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

Chapter 206: Chongzhen was assassinated? The sky fell on the civil and military officials!

Because the army was too large, the 50,000 soldiers of the Beijing Camp returned directly to the camp after arriving near the capital.

Only the five Fujisho guards, the Embroidered Uniform Guards and the Jingjun troops who were originally stationed in the city followed the emperor into the capital.

When the mighty procession of the emperor came into view, several cabinet ministers headed by Xue Guoguan, along with all the civil and military officials in the court, knelt on the ground with a plop.

Then they shouted in unison:
"I congratulate Your Majesty on your victorious return. Long live Your Majesty! Live His Royal Highness the Crown Prince a thousand years, a thousand years, a thousand thousand years!"

In an instant, the shouts of the crowd gathered together like a surging wave, breaking through the sky. The scene was magnificent and exciting.

When Chongzhen, who was sitting in the dragon chariot, heard the deafening cheers, a smile of relief involuntarily appeared on his face.

When they got closer, Chongzhen was still sitting in the dragon chariot, and then he looked at everyone and said gently:
"Everyone loves you."

Then, everyone stood up.

At this moment, Zhu Cilang was not in the dragon chariot.

Instead, he rode a horse beside him.

After all, we are already in the capital, so we should pay a little attention to our image.

However, when he saw the civil and military officials in front of him, a barely perceptible smile appeared on the corner of Zhu Cilang's mouth.

Because just yesterday, he received a report from the cabinet.

The content of this memorial is exactly the same as the secret letter sent by the Embroidered Uniform Guard, both of which are about this year's summer taxes.

It is obvious that Xue Guoguan, this old fox, is still very smart.

At least as far as the current situation is concerned, the summer tax issue cannot be blamed on the cabinet.

If he guessed correctly, these guys were probably secretly happy right now?

But it doesn’t matter, because they’re about to cry!

In this way, the imperial carriage, surrounded by the crowd, marched towards the city, with a group of civil officials and military generals following closely. The whole team was majestic and powerful.

However, everyone's expressions were different at this time.

Because in the past two days, news about this year's summer taxes spread rapidly in the official circles of the capital like a raging fire.

Basically everyone knows about this year's summer taxes.

Moreover, there was no way to conceal this matter. After all, most of the officials in the Ministry of Revenue were well aware of such matters, and each of them had many colleagues and friends in the officialdom.

In addition, the Cabinet and the Ministry of Revenue had no intention of concealing the matter. Instead, they wanted as many officials as possible to pay back taxes.

So you only need to ask a little to know the details.

The vast majority of officials were keenly aware of the seriousness of the problem, so after a little thought, they hurriedly ordered their confidants or servants to return home quickly and pay the taxes owed as soon as possible.

The same is true for the nobles in the capital!
Among them, the one who was most active and enthusiastic in paying the back taxes was the British Duke!
The Duke of Ying has many properties in the capital, and similarly, he also owns a lot of land both in the south and the north.

And these lands never need to pay taxes.

After all, who would dare to collect taxes from him, the most noble man in the Ming Dynasty?

To be honest, the Duke of England was actually quite speechless. You know, just two months ago, he had just paid the commercial tax. That time alone, he lost hundreds of thousands of taels of silver!

It is estimated that a fixed commercial tax will be paid every month. Not to mention the extra amount, it will still be tens of thousands of taels!

I thought the matter was over, but I didn't expect that I would have to pay the land tax again.

And you have to pay this thing!

After all, the way those gentry ate this year was really ugly. For such a big country, the tax revenue for half a year was just so little. Isn't this rubbing the faces of the emperor and the prince on the ground?

If it were in the past, it wouldn't be a big deal if you were to cause such friction. After all, Chongzhen had no money, no soldiers, and no reputation. Maybe he would have really suffered a loss.

But it’s different now!

Now Chongzhen has money, soldiers, reputation and the support of the people. He has everything he wants.

