In August of the fourteenth year of Chongzhen, Emperor Chongzhen collapsed in the Qianqing Palace.

The edict established the prince as the emperor, and there were two other things in the edict. First, with the merit of Pingliao, Zhu Ciye, the king of Liaodong County. Second, with the young crown prince, the first assistant Zhou Yanru, the second assistant Wu Fu, the left capital imperial history Liu Zongzhou, and the governor of Zhili Zhu Ciye are the ministers of Gu Ming and assist in the administration.

On the same day, the first assistant Zhou Yanru read out the edict of the first emperor to the hundred officials in front of the spirit of the Qianqing Palace, and succeeded to the throne by the crown prince, respecting the queen of Zhou as the queen mother, and the second concubine of Yuan Tian as the concubine.

Wang Chengen and the eunuch palace people have bathed Chongzhen's face, bracketed his hair, changed his longevity clothes, and set up memorial objects in front of the corpse.

After confirming the edict, Emperor Daxing was placed in the coffin.

The eunuch palace people began to set up a few baskets in front of the coffin for arranging sacrificial objects such as wine and food, and set up a shrine to settle the silk, set up an inscription, and wrote to the emperor Zigong of the emperor. In preparation for the funeral three days later, the concubines of the Emperor and the Daxing Emperor will come to pay their respects in plain clothes. The civil and military officials in Beijing and the women of the third grade or above had to enter the palace from the Xihua Gate to the Sishan Gate twice in the morning and evening for three consecutive days, wearing mourning clothes.

The temples inside and outside the capital have already received the order and began to ring the bell. According to the system, the bells of each temple must be struck 30,000 times, and the emperor who died on behalf of him "benefited the underworld". Slaughter was forbidden in the capital for 13 days. Princes, county kings, princesses, princesses, county lords, and civil and military officials who were divided into foreign places all wept and mourned in the local court.

Cabinet scholars and important ministers such as the six ministries and nine ministers stayed in the palace to preside over the funeral. The commander of the East Factory, Wang Zhixin, and the commander of the Jinyi Guard were ordered to lead the factory guards to guard the palace ban.

Liu Qiao took a look at the void and spoke in the ear of the prince who was kneeling in front of the spirit.

"Immediately send an envoy to Tianjin to read the edict of Emperor Daxing, and order the king of the county to enter Beijing immediately."

After Chongzhen's death, before the new emperor ascended the throne, he was called the Daxing Emperor according to the system. Before the new emperor ascended the throne, he was called the heir emperor. According to the Ming system, the heir emperor had to wait until after the death of Emperor Daxing before he could choose a day to ascend the throne under the persuasion of the ministers. Even if it's the fastest. It must also be done three days after the ascension of the Daxing Emperor.

After the funeral of Emperor Daxing, the heir emperor chose an auspicious day to ascend the throne, and then issued an edict to grant amnesty to the world. Then it's time to honor the late emperor.

But now, Liu Qiao still doesn't dare to rest assured, although the edict has been established, Liu Qiao has been crowned the king of the county, and he is one of the four ministers. But Liu Jun didn't enter Beijing for a day, and things couldn't be stable.

"But the emperor's brother was assassinated, and his injuries are unknown at this time." After all, the heir emperor Zhu Cihong was only twelve years old. A lot of things are completely inexperienced. He didn't know what to do except kneel in front of his father's spirit.

"The minister just got a report from Jinyi Wei today, and the king of Liaodong County has woken up, although his injuries are serious, but he has no worries about his life. Tianjin is only more than 200 miles away from Beijing, and there is no bump in entering Beijing by boat from the canal. Liu Qiao said.

Zhu Cihong thought for a while. nodded, "Brother Huang is the minister arranged for me by my father, and he should be summoned to Beijing as soon as possible." Liu Qing, you immediately send someone to Tianjin to summon the imperial brother into Beijing. ”

"Yes." Liu Qiao replied excitedly in his heart.

Things are going according to plan.

Liu Qiao did not inform Zhou Yanru, Wu Fu and Liu Zongzhou. He personally found Jinyiwei's henchmen and asked him to immediately bring people to Tianjin to deliver the message.

