At the beginning of September of the sixteenth year of Chongzhen, the Forbidden City of Nanjing.

In the Kunning Palace, Zhu Cihong saluted Queen Zhou and other concubines in turn.

After Empress Zhou and her entourage were escorted to Tianjin by the Shenshu Battalion, they were taken over by people sent by Zhu Cihong, and they took a boat directly from Tianjin to Nanjing by sea.

The land route from Tianjin to Nanjing must pass through Shandong, and most of Shandong at this time was controlled by Gu Kecheng, the general of the former battalion of the breaking army, and the five hundred cavalry of the Shenshu battalion passed by with great fanfare.

Zhu Cihong was very concerned about the safety of Empress Zhou, and in order to prevent accidents, he not only sent a thousand elites, but also sent three warships to escort all the way south.

Queen Zhou stepped forward to help Zhu Cihong up, looked at him kindly for a while, and then said lovingly: "I haven't seen you for a few years, and the emperor has grown taller again." ”

Since Zhu Cihong went south for the first time in Chongzhen's tenth year, in the past six years, Empress Zhou has only seen him a few times in Chongzhen's twelfth year, and every time they meet, the prince has changed greatly and become more and more mature.

After this great change, the situation of Jingshi is unknown, in this big world, the only person that Empress Zhou can rely on at this time is Zhu Cihong.

Empress Zhang and Concubine Yuan also laughed on the side: "The prince is getting more and more magnificent. ”

Princess Kunxing, who was dressed in a light green dress, also came over, her eyes turned wisely, with a little naughty and a little naughty, and said: "Brother Huang, you are so tall!" ”

Zhu Cihong is sixteen years old this year, and he is already more than 1.7 meters old, which is the tallest among Princess Kunxing and others.

Princess Zhu Yujiao of Kunxing is fifteen years old this year, she looks slim, her skin is as delicate as warm jade, her soft light is greasy, her cherry mouth is red without dotting, and her body shape is beginning to take shape.

Behind her, stood the third prince Zhu Cijiong and Zhaoren princess Zhu Yujiong, the third prince Zhu Cijiong is thirteen years old this year and was crowned king at the beginning of the year.

Princess Zhaoren is only five years old this year, with a big shaved head, only the upper part of the ears has small pigtails, and children in the Ming Dynasty like to shave their heads, including girls, in all kinds of styles, some are made into the Mediterranean, and some are made into the kind of style when wearing headphones in Internet cafes......

However, each person's aesthetics are different, and the family's wealth also determines the age at which the child grows hair, like a poorer family, who is still barehead at the age of fourteen or fifteen, leaving only two or three small braids.

Some people start to grow hairpins when they reach the age of 12 years old, and some large families basically start to grow hair after they are six or seven years old and a little sensible, and girls begin to have various girlish hairstyles when they are over ten years old.

Zhu Cihong said to Queen Zhou: "The queen mother has been tired all the way. ”

After hearing this, Empress Zhou's eyes turned slightly red, and she said, "I heard that the traitors have begun to attack Jingshi, and I don't know what the situation of your father is." ”

Yuan Guifei and others on the side hid their faces and wept, for fear that something would happen to Chongzhen.

Although Zhu Cihong had already received information and knew that the Jingshi had fallen, he did not say it, but comforted: "Don't worry about the queen mother, the emperor has already made arrangements, if the Jingshi can't hold it, someone will escort the father to the south." ”

Empress Zhou listened to Zhu Cihong's words, was slightly relieved, her complexion improved again, and asked, "Emperor, do you have a favorite girl in Jiangnan?" ”

Hearing this, Zhu Cihong was stunned and said ambiguously: "There are a few confidants. ”

Wu Zhong, who was standing behind him, raised his eyelids and muttered in his heart: "It's all on the bed, and you're still a confidant?" ”

"How many?" Empress Zhou and the others were stunned for a moment, and they all spoke in unison.

