My father is Chongzhen? Then I have no choice but to rebel.

Chapter 120 Chongzhen: You really deserve to die!
At this moment, Zhu Cilang suddenly saw Hong Chengchou in the crowd again.

His heart moved and he suddenly thought of something.

Then, Zhu Cilang spoke again:

"Besides that, I have one more thing to say."

When the civil and military officials heard this, they immediately became alert.

Zhu Cilang said slowly:

"As you all know, the most important thing for the court right now is to resolve the Shaanxi uprising and the Jiannu uprising in Liaodong."

"So, Father has decided that no one is allowed to discuss or impeach Sun Chuanting and Hong Chengchou until these two matters are resolved."

"All food and supplies must be allocated to them first. This is the order of the Emperor. Please do not disobey."

When the civil and military officials present heard this, they looked at each other in surprise.

Throughout the two hundred years of the Ming Dynasty, there had never been an emperor who issued an order prohibiting the impeachment of someone.

This seems a bit unreasonable!

At the same time, Hong Chengchou's expression also changed slightly.

Obviously, he did not expect Zhu Cilang to give such an order.

If this is true, then he can continue to make plans in Liaodong with confidence and without worrying about being impeached.

You know, when a general is away from home, what he worries about most is being stabbed in the back by someone in the court.

But now, it seems there is no need to worry.

Because Chongzhen had killed many people in a row before and established enough prestige, even when faced with this unreasonable order, the civil and military officials in the court did not object in the end.

"The minister obeys the order!"

"The minister obeys the order!"

In this way, Zhu Cilang gave Hong Chengchou and Sun Chuanting who was far away in Shaanxi a reassurance.

That night, Hong Chengchou came to the East Palace to ask to see Zhu Cilang. He came to say goodbye.

After all, he had been in the capital for four or five days, and it was time to return to Liaodong.

It just so happened that Zhu Cilang also had something to ask Hong Chengchou, so he met with him.

After having someone bring a stool to Hong Chengchou and motioning him to sit down, Zhu Cilang said:
"Originally, I promised you three hundred flintlock rifles when you left, but production has increased recently, so I've decided to let you take five hundred back with you."

"In addition, I'll give you 500 of the newly developed telescopes."

When Hong Chengchou heard this, he quickly stood up and thanked him:

"I thank you, Your Highness the Crown Prince."

Zhu Cilang gestured for him to sit down again and then talked about another matter.

"When you leave, take another two million taels of silver with you and recruit Han people from Liaodong to replenish the ten thousand Guanning Iron Cavalry."

"As for the 10,000 Guanning Iron Cavalry I brought this time, I have decided to have them permanently stationed in the capital."

When Hong Chengchou heard this, he didn't react much.

He had already guessed this when he knew Zhu Cilang's plan for Liaodong.

He also knew that the current military strength of the Beijing Camp was simply not enough and really needed a strong force to make up for it.

The Guanning Iron Cavalry is the most suitable.

It is no exaggeration to say that the Guanning Cavalry is definitely the strongest military force in the Ming Dynasty!

"I will obey the orders of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

Hong Chengchou bowed again.

Zhu Cilang smiled and nodded, then seemed to think of something and asked:

"Oh, right, there are some things I want to ask you, but these things may involve some secrets. If you don't want to tell me, I won't make it difficult for you."

When Hong Chengchou heard this, he couldn't help feeling uneasy.

Because he knew the next question might not be easy.

But he could only bite the bullet and reply:

"Your Highness, what are you talking about? No matter what it is, I dare not hide anything!"

Zhu Cilang smiled calmly and said:

"I want to know how many troops there are in Liaodong right now?"

"To add to that, I'm asking about the military strength that can fight!"

As soon as these words came out, Hong Chengchou's eyelids twitched.

How should he answer this?
Because he reported a force of 130,000, but how many were there in reality?

The Beijing troops were collecting empty salaries, and naturally the Liaodong troops were also collecting empty salaries.

Moreover, as the commander-in-chief, he also received some unearned salary.

