Emperor Chongzhen looked at Tian Hongyu deeply, then slowly said, "Well, I will reward them both with official positions. Since Hou Fangyu is a talented man from Jiangnan, let him be the prefect of Jiaxing, and Ling Li, let him be the prefect of Huzhou. My dear Tian, you will take this decree to them."

Emperor Chongzhen waved his sleeves meaningfully. Wang Chengen understood his meaning and quickly announced the adjournment of the court in a shrill voice. Looking at the desolate back of Emperor Chongzhen, except for Hong Chengchou who felt a little sad for Emperor Chongzhen, the other ministers were busy discussing and expressing their opinions on the current situation. Tian Hongyu was very happy that he could get such a result in the end. As long as this door was opened, future situations would be much easier to deal with. As for whether Emperor Chongzhen was sad or not, it had nothing to do with him, Tian Hongyu.

Emperor Chongzhen left the harem in a depressed mood. A delicate figure walked towards him. Emperor Chongzhen glanced at the person and found that it was his daughter, Princess Changping Zhu Hui (female). Emperor Chongzhen now has two daughters, and Princess Changping is the eldest daughter. Usually, Emperor Chongzhen is busy with state affairs and rarely sees them, but Emperor Chongzhen loves his children very much. Although Emperor Chongzhen is cold to others, he still has some fatherly appearance to his own children. This has a lot to do with the situation when Emperor Chongzhen was young.

"Father, look, this is the perfume my mother gave me." Princess Changping, who is only a little over twelve years old, is still a little girl at heart. When she has something, she will inevitably show off in front of her father. Princess Changping's biological mother is not Queen Zhou. Princess Changping's own mother died early and was later adopted by Queen Zhou.

Emperor Chongzhen saw the small bottle of perfume in his daughter's hand, and his heart twitched with pity. Born in the palace, these perfumes and other things would not be rare, but Emperor Chongzhen was an extremely frugal emperor. Now, he had no money on hand, so he was very materially disadvantaged for his children.

"Hmm, where does mother's perfume come from?" Although Emperor Chongzhen felt that he had let his children down, he was still very strict in disciplining them. The only one who really dared to get close to Emperor Chongzhen was Princess Changping.

"My father, the emperor's uncle, came to the palace. I heard that several monks from Xiangguo Temple who had traveled overseas had brought a lot of things with them and were distributing them to the officials in the capital. Among them were a lot of perfumes." The Duke of Changping did not know why the monks were distributing perfumes, but he just told the truth.

"What are those monks going to do?" Emperor Chongzhen frowned, as if he felt that this matter was not simple, as if there was some conspiracy. You know, these so-called high monks actually distributed perfume-like things to officials, which was inconsistent with the intelligence and reason. Moreover, Emperor Chongzhen knew that these monks traveling overseas were related to the overseas Prince Tang.

"Oh, my uncle said that those monks came this time to represent that Prince Tang, and that we are all Han Chinese and one family and can kill each other." Although Princess Changping was young, she was a smart girl. When she saw Emperor Chongzhen frowning, she knew that something was wrong and carefully told him what she had heard.

"Humph, this is outrageous! Do you think I'm just a decoration? Must I kill these monks?" Anger flashed in Emperor Chongzhen's eyes. As soon as he heard the order, he knew that these monks were here to instigate rebellion. However, they were so blatant, which was beyond Emperor Chongzhen's expectation. As the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, he couldn't help but feel angry when he was treated like this.

"Father, I also heard from my uncle that the monk vouched for the Tang King in front of him and the others. He said the Tang King didn't care about the throne. He only wished for the Han people to prosper. He only wished that the Han people's country would always be the Celestial Empire. And... my uncle also helped those monks bring a letter to my mother..." Princess Changping's voice finally became very small. She also knew that this situation seemed to be nothing simple. Finally, she felt a little timid.

"What... idiot! I'm afraid someone else sent you to tell me that." Emperor Chongzhen was indeed quite talented. Historically, he had done much to save the Ming dynasty. If it weren't for the natural and man-made disasters that befell him, perhaps the Ming dynasty could have truly been revived. After hearing what his daughter had said, although he was furious, he quickly understood. He was afraid someone had deliberately told his daughter to repeat what she had said.

