Whenever the court encounters important political affairs, or when there is a vacancy among civil and military ministers, the emperor will order a meeting of the courtiers to discuss the situation together, weigh the appropriate measures, and then report to the emperor to make a decision. The person who discusses the pros and cons of political affairs is called court discussion;
Proposals related to personnel promotions, promotions, and appointments are called court recommendations.
Tingtui was an unspoken rule of Zhou Dynasty officialdom and a discussion of major national issues.
In fact, it is a more authoritative imperial court system.
Senior officials of the Great Zhou Dynasty will all go through the process of court promotion. For example, Yang Qingyuan's position as Minister of Dali Temple also went through this process.
Dazhou's senior executives generally have three rigid conditions when they take office:
1. Those who are not from the Imperial Academy are not allowed to be bachelors. Those who are not second-level Jinshi are not entitled to take the Hanlin Academy examination and are not allowed to enter the Hanlin Academy.
2. Without visiting the counties, prefectures and prefectures, one is not allowed to join the cabinet. Without experience at the grassroots level, how can one know how the imperial court is functioning?
Third, it is Ting Tui.
If there is no Hanlin background and no official recommendation, officials who rise to the position simply based on the emperor's will will easily be squeezed out by the civil service group.
After the founding of the country, Emperor Gao, Taizu of the Great Zhou Dynasty, reformed the political system, abolished the prime minister, and replaced the role of the prime minister with cabinet bachelors. This caused the prime minister's power, which could have checked and balanced the monarch's power, to be divided into six parts by the two pavilions and four halls.
Without the prime minister, the civil servants of the Great Zhou Dynasty would be weaker compared to the previous dynasty when facing the monarchy, so the civil servants had to stick together for warmth.
If anyone goes behind the back of the civil service group to embrace the emperor's lap, he will be squeezed out and suppressed by the entire civil service group. Not only will he fail to become an official, he will also be blackmailed by the scholars and be infamy for eternity.
For details, please refer to the ending of Ming Dynasty Zhang Cong on Blue Star. Although he was given a Hanlin background by Jiajing's special decree, he was also specially ordered to enter the cabinet. But the Holy Scroll was there, but the mass base was not. There were ups and downs in official positions. In the end, Jiajing was really tired of protecting him and could only quietly step down.
The ministers selected several candidates for the emperor to choose. The general rule is that the person with the highest number of votes gets the official position. Of course, the emperor's opinion is the key to the final decision.
For example, it is recorded in the history of the Ming Dynasty: In the winter of the 25th year of Wanli, Dong Yiyuan, the commander-in-chief of Liaodong, was dismissed. Three officials were promoted by the court, and the special purpose was to use it like a pine tree.
In the twenty-sixth year of Wanli, Cai Guozhen, the Minister of Civil Affairs, was dismissed, and seven people were promoted by the imperial court. Li Dai was at the end of the list, and the emperor promoted him.
This shows the status and power of the emperor in the court.
But today is different from the past. They are discussing the choice of emperor.
After three generations, the succession of the throne of emperor and the selection of successors were all decided by the Supreme Sacred Heart.
In the feudal system of the family world, the succession of the throne is both a state matter and a family matter.
This is the first time that ministers have elected the emperor.
The first step in the court recommendation was for the important ministers of the Great Zhou Dynasty to propose candidates for the future emperor.
Of course, there aren’t many candidates left! ?
For example, if the censors and censors of various states in the Metropolitan Procuratorate offer wine to Shizhong and the Imperial College, these people have no right to propose proposals.
Shen Rumo, the Minister of Civil Affairs, was the first to speak, "My lords, today is different from the past. What we are discussing is the candidate for the future emperor. As the saying goes, there are only two days in the sky. I believe that only one person should be selected and reported to the Empress Dowager. ."
The current situation in the Imperial City's harem is well known to all the important officials present. The ninth princess, Zhu Qionghua, is temporarily in charge of the harem.
The Queen Mother and the Queen Mother cannot make the decision at all. The actual person in control is Yang Qingyuan.
At the same time, all the princes in the temple knew what was going on. They said they were reporting it to the Queen Mother, but in fact they were reporting it to Yang Qingyuan.
There is no fool who can sit here.
But Lord Gonggun knew this, but he still wanted to go through the court recommendation process and play within the rules with Yang Qingyuan.
Among them, Yang Qingyuan persuaded him. Needless to say, whether it was for political pursuits or fame and wealth, he would naturally choose to assist Yang Qingyuan.
Among them, those who opposed Yang Qingyuan also had the mentality of forbearance. Looking at the history books, there were many people who turned against the wind. For example, King Sima Xuan was forced to pretend to be crazy and act stupid, spilling the soup and medicine, but in the end he still failed to seize the kingdom of Cao Wei.
