Chapter 29 Chapter 29: Three Emperors in One Year

Yang Lian rushed to the cabinet in a hurry, got out of the carriage, and saw Zuo Guangdou, who had arrived one step earlier than him, was about to step up the steps, so he hurried to catch up, and when he caught up, the two stood side by side; They were so anxious that they had wrung out their oil, and they didn't even have the heart to exchange polite greetings; they didn't even have the thought of speaking or exchanging opinions; Several ministers had already arrived before the two of them, and they all showed the same expressions as if by coincidence—everyone was frowning, with heavy faces, sitting silently with their heads bowed—even Fang Congzhe, the chief minister of the cabinet who took the initiative to invite the ministers to come, was no exception. His face was dark and his eyes were so dim that it seemed that the sun had disappeared.

The solemn atmosphere was ten or a hundred times worse than that of Emperor Wanli's funeral—the ministers could smell the current weather without breathing, and feel the viciousness of current affairs and the difficulty of their own situation. "If you are not careful, you will be smashed to pieces—not just an individual, but the entire Ming Dynasty is at the critical point!" This is the consensus of everyone that the Ming Dynasty is facing an unprecedented crisis—and after Fang Congzhe’s invitation to discuss the matter has all the important ministers of the court and the central government, and explained the content of the matter, everyone discovered that the specific facts, It turned out to be far worse than the earlier consensus!

This unprecedented crisis is not just a national mourning for Emperor Taichang who passed away only one month after ascending the throne—— Fang Congzhe even spoke in a hoarse voice: "Everyone must have received the post from Wang An and Wang Sili!" He also has a copy in his own hand, which was sent by Wang Anming's confidant eunuch, with Wang An's seal on it. The most important thing: "Choose a servant who wants to support the eldest son of the emperor and coerce him, just like the previous dynasty to listen to the government behind the curtain!" Although the text is only a few words, the reasons described are extremely serious; almost everyone of the ministers received it; and Fang Congzhe also revealed a more serious inside story: "The old man left the inner prison for a few more words before I found out Xi Li's actions were instigated by Concubine Zheng behind his back; moreover, Xi Li under Yueli stole Qianqing Palace and refused to move out, and insisted on letting the eldest son of the emperor stay in Ciqing Palace, and also refused to let the eldest son of the emperor go to the palace. Qianqing palace; so Wang An was in a hurry, fearing that something might happen to the eldest son of the emperor, he resolutely stepped forward and sent a big post to reveal it. In fact, he was afraid that there would be changes in the palace, so he asked for help from outside - he thought that at present, he could only rely on the strength of foreign ministers Cleaning up the palace has changed!"

After finishing speaking, he sighed heavily, and then emphasized his tone: "So this pavilion invites everyone to come here quickly and discuss countermeasures!" Liu Yijing immediately responded to him: "This matter is urgent, we must act as soon as possible!" But Yang Lian's temper was even more anxious, and he stood up before the time, and said loudly: "We should enter the palace immediately to meet the eldest son of the emperor; At the same time, I urged Xi Li to move to the palace, and the eldest son of the emperor moved into the Qianqing Palace—the matter was quick to prevent changes!"

The eldest son of the emperor, Youxiao, had originally planned to choose a date to be named the crown prince, but Emperor Taichang passed away suddenly, and he did not have time to perform the canonization ceremony, and he did not have the status of prince; now, he has to ascend to the Ninth Five-Year Plan by direct succession—these, Everyone agreed with Yang Lian's opinion; therefore, a group of people immediately got up and went to the palace in a mighty manner, inviting them into the palace in the name of Emperor Taichang crying, and invited the eldest son of the emperor. Unexpectedly, as soon as he reached the gate of the palace, he was blocked by the eunuch guarding the gate.

