"His Majesty's last edict: I am ill and cannot do anything about it. He expressed my intention to the Empress Dowager. The world is a serious matter, so I will review and deal with it with the cabinet ministers. The previous events were all caused by my mistakes and were beyond your control."
In the Qianqing Palace, all four cabinet ministers were already present.
Emperor Daxing has not yet been laid to rest. Yang Tinghe, Liang Chu, Jiang Mian, and Mao Ji are kneeling on the ground next to the memorial place in the middle of the hall.
On the side, there are also the eunuchs who can be reached at the moment among the internal officials. They are numerous and powerful.
The two eunuchs who were around when the emperor died read Zhu Houzhao's last edict. After everyone stood up, the eunuchs looked at each other and made expressions, and then one of them took a step forward with a smile on his face.
This person is Wei Bin, one of the eunuchs who is currently the Supervisor of Ceremonies.
"Dear ministers, the Queen Mother is in the side hall. Your Majesty has decreed that all major affairs in the world will be reviewed and handled by the Queen Mother and the cabinet ministers. Please move to the side hall."
The pale and pitiful Empress Xia who was guarding the soul of Emperor Zhengde could only bite her lip and watch them walk away.
The things to be discussed include the choice of the new king regarding her destiny, but she has no part in it.
In the side hall, there is a curtain that separates the inside and outside. The person sitting faintly behind is the Empress Dowager Zhang, the mother of Emperor Zhengde.
"Mr. Yang Ge, you are here, please sit down first."
"My condolences, Queen Mother." After Yang Ting saluted them, he stood up and sat down. He first looked at the row of eunuchs standing opposite, especially the three leaders.
These three people were all great eunuchs who were among the "Eight Tigers" in the early years of Zhengde.
Today, Gu Dayong serves as the "eunuch in charge" specially created by Emperor Zhengde.
As for Zhang Yong, after participating in the overthrow of Liu Jin, he served as the chief minister of etiquette and held many errands. Later, after many internal and external struggles, he became the imperial eunuch, but his most important job now is to supervise the regiment camp: in charge of the regiment training camp composed of elite border troops selected to the capital under the instruction of Emperor Zhengde.
Wei Bin only focused on the inner palace, but he was in charge of rituals and had the most contact with the ministers, so he had previously invited the ministers to come over.
What Yang Ting and the others looked at was the "relic" that Emperor Zhengde used eunuchs to fight against the civil servants: a deformed eunuch group.
A voice came from behind the curtain: "Mr. Yang Ge, in your opinion, how should we act now?"
Yang Tinghe pondered for a moment.
He left no edict, only his last words.
There was no mention of eunuchs participating in the next major events, and no mention of letting the Queen Mother listen to politics behind the curtain.
The emperor also set the tone himself, admitting that he had made mistakes in previous political affairs.
Yang Tinghe spoke loudly: "Back to the Queen Mother, all the ministers entered the palace late at night, and the hearts of the people in the capital were already shaken. The former commander of the pro-military army Qian Ningtong was imprisoned, and the pro-guards were still in chaos; Admiral Jiang Bin was training with the mighty regiment, and Zeng stayed Your Majesty has been in Tongzhou for more than forty days, and you must be on guard against the idea of rebellion."
As soon as he said this, there was silence in the palace, and the turmoil seemed to be right in front of him.
The pro-army commander commanded the 26 guards who guarded the imperial city, and the famous Jin Yiwei was just one of them. This pro-military commander's department has never been under the jurisdiction of the Fifth Army Commander's Office, but is personally commanded by the emperor.
The Weiwu Regiment Training Camp is a new army in addition to the Beijing Armed Forces Guards and the three major battalions. They are also elite border troops who have been transferred to Beijing.
It goes without saying that Qian Ning has been imprisoned, but Jiang Bin and Wei Bin are in-laws, and they are also very familiar with Zhang Yong and Gu Dayong. They were all people who used to surround Emperor Zhengde, eunuchs and adopted sons.
Emperor Zhengde adopted more than a hundred "adopted sons", some of whom were even given the surname Zhu or titles.
Now there is a rebellion by King Ning, and the two most powerful among these adopted sons were mentioned by Yang Tinghe in one breath.
But no one thought this was making a fuss. After all, one was in charge of the 26th Guards of the Imperial Army for Emperor Zhengde, and the other was in charge of the newly trained Beijing Camp.
Now that Zhu Houzhao has passed away, who knows what will happen?
"What Mr. Ge said is absolutely true!" Wei Bin immediately agreed, not only to distance himself from the relationship, but also with another purpose in saying respectfully behind the curtain, "Please send down the imperial edict from the Queen Mother, and Mr. Ge will make arrangements quickly."
As soon as these words were spoken, Yang Tinghe and others' eyes suddenly changed. After staring at Wei Bin, they then looked at the figure behind the curtain.
