The process of going to see Zhu Yousong, the superintendent of Hongguang, was much smoother than Fan Wencheng imagined.

Because he was accompanied by Zheng Zhilong, the real person in power in the Hongguang court, when Fan Wencheng told Zhu Yousong, the supervisor of Hongguang, he agreed without saying a word.

The consciousness that a puppet should have is vividly displayed in Zhu Yousong.

Since Zheng Zhilong was willing to accompany the Qing court envoy Fan Wencheng to come together, it would be extremely stupid for Zhu Yousong to express the slightest suspicion or even dissatisfaction.

People are under the eaves and have to bow their heads.

Therefore, no matter what Fan Wencheng said or what he asked him to do, Zhu Yousong nodded his head again and again in agreement, without the slightest doubt or objection. So much so that after this meeting and talk, the corners of Fan Wencheng's mouth flashed with a faint contemptuous smile.

And Zhu Yousong, who is also smiling, although he has a nonchalant expression, the sadness and sadness in his heart are indescribable.

He looked at the backs of Zheng Zhilong and Fan Wencheng who left satisfied, the smile on his face suddenly disappeared, and he thought even more sadly in his heart, alas, whether this matter is successful or not, he will not be able to get any good fruit to eat.

Because, if this matter is successful, then the revival of the emperor will only be transferred to Zheng Zhilong's hands by Li Xiao's subordinates to continue to be a puppet, and where will it be his turn to be an empty emperor with no soldiers and no real power to truly exercise the power of the Ming Emperor.

Just like Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty, he finally escaped from the hands of Li Qi Guo Yan, but fell into the hands of Cao Cao and continued to become a dispensable puppet and rubber stamp, such a result is more like a spicy irony.

What's more, after Emperor Chongxing got rid of Li Xiao, his so-called prison country really came to an end, and what else could he do besides the title of the above table?

Moreover, if this plan fails, the Emperor Chongxing will flee to Fuzhou, and he will have to give way obediently, and the situation will be even more miserable, even if he wants to be a puppet, he can't get it.

When the time comes, the best ending is nothing more than to go home and become an ordinary rich man after going to the prison country. And if Zheng Zhilong feels that he, a person who has been a prisoner, is in the way and inconvenient, he will kill himself impatiently, then it can only be regarded as his own back.

At this moment, Zhu Yousong suddenly felt that he should be the most helpless and pitiful clown in the world.

Allowing others to be slaughtered, bullied, and powerless to fight back, this is the most real and pathetic situation of the so-called prison country.

The next thing is naturally logical. Soon, Zheng Zhilong and Zhu Yousong together summoned Gao Hongtu, the secretary of the Ministry of Works, to meet in the hall. As soon as Gao Hongtu arrived, Zheng Zhilong arranged for him to send an envoy to Shandong to meet Emperor Zhu Cihong of Chongxing.

Gao Hongtu, the word Yanwen, a native of Jiaozhou, Shandong, successively served as a scholar in the middle school, Shaanxi Inspector Imperial History, etc., after the establishment of the Hongguang regime, he was appointed as a scholar of the household department and a scholar of Dongge University, and he can be regarded as a member of the Hongguang regime.

After Li Xiao led his troops and horses south, and after attacking Nanjing, Gao Hongtu led the whole clan to retreat all the way south with Zhu Yousong, the superintendent of Hongguang, and fled to Fuzhou, where he continued to serve in the Hongguang regime.

The reason why Gao Hongtu came here to meet him and appointed him as an envoy was because since he fled from Nanjing to Fuzhou with Zhu Yousong, he quickly climbed up to Zheng Zhilong's big thick legs, and because he was good at speaking and being good at greeting, he won Zheng Zhilong's trust.

And this person is sleek, while hugging Zheng Zhilong's thick legs, he also has a good relationship with Zhu Yousong. Therefore, Zheng Zhilong thought about it and felt that it was most appropriate to send this person as a secret envoy to lobby the revival emperor Zhu Cihong.

Since Zheng Zhilong proposed this person, Zhu Yousong had no choice but to fully agree, so he immediately wrote a secret letter by hand according to the requirements of Zheng Zhilong and Fan Wencheng and handed it to Gao Hongtu.

And Gao Hongtu himself, was Zheng Zhilong to Zhu Yousong Bao as a scholar of Wenyuan Pavilion, and was crowned as the crown prince, the prince Taibao, and gave the fourth title, and his grandson Gao Qi as the Zhongshu Sheren, in this way, to this important minister who is about to go to Shandong, great favor and envelopment, let him go this time, even if it is for the sake of safeguarding the interests of the family, he will go all out to lobby the emperor to rejuvenate.

After Gao Hongtu received the order, he replied to Zheng Zhilong and Zhu Yousong to make a generous speech, then said goodbye, took a caravan disguised by the Zheng family's warship, set off from the port of Fuzhou, and sailed all the way north to Shandong.

Twenty days later, Gao Hongtu, who had been heading north against the north wind, finally arrived at Jiaozhou Port.