The reason he held was: "Long Live Lord has passed away, the palace is in a mess, foreign ministers should not trespass, please come back, my lords, come back in a few days!" Fang Congzhe was furious at the moment, and said angrily: "What are you talking about! Long Live Lord is the king of a country, and his sudden death is a major event for the country. This cabinet led the important officials of the court to enter the palace and cry. How can there be any reason to return?" The gatekeeper eunuch didn't reason with him, but just refused: "Mr. Fang Ge should come back at another day—come when the palace orders Mr. Xuan Ge and all the lords to enter the palace and cry!"

The words became more and more unseemly, Fang Congzhe was so angry that he trembled; and Yang Lian, who was originally in the back row, couldn't bear it anymore. He strode forward and shouted angrily at the eunuch guarding the gate: "The death of the emperor and the arrival of the ministers are national ceremonies - who ordered you to prevent important court officials from entering the palace? Do you know the crime of abolishing etiquette and the crime of humiliating the emperor to serve as an official?" His voice was so stern and upright that the eunuch didn't dare to look up at him; Zuo Guangdou also caught up with him and asked the eunuch loudly: "The emperor is dead, the heir is still young, what do you take with me?" Dozens of eunuchs prevent important court officials from entering the palace, what is their intention? Do they have a plan?"

In this way, the eunuch guarding the gate did not dare to stop him anymore, and this pedestrian was able to enter the palace smoothly. Before arriving at Qianqing Palace, Wang An had already received a report and came to meet him. As soon as they met, Wang An cried: "The country of this dynasty is about to be destroyed by the hands of women!" Then, he explained in detail: "Long live God died at the fifth watch. Xili first tried to keep the funeral secret, and even the eldest son of the emperor didn't know about it; when our family heard that something was wrong, we rushed to Ciqing Palace to see the eldest son of the emperor; Li also took advantage of this time to find Concubine Zheng, and the two mothers made up their minds to hold the eldest son of the emperor. One wanted to be the empress dowager, and the other wanted to be the empress dowager, and they listened to the government together behind the curtain; My lords, all my lords, please come and be a backer for the eldest son of the emperor, so that the eldest son of the emperor will not be subject to these two women!"

After hearing this, Fang Congzhe asked eagerly, "So, how is the situation now?" Wang An sighed and said: "Xi Li doesn't take the ancestral system of this dynasty seriously at all, and he lives in the Qianqing Palace and refuses to move out. This will still be troublesome——Yizhi, the Qianqing Palace is the emperor's bedroom, and the concubines are still in trouble. She can only come here by summons, and cannot stay for a long time; Xi Li was instigated by Concubine Zheng, and after moving to Qianqing Palace with the Long Live Lord, she lingered; Alas! Monster, if you dominate the Qianqing Palace, you will pretend to be the emperor; You don't just want to listen to politics behind the curtain, you want to be like Wu Zetian, a female emperor!"

After saying this, the crowd became furious, and shouted in unison: "The emperor is above, and the earth is below, how can she be allowed to mess around!" The calm-headed Liu Yijing went further and thought of the main point of the matter: "It is necessary to prevent her from taking the emperor's eldest son and stealing the throne - I will complete the ceremony today and announce to the world that the new king will ascend the throne, and we will cut her off first." The idea, and then try to get her to move to the palace!" Of course everyone agreed with this opinion, so Wang An ordered his confidant eunuch: "Go to Ciqing Palace and invite the eldest son of the emperor to come!"

