Chapter six hundred and sixty-eight: black can really be said to be white
The eldest princess of Changde?
As Zhu Yi's voice fell, the expressions on the faces of everyone present were quite ugly.
As for the reason, it is actually very simple.
In what happened this time, although Princess Changde was not the protagonist, she was definitely the most critical figure.
Without her obstruction, Xue Huan could successfully enter Nangong to have an audience, and at least they would be able to figure out what the Supreme Emperor was thinking.
Moreover, if she had not gone to the palace to plead in person later, the emperor would have had no legitimate reason to transfer Xue Huan away from the capital.
In addition, the eldest princess's mansion is now closed to all guests. From yesterday to today, everyone present has basically tried to go to the eldest princess's mansion to inquire about the news.
They paid visits by handing in famous invitations, bribed servants in the house, and tried all kinds of tricks, overt and covert.
However, the eldest princess saw no one, and locked the consort alone in a small courtyard, with no outsiders allowed in or out. Even if they had the means, it would be difficult for them to be effective within a day or two.
So in fact, everyone present was more or less resentful towards Princess Changde.
However, Zhu Yi obviously didn't think so. Seeing dissatisfaction on everyone's faces, he went further.
"Everyone should be aware that the eldest princess of Changde is, after all, the eldest sister of the Supreme Emperor's mother. As the saying goes, blood is thicker than water. At such a critical moment, do you think it is normal for her to disgrace the Supreme Emperor like this?"
After a short pause, seeing that everyone was still a little confused, Zhu Yi turned to Chen Mao and Zhang Shi and said.
"Two uncles, I have heard you mention it before. When the Emperor was hunting in the north, the British government tried several times to report to the court to welcome the Emperor back. At that time, the person who was responsible for communicating with the Holy Mother in the palace was
, it is Her Royal Highness the eldest princess."
"Even though His Highness and the Holy Mother later had conflicts, they were still conveyed through letters. This shows that the relationship between His Highness and the Supreme Emperor is very deep."
"In that case, don't you think it's strange that His Highness is acting so ruthlessly now?"
I have to say that Zhu Yi's words are still very inflammatory.
After the words fell, everyone present frowned, but they all looked thoughtful.
After a while, Chen Mao spoke again.
"What do you want to say, young master? There's no need to beat around the bush, just say it!"
Zhu Yi pondered for a moment, obviously hesitant, but after a pause, he continued.
"I'm just guessing. Everyone, do you think it's possible that Princess Changde is cooperating with the Supreme Emperor to build momentum for His Highness?"
Seeing everyone's doubtful expressions, Zhu Yi continued to 'analyze'.
"Just imagine, if the Supreme Emperor issued an edict at that time to summon his consort to the palace, and the consort followed the imperial edict and entered the Nangong Palace, there would have been a lot of discussion in the court, and there would even be some remonstrances, and it is possible that he might directly impeach the Supreme Emperor."
"Only when the prince-in-law refuses to obey the imperial edict, will the Emperor have a reason to continue to revolt. And if it is the prince-in-law who refuses the imperial edict, then the crime of disobeying the edict will inevitably implicate the Xue family."
"Therefore, the best countermeasure is for Her Royal Highness the Princess to come forward and refuse."
"Your Highness is a nobleman of Tianhuang, with a distinguished status. It is not his fault that she does not allow the consort to enter the palace. At the same time, it will also make the Supreme Emperor 'angry', and then have reason to issue an order to the Qianqing Palace."
"You all know the consistent attitude towards the Supreme Emperor at the Qianqing Palace."
"On the surface, the courtesy is great, but in fact... Therefore, if this edict is sent to Qianqing Palace, the emperor will definitely not obey it."
"However, this edict concerns the status of etiquette and law. If the emperor fails to obey it without any reason, then his reputation will be damaged."
"So, the best way is to find an excuse to shirk the past."
"Then, what other reason is there to save face and face than to find a more suitable person to replace you?"
The angle of this explanation is somewhat strange.
However, if you think about it carefully, it seems that it is indeed possible?
Everyone present looked at each other hesitantly, and then Chen Mao asked.
"So, what the young master is saying is that the Emperor and His Highness the Eldest Princess went through all this trouble, and even got involved with a prince-in-law, just to fulfill His Highness the Crown Prince's reputation of loyalty and filial piety?"
There was obviously some doubt in the tone of these words.
At the same time, Jiao Jing on the side also asked.
"What the young master said is quite reasonable, but after all, it is all speculation. If what happened this time was really the cooperation of the Supreme Emperor and the eldest princess of Changde, then why did the eldest princess thank the guests behind closed doors and not tell the truth? Can you explain to me?"