In addition, after a great victory in Liaodong, 130,000 Jiannu soldiers were captured!

If you were to rub his face on the ground at this time, wouldn't you be courting death?

And it wasn't just one person who committed suicide.

It will bring death to everyone!
As the most noble of the Ming Dynasty, Duke Ying naturally did not want to die, especially since he knew in his heart that all this was actually caused by Zhu Cilang!

The Duke of England is really afraid of this prince!

So the Duke of England gave the order without much thought to pay off all the arrears of taxes from the first year of Chongzhen to the present, amounting to as much as 700,000 taels of silver!

Of course, according to reason, Chongzhen’s previous tax arrears should also be paid, but the time was so long that it had become a bad debt, so the Duke of England automatically ignored it.

To be honest, with such a huge expenditure, the British prince will inevitably feel a little painful.

But in order to preserve the wealth and glory passed down from generation to generation in his family, he had no choice but to give it up!

Of course, the Duke of England did not forget his old friends who he had known for many years, and he took the initiative to urge them to pay the taxes they owed over the years.

Those nobles were all sensible people. Although they were reluctant to spend the money, most of them still paid the taxes obediently.

As for those who were unwilling to pay the back taxes, the British Duke no longer paid much attention to them and let them fend for themselves.

After all, good words cannot persuade a damned ghost!

All in all, in just these two days, the back taxes paid by officials and nobles in the capital alone amounted to eight million taels of silver!
Look!

The Ming Dynasty never lacked silver, it’s just that some people didn’t want to spend it!

As long as you have a way, you can always get money from these people!

The scene returns to Chongzhen's side again.

At this moment, Chongzhen's imperial carriage was entering the capital in a majestic manner.

On both sides of the road, people were dressed in their best clothes, their faces filled with joy and reverence from the bottom of their hearts.

The sounds of cheers and joy rose one after another, and the entire capital was immersed in an atmosphere of joy, peace, happiness and enthusiasm.

The fluttering colorful flags fluttered in the breeze, adding a cheerful and warm color to this hard-won victory.

After all, this is a victory that only happens once in a century!
At the same time, Chongzhen responded to the people's call with a smile on his face.

At this moment of great festivity and celebration, a tile quietly moved from one roof not far away that looked old and had gone through the vicissitudes of time.

Immediately afterwards, a figure wrapped tightly in black clothes quietly poked his head out like a ghost.

This person was none other than Fang Zhenghua, who was responsible for the 'assassination' of Chongzhen!
At this moment, Fang Zhenghua's figure was tightly attached to the shadow of the roof, as if he had merged into one with the building.

Looking at the mighty procession and Chongzhen sitting in the dragon chariot, Fang Zhenghua couldn't help but sigh deeply.

Although he knew it was fake, he was still scared!

But it’s too late to say any more at this point!

He gritted his teeth, then quickly drew his bow and arrow, drew the bow and shot the arrow in one go.

Then he took another deep breath, his eyes instantly became firm, and then he aimed the arrow steadily at Chongzhen in the dragon chariot.

The next second, he loosened his fingers.

Whoosh!
Accompanied by a sound of breaking through the air, a feather arrow streaked across the sky like a meteor, and shot towards the dragon chariot with a sharp momentum.

In an instant, the arrow hit Chongzhen's right arm in the dragon chariot.

Immediately afterwards, Chongzhen's smiling face instantly twisted, and he couldn't help but let out a cry of pain!

"what!!!"

Although the sound was not loud and was even quickly drowned out by the surrounding noise like a surging tide, it still sounded like a powerful thunderclap that exploded in the hearts of everyone nearby.

Because the people around Chongzhen and the people on both sides of the road could see it clearly!

At this moment, an arrow hit Chongzhen's right arm, and the arrow head came out from the other side with bright red blood.

Large amounts of bright red blood quickly spread across Chongzhen's bright yellow dragon robe, which was truly shocking!

