Yingtianfu, on the north bank of the Yangtze River.
The capital of the Celestial Empire was now covered in silver. The weather this year has been surprisingly cold, and there are actually some thin ice floes on the Yangtze River. However, the introduction and imitation of Newcomen atmospheric steam engines greatly increased the output of Xuzhou Coal Mine and Fengyang Coal Mine. Therefore, in recent years, the supply of heating coal in Yingtianfu has not only been sufficient in quantity, but also at low prices. Ordinary people can use briquettes in their homes. In this way, winter will not be difficult to endure. But the smoke produced by thousands of households burning coal is too strong. In winter, Pukou City and Nanjing City on the banks of the Yangtze River are filled with smog, looking like "smog cities".
Zhu Cijiong's carriage stopped at the gate of Chengtian Tower of Laoshan Palace. This old prince in his early eighties was in surprisingly good health. On such a cold day, I didn’t wear many thick clothes, and my body was still upright, not hunched over at all. What's even more exaggerated is that his figure looks very strong. If he takes off his shirt, you can even see his muscles!
After the guard opened his car door, the old prince got out of the car. Then a tall and beautiful young woman with a three-dimensional and exquisite mixed-race face also got out of the carriage. This woman's surname was Boerzhijin and her given name was Yulan. She is a princess of the Chahar Khanate. Her father is the Khan of the Chahar Khanate, and her mother is a Rakshasa girl who was captured by the troops of the Chahar Khanate - the Chahar Khanate and the Tumote Khanate. The bad wars with the Rakshasa Kingdom and the Siberian Khanate are not over yet, but they are just a bit bigger.
In the years before the big fight, when the petty fights never stopped, both sides would win and lose, and of course they would catch each other.
The mother of Princess Magnolia was captured by the Mongols...and this Magnolia was given to Zhu Cijiong by his father as a 70th birthday gift to Zhu Cijiong.
Unexpectedly, after following Zhu Cijiong for more than ten years, she still could not get the inheritance. Instead, she gave birth to four children for Zhu Cijiong... But her efforts were not in vain, because not long ago, Zhu Cijiong had given her the princess. With her title, she can be regarded as the head wife. Although she is only twenty-seven or eighty years old, in terms of seniority, she is taller than the Ming Emperor Zhu Hexing!
The Magnolia Princess got out of the carriage and looked around, and found that there were many gorgeously decorated four-wheeled carriages parked outside Chengtian Gate. Now when we are not in court, so many carriages are gathered together, and all the guards officers and soldiers present have long faces, it must be something bad!
Zhu Cijiong sighed: "Seventy-three, eighty-four, the King of Hell didn't invite me to go!"
Zhu Cixiang is eighty-four years old this year! And Zhu Cijiong is one year younger than him, and he will be eighty-four in the blink of an eye... But the third prince Zhu's health is not generally good! He is stronger than his father Chongzhen, and he might be a centenarian!
After sighing with emotion, Zhu Cijiong strode towards Chengtianmen. Princess Yulan quickly followed, and walked in from the side door of Chengtianmen one after the other.
The guard officers guarding the gate all recognized the old prince who was about to become "immortal". Of course, they did not stop him or ask him for a token. They also diligently called him a soft sedan - these days, the old prince Snow, many places in Laoshan Palace are still covered with ice, so be sure to be slippery. Young officials are not afraid of falling, but old officials should take care.
Therefore, the auxiliary queen Ding Yuying ordered the guards to prepare some soft sedan chairs to carry the ministers who could not walk to the Huangji Palace or other places. They did not look at the official size, but only the age.
But how can Zhu Cijiong be willing to accept his old age? He dismissed the bearer with a wave of his hand, and then strode towards the Longevity Hall with his "little princess" and a guard.
In Laoshan Palace, it was almost as quiet as a mourning hall. Both the guards and the palace people came and went quietly, adding to the heavy atmosphere here. Under the guidance of the guards, Zhu Cijiong walked towards the longevity palace with his head lowered. As soon as he walked into the longevity gate, he saw his sixth brother Zhu Cibing standing inside the gate talking to the director of a Taiyuan hospital.
