"Who do you think is the real culprit behind this?"

"This matter is of great importance, and I dare not speak rashly."

"Then investigate, investigate thoroughly! You are not allowed to sleep until the answer is clear!" Chongzhen said angrily.

As the emperor of a dynasty, he was assassinated in the capital.

Without the armor protection, he would probably have died.

The person behind the scenes blatantly attempted to assassinate the emperor. How audacious!

"Wang Chengen drafted an edict. The emperor was assassinated and the crown prince moved south. Tonight, martial law is imposed in the capital! To ensure the crown prince's safety, except for the city guards, the rest of the three camps will be stationed outside the imperial city. The patrol camp, the Jinyiwei, and the East Factory will assemble outside the Meridian Gate and wait for orders. In addition, one thousand people will be drawn from the East Factory and the Jinyiwei to escort the crown prince to Nanjing."

"As you wish!"

After Chongzhen finished speaking, Wang Zhixin asked carefully, "Your Majesty, the Duke Dingguo's Mansion is now surrounded by heavy siege. What is Your Majesty's will?"

"How is the confiscation of property going?" Chongzhen did not respond to Wang Zhixin, but asked about the progress of the confiscation of property.

"Your Majesty, the homes of Wei Zaode and Wang Zhengzhi have been searched, and the Duke Cheng's residence has not yet been searched when we heard that Your Majesty was attacked."

"You have two hours to confiscate the Duke Cheng's mansion, otherwise I will punish you for all your crimes! As for the Duke Ding... I'm tired, we'll talk about it tomorrow."

"As you command, I'll take my leave." Wang Zhixin didn't dare to stay, and left quickly after bowing.

As the palace door closed, Chongzhen closed his eyes and reviewed his plans for the night.

The first night after traveling through time is too important. If everything goes according to plan, he can save half of the Ming Dynasty.

"Wang Chengen, call Pang Zijin over."

Chongzhen and Pang Zijin had a secret conversation in the Qianqing Palace for half a quarter of an hour. When Pang Zijin left, it was already sunset.

Looking at the sun about to set, Chongzhen took a few deep breaths.

Life or death, it depends on tonight!

There are three things tonight, and none of them can go wrong, otherwise all the previous efforts will be wasted.

The first thing was the prince's migration south.

He is the future and hope of the Ming Dynasty, and nothing can go wrong.

The second thing was to wipe out the entire family of Chen Yan and Guang Shiheng.

Killing them was both a way to vent his anger and part of his overall plan. If they weren't killed, he couldn't proceed.

The third thing is to grab money!

Tonight he is going to blatantly rob the nobles of their money!

As long as we get this money, we will have military pay and food!

Were the nobles of the Ming Dynasty rich?

Not only are there, but there are a lot of them.

Historically, Chongzhen also considered raising money from nobles, but not only did he fail, he even lost a son.

In the eleventh year of Chongzhen, the imperial court was short of money. In order to get the nobles to donate money, Chongzhen decided to kill a chicken to scare the monkeys.

The first target he chose was Wuqing Hou Li Guorui.

The first generation Wuqing Marquis of the Ming Dynasty was Li Wei, the grandfather of Emperor Wanli, and Li Guorui was the third generation Wuqing Marquis.

In terms of seniority, he is Chongzhen's cousin.

He had no power in the court, but was very rich.

When Chongzhen asked Li Guorui to donate money, he not only refused but pretended to be poor. In a rage, Chongzhen stripped him of his title and put him in prison, and told his family to pay money to atone for their sins.

As a result, the spoiled Li Guorui died of illness in prison.

Coincidentally, Chongzhen's five-year-old son Zhu Cihuan also died suddenly.

It is rumored that when he died, he called out to the Bodhisattva Jiulian, saying that Chongzhen treated his relatives by marriage poorly and that all his sons would die early.

Due to the rumors in the palace and the instigation of the nobles, Chongzhen did not dare to continue asking for money from them and restored the title of Marquis Wuqing.

Such nonsense could scare Chongzhen, but it couldn't scare him.

How did Zhu Cihuan die? He must have been murdered!

The reason they killed Zhu Cihuan was simply to tell Chongzhen that they could reach into the palace and kill him as well as Zhu Cihuan!

Recalling this, Chongzhen smiled coldly.

Since the nobles are unkind, don't blame Chongzhen for being unjust!

The ancients had dinner early, and as soon as it got dark, Empress Zhou delivered the meals she had prepared herself to the Qianqing Palace.

"Your Majesty, please have your meal early." Queen Zhou was dressed in white, looking ethereal under the light.

Chongzhen was filled with emotion after watching this.

To be honest, he wanted to sleep with this beauty right away. But not tonight, he had to stay in the palace and deal with all emergencies.

"The Queen has worked hard. Tonight is not a peaceful night and you must be extra careful." Chongzhen said while eating.

Queen Zhou blinked her moist eyes and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty."

After dinner, just as Queen Zhou left, Wang Chengen limped in and said, "Your Majesty, Queen Yi'an wants to see you."

"Why does Yi'an want to see me without packing his luggage?" Chongzhen was stunned and didn't react.

Wang Chengen reminded quietly: "Your Majesty, you forgot that Duke Chengguo and Earl Taikang (Father of Queen Yi'an) are in-laws."

Chongzhen suddenly realized that the nephew of the Earl of Taikang had married the youngest daughter of the Duke of Chengguo, and they were closely related. If he sent people to search the Duke of Chengguo's house today, Empress Yi'an would definitely come to plead for mercy.

"Please come in!" Chongzhen did not dare to be careless.

Historically, Zhu Youjian was able to sit on the throne of the emperor thanks to Empress Yi'an. At that time, Wei Zhongxian arranged for a pregnant maid to enter the palace to pretend to be the heir of Emperor Xizong, and it was Empress Yi'an who persuaded Emperor Xizong to pass the throne to his younger brother.

This led to the Chongzhen period.

"Your Majesty, I am honored to see you!" Empress Yi'an hurried to the Palace of Heavenly Purity and performed the harem etiquette towards Chongzhen.

Although she was Chongzhen's sister-in-law, she still referred to herself as a concubine according to royal etiquette.

"Sister-in-law, please don't be polite! I am sorry for being so rude. Wang Chengen, please take a seat!"

After taking her seat, Empress Yi'an went straight to the point, "I heard that Your Majesty raided the house of Duke Chengguo?"

Chongzhen nodded helplessly, "The situation forces us to do so, and the court forces us to do so."

Empress Zhang Yi'an frowned and looked a little ugly.

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