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

Chapter 45: The First Scapegoat of the Ming Dynasty: Chongzhen! (Please ask for more data!)

Just as I was thinking about it, I heard the eunuch say:

"Your Highness, for the past two days, Jiading Marquis Zhou Kui has been wanting to enter the palace to meet the Empress."

"But because of the Crown Prince's previous instructions, I have been declining in the name of the Empress."

"But he came again this morning and is still waiting at the palace gate!"

"I thought that if I refused again, it would bring trouble to the Crown Prince, so I hurried here to ask the Crown Prince what to do."

When Zhu Cilang heard this, he immediately frowned.

Unexpectedly, the one who caused trouble was not Chongzhen, but Zhou Kui!

But then again, this matter does need to be resolved immediately.

After all, Zhou Kui was Chongzhen's father-in-law and Empress Zhou's biological father.

Previously, Zhu Cilang used the imperial edict issued by Chongzhen to raid Zhou Kui's house, so it was understandable that Zhou Kui came to his daughter to complain.

It's understandable if you don't see each other once or twice, but if you don't see each other for a long time, it will inevitably arouse other people's suspicion.

What's more, Zhou Kui seems to have some connection with the Donglin Party.

If this continues, the Donglin Party will definitely suspect that something has happened in the palace.
Thinking of this, Zhu Cilang nodded.

"I understand. Let's go to Kunning Palace first!"

Zhu Cilang finally decided to let Zhou Kui meet Queen Zhou.

But before that, he had to say hello to Queen Zhou first.

Otherwise, if something goes wrong, things will become difficult to handle.

When Zhu Cilang appeared in Kunning Palace again, Empress Zhou had finished dressing up, but Chongzhen was still lying in bed. It was unclear whether he was really asleep or pretending to be asleep.

"Ying'er, why are you here so early today?"

Queen Zhou was somewhat surprised to see Zhu Cilang coming.

Zhu Cilang ignored Chongzhen and looked at Empress Zhou and said:
"Mother, Grandpa has been wanting to see you these past few days, but I've stopped him. After all, the fewer people who know about what I've done, the better."

"But today he came again and is still waiting at the palace gate."

"I think it's not a good idea to keep going like this. I still need you to go see him, otherwise outsiders will definitely notice something unusual in the palace."

“I don’t know what will happen then.”

Queen Zhou was slightly stunned when she heard this, but she quickly figured it out.

Needless to say, his father must have come to him to complain about the previous incident of his house being confiscated.
Thinking of this, Queen Zhou asked again:
"But if your grandfather asks about His Majesty, what should the Queen Mother say?"

This is what Queen Zhou is most worried about. She is also afraid of being exposed!

After all, this is a rebellion!

Zhu Cixi smiled and said:
"It's very simple. Just say that the emperor is seriously ill and you've been busy taking care of him recently, so you don't have much time to see him."

"There's no need to go into too much detail. After all, this is a private matter of the royal family, and Grandpa doesn't dare to ask too much!"

Hearing this, before Queen Zhou could say anything, Chongzhen, who was pretending to be asleep on the bed, reacted first.

Chongzhen suddenly sat up from the bed, with messy hair on his head, and said indignantly:

"Rebellious son! I'm not sick! You've imprisoned me!"

Zhu Cilang looked at Chongzhen's expression and felt amused for a moment, but he said:

"So Father was just pretending to be asleep?"

Chongzhen was speechless for a moment, because he was indeed pretending to be asleep!

But how could he admit this?

Afterwards, Chongzhen could only sit on the bed and sulk alone.

Zhu Cilang ignored Chongzhen and continued to instruct Empress Zhou:

"Mother, everything I do now is to restore the Ming Dynasty to its former glory, so I absolutely cannot make any mistakes!"

"Grandpa has always been in contact with the ministers in the court. It's possible that he came to see you because he was bewitched by the Donglin Party."

"So you must never tell Grandpa the truth!"

Queen Zhou nodded quickly and said:

"Don't worry, Yan'er! Mother understands everything you said!"

"In any case, Mother will never say anything against you!"

Queen Zhou has now thought it through very clearly.

Anyway, on one side is the husband and on the other side is the son.

Her husband became the emperor and she was the queen.

When her son became emperor, she became the empress dowager.

No matter who becomes emperor, her husband or her son, her identity and status will not change much.

On the contrary, if her son's rebellion were to be known to outsiders, she would lose her position as queen.

At worst, his son would be imprisoned behind the walls of Fengyang for the rest of his life.

Even her Zhou family would be confiscated and exterminated!
Queen Zhou could still tell what was more important.

Seeing this, Zhu Cilang felt relieved.

But of course, when Zhou Kui comes in later, Zhu Cilang will still send someone to monitor his every move.

If Zhou Kui really noticed something, then Zhu Cilang would have no choice but to take ruthless action.
Compared with the future of the Ming Dynasty, a grandfather who betrayed himself in history is really nothing!
After speaking a few more words to Queen Zhou, Zhu Cilang prepared to leave.

But at this moment, Chongzhen suddenly said:

"Rebellious son! Don't you have anything to say to me?"

