The East Palace of the capital

As soon as the crown prince Zhu Cihong received a letter of accusation from the people of Huai'an Mansion handed over by Zhu Yihai, he immediately ordered the cabinet to come to discuss countermeasures.

The 'heaven and earth net' that Hong Chengchou, the deputy assistant of the cabinet, had arranged against Fang Yuan before, but finally returned with a dismal ending, and Zhu Cihong was annoyed and angry.

The spies who were arranged in the palace continued to provide information about the palace to the capital, so the capital knew the situation of Fang Yuan well and used it very easily. Now this spy has disappeared out of thin air for Hong Chengchou's failed plan, and Zhu Cihong has always been obsessed.

After this incident, Zhu Cihong's trust in Hong Chengchou is no longer as deep as before. Otherwise, for this kind of high-stakes case, Zhu Cihong should have discussed it privately with Hong Chengchou before he could go to the court to discuss it. Now Zhu Cihong directly convened a cabinet meeting, and Hong Chengchou did not get the slightest news in advance.

The previous Zhu Cihong was under the care of his mother, Queen Zhou, and he was slightly restrained. Today's Queen Zhou is extremely disappointed with Zhu Cihong, and she no longer cares about the government and goes back to the harem to take care of Chongzhen. Zhu Cihong is like a wild horse that has escaped from the leash, and no one can control it.

Zhu Cihong ordered the cabinet scholars to circulate the blood letter of 10,000 people, and asked slowly, "Everyone, let's discuss it!" How to punish this Gao Jie, Gao Zongbing. ”

Gao Jie slaughtered 70,000 or 80,000 unarmed civilians and plundered 50,000 young women in Huai'an Province, a crime that would be a heinous felony in any dynasty.

Shoufu Zhang Guowei came out and asked, "His Royal Highness the Prince, Gao Jie's behavior of losing his conscience is the anger of people and gods, and he must be severely punished, otherwise where is the law and discipline of the Ming Dynasty?!" ”

Zhu Cihong squinted his eyes slightly, and said leisurely, "Elder Zhang Ge, where are the people killed by Mr. Gao?" It's the people of Huai'an Mansion! The king of Huai'an Mansion Lu attached himself to Fang Yuan, and the people of Huai'an Mansion naturally also had the crime of implication. This palace believes that although Gao Zongbing's move is a little cruel and a small mistake, it is not a common anger of people and gods, and he has lost his conscience. ”

Zhang Guowei looked at Zhu Cihong in surprise, he really couldn't figure out how this kind of words could come from the mouth of a prince of the prison country, and immediately retorted, "Your Royal Highness the Prince, aren't the people of Huai'an Mansion the people of the Ming Dynasty?" Gao Jie's massacre of 70,000 or 80,000 people in the Ming Dynasty was just a small mistake?! ”

Zhu Cihong was confronted by him, and said unhappily, "Elder Zhang Ge, I am also full of history books. In the Anshi Rebellion, the people of Luoyang who supported the Anshi rebels, or were they not the people of the Tang Dynasty? The Tang Dynasty agreed to the Uighurs to plunder Luoyang, why not burn and loot?! Now is a troubled time, there is a way to go in troubled times, Gao Zongbing is our fierce general, he cut off his arm before the war, and it is in the heart of the original side, everything should be in power! ”

Zhang Guowei argued with no reason, "His Royal Highness the Prince! The so-called those who win the hearts of the people win the world, just because it is a troubled era, it is necessary to win the hearts of the people! Look at Fang Yuan in the south of the Yangtze River, how did he punish the generals of the army who corrupted military rations and caused the people to starve to death? That's still an unintentional mistake, and Gao Jie is a slaughter with a clear knife and a gun! ”

The expression on Zhu Cihong's face became more and more cold, and he said coldly, "Elder Zhang Ge, whoever wins the hearts of the people wins the world, but he is prevaricating and perfunctory to the outside world. Let me ask you, can the so-called popular will quell the Jiangnan rebellion? Can the so-called people's will exterminate the rogue gangsters? Can the so-called popular will defeat the Manchus? You and I are in the court, so don't talk about it, don't talk about it! ”

Zhang Guowei was shocked when he heard this, looked at Zhu Cihong who was high up and talked about everything, and asked rhetorically, "Does His Royal Highness the Crown Prince really think that the people in the world can do without it?!" ”

Zhu Cihong said in a deep voice, "Elder Zhang Ge, this palace will say again, the troubled times rely on swords and guns, not the people's hearts!" Gao Jie is a fierce general in the army, how can he cut off his arm because he killed tens of thousands of enemy people?! It's ridiculous! ”

Zhang Guowei was already extremely depressed, in his opinion, this prince of the prison country was a mud who couldn't support the wall, and looked back at the other cabinet scholars in a gloomy manner, all of them were silent to protect themselves.

