Concubine Liu of Cining Palace is the last widow of Emperor Wanli of Shenzong, two generations older than Chongzhen, this Concubine Liu is five years older than Emperor Wanli, and she is already eighty years old this year.

Concubine Liu is very good to all the princes, and there is no queen mother and queen mother in the palace, so the Emperor of the Apocalypse and Chongzhen regard her as a grandmother, and Concubine Liu has been in charge of the seal of the Queen Mother since the first year of the Apocalypse, and has always been the head of the harem of the Forbidden City.

When Emperor Tianqi elected the queen, she presided over Empress Zhang, and Empress Zhou of Emperor Chongzhen was also chosen by the old concubine that year.

However, the old concubine is low-key, never fights for power, and thinks about the queen everywhere in the harem, so that everyone in the palace admires her very much.

At this time, in the Cining Palace, the four highest-ranking people in the Forbidden City gathered here, Concubine Liu, Emperor Chongzhen, Empress Zhou, and Empress Zhang, the imperial sister-in-law.

The three people and six pairs of eyes stared at Chongzhen tightly, and Chongzhen suddenly found himself the focus of the struggle, so he had to keep silent for a while.

Empress Zhang was the first to speak: "The prince was sent out by you to fight Jiannu at a young age, and we didn't agree, but Your Majesty's holy decree has been issued, and now the prince has just made some achievements, so you treat the prince like this?" ”

Chongzhen just wanted to speak, but he heard Concubine Liu also say: "Emperor, the mourning family doesn't want to ask about the government, let's talk about family affairs, the prince has made great contributions, you don't reward and punish, this is a little unreasonable." ”

Chongzhen said respectfully: "Please calm the anger of the concubine, the prince raised a knife in the court hall in public to chase and cut the imperial history, such a serious misdemeanor, I ........ I will not punish him, and the courtiers will not give up. ”

Zhang Yan said angrily: "Those foreign ministers, not only incompetent, but also jealous of the virtuous, if they have the ability, how can they let Jiannu fight under the city of Beijing?" How could there be so many homeless people near Jingshi, is this their ability to assist the king? ”

She hated the eunuch party to the core, her pregnancy was made bad by Wei Zhongxian, and now the first assistant of the cabinet, Wen Tiren, has long been labeled as a eunuch by her, and this time against the prince, she hated it from beginning to end.

Chongzhen wanted to refute a few words, but he knew each other very well and knew that it was a little unrealistic to reason in front of several respected women, so he had to keep silent.

Queen Zhou didn't speak, she couldn't accuse her husband in person, but anyone could see the unhappiness in Queen Zhou's eyes.

Concubine Liu is not as excited as Empress Zhang, an old lady in her eighties, if she is excited, she can't stand it, she said unhurriedly: "Emperor, although you have the ambition of Emperor Taizu, but you don't have the mind of Emperor Taizu, Emperor Taizu can trust Prince Yiwen unconditionally, but you can't." ”

Speaking of Prince Yiwen, Chongzhen suddenly realized in his heart that he was the first prince of the Ming Dynasty, the eldest son of Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang of Hongwu, named Zhu Biao, and Zhu Yuanzhang made him the crown prince as soon as he became the emperor.

After Zhu Biao became an adult, every time Zhu Yuanzhang went to the front line or had nothing to do, he handed over all the affairs of the state to the prince, handed over all the power to him, and allowed him to exercise any power of the emperor.

In all dynasties, this situation is basically impossible, although the emperor will let the prince supervise the country when he goes on patrol or in person, but he often leaves a back hand, such as leaving some ministers or setting up many rules to limit the power of the prince, to put it bluntly, it is distrust.

Zhu Yuanzhang was not like this, he was at ease with the crown prince Zhu Biao, and every time he went out, he not only let Zhu Biao supervise the country, but also said to him cordially, although he used the emperor's power, the ministers and important ministers in the court were appointed at will.

This kind of thing happened in this dynasty, and it touched Chongzhen, who wanted to be a Ming monarch and a holy monarch, very much.

