Ding Yunyi was unstoppable in Japan, but Emperor Chongzhen who was far away in the capital did not know these things at all, and he was still troubled by his chaos.
Chongzhen believed that the source of all problems came from two words - silver!
After the strict order was issued to order Li Guorui to donate 200,000 taels of silver, Chongzhen waited for Li Guorui to surrender to him. On the other hand, he ordered the eunuch Cao Huachun of Dongchang and Wu Mengming, the envoy of Jinyi Guards, to send people to investigate and find out what the people in the capital had to say about this matter.
He discussed the matter and reported it to the palace at any time. Due to the "terrible changes in the weather" and the serious disasters in various places, Chongzhen planned to fast and practice provinces two days ago, but after thinking about it, he didn't have any clues about raising wages, so he couldn't leave it behind.
No matter what, he went to live a quiet life. Now because of Li Guorui's problem, he was worried about the wrath of his ancestors and felt very depressed, so he had to make up his mind to practice meditation in the hope of moving God. So he started to eat vegetarian food and took a bath since last night.
He had already announced that he would be excused from going to court, and ordered an imperial eunuch to inform the cabinet and civil and military officials: Starting today, he will go to the provincial residence to sit in meditation for three days. Unless there are urgent military and state affairs, he will not report anything. After the order, he was at
Under the service of the palace ladies, they hurriedly changed into pure blue silk clothes, first went to Fengxian Hall to offer incense and pray to the gods of their ancestors, and then went to Fengxianbie Hall, Fengxianbie Hall - the side hall of Fengxian Hall, to pay homage to him.
He prayed to the god of his mother, Queen Mother Xiaochun, and then took a chariot to the provincial residence.
The Shengwei Residence is located behind the Wenhua Hall. It is built with wooden foundations, three feet above the ground, and is transparent and suspended on all sides, symbolizing isolation from the world. During the Tianqi Dynasty, the Shengwei Residence was never used, and the railings and wooden steps were covered with dust.
Spider webs hung in front of the eaves and windows, and bat guano was scattered on the wooden floor. Weeds grew along the corridor in front of the house. When Chongzhen ascended the throne, it was reused and kept clean. Today he walked into the Provincial Residence and presented himself to the Jade Emperor
After the god bowed his head and sat down, he originally wanted to close his eyes and meditate, reflecting on his own faults to the gods, but unexpectedly his mind was in a state of confusion. He was thinking about this issue, and that issue.
At noon, Chongzhen had the simplest vegetarian meal. Although the eunuchs in the imperial dining room had a complete set of experiences passed down from their ancestors. Without hiding it from others, they mixed some mushrooms, mushrooms, young bamboo shoots, hericium, tofu, gluten, radish and
Vegetarian ingredients such as cabbage are cooked with chicken soup, duck soup, high-quality soy sauce, expensive ingredients, and expert cooking. The taste is extremely delicious, and there is meat in the vegetarian food. However, because Chongzhen was depressed, eating it felt like chewing dirt in his mouth. He casually
He moved his chopsticks and stopped eating. He only drank half of a bowl of rock sugar and white fungus soup. The eunuch carefully removed the vegetarian meal and held a cup of tea on a plate. Because it was during the fasting period, the tea cups used could not be painted.
Instead, they used tributes from the founding of the kiln, which were pure and pure. It was as white as jade, better than the Ding kiln in the Northern Song Dynasty. Chongzhen took a sip of tea and stared blankly at the teacup. The color of the tea was bright yellow and light green, with a hint of lightness floating around.
The smoke slowly dispersed, and the disgusting phantom of Li Guorui and the remains of Queen Mother Xiaoding sitting on the lotus throne appeared from inside. His heart moved and his eyes blinked, and the phantom disappeared immediately.
He couldn't care less about the military pay issue, especially Li Guorui's issue, and couldn't calmly reflect on his mistakes. The more he thought about these things, the more he couldn't sit down in the province and decided to change the three-day fast.
For one day. And for this day, I wish that the red sun would immediately set in the west, so I could quickly return to Qianqing Palace to deal with important matters.
