After listening to Zhu Hao's analysis, Su Xigui felt a little calmer.
"Yes, Mr. Huang has done so many things for the Ming Dynasty in the past few years, and he has no bad deeds. Even if he is liquidated, it must be justified, right?" Su Xigui murmured to himself.
Zhu Hao wanted to say, do you think reasonable and legal means are needed to suppress political opponents in political struggles? Did Huang Zan have no dealings with Jiang Bin and Qian Ning before?
People will arbitrarily accuse you of crimes, and then ask the imperial censor to criticize you after controlling the public opinion. The scholars will say that you are a traitor. It doesn't matter whether you have any merit or not, and you will be beaten to death with a stick without discussion.
But now Zhu Hao needs to stabilize Su Xigui, so he won't go into details.
Zhu Hao said: "At this time, Mr. Huang should abide by his duties and let his opponents find no excuses."
Su Xigui looked resolute and gritted his teeth and said: "Then just fight him to the end... Huang Gong has made great contributions to the country, how can he suffer unjust injustice? It was Mr. Yang Ge himself who recommended Huang Gong to be the Minister of Household Affairs in Nanjing.
After taking office for only a few months, I am going to break my promise? I understand what I should do."
With that said, Su Xigui stood up and left.
Zhu Hao looked at the two young scholars in the yard, a little confused.
Su Xigui noticed Zhu Hao's gaze and introduced: "This is the person sent by Mr. Huang to help me properly handle the affairs of the capital. One of them is Mr. Huang."
"oh."
Zhu Hao remembered that Lu Wan wanted to marry Huang Zan before, and it seemed that he had chosen a son from Huang Zan, who should be the son of Huang Zan's successor, or a concubine.
Zhu Hao did not go over to meet him, as it was not necessary at this time, and Su Xigui had no intention of bringing anyone over to introduce him to Zhu Hao.
Even though he is Huang Zan's son, because his status in the family is not high, compared to Huang Zan's top horse Su Xigui, he can only make a start. Even Su Xigui felt that he only needed to contact Zhu Hao himself, and it would be better to replace him with someone else.
It will make Su Xigui feel that she is being left out.
…
…
In the early morning of the next day, the court made no move to announce the funeral.
Su Xigui brought news last night that the emperor would not survive that night, but it was already March 14th, the day in history when Zhu Houzhao died, and there was still no news.
There are two possibilities, one is that the emperor died without a funeral, the other is that the emperor is still in the dying stage.
For Zhu Hao, it had a huge impact.
As long as the emperor does not die, the palace examination scheduled for March 15th will be held as scheduled, which is tomorrow.
Then he has to prepare to enter the palace to participate in the palace examination, and he does not want to participate in this palace examination at all... Even if Zhu Houzhao dies when the palace examination is held in the future, this palace examination will continue as usual until the end, then he will become Zhu Houzhao's "Emperor"
"Protégé", although the treatment is not much different, it will give people the feeling of eating a dead fly.
I can only wait for the news.
In the teahouse, everything was as before, Zhu Hao continued to sit quietly by the window, admiring the scenery on the street.
Su Xigui didn't come, and Sun Ru couldn't sit still and left. After a long time, he came back and brought an old acquaintance of Zhu Hao, Zhang Cong, who was on the test list.
"Master Zhu."
Zhang Cong came over and saluted Zhu Hao.
Zhu Hao returned the courtesy and asked Zhang Cong to sit down opposite.
Zhang Cong said: "The imperial examination will be held tomorrow. Is Mr. Zhu ready?"
The purpose of Zhang Cong's visit was firstly to inquire about Zhu Hao's preparations for the imperial examination, and secondly to thank Zhu Hao for his help in arranging the celebrations for the examination results released earlier.
A year later, this kind of gratitude seems quite deliberate.
Because the civil servant group headed by Yang Tinghe deliberately publicized that the emperor's serious illness was no secret among the people. As a standard opportunist, Zhang Cong naturally knew what the emperor's death meant to the Xing Palace... Anyone who pays attention to the legal system of the Ming Dynasty,
Everyone should know that the heir to the throne is from Prince Xing's Mansion, the same Prince Xiao Xing who once had a relationship with him.
