The most ruthless emperor's family!
In order to pay for a mere few million in loan sharking, Zhu Cijiong, the loan king of the Ming Dynasty, actually thought of betraying his own brother!
It is a pity that the Ming Dynasty not only had the loan king Zhu Cijiong who ignored brotherhood, but also a loyal third minister Wu Sangui.
Wu Sangui's life now is much more miserable than Zhu Cijiong's, although Zhu Cijiong has caused a lot of trouble for the King of Hell. But he was the king of the Ming Dynasty and the full brother of Emperor Hongxing. Although Zhu Cihong had a wealthy son and Zhu Cijiong's succession rights to the throne were severely compromised, his vassal king was still there.
But what about Wu Sangui?
In the Qing Dynasty, he was the prince with the green flag, the king of Pingxi, and the general of Pingxi. Although he was poor at that time, he still had the status to rule Gansu and Shaanxi. Duoama was too busy in the east and had no intention of taking care of Gansu and Shaanxi, so he could naturally let him do whatever he wanted.
And Wu Sangui didn’t owe that much loan shark at that time!
But now, although Wu Sangui has improved from the second minister to the third minister, his title of ruling the northwest has not yet come down. Zhu Cihong only made him a Duke of Jin - this Duke was still the prince Zhu Cihong used to care for the army before Wu Sangui defected to the Manchu Qing Dynasty. sealed in the name of. In other words, the original title has only been restored, and the Shaanxi-Gandhi Pan occupied by Wu Sangui has not been sealed to him.
So we don’t know yet whether Wu Sangui can continue to be the king of the northwest!
In order to appease the thousands of households under him who had lost all their money in Monk Yuan, Wu Sangui borrowed more than 2 million taels of usury from Shanxi and Shaanxi merchants protected by Zhu Cijiong before rebelling against the Qing Dynasty and joining the Ming Dynasty! In addition to the usury loan borrowed before, which was already two million and several hundred thousand taels, the interest rate is three cents per month, which is almost 70,000 taels. The daily interest repayment is as high as more than two thousand taels.
As soon as Wu Sangui opened his eyes every day, he would be burdened with more than two thousand taels of debt from the King of Hell! Can you not worry?
What if Zhu Cihong refuses to let him become the king of the northwest and refuses to acknowledge the debt he owes to the king of hell?
These days, Old Wu is almost dying of anxiety!
Just when he and his group of confidants who came from the Guan Ning Army were anxious every day, someone suddenly reported a letter to Wu Sangui's Duke of Jin's office, reporting a shocking case - the fifth prince Zhu Cihuan and his wife who were plotting evil. Gao Yushun, the leader of the eunuch party, is going to Yan'an to seek refuge with the acting king Zhu Cijiong through the Xi'an mansion... Of course Wu Sangui has not received the secret letter from Gao Yushun, but his younger brother Wu Sanfu has been investigating the matter and has also found out that Gao Yushun is planning to bail out. Zhu Cihuan and Yuan Guifei went to seek refuge with the acting king Zhu Cijiong. So he sent someone to report Wu Sangui secretly, asking him to pay attention to intercepting.
This presents Wu Sangui with a huge problem.
Is Emperor Chongzhen behind Zhu Cihuan and Gao Yushun? Have you colluded with His Highness the King? Did you follow the emperor's order to seek refuge? If they are captured, will there be a war with King Dai?
"My lord, since someone has reported this matter, we can't ignore it."
"Yes, my lord, nothing can stop the fire... The imperial guards are so powerful. If we ignore them, the emperor will know about it sooner or later."
"Uncle, when that time comes, it will be difficult for Third Sister to stand in front of the Emperor..."
Among the Duke of Jin in Xi'an Fucheng, Wu Sangui's confidants all had the same idea, that is, to arrest people!
By capturing Zhu Cihuan and Gao Yushun, we can show our loyalty to Zhu Cihong in Nanjing! If you show your loyalty, you should be able to become the king of the northwest, and there will probably be a solution to the loan shark...
Seeing that his confidants all had the same idea, Wu Sangui turned his attention to Liu Sheng again.
Liu Sheng stood up suddenly and saluted Wu Sangui: "My lord, please lead the troops to capture him!"
Wu Sangui nodded: "Leave it to you... Remember, you must not hurt the fifth prince, Concubine Yuan Gui, and Gao Yushun. Especially Gao Yushun! The fifth prince is still young, and Concubine Yuan Gui is a female, who can do this Only Eunuch Gao can make things clear!"
"I understand." Liu Sheng nodded heavily.
I understand, I understand, but catching Eunuch Gao is not that easy! Because Gao Yushun is still in Chongqing Mansion! Where can I catch Liu Sheng?
