Chapter 4 fourth quarter

"Is this worth dying for?" After hearing what the Empress Dowager Cixi said, the Empress Dowager Ci'an asked in amazement, "I heard within two days that a censor took poison in Jizhou and said there was a legacy. Thinking that he has some unjust grievances, he must do his best. Who knew that would happen!" "It was just worrying blindly. However, it is a pity that it is finally a loyal minister's remonstrance." "Yes!" Empress Dowager Ci'an said, "He should be given a tribute." "That's a trivial matter." Empress Dowager Cixi continued, "I'm here to discuss with my sister, what should I do with this book?"

"This...?" This was beyond the Empress Dowager Ci'an's ability to respond. She thought for a while and said, "Can I just ignore it? What Wu Ke read seems to be referring to Lord Qi, and I hand it over , I'm afraid he won't look good in face." The Empress Dowager Ci'an is so loyal that it is almost pathetic.Empress Dowager Cixi thought to herself, instead of using her as a shield now, she might as well use her as an arrow stack, which can be used to show her selflessness. "What's the matter?" Empress Dowager Ci'an came up with another idea, "Let's find Fifth Master and Sixth Master first, and ask them if they have any good ideas?"

This idea is not very bright.If it is to be handled as "housework", all four of Wenzong's surviving younger brothers should be invited to discuss it, and only Dun and Gong should be called, and King Chun should be excluded, as if he should avoid suspicion.Empress Dowager Ci'an originally wanted to protect King Chun, but her idea contradicted her original intention, but she didn't know it.Needless to say, let her be confused. "You can't discuss anything with Fifth Master, so just find Sixth Master!" So the next day, the empress dowagers of the two palaces summoned Prince Gong in Shufangzhai, gave him a seat and tea, and after a round of family rituals, the Empress Dowager Cixi got down to business and handed over Wu Ke's legacy.

After reading it hastily, Prince Gong breathed a sigh of relief just like the Empress Dowager Cixi, and he had a plan at that time. The handling of this memorial should be handed over to the cabinet for discussion, that is, to appeal to the public opinion. "Wu Kedu died unjustly!" The Empress Dowager Cixi said when Prince Gong mulled over her words, "That's what our sisters meant when we welcomed the emperor into the palace." What does "this mean" mean?Obviously, it means that succession and succession are the same thing.Prince Gong didn't know if the Empress Dowager Cixi really had such intentions, or did she intentionally speak against her will?But no matter what, this is an excellent opportunity, and it can also be said to be an excellent "handle", and it must be grasped. So he said: "Please, can the decree of the two empress dowagers declare 'this meaning'? Send Wu Ke's original performance to the cabinet for discussion?"

"Yes!" Empress Dowager Cixi replied without hesitation, then turned to ask Empress Dowager Ci'an again: "I think there is nothing wrong with this!" The Empress Dowager Ci'an was afraid of hurting the King, but she really couldn't come up with any good ideas, so she nodded in agreement. Therefore, King Gong personally drafted an edict by way of military aircraft, which was approved by the empress dowagers of the two palaces and handed over to the cabinet for notice: "The Ministry of Officials played: the principal Wu Kedu committed suicide by taking poison, and left a secret document, which will be presented on his behalf. It is stated in the internal statement, "Please send down the decree of Yi Ming, and plan for the return of Datong in the future. The decree was issued on the fifth day of December in the thirteenth year of Tongzhi, "The emperor who is born with a prince will succeed the emperor Daxing as heir."This time, Wu Ke read what he played, and when he issued the decree, that was what he meant.Authored by Minister Wang, University Scholars, Six Departments of Jiuqing, and Han Zhan Kedao, the original script read by Wu Ke will be discussed and played together. "

Di copied the post, and those who cared about state affairs were all very interested in the words "that's what it means".Especially the gentleman of "Qingliu" feels that these four words contain extremely deep meanings, and it is quite necessary to elucidate them.Therefore, Bao Ting, Huang Tifang, Zhang Zhidong and others have seized their pens and ideas, each showing off their talents, and want to write a big article on "determining the country". Of course, most people are just discussing verbally. Different people have different interpretations for the phrase "that's what it means".Some said: After all, mother and child are mother and child. Of course, the Empress Dowager Cixi hopes that the future throne will belong to her grandson.But some people think that the sincerity of Empress Dowager Cixi is suspicious. The words "that's what it means" are vague. I don't know what tricks will come out in the future?

