Entering the Donghua Gate, the further they went, the more frightened King Xiang and Sun Zhong became.

The three major halls were burned down. Renshou Palace and Yangxin Palace burned down.

Cining Palace, Qianqing Palace, burned down. Xian'an Palace and Yongshou Palace also burned down.

In other words, the entire Forbidden City burned down more than half.

King Xiang sighed worriedly: "There are so many palaces, how much silver will it cost to rebuild them." The Ming Dynasty was already in an eventful season, and if it was tossed like this, the people would be hurt and the national strength would be even weaker. ”

Sun Zhong sneered: "His Royal Highness King Xiang is really worried, Your Majesty will not rebuild these palaces at all, how can you start with the loss of money and the loss of national strength?" ”

King Xiang had only been in the capital for twenty days, and he didn't know enough about the emperor. I still instinctively think that all emperors should love the Forbidden City extremely much, as for Zhu Qiyu's behavior of running to the western suburbs, in King Xiang's heart, it is purely a trick to retreat into advance, which is used to deceive the world.

But Sun Zhong saw very clearly that the emperor was sincerely not interested in the Forbidden City, and the emperor was also very resolute in cutting expenses to let the people of the world recuperate.

The emperor will never do anything to overhaul the palace and waste the people and money.

Although his positions were different, Sun Zhong still very much agreed with the emperor's actions in military and political affairs.

Sun Zhong's most distressing thing is that his daughter Empress Dowager Sun and eldest son Sun Jizong are completely different from his own ideas. These two refused to admit defeat in the bet, and they had to fight with the emperor.

Thinking of this, Sun Zhong sighed heavily: Fight, fight, fight, fight, the entire Sun family has to be killed.

King Xiang and Sun Zhong couldn't convince anyone, so they were silent all the way and went straight to the Yinghua Palace.

To say that the Empress Dowager Sun and Queen Qian are also aggrieved now.

The Holy Empress Dowager actually lived in this small Yinghua Hall in the northwest corner of the Forbidden City.

Queen Qian is even more miserable, there is no place to live. The better palaces have all burned down, two have burned in the West Sixth Palace, and there are still four left. Only the East Sixth House is intact.

But the problem is that the West Sixth Palace and the East Sixth Palace are for the emperor's concubines, and the dignified queen lives in the West Sixth Palace and the East Sixth Palace, so it's not a shame. Especially in the case of another queen, the Zhou family, occupying the Kunning Palace, once she lives in the East and West Six Palaces, it means that she admits that she is inferior from now on.

Although Queen Qian is not as stubborn as Wang, she can't stand this anger.

In the end, there was no way, and Queen Qian had to borrow the side hall of the Yinghua Hall of the Empress Dowager Sun.

In this way, the two of them were bedridden in the Yinghua Palace, which saved the doctors from running around.

Sun Zhong and King Xiang sat outside, talking to the Empress Dowager Sun through the screen.

Since Empress Dowager Sun was sick in bed, in order to avoid suspicion, there was no way to get rid of the palace people.

So Empress Dowager Sun flexed her mind and left behind two henchmen and maids, as well as four little eunuchs led by Gao Ping, who had been loyal to the rescue. The rest of the palace people all rushed to the side hall to wait for Queen Qian.

At this time, King Xiang took out the copy of the edict and chatted with the Empress Dowager Sun.

King Xiang also had no shortage of powerful staff, and in half a day, he dismantled the emperor's guilty edict to seventy-seven eighty-eight, and analyzed the emperor's intentions to eight or nine.

I only heard King Xiang say to the Empress Dowager Sun: "Sister-in-law, look, the emperor came up and said that he was the only son of Empress Zhen, which obviously wanted to compete for the throne."

If the emperor really established the identity of his eldest son, then it would be all a matter of course to change the crown prince and transfer the lineage later. ”

When Sun Zhong heard this, he nodded involuntarily, this analysis was completely correct.

Empress Dowager Sun was also silent when she heard this. The emperor's entry point is really too tricky and vicious.

If the emperor only starts from the position of the crown prince and forcibly promotes the change of the crown prince, then in terms of morality and etiquette, the emperor will inevitably fall into extreme passivity, and he will lose the hearts of the subjects of the world.

