Ming Dynasty: A mere unruly commoner is rebelling against the heaven?

Chapter 121 The mystery of Zhu Youtang’s life experience!

At this point, the poisoning case of the previous emperor, which had shrouded the capital for nearly two months, was finally solved.

In this way, all logic is closed.

The cabinet alone is a group of officials from the outer court. Zhu Jianshen has not attended court for many years since the case of the evil Li Zilong.

The civil servants in the cabinet had no idea of ​​Zhu Jianshen's whereabouts.

But when the Empress Dowager and the Queen are added to the harem, the situation is different.

They were the people closest to Zhu Jianshen and knew Zhu Jianshen's whereabouts very well.

More importantly, seven months before Zhu Jianshen's death, Concubine Wan, who had always been inseparable from Zhu Jianshen, had passed away.

Without Concubine Wan to suppress the concubines in the harem, Empress Dowager Zhou and Queen Wang acted even more unscrupulously.

Both the cabinet and the harem knew that to get rid of Zhu Jianshen, one had to get rid of Concubine Wan first.

Zhu Jianshen, who lost the protection of Concubine Wan, died seven months later, and everything seemed to be a natural outcome.

The history books can also find a vague and beautiful excuse for the poisoning of the former emperor.

The late emperor missed the imperial concubine so much that he became sick and passed away with her.

This reason sounds much better than the one that the late emperor was poisoned by a joint force of the cabinet and the harem.

After reading the secret memorial, Zhu Youtang still had doubts in his mind.

So what kind of person is Concubine Wan?

Why is the record in history books so different from the Concubine Wan described by Empress Dowager Zhou and the Concubine Wan mentioned in the secret report of the Eastern Depot?

According to historical books and Empress Dowager Zhou, Concubine Wan was arbitrary, arrogant, cruel and jealous, and she was ruthless to Zhu Youtang's concubines and princes.

But in the secret reports from the East Factory, Concubine Wan always stood behind Zhu Jianshen and protected him with all her heart?
So what kind of Concubine Wan is the real one?
Zhu Youtang closed the secret letter and threw it into the stove beside him, burning it clean.

Then he shouted, "Call Wang Zhi over!"

Fu Dahai, who was waiting outside the door, heard the order and immediately told the eunuch from the Imperial Household Department to go to the Western Factory to summon Wang Zhi.

Ever since Huai'en, the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department, was imprisoned by Zhu Youtang, Fu Dahai, who served in the imperial court, took over some of the work of the Imperial Household Department.

Matters like summoning people are now handled by Fu Dahai.

Soon, Wang Zhi, covered in frost and snow, strode into the Hongde Hall.

"Your humble servant Wang Zhi pays respect to Your Majesty."

"No need to be polite."

Wang Zhi was about to kneel down to pay his respects, but Zhu Youtang exempted him from the customary ceremony.

Zhu Youtang went straight to the point and asked directly, "How is the West Factory investigating the incident?"

Wang Zhi bowed his head and saluted: "Your Majesty, I have already found some clues."

"What did you find out? Tell me!"

Wang Zhi frowned, took a deep breath, and then spoke slowly.

"Since receiving the order last time, the West Factory has followed your majesty's order and started investigating from the 11th year of Chenghua."

"During the survey in the eleventh year of Chenghua, the West Factory discovered a strange phenomenon."

"Although the late emperor had many offspring, all of his princes were born or discovered after the eleventh year of Chenghua."

"Before the eleventh year of Chenghua, two of the late emperor's three princes died suddenly, and one disappeared..."

Zhu Youtang knew that the only "missing" prince was himself.

As Wang Zhi said, the number of adult princes Zhu Jianshen had was actually second only to Zhu Yuanzhang in the entire Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Jianshen had a total of eleven princes who lived to adulthood, which was extremely rare in the entire Ming Dynasty.

Before Zhu Jianshen, Zhu Di had three princes who lived to adulthood, and Zhu Gaochi had nine.

Zhu Zhanji had only two princes, Zhu Qizhen and Zhu Qiyu, while Zhu Qizhen had eight princes who lived to adulthood.

After Zhu Jianshen, Zhu Youtang had only one prince, Zhu Houzhao, and Zhu Houzhao did not have any prince at all.

Zhu Houcong and Zhu Zaigui had only two princes who survived to adulthood.

Zhu Yijun had five princes who lived to adulthood, while Zhu Changluo had only two princes who lived to adulthood.

By the time of Zhu Youxiao, three princes and two princesses had all died, leaving the family line extinct, so he had to pass the throne to his younger brother Zhu Youjian.

From this point of view, the emperors of the Ming Dynasty after Zhu Jianshen were like their ancestors were buried in the wrong place. The princes were born one after another and died one after another. After that, even the throne was transferred twice.

The emperor of a country could not have children, and even if he did, the children would die young.

How strange! How strange!

The emperors after Zhu Jianshen had very few offspring.

However, the emperors before Zhu Jianshen had quite a few offspring.

The two are in stark contrast.

Zhu Youtang looked at Wang Zhi quietly with an expressionless face, motioning him to continue.

Wang Zhi continued speaking only after seeing that Zhu Youtang did not make any other moves.

"According to your majesty, after your majesty was born, you were secretly raised in An Le Hall by Empress Wu and eunuch Zhang Min Huai En."

