There was a prisoner in the prisoner-of-war camp who was originally a eunuch of Prince Lu's palace. As soon as this situation was reported, Meng Xian, who was already packing his bags and preparing to say goodbye to his generals, was alarmed.
Hurry and recruit someone to inquire.
"According to the investigation, this person claimed that his original name was Song Mingwu and his captive name was Addis. He confessed that he was originally a Korean from Liaodong outside the customs. When he was young, his family was convicted by North Korea for collecting ginseng secretly. His father and brother were killed. He was sentenced to death because of his young age.
After castration, he was sent to the Ming Dynasty and lived in the Beijing palace for many years. When he became an adult, he was transferred to Yanzhou to serve as a servant in Prince Lu's palace."
"In the fifteenth year of Chongzhen, the Tatars invaded the pass, plundered, and marched into Shandong. They finally broke through the Yanzhou Prefecture. The palace fell, and King Lu was killed. The emperor was also seriously injured that time.
Afterwards, the Tartars plundered many people and took them away, and Song Mingwu was also taken away as a slave."
"He also told an important piece of news, saying that the city of Yanzhou was destroyed, Prince Lu's palace fell, and Prince Lu, his son, his fourth and fifth brothers were all martyred on the same day..."
Meng Xian heard a shocking news. In that disaster, his emperor Zhu Yihai was stabbed three times and fell unconscious in a pool of blood. However, his wife Zhang jumped out of the city to die, and his three sons and two sons were killed.
Daughter, two sons and one daughter both died. But now Song Mingwu said that Zhu Yihai’s eldest son and third son did not die.
When the Qing army withdrew, they took a large number of people captive, including many masters and slaves of the royal palace.
Zhu Yihai's eldest son, Zhu Hongjia, and his third son, Zhu Hongzhuji, were born to the concubine Chen. They were not killed at that time, but were kidnapped and taken all the way outside the customs.
Song Mingwu was with them all the way from Yanzhou to outside the Pass. However, after he left the Pass, these captives were given to the princes and soldiers of the Eight Banners. From then on, he was separated from the two of them, but what is certain is that the separation
Both of them were still well at that time, so it is very likely that both of them are still alive.
But Song Mingwu didn't know where they were assigned.
Meng Xian was very excited after hearing this.
Before today's son went south, he had three sons and two daughters. As a result, the eldest son and the third son were lost in Gunzhou. Later, he took the second son and eldest daughter to the south, and the second son stayed in Nanjing, but finally died in the chaos of war.
Only one eldest daughter is left by his side.
After Emperor Xiaoling came to the throne, he still had no sons.
Previously, Huang Binqing's daughter gave birth to a son, but he died on the same day. Then Queen Zhang and Concubine Meng each gave birth to a daughter.
The emperor does not yet have a son, and the Ming Dynasty has no heir. This has always worried the people of the world.
Now it is actually possible that the emperor's two sons are still alive. How can this not be exciting?
"Take me quickly to see this Song Mingwu!"
Meng Xian led a group of officers to see Song Mingwu. When he saw this man, his first impression was very disappointing. He was submissive. He didn't even look like a royal eunuch.
"Bring him a bowl of lean meat porridge and a pot of good tea."
Meng Xian explained.
As a result, Song Mingwu pointed at Isha who was in a daze and Naman who was motionless, "General, can you help my master and Nalingchen heal their wounds first?"
Meng Xian got a little angry when he heard the word "master", but he still held it back.
He didn't know how this eunuch came here in the past five years, but it must have been very difficult for the palace to fall, to fall into the hands of captors, to be kidnapped outside the customs, to travel thousands of miles, and finally to be enslaved by foreigners.
"Call the medical officer."
Meng Xian tried to chat with Song Mingwu to learn more details. He even specially called other officers to accompany him, and asked the scribe to record the entire conversation so that he could quickly report to the emperor later.
Regardless of whether it is true or false, as long as there is a slight possibility, it is worthy of attention.
