Faced with the pressure from everyone, Empress Dowager Sun was completely isolated and helpless.
Things have changed, and today Empress Dowager Sun also feels the despair of Empress Hu that "no one in the whole court is a loyal minister".
Chen Xun led everyone to kneel on the ground, waiting for Queen Mother Sun to make a decision.
Empress Dowager Sun could only ask helplessly: "As long as I issue an edict to blame myself, can the civil uprising in the southeast be quelled? Can the Miao rebellion in the southwest be suppressed?"
Can Jingyuanbo, Ningyanghou and Anyuanhou successfully return to the court? Can you lead an army to welcome the Emperor back to the capital? "
Empress Dowager Sun knew that there was no hope of resistance, so she wanted to make some conditions to make up for herself. Zhu Qiyu had previously agreed to Zhu Qizhen and agreed to send at least two of Jingyuan Bo Wang Ji, Ningyang Marquis Chen Mao, and Anyuan Marquis Liu Puzhong to lead an army to bring him back.
However, the prerequisite set by Zhu Qiyu at that time was that the emperor's faction should be quiet and not cause trouble or hinder the emperor.
Unexpectedly, when a group of vassal kings and local officials came to Beijing, Empress Dowager Sun, who felt that she was relying on others, began to act smart.
Therefore, Empress Dowager Sun still needs to confirm whether Zhu Qiyu's promise was fulfilled or not.
Chen Xun and Wang Wen both felt that they could not answer this question, so they both turned to look at He Yi. Among the bachelors in the cabinet, only He Yi had access to the emperor every day and had the best understanding of the emperor's thoughts. Now He Yi has almost become the most authoritative royal mouthpiece.
He Yi nodded slightly towards the two of them.
Empress Dowager Sun saw all these little actions and was very speechless. A group of important court officials who were several decades older came to see a young man who was about the same age as the emperor. At Chen Xun's age, it was just right for He Yi to be his grandfather.
Chen Xun didn't care about this. After receiving He Yi's reminder, he replied to Queen Mother Sun: "To Queen Mother Qi, at least Marquis Ningyang will be able to return to the court this year, and Marquis Anyuan will most likely be transferred back to the capital."
Chen Xun only made a promise for Marquis Ningyang to return to Beijing, but this has already met Empress Dowager Sun's expectations.
Chen Mao, Marquis of Ningyang, was considered the best among the nobles in terms of qualifications, military exploits, and talents. And because he was sent to the southeast to quell the civil uprising, he luckily escaped the catastrophe of the Tumubao Incident.
Once Chen Mao returns to the capital, the emperor's faction will have a backbone. There are already candidates to go and greet the Supreme Emperor.
Only by bringing back the Supreme Emperor can the Supreme Emperor faction have a real backbone.
The emperor is respected and the emperor is humble. This is not only a matter of righteousness, but also a consensus among the government and the public.
Except for the emperor's cronies in front of them who didn't recognize it, the rest all admitted that the Supreme Emperor was superior to the emperor from the perspective of etiquette and law.
So Empress Dowager Sun nodded in approval and accepted this edict of sin.
When the matter came to this point, Queen Mother Sun and the ministers thought it was done and they could go back to their respective homes.
Unexpectedly, Wang Cheng suddenly stood up and replied to the Queen Mother Sun: "The Queen Mother, since you have decided to live in seclusion in Yinghua Hall for self-reflection, please give the Queen Mother's seal to Shang Baojian for safekeeping."
Queen Mother Sun was stunned when she heard this, and even the ministers present were a little confused.
Hand over the Queen Mother's seal and live in seclusion in Yinghua Palace? According to Wang Cheng's intention, this is to put the Queen Mother under house arrest directly.
But the ministers did not dare to speak out against it. Wang Cheng dared to say this, which must represent the emperor's will.
Queen Mother Sun looked around and all the ministers lowered their heads and said nothing. Their attitudes and reactions were exactly the same as when she deposed Queen Hu.
In desperation, Empress Dowager Sun asked Wang Jin: "Wang Jin, you are the oldest ceremonial supervisor here, Bingbi. What do you think we should do?"
