Chapter 164 Collective Resignation
Cheng Jiming was stunned and said, "The matter of grain and grass is the responsibility of the Ministry of Revenue. How can I interfere?"

Chongzhen sneered and said, "Since you have no solution, why are you still talking so much?"

"As the saying goes, a scholar is good for nothing. It's really true! Cheng Jiming, you're old!"

Chongzhen bluntly accused Cheng Jiming of being incompetent and old, shocking the entire audience.

As the Son of Heaven, although there were many emperors with poor qualities in history, it is rare to see one insulting others as soon as he opens his mouth.

Little did they know that because of Wang An's influence and the fact that he let Chongzhen know some of the historical truth in advance, Chongzhen had almost no good feelings towards all the civil and military officials in the court.

Cheng Jiming was so angry that he was shaking all over. He immediately stiffened his neck and said, "Since Your Majesty despises my old age, I will resign!"

Unexpectedly, Chongzhen said directly: "Okay! Get out!"

After that, he looked at the officials and said, "Who else wants to resign? Let's go together!"

Chongzhen looked at these officials and suddenly said, "Taizu once said that there may be no one to cultivate the land, but there will be officials!"

"It is obvious that I am only supplying food and grass to the soldiers in the nine borders so that they can have enough food to resist the Nu chieftains. I am not opening the sea completely. Besides, Zheng Zhilong's grain transport fleet all departs from Yuegang and just needs to land at the coastal ports. You people are chattering non-stop, not caring about the rise and fall of the country at all!"

"He only knows how to show off his abilities by grabbing trivial matters. I don't want such a useless person!"

After saying this, Chongzhen stood up and walked away, swinging his sleeves.

Leaving behind a group of stunned officials.

Cheng Jiming looked even more embarrassed, not knowing where to stand and whether to leave or not.

He was scolded by the emperor so directly, and he agreed to resign without hesitation. How could he face people after this matter got out?
With Chongzhen's departure, all officials could only look at each other and leave Huangji Gate.

There were only a few Donglin Party officials left, who surrounded Cheng Jiming and spoke up for him.

"Master Cheng, you have worked so hard for the court, but His Majesty treats you like this. It is really disheartening!"

"That's right, your Majesty's actions really chill the hearts of scholars all over the world!"

"Don't worry, since His Majesty said that we don't need to advise, then we have to do our official duties. I will return home now."

"Let's go together, let's go together!"

More than a dozen officials of Donglin or close to Donglin all decided to resign from their posts in order to show their courage.

But after they submitted their resignation petitions, they were surprised and regretful to find that their resignation requests were approved almost instantly.

It is also said that Chongzhen directly instructed the cabinet that all resignation memorials in the next few days should be approved and do not need to be sent to the Wenhua Hall.

When these Donglin officials thought about how Emperor Chongzhen approved their resignation letters without even looking at them, they felt extremely regretful.

As the saying goes, learn the literary and martial arts and sell them to the emperor.

Regardless of the size of their official positions, these officials have at least completed ten years of hard study.

Unexpectedly, the emperor did not make any waves and directly approved his request to resign.

In the past, almost no emperor would approve such large-scale collective resignation.

Because the officials' collective resignation was tantamount to saying that the emperor was unjust, that caused the officials to resign collectively.

This had never happened before in the Ming Dynasty for more than 200 years. But Chongzhen seemed to be possessed by a demon and approved it without even looking at it.

However, it is too late to regret now. I can't just go to the cabinet and ask for the resignation letter back, right?
But just when these people were helpless and preparing to pack up and return home, something happened that made them even more sad, angry and regretful.

Chongzhen actually issued a direct decree, stating that since these people who resigned from their official positions were so indifferent to fame and fortune, their families should learn from them.

He ordered the Ministry of Personnel to remove those who resigned from office from their official positions and to never employ their clansmen and family members again.

This means that even if their family members have studied hard for ten years, or even passed the imperial examination, the court will no longer employ them.

Most of the Donglin Party members were from Jiangnan, where people had the most clans and were most concerned with collusion between officials and businessmen.

Those who can develop into wealthy families either have ancestors who have served as officials, or have someone directly serving as an official in the court. Only in this way can they gain a foothold in the local area.

Some large families even have to ensure that there is an official in every generation, and these cannot be small-time officials but must be officials with real power.

However, Chongzhen's imperial edict was equivalent to directly uprooting the foundation of the families behind these people.

Local officials will no longer give face to the families behind them, and other powerful people will take the opportunity to annex their industries.

Decline is only a matter of time.

With the appearance of this imperial edict, other civil and military officials immediately understood Chongzhen's determination to open the sea, and they all shut their mouths immediately. They no longer regarded advising the emperor to lift the maritime ban as an opportunity to leave their names in history or become famous in the circle, and even kept the matter secret.

The number of memorials submitted to dissuade the government from opening the port suddenly dropped like snowflakes, but the whole city fell silent. No one was talking about the incident, as if it had never happened.

After all, there were truly upright people like Hai Rui who were determined to uphold the truth and were willing to die for their advice, but there was only one such person in the 276 years of the Ming Dynasty!
As for the rest, hehehe...

They may be seeking fame or profit, or they may have other purposes that are incomprehensible to each other.

No one would really do something that would harm others and benefit themselves.

Moreover, anyone with a discerning eye could see that Chongzhen's decision to let Zheng Zhilong purchase grain from overseas was a truly good thing, beneficial to the country and the people!

Those who truly care about the country and society will not easily stand up to dissuade others.

Just as the issue of Chongzhen opening the sea was gradually calming down, the new Datong general Man Gui had already arrived near Guihua City with his personal guards and servants, riding two horses.

From afar, you can see a huge camp connected by yurts on the Gobi Desert.

At this time, a pair of men and horses were riding out of the camp and heading straight for Mangui.

The two teams came towards each other and soon met together.

Among the people on the opposite side, a man in his thirties looked up and down at Man Gui, who was wearing the armor of a general, and said after a long while: "This must be General Man, my father Khan invites you to join the tent for a feast, come with me!"

The person who spoke was Ezhe, the son of Ligdan Khan, whom Fang Zikun had met that time.

However, after Ezhe had ridden his horse for dozens of steps, he suddenly felt something was wrong. Turning around, he saw Man Gui and his servants turning their horses around and heading back to Datong.

Ezhe was startled and quickly turned his horse around to chase after Mangui.

While chasing, he shouted: "General Man passed by without entering, what's the meaning of this? Are you playing a trick on me, Khan?"

(End of this chapter)