When the lean meat porridge was brought in, Song Mingwu had to serve Isha to eat it first, and Isha had to feed Naman first.
Meng Xian endured it.
After struggling for a long time, the three of them cleaned the wound, removed the pus and blood, applied medicine and bandage, had enough to eat, wiped their bodies, and changed into clean clothes.
Finally I can ask properly.
Song Mingwu's spirits improved a lot. He knew the layout of the Beijing Imperial Palace and Prince Lu's Mansion very clearly, and even had memories of some personnel matters.
I can tell you some details.
Although Meng Xian did not know the situation of the Beijing Imperial Palace and Prince Lu's Mansion, he at least knew some of the old people around the emperor, such as Gu Dayong, Liu Dynasty, Zhao Jing, etc.
Even Song Mingwu could tell the story of King Lu's first wife, the Zhang family, and his second wives, the Chen family, the Zhou family, etc.
After talking for nearly an hour.
Meng Xian was already sixty-seven percent convinced that this was once a eunuch from Prince Lu's palace, especially when he had someone bandage his wounds and change his clothes just now, he had also tested that he was indeed a eunuch who had been castrated at a young age.
"Send these fast horses to Laizhou immediately!"
"I will personally take him and rush there!"
The matter was so important that Meng Xian did not dare to be careless.
Song Mingwu immediately received special attention. Not only was his food changed to lean meat porridge, he was also given some ginseng soup to replenish his energy and blood. Because of his persistence, Isha and Naman were also taken care of and enjoyed the same benefits as him.
treatment.
······
Laizhou.
An urgent message broke the tranquility of the walk.
All the ministers who were present were so shocked that they could not sit still and quickly asked to see the emperor.
"Your Majesty, is there really a Song Mingwu in the palace?"
Gu Ren
Ge Lao Xu Shiqi asked as soon as they met.
In fact, they had already asked Liu Chao just now. Liu Chao is an old man in the palace and has been serving Zhu Yihai. He must know best if there is such a person.
But the Liu Dynasty usually kept a distance from the outside Dynasty, and he did not talk nonsense about such important matters.
Zhu Yihai rubbed his head, his head hurt.
The eldest son Hongjia was previously granted the title of Crown Prince of Lu, and later he was granted the title of prince. The third son was also granted the title of prince. Even the second son who died in Nanjing was also granted the title of prince. Even the son of Concubine Huang who died just after birth was granted the title of prince.
The fourth son, Hongtang, was also posthumously crowned prince.
Since he raised his army, Zhongxing has made progress, won every victory, and the situation is excellent.
But things didn't go well with the heirs.
The four sons disappeared one after another.
There were ten people who married Queen Zhang, the eldest and eldest Huang concubines, the eldest and eldest Concubines Meng, and the eldest and eldest Ruan concubines in the south. Several of them were pregnant, and three of them had given birth. As a result, they had a son and two daughters, but the son died in infancy.
Now I have three daughters.
Although Zhu Yihai is still young, less than thirty, he was able to get seven concubines pregnant within one year. This ability is already very strong, and he is still in his early years.
But the government and the public were only focused on the fact that the emperor had no children, and everyone was more anxious than the emperor.
For this reason, Zhu Yihai was also helpless.
Even the queen wrote several times to persuade the emperor to accept concubines. The Liu Dynasty often talked about drafting female concubines. This matter even received support from the cabinet and other ministers.
After all, even ordinary people's families pay attention to three types of unfilial piety, and the worst is not having children.
In a country, especially at this time, the importance of the prince is not to mention.
Zhu Yihai took in two more noble daughters, but giving birth to a son was not a matter of life.
He also knew the importance of an heir, but he couldn't rush it.
Even in order to appease the people, he specially sent people to search for the two missing princes of Chongzhen. In the end, they were found. The third prince, Ding Wang Zhu Cijiong, was found in Shanxi. He had become a monk and remained anonymous. He was captured by the factory guards.
After finding out, he refused to admit it, but the factory guards secretly took him back to Nanjing.