King Xiaoxing is now in Anlu, and it is difficult to get in touch with new scholars, so he comes to meet Zhu Hao. Zhu Hao frankly said in front of him that he has a good relationship with King Xiaoxing. Seeing is believing, Zhang Cong does not doubt it.
.
The two chatted for a while.
Zhu Hao said with a smile: "There are rumors outside that the Lord of the Leopard Room is ill. Mr. Zhang, what do you think?"
"I don't dare to call myself Mr. Zhang, so you might as well call me Bingyong... This is my nickname. I have lived in the capital for a long time. I don't know much about court affairs."
Just like Zhu Hao's previous strategy when dealing with Yang Shen, he always pretended to be a bear to show that he had no interest in politics.
Zhu Haoxin said, I am a young man who can be said to just immerse myself in studying and not ask anything outside the window. You, an old guy who is nearly fifty years old, who will believe this?
If you really have no intention of going to court, why are you looking for me?
Zhu Hao sighed: "It's a pity that your Majesty has no heirs. I'm afraid that if something unexpected happens, the Ming Dynasty may be in big trouble... I heard that your Majesty has many adopted sons. Will they... take the opportunity to cause chaos in the country?"
Zhang Cong was greatly inspired after hearing this and took advantage of the situation: "There are many princes and nobles who are loyal to the Ming Dynasty, as well as Yang Zhongtang and other Confucian officials and celebrities, so the traitors will not succeed. There are many descendants of the Ming Dynasty royal family, how can we not choose one?"
A suitable crown prince?"
At this point, the topic is quite straightforward.
The emperor is not dead, and the issue of the crown prince has already been discussed.
Zhu Hao looked around and saw that no one came to drink tea day and night. He first sent Sun Ru to sit in a corner, and then said to Zhang Cong: "In Brother Zhang's opinion, who should inherit the throne?"
System?"
Zhang Cong said: "Young Master of Prince Xing's Mansion."
And you said you have no intention of going to court?
Isn’t this made clear?
"Yes, but I'm afraid that the Queen Mother and Mr. Yang Ge will think it's inappropriate after discussing it? The number of heirs in Prince Xing's Palace is very small. If Ke succeeds to the throne, who should inherit the incense of Prince Xing's Palace?"
Zhu Hao gave good guidance and quickly brought the topic to the direction of "big ceremony discussion".
Historically, Zhang Cong took the initiative to discuss the gift. The key point was that the old Xing Wang Zhu Youqi only had one son, Zhu Si, and he proposed that "the eldest son should not be the queen."
Isn’t the family incense broken? Therefore, the person who inherits the throne adheres to the principle of "brother follows brother", rather than "adopted son of the clan".
Zhang Cong thought carefully and nodded: "That's a question."
Zhu Hao smiled and said: "I heard that there are many heirs in Prince Yi's palace. They were born early and most of them are adults now. Could it be that... they came from Prince Yi's palace?"
King Yi Zhu Youbin is the sixth son of Emperor Xianzong Zhu Jianshen of the Ming Dynasty. He is the eldest of the surviving brothers of Emperor Xiaozong Zhu Youtang and King Xing Zhu Youji. According to the rule of "brothers end in succession", King Yi himself cannot succeed because he is older than him.
Zhu Houzhao is a generation older, but his son can.
King Yi gave birth to a son earlier than Zhu Youqi. He gave birth to his eldest son in the eleventh year of Hongzhi, and later gave birth to several more sons. The family's popularity was flourishing, and he was not afraid that if one of them passed away, no one would inherit his family's reputation.
Zhang Cong shook his head: "That would mess up the legal system of the Ming Dynasty."
Zhu Hao nodded. It seems that apart from being a speculator, Zhang Cong is also principled. He knows that according to the rules, Zhu Si should and can only inherit the throne. He must not use the excuse that no one can inherit his own incense to let others succeed.
.
