Chapter 147: Continuous Imperial Orders
When Chongzhen returned to the Forbidden City, it was already past the beginning of the hour of Hai.

However, Chongzhen had no intention of resting at all. He went straight back to Wenhua Hall, picked up the imperial pen and issued several imperial edicts.

The first one was sent to Sun Chuanting, who was still enjoying the romantic life in his hometown of Daizhou at that time, ordering him to come to Beijing immediately to meet the emperor;

The second one was sent to Xiong Wencan, who had just been promoted to the title of Right Censor-in-Chief and served as the Governor of Fujian, ordering him to grant the great pirate Zheng Zhilong the title of General of the Five Tiger Guerrillas, ordering him to serve the court, and asking Xiong Wencan to try to persuade Zheng Zhilong to come to Beijing for an audience;

The third one was sent directly to the Cabinet, ordering it to discuss the abolition of the Liao salary.

The fourth was to send Yuan Chonghuan and order him to negotiate an alliance with Ligdan Khan to fight against the Jin together.

Chongzhen issued four imperial edicts in succession, and Wang Chengen, who was grinding ink, dropped the ink in his hand to the ground.

The first imperial edict was not so difficult to deal with, as it merely summoned unemployed officials to the capital to pay homage to the emperor.

Since Chongzhen ascended the throne, many officials who were suppressed and dismissed by Wei Zhongxian in the previous dynasty were received and reused by Chongzhen.

Before resigning from his official position, Sun Chuanting was at least a Langzhong of the Ministry of Personnel's Inspection Office, a fifth-rank position. Although the rank was not high, it was a real and powerful position. It is not surprising that Chongzhen wanted to reinstate him.

The fourth one is not surprising. On the surface, the Ming Dynasty was in an alliance with Ligdan Khan, but because Ligdan Khan was afraid of the Jiannu, he moved westward, making the military alliance between the Ming Dynasty and Ligdan Khan meaningless.

However, ever since Chongzhen ordered Zu Dashou to rescue the Dorlot tribe, Lindan Khan owed a favor to the Ming Dynasty. During this period, he never invaded the Nine Borders and even sent a "letter of credence" to Chongzhen to show his friendship.

However, the main force of Ligdan Khan was still moving westward, with no intention of returning to his homeland in Chahar.

What Chongzhen wanted Yuan Chonghuan to do was to try to get the main force or part of the main force of Ligdan Khan to return to support the Dorlot tribe and prove his sincerity in forming an alliance with the Ming Dynasty with practical actions.

Although at least the Dorote tribe is now completely loyal to the Ming Dynasty, relying solely on the 5,000 troops of the Dorote tribe is still too weak to control the important roads between Liao and Mongolia.

However, starting from the second and third imperial edicts, things began to become horrifying.

The second one was to send a direct letter to Xiong Wencan, asking him to bring his official title and go to persuade the pirate Zheng Zhilong to pacify him.

Although there were countless examples of the imperial court appeasing bandits and rebels during the Ming Dynasty, even in the late Chongzhen period when the bandits were powerful, similar cases of appeasement were endless.

However, this was usually proposed by local officials in charge of specific affairs, or the bandits themselves submitted a petition to surrender. There had never been a case where the emperor took the initiative to issue an order to recruit bandits and pirates to surrender.

After all, as the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, he still has to maintain his dignity.

Once Chongzhen's edict was announced, it is conceivable that there would be incredible shocks throughout the world.

It would be a serious blow to Chongzhen's and even the imperial court's dignity, but the benefits were also obvious.

The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty personally issued an edict to recruit bandits and pirates to surrender, which showed that the emperor, as the head of the Ming Dynasty, did not hold a stubborn attitude of eradicating all the evils towards bandits and pirates, but was open to negotiation.

On the surface, once this imperial decree is issued, the bandits all over the world will think that the Ming Emperor is afraid of them, and may even encourage potential "bandits" to rise up in rebellion.

But while encouraging the bandits, it will also give those bandits who are not intent on rebelling a way out and will not go too far.

For example, when Li Zicheng killed Prince of Fu Zhu Changxun, he completely lost the possibility of surrendering to the court.

Of course, the above is just an example.

Li Zicheng was so bold that he killed Prince Fu and naturally would not think of leaving a way out for himself. However, most of the bandits in the world were small groups of bandits who gathered in one place. After all, people like Li Zicheng were a minority. Most of them did not think that they could really overthrow the Ming Dynasty, but just wanted to survive.

This imperial edict could be seen as a sign of weakness by Chongzhen, or as a sign of goodwill. With the previous example of Zheng Zhilong, most of the bandits would not go too far and cause chaos that was out of control.

For example, in the past, all officers and soldiers were killed wherever they passed. But now, as long as they are not determined to fight to the death with the court, at least a few officials can be killed.

However, what shocked Wang Chengen the most was that Chongzhen actually believed Wang An's words and made up his mind to abolish the Liao salary.

You should know that since the 46th year of Wanli, the Ming Dynasty's Liaodong military expenditure was almost entirely supplied by Liaozhang.

It takes great courage to just refuse the Liao tribute of several million taels of silver every year!

If Wang Chengen had not known that Chongzhen was now rich, even he himself would have jumped out to oppose Chongzhen's decision.

Not to mention how the civil and military officials in the court would react when they learned the news.

When he thought of this, Wang Chengen couldn't help but worry about Chongzhen.

However, this is just an imperial decree. Whether it can be implemented depends on the opinion of the cabinet.

Wang Chengen was thinking this when he suddenly heard Chongzhen say, "Summon the cabinet chief Shi Fenglai immediately!"

Wang Chengen was stunned, and then he realized that Cong was really determined to abolish the Liao salary, and planned to inform Shi Fenglai in advance in order to gain Shi Fenglai's support.

In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, it was not as if the emperor had the final say as people in later generations imagined. In fact, he was completely subject to checks and balances.

The emperor's decree cannot be implemented if it does not receive the approval of the cabinet.

Moreover, even if they obtained the approval of the cabinet, if they were opposed by the six ministries, these seventh-rank officials would even have the right to reject the emperor's edict.

Of course, under normal circumstances, things wouldn't really get that ugly.

However, the proposal to abolish the Liao salary is a matter of great importance. If some foolish person uses the right to reject, it is possible that the emperor's edict will be rejected.

About half an hour later, Shi Fenglai hurried to Wenhua Palace. The eunuch who brought him here refused to reveal the emperor's intention of summoning him late at night, no matter how he asked.

This made Shi Fenglai very nervous when he met Chongzhen.

According to the original historical trajectory, Shi Fenglai had been impeached and dismissed at this time, and returned home to write music scores.

Shi Fenglai stole a glance at Chongzhen's face, but this look really made him feel doubtful. Unlike what he imagined, Chongzhen actually smiled slightly at this moment. In his horrified eyes, he raised his hand and ordered Wang Chengen on the side, "Big Companion, give Shi Yuanfu a seat."

Until a stool was placed under Shi Fenglai's butt, Shi Fenglai still didn't understand why Chongzhen gave him a seat.

Ever since Huang Liji stepped down and Shanyin student Hu Huanyou impeached him for "holding the prime minister's seat without any leadership", Shi Fenglai has not had a single day of peace.

He always woke up in the middle of the night, dreaming that the Jinyiwei broke into his house, holding a list of eunuchs' party members, and took him to prison.

(End of this chapter)