What will happen?Could it be possible to attribute the world of the Qing Dynasty to the Yehenala family? Of course, this is impossible.Therefore, in the Qing discussion, most of the former ones were believed.But "predetermining the return of the great unification" is against the law of the family, and it is not easy to do in fact. Before Kangxi, the crown prince was established.Since the suspicious case of seizing the progeny occurred, there was an edict in the seventh year of Yongzheng: "The establishment of the reserve is related to the clan and the people's livelihood, how can it be changed? My pilgrimage to the sages has not first established the Qing Palace, and then practiced the throne of heaven, which is boundless for all generations. The foundation of our dynasty is the foundation of our dynasty, and it is the most profound one. A fool can’t know it.” This decree with subtle meaning means that the establishment of a reserve is easy to cause the disaster of fratricide. It is inconvenient to speak out from personal experience, so I say "Fools" cannot know.The system of not establishing a reserve was also established in the Yongzheng Dynasty, and it was followed for generations and did not dare to violate it.

Now it is necessary to book the return of the great unification, that is, to build a reserve in disguise, of course not.For this reason, the meeting was delayed on the 17th day of the third month, that is, due to prior consultations, compromises, and painstaking efforts, it was not until the end of the month that there was roughly the same opinion. The meeting was presided over by Prince Li Shiduo.Prince Li Lie, on behalf of Shan, made great contributions in the Taizong Dynasty with his humility and support. His family tradition has not changed. Shiduo is famous for his good temper among relatives and nobles. Although some people say that he is too humble, his popularity is good after all. , so although the talent is not the slightest, it is quite valued by the Empress Dowager Cixi.This time, according to Yi's decree, he presided over this meeting about the great plan of the clan, which was both state affairs and family affairs.Of course, he was also in charge of the negotiation beforehand.

All the princes and ministers he came into contact with felt that this was a difficult problem.Wu Ke's words cannot be said to be unreasonable, but the Qing Dynasty paid special attention to family law, Gaozong Jiujiang Lunyin, affirmed the intention of not establishing a reserve, if someone dares to violate the ancestral precepts, he will definitely become the target of public criticism, and he will lose his official position in the slightest, and he will be convicted in severe cases .And Shen Guifen insisted on being quiet, King Gong was influenced by him, and changed his mind to suppress King Jiu through the discussion, so the final conclusion was only one word: refutation!

On the first day of April, in the cabinet lobby, countless red-topped flower feathers, close relatives and nobles, all attended, the only exception was King Chun, who could not report his illness.Although this was expected, those who watched with cold eyes still had a strange feeling in their hearts. The sun was already high, and Li Wang Shiduo saw that many people had arrived, and planned to hold a meeting, but although he presided over the meeting according to Yi's order, he had to ask someone for instructions on etiquette.On public affairs, King Dun is the Zongling of the clan mansion, and he is You Zongzheng under the Zongling. On private affairs, "the elders come from the small house, and the juniors come from the long house." King Dun is his uncle, so he dare not be inconvenient. Good at specialization.

