Ming: I am fake, walking on thin ice

Chapter 73 Queen Mother, are you lonely? I will help you

Dusk, Qianqing Palace.

The setting sun falls on the top of the palace, which is magnificent.

As Zhu Qizhen walked to the palace gate, he heard a fierce quarrel coming from inside. He strode in and saw the empress dowager being pushed violently by another woman.

The Queen Mother stood on the steps, and she fell down. Zhu Qizhen stepped forward and hugged the Queen Mother with his arms.

He put his arms around her waist and pulled her into his arms, looking at the queen mother's beautiful face up close, his eyes full of aggression.

The Queen Mother's heart began pounding and her face turned red instantly.

It was scorching and powerful, giving a huge shock to her, a woman who had been a widow for more than ten years.

"Mother, are you okay?" Zhu Qizhen asked.

"No...it's okay." The Queen Mother quickly pushed him away, looking flustered.

Zhu Qizhen looked up at the woman on the steps. She was wearing a palace dress, still charming and with an arrogant look. He looked at her coldly: "Queen Dowager, are you trying to murder my mother?"

The woman in palace dress was none other than the imperial concubine Hu Shanxiang, Zhu Qiyu's biological mother. She stared at Zhu Qizhen fiercely and roared, "Why did you lock Yu'er up in Fahai Temple? Did this woman ask you to do this?"

Zhu Qizhen's eyes were as sharp as knives.

The concubine and the queen mother had been fighting for decades. The concubine had gone crazy and thought that anyone could harm her and her son.

"If I see you hurting my mother again next time," Zhu Qizhen approached the concubine step by step, with an extremely fierce momentum, "I will wipe out your son and his entire family."

"You...you dare!" The concubine was so frightened that she stepped back repeatedly in panic.

"I dare not? Haha, I have already ordered the death of my two uncles. You know this, right?" Zhu Qizhen's eyes were filled with murderous intent, and his voice was cold. "Do you think there is anything I dare not do?"

The toffee's expression changed drastically in an instant, and her eyes were full of panic and fear.

Zhu Qizhen shouted coldly: "Get out of here now!"

The concubine was so frightened that she trembled all over. She hurriedly walked down the stairs and fled the Kunning Palace in a hurry.

……

The Queen Mother saw this scene with a complicated expression. Zhu Qizhen came to her side, grabbed her hands, and said softly: "Mother, you are too kind. You usually give in to her, which is why she is getting more and more demanding."

"We are family after all." The Queen Mother sighed.

"She doesn't treat us as family." Zhu Qizhen snorted.

The Queen Mother then noticed that her hands were being grabbed, and she immediately pulled them back, her phoenix eyes shone with a hint of coldness: "Your Majesty, you used to be very respectful to the Concubine Dowager."

"That was in the past." Zhu Qizhen sighed, his voice suddenly serious, "The previous Zhu Qizhen died in Tumu Fort. Now I want to be a qualified emperor and create a prosperous era like my great grandfather."

The Queen Mother was slightly stunned when she heard this, and then her beautiful eyes became even colder: "Yes, Your Majesty is not the same as before."

The two looked at each other, almost breaking the window paper. Zhu Qizhen laughed loudly: "Mother, after the death of the late emperor, you must be very lonely for so many years. How about you go out for a walk?"

"No need!" The Queen Mother said coldly, "The late emperor entrusted the country to me, so I have to help him take care of it."

"Why do you have to work so hard, mother? Your last name is not Zhu." Zhu Qizhen said, "After all, this is my Zhu family's kingdom."

The Queen Mother sat down on the chair and said in a deep voice, "It is the Zhu family's kingdom. Your Majesty will remember it."

Zhu Qizhen held his forehead with his hand.

Is it fun to play dumb like this? Your son will never come back. "Mother, I'll take my leave." He bowed and strode away.

The Queen Mother looked at his back, her eyes filled with coldness.

……

The next day, Qianqing Palace.

After Zhu Qizhen left the court, he saw that the imperial desk was filled with memorials. He was shocked: "What's going on? Why are there suddenly so many memorials today?"

The chief eunuch Jin Ying came over and bowed, "Your Majesty, these are sent by the Queen Mother. The Queen Mother has been feeling unwell lately, so these memorials are for Your Majesty to handle."

Zhu Qizhen felt that it was not that simple. The Queen Mother had always been a power-grabber. Even if she couldn't handle it, she would hand over most of the memorials to the cabinet. He sat down and looked at the pile of memorials. He felt again that being a wise ruler was really tiring. Almost no one could be a model worker like Zhu Yuanzhang.

"Get to work." He smiled self-deprecatingly.

Half an hour later, he finally understood why the Queen Mother sent these memorials. These memorials were sent by officials from various provincial governments and even prefectures.

They are all talking about the same issue: the land annexation case. For a long time, local gentry and local officials have occupied a large amount of people's land. How can they give it all up now?

"Send Xu Youzhen, Li Xian, and Yang Guifang," he ordered.

Soon, the three came to the palace, and Zhu Qizhen asked them to read the memorial. After reading it, the three frowned.

Zhu Qizhen spread his hands: "Actually, it's still the same problem! The gentry and landlords have joined forces to cheat the people. This has been the practice in all dynasties, and emperors of all dynasties cannot change it. I don't have such great ambitions, but I'm unlucky. At this time, land annexation has reached its peak, and I have to do something about it!"

Xu Youzhen also had a bitter smile on his face: "I thought that we could start with the princes and then achieve success in one fell swoop. Now it seems that we thought too simply. From the court to the local areas, most officials are actually from wealthy and powerful landlords, so of course they will inevitably protect their interests."

"Taizu actually tried it, and the method was a bit poisonous." Yang Guifang said.

Zhu Qizhen's eyes suddenly showed murderous intent, and he understood what Yang Guifang meant.

……

"You can't eat hot porridge in a hurry." Zhu Qizhen smiled, "We have to plan well before we can start. Yang Guifang, did the cabinet agree to the last list of names?"

Yang Guifang quickly took out a memorial and handed it to Zhu Qizhen, saying, "This is a memorial from the cabinet. There are some changes to the list, but I think this is the best result. Lord Wang knows how to balance things out, and he is worthy of being a minister for decades."

Zhu Qizhen took the memorial and looked at the names. He snorted, "That's it. Has the Queen Mother seen it?"

Yang Guifang nodded: "The Queen Mother agreed. How Lord Wang convinced the Queen Mother is unknown."

Zhu Qizhen rubbed his eyebrows.

How can we replace the people in the court with our own people step by step? How long will it take? We still have to solve the problem from the root and drive the Queen Mother out directly.

In the future, the Ming Dynasty only recognized the emperor's jade seal, and not the empress dowager's golden seal.

"Fuck, my imperial seal is still with the overseas student from the grassland." Zhu Qizhen muttered in his heart, "I have to get the imperial seal."

"Your Majesty, the Minister of Personnel Wang Wen is involved in a case of occupying the people's land. Humph, their Wang family is a big family, and they have done a lot of this." Yang Guifang smiled coldly, "He is a good breakthrough point."

Zhu Qizhen spread his hands and said, "What are we waiting for? Call Shi Biao and let the Jinyiwei target Wang Wen."

He thought that if the Minister of Personnel was replaced by one of his own, it would be much easier to arrange officials.

Seeking tickets, all kinds of tickets



(End of this chapter)