In political struggles, most of the time what we are fighting for is a momentum, and what we are fighting for is just one breath.
Especially when both sides are fighting to the death, if this breath is released, it will be fatal.
If there is a slight mistake, the army will be defeated like a mountain.
The situation in front of me was like this. Seeing that more than half of the ministers present had already knelt down, the remaining people were a little discouraged.
Especially those who have knelt down are the most important group of civil and military officials attending the court meeting today.
The absence of the king's backbone left the ministers of the emperor's faction feeling that they had nowhere to start and were unable to use their power.
At the same time, Shu Liang, the admiral of the East Factory, and Zhang Yong, the admiral of the inner factory, who were standing next to the emperor, had begun to look around, obviously silently recording in their hearts the ministers who were standing and not kneeling.
This put huge psychological pressure on the emperor's ministers.
No one knows what the strength of the internal factory is. But Dongchang's methods are unknown to everyone.
The remaining ministers didn't dare to gamble. Everyone was unclean. If Dongchang exposed his secrets in public, wouldn't it mean that he would follow Yang Shan's footsteps on the spot.
Zhu Qiyu himself didn't think so much, and he didn't instruct Dongchang to collect evidence from the ministers.
According to the plan, Zhu Qiyu wanted to imitate Emperor Xiaowen in Wenjing's rule.
The successor Emperor Xiaojing was the emperor who focused on clarifying officialdom.
Therefore, Zhu Qiyu planned to imitate others and leave the task of clarifying officialdom to the next generation.
After all, there are too many things that need to be done by my generation. If we start a war with the entire civil service group, we might as well not do anything at all.
What surprised Zhu Qiyu was that none of the remaining ministers who expressed their hearts to the Supreme Emperor raised any objections. They knelt down one after another and expressed their agreement one after another.
This made Zhu Qiyu somewhat at a loss what to do.
The contrast between the ministers in the early Ming Dynasty and the ministers in the middle and late Ming Dynasty was so strong that they were simply not the same species.
Zhengde and Jiajing beat a lot of people to death with their imperial sticks at every turn, but the ministers were still tit for tat and refused to give in.
But what about the ministers in front of me? They all knelt down before even arguing?
I can't understand it. Was the imperial power in the early Ming Dynasty really so strong?
But it's hard to say. In history, Jingtai deposed the prince Zhu Jianshen and the queen Wang, and then replaced his son as the prince. No one stood up to oppose it, and it was done easily.
Using the thinking of the late Ming Dynasty to understand the ministers of the early Ming Dynasty is simply beyond the limit of imagination.
Zhu Qiyu could only understand that he had received the benefits of the early Ming Dynasty, so he ordered everyone to stand up, which was regarded as acquiescence to Xu Youzhen's proposal.
Since then, the imperial court finally reached a consensus: first, the Supreme Emperor Zhu Qizhen would issue the edict of sin, and then hold a formal abdication ceremony and retire as the respectful emperor. Finally, Zhu Qizhen was sent to Nangong to reflect on his mistakes behind closed doors.
Once it's decided, it can't be changed.
Next, Zhu Qiyu and the civil and military officials decided on many things: the salaries of the civil and military officials will continue to increase by 20% this year; some provinces will continue to be tax-free and exempt from corvee; the Nanjing capital camp will be completely reorganized; Shanxi's garrison and defense system will be rebuilt; Determine the process and details of this year's general examination and palace examination...
From morning to afternoon, Zhu Qiyu ordered to leave the court after all the major events to be done this year.
Zhu Qiyu was somewhat more active than Wanli, but such large court meetings could only be held three or four times a year at most.
After the court broke up this time, the ministers wanted to see the emperor again, but they didn't know when they would have to wait.
Since moving to the western suburbs, Zhu Qiyu has completely settled down. The need to pay respects to Empress Dowager Sun and Empress Qian was completely eliminated.
After the court, Zhu Qiyu got into the chariot and went home directly.
