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

"Sister-in-law, how have you been lately?"

"Okay, that's good."

A slender, graceful woman with a face like Guanyin, exuding gentle elegance, replied with a smile; it was Empress Zhang.

Empress Zhang, whose personal name was Zhang Yan, was the empress of Emperor Tianqi.

Empress Zhang came from a scholarly family. She was the first beauty selected from five thousand beauties in the early Ming Dynasty in the first year of the Tianqi reign. She was very empress-like and was known as one of the five most beautiful empresses in Chinese history, along with Xia Ji of the Spring and Autumn Period, Empress Zhen of Emperor Wen of Wei, Empress Li Zu'e of Emperor Wenxuan of Northern Qi, and Empress Xiao of Emperor Yang of Sui.

On March 19th of the seventeenth year of the Chongzhen reign (1644), Li Zicheng stormed into the Forbidden City. Zhang Yan hanged herself in her palace, sacrificing her life for her country and honoring the Ming Dynasty. She was thirty-eight years old.

"The list of eunuchs has been released."

Emperor Chongzhen took out a booklet and handed it to Empress Zhang.

The empress dowager was not supposed to interfere in politics, but the reason Chongzhen showed this list to Empress Zhang was because his success in eliminating the eunuch faction was inseparable from her support. Even before that, his successful ascension to the throne was also inseparable from her support.

"Your Majesty is wise."

Empress Zhang did not take the booklet handed to her by Emperor Chongzhen, but said quietly, "Your brother favored Wei Zhongxian and Madam Ke. I often told him that Wei Zhongxian was like Zhao Gao of the Qin Dynasty, a treacherous eunuch, but your brother just wouldn't believe it. Fortunately, Heaven has eyes, and the eunuch faction has finally perished."

"Emperor's sister-in-law..."

After a moment's hesitation, Chongzhen finally said, "Perhaps my brother has his reasons?"

Empress Zhang was slightly taken aback by Chongzhen's words and didn't know how to respond for a moment.

Emperor Chongzhen said, "Sister-in-law, I don't want to investigate any further."

"What?"

"At this point, you don't want to investigate anymore?" Empress Zhang asked incredulously, "Why?"

Emperor Chongzhen did not answer directly, but said, "Do you know what my elder brother said to me before he died? He said that he benefited greatly from your seven years of marriage and your constant honest advice. In fact, my brother knew everything."

Empress Zhang was stunned, and her phoenix eyes quickly welled up with tears.

This was the first time Chongzhen had said this to her, and it involuntarily reminded her of her deceased husband. Emperor Tianqi had truly been good to her, and had been good to her from beginning to end.

Emperor Tianqi often took her boating in the Western Garden. Emperor Tianqi was very good at boating and could come and go as he pleased. She would often use this time to advise Emperor Tianqi to pay attention to the affairs of the court. She would tell Emperor Tianqi that he should review the memorials, give lectures at regular times, stay away from sycophants and be close to capable ministers. Emperor Tianqi would then call her "Teacher Zhang" with a smile.

The past events flashed before her eyes, bringing tears to Empress Zhang's eyes.

Emperor Chongzhen asked, "Sister-in-law, do you think my brother is a tyrannical ruler?"

This question stumped Empress Zhang once again.

People say that Emperor Tianqi was a carpenter emperor who neglected state affairs, favored eunuchs, and was incompetent and negligent in governing. But was he really a foolish ruler?

Empress Zhang couldn't explain it either.

Empress Zhang had been by Emperor Tianqi's side for seven years, and their relationship was deeply affectionate. She knew that Emperor Tianqi was actually very intelligent, and he could do anything well, such as carpentry and architecture, even better than the skilled craftsmen in the countryside.

It was precisely on the issue of the eunuch faction that Emperor Tianqi made a mistake.

Every time I tried to advise him, he wouldn't say anything, he would just chuckle.

However, when his father was persecuted by Wei Zhongxian and other eunuchs, Emperor Tianqi took the initiative to protect him. Later, Wei Zhongxian tried to frame Emperor Chongzhen and Empress Zhang for treason, hoping to use this opportunity to depose Empress Zhang and install his own grandniece as empress. However, Emperor Tianqi saw through his plan at a glance.

Previously, Empress Zhang only thought that Emperor Tianqi was acting this way because he loved and doted on her, without thinking too much about it. Now, after hearing what Chongzhen said, she recalled everything and it seemed that everything was under Emperor Tianqi's control. Neither she nor Zhu Youjian, who was then Prince Xin, had ever been harmed by the eunuch faction or Madam Ke.

Could it be that he really knows everything?

Emperor Chongzhen said, "I recently met a wise man who told me that my elder brother actually knows everything. He deliberately allowed the eunuch faction to grow stronger in order to counter the Donglin Party; otherwise, he would very likely have ended up like our father!"

"No, even though my elder brother was very careful, he has already met the same fate as our father!"

Upon hearing this, Empress Zhang's phoenix eyes widened in shock, and the next moment her body went limp and she collapsed.

Emperor Chongzhen urgently cried out, "Guards! Guards, come quickly..."

……

The next day, at the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

A group of ministers, dressed in official robes of various colors, stood in orderly rows, a vast and silent mass.

On the throne, Emperor Chongzhen was examining a booklet, his expression grave.

This booklet is the list of traitors that the two cabinet ministers and the Minister of Justice jointly reviewed. It was handed to Emperor Chongzhen last night, but Empress Zhang fainted due to excessive emotional distress last night, so Emperor Chongzhen has not had time to look at it yet.

Of course, it's not too late to look into it now.

However, it was precisely because Chongzhen inspected the scene that the officials in the hall held their breath and became even more wary.

Because apart from a few people handling the case, no one knew who was on the list in the emperor's possession, and whoever was on the list was practically doomed.

Sudden.

Emperor Chongzhen raised his head, his sharp, bright eyes slowly scanning the assembled officials in the hall.

All the officials quickly lowered their heads, like quails, afraid that the emperor's gaze would linger on them.

Fortunately, the Emperor quickly withdrew his gaze, and said thoughtfully, "A total of two hundred and sixty-one people, that's quite a lot."

This number startled almost everyone present.

Compared to the tens of thousands involved in cases like Hu Weiyong and Lan Yu in the early Ming Dynasty, 260 people is indeed not many, and may even seem a bit few. However, it is actually not a small number at all, because the major cases in the early Ming Dynasty involved nine generations of relatives or the army, so the number of people seemed large. The current 260 people refers to the court, so the number of people is indeed quite large.

According to the current organization of the imperial court, the cabinet has only five people, followed by the six ministries. Taking the Ministry of Personnel as an example, the Ministry of Personnel has one Minister, one Vice Minister on the left and one Vice Minister on the right, and four subordinate offices, each with one Director, one Assistant Director, and one Principal. Each ministry has only about ten people.

There was also the Censorate, a major government office, which, together with the censors from various regions, had only 150 people. Other departments, such as the Court of Judicial Review, the Hanlin Academy, and the Imperial Academy, had even fewer people.

Therefore, not counting local officials, the total number of officials appointed by the imperial court in the capital would not exceed eight hundred.

Out of 800 people, more than 260 are to be eliminated at once. How can that not be frightening? In other words, there is a greater than one in four chance that any of the officials present will be on the list.

Those officials who had been in contact with Wei Zhongxian were trembling with fear.

Because this purge of the "rebellious party" was personally supervised by the Emperor, the number of criminals, the list of criminals, the types of crimes, and the sentencing standards were all determined by the Emperor himself.

Therefore, everyone was on tenterhooks, waiting for the Emperor to announce the list.