If the emperor starts from the fault of the emperor's personal conquest and forcibly denies the emperor's legal system, it will be difficult to convince the public. The government and the opposition actually don't care too much about how many soldiers died in Tumubao.

Now that he has been defeated and Warat has been hit hard, there is no need to dwell on the past.

But starting with the dispute between the concubines, the situation is completely different.

Empress Dowager Sun killed his wife with a concubine, this is an ironclad fact, and it is also a weakness that Empress Dowager Sun can't get around no matter what.

Therefore, Zhu Qiyu is determined to fight to the death with the emperor faction in the battle for his concubines.

It's very hard to win.

But once the winner is decided in the battle for the concubine, it is a winner-takes-all.

And in this regard, Queen Hu occupies the name of righteousness, and she is also deeply sympathized by the people of the world.

Even Liao Zhuang, Zhang Lun, and Zhong Tong, who resolutely agreed with the emperor, did not dare to stand up and confidently deny the identity of Empress Hu's wife.

As long as they dare to stand up and say that Queen Hu is not a word, Zhu Qiyu will immediately send them to the vegetable market.

This is the power of Confucian etiquette, a wife is a wife, and a concubine is a concubine. If you dare to deny your wife, I will dare to slaughter you openly.

Zhu Qiyu's difficulty lies in how to make the whole world generally recognize his identity as the concubine of Queen Hu.

As long as this pass is won, you can push and crush all opponents later.

Now Zhu Qiyu's strategy has become a conspiracy. Empress Dowager Sun knows, King Xiang knows, and the civil and military officials, the government and the opposition will also see it one after another.

But it doesn't matter, what matters is who can win the hearts of the people of the world.

This is the so-called, those who win the hearts of the people win the world.

King Xiang and Empress Dowager Sun analyzed the emperor's intention to retreat to the western suburbs and make it clear that after the emperor returned to Beijing, he would retire as a prince and welcome the emperor's restoration.

Sun Zhong was more troubled, and persuaded the Empress Dowager Sun again, hoping to completely give up the competition for the throne, and the family asked for glory and wealth.

From Sun Zhong's point of view, it really doesn't make much sense. The emperor reigned, and the Sun family was a marquis; Emperor Taishang was restored, and the Sun family was still a marquis, so there was not much difference in going back and forth.

If you have to say it, you, the marquis, are still promoted by the current emperor. When the Emperor Taishang was on the throne, he was only an earl.

The three of them broke up unhappily, and not long after King Xiang and Sun Zhong left, Shu Liang and Zhang Yong came to the Yinghua Hall together to greet the Empress Dowager Sun.

Empress Dowager Sun was patient, dealt with a few words, and then sent the two away.

Unexpectedly, Shu Liang replied: "Empress Dowager Qi, there is a decree in the Holy Majesty that all the palace people in the palace who were on fire will be killed." ”

When Empress Dowager Sun heard this, she chuckled in her heart and immediately sat up from the bed.

This is the advantage of righteousness, the emperor insists on killing these palace people, and even the queen mother can't stop it.

Empress Dowager Sun knew that the emperor had made up her mind, so she didn't have to discuss. I had to sigh and ask Shu Liang: "Gao Ping and the other three little eunuchs forgot about life and death and rescued the palace from the sea of fire, I don't know if the emperor is willing to spare them for the sake of saving the palace's life?" ”

Shu Liang replied: "Empress Dowager Qi, these four little eunuchs can not be disposed of for the time being, and the slaves and maids will report to His Majesty for a holy judgment." ”

Empress Dowager Sun nodded, lay back on the bed, and closed her eyes helplessly.

Seeing this, Shu Liang commanded dozens of young and strong little eunuchs to come in and pull out all the palace people around the queen mother and queen.

Immediately afterwards, another group of new palace people walked in, took the place of the old people, and became the close attendants of Empress Dowager Sun and Empress Qian.

On the morning of the second day, on the eighteenth day of the first month, Zhu Qiyu's edict was transmitted to the Yinghua Palace: Gao Ping had a meritorious role in saving the driver, and was promoted to the eunuch of the ceremonial supervisor and the head of the Yinghua Palace.

In order to change the situation of the inner court's defense full of loopholes, the internal affairs factory was established, and Zhang Yong served as the eunuch of the inner factory, responsible for supervising the palace people in the entire imperial city.

(End of chapter)