Wanli didn't expect that his useless son, whom he had always looked down on, would now dare to face his sharp gaze.
It seems that this scoundrel has finally taken this step.
It was actually easy to deal with their forced uterus. As long as he fainted again, they would still be helpless against him.
They do not have military power in their hands and cannot force themselves to submit.
But if Zheng's successor status remains unresolved, he may not be able to be buried with him in the future.
If your body can still support it, this won't be a problem.
But Wanli knew very well that his end was approaching and there was no time left.
After a painful struggle, he finally decided to compromise.
He said: "My health is indeed deteriorating. The prince lacks experience in governing. It is not a bad idea to temporarily gain experience in supervising the country. Let's practice with these recent cases!"
Then he said: "Shoufu Fang, I still have something to say to the prince, please step aside for now!"
Wanli understood that even if he no longer looked down on the prince, he would still ascend to the throne of emperor before long.
He said: "I have been in office for 48 years and have been controlled by this group of civil servants. You are weak in temperament and I am afraid you will still be controlled by the cabinet in the future. This is why I was reluctant to appoint you in the first place."
"You performed very well today, which really surprised me."
"Do you have any means to control the situation next?"
Zhu Changluo knew that Wanli was testing himself. He had not received his father's love for a long time, so he was very happy to be praised by Wanli.
So he said: "The civil servants still need to check and balance. Next, the ministers will use the ceremonial supervisor to check and balance the cabinet."
"Of course, the cabinet ministers also need to restrain each other, so that the ministers can better control the situation. Therefore, the ministers will supplement the cabinet members, and there will no longer be the situation where the chief minister is the 'lone prime minister'. "
Wanli had never cared about Zhu Changluo's studies. He had stopped ministers from giving lectures to Zhu Changluo in the East Palace for a long time. At this moment, he naturally did not expect the prince to have any insights.
Even Zhu Changluo couldn't solve these problems himself, let alone Zhu Changluo, who had little experience.
There's nothing amazing about this answer, but it's quite satisfactory. It's pretty good that the prince can think of this.
Of course, the reason why Wanli asked this was just to shorten the distance between him and Zhu Changluo, and to pave the way for Concubine Zheng to become a queen.
He said: "It's good that the prince can have his own ideas. But you must also understand that the imperial power is supreme and cannot be trampled by anyone. As ministers, the behavior of these ministers today has obviously crossed the line."
At this moment, a chill flashed through Zhu Changluo's eyes, and he said coldly: "Father, don't worry, I will definitely handle this intrusion into the palace properly."
At this time, almost all the ministers had gathered outside Qianqing Palace.
This was a political game between them, and now they have publicly broken up with Emperor Wanli, and even offended Concubine Zheng to death.
If the prince does not take the throne, they may not even be able to sleep well!
When Xiong Tingbi learned that Fang Congzhe was directly showing his hand to Wanli, he was shocked. This was a big taboo.
Fang Congzhe had been up and down in the officialdom for many years, so he didn't know that this kind of forced marriage was a taboo, but under the circumstances at that time, if he didn't show his cards to Wanli. The prince may have to retreat, and the consequences will be more serious.
Soon after, Prince Zhu Changluo left Qianqing Palace.
The previous "Queen's Treasure Case" and "Ciqing Palace Poisoning Case" also came to an end soon.
The "Queen's Treasure" discovered by the Inspectorate was a forgery and was deliberately created to confuse the public.
The poisoning case that occurred in Ciqing Palace was caused by Zhang Chu, the eunuch of the Dianshan Bureau, who had a grudge against the Crown Prince because he failed to get promoted, so he conspired with his best friend Qian'er to poison the Crown Prince.
After the incident was revealed, both of them committed suicide by taking poison.
Both of these matters have nothing to do with Concubine Zheng.
Soon the imperial edict of Concubine Zheng conferring the title of Queen and Prince Zhu Changluo as Supervisor of the Kingdom was announced to the world.
Anyone with a discerning eye can see that this is Wanli's compromise.
In exchange for the "Prince Supervising the Country", Concubine Zheng was granted the title of Empress.
But what happened next was beyond everyone's expectations. The Crown Prince Zhu Changluo was very angry about this incident of breaking into the palace.
Prince Zhu Changluo directly ordered Fang Congzhe, the chief minister of the cabinet, to take up the official position, and appointed Ye Xianggao, a member of the Donglin Party who was the former chief minister, as the chief minister of the cabinet.
