In December of the 20th year of Jiajing in this time and space, Empress Dowager Zhang, the Cishou Emperor of Zhaosheng, died in Cisheng Palace. As for this death, the process seems to be very logical.
Shocked to hear that her brother died suddenly on the eve of the pardon, the elderly Empress Dowager Zhang could not bear the shock and immediately became bedridden.
Empress Fang and the chief steward of the palace, eunuch Qin, went to attend the illness and personally presented the decoction and medicine. Although it was just a formality, it was also etiquette.
However, Empress Dowager Zhang had been treated very poorly in the past ten years. She was not in good health both physically and mentally. This time she was overly sad. She suddenly died and could not be saved even by taking decoctions and medicines. This is also a normal situation.
Everything seems logical. Even though there are doubts, who would cling to them?
After twenty years of constant attacks and suppression by Emperor Jiajing, Empress Dowager Zhang had no power of her own and was a pure loner in the palace.
However, the power of the Zhang family outside the palace has completely disappeared. The two princes, Zhang Heling and Zhang Yanling, have died, and only a few juniors are left scattered in the field.
Therefore, no one "regrets the grievances" on behalf of Empress Dowager Zhang. Even if outsiders want to investigate, they will not get any benefit, let alone have no motivation.
Politics is so cruel. The death of some people is heavier than Mount Tai; the death of some people is as light as a feather.
When a person's death does not bring added value to others, it is really a wasted death. Assassinating such a person is also the least risky.
In the end, the mysterious death of such a person with a nominally supreme status resulted in the addition of a palace secret.
However, the most common things in the palace are all kinds of secrets and legends, and this time they are not even particularly outstanding.
Empress Dowager Zhang's Zi Palace was still parked in Cisheng Palace, and the Chief of Ceremonies sent eunuchs Li Fang and Feng Bao to guard it.
Feng Bao didn't think much about it and just said with emotion: "The Zhang family was so prominent back then and could be called the first relatives of the country. Now it is like a vast white land. It is really sad."
Li Fang was taciturn. When Eunuch Qin asked him earlier, he predicted that this was the way to make Zhang Yanling die quickly.
But they never expected that not only Zhang Yanling died, but Empress Dowager Zhang also followed the late emperor very simply.
I learned a lesson in real life, and many of my words can only be rotten in my heart.
At this time, officials who had originally planned to spend the New Year in peace had to gather outside the Meridian Gate again, waiting for a new political ecology to emerge.
In fact, there is no suspense. Everyone knows what will happen next, but the procedures that need to be followed still need to be followed.
The cabinet ministers and the eunuchs in charge of rituals walked out of the left door of the Meridian Gate, and the officials present automatically fell silent.
The first assistant, Yan, did not want to speak, so Zhang Chao, as the Minister of Rites, spoke up: "The Holy Mother died and the prince was young. There is no one in the inner court who can make the decision. For the sake of the family and the country, the only choice is to ask the queen to be the regent."
This proposal is not unexpected at all, and it can be guessed by just one person.
Although queen regency is a bit unorthodox, the few examples of queen regency in history are full of criticism.
But now in the palace, except for Queen Fang, no one else is qualified to be regent, and any etiquette has to succumb to reality.
Some vicious ministers couldn't help but think, what would the court do if Queen Fang also collapsed?
After Zhang Chao waited for a while, he spoke again: "If there is no other objection, I will go to see the queen together and ask the queen to come forward as regent."
It is also a legal form for all officials to "persuade advancement" together. Without this procedure, if you want to be a regent, it is trespassing.
At this moment, someone suddenly shouted: "Wait a minute! Some things are better discussed and understood first!"
Everyone followed the reputation and found out that it was Zhao Wenhua from the General Affairs Department, and his other identity was Yan Song's adopted son.
Eunuch Qin looked at Yan Shoufu in surprise, are you still determined to give up?
Yan Song was also surprised. Zhao Wenhua did this completely on his own initiative. He didn't know what Zhao Wenhua wanted to do.
Zhao Wenhua is a person who likes to be high-profile, standing out from the crowd and talking eloquently: "There are two things. Let's discuss and work out a plan first, and then go to see the queen.
First, in the past, in order to prevent the collusion between experts and insiders, government affairs and palace affairs were separated. The Queen Mother was the regent, and the Queen Mother presided over the palace affairs.
Now if the Queen is asked to be the regent, should the palace affairs be left to someone else in accordance with the previous rules?"
Everyone thought about it and felt that Zhao Wenhua's angle was quite tricky.
At the beginning, Empress Fang simply deprived herself of the palace affairs and took it into her own hands. Now if others want to follow suit, there is really no reason to refuse.
Then Zhao Wenhua continued: "Second, the prince is too young, who will take care of the prince's daily life?
If the queen is regent, she should not look after the prince anymore to avoid suspicion! To avoid the recurrence of Wu Zhou's old incident!"
