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

Chapter 92 Father, don’t worry, I didn’t drug you!

Although lychees were not a rarity for the emperors of the Ming Dynasty, basically all the emperors in the past could eat lychees.

Even Ming Xuanzong Zhu Zhanji painted many paintings about lychees.

But Chongzhen was definitely an exception.

When Chongzhen ascended the throne, the Ming Dynasty was already in danger, so Chongzhen issued an imperial decree to abolish tributes from many places.

Guangxi’s lychees are one of them.

This is because Chongzhen felt that it was too extravagant to spend so much manpower and resources just to send a few lychees, and it would be better to use the money to do something useful.

So he ordered Guangxi not to supply lychees anymore.

This resulted in Chongzhen only eating lychees during the Tianqi period.

Also, because lychees are difficult to transport and have a short shelf life, no merchant was willing to transport such a delicate fruit as lychees to Beijing.

So few people in Beijing have ever eaten lychees.

Even the original owner of this body has never eaten lychees!

Um.
It’s really speechless when you think about it. The Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty has never even eaten lychees!
Of course, Zhu Cilang and his personal soldiers are an exception now.

In order to help them rebel, Zhu Cilang gave them a lot of good food.

You can basically have as much rice, steamed buns, pork, beef, and mutton as you want, and there are a variety of fruits after each meal.

When these soldiers were in the army, they could hardly eat meat or even proper rice, so Zhu Cilang basically didn't have to spend any effort to win over everyone!

In short, Zhu Cilang was really good to these personal soldiers, so these personal soldiers were willing to work for him.

After regaining his consciousness, Zhu Cilang walked into Kunning Palace.

I just don’t know why, but the Kunning Palace is eerily quiet today. Could it be that Chongzhen hasn’t woken up yet?

Zhu Cilang was a little confused. Could it be that he had given too much medicine?

As he was thinking, he had already stepped into Kunning Palace and immediately saw a strange scene.

At this moment, Chongzhen and Empress Zhou were sitting around a table filled with all kinds of delicious food, but Empress Zhou and Chongzhen had no intention of eating.

This made Zhu Cilang feel completely bewildered, and he had no idea what was going on.

At this moment, Empress Zhou also noticed Zhu Cilang and quickly called out:
"Ying'er, come and see what's wrong with your father. He has been refusing to eat and won't let mother eat either!"

When Zhu Cilang heard this, he just felt funny in his heart, because he probably guessed why.

Needless to say, Chongzhen must have suspected that the food in front of him was also drugged.

As the saying goes, once bitten by a snake, one will be afraid of ropes for ten years. It is normal for him to be afraid of such things.

Thinking of this, Zhu Cilang sat down at the table and said to Chongzhen:

"Father, I was forced to do what happened before. After all, we can't let outsiders laugh at us, right?"

"But don't worry, this kind of thing will never happen again."

"And this time, I really didn't give you any drugs!"

However, after hearing this, Chongzhen just snorted coldly and ignored Zhu Cilang.

It is obvious that Zhu Cilang's credibility with Chongzhen has dropped to the lowest point.

Seeing this, Zhu Cilang stopped talking nonsense and took the chopsticks handed to him by the eunuch next to him and started eating.

He also thoughtfully picked up a few pieces of fish for Queen Zhou:

"Mother, you eat too."

Seeing this scene, the expression on Chongzhen's face finally relaxed.

It seems that this unfilial son did not lie. There was indeed no drug in the food, otherwise how could he dare to eat it?
Come to think of it, even if this rebellious son was going to drug me, he should have drugged me alone, after all, Queen Zhou was still here.

Although this unfilial son treated him very badly, he was very good to his mother.

After realizing this, Chongzhen picked up his bowl and chopsticks and started eating.

From last night until now, he had hardly eaten anything, only some porridge fed to him by Queen Zhou.

When he thought of this, Chongzhen became furious again.

I have to say, that morning's court session really made him lose face.

And the instigator of all this is Zhu Cilang!
His treacherous son!

Although Chongzhen was still angry about what Zhu Cilang had done to him before, he forced himself to suppress his anger at the dinner table.

After all, he is not stupid. If he offends this rebellious son again, he might be punished by him in some way, which would be a very unpleasant feeling.

In this way, although the atmosphere at the dinner table was a bit awkward, we managed to finish the meal well.

In fact, Zhu Cilang didn't eat much at all, he just picked up a few pieces with his chopsticks.

Because he had already eaten, the reason he insisted on taking a few more bites was mainly to prove that he really did not continue to drug her this time.

After the eunuchs had cleared away the dishes, Zhu Cilang smiled and said to Empress Zhou:
"Mother, I have brought you some goodies this time. I hope you like them."

When Queen Zhou heard this, her eyes immediately lit up.

You know, Zhu Cilang has never given her anything in his life!
Sure enough, the child has grown up!

Immediately afterwards, he saw Zhu Cilang clapping his hands.

clap clap!

Upon hearing the secret signal, the eunuchs who had been waiting outside came in carrying a whole basket of lychees and a box.

When they saw these lychees, Empress Zhou and Chongzhen were so shocked that they couldn't close their mouths.

