In the Forbidden City, Emperor Jingtai Zhu Qiyu had already retreated from Cining Palace, facing the cold north wind at night, he could no longer see the previous sadness and pain on his face, but a kind of fortitude and determination.

"Your Majesty, do you really want to obey the Empress Dowager's decree and send Shen Zhongtang to prison?"

Cheng Jing stood next to Zhu Qiyu and asked in a low voice, he was also in Cining Palace just now, and the conversation between the royal mother and son could be heard clearly.

"Shen Yichen is a little loyal, I really don't know."

"But one thing I know very well is that he will never be loyal to the Emperor again."

"Asking him for the blame is tantamount to destroying the Great Wall!"

Zhu Qiyu said this sentence with an indifferent expression, many times people will grow.

Just like when Shen Yichen and Yu Qian supported him on the throne, Zhu Qiyu was a little trembling with nervousness, and he didn't want to inherit the title of the king of time at all, and he didn't have any ambitions and expectations for the throne.

However, in the battle of the defense of the Beijing Division, in the face of the fact that the Mongolian army was about to break through the Nine Gates of the Beijing Division, Zhu Qiyu could no longer see the nervousness, fear, and weakness when he ascended the throne, and resolutely transferred the palace guards to the Nine Gates to support, and was ready for the death of the king.

In terms of this courage alone, Ming Yingzong Zhu Qizhen is not as good as his seemingly weak younger brother!

Tracing back to last night, Shen Yichen entered the palace to face the saint, Jingtai Emperor Zhu Qiyu was unwilling to be ruthless to his siblings, and thought of agreeing to the peace conditions of the Taishi Wa stabbing to welcome the imperial brother Zhu Qizhen back to Beijing.

However, today's court meeting made Zhu Qiyu see through a lot of things, such as the contempt of the ministers, the coercion of the queen mother, the residual power of the imperial brother, and so on.

As an emperor, there may be many times, there is really no need for superfluous emotions.

"Your Majesty, you have grown."

Hearing these words come out of Zhu Qiyu's mouth, Cheng Jing's face showed a smile of relief.

In the past, he came forward to do some tricks instead of Zhu Qiyu, and the new monarch obviously did not get rid of the shadow of King Yu. After going through ups and downs, now he finally has the appearance of an emperor.

"There are still a lot of students rushing to take the exam in Jingshi, right?"

"Yes, in the thirteenth year of orthodoxy, Wuchenke has been postponed, and many people who are rushing to take the exam are trapped in the Jingshi, and they are still waiting for Your Majesty to open Enke as soon as possible."

According to the time of the imperial examination, the thirteenth year of orthodoxy was originally the year of Dabi, and at the end of last year and the beginning of this year, countless people rushed to Beijing by boat, ready to welcome their own carp jumping over the dragon gate.

As a result, the battle of Tumubao disrupted all the imperial examination plans, and the Mongols were all under the city of Beijing, and even the emperor's hundred officials almost did not run away and moved south, how could they still have the heart to arrange the examination of the emperor?

In addition, the inconvenience of the road in ancient times, since the candidates have come to Beijing, it is impossible to return to their hometown during the war. The only thing that can be done is to wait quietly in the capital and wait for the new monarch to set the time for the imperial examination as soon as possible.

In a sense, Emperor Jingtai Zhu Qiyu is also eager to open the imperial examination as soon as possible, so that the Jinshimen will become his own protégé of the Son of Heaven, and the foundation force in the future court.

"Okay, send someone to release the news among the scholars and inform the Queen Mother that she has issued an edict to ask the meritorious ministers."

"In addition, inform Shen Yichen of this news, whether he can seize the opportunity to make a comeback depends on himself."

If Cheng Jing was only relieved to get feedback before, then when Zhu Qiyu used this method, the emotion in his heart was simply happy!

In ancient times, filial piety ruled the world, and the Empress Dowager Sun controlled the legal system and was a mother-in-law, which was almost a blameless existence. Unless she herself is stupid enough to usurp the throne, and wants to learn from Wu Zetian to establish her mother's family as the emperor.

Having said that, even if Empress Dowager Sun wants to learn Wu Zetian, she can still stay out of it in the end.

Just like Tang Ruizong Li Dan finally ascended the throne for the second time, he faced this mother-in-law who subverted the Li dynasty and almost didn't slaughter herself. You still have to be honestly respected, and you don't dare to have the slightest act of revenge, which is the power of the law and filial piety.

Invisible and intangible, it was the cornerstone of ancient Confucian rule, and even overrode the imperial power in some aspects.