All the ministers who participated in the invasion of the palace were fined for half a year.
And soon everyone discovered that all the ministers who participated in the invasion of the palace were excluded from the list of additional cabinet members.
This made Liu Yijing and other heroes who broke into the palace greatly disappointed.
Originally, they wanted to leave a deep impression on His Royal Highness with their performance.
Unexpectedly, the flattery was slapped on the horse's leg, which directly cut off his path to cabinet promotion.
The Prince Supervisor Zhu Changluo corrected the problem of Emperor Wanli's neglect of government, and it took less than half a month to almost fill the official gaps in the Wanli Dynasty over the past few decades.
It also led to the promotion of a large number of officials, which made Zhu Changluo praised by everyone in the court.
Of course, this does not include the Ministry of Household Affairs, because the expenditure on official salaries has suddenly increased a lot.
In the end, the cabinet members were expanded to five people, namely: the first assistant of the cabinet Ye Xianggao, the second assistant Shi Jikai, the bachelors He Zongyan, Han Xu, and Zhu Guozuo.
Zhu Changluo still paid great attention to political balance. For his first assistant, he chose Ye Xianggao of the Donglin Party, and for his second assistant, he chose Shi Jikai, who was also from the Zhejiang Party and recommended by the former first assistant Fang Congzhe, so that the two restrained each other.
Except for Han Xu, a veteran of the Donglin Party, the other three cabinet ministers, He Zongyan and Zhu Guozuo were neither members of the Donglin Party nor the "Three Parties of Qi, Chu and Zhejiang".
Both of these people once served as Zhu Changluo's ministers in the East Palace, and were also firm supporters of the prince. They can be called "princelings" for the time being.
It can be seen that Zhu Changluo put a lot of thought into the selection of cabinet members, and the people he hired were all his absolute supporters.
Although he had the intention of reusing the Donglin Party members, he obviously had a hand in preventing the Donglin Party members from becoming dominant.
It's a pity that he has a good idea, but after all, he has been absent from the court for a long time, and his understanding of the official background is very limited.
And the intelligence network he currently has is not even as good as Li Xianzhong's Intelligence Department.
Although He Zongyan and Zhu Guozuo were not members of the Donglin Party, their political views were very close to those of the Donglin Party, which made it difficult for Shi Jikai, the second assistant, to stand alone.
Thanks to Shi Jikai's efforts, the "Three Parties of Qi, Chu, and Zhejiang" barely retained the position of Xiong Tingbi, Minister of War, but almost all other positions were occupied by either the Donglin Party or officials who had a favorable impression of the Donglin Party.
Among them, Zhang Wenda, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, Han Xu, the Minister of the Ministry of Rites, Wang Ji, the Minister of the Ministry of Punishment, Zhao Nanxing, the Yushi of Zuodu, Cao Yubian, the Shaoqing of Dali Temple, Liu Yijing, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, Wang Zaijin, the Minister of the Ministry of War, Bi Ziyan, the Minister of Taipu, and Bi Ziyan, the Minister of the Ministry of Punishment The minister Qiao Yunsheng and the deputy governor Yang Lian were all members of the Donglin Party.
It is obvious that the Donglin Party members suddenly occupied most of the real vacancies in the imperial court. It is no exaggeration to say that the Ming Dynasty has now ushered in an era in which Donglin is unique.
What surprised the civil servants even more was that the positions in the inner court were quickly filled.
The Chief Ceremony Supervisor, who had been vacant for more than ten years, was actually re-activated by His Highness the Crown Prince.
Wang An, the former eunuch in charge of Ciqing Palace, served as the eunuch in charge of etiquette and superintendent of the East Factory.
Cui Wensheng, the eunuch in charge of Kunning Palace, was also promoted to eunuch Bingbi, the eunuch of rites.
Dongchang, located in Dong'anmen, which was originally overgrown with weeds, is now lively again, and a large number of Dongchang banners have begun to be active throughout the capital.
The civil servants found that the prince who was overseeing the country did not seem to be as easy to deal with as they imagined.
Although the Ming Dynasty's government seemed a bit chaotic due to Wanli's decades of neglect, at least on the surface, what Zhu Changluo did seemed to be the same.
Even in such a busy situation, he still insisted on visiting Wanli every night and picked some important things to report to Wanli.
Everyone in the court kept praising His Royal Highness for his benevolence and filial piety.
