Add Bookmark | Recommend this book | Back to the book page | My bookshelf | Mobile Reading

Free Web Novel,Novel online - All in oicq.net -> Historic -> Qianming

Part One: Penghu Storm Chapter 539 Emperor Chongzhen¡¯s Troubles

Previous page        Return to Catalog        Next page

    Emperor Chongzhen was still upset.

    In view of the severe famine, constant war, and empty internal funds, Chongzhen ordered the Supervisor of Ceremonies to issue an edict ten days ago: This year, during the Queen's Thousand Autumn Festival, all the women who are ordered to enter the palace to pay tribute, pay tribute, and send congratulatory notes will be exempted.  However, after the edict was issued, the queen's mother, Mrs. Ding of Jiading Bofu, wrote two letters in a row, asking for permission to enter the palace to congratulate her, with sincere words.  Because it was rare for the queen to see her mother, Chongzhen suddenly issued an order three days ago to allow Mrs. Ding to enter the palace, but the birthday tribute was exempted.  He thought that since the queen's mother was among the concubines who came to the palace to congratulate her, he should not be too frugal.

    Kunning Palace has three gates: the one facing east and facing a long east street is called Yongxiang Gate; the one facing west and facing West Long Street is called Zengrui Gate; after entering, pass through the patio courtyard, and then there is the main gate facing south, named  It's called Shunzhen Gate.  After Chongzhen passed the Jiaotai Hall and arrived outside the Yongxiang Gate, he did not allow the eunuch guarding the gate to greet him and walked in quietly.  He originally wanted to surprise Queen Zhou by suddenly walking into Kunning Palace, and see how the whole palace was preparing for the celebration the day after tomorrow.  But when he reached Shunzhen's door, he stopped hesitantly.  Last year, although the queen did not have to go to court for her wife to attend the Qianqiu Festival, colorful archways were erected three days ago outside Yongxiang and Zengrui gates and on the east and west long streets, and many luxurious decorations were hung on the first two nights.  The lanterns are jeweled, and the whole courtyard shines with warm red.  Although there is a colorful square this year, it is much simpler than in previous years, with sparse lanterns.  With a sore heart, he turned around and walked out of Zengrui Gate, silently returned to Qianqing Palace, and sat down slumped in front of the imperial case piled with many documents.

    A eunuch saw that the emperor himself did not say where he would stay tonight.  According to the rules of the palace, she came to him and knelt down next to him holding a brocade box.  Open the lid and reveal a row of ivory signs.  Each plate is engraved with a palace name.  If he wanted to stay in a certain palace tonight, he would pull out a tooth tag with the name of that palace engraved on it. The eunuch immediately took the tooth tag to tell the lady of that palace to dress and wait.  But he knelt for a long time before Chongzhen looked at him and shook his head in disgust.  He closed the brocade box and stood up timidly.  Withdrew breathlessly.  The entire Qianqing Palace was enveloped in a heavy and uneasy atmosphere, and another long night began.

    At dawn, Chongzhen got up very early as usual and worshiped the sky in the courtyard of Qianqing Palace.  After returning to the Nuan Pavilion, I ate a bowl of bird's nest soup and then quickly took the chariot to the court.  It was not yet bright yet, and the twilight began to shine on the yellow glazed tiles of the majestic palace.  Because of Concubine Tian's incident, he was even more depressed today than before. He sighed in his heart and said: "The Wanli Emperor often did not go to court for the whole year when he was in Japan, and rarely met with the ministers. Emperor Tianqi also did not go to court for the whole year when he was in Japan.  When I went to court, I didn't personally manage the affairs of the country. The fate of the country was not as difficult as it is today. I worked hard to run the world, and I didn't dare to slack off. However, I couldn't restore Tianxin. Things in the country were getting worse day by day, and I couldn't see any improvement.  Raising military funds to protect our ancestors, unexpectedly the emperor and his relatives stood by and stood aside, and even my beloved concubine spoke on the side of outsiders! Oh my God! How long will it take to stay in this trapped city?