But of course, all this is just a carefully planned illusion.

In fact, Chongzhen had already worn a layer of solid armor, and even his arms were wrapped tightly.

There were several layers of thick straw wrapped around his arms.

Moreover, the arrow shot by Fang Zhenghua had the tip of the arrow ground off beforehand, so the arrow actually only pierced the straw on Chongzhen's arm.

As for the arrow on the other side of the arm, it was glued on early on, and it was made with an ingenious mechanism, which was inside Chongzhen's sleeve.

The blood was also carefully prepared early in the morning. It was a blood bag made from sheep intestines, which would burst with a little force.

In order to conceal the truth, the blood was indeed human blood, which was drawn from the bodies of several strong soldiers after being given bounties.

But this scene looked completely different to others.

Because they only saw an arrow suddenly hit Chongzhen like lightning!
Witnessing this scene, everyone present seemed to be cast under a spell. They stood still in an instant, their minds blank, and were completely at a loss!
The air around seemed to freeze at this moment, falling into a brief and suffocating silence.

And all this happened in just a moment!

The next second, someone came to his senses first, and then shouted at the top of his lungs:
"Escort! Escort! There are assassins!"

This shout was like igniting a burning powder keg, and in an instant, the entire scene fell into extreme chaos.

The surrounding Jing troops reacted quickly and rushed forward like a surging tide, surrounding the dragon chariot where Chongzhen was, and even Zhu Cilang was surrounded.

Then, long swords were drawn out in an instant and aimed at everyone around them.

"Escort!"

"Escort!"

The eyes of all the clean troops were filled with vigilance and anger. They shouted loudly, trying to disperse the chaotic crowd around them.

At the same time, the Jinyiwei accompanying the army also reacted instantly and entered a state of high alert.

Li Ruo Lian's eyes were as sharp as an eagle's. He looked around for a while, and then "suddenly" saw a black shadow flash across the roof not far away.

"The assassin is there, chase him!"

Without any hesitation, Li Ruolian leaped onto the roof and chased after him.

Some nimble Jinyiwei also followed.

As they ran quickly across the rooftops, they drew their embroidered spring swords from their waists and shouted at the assassins to stop. Meanwhile, Luo Yangxing, the commander of the Jinyiwei who was accompanying the team to welcome the emperor, was practically terrified!
He never thought that such a thing would happen at this time!
You have to know that the Jinyiwei is the emperor's personal army! Responsible for supervising everything in the capital!
As a result, just when the emperor won the battle and returned to the capital, an assassination happened?
In an instant, Luo Yangxing felt his hands and feet were cold and his whole body was sweating.

Because he knew that he was probably dead this time!

Suppressing the fear in his heart, Luo Yangxing shouted at the top of his lungs:

"Protect the emperor! Protect the emperor! Protect the emperor!"

Then he led the still confused Jinyiwei around him and rushed over quickly.
At this time, the five guards of Fujiyama who were following behind were also angered by this sudden change and became agitated.

Fuck!
The emperor had just returned from a victorious battle, and was assassinated in the street. These damn traitors really didn't care about their lives!

For a moment, the sounds of shouting, footsteps, and weapons clashing were intertwined, and the whole scene became a mess.

Some soldiers knocked over roadside stalls in their haste, and the fruits and vegetables on the stalls rolled all over the ground, making a mess.

Some soldiers drew their bows and arrows towards the roof, but due to the chaos at the scene, they did not dare to fire easily for fear of hurting others by mistake. They could only wait anxiously for the opportunity.

The civil and military officials following the emperor were also completely stunned.

Xue Guoguan was originally immersed in the joy of victory with a smile on his face.

But when he heard the shouts of "Protect the emperor! Protect the emperor! There's an assassin!" from the front, his face instantly turned as pale as paper!

His originally straight back bent instantly, his legs went limp, and he almost fainted.

Fortunately, several other cabinet ministers around him reached out to support him, so he did not fall to the ground.