Everyone didn't understand Zhao Wenhua's intention at first, but when they heard this, they felt a little bit like "the truth has come to light".
Besides the queen, who else is qualified to take care of the prince? Of course it is the prince’s biological mother, Concubine Wang!
After the death of Empress Dowager Zhang, the most noble woman in the palace was Empress Fang, and the second most noble woman was the Crown Prince's biological mother, Concubine Wang, and this was the concubine whose status was second only to the queen.
So back to the first question, if palace affairs and government affairs are separated according to "precedent", who else can be in charge of palace affairs besides Wang Guifei?
Zhao Wenhua said eloquently: "In short, in order to prevent tyranny, the Queen should avoid suspicion and leave the palace affairs and the Prince's daily life to others!
We, the ministers, should comprehensively weigh the importance and adhere to the principle to be righteous! We cannot lose faith and blindly cater to the regent in power!"
As the saying goes, "reason can travel all over the world," Zhao Wenhua's words are so confident that no one can refute them.
Even the "arrogant" members of the Qin Party cannot openly say that these principles are wrong.
Anyway, it won't affect the overall situation of the queen's regency, so let's leave it at that.
Zhang Chao looked around and said, "If there is no objection, I will present my request to the Queen."
So all the officials began to line up, preparing to go to see Queen Fang together.
The eunuchs attending the ceremony went ahead and arrived at Queen Fang's palace to prepare. At this time, Eunuch Qin briefly informed Queen Fang of the results of the discussion among the ministers outside the Meridian Gate.
After hearing this, Empress Fang, who was secretly happy in her heart, said angrily: "Who the hell is Zhao Wenhua? He dares to speculate so maliciously on me! It seems that I am planning to usurp the throne!"
Eunuch Qin said calmly: "But his words are indeed in line with people's hearts."
Queen Fang did not understand what Eunuch Qin meant, and asked: "Where does the human heart come from? What kind of human heart does it have? Then what kind of human heart does the Wang family have?"
Eunuch Qin had no choice but to reply: "The death of the Holy Mother must have caused the courtiers to have some doubts about this. Although they will not overturn the verdict, they will have some reaction.
In the eyes of the courtiers, you, the empress, will benefit the most, so they will inevitably want to target you subconsciously.
It is this human heart that Zhao Wenhua complies with! There needs to be a channel to vent the doubts of the courtiers."
Queen Fang adjusted her emotions, "Then we can only hold back for the time being?"
Eunuch Qin said: "Now we need to keep it calm, there is no need to tit for tat, everything should be considered in the long term."
Immediately, all the officials were waiting outside the main hall, and Empress Fang went out to receive her. She said humbly: "I have little virtue and talent, and it is difficult for me to hold a big position. You should find someone wiser!"
The courtiers then tried again and again to persuade Empress Fang to come out as regent temporarily for the sake of the overall interests of the country, the country, and the country.
After being politely humbled several times, she found that she couldn't refuse, so Empress Fang accepted the regent's duties at the request of hundreds of officials.
After all the officials paid their respects again, this legal procedure was finally completed. The Ming Dynasty had another "monarch", and everyone returned to their respective families.
Yan Song had no intention of returning to the cabinet office. Anyway, the New Year was approaching and there was no official business that needed to be dealt with.
He walked out of the right door of Chang'an and couldn't help but said to Zhao Wenhua who was following him: "Have you lost your mind and gone crazy today? Come up and directly offend Empress Fang, who is about to take over as regent, to death!"
Zhao Wenhua replied a little crazy: "Queen Fang is definitely not from our side, we are already her enemies now, there is no need to take any chances!
So what is the relationship between being offended to death and being slightly offended? Instead of still thinking about pleasing Queen Fang, it is better to bet on another possibility!
At least Wang Guifei must be very grateful to us now! She will definitely regard us as potential allies!"
Yan Song sighed: "You are too much of a gambler. It's all a trivial matter!"
Zhao Wenhua gritted his teeth and said: "Now the situation has become like this. If you gamble, there will be a glimmer of hope in the future; if you don't gamble, there will be nothing!"
Yan Song didn't say anything else. He still had hope, but all his hopes were pinned on Southeast, and now he could only wait for the results.
As long as Qin Dewei overturned the car and destroyed the dispatch office, everything would be fine again.
Otherwise, there is no need to struggle anymore. When Qin Dewei returns to the court in victory, he will take the initiative to resign and leave, and will never play again!
After Empress Fang officially took over as regent, she quickly issued two decrees. This year has come to an end, and it is better to do some things as soon as possible.
The first edict was about the funeral of Empress Dowager Zhang, ordering the court to handle it with the highest standards possible.
The second decree concerns the title of cabinet ministers.
When Empress Dowager Zhang was regent, only the names of Yan Song and Zhang Bangqi were approved. Now Empress Fang has given out all the titles to the rest of the cabinet ministers.