At this time, Haziya was also in labor, and gave birth to a fat boy for Li Xianzhong. According to the naming rules of the fourth generation of the Li family, Li Rubai named him Li Shengzu.
Li Shengzu is also the eldest son of Li Xianzhong.
Although Queen Wang's taboo has long since passed, Li Xianzhong did not dare to be high-profile at this time. He just set up a few banquets at his uncle Ning Yuan's residence and entertained some relatives of the Li family.
Although Li Xianzhong inherited the title of Li Jia Ning Yuan Bo, he did not want the Li family's properties. Now, the various properties of the Li family are still managed by Butler Li, creating income for each house of the Li family.
Moreover, since the Li family was relieved of the burden of supporting the Liaodong cavalry and participated in the North Korean trade, their income was obviously higher than before.
Each house in the Li family received more money, so the Li family were very satisfied with the performance of Li Xianzhong, Ning Yuanbo.
Now that such a big change has occurred in the imperial court, the noble circle in the capital is naturally very concerned about it, even though Li Xianzhong is very low-key.
However, Zhu Chunchen, Duke of Chengguo, gathered everyone together in "Heaven and Earth" on the grounds that Li Xianzhong was happy to have a son.
It's not the same as before. Dongchang and Jinyiwei have become active again, so the nobles have to find a reason to gather together.
Although the world of heaven and earth strictly implements a membership system and outsiders cannot enter at all, there are already nearly a thousand members, and there is no guarantee that there are no bannermen from Dongchang or spies from Jinyiwei among them.
What if the news reaches the ears of the Prince of the Supervisory State and he thinks that these people have gathered together to try to harm him?
Zhu Chunchen said: "Fortunately, Uncle Ning Yuan stopped us from going to Dong'anmen to join in the fun. I heard that the ministers who broke into the palace this time were punished. Not only Fang Chief Minister was forced to retire. Even Liu Yijing, Xiong Tingbi and others lost their jobs because of this. Opportunity!"
Zhang Wuji also said: "These days, the capital city has been turned upside down. I just don't know what His Highness the Crown Prince's attitude is towards us nobles. We have never expressed our loyalty to His Highness the Crown Prince!"
Li Xianzhong said: "When it comes to the crown prince of the Ming Dynasty, how can our foreign ministers be involved in this kind of thing?"
"Brothers, don't worry. We nobles will always stand on the side of the imperial power. We are only loyal to the Ming Dynasty. If we don't express our position at this time, it is just a statement!"
"Neither His Majesty nor His Royal Highness the Crown Prince will blame us, but will also consider us to be firm in our stance!"
Zhu Chunchen said: "As long as it doesn't affect our earnings, we can do anything. Last month, North Korea's income increased by 20%!"
"Ning Yuanbo's 'Garrisoning the Ming Army' strategy is really great. Why didn't anyone think of it in the Ming Dynasty hundreds of years ago?"
Li Xianzhong smiled bitterly and said: "North Korea is indeed a money tree, but I am not sure how long this money tree can last for my brothers."
After hearing what Li Xianzhong said, Zhu Chunchen quickly asked: "Did Uncle Ning Yuan hear something?"
Li Xianzhong said: "There is no news for the time being, but if you think about it, the imperial court has always been distracted by the party struggle between the 'Zheng Guifei' and the 'Three Parties of Qi, Chu and Zhejiang' and the Donglin Party."
"Now that Concubine Zheng has become the queen, this 'party struggle' has ended with the Donglin Party's victory!"
"In addition to the three things that make the new official take office, think about it, if these two things did not involve energy, the newly appointed Yan Yu Shiyan officials are eager to show off, will they make trouble with us?"
After Li Xianzhong reminded them, everyone felt that it was very possible that these censors would like to make trouble all day long.
Originally, they were dog-eat-dog, but now that the Donglin Party has basically controlled the situation, it is very likely that they will find fault with themselves.
Although it is an open secret that their Beijing camp has free wages, it has not been brought to the forefront after all.
Naturally, those Donglin bosses above would not look for trouble, but they were afraid that the little shrimps below would stir things up because they didn't understand the rules.
Li Xianzhong said: "So everyone still needs to be on guard. I have recently informed the brothers below to restrain themselves a little, and they still need to show sufficient skills on the surface."
While everyone was having a heated discussion about this matter, Li Xianzhong found Zheng Yangxing sitting in the corner drinking alone.
