Hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen couldn't help but glance at Zhang Mingwei. What do you think of this father-in-law? A test result will be available soon!
To be honest, although his impression of Zhou Kui was not very good, Queen Zhou's virtuousness was still there. As a queen, she is very competent. Moreover, he was also satisfied with the children born to Queen Zhou.
From this point of view, Emperor Chongzhen felt that although Zhou Kui was not very good, he shouldn't be as bad as Zhang Mingwei said, right? And Zhang Mingwei himself said that he was not completely convinced about Zhou Kui.
With this in mind, Emperor Chongzhen said: "Come in!"
Zhang Mingwei was also a little curious, wondering if this Zhou Kui was as he knew from historical materials, a fool who couldn't recognize that his interests were bound to Emperor Chongzhen's family.
After Xu Gao entered the palace, he reported to Emperor Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, Uncle Jiading was a little embarrassed at first, but he still agreed to give one thousand taels of silver. Later he felt that it was a little less..."
Upon hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen was unhappy. Why was it difficult at the beginning? Was it because you didn’t want to give?
Later, I heard that one thousand taels of silver was mentioned, and I felt even more insulted. This was like sending a beggar away! Even if he didn't know how much Zhou Kui's property was, the rewards he and the queen had given Zhou Kui in the past were far more than this amount!
Fortunately, Xu Gao's last words made Emperor Chongzhen look a little better. He thought to himself that it doesn't look so bad after all. He finally knew that he couldn't just give him a little money! No matter what, he always raised a daughter like the Queen!
Unexpectedly, as soon as he thought of this, Xu Gao finished his words: "... In the end, Jiadingbo added another five hundred taels, and said that he would have to wait for him to collect the fifteen hundred taels before giving them to the palace. "
As soon as he finished speaking, there was a "pop" sound, and Emperor Chongzhen slammed the tea cup he was drinking from to the ground. The exquisite porcelain suddenly fell into pieces and shattered on the ground.
Emperor Chongzhen himself was breathing heavily, as if he had been humiliated, and like a wounded beast, ready to burst out the ferocity in his bones at any time, staring straight at the debris on the ground, as if it was Zhou Kui. .
Although Xu Gao knew that the emperor would be angry after hearing this, he did not expect that the emperor would be so angry. He was so frightened that he knelt down and lay on the ground without making any movement.
Fortunately, there was no one else in the hall because he wanted to talk to Zhang Mingwei. Otherwise, the whole floor would have been kneeling.
Zhang Mingwei didn't have the same reaction as Xu Gao. Seeing Emperor Chongzhen lose his temper, he knew in his heart that Emperor Chongzhen had recognized Zhou Kui's true face, so he felt that Zhou Kui would probably do what he said. , the kind that even my grandson can sell. That's why he gets so angry.
Zhang Mingwei also understood Emperor Chongzhen's mood, so he let him vent first without persuading him immediately.
After a long while, Emperor Chongzhen raised his head with red eyes, looked at Zhang Mingwei, and said bitterly: "I will cut him into pieces with a thousand knives!"
As the head of the imperial family, even though the country's affairs are in such a state of ruin, he is still greedy for pleasure and wants to get away with nothing. This kind of extremely selfish thing, it is very possible for the prince to hand over the prince to protect himself as Zhang Mingwei said, or to violate his conscience and not be serious. This made Emperor Chongzhen's mood so bad that he said such words.
"Your Majesty, calm down. It's not worth being so angry for such a villain. It's enough to recognize who you are as a person!" Only then did Zhang Mingwei persuade him, "Your Majesty should take care of your health and not be swayed by your emotions. , do the right thing, only in this way can we revive the Ming Dynasty!"
He said this not to speak for Zhou Kui, but because it was unrealistic for Emperor Chongzhen to cut Zhou Kui into pieces with a thousand swords unless the queen and prince were deposed first.
Emperor Chongzhen finally came to his senses when he heard the words ZTE and Ming Dynasty, but he was still unwilling to give in and said angrily: "Can't we just do nothing and let him go?"
"Of course not! Punishing evil and promoting good is the most basic principle of doing things. Only in this way can we guide people to do good." After hearing this, Zhang Mingwei immediately answered him, "I thought about it, this Zhou Kui is still useful!"
"What else can he be used for?" Emperor Chongzhen asked subconsciously when he heard this. But then he felt that it was not good to speak to his husband like this, so he quickly added, "What else can he be used for?"
After he finished speaking, he saw Xu Gao crawling there, and said to Xu Gao, "This is none of your business, go down first!"
Xu Gao has realized what happened just now. This person is really as his godfather said. He is someone the emperor relies on very much. He must not be offended! Because the emperor was so angry, it had no impact on him at all, and he was even treated with courtesy!
At the same time, he was also curious, what use would this Zhou Kui have?
It was a pity that Emperor Chongzhen had spoken and he could no longer eavesdrop, so he had to retreat according to the order.
After he left, Emperor Chongzhen looked at Zhang Mingwei and asked, "Sir, how do you use this Zhou Kui?"
He couldn't understand that with the selfishness shown by Zhou Kui this time, it was absolutely impossible for him to set an example for the emperor's relatives. Could it be that Queen Zhou was asked to persuade him? That might not be useful, right?
When he was thinking this, he heard Zhang Mingwei say to him: "Don't you mean that when a prince breaks the law, he is guilty of the same crime as the common people? The Zhou Kui family can accumulate so much wealth, they must not do bad things because of their status as royal relatives. . Therefore, if you catch a few things and punish them severely, although it is not possible to let Zhou Kui die, it is no problem to reduce his rank. Besides, except Zhou Kui, I believe it is no problem to convict everyone else of death, right? In this way, it can also be shown His Majesty’s determination to severely punish lawbreakers will shock others!”
His statement actually comes from Shang Yang's reform.
Emperor Chongzhen, as an ambitious king, certainly had some understanding of it. When he heard this, he immediately clapped his hands with joy and said: "Okay, that's right! Lord Shang once said that the law is not noble, and the rope is not bent. When the law is imposed, a wise man cannot say anything, and a brave man cannot fight. . Don’t avoid ministers when punished, and don’t spare ordinary people when you reward good deeds.”
It can be imagined that if Zhou Kui is targeted and killed, the effect will definitely be good.
Before the change, Emperor Chongzhen had not recognized Zhou Kui's true character, so it was impossible to target Zhou Kui. This was also the case when Emperor Chongzhen wanted to liquidate Marquis Wu Qing, someone would drag Zhou Kui to the front to deal with him. The reason is.
But things are different now, Zhou Kui is like this, even if Emperor Chongzhen doesn't punish him severely, he can't get rid of the bad breath in his heart.
After a pause, he immediately said to Zhang Mingwei: "Then leave this matter to..."
As soon as he said this, Emperor Chongzhen remembered that Zhang Mingwei was not the commander of the Jinyi Guards yet, and he had just arrived and had no helpers. He could not let him do this, so he immediately changed his mind and said: "I will leave this matter to Wang Chengen. Do it, let him immediately investigate the good deeds of this old guy Zhou Kui!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he heard a voice coming from the door: "Slave King Cheng'en has come to reply to the order!"
