Forbidden city

East Warm Pavilion

Chongzhen has been confined to Dongnuan Pavilion for a month. During this month, his identity was still the emperor, but the cabinet vote was never sent to the Dongnuan Pavilion again.

Chongzhen secretly touched the jade seals hidden in the dragon robe, and there were two jade seals he used.

A jade seal remained in the celebrant eunuch, and the celebrant superintendent acted as Zhu Pi and covered the dragon seal, since Wang Chengen was expelled, the ceremonial eunuch was also appointed by the former Dongchang Governor Wang Zhixin as the eunuch of the palm seal. This Wang's heart is a typical wallgrass, and he has long been transferred to the side of the crown prince Zhu Cihong.

Now the government of the Ming Dynasty is drafted by the cabinet of the outer court, and then handed over to the inner court of the celebrant supervisor, approved by Zhu Cihong and Wang Zhixin, and stamped, and has nothing to do with Chongzhen.

There is also a jade seal, which is the one that Chongzhen hid in his arms, and it is also the jade seal with an impression in the original place.

Now the only one who is still by Chongzhen's side is Fang Zhenghua, who was kicked out of the ceremonial supervisor. Since Zhu Cihong took control of the celebrant eunuch, Fang Zhenghua, Fang Yuan's nominal father-in-law, was the first to be purged. Fang Zhenghua spent all his family wealth to buy off the Jinyi Guard, who had a good relationship with Luo Yangxing, and was not executed on the spot, but rushed to the Dongnuan Pavilion, which had basically become a cold palace, and continued to serve Chongzhen.

The door of the Dongnuan Pavilion opened, Zhu Cihong did not let the eunuchs of the Dongnuan Pavilion report, and he walked in, in just two months, he had already tasted the sweetness of imperial power, and the posture and style of walking were also incomparable.

Zhu Cihong saw Chongzhen neither kneeling nor bowing, but said loudly, "The son has come to greet his father." ”

In the past month, Zhu Cihong has only come twice, Chongzhen knew that he had nothing to do but go to the Three Treasures Palace, so he silently looked at this prince who had no courtesy at all, smiled bitterly, and turned his head to continue reading.

Zhu Cihong said again, "Father, this time the ministers came to come because there are two important military affairs, which must be decided by the father and emperor himself. ”

Chongzhen glanced up at him and said slowly, "Prince, do you still need to inform me about military affairs now?" It's up to you. ”

Zhu Cihong smiled faintly and said, "These two things are very important, and the sons and daughters can't make decisions at all, and they must be approved by the emperor." ”

He first handed over a cabinet ticket to Chongzhen's dragon case, "Father, this is a cabinet ticket, please ask my father to read it." If there is no objection, ask the father to stamp the dragon seal. ”

Chongzhen took the cabinet's votes and read them one by one, and his expression became more and more solemn. It turned out that Zhu Cihong handed over the canonization of Li Zi as Ping Xibo and the governor of Henan; Zhang Xianzhong was the governor of Zhennan and the cabinet of the governor of Huguang.

Chongzhen came back to his senses at this time, where is the crown prince Zhu Cihong unable to call the shots? It is clear that the canonization of Liukou Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong will cause shock to the government and the opposition, Zhu Cihong loves feathers and is unwilling to carry this black cauldron, so he directly threw the black cauldron to the first assistant of the cabinet, Wei Zaode, the second assistant, Chen Yan, and Chongzhen, the puppet emperor.

Chongzhen saw through the prince's thoughts, and laughed angrily, "Prince, canonizing Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong is simply ridiculous!" Are you going to make the Ming Dynasty a mess in the world, divide the warlords everywhere, and repeat the mistakes of the fall of the Tang Dynasty? ”

Zhu Cihong has been the prince of the prison for a month, and his heart has long been high in the sky, and now he is extremely disdainful of this father, and coldly ridiculed, "At the beginning of my father's accession to the throne, where did the Ming Dynasty come from? The Manchus were also contained in a corner of Liaodong. The father emperor has been on the throne for 17 years, and now it is rampant with rogues, and the Manchu Qing Dynasty has also entered the customs six times to plunder, and the Ming Dynasty is already dying. It was the father who made the world a mess, and the sons were just cleaning up the aftermath for their father! ”

Chongzhen was coldly ridiculed by him, so angry that he trembled, and the fold also fell on the dragon case, he secretly scratched three more scratches on the jade seal seal in his sleeve with a dagger, and said coldly, "Prince, I will never allow this twist, if you forcibly want to pass the Zhu Batch, kill your father and the king first!" ”

Zhu Cihong didn't expect Chongzhen to be so strong and unyielding after being placed under house arrest, and said coldly, "Father, it was you who disregarded the relationship between father and son first, so don't blame the son!" Come on, go and rob the jade seal! ”

In order to show their merits, the three brocade guards rushed forward like wolves and tigers, and went to grab Chongzhen's dragon robe and snatch the jade seal.