After Zheng Guifei was officially crowned queen, he was re-incorporated into the circle of nobles. However, now that the prince is in charge of the country, everyone's attitude towards him is completely different.
Li Xianzhong sat in front of Zheng Yangxing and said, "The matter of the title of empress has been settled, why is Brother Zheng still frowning?"
Soon the two came to an empty room. Zheng Yangxing said: "Although my aunt became the queen as she wished, her relationship with the prince was very bad because of the poisoning incident in Ciqing Palace."
"My aunt wants to improve the relationship with the prince and wants me to find some rare things. I am worried about this!"
It seems that Empress Zheng has to accept this reality now and begins to please Zhu Changluo.
Of course, you have to give things according to what you want. I am afraid that except for Li Xianzhong, who has a "God's perspective", no one can imagine that Prince Zhu Changluo is actually a lecher.
Li Xianzhong remembered that in history, Concubine Zheng presented eight beauties to Zhu Changluo at one time. These beauties were all specially trained. They were not only good at charming, but also said to have a strange fragrance, and they soon fascinated Zhu Changluo.
He even let these 8 beauties sleep with him at the same time in one night, which completely destroyed his body!
Li Xianzhong said: "The prince lived a relatively reserved life before, so he must not have many beauties around him. Concubine Zheng is certainly not lacking in rare treasures, so why not brother Zheng present a few role beauties and ask them to speak kindly to Empress Zheng?" It will definitely ease the relationship with the Crown Prince."
After being reminded by Li Xianzhong, Zheng Yangxing's eyes lit up, and then he said in embarrassment: "Beauty is easy to find, but it is not easy to find a stunning one. The woman who is presented to the prince must be a woman from an innocent family, which is even more difficult. .”
“For a while, there’s no way to start!”
Li Xianzhong thought to himself that there just happened to be a lack of ears and eyes in the palace, especially around the prince.
It would be better to find a few spies from "heaven and earth" and place them next to the prince.
Then he said: "Brother Zheng, please don't disturb me. Didn't the new store in the world of heaven and earth recruit a group of 'Yangzhou thin horses' from the south of the Yangtze River? It is said that they are all stunning. Now these batch of 'thin horses' should be almost well-trained. Why don't Brother Zheng directly choose from them?" One batch.”
Zheng Yangxing said: "These are the pillars of heaven and earth. I'm afraid they will delay the opening of the new store."
Li Xianzhong said: "The Queen's business must be important. Brother Zheng doesn't have to be polite and just pick it up. It doesn't matter if the branch of Heaven and Earth opens a few days later."
So Mao Yuanyi took Zheng Yangxing to select the "Yangzhou thin horse".
Mao Yuanyi naturally knew Li Xianzhong's intentions, and Ning Yuanbo took this opportunity to plant spies in the palace.
Not long after, Mao Yuanyi came back with a bitter look on her face.
Li Xianzhong said: "Looking at your expression, Zheng Yangxing must have picked a lot. It might as well be that the more spies we place in the palace, the easier it will be for Zhu Changluo to take a fancy to you."
Mao Yuanyi said: "Zheng Yangxing is really outrageous. He took away 8 of the best 'skinny horses' in one go. My work in the past two months has been in vain!"
Li Xianzhong exploded when he heard the number "eight".
Because this is exactly the same number as the number of beauties that Concubine Zheng gave to Zhu Changluo according to historical records. Could it be that it was God's arrangement for her to travel back to the Ming Dynasty?
If this trend is followed, Zhu Changluo may not live long.
So from now on, the world will be ruled by the "Nine Thousand Years Old" Eunuch Wei?
To be honest, if Ming Dynasty was Wanli, even if Zhu Changluo became emperor, he would still have some scruples.
If it really comes to Apocalypse or even Emperor Chongzhen taking over the world, he will have to come up with some other ideas.
Just when Li Xianzhong was lamenting, news suddenly came from the palace that His Majesty Wanli was going to summon Li Xianzhong.
If it were in the past, His Majesty Wanli would have tried his best to please Li Xianzhong when he summoned him, and he would have gained a lot almost every time he met him.
But at this time, although Emperor Wanli had not died yet, in everyone's hearts, he was actually dead.
Once a politician is declared dead politically, his own life and death are no longer so important.
As the saying goes, "One emperor, one courtier." At this time, Wanli summoned Li Xianzhong. Is this because he was afraid that the prince would not remember that Li Xianzhong was a favorite of the Wanli Dynasty?