"Who can say for sure about this kind of thing? If something serious happens, it still depends on His Majesty's decree and the Queen Mother's decision." Zhu Hao immediately mentioned the issue of the decree.
Although everyone now knows that the emperor is in a dying state, if there was a posthumous edict, it would probably have been made public by now.
If there is no message at all, it means that there is no edict. In this case, the decision-making power does not lie with the unconscious emperor, but with Empress Dowager Zhang. And Empress Dowager Zhang is a woman, shouldn't she have to follow the advice of civil servants?
Zhang Cong said: "Does Mr. Zhu have any news about this?"
Zhu Hao smiled and shook his head.
Zhang Cong seemed to have anticipated Zhu Hao's answer, shaking his head and sighing: "If there is a traitor in the court, and the Emperor's Ancestor Instructions are not used to determine the successor to the throne, even if I am just a Confucian scholar, I will not sit idly by and ignore it.
, I will definitely unite many scholars to go to the Confucian Temple to cry out, and I will also invite Mr. Zhu to go with me."
Zhu Hao was startled.
Previously, Zhu Hao firmly believed that Zhang Cong was a speculator, and felt that this person supported Zhu Si in history because Zhu Si was the emperor. Now it seems that Zhang Cong is the kind of person who can "martyr himself" in order to maintain the legal system.
If Zhu Si had not succeeded to the throne, would you have gone to the Weeping Temple?
Insightful, responsible, and courageous!
Zhu Hao nodded: "If this is really the case, scholars should not sit idly by for fear of the traitors in the court. If the chief minister, Mr. Yang Ge, made the decision, there should not be such a chaos... However, if Mr. Yang Ge suddenly
Change your attitude and think about what I said before... I'm afraid it will be difficult to handle."
Another temptation.
Now, Zhu Si can only be the first in line to inherit the throne. If it changes, it will probably be caused by Jiang Bin and other traitors. It is reasonable to go to the crying temple. However, if Si Yang Tinghe decides not to let Zhu Si succeed the throne, you still
Will you go to the Crying Temple?
Yang Tinghe represents the interests of the emperor's scholars. If you are going against Yang Tinghe, do you still want to be an official?
Zhang Cong's attitude was firm: "Whoever disrupts the legal system will disrupt the Ming Dynasty. Aspiring people must not sit idly by and watch!"
This is a kind of statement.
No matter who changes the order of succession, they are making fun of the Ming Dynasty's legal system. I, Zhang Cong, will fight against it to the end.
Looks reckless.
But Zhu Hao knew that Zhang Cong was definitely not a brainless young man. If he was really brainless, why would he come and say this to a person who was very close to King Xing?
Zhu Hao thought to himself, In fact, you just want me to know your thoughts in advance, and tell your attitude to the potential first-in-line successor to the throne, Prince Xiaoxing, who is likely to be the emperor one day.
You are said to be a speculator, but you really want to use me as a springboard?
I am a person who alternately jumps on the one-meter springboard, the three-meter springboard, and the ten-meter platform. Will you take advantage of me?
Lao Zhang, Lao Zhang, you are very thoughtful!
"It's rare to find a capable person like Brother Zhang who abides by ethics and teachings in the world. I will definitely mention this to King Xing, but please also ask Brother Zhang not to tell others about our relationship and my origins.
Otherwise...it will be very detrimental to me."
Zhu Hao said sincerely.
When Zhang Cong heard this, he thought this guy was very wise.
I came to express my position to you, and you immediately said that you would tell King Xing, so wouldn’t it mean that I have already made meritorious service in front of the new emperor before I became a Jinshi?
"I understand."
Zhang Cong slapped his chest fiercely and spoke sternly, saying that he was by no means the kind of person who betrays his friends for glory.
Zhu Hao is not afraid of his betrayal either.
It's okay for you to betray others, what good will it do you to betray me?
Do you still expect to use me as a bridge to establish a good relationship with the potential emperor? Unless you want to squeeze me out and gain performance in front of the new emperor, but you have to ask whether the new emperor will believe you.
It is up to you to initiate the debate on the Great Ceremony. You will be the first to bear Yang Tinghe's wrath.