Chapter 40 Section VII

Prince Gong nodded deeply, settled his mind, accepted everyone's suggestions, and said forcefully: "Yes! It should be appeased." So Bao Jun said a way: "First of all, make a clear announcement, and the clan government will announce to the clan, stating that since the founding of the country, my clan has assisted the royal family and has been loyal to the royal family. Encourage me to prepare materials and implements. If you don’t self-check, Zaiyuan, Duanhua and other princes and ministers will not be able to bend the law, let alone the idle clan?” This meaning, both grace and power, is high-sounding, and everyone thinks it is very good.However, empty words of consolation are obviously not enough, so Wen Xiang brought up the record that Xu Pengshou, the Shaozhan incident, asked "to investigate and deal with party aid", and advocated the method of disposal, and should try to ease it.

"What kind of relaxation? A person like Chen Fuen, who can be included in the "traitor and sycophant legend", is not punished again. How can we rectify the political style? And Huang Zonghan, how can we not ask about the crime of wronging the country?" Prince Gong's words sounded righteous and strict, and they had to be punished for the time being, so Gui Liang suggested that they be dismissed from office. King Gong thought the punishment was too light, so he decided to "never use it again".In addition, the servants Liu Kun and Cheng Qi, the Shaoqing De Jingjintai of Taipu Temple, and the alternate Jingtang Fuji were also dismissed, but there is no word "never use", and there is still hope of recovery in the future.

After the decision was made, the next day the court made a statement, and Prince Gong first stated the meaning of stabilizing the political situation and inspiring people's hearts.The empress dowagers of the two palaces were naturally ready to play, and immediately drafted an order and submitted it.In addition, there were many routine government affairs, which were all dealt with quickly according to the agreement.The Empress Dowager Ci'an, who had never spoken, now had something to ask: "Zaiyuan, Duanhua, Sushun, what did they say yesterday?" Prince Gong already knew Sushun's rebellious voice, so naturally he would not play it, but it was inconvenient for him to conceal what Zaiyuan said to Prince Su, so he immediately replied: "Only Zaiyuan has something to say, and he still thinks about the title of Prince Yi. "

"How about his title?" Empress Dowager Cixi immediately asked, "Should he be removed?" "Playing back with the Queen Mother, I'm afraid it won't work!" "how?" "Yi and Zheng are both 'hereditary replacements', and they can be dealt with in any way they commit crimes. Their titles are another matter." "Then what should we do? It should be inherited by their sons?" Cixi said again, "Zaiyuan has no sons, and Duanhua's son is Sushun, let alone a good breed!" "Even if they have a son, they may not be able to inherit it. According to the rules, the best and most capable successors will be selected from the close branches of the house."

"Who will choose?" "Naturally, it is the emperor's choice." After saying this, Prince Gong felt that it was inappropriate, and immediately answered: "First, the clan's mansion and the military plane will jointly draft it, and please handle it." The Empress Dowager Cixi has already heard the inconsistency of the words. It is a great grace to be named a prince. She refused to give up easily, so she looked at the Empress Dowager Ci'an and said, "Take a look at it slowly! Of course you have to choose carefully." Pick it, and convince everyone."

"Well! That's a good statement." "Prince Yi's 'hereditary replacement', I heard from Emperor Daxing said that it was given too much, it was a special kindness from Yongzheng Lord." At this point, Empress Dowager Cixi suddenly turned around and shouted: "Sister! " "Well! What?" "I said, isn't Liu Ye's contribution much greater than that of Prince Yi back then?" "Much bigger, of course." "In that case, I have something to say, I have to say it today!" Empress Dowager Cixi's expression suddenly became unusually solemn.This time, not only Prince Gong and the whole class of military ministers had to hold their breath to listen, even the Empress Dowager Ci'an looked at her with wide eyes.