Zhou Yanru and other three ministers are discussing the matter of the imperial mausoleum with other cabinet ministers and important ministers such as the six ministries and nine secretaries, although Chongzhen has been on the throne for 14 years, but until now there has been no mountain mausoleum.

Fortunately, during the emperor's funeral. There is an old system of the Son of Heaven being buried on seven days and in July. Therefore, it doesn't matter if there is no ready-made imperial tomb, as long as the construction starts immediately. Seven months can still be built to bury the imperial mausoleum.

For Zhou Yanru and other ministers, the funeral of Emperor Daxing is the most important thing, and in the grand ceremony, it is very solemn, and there is no mistake in the slightest.

They began to argue about who would serve as the mountain envoy and other details.

The officials who presided over the funeral, the officials who built the mausoleum, and the cost of building the mausoleum were all problems. And the most important of them is actually the issue of silver, everyone knows very well that the imperial court now has no silver in either the treasury or the treasury.

"The cost of the funeral, the cost of building the mountain mausoleum, and the usual reward for relics, etc., add up to at least two million silver dollars." Li Banghua Road, the head of the household.

"How much silver is left in the treasury?" Zhou Yanru asked.

"The total amount of money in the treasury is only 200,000 silver dollars." Although Li Banghua is in charge of the household, he can be a poor family.

Wu Fu looked at Wang Chengen, "How much silver is still available in the treasury?" ”

"The internal treasury has long been empty, and the money, grain, and silver given to Jiuzhen in the previous rectification of the Gyeonggi soldiers and horses are still pulled out of the internal treasury. Now I can't even get a hundred thousand silver dollars out of the money. ”

Tianjin Wei.

The Jinyi guards sent by Liu Qiao quickly whipped their horses and galloped all the way, changing horses along the way. More than 200 miles, only half a day's work has been completed. It was not yet dusk, and the fast horse had already entered Tianjin Wei.

At this time, in the city of Tianjin, the news that the Duke of Chu had just been treated by the imperial doctor and woke up after a catastrophe.

Liu Jun also made his first public appearance since his assassination, and he met with the Tianjin civil and military forces and Beiyang generals in the yamen of Tianjin.

At this time, a hurried report came from outside, and the envoy from Beijing arrived.

The Jinyi Wei dressed in the flying fish suit entered with a tired look on his face, bringing a shocking news that Emperor Chongzhen had ascended to the sky. At the same time, Jin Yiwei brought the will of the heir emperor, and set up the edict of the emperor of Daxing, and appointed the minister of Gu Ming, the governor of Zhili, and Zhu Ciye, the king of Liaodong County, to enter Beijing quickly.

When Liu Jun heard the news, his heart was extremely complicated, and he secretly breathed a sigh of relief. I have been planning secretly for a long time, walking on thin ice, cautious, for fear that I will make a mistake in any step.

Thankfully, everything is going as planned.

Liu Jun stood up and ordered a mourning hall to be set up in the Tianjin Yamen to pay tribute, and all the officials cried and worshiped incense in the direction of Jingshi.

"Please enter the capital immediately!" The envoy of the brocade guard urged.

Liu Jun turned around and returned to the back yard, and when he came out after a while, he had already changed out of his official robe and put on mourning clothes. Wearing this mourning dress, Liu Jun immediately left the city and went to the military camp outside the city.

In the barracks, Liu Jun read the emperor's edict to the soldiers, ordering the whole army to write a script, and then leaving a detachment in Tianjin, so that they could continue to control the port and the city of Tianjin.

Liu Jun immediately led the remaining two detachments of 30,000 men and horses, transported troops by boat, escorted by gunboats, and quickly marched towards Beijing. Along the way, the military flag has been changed to white, and the soldiers have also put on a white linen coat in addition to the military uniform. Fortunately, Tianjin is a famous big city, there are many shops in the city, and there are many clothing shops, and the Beiyang sailors quickly purchased a large number of white linen cloth.

Capital.

Zhou Yanru and the other three ministers who took care of their lives wept bitterly in front of the emperor's spirit, and then wiped away their tears and reached a decision.

