I have a cornucopia

Chapter 254: Happy to have a son
Front bedroom.

That was the original name.

What Li Zicheng left for Chongzhen to sit in a well and look at the world was the harem part of the original Prince of Qin's Palace, so Chongzhen also lived in the front bedroom. This location was originally equivalent to the Qianqing Palace in the imperial palace.

The Qin Palace of the Ming Dynasty was very large. After all, it was the number one vassal state in the world. Its layout was the same as that of the imperial palace, with halls such as Chengyun in front.

Of course, that is also the place that His Majesty the Emperor hates most in this palace.

Because every time he went to Chengyun Palace, he would be manipulated like a puppet in advance, put on a dragon robe and then taken out, where he would sit on the throne like a woman with a broken heart being bullied, watching Li Zicheng and his men dancing wildly below, and of course Li Jiantai and other clowns, performing their flattery to Li Zicheng...

Li Jiantai is still the Prime Minister!

His Royal Highness the Prince of Qin is a loyal minister and will not interfere in state affairs.

Therefore, all the imperial edicts were written by Prime Minister Li. Because he was so professional in flattering Li Zicheng, Prime Minister Li is now able to act freely.

He can't run away anyway.

Then, after being played with, His Majesty the Emperor was thrown back here to continue his narrow-minded attitude.

But this time was different. He took the initiative to summon Li Zicheng. This kind of thing had never happened before, and Li Zicheng was a little uncomfortable. He stood in front of Chongzhen at a loss.

"Give the King of Qin a seat!"

His Majesty the Emperor on the throne said with a smile.

Lao Wang quickly moved a chair over and placed it behind Li Zicheng. Lao Li sat down casually, crossing his legs.

"Your Majesty, if you have something to say, just tell me."

His Royal Highness the Prince of Qin said frankly.

He was very unhappy with Chongzhen's performance. As a puppet in his hands, he was more confident than him.

It's simply the opposite of Tian Gang.

"You and I have been working together as king and subject for almost two years. The Ming Dynasty was able to recover from danger thanks to the King of Qin. I think the country will still depend on the King of Qin to protect it. However, as far as I know, the King of Qin has no sons, so this title must be inherited by someone. I do have several sons, and I want to make one of them the King of Qin's heir. As for which one, the King of Qin can choose. What do you think?"

Chongzhen said.

Li Zicheng was stunned for a moment...

Of course, let alone him, even Lao Wang was stunned.

Li Zicheng did not have a son, nor did he have an adopted son in the true sense. As for the one he adopted as a confidant, that was another matter. This was also the main problem of his group. Even though he had a nephew, Li Guo, the problem was that Li Guo was older than him. In fact, the nephew was older than the uncle, and he was six years older. Li Guo did have a son, but of course, it was not Li Laiheng. Li Laiheng was his adopted son. Li Guo had a biological son, who originally followed Yongli in history, and later changed his surname to Duan in Yunnan.

So the most Li Zicheng could do was pass the title to Li Guo's son.

But this refers to his title of King of Qin. If he was the King of Qin of the Ming Dynasty, there would certainly be no problem in passing the title to Li Guo's son.

But if he became emperor and passed the throne to Li Guo’s son, it would be different.

Will the other generals accept it?
Will generals such as Gao Yigong, Liu Fangliang, and Tian Jianxiu accept it?
They are at the same level as Li Guo, and some are even higher than Li Guo. Will they accept his son as ruler?

What should be done with Li Laiheng, the adopted son who has made great military achievements and is also very popular?
Would Li Guo’s biological son accept such a brother after coming to power?

It can be said that the issue of succession has always been the biggest hidden danger of Li Zicheng's group. In the final analysis, the core of their group is Li Zicheng. There is no second person under Li Zicheng. Those generals are all equal. Even Liu Zongmin, who was not even accepted by Li Zicheng. Although Liu Zongmin died in the battle, it was just a troublemaker, but the others were the same. There was nothing to say about Li Zicheng, the old brother, but if Li Zicheng was gone, who else could make these guys surrender? There was really no one.

This is the biggest problem with this grassroots group. Apart from Li Zicheng, there is no one who can be said to be widely accepted.

Of course it’s easy to deal with since Li Zicheng has a son.

It is natural for a son to inherit the father's throne.

But he has no son, so the problem becomes complicated.

Chongzhen was very cunning and had already noticed this problem. After all, he was much more sensitive to this kind of thing than Li Zicheng.

After all, he was able to succeed to the throne because his brother had no son.

"Your Majesty, what if I choose your eldest prince?"

Li Zicheng said slowly.

He was talking about Zhu Cijiong.