Due to frequent lack of sleep, he couldn't help but fall asleep in a chair. He had some strange dreams, all related to military pay. Later, he dreamed that thousands of officers and soldiers were surrounding Yang Sichang's camp, clamoring for pay. He saw Yang Sichang hurriedly walked out and comforted him in every possible way. The noise from the officers and soldiers became even fiercer, and it was about to cause a disaster. Suddenly Yang Sichang rushed into the palace, kowtowed to him in front of him, and begged to raise military pay quickly. The noise seemed to have rushed into the imperial city and was approaching. Outside the Forbidden City, he woke up with a start and broke out in a cold sweat. He looked at the sun through the window, but at the end of Shen Dynasty, he felt that the day was so long, and this day was actually very long!
One of the eunuchs at the valet brought half a basin of warm water in a silver basin and knelt in front of him. Another eunuch covered his legs with a piece of plain satin, and then rolled up his sleeves for Chongzhen. For things like this, the palace maids usually serve him. , today due to fasting and meditation, the palace maids could not come with them, so they had to be done by eunuchs. Although these eunuchs were all young people of 17 or 18 years old, with good looks, gorgeous clothes and light movements, Chongzhen still couldn't help but feel that they were clumsy. , the service was unsatisfactory. He had no choice but to lean down and wash his face, sighing softly. Whether he was sighing because the eunuchs were not serving him satisfactorily, or whether he was sighing because the state affairs were not going as planned, no one knew. When he was washing, After taking away the silver basin and the plain satin covering his legs, another young eunuch came over, knelt down in front of him, and lifted up a black lacquer tray made by the Orchard Factory during the Yongle period with mother-of-pearl and plum blossoms embedded in it. Chongzhen came from He took off the teacup from the tray, rinsed his mouth, and put it back on the tray. He turned back to the other eunuch and asked:
"Where is Wang Dehua?"
"Your Majesty, Wang Dehua just came to the guard room in front of the Wenhua Hall to wait for questioning. Because Your Majesty is in trouble, he doesn't dare to come rashly, and my servants don't dare to start the memorial either."
This mysterious cabin was only for the emperor to repair the province and could not discuss state affairs. After thinking for a while, Chongzhen decided to make an exception and leave for a while during the repair of the province. He went to the Wenhua Hall to ask Wang Dehua, and then came back to continue repairing the province. He asked the Jade Emperor's The Lord God kowtowed three times and walked out of the cabin.
As soon as Chongzhen arrived at the back hall of Wenhua, he sat down on the dragon chair and ordered a young man to call Wang Dehua to him and asked anxiously:
"After delivering the decree for the second time yesterday, has Li Guorui responded?"
Wang Dehua bowed and replied: "The emperor has begun to play, but Li Guorui has not responded yet."
"Damn it! What's going on at his house?"
"After lunch, Cao Huachun came into the palace. Knowing that the emperor was repairing the province, he did not dare to surprise him, so he left the palace again. According to Huachun's words to the slaves: Since the first edict was delivered the day before yesterday, although Li Guorui himself was waiting in the palace, He didn't dare to show his face, but he kept secretly discussing with his close followers and close family members, and he also kept sending people secretly to find several royal relatives who were in close contact with each other to pay tribute to the old and discuss ways in secret. "
"What solution should we discuss?"
"It's nothing more than asking everyone to plead with the Emperor. But it's not clear how the royal relatives and elders will go to the palace to plead. Anyway, it's just to complain to the Emperor on his behalf, and everyone also complains on their own behalf."
"Humph. Who am I complaining to? Which royal relatives have the closest ties to the Li family?"
Wang Dehua knew that the closest relationship with the Li family was the queen's father, Zhou Kui, but he would never tell him. He was not afraid of the queen, who had never been involved in government affairs, nor was he afraid of how Zhou Kui would retaliate against him in the future, but he was afraid The emperor himself changed his mind. If he stood wholeheartedly on the emperor's side on this important matter, if the emperor changed his mind and regretted it in the future, he would be in trouble. So he replied in a general way:
"Li Guorui is the great-nephew of Empress Jiulian. The hereditary marquis has the deepest foundation and the highest title among the Qi Wans today. All royal relatives have close contacts with the Li family, not just one family or two."
