Concubine Zheng and Cui Wensheng were naturally anxiously waiting for news from Ciqing Palace.

Although the crown prince was poisoned, it would definitely cause a violent shock in the court; I will definitely be pushed to the forefront.

However, Concubine Zheng Guifei can't take care of these anymore, as long as she can let her baby son Zhu Changxun ascend to the throne of the emperor, even if she is allowed to die, she is willing.

It's a pity that they still didn't wait for the news of Zhu Changluo's return to heaven after all.

Soon the crown prince Zhu Changluo was poisoned, and it was reported to Kunning Palace.

Although the empress Zheng Guifei was not officially canonized, it did not affect her right to exercise the empress in the inner court.

Of course, whether it is the queen or not, the right to dominate the harem has long been with her.

The crown prince was poisoned, which was a big deal, and Empress Zheng naturally couldn't ignore it, and soon he sent Cui Wensheng, the eunuch in charge of Kunning Palace, to investigate the matter thoroughly.

Cui Wensheng, the "thief shouting to catch the thief", naturally couldn't find out the truth, and in the end the case could only be closed.

Empress Zheng strictly forbade the harem to discuss this matter on the grounds that Her Majesty could not be stimulated, and the offender would be killed!

However, she and Cui Wensheng both ignored a problem, although evidence is needed to handle the case, but murder requires motives!

In addition to her Empress Zheng, is there a second person in the world who has this motive?

Cui Wensheng's "can't do it", coupled with Empress Zheng's "strictly forbidden to discuss", is more like "there are no three hundred taels of silver here", which confirmed the fact that she sent someone to poison the crown prince.

Soon, this matter spread at an alarming speed in the inner court and the capital.

When Li Xianzhong heard this, he was directly shocked by the commotion of Zheng Guifei and Cui Wensheng.

This Cui Wensheng is really unreliable, if you want to kill someone, you should find a killer with strong martial arts.

Five years ago, in the "Gang Attack Case", this Father-in-law Cui spent a lot of money to hire a master.

But what he wants to kill is the prince, if it weren't for his bad brain, who would dare to take this job?

The master who received his money found that he could not do this work himself, so he began to subcontract it to others.

In the end, this job changed hands several times and fell into the hands of a second fool named Zhang Cha.

A farmer with brute strength came directly to the Ciqing Palace with a jujube stick, and beat people when he saw them, and finally only injured a eunuch guarding the door.

This time, I finally grew a little bit, and I finally found the right target.

But at this time, Zhu Changluo is not a fool, and he will definitely prevent someone from doing anything with his diet.

Originally, after the sealing, Wanli and his ministers were still in a stalemate.

Now that they have made such a big stupid move, can the Donglin Party still let go of the opportunity to perform in front of the future emperor?

With Wanli's current physical condition, it's hard to let them burp directly!

At this time, in the box on the second floor of heaven and earth, the nobles represented by Zhu Chunchen, the Duke of Chengguo, and Zhang Zhiji, the son of the British Duke, were also worried.

Seeing Li Xianzhong arrive, Zhu Chunchen hurriedly asked him to take a seat.

Li Xianzhong looked around, and sure enough, he found no trace of Zheng Yangxing, it is obvious that since the last time he asked to support Zheng Guifei and was refused, he has become a "plague god" that everyone avoids.

Now the noble circle in the capital can be regarded as being removed, and the capital is indeed very large.

The population of Jingshi in the Ming Dynasty was nearly one million, which was the most populous city in the world at that time, but the circle of elites in the capital was very small.

It's so small that it can't accommodate a person who has lost power.

If it weren't for the fact that he was the behind-the-scenes boss of this "heaven and earth", and these nobles made a lot of money by relying on the North Korean market they opened, I am afraid that their situation at this time would not be much better than Zheng Yangxing.

The nobles of the Ming Dynasty have already been driven out of the inner circle of power by civil officials, and their lives are certainly better when they meet a shopkeeper like Wanli.

Wanli almost didn't care about anything, they could blatantly eat the empty salary of the Beijing camp.

The civil official group of the Ming Dynasty also reached a tacit understanding with the Xungui group.

As long as the nobles did not interfere in the government of the Ming Dynasty, the civil officials turned a blind eye to their empty salaries in Beijing.

But if there is a change of emperor, it will be difficult to say.

