Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 438: I am not worthy of my position

Chapter 438: I am not worthy of my position
The current emperor is in his prime and still has the ability to turn the tide. If we fail to restrain him while he is still young, who knows if there will be another Xuanzong when all the old ministers have passed away?

Since being summoned into the court, Liu Zongzhou rarely engaged in acts of confrontation. Even though he saw Zhu Cilang's power growing, he just watched quietly and did not rush out.

But limiting imperial power was ingrained in the bones of Ming Dynasty's civil officials.

During the 300 years since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, the struggle between civil servants and the emperor lasted throughout, with one side gaining while the other declining, but there was no fundamental change.

When it comes to this level, it is impossible for a certain person or a small group to control it. If you look closely, you will find that the matter is driven by interests.

Of course, these benefits are not entirely economic.

Whether it is to prevent the dominance of imperial power or to highlight the origin of the national system.

In short, their motives will eventually manifest themselves in the form of political struggles, and these political struggles all have some meaning of pointing east and hitting west.

Just like what happened today, on the surface it seems that these old masters are just worried that the Ming Dynasty will be disrupted by foreign relatives again, but who among those who are qualified to understand the inside story of this matter is not a discerning person?

The Xu family has few members, Xu Yinjue is conservative and afraid of trouble, and the Ming Dynasty is more wary of foreign relatives than of tigers. His Xu family simply does not have the ability to disrupt the government. Their purpose in taking advantage of such things is to fight for the right to speak.

To be honest, Liu Zongzhou had no intention of making a big deal out of this matter.

In his original plan, with the opposition from court officials and Xu Yinjue, His Majesty should have retreated and looked for other ways to turn the situation around. And they, the civil servants, could use this matter to show the emperor, whose power was growing day by day, that their own strength could not be ignored, and thus restore the balance of the court.

But he had not expected that the emperor, who usually acted according to the rules, would ride out of the palace in public, forcing them to make a fuss to this extent.

He knew very well that Xu Yinjue had already explained the pros and cons to his daughter, and it would be difficult for the emperor to reverse the situation after seeing him in person. However, the matter was limited to a few discussions in the court and the situation got out of control. The price they had to pay was worlds apart.

The Xu family is about to lose power.
Looking at the little emperor with a flushed face, Liu Zongzhou suddenly felt a little lost.

He was not afraid of death, and he knew that the emperor would not kill him. However, after all this trouble, he would no longer have the opportunity to realize his ambitions. Missing out on this opportunity for revival was an extremely unbearable price for Liu Zongzhou, who always loved his reputation.

Fortunately, he won in the end. Although he was dismissed because of his advice, this will leave a heavy mark in history books.

With this in mind, Liu Zongzhou calmly looked at the little emperor who was on the verge of rage, and his sight inevitably included Xu Shaoyue. But when he was waiting for the little emperor to explode, the girl who had been silent all the time suddenly raised her head high, and then took two steps forward to block the emperor.

"Mr. Liu, you may have forgotten that the Queen Mother had promised me to be your Majesty's concubine a while ago. Seeing me today does not count as forcing your way into my backyard."

Lost. Lost?

He thought about being beaten to death by the furious emperor; he also thought about the emperor controlling his emotions and seeking revenge on him in other ways; he even thought about his entire family being implicated and brought down to earth, but he never thought that he would be defeated by a word from a girl.

In his eyes, women are just accessories of men. As long as Xu Yinjue backs down, a little girl can't make any waves at all.

But now, not only was the situation he had planned with so much difficulty ruined by this sentence, but the crime of "slandering the emperor" also fell firmly on him.

But why?!

As his thoughts turned, he suddenly turned his attention to Xu Yinjue, but when he saw the stunned expression on his face, he had to admit that he had missed the cause and effect.

"I lost my composure in panic, please punish me, Your Majesty!"

Liu Zongzhou was, after all, a great scholar, and even when the situation suddenly changed, he maintained his composure. When everyone present was waiting for the emperor's decision, he was staring at the girl's bun in a daze.

The victory or defeat of this battle was quite crucial, but he was not the same person as before after all. The civil officials wanted to use the same methods they used against other emperors to deal with him, but it would be futile in the end.

He was convinced of this.

In the final analysis, as all the arrangements are implemented one by one, the national economy and people's livelihood of the Ming Dynasty will inevitably be gradually firmly controlled by him. Even if he does not use violent means, the civil service group represented by Liu Zongzhou and even the local forces behind them will be eliminated by the changes of the times.

And this failure will become a trivial topic of conversation many years later.

But why did this girl suddenly stand up?

