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

Chapter 3: Rebellious son, are you going to rebel?

After realizing this, Li Guozhen was the first to kneel down.

"Your Highness, please forgive me for my slip of the tongue. I am willing to follow you through fire and water, even to the death!"

Zhang Shize sighed inwardly, then knelt down.

"Your Highness, I am willing to follow you."

Seeing that the two people before him have set an example, what else can Wang Jiantong say?
"I am willing to follow His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and will follow him until death!"

Seeing that the three of them had expressed their loyalty, Zhu Cilang turned around and helped the three of them up with a smile.

"Okay, okay, the three of you are all loyal ministers of the Ming Dynasty. I promise you that after this is accomplished, I will definitely not let you down!"

"Then you will enjoy endless wealth and glory!"

The three of them felt bitter, but they could only bow and say:

"Thank you, Your Highness!"

dong dong dong.
Suddenly at this moment, a rhythmic knocking sound was heard from inside the palace gate.

Seeing this, Li Hu on the side hurried forward and knocked a few times in response.

creak
With a slight sound, the gate of the palace was slowly opened, and hundreds of guards appeared in front of them.

Since they are planning a rebellion, the palace guards must be bribed.

Fortunately, the title of Prince of the Ming Dynasty and the money are still very useful, so things are still going smoothly.

Of course, there are indeed many people who are unwilling to be bribed.

Zhu Cilang did not force them and directly sent someone to send them to meet their ancestors.

After all, it was a U-turn business, so it was normal for more than a dozen people to die.

After three thousand people entered the palace gate, it was closed again.

Zhu Cilang began to give orders.

"As previously agreed, all palace gates are sealed. No one is allowed to enter or leave! Anyone who dares to disobey will be killed on the spot!"

"Also, assign someone to guard the other guards. If they make any unusual movements, they will be killed on the spot. No further reports are needed."

"promise!"

Two captains under Li Hu quickly agreed and then left with their men.

The rest of the people followed Zhu Cilang straight to the Fengtian Palace.

Although it was late at night, the Fengtian Hall was still brightly lit.

Inside the palace, a middle-aged man with a haggard face and wearing a bright yellow dragon robe was reviewing memorials on the throne.

And he was Chongzhen, the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty!
Seeing Chongzhen so haggard, Wang Chengen beside him brought him a bowl of tea with some heartache.

"Your Majesty, it's getting late. You should go to bed early. We can review the remaining memorials tomorrow!"

Chongzhen took the tea handed to him by Wang Chengen, took a sip, and put it back on the table.

Then he continued to look at the memorial and said:
"The Ming Dynasty is already in this state, how can I still have the mood to rest?"

"A few days ago, Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong captured several cities in Henan and seemed unstoppable."

"Over in Jinzhou, the garrison commander, Zu Dashou, reported to me that Jinzhou only has enough grain to last for more than a month, and even the food for the horses is insufficient."

"If the Qing army attacks again, I'm afraid Ningjin and Jincheng will be captured!"

"He asked me to continue sending troops to support us and to replenish our food supplies, but where do I have the money?"

"How can I sleep with all these things happening?"

"Otomo, do you think the Ming Dynasty is really going to fall? Will I really become the ruler of a fallen nation?"

As Chongzhen spoke, he suddenly looked at Wang Chengen with complicated eyes.

Once upon a time, he always believed that he could revive the Ming Dynasty and make it glorious again.

But now it has been 14 years since he ascended the throne.

In the past 14 years, not only did he fail to make the Ming Dynasty stronger, but he even led it to a more declining state.

He couldn't help but start to doubt, is the Ming Dynasty really going to perish in his hands?

Could it be that he will really become a king who loses his country?
When Wang Chengen heard this, he was immediately shocked and quickly knelt on the ground.

"Your Majesty! This is absolutely impossible! Our Ming Dynasty has been around for nearly three hundred years. How could it be destroyed just like that?" "The Ming Dynasty will surely last forever!"

"Your Majesty, please don't say these words again!"

Chongzhen ignored Wang Chengen's words, put down the memorial in his hand, and looked up at the palace with empty eyes.

"Ancestors, I, your unworthy descendant Zhu Youjian, feel ashamed of you!"

"Back then, when my brother handed the world over to me, he once told me: My brother should be like Yao and Shun."

"But more than a decade has passed. Instead of making the Ming Dynasty strong, I have brought it to this point. This is all my fault!"

At the end of his words, Chongzhen couldn't help but cover his face and burst into tears.

Thinking back to the instructions his royal brother had given him before his death, he felt that even if he died, he would not have the face to see his royal brother and ancestors.

"who?"

"stop!"

"Be bold!"

Suddenly at this moment, bursts of exclamations were heard outside the palace.

The next second, there was a sound of weapons clashing, but it soon became quiet again.

"what happened?"

Chongzhen reacted instantly and then shouted loudly.

Wang Chengen also hurriedly got up and shouted loudly:
"Escort! Escort!"

Although it is not clear what happened outside just now, there was obviously the sound of weapons clashing. Someone was trying to assassinate the emperor!
At this moment, Wang Chengen was almost scared to death.

But in the next second, the door was pushed open, and then a figure slowly walked in.

If it’s not Zhu Cilang, then who else could it be?
"Madam? Why are you here? And what happened just now?"

When Wang Chengen saw Zhu Cilang, he was stunned for a moment.

You should know that since the prince moved to the Eastern Palace a month ago, he has not lived in the palace.

According to palace rules, the palace would be locked at night and no one was allowed to enter.

But now the prince appeared here in broad daylight, which was obviously not right.

Coupled with the sound he just heard, Wang Chengen had a bad feeling in his heart.

At the same time, Chongzhen seemed to have noticed something. He put away his previous sadness and asked with a gloomy face:

"You rebellious son, are you going to rebel?"

Zhu Cilang glanced at Chongzhen, a look of helplessness flashing in his eyes.

In fact, at the beginning, he did not think about rebelling, but wanted to assist Chongzhen in saving the Ming Dynasty.

But Chongzhen was never an emperor who listened to advice.

Even though all his suggestions were beneficial to the Ming Dynasty, Chongzhen still refused to listen and treated them as just a child's joke.

Seeing this, Zhu Cilang knew that if he wanted to truly save the Ming Dynasty, he must not allow Chongzhen to be emperor anymore.

Hence, the palace coup tonight!
Coming back to his senses, Zhu Cilang took two more steps to stand in front of Chongzhen, then looked him straight in the face and said:
"Father, you are right. I am here to rebel tonight."

"You should know that you can't save the Ming Dynasty. In your hands, the Ming Dynasty will only decline further and further until it perishes."

"By then, you will become the fallen emperor of the Ming Dynasty, hanging on a crooked tree."

"And I, your son, will become the crown prince of the Ming Dynasty and die in the chaos of war."

"I don't know if my father is willing to be the king of a fallen country, but I certainly don't want to be the crown prince of a fallen country."

"So today I have come to rebel against my father!"

"Please ask your Majesty to abdicate and pass the throne to your son!"

When Chongzhen heard these words, he almost went crazy.

"You, you, you rebellious son!"

Although Chongzhen had said before that he might become a king who lost his country, those were just angry words spoken in grief and anger, and should not be taken seriously.

But now, his own son was blatantly accusing him of becoming a king who would destroy his country, which made him so angry that he almost smoked.

What a traitor!
(End of this chapter)