Southwest of Nanjing City, outside Dashengguan, in the long pavilion.
"I, Geng Jingzhong, bow to the third prince of Dingwang. Your Majesty, your Majesty, may live a thousand years, a thousand years, a thousand years."
Geng Jingzhong, the candidate for the Eastern King, finally paid homage to the candidate Ming Xian Emperor who was sitting in the pavilion.
In fact, this was not the first time that the two of them met. Before Geng Jingzhong decided to support Emperor Ming Xian as Prime Minister Geng, he had met Zhu Cijiong on Gulangyu Island, a small island next to Xiamen Island. Also present at that time were Wang Zhengjing of Yanping, Liu Jinzhong of Chaozhou Town, and Chen Yonghua of the Sea Route Aid Suppression Town. However, that time Geng Jingzhong did not give a big salute to the third prince Zhu, but both sides bowed to him.
After all, at that time, the third prince Zhu had no capital at all. He only had an empty status, and this status was not very real. He only had it if others recognized him. If others did not recognize him, he was nothing.
After completing the "interview" with Prince Zhu, Geng Jingzhong felt that this man was very suitable to be a puppet, so he decided to take the risk!
But he never expected that Prince Zhu would enter Jiangning faster than himself! And Geng Jingzhong is obviously not the only one who has a big backer behind this candidate Ming Xian Emperor!
Lu Sanhao, who initiated the Jiangning Incident and captured most of Jiangning for Prince Zhu Third, defected to the Qing side from Wu Sangui, and now he has gone full circle to support Prince Zhu Third in Jiangning. Needless to say, this guy must be Wu Sangui’s people!
And Wang Fuchen's son Wang Zhongxiao actually appeared in Nanjing!
It came so quickly, and the third prince Zhu seemed to have been hiding in Guangdong! Obviously, Wang Fuchen is also the big boss behind the Third Prince Zhu!
Not to mention Zheng Jing of Damuan Island, his family has always been under the banner of the Ming Dynasty, and he must be one of the men behind Prince Zhu.
As for Li Zicheng, logically speaking, he cannot be a supporter of Prince Zhu III, but who knows? After all, Wuchang has never acknowledged the existence of Li Zicheng. The people in charge there are Li Fengtian, Li Laishun, and Liu Yihu.
Since Li Zicheng "does not exist", then why doesn't Wuchang come to Nanjing to intervene?
Behind the Third Prince Zhu were Wu Sangui, Li Zicheng, Wang Fuchen, Zheng Jing, and Liu Jinzhong. How could Geng Jingzhong, the alternate Prime Minister, dare not to pay homage to him?
Seeing Geng Jingzhong's respectful attitude, Zhu Cijiong suppressed the joy in his heart and said in a voice that could not hear the joy or anger: "Get up and sit down."
Geng Jingzhong immediately got up. A brocade pier had been placed next to him, and he sat down on it.
After Geng Jingzhong bowed and sat down, it was Liu Jinzhong's turn to bow alone. Zhu Cijiong also gave him a seat. Later, the generals like Geng, Liu, Shang and others who came to pay their respects did not bow one by one. Instead, they arranged their shifts according to the size of the pavilion and worshiped together. After bowing, they were not given seats and were asked to stand outside the pavilion. With.
Then, the third prince Zhu sent an oral order and invited Lu Sanhao, Wang Zhongxiao, Chen Yonghua, Huang Baijia, Jingchuan, Zheng Desheng and others into the Changting. However, none of the six temporary ministers were seated, they were all standing on both sides.
In this way, the pavilion formed a pattern in which the third prince Zhu sat facing south, Geng Jingzhong and Liu Jinzhong sat facing north, and the six temporary ministers stood on both sides.
And this pattern also reflects the current power structure in Nanjing, or the comparison of forces between the various parties.
Geng Jingzhong and Liu Jinzhong rank first and second in terms of military strength in Nanjing, and they both want to be princes. One is the East King, and the other is the North King. They both have a bright future!
Among the six ministers, Wang Zhongxiao and Huang Baijia are representatives of the candidates for the Southern King Wang Fuchen, Lu Sanhao is from Wu Sangui, Chen Yonghua is from Zheng Jing, Zheng Desheng is the person sent by Yang Qilong to Zhu Cijiong, and Jingchuan is from Lu Three good people - like Wang Zhongxiao, he actually just occupies a seat. When the discussions on all aspects of participating in the new Ming Dynasty court come to an end, the seats of these two ministers will still have to be released.