"But there is obviously a serious problem. In this harem, there are a large number of people and the flow of people is close."

"A deposed queen and two eunuchs are not capable of hiding a prince in the harem for six years."

Zhu Youtang's breathing became rapid, as if something he had deliberately ignored was about to come out.

"So, who can do it?"

Wang Zhi looked at Zhu Youtang and said in a low voice: "The Empress Dowager and the Queen can do it if they work together." Zhu Youtang widened his eyes, took a deep breath, and felt a chill running from the top of his head to the soles of his feet.

"You mean... I was hidden by Zhou and Wang?"

"Did they both know of my existence from the very beginning?"

Wang Zhi saw Zhu Youtang's excited expression, and he knelt down immediately, saluted and said: "This humble official only has some guesses, and there is no sufficient evidence to prove it..."

Zhu Youtang slammed the table and said sternly: "Stand up, no need to kneel!"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Wang Zhi quickly stood up again, but bent his waist even lower.

"Then what about my Holy Mother Empress Dowager Ji? They were able to hide me, so they must have hidden my mother, Queen Mother Ji..."

Wang Zhi glanced at Zhu Youtang quickly with a complicated tone, then quickly lowered his head and his voice became exceptionally soft.

"In fact, the Holy Mother Empress Dowager's surname is not Ji, but Fu. She is the daughter of Fu Bin, the deputy governor of the Central Military Governor's Office."

"The West Factory originally started investigating based on Ji's name, but found that there was nowhere to start."

“After much investigation, we found out that the identity of the Holy Mother Queen Mother had been tampered with.”

"The Holy Mother Queen Mother is not the daughter of a rebellious chieftain who was sent to the palace, but an official concubine of His Majesty."

Zhu Youtang's expression froze, and then he flew into a rage: "What did you say? The identity of the Holy Mother Empress Dowager has been tampered with?!"

"How can this be?!"

"Whether it's the records of the Jingshifang, or my birth certificate, or my accession edict, it's all recorded as Ji."

"How could it be Fu?!"

The identity of the emperor's biological mother was tampered with, which is a matter that endangers the foundation of the country.

If he is not careful, Zhu Youtang will lose the legitimacy and legality of inheriting the throne and will be branded as someone who has come to the position illegitimately.

This matter is of great importance and is of great significance!
This is much more serious than the storage change incident that occurred in the 21st year of Chenghua!
Moreover, to change a formal concubine into an ordinary palace maid, how much ability does it take to be able to do this?
The identity of an emperor's biological mother was changed from a concubine to a palace maid.

This is not only an injury to the concubines, but also an insult to the emperor!
"What on earth is going on?" Zhu Youtang slammed the dragon table angrily.

"Did the person in charge of recording when Fu entered the palace make a mistake?"

Wang Zhi shook his head: "This is absolutely impossible. The concubine of the late emperor is also the daughter of the Central Army Commander."

"It's impossible for her name to be remembered incorrectly. It can only be tampered with by someone."

"Have you checked at Fubin's house?"

"Your Majesty, I have looked for them, but Fu Bin's family had already been killed..."

Zhu Youtang placed his hands on the dragon table, forcing himself to accept this history.

Zhu Youtang took several deep breaths before asking in a hoarse voice, "Who? Who tampered with it?"

"Is it Concubine Wan, or Zhou and Wang?"

Wang Zhi did not give a direct answer, but brought up another matter.

"Based on my impression and the results of the investigation, Concubine Wan's power in the harem is not as great as Your Majesty describes."

"If Concubine Wan was really so arbitrary and tyrannical in the harem, why couldn't she even protect her own child?"

"In the first month of the second year of Chenghua, Concubine Wan gave birth to the emperor's eldest son. The late emperor was overjoyed and gave him a name and named him the crown prince."

"In the end, the crown prince died in November."

Zhu Youtang frowned: "Concubine Wan has a son? Who? Why have I never heard of it?"

"Your Majesty, Concubine Wan's son has no name."

"He is the eldest prince and the crown prince, how could he not have a name?"

"He originally had a name, but that character was destroyed."

"On the birth certificate and the clan genealogy, there is only one character, Zhu You□, and the name of the eldest son of the emperor was deliberately destroyed."

"And since then, Concubine Wang has never been able to conceive a dragon heir again."

After hearing this, Zhu Youtang felt his scalp tingling.

This so-called powerful and domineering Concubine Wan was actually a poor woman who couldn't even protect her own son.

Not only did he lose his son’s life, but he also lost his name.

Concubine Wan was favored by the late emperor, and must have received the most favors among all the concubines in the harem.

Even so, Concubine Wan was unable to conceive a dragon heir again...

Zhu Youtang could no longer think further.

He felt that he had been living in a cocoon of lies since he was born.

He no longer had any way of telling what was true and what was false.

It seems like my whole life has been planned out in advance by someone.

If he hadn't gotten help from the system, he would have been a puppet in the hands of others all his life.

Zhu Youtang looked at Wang Zhi, gritted his teeth, and squeezed out a word from between his teeth: "What about other things? Keep telling me!"

Wang Zhi bowed and raised his hand: "Your Majesty, please forgive me. This is all I have found out."

Zhu Youtang was stunned, then muttered to himself: "Huai En...Huai En must know these things!"

"Go to Anle Hall, I want to interrogate Huai En personally!"

(End of this chapter)