He is a native of Jiaozhou, and this time he returned to his homeland, and he left home when he was young, and he was full of emotion. It's just that he also knows that there are important things to do now, and he no longer has the mood and time to enjoy the scenery of his hometown.

On the shore, a group of people hurried to Jinan, along the way, see the road is wide and straight, the longitudinal and horizontal, the houses are like, the villages and towns are all in order, the place where they pass is a blockage, this Shandong land, everywhere is a scene of tranquility and harmony. When Gao Hongtu saw this situation, he remembered the tragic scene of the wars and disasters in Shandong and the starvation people everywhere during the Chongzhen period, and he couldn't help but sigh infinitely in his heart.

It seems that Li Xiao's achievements in governing the world are indeed the existence of the Ming Dynasty. It's a pity that he is now himself, but he wants to try his best to kill this Zhongxing minister of the Ming Dynasty, which is really an inexplicable irony.

Speaking of which, they are all people in the rivers and lakes, and they can't help it.

Came to the city of Jinan, it was already night, everyone rested in the post house for a while, the next morning, Gao Hongtu went to the temporary palace rebuilt by the Dewang Palace, asked to see the Emperor Chongxing.

At this time, the reception and arrangement of the foreign ministers of the palace was in charge of Li Xiao's confidant Wu Liang. Wu Liang was originally in charge of the management of Jeju Island, but because Li Xiao's advisers Chen Zilong and Jiang Yueguang were both transferred to Nanjing to accompany the painting, Li Xiao transferred Wu Liang back from Jeju Island and put him in charge of the security and management of the entire palace.

Because during this period of time, many ministers of the Hongguang regime have come to meet Emperor Chongxing, and nothing unusual has happened. Therefore, Wu Liang did not pay special attention to the arrival of Gao Hongtu and his party, and after a few words of interrogation, he let Gao Hongtu enter the palace alone.

Gao Hongtu entered the palace, looking at the carved beams and paintings and the lakes and mountains inside, he thought of the King De's family who had been slaughtered by Liu Zeqing before, and he couldn't help but sigh again and again.

Soon, under the leadership of the eunuch Wang Chengen, he traveled all the way from the front hall to the back hall, where he met the Chongxing Emperor Zhu Cihong.

Seeing the young man sitting on the dragon chair, only eighteen years old, with a face similar to Chongzhen, Gao Hongtu had a hallucination for a while.

It seems that he has suddenly returned to the early years of Chongzhen, and the one sitting on the dragon chair is not the current Emperor Zhu Cihong, but the Emperor Chongzhen who has just ascended the throne.

The emperor in the early years of Chongzhen, like this, was the king of the world at a young age, and met the ministers in the Jinluan Palace, and also met with himself who had just been appointed as a scholar in the middle school

In the blink of an eye, eighteen years have flown by, and the Ming Dynasty has been a matter of right and wrong.

For a while, his heart was irrepressible, his eyes were a little wet, and he knelt down tremblingly ten steps away from the Dan Steps, and arched his hand: "Weichen is ambitious, knock on the emperor, long live my emperor, long live long live!" ”

"Aiqing is flat."

The voice from the dragon chair was also very similar to Emperor Chongzhen back then, which made Gao Hongtu, who knelt down, tremble again.

He got up tremblingly, and Zhu Cihong, the emperor of Chongxing above, smiled and said: "Aiqing, I haven't seen you for many years, but you are much older." ”

Gao Hongtu smiled and arched his hand: "Alas, thank you for your concern." It's a pity that the old minister has been displaced for more than ten years, has achieved nothing, is useless in the country and at home, sorry for the first emperor, and even more sorry for the emperor. ”

Seeing him so depressed, Zhu Cihong said comfortingly: "Why did Aiqing say this. Now that the situation in the country is getting better day by day, it is a happy scene, why should Aiqing be so depressed. Now in my Ming Dynasty, there is the Tang King who is busy running around for me, sweeping away the ugly, Ning Jingyu, and will soon clear the world, sweep away the thieves and Tartars, and then the people of the world will share the peace, and then try to prosper"

Zhu Cihong didn't finish his sentence, but Gao Hongtu below shook his head with a wry smile, looking completely disapproving.

Seeing Gao Hongtu's appearance, Zhu Cihong suddenly felt strange: "Why is Aiqing smiling bitterly? Is there something wrong with what I said? ”

Gao Hongtu sighed slightly, then raised his head and looked at Zhu Cihong with burning eyes: "Your Majesty, although the general trend of state affairs is improving now, according to the old minister's bluntness, there are major hidden worries in this country. ”

"Oh? Why did Gao Aiqing say such a thing? Could it be that you have come here this time, but do you have something important to tell me? Zhu Cihong's face turned pale, he stared straight at Gao Hongtu and frowned.

Gao Hongtu didn't speak, just looked left and right slightly, looking at the maids and eunuchs who were standing left and right.

