In front of the square of the Great Hall of the Return of the Four Seas, there were crowds of people. Two rows of Imperial Guard warriors stood majestically on the outside. Officials at all levels in the square lined up to enter. Before the ceremony officially started, the officials were whispering to each other and discussing something softly.
At this moment, some strangely dressed wizards came in from outside the square. They held various strange instruments in their hands. They were shamans during the ceremony.
The predecessor of the Jin Empire, the Jin State was located in the northwest during the Age of Nations, and often dealt with the northern grassland peoples. In the process of expanding its territory to the northwest, it annexed many grassland tribes. Naturally, some of their original folk witchcraft and blessing cultures were also absorbed. The Jin State gradually absorbed and integrated, and the Jin court would also invite shamans to perform sacrificial rituals during major festivals.
In the era of other nations, the behavior of the Jin State was very different from that of the Central Plains. The Guandong states called the Jin State Xirong. These Guandong princes who contemptuously called the Jin Kingdom Xirong a few years ago eventually perished under the iron hoof of Xirong.
At this time, after the shaman entered the ceremony, the official in charge of etiquette from the imperial court came forward to guide them to the altar to prepare for the start of the ceremony.
The core function of etiquette in this era is to highlight the status of those in power. Ordinary people work at sunrise and rest at sunset. It is quite good to have a good time. How can they have the leisure to do this? Only nobles who are full and have nothing to do are qualified to engage in all kinds of flashy etiquette. National affairs have always been planned by carnivores.
Mu Sheng was visiting the sacrificial rituals of this era with great interest. At this time, a guard from far away from the door announced, "His Royal Highness has arrived."
Outside the square, I saw four strong white horses pulling His Highness the Crown Prince's luxury car slowly approaching from a distance. The Crown Prince's honor guard. In order to show his identity, six white horses are the Emperor's honor guard. The Crown Prince can only have four at most. This scene is quite majestic.
The prince's honor guard arrived at the entrance of the palace, and the prince himself got off the car and walked quickly. He saw His Highness the prince walking like a tiger and a tiger. When he got closer, it was exactly as Yun'er said. With fluttering clothes and a tiger's back and a wasp's waist, he is truly a dragon and a phoenix among men.
Mu Sheng looked at it and sighed a little in his heart. The empire can have such an heir to ensure its eternal stability. At least in appearance, he will definitely look like a wise king and wise master in the future.
After the prince arrived, all the princes of the clan and the ministers of the court came forward and bowed and saluted, saying "Qiantai". This was completely different from the other princes who were basically ignored when they arrived, not to mention the human background of Gongzi Sheng.
Mu Sheng bowed and saluted. He subconsciously looked back at Yun'er, and suddenly there was a black line on his face.
Why! Sure enough, this female nymphomaniac...
Yun'er was speechless when she saw His Highness the Crown Prince's rosy face. At this moment, the shadow of the Crown Prince was in her eyes.
I asked why I had to dress up so beautifully today. It turned out that I was going there for the Crown Prince. Really...
The woman in my family has her elbows turned outward, which is something that all men will be jealous of. Regardless of whether she likes the other person or not, this is the instinctive reaction of male animals to compete. It has nothing to do with love or hate, it is just biological instinct.
Mu Sheng's eyes changed when he turned to look at the prince at this moment. Although there was no expression on his face, he secretly sneered and disapproved.
Isn't he just a prince? You are not the emperor yet, why are you so awesome? My master is an immortal, and I will become an immortal in the future. Maybe I will ascend to the upper world and be among the immortals. What about the emperor on earth? He is just an ordinary mortal, not worth mentioning... Humph!
After a while, I heard the high-pitched voice of Lu Liang, the general manager of the palace, coming from the steps of the main hall.
"His Majesty has spoken, distinguished ministers and princes, the ceremony and sacrifice ceremony have begun."
Everyone standing in the audience bowed down and shouted long live. Then the shaman came to the altar to do the rituals, danced, muttered unintelligible words, and twitched all over. Those who didn't know thought that these people were dressed in strange clothes. The neuroses are having a collective convulsion.
Mu Sheng has always scorned this kind of supernatural things, but don't underestimate this group of ancient shamans. Apart from some of them who cheat food and drink, some of them still have special skills. A truly capable witch will predict future climate changes based on air humidity and other meteorological conditions...
To put it bluntly, this set of things is empiricist knowledge. Wizards have to use this set of things to bluff people. They rely purely on deception. They can get away with it for a while, but not for a lifetime. The ancients were superstitious, but they were not stupid. They still had to have the truth to travel around the world. The ability is close to you.
After the sacrificial ceremony began, the princes, led by the prince, knelt down around the big cauldron symbolizing heaven and earth. The shaman held a green branch dipped in holy water and sprinkled it on the princes. Reciting congratulations...