Zhu Cihong didn't want to dwell on this matter, so he changed the topic seriously: "Queen Mother, Imperial Aunt, if you feel bored in the palace, you can take a walk in Nanjing City and relax." ”

Speaking of Nanjing City, several people suddenly became interested, they went to Tianjin, along the way there were groups of refugees, depression everywhere, where is Nanjing City so prosperous.

On that day, seeing that the people along the way were miserable and the families were ruined and countless people died, Queen Zhou thought at that time, how could the people not rebel if they lived like this, the people had no way to live.

When the group first entered Nanjing City, they only felt that the originally pure world suddenly became noisy, and there was a buzzing sound in their ears, which was very lively.

Princess Kunxing immediately said excitedly: "Brother Huang, can I also go out to play?" ”

She has been in the palace for more than ten years, and she has never even been to the imperial city, where has she seen the prosperity of Jiangnan.

Zhu Cihong nodded with a smile and said, "Of course you can, you can buy whatever you like on the street, and the imperial brother will reimburse you." ”

At this time, Zhu exuded a strong local tyrant atmosphere, which was very likable.

All the buildings in the Forbidden City of Nanjing have already been repaired, and the number of people in Zhu Cihong's harem is only Dong Xiaowan and the three of them live in the Rouyi Palace, and most of the palaces in the palace are uninhabited, so Zhu Cihong let them choose freely.

Empress Zhou naturally wanted to live in Kunning Palace, Empress Zhang chose Chunhe Palace, Yuan Guifei chose Jingren Palace, where she lived in the palace with the same name, Princess Kunxing and Princess Zhaoren lived together and chose Kunyu Palace.

Zhu Cihong arranged the third brother Zhu Cijiong in the Wenhua Palace, and the Yongwang Zhu Cijiong who was on the road will also be arranged in the Wenhua Palace, the two little brothers are in their teens, and they can't continue to live in the harem, and they will have to go out in a few years.

Zhu Cihong originally lived in the Qianqing Palace, and now Chongzhen is coming to Nanjing, he is ready to move out and live in the Wuying Palace (in front of the Rouyi Palace, doing things), the face that should be given still has to be given, it depends on what the emperor Lao Tzu does next.

.......

Zhangde Mansion, Henan.

The weather in September has gradually cooled, the sun is shining with warmth, and on the potholed official road, two horse-drawn carriages are galloping, and there are several fast horses on both sides.

In a wide carriage in front, Chongzhen, who closed his eyes and recuperated, slowly opened his eyes, and he couldn't calm down at all because of the road conditions.

He frowned slightly, and complained in a deep voice: "What a broken road, almost turned the rice porridge I ate at noon......"

After running all the way, Chongzhen has always been jealous of those hidden dragon guards, and through his observation these days, he found that these guys are not people at all!

All the way south, encountered no less than ten waves of robbers and small bandits who robbed the road halfway, these hidden dragon guards were not afraid at all, and killed them all the way without saying a word.

Their way of fighting is extremely rare, they don't use knives, they don't use bows and arrows, they seem to be empty-handed, and they don't know where they came from.

With each sound of the gun, someone will fall in response, and in just a few breaths, it has been completely destroyed, and the robbers and thieves who robbed the road have fled one after another, just like encountering ghosts.

Qianlong Wei arranged Chongzhen in a carriage, and the three eunuchs Wang Chengen, Han San, and Wang Zhixin were in another carriage.

Chongzhen was frightened along the way, lest these guys who killed people without blinking an eye would kill him halfway.

He is familiar with history books and knows very well that he was born in the emperor's family, and the temptation of power can even erase family affection, Chongzhen thinks that he values feelings, but he doesn't believe that the crown prince Zhu Cihong is also a person who values feelings, not only that, but everyone in this world, he almost doesn't want to trust anymore.

Suddenly, the carriage slowly stopped, and the voice of the Qianlong Guard came from outside: "Your Majesty, please get out of the carriage." ”

Chongzhen's heart tightened, and the secret path was finally here.

