Chapter 1043: Dorgon, Who Framed You? (Please Subscribe)

"Injustice, injustice, this little king has been wronged. This little king is truly wronged. This little king has never once thought of rebelling against the Celestial Dynasty. This little king has been framed."

In the Imperial Pole Hall of the Old Mountain Palace, Dorgon, who had already been escorted to the Great Ming to await fair judicial trial, was kneeling before the Zhu Emperor, kowtowing and pleading bitterly, crying out his innocence without pause.

Zhu Cilang frowned as he looked at this worthless king. In his hand he held a memorial of self-accusation — it had been brought along by Liu Hao, who had escorted Dorgon to Yingtian Prefecture. It was not Dorgon's memorial of self-accusation, but Jin Dongzhu's.

In the memorial, Jin Dongzhu confessed her crimes in full detail — how she had used the Jia Leshi Bank to threaten the four chief ministers regent of Joseon, how she had worked with them to lay a judicial trap to ruin Dorgon, and what her purpose had been in doing all this.

Of course, she also confessed that she had never once told Dorgon of the Zhu Emperor's terms — that so long as Dorgon behaved himself, he would be guaranteed to remain king in Joseon.

Looking at Dorgon's wretched appearance, Zhu Cilang knew that if Dong'e had only told him his terms, the Joseon kingdom would no longer be a problem.

But now that Dong'e had done this, it was truly a bit unexpected!

It seemed this woman was not as obedient as she appeared on the surface! Give her a little power, and she stirred up a coup and even seized Dorgon's throne!

This matter could not simply be let go! Zhu Cilang thought to himself: she must be severely punished! How to punish her? A beating? No, she is not Ajige — she cannot be beaten. Better to demote her. Strip her all the way down, make her a Lady of Selected Service again, and let her slowly rise through the ranks later.

And from now on he would have to be more wary of her. This woman was not simple!

Thinking this far, Zhu Cilang sighed and asked, "Dorgon, you say you were framed. Then can you tell Us who it was that framed you?"

"The one who framed me was..." Dorgon began, then suddenly fell silent.

Because the one who framed him seemed to be sitting upright on the imperial throne in the Imperial Pole Hall!

Could he say, "This little king has been harmed by Your Majesty, and this little king wishes to bring suit against Your Majesty"?

The Great Ming was a feudal rule-of-law society, but all the feudal laws of the Great Ming had been promulgated by Zhu Cilang, and Zhu Cilang was also the final adjudicator of all lawsuits!

That is to say, according to the feudal laws of the Great Ming, if Dorgon wished to sue Zhu Cilang, the one ultimately responsible for adjudicating the case would also be Zhu Cilang — there was no such thing as recusal here.

Zhu Cilang was an emperor, not a president!

Zhu Cilang watched Dorgon trembling in terror, not daring to speak, and nodded, saying, "We know who it is you were going to name!"

He knew nothing of the sort — he thought Dorgon was going to accuse Princess Dong'e!

Dorgon, however, was so frightened he nearly collapsed — could the Son of Heaven of the Great Ming see into men's hearts? I had not even spoken a word; how could he know I was speaking of him?

Would he be silenced?

"You need not be afraid," Zhu Cilang said. "We are a reasonable man. The kingdom of Joseon cannot be returned to you, but a commandery princedom is still yours. We shall first bestow upon you a princely mansion, five thousand mu of princely fields, and thirty thousand taels of silver. Henceforth Joseon shall pay you ten thousand taels of silver each year as a retirement pension. From now on, live out your retirement in Yingtian Prefecture!"

And just like that, he was retired!

Dorgon was only sixteen this year. Others had not even begun their careers, and he was already retired! All the splendid years ahead of him could no longer be devoted to the people of Joseon's eight provinces. He could only squander money and live in dissipation in Yingtian Prefecture, spending gold like dirt. Just thinking about it was tragic.

The pitiful Dorgon departed, then went to report to the Grand Master of the Imperial Clan, the Prince of Fu, Zhu Yousong, to schedule a time to look at houses!

But Zhu Cilang still had plenty of troubles. He knew that with Dong'e stirring things up like this, the paper window between the Great Ming and Andong Garrison had been poked through.

The war to pacify Andong was about to break out at any moment!

After sending Dorgon and Liu Hao away, the hour was already late. The Zhu Emperor was not about to work overtime for the sake of a punitive expedition against Andong Garrison.

The governance of the Great Ming had gradually gotten onto the right track, so the Zhu Emperor was no longer as exhausted as he had been at the very beginning.

For instance, the matter of the punitive expedition against Andong Garrison would naturally be handled by the relevant personnel of the Grand Marshal's Office and the Grand Secretariat, who would work overtime in meetings. Within the next two days, a reasonably reliable plan would certainly be produced.

