Since the founding of Hongwu, the Ming Dynasty has been in accordance with the patriarchal principle of "primogeniture inheritance" to deal with the affairs of the imperial family. That is, only the eldest son of the emperor can inherit the throne, as the legal heir of the great sect, and the rest can only be crowned as kings and be vassal in other places. If the descendants of the clan have no children, they can inherit as concubines. Considering the childless situation of the large family, Zhu Yuanzhang also made a special supplementary explanation. "If there is no child in the court, the brother must be the last brother, and the one born to the mother-in-law must be established, and the one born to the mother-in-law cannot be established even if it grows up."

Coupled with the Yixing Emperor Zhu Cihong, the Ming Dynasty has now had 17 emperors, six of whom have never been established as princes, and are the eldest sons of the vassal king and the emperor to succeed to the unification, which is largely due to the fact that the emperors of the Ming Dynasty have thin heirs, such as the Zhengde Emperor, etc., that is, there are no heirs, and they have to enter the heirs by collateral, and even if they have children, they are not descendants. It can be said that Zhu Yuanzhang's considerations may not be able to cover the reality of later generations. In the Ming Dynasty, the successive princes failed to strictly follow the patriarchal principle of the primogeniture inheritance system, which caused many disputes due to the issue of establishing princes, and indirectly caused chaos in the government.

As the Tang Dynasty's lineage, it is already far from the royal family's bloodline, so it can be said that in order of order, the order of Tang King Zhu Yujian's inheritance status must be at least ten outside. If the name is not correct, the eyes are smooth, and in history, Zhu Yujian and Zhu Yihai, the king of Lu, caused the consumption of the internal strength of the Southern Ming Dynasty because of the succession problem, and missed the opportunity of the Northern Expedition. The clan jurisprudence seems to be empty, but its impact on various strata such as scholars, people, and industry and commerce is quite far-reaching.

With this point, Zhu Ping'an also had to put a little more thought into arranging and planning the overall situation. Now, the descendants of Shenzong are withering, and there are powerful and qualified vassal kings in various places, such as King Gui, King Zhou, King Lu, King Lu and others, who are either dead or imprisoned, it can be said that Zhu Ping'an helped Zhu Yujian clear a series of obstacles and opponents to ascend the throne. But he himself had to face the constraints and challenges of the patriarchal law that his eldest son was the prince.

In fact, according to Zhu Ping'an's current strength, he controls Shandong, Huaiyang, and northeast Henan, and also controls the four guards of Jinzhou, and the elite army under his command has reached 100,000 people, so he can completely put aside his father and rely on strong soldiers to ascend to the throne. But the series of effects brought about by this can no longer be thought about.

The Manchu Qing Dynasty occupied most of Liaodong and Gyeonggi and Shanxi, and its army had reached more than 200,000. The Shun army also occupied most of Shaanxi, Henan and Huguang, with a strength of about 400,000, but its combat strength was not as good as before. In addition, Zhang Xianzhong, who occupied Sichuan as the king, controlled the army of about 200,000. Just talking about these foreign enemies, Zhu Ping'an was not completely sure that he would be able to defeat them at this time.

There are also these governors of the Ming Dynasty, although they all belong to the Ming Dynasty in name, but their people have their own thoughts. Zheng Zhilong of Fujian, Yuan Jixian of Jiangxi, He Tengjiao of Huguang, Wu Zhaoyuan and Mu Tianbo of Yunnan, and Qu Shiyun, the governor of Guangxi, who has always supported the Guiwang lineage, and so on.

If Zhu Ping'an ascends to the throne by force, will these governors willingly join him? The answer is clearly no. If the name of the ascension is not right, sooner or later there will be a backlash. Rather than this, it is better to do things more safely, Tang King Zhu Yujian took over the throne, and it is also Zhu Ping'an's best choice at the moment.

Now what gives Zhu Ping'an the most headache is the position of this prince. originally thought that with Emperor Chongzhen's recognition and return to his ancestors, as well as his immortal exploits in Zhu Yujian's ascension to the throne, Zhu Yujian would always consider his position as the prince, but now it seems that Zhu Ping'an has to admit that he overestimated his position in Zhu Yujian's heart.

Lu Zhenfei came to Nanjing in a hurry, and eagerly met Zhu Ping'an in the middle of the night, also for this reason. If Zhu Linyuan becomes the crown prince, then Zhu Ping'an can only become a vassal king, a vassal king with heavy troops, he will definitely not be tolerated by the imperial court in the future, is it possible to follow Zhu Di's old path? This is obviously unrealistic.

Therefore, Lu Zhenfei's opinion is that no matter what means are used, the position of the prince must be taken down and grasped in his hands no matter what.

But now, the meeting between Zhu Yujian and Zhu Ping'an has obviously shown Zhu Yujian's inner thoughts, the position of the prince in his mind belongs to the youngest son Zhu Linyuan, and what stands in front of Zhu Ping'an is the identity of a concubine.

In the past few days, the Zheng family has sent people to make a big fuss in the city of Nanjing, creating a lot of rumors, pointing the finger at Zhu Ping'an, the content is nothing more than that Zhu Ping'an is the eldest son of the emperor, and he is a concubine, holding heavy troops, and has a heart of disobedience. Although the second son of the emperor Zhu Linyuan is the second son, he is the eldest son of the son-in-law, according to the ancestral system of the Ming Dynasty, the eldest son of the eldest son succeeds to the throne, and the conditions are indispensable, but Zhu Ping'an is unwilling to hand over the military power, obviously with the intention of usurping the throne.

