The news of the death of Emperor Zhu Cihong of Chongxing soon reached Li Xiao, who was in the Qianqing Palace in Nanjing, as quickly as possible.

Li Xiao, who heard the news, locked himself in the study for a whole day and saw no one.

He sat in his chair, staring out the window with blank eyes, without any expression on his face, but in his heart was indescribably bitter and sad.

I never thought that between me and Zhu Cihong, I would come to this point.

How could this young man, who was desperately rescued from the capital, not remember the kindness of the past like this, and would rather turn his face with himself than against himself to the end, and finally forced himself to kill the killer, this is simply a huge and cruel irony.

knew this, why did he have to fight for his life to rescue this young man who was going to oppose him in the future from the capital? Could it be that the salvation of that day was to kill him today?

This fate is too cruel and dramatic.

Some people say that the world of life is just a Gu worm, fighting and fighting in the Gu box composed of heaven and earth, and the one who finally wins, stepping on the bones and wreckage, has become the Gu King worshiped by everyone.

People are on the rivers and lakes, and they have to work hard at any time, could it be that this is the road to becoming a Gu King, is it their own fate, and is it the ultimate pursuit that they can never turn back?

At this moment, Li Xiao suddenly felt extremely lonely, and even more indescribable loss.

However, he was turbulent in his heart, but the surface was still calm and clear, and after sighing for a while about Zhu Cihong and his own fate, Li Xiao immediately adjusted his thoughts and regained his composure.

Emperor Zhu Cihong of Huangxing is dead, but the country cannot be left without an owner for a day, so what should I do next?

A bold thought came to my mind in an instant.

Now that Zhu Cihong is dead, is it because he wants to establish himself as a king and become the true master of this Chinese land?

After a little thought, Li Xiao denied his own thoughts.

Now that the country is undecided and the four borders are in chaos, in such a state, if you can't wait to establish yourself as a king, not to mention, it is very likely that the rumors of killing the monarch will be confirmed, and it is more likely that it will be opposed and resisted by all the remnants of the Ming Dynasty, so that your desire to unify the world will add unnecessary resistance.

What's more, the Great West Dashun and the Manchu Qing will regard themselves as their only opponents, gather with each other, and work together, and there is no possibility of easing with themselves, so they can only fight to the end with them.

What worries Li Xiao even more is that when the country has not yet been unified and the people's hearts have not yet been stabilized, he will forcibly ascend the throne, and even make his generals and officials, especially those subordinates who still have a good impression of the Ming Dynasty, have a lot of complaints about him, and even dissatisfaction, so that there will be unnecessary divisions within the Tang Army.

In other words, if Li Xiao forcibly ascended the throne, he would only get the false name of a king, but he would set up countless bright faces or potential opponents for himself all over the country.

Such a choice, of course, is extremely stupid.

Then, since it is impossible for him to stand on his own immediately, he can only re-establish a Ming Dynasty clan and become the so-called king of the Ming Empire, just like Zhu Cihong chose before.

And the most suitable candidate is Zhu Cihong's younger brother, the nine-year-old Yongwang Zhu Cizhi.

This child, who is still young and has a gentle and cowardly personality, is naturally a powerful minister like Li Xiao who is good at dictatorship, and the best object to control.

Moreover, Li Xiao believes that Zhu Cizhi, who is only willing and has no personal thoughts, even if he is an adult, will not be like Zhu Cihong, who insists on forcibly confronting himself one by one, and finally dies, which is deplorable.

If this puppet emperor can clearly understand his own situation, know each other and know how to advance and retreat, then Li Xiaodang will not hesitate to spare his life, and even in the future, because of his well-behaved behavior, he will divide a piece of land in the land for him, so that he can protect his Ming Dynasty name and temple, it is completely possible.

After all, he promised that Lu Xiangsheng back then, even if he was forced to do so, he would not extinguish the bloodline and sacrifice of the Ming Dynasty. Although the promise of the year was forced, deep in his heart, he didn't want this last Han dynasty in real history to end in his own hands like this.

What's more, he has traveled all the way, from a humble and nameless hunter in the countryside of Liaodong to the prince of the Ming Dynasty, although it is mostly the result of his own hard work, but it does rely on a lot of power in the Ming Dynasty, from the perspective of repaying kindness, Li Xiao can't bear to put the Ming Dynasty to death completely.

Li Xiao stood up, slowly walked to the map on the wall, looked at the large territory he had laid down on the map, and was stunned.

His gaze, from north to south, slowly stroked the entire map, and finally stopped at the southernmost island of Australia, Tasmania.

Perhaps, one day in the future, after I have to accept the Zen concession of the Ming Dynasty and truly become the true monarch of the entire Chinese land, I can place the Zen Zhu Cizhi on this Tasmanian island, which is more than two Taiwan islands, so that he can maintain the name and temple of the Ming Dynasty in this pure land far away from the hustle and bustle, and live peacefully with the world.