On the one hand, he personally accompanied the ministers into the Qianqing Palace, knelt down and wept and saluted in front of the Taichang Emperor's spirit. Unexpectedly, the accident happened again—— After the ceremony, this dry man waited for a long time in Qianqing Palace, but he did not see the arrival of the eldest son of the emperor. He waited and looked forward to it again and again, and finally there was the sound of footsteps, but it was the eunuch, the confidant eunuch sent by Wang An to invite the eldest son of the emperor, to rush back in a hurry. , Panting anxiously, he reported: "The eldest son of the emperor has already arrived at the Nuan Pavilion, but was stopped by the Xili faction, and he is not allowed to come over!" "what?" The matter was shocking, and Xi Li's arrogance was even more shocking. Wang An immediately cursed: "How courageous! A small selection of servants, not even enough for a concubine or concubine, unexpectedly Dare to be rude to the prince! Here, is there still a king's law?" As he spoke, he subconsciously waved his sleeves: "Let's go there in person!" Then, he bowed his hands to the ministers: "My lords, please wait for a while! Our family will personally invite the eldest son of the emperor to the Qianqing Palace!" Fang Congzhe and others know that he is the highest-ranking chief eunuch in the imperial palace. His identity and authority are "under one person and above ten thousand people." —So, everyone saluted him together: "Elder-in-law has worked hard!" And he simply put on a show—with a wave of his hand, the twenty-four eunuchs who had been standing in the far corner immediately ran to him in small steps in unison, lined up in two rows, and then Respectfully put his hands on his waist, bowed his head and bowed in salute, and said in unison: "Eunuch Si Li ordered!" Wang An snorted softly: "Follow me and invite the eldest son of the emperor into the palace!" The twenty-four eunuchs said in unison again: "Yes!" Then, the two rows of people followed Wang An in unison, and walked out the door, shouting in unison: "The chief inspector respectfully invites the eldest son of the emperor to enter the palace——The inspector of ceremonies respectfully invites the eldest son of the emperor to enter the palace—" Twenty-four people shouted in unison, and the volume became very loud, which further showed his majesty. When the ministers heard it, they let go of half of their hearts, and everyone thought to themselves: "Wang An's power in the palace may not be lost to Concubine Zheng Gui and Xi Li. With him, the eldest son of the emperor will be safe." consider!" And the facts were as expected—not long after Wang An left, a faint voice began to come back: "The eldest son of the emperor has arrived—the eldest son of the emperor has arrived—" Of course, the eunuch who followed Wang An to yell in unison was the eunuch who followed Wang An, and when he heard it in the ears of the ministers, he was naturally refreshed and thought to himself: "The first battle with Concubine Zheng and Xi Li is won! " Everyone's eyes began to show a light, and they all subconsciously puffed up their chests and straightened their waists—— The shouts of the eunuchs approached, and Zhu Youxiao, the eldest son of the emperor, appeared; his thin and thin body and childish face were supported by Wang An, and the trembling before was not particularly obvious. The dazed and bewildered look gradually faded away, because he was greeted with such awe and prestige, he actually showed joy. As soon as the ministers saw him, they immediately acted in unison with tacit understanding—under the leadership of Fang Congzhe, all the ministers present knelt down on the ground together, and shouted in unison: "Long live, long live——" Unexpectedly, this scene shocked Zhu Youxiao, who had not been reminded by others beforehand and who was not mentally prepared. Let alone a response. A god-sent opportunity that could have been greatly exploited turned into a blank, and the scene was extremely embarrassing. Wang An had no choice but to move closer, gently squeezed Zhu Youxiao's arm, and whispered in his ear, "Say, Pingshen!" Zhu Youxiao didn't come back to his senses, he would be sorry, but he finally followed Wang An's instructions and spit out the word "flat body" as if he had scripted it. The atmosphere finally improved, so Fang Congzhe proceeded according to the scheduled plan - he respectfully said to Zhu Youxiao: "Please go to the Wenhua Hall to be seated, and Rong Chen will wait and see!" Zhu Youxiao didn't hear the meaning of his words clearly, so he turned to look at Wang An; Wang An whispered to him, "Go out and get in the sedan chair!" I understood this, so Zhu Youxiao walked out of Qianqing Palace in the