Zhu Cilang's crown prince position had been deposed and kicked out of the imperial book. Zhu Cizhao, born to Concubine Tian, ​​was deliberately dragged away by Empress Zhou during the attack on Lugou River, and then died at the hands of an assassin. So now, apart from the ones he gave birth to in Xi'an, the only one left by Chongzhen is Princess Kunxing's half-brother Zhu Cihong, who is now thirteen years old. He can be said to be the most suitable person to be the crown prince at the moment.

So the question is, what if Li Zicheng chose him?
You know, he is the most suitable candidate for the crown prince, the legitimate son, the oldest at the moment, and is almost an adult.

But if he became Li Zicheng's son, he would definitely not be able to be made the crown prince.

But this was not a problem. Li Zicheng had no intention of appointing a crown prince for Chongzhen, and even Chongzhen himself had no interest in it.

"I have already said that the King of Qin can choose for himself."

Chongzhen said with a smile.

Li Zicheng looked at him deeply and thought about it.

……

"So cunning!"

Yang Feng, who was on the roof, exclaimed as he looked at the screen in his hand.

He is watching the live broadcast...

He just installed a camera with a microphone in a suitable position in the hall. With high technology, there is no need to take risks. The Prince of Donghai of the Ming Dynasty can lie on the roof and bask in the warm winter sun to watch the live broadcast of the conspiracy between His Majesty the Emperor and His Royal Highness the Prince of Qin. As for Chongzhen's proposal, it was really cunning. Not only was it cunning, but it also firmly grasped Li Zicheng. The latter had no heir, so he gave him an heir. Moreover, Li Zicheng was definitely going to usurp the throne, and he didn't want his subordinates to push him.

Since he is using the emperor to control the other princes, it would be incomprehensible if he doesn't usurp the throne.

But Li Zicheng's usurpation of the throne was also very dangerous, because those who claimed to be loyal to the Ming Dynasty would attack him, such as the regent in Jiangnan.

But what if his successor is the regent’s younger brother?

Chongzhen was hinting to Li Zicheng that when necessary, he could abdicate and let Li Zicheng fulfill his dream of being an emperor, but Li Zicheng wanted his son to be his heir, and the latter would succeed to the throne after Li Zicheng's death. After succeeding to the throne, he would of course recognize his ancestral roots again and become Chongzhen's son again.

It’s still the Ming Dynasty.

It’s still the Zhu family’s world.

Nothing has changed. At most, like Wu Zetian, a short-lived country name will appear in the middle.

Li Zicheng and his generals did not have to worry about the future, because even if the emperor changed his surname back to Zhu, Li Zicheng would still be his father, and he would not destroy him. Moreover, his kingdom actually depended on his subordinates, so even if he changed his surname back to Zhu, he still had to ensure the prosperity and wealth of these people. This son was more likely to be accepted by his generals than anyone else, after all, he was originally a prince, and those who came from the old Ming army would be accepted without hesitation, and those who followed Li Zicheng in the rebellion would not object...

The world originally belonged to him. He succeeded to the throne after Chongzhen died, and he also succeeded to the throne after Li Zicheng died. No matter how you look at it, it's all his.

Nothing will change.

And they all got what they wanted.

Li Zicheng fulfilled his desire to be an emperor, and Chongzhen's son was still the emperor.

Since Li Zicheng had no son, even if he became emperor, it was just for fun. Moreover, this was different from the games he had played in the past. This was a proper abdication and he would be the emperor.

It's enough to satisfy your addiction.

At most, Chongzhen would lose the throne after abdicating, but given his current situation, it would be better for him to abdicate and not have to endure a humiliating life here.

After abdication, you can also become the Duke of Shanyang. Maybe you can even go out for a walk instead of sitting here and watching the world from afar.

but……

This is all fake.

Chongzhen’s character would never really be like that!

He was just coaxing Li Zicheng and fooling Li Zicheng into treating Nanjing as his mortal enemy, because the only remaining enemy would be Nanjing's regent.

She is a fake crown prince, and it is obvious that she intends to become emperor in the future.

Chongzhen was instigating Li Zicheng to fight with his daughter, and Yang Feng would definitely help his daughter. In this way, there was a great probability that Li Zicheng would fail or even be destroyed. Once Li Zicheng died in the south, Chongzhen would have a chance. After all, he was still the emperor. If he promised to maintain the current wealth and glory for Li Zicheng's subordinates, then after Li Zicheng's death, would those generals who were originally relatively loyal to Chongzhen, including Sun Shoufa, accept Chongzhen's orders?

definitely will.

As for Li Zicheng's subordinates, as long as their official titles remained the same or even given more, would they turn loyal to Chongzhen?
There was no need to even turn around, as they were originally Chongzhen's ministers, but since the Prince of Qin had died, they simply obeyed the Emperor's orders.

