Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 174 Chaos in the Capital

Zhang Xijun has arrived in the capital. It is his first time to visit the capital, the center of the Ming Dynasty and the location of the imperial city.

Although he was mentally prepared, when he arrived in the capital, he was still shocked by this magnificent city.

Taiyuan was a big city in the Ming Dynasty. Zhang Xijun, who grew up and lived in Taiyuan, thought he had some experience, but he always felt that no matter how prosperous the capital was, it was at best bigger and more crowded than Taiyuan. But when he saw the towering walls of the capital and witnessed the hustle and bustle of the capital, Zhang Xijun finally understood why the capital was the capital.

Zhang Xijun had always wanted to go to the capital one day, and his idea was based on the imperial examination. As a scholar, who doesn't want to get his name on the list of successful candidates? It was the same for Zhang Xijun. When he passed the imperial examination and had the opportunity to go to the capital to take the exam, he could go to the capital with his head held high like his predecessors, and then show his skills in the imperial examination and finally enter the official career with success.

This has always been Zhang Xijun's dream, and he worked hard towards this dream before he turned 30. However, he did not expect that the world would change and people would suffer misfortunes at any time. The sudden disaster broke his originally peaceful life, followed by the collapse of his dream and the departure of his family.

Zhang Xijun was labeled a rebel and a member of the White Lotus Sect. In a blink of an eye, his family was destroyed. Such a great blow made Zhang Xijun even think about following his family. However, the persistence and hatred in his heart made Zhang Xijun grit his teeth and get through this ordeal, and he survived by chance.

Today, Zhang Xijun is no longer the scholar who only knew how to read sage books and was determined to take the imperial examination. After experiencing great changes, Zhang Xijun's heart is full of hatred and anger at the injustice of the world. He wants revenge and wants to take back everything he has lost, including his ideals, but he can never do it by himself, and joining Zhu Shenzhu is the only choice.

Now, Zhang Xijun finally gained Zhu Shenzhu's trust and had the opportunity to show his abilities. Even though this opportunity was slightly different from what he had originally thought, Zhang Xijun adjusted his mindset very well. He did not think that Zhu Shenzhu was wasting his talents. On the contrary, after careful consideration, Zhang Xijun went to the capital calmly.

Zhang Xijun successfully entered the capital with the household registration identity that Zhou Anmin helped him get. Looking at the grandeur and prosperity of the capital, his heart was filled with waves.

But on the surface he looked calm, as if he had been to the capital many times.

After entering the city, Zhang Xijun quickly found his residence in the capital.

This place was bought by Zhou Anmin when he came to the capital. It has an ordinary location and a small area. It is just a small courtyard with two entrances.

When we arrived and looked around, we found the yard wasn't very eye-catching because no one had lived there for some time. Plus, it was winter now, so it looked a little desolate.

However, after a tour inside and outside, Zhang Xijun was quite satisfied with this place. First, the yard looked inconspicuous, not very eye-catching, but quiet. Second, although this yard was ordinary, it was close to the central city, and it was very convenient to go anywhere. As for the third, the furniture and appliances inside were all available, and apart from buying some bedding and other daily necessities, you could settle down here.

On that day, Zhang Xijun inquired around and then bought a family of slaves through a middleman. The slaves were a family of three, all of whom were honest landless farmers who came to the capital to make a living.

The men served as servants, responsible for some sundry and manual labor, while the women did some cleaning and cooking work. As for the couple's son, he was young and strong, and could be a permanent attendant, and could be of some use when going out.

Zhang Xijun directly signed the deed for the whole family and brought them back home after buying them. Then, after some cleaning, the courtyard became brand new. With the arrival of Zhang Xijun and the servants, the courtyard became popular.

Zhang Xijun stayed in the capital as an ordinary businessman. For this identity, Zhang Xijun spent money to buy a small shop and hired two assistants to help. Such small shops are everywhere in the capital and are not eye-catching. Moreover, Zhang Xijun worked in the business for a year and was very familiar with this aspect, and he operated it in a very professional manner.

After finishing all this, it was almost the end of the year, and Zhang Xijun gradually settled down in the capital. In addition to being busy with the decoration of his residence and shop, Zhang Xijun often went to various places and interacted with all kinds of people. Don't underestimate these, you have to know that this is the capital, and the ordinary people under the emperor are different from the ordinary people in other places. Some of the ordinary people here look ordinary, but if you really pursue them, you may be able to get in touch with the adults in the court or the servants in the adults' homes. Some of them are well-informed.

Through this method, Zhang Xijun got a general understanding of the situation in the capital without much effort. After knowing it, Zhang Xijun realized that the current situation in the capital was much more complicated than he had imagined.

In the imperial court, the Donglin Party still dominated the court. The other parties fought against the Donglin Party, but were suppressed. As for the inner court, it was said that Emperor Tianqi did not care about anything at all. On weekdays, he was either in the harem with the empress and concubines, or stayed in the side hall of the Qianqing Palace to do carpentry work.

It was extremely surprising that the emperor liked to do carpentry work. When Zhang Xijun heard about this, he was also stunned. He never thought that the emperor, as the supreme ruler of the Ming Dynasty, would fall in love with this "lowly job".

