Zhou Chen was awakened by He Yi's words and figured out what his problem was. He wanted to repair the Qianqing Palace in such a hurry, which would definitely arouse the emperor's suspicion.
Since the Chinese New Year had just ended, everyone stayed at home for more than ten days. As soon as office work resumed, there were a lot of things going on in the yamen, especially the affairs of the Ministry of Works. Zhou Chen, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, was so busy that he was dizzy. In addition, because he was already old, he accidentally got himself into a trap.
Zhou Chen, who wanted to understand the joints, was so frightened that he broke into a cold sweat. Although the emperor seems to be more approachable, but with so many troublesome things happening recently, the emperor may completely fall out at some point.
Sure enough, whatever he was afraid of came, Zhou Chen had just cast a grateful look at He Yi, and before he could explain to the emperor, Zhu Qiyu asked him a tricky question.
Zhou Chen was stunned by the direct question.
Chen Xun and Wang Wen looked at each other and smiled bitterly in their hearts. Not to mention Zhou Chen, who was named by the emperor to ask the question, and several others felt their scalps go numb when they heard this question.
There are many pitfalls buried in the emperor's questions. First, the emperor asked the two queens who should live in Kunning Palace. If you really follow this question and answer it, you will definitely fall into a trap.
The emperor used the term "two queens", but anyone with a discerning eye knows that the two queens are not real queens in name.
Besides, the bright red lip mark on the emperor's neck was blindingly visible. The emperor deliberately brought it out. In addition to wanting to show everyone that he was wandering in the land of gentleness and had no intention of fighting for power with the six cabinet ministries, he also clearly showed who was in charge. A literal queen.
The ministers present are all the best among men. One glance and you can understand in your heart. Translated into the vernacular, the emperor’s meaning is:
I can still live as the King of Qi, and I will not canonize my own princess as the queen. But if you have no eyes, no interest, and really don’t regard my wife as your mistress, then you will be doomed.
Are you unwilling to sit in the positions of cabinet bachelor and six ministers? There is no problem at all. There are many scholars and scholars in the Ming Dynasty. I wave my hand casually, and the civil servants who are willing to know and understand can cry and collapse the attic.
Zhou Chen felt the most bitter in his heart. The emperor also asked the two queens who should live in Kunning Palace. How should he answer this? Kunning Palace is now inhabited by Queen Zhou. Should we say that Queen Zhou should be kicked out and Kunning Palace be handed over to Queen Qian? Wouldn’t that completely offend Queen Zhou and the Crown Prince to death?
Logically speaking, the status quo should definitely be maintained, but the rest of the palace halls in the harem were burned down. It was really unjustifiable to let Queen Qian, the original wife of the Supreme Emperor, live in the corner of the corner or in the East and West Palaces.
Zhu Qiyu didn't push him, he just smiled and waited for Zhou Chen to reply.
Zhou Chen was so anxious that he was sweating, and he had no choice but to look at He Yi for help. He Yi's eyes met Zhou Chen's, and his bright eyes slightly tilted to look at the emperor's neck.
It was because He Yi was the emperor's most trusted young civil servant that he dared to make the reminder so obvious.
Zhou Chen was stunned for a moment, then turned around: the emperor didn't want a solution to the problem at all, he just wanted to express his attitude.
So Zhou Chen stood up, bowed and replied: "Your Majesty, I believe that the two supreme queens, no matter who they are, should no longer live in Kunning Palace.
Now that the throne has been determined, His Majesty is the master of the country. The Supreme Emperor is responsible for the loss of his master, and the Supreme Empress is also responsible for the loss of her assistant, so they are no longer suitable to live in the main palace.
Wei Chen believes that Princess Qi should be appointed as the queen and take charge of the Kunning Palace, which is the right way to stabilize the country and comply with the people's hearts. "
As soon as Zhou Chen finished speaking, the rest of the people also bowed in agreement.
Hearing this, Zhu Qiyu smiled and waved his hands: "There is no need to appoint a queen. My princess has been spoiled by me for a long time. She does not want to bear the title of queen and go to Kunning Palace to be bound by the rules and become locked in a birdcage. The canary among them.
Now we are guarding Yuquan Mountain, how free we are. Learning from Tao Yuanming and living in the countryside has always been the dream of the princess and I, so please don’t push us back.
Zhou Aiqing, please sit down quickly and try this tea. The water we use to make tea in the capital is also pulled from Yuquan Mountain. But if you hold that spring water in a wooden barrel and leave it for a day or two, the taste will be much worse.
The water we are drinking in front of us is different. It is taken directly from the most excellent spiritual spring on the mountainside on the south side. It is only served in jade vessels. It tastes clear, sweet and refreshing. Drinking this water is the best. A real treat. "
In the past, every time someone proposed to appoint a queen, they would be severely scolded by the emperor. Although the emperor refused again this time, he declined lightly and did not have any overreaction.
After hearing this, Zhou Chen knew that he had successfully passed the test. He couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief, sat down and picked up the tea cup to taste it carefully.
Zhu Qiyu just wanted everyone's attitude and didn't really want to explore solutions.
Now that he had an attitude, Zhu Qiyu asked with a smile: "Zhou Aiqing, does the court have the money to build so many palaces now?"
Zhou Chen quickly replied: "Your Majesty, Shanxi is really rich, whether it is civil or military officials or landlords and squires.
The properties of corrupt officials confiscated by Liu Shangshu in the Xuan Mansion, in addition to supporting His Majesty's three-year tax exemption plan, still have enough money to cover the expenses of rebuilding the palace. "
Zhu Qiyu heard this and asked: "Is it because the money was used to build the palace, and the imperial court was unable to build the outer city of Beijing?"
Zhou Chen nodded: "Your Majesty, this is indeed the case. If the palace and the outer city are built at the same time, the imperial court will definitely be overwhelmed and can only focus on one end first."
Zhu Qiyu nodded, and then looked at Chen Xun and Wang Wen.
Chen Xun did not make a clear statement, but only reminded that the south was still fighting. Even with the supplement of Shanxi's wealth, the pressure on the Ministry of Revenue was still very high.
When it was Wang Wen's turn to express his opinion, Wang Wen directly made a shocking statement: "Your Majesty, I believe that since Your Majesty has issued a personal edict for the fire in the Three Palaces, the Empress Dowager and Empress Qian should also be compassionate. He took responsibility for the fires in Ning Palace and Qianqing Palace and punished himself by issuing the decree.
Especially the empress dowager, who was ordered by the late emperor to raise the young master and take charge of the country's affairs. During her regency, the Empress Dowager was guilty of lax upbringing and indulging treacherous officials, which led to the subsequent defeat of Tumu and the loss of teachers and humiliation of the country.
I thought that the Empress Dowager should issue an edict to sin against me, so I asked myself to remove the title of Shangsheng Empress Dowager, demotivate me to the rank of Empress Dowager, and retreat to Yinghua Palace to reflect on my mistakes. "
When the ministers present heard this, they all looked at Wang Wen in shock.
Zhu Qiyu was also surprised, but he was not surprised by Wang Wen's audacity, but he really couldn't figure out why Wang Wen coincided with him again?
Taking advantage of this fire, he forced the Queen Mother Sun to issue an imperial edict and remove the title of Shangsheng Queen Mother, which was exactly the plan he had already formulated.
The key point is that I didn't discuss it with anyone this time. After all, burning the Forbidden City can't be brought to the table.
Zhu Qiyu calmed down and looked at everyone pretending to be calm, gesturing for others to express their opinions.
(End of chapter)
