The Gong Prince was the sixth son of the previous emperor. He was intelligent and talented since he was young, and was loved by the emperors of the previous generation.
There were many rumors that after the death of the previous emperor, the throne should have been inherited by him. But in the end, it was intercepted by the emperor.
Even the Gong Prince himself thought so.
Fortunately, the emperor did not live long and died at the age of 30.
This was undoubtedly a great opportunity for the Gong Prince.
Back then, he had joined forces with the Eastern and Western Empress Dowager to launch a coup, taking down the eight ministers appointed by the Emperor and taking over the power of the court.
In addition, he clearly supported the Westernization Movement and could be called the banner figure of the Westernization Faction. He had great influence in the Ming Empire's officialdom and could even be described as having power in the government.
But regrettably, in the power struggle with the Empress Dowager, he still ended in failure, causing the power of the court to fall into the hands of the Empress Dowager. He had also been relieved of his duties.
But now, the Gong Prince once again saw a chance to rise up and even take back the throne.
"Wangye, what should we do now? Should he spread the news that the Empress Dowager of the West had died at the hands of the little Emperor and then use this opportunity to force him to abdicate?”Baoyun asked.
"Yes, Your Highness. This is a great opportunity for us!”Jing Lian persuaded.
"Let's wait and see!" The Gong Prince shook his head. Once the Empress Dowager of the West died, her henchmen and the little Emperor would definitely fight for power. They have no one to rely on, so we can take advantage of the situation to recruit them and increase our strength. At that time, he would launch a forceful abdication of the little Emperor and force him to abdicate!”
The Gong Prince's eyes were filled with viciousness.
Even though the Emperor was his nephew. However, for the sake of the throne, for the sake of power. For thousands of years, how many people would care about kinship? Even father and son killing each other and brothers killing each other happened from time to time, let alone uncle and nephew fighting for peace.
Baoyun and Jing Lian nodded repeatedly.
However, they were wrong in the end.
The Emperor did not fight for power with the Empress Dowager of the West's confidants. Instead, he stabilized them and incorporated them to consolidate his power. After that, he would slowly eliminate all dissidents and establish his supreme status.
The Gong Prince and his henchmen wanted to seize the supreme power of the Ming Empire, but it was simply a delusion.
At most, they would cause some trouble for the emperor.
Moreover, it would also cause trouble for them.
Time passed by bit by bit, and in the blink of an eye, it was already the eleventh year of Guangchang, September 19th.
This was already the tenth day since the Empress Dowager of the West had passed away. However, this did not affect their lives much. Therefore, he did not pay much attention to it.
In addition, the Emperor did not hold a state funeral for the Empress Dowager of the West. Instead, he buried her hastily. Therefore, there was basically no commotion.
The power of the Ming Empire had also completed a smooth transfer.
The scene of the Emperor and the ministers fighting for power, which the Gong Prince and his henchmen desired, did not happen. The ministers had already submitted to the Emperor. At the same time, Li Shaoquan, the governor of Zhili and minister of Beiyang, also entered the Military and Political Affairs Office. A large number of Huai soldiers were still stationed in the outskirts of Yanjing City.
In addition, Yan Jing City had always imposed a curfew, so no one dared to cause trouble.
This allowed the Ming Empire to maintain a stable state.
This naturally disappointed the Gong Prince and his followers.
However, they were helpless. They had no other choice but to watch the Emperor of Guang Dong take over.
"Emperor, Li Lian Ying has already confessed. He admitted that he poisoned the Empress Dowager to death!”Zhang Haojie reported.
Now, this young eunuch who had been following the Emperor of Guang Dong had been appointed as the chief eunuch. He was in charge of all the eunuchs and serving girls in the Forbidden City.
Of course, Zhang Haojie was also very profitable. He had already pried open Li Lianying's mouth and put the sh * t on him.
The emperor nodded. He didn't care what Zhang Haojie did.
Li Lianying wasn't a good person anyway. He didn't have any psychological burden to frame her.
In fact, Li Lianying's mouth was very tough. She was not willing to confess even if she was tortured. It was only when Zhang Haojie threatened to kill his entire family that Li Lianying gave in.
"What about Li Lianying's assets? How much did you confiscate?" Emperor Guang Dong asked.
He was more concerned about this aspect.
"Emperor, we have already recovered all of Li Lianying's wealth. We have confiscated a total of eleven million taels of silver.”Zhang Haojie had just taken office and didn't dare to fill his own pockets in case the emperor was unhappy.
"Very good, this silver is of great use to Zhen. Oh right, including this silver, how much silver does the treasury have in total?”Emperor Guang Dong asked.
"Emperor, there are a total of three thousand six hundred and fifty taels of silver in the treasury.”Zhang Haojie replied.
The emperor nodded in satisfaction. This was already a large sum of silver. Next, he could start many of his plans.
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