"I think the Emperor Daxing must have said this to my sister." The Empress Dowager Cixi looked at Ci'an, using this sentence as an introduction, and then facing the officials, announced the past in a solemn and deep voice: " It’s Chinese New Year this year, I can’t remember if it’s the first day or the second day of the new year, I waited for Emperor Daxing to read the booklets, and then we talked about Beijing. During the holidays, and he was fleeing, the Emperor Daxing naturally felt emotional! What Emperor Xing misses most is Master Liu, he sighed and told me, the war is in chaos, I left Lao Liu in Beijing to set up a police bureau, things are difficult, I'm afraid I won't have a good life this year!'" Prince Gong didn't know her Are these words true or false?But naturally she would rather believe it, so taking advantage of the pause in her speech, he expressed his due attitude of thanking the late emperor, and said in an extremely mournful voice: "The late emperor's favor is as high as the sky and the earth is thick. Now that the bow and sword have returned, his voice and appearance have faded. This is the saddest thing for me!"

"Who said it wasn't?" Cixi wiped her nose with a handkerchief, and then said: "The late emperor also told me the story in the study, that the two brothers figured out new tricks in sword and spear skills. The old man gave the gun the name 'Di Hua Xi Li' and the knife the name 'Bao E Xuan Wei'." This passage is true, and at the same time, Empress Dowager Ci'an also heard about it from Emperor Daxing, so she nodded and said, "That's right, there is such a saying." This seemed to testify for Cixi, so she spoke more and more seriously: "The late emperor also said that more than a dozen mothers were lost, and they were all raised by the Empress Dowager Kangci, so the relationship between him and Liu Ye The points are incomparable to other brothers. Last autumn, they fled to Jehol and threw a heavy burden to Liu Ye. Foreigners are not very reasonable. Liu Ye presided over the Fuju Bureau.

It is really not easy to turn the crisis into safety in the capital. Logically speaking, it should be given a 'hereditary replacement' just like how Lord Yongzheng treated Prince Yi back then. " Hearing this passage, even the Empress Dowager Ci'an was surprised, but although it was a suspicious thing, because one was the Empress Dowager's dignity, and the other was death without proof, no one dared to express disbelief, just opened their eyes wide and waited for her Go on. "When I heard this, I naturally wanted to ask. I said, 'Then why didn't the emperor issue an order?' Do you know what the late emperor said?" Liu disapproves!' Then he said to me: "Keep my words in mind, and don't say it in front of anyone. I will issue an order when I return to Beijing. It will be useless for Su Liu to object at that time." "It turned out that the late emperor And this painstaking effort!Including Prince Gong, no one could fully believe her words, only the loyal Empress Dowager Ci'an believed that the late Emperor was a person who valued emotions, and Cixi had no need to fabricate it, so she followed her words and said: "In this case, we You have to do as the late emperor said!"

"By the way, that's exactly what I mean." The Empress Dowager Cixi looked at Gui Liang and said, "Gui Liang, ask someone to write a decree to see that Prince Gong's hereditary succession will not be replaced. In particular, it must be declared that this is the late emperor's last words." Before Gui Liang could answer, Prince Gong already had tears in his eyes, prostrated himself on the ground, and said goodbye: "I am unworthy, I have failed the late emperor's expectations. I really dare not take this kindness, and I ask the two empress dowagers to take it back. "

"This is the meaning of the first emperor, and you should be given this kind of grace when you are rewarded for meritorious deeds." The Empress Dowager Cixi said again: "If you are guilty, you will not be punished, and if you have meritorious service, you will not be rewarded. Who else is willing to do things for the imperial court?" "The empress dowager is sage, the minister has no merit. The minister is really uneasy about talking about the undivided honor. This is not a minister's hypocrisy, it is..." Because the Qing discussion is terrible, saying that this "hereditary and irreplaceable" grace is nothing more than killing Su Shun's reward is mediocre, but it's inconvenient to say it clearly, so I can only kowtow again and again. Seeing this, the Empress Dowager Cixi had to put it aside temporarily.After he retreated, Prince Gong quickly gave another note of modesty, the wording was extremely practical.The empress dowagers of the two palaces discussed for a long time, and decided to "please follow the aunt's request" and wait until the emperor became an adult to take charge of the government before handling it. At present, the prince's double salary will be rewarded first. On the next day, the eighth day of October, the encyclical was finally lowered.Prince Gong knew it well, this was not some "decree of kindness" from the late emperor, it was just an expression of the Empress Dowager Cixi's hope that he would discuss the curtain regulations as soon as possible.