Before hanging himself, Chongzhen lifted the table

Chapter 24
Emperor Chongzhen himself did not have time to deal with the confiscated property. His trustworthy people, such as Wang Chengen and others, also had more important things to do.Therefore, Emperor Chongzhen gave the work to Empress Zhou and Prince Zhu Cixiang, asking them to take the newly promoted personnel in the palace to count their belongings, and then pay the salary arrears of the soldiers in the newly formed Beijing camp.At least this is someone he can still trust.

The payment of outstanding wages requires verification of the personnel list and verification of previous payments.To be honest, this takes a lot of time and effort.

Now the new Beijing camp only has 5000 to [-] people, and Emperor Chongzhen arranged them all to Long Live Mountain outside Xuanwu Gate.The Shouhuang Pavilion was newly built here, and it was originally planned to be a place for military training.By the way, this is also the place where Emperor Chongzhen hanged himself to die for his country.When there are more people in the Beijing Camp and the arrangements can no longer be accommodated here, it will be necessary to move to the original Beijing Camp.

Regarding the newly formed Beijing camp, Emperor Chongzhen asked He Zhen to take the lead in preliminary reorganization, and he could also go to the existing Beijing camp to select personnel.One of the key points of the explanation is to focus on the cavalry camp first.

Soon it was lunch time, and Emperor Chongzhen was very busy, still taking care of things while eating.

This time, he dined with Queen Zhou and Zhu Cixiang, and the focus was on talking.

Emperor Chongzhen was chewing his mouth and said to the two of them: "You must have been able to tell this house raid this time. He is usually submissive and seems to be loyal. He may be doing some illegal things behind his back." This will harm the country and the country of Ming Dynasty!"

After Zhu Cixiang heard this, he felt very ashamed. He immediately put down his chopsticks, looked at his father, and said in a low voice: "Father, it was my fault that I almost interceded for them!"

There were so many gold, silver and jewels that dazzled him even if he was a prince.

Queen Zhou was not used to talking during meals, especially when the emperor was talking with food in his mouth.But she also saw that the emperor was really busy, so she didn't say anything.At this time, when he heard his son admitting his mistake, he comforted him: "I really can't tell it on ordinary days, but they actually made so much money behind the scenes. I really don't know how many people have been harmed by them!"

Emperor Chongzhen took another mouthful of vegetables and stuffed it into his mouth, and at the same time said to Zhu Cixi: "I don't blame you. In fact, if Emperor Taizu hadn't asked him to give instructions in his dream, I would have been kept in the dark as well, and I would never know what they were doing behind their backs until my death. of these things.”

Saying this is not the point. The point is what he wants to say later. He changed the subject and then said: "Actually, don't talk about these slaves and outsiders. Even our own family members are not of the same mind as us. What they have done , makes me really angry. You must be mentally prepared, I will kill some people during the big meeting tomorrow."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Cixiang, who had just picked up his chopsticks to eat, stopped immediately, looked up at him in surprise, and asked: "Father, what's wrong with any of my family members?"

Empress Zhou was very surprised when she heard what he said was serious. She frowned her beautiful eyebrows and looked at Emperor Chongzhen and said, "Isn't it possible for my own family?"

After hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen slammed his chopsticks on the table angrily, looked at Queen Zhou, and said angrily: "Then I ask you, the state affairs are like this, the army owes wages, I borrowed money from them, obviously very rich, but He refused to pay and wanted to show off to me, asking the seller to give me the money to slap me in the face. When the bandits invaded the capital, I entrusted him with several children, including the prince of the Ming Dynasty, but he was killed again. Dedicated to thieves to keep them safe. Do you think this kind of family member should be killed?"

Upon hearing this, Queen Zhou's face suddenly turned pale.Because she immediately thought of someone, it felt very possible.

Zhu Cixiang was already angry, and his voice was even louder: "Father, who is it? He deserves to be killed!"

Emperor Chongzhen glanced at Empress Zhou, then looked at Zhu Cihong and said, "Your great-grandfather!"

According to the records of "Ming Tongjian", the three Zhu Cixi brothers were sent to the natal families of Zhou Kui and Tian Hongyu, that is, the natal families of Queen Zhou and Tian Guifei, but in the end they were all sacrificed.

At this time, the chopsticks in Queen Zhou's hand fell to the ground, but she didn't know it at all. She just looked at Emperor Chongzhen, trembling slightly, but said nothing.Zhu Cixiang was also very shocked. After coming to his senses, he said with a little disbelief: "Father, is this serious?"

After he asked this question, he seemed to think that it was Emperor Taizu who told him in a dream and it couldn't be false, so he quickly said: "Grandpa is so stupid..."

How could there be such a grandpa in the world who actually betrayed his biological grandson?

After he couldn't help but curse, Zhu Cixiang remembered and quickly looked at his mother.

At this time, Queen Zhou didn't seem to hear Zhu Cixiang's curse. She just looked at Emperor Chongzhen and slowly stood up and left the table. Her body was still shaking a little, and then she knelt down. She didn't cry out, but her clothes were filled with tears. : "Your Majesty, I deserve to die...I..."

Emperor Chongzhen could see that Queen Zhou's heart was cut by a knife at this moment.

Her biological father sold her biological son, the prince of the Ming Dynasty.

She also hated her father for being greedy about money, but when it came to betraying her son, she no longer hated him, but felt very cold.

Of course, if Taizu had not entrusted him with a dream, and had not searched Wang Zhixin and others to prove the human-faced beast-like mind, but only talked about Zhou Kui's affairs, Queen Zhou might still be lucky and think it would not happen.

However, at this moment, coupled with her understanding of her biological father, she probably knew that this would be true.

No, Queen Zhou was seen with tears streaming down her face, and she kowtowed and went down, saying: "Your Majesty will choose another worthy queen. I just ask Your Majesty not to establish another prince. This has nothing to do with him."

Hearing this, Zhu Cixiang couldn't help crying and shouted: "Queen Mother!"

Emperor Chongzhen stepped into the shoes of Empress Zhou and knew that she was in great pain. He stood up and went over, stretched out his hand to lift up Empress Zhou, and then said with a gentle look: "You are you, and your father is your father. I will punish your father, but I will not implicate you, let alone the child."

Having said this, he became serious again and said: "When the country is in ruins and the family is in ruins, we must work together to save the Ming Dynasty!"

Seeing Empress Zhou looking up at him with blurry eyes, Emperor Chongzhen reached over again, wiped away her tears and said: "Your virtuousness is obvious to all, and I am very satisfied that the harem is under your management. Don't think too much, just help me with your heart and be a good housekeeper."

"As for your father's family, I will give him another chance at the court meeting tomorrow. If he remains the same, I will exile him to Qiongzhou. Whether he lives or dies depends on God's will."

After finishing speaking, he pulled Zhu Cixiang, held their two hands with both hands and said: "According to what Emperor Taizu showed me, our whole family will die in one month. But since Emperor Taizu has appeared, then we Let’s change our destiny together!”

(End of this chapter)