Emperor Guangde had never looked at his two queen mothers as carefully as he did today.
After Liu Zhaosun disappeared, Jin Yuji and Yang Qing'er aged faster day by day. It is no exaggeration to describe them as growing old overnight.
Aged wrinkles covered the two women's foreheads like a shaman's curse.
The tragic news of the disappearance of the Supreme Emperor was like a lead bullet, shattering all their thoughts and hopes.
If it weren't for supporting Liu Kan, if it wasn't for Da Qi, the two of them might have died like Liu Rushi Bu Mu Butai and followed the Supreme Emperor.
Today, the crotched bodies of two old women haunt the deep corridors of Kunning Palace, their thin figures gradually swallowed up by darkness and despair.
"Kunning Palace is really cold, Eunuch Li, please go back and buy some more charcoal for the two Queen Mothers."
"This slave has already remembered it."
On the second day after Emperor Guangde placed his eldest princess Liu Yufei under house arrest, she came to Kunning Palace as usual to pay her respects to the two queen mothers.
He has been doing this kind of greeting for twenty years and it has become a habit.
"Mother, have you taken the Korean ginseng that Li Zhu brought from Changbai Mountain during the twelfth lunar month?"
Liu Kan looked at Jin Yuji's gray hair on her temples and felt that his mother looked older than she had in the past few days.
"Kan'er, you took the trouble,"
The Empress Dowager Cisheng was leaning forward slightly, leaning on crutches, apparently not hearing what Emperor Guangde was saying.
The personal maid repeated the emperor's words again. The Empress Dowager Cisheng heard clearly this time, nodded tremblingly and said:
"I haven't finished the ginseng sent in the winter months. Two more boxes were sent in the twelfth lunar month. How can I finish them? I told them not to pick them. The mountains are high and the forests are dense. There are wild beasts. I don't know how many ginseng households will die if I pick a thousand-year-old ginseng..." ·······”
Emperor Guangde smiled awkwardly and said: "My mother is kind, but those ginseng households are born to do this. Farmers farm and ginseng households dig ginseng, and each has their own errands. When the slaves occupied Liaodong, these people began to pay tribute to ginseng for decades. , In the past, their corvées were much heavier than they are now. Not only did they pay tribute to the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, but they also..."
Jin Yuji tapped her crutch on the floor twice, and Emperor Guangde quickly stopped talking:
"Jiannu is Jiannu, and Daqi is Daqi. We are not Houjin, and you are not Nurhachi, so don't compare yourself with Jiannu. Last year, Liaodong suffered a snowstorm, and many crops and livestock froze to death. People's lives are difficult, don't Just messing around."
When he heard the word "Liaodong", Emperor Guangde's face was obviously a little ugly, and he murmured:
"According to what the Queen Mother said, let's stop the corvee service in Shenhu first."
The Empress Dowager Cisheng's forehead wrinkles unfurled: "Yes, Daqi is a grass-roots creation, so we can't mess around."
Li Juying echoed: "The empress dowager has a bodhisattva-like heart. People in several counties should be grateful."
"No need to ask for any gratitude, just don't rebel. I haven't been back to Shenyang for many years. I wonder if Shenyang is still peaceful? Your father's death anniversary will be over in a few days, and I want to go back and have a look."
Hearing that the Empress Dowager Cisheng was going back to Liaodong, the atmosphere suddenly became tense.
Liaodong has not been peaceful recently.
There was a sudden silence in the main hall, and the maids and eunuchs did not dare to speak.
Seeing the displeasure on the Queen Mother's face, Emperor Guangde dismissed everyone. Only he and the two Queen Mothers were left in the main hall.
The Eastern Queen Mother Yang Qing'er was still knocking on her wooden fish like a puppet, as if a nun was in trance.
Emperor Guangde hesitated for a long time, and finally said uneasily: "Mother, my son is here today. In addition to greeting you, I also want to ask you to come forward and appease the commanders of the corps..."
The Empress Dowager Cisheng raised her crutch and pointed it at Emperor Guangde, shouting loudly:
"Liu Yufei rushed back from Suzhou regardless of the risk to mediate among you, but you actually put her under house arrest? If you do this, there will be no room for relaxation. Now everyone in the world knows that you are going to go on a killing spree, what else can I do? "
The Empress Dowager Cisheng was extremely shocked when she heard that Liu Yufei had been arrested.
She didn't expect that Emperor Guangde would do such a thing.
"Kan'er, you have to make people angry and face death before you give up!"
"Mother, it's not that my son wants to put her under house arrest, it's that she is rebellious and wants to collude with outsiders to rebel!"
Jin Yuji raised her crutch and hit Emperor Guangde: "You are still stubborn now. If it weren't for the eldest princess and us two old guys, the officers outside would have rebelled long ago! What do you think you have?"
