Chapter 21: Tearing Off the Mask (Please Add to Collection!)

"Accomplices......"

Guang Shiheng clearly hadn't expected things to change so quickly—he had plummeted from a respected minister to a man who deceived the emperor and was spat upon by all.

At this moment, he could no longer care about integrity or reputation, and hastily kowtowed:

"Your Majesty, forgive me, Your Majesty, forgive me! Your servant, your servant......"

Guang Shiheng's reaction was hardly surprising, after all, the current Chongzhen Emperor seemed like a madman, acting without any rhyme or reason, as if he were a completely different person from before.

Thinking of this, Chief Grand Secretary Chen Yan suddenly widened his eyes—could it be... could His Majesty be the reincarnation of the Hongwu Emperor?

Chen Yan's heart was now in utter turmoil, his back already soaked with sweat. He hurriedly stepped forward to memorialize:

"I report to Your Majesty, Lord Guang's offense was unintentional. In consideration of his wholehearted devotion to the state, please forgive him this once."

"Yes, yes."

Unsurprisingly, the ministers all jumped out one after another to second the motion.

"Wholehearted devotion to the state!?" The Chongzhen Emperor heard these words and could no longer contain the indignation in his heart. He sat there sneering coldly for a long while, then looked at the ministers below and said:

"All of you are my most vital ministers, but do you know what it means to be wholeheartedly devoted to the state? The bonds between ruler and minister, human ethics—these words you hang on your lips every day, yet I see that none of you understand them at all!"

"Did Guang Shiheng go there of his own accord yesterday? He is nothing but a small, insignificant figure—otherwise he wouldn't have stood up to say such suicidal words. There are some things I didn't want to say, but you all forced me to say them! What can I do? I can only kill them one by one!"

These words were essentially a showdown with the ministers. Was the Chongzhen Emperor stupid? No. He knew everything; he just hadn't wanted to bring it up. Now it was clear that the factional strife plaguing this Great Ming court was indeed no falsehood.

Were the Jianzhou barbarians beyond the pass a threat to the heart? Never. Even now, at this point of internal trouble and external threat, so long as the capital did not fall and Wu Sangui remained stationed at Shanhai Pass, they still couldn't fight their way in.

In the Chongzhen Emperor's eyes, even Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong didn't count as threats to the heart, let alone those Tartars holed up in Liaodong. Rather, it was these ministers at court who were the root of the Great Ming's decline.

If the emperor wants to go left, they insist on going right. If you show a bit of strength, they refuse to yield an inch and push you to the water's edge, forcing you to soften.

Tell me, with such a group of self-serving Donglin Faction members standing grandly in the court wielding power, how could the state not fall?

Some insightful people said one must pacify the interior before resisting external threats. In the Chongzhen Emperor's view, the exterior was the Jianzhou barbarians and Li Zicheng, and the interior was these self-proclaimed pure Donglin ministers at court. Unless he replaced and confiscated every last one of them, there would never be peace.

Men like Lu Xiangsheng, Sun Chuanting, Sun Chengzong, Qin Liangyu and so on—how many capable civil and military officers had emerged across the realm! And the Qin army, the White Pole troops, the Guanning army and so on—how many formidable fighting forces had sprung up!

Did the Han people lack fighting strength? No. In the end, it was the court that had no money.

Holding advanced firearms manufacturing methods yet unable to produce quality weapons, having talented people in all fields but unable to employ them, unable to pay the wages of those powerful armies, and unable to keep their armor and weapons updated—this was what allowed the Jianzhou barbarians beyond the pass to exploit the gap.

The Tianqi Emperor reigned for so many years, and Wei Zhongxian, the Eastern Depot director at the time, was ordered by imperial decree to desperately raise money for the court. Tianqi even wrote in his edicts the appellation 'I and the Depot and Guard'—this shows the heart of this 'Carpenter Emperor.'