Fang Zhenghua saw that everyone was pressing Chongzhen too much, he was angry and annoyed, and hurriedly blocked in front of Chongzhen, and scolded sharply, "Prince, Your Majesty is both your king and your father, you dare to force your father to force you, it's a big rebellion!" ”

Zhu Cihong glared at Fang Zhenghua coldly, and said with a sneer, "You, an old eunuch, taught a Fang Yuan who brought disaster to the country and the people, and should have been executed by Ling Chi, but this palace thinks that you are old and gives you a way to live, and you still kick your nose and eyes?" Come! Drag the old eunuch down and kill him with a rod! ”

The brocade guard behind Zhu Cihong stepped forward to arrest Fang Zhenghua, and Chongzhen could only watch, but he was helpless, so he could only curse again and again, "Rebel!" Unfilial son! ”

"Stop!"

A cold voice stopped Jinyiwei, it was Queen Zhou!

Zhu Cihong was so frightened that he hurriedly knelt down and saluted her, "Erchen greets the queen mother!" ”

Empress Zhou scolded sharply, "Prince, you are so bold and reckless, put down the folds, and go back to the East Palace to think about it behind closed doors for three days!" ”

"Which brocade guards wanted to snatch His Majesty's jade seal before, immediately dragged to the noon gate and killed!"

Zhu Cihong didn't dare to collide with the queen mother who supported him on the throne at all, so he could only withdraw with Jinyiwei. The three brocade guards who robbed Chongzhen's jade seal before were directly dragged out, and the screams of begging for mercy came from afar.

Chongzhen indifferently looked at Empress Zhou, who was dealing with the crown prince and Jinyiwei, and said with a sneer, "Queen, which play are you playing?!" ”

Empress Zhou ordered the palace maid to serve a bowl of rich and fragrant ginseng soup and put it on the dragon case, "Your Majesty has become more and more haggard these days, and she can't stay at home in Dongnuan Pavilion, so the concubine specially boiled a bowl of ginseng soup." After drinking, the concubine accompanied His Majesty to the palace for a turn, and she couldn't be locked up in the Dongnuan Pavilion all day long. ”

Chongzhen smiled and said, "Isn't this due to the queen and the crown prince?!" ”

He looked at the ginseng soup served by Queen Zhou, which exuded a strong fragrance, but also hid a strong murderous intention, and said coldly, "Queen, this ginseng soup is filled with arsenic, or is it medicine, you can't wait to kill the king and usurp the throne?" ”

Empress Zhou's face sank slightly, and she sat down in front of the dragon case with a gloomy expression, brought the ginseng soup, tasted it herself, scooped a spoonful, and fed it to Chongzhen's mouth, "Your Majesty, our seventeen-year-old husband and wife, you would suspect that I was going to poison you?" ”

Chongzhen saw that she had tasted it, so he ate it in one bite, and said gloomily, "I don't believe in the husband and wife of seventeen years, and the queen will force me to the edge of the cliff." ”

Empress Zhou fed him the ginseng soup one by one, and continued in her mouth, "Your Majesty, you have worked hard for seventeen years, and you have not lived a few comfortable days, why don't you give up the throne to the crown prince and be the emperor in the palace with peace of mind?" ”

When Chongzhen heard that Queen Zhou wanted him to take a Zen position, he was furious, and got up angrily and said, "If you want to take a Zen position, it is absolutely impossible!" I will never be able to take the throne, if your mother and son want to usurp the throne, you will kill me! ”

Empress Zhou took his hand and sat back on the dragon case, patted it gently, calmed his anger, and said softly, "If Your Majesty doesn't want to Zen, then you won't Zen, just hand over the jade seal, and make the prince supervise the country, why be so angry?" ”

Chongzhen is under house arrest at the moment, the prince handles all government affairs, the so-called prison or not the country, there is no need for Chongzhen to approve it, and whether to hand over the jade seal or not is a matter of a few brocade guards.