"My son is the only son of the Supreme Emperor and the Emperor of Qi. My son has the authority of law! He has the way of heaven! Justice and justice..."
The Queen Mother of the East held a wooden fish and kept banging it. She turned around and glanced at Liu Kan, as if she was looking at a monster.
Jin Yuji coughed twice and said with a smile: "Fatong? Heaven's way!"
"When the people below recognized you, you were the son of Liu Zhaosun, you were the Emperor of Da Qi, and you were the Dao of Heaven. Now that the people below recognize you, you are nothing! Do you really think you are the same as your father?"
"The reason why Deng Changxiong and Wu Aheng didn't fight back was because of the poor reputation of Queen Mother Dong and I. Do you really think you can suppress these veterans?"
Liu Kan's face turned red and his throat trembled. He wanted to say something, but he was overwhelmed by the powerful aura of the Empress Dowager Cisheng and was speechless for a moment.
"Earlier you said that you would implement the New Deal, remove officials, and appoint cronies. We didn't say anything. We just silently supported you. We only thought that you had a new policy program that could make up for your father's mistakes. Now it seems that you are just using your All of my father's family assets will be demolished, and then he will return to the way he was before."
"Now, the various corps are dissatisfied with you, and the internal affairs have made you a mess. Your sister risked her life to help you clean up this mess, and you actually arrested her!"
Yang Qing'er stopped beating the wooden fish.
Liu Kan suppressed his anger and stood up with a wave of sleeves:
"Mother, you have favored Liu Yufei since you were a child. You raised her as a son, let her lead the army, and let her take power. Has she ever seen me as a younger brother or the emperor of Daqi in her eyes? Now that she sees Daqi in trouble, she can't wait to see her. He brought a traitor to the side of the Qing Emperor to rebel against his son. He came to Nanjing this time just to force the palace! Do you want to sit back and watch her become Wu Zetian!"
Yang Qing'er put down the wooden fish and said: "That's all, Da Qi may have such a disaster, once it comes, just make peace with it and let nature take its course."
The Cisheng Empress Dowager pointed at the throne of the Supreme Emperor:
"Liu Kan, your father handed over the country to you, but in just over a year, look what you have done to Daqi! If you still have a conscience, are you worthy of your father!"
Emperor Guangde did not look at his father's tomb, but said firmly:
"The country is in trouble internally and externally, the army cannot make ends meet, the people are impoverished, and all kinds of chaos are happening. I am changing it. Reform will inevitably go through pains. In the future, when Daqi will prosper, the world will know that all the efforts and sacrifices made now are worth it."
Jin Yuji held Liu Kan's arm tightly and stared at Emperor Guangde.
"Kan'er, hurry up and issue an edict, release the eldest princess, apologize to the world, stop disarmament, and recall all the eunuchs and civil servants sent out to buy and sell mines and fields. In this way, Daqi may have a chance of survival, and you can also save your life! "
"What if I don't do this?"
"Mother, why don't you always believe in me? Everyone knows that my father's system has come to an end. Why are you still stubborn? If we do what you say, Daqi will be in ruins."
Emperor Guangde grabbed Jin Yuji's hand and gently pushed his mother away.
His expression became cold and he looked at the guard at the door:
"Called Deng Changxiong and Wu Aheng into the Fengtian Palace to discuss matters and pacify the Ninggu Pagoda rebels. I am tired, so I will go back to rest first. The two Queen Mothers please stay in Kunning Palace and are not allowed to wander around at will! If the Queen Mother makes any mistakes, you will be arrested Behead them all!”
The guards who had already ambushed Kunning Palace immediately mobilized to surround the four gates of the palace.
Liu Kan said expressionlessly: "Queen Mother, I have wronged you. In extraordinary times, sons and ministers must use extraordinary measures!"
~~~~~
In the twelfth month of the sixth year of Guangde, Emperor Guangde suddenly launched an attack and arrested the eldest princess in Cining Palace. After interrogation by the clan, he revoked all titles of the eldest princess and took away her fiefdom on charges of "treason" and "disrespect". , Liu Yufei was placed under house arrest in Cining Palace.
On the 18th day of the first lunar month of the seventh year of Guangde, the Eighth Corps stationed at Ninggu Pagoda marched towards Shenyang without receiving orders from the Ministry of War, announcing the "Qingjun side".
On the same day, the Thirteenth Corps, which was stationed in Horqin and was about to be completely dismantled, raised its troops to respond, and the cavalry quickly marched eastward to threaten Beijing.
On the 21st, the 15th Corps (Foreign Legion) stationed at Ping'an Road in North Korea, in the name of Guanzhong, entered Shanhaiguan for peace...
The vigorous civil war in Daqi officially kicked off.
