Fang Yuan rested at home for two days, and Emperor Chongzhen finally sent someone to summon him to the palace back garden to face the saint.

The palace garden is the imperial garden, behind the Kunning Palace, the northernmost part of the imperial city, the Kunning Palace was the residence of the harem queen in the Ming Dynasty.

The palace garden originally belonged to the harem concubines' leisure place, and the courtiers were not allowed to enter the palace garden.

Chongzhen was willing to summon Fang Yuan in the palace back garden, that is, he regarded him as a family member.

Under the leadership of Wang Chengen, Fang Yuan met Chongzhen in the Fubi Pavilion in the palace garden, and enjoyed the shade in the Fubi Pavilion with Chongzhen, as well as Queen Zhou, who had a relationship.

As soon as Fang Yuan saw that Empress Zhou was there, he knew that there would inevitably be a battle of words today, which was an important matter related to the crown prince Zhu Cihong going to Jiangnan for refuge, and this Empress Zhou would definitely not give an inch.

Fang Yuan entered the Fubi Pavilion, bowed his hands, and saluted Chongzhen and Queen Zhou.

Chongzhen ordered Fang Yuan to sit on the futon, and Queen Zhou ordered the palace maid to serve melons, fruits, and pastries.

Fang Yuan ate a few bites of pastries, he was worried, he couldn't help but ask, "Your Majesty is here, what's the matter?" ”

Chongzhen glanced at Empress Zhou sideways and said, "Fang Yuan, you mentioned to me a few days ago about sending people to run Jiangnan, and my cabinet, ministers, and empress all proposed that the crown prince be the best candidate, what do you think?" ”

Fang Yuan said slowly, "Your Majesty sent the prince forward, that is the most suitable candidate, which can not only show the royal prestige, but also make the ministers of Jiangnan fearful." ”

Chongzhen was stunned for a moment, he didn't expect Fang Yuan to say this, "Fang Yuan, do you think you should send my prince to Jiangnan?" ”

Empress Zhou's eyes also lit up, and she hurriedly asked, "Your Majesty, Fang Yuan also thinks that the crown prince should be sent to Jiangnan." I propose that the crown prince go to Jiangnan and send Fang Yuan to assist him is the best of both worlds. ”

Empress Zhou's suggestion that the crown prince and Fang Yuan go to Jiangnan together can be regarded as a compromise and concession to Fang Yuan, in exchange for Fang Yuan's support for her arrangement to send the prince to the south.

But Fang Yuan had his own plans, and he didn't want to get involved in the battle with Empress Zhou and the crown prince.

But Tian Guifei's blood book oath is ahead, and he must seek a future for the fourth prince and the fifth prince.

Even if you put aside Tian Guifei's blood oath and take Zhu Cihong, Zhu Cizhi and Zhu Cihuan go to Jiangnan, the advantages and disadvantages are compared at a glance.

Behind the crown prince Zhu Cihong stands a huge harem force, as well as the support of the Donglin Party, and going to Jiangnan with him will inevitably be constrained in everything;

Zhu Cizhi and Zhu Cihuan have almost no support from courtiers, and the only backer Yamada Guifei is also about to pass away, the only thing the two little princes can rely on is him Fang Yuan, with these two little princes who are not threatening, Fang Yuan is likely to show his strength in Jiangnan.

Fang Yuan thought about it for a while, and immediately denied Empress Zhou's overtures in his heart, and after a moment of conversation, he shook his head and said, "Prince, the prince of the country, don't move lightly. At the moment when people's hearts are floating and they are all looking forward to moving south, His Majesty and the crown prince should sit in the capital to stabilize the morale of the army and the people. If the crown prince moves, the whole court will see that His Majesty has the intention of moving south, and the military heart and the people's heart in the capital will be dispersed. ”

As soon as he said this, he made his position clear, Chongzhen nodded again and again when he heard it, but Queen Zhou's face became more and more gloomy.