According to Wang Zhongxiao's thoughts, the new Ming Dynasty should be established by the joint stock holdings of seven or six families. Wang Fuchen, Wang Zhongxiao and his son are from the same family, Wu Sangui is from the same family, Li Zicheng is from the same family, Geng Jingzhong is from the same family, Liu Jinzhong is from the same family, and of course Zheng Jing is from the same family. There is also Yang Qilong, who has been doing well with Yu Wang Fuquan recently, and also I wonder if you are still willing to come to Nanjing?
Naturally, these six and seven families have to station representatives in Nanjing. As for these representatives, they can be ministers of the six departments, or they can be bachelors, or they can simply be called ministers of affairs. Anyway, it's the same!
After all, the current Nanjing imperial court is just a sign, and its territory only covers the five counties of Yingtian. Therefore, regardless of the ministers, they only care about the affairs of these five counties. If they are left in other places, they will be at the level of master.
Although he only has a territory of five counties and is not necessarily obedient, Zhu Cijiong is very content - the house he lives in now turns out to be the governor's office where Duolong, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi lives! Although it is not as good as the Forbidden City where he lived when he was a child, it is still the second largest house he has ever lived in. The most important thing is that the house is still his own!
While living in a big house in the center of Nanjing, the number of his wives also experienced a breakthrough increase. His previous wife, Mrs. Hu, was discovered by Wang Zhongxiao, Chen Yonghua, and Yang Qilong. Yang Qilong gave one of his sisters, Yang Ziyun, to He became a concubine, and now he had one wife and one concubine, and his life was much more nourishing.
But compared to "Xiandi", it is still far behind. No matter how "Xiandi" is "Xiandi", he is still an emperor. Ten wives are not too much, right?
And this small goal has now been exceeded!
When the Third Prince Zhu moved into Duolong's Governor's Office, Duolong's concubines didn't even have time to escape. They were all packed up and taken over by him. They were all beauties!
Most of them are beauties from Jiangnan, Jiangbei, and Jiangxi that Duolong acquired after he became the governor of Liangjiang. There are also two Japanese beauties and Korean beauties that Chen Yonghua found for him, and there is also a Macau Portuguese who is loyal and filial. Yi beauty. That’s called a beauty like clouds! Back then, the harem of Prince Zhu's father Chongzhen was not that colorful. Now it all belongs to Prince Zhu. How can he be dissatisfied?
My long-cherished wish has finally come true!
The house and the beautiful women are already top-notch, not to mention the food and supplies. Nanjing is a land of abundant products, and the Jiangning Incident was not a big deal. It was almost a peaceful takeover. The Qing court now has no ability to deal with Nanjing. Engage in blockade. So Zhu Cijiong can now truly enjoy the joy of offering sacrifices to the emperor!
But can the current happiness last?
Thinking of this, the third prince Zhu finally frowned and said to Geng Jingzhong and Liu Jinzhong: "King Geng, Liu Zhen, Gujia heard that the Tatar court will soon set up four camps in Jiangnan, Jiangbei, Jiangdong and Jiangxi to trap Jinling. , and here in Jinling, there are hundreds of industries waiting to be prospered, and there are only a few soldiers. Let alone the four large camps, even the Eight Banners soldiers and Eight Banners family members entrenched in the imperial city cannot be eradicated in one fell swoop, and can only besieged first. You two don't know What's the best way to break the situation?
In addition, the Gu family can re-enter Jinling, which is also the result of the public recommendation of anti-Qing heroes from all parties. Therefore, the Gu family has been thinking about the matter of restoring the Ming Dynasty, and it is recommended that heroes from all parties hold a restoration meeting to discuss it. How to restore this tomorrow? How to destroy the Qing Dynasty? How can the world maintain long-term peace and order? How should a lonely family be a Yuanjun who rules from the top down? "
Of course what he said was true. He now knows the "joy of Xiandi", and what he wants is of course to keep this Xiandi for a long time. As for real power, even if he wants it now, it is impossible to get it!
After Wang Zhongxiao heard the words of Prince Zhu San who was "willing to serve as emperor", he sighed a little in his heart: Could this be the beginning of the Ming Dynasty's monarchical constitution?
