After listening to Ni Yuanlu's analysis, Zhu Cilang not only failed to understand the reason, but began to doubt it.
He first suspected Ni Yuanlu.
He then began to suspect the nobles in Nanjing, the Donglin Party, and Zheng Zhilong in Fujian.
Then he suspected Chongzhen...
In the end, I even began to doubt myself.
He is thinking...
What is the meaning of my existence?
Before that, he might have lived for the throne.
After pacifying the Liao Dynasty, he seemed to be getting further and further away from the throne.
So much so that the rumor of deposing the crown prince spread all over the city.
Zhu Cilang thought a lot and for a long time.
It was almost noon when he looked up again.
He sighed and asked, "What did you just say, sir..."
Before Zhu Cilang could finish his words, Ni Yuanlu admitted, "Those words are just excuses for rebellion, but it is not normal for His Majesty to not show up for a long time and not reply to letters. It would be unreasonable for Your Highness not to serve the king."
"What's more, Your Highness is already deeply involved in the dragon robe case, so he has no choice but to rebel!"
Zhu Cilang said thoughtfully: "If...if my father suddenly shows up after the uprising, what should I do then?"
Ni Yuanlu shook his head: "Unless His Majesty appears in person, none of this can be trusted."
Zhu Cilang thought for a moment and continued to ask: "After we raise an army, the capital will certainly send a large army to attack us. If we win the battle and enter the capital, and find that our father is fine, what should we do then?"
Won the fight?
Ni Yuanlu was very surprised by Zhu Cilang's concern.
He patted Zhu Cilang on the shoulder and said, "Don't worry, Your Highness. If His Majesty is in good health, we have no chance of winning."
Zhu Cilang almost dropped his jaw in shock: "No chance of winning? Why would you start a war if you have no chance of winning?"
"Because we don't know what happened to His Majesty, we can only use rebellion to find out!" Ni Yuanlu advised earnestly: "If Your Highness does not rebel, Zhu Guobi, Xu Wenjue, Zheng Zhilong and the Donglin Party in Nanjing will not rebel. If they don't rebel, the Ming Dynasty will continue to be in chaos like it is now."
"This is extremely detrimental to the people, the court, the entire Ming Dynasty, and His Majesty!"
Zhu Cilang found a clue from Ni Yuanlu's words, and asked in a low voice: "From what you said, sir, is this to help father relieve his worries?"
"Ahem!" Ni Yuanlu knew he had said the wrong thing, and said perfunctorily, "That's about right."
Zhu Cilang's emotions stabilized for a while, but after a moment he became worried again: "What if... it fails?"
Ni Yuanlu said meaningfully: "Even if we fail, there is still a glimmer of hope."
"What do you mean by that?"
"There are two prerequisites for rebellion. One is that someone takes the lead, and the other is that it is legitimate! Your Highness only needs to take the lead in shouting out the slogan of serving the king in front of all the ministers. This slogan is legitimate, and Nanjing will definitely respond to it."
"After shouting slogans, don't worry about the rest. Leave the marching and fighting to the military generals and nobles, and leave the money and food to the court officials in Nanjing."
"If we fail, Your Highness will only be responsible for the slogan of serving the king. The rest of the responsibility can be passed on to the court officials or the military generals and nobles."
Zhu Cilang blinked and asked, "Sir, do you mean to delegate power?"
"right."
Zhu Cilang suddenly realized: "So that's it! No wonder when my father took back my power as regent, you told me to be prepared to be deposed and give up my power. You are so wise that you can actually look ten steps ahead before you take one step!"
Ni Yuanlu smiled and asked, "Your Highness, have you figured it out?"
Zhu Cilang nodded: "I have figured it out. I will call all the ministers to discuss this matter now."
Ni Yuanlu waved his hands quickly: "No hurry!"
"What does sir mean?"
Ni Yuanlu stroked his beard with a smile, and said in an experienced and steady manner: "Your Highness's top priority is to immediately write a letter to His Majesty, asking about His Majesty's recent situation, and write in the letter that if His Majesty does not reply, Your Highness will immediately raise troops to defend the king!"
Zhu Cilang bowed deeply to Ni Yuanlu and said from the bottom of his heart: "Thank you for your teachings, sir. I have learned a lot from you!"
Under the planning of Ni Yuanlu.
Zhu Cilang, who was deeply involved in the dragon robe case, first wrote a memorial to Chongzhen in the name of his son (not a family letter).
The content was the same as what Ni Yuanlu had instructed, asking Chongzhen to reply, otherwise he would raise an army to defend the king.
This looks like a memorial, but in fact it is a disclaimer.
After submitting the memorial, Zhu Cilang became the calmest person in Nanjing.
The most restless ones were the nobles and the Donglin Party.
They were afraid that Chongzhen would write back to the prince, causing all their plans to fail.
But they did not dare to rebel alone, and could only pray to God every day, hoping that Chongzhen would become terminally ill or... die soon.
Zheng Zhilong in Fujian didn't care about that and started his smuggling business again.
Smuggling is like drinking poison to quench thirst. It is impossible to stop.
Once he stops, the people below him will rebel against him because of the sharp drop in income.
On November 30, the 26th year of Chongzhen, the memorial from the Crown Prince Zhu Cilang of the Ming Dynasty was delivered to the cabinet's office: Wenyuan Pavilion.
"The prince's memorial?" The cabinet chief, Xie Sanbin, was stunned for a moment. "He no longer has the power to supervise the country, so why is he submitting a memorial?"
The eunuch who delivered the letter raised his hands high and said, "Although Your Highness the Crown Prince does not have the power to supervise the country, as the crown prince, he has the right to participate in politics."
"That's right," Xie Sanbin took the memorial from the eunuch, slowly opened it and began to read.
As he watched, his expression suddenly became serious.
The Minister of Rites Shi Kefa noticed his abnormality and stood up to ask, "What's wrong?"
Xie Sanbin said nothing and handed the memorial to Shi Kefa.
Shi Kefa was also stunned after reading it.
Minister of War Wang Jiayan was handling official business in Liaodong. Seeing the two men's serious expressions and silent, he asked curiously, "What's wrong? Is the prince in trouble?"
The two still didn't speak.
Wang Jiayan was anxious. He stood up and walked towards them, saying, "Is the sky falling? If it hasn't, you should have made a sound."
Shi Kefa stuffed the memorial into Wang Jiayan's hands and muttered in a low voice: "The sky in the north is fine, but the sky in the south is about to collapse."
Wang Jiayan took the memorial and quickly read it through, and he felt terrible.
He kept sucking his teeth: "This...this...this is not serving the king, this is rebellion!"
"Not necessarily," said Xie Sanbin, who had recovered from his shock. "As long as Your Majesty writes a reply letter to the prince, the prince will have no reason to rebel."
"Yes," Shi Kefa responded, "We will submit the memorial to His Majesty immediately and ask His Majesty to write a reply."
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