I was silent for a long time and didn't speak, nor did I go out, but I heard another voice from outside the carriage: "Your Majesty, please get off the carriage." ”

What to see?

Chongzhen was silent, secretly lifted the corner of the carriage curtain, and looked out, only to see that the outside was full of hazel desolation, and the fields were desolate, and he was even more sure in his heart that the prince's people were going to kill the king in this no-man's land!

"Rebel son, after all, he still has to kill his father and usurp the throne!"

Chongzhen cursed secretly in his heart, looking both sad and sad.

After being silent for a while, the desperate Chongzhen finally figured it out, putting life and death aside, it was just a big deal, anyway, he was ready to hang himself, so why be afraid now?

Chongzhen's heart gradually calmed down, and he slowly walked out of the carriage.

Near the carriage where several Hidden Dragon Guards were still scattered, one of them was close to the one who had just let him get out of the carriage.

Chongzhen stepped out of the carriage, straightened his clothes, and looked at the cold-faced Qianlong Wei in front of him, standing with his hands in his hands, looking very brave.

The two looked at each other for a full five minutes, Rao is a well-trained Qianlong Guard, and his eyes are also full of curiosity at this moment, what is the Secret Dao Emperor staring at me like this? Do I have words on my face?

Out of strict discipline, the Hidden Dragon Guard did not speak, and also stared ahead, motionless.

Chongzhen suddenly couldn't hold back, and asked, "Why don't you do it yet?" ”

No one answered him, Chongzhen was even more puzzled, and secretly scolded this group of nerds for having something wrong with their brains? Give it a good time!

After looking at each other for another five minutes, Chongzhen couldn't help but say, "There is no one here here, and no one knows about killing me." ”

The Qianlong guard pointed to the surroundings and said, "Your Majesty is too careful, there is the Yellow River in front, the carriage cannot be crossed, we need to change boats." ”

Chongzhen raised his eyes suspiciously, and found that there seemed to be a big river in the distance, and when he looked around, he was immediately stunned by the scene in front of him.

I saw that the surrounding area was full of drought cracks, and in the fields, beside the road, there were all starving people who had fallen to the ground, and I didn't know how long these people had been starving to death.

Looking at the plains, the grass and trees were withered and yellow, the bark and grass leaves that were slightly greener were all gone, and there were a few hungry people struggling to pick at the roots.

Chongzhen was stunned, he didn't look carefully just now, and he hadn't noticed the surrounding situation, but now that he looked closely, his heart couldn't help but tremble.

"Where is this?" Chongzhen asked in a trembling voice.

"Henan Zhangde Mansion."

Qianlong Wei replied calmly, they knew that the crown prince ordered to take the emperor by land in order to let this son of heaven who grew up in the deep palace take a look at the suffering of the people.

All the members of Qianlong Wei are orphans among the displaced people, when Chongzhen was nine years old, they walked thousands of miles north with their families to escape the disaster, along the way the local government has been expelled and not allowed to enter, their families are starved to death on the side of the road, and are eaten by other displaced people.

It wasn't until he entered the Beijing Division and met the prince Zhu Cihong who gave porridge to the people that thousands of orphans had a way to live.

Chongzhen continued to walk forward, and saw a group of refugees fleeing the famine in the distance, preparing to cross the river to the south, all of them looked haggard, unkempt, like beggars, some of them were wearing tattered cotton clothes, with straw ropes around their waists, carrying their own black and tattered quilts, and there were skinny and shivering children on them.

He slowly came to the Yellow River (during the Ming Dynasty, the Yellow River flowed through Zhangde Mansion in Henan, and the Yellow River water took the water into Surabaya, and went through northern Jiangsu, not the current Shandong. ）

Because of the severe drought and the flooding of the Yellow River in Kaifeng, the water level of the Yellow River downstream has dropped a lot, and even some sections of the river have cracked and only shallows remain.

A disgusting stench permeated the air, and Chongzhen stopped, and found that the river was full of decomposing corpses, men, women, and children, emitting a strong rancid stench.

"This ......"