"Are you not afraid anymore?"

After asking hesitantly, Zhu Cilang slightly turned his body to the side. When he saw Xu Shaoyue's forced calm expression, his heart couldn't help but warm up, and his eyes were filled with deep love.

"Your Majesty, although Mr. Tai's actions were inappropriate, I hope you will be lenient with him considering his original intentions."

The two were about to stare at each other when Huang Daozhou's voice came over. Then Zhu Cilang lowered his head again, and after looking at Liu Zongzhou who was lying on the ground, he said with disappointment.

"Since I ascended the throne, I have worked hard and braved arrows myself. Today, I wear only a piece of torn armor and eat ordinary food." Zhu Cilang closed his eyes, as if he was extremely disappointed with what his ministers had done today. After three or two breaths, he sighed deeply: "I know myself well and know that I am far from being a wise ruler, but I never thought that in your eyes, I am just like a beast!!!"

"Your Majesty! You must not defile yourself like this! Even if we are as vicious as snakes and scorpions, we would not have such thoughts!"

"Your Majesty! We, your subjects, have absolutely no such intentions!"

"His Majesty!!!"

Heart-piercing words.

Really heartbreaking words.

No matter what everyone thought, and no matter whether the imperial power was an eyesore or not, no one could remain calm when Zhu Cilang's words were heard, and Xu Shaoyue's courtyard was immediately drowned in the sound of kowtows.

"Since I am so immoral, I have no face to be the emperor anymore, Mr. Qian."

As soon as he finished speaking, Qian Qianyi looked up at Zhu Cilang, but the moment he looked up he heard a voice that was so terrifying that it made his heart tremble.

"Please ask your cabinet to issue an order stating that I am not virtuous enough to abdicate voluntarily, and you can choose a suitable one from the royal family."

"Your Majesty! No!"

"Your Majesty! I am waiting for the death penalty!"

"Your Majesty! Why is it so?"

Hearing the heart-wrenching cries of the ministers present, Zhu Cilang looked at Xu Shaoyue in front of him. When he saw her eyes widened in shock at the scene, he smiled and asked, "I'm not the emperor anymore. Are you still willing to marry me?"

"Ah."

Xu Shaoyue responded instinctively, and then she realized what had happened. But before she could say anything else, Zhu Cilang shouted to the outside of the courtyard: "Yiqing! Yiqing!" After a burst of armor clashing, Hu Yiqing, whose face was red with anger, appeared near the gate of the courtyard. He glared at Liu Zongzhou who was still lying on the ground, and then he shouted back: "Your Majesty!"

"Do you have a place to stay in Yingtian?"

"There is a yard."

"That's fine. Since I'm going to abdicate, I can't stay in the palace any longer. I'll live with you for a few days, and when I'm settled, I'll come to the Duke's Mansion to propose marriage."

Hearing this, Hu Yiqing opened his mouth, not knowing whether to respond. At this moment, Qian Qianyi threw himself at Zhu Cilang's legs and started howling at the top of his lungs.

"Your Majesty! You are the master of the Ming Dynasty's revival! You must not be treated with contempt by such stupid words!"

"Mr. Qian, please don't be like this. There are thousands of royal family members in the Ming Dynasty, and there are more than one or two who are interested in the throne. The Tartars will have to wait for a year or two. You can discuss with Mr. Liu to find a suitable emperor."

After avoiding Qian Qianyi without leaving a trace, Zhu Cilang said something and walked straight out of the yard.

He kept saying that he wanted to abdicate, but no one dared to stop him. However, when he reached the gate of the courtyard, he suddenly stopped.

"Mr. Liu, you have to take good care of yourself. If anything happens to you, I, the deposed emperor, will become a real beast."

As soon as he finished speaking, the sound of armor colliding was heard again. When the sound gradually faded away, the atmosphere in the courtyard had completely frozen, and Liu Zongzhou collapsed to the ground as if all his strength had been drained.

It’s over.

It's all over.

If he was beaten to death, he would leave a good reputation; if he was dismissed, he would be famous in the scholar circles. But now...
It’s over.

It's all over.

A lifetime of reputation was destroyed in just one incident. Not to mention how history books would record it, even among the scholars,
So poisonous.

Those who are greedy for power will not object, and those who are afraid of death will not dare to object. Even if there are a few who want to be beaten in the court, they will give up the idea after this incident. Who can restrain the emperor in the future?
When Liu Zongzhou thought of this, he felt his mind was empty, and he didn't have any thoughts at all. But when Huang Daozhou was about to help him up, he saw Qian Qianyi raising his finger.

