On the second day of the banquet, some strange rumors appeared in various parts of Gyeonggi about the crown prince preparing to take the throne.

As the rumors floated, Jingshi seemed to be shrouded in a strange atmosphere, because of Zhu Cihong's unceremonious killing of civil officials, all the officials watched each other under the experience of the previous car, and they were silent about it.

However, the officials did not say anything, but the scholars and people below talked about it, and it spread everywhere like a woman with a long tongue, which once again made the situation in Jingshi tense.

Some scholars resented Zhu Cihong's slaughter of the gentry, and made nonsense in various tea shops and restaurants, and Jinyiwei arrested a group of people, but a large number of people still jumped out.

Zhu Cihong also had a headache about this, and heard from the Ministry of Intelligence that the situation in Beijing was quite good, and if it was in Jiangnan, there would be more and more poisonous people who made trouble, and a large number of scholars could come out at will, and the officials in Jiangnan generally did not dare to provoke these people, and once they provoked their careers, it would be over.

"Scholar ......" Zhu Cihong muttered silently, thinking about how to deal with those scholars who can only play tricks in the future.

Half a day later, Zhu Cihong summoned some civil and military cronies in the carrier hall.

He asked Li Tingbiao: "Has there been any change in the DPRK and China recently?" ”

Li Tingbiao replied: "The ministers are very quiet, some generals have been transferred, and the general soldiers of Miyun, Wang Tingchen, have not returned to Miyun Town since yesterday to celebrate His Royal Highness's birthday, and the same is true for the general soldiers of Yutian and Jizhen Town. ”

Zhu Cihong said: "Pay attention to the transfer of people and horses in these three towns, is there any news in the palace recently?" ”

Li Tingbiao replied: "Your Majesty has been very calm in recent days, and occasionally summons Yang Sichang, the first assistant of the cabinet, in the Wenhua Palace. ”

"Worship ancestors in the ancestral hall?" Zhu Cihong frowned, he is usually worshipping his ancestors on Zhengdan, what kind of ancestors are he worshipping now, could it be that Emperor Lao Tzu really wants to take a risk?

Yang Shicong, the young Zhan Shi of Zhan Shifu, said: "At this time, Your Majesty is worshipping your ancestors in the Fengxian Palace, I am afraid it is related to the execution of the nobles by His Royal Highness, or it may be ......."

Zhu Cihong glanced at him and said, "Do you want to say that it is the abolished prince?" ”

Yang Shicong hurriedly lowered his head and was silent, and the atmosphere in the apse suddenly became tense, if the emperor wanted to abolish the crown prince, what should it be.

Wu Weiye, the left concubine of the Zhan Mansion, suddenly came out and said: "The minister suggests that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince ascend the throne in advance!" ”

Wu Weiye's words were amazing, startling everyone, and even Zhu Cihong looked at him seriously, this Wu Weiye usually looks sullen, how can he say such a rebellious thing today, and say it so unabashedly.

In later generations, Zhu Cihong had already heard of Wu Weiye's name, and Chong Guan was angry that the song "Round Song" was written on this dog day, misleading many people in later generations to think that Wu Sangui was cast for a woman.

As everyone knows, in the face of political interests, a woman is nothing, there are always such a group of people in history who like to let women take the blame.

The atmosphere in the hall was a little depressing, the officials of the East Palace watched each other, and a few people stood up to support Zhu Cihong's early ascension.

Zhu Cihong was secretly surprised, Wu Weiye, Yang Shicong and others are all people who are full of wealth, and it is not an exaggeration to say that it is a contemporary Confucian, especially that Wu Weiye, who won the first place in the meeting when he was in his twenties, and then took the first and second place in the court examination, of course, some people suspected him of cheating, and felt that it was impossible, why was the surname Wu so awesome.

The examiner had to submit his original Huiyuan paper to the imperial review, and in the end, Chongzhen personally read the paper to refute the rumors for him, which also made Wu Weiye famous.

Chongzhen also has high hopes for Yang Shicong, and he will be arranged to be Zhu Cihong's teacher.

Zhu Cihong didn't speak, turned his head and looked at Sun Yingyuan and Zhou Yuji again, and said, "What do you think?" ”

Wu Weiye saw the prince ask this, and his heart suddenly had a bottom, it seems that this prince also wants to ascend the throne, if he succeeds, he is expected to be promoted!

Wu Weiye and Yang Tinglin are both attendants of the East Palace, and now Yang Tinglin has become the prince's confidant Wenchen, and he has also mixed up with the third grade, and he is still the fifth grade, and the gap here is really jealous.

