Zhu Qiyu found that he had underestimated his current authority.
I originally thought that there would be quite a few people who claimed to be sick and couldn't come, but I didn't expect that after all, no ministers, vassal kings, or nobles dared to openly challenge the emperor.
The emperor in the early Ming Dynasty was already extremely authoritative, otherwise Zhu Qizhen would not have been able to take only five days from the time he decided to go on a personal expedition to the actual departure.
In addition, the more than 80,000 heads chopped off by Zhu Qiyu were actually placed outside Xizhimen. All local dignitaries and feudal princes who came to Beijing saw it with their own eyes.
Ye Xian, who was still arrogant three months ago, has been turned into a lost dog by the emperor in the blink of an eye.
That was an army of 80,000 people. The princes weighed their own resources and knew that they could not assemble an army that could rival Ye Xian.
At least for now, no prince has any plans to raise troops to appease the people.
Even though the emperor had publicly expressed his intention to restore Queen Hu, no prince wanted to appease her.
Even though the emperor recognized his princess under the name of Wu Dinghou and Yi Chu's intention was first revealed, no prince was still interested in raising troops to appease the emperor.
With Emperor Jianwen in such a state, Taizong's reign was extremely difficult.
The current emperor has proved to the world with his huge victory in the defense of the capital that Emperor Jingtai is at least ten times stronger than Jianwen.
And the current princes think that their talents are far inferior to Emperor Taizong, so what's the point of being so difficult? Apart from being slaughtered, is there any other ending?
Zhu Qiyu was sitting in the carriage drinking hot tea, while others stood in the cold wind and waited quietly.
The princes gathered together, and Prince Xiang looked in the direction of the chariot with a rather complicated look.
In fact, from a rational point of view, King Xiang also knew that the current situation was all caused by Zhu Qizhen's reckless ignorance, and Zhu Qiyu's ascension was both a helpless move and the only feasible solution.
Although King Xiang is the legitimate son of Renzong and has the theoretical right to inherit, King Xiang is far from truly inheriting the throne.
After the Tumubao Incident, from the Queen Mother's point of view, she may not have really considered letting King Xiang succeed to the throne.
As for the ministers, they had never thought of letting King Xiang inherit the throne. The clear proof is that all the ministers unanimously asked Zhu Qiyu to succeed to the throne, and not even a single minister asked King Xiang to succeed.
Even though Prince Xiang is highly regarded, do you really want to take two steps towards the throne of the emperor? It depends on whether the civil and military ministers of the dynasty kill you or not.
The first choice of the ministers is definitely to keep the emperor in the Xuanzong lineage. How can it be possible to transfer the imperial lineage to the Xiangwang lineage when Xuanzong still has descendants? Isn't that just taking the wrong medicine?
Therefore, after Zhu Qizhen was captured, the successor was either Zhu Qiyu or Zhu Jianshen.
Considering the situation at the time, it was not allowed to appoint a three-year-old child as emperor. Zhu Qiyu was the only candidate for emperor.
Therefore, there is no legal problem with Zhu Qiyu's succession: it is not a seizure of power or a usurpation of the throne, but for the sake of the country, the people of the world, and the ancestors, Zhu Qiyu has to take the blame.
This is also the reason why Zhu Qiyu can ask for various prices at will before and after he succeeds to the throne.
As the only candidate to take the blame, Zhu Qiyu asked the ministers for settlement allowance. Isn't this too much?
Just when everyone had different thoughts, the carriage of King Soochow finally appeared in everyone's sight.
Zhu Qiyu got off the chariot and stood at the front with a smile on his face.
Hu Xi, the Minister of Rites, Wu Jin, the Marquis of Gongshun, and Zhao Rong, the Bo of Xincheng, were sent to greet the King of Dongwu and the King of Xiwu. However, the Prince of Xiwu and his family did not want to get involved in trouble anymore and chose to live in Fengyang temporarily. Therefore, only the Prince of Dongwu and his family came to Beijing this time.
