When Queen Yi'an said this, she paused and said:

"But the civil servant group is not a vegetarian. They are even more conspiratorial than Xun Gui. Is there no action this time? The prince still needs to be careful!"

Zhu Cixiang smiled faintly:

"When the emperor first took charge of the country, the civil service group was the most aggressive. The civil servants with influence and connections in the capital had basically been killed. Now there are only some small shrimps left, and it is difficult to pose a threat again.

Of course, the current cabinet ministers are all civil servants, but compared to those great scholars who only care about family interests, Li Banghua, Ni Yuanlu, Jiang Feng and others will still worry about the Ming Dynasty.

Although they do not agree with Huang'er's reform in their hearts, they have not actively stood up to oppose it, nor have they formed a party to target Huang'er privately. At present, Jiangbei's reform should be able to continue except for Shandong.

Once the north of the Yangtze River is stabilized, the next step in land reform will be Shandong and the Huguang region in the south of the Yangtze River. At that time, there will definitely be a bloody storm, and it is even possible to cause great turmoil."

In fact, Zhu Cihong said it easily, but it was not easy to understand Shandong and Jiangnan and Huguang. There was a big traitor in Shandong, Kong Laoer, and all the gentry in the world were his disciples.

If Zhu Cixiang wanted to completely reform the Ming Dynasty, he had to kill the Confucius family. Even Emperor Chongzhen would probably not be willing to do so. You must know that Chongzhen was also a Confucian student.

Of course, it is not that there is anything wrong with Confucius and Confucianism, but that Confucianism has seriously deteriorated since its development.

Corrupt Confucians have seriously threatened the safety of the dynasty, and empty talk that harms the country has become the label of the great Confucians in the late Ming Dynasty.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, Liu Zongzhou and other great Confucian scholars were very loyal to the Ming Dynasty and the nation. They could live and die with the Ming Dynasty, but their corrupt Confucian ideas had solidified and they could only harm the country in troubled times.

Zhang Yan felt her scalp numb when she thought of the southern gentry and civil servants, and the scene of Emperor Tianqi being forced into the palace by the Donglin Party emerged before her eyes. She knew that re-appointing Wei Zhongxian was also a helpless move by Emperor Tianqi.

It was understandable that Zhu Cihong suppressed the civil servant group, but Zhang Yan never expected that the crown prince would actually want to gain ideas from the Kong family.

This is no joke. Who dared to touch the Kong family in China for thousands of years?

Qin Shihuang only burned a few books and killed a few sorcerers, but they were all labeled as tyrants by Confucian scholars, which almost erased his great contribution to the unification of China.

If the crown prince takes action against the Confucius family, the consequences can be imagined, and he will definitely be besieged by scholars all over the world.

Regardless of whether they can be emperor or not, the Ming Dynasty may be subverted. You must know that the economy, culture, voice, public opinion, etc. are almost all in their hands.

Zhang Yan hurriedly grabbed Zhu Cixiang's little hand and reminded:

"Prince, if it weren't for the imperial aunt to interfere in politics, you really can't afford to offend the Kong family. Don't let the Ming Dynasty fall into disaster because of this..."

Zhu Cixiang patted the imperial aunt's jade hand tightly, and he wanted to say:

"Doomed? Count on these traitors? In seven years, the whole of China will fall into darkness for more than 300 years, and the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation will not be completed until the 21st century..."

But Zhu Cixi knew that these were too shocking, and Zhang Yan might not believe them, so he smiled and said:

"Don't worry, Auntie Huang, you won't be able to overturn the sky. Your Majesty knows how to balance."

When Zhu Cixiang said this, he suddenly remembered the incident about the emperor's uncle, and he whispered:

"Uncle Huang's accident was caused by the civil service group's bribery of two young eunuchs and imperial doctors. Most of those people were exterminated when the emperor was in charge of the country. The few remaining little shrimps are under control. Uncle Huang's soul can rest in peace in heaven.

…”

On May 18th, the fifth year of Tianqi, after the sacrificial ceremony at the Earth Altar, Zhu Youxiao drove to Xiyuan to play.

Originally, a group of people, including Zhu Youxiao and Wei Zhongxian, were on the big ship.

But Zhu Youxiao suddenly became interested and wanted to row the boat himself.

No one could defeat him, so they took two young chamberlains, Gao Yongshou and Liu Siyuan, to row a boat.

Zhu Youxiao paddled the oar himself, with two servants helping him.

It was Shen hour, which was from three to five o'clock in the afternoon.

The three of them were having fun, rowing farther and farther away from the big ship.

While we were having fun playing, a strong wind suddenly blew on the lake and overturned the boat.

The reason why the boat capsized is a mystery, because both young eunuchs drowned.

When they found that the emperor had fallen into the lake, everyone was frightened and panicked.

Those who couldn't swim could only yell and panic, while the eunuchs who knew how to swim quickly jumped into the lake to save people.

Wei Zhongxian also knew how to paddle a dog twice, but it was of no use. It would be good if he could go down and protect himself. Finally, the steward Tan Jing and others rescued Zhu Youxiao.