This sentence asked the doubts in the hearts of everyone present.
As I said before, the biggest problem they face so far is actually a black eye.
On the Supreme Emperor's side, it was difficult to deliver the news in a timely manner because of the palace restrictions. However, for Princess Changde, this problem did not seem to exist.
If she is really cooperating with the Supreme Emperor, then why hasn't she given them the slightest hint until now?
Hearing this, Zhu Yi also frowned and seemed to be stopped by the question, but after a moment, he continued to speak.
"Now we know too little information, so we can only speculate."
"Actually, until I came here, I was thinking, if all the speculations just now are true, then, just like what Chen Shibo just suspected, the Supreme Emperor spent so much effort, not just to show loyalty to His Royal Highness. It’s just a reputation.”
If not just for fame...
"Leave the cabinet to prepare for the government?"
Chen Mao and Jiao Jing looked at each other, raised their eyebrows, and blurted out almost at the same time.
Zhu Yi nodded slightly, picked up the tea cup and took a sip, as if sorting out his thoughts, and then said.
"Years ago, Mr. Zhu Ge tried his best to promote this matter at the court meeting. Although... but after all, the court had reached a consensus, but later, the Ministry of Rites delayed it, and the court was also affected by the military affairs. He kept his sight and no one mentioned it again."
"In the final analysis, it's just that the Qianqing Palace is unwilling to let the prince leave the cabinet to prepare for the palace."
Regarding the inside story of this matter, Zhu Yi, the father-in-law of the Minister of Rites, obviously had a say.
"So, in addition to fulfilling His Highness the Crown Prince's reputation for loyalty and filial piety, the Emperor's move may also be to bring the attention of both the government and the public back to the matter of leaving the cabinet in the East Palace."
This is not difficult to understand.
The appointment of the Eastern Palace was something that the emperor and his ministers had long discussed. However, for some unknown reason, the emperor suddenly changed his mind and quietly asked the Ministry of Rites to deliberately delay it. As for himself, he diverted attention through military camps and other matters to attract the attention of the crowd. Minister's attention.
This method has been used very skillfully by the Emperor in the past year or so.
If nothing else goes wrong, once the reorganization of the military camp begins and the trial of Ren Li's case begins, the civil servants will be full of energy to compete with Xungui, and no one will have the time and energy to take care of this matter. .
Therefore, it is necessary to make some noise at this time to make the officials pay attention again to the fact that the important matter of the East Palace's appointment has been shelved.
For civil servants, it is certainly politically correct to attack the nobles, but it is also the etiquette they insist on to promote the East Palace to leave the cabinet as soon as possible and stabilize the country. The two do not conflict.
This analysis is considered reasonable, but...
"What does this have to do with Princess Changde closing the door to thank guests?"
After all, the most critical issue is the attitude of the eldest princess of Changde.
If she is really cooperating with the Supreme Emperor, then she should at least tell them...
Although I asked this question, in fact, with Zhu Yi's step-by-step 'guessing', everyone's position has actually begun to believe the news.
However, there are still unanswered questions...
However, when faced with this question, Zhu Yi did not continue the analysis as before, but just frowned.
"I can't explain this, but I think Princess Changde must have some difficulties. Moreover, judging from the results, the reputation of His Royal Highness is getting better and better, and the government and the public have indeed begun to pay attention to this matter again. , Mr. Zhu Ge, who is in the center, should be aware of this, right?"
Suddenly being asked a question by name, Mr. Zhu Ge was a little hesitant, but he still nodded and said.
"Indeed, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince went to the Nangong Palace early in the morning to pay his respects. Soon after, the cabinet issued a memorial praising the Crown Prince's loyalty and filial piety. When I came, I heard people talking in the Zhongshushe. Yu Shiyue had already been impeached by several censors. A memorial to the delay and neglect of the Ministry of Rites."
The imperial censor team of Ming Dynasty has always been very efficient.
Because they heard about the existence of the special power of memorializing, these guys were very unscrupulous in submitting memorials.
As long as it is what they want to say, no matter whether it is right or not, they should read it first and then say it. Anyway, the superior and admonishing officials of the Ming Dynasty will not be punished for their words.
If you say it's right, it's good. If you say it's wrong, just pretend that nothing happened.
Now if the cabinet does not receive dozens of various impeachment memorials a day, it will wonder if the censors are holding back some big move.
These words obviously corroborated Zhu Yi's guess, so everyone present looked thoughtful.
Especially for Zhu Jian, the fact that the prince came out of the cabinet was of great significance to him. When he mentioned this matter, he would naturally pay more attention to it.
So, after a short silence, Zhu Jian seemed to have thought of something, hesitated for a moment, and spoke.
