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

Chapter 5: Prince, do you have money?

Just when the three were at a loss, Zhu Cilang walked up to Chongzhen.

With just one glance, Zhu Cilang realized that Chongzhen was pretending to be unconscious.

Because his eyelids were twitching and his body was shaking slightly.

It was obvious that Chongzhen didn't know how to deal with the current situation, and didn't want to abdicate, so he could only pretend to be unconscious.

Although I'm a little speechless, I have to say that things went quite smoothly.

"Eunuch Wang, please send the emperor to the queen mother first. After I finish dealing with things here, I will go to visit the emperor and the queen mother."

"Don't worry, my lord. I know what to do."

Wang Chengen nodded, looking respectful.

There was no way out. At this point, it was obvious that the prince had succeeded in his rebellion.

As the eunuch of the former emperor, who knows what fate he will face?

He didn't dare to offend the prince in front of him.

Immediately afterwards, Zhu Cilang waved his hand, and two tall eunuchs came forward and helped Chongzhen to the harem.

These eunuchs have been serving Zhu Cilang since childhood and are Zhu Cilang's absolute confidants.

After Chongzhen left, Zhu Cilang looked at the three people in front of him.

"Okay, everyone, get up."

After hearing this, the three of them climbed up tremblingly.

At this moment, Li Hu poked his head out of the door and asked with shining eyes:
"Your Highness, are we done yet?"

Judging from his appearance, it seemed that if Zhu Cilang said something that was not successful, he would immediately rush into the harem and kill Chongzhen.
Zhu Cilang felt amused, but he just nodded and said:
"It's almost a success! Although Father is reluctant to issue the abdication decree, this kind of thing doesn't actually require his consent."

"Big companion!"

At the end of his words, Zhu Cilang shouted.

Soon, a young eunuch walked in from the door.

His name is Ma Bao, and he is Zhu Cilang's best friend.

"My Lord, I am here."

"Bring a team of men and bring all the eunuchs who hold the seal and the eunuchs who hold the pen to me. Anyone who refuses to come or resists will be killed on the spot!"

Zhu Cilang ordered.

"promise!"

Ma Bao responded and then left with a team of personal soldiers.

"Wang Qinian!"

Zhu Cilang shouted again.

Another middle-aged man walked in from outside. He was wearing a Feiyu suit and was obviously a captain of the Jinyiwei.

"Take this palace token and bring Jinyiwei Commander Luo Yangxing to see me. If he refuses to come, kill him on the spot!"

"promise!"

Wang Qinian responded, took the token and turned to leave.

The token was not for Luo Yangxing to see, but for the personal guards guarding the palace gate, otherwise Wang Qinian would definitely have been hacked to death on the spot.

After giving these instructions, Zhu Cilang looked at the three nobles in front of him.

"Lord Xiangcheng, now that things have come to this, do you have anything else to say?"

Zhu Cilang asked with a smile.

When Li Guozhen heard this, he hurriedly knelt down again.

"Your Highness, I have nothing more to say. As long as Your Highness gives me an order, I will die for it!"

Are you kidding? At this point, the success of following the dragon is already secured, what else is there to talk about?

You tell me what to do, and I'll do it!

Zhu Cilang nodded with satisfaction, and then ordered:

"You are to go to the Beijing camp immediately, appease the troops and gather them together to prevent any disturbance."

"And tell them that in three days I will pay them all the military pay they were owed. In addition, I will give each of them an additional five taels of silver."

this.
Li Guozhen looked at Zhu Cilang in confusion, his face full of disbelief.

You have to know that the military pay of the Beijing camp has been owed for three or four months, and the total amount must be more than one million taels.

The Crown Prince also wants to reward each person with another five taels of silver, which comes to almost two million taels. Do you have that much money, Crown Prince?

If Chongzhen had so much money, the Ming Dynasty would not be like this. Zhu Cilang saw Li Guozhen's doubts and then said:
"Don't worry about the money. I said I'd give it to you in three days, so I'll give it to you in three days. Go quickly and don't cause any trouble!"

"Li Hu, send a team to escort the Earl of Xiangcheng."

As Zhu Cilang spoke, he looked at Li Guozhen meaningfully and threw another token to Li Hu.

Li Hu took the token and instantly understood the implication of Zhu Cilang's words. He then pointed to a centurion and whispered a few words in his ear.