"When Hongguang fled south, only your majesty and the old and weak like me were defending Yingtian in the vast Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Now the Tartars have been beaten so badly that they have no power to fight back. You corrupt scholars actually compare our emperor and father to the beasts of the Northern and Southern Dynasties!
"Okay, okay, okay, since your Majesty has been forced to abdicate by you, I will also give up the position of Prime Minister to you. When the Tartars come again, I want to see how you, Yi Yin and Huo Guang, can show your skills! Goodbye!"

Seeing this situation, Huang Daozhou, who was Liu Zongzhou's close friend, only chased for two steps and then stood there. Then he looked at Xu Yinjue who had not yet come to his senses, and then looked at Liu Zongzhou who was lying on the ground. After a long while, he could only let out a long sigh.

"What should I do?"
-
Yingtian City was very large, so large that more than 100,000 troops could barely cover the city walls. However, Yingtian City was also very small, so small that the news from the Duke of Wei's Mansion had spread in a short period of time.

For the people, this was like a bolt from the blue.

No one understood why the emperor was forced to abdicate by court officials just because he went to see his wife who had not yet married him.

But for all officials, this is a signal.

Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, many officials have been willing to offend the emperor in order to gain a good reputation.

This is of course a very risky behavior, but the benefits are enough to make people who seek fame take the risk.

But now.
Everyone knows that Your Majesty is only retreating to advance, but after this incident, the reputation that Liu Zongzhou has accumulated for half his life will inevitably disappear completely. In the future, if anyone dares to "invite a court battle", he will probably have to think about whether he has the reputation of Mr. Tai.

"The way things are done in the Celestial Empire is probably going to change."

As a foreign envoy, it was Jin Yingyuan's duty to find out all kinds of information about the Celestial Empire. However, today's unexpected events made this Ryukyu doctor who claimed to understand the Celestial Empire a little confused.

He knew that something had gone wrong during the ceremony held to celebrate the triumphant return of the Ming Emperor, but he had not imagined that the incident would develop to such an extent.

According to past experience, when a minister defied the emperor, the Ming emperor would either have to accept the matter with a wry smile or give him a beating in court and depose him.

On the surface, such results seemed to be very different, but he knew that those ministers who had contradicted the emperor would certainly hope to be beaten in court and deposed, and some with impure intentions even wanted to die under the beating.

After all, the Ming Dynasty has a history of thousands of years, and pleasing the emperor is only a temporary thing. But if one can die for "advising" the emperor, then one's name will be passed down through the ages.

But the final result was far beyond Jin Yingyuan's expectations.

The emperor who turned the tide was indeed extraordinary. His tactic of retreating to advance not only made all the Shangshu's plans come to nothing, but his reputation would also be completely reversed because of "Emperor Ling Po".

This kind of method is really heartbreaking.

"Doctor, what does the Celestial Empire have to do with us? If we return too late, I'm afraid His Majesty will be humiliated by the Japanese again."

Seeing Jin Yingyuan sighing over trivial matters, his deputy envoy couldn't help but complain.

The last time they came to the court, the Ming Dynasty was in chaos. They were not able to receive any rewards but were instead severely punished by the Japanese.

Now that the Emperor of the Celestial Empire is threatening to abdicate, their pilgrimage will inevitably be delayed by this unexpected event.

To be honest, the deputy envoy didn't care about being hit a few times and being scolded a few times. He just felt extremely uncomfortable when he thought that the prince would be humiliated by the Japanese because he failed to complete the task in time.

After he finished speaking, the room fell silent. No one knew whether it was because of the anger at the Japanese's cunning or the worry about the prince's situation.

Over the years, the Japanese in Satsuma Domain falsely paid tribute to the Celestial Empire in the name of Ryukyu. By this time, they had not only developed a very effective method of deception, but also found the weak points of Ryukyu officials.

Even though the Ryukyu officials who were sent to the Ming Dynasty wanted to seek help from the Celestial Empire, they did not dare to take that important step due to the various precautions and the Ming Dynasty's situation.

But now.
"The emperor seems to be very concerned about maritime affairs."

"It seems so. I heard that the battle between Taiwan and Taiwan made that red-haired devil cry for his parents, and even the French wanted to marry their princess to Taiwan."

As soon as he finished speaking, the deputy envoy seemed to have thought of something and stood up immediately.

"Don't think about that. If the Celestial Empire is still the same as before, it would be a small matter for us to lose our lives, but what if the prince is insulted?"

Seeing the deputy envoy's behavior, Jin Yingyuan tried to comfort him, but his eyes flickered and no one knew what he was thinking.

(End of this chapter)

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