Empress Zhou's soft-spoken persuasion made Chongzhen a little curious, and she looked at her in amazement and asked, "Empress, I really can't see you clearly now." ”

Empress Zhou smiled bitterly and said, "Your Majesty has been either busy with court politics for seventeen years, or obsessed with Concubine Tian's fox spirit, how can you ever look at your concubine?" Your Majesty is not unable to see clearly, but has never looked at it with his heart. The concubine and His Majesty have been husband and wife for seventeen years, without Your Majesty, there will be no concubine, and the concubine will never allow others to bully Your Majesty. ”

Chongzhen stared at her jade face, as if she was still the same as when she entered and exited the Xinwang Mansion seventeen years ago, tears welled up in her eyes, and she sighed and said, "Queen, if you continue to mess around like this, you want to put Da Ming in a catastrophe!" ”

Empress Zhou Zhengrong said, "The concubines believe that whether it is Your Majesty, the concubines, or the prince, they all want to make the Ming Dynasty perish, and they will never look forward to the demise of the Ming Dynasty." Now it is nothing more than that His Majesty thinks that Fang Yuan is a pillar of talent, and the concubines and princes think that Fang Yuan is a disaster to the country and the people, and the political views of the two sides are different. Your Majesty has been stubborn for seventeen years, and has never heard of a concubine once, this time it is a concubine begging Your Majesty, can you let go once and let the prince do it? ”

Chongzhen threw the book of canonization of Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong on the dragon case, and took another copy, which turned out to be the edict of Shi Kefa in Nanjing, Ma Shiying, the governor of Sanfu, Huang Degong, the deputy general soldier of Huizhou, Liu Liangzuo, the general soldier of Chizhou, and Zheng Zhilong of Fujian. Zheng Zhilong led the main naval division to the north to attack Fangyuan, and the other four routes also Chen soldiers bordered to respond to Zheng's offensive, and the five routes attacked Fangyuan together.

Chongzhen slowly let go of the recital, and sighed and said, "Queen, you can know that the Ming Dynasty is in a good situation today, and the horse is a great contribution." Otherwise, the Manchu Qing Dynasty would have entered the customs long ago, and the Liukou would have already approached Gyeonggi. The queen is now going to play with lackeys cooking, and the good bow hides that set, alas! The so-called unrighteous will kill himself, and those who harm others will suffer from it! ”

Empress Zhou smiled faintly and said, "Your Majesty! The concubines also knew that Fang Yuan had made great contributions to the Ming Dynasty. But as a courtier, no matter how great his meritorious service is, he is also a courtier, and he can't be arrogant about his merits, and he is still above the monarch's power! Fang Yuan is indeed a rare talent, and the concubines do not deny it, but His Majesty's favor to Fang Yuan is indeed too much, and he has long exceeded the etiquette system of monarchs and ministers. ”

"As the saying goes, the king wants his ministers to die, and the ministers have to die, if Fang Yuan is really loyal to the king, he should be arrested; If Fang Yuan wants to resist to the end, then it proves that he has a rebellious heart, and he is killing himself, isn't it? The concubine can promise to His Majesty, if Fang Yuan is willing to be captured, the concubine still regards him as Kunxing's concubine, and will only be gracious, never harmful. ”

She talked endlessly, Chongzhen listened to it is weak to fight back, the two have been a loving couple for seventeen years, and they have never had a real disagreement, and now the only difference is on the other party's original loyalty or not.

Now that Queen Zhou is in control of the overall situation and has the upper hand, she is still persuading her bitterly, fully respecting Chongzhen's dignity and face, what else can Chongzhen say to scold her?

Chongzhen handed over the jade seal in his arms with a dejected expression, threw it on the dragon case, and said with a long sigh, "Go!" Go ahead! One day, you will regret it. ”

Empress Zhou ordered the accompanying palace maids and eunuchs to accept the jade seal, and called the Jinyi guard to command Luo Yangxing, as well as the celebrant eunuch Wang Zhixin, and said in a deep voice, "You two heard clearly!" From this day forward, Your Majesty's meals will only be more than before, not less. Your Majesty can enter and leave any palace in the Forbidden City at will, and you must not stop it, otherwise you will be punished for a great crime of disrespect! Got it?! ”

Her will couldn't be clearer, in addition to Chongzhen, he couldn't leave the Forbidden City, he could move at will, and Luo Yangxing and Wang Xinxin were busy respectfully receiving the will.

After Luo Yangxing and Wang Zhixin left, Queen Zhou got up, helped Chongzhen up again, and said softly, "Your Majesty, you are also very bored these days, and the concubine will accompany you to the palace for a turn." In the future, the concubines will also move into the Qianqing Palace, and they will accompany Your Majesty day and night! ”