Zhu Cixiang suppressed the anger in his heart and summoned Jiang Dejing. After discussing with him, he gave up some idle official positions in order to delay time.
Unexpectedly, after a day of peace, Liu Chang and others made demands for the removal of Jiang Dejing, Wang Jiayan and others.
When Zhu Cihong saw the memorial, he was immediately furious.
He originally wanted to depose Liu Chang and others for false accusations, but Zhou Hou believed that the overall situation now was to maintain stability, and it was not appropriate to turn against Liu Chang and others at this moment.
Although Jiang Dejing and others were loyal, they hindered the overall situation, so he suggested that Jiang Dejing and others be banned.
Because this can not only deal with Liu Chang and others, but also prevent them from being assassinated.
Although Zhu Cihong was unwilling, Empress Zhou insisted on it. In addition, he learned that Jin Xuan was still confronting Jin Shenghuan, and was still slightly weak and could not come to help at all.
In order to keep the capital stable and not to worry Zhou Hou, he had no choice but to comply and at the same time sent people to secretly protect him.
However, Liu Chang and others were obviously dissatisfied with this result, so they wrote letters one after another and continued to fight.
Zhu Cixiang was so annoyed that he took the opportunity to severely punish a few people before the other party calmed down a bit.
But what he didn't expect was that yesterday there were rumors in the capital. Not only did they say that Chongzhen had been replaced by a certain military general, but it was also rumored that Zhu Hengjia had led an army of 100,000 to the north, preparing to clear the emperor's side and establish the country.
In addition, there are also rumors that the reason why the golden dragon appeared in the capital was because Zhu Ming's luck was contaminated by turbid air, and the golden dragon was forced to appear.
Moreover, the golden dragon's head is above Duanben Palace, and Zhu Cixiang is the true Dragon Emperor to whom destiny belongs.
Under the influence of this rumor, many courtiers wrote letters one after another, requesting Zhu Cihong to ascend the throne to bring order to the chaos and bring order to the world.
Seeing that the situation had changed drastically, Zhu Cixiang was about to give it a try when Zhou Hou suddenly became seriously ill again and she kept thinking about him.
Although he felt that Zhou Hou was strangely ill, seeing that the other party was weak as never before, he did not dare to worry him anymore.
In desperation, he had to order Wu Laoliu to arrest the rumor mongers with all his strength and closely monitor Liu Chang and others.
But he pretended that nothing happened and stayed in Kunning Palace to serve Empress Zhou.
On this day, Zhu Cihong had just finished serving the soup and was chatting with Empress Zhou when a young eunuch hurriedly came in to report that Liu Chang and hundreds of people were massacred outside the Meridian Gate, and asked him to eradicate the evil of female sex as soon as possible to bring peace to the world. soldiers.
When Zhu Cixi heard this, he became furious.
He originally wanted to lead people to severely punish Liu Chang and his group, but he thought that Zhou Hou had always opposed it before. If he acted rashly, it would most likely make Zhou Hou sicker.
If Zhou Hou was injured because of this, he would definitely be in trouble for the rest of his life.
But if he continues to ignore it, he is worried that the situation will become even more passive.
Just as he was deep in thought, he suddenly heard Zhou Hou's weak voice saying: "Lang'er, my mother knows that I have wronged you these past few days!"
"Whatever you want to do now, just go ahead and do it. Even if there is a huge disaster, my mother will bear it with you!"
Hearing this, Zhu Cixi looked at Empress Zhou with some surprise and said, "Empress Mother, are you hiding something from your son?"
Empress Zhou smiled softly, shook her head and said, "The Empress lingers on the bedside every day, and Lang'er is so smart, how can the Empress hide this from you?"
"Just because the situation was unclear before, if you come forward rashly, if you are caught in the yellow robe of a female officer, you will have to ascend the throne even if you don't want to."
"In addition, Liu Chang and others have not caused public outrage yet, so it is not a good opportunity to take action, so I advise you to wait for a few days!"
"But now Liu Chang and his men are pressing forward step by step. We have no retreat, so we have no choice but to give it a try!"
After saying that, she struggled to get up, straightened Zhu Cixiang's clothes with trembling hands, and said kindly and solemnly: "Lang'er, you must remember that you are the prince of the Ming Dynasty and the future majesty!"