Chongzhen stared blankly, his hands trembled, he opened his mouth to say something, but he felt that his throat was choked and he couldn't say a word.

He continued along the riverbank, and suddenly his steps were stunted, and his cold hair exploded, and he saw several corpses scattered in the wet thatch in front of him, all of which exuded a strong rancid smell, and were crawling with white insects.

One of the women had a baby in her arms, and a wild dog with glowing green eyes was gnawing at their corpse, dragging some of its internal organs everywhere.

This situation and this scene violently impacted Chongzhen and the others' hearts, and at this time, his mind was blank, his whole body trembled, and his liver and gallbladder were split.

He knelt down, holding his head in his hands, tears couldn't help but gush out of his eyes, and he cried loudly: "Why is this, why is Da Ming like this!" ”

There was no one around to speak, and the passers-by were so accustomed to it that they weren't even interested in looking at it, except for the wild dogs that gnawed at his corpse and whined at him.

Several Hidden Dragon Guards came silently, their cold faces were slightly touched, once, they were also one of them, and their parents' fate was not much better than these people.

One of the Qianlong guards sighed to his teammates: "Back then, we orphans were so hungry that the walking dead, and when we arrived in Beijing, we could only watch others drink porridge on the side, we didn't even have a bowl of porridge, it was the crown prince who placed us together, gave us food, and found a gentleman to teach us literacy and skills, I will never forget the feeling when I drank the first hot porridge that day!" ”

The rest of the dragon guards all nodded silently, and after despair, they were reborn, making their hearts extremely strong and unsmiling.

The Hidden Dragon Guard is like a sharp sword, always maintaining its edge, whether it is in the cold ice, or the golden and iron barriers, wherever the crown prince points to, it will definitely be invincible!

After crossing the Yellow River, Qianlong Wei found another carriage and continued to escort Emperor Chongzhen southward to Fengyang Mansion.

Along the way, Chongzhen was like a walking corpse, silent, unable to get out of the shadow of his heart for a long time.

All the way to the south, I saw that the soldiers were in chaos, the mountains and rivers were broken, all kinds of things I saw, I couldn't bear to see it, I pity myself for more than ten years on the throne, but I was read by one by one by the ministers of the court and the waiters, and I instilled the righteousness of the words every day, but I don't know what happened to the people!

No wonder when he was preparing to inspect Henan, the ministers of the court and the central government desperately blocked them one by one, it turned out that they were trying to deceive their superiors and subordinates!

While passing through a small town, the group spent the night at the inn and heard some diners discussing the matter of Jingshi.

Chongzhen had a poor appetite, only ate half a steamed bun, and was just about to leave, only to listen to a few people eating and drinking in the inn, someone scolded angrily: "The crown prince collects taxes from the rich in Jiangnan, and the emperor Laozi actually collects taxes from our poor, what kind of three salaries are levied, and the people are not happy, why doesn't he die!" ”

Someone said: "Don't worry, the Dashun army has entered the Beijing Division, and he won't survive!" ”

Someone immediately booed: "Be careful! ”

The man sneered: "This is the territory of Henan, the territory of Dashun, I'm afraid of a ball!" ”

"It's better to pay attention, I'm still counting on going to Fengyang Mansion in the south to find a way out, don't hurt me!"

“.......”

Listening to the surrounding discussions, Wang Zhixin suddenly became angry, gritted his teeth and said, "Let our family teach these Diao people a lesson!" ”

The Hidden Dragon Guard stopped him and warned in a cold voice: "If you reveal your identity, I will let you die on the streets within three breaths!" ”

Hearing this, Wang Zhixin shrank his neck and did not dare to be arrogant anymore.

Chongzhen next to him was deeply shocked, and poured a few sips of wine in a row, a kind of heartbroken exhaustion plagued him, making his heart blocked.

Why is it that after so many years of diligent government, in exchange for such a tragic reality?

Why is he dedicated to the people, but in the end, the people are not able to make a living, and he is so insulted by the people? Is there any point in what the emperor did himself?