Chongzhen asked again, "Fang Yuan, the prince can't move, Jiangnan needs another prince to go to the town, who should be sent?" ”

Fang Yuan said in a deep voice, "The crown prince must sit in the capital, and he must not move lightly, the third prince is sick and can't withstand the long journey, so he must stay in the capital to recuperate." The minister suggested that His Majesty should crown the fourth prince and the fifth prince as kings and go to Jiangnan. ”

His words were completely on the side of Concubine Tian, and Queen Zhou couldn't bear it, so she tore her face and said sharply, "Your Majesty, there is one south and one north between brothers, I am afraid that it will repeat the mistakes of the battle of Jingjing, the change of seizing the palace, the cannibalism of uncles and nephews, and the rivalry between brothers!" ”

Chongzhen looked at Fang Yuan noncommittally, "Fang Yuan, what do you mean?" ”

Fang Yuan said unhurriedly, "Your Majesty, the battle of Jingyan and the change of seizing the palace, it is too far away, and the ministers can't see it." What the minister can see is that Tang Gaozu, Tang Xuanzong, and Song Huizong! ”

Tang Gaozu Li Yuan was forced to abdicate by his son Li Shimin and placed under house arrest; Tang Xuanzong Li Longji was also forced to abdicate by his son Li Heng and placed under house arrest; Zhao Ji of Song Huizong took the initiative to pass on the throne to his son Zhao Huan, and was also placed under house arrest by Zhao Huan afterwards.

These are all living precedents for the crown prince to force Emperor Laozi to abdicate and put him under house arrest.

Fang Yuan brought out these historical allusions to tell Emperor Chongzhen that there is no family affection in political struggle.

The so-called fratricide will not happen until at least after Chongzhen's death; If the power of the crown prince is not restricted, Chongzhen may be forced to abdicate and house arrest during his reign, and die of depression.

His words were accurate to Chongzhen, as well as Queen Zhou's seven inches.

Chongzhen's expression was solemn, and he looked thoughtfully at the green algae in the pond.

Empress Zhou's face changed greatly, staring at Fang Yuan's eyes, as if she was about to burst into flames, "Your Majesty, this Fang Yuan dares to separate the father-son relationship between His Majesty and the Crown Prince, he is a big traitor." The ministers have also impeached this person many times, slaughtering several Jin merchants in Shanxi, and being ruthless. I also ask Your Majesty to punish him and punish him with a canonical punishment. ”

Fang Yuan smiled coldly and said, "It was the Mongolian mercenaries of the Jin Merchants who slaughtered the Jin Merchants, as well as the local exiles. These Jin merchants only knew that they colluded with the Manchu Qing Dynasty to accumulate wealth, and they did not show benevolence and righteousness on weekdays. ”

Empress Zhou said-for-tat with him, "Fang Yuan, I won't entangle you with the matter of slaughtering Jin Shang. I only ask you, if you want to take the two little princes who have not yet been crowned to Jiangnan, you just want to blackmail the prince to make the ambitions of the ministers and wolves in Jiangnan obvious! ”

Queen Zhou is a deep protector of calves, and she has ignored the queen's etiquette and scolded her on the spot.

Fang Yuan could completely feel her love for protecting her son, and it was the same as Tian Guifei, the only reason why Fang Yuan favored one over the other was that the two sides had different positions. In the face of political future, all personal emotions are a fart.

If a courtier in Fang Yuan had a dispute with the queen of the harem in front of Chongzhen, what kind of system would he become, so he looked at Chongzhen with defense as an attack, "Whether the minister is a wolf or not, please consider it." ”

Chongzhen, who had not spoken for a long time, suddenly asked, "Empress, what do you say is the most lacking since I ascended the throne?" ”

Empress Zhou restrained her anger a little and replied to Chongzhen, "Silver, talent." ”

Chongzhen said lightly, "When I first ascended the throne, I copied Wei Zhongxian, who was powerful all over the world, as well as the entire eunuch family's property, and the ministers of the Manchu Dynasty only copied out tens of thousands of taels of silver to me; And Fang Yuan copied a national Qi Tian Hongyu, and a few Jin merchants, and copied out five or six million taels of silver. Fang Yuan and the ministers of the court, who is loyal and who is traitor, are you really blind? ”

Empress Zhou squirmed her lips and wanted to refute a few words, but she was speechless.

Chongzhen also said, "When I first ascended to the throne, Yuan Chonghuan came to deceive me, asking for money, food, and power, but was beaten under the imperial city by the Manchu Qing Dynasty; Yang Sichang also asked for money, food, and power, but was attacked by thieves and Daxi thieves in Luoyang and Xiangyang, and killed the two princes of Daming; There is also Sun Chuanting, who also deceived me when he was released from prison, with 5,000 soldiers, he could pacify the thief in three months, but he went to the battlefield, but he didn't have the size of the work. ”

"However, Fang Yuan didn't ask me for money and food, he recovered millions of taels of silver for me, and carefully planned a strategy for me to resist the Manchus and Liukou, he is a great talent. Now I just want a little power, if I don't give this, suspicion and embankment everywhere, who would dare to do things for me without worries? ”

"The concubine's life is in a moment, and the country's relatives Tian Hongyu was exiled to Jiangnan again, and the two little princes were sent to Jiangnan to reunite with the Tian family's relatives, that is a gift of humanity, why should the queen be ambitious and calculating in everything?"