The carriage slowly drove up to Zhu Qiyu. Hu Hui, Wu Jin, Zhao Rong and others first saluted the emperor, and then respectfully invited Zhu Wengui, the king of Soochow County, to get off.
The soft curtain of the carriage was opened, and the 48-year-old Zhu Wengui stepped out of the carriage.
Zhu Qiyu stepped forward enthusiastically and helped him personally.
He was imprisoned in Fengyang when he was two years old. At this time, Zhu Wengui had been imprisoned for forty-seven years. Because he has been isolated from the world, Zhu Wengui understands almost nothing.
Zhu Qiyu rarely wore dragon robes, so Zhu Wengui didn't recognize the young man in front of him as the emperor.
After getting off the carriage and standing still, Hu Hui reminded him: "Prince, you should salute the emperor."
Zhu Qiyu waved his hands quickly and sighed sadly: "No need, Uncle Wang has suffered for so many years. Taizu's holy teachings, all descendants of the Zhu family should remember the friendship of relatives.
However, our fourth brother and the eldest brother have become sibling to each other. I feel sad every time I think about it. It's up to Uncle Wang and I to apologize. "
After saying that, Zhu Qiyu bowed deeply to Zhu Wengui.
Zhu Wengui was at a loss for words and called "Your Majesty". He couldn't say anything else and just choked with tears.
Zhu Qiyu comforted him and said: "Uncle Wang, please don't be sad. From now on, Qi Yu will serve Uncle Wang with all his heart and never let Uncle Wang suffer any injustice."
After saying that, Zhu Qiyu turned to everyone and said, "Please all my dear friends to pay homage to Uncle Wang with the royal rites."
The emperor's cronies did not hesitate when they heard this and fell to their knees in large numbers.
This group of cronies also felt relieved: Aren't you emperor factions talking about orthodoxy all day long and harping on endlessly? It's okay now. The real direct lineage of Taizu is right in front of you. Let's worship.
Most of the civil servants, military generals, and nobles knelt down. The remaining nobles and most of the princes felt that there was no point in arguing, so they knelt down one after another.
As for the prince present, there was no need to kneel.
Zhu Qiyu introduced Zhu Wengui one by one to the top civil and military ministers and royal relatives present, and then boarded the chariot hand in hand with him.
Zhu Wengui rode with the emperor, and 60,000 pro-army troops surrounded him along the way, marching straight into the Forbidden City.
Then a banquet was held in Fengtian Hall, accompanied by all the ministers, which was extremely grand.
After the banquet, the officials dispersed, and Zhu Qiyu personally accompanied Zhu Wengui to see the Queen Mother Sun.
At this time, Empress Dowager Sun, Concubine Wu, Empress Zhou, Concubine Wan Chen, Concubine Wang and Consort Hang were all waiting in Cining Palace.
The Empress Dowager Sun has been in extremely bad spirits these past few days. She cannot sleep well, eat or breathe well, and her depression is visible to the naked eye.
As the saying goes, one wrong step leads to a wrong step.
The source of all this was that Zhu Qizhen insisted on conquering the country himself, but was defeated, captured, and lost the throne.
Now that the great cause of justice is in the hands of Zhu Qiyu, the emperor's faction is constrained in doing anything and cannot do anything.
Zhu Qiyu wants to restore Empress Hu to her position. Now public opinion overwhelmingly supports Empress Hu's restoration, and the trend has been achieved.
This was the most straightforward slap in the face to Queen Mother Sun, but Queen Mother Sun couldn't find a way to fight back, so she could only compromise and give in repeatedly.
In addition, Wu Dinghou recognized his daughter, which meant that the emperor would completely cut off Wang's hope of becoming queen.
Now, Zhu Wengui, the king of Soochow, has arrived. Now, the remaining legitimacy of the Shanghuang faction seems to be suppressed by the emperor.
Empress Dowager Sun could not find a good way to fight back for every method the emperor used. The most important thing is that the palace is in complete chaos. Most of the eunuchs and maids are ready to vote for a new master.
This is the real feeling that people are lost and the team is no longer easy to lead.
(End of chapter)
