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

Chapter 378: Sinner’s Edict

The current Emperor Tianqi hated the Donglin Party to the core. He wished he could immediately order Wei Zhongxian to arrest all the Donglin Party members in the court and torture them severely to force them to tell who had done this.

But as Wei Zhongxian tried his best to persuade him, Emperor Tianqi gradually calmed down and his rationality returned to him.

Although Emperor Tianqi knew that it was the Donglin Party who did this and understood their real purpose, it was impossible for him to take action against the Donglin Party immediately because he had no evidence and it was even more impossible for him to directly tell the truth to the people of the world.

Emperor Tianqi was a qualified monarch and a politician. If he had ascended the throne, he might have done something irrational in anger, but as he had been emperor for so long, he had realized that although he was an emperor, he could not do whatever he wanted in many cases.

The emperor is the supreme ruler of the empire. In theory, he can do whatever he wants. But in fact, it is not the case. If it is just about killing people, the Tianqi Emperor can certainly do it. Just one word will do it. Wei Zhongxian's knife is very sharp. The East Factory and the Jinyiwei are dispatched to arrest people. None of the Donglin Party can escape. After they are caught, they are beheaded directly. Can their heads withstand the knife?
But the problem is that Emperor Tianqi can't do this at all. If he does this, the world will be in chaos. The court is a place where rules are followed. If there are no rules, can the world still run normally? If so, the Ming Dynasty will be in trouble. When the order is chaotic and the empire collapses, can he continue to be the emperor?
Ruling the country and maintaining the operation of the country are all within the rules. Even if the Tianqi Emperor used Wei Zhongxian to deal with the Donglin Party and seize the monarchy from the civil service group, it was also done under the rules. Only politically immature monarchs would do unwise things. Is the Tianqi Emperor such a monarch? Of course not, so no matter how angry he is now, he will not do this.

Not only that, after calming down, Emperor Tianqi decided to swallow his anger for the time being. The impact of the Wanggongchang explosion was too great. Not only in the capital, but also in various provincial capitals, there were rumors about this matter. These rumors were spreading like wildfire, and the more they were spread, the more outrageous they became.

The most important thing now is to suppress these rumors and give an explanation to the people of the world.

How could ordinary people make accurate judgments? Today's world is far from the era of information explosion in the future. As for the cultural level of ordinary people, it is also extremely low. Few ordinary people can read, and most of the scholars tend to be relatively sympathetic to the Donglin Party. In addition, the so-called gods and ghosts and traditional superstitions have played a role. Under the intentional propaganda and dissemination of the Donglin Party, there are many people in the folk who believe in heaven's punishment, even officials, not to mention ordinary people.

So no matter how angry he was, Emperor Tianqi could not make any unwise moves at this time. The most important thing right now was to appease the world and let this matter pass smoothly. Even Wei Zhongxian's original plan against the Donglin Party had to be put on hold until this matter gradually passed before settling accounts with them.

The next day, Emperor Tianqi issued an edict of repentance, expressing his determination to reflect deeply on his mistakes, and warned his ministers, both big and small, to "do their best to cleanse their hearts and reflect deeply on their mistakes", hoping that this would ensure long-term stability in the Ming Dynasty and eliminate all troubles. He also ordered the release of 10,000 taels of gold from the treasury for disaster relief.

After the confession of guilt, the eunuch party headed by Wei Zhongxian also calmed down a lot, and temporarily stopped targeting the Donglin Party, as if they were frightened by the impact of the Wanggongchang explosion. In addition, even the reconstruction of the Juehua Island base was postponed indefinitely, and the previously required material preparations were also suspended. When these news came, the Donglin Party celebrated. For a while, the Donglin Party members who had been suppressed and suffocated a few days ago were full of energy, and their voice in the court increased greatly, as if they had suddenly turned over and overwhelmed the eunuch party again.

Taking this opportunity, the Donglin Party escaped a disaster, and at the same time fought back against the Eunuch Party through public opinion, forcing Emperor Tianqi to issue an edict of self-criticism. On the surface, the Donglin Party seemed to be on the rise again, and its popularity was unparalleled for a time.

But in fact, the Donglin Party completely angered Emperor Tianqi this time. If in the past the purpose of Emperor Tianqi using Wei Zhongxian to deal with the Donglin Party was merely to fight for power, the nature of it has changed now. In addition to fighting for power, Emperor Tianqi has completely seen through the true face of the Donglin Party. Their actions have touched the bottom line. Now Emperor Tianqi not only wants to take back all power from the Donglin Party, but also has the idea of ​​completely eradicating the Donglin Party without leaving a single one.

The Donglin Party's current glory is just a last gasp. The temporary concessions made by Emperor Tianqi and Wei Zhongxian are just a way of swallowing their anger. Both sides are secretly accumulating strength and preparing for the final battle. If there are no accidents in this battle, the winner will definitely not be the Donglin Party, because behind Wei Zhongxian stands the supreme ruler of the empire, the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

Since Xu Xiancheng was interning in the Ministry of Works, he has been in charge of the repair of the three main halls. As a newly-appointed Jinshi, he had no status in the court, let alone influence. In addition, Xu Xiancheng was always cautious, and with the reminder of his brother-in-law Zhu Shenzhu, after entering the Ministry of Works, he just focused on his own work and never interfered with other things.

But Xu Xiancheng never expected that not long after the Wanggongchang explosion, that is, on the third day after Emperor Tianqi issued the edict of repentance, Xu Xiancheng's official appointment came down.

