Nanjing Imperial City, Fengtian Gate.
As one of the three main halls of the Forbidden City in Nanjing, the restoration project of Fengtian Hall (actually building another one) is still going on slowly, but the Fengtian Gate in front of Fengtian Hall has been repaired, and the tall gate tower stands on the majestic stone platform. Above, it looks majestic and solemn from a distance, with a hint of heavenly style.
This place is not just a gate, but the place where the ancestor Zhu Yuanzhang held imperial court hearings!
It means that before dawn, thousands of civil and military officials are taken out of their beds to hold a meeting in the square in front of Fengtian Gate - exposed to wind, rain and sun... Well, it's just an outdoor job, it's really Thank you for your hard work!
Moreover, the aloof emperor is also a moody murderous devil, and serving as an official for him will cost you your life at any time.
This is the first time in his life that Emperor Chongzhen is sitting in the place where his ancestors once sat for people to visit - he has no power now, and naturally has nothing to listen to, and he has nothing to do during the usual noon. It's just that on the first and fifteenth day of the Lunar New Year, when there is a court meeting, he has to be taken out and placed in a conspicuous place, so that everyone can see that the Emperor of Heaven is still there and that Prince Fujun is still very filial.
Everyone saw Chongzhen, and then bowed again. The eunuch shouted again: "If you have a foundation, you can start playing, but if you don't have a foundation, you can retreat!"
Then, of course, everything was fine. Now that the prince is regent, what's going on with the Hunjun? Just go back and be angry with the concubines about your son and Prince Zhu...
Today is June 15th, the 18th year of Chongzhen reign in the Ming Dynasty. What a good day! It’s a good day for Fengtian Gate to be opened again...
Therefore, despite the hot weather, Emperor Chongzhen put on a full set of imperial uniforms and sat high on the throne below the Fengtianmen Gate. Looking at the one or two hundred listless ministers below, he felt filled with emotion in his heart!
I recall that back then, Emperor Taizu Gao sat here and commanded the world, conquering the sea and looking at all directions... Now it is my turn to sit here!
"Father, I asked the emperor to sit where you are now." Zhu Cixiang sat next to Emperor Chongzhen, looking at his cheap father, and said this without any yin or yang...
"Let, let the emperor sit here too?" After saying this, Chongzhen's face turned ugly.
The emperor was the unlucky Emperor Jianwen. He cut off a vassal and caused disaster. The King of Yan, Zhu Di, was "in trouble". In the end, he burned down the Fengtian Temple and Fengtianmen, and ended up unknown...
Emperor Chongzhen, who was angered by his filial son Zhu Cixiang, did not dare to get angry. He just glanced at Huang Dabao, the eunuch in charge of the ceremony.
Huang Dabao bowed and walked to the throne, then opened his throat and shouted: "If you have the original intention to start playing, if you don't have the original intention, withdraw from the court..."
Now the chief eunuch of the Chief of Ceremonies is mainly responsible for this matter. In addition to shouting, he is also responsible for various chores of the court meeting and the court meeting, such as who comes and who doesn't come, who is on time and who is late, who asks for leave and who misses the meeting, etc. Oh, and you have to take care of the food! Early in the morning, the court was in charge of breakfast. There were dining halls built inside the right gate of Chang'an and the left gate of Chang'an, which served free royal breakfast - flatbread, deep-fried dough sticks, soy milk, porridge, salted duck eggs...
If it’s noon, then you have to worry about lunch!
Usually there are two tables set up in the Wenhua Hall, and a group of senior ministers, guards, commanders, Hanlin and other important ministers eat together with Zhu Cixiang. This is also a matter for the Supervisor of Ceremonies to take care of.
In addition, Fengtian Gate, Wenhua Hall, and Kenan Hall are also responsible for cleaning and repairing by the Director of Ceremonies. The eunuchs, maids, and servants who work there are also under the jurisdiction of the Chief of Ceremonies.
By the way, there are male servants in the Ming Dynasty Palace now!
Although Zhu Cixiang did not abolish the eunuch system, he also began to strictly control the number of eunuchs. This does not mean that Prince Zhu did not believe in eunuchs, but that he knew that the role of eunuchs had nothing to do with their number.
There were many eunuchs in the Ming Dynasty, but few in the Song Dynasty. But how many of the many eunuchs in the Ming Dynasty could compare with Qin Han, Li Xian, and Tong Guan? Maybe Zheng He can, but Zhu Cixiang really can’t think of anyone else?
Therefore, Zhu Cixiang's eunuch line is to be less but more refined...Eunuchs must be educated, capable of both literary and military skills, and must be officials. The coolies in the palace can be served as servants. As long as they are controlled and not allowed to enter the prescribed harem area, there will be no problem.
In short, Huang Dabao, the "big brother", is now a bureaucratic eunuch.
Today he just shouted "If you have a foundation, start playing, but if you don't have a foundation, withdraw from the court" as a routine, and after he finished shouting, he wanted to shout "withdraw from the court".
But at this moment, someone actually came out of class to play!
The person who left the mission was a military attache, and he was Zhu Cixang's confidant, Li Yan, the commander of the military command and guard of the Generalissimo's Mansion.
After kowtowing and saluting, Li Yan said loudly: "Long live my emperor, I have the commander-in-chief of the Grand Marshal's Mansion, the Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Guards, and the left governor of Keqi County, Bo Li Yan, to write this down!"
Have a copy? Emperor Chongzhen couldn't believe his ears!
How many days have I left without capital? What day is it today? There is actually a copy...what kind of copy? Isn't it because I respectfully ask Ben Mingjun to abdicate his throne?