To tell the truth directly, that is equivalent to him admitting to embezzling military funds.

But it seems that not telling the truth is not an option!

Since the prince could ask this question, it proved that he must have the answer in his mind.

If he is not telling the truth, then isn't he deceiving the king?

After some inner struggle, Hong Chengchou finally decided to tell the truth.

The next second, he stood up and then knelt down.

"Your Highness, I dare not lie. Although I have always reported a force of 130,000, the actual number of troops in Liaodong is only about 80,000."

Eighty thousand?
Zhu Cilang was not surprised when he heard this number.

After all, the actual number of people in the Jinyiwei, Beijing Camp, and the Five Military Governor's Office is less than half, let alone Liaodong, which is thousands of miles away?
He walked over, helped Hong Chengchou up, and then comforted him:

"Relax, I'm not blaming you. After all, this practice of drawing salary without working has been going on for a long time, and you've only just arrived in Liaodong. This isn't your fault."

Hong Chengchou finally breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this.

Zhu Cilang continued:
"Please don't make this matter public for now. Just pretend we didn't say anything."

"After all, the war in Liaodong is tense right now, and we can't let this matter affect us!"

"But when you return to Liaodong this time, you must use these two million taels of silver to recruit local Han people into the army."

"Don't let the soldiers get involved with this money. You are fully responsible."

"I don't trust them, but I trust you."

As soon as these words came out, Hong Chengchou was moved again.

Although doing so would offend those generals, it was nothing compared to the Crown Prince's trust.

Anyway, he will eventually return to the core of the court.

Thinking of this, Hong Chengchou hurriedly bowed and said to Zhu Cilang:

"Please rest assured, Your Highness. I guarantee that every penny of these two million silver coins will be spent on military expenses, and no one else will be allowed to touch them."

Zhu Cilang smiled and nodded.

Then, the two chatted for a few more words, and Hong Chengchou said goodbye.

The next morning, Zhu Cilang did not go to court because he decided to see Hong Chengchou off in person.

Whether it was out of the intention to win over others or just for show, he felt that he needed to do so!

The purpose of all this is just to hope that everything goes well in Liaodong.

Not long after, a team composed of Jinyiwei and Beijing Camp slowly walked out of the city gate, led by Hong Chengchou.

Since the Guanning Iron Cavalry had to stay in the capital, Zhu Cilang sent the Jinyiwei and the Beijing Camp to escort Hong Chengchou to Liaodong, and this team would also return to the capital with the Duke of Ying.

As soon as they saw Zhu Cilang standing at the city gate, Hong Chengchou and the accompanying soldiers dismounted, saluted and said:
"Your Highness, why did you come here in person?"

Zhu Cilang responded with a smile:
"I would be worried if I didn't see you off in person. The journey is long, so you must be extra careful!"

After hearing this, Hong Chengchou felt deeply moved.

Regardless of whether Zhu Cilang was acting at this moment, he did come here to see him off for the last time. This friendship was what Chongzhen had never given him.

Then, Zhu Cilang took a bowl of wine from Ma Bao behind him and handed it to Hong Chengchou.
"Drink this cup to the full, and then we will set off."

Hong Chengchou carefully took the wine bowl and drank it all in one gulp.

The next second, he solemnly promised:

"Don't worry, Your Highness, I will definitely live up to your trust!"

After another salute, Hong Chengchou immediately mounted his horse and led his troops towards Liaodong.

Watching Hong Chengchou leave, Zhu Cilang curled up his lips into a smile.

At the same time, the East Palace.

Qiqige was invited to the backyard early in the morning by the palace maid sent by Zheng Xiaomei.

At this moment, the two were sitting at the table, and on the table in front of them were refreshments carefully prepared by Zheng Xiaomei.

Qiqige didn't want to come at first, but considering that Zheng Xiaomei was already the mistress of the East Palace, she finally decided to come over.

The two of them drank tea and ate snacks while chatting about their respective customs and cultures.

Of course, they actually had nothing to talk about. After all, one of them came from the prairie and the other from the water town of Jiangnan. Their living environments were completely different. What was there to talk about?