You know, it’s March now, and it’s not yet the season for lychees to ripen. Where do these lychees come from?
Then, Empress Zhou asked Zhu Cilang curiously:

"Yang'er, where did you get these lychees? It seems that it is not the season for lychees yet." Zhu Cilang had already thought of how to answer, and hurriedly said with a smile:
"Your Majesty, you don't know this, but this is a trick devised by the merchants. They pick the lychees when they are ripe and then freeze them in ice cellars."

"Then take it out and eat it when you want to eat it."

"I happened to know about this, so I bought some to honor my father and mother."

As he spoke, Zhu Cilang asked the eunuch to bring out a plate of lychees and place it on the table.

Queen Zhou didn’t know whether lychees could be frozen, she only knew that her son had finally grown up!

Now I know how to respect my mother!

Afterwards, Queen Zhou picked up a lychee, peeled it, and tasted it. She immediately found it extremely sweet, almost indistinguishable from a fresh lychee.

Then, Queen Zhou said with emotion:
"Ever since your father became emperor, he has exempted tributes from many places, including lychees. We haven't eaten lychees in more than ten years."

"When your uncle was in power, we could enjoy it every year."

When Chongzhen heard Queen Zhou mention her brother, his heart was also a little moved.

He may not have much affection for his own father, but his feelings for this brother are genuine.

I remember when he was little, he always pestered his brother to play.

Once he pulled his brother's sleeve and asked him curiously:

"Brother, the emperor is such a high-ranking official. Can I become one?"

If other royal brothers said such words, they would definitely be regarded as coveting the imperial power. Even if they were not punished, they would definitely be reprimanded.

But his brother didn't get angry at that time, instead he smiled and replied:

"After my brother has been emperor for a while, I'll let you be the emperor."

But who could have thought that these words would come true, his brother later drowned, and he really became emperor.

Thinking of this, Chongzhen sighed, picked up a lychee, peeled it and ate it.

I have to say, these lychees are indeed very sweet, even sweeter than the ones his royal brother gave him back then.

My royal brother, will you blame me for making the Ming Dynasty like this?
Chongzhen murmured to himself in his heart, with complicated emotions.

At this moment, Zhu Cilang looked at Queen Zhou and said:
"Mother, these lychees shouldn't be kept for long, nor should they be eaten in large quantities. Please keep some for yourself, and distribute the rest to the concubines in the harem and my brothers and sisters!"

"If you still want more after you finish eating, I will bring you more!"

When Chongzhen heard this, he frowned again.

"These lychees must be very expensive, right? The money would be better spent on military expenses."

"The Ming Dynasty is currently engaged in wars everywhere, so we should be more frugal!"

save?

Are you going to shut down the post stations to save money like you did, and then force out a Li Zicheng?
Zhu Cilang felt amused for a moment, but then he said nonchalantly:

"How much is a little fruit worth? There's no point in being frugal. If you're short on money, you can just raid a few more corrupt officials' houses and you'll have more."

After hearing this, Chongzhen was speechless for a moment.

And he inexplicably felt that this sentence actually made some sense.

After all, who among the civil and military officials in the court doesn’t have money?

He was probably the only emperor who had no money.
At this moment, Queen Zhou saw another box and asked curiously:
"What's in here?"

Zhu Cilang smiled mysteriously and said:

"Compared to lychees, I think the things in here will be more appreciated by your mother."

After saying this, Zhu Cilang personally opened the box, took out a small and exquisite mirror and handed it to Queen Zhou.

Queen Zhou reached out to take it and took a look, and was instantly amazed.

She used to use bronze mirrors, which were polished very smoothly, but compared to this mirror, there was a world of difference.

Because this mirror is so clear, you can even see the hairs on your face clearly!
Zhu Cilang took out another glass and handed it to Chongzhen, who was also stunned.

In Chongzhen's opinion, this thing should be a crystal cup or a glass cup. Foreign countries had also presented such things as tribute in the past, but they were far less transparent than the cup in his hand.

Then Chongzhen took another look at the box and found that it was full of crystal glasses and mirrors.

"These things are very expensive, right?"

Chongzhen asked with some heartache.

He didn't mind spending money on food, but he really couldn't accept spending so much on usable items.

When Queen Zhou heard this, she also reacted and looked at Zhu Cilang.

Although she likes these things very much, she will not accept them if they are very expensive.

Seeing Chongzhen and Empress Zhou looking quite worried, Zhu Cilang did not directly answer the question, but asked:
"Father, Emperor, and Mother, how much do you think the things in your hands are worth?"

Chongzhen looked at the exquisitely shaped and exceptionally clear crystal cup in his hand and said hesitantly:

"1000 taels of silver?"

In Chongzhen's opinion, the crystal cup in his hand was totally worth the price.

Zhu Cilang looked at Queen Zhou again.

Queen Zhou stroked the mirror in her hand and asked tentatively:

"This mirror must have cost at least 300 taels of silver, right? Mother has never seen such a clear mirror."

Upon hearing this estimate, Zhu Cilang grinned and then raised a finger.

"To be honest with Father and Mother, these two things combined only add up to this amount!"

(PS: I checked some information and found that glass did exist in ancient times. At that time, it was called colored glaze, but it was not truly transparent glass. Truly transparent glass was not manufactured in Europe until the 16th century, which was the end of the Ming Dynasty. It was then introduced to China during the reign of Emperor Kangxi. So the protagonist should still be able to use this thing to show off!)
(End of this chapter)