Emperor Ming Xian, who was pushed out as a signboard and had no real power at all, faced a group of "prime ministers" with ulterior motives. How could he be dissatisfied with the fact that he could get a virtual emperor who was only in name only, enjoying wealth and honor?
If you don't think about L Xian, you have to consider whether you have that strength?
Lord L Xianxu from Western countries probably started this way too, right?
However, a successful L-constitutional system is not what it is now, it is almost as chaotic as the Holy Roman Empire!
Thinking of this, Wang Zhongxiao coughed and was the first to speak, "Your Majesty, I think it is extremely necessary to convene a meeting to restore the Ming Dynasty. The defeat of the previous Ming Dynasty was due to the overthrow of water. But now that the Ming Dynasty is resurrected, it must gain the support of water and be good at the buoyancy of water. And to achieve the love of water and the power of water, the best way is probably The boat and the water are of one mind! And to be of one mind, the boat and the water should discuss it, so that they can share the wind and rain and overcome the difficulties together!
Therefore, this restoration meeting must not only be held, but must be held regularly, and it must continue to be held. Even if the restoration of sight is successful in the future, the ship of the Ming Dynasty must always listen to the advice of the water of the people!
Only in this way will the water of all peoples always carry the ship of the Ming Dynasty! "
Zhu Cijiong has long known what Wang Zhongxiao's group means - strictly speaking, he himself is also a member of this group! Of course I know the tricks of "Yuanjun" and "Yuanchen".
And he was very much in favor!
Because he knows his own weight very well. Only by becoming the "Yuanjun" can he always be the Xiandi!
In Zhu Cijiong's view, Emperor Xian's failure was that he failed to become the "original monarch." In other words, Emperor Xian was not the original monarch, so it would only make sense for Cao Cao to usurp the throne. Otherwise, what was Cao Cao doing?
Therefore, the originally expressionless face of the Third Prince Zhu immediately became full of expressions and showed an extremely satisfied smile. Everyone knew at a glance that the Third Prince had no ambitions and was a master who could just be a puppet!
When Geng Jingzhong came from Taiping Mansion, he also discussed the situation in Nanjing with his advisers and Liu Jinzhong - of course he wanted to usurp the throne! Otherwise, what would he be doing? Wouldn't it be nice to be a vassal king in Fujian?
There seemed to be three enemies standing in the way of him usurping the throne. The first was of course Wu Sangui!
Colleagues are enemies!
Is there anyone who still doesn’t understand what Wu Sangui is thinking? He also wants to be emperor!
And the hatred between the candidate emperors is really real!
The second person standing in the way of Geng Jingzhong’s progress was of course Kangxi!
Kangxi was already the emperor, and of course he did not want more and more emperors in the world.
Prince Zhu San was ranked third on Geng Jingzhong's "blacklist". When Wu Sangui was killed and Kangxi was defeated, he would usurp the throne.
But right now, it would be a good idea to hold a restoration conference.
This restoration meeting sounds like it can limit the power of the third prince Zhu, the "emperor" - in fact, it also protects the third prince Zhu, but Geng Jingzhong will not understand.
Geng Jingzhong, who thought he understood the key, also nodded and said: "What His Highness Prince Ding said is absolutely true, and what you said Shikai also makes sense. The Ming Dynasty has indeed lost the world. Although there are many reasons for this loss, among them It also includes immorality!”
When he said this, he suddenly felt that something was wrong. Can a minister say that the emperor's family is immoral in front of the emperor?
It seems like we should wait until we are planning to usurp the throne, right?
"Yes, yes, what King Geng said is absolutely true!" Prince Zhu San nodded repeatedly, "My family has been sitting in the world for a long time, and has forgotten the principle that water can carry a boat, and it can also capsize a boat. It has even forgotten what water is and what a boat is. It is indeed immoral. ! If my family wants to revive the Ming Dynasty, then we should hold a meeting to win the support of the Water of the World! If everyone supports it, then I will get on the boat. If the Water of the World supports others, then let others get on the boat."
other people?
Wu Sangui?
This is not okay
Except for Lu Yifeng of Wu Sangui system, everyone else has the same idea!
Wu Sangui has the strength, but he doesn’t have the prestige to convince the public!
