Who killed the Ming Dynasty?

Taking advantage of the commotion, Wang Aoyong continued to roar:

"The former officials surrendered to the Qing precisely to use external forces to cleave open this corrupt world and save the people from suffering!"

"The Ming Dynasty should have perished long ago!"

Wang Aoyong's remonstrance pierced the hall, and Zhu Cilang could hear his own heartbeat.

He should have been angry—initially, that anger did indeed surge up, but it was quickly suppressed by a strange calm.

Perhaps it is precisely these undisguised and rebellious words that have torn away the last veil covering the truth.

Looking at the excited face below, he suddenly wanted to hear what the truest words in the heart of this surrendered official who had betrayed his country were.

"To seek external assistance?"

His voice rang out steadily, even carrying a hint of inquiry.

"Minister Wang has served two dynasties and should be a pillar of the court. How could he not know that it is easier to invite the enemy than to send them away?"

"You claim to be saving the people, yet you've led the Jurchen invaders into our Central Plains. You're only after your own interests; how can you talk about saving the people?"

Wang Aoyong's lips tightened, and a cold smile squeezed out between his teeth:

"For profit! No!"

"What the old ministers want is change, a complete overhaul!"

A straight ray of sunlight was positioned directly across Wang Aoyong's throat.

As he raised his head in a triumphant gesture, the blade of light slid toward his Adam's apple, as if an invisible guillotine were hanging there.

Zhu Cilang was not angry; he simply fixed his gaze on Wang Aoyong.

"Seeking change? Aren't I also seeking change?"

"But the change you seek is nothing more than inviting wolves into the house and wreaking havoc on the country?"

Wang Aoyong suddenly struggled, like a trapped beast in a fit of rage:

"Former officials once poured out their blood and souls, hoping to save the Ming Dynasty from collapse. But what has become of them?"

His eyes were bloodshot, and his voice was shrill.

"Corrupt officials hold sway in the court, rampant corruption prevails; local officials disregard human life, and public resentment is boiling over!"

"Your Majesty repeatedly denounces the old officials for letting the wolf into the house, but if the Ming Dynasty hadn't been corrupt, how could the wolf have taken advantage of the situation?"

His voice grew louder and louder.

"Does Your Majesty believe that a mere imperial edict can save the people from their suffering?"

"The former officials surrendered to the Qing not for personal gain, but to save the people!"

"Only by relying on the Qing army can this corrupt situation be eradicated and the people restored to peace!"

A gentle breeze swept by, and the blue curtains inside the hall swayed softly.

Zhu Cilang clearly realized that these people intended to use external forces to eliminate internal problems.

He leaned forward slightly and asked in return:

"How can you, Vice Minister Wang, be so certain that the forces you have relied on can truly restore peace and order to the people?"

He slowly got up.

"When the Jurchens entered the pass, did they treat our Han people well?"

"The massacres in Liaodong left rivers of blood; the looting in Beizhili left fields strewn with corpses! Is this the 'change' you speak of?"

He stood at the boundary between light and darkness.

"If the Jurchens harbor clear ambitions and emulate the old Yuan dynasty system, treating us Han people like straw dogs, what choice do you make today: to save the people or to bring disaster to the country?"

Wang Aoyong's jaw was clenched, and every word he spoke carried a fierce edge:

"Even if the Qing army are wolves, they only gnaw on rotten flesh! Now, in this Ming Dynasty, is there any place that isn't rotten?"

"The former officials merely sought to heal the festering wounds of the people and to choose a wise ruler for the world!"

Shi Kefa's eyelids twitched suddenly, and he wanted to step forward, but Zhu Cilang stopped him with a look.

His five fingers suddenly pressed down on the "Essentials of Governance in the Zhenguan Era":

"It is true that the world is rotten to the core, but to remove the sores, one should use a willow leaf knife, not a cleaver."

"Your choice today is to heal your wounds by cutting off your own flesh, or to destroy your own foundation?"

"Destroying its own foundation?"

Wang Aoyong suddenly looked up and laughed bitterly.

"Your Majesty is unaware that in Jiangnan, the gentry monopolize 70% of the land, turning self-cultivating farmers into tenants, causing the people to be displaced, and nine out of ten households to flee!"

"The taxes for Liaodong, the suppression of rebellions, and the training of soldiers were increased, forcing people to sell their children to pay taxes, and leaving roads strewn with corpses of the starving!"

"The military settlements exist in name only, less than one-tenth remain. Soldiers have become the private slaves of officers. The Beijing garrison's accounts show 300,000, but in reality, less than 50,000. This foundation..."

Wang Aoyong rattled off all the ills of the Ming Dynasty in one breath, but before he could finish speaking, Shi Kefa had already stepped forward, his anger almost bursting forth:

"This arrogant and rebellious minister dares to speak recklessly before the Emperor, disrupting the order of the court!"

