Capital

Qianqing Palace

After Sun Chuanting was killed in battle, and Zheng Sen fled back to Tianjin, Shandong had already fallen.

Zhu Cihong, the crown prince of the prison state, has been restless for half a year, and he also sent Wu Sangui's Guanning Iron Cavalry to support. But Wu Sangui obviously focused on preserving his strength, and he was also responding to the story of rushing to Shandong, and only sent a mere 20,000 Xuanning iron horsemen. And in the Jinan battlefield, he also sat on the mountain to watch the tiger fight, and only fought two battles with the Xuanjia Iron Cavalry, and then Mingjin withdrew his troops.

As soon as Shandong was lost, the entire Gyeonggi was completely exposed to the Xuanjia Army. The Gyeonggi area was already full of rumors, and people were panicking, and there were rumors that Fang Yuan would attack Gyeonggi immediately, and there were even rumors that Tianjin Wei had fallen.

In order to strengthen the defense of Gyeonggi, Zhu Cihong immediately ordered Zhou Yuji's Jin army to stop attacking Tongguan and led the army to Gyeonggi to set up defenses to resist the offensive of the Xuanjia army.

After Zhou Yuji got the military order, he was still able to distinguish the priorities of Gyeonggi and Tongguan, and immediately arranged for 10,000 Jin troops to camp in the dangerous place between Tongguan and Hangu Pass, and blocked the Qin army in Tongguan, so he led 70,000 Jin troops to rush to Hejian Mansion, the gateway from Shandong to Gyeonggi, to garrison, which was regarded as guarding this southern gate for the imperial court.

Zhu Cihong once convened the cabinet in the East Palace, the six Shangshu, and the governors of the five military governors' mansions to come to the East Palace to discuss matters. However, Hong Chengchou, the first assistant of the cabinet, and most of the other scholars said that they were ill, and only Xie Sheng came to the cabinet.

And the only remaining four governors of the Five Military Governors' Mansion, only Zhou Kui came. Zhou Yuji was angry that the prince of the prison state did not save Shandong when he saw death, sat back and watched Sun Chuanting perish, and lied about consolidating the military situation in Hejian Mansion and did not come to the capital. Zheng Sen knew that Zhu Cihong had lost the morale of the army and the people, and he was going to gossip, so he said that he was sick and stayed in Tianjinwei, and only appointed Liu Guoxuan as a representative to listen to the instructions. Wu Sangui rescued Shandong this time, so he responded to the story, worried that he would be punished by the imperial court when he returned to the capital, so he asked his father Wu Xiang to attend on behalf of him under the pretext that the Manchu Qing Dynasty's movements were unknown.

Cabinet scholars, six scholars, five military governors, and even the teacher Hong Chengchou are all resisting the perverse prince Zhu Cihong, Zhu Cihong has become a lonely person, scared him at a loss, could it be that his grandfather Zhou Kui, Jinyiwei, and a few eunuchs can keep the Xuanjia Army out?

He hesitated in the East Palace alone for three days, but decided to move a rescuer, and his mother, Empress Zhou, came out to preside over the overall situation.

Kunning Palace

Although Empress Zhou did not listen to the government of the previous dynasty, the eunuchs and palace maids in the palace would report information to her every ten days, especially after the start of the Shandong Campaign, and it was stipulated that they must report every day.

She had already received the major military information lost in Shandong, as well as the news that the cabinet and the Governor's Office of the Five Armies had boycotted the previous dynasty. This unruly son came to visit at this time, needless to say, since the overall situation of the government was out of control, he came to her for help.

When Chongzhen was forced back to the harem, the general trend of the world was still promising; Even when she retreated to the harem, the five major governors of the Ming Dynasty still brought more than 500,000 armor, and if they could work together, Fang Yuan would never be able to cross the Jianghuai defense line and threaten the security of Gyeonggi. Not to mention the unification of the whole country, it is completely possible to maintain the momentum of the three kingdoms.

But after two years of Zhu Cihong's indiscriminate tossing, the situation has collapsed, and Fang Yuan's forces are so huge that they can start a war with the imperial court and Li Zicheng at the same time, and they can also capture Shandong and force Sun Chuanting to death. Now that the matter has come to this, what else can Queen Zhou do?

It is absolutely impossible for the Ming Dynasty to rely on military defense to continue to attack Gyeonggi, and the only way to solve the dilemma is to force Fang Yuan to retreat through the political level, not to force the court too much, and the two sides return to the negotiating table.