Such an ending can be the best ending for himself, for Zhu Cijiong, and for the Ming Dynasty he once served.

Li Xiao made up his mind and immediately began to act.

First of all, Li Xiao issued an edict, severely condemning Zheng Zhilong, the Marquis of Zhennan, and Zhu Yousong, the supervisor of Hongguang, pointing out that they harbored evil intentions and sinister intentions, and even sent the minister Gao Hongtu to Shandong to stir up the relationship between the emperor Zhu Cihong and the Tang king Li Xiao. The demonstrable evil deeds of these two people, the righteous people and gentlemen in the world, should be condemned together, so as to uphold justice and rectify the rules.

Next, Li Xiao ordered Cao Bianjiao, the mayor of the six towns of the Tang Army, to return to the camp from Zhejiang to sit in Nanjing, temporarily acting for the defense of the entire south of the Yangtze River. And he himself, with Chen Zilong and Jiang Yueguang, returned to Shandong all the way from Nanjing to hold a funeral for Zhu Cihong, and at the same time arranged for the new emperor to ascend the throne.

Zhu Cihong drowned in the sea off Jiaozhou, and it was dark night, so the body could not be found or salvaged at all, Li Xiao decided to use Zhu Cihong's clothes and crown to be buried in the imperial mausoleum outside Jinan City, the location of this mausoleum is next to the imperial tomb of Emperor Chongzhen who was previously buried here, and Zhu Cijiong, the king of Ding.

Li Xiao personally attended and presided over Zhu Cihong's funeral.

He ordered that although Zhu Cihong's body was not found, under the existing conditions, it was still necessary to follow the Ming Dynasty etiquette system as much as possible, and bury Zhu Cihong in a grand manner to show the etiquette.

Because there is no corpse, the so-called burial procedure is greatly omitted, so the process of burying Emperor Zhu Cihong is much simpler than the previous burial of Emperor Chongzhen.

Cao Huachun, Wang Chengen and other eunuch palace people first carefully packed the dragon robe and underwear that Zhu Cihong had worn into the very luxurious and hard sandalwood coffin that Li Xiao had already ordered to prepare.

Then nail the coffin seal, hold a requiem ceremony, and then begin to set up a banquet in front of the coffin for the decoration of wine and other sacrificial objects, and set up a soothing silk, set up an inscription, and write to the Emperor Zigong Palace.

In the next three days, Zhu Cihong's immediate family, such as Yongwang Zhu Cizhao, Princess Zhu Yujiao, and the concubine Li Xiao, all needed to keep watch in the Zi Palace. According to the Ming etiquette system, the ceremony of keeping the soul for the emperor is very solemn, all the people who keep the soul are dressed in plain clothes, only a place to sit upright, they are not allowed to talk to each other, they can only sit in silence, and they must maintain the solemn and heavy atmosphere of the mourning hall. And twice a day in the morning and evening, there is also a performance of touching the coffin and crying the soul.

In these things, although Li Xiao is the king of Tang, he still deliberately follows these so-called etiquette systems, and fully demonstrates the etiquette and loyalty of a court horse for the military and civilians.

It's just that when he was guarding the spirit, Li Xiao could feel the pair of hostile eyes thrown from behind him.

This is the eyes of Princess Zhu Yujiao of Changping looking at herself.

This Li Xiao's nominal wife has never slept with herself, and such a nominal husband and wife relationship has continued so embarrassingly to this day.

Li Xiao squinted and met her resentful eyes, and both of them saw something very strange from each other's eyes. For a while, both of them had complicated faces, but they remained silent and did not say a word.

Three days later, the wake is completed, and the formal preparation for the burial work begins, at this time, the imperial mausoleum in the north of Jinan has been worked day and night and simply decorated to complete, and the coffin of the rejuvenating emperor Zhu Cihong can be buried.

At this time, the large and small temples inside and outside Jinan have already received the order and began to ring the bell to send Dengxian. According to the ritual system, the bells of each temple must be struck 30,000 times to "benefit the underworld" for the dead emperor. At the same time, in the city of Jinan, slaughter is forbidden for thirteen days, in order to show peace and send spirits, and not to create killing karma.

At the same time, the edict written by Chen Zilong on behalf of the emperor was read by Li Xiao, the presiding officer of the ceremony, and after the recitation, it was printed and distributed in large quantities to convey the message of mourning for the emperor's death and the new emperor's accession to the throne to the princes, county kings, princesses, county princesses, county lords and civil and military officials who were sealed in other places. This edict is equivalent to a brief evaluation of the life of Emperor Chongxing, and can be said to be the most important part of the funeral ceremony.

