I really don't want to be emperor at the end of Ming Dynasty

The Republic of Venice was founded in 687, which was in the third year of Chui Gong of the Tang Dynasty. In the early days of its founding, it was affiliated to the Eastern Roman Empire. It gained independence at the end of the 10th century and became a prosperous commercial country.

But the problem is that the country of Venice is too small. Although it is rich, in the eyes of all Europeans, Venetians can almost be equated with vampires. Under this deep-rooted concept, Venetians have always been in Europe and around the world. Neither gained respect.

Until now, they have become a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty. In Francesco Elizzo's understanding, Europe actually does not have the concept of a vassal state. Even colonies are territories. After signing the "Joint Supplementary Agreement between the Ming Dynasty and Venice", Francesco Elizzo naturally believed that they were now a colony of the Ming Dynasty, and he, the governor, was also an official of the Ming Dynasty, and he was the second-rank official. At the same level as the directors of the provincial management committees.

Although Francesco Elizzo is not wearing his Ming Dynasty official uniform now, he still insists that the bandits in Western Europe should maintain enough respect for the Ming Dynasty people.

Nowadays, the people of Ming Dynasty, unlike later generations, do not have enough respect for these foreigners from top to bottom. It seems that there is a dispute here. Not far away, the urban management in black uniforms is holding a rubber stick. come over.

In order to avoid causing unnecessary trouble, these foreigners quickly apologized and ran away immediately.

And Francesco Elizzo was like a general who had won a great victory, proudly saying: "Catherine, do you see it? This is the advantage and benefit of us becoming Ming people. In the past, as a member of the Venetian City-State Republic, I The consuls, governors, those damn Frances will never look at me with normal eyes..."

Catherine was a little speechless. In fact, she knew the Ming Dynasty better. In the eyes of the Ming Dynasty people, except for the Ming Dynasty people, everyone else was a barbarian. Both the Spanish and the Portuguese were considered barbarians and barbarians.

However, Catherine still understood the most basic principles of life, and she did not pour cold water on Francesco Elizzo.

When a new emperor ascends the throne, there are generally three types: founding of the country, succession and usurpation of power. Since the old emperor had just passed away, the ceremony could not be too festive. Usually, the ceremony and music procession would be arranged, but the music would not be played according to the system.

Usurping power requires demonstrating legitimacy, and the process will be very cumbersome. The more grand, grand, and majestic the better.

As for the founding of the People's Republic of China, just be happy and that's all. The main thing is to highlight the universal celebration!

As far as Cheng Shijie is concerned, he belongs to the second or third category. To be precise, Cheng Shijie is just the regent of the Ming Dynasty, and the empress' edict was officially promulgated by the former empress after she took pity on him as regent. It has proper legitimacy. , and has also been recognized by people from all walks of life in Ming Dynasty.

However, Cheng Shijie was not named Zhu, nor was he a vassal king of the Ming Dynasty. His succession to the throne belonged to a position of usurping power. After much deliberation, the Ministry of Rites found Emperor Chongzhen and asked Emperor Chongzhen to give Cheng Shijie the next job as the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty. Zen edict.

The specific process is to first pass the throne to the prince Zhu Cixiang, and then Zhu Cixiang will give the throne to Cheng Shijie on the grounds of his youth, thus showing the legitimacy of Cheng Shijie's accession to the throne.

Throughout the history of the dynasties, deposed emperors and princes have always been the biggest taboo in an empire. From the emperor to his subjects, everyone carefully avoided this minefield and did not dare to touch it, because in the eyes of careerists, one deposed emperor and the other deposed There are so many articles that can be written about the prince!

This kind of thing must be covered up tightly. If it is not covered up, the world will be in chaos and war, and the country will be in danger of falling! But in the eyes of Cheng Shijie, this is nonsense. He can control an army of millions and at the same time make the people of the world live a good life. Let alone Emperor Chongzhen, even if Zhu Yuanzhang is brought back to life, he cannot take back the country of Ming Dynasty.

In fact, if Cheng Shijie had not protected Emperor Chongzhen in every possible way, Emperor Chongzhen would have died suddenly. In a farm located in Jinzhou, Liaodong, this farm is no different from other small villages. However, the official script Yu is stationed here. A company of the Jinzhou Garrison Brigade.

Nearly three hundred soldiers were responsible for protecting Emperor Chongzhen, and were also responsible for monitoring Emperor Chongzhen. Of course, Cheng Shijie was quite good to Emperor Chongzhen, and gave Emperor Chongzhen more than 300 acres of fertile land, plus this courtyard covering an area of ​​more than ten acres. . A yard of ten acres of land, for ordinary people, this is a mansion.