Since Fang Yuan played the banner of the Qing monarch, the only one who could force Fang Yuan to retreat slightly was the emperor who was justified in the name of the Ming Dynasty, and the Chongzhen Emperor who had the grace of knowing the situation. Only by supporting Chongzhen to reset the throne again, and Chongzhen going to deal with Fang Yuan, can he solve the current crisis.

But Chongzhen hates the prince to the core, how to resolve the dislike between their father and son? !

Empress Zhou did not let the prince enter Kunning Palace, but personally went to the Qianqing Palace where Emperor Chongzhen was located, and ordered the prince to go to the Qianqing Palace in person to apologize to Chongzhen.

Qianqing Palace

East Warm Pavilion

"Bang Bang!"

"Father, the child is young and ignorant, he doesn't know the height of the sky, and he was instigated by Hong Chengchou to commit a mortal crime, please forgive my father!"

The crown prince Zhu Cihong has been kowtowing to Chongzhen to ask for guilt, and he is also praying for Chongzhen's forgiveness.

Chongzhen's face was gloomy, staring straight at the prince who kowtowed and asked for sin, without saying a word.

Empress Zhou saw that Zhu Cihong had kowtowed nearly a hundred times, and his head was already bleeding, Chongzhen seemed to still be angry, and hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, no one is at fault, since the prince knows that he is wrong, please forgive His Majesty for his crimes." ”

Chongzhen was under house arrest for five years, and his anger was nowhere to vent, so he slammed the wine glass on the ground, "Okay, this rebel son tried to kill his father and the king, and he should have been executed by Ling Chi." I gave him a glass of wine to kill himself, which is the greatest forgiveness. ”

When Zhu Cihong heard that he was going to give wine, his face turned pale with fright, and he fainted.

Empress Zhou wiped her tears and said, "Your Majesty, King Yong was driven crazy by Fang Yuan, King Wu Yue was placed under house arrest by Fang Yuan, the crown prince is already His Majesty's only son, if he is killed again, how can the Ming Dynasty continue for thousands of years, ten thousand years?!" ”

Chongzhen glared at her angrily and said, "Fang Yuan has hit the doorstep, the Ming Dynasty is about to change hands, where did it come from for a thousand years, ten thousand years?!" This rebel has tossed my Ming Dynasty to pieces, and he doesn't deserve to die?! ”

Queen Zhou listened to Chongzhen's words and judged that Fang Yuan was going to usurp the Ming Dynasty, and she was overjoyed, as long as Chongzhen resolutely did not negotiate peace with Fang Yuan, she and the prince's life might be saved, and she knelt in front of Chongzhen and said, "Your Majesty, Fang Yuan's disaster is not from Your Majesty, the prince and I really can't fight Fang Yuan, but we also do our best for the Ming Dynasty." If Your Majesty kills the prince with wine at this time, isn't he making his relatives and enemies happy?! ”

Chongzhen knew that if he hadn't connived at Fang Yuan at the beginning, gave Fang Yuan almost unlimited power, and ordered him to govern Jiangnan, he would never have today's disaster. To investigate the fault, it should first be Chongzhen's own fault.

Chongzhen was ashamed and angry, and raised his hand to give Queen Zhou a slap, but he couldn't bear to do it. No matter what wrong things this woman has done, at least over the years, she has not only not killed the king, but has also been protecting Chongzhen, and has fulfilled the responsibility of a wife and a queen.

As Empress Zhou said, now that the enemy is at the head, the muzzle of the gun must be unanimous to the outside world. As for Zhu Cihong, a rebel, wait for the overall situation to stabilize before dealing with him.

Chongzhen slowly withdrew his hand and sat back on the dragon couch in the Dongnuan Pavilion, his demeanor was still the demeanor of an emperor who ruled the world, his eyes were bright, and he said coldly, "Queen, the cabinet and the Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies promised me to regain my throne?!" ”

Empress Zhou said in a deep voice, "Your Majesty's return to the throne is the destiny of heaven, and whoever refuses to allow it will be a rebellious minister and thief!" ”

Chongzhen nodded heavily, and said word by word, "Fang Zhenghua, immediately draft a decree for me, send an order to the cabinet scholars, the six scholars, the five military governors, and the governors of the five armies, and in half a month, come to the Qianqing Palace to discuss matters!" ”