"Where is the prince now? What is he doing?" Emperor Chongzhen asked about Zhu Cixiang's current whereabouts.

The crown prince is really busy now and has no time to go home to visit his parents. From the 14th to now, Chongzhen has only seen Zhu Cihong once.

What made Chongzhen even more annoyed was that the prince Zhu Cixiang was so independent that he didn't even know about asking for orders! Although he gave him the title of governor of Fujun and Zhili military affairs, he didn't let him sell the city order.

ah!

First of all, the prince’s decree cannot be sold!

Secondly, the governor-general of the Fujun Army dispatched military affairs directly under the Central Government and could not control internal and external officials who did not serve in the Jingying and Jingjun.

How could Zhu Cixi send officials, eunuchs, and nobles who had spent money to Tianjin with just a decree? It would be fine if they were sent to the Jingying camp and the Jing army, but many of the people he sent away were not in the Jing camp and the Jing army.

Take office!

For example, Wang Zhixin is the ceremonial supervisor, Bingbi eunuch and admiral of Dongchang. How can you, the governor of Fujun, control the military affairs of Zhili?

This is a huge overstep of authority! No, not only is it overstepping authority, it is also suspected of usurping power!

If it weren't for the special circumstances now, this prince could have been deposed.

"Your Majesty," Luo Yangxing, the commander of the Jinyi Guards, immediately replied, "His Royal Highness came down from Fuchengmen City and went directly to Chengguo Mansion."

"Go to Chengguo Mansion?" Emperor Chongzhen frowned, "Zhu Chunchen is the commander-in-chief of the Beijing camp!"

A commander-in-chief of the Beijing camp was so close to the prince... If Li Zicheng hadn't come to the city with troops, he would have been impeached by the imperial censor!

"Do you know what he went to do?" Emperor Chongzhen asked.

"It should be for money," Luo Yangxing said, "Gong Cheng Guo gave the prince a lot of trouble today...I heard that after witnessing the prince murder, he knelt down to beg for mercy and was willing to donate his family property."

"Donate the family property? How much money can he have?" Chongzhen asked.

"Whether it's a farm, real estate, or a store, I have cash in hand... there must be four or five hundred thousand taels of silver."

Chongzhen gritted his teeth, "So many!? I always thought he was an upright official..."

The hatred in Emperor Chongzhen’s heart! What kind of world is this? Why is it that any high-ranking official in Beijing is richer than the emperor? They are all corrupt officials! They are all corrupt officials!

"How did he get so much money?" Chongzhen asked angrily.

"This...this minister doesn't know." Luo Yangxing was sweating on his forehead.

In fact, these noble officials in the court refused to donate money when the enemy was approaching the city. One reason was that they were reluctant, and the other reason was that they could not explain why they had so much money?

We are all good and good officials, how can they all have tens of thousands of dollars? How much salary do they have? If they can’t even get enough of their salary, how can they be rich? With so much money, it goes without saying that they must be corrupt officials.

.

With Emperor Chongzhen's petty mind, sooner or later these corrupt officials will be arrested and taken to Beizhen Fusi!

"Then go and investigate!" Chongzhen said through gritted teeth, "Let Beizhen Fusi investigate!"

"Your Majesty," Gao Yushun, the chief eunuch in charge of the ceremony at the side, quickly reminded, "now is not the time to settle accounts after the fall. Thief Li's soldiers are still outside the city! And... and Duke Cheng Guo is now the prince's servant!"

After hearing this, Chongzhen also took in a breath of cold air!

Now the armed forces in the capital city are divided into three parts, one is the Beijing camp, the second is the Prince's Kenan camp, and the third is the Jingjun. Among them, the Jingying camp has the largest number of people, with more than 5,000 people, and the Kenan camp and the Jingjun are both around 3,000.

.

If both the Beijing camp and the Kenan camp are under the control of the prince, then the prince will have more than 8,000 armed men, while Emperor Chongzhen can only control 3,000 eunuch soldiers...

"Will the soldiers in the Beijing camp listen to the prince?" Emperor Chongzhen's question was a bit heartbreaking.

Luo Yangxing and Gao Yushun looked at each other and nodded.

"meeting!"

"How is that possible?" Chongzhen's face changed drastically. "How long has he been in charge of the army? Even the officials in the capital camp cannot recognize him!"

"But..." Luo Yangxing almost cried when he heard Chongzhen's words. He has been the emperor for seventeen years, why doesn't he understand?

He gritted his teeth and said: "But the prince is rich! He has millions! Today, he gave at least 50,000 taels of reward to the soldiers of the Beijing camp who came to the city, the brave soldiers of the capital, and the soldiers of the Kenan camp.