"Everyone, maybe I can make a bold guess as to why the eldest princess of Changde closed her door to thank guests."
Then, everyone looked at Zhu Jian, and only Zhu Yi breathed a sigh of relief.
This group of people is so difficult to lead. He has given so many words overtly and covertly, but only now has anyone thought of the key.
Fortunately, Eunuch Shu brought this news before he came, otherwise, it would be difficult for him to find the enemy in front of him.
Zhu Jian naturally didn't know what Zhu Yi was thinking, because it came to him suddenly, so at this moment, his thoughts were obviously still a little confused. After sorting out his words, Zhu Jianfang said.
"If what the young master said is true, then since the Supreme Emperor takes action, he will naturally want results."
"For His Royal Highness, the reputation of loyalty and filial piety is good, but it is false. If His Highness cannot leave the cabinet for one day, and if the East Palace cannot prepare the palace for one day, his status will not be stable. Therefore, the ultimate goal of the Supreme Emperor is to let His Highness the Prince leave the cabinet.
Prepare the government."
"And now the reason why the Ministry of Rites is delaying is just to look at the emperor's face."
"As for the emperor, he already agreed to this matter years ago, which means that no matter what the reason, he always had this plan. However, if he hesitates now, he may have some worries in his heart."
Zhu Jian's thoughts became more and more fluent, and his words began to become more coherent.
He didn't say what this fear was, but everyone present knew it.
"So, if you want His Royal Highness to leave the cabinet and prepare for the government as soon as possible, you must first have the public opinion of the courtiers, and secondly, you must be able to appease the anxiety in the emperor's heart. Only through a two-pronged approach can success be achieved."
"Needless to say the former, just as the young prince said just now, His Highness the Crown Prince's reputation for loyalty and filial piety has gradually spread, and both the civil and military officials in the court and the Chinese government have begun to pay more attention to the affairs of the East Palace. It is considered to be more than half completed."
"However, the latter is difficult to handle. If you want the emperor to calm down his doubts, you need to make the emperor believe that even if the East Palace comes out of the cabinet, it will not be a major trend."
"so……"
At this point, it is actually quite obvious.
Everyone present is also a smart person, only a layer of window paper is missing. Since the words have been said, many people naturally thought of the joints involved.
So, Zhang Xian on the side said thoughtfully.
"So, the Supreme Emperor wants to make a fool of himself? It would be better if the whole city is in a state of turmoil and in a state of embarrassment, to the point where even the eldest sister, Princess Changde, can't stand it and doesn't want to be associated with her?"
If this is explained, then what the eldest princess of Changde is doing now can be explained clearly. She first quarreled with the Supreme Emperor in Nangong, then went to Qianqing Palace, and even proposed that her consort should go to Nanjing to assist in military affairs. No one was seen after the palace.
Anyone who sees such a wise and self-protective look will feel that the eldest princess of Changde wants to draw a clear line with Nangong!
As the biological sister of the Supreme Emperor's mother, the eldest princess of Changde has this attitude. Doesn't it mean that the Supreme Emperor has already betrayed her relatives?
In this way, coupled with the losses of Ren Li, Xue Huan and others, the failure in the Qing'an incident will inevitably make the emperor relax his vigilance.
In this way, if the material disputes between the DPRK and the Central Government continue to boil over, then I'm afraid it really won't be that difficult to push the East Palace to leave the cabinet and prepare for the government as soon as possible.
After these words, everyone suddenly felt that things were gradually becoming clearer. However, what no one noticed was that Xu Youzhen in the corner still looked thoughtful.
After a long while, everyone barely digested this explanation. Then, Jiao Jing glanced at the people next to him, and then hesitantly asked.
"Young Master, Mr. Zhu Ge, this explanation is reasonable and reasonable. However, with all due respect, up to now, we have neither seen Her Royal Highness the Princess nor the Supreme Emperor. Therefore, no matter how reasonable it is, it is just a guess after all. It’s just words, so it would be more appropriate to find a way and continue to inquire for detailed information.”
This is a bit embarrassing, but it is not unreasonable.
However, at this point, there was only one final step missing. How could Zhu Yi let things go wrong for Jiao Jing?
At that moment, he opened his mouth and said.
"What Consort Jiao said is wrong. If our guess is true, then no matter how the court finds out about the influence of the Supreme Emperor on us at this time, it will ruin the Supreme Emperor's affairs. This is probably not the case for Her Royal Highness the Princess. The reason why I refuse to let the news out."
"So, at this time, what we should do is to cooperate with the Supreme Emperor, promote the name of the East Palace's loyalty and filial piety, and help the East Palace prepare the palace as soon as possible. This is the business."