And no matter how dissatisfied the opponents are, it is of no use. Yang Qingyuan is willing to sit down and talk with them at this time, which is actually a step down for the elders in the court.
Even if the ministers in the court don't want to talk to Yang Qingyuan, what can they do? ! Yang Qingyuan holds 150,000 Imperial Guard troops, and they don't even have the ability to lift the table.
Qian Muqian glanced at his eldest disciple. Shen Rumo was once his eldest disciple, but now he was on the opposite side of him. It was really disappointing.
But everyone has their own choice. Even if Qian Muqian is Shen Rumo's master, he cannot stop his choice. He can only condemn Shen Rumo from a moral level.
Regarding Shen Rumo's speech at this moment, Qian Muqian did not refute, but nodded and said: "This is the right reason."
This sentence definitely made Qian Muqian's reputation even greater.
Originally, many people in the court were worried that Qian Muqian was Yang Qingyuan's personal teacher and Tiandijun's personal teacher. If the two of them colluded with each other and acted in collusion, wouldn't it mean that they were at the mercy of Yang Qingyuan? !
Now Qian Muqian's answer is a neutral expression in the eyes of people who don't know why.
If several people are selected, if the Empress Dowager controlled by Yang Qingyuan only chooses Wu Wang Zhu Zhankun, wouldn't this recommendation be meaningless at all? !
The ministers immediately agreed, and the tone was set that the court would only recommend a candidate for the new king.
Afterwards, Chen Jinru, the censor of Youqiandu, spoke at the right time, "The lower official recommended Zhu Zhanjun, the king of Wei. His highness, the king of Wei, is the legitimate son of the emperor. He is talented, young and mature. There is no more suitable candidate than him." After he ascends the throne, he will definitely follow the example of the former Emperor Taizongwen and become a wise master of the generation."
The right minister of the Ministry of punishment and the left minister of the household department have already made eye contact. They were originally from Zhu Zhankun's party, so they naturally want to stick together now.
Once King Wu ascends the throne, it will be easy for them.
Just when the rest of the prince's party were about to join in, someone spoke up. It was Zhu Wuwu, the second figure in the clan, Tietan Shenhou and the king of Changping County.
"Hey, there is one thing that I haven't had time to tell you. Last night when Yanghou Qingjun was on his side, his troops fled. After confirmation by the old prince of Linhuai, His Royal Highness the King of Wei has been killed."
Everyone was shocked when they heard this. Emperor Taizongwen had three legitimate sons, but now there is not one left.
Originally, it should be a big deal for Taizong's legitimate son to die in a rout, but now that Yang Qingyuan has even killed the emperor, a prince, the ministers feel like they can accept it!
Of course, some people jumped out and demanded severe punishment for the murderer, but no one knew who the murderer was! They wanted to shift the responsibility to Yang Qingyuan, but Yang Qingyuan was already known as a regicide and was not afraid of being bitten by lice.
Qian Muqian, Cheng Qingsong and other few people knew the truth. His Royal Highness the King of Wei was not dead and was sent out of the capital by Yang Qingyuan to Wudang Mountain.
But his jade certificate in the clan has been destroyed by Lao Zongzheng. Even if King Wei Zhu Zhanjun appears in front of others, he is a person who looks more like King Wei.
In terms of social attributes, King Wei is dead.
Some people are alive, but they are already dead. This is social death.
There was a burst of noise in the Hanyuan Palace, and Li Xunhuan, the censor of Zuoqiandu, immediately said, "Quiet!"
What a coincidence. At this moment, petitions from Song Wenyan, the leader of the new champion, were heard outside the hall.
"My lords, you are all important ministers of the country. You have been favored by the Emperor of Zhou for a long time. You should be aware of everything and do not allow us to usurp the throne!"
Song Wenyan is indeed a sincere gentleman, and he continues to persist to this day.
As the host of the court discussion at this moment, Qian Muqian naturally could not let this situation continue. Then he ordered the censor to rebuke the ministers outside the palace.
Then Qian Muqian looked around the Hanyuan Hall and said, "During the court discussions, irrelevant people are not allowed to interfere with the proceedings, and they are not allowed to discuss matters that are not related to the court discussions. Otherwise, they will be expelled from the palace."
After Qian Muqian suppressed the noise, he said: "I recommend Zhu Zhanli, King of Shu. King of Shu is the fourth son of Taizong and the leader of the kings. In terms of etiquette, he should succeed to the throne."
Everyone expressed disapproval of this proposal. Although according to the order of seniority and youth, he should be the king of Shu. However, because Zhu Zhanli, the king of Shu, was already an adult, he went to Shu to join the vassal many years ago. He waited until the outcome of the discussion was reached before summoning Shu. King, the King of Shu entered the capital from Shu again, and more than half a month had passed in a blink of an eye.
Could it be possible that the Great Zhou Dynasty could live without an emperor for more than half a month? !
