Zhu Cihong stood outside the Kunning Palace and asked Wu Zhong to go and spread the word, there are many rules in the palace, and his soul pierces the newborn prince, and he can be regarded as a native of the Ming Dynasty, and he already knows these rules well.

Kunning Palace, as the middle palace, is very large and magnificent, several times larger than Zhongcui Palace.

As the crown prince, Zhu Cihong should live in Ciqing Palace, which is not a small area, because Empress Zhang Yan of the Emperor of the Apocalypse had helped Chongzhen ascend to the throne, so Emperor Chongzhen arranged the Ciqing Palace, which was originally for the crown prince to live, to his sister-in-law Empress Zhang, to show respect.

In this regard, Zhu Cihong naturally didn't say anything, this Queen Zhang is dignified and beautiful, she is very good, and she also takes good care of Zhu Cihong on weekdays, and Zhu Cihong also respects her very much.

Not long after, the eunuch's shout came from the Kunning Palace: "The queen mother has passed on His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to meet you!" ”

Zhu Cihong sorted out the vermilion clothes and walked towards the main hall of Kunning Palace.

Empress Zhou is a beautiful and dignified woman, with skin as white as jade, and she is only twenty-five years old this year. (Because it is now stipulated that the part below the neck cannot be described, the women in the back are all described as beautiful and dignified....... ）

According to the ancestral system of the Ming Dynasty, the royal concubines are all selected from small families and must go through eight rounds of national auditions.

Eight rounds of auditions are more difficult than the drafts of later generations, and it is conceivable that the posture of the concubines of the Ming Emperor is not comparable to those big donkey faces in the Manchu Dynasty.

"The prince is here." Queen Zhou greeted her, and the rules of the Heavenly Family made their mother and son rarely see each other in the past two years.

"The eldest son, Cihong, asked Her Royal Highness Kun'an, the Queen Mother." Zhu Cihong made a serious long salute.

"It's hard to come here, don't be so serious, just call the queen mother." Empress Zhou smiled, bent down slightly and raised her hand, supporting him.

Zhu Cihong also smiled, and found that his sister and younger brother, who had not seen each other for a long time, were also in Kunning Palace, and they were still young and could stay in Kunning Palace often.

The younger sister, Kunxing Princess Zhu 媺 (měi) 娖 (chuò), is one year younger than Zhu Cihong (lǎng), that is, the princess of Changping in the braided drama of later generations, the master of the Nine Difficulties, and the one-armed god and nun.

The third brother Zhu Cijiong is four years old this year, the prototype of the third prince Zhu in the Kangxi Dynasty in the later generations, Zhu Yujiao and Zhu Cijiong are both compatriots with Zhu Cihong's mother.

After Zhu Cihong sat down, the two also stepped forward to salute him, and Zhu Cihong bowed back one by one.

Zhu Yujiao and Zhu Cijiong played on the side after the ceremony, while Zhu Cihong and Queen Zhou sat down and chatted about some things that have happened in the past few days, most of which are about studies and life, and the atmosphere is harmonious for a while.

In the end, Zhu Cihong found an opportunity, and finally said to Queen Zhou: "Queen Mother, the child wants to take some money from you, can't the Queen Mother have it at hand?" ”

After hearing this, Queen Zhou was afraid that her son's living expenses would be large, so she wronged herself, so she went to the brocade box and took out some gold and silver without saying a word.

Zhu Cihong is still wondering, why doesn't this beautiful queen ask herself for what she wants money for, and there is no ready rhetoric, which is too generous.

When Zhu Cihong took the gold and silver handed over by Queen Zhou and looked at it, it was estimated that it was a few hundred taels of silver, and he was suddenly a little dumbfounded, what is this enough for, it is not even enough to plug the teeth, it is enough to give people a small fee, and he can't do any serious things.

Zhu Cihong blinked and said, "The queen mother is usually a very cool person, why is she so stingy when it comes to money." ”

When Queen Zhou heard this, she rolled her beautiful eyes and said, "As a prince, you can't spend money lavishly, just say how much you want." "Queen Zhou was very generous this time.

After Zhu Cihong heard this, he whispered: "Queen Mother, why don't you get four or five thousand taels." ”

When Queen Zhou heard this, she was anxious: "You stinky boy, what do you want so much silver for?" ”

Zhu Cihong glanced at Queen Zhou, and then said: "The emperor has now taken over the Yongwei Battalion, and the Yongwei Battalion, as the pro-army of the Son of Heaven, is supported by His Majesty's father's internal funds, and now his father's internal funds have no money, so the emperor can only borrow from his mother." ”

Zhu Cihong naturally didn't dare to say that I took the money to enable the Jinyi Wei Development Intelligence Supervision Minister, if this is said, it reaches the ears of Emperor Lao Tzu, it is estimated that Emperor Chongzhen will definitely jump up and scold: Lao Tzu doesn't dare to supervise the minister, you kid is amazing, do you want to turn the sky upside down?