Moreover, once Wu Sangui becomes emperor, he will no longer be the original emperor, but the real emperor with great power. Everyone must listen to him, and he may even kill the heroes to eliminate hidden dangers.
In comparison, the Third Prince Zhu is much better. He wants to kill, but his strength doesn’t allow him!
"Others? If others get on the boat, I, Liu Jinzhong, will be the first to refuse!" Liu Jinzhong immediately expressed his stance, "Your Majesty, only His Highness Prince Ding can be the one!"
"Yes!" Chen Yonghua said immediately, "The emperor can only be the third prince!"
These two, especially Chen Yonghua and his representative Zheng Jing, are definitely die-hard loyal ministers of the Ming Dynasty - of course, whether they are loyal or not is relative. Compared with Wang Fuchen, Wu Sangui, Li Zicheng, Geng Jingzhong, and even Liu Jinzhong, Zheng Jing is more loyal to the Ming Dynasty. Is there any need to doubt Ming’s loyalty?
Therefore, the Zheng family must hold the Zhongming sign high!
After all, Liu Jinzhong was born in the Yongwei camp, and he was an old acquaintance with Prince Zhu San. Of course he had to rely on Zhu San now!
"Prince Ding," Zheng Desheng, who was sent by Yang Qilong, also expressed his position, "If you are not the emperor, who else can be the emperor? I think you should ascend the throne first, and then hold the restoration meeting!"
Yang Qilong's sister is Concubine Yang - there must be Concubine Yang, but I don't know which one is the one?
So of course he approved of Prince Zhu San becoming the emperor!
After all, there are no plus-size beauties named Yang around Wu Sangui and Li Zicheng.
"The meeting still has to be held!" Zhu Cijiong said with a smile, "If all the heroes in the world support Li Zicheng, then I will also be willing to go north to do it."
Lu Sanhao took up the topic and said: "Your Majesty, King Geng, Mr. Liu, how about we formally invite the King of the West, the Wang Zhijun of Guangdong, the Li family of Huguang, and the Zheng family of Da Yuan Island to come to Nanjing?"
It is said to be a restoration meeting for the world's heroes, but it is actually a "meeting to elect an emperor." Those who are qualified to interfere are all big warlords!
"Add another Manchu!" Wang Zhongxiao suddenly interjected at this time, "Although Kangxi will definitely not send anyone, we should still invite them. After all, the world includes Nuer Gandusi and Monan Mongolia! "
In addition, North Korea, Ryukyu, and Annan can also send people to invite them. If they are willing to admit that they are vassals of the Ming Dynasty, they should also send people over. "
"North Korea, Ryukyu, and Annan are okay," Chen Yonghua said. "Who will the Manchus send? If our people go, won't the tyrant Kangxi arrest and kill them?"
I am very sure of that! A group of rebels held a meeting to overthrow the Qing Dynasty, and they asked Kangxi to send people to attend. It would be strange if Kangxi didn't explode with anger!
"Mingzhu!" Wang Zhongxiao said with a smile, "Mingzhu is a descendant of Jin Taiji, the chief of the Yehe tribe, and Jin Taiji is a loyal martyr of the Ming Dynasty!"
After Jin Taiji was beaten to death by Nurhaci, Emperor Wanli felt that he was quite loyal, even though he was a loyal hero. Therefore, Mingzhu was indeed sent by Ming Zhonglie to send hero posts to Emperor Kangxi, which was also a legitimate reason to release him.
Wang Zhongxiao still respects his teachers and does not want to kill Mingzhu, a "famous official" who is not successful enough but has a lot of failures. If Yue Le, Laita, Fei Yanggu, or Mang Yitu are captured, they cannot be released.
"That's okay!" The Third Prince Zhu also knew Mingzhu and nodded, "Just let Mingzhu go. Let's discuss the matter of the Restoration Conference here first!"
As he spoke, he frowned again, "There is still an area of Nanjing that has not been conquered. The Gu family only has a few thousand people at hand, so we can only surround them reluctantly, which is not an option. Prince Geng, Liu Zhen, can you come out?" Ordered troops and helped the Gu family take care of them?
In addition, Jiangpu and Liuhe in Jiangbei have not yet been recovered. Which of the two can send troops to Jiangbei? "
(End of chapter)