After a moment, Qiqige finally couldn't help but speak.

"Princess, if you have anything to say, just say it directly! No need to beat around the bush! I really feel uncomfortable with you like this."

When Zheng Xiaomei heard this, her fox eyes curved up with laughter and she said:
"You misunderstood. I just invited you here for tea and food today. Other than that, I have no other intentions."

Qiqige obviously didn't believe it, she said bluntly:
"I know that the reason you asked me to come here today is probably to ask about the matter between me and the Crown Prince of Daming, right?"

"But I can tell you clearly that I have no interest in your prince, and he probably has no interest in me either."

"I came to Ming Dynasty as a hostage only for my country and my brother, so you don't have to worry that I will steal your crown prince."

After hearing this, Zheng Xiaomei still smiled and shook her head:

"You really misunderstood me. As early as when I knew I was going to marry the prince, I was already prepared for him to fall in love with someone else."

"After all, he is the crown prince, the future emperor of the Ming Dynasty. It is impossible for him to have only me as his woman."

"So, I also hope that you can adapt to this as soon as possible."

Although Zheng Xiaomei was a little jealous when she first met Qiqige, she soon stopped caring.

Just as she said just now, her husband is the future emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and it is impossible for him to be the only woman.

As long as she understands this, her life will be much better in the future.

Qiqige was somewhat helpless, because she could hear that even after she said so much, the prince's concubine still thought that she was interested in Zhu Cilang.

This is really unfair to her.

Because she really had no interest in the Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty.

At least as far as the current situation is concerned, this is indeed the case!

As for the future
Let’s talk about it later! Qiqige didn’t want to discuss this topic anymore, so she changed the subject and said:
"By the way, you are now considered the mistress of the East Palace. Do you know what is going on in the East Palace's back warehouse?"

Zheng Xiaomei was stunned when she heard this, and seemed to not understand what Qiqige meant.

Qiqige continued:
"I've been in the East Palace for several days now. I can go almost anywhere, but there are only two places I can't go."

"One is some kind of Firearms Research Institute. It seems to be a place that specializes in the study of firearms."

"The other one is the back warehouse of the East Palace."

"But don't get me wrong, I'm not interested in the treasures in your back warehouse. I'm just simply curious."

"Because I noticed something very strange. Every morning, a group of people would come to the back warehouse to move things. And they would move out a lot of things. It was as if the back warehouse of the East Palace was a bottomless pit."

"But I've never seen anyone carry anything in there. Don't you think that's strange?"

When Zheng Xiaomei heard this, she was confused.

Because she had just arrived at the Eastern Palace not long ago, she had not noticed these things yet.

She could only say:
"Maybe you didn't see them when they were carrying things in?"

In Zheng Xiaomei's opinion, how could there be endless warehouses to move in this world?

It is very likely that someone moved something into the back warehouse when Qiqige was not paying attention.

But if you think about it carefully, this seems a bit wrong?
How is it possible that someone moves things out from the East Palace’s back warehouse every day?

Just when Zheng Xiaomei was confused, Qiqige spoke again.

"Anyway, I'm just curious. Believe it or not, it's up to you. It's not my backyard anyway."

It must be said that Qiqige's words gave Zheng Xiaomei a sense of satisfaction.

After all, Qiqige was just a hostage and could not enter the back warehouse of the East Palace.

And now she is considered the mistress of the East Palace and is qualified to enter the back warehouse.

However, Qiqige's words also made her curious about the back warehouse of the Eastern Palace. Is there really any secret hidden in it?

Looks like I need to find some time to go see it myself.
On the other hand, after seeing off Hong Chengchou, Zhu Cilang did not return to the Eastern Palace immediately, but went directly to the newly built Firearms Research Institute.

Of course, the so-called "new construction" is actually a renovation and expansion based on the original Chengguo Mansion.

When Zhu Cilang asked Li Ruolian to find a suitable location to establish a firearms research institute, Li Ruolian took a fancy to the Chengguo Mansion, which had just been confiscated and the family exterminated.