What the Zhu Emperor had to decide tonight was which ladies of the rear palace to bring with him on the northern campaign.

The war beyond the passes, of course, required the Zhu Emperor to take the field in person!

As for the women of the rear palace — Empress Wu Sanmei probably could not go. She had just given birth to a son for Zhu Cilang, a big chubby boy — with that, she now had two sons and three daughters in hand. She really was quite fertile! So she had to stay in Yingtian Prefecture to recuperate, in order to fight again. After giving birth to her second son, Wu Sanmei's confidence had soared, and she wanted to press on and bear several more for Zhu Cilang!

Zheng Chagu also could not go, because she was pregnant again! This was her sixth pregnancy — still one up on Wu Sanmei! If she bore another son, that would be four sons and two daughters!

She and Wu Sanmei alone had now borne five sons for Zhu Cilang, and showed no signs of stopping work.

The two of them were not yet thirty, and because they had loved physical activity since childhood, their constitutions were excellent. Bearing so many children had not harmed their foundations, and it looked as though they could keep bearing for another five to eight years.

Who knew how many sons Zhu Cilang would have to busy himself with by then!

Ning Xiangyu could not go either. The first and second ladies of the rear palace were busy bearing children, so all sorts of miscellaneous affairs fell to her to manage. And she liked managing affairs — she was busy and thoroughly enjoying herself.

At the dinner table in the Eastern Warm Pavilion of Swallow Mountain Palace, the Zhu Emperor's gaze slowly swept across the lovely faces of the women, and now came to rest on Fei Zhen'e's face.

"Zhen'e, We are going on campaign in person. You shall take charge of the traveling palace!"

Fei Zhen'e quickly glanced at Wu Sanmei, who was drinking chicken soup. Wu Sanmei looked up at Zhu Cilang. "Your Majesty, is Liaodong to be recovered this time?"

"Correct!" Zhu Cilang nodded. "We had originally intended to send troops next year, but now it seems it must be moved up. The offensive will certainly be launched before the autumn harvest."

Most of the Ming army nowadays consisted of professional soldiers, while most of the Andong army consisted of farmer-soldiers. Therefore, if the Ming army took the offensive, it would inevitably choose to strike during the busy farming season.

And the autumn harvest was even better than spring planting, because the fields would be full of grain, making it easy for the army to obtain supplies.

"Let me take charge of the traveling palace for you!" Wu Sanmei said at once. "I am a woman of Liao. I should accompany His Majesty to recover Liaodong!"

"Then what of Yingtian Prefecture..." Zhu Cilang hesitated. "Who will remain to guard it?"

"Let Imperial Noble Consort Zheng remain as guardian!" Wu Sanmei said. "Besides, Xing'er is no longer young."

Zhu Cilang nodded. "That works. Chagu, can you protect the Crown Prince and remain in Yingtian Prefecture?"

The Crown Prince?

So Zhu Hexing was to be made Crown Prince! The matter had long been settled. It had not been announced earlier because Wu Sanmei feared her son's fate was too fragile and he could not bear it. Now Zhu Hexing's health was improving day by day, and it seemed he could already shoulder the great position of Crown Prince.

Therefore the Zhu Emperor was preparing to finalize the Crown Prince's title before setting out on campaign.

Zheng Chagu quickly rose and performed a curtsy. "Please rest assured, Your Majesty and Elder Sister Empress. Chagu will certainly take good care of His Highness the Crown Prince."

"Good!" Zhu Cilang said. "Ajige, Sizhen, you are also people of Liao, so you shall accompany Us north!"

Ajige and Kong Sizhen both rose and gave the Zhu Emperor a graceful curtsy.

Zhu Cilang continued, "Marie will also be coming along. Sanmei, make the arrangements."

The little foreign filly Marie Mancini naturally had to be brought along too — she must not be left too lonely!

Zhu Cilang laughed. "This really is a big family now. Sanmei, Ajige, Sizhen, go back tonight and prepare well. Oh, and Zhen'e, you come along too."

Fei Zhen'e had been feeling somewhat disappointed, but when she heard the Zhu Emperor call her name as well, she was overjoyed and also rose to perform a curtsy.

"Erlin," Zhu Cilang said to the talented lady Xu Erlin, "you are also with child. Stay in Yingtian and rest well. Wait for Our triumphant return."

Xu Erlin said sweetly, "This concubine respectfully wishes Your Majesty an early victory!"

Zhu Cilang nodded. "We will surely return victorious before long!" He finally turned his gaze to Ning Xiangyu. "Xiangyu, you will attend Us in the bedchamber tonight."

Ning Xiangyu's cheeks flushed, and she answered in a low voice.

(End of Chapter)