Concubine Liu continued: "Sooner or later, the world will belong to the prince, and the prince is still young, how can he be as the foreign minister said, there is a heart of rebellion, the emperor has not had a prince rebel for more than 200 years, emperor, when you are seven years old, do you want to seek the emperor of Shenzong?" ”

As soon as these words came out, Emperor Chongzhen was shocked, only Concubine Liu dared to say this kind of thing, if others dared to say it, it would be a big rebellion.

Chongzhen did not get angry, but instead evoked a tragic and sad past, his biological mother was just a concubine of his dead ghost father, and when he was five years old, his biological mother Liu was killed by the dead ghost father in a madness.

Zhu Youzhen, who was only five years old, had to be raised by his mother-in-law Concubine Li (known as Xi Li), and a few years later, Xi Li gave birth to a daughter, but he couldn't take care of it, so Zhu Youzhen was transferred to another mother-in-law, Concubine Li Zhuang (Dong Li) to raise.

However, within a few years, Concubine Li Zhuang was mistreated by the nurse of the Emperor of the Apocalypse, and finally died of depression at the age of thirty-seven, and Chongzhen became a motherless child again.

Emperor Chongzhen's growth path can be described as extremely hard, and it is no wonder that after he became the emperor, he immediately ordered Ling Chi to execute the Hakka family.

Thinking of his cold-blooded dead ghost father, and thinking of his biological mother buried in the depths of his mind, Chongzhen's nose suddenly became sore, he turned around and took a breath, and said: "It's not right, I shouldn't trust the minister, doubt my own flesh and blood......."

Seeing that Emperor Chongzhen, who had never admitted his mistakes, actually opened his mouth to admit his mistakes for the first time, several women and Taoists were stunned for a moment.

Empress Yi'an Zhang Yan was just about to open her mouth and say again, Chongzhen had already gotten up and walked to the door, and said: "I will not abolish the prince, and I hope that the concubine and the imperial sister-in-law will be relieved." ”

Leaving Cining Palace, Chongzhen did not go to Wenhua Hall again, but returned to Qianqing Palace, he locked himself in the inner room, looking at the portrait of his biological mother Empress Dowager Xiaochun, his heart was very sad.

Zhu Youzhen is just a young man in his twenties, although he became the emperor, he still cares very much about family affection.

When he was named King Xin, because his biological mother Liu died unclearly, he did not dare to publicly sacrifice his mother, so he could only quietly ask the eunuch about the location of his mother's burial, and secretly took some money for the attendants to sacrifice for his mother.

At the age of seventeen, his elder brother Xizong Tianqi Emperor Zhu Youxiao died childlessly and passed the throne to him, until this time, Zhu Youzhen was really able to mourn his mother openly, he posthumously called his biological mother Liu as the "Empress Dowager of Filial Piety", moved her out of the humble grave, and buried her with his father Guangzong Qingling.

There was no portrait of the Empress Dowager Xiaochun left, so Chongzhen tried to find someone to draw it, and he found Concubine Fu Yi, who was also a concubine of Guangzong and had a very good relationship with the Empress Dowager Xiaochun, and asked him to find the late Empress Dowager Xiaochun from the palace who looked similar, and asked the Empress Dowager's mother, Mrs. Yingguo, to instruct the painter to make corrections, so that the portrait of the Empress Dowager Xiaochun was obtained.

After the portrait is completed, Chongzhen welcomes the palace from the Zhengyang Gate with solemn pomp, Chongzhen kneels at the noon gate, and hangs the portrait in the palace, and invites the old palace maid to watch.

Some people say that it is very similar to the Empress Dowager Xiaochun back then, and some people say that it is not, Chongzhen burst into tears after hearing it, and everyone in the harem was moved to tears.

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Although the royal family has no family affection, according to my understanding of Chongzhen, I found that he still values family affection relatively seriously, and since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, there has not been a matter of abolishing the prince (abolishing his own son, Emperor Jingtai is the son of the abolished brother, and he set up his son as the prince), Chongzhen is just borrowing the slope to get off the donkey.