"Wang Chengen proposed an edict to entitle the fourth prince Zhu Cizhi as the eternal king, and the fiefdom of Yangzhou Mansion and Changzhou Mansion; The fifth prince, Zhu Cihuan, was the king of Wuyue, and his fiefdom was Suzhou Mansion and Songjiang Mansion; Feng Fang was originally the right to the imperial history, Jinyi Wei Qianhu, governor Suzhou, Yangzhou, Songjiang, Changzhou four prefectures, give Shang Fang sword, and send 1,000 people from the Shenji Battalion to accompany the tune. ”

Nanjing in the Ming Dynasty was the capital of Liu, and it had never been a vassal king, and Chongzhen had two princes in Nanjing's four mansions, which was already an exceptional king.

And the right Du Yushi is an official position subordinate to the Imperial Court, and it is directly under the jurisdiction of the emperor like Jinyiwei. The duty is to supervise the appointment and dismissal of officials and military and political affairs of the thirteen provinces, and they can directly report to the emperor without going through the Metropolitan Procuratorate. Although it is an official position of the fourth grade, it is a veritable minister of the Qincha, governor of the four prefectures, and the power is still above the prefect of the four prefectures.

The appointment of Jinyi Wei Qianhu is that the personnel assigned to Fang Yuan to go to Jiangnan to perform the task of patrolling are the Jinyi Wei of the Qianhu Guard, with a full number of 1,120 people.

Chongzhen also equipped Fang Yuan with a thousand Shenji Battalion sergeants, and this time he went with Fang Yuan to manage all the resources in Jiangnan, which was the Jinyi Guard of a thousand households, and a thousand Shenji Battalion sergeants.

As for Shang Fang's sword, Chongzhen's reward of Shang Fang's sword is similar to that of rewarding cabbage, but before the big war, Shang Fang's sword was basically rewarded.

But among the ministers of the Ming Dynasty today, only Sun Chuanting was given the sword. Now with the addition of Fang Yuan, it has shown that Chongzhen attaches great importance to Fang Yuan's trip to Jiangnan, and it is no less than a big war.

Chongzhen's holy decree was to show his attitude, support Fang Yuan's proposal, send the two princes to Jiangnan, and then Fang Yuan would assist him.

failed to give the crown prince Zhu Cihong the opportunity to go to Jiangnan, Queen Zhou was so angry that she trembled all over, and retired with Chongzhen with a gloomy face.

Fang Yuan looked at the back of Empress Zhou who was angry and left, and sighed secretly, the grudge between him, Empress Zhou, and the crown prince Zhu Cihong was getting deeper and deeper, and he was afraid that he would not be able to wash it away even if he poured out the Yellow River.

Chongzhen's displeased gaze swept over the distant Empress Zhou, and asked again, "Fang Yuan, who else do you need to bring to assist you on this trip?" ”

Fang Yuan almost wanted to open his mouth to ask Chongzhen for Zhou Yuji to go to Jiangnan, but after thinking about it, such a fierce general should still leave Chongzhen in Shanxi to resist Li Zicheng!

The only talent he could think of was the international friend Tang Ruowang who was still in Qintianjian, if he could bring Tang Ruowang to Jiangnan, in the short term, he could quickly open up the channels of the Western Francophone Chamber of Commerce, whether it was arms trade or overseas trade, it would be twice the result with half the effort.

In the long run, John Tang has the theoretical foundation of the Western industrial revolution, and with him as a teacher, he can download some books on modern industrial casting and metallurgical theory on the Internet for systematic training, so as to cultivate a large number of technical talents who understand modern industrial theory, improve the industrial level of the Ming Dynasty, and realize the transformation from an agricultural country to an industrial country.

Fang Yuan said, "The minister only needs Tang Ruowang, the deputy of the Qin Heavenly Prison, to go to Jiangnan. ”

Chongzhen's impression of this Tang Ruowang only stayed that this person was a Francophone man, studying astronomy in Qintianjian, and he didn't know anything about the calendar, so he responded happily.