Then Chongzhen took over Li Zicheng's group. As the emperor and his biological father, the princess would not resist even if she disobeyed Yang Feng.

This is her biological father after all.

Now Chongzhen was only strengthening Li Zicheng's determination to die.

He was afraid that Li Zicheng would retreat at the critical moment like last time, and this was almost inevitable. Li Zicheng would not really fight Jiangnan to the death. He attacked Nanjing and even led Chongzhen to the front in person, which showed that he was blackmailing. He was born a bandit, and it was inevitable that he would retreat if he couldn't win. Nanjing was just a fake prince, and Chongzhen was still the emperor. To put it bluntly, they could talk, and room had been left. The rest was negotiation. Li Zicheng led the army in person just to get more during the negotiation.

He didn't go there to risk his life.

But if Chongzhen could abdicate and allow him to become emperor legitimately, then it would be worth fighting for.

If he really went south and defeated the Jiangnan Group, he would basically unify the country. As for Dorgon, he could just ignore him. Dorgon now only had the strength to protect himself. Yang Feng could also be negotiated with, and he could be given whatever he wanted. Anyway, everyone understood that Li Zicheng was just having fun, and in the end the country would still belong to the Zhu family, so why fight for it? It would be better for both sides to get what they needed, and Yang Feng could be made the King of Qi, and the princess could be given to him, and he could take as many concubines as he wanted.

We can talk about anything.

Therefore, if Li Zicheng accepted Zhu Cixiong as his son and made him the Crown Prince of Qin, he could lead Chongzhen in person to lead the army, and the Crown Prince of Qin could stay in Xi'an.

That would be equivalent to announcing to the world that whether Li Zicheng usurped the throne or not, the country would still belong to the Zhu family and to Chongzhen's son.

Then other places, such as the three southwestern provinces, need to be considered.

Because it shows that Chongzhen stood with Li Zicheng on this issue. If they were loyal to the Zhu family, there would be no need to fight Li Zicheng. After all, Chongzhen's son became the emperor in the end, and they did not need to fight for their loyalty to the Zhu family. On the contrary, if the princess became the emperor, the throne would not be surnamed Zhu. It is hard to say whether it would be surnamed Yang, but it is impossible to be surnamed Zhu. Just like Wu Zetian would not pass the throne to her nephew, the princess would not pass the throne to her nephew, but only to her son.

If you are loyal to the Zhu family, you will have to stand with Li Zicheng. Similarly, if it is for the sake of interests, there is no need to fight with Li Zicheng.

Because it was the gentry from Jiangsu and Zhejiang who led this matter, and other places did not get involved. On the contrary, the militia in Nanjing that were not from Jiangsu and Zhejiang all sat and watched or confronted the militia from Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

Li Zicheng will gain a lot of allies.

It is hard to say whether Li Zicheng would see Chongzhen’s evil intentions, but it was inevitable that he would see the benefits of this.

As long as he accepted Chongzhen's proposal, his chances of success in this campaign would greatly increase.

and so……

Li Zicheng suddenly stood up with a very excited look.

"Your Majesty, I will obey your order."

He bowed towards Chongzhen and said.

In the end, he could not resist the temptation and chose to cooperate with Chongzhen.

"Your Majesty, there is no need to be polite. You and I are of one mind. No matter what, we are all together. I am tired of these years. Since the queen left, I have also let it go. Life is short, why make myself too tired? It is enough to have loyal ministers like you to guard this country."

Chongzhen sighed with a look of enlightenment.

Li Zicheng just smiled.

Of course, Prince Yang on the roof also smiled.

His Majesty the Emperor has actually learned to be humorous. This shows that prison is indeed a place for enlightenment.

This place is also considered a prison.

However, he was not interested in ruining Chongzhen's good fortune. This matter was obviously very promising, and he also wanted to see what the wise men of Jiangnan would do in the face of such a situation.

After Li Zicheng left, he continued to lie on the roof and admire the view. Old Wang obviously wanted to say something, but seeing Chongzhen's ghostly appearance, he didn't dare to speak after all. After all, he knew the emperor's temper very well. Not long after, Li Jiantai ran over in a hurry and waited outside the palace gate of the front bedroom. The guard shouted inside, and Old Wang hurried out and took Li Shoufu into the palace. Old Wang, who was in a bad mood, disliked him for walking too slowly and kicked him a few times.

Academician Li remained calm in the face of praise or criticism, and maintained a fawning smile, as if he was a dog licking the goddess. Then, under Chongzhen's cold gaze, he walked in and threw himself to the ground without hesitation.

"I bow before your majesty, long live my emperor!"

he shouted with great excitement.

"Draft an edict..."

Chongzhen said coldly.

Then Lao Wang threw the paper and pen in front of Li Shoufu...

(End of this chapter)