    After a while.  He thought that Yang Sichang, the Supervisor and Assistant Minister, and Chen Xinjia, the Secretary of the Ministry of War, were both people who could do things for him. Xinjia was trying to negotiate peace with Manchuria. It was rare to have these two capable ministers at home and abroad, and he felt a little comforted.

    Today we will go to court at Zuoshunmen, and the ceremony is relatively simple.  Chongzhen was not willing to listen to the reports from various yamen about official business; some court officials reported the severe disasters in their hometowns and begged for reductions in land taxes and donations, but he was even less willing to listen.  Some ministers reported how urgent the "thief situation" was somewhere, and begged to send troops to eliminate it. This made him angry. He said in his heart: "You are in the imperial court, but you don't know the difficulties of the imperial court! Where do the soldiers come from? Where do the wages come from?  ? All in a dream!"

    But he rarely spoke, sometimes just saying: "I understand."

    Then, with a stern look on his face, he asked the Minister of the Ministry of Finance and the left and right ministers to come out of class and ask questions.  Because he has been moody and angry recently, the three ministers felt a chill go down their spines after seeing his expression, and quickly knelt down in front of him.  Because Chongzhen's request for help from Li Guorui was not going well, he forced the Ministry of Household Affairs to quickly think of a way to raise wages a few days ago. Now he looked at these three ministers and asked:

    "Because of the current difficulties in paying military salaries, you ministers in the Ministry of Household Affairs suggest that you temporarily borrow private housing in the capital for one year. I have read the title last night and have issued a decree to grant a one-year temporary loan. This matter must be handled seriously and must not be in vain.  The name of disturbing the people does not help the country. "

    The Minister of the Ministry of Revenue paused and said: "This matter will be handled by Shuntian Prefecture and Daxing and Wanping Counties, and it must be done to the extent that it can help the country's urgent needs."

    Chongzhen nodded and said: "Since you are doing it, you must do it vigorously and resolutely, and don't start at the beginning or end at the end."

    He asked a few more questions from the ministers of the Ministry of War and other government offices, and then withdrew from the court.  Returning to the Qianqing Palace, I changed my clothes, had breakfast, and sat in front of the imperial case to read the documents as usual.  He first read Xue Guoguan's memorial and defended himself, denying that he had swallowed up Shi Cunyin.  Chongzhen was very dissatisfied and almost had an attack, but he immediately held it back.  He did not want to punish the Queen on the day before her Qianqiu Festival.Minister, on the other hand, I still hope to get some help from Xue Guoguan in helping Qi Wan.  After approving the word "Liu Zhong" on Xue Guoguan's memorial, he snorted bitterly and walked out of Qianqing Palace, looking for a place to relax and relieve his depression.  A group of eunuchs and maids followed behind him with bated breath, not daring to let their footsteps make the slightest sound.  When they arrived at the gate of Qianqing, a deacon and eunuch didn't know whether to prepare a chariot to serve him. He took a step forward, bowed and asked:

    "Where do you want your Majesty to drive? Do you want to take a chariot?"

    Chongzhen was hesitant.  Going forward from the Qianqing Palace are the three main halls. Going behind the Jiaotai Hall is the Queen's Kunning Palace, and beyond that is the Imperial Garden.  He had no intention of going to Kunning Palace to see the palace maids and eunuchs busy preparing for tomorrow's Qianqiu Festival, and he was not in the mood to go to the Imperial Garden to see flowers and goldfish.  On normal days, he would naturally go to Chengqian Palace to find Concubine Tian, ??but now she is relegated to Qixiang Palace.  He had never been interested in Concubine Yuan; although there were many other concubines, he had never liked her.  He stopped, looked up at the sky blankly, and remained silent for a long time.  At this moment, I suddenly heard the sound of drumming coming from the east.  He turned around and asked:

    "Where is the music played?"

    A eunuch next to her echoed: "Tomorrow is the Qianqiu Festival for Her Majesty the Queen. The Queen is afraid that there will be many things tomorrow, so she went to Fengxian Hall to pay homage to her ancestors today."