Qian Muqian's proposal is correct, but it makes no sense.
Wang Hua, the general affairs envoy and scholar of Wenyuan Pavilion, took advantage of the situation and said: "The lower officials recommend Zhu Zhanxun, the king of Song Dynasty. Although the king of Shu is old, he is of low origin. His mother is just a concubine of Taizong, and he has the qualifications and knowledge of the Shu king. If it is sparse, it may not be the appearance of a human being."
Wang Hua rarely had a venomous tongue. If the King of Shu knew that Wang Hua commented like this, he would probably faint in his own palace.
Although I know I’m not very good at it, I don’t need to judge it like this!
Of course, Wang Hua did not speak harshly of a prince for no reason. The focus of his words was that the mother of the King of Shu was a concubine.
The purpose of this sentence is not to belittle the King of Shu, but to introduce the status of Thirteen.
Although Shisan and Xiaojiu were concubines, their mother was Taizong's concubine.
It was all premeditated.
Sure enough, just as Wang Hua finished speaking, Zhongshan King Xu Zhongshou, who had always stayed out of the matter, spoke.
"Master Wang, are you stupid because of reading?! I cannot agree with your words. Since Master Wang mentioned the status of the birth mother, let's discuss it carefully. In this capital, in terms of status, who among the princes is more noble? Can he be chosen by His Highness the King of Wu? He is the son of Taizong Shufei without any resistance. I recommend the King of Wu."
This sentence makes perfect sense. Indeed, in terms of motherhood, in the absence of King Wei, Thirteen is the most noble.
Among the emperor's four concubines: Noble, Shu, Virtue and Virtue, Taizong had no noble concubines. Apart from the queen, Shu concubines were the most noble.
As soon as these words came out, someone among the censors immediately stood up and cursed: "Old Zhongshan King Hero I, why do you have a heir like you, are you willing to be Yang Qingyuan's lackey?"
Xu Zhongshou was a prince, and he was originally a very noble figure in the Zhou Dynasty. However, the officials and censors of the imperial court never paid much attention to him. Not to mention the prince of a different surname, even the emperor and the others would not hesitate to scold him.
Xu Zhongshou was a warrior, so naturally he couldn't compete with the censor Yanguan who specialized in scolding. This old man was a real person and rolled up the sleeves of his python robe.
If you can’t scold me, it should be okay to take action! ?
Just when a fight was about to break out in Hanyuan Hall, Li Chengguang, the right minister of the Ministry of War, spoke in time to avoid the bloody disaster of the censor.
"Liao Yushi was surprised by what he said. Could it be that King Wu is not of the emperor's blood?!"
Li Chengguang silenced Liao Yushi with just one sentence.
King Wu is of course of the blood of the Emperor, and since he is of the blood of the Emperor, he is naturally qualified to be elected.
Don't think that these censors and officials are all good people. Compared with ordinary affairs officials, the average moral level of Qingliu is indeed higher, but it does not mean that they are all selfless people for the country.
Many officials and censors are ignorant of worldly affairs and just scold for the sake of scolding, that's it!
Just when everyone thought that was the end, someone from the clan suddenly said, "I believe that Zhu Xuanji, the grandson of the old prince of Linhuai, is a young prodigy who has the potential to be a sage, so I recommend Zhu Xuanji as the new king. "
This operation shocked everyone present.
Although the Daxing Emperor Zhu Zhankun had no heirs left, the former Emperor Taizongwen still had a prince alive.
The Taizong lineage has not yet been exterminated. What will happen if your branch line jumps out? !
"Nonsense! Absolutely nonsense!"
Hu Ke was immediately scolded by the incident. They were no more than seven-rank officials, but their power could even compete with the ministers to a certain extent. They were in charge of attendants, regulations, admonitions, inspections, repairs, and relic collection.
It is within their powers to examine rural examination officials, approve and refute edicts, supervise the six ministries, participate in the recommendation and deliberation of the cabinet and the six ministers, and impeach officials.
None of them were appointed as the governor of Shangzhou, who was promoted to the fourth rank. There was even a saying that his power would be greatly reduced if he was promoted to the sixth rank.
"There are still Emperor Taizong's heirs in the court, why do we need to choose people from other branches?!"
"Originally, the son of Emperor Daxing should succeed to the throne, but Emperor Daxing has no children, so he naturally chooses from his peers. Isn't the grandson of the Prince of Linhuai County a blood descendant of Taizu?!" This clan member does not know who he inherited. Provoke, come on!
"Haha... How ridiculous! Have you never heard of the idea of a father succeeding to his son after his father dies? Since the Daxing Emperor has no children, his brother should naturally succeed him."
…
All the important officials of the imperial court expressed their opinions and argued with each other for more than an hour before the voting began.
