"Your Majesty... Your Majesty, those supervisors are here again, and they are followed by many soldiers from the capital and some low-level civil servants..."
Liu Xi once again trotted into the Qianqing Palace with a panicked look on his face, but he was stronger than last time, at least he wasn't shouting.
When he heard that the supervisor had come again, Zhu Cixiang stood up quickly, murderous intent suddenly arose in his heart.
But when he heard what was going on, his expression turned solemn. He slowly sat down again and said in a deep voice: "How many soldiers from the Beijing camp have come, and what requests have they made?"
"Back...back to your Majesty, there are no less than a thousand people, all low-level generals. They said that when General Zhou was the general who defended the city, he severely deducted the soldiers' military pay and rewards. Please make the decision for them and severely punish General Zhou."
"Those supervising civil servants are still asking Your Majesty to deal with Li Ruolian."
Liu Xi said carefully.
"Come here, call Li Ruolian and Zhou Yuji."
Zhu Cixiang pondered for a long time, then waved his hand, his face turned as dark as the bottom of a pot.
He was not afraid of the civil servants no matter how noisy they were, but the honorable noble actually took action, so he had to pay attention to it.
Originally, he planned to wait for some time for Zhou Yuji to take full control of the 30,000 surrendered soldiers. After Wu Sangui came back, he would start to reorganize the capital camp.
This was exactly why he wanted to reward Wu Sangui generously.
But he never expected that these nobles would be as anxious as the civil servants and would not wait a day longer.
It seems that he copied more than 30 nobles and made both parties wary and suspicious, which can no longer be repaired.
Either he, the emperor, steps down, or the nobles hand over their military power, otherwise both sides will have trouble sleeping.
The nobles were worried all day long that he would ransack their homes and would inevitably form a group.
And he will be worried all day long that the nobles will attack the palace with force.
………
"See Your Majesty!"
After Li Ruolian and Zhou Yuji arrived, the Qianqing Palace could faintly hear petitions outside the palace.
It can be seen how huge the momentum is.
"Li Aiqing, has the person behind the rumor been found?"
"Back to Your Majesty, there were fifty-three people who spread the rumors at first, almost all of them were gangsters. They all confessed that they were instigated by others.
Although they don’t know those employers, from their descriptions, I judge that they are all stewards of wealthy families. As long as I take them door to door to identify them, I will be able to find out the mastermind behind the scenes!”
Li Ruolian quickly replied, there is no one who will not tell the truth after entering Jinyiwei, it is just a matter of time.
"There's no need to go to such trouble. It's going to cause a lot of trouble. Let's lock up the fifty-odd people first and let the rest go."
Zhu Cihong waved his hand, saying that this matter could be suppressed for the time being, as long as he knew what was going on.
"Yes! Your Majesty."
"Zhou Aiqing, what happened to the thirty thousand surrendered soldiers?"
"Your Majesty, the reorganization has been completed and weapons will be distributed for training in a few days." Zhou Yuji replied.
Zhu Cixiang thought about it and tried to ask: "If we issue weapons to them now and go to fight, how much combat power will they have?"
Zhou Yuji naturally understood what His Majesty meant, a look of helplessness flashed across his face, and he replied:
"Your Majesty, I am incompetent. If I distribute weapons at this time, I am afraid that it will be difficult to exert any combat effectiveness, and it will easily get out of control."
"Alas! It's not my fault, Aiqing, it's just that the time is too short."
Zhu Cixi waved his hand.
Actually, I didn’t have much hope, after all, it was only two days.
And Zhou Yuji himself only has more than 200 people, so it is not easy to convince 30,000 people to obey him.
"Your Majesty, I am willing to commit suicide out of fear of crime to alleviate the grievances of the soldiers in the Jingying camp." Zhou Yuji gritted his teeth and knelt down.
When Li Ruolian on the side saw this, a look of determination appeared on his face, and he knelt down and said: "Your Majesty, I am also willing to commit suicide out of fear of crime to show the anger of the common people."
"Confused, do you think those people really just want to force me to kill you? They want to force me to abdicate!"
Zhu Cixiang slapped the dragon case and cursed, but he was also very moved by their loyalty to the two of them.
How could the two of them not understand this truth?
But they just wanted to give those civil servants and soldiers in the capital an excuse to buy more time for His Majesty.
"Everyone, get up. I know your intentions, but if I want my loyal ministers to die in order to keep the throne, then it's okay for the emperor not to do it!"
