Sang Liangtian's face changed greatly. The plague of the Japanese invaders in the southeast has become a great disaster for the imperial court, and Sang Liangtian knows the cunning and cunning of the Fusang people. He turned his head to Zhao Zhen and said, "Lord Zhao, what do you think about this matter?"

Zhao Zhen said: "Mr. Liu has been shaking the rivers and lakes for decades, and he is definitely fake. Let's not believe this kid's nonsense. ”

Liu Sheng Zongyan sneered and said: "Whether the old man is the number one master in the rivers and lakes, or the common people, it can be said that he is as light as a feather in the Daming Dynasty." But do you know who he is?"

After Yanagi Zongyan finished speaking, he pointed at the young man with his right hand. Although Zhao Zhen and Sang Liangtian had always seen this young man with Yanagi Zongyan, they didn't know his identity. was asked by Yanagi Zongyan, and his face was puzzled.

Seeing that everyone was silent, Liu Sheng Zongyan immediately laughed and said, "You guys listen well." His surname is Zhu Mingju, and he is the eldest son of Emperor Zhengde, that is, the righteous prince!"

As soon as these words came out, except for Li Qiufeng who knew some situations, the rest of the people were shocked. Emperor Zhengde has never had an heir, and it was only after his death that King Xingxian succeeded to the unification, which is a well-known thing in the world. If Emperor Zhengde had a prince alive, then there would be nothing to do with the king. It's just that this matter is too weird, and most people don't believe it.

Although Zhao Zhen has been planning with Yanagi Zongyan and others in the dark room, he is completely ignorant of this matter. But he knew that Liu Sheng Zongyan was not only a big master in the martial arts, but also a fish in water among the bigwigs of the imperial court. Such a major event does not seem to be fake. At that moment, he said in a trembling voice: "Mr. Liu, this—this is not a joke. Do Wang Shangshu, Lord Xu, and the others know?"

Yanagi Zongyan sneered: "Only the old man knows about this matter. The old man originally planned that after the army arrived in the capital, the prince would recruit the defenders of the capital. It's just that due to the situation, I have to disclose the identity of the prince today. You are all good men of the Ming Dynasty, why don't you kneel when you see the prince?"

Sang Liangtian saw that the soldiers under his command showed doubts on their faces, and his heart was also shocked, and he thought for a moment before saying: "Mr. Liu, such a big thing, based on your words alone, I am afraid that it will be difficult to convince the public!"

Liu Sheng Zongyan said: "What General Sang said is good, if there is no evidence, wouldn't you just introduce a person and call him the crown prince?" Lord Zhao, you have traveled through the six departments, you have seen a lot, and you have also walked in the cabinet, and you have seen a lot of edicts from the first emperor?"

Zhao Zhen said proudly: "This is natural. When the official was in the cabinet, the edicts of the first emperor were naturally often seen. ”

Liu Sheng Zongyan said to Sang Liangtian again: "General Sang, you once followed the first emperor to the north hunt, and when you were in Xuanfu and Datong, you also received an edict from the first emperor. As for the seal used in the edict, I don't think I will admit it. ”

Sang Liangtian said: "This is a matter of course. The generals sent by the imperial court all knew the secret of the seal used by the emperor, and after receiving the edict and the talisman of the troops, they could distinguish the true from the fake. Otherwise, when leading troops to the war, if there are traitors who use a false edict to plot rebellion, and they cannot distinguish the truth of the edict, will it not cause a great disaster?"

Liu Sheng Zongyan said: "Since both of you know the secret of the jade seal used by the first emperor, then please see if this jade seal is true or false!"

After he finished speaking, he bowed down to the young man Zhu Ju and bowed deeply, and said, "Please give the prince a seal, so that the two adults can see if it is true or false." ”

Zhu Ju's face was expressionless, he reached out and took out a small yellow cloth bag from his arms, and after untying it, he took out a palm-sized white jade seal. Liu Sheng Zongyan respectfully took the jade seal in his hand, held it in both hands and took two steps back, then stood up straight, turned to Zhao Zhen and Sang Liangtian and said, "Two adults, please come and take a look at this jade seal!"

Sang Liangtian and Zhao Zhen glanced at each other, and then stepped forward and looked at the jade seal in Liu Sheng Zongyan's hand. I saw that the jade seal was white all over, faintly revealing a soft white light. Zhao Zhenjiu was in the center of the imperial court, and after knowing that Qin Shi Huang unified China, he ordered the jade workers to carve an emperor's jade seal, which was called the "Seal of the Son of Heaven". According to the historical records, this seal is carved with white jade from Lantian in Shaanxi, and the tiger button is engraved on it, and the text engraved on it is the prime minister Li Si who wrote the big seal of "ordered by the sky, both longevity and Yongchang". Since then, successive dynasties have changed, and winning this heirloom jade seal is the first major event of the new dynasty. After the Qin Dynasty, the emperors of all dynasties took this seal as a symbol, and enshrined it as a treasure and a heavy weapon of the country. If you get it, it symbolizes that it is "ordered by the sky", and if you lose it, you suspect that it is "exhausted". Those who ascend to the throne without this seal are ridiculed as "tabula rasa emperors", which appear to be lacking in confidence and are despised by the world. When Wang Mang usurped the Han Dynasty, he sent people to ask for the jade seal of the country. The Empress Dowager Wang Zhengjun angrily threw the jade seal on the ground and broke one of the corners of the jade seal. Wang Mang ordered the craftsman to fill the missing corner with pure gold, from which the term "gold inlaid with jade" comes from.