For the sake of fairness, Qian Muqian, who had just presided over the court meeting, no longer presided over the voting process. Instead, the right censor of the capital and Zheng Cheng Qingsong of the Metropolitan Procuratorate presided over the voting.
The four candidates - King of Shu, King of Song, King of Wu, and Zhu Xuanji - were voted on.
There were a total of sixty-eight people present who were eligible to vote. The King of Song had the highest vote with 28 votes, the King of Wu came second with 25 votes, and the King of Shu came third with 11 votes. As for the one who was interested, Zhu Xuanji, the candidate recommended by the branch, received four votes.
To be honest, no normal person would vote for him! No matter how you calculate it, it is not his turn to succeed Zhu Xuanji!
…
Outside Hanyuan Hall, a group of people led by Song Wenyan calmed down a little after being reprimanded by Qian Muqian, but they were also waiting for the outcome of the court meeting.
"Ask Brother Yan, if the candidate recommended is not King Wu, can Yang Qingyuan, a traitor, agree to it?!"
Anyone with some discernment knows that the Empress Dowager is still under Yang Qingyuan's control at this moment.
Song Wenyan looked solemn, "I don't know about power and wealth, but Xiao is so passionate that I can't let the treacherous Xiaoxiao usurp the throne!"
…
In the side hall of Hanyuan Hall, there were King Zhu Zhan of Wu, King Zhu Zhanxun of Song and some of their clan members.
At this time, they had already obtained the results of the recent court meeting.
Zhu Xuanji, who was still fantasizing in his heart, now looked livid.
This prodigy, who is said by the clan to have the potential to be a wise king, cannot even express the most basic emotions of joy and anger, and express his likes and dislikes. How far behind is he? !
When everyone was congratulating Song King Zhu Zhanxun, Zhu Xuanji naturally wanted to vent his anger.
Young people! Isn’t my hobby just pretending to be a cup of tea? ?
King Song was recommended as the future emperor, so he naturally didn't dare to offend him, so he would just bully King Wu at this time.
Once the King of Song ascends the throne, the King of Wu will inevitably lose power. If you don't step on the wrong foot now, when will you wait? !
Zhu Xuanji slowly walked to Zhu Zhan's side and said with a smile, "Uncle Wu Wang, your master seems to be a waste! He holds the military power of 130,000 imperial guards in the divine capital, but he still gives up the throne. It fell on Uncle Song Wang’s head.”
When Thirteen heard this, he just glanced at his cousin, who was much older than him, expressionlessly. He is a kind-hearted person, but when he hears someone insulting his master in this way, he still feels angry in his heart.
A few days ago, this nephew might have been taught a lesson by him. If his sister were here, even the old emperor's uncle, Prince Linhuai, might not be able to recognize his grandson.
However, now he is no longer the Thirteen who can be happy and angry.
Thirteen did not answer Zhu Xuanji's words directly. Because he knows that with Master's ability, even a coup can be successful, and the Tingtui incident will never end like this. Everything is still under Master's control.
Just as Shisan was thinking about it, Song King Zhu Zhanxun was already surrounded by people.
"Brother King Song, congratulations!"
"Uncle King Song! The kingdom of Zhou Dynasty will depend on you in the future!"
"Brother King Song, at this time, there are rebellious ministers who are regicide. Although we are not talented, we are still willing to contribute our small efforts to help the country!"
…
Amidst the congratulations from everyone, Song King Zhu Zhanxun did not feel happy at all. Others only said that he could not express his happiness and anger. In fact, Zhu Zhanxun was already panicking in his heart!
It must be false to say that he has never thought about the throne at all? !
Ordinary people would imagine that they had won a multi-billion-dollar jackpot and earned interest on deposits in the bank, but what about a prince with the right to inherit? !
But does he really not think he will have a chance? !
Although he is not as good as the prince and the king of Chu, he is not stupid. Yang Qingyuan holds military power, how can he give in to a group of officials who are just talking about their own interests? !
Ever since Yang Qingyuan beheaded his brother Zhu Zhankun, the throne was destined to be occupied by his thirteenth brother.
The emperor's brother Zhu Zhankun was the crown prince of the country and succeeded to the throne legitimately. Although there were suspicions of a coup, there was no evidence after all.
Even so, Yang Qingyuan could break through the Daming Palace and kill him, how much more so than a little concubine like himself? !
Now Yang Qingyuan is a perfect villain in the eyes of Song Dynasty King Zhu Zhanxun.
Zhu Zhanxun even doubted whether he would survive until the day of the enthronement ceremony if he really dared to agree to inherit the throne.
Although the throne is good, but! How important is your own life!
Zhu Zhanxun looked through the congratulatory crowd at his thirteenth brother.
The thirteenth brother has a kind nature. If he were a king, he would definitely treat himself well. There is nothing wrong with that!
Thinking of this, Zhu Zhanxun's eyes became firmer.
