In the imperial prison.
Li Ruolian was in front and Chongzhen was behind.
The king and his minister stopped for a moment in front of each cell.
Li Ruo Lian will tell the name of the criminal.
Chongzhen would decide the opponent's life or death.
Deep in the cell, Chongzhen met the prisoners from Nanjing.
There are limited cells in the imperial prison, and many prisoners are held in one cell.
On Chongzhen’s left were imprisoned Nanjing’s military generals and nobles, and on his right were Nanjing’s civil officials.
When he arrived here, the two groups were fighting each other.
Military generals and nobles accused the civil officials of harming the country, saying that not only were they unable to collect money and grain, but they were also restricted in every way.
They only know how to fight among themselves and ignore the overall situation.
The civil officials scolded the military generals and nobles for their incompetence, saying that the soldiers were all incompetent and the generals were all incompetent.
He is good at eating, drinking, whoring and gambling, and has no idea how to lead troops in battle.
I saw Chongzhen and Li Ruolian walking towards me from a distance.
They immediately shut their mouths and dared not make a sound.
After a moment, Zhu Guobi kowtowed first and said, "Your Majesty, please spare my life. I have a lot to say, but my crime does not deserve death. I hope Your Majesty will forgive me!"
Seeing this, the others also knelt down and begged for mercy.
Chongzhen had a blank expression on his face: "Let's not talk about the Crown Prince for now, but some of you have actually abolished the national policy for your own selfish reasons. Such perverse actions make me feel cold!"
Everyone kowtowed again: "Your Majesty, please spare my life, Your Majesty, please spare my life!"
"However," Chongzhen changed the subject, "some people can understand the overall situation and take the overall situation into consideration, which makes me very happy."
Everyone didn't understand what Chongzhen meant by this sentence. They looked at each other and lowered their heads again.
Chongzhen did not explain and just turned and left.
Everyone felt like the sky was falling.
She cried and kowtowed towards Chongzhen's back.
But Chongzhen seemed not to hear it and continued walking forward.
When leaving the imperial prison, Chongzhen whispered: "Ma Shiying is sensible and considers the overall situation. Please give him a lighter sentence."
"yes."
It was almost noon.
Chongzhen rushed to the imperial city without stopping.
Before he returned to the imperial city, the princes had already arrived.
The banquet was held in the Fengtian Hall (now the Hall of Supreme Harmony).
During the Yongle period, Zhu Di basically hosted banquets for his ministers in the Fengtian Hall.
Later it was changed to Outside the Meridian Gate.
Chongzhen chose the Fengtian Hall as the venue, which has some special significance.
When the princes saw Chongzhen coming, they immediately stepped forward and saluted: "Your Majesty, we are here to see you."
Chongzhen immediately smiled: "No need to be polite, we are all family, no need to be polite. Come...please take a seat!"
No matter what Chongzhen said, the princes dared not neglect it.
All bowed according to the rules.
After the ceremony.
The other vassal kings tacitly stepped back and made room for the King of Shu.
They wanted to create an opportunity for the King of Shu.
What opportunity?
An opportunity to meet Chongzhen face to face.
The King of Shu is certainly guilty, but the charges against him are debatable.
If Chongzhen insisted on sentencing him to a serious crime, or...
If anyone wants to take this opportunity to weaken the power of the feudal lords, they will unite to oppose it.
Chongzhen did dare to kill people, and he killed quite a few.
But he absolutely did not dare to kill all the princes at once.
If you really do that.
From ordinary people to court officials and nobles, everyone thought Chongzhen was crazy.
The consequences are self-evident.
Looking at the gazes of the crowd, Chongzhen's heart was as calm as water.
Without waiting for the King of Shu to speak, he said first: "Uncle King of Shu, what's the matter?"
Chongzhen was the eleventh-generation grandson of Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty.
King Zhu Zhishu of Shu was the tenth-generation grandson of Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty.
According to seniority, Chongzhen should call Zhu Zhishu uncle.
Zhu Zhishu, the King of Shu, bowed quickly and said, "Your Majesty, please do not do that. I am indeed older than you, but I am not worthy of the title of uncle."
"Haha," Chongzhen smiled and shook his head: "There is no monarch or minister here, only clan members."
The King of Shu declined again and again, but was rejected by Chongzhen.
Chongzhen continued to ask: "Uncle Shu, if you have anything to say, just tell me directly. I am not a vicious monster. There is nothing to be afraid of."
King Shu Zhu Zhishu originally wanted Chongzhen to pay back the money.
But he was escorted to Beijing.
If he dared to mention money again, he would probably be severely punished by Chongzhen.
So he didn't dare to say it out loud and could only use all kinds of irrelevant words to prevaricate.
Seeing the King of Shu like this, Chongzhen simply spoke for him: "It's about money, right?"
The King of Shu hesitated, wanting to admit it but not daring to.
Chongzhen took a half step back and said to all the princes: "Everyone, in the 17th year of my dynasty, in order to fight against the bandits, I asked Duke Qin to borrow 5 million taels of silver from the uncle of Shu."
When the princes heard this, they immediately became excited.
The emperor is the supreme ruler and his words are law.
Since Chongzhen admitted that he borrowed the money, he had to give an explanation.
What's the saying?
It is only natural that a person should pay with his life and a debt should be repaid.
But everyone knows that Chongzhen loves money like his life.
It's simply impossible to get money from him.
Chongzhen coughed and asked, "Uncle Shu, where is the IOU?"
When the time came, the King of Shu got scared.
He waved his hand quickly: "No need for an IOU! I know that your majesty and the court are in a difficult situation. The money is my loyalty to your majesty and the court."
Chongzhen raised his voice: "How can that be possible? I borrowed that money, and I must pay it back, otherwise I will be branded as unkind and unjust!"
Other princes also echoed: "Your Highness the Prince of Shu, please take out the IOU quickly. We cannot let His Majesty's reputation be damaged."
"Yeah, take it out now!"
At this point, King Shu Zhu Zhishu no longer hesitated and carefully took out the IOU from his arms and handed it to Chongzhen.
Chongzhen took a quick look and asked, "I have prepared silver notes, Ming Dynasty silver coins, and an equal amount of gold. What does Uncle Shu want?"
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