Haisheng Mingdi

Chapter 495 The Prince
There was a prisoner in the prisoner-of-war camp who used to be an eunuch of Lu Wangfu. As soon as this situation was reported, Meng Xian was already packing and was about to say goodbye to the generals.

Quickly recruit people to ask.

"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. After being castrated, he was sent to Daming, where he lived in the Beijing palace for many years, and when he became an adult, he was transferred to the servant of the flattery department in Lu Wangfu in Yanzhou."

"In the 15th year of Chongzhen, the Tartars entered the customs and plundered, and soldiers entered Shandong, and finally broke through Yanzhou Mansion, the palace fell, King Lu was killed, and today's emperor was also seriously injured at that time.

Afterwards, the Tartars looted many people and took them away. Song Mingwu was also taken away as a slave. "

"He also confessed an important news, saying that at that time Yanzhou city was broken, Lu Wang's mansion fell, Lu Wang and his son, and his fourth and fifth younger brothers were all martyred on the same day..."

Meng Xian heard the shocking news that today's son Zhu Yihai survived the catastrophe with three knives and passed out in a pool of blood, but his wife Zhang jumped to the city to die, and his third son Daughter, also two sons and one daughter died.But now Song Mingwu said that Zhu Yihai's eldest son and third son were not dead.

When the Qing army withdrew, it took a large number of people, including many masters and servants of the palace.

Zhu Yihai's eldest son, Zhu Hongjia, and his third son, Zhu Hongyu, were both born to the concubine Chen's family. They were not killed at that time, but were taken away and taken all the way outside the pass.

Song Mingwu was with them all the way from Yanzhou to outside the pass, but after leaving the pass, these captives were distributed to the princes and soldiers of the Eight Banners. Both of them were fine at the time, so there is a good chance that both of them are still alive.

It's just that Song Mingwu didn't know where they were assigned.

Meng Xian was very excited when he heard this.

Before today's son went south, he had three sons and two daughters. As a result, both the eldest son and the third son fell into Gunzhou. Later, they took the second son and eldest daughter to the south. The second son stayed in Nanjing, but finally died in the chaos.

Only one eldest daughter was left by her side.

After Emperor Xiaoling came to the throne, he still had no sons.

Huang Binqing's daughter gave birth to a son before, but died on the same day, and then Empress Zhang and Concubine Xiao Meng each gave birth to a daughter.

The Son of Heaven does not have a son yet, and the Ming Dynasty has no heir. This has always worried the people of the world.

It is actually possible now that the emperor's two sons are still alive, how can this not be exciting.

"Hurry up and take me to see this Song Mingwu!"

Meng Xian led a group of officers to meet Song Mingwu. When he saw this man, his first impression was very disappointing. He was submissive. He didn't even look like a eunuch in the palace?
"Get him a bowl of lean meat porridge, and a pot of good tea."

Meng Xian confessed.

But Song Mingwu pointed at the dazed Isha and the motionless Naman, "General, can you help my master and Naman heal their wounds first?"

Hearing the word master and son, Meng Xian got a little angry, but he held back.

He didn't know how this eunuch got here in the past five years, but it must have been very difficult when the palace fell, fell into captivity, was taken captive outside the pass, traveled thousands of miles, and finally fell into slavery under the hands of a foreign race.

"Call the doctor."

Meng Xian tried to chat with Song Mingwu to learn more details, and even specially called other military officers to accompany him, and asked the clerk to record all the conversations, 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 worth paying attention to.

The lean meat porridge was brought, but Song Mingwu had to serve Isha to eat first, and Isha had to feed Naman first.

Meng Xian endured it.

After tossing for a long time, the three of them cleaned the wounds, removed the pus and blood, applied medicine and bandaged them, were full, wiped their bodies clean, and changed into clean clothes.

Finally, I can ask properly.

Song Mingwu's spirit has also improved a lot, he is very clear about the layout of the Beijing Imperial Palace and Prince Lu's Mansion, and even has memories of some personnel affairs.

Some details can be said.

Although Meng Xian didn't know the situation of the Beijing Imperial Palace and Prince Lu's Mansion, at least he knew some old people around the emperor, such as Gu Dayong, Liu Chao, Zhao Jing and so on.

Even Song Mingwu, who was the first consort of King Lu's wife Zhang, and his successor consorts Chen and Zhou, could tell.

After talking for nearly an hour.

Meng Xian already half-believed that this eunuch used to be the eunuch of King Lu's Mansion, especially when he asked someone to bandage his wound and change his clothes just now, and he also checked that he was indeed a eunuch who was castrated when he was young.

"Send these fast horses to Laizhou immediately!"

"I'll take him personally and rush there!"

The matter is so important that Meng Xian dare not be careless.

Song Mingwu was immediately taken care of, not only changed his food to lean meat porridge, but also drank some ginseng soup to nourish Qi and blood. Because of his persistence, even Isha and Naman were taken care of and enjoyed the same food as him. treatment.

······
Laizhou.

An urgent report broke the tranquility of walking.

All the ministers who were walking couldn't sit still in shock, and hurriedly begged to see the emperor.

"Your Majesty, is there really a Song Mingwu in the palace?"

Xu Shiqi, the old man of the pavilion, asked as soon as he met.