When Zhu Cihong saw him like this, he knew that he wanted to let himself retreat from everyone and wanted to speak to himself alone. He hesitated slightly, then waved his hand, and the eunuchs and palace maids stepped back.

In the huge hall, only Gao Hongtu and Zhu Cihong remained, as well as Wang Chengen, the emperor's most trusted chief eunuch.

This Wang Chengen, since following Zhu Cihong to escape from the capital, along the way with the master for his life, so he is quite trusted by Zhu Cihong, from the throne to the present, but also more and more favored, Zhu Cihong as a cronies and eyes, no matter how big or small, will let him participate.

The emperor and the courtiers looked at each other slightly, Gao Hongtu pounced again, knelt on the ground, and then, he carefully took out the handwritten letter of Zhu Yousong from his arms, raised it high above his head, and said loudly to Emperor Chongxing: "Your Majesty, Weichen is here, it is really on the order of Hongguang to supervise the country, and there is a secret letter to present to the emperor." It's just that the content of this letter is extremely confidential and important, and it must not be easily revealed, so the emperor can only let the emperor get rid of the slaves before he dares to speak. This letter was carefully hidden by Weichen along the way, and is now presented to the emperor for personal review. ”

As soon as Gao Hongtu said this, Zhu Cihong was stunned again. He groaned slightly, and then whispered to Wang Chengen, who was standing next to him: "Go, bring Gao Aiqing's letter, I want to read it myself." ”

Wang Chengen snorted urgently, and immediately went down to take Gao Hongtu's letter held high, and carefully handed it to the emperor.

Zhu Cihong read the letter carefully, and the more he looked at it, the paler his face became, his eyes widened, his lips trembled, and even cold sweat began to ooze from his forehead.

Seeing his expression change like this, Wang Chengen next to him looked worried, and Gao Hongtu below had a solemn face and the corners of his mouth tightened.

Finally, after reading the letter, Zhu Cihong's face instantly turned purple and red, he stood up, clutched the secret letter into a paper ball, and slammed it towards Gao Hongtu on the ground.

The ball of paper hit Gao Hongtu's forehead with great accuracy, bounced up with a bang, and rolled to the corner.

Gao Hongtu was suddenly attacked, but his face was still expressionless, as if what the angry Emperor Chongxing in front of him did had nothing to do with him.

And above him, the emperor's angry voice finally exploded like a thunderbolt: "Gao Hongtu! You say, what is the intention of Zhu Yousong, the Hongguang Prison Country, to send this letter to me! ”

Before Gao Hongtu could answer, the emperor's voice sounded fiercely: "Hmph! This Zhu Yousong, who is unauthorized to set up the imperial court and does not obey my control, now sees that the Tang King is about to sweep away the puppet dynasty, and he must really have no way to deal with it, so he came up with this strategy of provoking discord and killing people with a knife, and ordered you to lobby Yu I, wanting to kill the Tang King with my hand, isn't it?! Hmph, he must want me to be like my father and the emperor killed Inspector Yuan, self-destruct the pillars, dig my own grave, let me fall into civil strife again, and let you and others regain a chance to breathe. Hum! What else does this guy say, if I get rid of Li Xiao, I will definitely go to the title of prison country, respect me, and unify the world, such a shameless lie, really deceive the ghost! I have seen through your sinister intentions at a glance! And you say, what I say, yes and no?! ”

Hearing that Emperor Zhu Cihong of Chongxing seemed to see through the plot at a glance, Gao Hongtu's heart trembled, but he pretended to be calm on the surface, he deliberately sighed, and slowly replied: "Your Majesty, what Hongguang Jianguo said in this letter is definitely not to sow discord, and it is no longer to kill people with a knife, but it is indeed a concern for the country and the people, which shows his loyalty to the king." ”

"Nonsense! You, are you really a three-year-old child, and can you be at your mercy? In his letter, he said so directly and clearly, it was nothing more than that I fought with the Tang Dynasty and the kings and ministers, and finally killed Li Xiao with my hands, so that you little fishermen could benefit! Zhu Ciliang stared, and his fingers trembled as he pointed at Gao Hongtu, who was kneeling on the ground.

Gao Hongtu saw Zhu Cihong so angry, and he couldn't help but start playing drums in his heart. secretly thought, could it be that this Emperor Zhu Cihong of the Rejuvenating Emperor is really not sensible, and is willing to be a puppet and let Li Xiao manipulate it?

He secretly carefully observed Zhu Cihong's seemingly angry eyes, but finally found a trace of panic and hesitation in them.

At this moment, he was secretly happy in his heart.

Hmph, on the side of this couch, there is no reason to make others sleep peacefully!

The highest power in the world is a poison-like existence. How many people can turn father and son against each other, husband and wife vendetta, and kill each other for this magical and boundless power. This is still the case among relatives, let alone the emperor and his ministers.

This seemingly angry young emperor, his eyes, have betrayed his expression and words, showing himself his weakest and truest side. （）