But at this moment, the latest civil and military officials also heard the shouts coming from over there and saw the chaotic scene.

All the Jinyiwei and soldiers began to rush towards the dragon chariot, and the surrounding people fled in all directions.

"Oh my God! What on earth is going on? How dare someone assassinate His Majesty at this time?"

"Are these people really going to die?"

Suddenly, someone among the officials shouted this.

It clearly refers to the assassin, but to everyone's ears, it has a different meaning.

Because who exactly is the 'gang of people' mentioned in this sentence?
Are they the gentry who evaded taxes?

Or some officials with ulterior motives?
At this moment, Xue Guoguan suddenly came to his senses.

The next second, he ignored the dissuasion of those around him, hurriedly pushed through the crowd, and rushed towards the dragon chariot.

The soldiers around him naturally recognized the Prime Minister of the Ming Dynasty, so no one tried to stop him.

But when Xue Guoguan finally squeezed closer, he found that the dragon chariot had been surrounded by the Jing army, and these eunuchs would not give him face and would not allow him to get close at all.

Xue Guoguan was extremely anxious and could only look inside through the narrow gap.

There were bloodstains all over the dragon chariot.

In an instant, Xue Guoguan felt his eyes go dark, and the last bit of support in his heart collapsed. He could no longer hold on and actually fainted.

Fortunately, several officials who came with him were quick to reach out and support him again.

"My Lords, it's already this late. Please stop causing more trouble and leave this place as soon as possible!"

At this moment, a young general suddenly came in front of everyone and said.

This person was none other than Zheng Chenggong!

Zheng Chenggong's face was full of anxiety at this time. If he had not seen that this group of people were all officials, he would have whipped them.

"Everyone, please leave this place immediately!"

At this moment, another young general stood up.

It was Zhang Shize, the prince of England!

At this time, both Zhang Shize and Zheng Chenggong were extremely nervous. After saying this, they rushed to the team in front and began to disperse the surrounding people.

But don’t get me wrong, their nervousness is not fake, it’s real!

Because they had no idea that all this was planned by Chongzhen and Zhu Cilang, and they thought that someone really wanted to assassinate Chongzhen!

The reason why Zhu Cilang did not tell them about this plan was not because he did not trust them, but because they were too young and could not hide the truth on their faces.

If I tell them the plan, it will be troublesome if they reveal it.

Not far away, Duke of England Zhang Zhiji and other nobles were already frightened out of their wits.

Because they were nobles, they had been accompanying the emperor before. They saw clearly just now that the arrow had indeed hit Chongzhen directly!
It even went straight through Chongzhen's arm!

Recalling the previous scene again, at this moment the Duke of England felt dizzy, as if the whole world was collapsing in an instant.

Although this matter has no direct connection with him, as the head of the nobles and a leading figure among the military generals, how could he stay out of such a major event?

As for the other nobles present, they were all scared and pale, and were terrified.

Suddenly at this moment, the dragon chariot started moving again.

Under the strict defense of the Jingjun, Jinyiwei and Tengxiang Five Guards, the dragon chariot rushed towards the palace at lightning speed.

Only the civil and military officials and nobles were left standing there in a daze, at a loss.

The people around had been dispersed just now, but when they saw the dragon chariot leaving, they gathered together again in an instant.

However, they were also stunned by this sudden change and were completely speechless.

After all, this was the first time in their lifetime that they saw the emperor being assassinated!

But soon, someone in the crowd reacted.

I only heard the man yelling angrily:
"Who on earth is this damned thief? How dare they assassinate His Majesty at the crucial moment of his triumphant return to the throne!"

"Your Majesty personally led the army to victory for the Ming Dynasty, and it was with great difficulty that you won this victory. But I never expected these villains to be so bold as to actually dare to assassinate Your Majesty!"

"These damned traitors must be captured and cut into pieces!"

"Yes, capture these traitors and cut them into pieces! Cut them into pieces!"

