Hong Chengchou hurriedly helped Zhu Cihong up, and said lightly, "Prince, I have thought of a chain plan that can deal with Fang Yuan. ”

Zhu Cihong asked, "Teacher, what is a serial scheme?" ”

Hong Chengchou smiled and said, "Fang Yuan's backer is Your Majesty, if you want to deal with Fang Yuan, you must first deal with Your Majesty, this is the first plan of the serial plan, and the bottom of the kettle will be drawn." ”

Zhu Cihong was taken aback and said in a lost voice, "Dealing with my father? Draw a salary from the bottom of the kettle? ”

Hong Chengchou looked at Zhu Cihong, his eyes were cold, and he said in a deep voice, "Since Your Majesty is based on personal preferences, and not on the Ming Dynasty, then you are not qualified to sit on that throne anymore, otherwise the world will be in chaos." ”

Zhu Cihong was taken aback, looked at Hong Chengchou blankly and said, "Mr. Hong, do you think, think, this is disloyalty, unfilial piety, and rebellion!" No way! Never! ”

Hong Chengchou said coldly, "Mencius said: 'A thief is a thief; Those who are righteous are called cruel. The thief is called a husband. I heard that a husband was punished, but I didn't hear of killing the king! 'Since Your Majesty has gone perverse, and the prince has replaced him, it is not disloyal and unfilial, but for the sake of heaven and the people! ”

Zhu Cihong still shook his head resolutely, and never agreed with Hong Chengchou's strategy of killing the monarch and killing his father.

Empress Zhou said slowly, "The prince is benevolent and filial, and he is a model of Mingjun." It is not necessary to kill the king and kill the father, so His Majesty will abdicate and be added to the emperor, and it is a double benefit to support him in the palace. ”

Zhu Cihong listened to this best of both worlds, his face was slightly gentle, and he took a few deep breaths and said, "Mr. Hong, the first and second assistants of the cabinet were all promoted by the emperor, how can you force the emperor to abdicate?" ”

Hong Chengchou said slowly, "Your Majesty favors the minister Fang Yuan, and acts perversely in Jiangnan, oppression and blackmail, and the people of Jiangnan are miserable, which has already aroused the dissatisfaction of the upright and loyal people of the Manchu Dynasty." If the queen and the crown prince ascend to the top and shout, the ministers will inevitably respond. What are the first assistants and second assistants, the prince is doing the right thing for the sky, and the two of them dare to go against the sky? This is the second plan offered by the minister to the prince, and the anti-guest is the main thing. ”

Zhu Cihong nodded again and again when he heard this, and Empress Zhou asked, "Mr. Hong, needless to say, the outer court, what about the inner court?" ”

Hong Chengchou smiled coldly, "The inner court is nothing more than the Jinyi Guard, and the eunuchs of the inner court." Since His Majesty ascended the throne, the factory guard has been abolished, and the Jinyi guard has long been without the power of the past, so how can Luo Yangxing sell his life? As for the eunuchs of the inner court, headed by the eunuch Wang Chengen, as long as he can get rid of this Wang Chengen first, and replace the eunuch with the queen and the prince, the inner court will not be afraid. ”

Zhu Cihong asked happily, "My father trusts Wang Chengen very much, how can he get rid of Wang Chengen?" ”

Hong Chengchou said, "This is the third plan in the serial plan, making something out of nothing, and at the court meeting three days later, we will abolish Wang Chengen." ”

Zhu Cihong said excitedly, "Okay, okay, teacher, tell me how to make something out of nothing?" ”

Hong Chengchou said, "The prince should leave the palace immediately now and go to see Zhou Kui, the national abbot, who will contact Jinyiwei to command Luo Yangxing, and a group of other Donglin parties who have been bullied and oppressed by Fang Yuan for a long time, and they will succeed in one fell swoop when preparing for the great court meeting." ”

Three days later

The Imperial Palace

All the officials above the fifth rank in the court have gathered together, the deposed prince Zhu Cihong, the abbot Zhou Kui is also among them, and the queen of Zhou is outside the imperial palace, quietly listening to the results of the court meeting.