The captain nodded, took the token, and followed Li Guozhen with a hundred personal soldiers.

Li Guozhen knew without hesitation that this group of people said they were protecting him, but in fact they were monitoring him.

If he dared to show any sign of abnormality, these people would definitely kill him without hesitation.

But it doesn't matter. At this point, unless he was kicked in the head by a donkey, he would not betray the prince.

Immediately afterwards, Zhu Cilang looked at Wang Xiantong again.

"Lord Xinjian, please go to the Front Army Commander-in-Chief's Office. Remember not to cause any trouble."

"Also, tell them that the military pay they owe will be paid in three days, and each person will be rewarded five taels of silver."

The soldiers under the jurisdiction of the Front Army Governor's Office originally came from the garrisons, and the soldiers in the garrisons were all military households.

The combat effectiveness of the military households in the garrisons was still very strong in the early Ming Dynasty, but by the middle and late Ming Dynasty, especially during the Chongzhen period, they had long been in name only.

Therefore, the Front Military Governor's Office could only adopt the conscription system to recruit soldiers again.

The soldiers in the Front Army Governor's Office were all recruited and also need military pay.

Wang Xiantong hesitated at first when he heard Zhu Cilang's words, but he couldn't help but speak:

"Your Highness, the Front Military Governor's Office doesn't actually have that many soldiers, and many generals have been drawing salaries without doing anything."

"Even if His Royal Highness the Crown Prince really paid the military salaries, most of the money would just go into the pockets of those parasites."

"There are some things I didn't dare to say before, but now I have to say them."

"Although the Front Army Governor's Office has a registered force of 100,000 soldiers, the actual number is less than 30,000, and of those, less than 20,000 are combat-ready!"

"This is my fault. Please punish me, Your Highness!"

After Wang Xiantong said these words, he slammed his head heavily to the ground.

He actually knew these things a long time ago and had thought about telling Chongzhen.

But there were too many nobles involved, and if he was not careful he would die without a burial place, so he didn't dare tell anyone.

But today, looking at the prince who had just successfully usurped the throne, he suddenly feared nothing.

Even if the prince punished him for this, he would accept it.

Zhang Shize, who was standing aside, was already a little at a loss at this moment.

Because he was originally the son of a noble family and the future Duke of England, he certainly knew the tricks involved.

As for why he didn't dare tell Zhu Cilang, it was because too many nobles were involved.

It is no exaggeration to say that more than half of the nobles were involved, drawing salaries without working, and sucking the blood of the Ming Dynasty.

even
Their British Mansion is also among them
The more Zhang Shize thought about it, the more frightened he became, and then he looked at Zhu Cilang.

But what surprised him was that when Zhu Cilang heard these words, he was not angry at all, but was unusually calm, as if he had already known it?
Just as he was thinking about it, Zhu Cilang finally spoke.

"Actually, I already knew what you said."

"It's just that I didn't expect you to confess on your own initiative."

"Since you are so frank, then I will not hide anything from you. Starting tomorrow, I will begin to reorganize the Beijing Camp and the Front Army Governor's Office."

"I can't tell you how to rectify this matter now. You just need to remember one thing."

"After returning, immediately count how many people in the Front Military Governor's Office are collecting empty salaries, who are the people behind them, and how many soldiers are actually capable of fighting."

"If you accomplish this, I will forgive all your previous sins and you will still be my loyal follower!"

"Wang Xiantong, I have seen your loyalty. You are indeed worthy of being the descendant of Wang Yangming. You are worthy of your ancestors and the Ming Dynasty!"

At the end of the conversation, Zhu Cilang was also a little moved.

In the original history, Wang Xiantong died for his country.

When the capital was captured by Li Zicheng, he still fought bravely and refused to surrender.

In the end, he was killed by Li Zicheng by having his tongue cut out, his heart dug out, and his head chopped off. He was truly one of the few loyal ministers of the Ming Dynasty.

Now that he has taken the initiative to inform the Front Army Governor's Office of the specific situation, his loyalty is worthy of recognition.

He is indeed worthy of being the descendant of the sage Wang Yangming!
I wish Li Guozhen had been so frank just now.

But it doesn’t matter. As long as this guy has a little bit of brains, he knows what to do next.

(End of this chapter)