As night fell, the entire Forbidden City was brightly lit, and a large number of guards carefully guarded their posts, eagerly watching the officials having a banquet.
The emperor sat high, with fine wine, delicious food, and beauties in front of his eyes. After a few drinks in a stylized manner, the emperor left on his own.
The civil and military ministers also raised their glasses and drank with great joy.
Although Nanjing is also the capital, its legitimacy is not as good as Beijing's, and its status in the hearts of people all over the world is also different.
Several people in the cabinet toasted each other, tasted the delicious food with great interest, and talked and laughed happily.
The nobles, headed by Zhu Meng, drank happily and laughed loudly and loudly.
Zhou Shixian was located among a group of demoted officials, which was quite embarrassing.
Although everyone shouts about beating up those who are found guilty, this is for the top management. Ordinary middle and low-level people have no decision-making power at all and can only go with the flow.
If the emperor opens up the border, many people will naturally stay in Beijing and refuse to leave.
For a noble relative like Zhou Shixian, he was quite contemptuous.
But people under the eaves have to bow their heads.
I drank a few glasses of wine boredly, no one could tell the sadness in my heart.
"Consort Zhou, His Majesty is calling you!"
At this time, Zhou Shixian, who was drunk even if he was not drunk, was suddenly urged by the eunuch and woke up instantly.
The officials on the side stopped their wine glasses one after another and looked at Zhou Shixian who was being taken away. They had so many guesses in their minds that the banquet became somewhat silent for a while.
At this time, the emperor had already put on a black uniform and was half lying down, working on the drafts and memorials in his hands.
"Your Majesty, Zhou Shixian has arrived."
When I looked up, I saw a man in his twenties walking in respectfully and carefully, with his head lowered.
He has an upright appearance and looks very decent, which makes people feel good about him.
Zhou Shixian was the son of Zhou Guofu, the minister of Taipu Temple. He had arranged his marriage as early as the Chongzhen period. Following Chongzhen's suicide, he married Changping Princess Zhu Yuyao in the early years of Shunzhi.
At that time, in order to win over people's hearts, the Manchus chose a consort for Zhu Yurao, but Zhou Shixian resolutely chose to stand for election and was able to consummate the marriage.
Princess Changping not only had her arm broken at that time, she also had sword wounds on her face, which was equivalent to disfigurement.
Regardless of Zhou Shixian's talents, he was willing to marry the disfigured princess of the previous dynasty after entering the Qing Dynasty, instead of avoiding it, which is indeed a good character.
Therefore, Jiang Yueguang admired him very much and showed great pity to Princess Changping.
"Zhou Shixian comes to see His Majesty——"
"Get up!"
The emperor said lazily, and said to Zhou Shixian: "Your marriage to Princess Taiping can be regarded as fulfilling the vision of the late emperor. You can take the position of Prince Consort and Commander-in-Chief!"
"In addition, although you don't want the princess's mansion, you can't avoid the corresponding treatment. Let Princess Changping have a double salary."
"I thank you for your kindness!"
Zhou Shixian did not expect that the emperor called him here for these things, so he had to thank the emperor for his kindness.
In the Ming Dynasty, the Prince Consort was considered a superior person among all officials. He was above the count and below the marquis, and could wear the Eight-Liang Crown.
Although people have always called him Prince Consort, it was a great surprise for the Zhou family that the emperor had just acknowledged it.
This also eliminated the fear in his heart.
The next day, the emperor dismissed Jiang Yueguang from his post as a stayer in Beijing, but still retained his official position as minister of the Ministry of Industry.
However, in order to commend him, he was awarded the rank of San, the third rank, and the first rank of Jiayi doctor.
Then he was given a double salary, a bullfighting suit, and a hundred taels of silver.
With such a reward, all the officials were in an uproar.
The scattered gold and silver are nothing, but the bullfighting suit is deadly.
The bullfighting suit is second only to the python suit and the flying fish suit. It is extremely glorious because it resembles a dragon robe. The style is in the shape of a python, with a fish tail, and the horns of the head are bent downwards like a bull's horn.
Because it is rare and precious, it is a great honor for officials.
In the Ming Dynasty, it was basically dominated by the cabinet.
While the city of Beijing is bustling, the northern grasslands are extremely lively.
After deciding to break away from the rule of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, Prince Abu Nai of Chahar wanted to move most of the tribes westward to the area north of Xuanfu on the pretext of harassing the Ming Dynasty during the winter.
At this time, the Chahar tribe was extremely spacious, stretching from Yizhou north of Jinzhou in the east to Zhangjiakou in the west. Although it only had more than 20,000 tents, it was very powerful.
It's just that Abu Nai had a good idea, but there were only a few tribes that obeyed the order, only a few thousand tribes.
Most of the tribes chose to remain silent and even decided to inform the Manchus.
For Abu Nai, this was a shameful betrayal and unforgivable.
Therefore, on the day of the first snow, he summoned all the tribes again and stated his request to go south and look for opportunities to plunder.
"The Ming Dynasty even defeated the Manchu Qing Dynasty. We will definitely not be able to defeat it, so let's forget it!"
"Yeah, it's better to ask the Manchus for rewards!"
"If we take action, we must not listen to the orders of the Manchus. If we act without permission, we will be punished."
"Yeah, this won't work. We have to think about it carefully!"
Everyone looked down on the sixteen-year-old Abu Nai, made sarcastic remarks, and sat on the sidelines. They all had their own opinions, but they all generally disagreed with going west.
The reason is even more amusing.
If it was an invasion attack, this would be understandable, but looking for opportunities to plunder, isn't it a common occurrence for the Mongols?
Just grab and run, it can be said that there is no risk at all.
Even this request was rejected, and the perfunctory manner was extremely suffocating.
Abu Nai was so angry that he was shaking all over, and his young face was flushed: "Do you still see me sweating in your eyes?"
Silence, silence again.
After a long time, Abu Nai said somewhat crazyly: "Since you don't admit that I am the Great Khan, then go to hell!"
"I knew you were a rebel, and you betrayed the Qing Dynasty——"
"You don't have as many troops as we do. If you dare to kill me, my son won't be able to spare you."
With a crash, everyone drew their swords and became extremely angry.
If it were other people, they would not be afraid, but the young Abu Nai was reckless and not as prudent as the old man, and was particular about the so-called gain and loss of interests.
"Today I will let you see the advantages and disadvantages of the fire gun——"
After saying that, Abu Nai waved his hand, and a dozen or so nobles who had taken refuge followed him.
At this time, a row of Mongolian soldiers holding matchlocks ran over and fired a burst of fire at the noble leaders.
After a while, dozens of people were lying in a pool of blood.
A ferocious smile appeared on Abu Nai's face: "Hahaha, the old guy asked you to treat me as a child, and now you will have a taste of death."
Although many people were his relatives, Abu Nai showed no mercy. The moment they ignored him and took refuge with the Qing Dynasty, they were doomed.
Once he had firearms in hand, Abu Nai became extremely ambitious.
Immediately, he took the musketeers and troops armed with Ming armor and took the opportunity to invade those tribes.
In just one month, he annexed five thousand accounts, and now everyone in Chahar was in danger.
In addition, the Wanzhang tribe sent an urgent letter to the Manchus, threatening Abu Nai to rebel.