Ming Dynasty entry: I am Chongzhen, the greatest emperor of all time!

Chapter 11: The Court is Full of Politics
The sound of the clappers at the hour of Xu shattered the setting sun.

The imperial city fell into a terrifying silence.

The young eunuchs guarding various places were silent as a mouse, not daring to make even the slightest noise.

Even if there were palace maids passing by, they were in a hurry.

Three thousand cavalrymen in full iron armor served as the imperial guards, stretching from the Meridian Gate to the Qianqing Palace.

There are three hundred Jinyiwei lurking in the dark corners.

The tall red walls of the imperial city are like the iron walls of a cage. It is easy to get in but difficult to get out.

This was a grand gift prepared by Zhu Youjian for the cabinet ministers and the six ministers.

Skinny fingers brushed across the gilded imperial desk in the Qianqing Palace.

On the table were two plates of moldy pickles and twenty steamed breads mixed with bran, cracked like spider webs.

There were a few pieces of old tea leaves floating in the broken teacup.

Wang Chengen bent over and lit the last two candles, then leaned over Zhu Youjian and reported in a low voice.

"Your Majesty, Prime Minister Wei has arrived first."

Zhu Youjian nodded and took a deep breath, "Well, let him in."

"Wei Zaode, the Chief Academician of the Xuan Cabinet."

The sharp sound of the messenger pierced the twilight, and the Prime Minister Wei Zaode was the first to step into the palace.

This top scholar in the 13th year of Chongzhen's reign held an ivory tablet in his hand, and the hem of his official uniform was embroidered with dark cloud and crane patterns in gold thread. However, he deliberately imitated Chongzhen and put several patches on his official uniform to show his integrity.

Although Chongzhen's patching was intentional...

"Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you!"

As soon as he entered the door, Wei Zaode knelt down and bowed.

Normally, civil officials above the fifth rank did not have to kowtow when meeting the emperor except during grand court meetings.

This old fellow kowtowed as soon as he came up. Wasn't he trying to take advantage of Chongzhen's previous psychological need for face and reputation to control the emperor?

Retreating in order to advance and responding to changes with constancy is indeed a good idea.

However, Zhu Youjian didn't buy it at all. He just knelt down when he wanted to.

Zhu Youjian, sitting on the dragon throne, said nothing, but just looked at the chief minister quietly.

Thoughts are flying around in my mind.

According to Chongzhen's memory, Wei Zaode was promoted to the chief minister of the cabinet only last month. He had a shallow foundation and was not a member of the Donglin Party.

It has only been four years since I took office, so I haven't been very corrupt.

Becoming the Prime Minister in just four years was truly a blessing from heaven. However, such a person actually took the initiative to surrender to Li Zicheng when the city was broken.

Li Zicheng asked him why, as the prime minister, he did not follow Chongzhen to die.

This old man actually said that he felt the people and the new dynasty needed him.

The courier boy was moved by his shamelessness and was tortured to death.

It also indirectly reflects that he really doesn't have much money.

This kind of person is not worthy of Zhu Youjian's attention.

Without the emperor's words, Wei Zaode did not dare to stand up rashly, and kept guessing the emperor's intentions in his heart.

As his eyes swept over the crude food on the table, his Adam's apple rolled involuntarily.

Even the hunting dogs in his house wouldn't eat this stuff!
After kneeling for a while, his legs became numb.

Seeing that Zhu Youjian didn't speak, Wei Zaode hesitated for a moment, but finally spoke first.

"Your Majesty works tirelessly day and night, which is a blessing for all the people. However, the excessive actions of the imperial guards may harm the scholars."

Hearing this, Zhu Youjian chuckled.

He also didn't know how to be a good emperor.

But I was influenced by so many film and television works and online articles in my previous life.

Zhu Youjian just had to follow suit.

"It is indeed easy to hurt the scholars." After saying this confusing sentence, Zhu Youjian asked Wei Zaode to stand up and take a seat.

Then he asked Wang Chengen to hand him two booklets.

"Wei Qing, please take a look at this first booklet."

Wei Zaode looked down and saw the five big words "Nine Frontier Military Pay Map" come into view.

As soon as I opened the first page, I saw the Liaodong Defense Line circled in cinnabar and turned it into a blood-red color, with annotations in tiny regular script next to it.

"In the seventh year of the Tianqi reign, the military pay for Jizhen was transferred through the Ministry of War, and less than 30% was actually paid."

Wei Zaode's hand holding the booklet suddenly trembled.

This military pay had nothing to do with him. It was given by the former Minister of War Yuan Chonghuan in order to get the officials in the court to agree to build a defense line to resist the Later Jin.

But the fact that the emperor asked him to read this booklet at this moment was self-evident.

The emperor is driven crazy by money! He wants all officials to give up what they have embezzled!

After figuring it out, Wei Zaode immediately felt relieved.

In the final analysis, it’s still the same old thing, just asking all officials to contribute to the financial support.

Although this time the method was more sophisticated than the previous times, he knew how to use evidence to force the officials.

But it wasn't a big deal. I continued to flip through the first booklet, which was filled with all the cases of corruption in military funds that I could find, from the Tianqi period to the 16th year of the Chongzhen reign.