Thinking of this, Chongzhen immediately became nervous: "Li Qing, what's the matter with me? Come and play it quickly?"
Li Yan said: "Long live the memorial, the Generalissimo's Mansion has received an urgent report from the Zhongdu Remaining Department Liubaili: The Tartars sent Qiubele Haug to personally command a hundred thousand troops to invade Fengyang Mansion. The vanguard is still gratifying, and Bai Guangen's troops More than 20,000 people captured Yimen Town in Bozhou on June 14th!"
What? Has Faqiubele come to Fengyang Mansion? Emperor Chongzhen took a breath, whose Qiu was he going to send? Could it be the imperial mausoleum in Fengyang Mansion (the tomb of Zhu Yuanzhang’s parents)?
"Father..." Zhu Cixiang's voice interrupted Emperor Chongzhen's thoughts. Chongzhen turned to look at his son, and saw the sorrow on the face of the rebellious son. Could it be that he was worried that the Fengyang Emperor's tomb might be excavated? No, he is a treacherous son and will not worry about the tomb of his ancestors!
"Your Majesty," Emperor Chongzhen asked with a frown, "the Tartars have arrived with their troops led by Chubeile. How are you going to respond?"
Zhu Cixiang said: "Hauge is known as Faqiubele in the north. His soldiers and horses are the most ferocious. They not only burn, kill and loot wherever they go, but also like to dig up graves and take the wealth of the dead. This time he will bring 100,000 soldiers to the south. Not only will they massacre the people of Jianghuai, but they will also excavate graves... Fengyang Imperial Mausoleum must be the place that Hauge covets. He is not necessarily for the things buried in Fengyang Imperial Mausoleum, but for Dig out the dragon veins of my Ming Dynasty!"
If Hauge hears this, he will probably be so angry that he calls Zhu Cixiang treacherous! It is not unfair to say that Hauge burned, killed, and looted. He did do a lot of this kind of thing. But Hauge has never done anything like hair mounds.
Maybe someone under him had made money from dead people, but he was a prince of the Qing Dynasty, how could he do this himself?
Emperor Chongzhen was of course a wise emperor who could easily be deceived. After hearing what Zhu Cixi said, he took it seriously and quickly asked, "What should I do?"
"Father," Zhu Cixiang said with a serious face, "You have already lost the ancestral mausoleum in Tianshou Mountain in Shuntian Prefecture. You cannot let the Fengyang Imperial Mausoleum be lost again under any circumstances..."
The Fengyang Imperial Tomb has already been lost once... It was Gao Yingxiang who led Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong to dig it out!
Zhu Cixiang shook his head: "If the Fengyang Imperial Mausoleum is captured again, my father would be extremely unfilial..."
"You..." Chongzhen's face turned red, but he gritted his teeth to keep from getting angry.
He has no reason for this. So many ancestral graves are about to be dug up... How did he become the emperor? Aren't you going to step down yet?
Just because he always loses his ancestral grave, I am afraid that in the future, his posthumous title will not even be "Ming Huizong", and he can only be regarded as "Ming Ni Zong" - a treasonous son!
"Father," Zhu Cihong said, "why don't we, father and son, go to Jiangbei together to defend the tomb of our ancestors?"
"Go on an expedition together?" Emperor Chongzhen always felt that his son had no good intentions, but he couldn't refuse.
Now he is going to defend the Fengyang Emperor's Mausoleum. If he doesn't go, that would be unfilial! Can an unfilial son become emperor? Definitely not! So he had to give way to Zhu Cixiang, who was recognized as the most filial son of the Ming Dynasty...
"Brother Chun," Chongzhen said thoughtfully, "are you sure of winning?"
"Yes!" Zhu Cixiang nodded heavily, "As long as my son is here, the ancestral mausoleum will never fall again!"
Chongzhen breathed a sigh of relief, "Then, father and son, let's go on an expedition together!"
"Father," Zhu Cixiang wanted to strike while the iron was hot, and said quickly, "Without further delay, why don't we set off tomorrow!"
"Ming, tomorrow?" Emperor Chongzhen was surprised, "Isn't it too soon?"
"Soldiers need to be quick!" Zhu Cixiang said, "The Fengyang Emperor's Mausoleum will be dug up by the Donglu!"
"Then, what about Nanjing?" Emperor Chongzhen asked, "Who can take charge?"
"Let Nanjing be left to Wei Shoufu and Wu Shangshu to stay together," Zhu Cihong paused, "In addition, we can also let Wang Zhiren, the Minister of War, be transferred to Yingtianfu, and let Zhang Dingbian, the commander of Xiaoling Guards, supervise the capital camp. This will be foolproof. !”
Wang Zhiren is the brother of the great eunuch Wang Zhixin. Wang Zhixin is now an imperial merchant and manages the Shanghai commercial port industry for Zhu Cihong.
After Li Yan was transferred to the Military Order Guard, Wang Zhiren became the Minister of the Ministry of War and in charge of the Military Tun Division - the original Military Tun Guard was now included in the Ministry of War.
Wang Zhiren and Zhang Dingbian were Zhu Cixiang's confidants. With them controlling the defense of Yingtian Mansion, that is, Nanjing City, together with the chief assistant Wei Zaode and the Minister of War Wu Xiang, Nanjing was foolproof.
Of course, the premise of "foolproof" is that Zhu Cixiang must take Chongzhen away!
Otherwise, if Chongzhen makes a fuss, how can people like Wu Xiang, Wei Zaode, Wang Zhiren, and Zhang Dingbian take action? Did he really kill the emperor?
