At the same time that Chen Qing was purging the Bashu officialdom on a large scale, the coffin of the Supreme Emperor finally arrived in Lin'an. Emperor Zhao Gou, dressed in mourning clothes, led the civil and military officials to greet him at the pier. When the coffin was carried out of the ship, Zhao Gou and the civil and military officials fell to the ground in mourning.
cry.
Zhao Gou personally supported the coffin and sent his father's coffin to the temple for storage. He ordered the whole country to observe silence and suspend the court for seven days. Three days later, the court held a grand ceremony to bury the emperor's coffin in the Yonggu Mausoleum and erected the temple name Huizong.
For the late emperor Zhao Huan who was unable to accompany him due to illness, Zhao Gou generously honored him as the Holy Emperor of Xiaociyuan and named him the eldest brother of the Emperor of the State. This was equivalent to enjoying the treatment of an emperor, but his specific position was to oversee the country. As for what he was to oversee
How to supervise the country, God knows.
He also changed the title of former prince Zhao Chen to Prince Ning.
It is easier for Zhao Gou to attack this nephew. After all, it is easier to deal with the older one than the younger one. I have been demoted from emperor to supervisor, so can my son continue to be the prince?
Of course, these canonizations are just what Zhao Gou said. If Zhao Huan himself did not accept it and refused to announce his abdication, then the above canonizations would be illegal.
So the key is for Zhao Huan to express his acceptance. How to get his brother to accept it is indeed a headache for Zhao Gou.
In fact, Zhao Gou's biggest headache was Chen Qing. On the pier, Zhao Ding stood in front of the coffin and read out the Emperor's will, saying that he wanted to be buried simply and take good care of his concubines, etc., but at the end he added,
Encourage the world's heroes to work hard, and those who welcome back the two emperors can be crowned princes in recognition of their great contributions to the country.
Hearing the last sentence, Zhao Gou was furious. Damn it, Zhao Ding didn't leak the news to him in advance, and even read it out publicly, so that all the civil and military officials in the dynasty knew about the Emperor's will.
Of course, we can’t blame Zhao Ding. The Supreme Emperor’s will is sealed and can only be opened after checking the seal on the spot. Basically, it is true, except that the last sentence is obviously added later. How could the Jin Kingdom allow such a will to exist?
?
Can Zhao Gou deny it? He can't deny that this is the Supreme Emperor's will. It was read out publicly in front of the Supreme Emperor's coffin. The late emperor can prove that as the late emperor, no one will doubt that the will is false. If Zhao Gou doesn't admit it, it's him.
Disobedience and unfilial piety.
Only Zhao Gou understood that his father was a prince at most, so how could he be crowned a prince? It was obviously Chen Qing who made him tailor-made.
In fact, Zhao Gou also had some speculations in his mind. This was probably Chen Qing's condition. If he made him a prince, his brother Zhao Huan would abdicate.
But what if that’s not the case?
Like swallowing a dead mouse, Zhao Gou was forced to kowtow in front of the coffin of the Supreme Emperor and accept the will.
Three days later, Zhao Gou had no choice but to hold his nose and issue an edict, greatly commending Chen Qing for his great contribution in welcoming back the second emperor. However, he did not mention a word about how to reward Chen Qing. He only said the last sentence, summoning him to come to An to confirm the canonization of his new emperor.
The Lord of the King.
Zhao Gou's meaning is also very clear. He can be granted the title of prince, but there are conditions. Please come to An'an to negotiate.
Jie Qian completed the escort mission and returned home to Lin'an City. He took half a month's leave and wanted to have a good rest.
At night, Jie Qian was telling his two sons about the situation in Jingzhao. At this time, the housekeeper hurried in and whispered a few words in his ear. Jie Qian was shocked and said, "Seriously!"
"Yes, it is indeed him."
"Hurry up and invite me to the guest room, I'll be here right away!"
Xie Qian never expected that Prime Minister Qin Hui would come to visit him, which made him flustered.
Jie Qian stood stunned for a long time. After being reminded by his son, he came back to his senses and hurried to the guest room in the atrium.
Qin Hui was already sitting in the guest room drinking tea.
Xie Qian hurriedly stepped forward, bowed and said in salute: "I didn't know that my husband was coming, so I missed you from afar. Please forgive me!"
Qin Hui put down the tea cup and said with a smile: "I won't beat you around the bush. I came here on the official's secret order. Do you want to see the official's secret order?"
"I don't dare!"
Of course, Qin Hui had no secret agenda. He knew that the emperor was extremely dissatisfied with Zhao Ding because of the emperor's last edict, so he wanted to take this opportunity to get rid of Zhao Ding.
In fact, Qin Hui had laid a trap for Zhao Ding, that is, Wu Miao, the governor of Hezhou, and He Qiangong, the governor of Changzhou, went to Jingzhao to visit Zhao Ding. Then Li Jinxiao raised an army to rebel, and Qin Hui could impeach Zhao Ding for instructing Shu officials to rebel.