"Fifth Grandpa!" He called very affectionately, "I've been asking you for instructions, shall we do it?" King Dun was wiping his snuff, twitching his nose, searching with his eyes like a hunting dog, looking outside, pointing with his finger, "Wait!" He said, "We'll wait until someone who dares to speak comes." So everyone looked sideways at the four people who came in succession.These four people are handsome and ugly, and the leader is less than four feet tall, with a beard like a halberd and a strange appearance. He is Huang Tifang, a bachelor of the Imperial Academy.The one next to him was unruly, as if his face had never been washed, and he was Siye Baoting, the most famous official of the Imperial Academy.The two handsome ones, one with a long body and white face and sharp eyes, and the other with a handsome face and a handsome youth, are Zhang Peilun, the attendant lecturer of the Imperial Academy, and Sheng Yu, the seventh grandson of Prince Su Hauge, who has just finished working as an editor. . Qingliu is full of limelight, striding forward, coming up to the hall, and there are people holding hands everywhere to greet him. At this moment, another man, as thin as a monkey, picked up the hem of the long and large solid gauze robe, and sprinted askew. When he came up, King Dun said, "Okay, Zhang Xiangtao is here too, we can start a discussion." So King Li coughed, took out a piece of paper from his pocket, raised it, and said slowly, "This is Wu Ke's legacy, have you read it?" Wu Ke's posthumous relics have been recited for a long time. Although not many people have seen the original, almost everyone has a copy, so no one answered. "I think everyone has read the original copy. Very good, this saves a lot of trouble. Yizhi's "Confirmation of Proposal", I have drawn up a draft of the replay here, do you think it is safe?" Then he ordered someone to find a pen post style, and he elongated his tone, reciting the manuscript he had drawn up and down. This article is very well done. First, it quotes the edict issued in the seventh year of Yongzheng, affirming the family law of not establishing a reserve, and the establishment of a reserve cannot be discussed by courtiers.Inheritance and Jianchu have different words, but they are actually the same thing. Therefore, "return of the great unification" is not something that the ministers can make a request for. In the future, if the emperor is in charge, he will of course respect Mu Zong's system and make the best of his considerations. At this time, he cannot propose a certain method in advance. The second paragraph says that "once the emperor has a son, he will inherit the emperor Daxing as heir", which already includes the meaning of succeeding Mu Zong, so there is no need for the minister to make a request.Combining these two points, we can come to such a conclusion: "Wu Ke reads what he belongs to, and asks for the decree to be promulgated. , I have not yet been able to carefully look up to the body. Ministers and other officials discuss it together, so please do not discuss it." When the script was finished reading, Bao Ting took the lead and said loudly: "Good refutation, happy refutation! However, this is not a refutation of Wu Ke's legacy, but a refutation of the Yizhi on the 17th of last month." This is really shocking!First of all, King Li felt that the accusation was too serious, and said angrily, "Zhupo, how can you say that?" "Ask your lord," Bao Ting interjected, "Yi's decree confessed: 'A proper discussion is provided', and the replay said it was 'no need to discuss'. Isn't this taking Yi's decree to push it back?" It sounded like a good reason, King Li stammered more and more, too anxious to speak. "In this Yizhi's decree, the phrase 'this is the meaning' is the key point of today's meeting." As soon as Zhang Zhidong opened his mouth, he knew that he was standing with Bao Ting, and he shook his head and said, "'Yes' Those who "deliberate" means that the general rule should be returned to the heirs, and those who "discuss" the "discussion" of the husband's succession to the heir, and do not contradict each other. How can ministers and workers make statements in accordance with the two Is it possible to make excuses?" "Then," King Li asked, "Xiangtao, what do you mean?" "The imperial edict of Huanghuang has been passed down all over the world. The words 'that is what it means' should be explained." Zhang Zhidong paused and said, "According to the meaning of Wu Liutang's legacy, the prince in the previous life will inherit Mu Zong as the emperor. Heir, succeeding Mu Zong's rule is similar to establishing a crown prince, which violates the family law of the dynasty. If the prince is old and not wise, and it is difficult to inherit the great rule, it will be even more difficult at that time! So how to inherit the rule, Parallels are not contradictory, and today we need to think long-term.” "These words are really worrying." Prince Gong took out a piece of paper: "Xu, Weng, and Pan, I have handed over a piece of paper, everyone may wish to take a look." Xu, Weng, and Pan are Xu Tong, Weng Tonghe, and Pan Zuyin. As Mu Zong's masters and Nanshu Hanlin, they participated in the grand plan of welcoming the current emperor at that time.The bottom line was drawn up by Weng Tonghe, and the two most important sentences are: "Shaoying Yuanliang, the great treasure, is the holy son who inherits Emperor Mu Zongyi." Heir to the king, he succeeded Mu Zong as the queen. This is the opposite approach. Succession to succession can not only not violate the family law, but also can eliminate Zhang Zhidong's concerns that "the elders are not wise, and it is difficult to inherit the great rule".Everyone thinks it's a good idea. "However," King Li still wanted to maintain his original proposal, "this manuscript does not need to be moved. Xu, Weng, and Pan will fold the bottom and make a copy, submit it together, and wait for the holy judge. In addition, the other person said, Do the same.” "Otherwise!" Bao Ting shook his head and said, "I want to play the title alone." Zhang Zhidong and Huang Tifang also said that each had their own memorials, which cannot be made difficult by others, so they changed their methods. The way to change it is that the original script drafted by King Li is still on the same page, and if someone else wants to make suggestions, they may combine it with each other or play it alone, depending on their own convenience. So except for a memorial from Xu, Weng, and Pan, people in Qingliu gathered to discuss it one after another. Bao Ting, Huang Tifang, and Zhang Zhidong all had memorials, but Zhang Peilun, who liked talking the most, didn't move. This is because he has a big case in his hand, and he must concentrate on fighting, fighting against He Shouci, Minister of the Ministry of Industry.