Under normal circumstances, Zhu Qiyu has no way to face the interference of the Empress Dowager Sun, or at least he does not have a strong team of his own in the short term, so he can only be an existence similar to a "puppet" emperor, and live under the threat of his mother and imperial brother all the time.

But it is taboo for the court to interfere in the harem, and the Empress Dowager Sun is in control of the legal system, but she does not control the regent power of the young son of heaven.

After all, it is still a suspense which of the two kings can finally sit on the throne, and it is easy to get burned by jumping out rashly to stand in line. As long as Empress Dowager Sun did not touch the bottom line of the Manchu Dynasty's civil and military affairs, she would let it go and let her go.

However, many things, once the bottom line is touched, there is no room for concessions. For example, at the court meeting, Empress Dowager Sun wanted Shen Yichen to be the court staff, which had a serious conflict with the concept of "not punishing the doctor", so there was a scene of civil and military opposition in the Manchu Dynasty.

Now Empress Dowager Sun is interfering in politics, and she also uses a special agency like Jinyiwei to arrest the minister and ask for guilt. There is no doubt that this way of touching the bottom line is far more serious than that of the court staff civil officials at the court meeting.

Maybe the group of old fritters of the Minister of Jingshi, when the future is unclear, will take a look at the situation first. But since ancient times, the book business has been angry, and the literati who entered Beijing to take the exam will definitely not be able to sit still with enthusiasm.

Wait for them to light a fire, and the courtiers will naturally add fuel to the fire!

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Cheng Jing bowed and saluted, with an irrepressible look on his face. After today, the young man in front of him is no longer the panicked King Yu, but the high-ranking Ming King!

After saluting, he turned around and hurried towards the outside of the palace, he wanted to inform Shen Yichen of the news before the master of ceremonies and the seal Jin Ying conveyed the decree of Yi, and prepared in advance.

On the other side, Shen Yichen sat in the study, and in front of him stood a series of guards such as Canghuotou and Wang Neng.

Since things have reached the point where relying on their own strength alone can no longer prevent Ming Yingzong Zhu Qizhen from returning to the dynasty, then he can only make dangerous moves.

You must know that Shen Yichen has always been reluctant to kill the monarch before, after all, people can be ruthless, from the perspective of personal feelings, Zhu Qizhen has no fault for treating himself, and has reached the limit of what an emperor can do.

If he could, Shen Yichen thought that Zhu Qizhen would stay on the grassland for a few years, and then assist Emperor Zhu Qiyu of Jingtai to gain a firm foothold, so that even if he was released back to Beijing one day, he would not be able to pose any threat, and he would be an old-age emperor with peace of mind.

As for the other reason, it is because of the murder of the king, the consequences are unpredictable, even Shen Yichen cannot guarantee that it will be foolproof.

Thinking that in order to cover up the truth that King Lu committed suicide in fear of crime, Han Yong isolated himself in the prison of the Criminal Department and brought the secret underground. But even so, it still aroused the suspicion of many people in the court, if it weren't for the person who inspected the secret investigation was Cheng Jing.

In other words, it is not so easy for Shen Yichen to get out of any eunuch of Wang Zhen's party, and it is very likely that he will bleed a river and even lose his own life.

At the beginning of King Lu's death, it was a little whimsical to suspect Shen Yichen. After all, a mere fifth-grade official, there is no intersection between the two sides, and in the normal thinking logic of any person, they would not think that Shen Yichen would do anything to punish the king.

But killing the monarch is different, according to the current situation and standing in line, if there is any accident in Zhu Qizhen, it is almost equivalent to telling the world to sink Yichen to do it, and he almost didn't write the word "killing the king" on the door of his head.

At that time, let Shen Yichen explain in every way, no one in the world will believe that he didn't do it, including Emperor Jingtai Zhu Qiyu.

At that point, the best result is to resign for the people and save a life.

The worst result is that I am afraid that I will have to connect the nine clans!

Of course, Shen Yichen can also choose to raise troops to rebel. But the problem is that the power of the word "legal system" is far greater than anyone imagined, the Ming Dynasty has not reached the point of the end of the country, Zhu Qiyu has just repelled the Tartars, and the morale is still in full swing, and the destiny of heaven is still attributed to Zhu Ming.

At this time, the probability of success of the rebellion is equal to zero, and when China is in ruins, hundreds of thousands of soldiers will die for this, what is the difference between Shen Yichen and those traitors in the history books?

So it didn't come to the point of being forced to do so, Shen Yichen definitely didn't want to kill the king, which would make him lose room to turn around.