When Zhu Cilang learned about it, he agreed without much thought.

In his opinion, since the Chengguo Mansion was ownerless, transforming it into a firearms research institute could be regarded as the last contribution made by the Chengguo lineage to the Ming Dynasty.

In this way, on the basis of the original Chengguo Mansion, it was expanded to the surrounding areas and houses of the surrounding people were purchased, which led to the current Firearms Research Institute!
Because the Firearms Research Institute is only responsible for research and not production, there will basically be no explosion accidents, so there is no need to build it outside the city.

And for security reasons, Zhu Cilang not only ordered the Jinyiwei to guard the place 24 hours a day, but also had 3,000 men from the Tengxiang Youwei stationed nearby to guard the safety of the Firearms Research Institute at all times.

At noon, the relocation of the Firearms Research Institute officially began.

Since the original scale of the East Palace was not large, it took only two or three hours and a few hundred people to complete the relocation.

Everyone, including Bi Maokang, was very satisfied with the new working environment.

After all, when they were in the Eastern Palace, they were always cautious about everything they did, fearing that an accident might happen and hurt the prince.

And now, they are finally free to do their work.

Time flies and soon night falls.

Zhu Cilang was about to rest after having dinner with Zheng Xiaomei when the Jinyiwei suddenly came to report that Gao Qiquan had been captured and brought back to the capital.

High diving?
Hearing this name, Zhu Cilang was stunned for a while before he remembered who this guy was.

He was the damn eunuch who did not save Lu Xiangsheng and falsely accused him of surrendering to the Qing army!
At that time, Chongzhen also asked him to capture Gao Qiquan and deal with him personally.

But Zhu Cilang didn't expect that he would be caught so soon.

"Where is he now?"

Zhu Cixiang asked.

"He is currently imprisoned in the Jinyiwei prison, awaiting the Crown Prince's orders at any time."

The visitor replied respectfully.

Zhu Cilang thought about it and finally decided to go to Chongzhen to communicate and see how Chongzhen wanted to deal with Gao Qiquan.

Zhu Cilang always felt that Chongzhen must want to do something to Gao Qiquan.

After all, if you really just want him to die, there would be no need to go through so much trouble!
So Zhu Cilang went to Kunning Palace overnight and found Chongzhen.

Chongzhen lived a very comfortable life during this period. When he had nothing to do every day, he would drink tea, walk his birds, read newspapers, etc.

In the evening, I discussed with several concubines the various ways of writing "Kun", and even had the idea of taking a few more concubines.

After all, there is nothing to do every day, so I can only create as many brothers and sisters as possible for Zhu Cilang!

This can be considered as his revenge on Zhu Cilang!

For example, at this moment, he was about to discuss with Queen Zhou another way of writing the word "Kun", but was interrupted by this rebellious son.

"It's so late, what's wrong?"

Chongzhen asked with some displeasure, wearing a coat.

Zhu Cilang seemed to have noticed something and felt a little embarrassed for a moment.

But he still said:

"Father, Gao Qiqian has been captured."

what?
Hearing this, Chongzhen's eyes narrowed suddenly and became serious in an instant.

"where is he?"

Chongzhen asked again, but his tone suddenly became extremely cold.

"My father had previously said that he would personally deal with him, so the Imperial Guards simply captured him and now he is imprisoned in their prison."

Zhu Cilang replied.

When Chongzhen heard this, he sneered:

"Okay, okay! I want to go see him in person."

As he spoke, Chongzhen seemed to have thought of something, then looked at Zhu Cilang and asked:

"May I?"

It is obvious that Chongzhen has not forgotten that he no longer has the final say in the world.

Zhu Cilang smiled slightly and said:

"Of course, I will go with you, Father!"

Immediately, Chongzhen dressed neatly and left the palace with Zhu Cilang and went straight to the imperial prison.

At the same time, the Jinyiwei also received the news that Luo Yangxing, Li Ruolian and others had already made preparations.