First, immediately spread the post for 800 miles and publish the obituary all over the world. Second, Emperor Chongzhen's funeral should be prepared by the Ministry of Rites and submitted to the emperor for approval. 3. During the funeral period, all the officials of the yamen in Beijing are to stay in the court room and are not allowed to go home. Yamen all over the country set up mourning halls on the spot to pay tribute, and they were not allowed to leave their posts and come to Beijing without permission.

After the discussion was established, the cabinet secretary wrote a notice according to the intention of the three ministers, stamped it with a big seal, and ordered people to send it to the major yamen of the foreign division, and the military department was responsible for carrying out the affairs of the world.

After these important things are done, it is already dawn.

At this time, a eunuch brought breakfast, and everyone ate breakfast indiscriminately, and began to discuss how to raise the funeral expenses.

For more than 200 years in the Ming Dynasty, there has never been a minister of care, even if the prince is young, he has let the cabinet and the celebrant be responsible for the auxiliary government, and there are also those who let the queen mother listen to the government, but there has not been such a minister of care.

After the establishment of the Minister of Care, it means that the cabinet and the celebrant are still under the Minister of Care. Before the emperor took office, the ministers were equivalent to ruling on behalf of the Son of Heaven, and the cabinet and the celebrant had to report to them on the government affairs.

This is already the equivalent of having another cabinet in addition to the cabinet.

Zhou Yanru couldn't help but feel upset when he thought that Liu Jun had actually been able to become the minister of Gu Ming and be one of the four auxiliary ministers. At this time, the housekeeper hurriedly pushed the door in, and he came to deliver mourning clothes for Zhou Yanru.

"Master, when I came, Wu Langzhong of the Ministry of Officials came to me, and he asked me to tell the master that there was a Jinyi guard who went out of Beijing to Tianjin yesterday, and he heard that Liu Qiao sent him to Tianjin, and he estimated that Liu Jun was about to enter Beijing, so you should prepare in advance."

When Zhou Yanru heard this, his heart was furious.

He hurriedly asked people to find Liu Qiao.

"Liu Dongqing privately summoned Zhu Ciye to Beijing?" The other two ministers were also taken aback.

"That's right." Zhou Yanru's face was blue, "It is estimated that Zhu Ciye will enter Beijing soon." ”

The three of them brought Liu Qiao over, and Zhou Yanru scolded Liu Qiao with his head and face, "What do you want to do?" ”

Liu Qiao said very calmly, "Summoning the king of the county into Beijing is the intention of the emperor, and this official is just acting on orders." Besides, Emperor Daxing's edict ordered the king of Liaodong County to take care of his life and assist the government, is there anything wrong with summoning him to Beijing? ”

When Liu Zongzhou heard that it was Zhu Cihong's will, he calmed down. "The king of the county was assassinated before and he was unconscious, so it should be inconvenient to move at this time."

"After the imperial doctor sent by His Majesty, the king of the county has woken up yesterday, and he has not been injured to the vital point, and there is no major problem for the time being, and he can enter Beijing."

"If this is the case, it is good for the king of the county to enter Beijing, it just so happens that many affairs in the court and China need to be discussed by him now." Liu Zongzhou said. He also opposed Liu Jun as the minister of Gu Ming in his heart, but the edict had already been read out and could not be changed. Besides, there is indeed a matter that urgently needs Liu Jiye now, and the court and the central government are not even enough money for the emperor's funeral, and Liu Junye is needed to help.

The main gate of the outer city of Beijing, Yongding Gate.

The bells are still ringing one after another, without stopping.

The brocade guards of the brigade suddenly appeared in front of the Yongding Gate, and a brocade guard led by a thousand households held out a holy decree.

"From now on, the Yongding people will be temporarily taken over by the Jinyi Guard!"

The city gate guards of Yongding Gate, you look at me, I look at you, and there was no sound for a long time.

Finally, the officer on duty waved his hand and shouted, "Brothers, close the line." "The city gate guards handed over the city gate, and the Jinyi guards took control of the Yongding Gate.

In the middle of the night, Liu Jun led 30,000 soldiers and horses to the Beijing Division and entered the city through the Yongding Gate controlled by Jinyiwei! (To be continued.) )