After the news that the crown prince had killed Zhu Chunchen without permission and led the army out of the city without permission was known by the cabinet, Wen Tiren was overjoyed and hurriedly asked Feng Yingshang, the secretary of the Criminal Department, to impeach the crown prince, and threatened to give Feng Ying a chance.

Feng Ying, the secretary of the Criminal Department, rejected this old man on the spot, saying that the crown prince is a minister to His Majesty, but to us is a king, and it is disloyal to discuss the king with a minister. And warned Wen Tiren, don't do things too much, I have endured you for a long time.

Feng Ying's refusal to give face made Wen Tiren furious, and he decided to use Zheng Zheng's affairs to get rid of him.

Zheng Zheng's incident occurred last year, when a Donglin Party official named Zheng Zheng criticized Wen Tiren, the head of the cabinet, in Beijing, and was instructed by Wen Tiren to impeach Xu Xi, a member of the Zhongshu House in Wujin County, Changzhou Prefecture, in the name of "unfilial piety" and "adultery".

Zheng Zheng shouted on the spot, saying that his stepmother tortured and killed several maids in the house before he "cane mother" to punish him, as for "rape mèi" is pure nonsense!

After the trial, Feng Ying, the secretary of the Criminal Department, knew that Zheng Zheng was framed by Wen Tiren. Wen Tiren's younger brothers persuaded Feng Ying to think about it before deciding the case, Feng Ying said: I can't kill people for no reason because I want to please Shoufu.

In order to maintain justice in the world and the dignity of the law, Feng Ying still publicly defended Zheng Zheng, so he had a standoff with Wen Tiren, which is why Wen Tiren threatened to give him a chance.

As the head of the cabinet, Wen Tiren is powerful and powerful, and he is regarded as a master in the court, and whoever does not give him face or spray him a few words will often be in danger of his life.

Zheng Zheng in history was executed by Ling Chi because he offended him, and he was cut by a thousand knives, and it is said that he was cut with more than 3,600 knives, and Feng Ying, the secretary of the Criminal Department, was also framed by him, and was impeached by him and sent to the frontier.

Wen Tiren's targeting of Zhu Cihong is not only a matter of the War Bureau and Guang Shiheng's matter, the main thing is that the crown prince's listening to the government has threatened his position, especially the several policies proposed by the imperial gate when he listened to the government, which involved the interests of him and his subordinates.

As a political master, Wen Tiren has been the head of the cabinet for several years, and he has already established in his heart that except for the two voices of the emperor and himself, no superfluous voice can exist in the court, even the crown prince.

Since ancient times, Chinese history has been a game between imperial power and relative power, and this East Palace has not yet become an emperor, so it is so lenient, and it will be in the future? Another Jiajing Emperor? Wen Tiren is very unhappy!

Wen Tiren is particularly good at figuring out the holy will, and he knows more about Emperor Chongzhen than he knows himself, and Emperor Chongzhen is often confused by him.

Wen Tiren pondered for a long time, and finally decided to make a move against the crown prince. He remembered the matter of the prince of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, so he sent someone to carry the official document of the imperial court in the name of the imperial court to ask Zhu Cihong why he killed the nobles without permission and transferred troops privately.

In the area of Shijingshan, the battle has been over for an hour, and the Yongwei battalion is camping and repairing.

It took a long time for the officials sent by the cabinet to find the crown prince, and they read a lot of them in the thunderbolt bar with the official letter of Zhang Xin, the right attendant of the criminal department.

Zhu Cihong frowned and listened halfway before he understood whether this was a question to him or a poke from the cabinet.

Zhu Cihong interrupted the words of this six-rank petty official and said, "Have you gone out to see the imperial calendar today?" ”

The official was puzzled and frowned, "What does Your Highness mean by this?" ”

Zhu Cihong sneered: "I mean, you didn't look at the imperial calendar when you went out today, did you go in the wrong direction, and even the palace dared to ask for the crime?" It's really a thing that doesn't know whether it's alive or dead, come on, drag it down and cut it down! ”

Zhu Cihong waved his hand, and the official was dragged down by two Donggong guards and directly cut off his head in a burst of shouting.

After dealing with this questioning official, Zhu Cihong said coldly: "The cabinet dares to ask the crown prince? What is he Wen Tiren? Brain twitch! ”

The soldiers of the Yongwei Battalion were quite shocked, and they killed the officials if they disagreed, first Cheng Guogong, and this time they were sent by the cabinet, how could this crown prince be more unscrupulous than Liukou.

The generals were all impressed by the crown prince's methods, and all of them were obedient.

Before the body of the messenger could be disposed of, another rider came in the distance. The man was in his forties, with a mustache, five officials, and a hurry.