The sixteen-year-old Prince Ding was in Nanjing. Naturally, many people who had seen him before were sent to meet and verify him. In the end, everyone believed that he was the third prince.
Zhu Yihai specially decreed to restore his status as the king and made him a hereditary prince.
Not long after, the fourth prince Yongwang Zhu Cizhen was found in Fengyang. When he was found, he had changed his name to Wang Shiyuan and was taken in by a local squire. The squire knew his identity and he helped give him the name. Wang Shiyuan was the original name when he was pronounced reversely.
It's the king.
Fourteen-year-old Yong Wang is relatively lucky. Although he wandered for a short time, there are always people around him to take care of him.
After being found, he was brought back to Nanjing and was given the title of hereditary nobleman.
King Yong stayed in Nanjing, and King Ding stayed in Hangzhou. They sent people to teach and take care of them, and they also had a backup in case there was no heir.
Although Zhu Yihai's move was considered inappropriate by some ministers, Zhu Yihai believed that if he really did not have a queen, it would be an option to train two kings in the future and choose one of them to inherit the Ming Dynasty.
Of course, if you have a son, you will definitely not choose Chongzhen's son, otherwise everything will go wrong.
Zhu Yihai has memories of the past.
He had been recalling Song Mingwu for a long time after receiving the report. He did find relevant memories of this person, but the impression was not very deep.
This man is from the Flattery Department of Prince Lu's Mansion. He was originally a person close to his eldest brother, Prince Zhu Yipai of Lu. He is not a great eunuch.
At that time, he was only the sixth concubine of the old King Lu. Now the sixth concubine of King Lu is just a general who governs the country. He is an ordinary eunuch in the eldest brother's palace. Of course, he does not have much contact with him. He only knows that there is such a person.
"There is indeed Song Mingwu. I just recalled it with Liu Chao. Liu Chao used to be in the Department of Flattery and knows the officials in the palace well. He said that Song Mingwu was indeed transferred from Beijing before, and this person was from North Korea.
Those who pay tribute to the court after being castrated by the state are basically correct. Of course, you have to wait for someone to come before confirming. Liu Chao and other senior officials in the palace will be able to recognize him."
As soon as these words came out, everyone already understood that basically nothing could go wrong.
Song Mingwu is not the point, the point is the shocking news that the two princes are still alive.
Where are the two princes now?
Can he be found, how can he be rescued, and should he be made a prince when he comes back?
Of course, there is another problem.
If the two princes are really still slaves outside the Pass, why haven't the Tartars ever mentioned it and why haven't they used it as a bargaining chip? Have they forgotten the identities of the two princes, or have they disappeared in the bitter cold outside the Pass in Liaodong?
After all, judging by the time, the two of them were still very young when they were abducted nearly five years ago.
The eldest son Hongjia was only seven years old at the time, and the second son was six years old. He is only eleven or twelve years old now. Both were born to concubines, and were born to Zhu Yihai's concubines before his wedding, so they were born earlier.
But even if the child, who was only six or seven years old at the time, survived all the way from Shandong to outside the customs, he might not be able to endure the life of being a slave in the bitter cold land of Liaodong?
Everyone is very worried, afraid that it will end up in vain again.
Zhu Yihai had the impression of the two children in his mind. He had always kept it in the past and did not want to touch it too much, but now it was about to be revealed.
He even didn't know how to face it.
"Since Song Mingwu explained it like this, it is very likely that the two princes are still there, but it is very possible that the Tatars did not take them seriously at that time, and gave them to someone casually, and then treated them as ordinary captives.
They were slaves and forced to work, and they are most likely still farming and grazing somewhere outside the customs.
I have sent an order to Jinyiwei, Dongchang and other ministries to send people to search outside the customs. If they are still there, I will definitely bring them back!"
"At this time, let's search secretly first. Don't alert the enemy, so as not to prevent the Tatars from getting defensive or even hurting you. Please keep it secret, gentlemen."
