A month later, spring blossomed

Cao Huachun took the brocade guard, half threatening and half forced to ask the chief eunuch of the thirteen eunuchs in the inner court, whether he was leaving office or in office. A total of silver, real estate, and land were forcibly donated, equivalent to 5.5 million taels of silver.

Fang Yuan's forced donations in the past two or three months have raised a total of 16 million taels of silver, 1 million mu of land, and 5,000 real estates, and the results have far exceeded the 20 million taels of gambling agreement with Chongzhen.

Chongzhen saw the result of Fang Yuan's forced donation, what else could he say? Facts have proved that having Fang Yuan in charge of the world is far more efficient and honest than him. He was convinced. If he resists again, it will be the real shameful laugh, and he sighed, "Donkey, I really lost, I immediately issued an edict of abdication and appointed Zhu Cihuan as the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty." ”

Fang Yuan said solemnly, "Your Majesty, the Prince of Jianguo has arrived in the capital, and he has something to present to His Majesty." ”

At the same time that Fang Yuan was forcing donations in the capital, Zhu Cihuan, Xiaoyuan, and Chen Yuanyuan, who had stayed in Jiangnan before, also arrived in the capital.

Because the Manchu Qing Dynasty and Mongolia have not yet been pacified, for a long time in the future, Fang Yuan will still stay in the capital, planning the war in the northern Xinjiang, and will not return to the Fengyang Palace, so he will take over all the people in the Fengyang Palace.

Chongzhen hadn't seen Zhu Cihuan for eight or nine years, and immediately let Zhu Cihuan in.

When the father and son met, they first expressed their parting feelings, and Zhu Cihuan said respectfully, "With my father and the emperor here, my sons will never dare to steal the throne, and my sons are willing to remain the crown prince and serve their fathers." ”

Fang Yuan and Zhu Cihuan had already discussed in secret, but Zhu Cihuan insisted on not wanting to force Chongzhen to abdicate and sit on the throne of the emperor, and repeatedly resigned. Since Zhu Cihuan was unwilling in every way, it was impossible for Fang Yuan to force him to force Chongzhen to abdicate. Moreover, after Chongzhen returned to the palace from the coal mountain, he also lived in the harem and did not interfere in military and political affairs. But all the military and political twists and turns sent by Fang Yuan were all approved by Zhu Yuan, and there was no conflict with Fang Yuan.

In addition, Princess Kunxing is also blindly maneuvering, asking to retain Chongzhen's throne, after all, Chongzhen is also Fang Yuan's father-in-law, and he can't force him too much.

Moreover, now the court is surging with undercurrents. He forced the officialdom in the capital to offend all before, and if he forced Chongzhen to abdicate again, this movement would be too big, and it was estimated that it would not end well.

Whether it is public or private, it is impossible for Fang Yuan to forcibly ask Chongzhen to abdicate, and the matter can only be temporarily stopped.

Emperor Chongzhen knew that whether he was in power or Zhu Cihuan was in power, he was also a puppet emperor with no real power. At least Fang Yuan still has a lot of respect for him these days. Although the number of eunuchs and palace maids in the inner court was reduced, it did not deduct the previous annual cost of one million taels of silver from the inner court, and even allocated an additional 200,000 taels of silver to the inner court every year as an offering.

Moreover, Fang Yuan and the princess would come to the Qianqing Palace every day to meet Chongzhen and Queen Zhou, and occasionally stay to eat together, which can be said to be full of courtesy. is more humble and filial than Zhu Cihong's bastard before. The Xuanjia sergeant stationed in the palace also received Fang Yuan's strict order that he must treat Chongzhen like Fang Yuan, but if he neglected it, he would be punished according to the palace rules.

In this way, in addition to not having real military and political power, the emperor should be treated, and Chongzhen has it all, what else can he say? The resentment of the other party gradually dissipated.

Zhu Cihuan returned to the capital this time, and Chongzhen arranged him in the North Fifth Place, which was close to the West Sixth Palace, the special residence of the Ming Emperor.

After the situation in the capital stabilized, good news also came from the direction of Shanxi, Shanxi surrendered!

After Fang Yuan entered the capital, he not only worshiped Emperor Chongzhen according to the number of rituals, but also did not change the dynasty as Zhou Yuji expected, and still respected the orthodoxy of the Ming Dynasty.

After receiving the letter of persuasion sent by Fang Yuan, Zhou Yuji discussed with Cai Maode, the governor of Shanxi, and Jiang Bao, the general soldier of Datong, overnight, and was willing to give up resistance and lead the Shanxi army and people to surrender to Fang Yuan. The Jin army in Shanxi, the guards of Xuanfu and Datong were willing to accept Fang Yuan's adaptation.