But for Emperor Chongzhen, this place was too small.

This courtyard adopts a Wubao-style architectural style, with a square shape and a back facing south. It has five entrances from the front and the back. There are three spans on the left and right. There are more than 200 houses of various sizes. There is a garden in the yard and more than five acres. a small pond in the ground.

Emperor Chongzhen was busy learning carpentry during this period. He not only built many tables and chairs with his own hands, but also some doors, windows, pavilions and the like. As in history, Wang Chengen never left Emperor Chongzhen. Emperor Chongzhen cultivated the land. At that time, he stood in the scorching sun and swung his hoe.

When Emperor Chongzhen was making tables and chairs, he followed suit. However, after more than four years of hard work, Emperor Chongzhen's health was much better than before. In addition to his skin being slightly darker, his body also became stronger. More importantly, Yes, he now has fifteen daughters and nine sons, six of whom were born within the past four years.

Queen Zhou alone gave birth to four children in four years, with almost no time to rest and no means. There were no contraceptive measures in this era.

Now there is no need for him in national affairs, and the old ministers of the past do not come to see him. Many people have even forgotten the existence of Emperor Chongzhen.

Of course, Empress Zhou was relatively content with her current life. In addition to Concubine Yuan marrying Shen Mingyu, her eldest sister-in-law Empress Zhang also came over to work in the fields or weave. In fact, Emperor Chongzhen didn't have to do anything; You can still eat and drink without worries. Although Cheng Shijie didn't often come to see Emperor Chongzhen, every autumn, various crops from Liaodong, northwest, and Jiangnan would be sent to him.

Dozens of carts of grain and meat for dozens of cattle and sheep were enough for their family to live a life without worries about food and drink. However, this peaceful life was finally broken.

On this day, the sound of horse hooves sounded.

When Emperor Chongzhen heard the sound of horse hooves in the distance, he knew that this was someone coming from outside. Although this village has convenient transportation, there are signs indicating military restricted areas on various traffic roads, and no outsiders usually come in. , In fact, in the past four years, Emperor Chongzhen has not seen any other outsiders except Cheng Shijie.

"It's over!"

Emperor Chongzhen's face was extremely ugly. He looked at Princess Kunxing, Zhu Cixiang and other children beside him, and tears flowed down unconsciously.

As the former king of the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Chongzhen naturally knew very well that Cheng Shijie would want to be the emperor sooner or later. Even if Cheng Shijie did not want to be the emperor, those under him would push Cheng Shijie to become the emperor.

Queen Zhou looked at the tearful Emperor Chongzhen and didn't know what to say.

At this time, Queen Zhou was wearing a cotton brogue and was dressed ordinary, but the problem was that she had an indescribable graceful and noble temperament, and she was holding the newly born Ninth Prince in her arms. This child Not yet full-term, this carefree child reached out to Emperor Chongzhen, as if he wanted Emperor Chongzhen to hug him.

"Is it finally coming?"       "Coming!"

Emperor Chongzhen stretched out his hand to caress the newly born child and choked with sobs: "You really shouldn't have come to our home..."

The baby didn't know that disaster was imminent, but thought Chongzhen was playing with him. He was babbling without knowing what he was talking about, but he seemed very happy.

At this moment, a group of officials came to the courtyard of Emperor Chongzhen. There were fifty or sixty people in total, but most of them were junior officials in cyan or green official uniforms. The leader was an official in his forties or fifties.

"Greetings to Your Majesty!"

The current Minister of Rites, Huang Jin, can be said to have had a very unlucky official career in his life. He was a Jinshi in the second year of Tianqi, entered the Hanlin Academy for further study, and participated in the compilation of "Records of Ming Shenzong". In the sixth year of Tianqi (1626), the eunuch Wei Zhongxian planned to build a living temple on the west side of the Guoxue Museum. The person in charge of the academy planned to assign Huang Jin to take charge of this matter, but he sternly refused.

After Emperor Chongzhen ascended the throne, Huang Jincai returned to the Hanlin Academy. He has successively held the positions of lecturer, branch school, and ceremonial officer. During his term of office, he personally revised the prestigious historical books "Thirteen Classics" and "Twenty-one Histories". This was an official who did not know how to flatter, flatter his superiors, or form cliques. Since the second year of Tianqi, He served as the editor of the seventh rank of the Hanlin Academy. After more than ten years of confusion, he was still a lecturer of the sixth rank.

