The Ming Dynasty: A bookstore sells the history of the Ming Dynasty, leaving Emperor Chongzhen bewil

Every word Zhu Ziming uttered felt like a knife piercing Chongzhen's heart.

Every word is piercing to the heart.

Although Emperor Chongzhen was somewhat worried that Zhu Ziming might say something treasonous that he couldn't accept, he was more interested in hearing Zhu Ziming's praise and defense of him.

As Zhu Ziming said earlier, the demise of the Ming Dynasty conformed to the pattern of the rise and fall of dynasties over thousands of years. Even if someone else had taken over, the dynasty would most likely have perished, and might not have performed as well as Chongzhen.

Chongzhen thought that even if he couldn't be considered a wise ruler and couldn't be compared to the Taizu and Chengzu emperors, he certainly wouldn't be a foolish one.

But now...

Not only incompetent, but not even worthy of being called incompetent.

???

Zhu Ziming's words caught Chongzhen completely off guard, leaving him bloodied and battered.

The key point is that he was powerless to refute it.

Because Zhu Ziming's words were reasonable and well-founded, based on facts.

His elder brother was obsessed with carpentry and neglected state affairs. He also favored eunuchs and persecuted the Donglin Party. Meanwhile, he was diligent in his duties and dared not slack off in the slightest. He eliminated the eunuch faction and exonerated the Donglin Party. At first glance, his actions certainly seem to be those of a wise ruler.

But why?

Why is it that, judging from the results, his political achievements were far inferior to those of his elder brother, the emperor?

At this moment, Chongzhen's face was filled with undisguised embarrassment and displeasure.

Zhu Ziming saw it all.

He was very satisfied with Zhu Zhen's reaction; it was precisely this highly empathetic response that made the conversation interesting.

"So, this brings us back to what I said earlier: we must look at issues with a dialectical perspective, especially history, which is never simply black and white."

"The Donglin Party appears righteous, but it has created an extremely unhealthy political environment. The eunuch party appears evil, but it is not entirely without merit."

"Yuan Chonghuan was neither a hero nor a traitor."

"The Tianqi Emperor was originally incompetent and foolish, but he was able to stabilize the court and hand over the Ming Dynasty intact to Chongzhen. Chongzhen was the same; he was certainly not an emperor who was not even incompetent."

"Objectively speaking, although Emperor Chongzhen was not a great and brilliant ruler, he was not an incompetent one either. Otherwise, he would not have eliminated Wei Zhongxian as soon as he ascended the throne at the age of seventeen. His abilities were average. Faced with the deeply entrenched problems at the end of the dynasty, he seemed to accomplish nothing and made repeated mistakes. He was responsible, but his direction was wrong, and his political skills were not high. Therefore, he was simply unable to control the corrupt civil service group that had been established for more than two hundred years, nor could he turn the tide and save the dynasty from collapse."

"However, if he had been born in a peaceful era, if the dynasty had not yet reached the late stage where it was too late to be reversed, if the politics were clear and the ministers were capable to assist him, if the government was efficient and the people were not deceived, then with Emperor Chongzhen's sense of responsibility and diligence, although he could not be a wise ruler, he would certainly have been a qualified ruler who maintained the status quo."

At this point, Chongzhen's expression softened slightly.

After listening to Zhu Ziming's analysis, he simply categorized Yuan Chonghuan as a traitor. Only when he was simply categorized as a monarch who was even worse than a foolish ruler did he truly empathize with him.

This is like labeling each other in the imperial court, seeing things in black and white, which is why so many disputes have arisen.

After taking a sip of tea to moisten his throat, Zhu Ziming said, "There is another issue. Some people say that if Chongzhen's actions were purely futile or even counterproductive, the outcome might have been better if he had done nothing."

"But I can say for sure, no."

"Because someone has already tried it for Chongzhen. Before Chongzhen, whether it was the Jiajing Emperor or the Wanli Emperor, they had both tried to ignore state affairs for a long time. During that time, the Ming Dynasty declined significantly and many problems arose. Their imperial skills were far superior to Chongzhen's. Therefore, if Chongzhen really did nothing, the situation would only worsen."

Emperor Chongzhen nodded in deep agreement, then solemnly asked, "Then, sir, what should we do?"

Zhu Ziming didn't understand what Zhu Zhen was trying to ask for a moment, so he frowned and asked in return, "What? What should we do?"

Emperor Chongzhen asked, "What should I do to prevent the court from falling into the quagmire of factional strife?"

This question about Emperor Chongzhen stumped Zhu Ziming.

Because his question was not a simple commentary, but involved a political issue, and a problem that had plagued the Ming Dynasty for a long time.

Fortunately, Zhu Ziming is a novelist, so he has done quite a bit of research on these issues.

However, he had only deduced these methods in novels. The history in reality was already a fait accompli and could not be changed. He couldn't try them even if he wanted to. Moreover, in his view, this was just a simple chat, and he never thought that it would have any impact.

"To reiterate, I'm just saying what I think. First of all, in dealing with the eunuch faction, after eliminating Wei Zhongxian, Chongzhen should not have gone to extremes. Instead, he should have adhered to the principle of punishing the ringleaders and identifying those who were coerced. He should have severely punished the core eunuch faction members who directly participated in the persecution of the Donglin Party, manipulated the Directorate of Ceremonial, and colluded with foreign officials. As for those who flattered him, took sides, or were accomplices, as well as the lower-level eunuch faction members, there was no need to treat them like villains in a novel. We had to make a list, launch a counterattack, and completely wipe them out, leaving no one alive."

"Instead, we should close the case as soon as possible, avoid escalating it, and turn the page on Wei Zhongxian's case."

"This is to prevent the civil service from launching a full-scale counterattack, and also to prevent certain people from taking this opportunity to fight amongst themselves and destroy each other."

"Moreover, I think the structure of the Eastern Depot should be preserved to a certain extent."

"Because the Eastern Depot not only has a complete intelligence function, but also reports directly to the emperor. This is like a knife in the emperor's hand, which can effectively carry out the emperor's ideas while also exerting a considerable deterrent effect on the officials."

"Another important reason for retaining the Eastern Depot is that the Eastern Depot during Wei Zhongxian's time actually had a mature system for making money."

"When the war in Liaodong was critical and the national treasury was running out of money, Wei Zhongxian directly turned his attention to the wealthiest group at the time—the wealthy merchants of Jiangnan. He reinstated mining taxes and commercial taxes, engaged in maritime trade, and even squeezed out scraps like brokerage taxes, squeezing military funds out of the wealthy merchants of Jiangnan. Although this series of measures was fiercely criticized by the civil service, who accused him of competing with the people for profit and harming the country, the effect was immediate. It ensured that the military pay for the front lines during the Tianqi reign was basically paid on time."

"Compare this to the Chongzhen era, when the national treasury was so empty that rats could run around in it, and soldiers on the front lines were starving and mutiniing. You'll realize that a 'bad guy' who can provide a stable cash flow is a million times more reliable in a survival battle than a bunch of 'good guys' who spout benevolence and morality."

"Therefore, Chongzhen should have retained this system of making money and used it when necessary."

Emperor Chongzhen nodded, clearly indicating that he had truly taken his words to heart.

Before coming here, he deeply hated Wei Zhongxian and the eunuch faction, but now, his views have changed, and it could even be said that his worldview has been somewhat overturned. He realized that there was another way to look at things.

Many things cannot be simply judged as right or wrong, black or white.

Zhu Ziming continued, "Secondly, it is to establish the Grand Council."

"The Grand Council?"

Upon hearing this, Chongzhen looked puzzled...