After hearing this, Empress Zhou did not speak, she knew her husband's difficulties better than anyone else, since last year, the court had no money, and even the money in the treasury was basically emptied.

Queen Zhou didn't say anything, just turned around, took out all her private money and gold and silver bracelets, put them in front of Zhu Cihong, and said: "All the belongings of the queen mother are here, you can take them all, the queen mother knows that you have been smart and sensible since you were a child, and you will be a person who will do great things in the future." The queen mother only said one sentence, be careful in everything, do everything that can be done, retreat if you can't do it, and don't force it. ”

After listening to Empress Zhou's words, Zhu Cihong was a little moved, only to hear that the history books recorded that Empress Zhou was virtuous, but he didn't expect to be so righteous and donated all his finances.

Zhu Cihong was not pretentious, let Wu Zhong take these belongings, and said seriously: "Don't worry, the queen mother, it won't take a few months, and the emperor must return these items to you one by one." ”

Empress Zhou looked at him with a serious look and said with a smile: "The emperor is out, no wonder your father His Majesty said that you have grown up." ”

Zhu Cihong saw that she didn't believe it and didn't explain, so she had to laugh.

Zhu Cihong chatted with Queen Zhou for a while before getting up and leaving.

The smile on Queen Zhou's face quickly froze, and she said with some regret: "The queen mother originally wanted to keep you for dinner." ”

Zhu Cihong saw that the queen mother's color was not good, and hurriedly said: "The queen mother is relieved, the emperor will come to see her another day." ”

After leaving Kunning Palace, Zhu Cihong was still relatively happy, now that he had money in his hands, the gold and silver given by Queen Zhou were worth at least five thousand taels of silver.

Zhu Cihong asked Xu Sheng to bring three thousand taels of silver, and sent a message to Li Tingbiao, asking him to give priority to investigating Zhu Chunchen, the Duke of Chengguo, and the military department to give the matter to Guang Shiheng.

These two dogs are embarrassed and stumbling on themselves, it's time to make a wave of them.

In just two days, Zhu Cihong received news from Li Tingbiao again, saying that Zhu Chunchen, the Duke of Chengguo, had discovered a lot of fierce information after their secret investigation.

For example, Chengguo Gong forcibly accepted concubines, robbed people from Zhuangtian, and accepted bribes from officers in Beijing.

Among them, the most fierce was Zhu Chunchen's empty salary, making false accounts, and secretly colluding with several big eunuchs in the War Bureau, cutting corners, and embezzling funds for the manufacture of firearms.

What made Zhu Cihong even more surprised was that Li Tingbiao actually got all the account books.

"This old brocade guard is really terrible." Zhu Cihong was shocked in his heart, and he remembered the description of Jinyiwei in later generations.

It is rumored that during the Hongwu period, Jin Yiwei was the Minister of Special Supervision, and Zhu Yuanzhang knew all the trivial matters such as the list of dishes for the banquet guests at home by the scholar Song Lian, the angry appearance of the Guozi Priest Wine at home, and even the loss of 20,000 yuan for some ministers playing mahjong with their wives and concubines at home.

"I like it, though!"

As a person in power, Zhu Cihong naturally hopes that with such a trump card in his hand, he can see the cards in his opponent's hand.

There is evidence of the crime of Chengguo Gong Zhu Chunchen in his hand, how to deal with it? Zhu Cihong's head spun rapidly, thinking about the consequences.

Give it to Emperor Chongzhen to kill Zhu Chunchen? Zhu Cihong shook his head and vetoed, if he did this, he would indeed relieve his hatred, but what about the future? Can Jingying let him take over smoothly? I'm afraid that there are still people in the DPRK and China who will stop it.

Also, what about Zhu Chunchen's family property? If Emperor Laozi's house is raided, he won't be able to get a son, and Zhu Cihong is very short of money now.

Zhu Cihong rubbed his chin with his right hand, and suddenly his eyes lit up.

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Note: Some people say that Zhu Yujiao's biological mother is Concubine Wang Shun, which is actually an apocryphal plot in the book "Tianwen: Spring and Autumn in the Late Ming Dynasty" written by Taiwanese writer Lin Peifen in 1996, but it has been quoted many times later.

At the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, Wang Ji, a reviewer of the Hanlin Academy who compiled the history of the Ming Dynasty, wrote in the "Chongzhen Long Edition": "In the third year of Chongzhen (1630), Gengwu was the first girl of the emperor, and she came out of the middle palace. ”