But today Qin Hui had just received urgent news from Bashu that Li Jinxiao's rebellion had been suppressed by Chen Qing. Chen Qing was vigorously purging pro-imperial officials in Bashu prefectures, which meant that Chen Qing had officially torn up the decentralization agreement signed with the imperial court.
Only then did Qin Hui realize that the consequences of this matter were too serious. The key was that the emperor knew that he was connected with Li Jinxiao. Once this matter came to light, the emperor could easily guess that he had instigated Li Jinxiao and others to rebel, and his prime minister would no longer be able to do it.
He must stay out of this matter completely and cannot use this trap to impeach Zhao Ding again.
He used the emperor's secret decree to bribe Jie Qian.
"General Xie also saw it. That day, Xianggong Zhao read out the imperial edict of the Supreme Emperor. The last sentence of the edict made the officials tremble with anger. Regardless of whether the edict was true or not, Xianggong Zhao should have communicated with the officials first instead of reading it out directly. The officials
The family is very dissatisfied with Mr. Zhao and has decided to dismiss him as prime minister. General Xie, you are the person recommended by Mr. Zhao. Once he is dismissed as prime minister, what will happen to you? "
Jie Qian sighed and lowered his head in silence. How could he not know? He would also be demoted and his career would be over.
Qin Hui said earnestly: "Now you have a chance. The officials cannot use the Supreme Emperor's edict to dismiss the Prime Minister, so they need an excuse. The officials hope that you will come forward or provide evidence. In return, you will serve as Privy Councilor."
In accordance with the decree, I will add Sanguan to Sandafu, and I will change from a military general to a civilian official. I will still be promoted to the fifth rank and become a general. This opportunity only comes once."
Xie Qian is currently serving as the commander of the capital in front of the palace. This is not the same as the commander-in-chief of Chen Qing and Yue Fei. The commander of the capital in front of the palace is just a dispatch officer and has no actual military power. When it is his turn to be on duty, he will receive a command.
An army patrols the inner city. This kind of dispatched officer can easily be cancelled, but his actual official rank is the 14th rank Youwu Dafu, the sixth rank.
There is a huge difference between the sixth rank of military generals and the fifth rank of civil servants. Their statuses are completely different. How could Jie Qian not be moved?
Xie Qian raised his head and said: "Xiangong Zhao received Chen Qing's bribe."
Qin Hui was overjoyed and asked anxiously: "What kind of bribe?"
"A string of very expensive white jade beads and a precious sword are the swords collected by the Supreme Emperor. They are called Qingyue. This is absolutely true."
Qin Hui was so excited that he was trembling all over. He never expected that Zhao Ding would be here today. This was suspected of colluding with Chen Qing. The Emperor would be even more convinced that Zhao Ding was involved in concocting the imperial edict.
There is no need to mention these. The crime of accepting bribes from local warlords is enough to dismiss him.
"You should write a letter of report now. I, Qin Hui, always keep my word and I will ensure that you are appointed as a privy councilor and a doctor in the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China."
"Thank you for your support, I will write it now!"
Xie Qian immediately wrote a letter of report and handed it to Qin Hui, who took the letter and hurried away.
Jie Qian was sitting in the VIP hall as if in a dream. At this time, his wife Zhang came over to pack the tea cups and whispered: "It's not good for you to expose Mr. Zhao!"
Xie Qian immediately glared at her, "I told you not to eavesdrop on my conversation with the guests."
"I didn't eavesdrop. Of course I could hear you in the hall if you spoke so loudly. Besides, I was just reminding you out of kindness."
"Young women know nothing. If I don't write this letter, once Zhao Ding is dismissed as prime minister, I will be in bad luck, and you will have to go to the streets to beg for food."
His wife Zhang said after a while: "What if Qin Xianggong doesn't keep his word?"
"Don't worry, everyone is watching! I wrote a report letter. If there is no benefit, who will dare to work for Qin Hui in the future?"
Zhang originally wanted to say, but then everyone would know that you betrayed your favor, but she never said this.
The next day, Qin Hui used Jie Qian's letter of accusation as evidence to impeach Zhao Ding for accepting bribes from local generals in private. This crime was neither big nor small, and it depended on whether the emperor wanted to pursue it.
Sure enough, when Zhao Ding was forced to admit that he had indeed accepted the white jade beads and the famous sword Qingyue presented by Chen Qing, he defended himself. He had already written a report, but he had not yet had time to submit it.
How could the emperor Zhao Gou listen to his defense? He had already concluded that Zhao Ding and Chen Qing had colluded and deliberately read out the emperor's last edict in public, causing himself to fall into extreme passivity.
Zhao Gou immediately issued an order to remove Zhao Ding from the position of prime minister and demoted him to know the affairs of Quanzhou.
A month later, Chen Qing's memorial regarding the suspension of the decentralization of power on the Sichuan Road was sent to Lin'an. Zhao Gou was so angry that he dismissed Lu Qingshan from his position and demoted him to Shaoxing County Lieutenant.
