng Zhilong still did not break off relations with Zhang Shikang. He thought that the Duke of Zhenguo was so powerful that he might think the reward was too little, so he simply let Zhang Shikang write the number himself.

But the boy started playing the same old tricks again. Zheng Zhilong knew that the boy was just stalling for time.

After this approach was blocked, Zheng Zhilong came up with an idea. I don't want to serve you anymore. Don't you want to build a navy and engage in maritime trade?

The current emperor is definitely not interested in these matters. After all, no one knows better than him how much money it will cost.

So he wrote a memorial, exaggerating these things, saying that with Zheng Zhilong as his side, coastal defense would be safe and that building a navy was a waste of the court's money.

Ordering merchant ships to engage in maritime trade was even more a violation of the Ming Dynasty's ancestral rule of maritime trade ban. He even implicitly told the emperor that Zhang Shikang was doing this for personal gain.

After sending an impeachment memorial, Zheng Zhilong was just waiting for Zhang Shikang to surrender.

After all, with such high power and rumors that the emperor is suspicious, it is impossible for him not to be wary. The emperor hates his subjects embezzling money the most.

However, after waiting for nearly a month, not only did he not hear the news of the emperor reprimanding and punishing Zhang Shikang, but he instead received the emperor's wrath.

The emperor actually directly deprived the Zheng family of all their titles. The Zheng family had only worn these titles for a short time, and they hadn’t even warmed up to them yet!

After receiving the emperor's imperial edict of punishment, Zheng Zhilong was very panicked for a while.

After all, if he offended the Duke of Zhenguo, at most they would just do their own things, but if he offended the emperor, it was unknown whether Zheng Zhilong could continue to stay in this mansion.

He has offended both parties now.

Although the boy wrote to comfort him not long after, Zheng Zhilong knew very well that the boy had only two goals all along.

One is to develop the Ming navy, and the other is to delay time.

He even had a vague guess in his mind that once the Ming navy became really strong, that guy would most likely directly drive him, Zheng Zhilong, out of the game.

If combined with the fact that the kid secretly ordered merchant ships, once that time comes, I'm afraid that kid will put the Zheng family to death.

As far as the current combat power comparison is concerned, the imperial court's naval force is definitely no match for his Zheng family.

But do we really want to be an enemy of the imperial court?

If that happened, all the money he had spent in the court and all the relationships he had established would come to nothing.

The mansion and seaport he built in Quanzhou, as well as his business and market in Ming Dynasty, will all be lost.

There is a way, Zheng Zhilong doesn't want to go that step.

But the emperor hated him, and that kid wouldn't tolerate him, which made him angry every day. He thought that the kid was really unsatisfied and was forcing him to rebel.

This contradictory feeling has been bothering him these days.

"Master, there is someone outside who wants to see you. He said he wants to see you for something important."

Zheng Zhilong was just thinking about it when the butler came over and reported in a low voice.

……