Huang Jin's greatest luck was meeting Cheng Shijie. When Cheng Shijie was liquidating officials in Beijing, Huang Jin, an official with almost no bad deeds, was almost as rare as Ming officials. Cheng Shijie still didn't believe it. After repeated investigations, he discovered Huang Jin's Real question.

This is an official who is stupid in his studies. He is a rare honest person, and he is a rare honest person. But the problem is that honest people in the officialdom have a miserable life.

However, Huang Jin was promoted to the right minister of the Ministry of Rites, and was responsible for presiding over the work of splitting the rites. After the split of the Ministry of Rites, there was actually only one department of ancestral temples and officials, so in November of the first year of Dingxin, Huang Jin Promoted to Minister of Rites.

"Huang Qing, is that you?"

Emperor Chongzhen sighed and said: "It doesn't matter who it is. My time has come. As an emperor, I should die in an emperor's way. I ask for a whole corpse..."

Huang Jin smiled bitterly and said: "Your Majesty, by order of the regent, I invite you to go to Beijing to attend the new emperor's coronation ceremony!"

Queen Zhou said: "Cheng Qing is not exempt from vulgarity, has he finally reached this point?"

"This... the new emperor has ascended the throne, which is what everyone expected!"

Huang Jin said: "Your Majesty, the Queen, and all the princes, please pack up and go to Beijing with your ministers!"

This sentence fell in the ears of Emperor Chongzhen. This was the final ultimatum given to him by Cheng Shijie, and it also allowed their family to get on the road in good order.

Princess Mianxing and Zhu Zixian have become sensible, and they feel like the sky is about to fall.

But the problem is that now they have no ability or chance to resist. Huang Jin has brought a total of three to four hundred members of the Guards Department, as well as soldiers from the Jinzhou Garrison Brigade. With the combat effectiveness of the Ning Navy, even if Someone can mobilize thousands of people, but I'm afraid there is no chance to get them out.

With Huang Jin's support, Emperor Chongzhen and his family started their journey. They met up with Zhu Weiti, Xiang Hui, Cheng Jialong and others in Jinzhou City, and then took a ship in Jinzhou Port to start their journey to the capital.

While at the military port, Cheng Jialong, the current prince of the Ming Dynasty, and Queen Xiang Hui gave a speech at the port. At this time, Cheng Jialong was wearing Ming-style Mingguang armor, shining with silver, and even Xiang Hui was wearing a military uniform.

With the joy of tens of thousands of people, Cheng Jialong boarded the battleship. This new type of battleship was the Whale Shark-class battleship that had not been officially put into service in the Ming Dynasty.

Whale shark, as the largest fish, is also the largest shark in the sea. Ming Dynasty named this whale shark a new type of warship. This is a super warship with a five-deck layout and can carry 3,000 fully armed soldiers. At the same time, on this warship, With one hundred and nine artillery pieces deployed, it is by far the Ming Dynasty's warship with the largest tonnage and the largest number of artillery pieces.

Emperor Chongzhen watched Cheng Jialong and Xiang Huidu boarding the new battleship Chang'an, and he felt relieved. If they were randomly assigned a ship, the ship would probably sink on the way to the capital, and Emperor Chongzhen and his The whole family will also die due to accidents.

In fact, Emperor Chongzhen thought too much. Cheng Shijie had no intention of killing him at all. This time he went to the capital to participate in the enthronement ceremony. He was really participating in the enthronement ceremony and had no other intentions.

Not only Emperor Chongzhen, Cheng Shijie even found 19 living Ming vassal kings from all over the country, and more than 50 vassal kings of the Ming Dynasty, including the King of Ryukyu, the King of Korea, and the Governor of Venice, to watch the ceremony together.

At the same time, Europe that received the banquet also included the Spanish Empire and the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. There are more than 20 countries including the Kingdom of Portugal, Great Britain, France, and the Holy Roman Empire.

Of course, Tsarist Russia was also invited for the first time. Cheng Shijie planned to turn their enthronement ceremony into a world-wide summit. Anyway, Ming Dynasty now has money and sufficient supplies, and it also has enough money to convene leaders and representatives of various countries.

When it comes to making money, Cheng Shijie is definitely a professional, and this is not a business-as-usual deal.

Cheng Shijie was ready to use this opportunity to show the Ming Dynasty's industrial and technological products to the world. Just when Emperor Chongzhen was anxiously heading to Beijing, envoys from various countries also came to the capital. Beijing was even more lively at this time, making people feel like this The city is full of people.

Cheng Jialong saw through Cheng Shijie's intention. This enthronement ceremony was a huge investment meeting. More than three million taels were sold for advertising fees alone. He had to admit that Daming was really rich now.

This shocked the representatives of various countries. (End of chapter)