Logically speaking, as a second-class Jinshi, Xu Xiancheng's official position should be the head of the six ministries or the prefect of a local prefecture, which is between the sixth and the junior sixth rank. But unexpectedly, this time Xu Xiancheng was officially appointed as the deputy minister of the Ministry of Works, which is the junior fifth rank and is beyond the scope of official appointments for new Jinshi.

The reason was very simple, because Xu Xiancheng did a good job in his internship at the Ministry of Works. He was not only serious about the renovation of the three main halls, but also improved his work efficiency, which made the superiors very satisfied. In addition, when the Wanggongchang explosion occurred, Xu Xiancheng handled the crisis situation properly on the spot, recovered a lot of property losses, and saved a lot of people. His work performance was quite outstanding. After consideration by his superiors, he was given the position of Yuanwailang as a plus point in the official appointment. In addition, Xu Xiancheng was selected as a Shujishi and entered the Hanlin Academy directly. In this way, Xu Xiancheng surpassed his predecessors in one step as a new Jinshi and became a rising star in the officialdom.

As for the Yuanwailang, Xu Xiancheng was in charge of the Yuheng Qinglisi of the Ministry of Works. The main responsibilities of the Yuheng Qinglisi of the Ministry of Works were to manufacture, receive and send various official utensils, verify military expenses, military supplies and arms expenses in various places, as well as the national measurement system, smelting and coinage, purchasing copper, lead and other mines, and appointing and removing supervisors of the Baoyuan Bureau.

The Yuhengsi had subordinate institutions such as the treasurer, military supply depot, saltpeter and sulfur depot, artillery shell depot, official vehicle department, and firewood storage factory.

The core of the Ministry of Works is the Four Departments and Two Treasurys, and the Yuheng Department has a very important position among the four departments. The director of the Yuheng Department is the Langzhong, the Yuanwailang is the Langzhong's deputy, and below him are officials at all levels such as the Chief. From this point of view, Xu Xiancheng jumped to become the second-in-command of the Yuheng Department, and his power was considerable.

Xu Xiancheng had already had some thoughts about his appointment, and he had discussed it with Zhu Shenzhu privately before he came to the capital.

Due to the complicated political situation in the capital, Xu Xiancheng did not want to get involved in this mess too early. He planned to take advantage of the opportunity of the renovation of the three main halls to temporarily fish in the Ministry of Works. By then, it would be enough to be appointed as an official in charge.

But Xu Xiancheng never expected that such a big pie would suddenly fall on his head. Compared with the same Jinshi, he actually became a member of the Ministry of Works, which was a higher position than the normal position given to the new Jinshi. In addition, the direct entry of the Shujishi into the Hanlin Academy made people jealous. For a time, Xu Xiancheng became famous among officials and attracted the envy of countless people.

Xu Xiancheng understood the reason why he had such luck. He thought that it was probably related to his contact with Emperor Tianqi at the time of the explosion, because he was the first minister to rescue the emperor, and also the first person to stay beside the emperor and command the restoration of order at the chaotic scene.

When repairing the three main halls, Xu Xiancheng had contact with Emperor Tianqi, but this contact was just an ordinary one. It was no different from the company chairman going down to inspect the work and accompanying the construction site supervisor. It was good enough that the chairman could remember you and even call out your name. As for the rest, there was no need to consider too much.

But this time was different. Xu Xiancheng's calmness and confident command on the scene impressed Emperor Tianqi deeply. In addition, he was the first minister to come to Emperor Tianqi's side and protect the emperor.

In addition, there is the wine gourd. Xu Xiancheng himself might have forgotten about it. He left it for Emperor Tianqi so that he could drink a few sips of wine to calm his nerves. The wine gourd also worked. It was because of seeing this wine gourd that Emperor Tianqi remembered Xu Xiancheng afterwards, and thus he had this luck.

But after the appointment, Xu Xiancheng was not too excited. On the contrary, he was a little worried.

Xu Xiancheng was extremely smart, and he had been interning at the Ministry of Works. Although he was in charge of the renovation of the three main halls, he also had some understanding of the recent situation of the Ministry of Works.

After the Wanggongchang explosion, Xu Xiancheng thought of something that others had not thought of. He did not believe the rumors outside. What about heavenly punishment, what about the fire god Zhurong, and the celestial phenomena? Isn't Xu Xiancheng, who has been in the capital, aware of this? These are simply nonsense, and only those fools will believe them.

The explosion was caused by the huge amount of gunpowder stored in Wanggongchang, but how could the gunpowder suddenly explode? You have to know that Wanggongchang has been established for a long time, and there has never been any accident in all these years. In addition, there are strict regulations for the storage and guarding of gunpowder. It is absolutely impossible for it to explode inexplicably. Xu Xiancheng deeply suspected that this explosion was intentional.

Xu Xiancheng had a basis for his suspicion, because the Ministry of Industry had been preparing supplies for Juehua Island these days, and it was said that Wei Zhongxian was keeping a close eye on it and gave the Ministry of Industry a deadline. As for the Ministry of Industry, there were also people discussing this matter. Xu Xiancheng heard that there was a huge shortage of supplies in the warehouse of the Ministry of Industry, and it was impossible to complete the task imposed by Wei Zhongxian. Once the deadline came, the Ministry of Industry could not produce anything, and Wei Zhongxian would take advantage of the situation, and someone would be in trouble.

(End of this chapter)