But now there is no choice, the queen mother has obviously reached an agreement with the courtiers loyal to Zhu Qizhen, Jingtai Emperor Zhu Qiyu's performance at the court meeting today, almost no power to fight back, the new monarch is still a chess game after all......

Thinking of this, Shen Yichen sighed, in fact, he can't blame Zhu Qiyu, in just a few months after ascending the throne, there really isn't much he can do.

"Canghuotou, you lead the reliable brothers to the outside of Datong Town, if the Emperor Taishang wants to return to Beijing, he will definitely enter the customs from here. Prepare in advance for the terrain outside the Guan, and when the time comes, disguise yourself as Tartar soldiers and horses, and rob and kill the convoy returning to Beijing. “

Under normal circumstances, Shen Yichen gave an order, and Canghuotou definitely chose to execute it without saying a word.

But this time, he had a shocked look on his face when he heard it, and asked rhetorically, "Proprietor, are you going to ......?"

"Kill the king!"

Shen Yichen coldly replied to these two words, which made Canghuo and the others gasp.

Even if you have prepared in your heart, if you really want to kill the king, the impact on the ancients is indescribable.

After a long pause, Canghuo gritted his teeth and replied: "The proprietor, this life of our brother is given by you, as long as he gives an order, he will be killed by whatever the king of heaven and Lao Tzu will do." However, with the dozens of us alone, it is difficult to succeed if we want to rob and kill the convoy back to Beijing. ”

After experiencing several battles, there are only more than 20 guards left around Shen Yichen. To do such a thing as killing a king, you must have the determination to die and absolute loyalty.

Shen Yichen does not have the habit of keeping dead soldiers in captivity, and if he wants to rely on more than 20 people to attack Zhu Qizhen's convoy back to Beijing, he must be far from enough.

"The proprietor, do you want to go to Han Bin to borrow some manpower?"

Zheng Xiang stood aside and replied, there are many old brothers in Shandong Wei, Shen Yichen also has a life-saving grace for them, and he belongs to a group of trustworthy people.

"No, you can't let Han Bin get involved again this time."

Shen Yichen shook his head, Han Yong died for himself at the beginning, but now the matter of killing the monarch is too risky, and Han Bin cannot be involved again.

After saying this sentence at the same time, Shen Yichen screened the manpower in his mind, except for Han Bin, Wu Rui, Fujian Wei, and Shandong Wei's subordinates who originally had official status could not move, and could only find people from the miners and the old team of the rebel army.

"Zheng Xiang, inform Chen Shangong of the Fujian Navy Division and ask him to send a group of people out. The number of people should not be too large, and it is necessary to ensure that it is absolutely hidden. ”

Chen Shangong was a member of the Fujian Rebel Army, and at the same time Ye Zongliu's cronies, and was subsequently absorbed by Shen Yichen into the Fujian Naval Division, and was promoted step by step to the position of commanding the servants.

The composition of his men and horses is composed of miners and furnace masters as the backbone, and belongs to Shen Yichen's die-hard faction. In addition, the rebellion of the court was caused by the killing of officials at the beginning, and there is no instinctive fear of the identity of the Son of Heaven like ordinary soldiers, so this kind of thing can only be left to them.

"The proprietor, the little one understands."

After receiving the order, Zheng Xiang walked out of the study without saying a word and went to the Jingshi camp to inform Chen Shangong to prepare manpower.

Looking at the back of Zheng Xiang leaving, Shen Yichen had an inexplicable apprehension and nervousness in his heart, disguising himself as Mongolian soldiers and horses was just an expedient measure to trick himself, and he believed that it would not take long to cover up the truth and be discovered.

At that time, the finger will still be pointed at yourself, and that is the beginning of the difficulty.

Just after Shen Yichen made arrangements, a servant from the mansion came to the door of the study and shouted inside: "Young Master Shen, a father-in-law in the palace is here and wants to see you immediately." ”

Father-in-law in the palace?

Shen Yichen thought about it for a while, he didn't have much contact with the officials in the palace, Wang Zhen was dead, he definitely couldn't find himself, Xining defected to the enemy and treason is still in the Mobei Watt Camp, so only Cheng Jing will come to visit.

But the problem is that it is almost night, Cheng Jing came out of the palace to visit at this time, did he say something important?

Thinking of this possibility, Shen Yichen naturally didn't dare to slack off, and hurriedly got up and walked in the direction of the front hall, and sure enough, it was Cheng Jing who he saw.

"Cheng's father-in-law came to visit, and the official was not welcomed, and I ask for forgiveness."

Shen Yichen hurriedly apologized, it is difficult for ordinary officials to take the initiative to see Cheng Jing now, and the other party can take the initiative to come to the door to really give face.