Wang Jin pondered for a moment and then replied: "I think the Queen Mother didn't do much wrong and she can just sit back and reflect on herself."
When Queen Mother Sun heard this, she was greatly relieved. This was the first time in this forced marriage that someone stood up and spoke for her.
But before Empress Dowager Sun could be happy, Shu Liang shouted loudly: "This is wrong. The souls of the 500,000 dead soldiers in Tumubao are not far away. If no one is at fault, then how did these soldiers die in vain? "
As soon as these words came out, a pin drop could be heard in the palace, and there was silence.
Just when the situation was at a stalemate, Gao Ping came in and asked for instructions: "The Queen Mother, the medicine is ready. Please drink it while it is hot. The medicine will not be effective when it is cold."
After hearing this, Empress Dowager Sun sighed and walked down the steps: "Gao Ping, go get the seal and give it to Wang Cheng, and then see off the guests for me."
After saying that, Queen Mother Sun turned around and entered the inner room.
The ministers also breathed a sigh of relief and quickly stood up and left.
Wang Cheng followed Gao Ping to obtain the seal, and just then left with satisfaction with Shu Liang and others.
Just after noon, Empress Dowager Sun's sinner edict was officially issued.
Before dinner, word spread throughout the capital.
Because Zhu Qiyu attaches great importance to propaganda, he constantly trains people to control public opinion for himself, either openly or covertly. Therefore, as long as the news Zhu Qiyu wants to spread, it will spread very quickly.
Moreover, Zhu Qiyu also relaxed the restrictions on people's political discussions in the capital. As long as his remarks are not too fierce, there is basically no need to worry about being invited by the Jin Yiwei to talk to him in prison. Therefore, the people in the capital have recently become more and more enthusiastic about the DPRK situation.
The emperor, the queen mother, and the empress issued edicts one after another to punish themselves, which was very strange to the people.
Moreover, each of these criminal edicts was more severe than the last. The Empress Dowager actually did not even want her title. Not only did she take the initiative to remove her title, she also avoided side halls and lived in seclusion to reflect on herself.
What surprised everyone the most was that the Empress Dowager actually announced that if the Ming Dynasty did not realize the prosperity of China, it would not rebuild Cining Palace and Qianqing Palace.
This is really cruel to myself.
However, the people did not think that the emperor forced the Queen Mother to issue an edict to sin against herself. After all, the emperor himself had just taken the initiative to issue an edict to sin against herself, and the punishment measures for himself were much harsher than those of the Empress Dowager.
In the eyes of the people, as an emperor, the punishment for not living in the palace, not building an imperial mausoleum, and not establishing a queen was much harsher than the empress dowager's punishment of losing her title and not living in Cining Palace.
In particular, this man never built an imperial mausoleum for his whole life, which really amazed the people in the capital who advocated luxury and superstitious Buddhism.
…
As the emperor, Zhu Qiyu received the imperial edict from the Empress Dowager even an hour later than ordinary people in the capital.
It was getting dark, Zhu Qiyu was lying in the fragrant and warm quilt, and was about to do something unspeakable with his beloved concubine when the report came in.
This time Zhu Qiyu took the report and read it personally.
After reading it, Zhu Qiyu laughed himself.
There were about ten eunuchs in charge in the inner court, and there were about ten ministers in charge in the outer court. Zhu Qiyu gave them considerable autonomy.
With autonomy, these people also have subjective initiative.
Things like collecting the Queen Mother's seal were not Zhu Qiyu's orders at all.
Moreover, Zhu Qiyu only asked the Queen Mother Sun to live in Yinghua Hall to reflect on her mistakes, but he did not say that she would be banned. The house arrest of Queen Mother Sun was also made by Wang Cheng on the spot and added personally.
However, Zhu Qiyu didn't care about this. By studying historical lessons, we can see that the Jingtai Emperor was too strict with his subordinates, and eventually made his closest associates afraid to do things:
Lu Zhong and Gao Ping planned the Golden Knife Case and were tricked; Xu Zheng and Huang Jian planned to isolate Nangong and strengthen the supervision of the Supreme Emperor, but were tricked.
How can I work with peace of mind when my subordinates will be cheated no matter what I do?
(End of chapter)
