Emperor Chongzhen was too extreme.

Chapter 56 We still need to do business with the Jurchens.

late at night.

The group of high-ranking civil officials, who had been sleeping at home with their beautiful maids, were now all drowsy and gathered in the courtyard.

However, when everyone heard that the emperor's entourage would not linger in Hebei, they immediately perked up.

but.

The group discussed it back and forth, chatting in the room until dawn, but they couldn't come up with any clues about the emperor's true intentions.

no way.

Even if the intelligence they receive is fast, it's already two or three days old.

Now that the emperor has left Zhen Ding Prefecture, no one knows where he will go next.

They might take the opportunity to head south, launch a surprise attack and re-enter Hebei, or they might move from Hebei and Shanxi into Chu and the Central Plains.
Hundreds of miles apart, no one can make an accurate judgment.

Ultimately, a decision was made after discussion.

Since we cannot determine the emperor's destination, we should simply keep our household prepared.

In any case, the emperor can't just travel anywhere; he will eventually have to stop somewhere.

As for what happens if one ultimately doesn't choose to go to Hebei or the Jiangnan region...

Instead, they went to Hubei, Henan, Anhui, and other places, which were no longer their concern.

This group does not include all the powerful and influential families in the Ming Dynasty today; let them worry about things elsewhere.

Their reach isn't that far.

However, they believe one thing.

The emperor's travels outside the capital violated the collective interests of the entire aristocratic family and powerful clan.

So no matter where he goes, people will find a way to kill him.

The group then wrote another secret letter home, urging everyone not to let their guard down and to be on guard at all times.

Although some countermeasures were taken, Huang Lijie, who was the first to receive the news, still felt uneasy.

He looked at everyone in the room and slowly began to speak:
"I always felt there was something fishy about this. Let's take advantage of this time to clip the wings of that person in the palace."

"This way, even if something unexpected happens, we will have more options to deal with it."

After a pause, everyone slowly nodded upon hearing the suggestion.

original.

The consensus reached by the civil officials after the emperor left the capital was that they should wait until the emperor's exact location was determined before taking action against the imperial faction in the court.

This is double insurance.

But the emperor's random wanderings caught them off guard, forcing them to begin their operation ahead of schedule.

Hearing Huang Lijie's words, a cunning-looking official stepped forward and said, "When the emperor is in the capital, those officials, from top to bottom, are likely to be difficult for us to bribe and sow discord with."

"But now His Majesty has been away from the capital for several days, and without his core leader, those members of the royal party who have only known each other for a short time and are not yet united will inevitably become disaffected."

"In the past few days, I have ordered people to target those less experienced members of the Imperial Party. In a few days, we will be able to gradually defeat them."

Huang Liji nodded, tacitly agreeing to the suggestion.

Everyone was finally able to return to their residences and continue sleeping before dawn.

soon.

Five more days passed.

Everyone in the Ming Dynasty was busy with their own tasks.

The powerful and influential families were busy keeping track of the new emperor's whereabouts.

Mao Wenlong was finally about to return to Dongjiang Town with the imperial salary he hadn't seen for many years.

The landlords were thinking about how to seize even more land.

The disaster victims in Shaanxi leaned against the wall, anxiously wondering how they could fill their stomachs.
And Zhu Youjian's imperial procession.

After a long and arduous journey, we finally arrived in Pingding Prefecture, Shanxi Province.

Here, Zhu Youjian ordered everyone to rest for an extra day.

After resting and recuperating, the group continued their journey to the next stop, the Yellow River ferry crossing.

Once there, crossing the Yellow River leads to Tongguan Pass, marking the official entry into Shaanxi Province.

With such a large procession, it was impossible not to attract the attention of some interested parties.

From the first day we entered Shanxi.

The eight major merchants in Shanxi had already quietly set their sights on this huge group.

They knew little about the new emperor.

The only thing I've heard of is that he beheaded hundreds of Jinyiwei officials as soon as he took office.

Moreover, the fact that he was able to organize such a team to tour the country in just over a month after ascending the throne shows that he is indeed an iron-fisted ruler.

However, no matter how wise an emperor is, it's best not to try to scheme in Shanxi.

This has blown up, and it's not a good look.

We Shanxi merchants still need to do business with the Jurchens.

The eyes of the eight major merchant houses were fixed on the imperial procession.

They only relaxed a little after the team left quickly after only one day of rest.

Some people were staring intently at the imperial procession, while others were eagerly anticipating it.

During these days, the imperial procession passed through Hebei and Shanxi.

Some students from both regions, as well as low-ranking officials who had previously been frustrated in their official careers, were also filled with excitement after seeing the emperor's procession in person.

Everyone knows what this scene, which has not been seen for many years, means.

Although the emperor's travels did not directly cause large-scale unrest in these two places.

However, people's hearts have begun to change compared to the past.

Among these people, the most excited and the most proactive was Sun Chuanting.

A few days ago, when he returned to his hometown of Daizhou in Shanxi from Yan'an Prefecture in Shaanxi, he began to bury himself in writing memorials about Shaanxi and sought connections everywhere to send the memorials to the capital.

But Sun Chuanting did not expect that before he could finish writing his memorial, he would hear that the emperor had personally come to Pingding Prefecture in Shanxi.

When Sun Chuanting first heard the news, he thought it was fake.

After all, he was a genuine Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations) and had served as an official in the capital.

It is known that although the emperor's travels outside the capital sound simple, they are actually quite outrageous in practice.

After confirming through various channels that the emperor had indeed come to Shanxi, Sun Chuanting could no longer contain his excitement.

He took a few attendants from his home that very night and drove a carriage to Pingding Prefecture.

Unfortunately.

By the time he arrived in Pingding Prefecture, the emperor's carriage had already left.

But Sun Chuanting did not give up.

He sent his attendants back home to deliver the message.

Then, alone, he took a sword, rode a fast horse, and followed the trail left by the emperor while asking around.

Unlike the common people who only spread rumors about how majestic the emperor's carriage was.

Sun Chuanting gleaned many insights from this overseas inspection incident.

He even vaguely guessed, based on the various information he had recently gathered, that the emperor's final destination on this tour might be Shaanxi.

The emperor's view may be the same as his.

The urgent needs of Shaanxi are the most pressing needs of the Ming Dynasty today.

If the emperor could seize this opportunity to pacify Shaanxi, the entire Ming Dynasty might be able to reverse its decline and rise again.

Unfortunately, in Sun Chuanting's view, Shaanxi is now a dead end—it can be delayed but not saved.

When Sun Chuanting first arrived in Shaanxi, he still felt that there was a glimmer of hope there.

But when he returned home and thought about the solution carefully, he realized that he had no idea where to start.

　Sun Chuanting's death coincided with the fall of the Ming Dynasty. His life story truly exemplifies wisdom, courage, and loyalty; unfortunately, he was tragically killed by Emperor Chongzhen.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)