Empress Zhou, however, just kowtowed and apologized: "I am guilty. These concubines were chosen by Your Majesty before your northern expedition and sent to relieve Your Majesty's fatigue.
My concubine has committed a crime of negligence, and please your Majesty to deal with it severely. "
Zhu Qizhen nodded: "Forget it, you have good intentions, get up and stand aside."
Empress Zhou thanked her and stood aside with one of her eunuchs and a palace maid.
Queen Qian was a little confused when she saw this. This Queen Zhou was a little too wicked. The news was revealed from Queen Zhou, who came to him in a furious manner and asked to break into the palace to remonstrate with him.
In the end, Queen Zhou simply apologized and that was it?
Before Queen Qian could react, Zhu Qizhen began to reprimand Queen Qian.
Today's invasion of the palace and forced admonishment can be traced back to the private bribery when Tumubao first broke out.
Without giving Queen Qian a chance to speak, Zhu Qizhen reprimanded him for half an hour, venting his dissatisfaction to his heart's content.
Just when Zhu Qizhen was getting angry, Xing'an hurried in and reported: "Your Majesty, the Queen Mother is here."
Upon hearing this, Zhu Qizhen quickly packed his clothes and got out of bed to greet him.
However, as soon as Zhu Qizhen got off the ground and stood up, Queen Mother Sun walked in.
Everyone hurriedly saluted again.
Zhu Qizhen was also curious. Judging from the time, Queen Mother Sun did not come here specially after hearing the news.
The Queen Mother came to visit her after lunch.
The problem is that the uncle's daughter-in-law and daughter brought Sun Ming into the palace. Why did the queen mother come to Nangong without taking care of her relatives?
After Empress Dowager Sun sat down, she scolded Zhu Qizhen, Queen Qian, and Queen Zhou, and each of the three parties gave them twenty blows.
After a meal, the atmosphere relaxed a lot.
Just when Zhu Qizhen thought things would go away like this, Empress Dowager Sun suddenly made her real request: "Your Majesty, now the court is making a fuss about choosing concubines for the emperor. As an elder brother, you have to set an example. Come.
Everyone used to say that the emperor's woman was a concubine, but now your woman has also become a concubine.
In this way, the emperor had a handle and could openly fight back.
The matter is of great importance, and the selection of the queen and the concubine must not cause any complications.
Your Majesty, please do not stick to trivial matters when doing big things, so let go of your sixteen concubines. "
"Xing'an, see you off."
Zhu Qizhen glanced at everyone one by one and put down these words coldly.
This was the case in the Ming Dynasty. When the adult emperor got angry, no one could do anything about it.
Even though Zhu Qizhen had become Emperor Gongrang, due to his younger brother's explicit authorization, Zhu Qizhen had the final say on matters involving the harem in the imperial city.
Empress Dowager Sun, Empress Qian, and Empress Zhou were all "guests" in Zhu Qizhen's mouth. After leaving Chonghua Palace, Empress Dowager Sun called the two queens to go to Yinghua Palace to discuss matters.
After the three people left, Zhu Qizhen ordered Xing'an to gather all the eunuchs and maids together and interrogate them one by one.
Nangong is full of other people's spies and spies. No matter what they do, if there is a slightest hint of trouble, everyone will know about it immediately.
It is tolerable, but what is unbearable!
The whole Nangong was in commotion until late at night.
Early the next morning, numerous secret reports appeared at Zhu Qiyu's bedside.
Zhu Qiyu was lying on the bed, shaking his head and smiling bitterly.
Several beloved concubines followed and read the secret reports together.
Qianxue asked curiously: "The imperial city has become a mess. Is this the work of my husband?"
When Zhu Qiyu heard this, he immediately swore: "The conscience of heaven and earth, this time really has nothing to do with me, I really don't know anything.
Not to mention that the eldest brother Gongrang the emperor was completely confused, I was also completely confused.
There are too many contingencies in political battles and palace battles, and the chess pieces may not be completely controlled by the chess players.
It is said that the horse moves the sun and the elephant moves the field. When you really become a chess player, you will find that the chess pieces move around randomly. "
"Then what happened yesterday, are they beneficial to us?"
"Huh, of course it's beneficial. Unvirtuous marriage will ruin three generations. My eldest brother will eventually be ruined by women like him."
Lin Xiangyu said: "Husband, you see, yesterday I respectfully asked the emperor to execute a large number of palace officials, including the young eunuch Zhang Min and others who had previously reported on Shang Shanjian for poisoning the prince.
Did Empress Dowager Sun arrange for people in Nangong to get rid of Zhang Min? "
Zhu Qiyu nodded: "It's possible, I always feel that there are confidants of Empress Dowager Sun in Nangong."