When this jade seal was passed on to the five dynasties, it fell into the hands of Li Congke, the late emperor of the Later Tang Dynasty. Li Congke is very fond of this heirloom jade seal and often takes it out to play. At that time, Yelubei, the deposed prince of Khitan, fled to the Later Tang Dynasty for refuge, and once saw Li Congke feasting on the occasion of the ministers with the jade seal of the country, thinking that it was to show off. Na Yelubei is the best book and antique, and he also covets this jade seal, and there are many records in his private notes. Later, Shi Jingjiao led the Khitan army to Luoyang, and Li Congke took the national seal in his arms and boarded the Xuanwu Tower to self-immolate, and the national seal disappeared.

During the reign of Zhezong of the Northern Song Dynasty, a farmer named Duan Yi found the heirloom jade seal while plowing the field and sent it to the imperial court. According to the records of the previous dynasty, thirteen scholars believed that it was the seal of the first emperor. It's just that this matter is too magical, and most people in the government and the opposition don't believe it, but this jade seal has been passed down since then. At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, Ming Taizu took Xu Da and Chang Yuchun as generals and led 200,000 Ming troops to approach Dadu. Before the Ming army arrived, Emperor Yuan Shun fled from the capital, no matter how difficult the escape was, the jade seal was always with him.

In the early years of the Ming Dynasty, Taizu sent Xu Da into Mobei to chase and fight the remnants of the Yuan forces that had escaped far away, and its main purpose was to obtain the jade seal of the country, but in the end it was in vain. Until the reign of Ming Xiaozong, someone fled back from Mobei and brought back a jade seal, which is said to have been obtained from the descendants of Genghis Khan. Since then, this jade seal has been hidden in the palace and used as a necessary imperial seal for the emperor to issue edicts.

Zhao Zhen was born in Jinshi, and worked as a messenger in the Hanlin Academy for three years, which can be called a well-educated Confucian, not only familiar with the classics of various schools and factions, but also dabbled in some books such as private notes among the people. He knew that the whereabouts of this heirloom jade seal were unknown since Li Congke's death, and the jade seals that appeared after him were all fake, but the emperors of the past dynasties did not say anything about it in order to seek fame. Seeing this jade seal at this time, Zhao Zhenxin was full of emotion, but he was quite skeptical. Concentrate on it now. I saw that the jade seal was square, and it was engraved with the words "Ordered by the sky, both longevity and Yongchang". Zhao Zhen knew that the difference of this jade seal was the moire of the words "life" and "longevity", and he looked at it quite carefully. When I saw the moire of these two words, I believed it in my heart. I remembered that since Emperor Jiajing ascended the throne, he stopped using the jade seal of the country and used the "Appointed Treasure Seal" as the imperial seal, which is naturally very strange.

At this time, Sang Liangtian also looked at the jade seal carefully, with an unbelievable look on his face, and turned his head to look at Zhao Zhen. The two of them looked at each other and involuntarily nodded at the same time.

Liu Sheng Zongyan held the jade seal and respectfully sent it to Zhu Ju. Zhu Ju took the jade seal, rewrapped it and put it back in his arms.

Liu Sheng Zongyan said to Zhao Zhen and Sang Liangtian: "Two adults, is this jade seal real or fake?"

Zhao Zhen said in a deep voice: "The jade seal is indeed real, but where did this little brother get it?"

Sang Liangtian said: "Although there is a jade seal here, it cannot be said that this person is the prince of the first emperor." The first emperor had no heirs, which is a well-known thing in the world. It's so weird, we still can't believe it. ”

Yanagi Zongyan paced a few steps on the ground with his hands behind his back, and said to Sang Liangtian and Zhao Zhen: "This matter has to start from twelve years ago. At that time, the first emperor had already discovered that there were people in the court who were colluding with foreign vassals and intended to usurp the throne. The year before, King Ning rebelled, and everyone in the world thought that King Ning was the mastermind. And the first emperor got a secret report, King Ning was just a substitute for the dead ghost, and there were even greater forces behind him who were plotting against the Ming Dynasty. Pushing King Ning to raise troops is a plan to kill two birds with one stone, one is to test the strength of the imperial court, and the other is to take the opportunity to eradicate King Ning. The first emperor knew that the imperial cabinet had been controlled by that person's minions, so he took his cronies to Nanjing under the pretext of wanting to conquer King Ning in person, in fact, he wanted to get rid of the control of the cabinet and defeat the conspiracy of these traitors with the help of the Nanjing garrison. When the first emperor passed through Meilong Town, he met a folk woman, and the two had a night of love. The woman was pregnant with a dragon and followed the emperor to Nanjing. Later, the first emperor fell into the water in Nanjing, was seriously ill, and knew that he was unlucky, and learned that the woman was pregnant, so he handed over the jade seal to the woman, and asked her to escape and live in seclusion, not to be found by the traitor, and wait for the opportunity to avenge the first emperor. At that time, the old man was in front of the first emperor's couch and was ordered to protect the woman and escape from Nanjing. You also know the rest of the matter, King Xingxian entered Beijing and became the emperor. Hehe, it's just that he doesn't know that the first emperor also has a son living in the world, who is the prince you see today!"

(End of chapter)