What does it mean to issue an imperial edict?
Queen Mother Zhang was silent behind the curtain.
The air pressure in the side hall suddenly dropped, and the eunuchs and maids who were serving outside but heard a few words were covered in cold sweat.
The invisible pressure is suffocating.
How could they, who often work in the palace, not know the bloodshed behind these words?
The emperor has always been the only one who can pronounce imperial edicts, but now the emperor is lying there!
"The Empress Dowager Ming Jian!" Yang Tinghe had to speak, and even stood up, but the person speaking was Wei Bin, "Eunuch Wei, according to the ancestral teachings and the laws of the Ming Dynasty, it would be extremely inappropriate for the Queen Mother's decree to be renamed an imperial edict!"
The four cabinet ministers who were not originally of the same mind are all thinking about the same question: Is this the Queen Mother instructing the Supervisor of Ceremonies to test, or is Wei Bin eager to find a way out and selfishly persuading the Queen Mother to listen to politics behind the curtain?
Even the four cabinet ministers would not dare to do anything more daring.
At this time, Zhang Yong was heard to say: "With such a big change now, I remember that in the previous generation, the Queen Mother Yi decreed it as an imperial edict."
Yang Tinghe shook his head decisively: "Generations are different, and the laws are even different! In the previous generation, the prime minister was granted the title of king, and the minister Tong Guan was also granted the title of king. Has such a thing ever happened in our Ming Dynasty? Queen Mother, you have assisted two generations of kings with great merit. The great virtue can be called Yao and Shun among women. Now that the successor has not been decided, everything is carried out according to Yi's will. This will be an act of perfection and praise for all generations! How dare we not achieve greatness and make a mockery of future generations?"
In just a few sentences, it is the characterization of the will.
The old stories of the prime minister and the eunuch conferring the title of king were brought up, and Yang Tinghe made it clear: This situation cannot happen in the Ming Dynasty!
There is no prime minister in the Ming Dynasty, so Yang Tinghe is considered the "prime minister".
He did not expect to have a higher position of power, and neither the queen mother nor the eunuchs could think of surpassing the "Huang Ming Ancestor Instructions".
"...What the Master said is true, you must not speak nonsense." Queen Mother Zhang finally spoke in silence.
The eunuchs immediately knelt down and confessed.
Liang Chu, the second assistant, watched the performance meaningfully.
The drama was about to begin, and Yang Tinghe had just proposed to cut off one of the arms attached to the monarch's power, when another force came to test it.
The Queen Mother called Yang Tinghe Prince and Tutor to remind him that Yang Tinghe was promoted by Emperor Xiaozong to be the teacher of Emperor Zhengde and was deeply favored by the monarchs of both dynasties.
It is okay to prevent her from listening to politics behind the curtain, but her opinions cannot be ignored on other matters.
Yang Tinghe had no reaction to this, and continued: "The most urgent task is to ask the Queen Mother Yi to order Eunuch Zhang to supervise the nine gates of the capital. Wu Dinghou, Dingbianbo, and the Minister of War selected the battalions and horse infantry officers and soldiers to defend various places, and asked Dongchang and Jinyi guards to arrest them. The yamen and the five-city inspection censor are under the supervision of each governor!"
A slap in the face and some comfort: At this moment, the cabinet has no intention of intervening in the military power in the capital, and Zhang Yong and the others are still in charge.
Only to hear Yang Tinghe say again: "The training camp of the Weiwu Regiment has almost become Jiang Bin's private army, and there have been frequent changes recently. I request Yi to disband the training camp of the Weiwu Regiment and send it back to the border town! Your Majesty, your Majesty, Xuan Jiangbin, Minister of Mountain Tombs, Mao Cheng, Minister of Rites, and Minister of Works Li Hao came to the palace to offer sacrifices, and Eunuch Zhang supervised the regiment to guard the nine gates of the capital. Once Jiang Bin was eliminated, the mighty regiment training camp was leaderless, and the capital was mostly stable! In addition..."
He put forward important suggestions one after another related to the succession of the throne, which involved not only an individual, but also some policies and current situations related to it.
"...Let's do it this way." Empress Dowager Zhang nodded casually, and then asked with a choked voice, "How should the edict be drafted? Who should enshrine it in the ancestral temple?"
In a few words, the fate of many important ministers has been decided.
Tonight, the capital city will be filled with blood.
After Empress Dowager Zhang explored her own possibilities, she no longer paid attention to these "little things".
Now she only cares about who the owner of the Forbidden City will be.
After all, she will continue to live here forever. Who will enshrine Lord Xiaozong and her a hundred years from now?
Just listen to Yang Tinghe slowly say his choice: "Since the Daxing Emperor has no heir, we should follow the "Ancestral Instructions" that 'brothers will eventually lead to younger brothers', and welcome the son of King Xingxian to ascend the throne!"
