Is the Donglin Party the real villain?

On this issue, Zhu Youxiao thought about it over and over again, and soon he realized that this is really possible. The demise of the Ming Dynasty was due to financial bankruptcy. So weren’t these Donglin Party the culprits that led to the financial bankruptcy of the Ming Dynasty?

However, these words are all the same words as Li Jinzhong. This guy is Wei Zhongxian in history, and maybe he is a guy who is particularly frightening.

"Who should I believe?" Zhu Youchao believed Li Jinzhong's words by 80%, but he still had two doubts. For his own life, Zhu Youchao's court morning the next day and no longer mentioned the issue of levying commercial tax.

The morning court that day, the case of the palace movement officially came to an end. The chief assistant Fang Congzhe and the leader of the Donglin Party Ye Xianggao secretly reached a deal and reconciliation. So this morning court, the two of them made the basic argument for the palace movement case in a consistent manner - the ministers were all guilty. The concessions of the Donglin Party were at the cost of Fang Congzhe voluntarily resigning from the position of the cabinet chief assistant.

Zhu Youxiao sat on the dragon throne and looked at Fang Congzhe carefully. Zhu Youxiao learned from Li Jinzhong that Fang Congzhe was not only the favorite minister of Emperor Wanli, but also his own cheap man Zhu Changluo was very respected after he came to power. Before Zhu Changluo's bizarre death, he reached the intention of reform with Fang Congzhe.

However, before the reform began, Zhu Changluo was killed by a quack doctor. He first prescribed laxatives, and then prescribed warm and tonic drugs. He died with ice and fire.

Fang Congzhe, who had been the chief minister of the cabinet for six years, was about to resign from the emperor. Zhu Youxiao suddenly felt a deep sense of crisis. If Fang Congzhe left, wouldn’t he become a complete puppet emperor?

So Zhu Youxiao made a statement to keep him, but Fang Congzhe had decided to leave, and eventually resigned from his position as chief minister of the cabinet. The Donglin Party members were very happy. When Wanli was alive, in order to pull Fang Congzhe down from chief minister, they poured too much dirty water on Fang Congzhe so that they could not count them, but they all failed under the death protection of Emperor Wanli.

The bastard Wanli finally died, and Xizong was finished. Now that the new king has come to power, they finally get what they want and pull Fang Congzhe off from the position of chief minister.

The candidate for the new chief minister was soon confirmed. The Donglin Party unified the election of Ye Xianggao to the cabinet and serve as the chief grand secretary of the cabinet, that is, the chief minister.

Zhu Youxiao found that he could not interfere in personnel appointments at all. The cabinet chief minister could be appointed by officials below the third rank, and the ministers were elected to the emperor by ministers. The emperor only needed to nod.

The collection of commercial tax was also opposed by the Donglin Party and the ministers refused to implement it. What could the emperor do? This is simply no different from a puppet.

If Fang Congzhe was there, then the Donglin Party members could not monopolize the personnel appointments. However, Fang Congzhe left, and the appointments of officials below the third rank were basically the final say of the Donglin Party.

Zhu Youxiao was unable to intervene at the third rank or above.

This made Zhu Youxiao completely realize the crisis, and at the same time he also found that the emperors of the Ming Dynasty were not supreme, and the civil servant group was very powerful, even to the point of launching a coup, but this kind of coup was still relatively hidden.

For the sake of life, Zhu Youxiao was so scared that he didn't dare to jump anymore. He didn't mention the business tax at all, and then he could see clearly before talking about the situation. As a time traveler, he was not so familiar with the Ming Dynasty system, which made Zhu Youxiao not sure how to get rid of the control of the Donglin Party for a while.

Before leaving, Fang Congzhe obviously left a hand and made careful arrangements for the lectures of the imperial court. The lectures of the imperial court were a system that emerged in the Song Dynasty, that is, ministers gave lectures to the emperor. They followed and attached great importance to them in the Ming Dynasty. They were divided into two semesters a year, and they entered the palace to give lectures to the emperor on a single day.

As the new king who had just ascended the throne, Zhu Youxiao had to attend the imperial lecture.

After the morning court that day, the lecturer of the imperial lecture appeared. A civil servant in his fifties looked like a stubborn face and a sword-like eyebrows, a beard and a halberd.

"My minister, Sun Chengzong, come to the Emperor." Sun Chengzong entered the Hall of Yangxin and saw the emperor sitting there in a daze, then paid homage to the emperor. Zhu Youxiao, who was in a daze, was stunned. Sun Chengzong?

This seemed to be a very famous loyal minister in the late Ming Dynasty, and he was good at military talents. However, Zhu Youxiao didn't know much about the specifics. He only knew that when Sun Chengzong was governor of Liaodong, he defeated the wild boar skin step by step, stabilizing the situation in Liaodong.

"I'm calm." Zhu Youxiao quickly helped Sun Chengzong up and said to Li Jinzhong: "Give him a seat to Sun Aiqing."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Sun Chengzong bowed, and then the monarch and minister sat facing each other and began the first day's lecture. Sun Chengzong first explained some principles to the emperor, but Zhu Youxiao had no time to listen and was still thinking about how to get rid of the Donglin Party's problems.

Seeing that the emperor was not serious about listening to the class, Sun Chengzong asked, "What do the emperor want to hear?"

"I want to listen to the way of governing the country." Zhu Youxiao asked casually: "Your dear, tell me the hidden dangers of the Ming Dynasty today!"

