A Journey Through the Worlds of Film and Television.

Chapter 154 Donglin Party

In a blink of an eye, it is the end of the year again. Heavy snow covers the entire Liaodong area. The people of Haizhouwei are all staying at home. No one wants to go out and feel the biting north wind. However, the soldiers in the barracks are still training their physical fitness and cannot stop studying cultural courses.

The heavy snow had just stopped. Lu Cheng finished his official duties, stood up to stretch his legs, put on his cotton coat, put on his cloak, and got up and left the house.

After calling a few personal guards and taking some New Year gifts, Lu Cheng left the mansion and came to a small courtyard not far away.

Living in this small courtyard are Zhang Guoji's family.

A guard came forward and knocked on the court door. The door was quickly opened and a boy in his teens walked out. When he saw Lu Cheng, he immediately called out, "Hello, brother-in-law."

Lu Cheng walked up to him, rubbed the little guy's head, and laughed: "You are not bad, kid. I will give you some New Year's money in advance."

Lu Cheng casually took out a piece of silver and threw it to the little guy, who smiled even more happily and turned around and shouted to the yard, "Dad, sister, my brother-in-law is here."

When Lu Cheng walked into the yard, he saw Zhang Guoji and his family clearing the snow.

Seeing Lu Cheng, Zhang Guoji quickly put down the shovel in his hand and came forward: "Lord Lu is here, please come in. Yan'er, go and pour the tea."

Lu Cheng followed him into the house. After putting down the gifts, the guards who came with him immediately walked outside and began to clear the snow in the yard.

Zhang Yan poured a cup of steaming hot tea for Lu Cheng and handed it to him: "Brother Lu, have some tea."

Lu Cheng took the tea and gave the little girl a gentle smile. The little girl blushed slightly and turned around to stand behind her father.

Now, Zhang Guoji and his family have been in Haizhou for several months and have become accustomed to life here.

When he first arrived, Lu Cheng would come to visit from time to time, talk to Zhang Yan and cultivate their relationship.

At first, the little girl was a little shy and sometimes even hid.

Later, Lu Cheng came more often and gradually became familiar with him. Later, sometimes when Zhang Guoji was not at home, Zhang Yan could also chat with Lu Cheng.

After the first heavy snow of winter fell, Zhang Yan personally sewed a cotton coat for Lu Cheng and asked her brother to deliver it to Lu Cheng.

It was also from that time that Zhang Yan's younger brother often ran errands for his sister and future brother-in-law, delivering things to both sides.

The little guy is already in his teens and is sensible. He takes the initiative to call Lu Cheng "brother-in-law". Lu Cheng also rewards him with some pocket money.

From then on, the little guy completely changed his tone and called brother-in-law "brother-in-law" in a very affectionate manner.

As a result, the youngest girl in the Zhang family, who was about eight or nine years old, also started calling him brother-in-law.

At first, Zhang Yan was shy and wanted to correct the way her younger siblings addressed her, but for pocket money, her younger siblings betrayed her and refused to change their ways.

After being called this many times, Zhang Yan got used to it.

"It's almost the New Year, is there anything missing at home?"

"No, we have everything at home. We have never had such a good life before. Thank you for your concern."

"That's good. Liaodong is colder than the Central Plains. I specially prepared some ointment that can prevent and treat frostbite. I'll give you some. If you get frostbite, apply it in time."

"Thank you for your concern, sir."

"Recently on official business..."

Zhang Guoji is a bit old-fashioned, and when Lu Cheng chats with him, he usually makes small talk.

In comparison, it is more interesting to tease the little girl.

However, the proper etiquette for festivals and holidays should still be observed.

After sitting at Zhang's house for a while, the guards cleared the snow in the yard and Lu Cheng stood up to say goodbye. Zhang Yan sent Lu Cheng to the door. Seeing that Lu Cheng was about to leave, Zhang Yan suddenly said, "Brother Lu."

Lu Cheng turned around and looked at the little girl: "What's wrong? Is there anything else?"

"Um, Brother Lu...does anyone make dumplings for you during the Chinese New Year?"

"Well, it seems that there really isn't any. How about you make dumplings for me?"

"Okay. What I mean is, I can make the dumplings and send them to you." The little girl seemed a little shy when she said the word "okay".

"Then I'll be waiting to eat your dumplings."

In the entire Haizhou city, the safest place must be the street in front of Lu Cheng’s general’s mansion.

All the courtyards in the front, back, left and right of the street are inhabited by Lu Cheng's most loyal generals, personal guards, and special forces members.

Any unfamiliar face that dares to approach this area will be discovered immediately.