The only condition for Jiang Pai, the general soldier of Datong, is to keep a personal army of 2,000 people. Jiang Jian has been a Datong general for generations, and the pro-soldiers under his command are actually mostly members of the Jiang family, that is, clan soldiers. In Fang Yuan's opinion, Jiang Bao's request to retain this clan soldier was quite reasonable, and besides, this kind of clan soldier was also tricky to change to someone to lead it. With 2,000 people, the other party could not pose any threat.

From the perspective of the overall situation, Fang Yuan agreed to Jiang Zhuang's surrender conditions.

Like a defeated rooster, Zhu Cihong was escorted back to the capital and temporarily locked up in Empress Zhou's Kunning Palace, awaiting the final punishment.

In the Qianqing Palace, Zhu Cihong knelt on the ground tremblingly, waiting for the final verdict. Those who participated in the announcement of the verdict were Chongzhen, Queen Zhou, and Fang Yuan.

The princess did not show up in the Qianqing Palace, because Zhu Cihong's feelings for her surpassed that of her brother and sister, so she could not avoid suspicion and never see Zhu Cihong again. Anyway, Fang Yuan had already accepted her and saved Zhu Cihong's life, so why did she make Fang Yuan unhappy again?

Chongzhen stared straight at Zhu Cihong, who was kneeling down in the hall, both angry and annoying. If it weren't for Zhu Cihong's indiscriminate tossing and turning for a few years, and with him coming forward to deal with Fang Yuan, the Beijing Imperial Court would not have been defeated so quickly and so miserably.

Zhu Cihong can be said to be the culprit!

But Chongzhen was angry, and some words could not be said in front of Fang Yuan, so he could only say coldly, "I, I have no opinion, let's deal with it according to the law of the Ming Dynasty!" ”

According to the law of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Cihong's usurpation of power is enough to destroy the three clans.

Zhu Cihong trembled with fright, knelt forward and pulled Chongzhen's dragon robe and said, "Father, spare your life!" Spare your life! ”

Chongzhen looked at this son begging for mercy coldly, and forgave him in his heart. But he couldn't open his mouth to admit it, because the decision on how to punish Zhu Cihong was actually in Fang Yuan's hands. Chongzhen is the emperor, Chrysostom Yinuo, if he opens his mouth to pardon Zhu Cihong, but Fang Yuan wants to put him to death, can Chongzhen keep Zhu Cihong? How should he, the emperor, step down?

Empress Zhou and his husband and wife were of the same heart, and they understood that if Chongzhen couldn't ask, she had to speak, so she looked at Fang Yuan and asked, "Don Ma, what do you think?!" ”

Fang Yuan and the princess had already reached a tacit understanding, Zhu Cihong could not die if he died, and the only thing to consider was where to exile Zhu Cihong.

Fang Yuan said lightly, "Zhu Cihong is a heinous crime, for the sake of him and His Majesty, the Queen Mother, and the princess of the same bloodline, the death penalty can be avoided, and the living crime is unforgivable!" ”

"Your Majesty, I suggest that it be announced to the public that the former crown prince Zhu Cihong committed the heinous crime of forcing his father and forcing the monarch and disregarding human life. abolished his position as the crown prince, changed his title to the prince, and went to Hangzhou West Lake to be a companion with Zhu Cizhi! ”

When Zhu Cihong heard that he was going to be exiled to West Lake, he cried loudly, "Father, mother, I don't want a prince, I don't want a fief, just stay in the capital, stay in the palace, and serve my father, emperor and mother." ”

Chongzhen and Empress Zhou were silent, they were a thousand people who were willing to stay in the capital, but Fang Yuan opened his mouth, and they were not against it!

Zhu Cihong knew who his life was in his hands, and he no longer embarrassed his father and mother, looked at Fang Yuan and knelt down, and cried, "Fang Yuan, we have been fighting for so many years, I hate you for robbing the imperial sister and robbing my father's trust, and your excellence makes me embarrassed." I lost and I don't want to fight you anymore! I just want to stay in the capital, stay in the palace, and I'd rather die than go to the south! ”

Fang Yuan looked at him silently for a while, thinking about it, the deep hatred between the two was too nonsensical, he only met a few times, and he didn't say a few words, he came to today's situation, and sighed, "Zhu Cihong, do you really want to stay in the capital?" OK! But if you want to personally make a letter of guilt, tell the world, and admit the previous charges of disloyalty, filial piety, and unkindness, I will allow you to stay in the palace in the capital. ”

Fang Yuan's move was to completely cut off Zhu Cihong's hope of a comeback, such a dismal former prince, who would make trouble under his guise again?

As long as Zhu Cihong's political life is cut off, what difference can he make whether he himself is dead or alive? Staying in the palace is just a walking corpse, so why bother killing them all?

Zhu Cihong hesitated for a while, but still agreed to Fang Yuan.

Self-destruct your future, self-destruct your future! After all these years of tossing, he also knew that he was two pounds, and he didn't want to, and he didn't dare to get involved in these power struggles, he just wanted to live quietly in the palace. If you can see your father, mother, and even your sister from time to time, you will be content.