"It's okay, our family belongs to the Three Treasures Hall for nothing."

Cheng Jing had a playful smile on his face, and then bowed back.

"Then I don't know what happened to my father-in-law."

"It's not that there is something wrong with our family, but that you are in trouble in Shenzhongtang."

"I want to hear about it."

Cheng Jing came over at this point in time, Shen Yichen was actually mentally prepared, and the expression on his face was very calm.

Looking at Shen Yichen's cloudy and breezy appearance, Cheng Jing couldn't help but praise in his heart, it is true that this son has the demeanor of a young and an old man, in other words, ordinary people have experienced the changes in the court, and they have long been in fear in the mansion.

"The Queen Mother has woken up, and her old man regards Shen Zhongtang as a thief of the country, and issued an edict ordering Jinyiwei to send you to prison for questioning."

"Then it seems that Cheng Gonggong already has a way to crack it, right?"

Shen Yichen pointed to the core of the problem, and the relaxed and playful smile on Cheng Jing's face had already exposed his inner thoughts.

And take a step back and say that if you really want to lose your value, your friendship with Cheng Jing has not yet reached the point where you have to go to the house and tell you that you are worried.

"It's no accident that he is young and in a high position, Shen Zhongtang is really like a god."

Cheng Jing opened his mouth and praised him, and then told Shen Yichen about what happened in Cining Palace, as well as the conversation with Emperor Jingtai Zhu Qiyu later.

He believes that with Shen Yichen's talent and ability, there is naturally a solution.

"Your Majesty, you have slowly become a qualified emperor."

Listening to Cheng Jing's description, Shen Yichen was not worried about his own safety at first, but on the contrary, he sighed with emotion to Emperor Jingtai Zhu Qiyu.

In fact, as early as yesterday's conversation with Cheng Jing in the carriage, and when he entered the palace to face the saint in the future, he almost didn't point out that Zhu Qiyu, as an emperor, should sometimes show ruthless potential and do what should be done.

But in the end, when Zhu Qiyu said the sentence "After all, he is my brother who grew up together", Shen Yichen chose to shut up.

Instigating Zhu Qiyu to kill his brother is purely a matter of causing trouble, even if the other party mentions it, he can't answer it at will, let alone take the initiative to provoke it.

In addition, as a courtier, who wants to face a ruthless "political machine"?

is like Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty, who simply played the imperial autocracy to the peak, and he didn't even feel much human nature, except for some film and television dramas in later generations.

Every day with you is like a tiger, what is the good feeling?

It is not easy to control the balance between the emperor and human nature.

"Yes, Your Majesty is becoming more and more like a qualified emperor."

Cheng Jing echoed, he watched Zhu Qiyu grow up, and the struggle for imperial power has been life and death since ancient times.

To be merciful to one's enemies is to be cruel to oneself, even if the other party is one's sibling.

"Shen Zhongtang, how should you deal with this matter?"

It is enough to mention the emperor's affairs, even if it is close to people, it is inconvenient to talk about it.

So Cheng Jing changed the topic and wanted to ask Shen Yichen how to deal with it.

"Mr. Bian, in my name, I will revise a letter to Li Shimian, the priest of the country, and tell him the original story of the Queen Mother's questioning."

"Yes, my subordinates understand."

Bian He bowed and nodded, then turned to write the letter.

"Our family remembered that in the ninth year of orthodoxy, the Dasi clan offended Wang Zhen and was sentenced to be punished in front of the Guozi Prison to be punished by the Dutch School, that is, Shen Zhongtang led the Jingshi literati to jointly go to the school, and finally set things right."

"I didn't expect this origin to come in handy at this time, Shen Zhongtang's wisdom is almost demonic!"

Cheng Jing is completely convinced, the students of Guozijian represent the mainstay of the Ming scholars, and they are the most indignant and enthusiastic group.

If Li Shimian is willing to lead the disciples of Guozijian to come forward, the effect will completely cut off the tentacles of the harem. This trick is even better than His Majesty's public opinion of fanning the Beijing teacher to rush to take the exam!

"Cheng's father-in-law is too praised, this official is just a cause to get the cause, and the fruit is to get the effect."

Shen Yichen waved his hand modestly, if he hadn't played his life together to fight against Wang Zhen, how could he have formed a relationship with the Guozi Priest Wine?

Just as Shen Yichen was discussing with Cheng Jing, a group of Jinyi guards who had been ordered by Yi rushed into the Chengguo Mansion. However, when Shen Yichen saw clearly who the leader was, a playful smile appeared on his face.

That's right, the leader is his good brother Zhao Hongjie.