During the ceremony, Mu Sheng, one of the many princes and grandsons, noticed a middle-aged uncle with a chubby figure and a very fat body. However, his eyes and mouth were crooked and his mouth was dribbling from time to time. He looked like he had Down syndrome. Thirty-seven Appearing to be about eight years old.
This man's life was fairly upright, but unfortunately he was a fool. During the sacrificial ceremony, he couldn't even do a basic set of kneeling movements, and two palace servants were specially assigned to help him complete the movements.
Just when the ceremony was about to end, the middle-aged uncle frowned and tilted his body slightly, followed by a series of dull fart sounds, which made all the princes of the royal family look disgusted, and they all panicked and looked like they were not in a hurry to avoid it.
Young Master Sheng was too young, so he was kneeling in the last row and was not affected. However, looking at the unkind looks on the faces of the adult royal brothers in the front row, he knew that this smell was very spicy.
Although the prince near the middle-aged uncle was also affected, his expression only changed slightly and he made no other movements.
Mu Sheng looked at the middle-aged uncle from a distance and remembered a person, the third prince Gongzi Kang, who was also the elder brother of the prince's fourth brother Gongzi Bai. Originally, according to the eldest son's line of succession, the position of prince could not be passed to Young Master Bai. Why was there a third prince standing in front of him?
Mu Sheng was confused, and he secretly planned to go back and ask Yun'er, the palace baggage.
After the shamanic ceremony was over, His Royal Highness the Prince led the brothers back to their respective places.
When Mu Sheng returned to his original position, he secretly poked Yun'er who was standing beside him, and whispered, "Yun'er, do you know why Young Master Kang is like this?"
When Yun'er heard this, she was immediately possessed by the God of Bagua. She carefully looked around and saw that no one had noticed the duo in the corner. Yun'er said like she was pouring beans out of a bamboo tube, "Young master, you have asked the right person." , I heard that the reason why Master Kang became like this is related to the fight for the crown prince position more than ten years ago..."
Mu Sheng couldn't help but said to himself, "The position of crown prince?"
Yun'er said, "It is said that Young Master Kang was a normal person when he was young. Later, the emperor wanted to establish a prince. Although Young Master Kang was the eldest son, his mediocre intelligence could not be compared with Young Master Bai, who was known as the fourth young master in the capital."
"But where is the status of the eldest son of the emperor? When the crown prince was established, although Prince Kang did not have as many ministers as Prince Bai, there were many ministers behind him who repeatedly wrote that the etiquette must not be violated and wanted to appoint the eldest son as the crown prince."
"There were still many ministers in the court who firmly supported Prince Kang's ascension to the throne. At that time, even His Majesty didn't know who to appoint as the crown prince."
When Yun'er said this, she sighed softly and said, "Hey! What a pity! I heard that something happened to Master Kang when there was a huge quarrel inside and outside the court over who should be the heir apparent."
"I don't know what kind of madness he got. Young Master Kang's temperament suddenly changed. He drew his sword and slashed the surrounding attendants. Three people died on the spot and dozens of others were injured. Everyone in the mansion fled in all directions. Young Master Kang was like People possessed by evil spirits usually kill people when they see them."
Mu Sheng was surprised when he heard this and said, "Young Master Kang is now suffering from madness?"
Yun'er nodded repeatedly and said, "Well, I heard from the old man in the palace that Young Master Kang may have been possessed by an evil ghost and was possessed by evil spirits, which caused his abnormal behavior."
Mu Sheng said, "That's it..."
Yun'er continued, "The people who escaped later only dared to go in when they saw that there was no movement in the house. I heard that at that time, the house of Master Kang was stained with blood everywhere, like a Shura field. People's heads were rolling on the ground, and limbs were broken. Several people were frightened and fainted on the spot. .”
"Gongzi Kang was sitting in the middle of the courtyard in rags with a sharp sword, covered in blood, like a reincarnation of an evil ghost from hell. Although Gongzi Kang did not die, he became stupid and stupid from then on, and could not even take care of himself."
Yun'er carefully looked around and saw that no one was paying attention to the two of them, so she lowered her voice and said, "After this incident happened, all the ministers in the court were furious. Even His Majesty himself was furious, and the public was even more furious. Rumor has it that it was the current prince, the then Young Master Bai, who sent someone to poison Young Master Sheng, which caused Young Master Kang Zhongxie to go crazy and kill people."
"At that time, Gongzi Bai was the target of thousands of people. His Majesty personally ordered that Gongzi Bai be imprisoned in Tingwei Prison. Tingwei and the Qingyi Envoy jointly investigated, and they were determined to thoroughly investigate the case of Gongzi Kang and give an explanation to the world..."
When Mu Sheng heard this, he could guess with his toes that it must have been done by Young Master Bai. Regardless of whether it was a conspiracy or a conspiracy, who was the final beneficiary was basically his doing. Even if he didn't do it himself, it was still a matter of solidarity. The supporters around him moved secretly.
