hiss...
Who was Chongzhen's grandfather?
The Ming Emperor Zhu Yijun, whose reign was called Wanli.
The longest-reigning emperor of the Ming Dynasty was also the most money-loving emperor, bar none.
If it was any other emperor, these ministers would definitely not believe it. But when it came to Wanli, few would not believe it.
After all, the story of Emperor Wanli hiding money in the palace had long been a myth among the people.
Wei Zaode was the first to react. Although they were in awe of the supernatural stories, they could not take seriously anything that had not been proven.
"Your Majesty, where is the silver hidden?"
Chongzhen glanced at him, then turned to Wang Chengen and said, "Wang Chengen, there is a cave behind the Hall of Mental Cultivation. The silver is buried inside. Arrange someone to dig it out immediately. You must find it even if you have to dig three feet underground."
"Yes...Yes, Your Majesty!" Wang Chengen was very excited. He had already forgotten the palace etiquette and rushed out at a trot.
As Wang Chengen left, the Huangji Hall fell into a brief silence.
Everyone is waiting.
Chongzhen sat on the dragon throne, feeling calm.
It is recorded in history books that Wanli hid the two million taels of silver, but Chongzhen did not know about it.
Why doesn't he know?
This is a mystery in history that cannot be solved.
The Yangxin Palace was less than 500 meters away from the Huangji Palace. Wang Chengen called all the eunuchs nearby and even the Jinyiwei to go over and dig the ground.
Not long after, Wang Chengen came back with a silver ingot in his hand, smiling, "Your Majesty, I did as you ordered and dug out silver from the cellar behind the Hall of Mental Cultivation. Although I don't know the exact amount, I roughly estimate it to be at least one million taels!"
Wow...
There was a cry of surprise in the court.
This is not just about silver, it also involves ghosts and gods.
The ancients were superstitious and would rather believe in such things than not.
Wang Chengen immediately knelt on the ground, first stretched out his hands devoutly towards the sky, then kowtowed heavily and said: "God bless the Ming Dynasty, my emperor is wise!"
Following his lead, all the court officials knelt down one after another.
"God bless the Ming Dynasty, our emperor is wise!"
Without waiting for the court officials to stand up, Chongzhen pointed at Wang Zhengzhi's nose and said, "Wang Zhengzhi, do you have any more excuses?"
Wang Zhengzhi was stunned. This silver was like a sharp knife stabbing into his heart, leaving him without the strength to resist.
He knelt on the ground and begged for mercy: "I am guilty... I voluntarily donate all my property. I beg Your Majesty to spare my family."
"What crime?"
"I am guilty of corruption!"
Chongzhen sneered, "I gave you a chance!"
"Please calm down!"
"Your Majesty! Minister Wang was confused for a moment. Please forgive him."
"Your Majesty, calm down. Minister Wang should not be greedy for money, let alone deceive Your Majesty. Please forgive him for his many years of service to the court."
Seeing that Chongzhen was going to punish Wang Zhengzhi, Wei Zaode, Zhang Jinyan, and Zhu Chunchen all knelt down and begged for mercy. They knew very well that if Wang Zhengzhi was convicted, they would be the ones who would suffer.
Following their lead, half of the ministers in the court knelt down.
As more and more people came to plead for mercy, Chongzhen's anger became increasingly difficult to quell.
These scholars claim to be working for the Ming Dynasty, but what they actually do is only for their own benefit.
Han Feizi said in "Five Vermin" that among the five major vermin that destroy a country, scholars rank first.
Confucian scholars are the most numerous among scholars.
What is the core idea of Confucianism?
Is it benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, trustworthiness, forgiveness, loyalty, filial piety, and fraternity?
No!
It's double standard!
They shout these slogans, but do the exact opposite.
Because the final right of interpretation lies in their hands.
Take Yuan Chonghuan as an example. He not only achieved great victories in Ningyuan and Ningjin, but even lifted the siege of the capital in the second year of Chongzhen.
This great achievement would earn him a title of nobility in any dynasty.
The result? He was impeached in the court and eventually executed by slow slicing.
What about benevolence and righteousness mentioned by Confucianism?
Why don’t they plead for Yuan Chonghuan or try to smooth things over?
After this incident, the relationship between the emperor and his subjects, especially between the emperor and his generals, began to become unstable.
Even if Yuan Chonghuan deserved to die, he shouldn't have died at that time.
The court officials all knew this, but they refused to speak out for fear of being implicated.
Killing him seemed to safeguard the imperial power, but in fact it strangled the loyalty of the generals.
The country's tax revenue depends on farmers, and the battles on the battlefield depend on soldiers.
However.
There were no peasants or soldiers in the court, and neither were they welcome.
As a result, farmers tried their best to stop farming, and soldiers were unwilling to join the army to fight.
The national strength began to decline.
The Ming Dynasty fell, half of the responsibility was due to the objective laws of the feudal dynasty. The other half was equally shared by Chongzhen and these Confucian scholars!
and.
Chongzhen knew very well that these people were not truly admitting their mistakes and were just trying to survive.
After thinking this through, Chongzhen angrily said, "The King's Heart!"
"Your Majesty...Your Majesty is here."
Wang Zhixin was standing nearby watching the excitement and was startled by the sudden shout. He cautiously glanced at Chongzhen from the corner of his eye and was relieved to see that the other party's anger was not directed at him.
"Go, accompany Commander Wu. Check all the officials whose names I just read out. If anyone does not match what I said, we will confiscate their property and arrest them without asking for permission. You will supervise each other and make sure to verify everything. The confiscated property will be handed over to the Ministry of Revenue. If anyone protects or misses out on anything, he will be executed on the spot!"
"Yes... yes!" Wang Zhixin kowtowed tremblingly, then followed Wu Mengming and quickly fled from the Huangji Palace.
He had a hunch.
The Chongzhen who eliminated Wei Zhongxian back then is back again.
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