"Father, no one told me this. I overheard it myself." Princess Changping shook her head, indicating that she hadn't been instructed to say this. Though young, she knew a few things. If she had overheard this, then what was wrong? Her father wouldn't punish her too harshly. If she had been ordered to do this, then she wasn't guilty. But her father would definitely punish the person she accused of ordering her.

"Fool. You've been taken advantage of." Emperor Chongzhen touched the head of Princess Changping lovingly with his hand and sighed.

Emperor Chongzhen, determined to clarify his daughter's words, immediately sent him to Empress Zhou's crypt. Empress Zhou was a rare example of virtuous empresses in history. Although her family wasn't particularly impressive, she was a truly virtuous person. The fall of the Ming Dynasty was a catastrophe with lasting consequences for the Han people. The late Ming Dynasty boasted not only an extremely diligent emperor like Chongzhen, but also two exceptionally virtuous empresses, Zhang Yan and Zhou Yufeng. Unfortunately, they were powerless to resist. When Li Zicheng captured the capital, not only did Emperor Chongzhen commit suicide for his country, but Empress Zhang and Zhou, two other empresses of the late Ming Dynasty, also committed suicide for their country. This is undoubtedly a tragedy for the Han people of this era.

Although Emperor Chongzhen was a man of great respect, he still trusted Empress Zhou. Therefore, after entering Empress Zhou's crypt, he did not vent his anger on her. Empress Zhou also seemed to understand the reason for Emperor Chongzhen's visit. After paying her respects to him, she handed him an unopened letter.

Emperor Chongzhen took the letter and glanced at the cover, but was stunned for a moment. It said: The Great Ming Empire

The letter personally received by His Majesty was signed: Tang Jing from Changzhou.

It had been a long time since anyone called Emperor Chongzhen Zhu Youjian. This feeling was unfamiliar, and Emperor Chongzhen was slightly startled. After tearing open the envelope, there was a piece of letter paper inside. There was not much written on it: Your Majesty Youjian, I apologize for the inconvenience of writing this letter to you. You and I are both Han Chinese. Fighting among ourselves can only please those people in the world who have evil ambitions towards us Han Chinese. But I think you and I have to fight for this because the interest groups we represent are different, and many emotions are beyond our control. The most important thing is What is wrong is that the lower classes that Your Majesty represents are extremely corrupt and have seriously hindered the development of our Chinese civilization and the Han people. I have to eradicate those corrupt lower classes, but I respect Your Majesty in my heart that you are one of the few diligent emperors in history. Your Majesty is not a king who has ruined the country, but your ministers are ministers who have ruined the country. Who can understand your Majesty's painstaking efforts? These ministers are a group of parasites who only care about their own selfish interests and ignore the country and the nation. Like Your Majesty, they all hate these parasites. Do you know what Your Majesty thinks?

Today, Your Majesty and I make a pact: I will not attack the capital within five days. However, if I manage to capture it after five days, I hope Your Majesty will forgive me. I also hope Your Majesty will take care of yourself and not commit suicide. Of course, I also hope Your Majesty will explore the world during this time. We Han people have so many interests to pursue. Your Majesty, confined to the small palace, is missing out on so much of the world's benefits. I sincerely hope Your Majesty can leave the palace and visit Daming City...

Emperor Chongzhen slowly put the letter away, his expression changing for a while. After a long pause, he heaved a sigh of relief and murmured, "I am not a king who has lost his country, but my ministers are ministers who have lost their country..."

Empress Zhou watched as Emperor Chongzhen's face changed. Although she didn't know what was written in the letter, she also knew the origin of the letter. The change in Emperor Chongzhen's face at this time showed that the letter had deeply touched him. Looking at the helplessness and desolation that flashed in Emperor Chongzhen's eyes at the end, Empress Zhou couldn't help feeling sad. This man of hers had put a lot of thought into the Ming Dynasty. He had been worried about his hair since he was in his twenties, but now, he was like an old man. Every wrinkle on his face represented how much bitterness Emperor Chongzhen was in his heart.

"Your Majesty..." Empress Zhou called softly, her voice choked. People say that there is no family affection in the imperial palace, but Empress Zhou has a trace of true feelings for Emperor Chongzhen. Although Empress Zhou is not as favored by Emperor Chongzhen as Concubine Tian, the relationship between the two is like that of an ordinary couple, with the traditional kind of respectful relationship.