Regarding the funeral of the Queen Mother, although the "highest standards" are required, it is not difficult for the officials to handle it, as long as everything follows the established rules.
Empress Dowager Zhang was the first concubine of Emperor Xiaozong and the native empress dowager of Emperor Zhengde. There was no dispute in terms of etiquette.
The national mourning means that entertainment is stopped for a month, and the burial is to be buried in the Tailing Mausoleum of Emperor Xiaozong, buried together with Xiaozong in a tomb prepared in advance, without the need for additional large-scale construction.
So there is no actual problem, it's just a question of how much money to spend.
This calm and step-by-step funeral actually made the relevant officials feel a little uncomfortable, but there were no twists and turns?
You must know that in the Jiajing Dynasty, every funeral issue may be a "big ceremony discussion", which often triggers huge disputes, leaving relevant officials at a loss as to what to do and in a dilemma.
Think about Emperor Jiajing's father who has been dead for more than 20 years, and then think about Empress Dowager Chiang who died three years ago. How much trouble did they cause?
Accompanying the funeral of the Queen Mother was the appointment of ministers to the cabinet.
The imperial edicts that were originally held by the Empress Dowager Zhang were issued one after another. Zhang Chao and Qin Dewei were promoted to the Grand Bachelor of Wuying Palace, and Zhang Bi was promoted to the Grand Bachelor of Wenyuan Pavilion.
When the imperial edict was sent to Hangzhou before the New Year, Qin Zhongtang was discussing matters with the shogunate officials. After this discussion, the customs would be sealed for the New Year.
At this time, Qin Zhongtang simultaneously received the obituary notice of the Queen Mother's death and the imperial edict to be promoted to the Grand Bachelor of Wuying Palace.
The staff looked at each other in confusion. The situation was a bit strange. Why did the announcement of the Queen Mother's death come together with Qin Zhongtang's edict? Should he or she should congratulate Qin Zhongtang?
Everyone looked at Qin Zhongtang again, only to see Qin Zhongtang frowning, with a lingering look of sadness on his face.
So everyone advised again: "Zhongtang shoulders a heavy responsibility, cheer up, and don't get stuck in emotions and be unable to extricate yourself!"
Qin Zhongtang explained: "The stone archway of Yuewang Temple has just been built, and my signature is the military officer number of Dongge University.
But just a few days later, the imperial court promoted me to the title of Bachelor of Wuyingdian. Wouldn’t the signature on the stone archway be immediately invalidated?
The stone archway is expensive to build, and if it is rebuilt again, it will cost a lot more money, so I am worried!"
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How dare you, Qin Zhongtang, not take your promotion to the Grand Bachelor of Wuying Palace seriously? Nor do you take the death of the Queen Mother Regent seriously?
The combined impact of these two things might as well make you worry about the cost of rebuilding the stone archway?
Tang Shunzhi then advised: "Although Zhongtang has a deep foundation in the court, we should not take the changes in the court too seriously.
After the New Year, we will soon enter a critical period. Our shogunate still needs the support of the court, at least it cannot be held back by the evil people in the court.
Therefore, we should make plans and plans early to reduce interference from the court."
Wu Chengen felt that he had finally found an opportunity to show off his close relationship with Qin Zhongtang to other subordinates.
So Wu Chengen said to Tang Shunzhi mysteriously: "Did you know that Queen Fang is an old acquaintance from the same hometown in Zhongtang?
Now that the Queen Mother is gone and the Crown Prince is young, we have no choice but to let Empress Fang serve as regent."
Tang Shunzhi suddenly realized that it was no wonder that Qin Zhongtang did not take the death of the Queen Mother seriously.
He was originally worried that the changes in the imperial court would affect the shogunate, but if there was such a relationship, there was nothing to worry about.
"Shut up!" Qin Dewei suddenly got angry and said to Wu Cheng'en angrily.
Wu Chengen was confused, but he didn't dare to talk back to the teacher, so he could only obey and keep silent.
Qin Dewei sighed and said: "If a tree is beautiful in the forest, it may be criticized by thousands of people, which may not be a good thing!"
With things like this now, the Qin Party is so popular that even Qin Dewei himself is a little scared.
As the saying goes, riding a tiger is hard to get off, or being kidnapped by party members and rushing forward, there is no way back.
For those powerful ministers in the history books, when their power has expanded to this stage, the real danger often begins.
If the suspicious and jealous Emperor Jiajing wakes up, it will be a little difficult.
All the subordinates were speechless. Do you, Qin Zhongtang, still know that showing off to the forest is not a good thing? Do you, Qin Zhongtang, know that you are afraid of being criticized by thousands of people?
Now Qin Dewei felt a little regretful in his heart. Perhaps the eunuch Qin's suggestion to kill Emperor Jiajing was right, but he was still soft-hearted and intolerant, which created a somewhat embarrassing situation.