Zhu Cilang looked at Chongzhen speechlessly, because he really had nothing to say to Chongzhen.

But in the end, Zhu Cilang still planned to reveal a little information.

"Since you asked, I will reveal some information to you!"

"I have already issued an order to re-establish the East and West Factories to supervise all officials!"

what?
When Chongzhen heard this, he immediately became angry!

He pointed at Zhu Cilang and cursed:
"Rebellious son! Are you trying to piss me off to death? Do you want to recreate the disaster of the eunuch party?"

"Do you know how the officials will look upon you if you do this? And how will the people look upon you?"

Zhu Cilang touched his nose helplessly and didn't want to discuss this issue with Chongzhen. Anyway, with Chongzhen's personality, he couldn't explain it clearly.

But the next second, Zhu Cilang suddenly seemed to think of something, and then said with a smile:

"I forgot to mention earlier that the imperial edict for the re-establishment of the East and West Factories was written in your name, Father."

"In other words, in the eyes of the civil and military officials and the common people, the person who truly wants to re-establish the East and West Factories is actually you, Father!"

"So even if the civil and military officials and the common people curse, they are cursing you, the emperor, and not your son!"

Chongzhen was completely dumbfounded.

He looked at Zhu Cilang in disbelief, as if he was looking at a monster.

Zhu Cilang continued:
"And the imperial edict that confiscated the property and exterminated the nobles was also written in your name, Father."

"In other words, even if those nobles want to hate, they hate you, Father!"

"I didn't do anything!"

"Your son has always been a good prince of the Ming Dynasty!"

Chongzhen was shocked again!
He never imagined that while he was imprisoned in the harem and had no idea what was happening outside, such a huge pot would fall from the sky and hit him directly on his back!
Is this something a prince could do?

After realizing what was happening, Chongzhen's face was distorted with anger.

He pointed at Zhu Cilang and cursed:
"Rebellious son, oh rebellious son! Are you trying to blackmail the emperor to control the princes?"

"How could a rebellious son like you appear in my Zhu family?"

Zhu Cilang had heard the word "rebellious son" so many times that his ears were almost callused, so he had no reaction and just let Chongzhen scold him.

After Chongzhen was tired of scolding, Zhu Cilang continued:
"Father, you have been handling state affairs for fourteen years!"

"What have you done for this country in these fourteen years?"

"You've done nothing! You've only made this country worse!"

"In that case, I will help you carry this burden!"

"From now on, you don't need to do anything. You just need to stay in the harem and continue to take the blame for your son!"

"I, your son, will handle state affairs and save the country in the front, while you will bear the infamy and condemnation of the people in the back. Together, we, father and son, will restore the Ming Dynasty to its former glory. Isn't that wonderful?"

After hearing these words, Chongzhen was about to explode!

You have to know that he has always been an emperor who cares very much about his reputation, and he absolutely cannot tolerate others slandering him like this!
What's more, this person is his son!

Queen Zhou stood aside, looking at the two people in front of her helplessly, not knowing what to say for a moment.

One insists on looking for trouble, and the other insists on provoking the other with words.

This father and son are really a pair of enemies!

Looking at Chongzhen's old face that was distorted by anger, Zhu Cilang remained calm.

"Father, I advise you not to get angry! Otherwise, if you die of anger, there will be no one to take the blame for you in the future."

"I was counting on you to live a few more years, so I could take the blame for a few more years!"

"Of course! If you really die of anger, then I, your son, will have no choice but to inherit the throne and then find someone else to take the blame!"

As the saying goes, "When you are extremely angry, you will laugh." When Chongzhen heard these words again, he was so angry that he laughed.

"Okay, okay! You rebellious son! You're deliberately trying to piss me off to death, aren't you?"

"I just don't want what you want! I won't die! I want to live!"

"I want to see how you can restore the Ming Dynasty to glory!"

"Don't you want me to take the blame for you?"

"Alright! I can't resist anyway! I'll take the blame for you!"

"I want to see if you have the ability to save the Ming Dynasty!"

At this time in the late Ming Dynasty, the problems that needed to be solved were far more than just the Jiannu and bandits.

A series of problems need to be solved, including various natural disasters, plagues, food shortages, small ice ages, official corruption, inability to collect taxes, etc.

Even though he had seen Zhu Cilang's methods before, Chongzhen still didn't think Zhu Cilang could handle these things.

Zhu Cilang naturally understood the meaning of Chongzhen's words, but he was too lazy to explain.

Just replied calmly:
"Then please wait and see, Father! I will definitely not let you down!"

"My son, please retire!"

After saying this, Zhu Cilang left Kunning Palace directly.

Before leaving, Zhu Cilang instructed the eunuchs in charge of guarding the harem to take Zhou Kui to a side hall to meet Queen Zhou.

At the same time, their every move is closely monitored.

Once it is discovered that Zhou Kui has noticed something, take action immediately after he leaves the palace.

There was no other way. After all, he was Queen Zhou's father and his own grandfather. Even if he really wanted to send him away, he couldn't do it in front of Queen Zhou.

Just like he said before, compared with the future of Ming Dynasty, a grandfather is nothing.

(End of this chapter)