Chongzhen had already ordered Wang Chengen to prepare an edict for the abolition of the crown prince and the abolition of the queen, and asked Wang Chengen to read it in public.

Wang Chengen read out the edict, and the court was silent, so quiet that it could be heard.

Chongzhen saw that everyone was still treated in silence, and looked at Wei Zaode and Chen Yan, "The first assistant of the cabinet, the second assistant, you can talk about it." ”

The first assistant Wei Zaode, and the second assistant Chen Yan can't judge the direction of the court's discussion, and it is even more about the abolition of the prince and the abolition of the queen, where do they dare to speak casually?

Zhou Kui, the national abbot, came out and said, "Your Majesty, what kind of mortal crime did the queen and the prince commit to abolish the queen and the prince?" ”

Chongzhen scolded sharply, "They actually conspired to poison the governor Fang Yuan and murder the ministers of the Ming Dynasty, and they acted perversely, shouldn't they be deposed?" ”

Zhou Kui said in a deep voice, "The real perverse is the governor Fang Yuan, the queen and the crown prince are removing a big harm for the Ming Dynasty!" ”

As soon as he said this, the Donglin Party ministers behind him, and even other scholars in the cabinet, and various ministers began to impeach Fang Yuan one by one.

"Your Majesty, Governor Fang Yuan killed the prefect in Jiangnan, commanded the envoys, and knew countless people, and the officials wanted to impeach Fang Yuan, abuse his power, and disregard the lives of the gentry, and should be executed by Ling Chi!"

"Your Majesty, Governor Fang Yuan privately changed the land tax and commercial tax, and wantonly embezzled millions of taels of silver, causing the household department to be unable to make ends meet, and the household department impeached Fang Yuan, and he should be executed by Ling Chi!"

"Your Majesty, the Xuanjia Army does not respect the military orders of the Ministry of War and the Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies, and it is revealed that the Ministry of War and the Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies jointly impeached Fang Yuan, and he should be executed by Ling Chi!"

"Your Majesty, Fang Yuan killed the entire clan of Qian Qianyi of the Donglin Party, and even colluded with the Liangshan thieves, Ling Chi was the former first assistant Zhou Yanru, Qian Qianyi and Zhou Yanru have gone to Beijing to file a complaint with the Criminal Department and the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and the Criminal Department and the Metropolitan Procuratorate jointly impeached Fang Yuan, who should be executed by Ling Chi!"

"Your Majesty, Fang Yuan, as the governor, actually crossed the Ministry of Rites to negotiate peace with the Manchus without authorization, and even transferred Liaodong, which belonged to the Ming Dynasty, to the Manchus, which is a shame and shame that my Ming Dynasty has not seen in hundreds of years! The Ministry of Rites impeached Fang Yuan, and he should be executed by Ling Chi! ”

"Your Majesty, Fang Yuan went to Jiangnan to collude with the Francois people, changed my Ming Dynasty's firearms system without authorization, privately made weapons, and ignored the sea ban order of the first emperor, and wantonly built huge ships in Jiangnan, costing the people and money, and the Ministry of Industry impeached Fang Yuan, who should be executed by Ling Chi!"

Chongzhen saw that the cabinet scholars and the six scholars came out to impeach Fang Yuan, his face was pale, and he was trembling with anger. But the crowd was angry, and he was helpless, so he could only look at the first assistant Wei Zaode and the second assistant Chen Yan as if asking for help, hoping that the two would come out and bring the wind direction.

Wei Zaode and Chen Yan saw that the crowd was angry, where did they dare to speak up, but they buried their heads and were silent.

Zhou Kui said sharply, "Your Majesty, Fang Yuan's crime is already exhausted, please issue an edict to arrest Fang Yuan, and then punish the crime according to law!" ”

It was originally a court meeting of the abolished queen and the abolished prince, but it evolved into a one-sided crusade against Fang Yuan by the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty, Chongzhen had no choice but to discuss the abolition of the queen and the abolition of the prince, so he could only get up and say, "I'm tired today, I'll discuss it another day!" ”

Zhou Kui rushed forward and stopped in front of Chongzhen, preventing him from leaving the Imperial Palace, "Your Majesty can't leave if you don't give the Manchu Dynasty a statement to the civil and military!" ”

Chongzhen glared angrily at Zhou Kui, who was blocking the way, and scolded sharply, "Bold! Dare to block my way, Wang Chengen, take him down! ”

Wang Chengen immediately summoned the eunuchs to arrest Zhou Kui, but Zhou Kui was protected by the excited officials, and the eunuchs couldn't take people, so they couldn't even arrest the ministers.

