This is the power of imperial power. Although Zhu Qiyu was unable to change the hearts of the people in the world in a short period of time, with the huge prestige he had established by turning the tide and inflicting heavy losses on Wala, he had successfully replaced all the most important positions in the inner court and the outer court with himself. people.
After the Tumubao Incident, Shang Ren and Peng Shi, who were urgently promoted by Empress Dowager Sun, were first driven to Nanjing by Zhu Qiyu.
Yu Qian, who was deeply grateful to Xuanzong and Sanyang for his knowledge, was the second group to be driven away. Luo Tong, who was replaced by Zhu Qiyu as Minister of the Ministry of War, was completely opposite to Yu Qian. He was cheated to death by Xuanzong, Zhengtong and Sanyang, which can be regarded as a bitter feud.
The third group to be driven away were Hu Hui and Wang Ao. Wang Ao's behavior is a bit rigid, so forget it. Hu Hui was a solid second minister, but he didn't know why he was so loyal to Zhu Qizhen. Zhu Qiyu really couldn't understand it, so he could only do it from a distance.
Empress Dowager Sun didn't know what to say to these powerful civil servants and powerful eunuchs in front of her. She barely managed a few words and then prepared to go back to the inner room to rest.
At this time, Wang Wen stood up and replied to the Queen Mother: "To the Queen Mother, the fire in Fengtian Palace is a warning from heaven, and the Holy One has issued a decree to sin against oneself.
The fires in Cining Palace and Qianqing Palace were also warnings from God.
Wei Chen thought that there was no reason to let only the Holy One issue the edict of sin against oneself. "
Since Wang Wen was the instigator, he was now elected by everyone to be the chief culprit.
After all, Empress Dowager Sun had gone through decades of ups and downs. As soon as Wang Wen said these words, he understood that everyone was here to force her to imitate the emperor and issue an edict to sin against herself.
Having been tortured by the fire these past few days, Empress Dowager Sun had no energy to think about the situation in detail. Now that Wang Wen said this, all the clues were connected:
After the fire in Fengtian Palace, the courtiers wrote to the emperor and asked the emperor to issue a criminal edict.
On the evening of the fourteenth day of the first lunar month, these memorials were delivered to the emperor, and on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, there was a fire in Cining Palace and Qianqing Palace.
Then Zhu Qiyu followed the good example and issued the edict of sinners on the sixteenth day of the first lunar month.
At that time, Empress Dowager Sun was still wondering why Zhu Qiyu was so eager to blame himself.
It turned out that he was waiting here. The emperor had sinned against himself, so naturally the empress dowager should sin against herself, and the supreme empress should also sin against herself.
If you want to issue an edict to sin against yourself, let everyone do it together.
Empress Dowager Sun now understood that this was a method of killing both of them in one move.
The problem is that Zhu Qiyu has just made an unparalleled contribution, and the fire in Fengtian Palace is just a self-incriminating edict, which cannot shake his status at all.
But on the Empress Dowager's side, she neglected her duty to raise the Supreme Emperor, and brought people up to this level, which was a loss of teachers, humiliation to the country, and even the overthrow of the country. This is already very damaging to people's expectations. Now, because of the fire in the Forbidden City, an edict is issued, which will really add insult to injury and add salt to the wound.
Queen Mother Sun still wanted to struggle, so she asked Wang Wen: "How do you want me to sin against myself?"
Wang Wen directly took out an imperial edict and handed it over: "This is the imperial edict prepared by the cabinet for the Queen Mother. Please read it."
Empress Dowager Sun looked at Wang Wen with a surprised look, "Good guys, you have already drafted the edict of sinners." If I make any mistakes in co-authoring, it’s all up to you.
Wang Wen quickly added: "Your Majesty's previous edict on sin was also drafted entirely by the cabinet, and your Majesty has not changed a word."
This sentence made Queen Mother Sun choke and fall back.
According to what this means, not only did the co-authored cabinet draft the edict, but he himself did not have the power to change even a single word? Can I just use the seal obediently?
Empress Dowager Sun looked at Wang Wen coldly. Wang Wen seemed completely unaware and stood there with his head down in a righteous manner, quietly waiting for Empress Dowager Sun's reply.
When things got to this point, there was no turning back for Wang Wen anyway. If Zhu Qizhen can be restored, Wang Wen will definitely be the first to be stabbed, much higher than Yu Qian.
