King Rui died, and King Huai was missing. The person in the capital who could stand up and take charge of the overall situation suddenly became the King of Zhou, whom no one knew.
No one had heard of his name, and he had never participated in any activities in the capital before. Even at that time, no one knew that such a person existed in the capital, and he had never been seen walking around frequently with any minister.
But no one expected that such a person could stand out among the many vassal kings and become the new owner of the Forbidden City. He was not as conservative as others, and he had to find a reason to claim the title of king and emperor.
Taking advantage of the current situation, people were panicking, and the country could not live without a king for a day, so King Zhou announced his succession. This approach aroused the opposition of many veterans, especially the Yushitai, and the articles of impeachment and opposition were scattered all over the imperial study room like snowflakes.
Several cases.
Among them, the loudest voice of opposition was of course Ren Zanhua, the censor of Zuodu of the Inspectorate and the minister of household affairs. Old man Ren did not choose to go with Lin Chong at first, but wanted to stay in the capital. Lin Chong also persuaded him, but the old man was too stubborn
Very, we must stay in the capital and preserve the truth of the matter.
Although King Huai actually controlled the government at the beginning, he was only a prince in name after all. King Zhou was much more direct than him. He announced that he would succeed to the throne in front of others. This can be said to be true.
It's a treasonous act.
Old Man Ren originally had no hope for the decaying Ming Dynasty, but Lin Chong's appearance rekindled his hope for the future. He did not want this hope to be drowned in these disputes, so he chose to stay in the capital.
Instead of going to Nanjing with everyone else.
He has always been a person who cannot be persuaded by anyone once he decides to do something. In addition, he has no worries in the capital, so he can speak freely when others still have concerns.
Of course, his speaking freely brought him a lot of trouble. Although the King of Zhou did not know why, he did not let his blood splatter on the spot, but he did not hesitate to throw him into death row.
Ren Zanhua was already quite old, so he couldn't stand being imprisoned for long. This would not be much different from executing him directly, and it would not leave him with the infamy of killing civil servants.
Since other people have seen King Zhou's resolute attitude, they naturally don't dare to go against him so blatantly anymore. What's more, not everyone is as carefree as Ren Yushi. They have nothing to worry about in this world.
There are too many family members, friends, fame and wealth, there are always some things that people can't let go of.
King Zhou understands this truth, and he is willing to generously give you what you want. If this is the case, then what reason is there to refuse? There will always be someone who will be the emperor, and this matter is not something they can control.
.
At the same time, another thing he still needs to focus on is to track down the missing King Huai. The capital has been under martial law for several days, but there is still no accurate answer as to the whereabouts of King Huai and Yichen.
Of course, the gate to the capital cannot be closed forever like this, and even if it cannot be found, it cannot be as unscrupulous as it is now.
The people in the capital, who had experienced too much in a short period of time, did not have much reaction to this massacre. To them, it did not matter who became the emperor, as long as the people could live a peaceful and happy life again, it was enough.
For powerless people like them, having their family members living safely around them is far more important than so-called loyalty.
But they did not expect that King Zhou's succession would not bring them peace again. King Zhou never thought about being a sage and wise king, let alone making the Ming Dynasty's foundation last forever.
The reason why he had been carefully preparing and planning for so long was to seek justice for himself and the dead people.
After the succession was completely determined, there was no major matter to discuss. After the King of Zhou dismissed all the civil and military officials, he did not go to the Imperial Study Room to handle official business, but went directly to a remote courtyard in the Imperial Garden.
Generally speaking, most of the people living in such remote courtyards are some unpopular concubines, but Emperor Chongzhen didn't have many concubines originally, and now there are none left, so no one should live in such a courtyard.
.
King Zhou asked everyone who came with him to stop at the door, and he was the only one who walked in.
"Are you done?" A man who looked exactly like King Zhou was watering a magnolia tree carelessly. After watering it twice casually, he sat leisurely on a chair nearby and ate fruit.
"These are things you should do, why should I worry about these messy things for you?" King Zhou complained.
"Then there's nothing you can do about it. Who told you to look exactly like me? Besides, we've already discussed it before. You'll be responsible for Ming Dynasty affairs, and I'll be responsible for contacting the Manchus. We each perform our own duties, and no one cares.
Who are you interfering with? Why do you have to worry about all these messy things for me now?" The man said leisurely while eating grapes.
"I had no idea at that time that it would be so easy to negotiate with the Manchus but so troublesome to stay and deal with things here. If I had known earlier, I would never have made that bullshit agreement with you. You were clearly trying to coax me.
"The king of Zhou was angry.
"This is really an injustice to me. When have I ever coaxed you? Strictly speaking, the reason why you were chosen as the heir was not because they liked your decisiveness and judgment, but they couldn't tell the difference.
Just clear us."
"Obviously you are the one who inherited the title, but I am the one who has done the most. This is not fair at all." King Zhou angrily snatched the grapes from the man's hand and stuffed them into his mouth.
"It doesn't matter, anyway, soon we won't have to worry about the bad things here anymore. Whether these people live or die depends on their own destiny and has nothing to do with us anymore. When the things here are over, we will go to the desert
Let’s take a look around.”
"It's not like you haven't been to that place before. What's there to enjoy? Maybe you haven't eaten enough sand yet." King Zhou mocked him.
"Yes, I would rather go back and continue to eat sand than continue to see these evil people here. There is no touching friendship in this world, but it is all self-deception."
"You want to say, Zhu Changhao and that little girl?" King Zhou guessed casually.
"It's all just being sentimental. I'm not just talking about the two of them. There are really too few stories of harmony and beauty in this world." The man cut the fruit and pushed it to the front: "You eat slowly, I have something to do.