As for Gao Yongshou and Liu Siyuan, they were more unlucky.

At that time, everyone was busy saving the emperor, so they couldn't care about these two people. They were drowned alive.

There are many doubts about this. How big a wind must be to overturn a boat with several people on it?

The palace gardens were not the river or the sea, and Zhu Youxiao was playing on a sunny day. Where could such a strong wind come from?

A young man in his prime fell into the water, so he couldn't be cured, right? All the imperial doctors are just idlers?

Zhu Youxiao's body bones were already weak, and his condition, which had improved after drowning, worsened again.

After that, it went up and down, and in the autumn of the sixth year of Tianqi, the condition relapsed again.

I took medicine for several months, but it didn't feel any better, so I could only use warm and tonic prescriptions to nourish and condition my body.

By the summer of the seventh year of Tianqi, Emperor Tianqi's condition worsened again.

At this time, Huo Weihua, the Minister of War, submitted a letter.

He said that he had a "miraculous medicine" called Lingluyin, which he said would bring immediate results, improve health and longevity after taking it.

It sounds weird, but in fact this elixir is similar to the millet soup of later generations.

It is said that after taking this medicine, Zhu Youxiao felt much refreshed.

He was overjoyed and started taking this magical medicine every day.

As a result, over time, Zhu Youxiao's body showed obvious changes. He began to suffer from edema all over his body, and eventually died.

When Zhu Youxiao passed away, his whole person was already unbearable to look at.

Hearing Zhu Cixiang suddenly talk about Emperor Tianqi, Zhang Yan immediately thought of her deceased husband.

Her whole body trembled slightly and her face became even paler. It took a while before she calmed down, and she sighed softly:

This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! "This result is similar to what the emperor's aunt guessed. It is so important that no one dares to mention it, let alone investigate it, including your father."

''Prince, since the mastermind has been killed, Auntie Huang doesn't want to know their names, otherwise she will have nightmares about the remaining ones. Just watch and deal with them."

Queen Yi'an paused for a moment when she said this, as if she thought of something, and then whispered:

"Prince, the Imperial Aunt has a suggestion. It is best to deal with all the remaining people secretly. This kind of scandal will have an extremely bad impact on both the royal family and the ministers."

Zhu Cixi knew what she meant and nodded hurriedly:

"Well, just follow Auntie Huang's suggestion. You can rest in peace and take your leave!"

After Zhu Cihong said this, he helped Queen Yi'an lie down flat, covered her with a thin quilt and left...

Returning to Zhongcui Palace, Zhu Cihong immediately summoned Li Ruolian and Fang Zhenghua, who immediately rushed to Zhongcui Palace after receiving the notice.

"See Your Highness."

"No gift."

Zhu Cixi made the two of them level, and then said:

"Li Ruolian, please send all the evidence and confessions of the nobles and civilian officials to the Ministry of Punishment. The rest of the matter will be reviewed by the three departments. I do not intend to do it myself this time."

"According to the order!"

Li Ruolian took the order and immediately exited Zhongcui Palace.

After Li Ruolian left, Zhu Cihong looked at Fang Zhenghua.

It is more appropriate to leave matters in the palace to Fang Zhenghua, as he is a eunuch and can easily move around in the palace.

"Fang Daban, I have something for you to do. Remember to do it neatly."

Fang Zhenghua hurriedly bowed and said:

"Please give me your instructions!"

"Behead me, the person who poisoned me, and the imperial doctor who committed the crime, and cut off the three Yi tribes in half. The person who poisoned my mother, the queen, my aunt, and the king Ding will be handed over to the Ministry of Punishment. Pang Panghai and the other palace maids and eunuchs will be beheaded. Do not kill the three tribes!"

"As you command!"

Fang Zhenghua took the order and left.

"Hu Bao, go and inform Yue Yang, and give 500,000 taels of gold and silver to your father, and 1 million taels to the account. The rest will be deposited in the Royal Bank. The other property will be auctioned by the Royal Group, and after being liquidated, it will also be deposited in the Royal Bank."

"As you command!"

Hu Bao took the order and immediately exited Zhongcui Palace.

The Royal Group has become a giant, covering a wide range of industries domestically. With the help of the Zheng family, its overseas business is proceeding smoothly, and it has now established a firm foothold in Japan and Nanyang.

The number of merchant ships has reached more than 500. The sailors on the merchant ships are all recruits trained by Zheng Sen and veterans of the Zheng family. After the navy warships are delivered in the future, they will become qualified Ming navy officers on the warships.

July 1, the tenth year of Chongzhen

Zhu Cihong got up early to wash up and have breakfast. Today he had to go to court.

The early court meeting had been canceled after he was imprisoned, and Chongzhen specifically told him last night that he must attend the court meeting today.

The big earthquake that happened last night has shaken the entire capital. More than 20 civil servants' homes were ransacked, and two great nobles, Li Guozhen, the uncle of Xiangcheng, and Xu Yunzhen, the Duke of Dingguo, were also ransacked.
To be continued...