Sun Chengzong nodded, then pointed to the essence and said: "The most serious problem in the Ming Dynasty today is finance. Since the Wanli period, a large amount of land has been abandoned in the north. In the south, due to the rise of merchants, the land has been largely annexed by merchants, which has shaken the country's foundation, and the income from land tax is getting smaller every year."

Zhu Youxiao was shocked and asked, "Why is the north seriously abandoned?"

"One is that natural disasters occur frequently, and the other is that water conservancy has been disrepaired for a long time. In general, the court's finances are insufficient and there is not enough money to invest in water conservancy repairs." Sun Chengzong answered.

Zhu Youxiao suddenly realized that frequent natural disasters were signs of the Little Ice Age. As an agricultural civilization, every time the temperature drops, the farming line will move one or two hundred kilometers southward, and a large number of meteorological disasters will occur.

"Then why did the South annex the land largely by merchants?" Zhu Youxiao asked.

"Before the Ming Dynasty, the status of merchants was very low, and the children of merchants could not participate in the imperial examination. At that time, only scholars who had passed the exam could be exempted from land tax. Although scholars could be exempted from land tax, the officials at that time were relatively honest and did not have enough financial resources to annex large amount of land. Even if a large amount of land was annexed, if their descendants could not obtain the exam, they would gradually lose. Therefore, the land annexed before Jiajing was not serious." Sun Chengzong explained: "It was different after Jiajing. The children of merchants could gradually participate in the imperial examination. Once they passed the exam, coupled with the huge financial resources of merchants, the momentum of annexed land could not be curbed."

"Before the children of merchants could participate in the imperial examination, even though the merchants were rich, ordinary people could still survive if they had land. When the land was largely annexed by merchants, many people could only rely on merchants, which led to the rapid expansion of the power of merchants in the southern region. At the same time, merchants had great advantages in the imperial examination. Their children did not have to worry about food and clothing, could study hard, and could also hire famous teachers, or even bribe examiners. So much so that after Jiajing, a large number of merchants' children passed the exam. Especially after the establishment of Donglin Academy, these scholars from industrial and commercial backgrounds were twisted together, forming a powerful Donglin Party in the court."

Sun Chengzong's words inspired Zhu Youxiao deeply. It turned out that the Donglin Party was formed in this way and it was completely in conflict with national interests.

Looking back at history, we will find that the reason for the demise of most dynasties was basically land annexation, which led to the people's misfortune and social turmoil. In the midst of turmoil, the emperor became a target and then died.

At this time, Zhu Youxiao could have been completely sure that the Donglin Party was the real villain. They not only annexed the land, but also opposed the imperial court's collection of commercial taxes, which was the culprit of the Ming Dynasty's financial bankruptcy.

"In addition, because of the support of merchants, the Donglin Party controlled public opinion and often bewitched. The reason why Zhang Juzheng reformed was that the country had been shaken by merchants, so he wanted to improve finances. After Zhang Juzheng's death, the Donglin Party began to control the government. Emperor Wanli was initially bewitched by Shengting, and under the control of the Donglin Party, the results of the reform were wasted. Later, Emperor Wanli realized the problem of the Donglin Party and had not been to the morning court for many years. He could only rely on the inner ministers to leave the palace to collect mining taxes, barely maintaining the situation of the Ming Dynasty." Sun Chengzong said some inside stories that he didn't know as a time traveler, which made Zhu Youxiao suddenly enlightened.

"Then I have to do this to get rid of the control of the Donglin Party?" Zhu Youchao asked Sun Chengzong, not knowing that Sun Chengzong was also the Donglin Party.

"If the emperor wants to get rid of control, he must first control the Dongchang and Jinyiwei, which the emperor can directly govern, and the Donglin Party cannot intervene. After controlling the Dongchang and Jinyiwei, the emperor reliably fought against corruption and eliminated the Donglin Party. Most of the Donglin Party members were scholars from Jiangnan, and they were only for wealth, and most of them were not clean at hand." Sun Chengzong suggested that although he was also a Donglin Party, he was considered a moderate within the Donglin Party and a northern scholar. Although the Donglin Party was called the Party, it was different from the later parties. It was not a group as tightly organized. It was mainly divided into radicals and moderates. The reason why Fang Congzhe recommended Sun Chengzong as a lecturer in the imperial lecture before resigning was because Sun Chengzong was also an acceptable figure in the Donglin Party.

"Why is this?" Zhu Youxiao asked in confusion.

"The business in Jiangnan is developed, and the businessmen are extravagant and desireful. The scholars in Jiangnan are naturally impetuous and greedy for money due to their customs. After becoming officials, they will inevitably do their best and be corrupt and abuse the law." Sun Chengzong said.

Zhu Youxiao was stunned. Isn’t this the materialism in the 21st century? Once materialism is formed, any ideal and moral integrity will be thrown aside. Some people even said with confidence: “How much does a pound of integrity cost? Give me a few pounds.”

Sun Chengzong continued: "Now the Donglin Party controls the government, it is also an opportunity for the emperor. The Donglin Party will inevitably promote party struggles and vigorously exclude officials from the landlord's sect. At that time, the emperor can unite with those excluded officials and eliminate the pest horses in the Donglin Party by anti-corruption."

"Why would the Donglin Party vigorously exclude officials from landlord class?" Zhu Youxiao asked in confusion. Sun Chengzong said: "As a traditional scholarly family, they have never done business for generations and despised businessmen. This is the root of the conflict between the two sides."
Chapter completed!