Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

"Because of what?"

"Don't you, Zhu Huakui, know this yourself?"

Wang Wen Zheng asked Zhu Huakui to think about the reason.

As for the real reason, Wang Wenzhen guessed it a little, but he didn't dare to say it out.

When Emperor Tianqi passed away more than two years ago, Wei Zhongxian told him that two people in the harem were pregnant and would give birth to boys who could inherit the throne as the queen's sons.

Empress Zhang firmly refused this and Wei Zhongxian's conspiracy failed.

Later, when Wang Wenzheng interrogated Keshi, he found eight pregnant palace maids. This matter was kept as a palace secret and the emperor strictly prohibited it from being spread outside.

Afterwards, he guessed that the eight pregnant palace maids were the posthumous children prepared by Wei Zhongxian and Keshi for Emperor Tianqi. The reason why he mentioned two in front of Emperor Tianqi was because he was worried that mentioning more would make him seem unreliable.

As for why no one is mentioned, it is probably the lesson from the case of the fake King of Chu.

In today's world where infant mortality is very high, if only a palace maid gave birth to a posthumous child, even if the court officials had no doubts, they would not dare to make such a posthumous child the emperor.

Because such a child may die at any time, anyone who advocates establishing a posthumous child will be hated by the new emperor.

So to be safe, it is best to prepare two people.

This was the case with the brothers Zhu Huakui and Zhu Huabi. As posthumous twin children born to the palace maid Hu, they ensured that Zhu Huakui would be made the crown prince and inherit the throne of King of Chu.

However, because the brothers Zhu Huakui and Zhu Huabi looked so different, the Chu clan had been questioning them.

In addition, Zhu Huakui's appearance was similar to that of Zhu Huaqian's wife, who were sisters. After Zhu Huaqian learned about this, he asked his clan members to swear an oath of blood and jointly report the case, which led to the outbreak of the case of the false King of Chu.

Wei Zhongxian and Keshi obviously knew about the case, so they did not dare to prepare for only one palace maid to give birth to twins, for fear that they would not look alike in the future and arouse suspicion.

When reporting to Emperor Tianqi, he could only take the risk of saying that two palace maids were pregnant. As a result, the dying Emperor Tianqi did not believe his suggestion and ignored it.

Wang Wenzheng privately speculated that the emperor was very sensitive about the fake Chu King case because of this incident. On the one hand, he did not completely identify Zhu Huakui as a fake to avoid people imitating him after the news spread. On the other hand, he wanted to punish Zhu Huakui and prevent Zhu Huakui, who was most likely a fake, from usurping the throne.

Zhu Huakui didn't know the inside story and only thought that the emperor wanted money. He underestimated the emperor and didn't know the secrets of the palace.

However, Wang Wenzheng would never tell the reason. As the confidant brought out from the current emperor's residence, the most important thing for him was to keep the secret.

Under his questioning, Zhu Huakui really began to search for the reason. He collapsed on the ground and said:

"Could it be... Could it be that the Emperor has found out?"

"Are you going to label me a fake?"

Obviously, he himself had something to hide, otherwise he would not have arrested Zhu Huaqian so quickly and attempted to kill him to silence him after learning that he was about to report the crime.

After Zhu Huaqian escaped, he thought that something was wrong, so he took the initiative to submit a petition to the court to punish the "extremely evil and brutal clan member", which turned into a political struggle and ultimately saved his throne.

At this time, the current emperor was determined to punish him, and he immediately thought that the current emperor had found out everything. Even if there was no evidence to convict him, he would not let him be the King of Chu.

This made him cry loudly in prison:
"I am the descendant of the previous king!"

"Why doesn't the emperor believe it?"

He still insisted that he was the son of the former King of Chu and refused to admit that he was an imposter.

Wang Wenzheng saw that he was still stubborn, so he shook his head and said to him:
"Since you insist on doing this, I will go back and report."

"If anyone comes here in the future, or if anyone is sent here, you'd better take care of yourself!"

He shook his head, turned around, and was about to leave the imperial prison.

This made Zhu Huakui panic, and he asked Wang Wenzheng:

"The account book of the Prince of Chu's palace, doesn't the eunuch want it anymore?"