Feeling that he understood the emperor's meaning, Wei Zaode did not continue to read the next booklet.

Instead, he immediately left the gold case and slammed his knees down on the gold bricks.

"As the Prime Minister of the Cabinet, I, once a false prime minister, was unaware of the chaos in the Nine Borders. I have failed to live up to the grace of Heaven! I would like to donate three hundred taels of silver and ten stone of rice and flour to support the military expenditure!"

Zhu Youjian sneered twice, "Wei Qing is thoughtful."

But he had no intention of letting Wei Zaode stand up.

Just at this moment, there was a noise outside the door.

Before Zhu Youjian could figure it out.

"Bang!"

The door was pushed open.

Ni Yuanlu, the Minister of Rites, rushed in with an angry look on his face.

This Jinshi who passed the imperial examination in the second year of the Tianqi reign tore open his official robe, revealing the linen lining.

"The abuse of power by the Imperial Guards is a recipe for disaster! I implore Your Majesty to execute Li Ruolian and restore order to the court!"

Two Jinyiwei rushed in and wanted to take away this loyal Ming Dynasty man.

However, Ni Yuanlu pointed his bony finger at the imperial desk and said, "Father-in-law Zhou deserves the death penalty, yet Your Majesty is replacing national law with private punishment. Where does this leave the Great Ming Code?"

"This is an act that will destroy the nation! Your Majesty, please revoke your order! Return the property of Mr. Zhou Guozhang and transfer the case to the joint trial of the Dali Temple and the Ministry of Justice!"

Zhu Youjian stood up, and the patches on his dragon robe were particularly glaring in the candlelight.

Looking at this old minister who is just fifty years old but already has white hair and beard, I can't help but sigh.

Ni Yuanlu was quite famous in later generations, and his calligraphy reached the pinnacle.

In his previous life, when the city was broken, he committed suicide and died with Chongzhen and the Ming Dynasty.

Like Li Guozhen, Zhong has it, but his ability is very limited.

Even in Chongzhen's memory, Ni Yuanlu was synonymous with pedantry.

He had originally held out a glimmer of hope for this loyal minister, but now he was filled with nothing but disappointment.

"So it's Ni Qing. You're pleading for Zhou Kui like this. Did you accept money from him?"

"Your Majesty, why do you slander me like this!" Ni Yuanlu seemed to have been greatly insulted. He suddenly jumped up, but was held down by two Jinyiwei.

Zhu Youjian rubbed his head and did not explain.

He just waved his hand and asked Wang Chengen to hand over the booklet.

The second booklet was exactly where the dirty silver in Zhou Kui's home came from.

Military pay, salaries, carbon and ice tributes, procurement, smuggling, maritime commerce, disaster relief, military equipment, imperial farms, imperial examinations, and the Six Ministries.

Anyway, there is no Zhou Kui who is not greedy.

He is just a father-in-law without any real power.

The Dali Temple and the Ministry of Justice that Ni Yuanlu just mentioned also had a lot of transactions with Zhou Kui.

"Your Majesty, your Majesty, cannot resort to private punishment. The incident of eunuch treason is still fresh in our minds..." Ni Yuanlu wanted to struggle again.

Zhu Youjian just shook his head and said, "I didn't use the eunuch party, I used the Jinyiwei. Okay, Ni Qing, there is no need to say more, please take a seat first."

It was only when Wei Zaode, who was kneeling on the ground, did he realize that the second booklet was Zhou Kui's bill.

But he was not panicked at all. He had just taken the position of Prime Minister and had no dealings with Zhou Kui.

Less than a quarter passed.

Duke Chengguo Zhu Chunchen and Duke Yingguo Zhang Shize arrived together.

Zhu Youjian specially called these two people here, mainly to set an example for all officials and nobles.

The former was one of the few surrendered nobles that Zhu Youjian could remember.

In his previous life, when Li Zicheng besieged the city, Chongzhen knew that he could not escape, so he prepared to issue an order to let Zhu Chunchen be the minister in charge of the orphan, and protect the crown prince Zhu Cilang to Nanjing.

Before the decree was issued, Zhu Chunchen had already opened the city gate to welcome King Chuang.

Later, he brought all the officials to present a petition to Li Zicheng to persuade him to ascend the throne.

When I first entered the hall, I was frightened by the Jinyiwei.

The descendant of this hero in the Jingnan Rebellion pulled off the jade pendant from his waist and said, "I am willing to donate twenty villas in Tongzhou and ten thousand taels of silver to support the military expenses!"

The jade pendant inlaid with emeralds reflected green light under the lamp.

"Duke Cheng is so generous."

Zhu Youjian did not accept the jade pendant. "But it's a little late now. Duke Chengguo should take a seat first. We can discuss the donation issue after the ministers arrive."

Zhu Chunchen's pupils suddenly contracted.

I thought to myself, His Majesty doesn't even care about ten thousand taels, so how could he dare to rob my house?

Zhang Shize didn't care. His Majesty had already seen the current situation of the Beijing camp during the day. If anyone was held accountable, he would be the first one to be caught.

Time passed by minute by minute.

Minister of War Zhang Jinyan, Minister of Revenue Wu Lizhong, and Minister of Justice Zhang Xin arrived one after another.

(End of this chapter)