Chapter 2 The new king has not yet been decided, but the old ministers will die first.
"His Majesty has left an edict: I am ill and cannot do anything about it. He expressed my intention to the Empress Dowager, and the world is a serious matter, so I will review it with the cabinet ministers. All the previous events were caused by my mistakes, and they were beyond your control."
In the Qianqing Palace, all four cabinet ministers were already present.
Emperor Daxing has not yet been laid to rest. In the middle of the hall, next to the place where the coffin is laid, Yang Tinghe, Liang Chu, Jiang Mian and Mao Ji are kneeling on the ground.
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 to the 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 eunuch of the eunuch of the imperial eunuch, and also held many errands. Later, he became the eunuch of the imperial eunuch during many internal and external conflicts, but his most important job now is to supervise the regiment camp: in charge of Under the instruction of Emperor Zhengde, the elite border troops were selected to form a regiment training camp in the capital.
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 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, what should we do now?"
Yang Tinghe pondered for a moment.
He left no edict, only his last words.
There is 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 his own tone, admitting that he had made mistakes in previous political affairs.
Yang Tinghe spoke loudly: "Back to the Queen Mother, all the ministers and others entered the palace late at night, and the hearts of the people in the capital were already shaken. Qian Ningtong, the former commander of the pro-army, was imprisoned, and the pro-guards were still in chaos; Jiang Bin, the admiral of the mighty regiment, was training camp, and Zeng stayed Your Majesty has been in Tongzhou for more than forty days, and you must be on guard against your rebellious intentions."
As soon as he said these words, there was silence in the palace, and the turmoil in the sky seemed to be right in front of him.
The famous Jin Yiwei is just one of the twenty-six guards who guard the imperial city under the jurisdiction of the Pro-Army Command and Envoy Division. The Pro-Army Commander-in-Chief Division has never been under the jurisdiction of the Fifth Army Governor's Office, but is personally commanded by the emperor.
The Weiwu Regiment Training Camp is a new army outside the three major battalions of the Beijing Armed Forces Guards. They are also elite border troops who were transferred to Beijing.
It goes without saying that Qian Ning has been imprisoned, but Jiang Bin and Wei Bin are related by marriage, 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 and titles.
Now there is a rebellion by King Ning, and the two most powerful among these adopted sons were brought up 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 spoke in agreement, 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 as soon as possible."
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 remained 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 Queen Mother 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 decree!"
The four cabinet ministers who could not be said to be of the same mind now all have the same question in their minds: Did the Queen Mother instruct the Chief of Ceremonies to test it, or was 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 issued 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 virtues 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. Only then will it be perfect and praised by all generations! How dare we not achieve greatness and make a mockery of future generations?"
In just a few sentences, it qualifies the will.
The old story of the prime minister being granted the title of king and the eunuch being granted the title of king were brought up. Yang Tinghe made it clear: This situation cannot happen in the Ming Dynasty!
There was no prime minister in the Ming Dynasty, so Yang Tinghe was 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." Empress Dowager 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 he was greatly 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 urgent task is to ask the Queen Mother Yi to give orders. First, Eunuch Zhang will supervise the nine gates of the capital, the Marquis of Wuding and the Bo of Dingbian. The Minister of War will select various battalions of horse infantry officers and troops to defend various places. Please ask Dongchang and Jinyi guards to arrest them.
The yamen and the five-city inspection censor are under the jurisdiction of each governor!"
Give me a stick and reassure me: at this moment, the cabinet has no intention of interfering with the military power in the capital, and Zhang Yong and 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 ask Yi to disband the training camp of the Weiwu Regiment and send it back to the border town! Your Majesty, you can declare Jiang Bin the Shanling Affairs Bureau, Mao Cheng, the Minister of the Ministry of Rites, and the Minister of the Ministry of Industry
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 related policies and current situation.
"...Let's do it like this." Empress Dowager Zhang nodded casually, and then asked in 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 live here for a long time in the future. Who will enshrine Lord Xiaozong and her a hundred years from now?
Just listen to Yang Tinghe slowly say his choice: "The Daxing Emperor has no heir, so we should follow the "Ancestral Instructions" that 'brothers will eventually become younger brothers', and welcome the son of King Xingxian to ascend the throne!"