For a moment, this angry voice was like a spark, instantly igniting everyone's emotions.

All the people were filled with righteous indignation and joined the ranks in denouncing the assassin. The angry shouts seemed to overturn the sky of the entire capital.

When they saw this scene, for some unknown reason, all the civil and military officials and nobles felt themselves sweating all over.

They clearly didn't do anything, but why do they feel anxious?

This side of the palace.

Queen Zhou was dressed in a gorgeous and dazzling phoenix robe and a phoenix crown on her head. She was waiting at the palace gate with a group of concubines with exquisite makeup and graceful manners.

Zheng Xiaomei, the prince's concubine, was also among them.

In addition, Chongzhen's other princes and princesses were also here.

Everyone's face was filled with anticipation and joy, and their eyes were full of desire.

When they won a great victory in the Liaodong War and killed 130,000 Jiannu soldiers, the entire imperial palace and the Eastern Palace were almost in an uproar.

Because this is a rare victory for the Ming Dynasty in a hundred years!

Moreover, it was a great victory led by the emperor himself!
For this reason, Queen Zhou specially issued an edict to reward all the eunuchs, palace maids and guards. As the saying goes, happiness is better shared with others than happiness alone!

So in recent times, the entire palace has been filled with an atmosphere of joy.

Of course, the same is true in the East Palace.

All the eunuchs, palace maids and guards working in the Eastern Palace also received a reward.

Then, everyone was waiting for the return of Chongzhen and Zhu Cilang!

However, when they saw a large group of fully armed soldiers surrounding the dragon chariot, rushing towards them like a surging tide.

The smile on Queen Zhou's face froze instantly, a trace of panic flashed across her expression, and she became at a loss in an instant.

Because the scene in front of me is really too abnormal!
Her intuition told her that something must have happened!

Immediately afterwards, the dragon chariot came to an abrupt stop.

The soldiers looked at Queen Zhou and others in front of them, and didn't know what to say for a moment.

At this moment, Zhu Cilang walked out from the crowd!

Looking at her son in front of her, Empress Zhou's eyes lit up instantly, and she quickly stepped forward, took Zhu Cilang's hand and said:

"Ying'er, what's going on? Where is your father? Where is he?"

Zhu Cilang did not respond to Empress Zhou's words, but instead said to the leading Jingjun:

"Send Father back to his bedroom first!"

The guards hurriedly accepted the order and then continued to escort the dragon chariot into the palace.

As for the Five Tengxiang Guards and the Embroidered Uniform Guards, they quickly dispersed and surrounded the entire palace tightly.

Queen Zhou looked back at the receding dragon chariot and felt even more uneasy.

But this time, before he could ask anything else, Zhu Cilang said in a heavy tone:
"Mother, just now, the emperor was assassinated. The thief's arrow pierced the emperor's arm, and the emperor fainted!"

what?
When Queen Zhou heard this, she felt a black screen before her eyes and almost fainted.

The others also widened their eyes in disbelief. It was obvious that no one had expected that Chongzhen would be assassinated!

After realizing what was happening, Queen Zhou hurriedly tried to catch up with the dragon chariot.

He cried out in a sobbing voice:
"Your Majesty! Your Majesty!"

It has to be said that the emperors of the Ming Dynasty might not be that great, but the empress was impeccable.

Empress Zhou had been married to Chongzhen for more than ten years, and the couple had lived in harmony with each other. Now that she knew that Chongzhen had been assassinated and had fainted, how could she not be anxious?

But before Empress Zhou could rush over, Zhu Cilang quickly stepped forward to support Empress Zhou, and whispered in her ear:

"Don't worry, Queen Mother. Father is fine. We can discuss the details after we return to the palace. But before that, you have to pretend to be sad."

When Queen Zhou heard this, her originally panicked heart was stunned for a moment, and countless thoughts flashed through her mind.

(End of this chapter)