While the war between the empire in Monan and the northeastern region outside the Kanwai region continued, the discussion within the imperial court about the new cabinet chief assistant was also getting hotter and hotter.

In fact, the officials of the empire are no longer very concerned about the war outside the gates, and who the new cabinet chief assistant will be is the matter that makes them nervous all the time.

Zhu Youzhen also knew that the officials of the empire were all staring at him at this time, and he couldn't wait to see from his words and deeds who he wanted to be the new cabinet chief assistant.

As the emperor, Zhu Youzhen actually did not have a clear candidate for the first assistant of the cabinet.

He knew that the court of the Ming Dynasty today was mainly divided into two parties, the Emperor's Eldest Son Party and the Emperor's Second Son's Party, and the rest were officials who were affiliated with these two factions or maintained neutrality on the surface.

Among them, the emperor's eldest son party mainly includes Gao Hongtu, the first assistant of the cabinet, Hua Yuncheng, the secretary of the ministry, etc., in addition, the third son of the emperor, Zhu Cihuan, also gathered a group of officials to run behind his eldest brother's buttocks.

The second son of the emperor included Ma Shiying, deputy privy envoy of the Generalissimo's Office and director of the General Political Office, and Ruan Dayue, the secretary of the Ministry of War.

But Zhu Youzhen does not mind whether the next new cabinet chief assistant is from the emperor's eldest son party or the emperor's second son party, or a neutral official.

Because now these so-called princes are not very powerful, and they are all political forces with the political purpose of currying favor with themselves, the emperor.

What Zhu Youzhen hopes is that one or two of these officials who are secretly forming gangs and factions will understand their political intentions, have the heart to work for the future of the Ming Dynasty, and have their own clear political concepts.

As long as he can make the empire better, it doesn't matter what party he is.

For this reason, Zhu Youzhen did not stop them from secretly contacting and even used various means to increase his bargaining chips for winning the first assistant of the cabinet.

Zhu Youzhen: In fact, the person who likes Li Mingrui the most in his heart now.

Although Li Mingrui and the second son of the emperor have some overlaps, he chose Li Mingrui more because his political purpose of running for the first assistant of the cabinet is the clearest, and his political views are more in line with his own political views.

But being the next cabinet chief is more than enough, at least to allow the empire to move steadily at the current pace.

However, Zhu Youzhen did not show a signal of being too clear about Li Mingrui, and he continued to wait to see if there would be someone more suitable than Li Mingrui.

Therefore, these days, Zhu Youzhen can be said to be living in seclusion, and showing the same attitude towards almost every minister, neither too much attention nor too cold.

As a result, the officials of the empire became more and more calm, and they were all nervously waiting for the result to appear or to intervene in the production of this result.

On this day, it is the day when Empress Zhou, the eldest son of the emperor, the third son of the emperor, and Princess Changping and other members of the royal family return to Beijing from Nanjing.

Therefore, Zhu Youzhen suddenly made a will, and Gao Hongtu, the first assistant of the cabinet, took hundreds of civil and military officials to Tongzhou to immediately go to Tongzhou to pick up the queen and return to the palace.

"Go with me, and when you come back, remember to tell me everything you see."

Zhu Youzhen's words were said to Xu Zhaohua.

Although Xu Zhaohua is a eunuch with the court, her status in the inner court is only behind Wang Chengen, Han Shoujing, Lu Jiude, and He Xin, and her status seems to be higher than that of the emperor and empress.

"Obey the order", Xu Zhaohua knew that Zhu Youzhen was asking her and Gao Hongtu, the first assistant of the cabinet, to pick up the queen, but in fact, he wanted her to supervise whether the queen would secretly collude with Gao Hongtu, the first assistant of the cabinet, for the eldest son of the emperor, or let her avoid this kind of thing, which could be regarded as a test of whether the eldest son of the emperor would secretly use the queen and the cabinet.

The queen was in a very good mood during this time, after all, the northern capital recovered the Ming Dynasty and reunified it, which was also a happy thing for her, not to mention that the Forbidden City in Beijing had many sweet memories of her and Zhu Youzhen.

And during this period of Zhu Youzhen's absence, her imperial sons Zhu Cihong and Zhu Cihuan were very cheerful and filial, especially during her illness, standing by her side almost every day, which moved her very much.

Empress Zhou now feels that everything is returning to the good old days, she now misses her majesty Zhu Youzhen very much, and she also wants this kind of harmony to continue, but when she sees that the docile imperial son Zhu Cihong next to her is no longer the former prince clothes and still can't hide the loss of no longer being the prince, she will still feel heartache.

"Emperor, what are you worried about?"

Queen Zhou frowned when she saw that Zhu Cihong was getting closer to Beijing, and couldn't help asking.

"After returning to his mother, Erchen was originally very happy that our family could be reunited, but thinking that the second brother was still fighting with the Tartars in the bitter cold land outside the Guan, far away from his family, not to mention that he was worried about his life from time to time, Erchen was a little worried about him."

Zhu Cihong said this to the queen Zhou very moved, she was most worried that when her majesty deliberately provoked the prince to compete for the throne, her sons would turn against each other, but she didn't expect her eldest son to be so benevolent, and at this time, she still didn't forget to think about her younger brother who was fighting abroad.

If such a big brother doesn't become a prince, who else is suitable?

His husband is a good emperor, but he is not a good father, and he always doubts his son like a suspicious minister, doesn't he know the truth that blood is thicker than water?

Queen Zhou patted Zhu Cihong very movingly: "Good emperor, it's hard for you to still think about your brother, the queen mother really hopes that you can always be like this, and always remember that you are brothers." ”

"Don't worry, the queen mother, our brothers are in harmony with each other, what do those people outside say that our brothers are fighting openly and secretly just for grandstanding, the eldest brother has always been the eldest brother whom our brothers respect the most, and even the second brother has said that this prince is still the eldest brother is the most appropriate, and even the second brother also said that he is not only fighting the world for his father but also for the future eldest brother!"

When Zhu Cihuan, the third son of the emperor, took over and said this, the queen Zhou was even happier in her heart, and although Zhu Cihong was happy in her heart, she was also worried that these words would be heard by her father's people, so she hurriedly scolded Zhu Cihuan:

"Third brother, don't talk nonsense! The father has already said that the position of the crown prince should be occupied by a capable person, and the eldest brother knows that his talent is insufficient, how dare he think of wrongdoing, everything is decided by his father. ”

"Your third brother is right, Zhu Cijiong is naturally the best to think like this, and he is worthy of being the son of the palace, the young and the young are orderly, you can take the eldest brother as the leader, and you are very happy to be the mother, Your Majesty, he will understand one day, is it possible that he wants Yuan Guifei's son to be the emperor? Come on, go and give the crystal pendants paid by the two Korean countries in the main palace to the two princes, the main palace will go to rest first, and you will each go separately. ”

The Empress Zhou's gift was naturally a clear expression of her desire for their brothers to continue to live in harmony.

"Thank you, send your mother!"

As soon as Empress Zhou said this, she went back to the cabin to rest, and Zhu Cihuan and Zhu Cihong couldn't help but smile at each other after sending Zhou away.

Zhu Cihuan even said: "Big brother, what is my plan, what the queen mother wants to see most is that our brothers are harmonious, the more incompatible you and the second brother are, the more you have to behave kindly, even if the father will not be moved, the queen mother will definitely like you more and more." ”

"It's better to be the third brother! Don't worry, when I ascend to the throne, the country will have half of you! ”

Zhu Cihong said with a smile.

(End of chapter)