A month later, Chongzhen sent Fang Zhenghua to officially inform Fang Yuan, and he would drive the expedition in person and go south to Jinan Mansion with Zhou Yuji's 3,000 Jin troops to discuss with Fang Yuan.

Zhou Yuji was going to send more men and horses to escort him, but Chongzhen refused, this time it was a peace talk, not a war, and there was no need to bring so many people. What's more, if you really want to fight, the 70,000 Jin army is not the opponent of the Xuanjia Army.

Zhou Yuji could only select the elite of the 3,000 Jin army to accompany Chongzhen to the south, and gather 50,000 Jin troops at the junction of Hejian Mansion and Jinan Mansion.

The meeting place was set in Pingyuan County, Jinan Province, which was not only under the jurisdiction of Fangyuan, but also close to Hejian Province in Gyeonggi, and could be accepted at any time, making it an acceptable meeting place for both parties.

The two sides brought 3,000 soldiers and horses to Pingyuan County, and the rest of the army could only wait for 300 miles away.

Chongzhen brought the new celebrant eunuch Fang Zhenghua on this trip, accompanied by Hong Chengchou, the first assistant to the cabinet.

Fang Yuan set up a grand banquet outside Pingyuan County to entertain Chongzhen, and when Chongzhen arrived, he was dressed in a regent dress embroidered with nine pythons, and he had already personally brought Jing Jie to greet him.

Fang Yuan arrived in front of Chongzhen, an old father-in-law, a son-in-law, a king, and a minister, who had not met for five years since the Forbidden City parted ways.

Chongzhen is over forty years old, and his face has become more and more vicissitudes; And Fang Yuan is also over thirty years old, and he is more mature and capable than before. People are still the two people before, but the power has long since changed over time, and there has been a quiet reversal.

Fang Yuan saw Chongzhen with his own eyes, and a thousand past events came to his mind, his eyes were tearful and he knelt on the ground, and saluted Chongzhen respectfully, "Your Majesty, the minister Fang Yuan pays a visit to Your Majesty!" The minister has been looking forward to seeing His Majesty day and night, and now he has finally got what he wanted, and he is very lucky! ”

According to Chongzhen's previous personal promise, Fang Yuanmian did not need to kneel, but he still performed a half-kneeling ceremony, which can be regarded as respect for Chongzhen.

Chongzhen saw that he was not domineering, but instead knelt down and saluted himself, and even said warm words, his nose was sour, and he hurriedly helped him up, "Don't be too polite, let's be even!" ”

Fang Yuan got up and walked side by side with Chongzhen to the banquet, chattering about family life.

"Pony, why didn't my precious princess come?!"

"Your Majesty, because of the suddenness of the incident, the princess did not come to greet you."

"Did the princess add two granddaughters to me? Is there a ban? ”

"It's sealed, it's all the county lord!"

"What does the county lord do? The princess is my daughter, and the concubine is also the prince of the Ming Dynasty, how can my granddaughter be the lord of the county, and she must be crowned a princess. ”

According to the gift of the vassal king, the princess and the daughter of the vassal king can only be the county lord, but Chongzhen directly named the princess, and directly called Fang Yuan the prince. The implication in the words is that he recognizes the identity of the prince of Fang Yuan, and he is not an ordinary vassal king, but the prince of the Ming royal family, and Chongzhen himself is a family.

Fang Yuan responded silently, and the two went directly to the banquet outside the city.

With Fang Yuan's arrangement, the two of them should have been seated according to the monarch and minister, but Chongzhen said unexpectedly, "Today is a family banquet, not a banquet for monarchs and ministers. ”

The monarch and the ministers sat on the same chair, which was a great gift in any case, and Chongzhen ordered a new chair to be added, which was on the side of his dragon chair.

Chongzhen's kindness to him at this time was too great, and the conditions that he asked him to agree to would inevitably be more difficult to refuse. Chongzhen played the technique of saluting first and then soldiers to the extreme, which made Fang Yuan feel uncomfortable, but he still sat noncommittal.