He then turned to Zhu Cilang, bowed, and said:

"Your Majesty, these two traitors have betrayed the country and spoofed the people, undermining the foundation of the nation. Their crimes are unforgivable. They should be executed by slow slicing, and their heads should be displayed throughout the nine border regions as a warning to others!"

Several cabinet ministers behind him also looked indignant and nodded slightly.

Zhu Cilang sat upright without speaking, but his gaze became even more profound.

Just then, Fang Dayou, who had been silent all along, suddenly let out a hoarse laugh:

"Does Your Majesty know how the tax collectors in Shandong are urging the payment of taxes to Liaodong?"

He suddenly raised his head, the iron shackles striking out like muffled thunder.

"Tax officials arrested debtors and whipped them to death! When I opened the granaries to distribute grain, I was accused of 'colluding with bandits'."

"This Ming Dynasty can tolerate wolves and jackals, but it cannot tolerate a single 'human'!"

He pointed to his forehead, where there was a hideous scar.

"Your Majesty! This was made by the starving people themselves when former officials intercepted military rations for disaster relief!"

"They cried as they fought, 'You corrupt official, why don't you rebel?'"

He was panting, the shackles trembling with excitement, but his voice suddenly rose in pitch.

"Today, former officials surrender to the Qing, precisely to ask on behalf of the people: Why did the Ming Dynasty not perish?"

Fang Dayou's question, "Why did the Ming Dynasty not perish?" was extremely rebellious and instantly shocked the entire Ministry of Justice.

Minister of Justice Xie Xuelong, his beard and hair bristling, rebuked him sternly:

"How dare you, you rebellious scoundrels, bark like that! Must the fundamental principles of morality and ethics be abandoned because of the ills of the times? To betray one's country for personal gain is unforgivable under the law!"

Left Censor-in-Chief Liu Zongzhou stepped forward, his voice as cold as ice:

"The suffering of the people is a failure of governance, not a fault of the state! You, who have studied the classics so thoroughly, have acted like beasts; you are unworthy to be called subjects!"

Huang Yunshi, the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, angrily pointed at Fang Dayou:

"As long as Qingfu lives, the troubles of Lu will not end! You traitors are the root of the nation's problems. According to the Great Ming Code, traitors should be executed by a thousand cuts!"

The angry shouts from the three judicial officials rose higher and higher, and the entire hall of the Ministry of Justice was filled with angry denunciations.

Zhu Cilang forcibly suppressed the immense shock in his heart, his face remaining frozen and unmoving.

"Push it down!"

His voice was cold and hard.

The Imperial Guards rushed forward, and the two staggering figures cast long shadows under the "Silence and Avoidance" sign.

Zhu Cilang fell into deep thought, a weighty question echoing in his mind:

"What exactly caused the deep-seated problems of the Ming Dynasty?"

He muttered to himself, his gaze sweeping across the vast sky outside the hall, his heart filled with unease.

The foundation of the Ming Dynasty had already begun to crumble when Emperor Wanli neglected his duties, and the greed of the imperial family and officials further eroded the nation's resources.

He recalled how, as a child, he secretly read "Discourses on Salt and Iron" in the Wenhua Hall and saw Sang Hongyang debating "the way to govern the world" with virtuous scholars. Only then did he realize that the affairs of the world are always complex and difficult to predict.

When the proclamation "Expel the Tartars" was posted all over Yingtian Prefecture, he was also filled with excitement.

But when he saw with his own eyes refugees kneeling outside Chengtian Gate, holding clay in their hands, and canal workers freezing to death beside Tongji Gate,

The teaching of "the people are the most important" in the classics of sages struck his heart like a whip.

Wang Aoyong said that the Ming Dynasty was beyond saving, but he forgot that Emperor Taizu had also rebuilt the country from the ruins of the Yuan Dynasty.

He reached out and lightly pressed the "Essentials of Governance in the Zhenguan Era"—

Emperor Taizong of Tang was able to quell the famine and turmoil in the early years of the Zhenguan era by acting swiftly and decisively and rectifying the laws and regulations.

The gentry of Jiangnan are now annexing land and evading taxes, which has become a major threat to the country and must be eradicated by strong measures.

The world has never belonged solely to the Zhu family; it belongs to all people.

It is the bloody reality revealed by Du Fu's poem "Behind the red gates, meat and wine go to waste, while on the road lie the bones of those frozen to death," and it is the country and the common people that Yu Qian defended with "I am not afraid of being crushed to pieces."

"Start from scratch!"

This thought flashed through his mind, but it brought a chill:

But if the rotten beams and pillars are uprooted, will the glazed tiles on the roof also be smashed to pieces?

He turned to the ministers in the hall. Judge Shi Ke's boots were patched upon patched, and Liu Zongzhou's robe was still stained with mud from his inspection of the canal transport.

There are still those in the imperial court who have not lost their integrity.