    "Ah. You might as well go to the Fengxian Hall to pay homage first!" Chongzhen said to himself, while remembering that the Queen was the Lord of the Sixth Palace.  He should explain to her the reason for punishing Concubine Tian, ??and also tell her that she secretly asked her father Jiading Bo Zhou Kui to donate tens of thousands of silver to set an example among Qi Wan.  With this thought in mind, he walked out of the Qianqing Gate.

    To go from Qianqing Palace to Fengxian Palace, you should go back through Qianqing Gate and exit from Rijing Gate to the east.  You can reach it by passing through Neidong Yuku and taking the back road.  But because he was confused, he walked out of Qianqing Gate, then walked back north along Dongyi Long Street.  When he arrived at the door of Nijing, he suddenly hesitated.  He did not want to go to Fengxian Hall to disrupt the queen's salute.  Moreover, it was not easy to talk to the queen about Concubine Tian and asking Qi Wan for help in front of the ancestral god.  So he paused for a moment and continued walking north.  The eunuchs thought he was going to Kunning Palace, so one of his attendants hurried to the front to call for him to be picked up by Kunning Palace.  But Chongzhen said softly:

    "I only went to Jiaotai Palace to sit there, not Kunning Palace!"

    After sitting in the Jiaotai Hall for a moment, he felt extremely upset. Then he stood up again, walked out of the hall, and wandered around waiting.  After a while, Zhou Hou came back from Fengxian Hall.  Zhou later saw that his face was melancholy.  He quickly stepped forward and asked:

    "Why is the Emperor here?"

    "I heard that you went to Fengxian Hall to pay homage, so I will wait for you here."

    Zhou Hou asked timidly: "Is there anything waiting for me, Your Majesty?"

    "Do you know that Concubine Tian was relegated to Qixiang Palace?"

    "I heard about it before dusk yesterday." Zhou Hou lowered his head and sighed.

    "Do you know why I punished her?"

    "I still don't know why the emperor divided the concubines. I am the master of the Sixth Palace and cannot set an example for concubines. It is natural that I am guilty of making the Nyonya Emperor of the East Palace so angry. I hope the emperor remembers her, even though she is a bit spoiled and proud.  Besides, it¡¯s not a big mistake. Besides, she has raised three sons for His Majesty. The fifth prince is lively and cute, so the punishment should not be too severe.¡±

    "I also saw that the fifth prince was only five years old, so I didn't punish him strictly."

    "For what purpose?"

    "She is so favored that she dares to communicate with others outside the palace and speak for Li Guorui!"

    Zhou Hou suddenly understood that Concubine Tian had been punished for this, and was shocked in his heart.  After Li Guorui's incident came out, her father Zhou Kui also secretly asked the eunuch of Kunning Palace to send a message, begging her to speak for Li Guorui in front of the emperor.  Knowing that the emperor was suspicious, she ignored him and reprimanded the eunuch.  Now that I heard what Chongzhen said, I was glad that I didn't meddle in other people's affairs.  She lowered her head and thought for a moment, then bravely explained:

    "The family laws of this dynasty are very strict, and the concubines are not allowed to interfere with matters outside the palace. However, Empress Tian may have been entrusted by her father, which is different from the normal communication outside the palace. Furthermore, the royal relatives are all involved with each other,  It is human nature for everyone to care when something happens to a family. Tian Hongyu begged the Empress of the East Palace to speak in front of the Emperor. It is not reasonable to do so, but it is not surprising to ask the Emperor"

    Chongzhen didn¡¯t wait for the queen to finish speaking. He glared and scolded severely: "Nonsense! How dare you ignore the ancestral family law and indulge Concubine Tian!"

    The queen's voice trembled as she said, "I don't dare. Concubine Tian was punished today because of the emperor's excessive pampering. Concubine Tian relied on her favor, and I punished her with courtesy. This made the emperor angry. How dare I indulge Concubine Tian!"  "

    Chongzhen pointed at her and said: "You, you, what did you say!"