Lu Cheng had been an assassin several times, so he naturally knew how to prevent assassinations, and the guarding of the entire Haizhou City was quite strict.

Throughout Haizhou City, even in ordinary residential areas, there are strict security measures.

Some veterans who were injured and left disabled in battle will be arranged to become members of the security patrol team to continue to protect the safety of Haizhouwei.

Of course, there are also some extremely loyal veterans who quietly resigned from the military and turned to work in intelligence, reconnaissance, etc., or joined caravan guards, island development teams, etc.

Due to the disaster on the grassland this year, the Khalkha tribe also suffered considerable losses. Lu Cheng provided the Khalkha tribe with some food and cotton clothing, and also accepted some herdsmen from the grassland.

However, the herdsmen that Lu Cheng took over were not arranged in any of the cities in the four guards of southern Liaoning, but in some villages and towns. Ordinary herdsmen were responsible for reclaiming land and raising livestock.

Those grassland people who were proficient in riding and shooting were incorporated into the newly formed cavalry patrol team to assist the reconnaissance brigade of Haizhou Guard and were responsible for patrolling the entire southern Liaoning.

At the same time, the islands near the Liaodong Peninsula are also under development and construction.

In places like the large and small islands of Changhai County that are suitable for living, some houses have been built.

The team that was sent south to purchase merchant ships has already bought back seven or eight fishing boats and merchant ships, but they are all small ships and are not enough to form a navy.

Lu Cheng has also been considering going to Jiangnan after the New Year if Liaodong is peaceful.

In fact, the entire Jiangnan area was basically the territory of the Donglin Party, and the wealthy businessmen in Jiangnan were basically controlled by the Donglin Party.

The fundamental reason why the Ming Dynasty fell so quickly was not just the peasant uprising, natural disasters, and the invasion of foreign invaders, but also the self-righteous Donglin Party. It can even be said that the Donglin Party was the main reason.

As early as the reign of Emperor Yongle, Zheng He sailed to the West and brought back various plants, spices and other items from overseas, which also allowed the officials of the Ming Dynasty to see the huge profits from maritime trade.

However, Zheng He's voyages to the West were initiated by the government and brought huge benefits to the court, but did not bring any benefits to the officials and gentry.

Therefore, those officials, gentry and scholars tried every means to discredit Zheng He's voyages to the West and forced the Ming Dynasty to lift the maritime ban.

After the implementation of the maritime ban, officials and gentry secretly instigated coastal merchants to engage in smuggling, colluding with officials and merchants to gain huge profits. This also directly led to the development of the manufacturing industry in Jiangnan, giving rise to many wealthy merchants in the Jiangnan region.

In the 22nd year of the Wanli reign, Gu Xiancheng, a Langzhong of the Ministry of Personnel, angered Emperor Wanli because of his dispute over the establishment of a crown prince. He was dismissed from his post and demoted back home.

Afterwards, Gu Xiancheng and some Jiangnan gentry and celebrities rebuilt the Donglin Academy and initiated the Donglin Conference, which brought together all the literati in Jiangnan and secretly controlled the business in Jiangnan, forming a huge interest group. This was later known as the Donglin Party.

At this time, the Ming Dynasty still maintained the maritime ban on the surface, but in fact, through maritime trade, a large amount of silver from all over the world flowed to the Ming Dynasty.

According to statistics, in the late Ming Dynasty, the amount of silver flowing into the Ming Dynasty from the world reached 900 million taels. However, during the reign of Emperor Chongzhen, the annual tax revenue was only more than 3 million taels.

Whenever the emperor wanted to increase commercial taxes, the ministers in the court would jump out and accuse the emperor of not competing with the people for profits and instead keeping the wealth for the people.

During the reign of Emperor Chongzhen, the Jian Nu in Liaodong became more and more violent. In order to ensure the supply of food and money in Liaodong, Emperor Chongzhen repeatedly increased taxes. The taxes were collected even by the people's great-grandchildren, but he still could not collect enough money.

Emperor Chongzhen gave up his dignity and borrowed money from the civil and military officials in the court, but in the end he only borrowed 200,000 taels of silver. When Li Zicheng entered the capital, he looted more than 70 million taels of silver in the capital.

It was this group of self-righteous Donglin Party members who, when the Qing army arrived, kept saying that they were loyal to the emperor and wanted to jump into the river to die to show their loyalty. However, in the end, because the "water was too cold", they shaved their heads and worked hard for the Qing Dynasty.

Of course, there may indeed be some loyal officials among the Donglin Party, but this entire interest group has already sucked the blood of the Ming Dynasty dry...