This is his greatest confidence and the reason why Wang Wenzhen met him several times.

However, at this time, Wang Wenzheng said to him:
"Your Majesty has decided to have the Chu clan and the royal family search the Chu Palace together. All the wealth will be sold to purchase weapons and distributed to the Chu clan and the royal family to establish their own fiefdoms."

"It would be nice to have the account book you hid, but it's no big deal if you don't have it."

"I believe that the royal family of the Chu vassal state will thoroughly investigate the property of the Prince of Chu's Palace and will not let the people who are confiscating the property hide." This was what the emperor said at the royal family gathering. The people who were going to confiscate the Prince of Chu's Palace had already set out and were responsible for this matter together with the royal family of the Chu vassal state.

After hearing this, Zhu Huakui immediately realized that the emperor had lost his patience after he had dragged on for so long. He did not want his account books, but went to search the Chu Palace.

If the search was really completed, it would not make much sense for him to hand over the account books.

Today is his last chance. The next time may be the one who orders him to die.

His only way to survive now is to voluntarily hand over the account books and fully cooperate with the emperor.

Wang Wenzheng pretended to leave, but he actually did not leave. He knew that the emperor did not attach much importance to the account books, but he also felt that it would be better to have them, so that he could dig out all the assets of the Chu clan.

As the seal holder of the Metropolitan Supervisor, he could accomplish great things by taking the account books to supervise the inspectors.

So deep down, he still hoped that Zhu Huakui would hand over the account book, as this was a ready-made opportunity for him to make a contribution.

Seeing Zhu Huakui's distraught look, Wang Wenzheng said:
"Now I have made it clear."

"It doesn't really matter whether you donate your account books or not."

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"But for our family, it is an achievement after all."

"If you want to donate, do it as soon as possible. If you miss this time, we won't bother to care about you."

As they were about to set off, Zhu Huakui hurriedly shouted:
"Eunuch Wang, please stay!"

"I will! I will definitely!"

"I just beg you, eunuch, to give me a firm answer and help me keep my throne."

After hearing this, Wang Wenzhen walked away, not wanting to listen any further.

Now that the fight for the title among the Chu vassal states has been determined, it is simply a pipe dream for Zhu Huakui to keep the throne.

Wang Wenzhen doesn't have the ability to make the emperor take back his order.

Seeing his attitude, Zhu Huakui knew that he could no longer be the King of Chu, so he shouted again:
"Prince! Prince!"

"I only ask for the title of a county king!"

This made Wang Wenzheng say unhappily:
"Your Majesty will abolish the title of Prince of a County. From now on, all the Princes of a County of the Imperial Clan, except the Prince of Jingjiang, will be changed to Earls of a County."

"Don't mention that you are not the descendant of the previous King of Chu. Even if you have been conferred the title of a county prince, you must change it to a county earl."

This surprised Zhu Huakui again, and he didn't know why the emperor made this decision.

The more than 300 princes in the world today will obviously be dissatisfied with this.

After all, the title of Prince is much better than the so-called Earl of County.

But now is not the time to worry about it, he said:
"A county lord is also fine!"

"This king... Zhu also wants a title."

Wang Wenzheng touched his chin and said:
"You may have a title, but the Emperor has no intention of ordering your death."

"But the royal family title is not allowed. The case of the fake King of Chu must come to a conclusion."

"You need to sign the file and admit that you are not the descendant of the previous King of Chu."

"Otherwise, we will have to go to Fengyang and be behind the high walls. Or, after the new King of Chu comes out, we will send you there as a guilty member of the Chu clan."

Zhu Huakui doesn't want to choose either of these two consequences.

The high walls of Fengyang have always been a place that royal family members avoid. Being given to the new King of Chu as a guilty member of the Chu vassal state would mean a matter of life and death.

This made Zhu Huakui think about it for a long time, and he finally admitted in the case file that he had impersonated a member of the royal family without knowing it, and revealed the location where his account books were stored.

After he surrendered, Wang Wenzheng immediately went to see the emperor to report his achievement. (End of this chapter)