This is really embarrassing for Li Xianzhong!
On the way, Li Xianzhong kept speculating on Wanli's true purpose of summoning him. There must be something very important for Wanli to summon him when he was dying.
There's no way there's going to be a dress code or something like that, right?
Zhu Changluo was eager to reinstate the Supervisor of Ceremonies in order to block the channel for Wanli to issue orders privately.
Wang An, the chief seal officer of the Supervisor of Ceremonies, belongs to Zhu Changluo, and Wanli cannot bypass the Supervisor of Ceremonies to issue orders now.
Forget it, it’s a blessing, not a curse, it’s a curse that cannot be avoided.
Under the leadership of the eunuch Chang Yun, Li Xianzhong quickly entered the Qianqing Palace.
I originally thought that Wanli summoned me alone, but I didn't expect that Prince Zhu Changluo was also in Qianqing Palace at this time.
But that's fine, since the prince was present in person so he wouldn't have to doubt what Wanli said to him.
Li Xianzhong respectfully kowtowed to His Majesty and the Prince.
At this time, Wanli was lying on the cave. Because he was separated by a layer of sand tent, he couldn't see Wanli's true appearance at this moment.
This forced Li Xianzhong to be more cautious. Could it be that Emperor Wanli had passed away and Prince Zhu Changluo had set a trap for himself?
However, as Wanli spoke, Li Xianzhong dispelled this doubt.
Although a little weak, he is indeed Emperor Wanli himself.
His majesty's condescending tone deep in his bones cannot be imitated by others, not even the prince Zhu Changluo.
Wanli said: "In my 48 years of reign, all those who dare to oppose me, the Ming Dynasty, have been eliminated. Only Jianzhou Jurchen Nurhaci is still at large."
"Uncle Ning Yuan, I read your "Call for the Construction of the Captives" and it's very impressive. I hope you can do what it says in the text, 'Destroy its city, take down its leader, and destroy its clan'!"
Nowadays, the imperial court has insufficient salary and money, and a large part of the "Liao salary" has been appropriated by the Ministry of Household Affairs for other purposes. Empress Wang was buried and Empress Zheng was canonized. Next there will be the funeral ceremony of Wanli and the enthronement ceremony of Emperor Taichang Zhu Changluo.
Where is the money to conquer Jianzhou?
Even if Wanli was terminally ill, it was impossible for him not to know this.
He must be trying to convey some message to himself. Could it be that he is in danger and His Majesty wants to take this opportunity to return to Liaodong?
Li Xianzhong said: "Your Majesty, don't worry. As long as the last general is alive, Jianzhou will never have another chance to invade our Ming Dynasty. I will return to Liaodong to raise troops to conquer Jianzhou. I will not withdraw my troops until Hetuala is defeated!"
Wanli said in his weak voice: "This is very good, we must destroy Jianzhou. With my beloved guarding Liaodong, I will feel at ease!"
At this time, Li Xianzhong's tears were already welling up in his eyes. He said: "Your Majesty, please take care of the dragon body for two months at most. No, one month at most. The general will definitely conquer Hetuala and relieve your Majesty of this big worry!" "
Then Wanli said: "I heard that Uncle Ning Yuan is happy to have a son. I don't have anything to give him as a gift. There is a longevity lock here. It should be a little thought of mine."
Soon Chang Yun handed a wooden box into Li Xianzhong's hands.
After Li Xianzhong took the wooden box, he knelt down and thanked the emperor for his kindness. In fact, what he wanted to ask most at this time was the truth about his father, Li Rusong, who was ambushed and killed.
It's a pity that the current situation can no longer ask.
Afterwards, Wanli asked Li Xianzhong to explain to the prince the copper mines in Liaodong and the annual silver from Korean customs and then rest.
In fact, Li Xianzhong really wanted to take a look at Wanli again, or even take his pulse, but unfortunately this was no longer possible.
He knew that this was the last time their monarch and ministers would meet.
Li Xianzhong was quite sure of Wanli's preferences, but not of Zhu Changluo.
Although Li Xianzhong repeatedly expressed his loyalty when talking about money, Zhu Changluo didn't seem to be that caring.
This gave Li Xianzhong a very bad feeling.
Sure enough, not long after leaving Qianqing Palace, he was taken away by Dongchang's bannermen and sent directly to Dongchang's prison!
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