After all, it is difficult to find another shopkeeper like Wanli.

Chengguo Gong Zhu Chunchen said: "Everyone knows about the Ciqing Palace that happened a few days ago, right?" ”

"Now these civil officials are gathering in front of Dong'an Gate with great emotion, asking Your Majesty to severely punish the mastermind behind the scenes!"

"Should we nobles also speak out, at least leave a good impression on His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

Zhu Chunchen's words caused a lot of discussion, after all, it is a matter of time before the prince ascends the throne, if they do not act at all, if they cause the prince's dissatisfaction in the future, I am afraid that their good days will come to an end.

Li Xianzhong said: "The titles on our bodies are all hereditary, as long as it is the legal inheritance of the emperor of the Zhu family, we will support it." ”

"This is the biggest difference between us and those rogue officials!"

"If we follow these civil officials at this time, I can't be sure if the prince can read us well."

"But this kind of forced palace behavior must go against our consistent position!"

"In addition, forcing the palace is a contempt for the imperial power, and maybe the crown prince will be grateful to these people now, but once the crown prince ascends the throne and becomes the emperor, do you think he will be afraid of this kind of contempt for the imperial power?"

Li Xianzhong's words were quickly recognized by most people.

As long as it is the Zhu family, no matter who is the emperor, they should be loyal to the emperor, which is also the foundation of their lives.

If they also participate in forcing the palace, they will be jealous of the emperor sooner or later in the future, and if there is an autumn harvest to settle accounts, it will be more than worth the loss.

Li Xianzhong then said: "Even if we go, it is impossible to be as shameless as the Donglin Party, in order to show loyalty and cheekiness, we don't want to splash and roll, carry the coffin and hit the pillar, there is no bottom line!" ”

"Do you have the confidence to fight against these shameless civilian officials?"

Zhu Chunchen also felt a little ashamed when Li Xianzhong said this, he became a prince of the country, could he still do these flamboyant acts?

He said: "What Uncle Ning said is very true, it is indeed because of his brother's inconsiderability. ”

Li Xianzhong said: "What Cheng Guogong is worried about is right, people have no foresight, there must be near-term worries!" ”

"Our ancestors all started by virtue of military exploits, and only then did they earn this eternal wealth for future generations!"

"Therefore, the military power in our hands must not be left behind, whether it is the Beijing camp or the Korean garrison, who dares to touch these, this is not only moving the brothers' money bags, but also moving the well-being of our future generations."

Li Xianzhong's words quickly got a response from everyone, and Zhu Chunchen said: "Ning Yuanbo, rest assured, my old Zhu will leave his words here, no matter who is the first assistant, dare to move your position as the governor of North Korea, this is not going to get along with my old Zhu!" ”

The nobles present were more or less involved in the trade of North Korea, and Li Xianzhong was still very good at this, and no one "ate alone".

Everyone also knows Li Xianzhong's embarrassing situation, he, the first favorite of the Wanli Dynasty, has been labeled as a "demon concubine henchman", and he is on the same page as the Donglin Party.

Once the new emperor ascends the throne, he will definitely be retaliated against by the Donglin Party.

With his military exploits and his Li family's status in Liaodong, it is estimated that Li Xianzhong will not be able to move the position of deputy envoy of Liaodong Economic Strategy for a while and a half, but this Korean governor can be removed.

This affects their interests.

Li Xianzhong is different from Zheng Yang, his Zheng family has never brought others to get rich together, but Li Xianzhong has found a good way to make money for everyone.

According to the pie he painted for everyone, Korea is just the beginning, and in the future, Cochin, Burma, Siam, Ryukyu and even Wa and Java can follow the Korean model.

Such a "leading brother" who made a fortune with everyone, they were naturally reluctant to give up.

The strategy adopted by the Ming Dynasty against the vassal king was to "raise pigs", and what about the nobles?

They were all trapped in the capital, and even Li Chengliang, who was the latest to be named Ning Yuanbo, was almost trapped in the capital in the end.

Li Xianzhong is now the last powerful frontier official in the noble circle.

So everyone recommended Li Xianzhong as the leader of the nobles and led everyone to make a fortune together!