Zhu Cihuan and Yuan Guifei, escorted by Song Xiance's son Song Qingtian, left Chongqing, entered Guanzhong via Hanzhong, entered Fengxiang Mansion, and then booked a stay at an inn in Fengxiang Mansion. After settling Yuan Guifei and Zhu Cihuan, Song Qingtian went to Xi'an to submit letters.
So the people Liu Sheng captured were Concubine Yuan Guifei and Zhu Cihuan who had been arranged for him to capture in advance. It turned out that Emperor Zhu's royal guards might be really powerful in the southeast. But there is no foundation in Wu Sangui's territory in the northwest.
Song Xiance saw this loophole and applied eye drops to Zhu Cihong, Zhu Cijiong, Wu Sangui and Emperor Chongzhen.
After arresting, no, he should have invited Zhu Cihuan, who knew nothing, and Yuan Guifei, who was frightened, to Xi'an Mansion. Wu Sangui put the two under house arrest while finding someone to draw their portraits, and they also carried them with them. Together with the tokens, including the order issued by Zhu Cixiang to Concubine Yuan on that day (not allowing her to commit suicide and asking her to take care of Zhu Cihuan), Liu was sent to Nanjing to see Zhu Cihuan on her birthday and night.
Also arriving in Nanjing with Liu Sheng was Luo Xiushen, who was sent by Zhu Cixang to serve as King Zhu Cijiong's side. Zhu Cijiong's eyes and ears in Xi'an were as good as those of Jin Yiwei. Many Shaanxi businessmen had debts with the Prince's Palace, so they naturally had to act as eyes and ears.
So when Wu Sangui got the news about the fifth prince, Yuan Guifei and Gao Yushun, they heard about it almost immediately... Yes, among the news they learned, Gao Yushun was arrested!
This time Zhu Cijiong and the people around him couldn't sit still. Tian Cunzhi immediately left for Xi'an and wanted to meet Gao Yushun - he had to ask the whole story clearly!
But the problem is that Wu Sangui doesn't have Gao Yushun... But he said no, can Tian Cunzhi do it? Can you believe the acting king Zhu Cijiong?
They are all good brothers from the Imperial Family!
...
"The Duke of Jin really does not have Eunuch Gao... I asked him personally. Eunuch Gao was the one who stood in front and left Chongqing Mansion first! Maybe, maybe he went to the King Dai..."
"Liu Sheng, don't talk nonsense. King Dai has never seen Gao Yushun... There is no such thing!"
In the Dongnuan Pavilion of the Forbidden City in Nanjing, Liu Sheng and Luo Xiu Shen were arguing loudly in front of Zhu Cixiang.
These two people were originally considered Emperor Zhu's people, but are they still? The two of them have been following Wu Sangui and Zhu Cijiong for more than four years, almost five years, so they have to bear this kindness, right? Now I should speak for Wu Sangui and Zhu Cijiong...
In other words, on the issue of Gao Yushun's whereabouts, neither of them can be trusted... Of course, the most likely possibility is that Gao Yushun is still detained by the Dashun Army!
"How is the relationship between the Duke of Jin and the King of Dai?" Zhu Cixiang lowered his voice, "Is it possible to work together? The governor of Sichuan, Ma Shiying, is in a hurry. Chengdu is about to fall. Although I sent troops along the Yangtze River and Han River, the two None of the roads are easy access to Sichuan. Since ancient times, it has been easier to get to Bashu from north to south!"
Liu Sheng shook his head: "Your Majesty, the Jin State suffered too much in Monk Yuan. It borrowed usury to appease the more than 300 thousand households under its command... Now it wants the thousands of households below to send troops to attack Sichuan. Not even two or three of them can I’m afraid one million won’t do it.”
Yes, Zhang Xianzhong’s four sons were frightened!
Moreover, there is a severe drought in Guanzhong this year, and grain production has been severely reduced. Each thousand households are unstable internally, and the people on the territory where they are stationed are also unstable!
"King Dai cannot send out troops... King Dai has more debts. In the past few years, he has relied on loans to maintain the situation on Luliang Mountain." Luo Xiu Shen said, "If you borrow money, you will pay it back. It is not difficult to borrow again. .....”
What a good brother!
Emperor Zhu said in his heart: He can't settle the millions of loan sharks on his own, so he has to find me as his brother... This third prince Zhu is not worthy of his name!
"Then there is no need to send troops," Zhu Cixiang sighed, "Let the bandits be comfortable in Sichuan for a few years. Fortunately, Sichuan has never been the home of emperors... As for the debts of the king and the Duke of Jin, let them take them with them The creditors will wait in Wuhan, and I will solve the problem for them."
