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

Because of their son's affairs, Zhang Laoer and Zhu Laosan ended up parting on bad terms.

Zhu Chunchen was ultimately unable to do anything to Zhang Shikang. He just kept cursing and declared that he would report to the emperor at the court tomorrow morning and let him judge the case.

Zhang Zhiji had actually expected all of this. Not to mention Zhang Shikang and Zhu Zhengliang, he and Zhu Chunchen had been fighting since they were young. What kind of reason could His Majesty give him? Most likely he would just try to smooth things over.

This was also the reason why he did not go to Duke Cheng’s Mansion to cause trouble when his beloved son was hit with a club.

After dinner, Zhang Shikang locked himself in the room, biting the pen for a long time, but no one knew what he was writing.

In order to prevent his father from peeking, he even made a wax seal with a seal. To show the urgency of the matter, he also put a chicken feather in the wax seal.

Afterwards, he gave the letter to his father mysteriously.

……

At dawn the next day, the Forbidden City and outside the Huangji Hall were already filled with ministers.

The civil and military ministers were divided into two teams according to their shifts and ranks, standing on the left and right, quietly waiting for the arrival of Emperor Chongzhen.

After a while, with a shout from the eunuch, Emperor Chongzhen walked up to the throne wearing a dragon robe.

After the kneeling ceremony, the official from the Honglu Temple sang "Ministers' Reports".

Officials from various departments then brought out memorials to the emperor, some asking for food to relieve the disaster in the northern provinces, some asking for money because of the war, and some asking for both food and money.

Emperor Chongzhen seemed to be troubled by something and only replied, "I know," in response to his ministers' responses.

After a long while, all the major and minor issues, such as wars and disasters in various places, were finally discussed.

Yang Sichang, the Minister of War and Grand Secretary of the Eastern Pavilion, came out and said:

"Your Majesty, the salaries of the nine frontiers have been in arrears for half a year, and even the troops responsible for suppressing the bandits in the interior have been in arrears for three months.

The war was difficult, and the unpaid wages led to low morale in the troops. Some military camps had already shown signs of mutiny.

I tried my best to maintain it, and it was temporarily suppressed.

If you don’t pay the soldiers, I am worried that the military situation may change. I hope Your Majesty will consider the overall situation and reconsider the issue of military pay and training pay.”

Yang Sichang had been fighting bandits outside and had only returned to Beijing from Shanxi five days ago, all because of the military pay issue.

The matter has been discussed in the court for several days, but Emperor Chongzhen has yet to make a decision.

The Liao salary was collected as early as the Wanli period, and it has now almost become a custom.

The collection of suppression pay was only started last year at the suggestion of Yang Sichang. The imperial edict issued at that time stated that it would only be collected for one year, but now that one year has expired, the bandits have not been wiped out.

In addition, the military strength was insufficient, and training a new army also cost money. It was not enough to collect Liao funds and suppress the enemy, so the training funds were also required.

After Yang Sichang finished his report, he bowed and waited for Chongzhen's reply. The other court officials did not dare to say anything more.

The atmosphere was dull for a long time before Emperor Chongzhen sighed and said:

"It's not that I don't agree. Last year, I issued an edict promising the people that I would only collect taxes for one year. Now Mr. Yang wants me to continue collecting taxes. Am I not breaking my promise to the people?"

There was no lack of grievance in his words. Emperor Chongzhen was only 28 years old this year. He had special respect and trust for Yang Sichang and called him "Sir".

But even as a new emperor, the additional levies of suppression and training salaries still made Emperor Chongzhen extremely embarrassed, and it was no exaggeration to say that it was painful.

As the Son of Heaven, he broke his promise to the world. Not only did he continue to collect suppression salaries, but he also had to collect additional training salaries. How would people around the world view him?

Yang Sichang lowered his head and replied:

"Your Majesty, the treasury is empty, and we have to temporarily make the people suffer. I don't want to do this, but the war is urgent.

Once I have wiped out the bandits, the situation will surely improve. Your Majesty can then issue an order to exempt some taxes, and the people will naturally be grateful to Your Majesty."

Emperor Chongzhen was silent, but seemed hesitant.

Yang Sichang continued:

“I know that Your Majesty is kind and merciful, and he is concerned that the people will suffer.

But Your Majesty should know that most of the land in the Ming Dynasty is now held by the gentry and landlords, and the increased military pay will only increase by three or four cents per hundred acres.

The additional taxes come from the land, and the land belongs to the gentry and landlords, so it has little impact on ordinary people.

In this way, not only can land annexation be curbed, but more than 10 million taels of silver can also be obtained.

I hope Your Majesty will grant my approval!"

As he said this, Yang Sichang fell to his knees.

After Yang Sichang performed the grand ceremony, many officials from the six ministries also prostrated themselves on the ground one after another, hoping that Emperor Chongzhen would approve his request.

Emperor Chongzhen was still hesitant, but when he saw that so many officials agreed to this matter, he felt pressured.

"Is what Mr. Yang said true? Does the additional training fee really have little impact on ordinary people?"

Emperor Chongzhen was asking Yang Sichang, but it seemed he was also asking himself.

Is it true that such a huge amount of levies will have no impact on ordinary people?

Yang Sichang's eyes swung left and right, and he touched his forehead to the ground. He hesitated for a moment before saying:

"Your Majesty, most of the land belongs to the wealthy families, so naturally most of the silver collected from the military pay comes from these wealthy families."