In fact, they have 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 Liu Chao usually kept a distance from Wai Chao, and he didn't talk nonsense about such a big matter.

Zhu Yihai kneaded his head, it hurt a lot.

The eldest son, Hongjia, was posthumously named Lu Wangshizi before, and later posthumously named prince, and the third son was also posthumously named prince. Even the second son who died in Nanjing was also posthumously named prince. The fourth son, Hongting, was also posthumously crowned prince.

Since he raised his army, ZTE has made progress and won every victory, and the situation is very good.

But in terms of offspring, things didn't go well.

The four sons have disappeared.

In the south, there were ten empress Zhang, the big and small Huang concubines, big and small Meng concubines, and big and small Ruan concubines who married. Several of them were pregnant, and three had already given birth. As a result, one son and two daughters died young.

Now there are three daughters.

Although Zhu Yihai is still young, less than [-] years old, his ability to conceive seven concubines within a year is already very strong, and he is in his prime.

But the ruling and opposition parties only focus on the emperor's childlessness, and everyone is more anxious than the emperor.

For this reason, Zhu Yihai was also very helpless.

Even the empress wrote several times to persuade the emperor to accept the concubines, and Liu Chao often talked about drafting girls. This matter even got the support of the cabinet and other ministers.

After all, even ordinary people's families pay attention to three kinds of unfilial piety, and having no descendants is the greatest.

And for a country, especially at such a time, the importance of the crown prince is needless to say.

Zhu Yihai took in two more honorable daughters, but the matter of having a son is not something that can be born immediately.

He also knew the importance of an heir, but he was in no hurry.

Even to appease the hearts of the people, he sent people to search for the two missing princes of Chongzhen, but they were finally found. The third prince Ding Wang Zhu Cijiong was found in Shanxi. After finding out, he refused to admit it, but the factory guard still took him back to Nanjing secretly.

The 16-year-old King Ding was in Nanjing. Naturally, many people who had met him were sent to meet and verify him. In the end, everyone believed that this was the third prince.

Zhu Yihai specially ordered him to restore his status as Dingwang, and named him hereditary vice president.

Not long after, the fourth prince Yong Wang 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 to get the name. is king.

The 14-year-old Yong Wang is relatively lucky. Although he has been homeless for a short period of time, he has always been taken care of by his side.

After being found, he was brought back to Nanjing, and was also named a hereditary grandson.

King Yong stayed in Nanjing, and King Ding stayed in Hangzhou, and sent people to teach and take care of them. They also saved a few points in case there was no crown prince, and there was a backup.

Although Zhu Yihai's move was considered inappropriate by some ministers, Zhu Yihai believed that if he really had no heir, it would be a good choice to train the two kings in the future and choose one of them to inherit the Ming Dynasty.

Of course, if he had a son, he would definitely not choose Chongzhen's son, otherwise it would be a mess.

Zhu Yihai has memories of the past.

As for Song Mingwu, he had recalled it for a long time after receiving the report, and he did find relevant memories of this person, but the impression was not deep.

This person is from the flattery department of Prince Lu's mansion. He was originally a member of his elder brother Zhu Yipai, king of Lu. He was not a great eunuch.

At that time, he was only the sixth concubine son of the old King Lu, and the sixth concubine younger brother of the current King Lu was just a general who ruled the country. Of course, he didn't have much contact with an ordinary eunuch in the elder brother's palace, and he just knew that there was such a person.

"There is indeed Song Mingwu. I recalled it with Liu Chao just now. Liu Chao used to be in the flattery department and knew the officials of the palace better. He said that Song Mingwu was indeed transferred from Beijing before, and this person was North Korea. Those who paid tribute to the court after the country was castrated are basically right, of course, you have to wait for someone to come to confirm, Liu Chao and other old people in the palace can recognize him."

As soon as this remark came out, everyone already understood that things would basically not go wrong.

A 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 you find it, how to save it, and should you be crowned prince when you come back?
Of course, there is another problem.

If the two princes are really still slaves outside the customs, why didn't the tartars mention it all the time, why didn't they use it as a bargaining chip?Did they forget the identities of the two princes, or did they disappear in the bitter cold outside the Liaodong Pass?

After all, based on time calculations, the two were still very young when they were taken away nearly five years ago.

The eldest son Hongjia was only seven years old at the time, the second son was six years old, and now he is only eleven or twelve years old.Both of them were concubines, born of Zhu Yihai's concubine before his marriage, so they were born earlier.

But the child who was only six or seven years old at that time, even if he survived all the way from Shandong to the outside of the customs, might not be able to endure the life of being a slave in the bitter cold of Liaodong?

Everyone is very worried, afraid that it will be nothing in the end.

Zhu Yihai had the impression of those two children in his mind, which had been kept under dust by him before, and he didn't want to touch it too much, but now it was about to be uncovered.

He didn't even know how to face it.

"Since Song Mingwu confessed in this way, there is a high possibility that the two princes are still there, but it is very likely that the Tartars did not take them seriously at that time, and rewarded someone casually, and then treated them as ordinary captives. Slaves, driven to labor, 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 in secret for the time being, don't startle the snake, lest the Tartars take precautions or even hurt them, Zhu Qing, please keep it secret."

(End of this chapter)