However, to Wu Yewei's surprise, Sun Yingyuan, who was the most loyal to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, actually opposed the seizure of the throne and scolded himself.

Sun Yingyuan glared at Wu Weiye and said: "Your Highness, Wu Weiye is a heart-wrenching word, forgive the ministers for being bold and straightforward, although the current saint is slightly inferior in governing the country, but his virtue is not lost, and he is not a king of immorality, if His Royal Highness takes the throne, I am afraid that the world will be difficult to accept!" ”

As he spoke, Sun Yingyuan knelt on the ground, as if waiting for Zhu Cihong's roar.

Zhou Yuji also immediately bowed down and said: "The minister also opposes His Highness's seizure of the throne, the legal system cannot be messed up, once His Royal Highness opens a precedent for seizing the throne, it will have a huge impact on the succession of future generations!" ”

Everyone knows very well that if you want to say that the precedent of the Ming Dynasty to seize the throne should be created by Emperor Chengzu, but Emperor Chengzu was not the crown prince at that time, if the prince couldn't wait to seize the throne, the imperial succession behind the Ming Dynasty would become chaotic......

Zhu Cihong stood up, came to the window, looked through the window, his eyes were deep, looking at the gradually dim sky outside, and his heart was full of thoughts.

Originally, he was ready to seize the throne, but he didn't expect his civilian officials to support it, but the generals opposed it, now think about it carefully, Sun Yingyuan and Zhou Yuji are both from Beijing, and they have to be named earls, and they still don't want to make Chongzhen against it.

Zhu Cihong didn't blame them, if they happily agreed to take the throne, it would cause their own unease.

Wu Weiye and Yang Shicong were originally second-class ministers in history, and compared with these two so-called Confucians, Zhu Cihong was more willing to trust Sun Yingyuan and Zhou Yuji.

Through Sun Yingyuan and Zhou Yuji's statements, Zhu Cihong also thought of Huang Degong, Yang Tinglin, Cheng Guoxiang, Zhu Dadian and others, they are also old ministers of the Chongzhen Dynasty, do they also think the same as Sun Yingyuan?

Zhu Cihong was difficult to choose for a while, he knew very well that it was difficult to gather people's hearts, and it was easy to disperse people's hearts, and if it was not good, it would make the people below deviate from morality.

Sun Yingyuan and Zhou Yuji still knelt there, lest the crown prince was impulsive and decided to seize the throne.

Seeing that the prince was silent, Wu Weiye suddenly said: "What if Your Majesty abolishes the prince?" ”

Wu Weiye really wanted to show himself in front of Zhu Cihong, he stared at Sun Yingyuan and Zhou Yuji tightly, and asked again: "If Your Majesty decides to abolish the crown prince, how will the two uncles respond?" ”

Hearing this, Zhu Cihong turned around and glanced at them as well.

Sun Yingyuan raised his head and said with a resolute face: "If Your Majesty decides to abolish the crown prince regardless of the ancestral system, the minister is willing to follow His Royal Highness the prince to the death, even if it is a mountain of swords and a sea of fire, he must protect His Highness all the way!" ”

Abolishing the prince means that the princelings are falling, and what can they care about when they are about to fall?

In particular, Sun Yingyuan and others have been labeled as princelings, and they can't be uncovered no matter how they are exposed, once the prince falls, they will inevitably suffer retaliation, and their death is a trivial matter, and they are not allowed to be raided and exterminated.

Loyalty and patriotism are one thing, but if you want to be arrested for no reason, Sun Yingyuan and others are absolutely unacceptable, especially now that he has a wife......

Zhou Yuji said: "The minister was originally just a small guerrilla general in Beijing, since following His Royal Highness, he has today's merits and status, and the minister also knows that His Royal Highness is a male lord who is for the country and the people, and has made great achievements, His Royal Highness was originally the prince of the Ming Dynasty, and should inherit the unification, if His Majesty insists on abolishing the prince, the minister will not obey the edict!" Resolutely defend the ancestral system of the Emperor and Ming! ”

Zhu Cihong waved his hand and motioned for everyone to retreat, only now did he deeply realize how difficult it was for those princes who seized the throne in history, not only must all parties control well, but also unify their own people, like being a thief all day long, and they can't be delayed for too long.

Zhu Cihong knows very well that this kind of thing is the most taboo to be indecisive at the critical moment, and if a little mistake occurs, everyone on his side will be doomed.