At this time, Princess Wu and Wu Dinghou were both in the Xinqi Palace, so Zhu Qiyu had nothing to worry about in the capital and could just go home.
As for the task of informing Empress Dowager Sun about the content of today's court meeting, it fell again to Chen Xun, Wang Wen and others.
People feel refreshed when happy events occur. At this time, twelve beloved concubines were pregnant, and only Ningxiang and the twins Qianxue and Suxi were left.
On this trip to and from the capital, Zhu Qiyu only brought Ningxiang with him to experience the wonders of his special chariot. This is a bad thing and will be discussed in detail another day.
After the dispersion of the dynasty, civil and military officials could celebrate the New Year at home and rest until the sixteenth day of the first lunar month.
Therefore, in order to go home early, Chen Xun, Wang Wen and other important ministers came to see the Empress Dowager as soon as the court was over.
After conveying the resolutions of today's court meeting to the Queen Mother as soon as possible, everyone can go home easily.
In the Yinghua Palace, Queen Mother Sun, Queen Qian and Queen Zhou were discussing the arrangements after the Emperor returned to Beijing.
This is really a bit of a disagreement.
Queen Qian means that all the concubines, including the two queens, will follow the Supreme Emperor to Nangong. As for the prince, prince and princess, they will be raised by the empress dowager.
Queen Zhou lived well in Kunning Palace, so it was naturally impossible for her to agree to Queen Qian's plan.
Queen Zhou wanted to follow the emperor's wishes: she would live with the prince in Kunning Palace, while Queen Qian would accompany the prince to live in Nangong. The other concubines still live in their respective palaces.
Then the Supreme Emperor will turn over the cards. Whoever turns up the cards will go to Nangong to sleep. After the concubines have gone to bed, they return to their own palace.
Obviously, Queen Zhou's plan was more popular, but Queen Qian's plan was more tenable in terms of justice.
After all, it is only natural for a woman to accompany her husband and serve him.
The rebuttal reason given by Queen Zhou was that the Nangong was small and the Emperor had too many concubines to live in the Nangong. Therefore, Queen Qian should accompany the Supreme Emperor in the Nangong Palace, while she should be responsible for managing the concubines and educating the Crown Prince outside.
Empress Dowager Sun was confused by the quarrel between the two queens. When she first heard that Chen Xun, Wang Wen and others were asking for an audience, she thought that Chen Xun and others were coming to express their greetings during the Zhengdan Festival, so she ordered someone to come in.
Unexpectedly, after the ceremony, Chen Xun told the Empress Dowager Sun exactly what was discussed in today's meeting and related to the Supreme Emperor.
After hearing this, Queen Mother Sun was a little dumbfounded.
After being stunned for a long time, Empress Dowager Sun asked the same doubt as Zhu Qiyu: "Why Xu Youzhen proposed such a ridiculous suggestion, didn't the courtiers object to it?"
Chen Xun shook his head: "Queen Mother, please calm down. What Xu Youzhen said is true. The Supreme Emperor is indeed guilty of the country. Moreover, the Supreme Emperor has also revealed to the envoys many times his intention to issue a guilty edict and be demoted to an ordinary citizen to go to Fengyang to guard the graves of his ancestors. .
The Holy Emperor couldn't bear it and refused many times. In the end, he only agreed that the Supreme Emperor would demote himself one level and retire to the position of respectful emperor. All other ceremonial treatment is higher than that of the emperor.
If Nangong is not in line with the Emperor's wishes, the Holy Emperor will also rebuild Xiyuan for the Emperor. As long as the emperor has the needs of life, he will take care of everything and will never be harsh or disrespectful. "
Empress Dowager Sun did not give up after hearing this, and continued to ask: "The emperor asked the emperor to live in the Nangong, to reflect on himself behind closed doors. Should he be under house arrest or in seclusion?
During the holidays, can the Supreme Emperor still accept the audience of hundreds of officials? "
These words stopped Chen Xun.
(End of chapter)