"Except for your Father...no one in this world can be greater than you, so you don't need to be afraid of anyone, and nothing can hinder you..."
Zhu Cixiang felt even more strange as he listened to Zhou Hou's story.
He originally wanted to take the opportunity to ask, but Zhou Hou arranged his clothes and let him leave.
Zhu Cixiang
Seeing this, I had no choice but to suppress the doubts in my heart and rush towards the Meridian Gate.
"Your Majesty, I feel miserable..."
"Taizu, if you really have a spirit, please give me some instructions on how to save the Ming Dynasty..."
"Your Highness, please come out and meet with me..."
"My lords, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has not shown his face for several days. I am afraid that he was assassinated by a female gangster..."
"Yes, for the sake of the Ming Dynasty, who dares to break into the palace with me!"
...
When Zhu Cixiang was still a few hundred meters away from the Meridian Gate, he heard bursts of wailing and couldn't help but frown.
At this time, Wu Laoliu suddenly came to Zhu Cixiang. After bowing and saluting, he said solemnly: "Your Highness, why are you here?"
Zhu Cixiang said with a cold face: "I didn't ask you to monitor Liu Chang and his group, how could you let them make such a big noise?"
Seeing the angry look on Zhu Cixiang's face, Wu Laoliu hurriedly knelt down to plead guilty and said, "Your Highness, the general has been monitoring them and has not found anything unusual."
"Unexpectedly, today some retired ministers and fourth- and fifth-rank officials suddenly gathered at the Meridian Gate. Later, Liu Chang and some military generals came. When the general wanted to be driven away, it was already too late!"
"Not in time?"
Zhu Cixiang said with some dissatisfaction: "Did they bring soldiers and horses?"
Wu Laoliu shook his head and said, "That's not true. It's just because Fan Fucui, Zhang Sizhi and others are quite popular. There are many people watching, and they are very excited. The general is worried that if they are driven away rashly, it will cause public anger, so he does not dare to take action!"
Zhu Cixiang frowned when he heard that Fan and Zhang, two former chief ministers, had arrived in Beijing.
He knew that these two people were not from the capital, and they must have been ordered by someone to suddenly appear in the capital.
In particular, Fan Fucui was pragmatic and outspoken, and was quite popular during his tenure.
Before leaving office, he took advantage of the amnesty to release many imprisoned officials, gaining high prestige among the government and the public.
"Whether Fan Fucui was deceived or had other agendas, now that he has gotten involved, things may not go well today!"
"Should I capture him, or kill him to establish my authority?"
"It's just that my father valued him very much before. If I deal with him too much, will my father be displeased..."
Just as Zhu Cixiang was thinking deeply, Fan Jingwen ran over again panting and said: "Your Majesty... Your Majesty, why are you here?"
After Zhu Cixiang waited for him to catch his breath, he said, "Fan Shoufu, have you ever seen Fan Fucui?"
When Fan Jingwen heard this, he was slightly startled, and then said decisively: "I have never seen it before!"
"When Shicai heard about this, he wanted to dissuade him, but when he saw the excitement of the crowd outside the Meridian Gate, he was worried that it would be counterproductive, so he stepped back!"
When Zhu Cihong saw Fan Jingwen's expression, he knew that the other party had misunderstood him.
He took the opportunity of asking to comfort him, but saw that the other party had no good plan. Just as he was about to move forward, he heard Fan Jingwen's voice saying: "Your Highness, you cannot go to the Meridian Gate now!"
As soon as he spoke, he saw Zhu Cixiang's stern gaze, his body couldn't help but tremble, and hesitation appeared on his face.
However, he immediately said with a decisive expression: "I know that Your Highness has suffered a lot of grievances recently, but today is different from the past. In addition to women who are guilty of evil, there are also many loyal people gathered outside the Meridian Gate." .
"If His Highness goes too far, it will hurt the popularity of the people."
"If Your Highness agrees to their request, it will be detrimental to the Ming Dynasty!"
"I would like to ask Your Highness to temporarily calm down the thunderous anger, and send ministers who can speak out to appease everyone. After everyone's emotions have stabilized, call them back to discuss the pros and cons..."
After Zhu Cixiang listened to Fan Jingwen's story, he said solemnly: "I can wait, but will the rebels and Jurchens wait?"
After he said that, he strode forward.
Fan Jingwen was stunned for a moment, then shook his head helplessly and followed quickly.