He did not answer directly, but continued to explain.

Emperor Chongzhen fell silent again.

Since the emperor did not make a decision, the court officials could only wait. Emperor Chongzhen sat on the dragon throne, his head lowered, his eyes slightly red, and his expression somewhat painful.

After a long time, Emperor Chongzhen seemed to have finally made a decision.

"I……"

Seeing that Emperor Chongzhen showed signs of compromise and remembering that his son had asked him to do his best to prevent the court from levying three additional taxes, Zhang Zhiji, who was standing in the first row of nobles and relatives, suddenly became uneasy.

"Your Majesty, my son was hit on the head by the son of Duke Cheng, and now he is like a different person.

Not only can he not remember what happened before, but his speech and behavior are also very different from before. I suspect it was all caused by the blow with the club.

I beg Your Majesty to help me and seek justice for my son!"

Just as Emperor Chongzhen was about to open his mouth to approve the request, Duke Yingguo Zhang Zhiji suddenly jumped out from the line of military generals and cried bitterly outside the hall, complaining that Duke Chengguo had killed his son.

Yang Sichang turned his head with a puzzled look on his face, wondering why this Duke of England was so crazy. Didn't he know that we were discussing a very important matter?

Many officials in the civil service class also looked at Zhang Zhiji's actions sideways, thinking he was crazy, definitely crazy.

Emperor Chongzhen also frowned, not knowing what Zhang Zhiji was up to.

In fact, emperors of all dynasties have treated these meritorious officials of the dynasty with preferential treatment, including Emperor Chongzhen. After all, the Ming Dynasty was conquered by the ancestors of this group of meritorious officials.

The nobles and the emperor share the same fate. No matter from which aspect, the nobles and the emperor are closer.

But no matter how close they were, the Duke of England should not behave like this when discussing important matters in the court.

Emperor Chongzhen was about to reprimand Duke Chengguo Zhu Chunchen when his face suddenly turned red as if he had been electrocuted.

"Zhang Lao Er, you are putting the blame on others and are the first to complain!"

Zhu Chunchen had originally planned to wait until important matters were discussed or after the court session was adjourned before complaining to the emperor. He really didn't expect that Zhang Zhiji would actually launch an attack first.

Although we are discussing important matters now, if you ignore it, others will think that you are in the wrong.

The more Zhu Chunchen thought about it, the angrier he became.

"Your Majesty! The third son of Zhang Zhiji's family committed a crime in the street yesterday and broke my son's right leg.

Committing violence in the street, committing violence in the street, Your Majesty!

This boy disregarded the laws of the country and is unforgivable. As the saying goes, if the upper beam is crooked, the lower beams will be crooked. Like father, like son.

Please, Your Majesty, make the decision for me!"

Zhu Chunchen cried with great grievance.

Zhang Zhiji was very cunning. He had never lost a quarrel and everyone knew how to act pitiful. Zhang Zhiji immediately knelt on the ground and burst into tears.

"This is slander, he is slandering me, Your Majesty!

A minister is a minister, and a minister's son is a minister's son. How can one compare a minister to his son? If so, then wouldn't the son of a tyrant ruler also be a tyrant ruler?

This is a fallacy!

What's more, it was his son who hit my son first, so there should be a reason to judge it, right?

Two days ago, his son Zhu Zhengliang hit my son on the back of the head with a stick, causing him to fall into coma on the spot.

Many colleagues know about this matter, and he looked at Duke Dingguo Xu Yunzhen.

Xu Yunzhen had been in the same boat with Zhang Zhiji since childhood, and his son was also beaten, so he naturally stood up to testify.

This was the first time Zhu Chunchen had suffered such a great injustice since he was a child. He immediately said angrily:

“My son did hit your son with a stick, but isn’t your son fine now?

But my son has a broken leg. Even if he is cured, he will still be a cripple in the future. Is there any need to tell me which is more serious?

Everyone in the capital knows that your son Zhang Shikang is idle and uneducated."

Zhang Zhiji was delighted when he heard this.

"Does it depend on who is more seriously injured to determine who is right?

My son is a little naughty, but... he has never killed anyone.

Not like your son, huh."

Zhu Zhengliang's accidental murder caused a lot of controversy at the time. Although it was eventually suppressed by Zhu Chunchen's financial power, almost all officials in the court knew about it.

It’s just that everyone gave face to Zhu Chunchen and didn’t mention it to his face. After all, the people who were killed were not from their family.

But now that it is said directly in front of all the civil and military officials in the court, the meaning is different.

Zhu Chunchen got angry again.

"Zhang Lao Er, you are unreasonable. I will fight you!"

As he said this, he rolled up his sleeves and was about to pinch Zhang Zhiji.

"Who is afraid of you, Zhu Laosan?"

Zhang Zhiji was not afraid at all, and the two of them started fighting in the court.

Emperor Chongzhen was annoyed by the bunch of civil officials pointing fingers at him. The three additional taxes were already annoying enough for him, and now the two old guys were still giving him more trouble. He immediately stood up and said angrily:

"That's enough, stop it! Let's leave the court.

Duke Chengguo and Duke Yingguo will follow me to the Palace of Heavenly Purity."

After saying this, he left the throne angrily.

The emperor gave the order, and the two men naturally stopped, but they stared at each other with wide eyes.

Yang Sichang was so confused that he had finally managed to convince Chongzhen to agree to levy three additional taxes. How could it suddenly turn out like this?

……