Chongzhen asked again: "Do the people in the capital know about this?"
"Your Majesty, there is no airtight wall in the world. The people in the capital have already spread the word."
"What do the subjects say?"
"According to what Cao Huachun told the slave, the people who investigated the matter in Dongchang and Jinyiwei Yamen heard that the people all over the city were talking about it, praising His Majesty for his wisdom and holiness. This was an extremely good thing. Everyone said that the country has been in difficulty in recent years.
, the subjects tried their best to provide food and pay, and relieved the emperor of a lot of worries. They, the relatives of the emperor who are deeply favored by the country, should have repaid the favor long ago. Now the emperor is wise and decisive, asking them to contribute some money to the country, which is reasonable and very satisfying. "
"What else is there to discuss?"
Wang Dehua knew that there were still various discussions among the imperial family, but he did not dare to let Chongzhen know about it, and replied that there were no other discussions. Chongzhen asked him to withdraw, and ordered an eunuch to go to the cabinet to call Xue Guoguan. The cabinet is on the left side of the Meridian Gate.
The Wenhua Hall is not far to the south. So Xue Guoguan was quickly called. Chongzhen looked at the chief minister who was kneeling on the ground and asked:
"Yesterday, I gave Li Guorui two strict orders to pay for the country and set an example for his subjects. It seems that Li Guorui intends to rely on favor and resist, which is against my will. According to Mr., what will be done in the next step? There are some among the gentry in the court.
What do you think?"
In this case, Xue Guoguan was on the side of the Jin gentry in the court. In the past two or three days, he had come into contact with many colleagues in the court. Whether they were from the south or the north, although their interests and interests were usually different, their opinions were very deep. Only in this case
They all sympathized with the emperor's difficulties and agreed to attack Qi Wan. They hoped that the emperor could raise millions of silver from Qi Wan and his ministers to pay for the army, so that the army to suppress thieves could proceed smoothly without asking them for money anymore;
If the emperor's relatives and ministers resisted vigorously and the emperor's move failed, the emperor would not be able to rely on them for help. Naturally, Xue Guoguan was unwilling to express the thoughts of the Jin gentry to Chongzhen, and raised his head and said:
"All the gentry in the court know that the current treasury is in ruins, and the emperor's move is out of necessity. However, it is not convenient for foreign ministers to talk about Qi Wan, so they avoid talking about it in the court. In my opinion, this shot must be fired, and the next step is to
Chess is easy to move. I hope your Majesty will act decisively and don't need to ask your ministers too much."
Chongzhen nodded, asked two other things, and asked Xue Guoguan to leave. Now that he knew that the people in the capital heartily supported him and praised his wisdom, he became more determined: If Li Guorui dared to resist, he would be punished.
Severe punishment. He was worried that some of the more respectable royal relatives would come out to intercede for the Li family and sabotage his plan to donate money. The more he thought about it, the more uneasy he became, and he was not in the mood to go back to the wooden house to continue sitting alone and repairing, so he became depressed.
He walked out of Wenhua Gate, swung his robe sleeves, and took the chariot back to Qianqing Palace.
He had just changed his clothes and was sitting in front of the imperial desk in the East Nuan Pavilion of the Qianqing Palace. Wang Dehua brought a memorial from Li Guorui and a stack of other documents to him. He originally thought that after the second edict, Li Guorui secretly had
However, he could not help but feel frightened and apologized. As long as Li Guorui apologized and was willing to spend one hundred thousand taels of silver as an initiative, he would not only stop looking into it, but also planned to send an edict to commend him. Unexpectedly, Li Guorui was there.
The secret book not only complained about him, but also brought it up to the Empress Dowager Xiaoding to confront him, asking him to relax the time limit for Xiaoding's sake so that he could borrow 30,000 taels of silver from various relatives to serve the country. Chongzhen finished reading this letter
Secretly, he asked Wang Dehua:
"Is this just here?"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Did you read it?"