In the Imperial Palace, the scene was already very chaotic.

Zhou Kui continued to scold, "The minister also wants to impeach Wang Chengen, accept bribes from Fang Yuan, 30,000 taels of silver, countless jewels and jade, and should be killed with a cane!" ”

"Kill the remnants of the eunuch party who colluded with Fang Yuan, Wang Chengen!"

"Kill the remnants of the eunuch party who colluded with Fang Yuan, Wang Chengen!"

The emperor's palace was already shouting and shaking the sky, the ministers were like mad dogs, no matter how difficult the situation was to control, Chongzhen couldn't go, Wang Chengen was even more frightened and bloodless, stunned on the spot.

Chongzhen saw that the guards and eunuchs were helpless to take these ministers, so he was angry, staring straight at the guards on the side of the palace, and the motionless Jinyi Guard commanded Luo Yangxing, "Jinyi Guard, take people!" ”

Luo Yangxing stood up unhurriedly, and said, "Your Majesty, the minister also wants to impeach Fang Yuan, and raised 3,000 Jinyi guards in Jiangnan to oppress the people, making the people afraid like tigers, ruining the reputation of Jinyiwei, and should be executed by Ling Chi!" ”

Chongzhen saw that even Jinyiwei couldn't command, so he realized the seriousness of the current situation, and his eyes fell on the prince.

Chongzhen took a deep breath and finally understood the chaos of today's court meeting, and the real mastermind behind it was Queen Zhou, who should have been deposed, and the crown prince Zhu Cihong.

What is really waiting to be slaughtered at the moment is not Zhou Hou and the prince, but Chongzhen himself. If you continue to be tough, the consequences will be unimaginable, and you can only appease the emotions of the ministers first, and then make a plan.

Chongzhen slowly sat back on the dragon chair and straightened up, "Okay, since Zhu Qing impeached Fang Yuan together, Fang Yuan must have something to blame." But Fang Yuan is far away in the south of the Yangtze River, so he can't startle the snake, so as not to change. Zhu Qing temporarily handed over the fold, and after reviewing the original crime, he would be arrested. ”

Zhou Kui said unrelentingly, "Fang Yuan can be secretly arrested, what about Wang Chengen, who colluded with Fang Yuan?" It must be punished by the law of the country! ”

The ministers shouted in unison, demanding that the celebrant and eunuch Wang Chengen who colluded with Fang Yuan be severely punished.

Wang Chengen was so frightened that he knelt in front of Chongzhen and begged for mercy again and again.

Under the anger of the public, Chongzhen is now difficult to protect himself, where can he protect Wang Chengen? He said dejectedly, "Okay, Wang Chengen colluded with Fang Yuan, and the evidence of the crime is conclusive, but he is loyal to me, and he will be spared imprisonment, and he will be demoted to Nanjing on the same day, and he will never be allowed to enter the capital." ”

Zhou Kui and the ministers originally intended to deal with Wang Chengen strictly, seeing Chongzhen's painless punishment, they were about to make trouble again, but they were stopped by the crown prince Zhu Cihong, "Since the father has punished Wang Chengen, Zhuqing should not force him too much, otherwise what is the difference between rebellion?" ”

Guozhang Zhou Kui, a member of the Cabinet University, and the six Shangshu said in unison, "The prince is benevolent and filial!" ”

Chongzhen glanced at the crown prince Zhu Cihong, supported by Wang Chengen, and staggered back to the Qianqing Palace step by step.

Zhu Cihong saw Chongzhen's depressed expression, as well as his staggering back, he couldn't hold back his laughter in his heart, his father, who was usually high and seemed to be omnipotent, didn't expect that under his own counterattack, he was so fragile and vulnerable, and his tall and majestic image collapsed in an instant!

Imperial power is truly fascinating and magical!