Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 607 Nine Lotus Bodhisattva
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone expressed their agreement. They all knew Emperor Chongzhen too well. With his personality, he would indeed do this, and no one would be able to escape when the time came.

Therefore, this matter must be dealt with quickly and the problem must be solved before Emperor Chongzhen attacks his next target, because no one knows who Emperor Chongzhen’s next target will be, it could be you, it could be him, or even more likely it could be yourself.

But the problem is that it is not so easy to resolve this matter. Even Wuqing Hou Li Guorui ended up like this. Emperor Chongzhen is now determined. Can direct confrontation with these people make Emperor Chongzhen change his decision?

For a moment, everyone looked at each other, not knowing what to do. Could they all run to the emperor and cry out? How would this be any different from what Li Guorui did?

"I have an idea!" suddenly, the slightly plump man spoke.

Everyone instantly turned their eyes to him, but the slightly fat man did not tell him his method right away. Instead, he said in a low voice, "My method is a bit risky, and it is difficult for us to do it alone. We need to find someone to do it together. More importantly, once this method is implemented, there is no turning back for us."

"If you have a solution, tell me! There is no turning back now. If we lose our wealth, we would be better off dead than just having a reputation. If you have any solution, tell me quickly."

"Yes, yes, yes! Since he is so unkind, why should we worry? Just tell me what you want to do."

Everyone was talking at once and urging him to do it. Seeing how anxious everyone was, the slightly plump man immediately spoke out the solution he had thought of.

As the slightly plump man spoke, everyone was surprised at first, then frowned, and then showed a look of fear, but then they thought of their own wealth and the emperor's coercion, and their expressions became firm again.

"I think this method is good!" After the first person expressed his agreement, the others also expressed their willingness to do so one after another. Moreover, this method would not only make Emperor Chongzhen completely give up the idea of ​​seeking help, but also use this incident to warn Emperor Chongzhen, making him clearly aware that although the Ming Dynasty was the Ming Dynasty of the Zhu family, it was also their Ming Dynasty. Even if he was the emperor, he could not do whatever he wanted. Once everyone was forced into a corner, they also had the means to check and balance and threaten the emperor.

With everyone's agreement, they began to discuss this under the candlelight, in order to perfect the method just proposed, and strive to make this matter safe and sound without any leaks.

Until late at night, the candlelight was still on in the room. It stayed on for almost the entire night. Until the early morning of the next day, the conspirators left one after another and went about their respective business according to the decision they had made after discussion...

It took three days to confiscate the Wuqing Marquis's mansion. Except for leaving some property to Li Guorui's descendants, including Li Guorui's half-brother Li Guochen, most of the property was taken away by Emperor Chongzhen.

When Emperor Chongzhen learned from Wang Chengen that he had obtained a total of about 560,000 taels of silver, plus five shops, 1,700 acres of land and two manors outside the city, he immediately smiled.

These gains have far exceeded his expectations. A rough calculation shows that he has obtained almost 800,000 taels from Li Guorui, which is twice the 400,000 taels he had originally mentioned.

With these gains, the so-called borrowing had a good start, and he could have more money on hand. After sending 400,000 taels of silver to the Ministry of Revenue as agreed before, Emperor Chongzhen asked Wang Chengen to cash out the remaining part and put it into his own treasury.

His inner treasury had been spending more than earning in the past few years, but now it finally had some income. If the next borrowing had the same effect, then it wouldn't be long before not only the court's financial problems would be solved, but even his own inner treasury would be full again.

Emperor Chongzhen felt very happy when he thought of this. He was ready to make further efforts and was thinking about who to ask for money next. This time he had to strike while the iron was hot and get more silver back.

Just when Emperor Chongzhen was thinking about who to seek help from next or whether to seek help from several people at the same time, news suddenly came from the harem that his favorite fifth prince Zhu Cihuan had fallen seriously ill.

Upon hearing the news, Emperor Chongzhen was shocked. He quickly put down his work and rushed to Concubine Tian's palace to visit the fifth prince. When he arrived there, he saw Concubine Tian in tears. Her once beautiful face had now become haggard.

The usually lively and lovely Fifth Prince Zhu Cihuan was lying on the bed. His originally rosy face had turned sallow, his eyes were closed, and he was breathing weakly.

"How could the prince be like this?" Seeing this, Emperor Chongzhen asked angrily.

Concubine Tian wiped her tears and told Emperor Chongzhen that the prince was fine the day before, able to eat and run, but he suddenly fell ill yesterday for some reason. He was dizzy and vomited at first, and the imperial physician said it was a minor illness. He got slightly better after taking the medicine. She thought it was a common children's disease, but she didn't expect that the fifth prince would become like this after just one night, and she didn't know what was going on. Emperor Chongzhen summoned the imperial physician to ask, and the imperial physician kowtowed and said that there was no problem with the pulse diagnosis before, and the medication was also normal. The fifth prince did get better after taking the medicine, and all of this can be checked in the medical records. But after one night, the fifth prince's condition worsened, and the imperial physician could not diagnose why it happened. Moreover, after the fifth prince fell into a coma, he kept saying things that ordinary people could not understand, which confused the imperial physician and he could not judge the situation.

Hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen was even more furious. The Fifth Prince was seriously ill, and you, as the imperial physician, couldn't figure out what was going on? Could it be that this wasn't a disease but a curse?
Unexpectedly, as soon as these words were spoken, the imperial doctors looked at each other but said nothing. This reaction made Emperor Chongzhen's heart skip a beat and the hair on his back stood up.

At this moment, the maid who was serving the fifth prince suddenly said that the fifth prince seemed to be waking up. Upon hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen did not bother to bother the imperial physician anymore, and hurried over to sit on the edge of the bed, staring at the fifth prince who was slowly waking up, with a nervous look on his face.

"My son! My son! I am your father! My son!"

"Father...Father..." The fifth prince slowly woke up and opened his eyes. When he saw Emperor Chongzhen in front of him, he smiled.

"Don't be afraid, my son. I have just got a minor illness. Take the medicine well and he will be fine after a few days of rest..." Emperor Chongzhen, who loved the Fifth Prince, comforted him softly. Just as he was about to call the imperial physician to take the Fifth Prince's pulse, the Fifth Prince suddenly stared at Emperor Chongzhen and spoke in a tone that was totally inconsistent with his age.

"Father... Bodhisattva Jiulian said that the emperor treats his relatives by marriage poorly and will kill all his sons..."

As soon as these words were spoken, Emperor Chongzhen's face changed drastically, and Concubine Tian beside him was even more shocked. She was so scared that her legs went weak and she fell to the ground.

"Emperor...Emperor...Who taught you to say this? Who!"

"Father..." The fifth prince called Emperor Chongzhen softly, and then, before he could continue, he fell into a deep sleep and would not wake up no matter how much Emperor Chongzhen called him.

"Your Majesty... Huan'er he...?" Concubine Tian barely stood up with the help of the palace maid. Her face was pale and her voice was trembling as she spoke.

"Tell me! Is it you? Is it you?" Emperor Chongzhen had a ferocious expression on his face and grabbed Concubine Tian and shouted.

"If it's not me, how could it be me? This is my Huan'er!" Concubine Tian replied subconsciously.

"Yes...it can't be you...this is our prince, it can't be you..." Emperor Chongzhen suddenly came to his senses. He would not suspect anyone but Concubine Tian. How could there be a mother in the world who would use such means to harm her own son?
"Is it you? Or you? Or you...?" His sharp eyes swept over the maids and eunuchs beside him. These maids and eunuchs were frightened and knelt down and kowtowed, saying that they didn't know anything about it, and never told the fifth prince anything. Moreover, the fifth prince's condition worsened last night and he never woke up until the emperor came.

If the emperor doesn't believe it, he can wait until the fifth prince wakes up and ask him. How could slaves like them be so bold as to do such a thing? It's really unfair!

"So it's you...?" Finally, Emperor Chongzhen cast his eyes on the doctors kneeling outside. But when he saw the doctors' blank expressions, not knowing what was going on, he was puzzled again. Who instigated the Fifth Prince to say such a thing? Could it be that the Nine Lotus Bodhisattva was using the Fifth Prince to warn him? You know, the Nine Lotus Bodhisattva is the Taoist name of Empress Dowager Li. Could it be that the long-dead Empress Dowager Li was dissatisfied with what he had done and took her anger out on the Fifth Prince?
As the saying goes, a gentleman should not talk about strange things. Chongzhen was the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, the supreme emperor. How could he believe in these things? But the words of the fifth prince were like a needle piercing his heart, making Emperor Chongzhen shocked and terrified.

Emperor Chongzhen would rather believe that someone instigated the Fifth Prince to say this, but he could not determine who was instigating it. Judging from common sense, the palace maids and eunuchs in Concubine Tian's palace were the most likely suspects, and the imperial doctors were also suspects, but he could not tell which one it was.

Even if they were found out, Emperor Chongzhen felt that he was definitely not the mastermind, and the real culprit was the person behind them. Moreover, Emperor Chongzhen understood the meaning of this sentence, and directly targeted him for using the nobles and relatives to attack the nobles and relatives, accusing him of not treating the nobles and relatives well, especially attacking his own uncle, which led to the punishment from heaven.

True and false, false and true. Emperor Chongzhen knew that someone was stirring up trouble, and that it was directly directed at his favorite fifth prince, who was threatening him through the fifth prince's mouth.

Emperor Chongzhen was shocked and terrified that the emperor of the Ming Dynasty could be threatened in this way. He suddenly remembered his brother, Emperor Tianqi, who died after falling into the water. He was horrified and frightened.

Since they can treat the Fifth Prince in this way and even instigate him to say such things, doesn't it mean that if I don't stop, these people will use the same method to deal with me?
Thinking of this, Emperor Chongzhen's body trembled involuntarily. Half of the trembling was due to anger about the Fifth Prince's matter, and the other half was due to fear. He was completely shaky and almost couldn't stand.

(End of this chapter)