Volume 1, Chapter 65: To Think the Wings Beside the Civil Officials Were...

"Utterly, unbelievably stupid!"

Zhu Yuanzhang exploded on the spot, shouting his fury aloud.

What in the world? What was that he just heard?

They actually gave an order to execute the head of the eunuch faction?

To do something so utterly absurd was to throw away the dignity of the Great Ming dynasty entirely.

As an emperor, Old Zhu had been brilliant and mighty, dedicating every ounce of his energy and bleeding his heart out for Great Ming. He never imagined that among his future descendants, there would emerge such a useless good-for-nothing.

Who knew how much of a laughingstock this would become for future generations reading history books!

However, Jiang Lin's next sentence pierced deeply into Zhu Yuanzhang's heart like a sharp thorn, shattering the already unstable composure of Old Zhu completely.

"After the Chongzhen Emperor ascended the throne, civil officials endlessly whispered bad things about the eunuchs into his ears."

"They painted the eunuch faction as the most heinous villains, even elevating their crimes to the level of destroying the realm."

"Naturally, the Chongzhen Emperor was thoroughly duped. He trusted the civil officials, believing that as long as the eunuch faction was eradicated, Great Ming would return to its former peace, and in the end, he ordered the elimination of Wei Zhongxian."

"This move was truly unexpected." A teasing smile played across Jiang Lin's face.

As Jiang Lin's words fell, Zhu Yuanzhang's complexion could not have looked any uglier.

"This last emperor of Great Ming is no different from a fool; he might as well be one!"

"You must understand, the eunuchs and the emperor are two sides of the same coin, completely bound together!"

"I've heard plenty of stories about double-faced scoundrels betraying their allies, but a fool who cuts off his own arm like this is unheard of!"

"Sure, this bunch of people can sometimes be disobedient and out of control, but a little suppression is all it takes—there is zero need to eliminate them entirely!"

"The greatest taboo in the imperial court is allowing a single faction to grow too powerful. One must always balance multiple factions, letting them fight among themselves to maintain equilibrium."

Not just Old Zhu, but everyone else present wore expressions of utter bewilderment.

They shook their heads and sighed helplessly, utterly failing to comprehend the Chongzhen Emperor's course of action.

What a remarkable talent this Chongzhen Emperor was, swinging his butcher's knife at the eunuch faction the very moment he took power!

"Fourth son, get your ass over here!"

By now, Zhu Yuanzhang's expression was so twisted that he decided to vent all his boiling rage onto Zhu Di.

He knew this mistake could not be blamed on Zhu Di.

Yet, who asked the Chongzhen Emperor to be his descendant?

With so much fury built up inside him, he had to vent it somehow!

Naturally, Zhu Di guessed what was about to happen... He didn't want to go over and take a beating, but he couldn't disobey his imperial father's command either...

"Father, please... take it a bit easy..."

As he spoke, he instinctively raised his hands to shield his head.

Seeing this, Zhu Zhu rushed forward to intervene, blocking Zhu Di behind him.

"Father, please do not act rashly, lest you damage your health with anger."

With that, Zhu Biao turned his gaze toward Jiang Lin, frowning as he said:

"Brother Jiang, aren't you being far too absolute?"

"Even if the Chongzhen Emperor's actions were extreme, he didn't kill the wrong person!"

"In my view, so what if that Wei Zhongxian was loyal to imperial power? It's just like the Ten Attendants at the end of the Eastern Han dynasty—they made life unlivable for the common people and provoked Zhang Jue's Yellow Turban Rebellion."

"Your Highness, that is not the case!"

Jiang Lin shook his head, rejecting Zhu Biao's assertion without a moment's hesitation.

"When Wei Zhongxian held power, to alleviate the Ming dynasty's fiscal crisis, he increased tax collection on commerce, handicraft industries, and other sectors in the southeastern coastal regions."

"Although his starting point was not out of patriotism, it did indeed increase the imperial court's financial revenue, providing capital support for the administration's operations and the military campaigns in Liaodong."

"Furthermore, he recognized the strategic importance of the Liaodong situation and supported generals like Sun Chongzong and Yuan Chonghuan."