After seeing Zhu Cihong, the visitor first dismounted and saluted Zhu Cihong respectfully, and then said: "Your Highness, the cabinet wants to ask Your Highness for the blame, and please don't be impulsive." ”

The person who came was Yang Tinglin, the editor of Hanlin, who lectured at the banquet for Emperor Chongzhen and Zhu Cihong on weekdays, and was half of Zhu Cihong's teacher. After Yang Tinglin learned about the crown prince from Feng Yingna, he hurriedly went out of the city to inform him.

Zhu Cihong smiled and said: "Yang Bianxiu, you are late, you have already been ambushed for committing a traitor, please look!" ”

Yang Tinglin followed Zhu Cihong's gesture and found the messenger lying on the ground, as well as the official documents of the imperial court scattered on the ground.

He was stunned and speechless, is this still his well-behaved student on weekdays, so neat?

He was also worried that the crown prince would follow the old path of the crown prince Liu Ju, and make some unwise moves under impulse, it seems that he was worrying in vain.

Zhu Cihong seemed to see through his thoughts, and said with a smile: "Don't worry about Yang Bianxiu, this palace is not Fusu, and will not let Xiaoxiao succeed, this time the palace went out of the city to meet the enemy, lived up to the emperor's Ming, and won the first battle, killing a total of 3,000 slaves and thieves, and asked Yang Bianxiu to submit the battle report to the front of the palace." ”

Zhu Cihong handed the written battle report to Yang Tinglin, he was worried that the war report would be suppressed by Wen Tiren's old thing when it was sent to the cabinet first.

Yang Tinglin read the battle report, his eyes widened, and he couldn't believe it. Zhu Cihong had no choice but to ask him to take him to the camp tent where the head of the Qing army was placed for inspection.

Looking at the piles of Jiannu heads, Yang Tinglin stared blankly for a minute, and then turned around and left the camp without saying a word, turned over and rode towards the capital.

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In the Qianqing Palace, Emperor Chongzhen finally woke up after two days in a coma, and was half-lying on the bed at this time, accompanied by Empress Zhou.

Emperor Chongzhen opened his mouth and asked, "Empress, why didn't you see the prince coming?" Are you still angry? ”

Empress Zhou thought for a while and said, "The concubine is finished, Your Majesty should not be angry!" ”

Emperor Chongzhen was stunned when he heard this, and said: "The queen said, I know that the prince is measured in doing things, so I don't get angry." ”

The queen sighed and said: "Your Majesty, after His Royal Highness the Crown Prince learned that the Deling Tomb was destroyed, he went to inspect the city defense of the Beijing Division, and killed three hundred elite Qing soldiers in front of the Xizhi Gate, and then the prince saw that the Duke of Chengguo retreated and fled back to the capital in fear of the enemy, so he killed the Duke of Chengguo with his own hands........."

When Emperor Chongzhen heard this, he immediately said angrily: "The prince is really messing around, he actually dares to kill Xungui!" ”

Empress Zhou saw that Emperor Chongzhen was emotional, and hurriedly explained: "Your Majesty, please calm your anger, the prince has raided the Chengguo Mansion and found out Zhu Chunchen's embezzled account books and 500,000 taels of silver. ”

"Your Majesty, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has sent Jinyi Wei to transport the 500,000 taels of silver and account books confiscated from the Chengguo Mansion to the palace."

Wang Chengen also said beside him, and accentuated his voice on the words 500,000 taels of silver.

Chongzhen's mood improved significantly after hearing the silver, and then he was a little stunned, and said, "Zhu Chunchen actually has 500,000 taels of silver in his house?" I remember the last time the prince raised donations, he only donated fifty taels, right? ”

Wang Chengen nodded and said, "Yes, Your Majesty, it's exactly fifty taels." ”

Emperor Chongzhen stood up suddenly, his face was gloomy, and he said angrily: "Traitor! I have really been blind and trusted him for so many years, and now the court is in difficulty, he Zhu Chunchen's family actually has 500,000 taels of silver, and he is still crying poor in front of me on weekdays, what a traitor! The prince killed well! ”

Seeing Emperor Chongzhen's attitude, Wang Chengen and Empress Zhou both sighed lightly, and the hurdle of Chengguo Gong was over.

Emperor Chongzhen scolded for a long time, and suddenly asked, "What about the crown prince?" Call him to me! ”

Empress Zhou said worriedly: "The prince has led the army out of the city since he beheaded Zhu Chunchen, saying that he would kill all the slaves and thieves for His Majesty. ”

Emperor Chongzhen was furious: "Why didn't anyone stop him? There are many slaves and thieves outside, and there are only a few of them. ”

Empress Zhou didn't know what to say, but at this time, the eunuch on duty came in to report that Wen Tiren, the first assistant of the cabinet, had asked for a meeting with several adults.