It is said that one person can achieve enlightenment, chickens and dogs ascend to heaven, that is, one person can clearly settle this account. As long as Young Master Bai can become the prince, everything will be worth it.
Yun'er said, "An even more bizarre thing happened next. Your Majesty sent an envoy in Tsing Yi to follow the clues and find out that it was actually a retainer named Lao An who worked for the fifth prince. The retainer committed suicide knowing that he could not escape the blame."
"He left a suicide note before his death. The general idea was that the fifth prince, Young Master Su, was kind-hearted and very kind to him. He simply took it upon himself to use the matter of Young Master Kang to get rid of the fourth prince, so that Young Master Su would There’s a chance to get on top.”
"After the truth came out, the fourth prince, Gong Bai, successfully took over the position of prince and was appointed as the crown prince. The fifth prince, Su Zhen, was tricked by his disciple Lao An. His Majesty decreed that he was deprived of his status as a prince and demoted to a commoner. He was assigned to serve in the army, and even though he barely managed to save his life, it was considered an unnecessary disaster."
After hearing this, Mu Sheng sighed and said, "I understand... The fifth brother is also really unlucky. He is lying down and suffering the thunder. In fact, the most unlucky one is the third brother. His majesty does not kiss him, his younger brother does not love him, and he is turned into a cripple." , poor man!"
Yun'er also sighed after hearing this and said, "Who says it's not true? I also heard that the reason why Gongzi Kang had so many supporters back then was because he was a kind-hearted and kind-hearted man, quite like an elder..."
After hearing this, Mu Sheng thought to himself, is he kind and virtuous? He is an honest person. Such a person is destined not to be suitable for the game of power. In this chess game, he unfortunately became the abandoned son.
Even so, Mu Sheng heard something else from it. The speaker was unintentional, but the listener was intentional. This old incident aroused his strong interest.
Mu Sheng asked Yun'er in detail about some unobtrusive details of the dispute over the throne. He roughly reasoned the causes and consequences in his mind, and a cold sweat suddenly broke out on his back.
Although it was reasoning, he was still very sure that his reasoning was almost inseparable from the truth. Sometimes people would do anything to fight for power.
The palace fight that took place more than ten years ago was actually the mastermind and starring role of the prince Bai himself, but the current emperor is the director.
At the earliest, there was a dispute over the establishment of the crown prince. The third brother was of mediocre intelligence. Mu Sheng speculated that the emperor himself was very inclined to establish the fourth prince. However, due to the ancestral law, it was difficult to make it clear that he would establish the elder rather than the virtuous. At that time, there were constant disputes within the court. , the opinions were not unanimous, and the matter has been in a stalemate.
Don't really think that being an emperor means you really stick to your word. There are many things you can't control, especially this ancestral law, which is equivalent to the foundation of the country and the constitution of future generations. It is obvious that it must not be violated.
Even the current third emperor of the Jin Dynasty, Gong Zizheng, succeeded to the throne as the eldest son of the second emperor. Although he did not become a prince when he succeeded, the biggest advantage of Gong Zizheng at that time was the blessing of the eldest son of the emperor. With the advantage of his status as the first heir, and the wide support of the court officials, he finally fought his way through the princes vying for the throne and successfully won the throne.
It cannot be said that you won the throne with the blessing of being the eldest son of the emperor, but when you come to power, you can appoint whoever you want? Want to easily overturn the laws of your ancestors? This difficulty factor is not small.
Although the rules are dead, people are indeed alive. Since it is obvious that they cannot be violated, why not save the country by taking a curve? Going around always works, right?
Mu Sheng guessed that it might be the current director of the emperor who had done something secretive in order to appoint the heir who suited his liking.
First, let the disciples of the fifth prince depose the third prince. The fifth prince was demoted to the army after the incident, which disabled one son and deposed another son. This cleared the way for the fourth prince to become the heir apparent, a perfect ending.
It is the same reason that Emperor Yongzheng secretly killed his eldest son in order for Emperor Qianlong Hongli to successfully succeed to the throne.
There is no family affection in the Tian family. In the eyes of the emperor, the most important thing is always the country, the country, and the country. It is not that there is no family affection among human beings, but not much.
For a qualified emperor, when it comes to the country, the country, the country, the priority of human relations and family ties is the lowest. This is a qualified good emperor and an excellent politician.
Once the heirloom drama in history involves power, the people around it will instantly turn into bloodthirsty beasts. When the emperor grows old, whether his successor is qualified or not is the most important thing in his heart. Of course, power is also the most important thing for him. of.
In the imperial era, in fact, the heir to the crown prince is whoever the emperor likes. No matter how much you jump around, it will be useless, because the final power of interpretation belongs to the emperor.