Chongzhen first said a lot of high-sounding clichés to everyone, raised his wine glass and drank with everyone, and then said to Fang Yuan, "Don't you have time to see me?" ”

Fang Yuan coughed embarrassedly and said, "The Western Front is raging with thieves, and the Prince of Jianguo is directing logistics in Nanjing to support the military affairs at the front, and he has not yet arrived. ”

Chongzhen was slightly stunned when he heard the words Prince of the Prison Country, but he still smiled and said, "Horse, the name of the Prince of the Prison Country is not good, what is the name of the Prison Country?" Today's prince is perverse and unworthy of reigning in the world. King Wu Yue should be the prince of the Ming Dynasty and inherit the Ming Dynasty in the future. ”

He Chrysostom promised to abolish Zhu Cihong's position as the crown prince and re-establish Zhu Cihuan as the crown prince, which was also a compromise with Fang Yuan, which made Fang Yuan feel at ease. Of course, in Fang Yuan's view, Chongzhen promised to canonize Zhu Cihuan as the crown prince in public, and there was also a discord between Fang Yuan and Zhu Cihuan's thoughts of master and apprentice.

Since Chongzhen, as his father, has promised to let Zhu Cihuan inherit the crown prince and inherit the throne in the future, what reason does Zhu Cihuan have to be the prince of the prison country? If Zhu Cihuan's mind changed, who would Fang Yuan's Void Monarch Reality System play with?

Chongzhen's trick is really spicy, and these years of house arrest have not only not made Chongzhen decadent, but have reduced Chongzhen's previous anger and become more sleek and sophisticated.

Fang Yuan barely squeezed out a smile, got up respectfully and arched his hand, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, the Acting Prince of the Prison Country, Your Majesty Longen." ”

He still insisted that Zhu Cihuan was the prince of Jianguo, not the king of Wuyue, nor the prince of the Ming Dynasty.

How could Chongzhen not hear the words in Fang Yuan's words, a trace of displeasure flashed in his eyes, and then he said, "The name of the regent of the horse is not good, the horse is the pillar of the Ming Dynasty, why is it called the regent?" I think that the horse should manage the military and political affairs of the Ming Dynasty in a dignified manner! I ascended the throne for twenty-three years, and I wanted to be a Ming monarch, but I caused chaos in the world, and there were many wanderers, all relying on the horses to fight in the south and the north over the years, and pulled the Ming Dynasty back from the edge of the cliff. ”

"I can't even discipline a prince well, how can I govern the world? I named the horse as the auxiliary king of the Ming Dynasty, officially reorganized the Ming cabinet, and the title of the auxiliary king was hereditary and replaced, and the Ming Dynasty was assisted from generation to generation! ”

Although there is only a difference between the two words of the regent and the auxiliary king, the connotations they represent are completely different. One is the head of the military and government under the system of virtual monarchy, and the other is the minister under the monarchy.

Chongzhen withheld this word, asking Fang Yuan to give up the virtual monarchy reality system and return to the category of monarchy. As long as Fang Yuan agrees to return to the monarchy, Chongzhen will hand over the military and political affairs of the Ming Dynasty to Fang Yuan, and Fang Yuan will still be the first minister of the Ming Dynasty above 10,000 people under one person.

Fang Yuan knew Chongzhen's thoughts, and with his power, asking him to return the power in his hands was basically a fool's dream. The Great Tomorrow was pulled back by Fang Yuan from the edge of the cliff, and Chongzhen did not expect to be able to regain the lost military power of the Ming Dynasty from Fang Yuan.

However, as long as it is still under the monarchy, as long as the capital of the Ming Dynasty is still in Beijing, it has not moved south. The power of this generation of the Ming royal family is lost, and the next generation of the Ming emperor can also take it back from Fang Yuan's son and grandson. If the virtual monarch reality system is implemented, the military and political center of the Ming Dynasty will go south, and the power lost by the Ming Emperor will be completely gone.

Chongzhen's all the co-optation and forbearance of Fang Yuan is to reserve a hope of seizing power for the future of the Ming royal family, a trace of Zhongxing's light.

Fang Yuan had to admit that Chongzhen's compromise with him this time had reached the extreme that the feudal emperor could retreat. is even willing to hand over all the military power, and only needs to put on the name of the emperor, which is even smaller than the power of Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty. If you take a step back, the only thing left is to change the dynasty.

Chongzhen's proposal of this generous condition really forced Fang Yuan into a corner where there was no way to retreat. If Fang Yuan was unwilling to even agree to this condition, what could it be other than a rebellious minister and thief who wanted to usurp the Ming Dynasty?!

Chongzhen looked at Fang Yuan with a smile on his face, still so kind and pleasant, but he was aggressive, asking Fang Yuan to give him an explanation to the whole world, whether he was a powerful minister of the Ming Dynasty or a chaotic minister and thief of the Ming Dynasty!

Fang Yuan suddenly realized that this time he had really met an old and strong old man, perhaps he was indeed not as strong as the soldiers of the Xuanjia Army militarily, but the political offensive made it difficult for him to parry.