Zhang Guowei took off the official hat on his head, and fell to the ground with the plate wat in his hand, and scolded sharply, "Since the court is so unkind, it is even more ridiculous for me to be the first assistant of this cabinet!" ”

He made his resignation clear, turned around and walked outside the main hall.

Zhu Cihong's authority was seriously provoked, and he stood up sharply and angrily reprimanded, "Bold! Zhang Guowei, the court is your backyard, you can leave if you want?! Come! Take down Zhang Guowei, who is attached to the opposing party! ”

The five brocade guards immediately rushed forward, pushed Zhang Guowei to the ground, and dragged him back.

Hong Chengchou didn't want to speak, but when he saw that the prince was getting more and more excessive, he hurriedly stood up and persuaded, "Your Royal Highness the prince, although Elder Zhang Ge has rhetoric, it has nothing to do with rebellion. The crown prince Chrysostom said that he can't talk nonsense! ”

Zhu Cihong glared at Hong Chengchou fiercely, and scolded angrily, "Teacher, there are no rules, there are no rules, today I will let these cabinet scholars take a look, what are the rules!" Since my father retired to the deep palace to recuperate, no one has beaten them with a court staff, right? Today, I will stick this Zhang Guowei to set an example. ”

"Jin Yiwei, call me!"

The three brocade guards pressed Zhang Guowei, lifted their official uniforms, and were about to start the public court staff.

When several scholars and scholars in the cabinet saw such a scene, they were so frightened that they looked at each other, and none of them dared to stand up and speak.

Hong Chengchou still reluctantly stopped in front of Zhang Guowei, and tried his best to stop him, "His Royal Highness the Prince, once the court cane Zhang Ge Lao, it will chill the hearts of hundreds of civil and military officials!" Now that Fang Yuan is aggressive, the court must not fight among himself anymore! ”

Zhu Cihong said coldly, "Teacher, I just believed in your plan before, and as a result, not only did I not behead Fang Yuan, but I also lost a spy from my East Palace. I don't think the teacher was held accountable for the teacher's fault in the relationship between the teacher and the student, and this time, the teacher should not come out again! ”

Hong Chengchou saw that Zhu Cihong failed with the plan and died a spy to talk about things, and he was stunned without the slightest respect from the students, so he could only try his best to persuade him, "Your Royal Highness the Prince, the dispute between us and Fang Yuan is not only a battle for the battlefield, but also a battle for the hearts of the people. Can Gao Jie stay, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince can go back to the palace to consult His Majesty, and then make a decision after the queen's mother! ”

When Zhu Cihong saw that he was not as good as his father Chongzhen and Queen Zhou, Zhu Cihong was so angry that he couldn't care about the face of the teachers and students, and reprimanded angrily, "Teacher, if my father can judge who is right and who is wrong, the Battle of Songjin will not send a teacher, right!" ”

Hong Chengchou was stunned on the spot when he heard his ridicule, the battle of Songjin was Hong Chengchou's most taboo fiasco, but now Zhu Cihong openly exposed his scars in the court, where is there still a little friendship between teachers and students between the two sides?

Hong Chengchou's gaze met that of Zhu Cihong, the student, and the muscles on his face twitched slightly. After a long time, he finally sighed and said, "Yes, His Royal Highness the Prince, I am ashamed to be a teacher!" ”

Hong Chengchou retreated stupidly and didn't intervene again.

"Bang Bang!"

Without Hong Chengchou's obstruction, Jinyiwei began to continue with Zhang Guowei. The sound of the cane came down suddenly, and Zhang Guowei gritted his teeth and said nothing. Everyone in the cabinet was also silent, just lowered their eyes and waited for the end of the court staff.

Two quarters of an hour later, the fifty court staff was finally finished, and the Jinyi guard dragged Zhang Guowei, who had fainted to death, Zhu Cihong looked around and said in a cold voice, "You scholars have heard clearly, it is the palace that is in charge of the country now, not the father and the queen mother, and whoever has no rules in the court in the future will be punished the same as Zhang Guowei!" ”

Seeing that all the cabinet scholars stopped talking, he thought that the king's authority had shocked everyone, so he said slowly, "I will send an edict to the Shandong Governor's Mansion for me, and inform Gao Jie that although he is guilty, this palace allows him to make meritorious contributions to his crimes, so that he must kill more enemies and repay Jun's grace!" ”

The scholars of the cabinet were all silent, only the master of ceremonies and eunuchs Wang Zhixin respectfully responded, "Yes, the old slave immediately passed the decree, if you don't play, you will retire!" ”