Li Xianzhong said: "Your kindness has touched Xianzhong very much, and it is Xianzhong's duty to lead everyone to make a fortune together." However, in terms of seniority and prestige, the British Gong Zhang Weixian is the representative of our honors, and loyalty is naturally the only British stallion leader! ”

So he said to Zhang Zhiji: "Our nobles can no longer be a plate of loose sand, let those civil officials take the lead, and ask the British Duke to take the helm for the brothers." ”

Zhang Zhiji looked at Li Xianzhong with some complaining eyes, thinking that Li Xianzhong arched everyone's fire, and in the end, you didn't come forward and threw this pot to my British government.

But at this time, he couldn't refuse, at this time, Xungui really needed a leader, none other than the British public Zhang Weixian.

Just when the nobles are united in the "heaven and earth" and are ready to do a big job.

The Daming civil official group headed by the first assistant Fang Congzhe and the Donglin Party members is also staging their drama outside Dong'an Gate.

This "poisoning incident" is suspected of murdering the prince, which touched the bottom line of all civil officials and almost stabbed the "hornet's nest".

This time, the civil officials can be said to be elites, the leader of the three parties of "Qi, Chu and Zhejiang", the first assistant of the cabinet, Fang Congzhe, the secretary of the Ministry of War, Xiong Tingbi, and the secretary of the Criminal Department, Li Zhi; As well as Liu Yijing, the backbone of the Donglin Party, Zhou Shunchang, the head of the Ministry of Officials, Yang Lian, the Imperial History of the Imperial Inspectorate, and Zuo Guangdou, the Imperial History of the City Patrol, are kneeling in front of Dong'an Gate with hundreds of officials.

Liu Yijing, known as the "coffin waiter", once again came here carrying his coffin.

For the civil officials to break into the palace, the forbidden army guards of Dong'anmen have long been surprised.

Almost every few months, sometimes several times a month, the civil servants come here to make trouble.

However, this time the scale is so large that it has set a new record.

The surrounding onlookers are also crowded, after all, you have to give a reward to watch the performance, and it is for nothing to watch the play here.

It was okay at first, it was just a traditional drama of "one crying, two troubles, and three hangings".

These civil officials cried and shouted: "I beg Your Majesty, you must severely punish the murderer, find out the mastermind behind the scenes, and give everyone an explanation." ”

But then the direction of the wind changed, and a group of emotional civil officials began to break into the palace, and even rolled up their sleeves and claimed, "I want to use my old bones to guard the palace for the prince and protect the prince from being framed by traitors." ”

More and more ministers began to stand up and pound the palace gates.

The guards carefully drew their sabers, and the general guarding the gate shouted: "Please stay calm, trespassing on the forbidden palace is a capital crime, please don't embarrass the general!" ”

This group of Donglin Party is also a veteran of breaking into the palace, and every time they pretend to be fearless to death, they hit the bodies of these forbidden guards, but every time they can accurately avoid the position of the blade.

Both sides have already come up with a tacit understanding, and from a distance, it seems that the civil officials are constantly attacking the palace gate, and the momentum is greater than the wave, but they just can't rush in.

At this time, Liu Yijing said: "Fang Shoufu, if we are the same as before, just make a fuss in front of the palace gate and create a little momentum, I'm afraid it won't work!" ”

"It is said that now Your Majesty is in poor health and can't leave the Qianqing Palace at all, everything in the harem is under the control of the demon concubine Zheng, maybe Your Majesty won't be able to hear our hearts at all!"

"For today's plan, we can only let Your Majesty know the real situation if we really break into the palace gate!"

Fang Congzhe knew that what Liu Yijing said was not unreasonable, but if he really broke into the palace, it was forcing the palace, and the nature was different.

In case His Majesty is angry at that time, he will directly take down his own cabinet leader, which will be cheap for the Donglin Party.

Just when he was in a dilemma, he saw Cui Wensheng come to Dong'anmen with a group of guards.

He came to pass on Empress Zheng's will: anyone who trespasses on the inner palace will be directly punished.

Originally, everyone was very excited, and when they saw the inner servant Cui Wensheng, they didn't know who shouted first: "This Cui Wensheng is the first minion of the demon concubine Zheng's subordinates, and he must not have a good heart when he came to Dong'anmen!" ”

The ministers below can be regarded as completely fried, and then someone shouted: "This Cui Wensheng is the mastermind of poisoning His Royal Highness the Prince!" ”

So the angry ministers rushed forward, claiming that they would kill Cui Wensheng and directly seek justice for His Royal Highness the Prince!

