Amid the uneasiness of countless officials, Zhu Gaojie ordered the first court meeting since his return to the capital.
He was originally the prince of the country, but now that Zhu Di has passed away, he is the legitimate prince of the Ming Dynasty. He only needs to succeed to the throne and he can successfully control this huge empire.
Therefore, after learning that the court meeting was going to be held today, many people finally breathed a sigh of relief and felt relieved.
No matter how the Jin Yiwei and soldiers arrested him in the past few days, since His Highness the Crown Prince is willing to hold a court meeting, it means that the situation has eased and will not deteriorate further.
As long as the court situation can be stabilized and the capital is no longer in chaos, then for many people, it can be considered that this catastrophe has passed, and the follow-up can be slowly resumed...
Therefore, after Zhu Gaojie sat in the Hall of Supreme Harmony, he looked around and saw that even though many ministers were absent, such as Wang Zhi, Cui Shangshu and others who were captured in the prison, the officials below still seemed a little excited.
"Ha," Zhu Gaojie's face was expressionless, but he sneered in his heart.
These people are now the so-called mainstays of the Ming Dynasty. A few hundred officials control the entire Ming Dynasty's governing policy and future direction.
When it comes to whether their abilities are feasible, Zhu Gaojie believes that there is still a question mark.
After all, although the Ming Dynasty is said to be an extremely upright country, it was only established in a short period of time. Several nobles, civil servants, generals, and various messy aristocratic families are all crowded into this small circle, and the water in it is also very deep...
Moreover, due to Lao Zhu's indiscriminate killing and harshness in his later years, coupled with Emperor Jianwen's messing around, and Zhu Di's miraculous prosperity, after a group of Jingnan came to the throne, which side of the Ming officials' hearts did they lean towards? , it’s really hard to say.
At least in Zhu Gaojie's view, except for the close officials of his own department, the other Ming officials, no matter how cool-hearted and upright they were, did not really stand on the side of the people.
And Zhu Gaojie himself has thousands of years of wisdom and experience from later generations, as well as the help of various personalities. He knows that if the Ming Dynasty wants to achieve glory and stand on the top of the world, it must break the cages of these officials and aristocratic families, and bring the common people together. Complete liberation allowed the children from poor families to step onto the stage of the Ming Dynasty in a real sense, and from then on shine for the rise and prosperity of the Ming Dynasty.
As the saying goes, we must overthrow the landlords and local tyrants, break up class monopoly, and take the proletariat as the foundation...
Zhu Gaojie was sitting high up with his thoughts flying, but the officials below were all surprised. What's going on?
Why didn't His Highness speak?
If you don't say anything, how can this meeting begin?
Didn't you see that the bachelors next to you winked at you several times?
In desperation, Yang Rong, the chief minister of the cabinet, had to cough hard several times before Zhu Gaojie, who was wandering in a daze, came back to his senses.
After a brief glance, he realized that his thoughts were wandering just now, which had brought great pressure to everyone, and he smiled slightly:
"My lords, today's court meeting will officially begin."
With the loud announcement of the chamberlain, the court meeting officially kicked off.
Yang Rong, the chief minister of the cabinet, took the lead in reporting to Zhu Gaojie:
"Your Royal Highness, there are three main matters discussed in today's government affairs."
"First, determine the name of the former emperor's temple."
"Second, decide on your ascension to the throne."
"Third, convict ministers who conspire to commit crimes."
"Your Highness, please give me your instructions."
According to the rules previously set by Zhu Gaojie, the cabinet is directly under the palace and has the power to govern the six ministries, the Metropolitan Procuratorate and the Fifth Military Governor's Office, and is also in charge of the civil affairs, Xing prison, and military affairs departments. Yang Rong, as the chief minister of the cabinet and Zhu Gaojie's trusted minister, , the authority is even greater.
At this time, he opened his mouth and told the court what Zhu Gaojie had agreed with several people yesterday, which immediately caused the officials below to start talking.
Seeing this scene, Zhu Gaojie didn't say anything. The supervisory censor was angry at first.
"quiet!"
After the palace became quiet, Zhu Gaojie slowly spoke, and as soon as he spoke, he was shocked:
"I have found out that my father was killed by a traitor."
"As for the murderer and the mastermind behind it, they have all been captured and imprisoned. It was the original Duke Xu Jingchang who ordered his chamberlain Yang Qing, imperial physician Wang Cheng and others to poison the emperor together."
As soon as Zhu Gaojie said this, all the officials in the palace were shocked!
The late emperor was actually poisoned to death!
And the messenger was actually the aloof Duke Dingguo!
This is the Duke of the Ming Dynasty. How respected is his status?
Immediately, some officials couldn't help it and came out of the queue to ask:
"Your Highness, may I ask if there is any evidence for this matter?"
After all, murdering the late emperor while he was still the duke of the country was simply shocking and made many officials doubtful.
The sudden death of the late emperor did make people feel a little confused, but everyone knew at that time that the old man had long been lying unconscious in bed, and it was all carefully maintained by the chamberlain and the imperial doctor. But even so, it was only a matter of time before he passed away. , why did he suddenly get involved with being poisoned?
Besides, what is the purpose of Duke Ding?
As a descendant of King Xu Da of Zhongshan, this meritorious service is divided into two, one is the Duke of Wei and the other is the Duke of Ding. It can be said that he is so gracious and honored that he died with the country. Under such glory and wealth, he can still command others. What on earth do you want to do by poisoning the late emperor?
Zhu Gaojie nodded slightly:
"The evidence is clear and the cabinet will explain it to you later."
"What I want to say is that although my father was harmed by a traitor, his achievements in life cannot be smeared in the slightest."
"I admire his achievements in rebuilding rivers and mountains and driving out the Tartars."
"After discussing with the great scholars in the cabinet, I decided to name my father's temple Taizong."
Zhu Gaojie had the experience of later generations and naturally knew that Zhu Di's temple name was originally Taizong, but later he was fooled by Jiajing. In order to promote his own father to the Taimiao, he forcibly changed Zhu Di's temple name from Taizong to Chengzu.
The temple name Zu is one step bigger than Zong. In other words, with such a blind change by Jiajing, Zhu Di suddenly went from being the second emperor to being equal to Zhu Yuanzhang, the Taizu of the Ming Dynasty!
If the old man went to hell, Zhu Yuanzhang would have to smash his head with a hammer!
Therefore, after much thought, Zhu Gaojie decided to continue the temple name of Taizong for the old man, and set a rule that future generations, no matter which clan they came from to support the throne, would not be allowed to change the temple name of their predecessors without authorization!
Otherwise, if future generations have another bastard like Jiajing, who only cares about the interests of his own small sect and messes around with great etiquette, wouldn't it make people laugh out loud?
Zhu Gaojie couldn't bear this kind of thing. (End of chapter)