"The first emperor was young and smart, relying on Pixu, carrying forward the past and forging ahead into the future, and ascended to the great treasure for nearly two years, respecting the heavens and diligent people, filial piety and reason, and working hard all night, but the first emperor entrusted him with fear, he was the king of pioneering and enterprising, and the master of hard work, but he was framed by the ministers, and he was lost, so that he went to Hainan, and the boat was overturned, so that the loyal ministers and righteous people in the world sighed. Although the first emperor is gone, the festival is fierce for thousands of years, and the eternal legacy, not to mention the succession of people, what a pity! ”

"The emperor's younger brother is smart and benevolent and filial, and he is naturally natural, and he should be the emperor, and he will abide by the law of his ancestors, study and cultivate virtue, and be virtuous and able, and use his lover sparingly, not arrogant or slack, his only is to ask"

Then, Li Xiao began to read out some basic rules of etiquette in the edict.

"Weichen Li Xiao, sincere and fearful, I hope that the ministers of Shenwai Wenwu will assist them with one heart to protect the cause of the Ming Sect for thousands of years."

"The funeral is in accordance with the legacy of the first emperor, with the day changing the month, the 27th release, the sacrifice is shameful, there is no ban on music to marry, but the country is big, not a day without a king, hope that the heir to the inheritance is the most important, the Ministry of Rites chooses the day, immediately ascends the throne, and does not have to be disobeyed. The prince of the clan is sent, and he cannot leave his country, and the officials of the general army and the governor of the town everywhere and the officials of the three divisions of the capital are strictly sealed and the army and the people are appeased, and they are not allowed to leave their posts without permission, and they are strictly prevented from causing chaos, and the edict is made known to the world. ”

Next, after Zhu Cihong's coffin was officially buried, he was buried and dressed.

"The great filial piety of the sage is about the good succession. The importance of cardinalism and the importance of the military state should not be neglected. The sun changes the month. But the old chapters. The emperor should listen to the government on the third day, Xiaoxiang on the thirteenth, Daxiang on the twenty-fifth, and release on the twenty-seventh. ”

During the burial of the emperor, a small accident occurred.

When the coffin was about to be buried, the princess of Changping, Zhu Yujiao, who was dressed in heavy filial piety, ran away from the crowd of mourners crying loudly, she rushed to the mouth of the tomb, stopped the coffin, and cried loudly.

"Second brother! Who are you victimising to? Although she is a woman, she can't wait to take revenge on you and avenge you! ”

At this time, seeing the princess crying in pain, Yongwang Zhu Cizhao also ran from the crowd crying and threw himself into Zhu Yujiao's arms, and the sisters and brothers cried together.

Seeing Zhu Yujiao speaking sarcastically in front of everyone like this, and seeing the two of them crying together so sadly, Li Xiao's heart was very uncomfortable.

Seeing that the process was blocked, in order to avoid extraneous branches, Li Xiao groaned slightly, then walked over in person, and persuaded softly: "Princess, Yongwang, there are many people here, it is not a sad place, in order to avoid the auspicious time of entering the soil by mistake, I also hope that the princess and the Yongwang will mourn, and let the first emperor enter the earth for peace." ”

Hearing Li Xiao's persuasion, the two gradually stopped crying, Yongwang Zhu Cizhi sobbed first and retreated, and although the princess sobbed and flashed to the side, the glance at Li Xiao was full of resentment and hatred.

Such unkind eyes made Li Xiao's heart feel uneasy, but he only sighed slightly, and didn't say anything, just continued to preside over the funeral.

After the emperor is buried, he must begin to give the emperor a temple name, which can be regarded as the final conclusion for each emperor's coffin.

The nickname is generally to be asked for in the southern suburbs after the burial of the emperor of Daxing, but it also needs to be agreed on in advance.

Now the matter is in a hurry, and it is all up to Li Xiao to decide.

Li Xiao gave careful consideration, and finally decided to give the temple number on the Chongxing Emperor Zhu Cihong as the mourning sect, and the honor was: With the heavens and the same luck, the Fagu Shao, the Tongcui Wen, the Jingfu, the Kuanrui, the Zheng Mu Tiren, the filial piety of the Emperor.

The temple name of this mourning sect is actually not good, and it is even full of sadness.

According to the law, the early death in the middle of the year is said to be mourning the year is not satisfactory, the wanton labor and mourning is indulged in hard work, the words are not cultivated, and the fear is said to be mourned from everywhere.

The emperor was officially buried, and the temple number and the name of the temple were agreed, and Chongzhen's life was a foregone conclusion, and the history of the Ming Dynasty could turn a page and start a new chapter.

According to the system, the new emperor only needs to hold a mourning for 27 days before being released, but the harem concubines have to mourn for three years. The hundreds of officials observe the March funeral with the sun and the month, and the military and civilians in the world only need to observe the three-day funeral. However, Li Xiao believes that now that the state affairs are chaotic and everything is simple, the new emperor Zhu Cizhi only needs to mourn for ten days before he can be released and ascended the throne.

Next, the preparations and specific operations for the accession of Yongwang Zhu Cizhi to the throne were also handled by Li Xiaolai.

Li Xiao decided that ten days later, outside the south gate of Jinan City, that is, the place where Zhu Cihong ascended the throne in two years, a ceremony for the new emperor Zhu Cizhi, who had just been released from filial piety, was held.