Cui Wensheng saw that the signs were wrong, and these ministers were completely aimed at themselves.

So he hurriedly ordered someone to open the Dong'an Gate and run back to the palace.

When the officials saw that the palace gate was opened, they rushed in as if they had been beaten with chicken blood.

In the end, Baiguan broke through the embankment like a flood that burst the embankment.

At this time, the wood was already in the boat, even if Fang Congzhe wanted to stop it, it was too late.

The passionate officials were divided into three waves.

Some people went to the prince's Ciqing Palace to guard the prince and show their loyalty.

There is no risk in showing your face along the way, and it is naturally the largest number of people.

The other two waves of people went to the Kunning Palace, where Zheng Guifei was located, and demonstrated with the Qianqing Palace in Wanli.

demanded that the real culprit who poisoned the prince be found out and the mastermind behind the scenes be severely punished; It was even more that the management of the harem was chaotic, and Zheng Shide was not worthy of the throne, and asked Wanli to withdraw the canonization edict to Empress Zheng.

Because Empress Zheng strictly forbade anyone to tell Wanli the news that the crown prince had been poisoned, so as not to irritate His Majesty.

She even specially warned Chang Yun, the eunuch of the celebrant and the eunuch of the court, that he was not allowed to stimulate His Majesty, so as not to cause adverse consequences.

So for this matter, Wanli is still in the dark.

But now that these ministers have made trouble at the gate of the Qianqing Palace, this matter naturally cannot be hidden.

Chang Yun quickly told Wanli the ins and outs of the whole matter.

Wanli clearly realized that due to his own physical reasons, he could no longer control the situation.

An order from Empress Zheng in the harem can make him ignorant of the situation in the outside world.

And these damned civil officials outside the palace are already in a hurry to show their loyalty in front of the prince.

However, when he heard that the nobles in Beijing did not participate in the invasion of the palace this time, he was still a little comforted.

Wanli was also very angry at Empress Zheng's operation of sending people to poison her, but now that the wood is in the boat, it is useless to blame her.

Next, she still needs to "wipe her ass" for herself.

Although Wanli has been rotten, it does not mean that he has given up his rights.

On the contrary, he takes rights very seriously.

There are many positions that he does not fill, partly because he wants to disgust the ministers; What's more, he couldn't find the right person.

Including the position of the celebrant supervisor, although Chang Yun is loyal, his ability is still a little worse.

After the eunuch Chen Ju and the eunuch Tian Yi passed away one after another, he directly did not fill the vacancy, limited the authority of the eunuch, and let some rights return to the emperor's hands.

But now he can only choose to compromise, and the object of compromise is not the group of Wenchen, but the crown prince Zhu Changluo, whom he despises the most.

Wanli adjusted his breathing and said, "Crown Prince Zhu Changluo, come to see me with the first assistant of the cabinet." ”

Soon, Zhu Changluo and Fang Congzhe came to the Qianqing Palace under the leadership of Changyun.

At this time, Emperor Wanli did not lie on the bed, but sat down in front of the table with strong spirits.

Although Wanli was already very passive, the suppression over the years still made Zhu Changluo dare not face Wanli's gaze at all.

Wanli didn't get angry, but said with a smile: "Aren't you arguing outside to see me, now that I am in front of you, say whatever you want to say." ”

Fang Congzhe said: "Your Majesty, the prince was poisoned, this is something that I have never had in the Ming Dynasty for more than 200 years, and I ask Your Majesty to investigate strictly and find out the real culprit behind the scenes." ”

Wanli still said calmly: "Hasn't this queen already made people thoroughly investigate?" ”

"The murderer has taken poison to death, and no substantial evidence can be found."

Then he said to the prince: "Prince, the person is from your palace, have you found anything?" ”

Zhu Changluo said in a low voice: "It is said that someone saw that the poisoned eunuch Zhang Chu had contact with the people of the Empress Kunning Palace!" ”

Wanli asked with a smile: "According to whom, who to contact, you will know if you are caught and asked, so why bother chasing the wind and shadows here?" ”

Then Wanli asked again: "Who handled this case before?" ”

Chang Yun said: "The queen assigned Cui Wensheng, the eunuch in charge of Kunning Palace, to investigate this case! ”

Soon Cui Wensheng came to the Qianqing Palace.