The other ministers present only had admiration and admiration for Wang Wen in their hearts. Everyone had to admire Wang Wen's vision of betting on the new king and his courage to cut off his own retreat.
Empress Dowager Sun didn't bother to pay attention to this. She took the edict drafted by Wang Wen and looked at it carefully.
This edict was drafted too harshly. Not only did it clearly take responsibility for Empress Dowager Sun's failure to educate the Supreme Emperor, but also the lack of foresight in the early days of orthodoxy when the emperor was regent, appointing treacherous ministers, harming the country and harming the people.
Moreover, in the name of Queen Mother Sun, she criticized Queen Qian for her faults. The responsibility for Zhencai and Jingcai being burned to death also fell on Queen Qian.
Finally, Empress Dowager Sun asked herself to remove her title of "Empress Dowager Shangsheng" and stayed in Yinghua Palace to reflect on her mistakes.
At the same time, Queen Qian removed her title of "Queen Yisheng Taishang" and temporarily stayed in Changchun Palace to reflect on her past.
After reading this edict, Queen Mother Sun looked at everyone present coldly, but everyone bowed their heads and remained silent.
Empress Dowager Sun asked helplessly: "Mr. Chen Ge, all the cabinet bachelors and the six ministers have no objections?"
Chen Xun replied: "To report to the Queen Mother, in his own edict of sins, the Holy Spirit assigned himself the crime of 'coveting heaven's merits and stealing the throne'.
The method of atonement given by the Holy One is: to avoid living in the western suburbs, not to live in the palace, not to establish a queen, and not to build an imperial mausoleum. Normally, the Holy Emperor only calls me "I" and no longer calls me. Except when he is forced to act on behalf of the Emperor when dealing with government affairs, he always calls himself the King of Qi.
Moreover, the Holy Emperor has made it clear in his edict that once the Supreme Emperor returns to the capital, the Holy Emperor will immediately abdicate, return to Qi to join the vassal state, and ask the Supreme Emperor to restore him. "
When Queen Mother Sun heard this, she frowned even more tightly. What Chen Xun means is that all emperors have made such great sacrifices in their sins and edicts, and you, the Queen Mother, should not be an exception.
This refutation left Queen Mother Sun speechless. After all, the emperor's imperial edict was indeed very harsh. Not to establish a queen, not to live in a palace, not to build an imperial mausoleum, and not to regard himself as an emperor in life, this is indeed beyond the understanding of the Queen Mother Sun.
Based on Empress Dowager Sun's knowledge, it is only normal that the emperor should love the Forbidden City to death. As for the imperial mausoleum, it was the emperor's posthumous residence. Which emperor wouldn't spend millions of taels of silver to carefully build it.
But when it came to Zhu Qiyu, his absurd thoughts and bizarre behavior were completely beyond the understanding of the Empress Dowager Sun.
Empress Dowager Sun had no choice but to reply: "You should go back first and let me think for a while before making a reply."
After everyone heard this, they knelt down together.
Chen Xun replied on behalf of everyone: "To report to the Queen Mother, two fires destroyed most of the Forbidden City. At this time, people in the capital were in a state of flux, and rumors were spreading everywhere.
Moreover, after the Tumubao Incident and the battle to defend the capital, the government and the public were in chaos, and everything was in ruins.
There were floods in Shandong, civil unrest in the southeast, and Miao chaos in the southwest. In order to make up for the fault of the Supreme Emperor, the Holy One wished he could use one day as three days.
The Queen Mother please pay more attention to the Supreme Emperor. The world will be calmed down as soon as possible, and the world will be peaceful as soon as possible. Only in this way can the subjects forget the mistakes of the Supreme Emperor as soon as possible, and can the court be free as soon as possible to completely wipe out the situation and welcome the Emperor back to the capital. "
When Queen Mother Sun heard this, her face turned green. Isn't this a blatant attempt to force someone into a palace? And he also threatened the Emperor, saying that if he didn't agree, the Emperor wouldn't have to return to Beijing?
The key issue is that Queen Mother Sun has to believe the threats of these important ministers. Whether the Supreme Emperor can return to Beijing is just a matter of a word from the Emperor. Whether the Supreme Emperor will encounter any accidents on his way back depends entirely on the emperor's conscience.
(End of chapter)