"This allowed them to display their military talents in Liaodong, strengthening the Ming dynasty's defensive forces there."

"It prevented Later Jin from launching large-scale invasions southward for a period, stabilizing the border defense situation to a certain extent."

When Jiang Lin finished speaking, Zhu Biao found himself temporarily speechless.

"This... viewed this way, the Chongzhen Emperor truly killed the wrong man!"

"Even if this Wei Zhongxian was no saint, the benefits he brought to the Great Ming of that era outweighed the harms!"

Zhu Yuanzhang was thoroughly infuriated by the Chongzhen Emperor's actions.

"This boy is simply..."

At the same time, Old Zhu's curiosity was thoroughly piqued; he wanted to know what happened next.

He wanted to know what other absurd stunts the Chongzhen Emperor, the final ruler of the Great Ming dynasty, could possibly pull to earn Jiang Lin's assessment of pulling seedlings upward by force.

"Jiang Lin, continue. What happened after the Chongzhen Emperor eliminated the eunuch faction led by Wei Zhongxian?"

Jiang Lin nodded: "The Chongzhen Emperor originally thought that once the eunuch faction was destroyed, the civil official clique would obey him."

"Instead, he never expected that without any restraints, the civil official clique became even more lawless, paying lip service to the emperor while defying him behind his back, leaving him utterly isolated."

"The most obvious sign... was that the money in the imperial treasury kept dwindling, meaning tax revenues kept dropping."

"Yet, while the court's tax revenue decreased, the taxes paid by the common people not only failed to drop but actually increased, raising their burden higher and higher."

"As for the reason why, I presume Your Majesty can figure it out without me spelling it out!" Jiang Lin smiled faintly.

With a dark expression, Old Zhu understood the implication all too well—how could he not? He felt that the young man's smile before him was dripping with irony.

After the Chongzhen Emperor destroyed the eunuch faction, the civil official clique naturally became the sole dominant power in the imperial court!

As a result, the court's tax revenues decreased instead of rising, yet the money was missing from the imperial treasury?

Where did the money go? It could only be sitting in the pockets of the civil officials!

Damnable!

These parasites were truly bold beyond belief!

Even for corruption, could they really take it to such an extreme?

Causing the treasury's funds to dwindle until... in the end, the money actually reaching the imperial treasury might not even account for ten percent!

Aside from graft and bribery, this bunch also used their authority for all sorts of private enrichment. Which one of them wasn't rolling in wealth?

Bang!

With a loud crash, Zhu Yuanzhang slammed his clenched fist onto the table before him, cursing in a frenzy of rage:

"Damnable! Ever since I founded Great Ming, who knows how many corrupt officials I've executed over the years? Far too many to count!"

"And the result? They are endless, simply endless! These bastards risk their lives to steal, completely incapable of learning a lesson."

"By the twilight of Great Ming, it was no different from the end of the Yuan dynasty—corrupt officials were still everywhere, relentlessly squeezing the fat and blood of the people!"

"These hound officials truly deserve death!" Old Zhu flew into a towering rage, calming down only after a long while.

At that moment, Zhu Biao suddenly recalled a matter of utmost importance.

He hurried over to Jiang Lin, leaning in with a serious expression to seek guidance:

"By the way, Brother Jiang, I remember you mentioned a method for slaying the saints last time..."

"You said the first step of this method was to pluck the wings from around the civil officials..."

Hearing this, Old Zhu suddenly remembered as well, shifting his gaze back to Jiang Lin.

"Ah, right, right! Hurry up and tell us the details!"

"Of course." Jiang Lin nodded.

If he had said this to Old Zhu and Zhu Biao previously, the father-son duo would likely have disagreed before realizing the severity of the situation.

Sensing that the time was ripe, he spoke up: "Your Majesty, Your Highness, and the Prince of Yan, do you three remember what I said a few days ago about Zheng He's voyages to the Western Oceans?"

Zhu Di nodded: "Of course I remember. You said Zheng He's voyages brought massive profits to our Great Ming."

"Yet those damned civil officials tried every means to stop it and maliciously smudged it just because they couldn't squeeze any personal profit out of it."