Moreover, they already roughly knew why Chongzhen came to see Gao Qiquan in person, so they were full of sympathy for this guy.

It goes without saying that this guy's end must be very miserable.

However, at this moment Gao Qiquan had not yet realized the seriousness of the matter.

Because when the Jinyiwei brought him back, they only said that Chongzhen wanted to see him, but did not say why he wanted to see him. He was even polite all the way.

This has caused Gao Qiquan to be somewhat confused now.

Logically speaking, shouldn't I go to see Chongzhen right after I got back? Why did he lock me up in the imperial prison for no reason?
So, he shouted directly at Luo Yangxing:
"Lord Luo, what is going on? Why are you imprisoning my family in the imperial prison?"

When Luo Yangxing heard this, he said with a forced smile:

"Eunuch Gao, I don't know what's going on. I'm just following the Crown Prince's orders."

Prince?
Gao Qiquan was even more confused when he heard this.

"What does this have to do with the prince?"

He wanted to ask again what was going on, but Luo Yangxing no longer paid any attention to him.

The other Jinyiwei acted the same way, as if he were some annoying person.

For a moment, Gao Qiqian felt that something was not right.
At this moment, there was suddenly a commotion at the gate of the imperial prison not far away.

The next second, loud shouts rang out from outside:
"See you, Your Majesty! Long live Your Majesty! Long live Your Majesty!"

"Greetings to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince! May His Royal Highness live a thousand years, a thousand thousand years!"

Just when Gao Qiquan was wondering why the emperor and the prince came to the imperial prison at the same time, two familiar figures appeared in front of him.

They were Chongzhen and Zhu Cilang.

No need to tell them, the Embroidered Uniform Guards had prepared chairs for Chongzhen and Zhu Cilang.

Seeing Chongzhen and Zhu Cilang coming in person, Gao Qiqian's heart trembled, but he immediately reacted and knelt down across the prison door, shouting:

"Your servant Gao Qiqian pays homage to the Emperor and the Crown Prince."

When Chongzhen heard this, he sneered and asked:

"Gao Qiqian, do you admit your guilt?"

Gao Qiqian looked up in bewilderment and said hurriedly:
"Your Majesty, I don't understand what you are saying. What crime have I committed?"

Seeing this, Chongzhen was too lazy to talk nonsense anymore. He said coldly:

"You're still being stubborn even at this point? Then let me ask you, why did you let Lu Xiangsheng die?"

"Even after Lu Xiangsheng died, you still wanted to slander him."

As soon as these words came out, Gao Qiquan's face turned pale.

He never imagined that the Chongzhen in front of him was here to settle old scores with him.

He didn't know what had happened in the court recently, nor did he know that Lu Xiangsheng had been demoted to an ordinary person and even posthumously conferred the title of marquis.

Therefore, I can only bite the bullet and say:
"In reply to your Majesty, I have neither lied nor deceived you."

"I really didn't know that Lu Xiangsheng was surrounded by the Jiannu at that time. Moreover, Lu Xiangsheng was killed after surrendering to the Jianlu."

When Chongzhen heard this, he was completely furious!

"You bastard! How dare you lie to me!"

The next second, Chongzhen picked up the teacup beside him and smashed it directly at Gao Qiquan in the prison.

The blow hit Gao Qiquan's head directly, smashing it into pieces and causing blood to flow out instantly.

Chongzhen continued to scold:
"You bastard, do you really think I don't know what you and Yang Sichang did in Shaanxi and Henan?"

"Aren't you just worried that Lu Xiangsheng's contribution will be greater than yours, so you didn't help him?"

"What on earth were you damned guys thinking? I trusted you and gave you the power, but what did you do?"

"It would be fine if you didn't serve your country, but instead you killed my loyal ministers and generals, making me bear the eternal infamy of framing loyal and good people. You truly deserve to die!"

When Gao Qiquan heard this, he was so scared that he almost wet his pants and didn't even bother to wipe the blood off his forehead.

Although it is unknown how Chongzhen knew all this, it now seems that if he does not tell the truth, he will probably die here.

(End of this chapter)