"My slave has seen it."
Chongzhen stamped his foot: "Hmph, thirty thousand taels, he can actually talk about it!"
"Yes, luckily he can say it."
"I want to see if he can twist his arm over his thigh!"
This unpleasant incident made Chongzhen unable to even eat the dinner. The good thing was that because of his fasting and practice, there were only a dozen or so vegetarian dishes for the dinner today. He did not have to play music as usual during the meal, and his ears were very quiet. He also
I could barely eat a little. Just after dinner, the eunuch in attendance reported that Xin Yuehou Liu Wenbing and several royal relatives had come to the palace to ask for an audience. They were now waiting for orders at Donghua Gate. Chongzhen thought that they must have come to plead for Li Guorui.
asked:
"Which other royal relatives are coming with you?"
"There are also the consort Gong Yonggu, the commander-in-chief, the old emperor Zhang Guoji, and the old consort Ran Xingrang."
Chongzhen thought, but Zhou Kui, the queen's father, knew what was going on and didn't go into the palace with them. He originally didn't plan to see them, but he thought that Zhang Guoji and Ran Xingrang were both senior royal relatives and rarely entered the palace, so he might as well listen.
They said something. Then he pondered for a moment and then ordered:
"Tell them to wait at Wenhua Hall!"
The incident of Marquis Wu Qing greatly shocked Qi Wan in the capital. They were panicked and indignant. The families of meritorious officials with titles, the so-called "Xunjiu", were also afraid. They understood that the emperor first asked Qi Wan for help, and then asked Qi Wan for help.
In one step, it was their turn. Furthermore, Qi Wan and Xun Jiu were related, and the family was in trouble, and all parties were involved. Therefore, the princes, marquises, and princes in the capital all expressed sympathy for Qi Wan, secretly supported him, and hoped that Wu
The Qing Hou Mansion used various methods to fight to the end. After intense secret discussions and several secret discussions, the royal relatives recommended four people to the palace to intercede on behalf of the Li family. The tallest among them was the son-in-law of Emperor Wanli, the consort.
Captain Ran Xingrang is over sixty years old, with beard and hair as silver as silver. The next older one is Queen Yi'an, Queen Zhang of Tianqi, Chongzhen's sister-in-law. Her father, Taikang Bo Zhang Guoji, has always been
He was cautious, did not ask about foreign affairs, and did not dare to make too many friends. This time, because of the sadness of the rabbit's death and the pleading of Li Guorui's family, and Zhou Kui's efforts to encourage him, he had to go against his past habits and bite the bullet and enter the palace.
Everyone knew that Chongzhen had a bad temper and was very suspicious, so when the four of them were waiting in the Wenhua Hall, they were anxious and nervous.
Chongzhen came to the Wenhua Back Hall and sat on the throne. The four royal relatives first knelt on the Yong Road of Wenhua Gate to pick him up, and then came to the Wenhua Back Hall and knelt down and kowtowed three times to the emperor. Chongzhen
He sat down and asked them with a straight face why they were entering the palace. Before they entered the palace, they expected that the old consort Ran Xing would speak first. When he saw the emperor's serious expression, he did not dare to say anything for the time being. Xin Lehou Liu Wenbing was Chongzhen's maternal uncle.
Brother, he was originally a person who dared to speak, but his deceased sister was Li Guorui's daughter-in-law. Because of this kind of relationship, it was inconvenient to speak first. Gong Yonggu, the Prince-in-law, was Chongzhen's brother-in-law, and he was the youngest among these people.
, only twenty-five years old, with a relatively forthright nature, and was usually very favored by Chongzhen. Seeing everyone looking at each other and not daring to speak, he couldn't help but stand up and play:
"I have come to the palace for no other reason. I beg your Majesty, out of consideration for the Empress Dowager Xiaoding, to treat Li Guorui..."
Chongzhen cut him off and said: "I have my own opinion on Li Guorui's matter, so you don't need to say more." Registered members of Piaotian Literature recommend this work.