!”

The soldiers in the Beijing camp and the heroes in the capital are all old fools. Anything about being loyal to the emperor and patriotic is bullshit to them! Only money is the boss!

Now Zhu Cixiang has millions in his hands, he is the boss!

However, Emperor Chongzhen only had less than 200,000 yuan in hand, and he was reluctant to give it... Before Zhu Cihong raised the army, the soldiers from the Beijing camp went to the city to watch for one day and only received one hundred copper coins (not made money, but ordinary small coins).

You have to pay for meals yourself! Is there such a stingy emperor as him?

And after Zhu Cihong came to power, he was immediately raised to one tael of silver! That is equivalent to 5,500 copper coins! It is equivalent to a salary increase of 54 times in one breath! How can they not love the prince? If you want to give more, then your father and mother will do it.

It’s better to kiss the prince!

"Fifty thousand taels..." When Chongzhen heard about Zhu Cixiang's money-spending methods, he was so distressed that he even forgot about the "prince usurping power." "How could he spend money like this? Wait...he has millions of taels in his hand.

It’s all the country’s money, how can he just spend it on himself?”

Is that spending money indiscriminately? That is spending money to buy life!

Spending 50,000 taels to live a day, what a good deal! With the prince's ability to make money, a thousand days' worth of life money can be obtained from Beijing. Can Li Zicheng stay outside Beijing for three years?

At this moment, both Luo Yangxing and Gao Yushun had the urge to let the prince usurp the throne...

Of course, it is impossible to usurp the throne. Zhu Cixiang is a filial son, how could he do such a thing? It can only be Emperor Chongzhen crying and shouting for inner Zen!

Luo Yangxing had no choice but to persuade Chongzhen to change his mind, and said quickly: "Your Majesty, the prince is a bit more skillful in spending money, but Li Ni's hundreds of thousands of bandits are just outside the city!"

Gao Yushun also said: "Yes, the military and people's morale in the capital cannot be shaken!"

Chongzhen frowned deeply, and he was also conflicted in his heart. The prince was now the life-saving straw for Beijing and himself, so he couldn't throw it away. But at the same time, he couldn't let Zhu Cihong seize power step by step. Otherwise, Li Zicheng would leave as soon as he left.

, this emperor might be the Supreme Emperor...

Seeing that Chongzhen was silent, Luo Yangxing said again: "Your Majesty, even if the money in the hands of the prince is to be taken back, it should be approved by the cabinet, and your majesty will approve it... If the decree is issued, the prince will be directly responsible for the military affairs as the governor of the army."

, which can be completely ignored.”

"That's true..." Chongzhen thought about it and felt something was wrong, "but the prince's governor of Fujun and Zhili Military Affairs was also appointed by Zhongzhi!"

Luo Yangxing and Gao Yushun's hair stood up when they heard this.

"Your Majesty, no!" Gao Yushun immediately said, "The defense of the capital cannot be without the prince. Moreover, even if the prince is willing to hand over the defense of the capital, who can take over? Now the commander-in-chief Zhu Chunchen and the admiral Wu Xiang are all the prince's people...

"

"Wu Xiang..." Emperor Chongzhen slammed the table, "How come I forgot about him?"

Luo Yangxing and Gao Yushun both looked at Chongzhen blankly, what did the prince want to do?

Chongzhen said: "Luo Yangxing, go and keep an eye on the prince and Zhu Chunchen and find out what they are doing tonight?"

"I obey the decree."

"Gao Banban," Chongzhen said again, "go to Xuan Wei Zaode, Li Banghua and Wang Jiayan."

Wei Zaode is a bachelor of Zhongji Palace, the so-called chief minister of the cabinet.

Li Banghua, on the other hand, was the censor of Zuodu, the head of the Procuratorate, and was responsible for correcting and impeaching hundreds of officials.

Wang Jiayan is the right minister of the Ministry of War and assists in the military affairs of the Beijing camp. He is an official who participates in the military affairs of the Beijing camp and the defense of the capital on behalf of the court officials.

During the battle at Fuchengmen, he also climbed onto the city tower to assist Zhu Cixiang in defending the city. However, he did not interact too much with Zhu Cixiang because he still did not approve of the prince's behavior. Especially at the age of 16. It's a bit childish for the 20-year-old prince to support the army with his imperial edict.

Chongzhen issued an order to recruit the two of them into the palace late at night on the 17th. By the time the three of them arrived outside the Qianqing Gate to await the summons, it was already the early morning of the 18th, and it was almost time to go to court.
Chapter completed!