crowd of front and rear as he said, and boarded the sedan chair parked on the left side of the palace gate; unexpectedly, the bearer was not there in a hurry, and Wang An shouted anxiously : "These dog slaves know how to be lazy—go and find me!" But the ministers were not guarded against such a mistake, and their hearts became more and more anxious. A few people who were not too old, such as Yang Lian, Zuo Guangdou, Zhou Jiamo, etc., simply lifted the sedan chair by themselves; An hurriedly came to stop him, and the eunuchs who were in charge of ceremonies carried him instead. After walking several steps like this, the bearers caught up and finally carried Zhu Youxiao up the road to Wenhua Palace smoothly. Unexpectedly, just halfway on the way, a group of concubine Zheng and Xili's eunuchs rushed over to make trouble—these people had already gathered in the house and waited until Zhu Youxiao's sedan chair and ministers passed by. They opened the door together and rushed out. This group of people shouted in unison: "The eldest son of the emperor, where are you going?" "The eldest son of the emperor is young and has always been afraid of strangers. Don't follow these people around!" "The eldest son of the emperor, the servants will send you back to the palace!" While shouting, rushing to the sedan chair, a few bold people even reached into the sedan chair, grabbed Zhu Youxiao's clothes, and pulled him out of the sedan chair. Zhu Youxiao was flustered by this scene, and in a hurry, he burst into tears with a "wow". Wang An roared angrily: "You guys are so courageous!" He said and ordered the eunuchs under his command: "Take down this group of people and punish them!" Yang Lian, on the other hand, was so angry that his eyes were on the verge of burning. He saw the leader of the crowd, stepped forward and waved his hand unexpectedly, slapped that person with a bang, and then sternly cursed: "I'm blind!" This dog slave dares to drag the prince of Ming Dynasty in broad daylight, and still bows his head and confesses?" In this way, these eunuchs who were trying to seize people were finally suppressed; Wang An approached the sedan chair to comfort Zhu Youxiao: "Emperor's eldest son, it's all right! Sit still, the sedan chair is about to get up!" However, Zhu Youxiao, who was frightened, just covered his face and cried, as if he hadn't heard what he said, and he refused to stop crying for a long time. Seeing this situation, Wang An couldn't help but let out a faint and deep sigh from the bottom of his heart: "This child, he was born in the same mold as his father! He is worthless—Guo Zuo of the Ming Dynasty Is there any hope? Why does God always let the Ming Dynasty give birth to such an emperor's eldest son to be the emperor?" However, he couldn't say these words—not only had to endure it, but he couldn't say it, he had to be patient and persuade Zhu Youxiao with nice words; it took a lot of effort to coax Zhu Youxiao from crying Only then can we continue on the road and go to Wenhua Palace. The ministers were also patiently waiting for him to coax Zhu Youxiao, and of course all the sighs had to be borne in their hearts like him; it took nearly an hour to arrive at the Wenhua Palace. Ascended to the palace, the ministers began to salute according to the rituals of the Ming Dynasty—first kowtowed to the "Emperor's eldest son"; then, the "Emperor's eldest son" was promoted to the "Emperor's Prince", and then performed five bows and three kowtows; As the "prince prince", the school discusses with the ministers the major issues at hand, including the funeral for the "first emperor" and all matters related to the enthronement ceremony of the "new emperor". Of course, Zhu Youxiao's presidency was just a formality, but his identity was thus established. The plan to seize power between Concubine Zheng and Xi Li failed initially, and a storm that would bring a serious crisis was extinguished; , Guozuo of the Ming Dynasty was saved with everyone's concerted efforts. And this time the discussion went very smoothly, everyone agreed, and the sixth day of September was selected as the day for the new king's ascension ceremony, the year was named Tianqi, and next year was the first year of Tianqi; and because of the "Taichang" The year name became an unusable term, and the ministers discussed again, and decided to trace it back from August to the first year of Taichang, and before August, it was still the forty-eighth year of Wanli—an expedient measure, dividing one year into two years No. Therefore, in this year, two reign titles appeared in the Ming Dynasty, and three emperors were changed, which became the most ridiculous year since the founding of the country.

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