But after Wei Zhongxian had been raising money for so long, the national treasury had at most gained a few million taels of silver. Yet how much did the Chongzhen Emperor get from raiding the household of State Elder Zhou Kui last night? According to Li Ruolian's report, the ready silver hauled out of the Zhou residence alone exceeded six million!

This didn't even count the various rare treasures and famous paintings. Zhou Kui was a state elder, but could the few acres recorded in the registers have earned him so much silver? Besides the tributes from all the civil and military officials, who knows what dark dealings he might have conducted in secret.

Now the court was destitute. Even counting all of Chongzhen's privy purse and the treasury's reserves together, it couldn't match one-tenth of the State Elder's estate. At a time like this, why should the Chongzhen Emperor talk to them about righteousness? Time to lay the cards on the table and go to war.

You have your Zhang Liang scheme, I have my ladder over the wall. If worst comes to worst, I'll bring back the Inner Depot and the Western Depot as well. I'm a modern man after all—if I still can't outplay you Donglin monkeys, wouldn't that be an embarrassment to all time-travelers!

The Chongzhen Emperor's unexpected direct showdown was essentially tearing off all pretense with the ministers. There was no more room for play-acting. The ministers all lowered their heads, exchanging questioning glances.

"This... this..."

The ministers couldn't find words, because Chongzhen was after all still the legitimate emperor. Some things couldn't be done recklessly in the open, or else today they might not even leave the palace.

"Guang Shiheng, I have some questions I want to ask you here in court today. If you answer truthfully and completely, I guarantee your safety. But if you dare hide even the slightest thing, then I'll have the Eastern Depot ask you again. Do you understand?"

The Chongzhen Emperor had not held court many times, but every time he did, his originally decent mood was ruined. His face was grim as he spoke—this was clearly no joke.

"Your Majesty, your servant, your servant..."

Guang Shiheng lay prostrate on the ground, trembling uncontrollably, having lost all the righteous bearing he'd displayed moments before. The Eastern Depot's prison was no laughing matter—once you went in, you couldn't expect to come out whole.

"I ask you, who else went with you to Huixiang Tower yesterday?"

"Your Majesty, your servant doesn't know, your servant truly doesn't know!" Guang Shiheng's rear end was raised high, and from his trembling voice one could tell he was genuinely terrified. But for some reason, this fellow would rather be reformed in the Eastern Depot's prison than confess his accomplices.

"Guards, take him to the Eastern Depot prison for interrogation." Chongzhen's expression didn't change as he spoke lazily.

The moment the words fell, the grand warriors standing guard outside the hall immediately strode in and, one on each side, carried the limp Guang Shiheng out.

After a pause, the Chongzhen Emperor swept his gaze over the ministers below the steps and said calmly:

"Guang Shiheng won't speak now, but that doesn't mean he won't speak once he's in the Eastern Depot. What the Eastern Depot's prison is like, I'm sure all of you know well in your hearts."

The Chongzhen Emperor paused, then continued:

"The Great Ming today—within our borders, the flames of war spread across the land, disasters erupt on all sides, and bandits and roving rebels proclaim themselves kings and found their own regimes everywhere. Beyond the pass, the Jianzhou barbarians have taken advantage of the Great Ming's crisis to turn around and strike, rising in rebellion—and there are even traitors to the Han flocking to them!"

"The Great Ming has reached its most critical hour. Since the founding emperor, we have nurtured our scholars for over two hundred years—and yet, it turns out we've raised a pack of ingrates. Even if I end up shattered to pieces, I will still defend this Great Ming's rivers and mountains. Over two hundred years of the imperial Ming—how could it be easily toppled by such rats!"

"You should all pick your sides quickly. I am capable of doing anything!"

The Chongzhen Emperor's sudden outburst was sharp and measured, clear and penetrating. The ministers were momentarily stunned into silence. Just as someone's expression shifted and they were about to step forward to speak, they saw the Chongzhen Emperor wave his hand and say directly:

"That's all for today. My ministers, whether you have memorials or not, do not present them. Go back and think it over carefully. That is all I have to say."