    The queen never dared to speak loudly in front of Chongzhen. Now because the emperor scolded her so severely in front of all the eunuchs and maids, she felt very aggrieved and suddenlyWith enough courage, he said with tears in his eyes:

    "Your Majesty, you have forgotten! On New Year's Day last year, because of the famine and wars that raged across the land, the wife was exempted from entering the palace, and only the family members were allowed to come to Kunning Palace to congratulate her. That morning, it was snowing heavily. When Concubine Tian came to congratulate her,  I am angry that Concubine Tian is getting more and more proud every day, and sometimes even I don't look down on me. Your Majesty, you don't care, so I plan to take this opportunity to show Concubine Tian a little bit, to set an example.  I asked Concubine Tian to wait inside the Yongxiang Gate. After a while, I slowly ascended to the throne. After Concubine Tian entered the palace and knelt down to bow, I neither allowed her to talk in the Kunning Palace nor allowed her to sit down.  , without even saying a word, I watched her exit the palace. After a while, Concubine Yuan came to congratulate her. After she had bowed, I stepped down from the throne and pulled her in with a smile.  Nuan Ge talked like a sister. Concubine Tian was angry at the cold treatment by me. Then she became even more angry when she heard about my treatment of Concubine Yuan. In the spring, Concubine Tian told the emperor about it.  I thought I was a couple in trouble, but I didn't get angry, but I blamed me for going too far. "

    No one in the palace dared to refute Chongzhen's words.  He only allowed people to be respectful and obedient in front of him.  At this moment, after hearing the Queen's refutation of his words, saying that he was used to doting on Concubine Tian, ??she couldn't help but became furious, cursed "bastard", and pushed Queen Zhou hard.  Zhou Hou was on the one hand unprepared, and on the other hand her feet were small. She stumbled back and fell to the ground.  The eunuchs and maids on the left and right immediately rushed forward, threw themselves to the ground, knelt at Chongzhen's feet, and shouted softly: "Your Majesty, please calm down! Your Majesty, please calm down!" At the same time, the other two maids quickly helped the Queen up.  Queen Zhou was remembering that she and the emperor were a couple in need in King Xin's residence, so after being helped up by the maids, she blurted out: "King Xin! King Xin!" She covered her face and burst into tears.  The maids were afraid that she would say something else and make the emperor angry, so they quickly helped her onto the phoenix chariot and crowded towards Kunning Palace.  Chongzhen looked at the group of eunuchs and maids who were still kneeling at his feet. He had no place to vent his anger, so he kicked one of the eunuchs, snorted bitterly, and turned around to walk towards Qianqing Palace.

    After returning to Qianqing Palace and sitting there for a while, Chongzhen¡¯s anger subsided.  He originally wanted to talk to the queen about the last resort he had to ask Qi Wan for help, and asked the queen to secretly tell her father to spend tens of thousands of silver as an initiative. Unexpectedly, he became furious and pushed the queen to the ground. He couldn't say a word.  Not spoken.  He regretted that his temper had become worse and worse recently, and at the same time, he felt at a loss because he could not ask the queen to secretly tell Zhou Kui to ask for help.  He endured his annoyance and reviewed the newspapers and memorials sent from various places. Most of them were about disasters, civil unrest and requests for military pay.  There is a memorial written by Yang Sichang. Although he is also asking for military pay, he also reports that he is mobilizing troops to surround Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai at the junction of Sichuan and Hubei in order to exterminate them.  Chongzhen couldn't believe that he could succeed in the battle. He sighed and said to himself:

    "Siege! Siege! Who will be besieged? Every year I say that we will besiege and exterminate the bandits, but they are all empty talk. The state of affairs is like this, but I am besieged in the Forbidden City!"

    Weeks later, she returned to Kunning Palace and cried for a long time. During lunch time, she refused to get out of bed to eat.  The high-ranking palace officials and eunuchs in Kunning Palace came to her in batches and knelt down to plead with her, but she ignored them.  From the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, in view of the misfortune of the previous generation's relatives who were monopolizing power, a system was established: concubines were not selected from the families of royal relatives, senior officials, and high officials, but dignified and beautiful girls were selected from so-called civilian families with innocent family backgrounds.

    All the queens and favored concubines, their families will step by step, very glorious and rich.  Piaotian Literature registered members recommend this work
Didn't finish reading? Add this book to your favoritesI'm a member and bookmarked this chapterCopy the address of this book and recommend it to your friends for pointsChapter error? Click here to report