Simulates history, but Chongzhen is the Divine Emperor at the beginning

Chapter 101 Heart-to-heart talk between king and minister
[“Your Majesty, please revoke your order!”]

[In front of all the officials, you righteously and solemnly issued a declaration of defiance to the frightened and enraged Divine Emperor!]

[And so, the Divine Emperor's face quickly turned pale, then red...]

[“Capture this lunatic for me!”]

Finally, he roared, and the guards on both sides rushed forward to capture you!

[Afterwards, you were quickly thrown into the Imperial Guards' prison...]

【…】

[The dignified commander of the Jinyiwei was actually thrown into the Jinyiwei prison. This is undoubtedly a joke.]

"Haha! You, little Zhou, have finally come to this!"

[The prisoners, whose minds had been twisted by their imprisonment, could not help but burst into laughter at this, their words filled with mockery!]

[However, there are also some corrupt officials who pay you the highest respect and admiration.]

"Commander Zhou is truly an upright official, dedicated to his country and his people! With this outspoken remonstration, even if Lord Zhou dies in prison, his name will live on in history!"

"Master Zhou is truly a role model for us!"

[And you listened to the voices of these two groups of mentally ill people at the same time, but your heart remained calm. From beginning to end, you just sat quietly on the dirty ground...]

You are thinking about your future.

[Based on your initial premonition, if you really hit the Divine Emperor's reverse scale, then you will most likely be killed on the spot by a tangible giant hand from His wrath!]

[And now, since you didn't spill blood all over the Golden Throne Hall, it means that the Divine Emperor wasn't completely enraged by you. There's still room for recovery...]

[It is precisely because of this that you begin to carefully consider your future: What will be the end of your life? ]

[Every experience in both past and present lives tells you that if the source of darkness, the Divine Emperor, is not eliminated, the world will never experience true peace and prosperity, because His fundamental interests are always in conflict with those of mankind. His immortality and unlimited power are built on the foundation of harming the people of the Ming Dynasty!]

[But if we want to destroy the God Emperor, you still can't come up with a practical plan...]

[What? Let Li Laiheng and the others continue to fight monsters and level up?]

[The possibility is actually not very high, or rather, you have never placed all your hopes on this path! ]

[After all, the Divine Emperor isn't dead. If you try to strengthen yourself to his level through revenge in the Ming Dynasty, you'll undoubtedly trigger a nationwide class upheaval. How could you possibly conceal this upheaval from the Divine Emperor?]

So, even though you've been pushing the spinning top "kill monsters and level up" plan, you haven't really had much confidence in its ultimate effectiveness...

On this basis, even if you don't want to be a reformist like you were in your previous life, you have to admit: this kind of reformist approach that can achieve good results is truly better than the revolutionary approach you're currently on. At least the reformist approach can be effective, while the revolutionary approach is almost certain to fail!

So, are you ultimately going to take the reformist path that is destined to fail to address the core contradiction?

【You are not willing! 】

【You really can't accept it! 】

【But...what can you do? 】

[Reality is always so cold and cruel. Only dreams can make everything go smoothly...]

[So, you chose to go head-to-head with the Divine Emperor between the two options just now: since you don't see any chance of winning anyway, you might as well just go for it!]

[If this can touch the Divine Emperor's humanity, then that would naturally be good. But if it fails, then I will die with no regrets!]

[“Now it seems that I did succeed in touching upon His humanity, causing Him to simply lock me up instead of killing me on the spot, but…”]

You sigh bitterly: "But this means you can't die pursuing your ideals. Your future path and fate have already been determined by the Divine Emperor's single thought."

[Either be imprisoned for life, or repeat the mistakes of the previous life and continue to be a reformist who becomes less and less popular...]

[“Perhaps, this is fate…”]

[You sighed amidst a thousand worries, as if letting out all the resentment you'd felt in your life, leaving only the confusion of drifting with the tide in your heart.] [……]

[Of course, you didn't suffer any abuse in the imperial prison.]

[After all, the Jinyiwei were all trained by you from top to bottom. It was your reforms in recruiting that gave them the opportunity to join the Jinyiwei. And you also taught them the "theory of class hatred" that they rely on to survive.]

[With such a great favor, even if you didn't use telekinesis to brainwash them, their loyalty to you would have been instantly maximized. In a sense, their loyalty to you is actually much higher than to the Divine Emperor...]

[Under the influence of this kindness and loyalty, let alone beating you, they were already rational in not rebelling against the Divine Emperor on your behalf!]

[So, not only were you not subjected to the spinning top punishment like the other prisoners, but you were also treated well in your cell. Your treatment was even better than that in a restaurant...]

[Until the next morning, when the convicted officials, who had been beaten with belts all night, were released from the prison with their teeth bared, you and a group of Jinyiwei who served as jailers were the only ones left in the entire prison.]

[At this moment, an unexpected yet reasonable person slowly walked into the Imperial Prison.]

[He wasn't wearing his usual iconic yellow robe, but a black robe overlaid on top. It wasn't until He had already walked up to your cell door that you were surprised to recognize Him...]

【"His Majesty?!"】

[Under the black robe, it was the Divine Emperor! ]

The Divine Emperor stood outside the door, looking at you with a complicated gaze. After a long pause, he said, "Zhou Liang, you are truly audacious..."

You paused for a moment before realizing He was referring to your disobedience to His orders: "I acknowledge my guilt..."

He waved his hand to silence you, then continued in a deep voice, "I'm not here to hear you admit your mistakes. I just want to ask you a question."

[“Why on earth do you oppose my imperial decree?”]

[After listening to His question, you were silent for a moment before saying, "Your Majesty's decree does not benefit the country or the people..."]

[“Benefiting the country and the people? Ha!”]

He sneered, "When did it become your turn as a Jinyiwei to take charge of such matters? Since you are the commander of the Jinyiwei, you only need to follow my orders."

“Besides, I’m not afraid to tell you that allowing officials to continue to engage in corruption is what is most beneficial to the country and the people…”

He paused here, as if he was afraid you might not understand. But you actually understood: What is benefiting the country and the people? He did not slaughter people; that was the greatest benefit to the country and the people!

[As long as the rate at which His divine power is consumed is slowed down, He won't have to rush to massacre the people, and the dark turmoil can be delayed as much as possible... This is of course the greatest good for the people of the Ming Dynasty.]

[This is also the manifestation of the only compassion in His human nature...]

[However, if this is used to forcibly maintain the corruption in the court, it will not be any good!]

[A court that deliberately commits evil is also an unbearable burden for the people...]

Therefore, your face is sad.

He seemed to have seen your attitude from the sadness on your face, so he asked again in a deep voice, "It seems that you still don't agree with my thoughts..."

"Well, I didn't expect you to agree... Let me ask you one more question: do you want to live or die?"

"If you want to live, I'll release you immediately. You can continue to be the commander and help me relieve my worries!"

[“And if you want to die…”]

"I, your servant, am willing to die to prove my loyalty!" You didn't hesitate, your eyes blazing like two bright lights in the darkness!

[God Emperor:...]

[What the hell, what an iron-headed kid! ]

【…】

(End of this chapter)