"I said at the beginning that you will not let me down, and I will not let you down either. This sentence will not change until I die."
Zhu Cixiang stood up and came to the hall to help the two of them up, with a determined look on his face.
"His Majesty…"
The two of them were so moved that they couldn't stop sobbing, causing the palace maid and eunuch beside them to also sob.
"Okay, stop pretending to be a girl!"
"Zhou Aiqing, don't worry about anything after you go back, just train your troops and horses hard for me, eat three times a day, and take care of yourself!"
"Li Aiqing, all you have to do is maintain law and order in the city. Anyone who dares to spread rumors and cause trouble will be arrested!"
Zhu Cixi waved his hand and then gave instructions to the two of them.
He planned to use the "drag" trick. There were also Jingjun and more than 8,000 Imperial Guards in the palace, which were more than enough to defend the imperial city. If they wanted to petition, let them petition.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
The two of them obviously understood His Majesty's plan, so they did not say anything about committing suicide out of fear of crime. After all, Your Majesty really needs them now.
"Well, I'll send someone to bring your family members to the palace and stay there for a while."
Zhu Cixiang thought about it and added another sentence.
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
Seeing that His Majesty had taken their family's safety into consideration, the two were moved to tears again.
Not long after the two left, the two queen mothers hurriedly came over to kill them.
"Hong'er, what's going on?"
"Haha, what else could be going on? You don't want to force the child to abdicate? It's just a wishful thinking!"
Zhu Cixi sneered and explained to them both.
When the two women heard that even the soldiers from the Beijing camp had arrived, they looked nervous and dignified.
Obviously everyone realizes the seriousness of the problem.
Empress Zhou thought about it and advised with a worried look on her face: "Hong'er, why don't you restore your father's throne? You can take Zhou Yuji and the others to Shandong for a while."
"Yes, Xun'er, given the current situation, it's not a bad thing to take a step back. It will be beneficial to both you and Ming Dynasty."
"Auntie believes that if you go to Shandong with your ability, you will be able to return to the capital within three years."
Zhang Yan was also advising with earnest words.
The meaning is obvious, let Zhu Cihong go to Shandong to develop for a period of time, and then lead his troops to Beijing to deal with the civil servants and nobles.
"Yes, your mother and your aunt went to talk to your father and asked him to make you King of Lu. You could open a government office and control the military and political affairs of Shandong Province. You would also be allowed to take away half of the money and food. I believe your father should not
Will refuse."
"Hong'er, a real man can bend and stretch, so there is no need to fight for temporary anger. This throne is yours after all, and no one can compete with it."
Zhang Yan said again, with the softest but firmest tone.
It's just that I didn't explain it directly. If your father doesn't abdicate by then, your aunt will stand up to support you.
Zhu Cihong was very moved when he saw what Zhang Yan said. He knew that as long as Zhang Yan was willing to support him, justice would always be on his side. As long as he had soldiers in his hands, he could depose his father Chongzhen at any time.
After all, a eldest sister-in-law is like a mother. When the time comes, all he needs to do is put a shit basin on his head for teasing and humiliating his sister-in-law, and he will have to carry it around with nothing to eat.
"Mother, aunt, I know you are doing it for my own good, and it is indeed good to go to Shandong, but the child just can't swallow this breath."
"Don't worry, I don't believe they dare to attack the imperial city before the matter reaches this stage. Huh! Even if they have the courage, they can't even think of breaking in."
Zhu Cixiang was confident until the end.
In fact, he also considered going to Shandong. After all, the north was in ruins, and only Shandong was better.
With his ability and the fact that he has no shortage of money and food for his troops, it might be better to go to Shandong to reorganize the fields, train his troops, and cultivate his own talents while accumulating strength, rather than staying in the capital.
Beijing, on the other hand, asked his father to bear it first. Since King Chuang had already run away, Chongzhen should be able to bear it.
But as the saying goes, people can only live for one breath, and the city that they have worked so hard to defend for so long was to be driven out of power, which he really couldn't accept.
The key is that he hasn't reached that stage yet. As long as he delays it for another ten days and a half, he can force those nobles to compromise.
As long as the nobles compromise, those civil servants will be nothing. There are not many generals in the Ming Dynasty who can fight, but there are many who want to be officials.
"Alas! Why are you just as disobedient as your father?"
Zhang Yan sighed helplessly.
Empress Zhou also groaned repeatedly, and the two women were heartbroken when they met the father and son.