"How many cronies does Empress Dowager Sun have? Are they not dead yet?"
Zhu Qiyu smiled bitterly and said: "Oh, it's early. I have a bold idea. On the surface, Xing'an is the first companion of Emperor Gongrang, but in fact he is the confidant of Empress Dowager Sun.
In the past, Empress Dowager Sun and Emperor Gongrang had a loving mother and a filial son, so it didn't matter who Xing'an belonged to.
Now that there is a rift between mother and son, Xing'an sometimes has to choose a side, so his flaws are revealed. "
The reason why Zhu Qiyu made such a bold speculation was that Xing'an in history was himself a double agent. He took the lead in Yi Chu for Jingtai, and helped imprison Nangong. As a result, on the eve of the victory, Xing'an suddenly rebelled.
Such a person must be presumed with the utmost malice.
Qianxue asked curiously: "Can the emperor's eldest companion also betray?"
Zhu Qiyu shook his head: "According to common sense, it would not happen, but Xing'an was assigned to the eldest brother by the Empress Dowager Sun. The eldest companion is very important, and the Empress Dowager Sun would not randomly assign someone to him for no reason."
Lin Xiangyu smiled and said: "Husband, look at this again. Yesterday, Gao Ping took advantage of the turmoil in the palace and the Empress Dowager Sun went to Nangong to order his confidant eunuch to leak the news that someone was plotting to assassinate the Marquis of Huichang to Sun Jizong's daughter.
Our little empress Ningxiang is really amazing, her ingenious plan actually got everyone involved in the Sun family. "
Zhu Qiyu smiled and nodded: "As long as our family does not fight among ourselves, and the enemies continue to fight among themselves, then we will definitely win in the end. Okay, let's not talk about them anymore, let's read the memorial."
Qianxue quickly handed over the memorial.
First, there was news from Datong, Shanxi. Jingyuan Bo Wang Ji and Ningyang Marquis Chen Mao led 50,000 Beijing troops and went south again.
Zhu Qiyu knocked on the memorial and teased: "These two old foxes, when they saw that the wind in the court was in the wrong direction, they ran faster than rabbits.
After Wang Ji finished conquering Luchuan, he left the local troops in Yunnan, Guizhou and other provinces behind, and went north with an army of 100,000 to take back Emperor Gongrang.
Then the army rested and reorganized in Datong, and the elite border troops were returned to the towns. Some of the old, weak, sick and disabled were eliminated, and finally the 60,000 Beijing camp army remained.
Wang Ji and Chen Mao took away 50,000 of the most elite troops, leaving 10,000 for my deployment. "
Ningxiang smiled and said: "Husband, don't say that to them. Isn't it normal for a fox to run faster than a rabbit?"
Zhu Qiyu laughed at his little concubine's arrogant words: "I am burying these ministers who are on both ends of the spectrum. It's okay if you don't help me scold them. Why are you talking about foxes and rabbits with me?" The run is coming.
Does it matter whether the fox runs faster or the rabbit runs faster?
Hey, Wang Ji left me 10,000 battle-hardened soldiers from the Fifth Army Camp. It would be quite stressful to transfer them back to the capital.
If they are attacked by a surprise attack, my 30,000 camp state guards may not be able to defeat them.
But if these 50,000 soldiers from the military camp were not transferred back, Empress Dowager Sun and Emperor Gongrang would not have the confidence to rebel. "
Qianxue asked curiously: "Do the Ming Dynasty's imperial troops really dare to rebel? Do they dare to attack the emperor brazenly?"
Zhu Qiyu sneered: "Have you forgotten how Taizong came to the throne? There are only a few people in the three guards of King Yan. How did they get to Nanjing?
Aren't there a large number of imperial troops who rebelled?
Hundreds of thousands of imperial troops were either left in disarray or simply surrendered.
Speaking of this, I have to name the previous Ming War God before the emperor, our beloved Cao Guogong Li Jinglong. "
Shaking his head, Zhu Qiyu added: "No, we can't learn Jianwen. Let's be more cautious. If we take advantage of this great advantage, it will become an eternal joke.
I still order Duke An Guo to take the Xiaoqi Battalion to retreat a little from Shanxi and station it at Juyongguan.
In this way, once the rebels attack the western suburbs, the 30,000 cavalrymen of the Xiaoqi Battalion can arrive within a day.
The officers and soldiers of the Xiaoqi Battalion are mainly selected from the elite frontier troops in the three towns of Shaanxi, Ningxia, and Gansu.
No matter how experienced the 10,000 people in the Fifth Army Camp were in many battles, they would still be ruthlessly crushed by the Xiaoqi Battalion.
In this way, the situation will be much more controllable. "
(End of chapter)