Seeing Zhu Cijiong coming, Zhu Cibing quickly waved away the imperial doctor, and then came to greet Zhu Cijiong.
"How is boss?" Zhu Cijiong asked with a frown.
Zhu Cibing sighed: "I'm about to die, I'm just talking nonsense!"
"What nonsense are you talking about?" Zhu Cijiong asked.
Zhu Cibing smiled bitterly and said: "He said that without him, our father would have hanged himself on Jingshan Mountain in Beijing in the 17th year of Chongzhen...The Ming Dynasty would also have died, and I would be gone without him." By the way! By the way, when Jin Xuanye came to pay his respects yesterday, he was still the emperor. Jin Xuanye originally had 60 years of emperor life, and this year should be the fiftieth year of Kangxi! But Jin Xuanye was so frightened that he wanted to jump into the Jinshui River after leaving the palace. Fortunately, the river It was frozen...but I still sprained my foot, so I took it back and nursed it."
"There is such a thing..." Zhu Cihuan shook his head, "Jin Xuanye has been trembling all his life. He won't be scared to death by telling nonsense to the boss, right?"
"Who knows?" Zhu Cibing smiled bitterly, "Banzai has already sent people to comfort him... but half of his life was lost in fear. Second brother, if the boss wants to talk nonsense to you later, don't take it seriously. , don’t make him angry or scared.”
"No way!" Zhu Cihuan snorted, "I remember when I was in Datong Mansion and on Luliang Mountain, it was so difficult and I wasn't afraid. What else do I have to be afraid of now?"
After hearing what Zhu Cijiong said, Zhu Cibing led Zhu Cijiong, the third prince of Zhu Dynasty, to Zhu Cixiang's dormitory.
The road to the Changshou Palace's dormitory was not short, but Zhu Cibing and Zhu Cijiong were very fast on their feet and walked like flying. In the blink of an eye, they were already outside the dormitory door.
As soon as they entered the dormitory, they saw a group of crying women waiting outside Zhu Cixiang's dormitory. The door of the dormitory opened. Under the dim light, Zhu Cixiang's plump body was not lying down. He still showed his majesty as an emperor through the ages, half leaning on the bed. Brothers Zhu Hexing and Zhu Heke, who were very different in age, were waiting in front of the old man's bed, listening to the old man's nonsense and wiping tears there.
Zhu Cixiang saw Zhu Cijiong coming in with Zhu Cibing, and said hello to him: "Prince Zhu, you are here...come here, come here...show me to my brother, you are quite nimble for an old man." , you are the only one who can survive in our family! It looks like you can live to be more than a hundred years old..."
Zhu Cijiong sighed and thought: People are really useless when they get old! Big brother was such a great person when he was young, but now he is like this, talking nonsense! Why do you really think I'm an old turtle when I'm over a hundred years old?
"I will not give it, and I will leave the world to you to play in the future... You have all grown up with me and are capable. I will leave the world to you, so you have nothing to fear. But since ancient times, there is no immortal The dynasty of our country is the same as our Ming Dynasty!" Zhu Cixiang talked eloquently, probably when a person is about to die. The more he spoke, the more breathless and sad he became, "Our world should have been destroyed in the 17th year of Chongzhen. , I was forced to continue it. But no matter how much it is continued, it will only last for two or three hundred years, and it cannot be more. Those of us who are regarded as ancestors must make more plans for future generations... .One is a cunning rabbit with three burrows. We can't all hang ourselves on a tree in the Ming Dynasty! Secondly, we must provide good education and make future generations talented. We must not continue to treat the prince like a pig like in the past. Raising him like a pig is Waiting to be slaughtered! We have to let them study, make progress, join the army and do business. As long as our children and grandchildren can make a difference, there will be nothing to fear even if there is no Ming Dynasty in the future."
What he said was really a man about to die, and his words were kind. Although he is confused now, some things he has remembered for decades are still vivid in his memory - he knows that the Ming Dynasty cannot survive the 20th century!
He finally let out a long sigh, rolled his eyelids with a wry smile: "Okay, the time has come...it's not complete anymore, it's time for me to leave, and I won't come back again!"
