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

Prince Su's Mansion.

Since leaving the court, Haoge's mood has been obviously much better. Not only does he walk with a breeze, but he also greets the servants in the mansion with smiles.

However, the servants in Prince Su's Mansion were often beaten and scolded by Haoge. When Haoge suddenly smiled at them, they were all frightened and turned pale, thinking that they would not live long.

But Hauge didn't care, he was just happy.

Almost all the Han officials in the court supported him as the new emperor, which was good news he had not expected.

Originally, he thought that since he was not the eldest son, it might be a bit artificial to refuse and accept three times, and it was also a bit unsafe. He was worried that the court officials would get tired of it.

I plan to decline once more at most, and to do it twice, which can also be considered as building a good reputation.

But after the court meeting, Hauge immediately became arrogant.

You must decline and accept three times, not once less.

He held a banquet at his house, but did not invite any officials. He only asked his subordinates to come to his house to discuss matters, and he also specifically instructed them not to make it public.

There's nothing we can do, after all he's still in mourning.

But it's such good news, so we should celebrate.

When the subordinates learned that their master would soon ascend the throne, they were all overjoyed.

If their master ascends the throne, they will all be loyal subjects and will soar to the sky in no time.

The banquet lasted until the evening, and Hauge even rewarded his subordinates with a large number of Han female slaves to entertain them.

Just after the hour of Xu, everyone was complimenting each other and imagining the future when the butler suddenly walked up to Haoge and said:

"Master, Minister of Revenue Xie Sheng requests an audience."

Upon hearing this, Haoge put down the wine glass in his hand, and said with an amusing smile on his face:

"This man must have come to show his loyalty to me, hoping that I would reward him more after I ascend the throne."

After Haoge finished speaking, the servants nodded their heads in agreement. Haoge then continued:

"He was the one who recommended me to this morning's court. I have always been clear about rewards and punishments. Even if he didn't come, I couldn't do without him."

The subordinates all nodded. Although Hauge was strong but simple-minded, he was really generous to his subordinates, especially on the battlefield, and many of them were willing to work for him.

"He is a Han Chinese. Han Chinese are very cunning. He must have felt that it was not safe to just say it at the court meeting, so he wanted to come in person to submit his letter of allegiance." said a Jiala from the Zhenglan Banner.

Hauge also agreed with this, but he felt that he still had to meet him. After all, the Han people were very cunning, and it would be nice to hear his opinion.

So Hauge asked his subordinates to continue eating and drinking, while he tidied his clothes a little, asked someone to bring him mourning clothes to put on, and then rushed to the reception room of the palace.

Minister of Revenue Xie Sheng was only wearing very low-key cloth clothes. After all, it was a sensitive time of national mourning. If someone knew that an important official of the court had visited the prince privately, he would inevitably be criticized.

Xie Sheng frowned slightly. When he came in just now, he seemed to hear the noisy sound of drinking coming from one side of the palace. He had been waiting in the reception room for a quarter of an hour, which made him very uncomfortable.

Finally, Hauge came over with a smile on his face and explained:

"I just had a stomachache, and I'm sorry to have kept you waiting for so long, Lord Xie."

Xie Sheng could smell the alcohol on Haoge from a distance and knew that Haoge had been drinking, but he did not say anything.

The two of them exchanged a few compliments and reminisced about the late emperor. Xie Sheng then asked the question he had been pondering all day without being able to figure out:

"Your Highness, at the morning court today, why did you decline my recommendation?"

Hauge didn't think much about it, but just said the truth:

"Don't you Han people all value courtesy? Wouldn't this show that I am the king's favorite?"

Xie Sheng shook his head and said with some disappointment:

"But Your Highness, the situation is different. It would be very dangerous for you to do this."

Xie Sheng had no choice but to explain to him the background of those emperors in history who had been rejected and accepted three times, hoping that Haoge would realize his mistake and make amends as soon as possible.

However, Hauge still didn't take it seriously. He thought that he had received so much support from so many people without even mentioning the will, and he didn't know how he could lose.

"Thank you for your concern, sir. I will definitely remember this and will reward you handsomely in the future."

Haoge thought that the reason why Xie Sheng looked so worried was that he wanted to let him know how much he cared about his throne.

He received the kindness and expressed his gratitude and promised to repay him in the future. After that, he saw that Xie Sheng's face seemed to be getting worse and worse. He suddenly doubted himself and added:

"Well, if it really doesn't work, I'll just decline it again, so they won't think I'm being hypocritical."

As soon as these words came out of his mouth, Xie Sheng felt sick all over.

What, you want to do it again?

Do you know what time it is?

The Ming court's general was almost reaching the Liao River. The whole court was in panic, and the Eight Banners had never recovered from the Battle of Guanshan.

If you keep dragging your feet here, the officials may have time to play along with you, but the Qing Empire doesn’t have time!

Although Xie Sheng was extremely disappointed, he had already boarded the pirate ship and could only patiently continue to persuade:

"Your Highness, delay will lead to unexpected events!

Although Prince Rui did not say a word at the morning court today, Your Highness would be very wrong if you think that he does not care about the throne.

Your Highness may not know that Prince Li may have formed an alliance with Prince Rui. Don't you understand why?"

Upon hearing this, Haoge said seriously:

"Didn't my second uncle nominate Fulin as the new emperor?"

"Perhaps it's just a trick. Nominating a child with no foundation can make His Highness relax his vigilance and prevent the civil officials in the court from turning their spearheads against Prince Rui." Xie Sheng said without any doubt.

Haoge frowned and thought for a moment before he finally understood what was going on. Xie Sheng then said:

"In the past few days, my servants have reported that people from Prince Li's residence have been going out, and almost all of the people they are visiting are generals with troops under their command. Is there any need to guess what they are doing?"

Hauge became more cautious and realized that he was a little too optimistic.

"But my second uncle shouldn't have any interest in the throne. He's already so old, and it's said that he's been in a trance every day since the Battle of Guanshan. It seems that he's lost all his courage."

Xie Sheng was so confused that he thought to himself that although Hauge was always brave in battle, he had no political sense at all.

When speaking to such people, he had to be more clear:

"Your Highness, is there a possibility that Prince Li is paving the way for Prince Rui?

Prince Rui did not leave the military camp and did not send anyone out, perhaps just to allay Your Highness's concerns.

Now it seems that Prince Rui has been very successful."

Haoge frowned even deeper, he didn't even realize the sarcasm in Xie Sheng's words.

The room was eerily quiet. The only sounds were footsteps and shouts coming from outside.

Xie Sheng stood up suddenly, as if struck by lightning.

Haoge was a little slow, and was about to call the servants to ask, when he heard a familiar voice coming from outside the house:

"My dear nephew, how can you hold a banquet during a national mourning period?"

……