Wanli said: "Someone in Ciqing Palace poisoned the prince, have you carefully examined it?" ”

Cui Wensheng said: "The slave maid is indeed investigating this case at the behest of the queen's mother. But before the slave maid took over, the two criminals in this case had been tortured by the people of Ciqing Palace, and the slave only saw two corpses. ”

"The people of Ciqing Palace can't even judge the living criminals, how many things can the minions try in the face of two corpses?"

Wanli said again: "The prince said that someone reported that the eunuch Zhang Chu had contact with people from Kunning Palace before, and you have carefully investigated this matter." ”

Cui Wensheng said: "There is indeed such a reflection, but the description of the person is not clear, only an approximate height, how can the slave confirm the suspect?" ”

"The queen's mother's special grace allowed that person to go to Kunning Palace to find out the suspect of the joint, but he couldn't find it himself, and the slave and maid had to give up this clue."

Wanli said to the other party: "Fang Shoufu, the case is very clear, there is no evidence at present, what else do you have to question?" ”

"The previous 'Queen's Treasure' was forged by someone who wanted to use it to betray the rogue Empress Zheng, and now these two people are dead strangely, and it is difficult to guarantee that it is not those people who repeat their old tricks."

"Now that the evidence in this case is insufficient, if the Criminal Department and the Inspectorate have doubts, I can allow you to conduct a three-division trial, do you still have questions?"

"As for the safety of Ciqing Palace, I have already sent additional guards, isn't it better than you powerless ministers?"

"I want to ask you, why did you keep preventing me from making the Zheng clan the queen again and again?"

Wanli has been the emperor for 48 years after all, and the prestige of the Son of Heaven is still there, and this series of questions directly made Zhu Changluo speechless.

However, Fang Congzhe is an old Jianghu after all, he knows that he has a showdown with Wanli at this time, and he can't retreat, otherwise he will never recover.

He said: "Indeed, neither the previous 'Queen's Treasure' nor this 'Poisoning the Crown Prince' has conclusive evidence pointing to Concubine Zheng Guifei. ”

"But there are so many problems under the harem under his control, which just shows that Concubine Zheng is not suitable to sit in this back seat."

"The minister also wants to dare to ask Your Majesty, who in this harem has this motive to poison the prince?"

"Naturally, the ministers have no right to interfere with who His Majesty appoints as the queen, so the ministers have always said that His Majesty should suspend the canonization. At least wait until these behind-the-scenes murders are found out, the prince is safe, and then canonized! ”

Wanli said coldly: "What does Fang Shoufu mean is the crown prince who Empress Zheng sent someone to poison?" ”

Fang Congzhe said: "Weichen doesn't dare. But Zheng Guifei Niangniang really couldn't get rid of her suspicion. In this case, after sealing it, I am afraid that the Minister of Civil and Military Affairs will not accept it with the people of the world! ”

The cold sweat on Wanli's forehead broke out at this time, and his face became very ugly.

Fang Congzhe suddenly knelt down and said, "The harem under the command of Concubine Zheng Guifei is indeed unable to guarantee the safety of the crown prince. ”

"Your Majesty is now in a state of insecurity, and the ministers are afraid that someone will take the opportunity to make waves and harm the prince. If His Majesty and the crown prince have an accident at the same time, where will my Ming dynasty go? ”

"For the sake of the Ming Dynasty, the minister asked His Majesty to issue an order to temporarily supervise the country by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and deal with the government affairs; Wait for His Majesty's health to recover before canceling the prince's prison. ”

"After the crown prince is in charge of the country, his safety can definitely be guaranteed, and at this time, if he canonizes the Zheng family as the queen, the courtiers will not have so many worries?"

Wanli didn't expect that Fang Congzhe dared to force the palace directly. He was threatening himself to exchange the crown prince for the Zheng family's empress.

At this time, Wanli was already feeling very unwell, and he still asked sharply: "Prince, do you think the same way?" ”

Zhu Changluo knew that Fang Congzhe had already had a showdown for himself, and he also changed his previous submissive promise, and said to Wanli: "My father's health is not good, and my sons are willing to share their worries for their father!" ”

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(End of chapter)