But after thinking about it carefully, I felt relieved. There were many strange emperors in the Ming Dynasty. For example, there were those who liked cricket fighting, those who loved women who were more than ten years older than themselves, those who were obsessed with cultivating Taoism and becoming immortals, and those like Zhengde who lived in the Leopard House instead of the palace, those who liked widows in the folk instead of beauties in the harem, those who adopted sons everywhere, and those who named themselves generals. They did whatever they wanted and played as they pleased. As for the Wanli Emperor, it goes without saying that he stayed in the harem as a stay-at-home boy for decades without attending court and not caring about government affairs. Which emperor in history did this? The current Tianqi Emperor is the grandson of Wanli. It is natural for him to have some special hobbies due to his genes.

Zhang Xijun also saw woodworking items made by Tianqi in the market. It was said that they were made by eunuchs in the palace and sold in some shops. It must be admitted that Tianqi's woodworking skills were indeed good, with exquisite designs and exquisite workmanship. If people did not know that this thing was made by the emperor, most people would have thought it was the work of the master carpenter.

The emperor ignored state affairs and left many matters directly to the Silijian to handle, and the boss of the Silijian was eunuch Wei Zhongxian.

Now Wei Zhongxian was in charge of the Imperial Household Department and the East Factory. Although he was not the official seal holder, he was the real chancellor. The Tianqi Emperor trusted Wei Zhongxian very much, and Wei Zhongxian's power was growing. There were signs that he was trying to compete with the Donglin Party in the court.

These days, many scholars in the market were discussing the emperor's actions, and some of them were extremely dissatisfied with the growing power of Wei Zhongxian.

These scholars were very angry about the emperor's failure to do his job, favoring eunuchs, and watching the eunuch party grow stronger. There was a lot of indignation in their words, and some even shouted that Wei Zhongxian was the second Liu Jin of the dynasty, and if the eunuch party was not eliminated, there would be disasters in the future.

The emperor should be close to gentlemen and stay away from villains, and he should not indulge in material things. It is simply outrageous for an emperor to do carpentry work. What is even more outrageous is that the emperor's woodworking products are actually sold on the street. How could such a thing happen in all dynasties?

As for Wei Zhongxian, he was just a eunuch who called himself the Prime Minister and opposed the Donglin Party everywhere. What else could he be but a eunuch party that brought disaster to the country and the people?
In the eyes of scholars, the emperor should be a good emperor, correct these faults, kill Wei Zhongxian, be close to gentlemen and stay away from villains, rule the country with ease, and leave the government to the Donglin Party to handle. Only in this way can the Ming Dynasty prosper and the world be governed well.

When talking about generosity, some even mentioned the couplet written by Donglin Academy where Gu Xiancheng of the Donglin Party was studying: "The sound of wind, rain and reading is heard in my ears; I care about the affairs of family, country and the world."

In their view, the Donglin Party is the only gentleman in the Ming Dynasty, and the rest, whether the eunuch party, the Zhejiang party, the Chu party, the Qi party, etc., are villains. If they want to restore the prosperity of the Ming Dynasty and solve the Liaodong issue, the best choice is to let the Donglin Party have the final say. Even the emperor is the same. As an emperor, he does not need to do anything else, just hand over state affairs to the Donglin Party and sit in the palace safely.

When someone mentioned such an idea, it would immediately draw a round of applause. Not only these scholars, but also ordinary people felt that it made some sense. For a time, the Donglin Party became famous, and Wei Zhongxian's reputation became worse and worse in the ears of scholars and ordinary people in the capital.

Zhang Xijun saw and heard all of this.

If it were Zhang Xijun in his early years, he might have been provoked by such words like these scholars, thinking that the Donglin Party were good people, Wei Zhongxian were eunuchs who were harming the world, and that the Tianqi Emperor, who only knew how to use eunuchs who could do carpentry work, was also an absolute tyrant.

But the Zhang Xijun now is no longer the simple Zhang Xijun of the past. After experiencing great changes, Zhang Xijun is no longer the scholar he used to be.

As early as when he was in Shanxi, Zhang Xijun had noticed some things in the court and knew more inside information than these scholars. In addition, Zhang Xijun had his own judgment. He smelled something unusual from these discussions while watching from the sidelines, and sneered in his heart.

In Zhang Xijun's view, the Donglin Party was the one behind these scholars, directing and instigating them. The reason why the Donglin Party did this was simply to gain higher popular reputation through this method, and then use such influence to exclude dissidents and attack political opponents.

The Donglin Party's behavior was a big taboo. Although the Donglin Party always called itself a pure stream, there were very few people in the party who could truly be called such. Most of the Donglin Party members were no different from other party members. They just looked more noble and their slogans were louder, but their essence was the same.

Throughout the dynasties, factional struggles have never ended well, and the formation of factions in the court is even more feared by those in power. At present, the Donglin Party is so unscrupulous that it seems to be gaining popularity, but at the same time it has also buried deep hidden dangers.

Zhang Xijun saw the problems of the Donglin Party at a glance, and sneered at the party's tricks. He even concluded that the more the Donglin Party did so, the more the Emperor Tianqi would use Wei Zhongxian.

The reason is simple. If Zhang Xijun himself were the Tianqi Emperor, he would do the same. How could a minister suppress the emperor in this way? If the world was handed over to the Donglin Party, what would the emperor be? Where is the majesty of the emperor? Any emperor with a little bit of intelligence would make the same choice as Tianqi.

(End of this chapter)