In the final analysis, the Zheng family's support for Zhu Linyuan is to occupy the word "嫡".

As we approached March 26, the situation in Nanjing became more and more tense. The soldiers of the Shandong army and the Zheng family have already clashed several times on the streets, and finally handled it properly by Tianfu and Wucheng Soldiers and Horses, and have already arranged a large number of people in the streets and alleys.

But after March 24, at noon, Huaide hurriedly returned from Dengzhou, and as soon as he entered the General Military Mansion, he went straight to Zhu Ping'an's study. In the study, Zhu Ping'an only left Guo Chai, Yin Shigang, Lu Zhenfei and Yang Tinglin, who had not long entered the city, and several people discussed in the study for most of the day, until the evening when the lamp was held. After that, Yan Yingyuan, Shen Ke, and Wang Jinfa were ordered to come to the study, and only left after dinner. Others didn't know much about what they were discussing, but some people found that Zhu Ping'an, who came out of the study, was relieved, and he used twice as much food for dinner as usual.

……

The area in the south of Jinling City, Nanjing, from Wuding Bridge to the south gate to the west, to Yinhong, Shangfu Second Bridge, and then from the east to Jiangning County Ya to Sanfang Lane Gongyuan area, are the gathering places of the high gate and the eunuchs that have been passed down from generation to generation. During the Yixing Rebellion, it was under the focus of the rebels, and many wealthy families were destroyed because of this.

After Zhu Yujian entered Nanjing, he comforted the victims of the rebellion and instructed Jiangning and Shangyuan counties to renovate the burned streets, alleys, and markets. However, a number of vacant mansions were left behind, and after the governors from all over the country entered Nanjing, they began to purchase these mansions on a large scale, among which the Zheng family department would purchase the most.

In the past few days, people like Liang Li, Xiao Gongchen, Huang Ting and others of the Zheng family have moved into the new house one after another, and in order to celebrate, they naturally have a big feast. Although it was only two months after the death of Emperor Yixing, the generals of the Zheng family did not take this national mourning in their hearts, and after burying Emperor Yixing in the Imperial Mausoleum in Nanjing, they took off their plain clothes and threw themselves into the restaurant.

Because Sanfang Lane is close to the Gongyuan, there are many restaurants and inns, the most famous of which is the Zhuangyuan Building. On the afternoon of March 25, Xiang Yuanchong, a general under Zheng Zhilong, rented all the private rooms on the second floor here, and invited a group of friends in the army to celebrate the housewarming here.

Because during the national funeral, the original pastimes such as singing and singing in the Zhuangyuan Building have all stopped these days. But Xiang Yuanchong was reluctant in every way, and the personal guards under his command actually forced the owner of the Zhuangyuan Building to find another servant, and they babbled and sang in the elegant room on the second floor.

The owner of this champion building was originally a head of the household department in Nanjing, and was raided by the rebels in the Yixing Rebellion, and was killed all over the house, and now this champion building is like a piece of fat in Sanfang Lane. When encountering an upstart like Xiang Yuanchong, he naturally could only bow his head and listen.

After three rounds of wine, everyone in the elegant room also had some wine, Xiang Yuanchong was full of red light, pointing to the shopkeeper of the champion building and others standing on the side, laughing loudly and scolding: "This champion building is well-known in Beijing, so that a certain family seems, it is just so, the tree is scattered, there is no backer, and it is just a snack on a plate in an instant, next month, this champion building will be assigned to the name of a certain family, when the time comes, the feast for three days, and you are not drunk!" ”

The people at the table immediately applauded, and someone next to them deliberately flattered, "The Zheng family is now favored by His Majesty, and it is already the number one wealthy family in Beijing. I heard that even His Majesty and the Empress Mother are also very fond of the eldest prince of the Zheng family, and they are ready to let him serve the little prince, so when the position of the prince is established, won't the general be promoted again? ”

A person on the right hand side reminded: "I'm afraid the situation is still unclear now, right?" His Majesty's eldest son has made many meritorious contributions, and he is the first hero of the decision, and he has a heavy army, the little prince is only four years old now, and His Majesty is afraid that he will ......! ”

"What is Zhu Ping'an!" Xiang Yuanchong casually threw out the wine glass in his hand, which surprised everyone who was singing "Serial Scheme", and his voice was suddenly interrupted. "Zhu Ping'an is just a concubine, how can he be compared with the little prince! Her mother was a maid in the palace back then, with a low status, according to a certain family, she was like the Diao Chan that Wang Yun presented to Dong Zhuo, but she was just a plaything, how could she be elegant. If Zhu Ping'an can be the prince, a certain family will pull out two eyeballs and kick them with you! ”

"Hahahaha!" Xiang Yuanchong laughed wildly, and the people around him also laughed.

The shopkeeper of the Zhuangyuan Building and the others wanted to give a word or two, but when they looked at the saber on the table in Xiang Yuanchong's hand, they immediately swallowed the words that came to their lips again.

At this time, there was chaos on the stairs outside the door, but the sound seemed to be arguing with Yuan Chong and the others, and then they started to cry wolf.

Xiang Yuanchong was suddenly furious, "Who is making a noise outside, one by one, chop it clean!" ”

As soon as the words fell, the door of the elegant room was kicked open, and more than ten big men rushed in, led by a lean man who shouted directly, "Whose dog barked just now, get out of here!" ”R1152