The Heavens: From Knowing Whether You Rule the World

Chapter 27 A country without a crown prince is like losing its pillars!
Hanfu
Chu Hong talked with his teacher Han Zhang in a gentle and elegant manner, while his wife Sheng Hualan and his teacher's wife Chen were visiting the garden of Han's mansion.

"Hong'er, do you know the factions of officials in my Great Zhou Dynasty?"

Han Zhang picked up the tea and drank it with a smile, apparently preparing for the teaching test.

Chu Hong hesitated for a moment, "Factions are nothing more than interest groups headed by the elders, great ministers, and dukes. Naturally, they are headed by several elders, great ministers, and powerful dukes. I don't know much about Bianjing, so I will make a bold guess. If I am wrong, please correct me, teacher."

Han Zhang stroked his beard and smiled, raising his hand slightly, "You can say whatever you want."

"The military commanders are the simplest. The chief military commander is Duke Ying, Zhang Fu, and the chief marquises are Gu Yankai, Marquis Ningyuan, and Rong Xian, Marquis Fuchang. However, when it comes to united defense, Duke Ying should be the leader."

Chu Hong expressed his opinion that the military generals were not as complicated as the civil officials, and there were not as many factions as among the civil officials.

"Well, your analysis is good. Although there are many differences among the generals, and some even have feuds, the prestige of the Duke of Ying is extremely high, and the others are insignificant in comparison."

"As for the civil officials, Grand Chancellor Fu Bi, Minister Pang Ji, Minister Shen, Minister Wen Yanbo, Minister Wang Qinruo, and you, teacher, should each be a faction. Logically speaking, the students and former officials of Grand Tutor Wang and Grand Tutor Yu can also be factions, but these two factions have too shallow a foundation and are short-lived."

Han Zhang stroked his beard and nodded in agreement. Neither Old Grand Tutor Wang nor Old Grand Tutor Yu had ever been a prime minister. These two factions had not been passed down since the founding of the country, so their foundations were too shallow.

For someone of Han Zhang's status, the title of Grand Master is merely a posthumous accessory. Everyone has it when they retire. It has no real power and is of little significance.

Well, it can be considered a symbol of retiring peacefully and safely.

"Of course, Prime Minister Fu Bi has no descendants, so his words are a little weak. Elder Shen is in poor health, Elder Pang Ji was promoted by the Empress, Elder Wen Yanbo is too old and will retire soon, and Wang Qinruo is a treacherous and flattering minister. Overall, the advantage is yours!"

"Haha! Talk about factions! Talk about factions!"

Han Zhang waved his hand, looking modest, but he couldn't hide the smile on his face.

"There are three provinces and six ministries. You are in charge of the Ministry of Personnel, Grand Chancellor Fu Bi is in charge of the Ministry of Central Secretariat, and Grand Chamberlain Pang Ji is in charge of the Ministry of Shangshu. The rest of the students don't know much."

Chu Hong looked at Han Zhang quietly, as if asking for advice.

He had read the original novel and knew the general pattern between the civil and military officials of the Zhou Dynasty, but he only had a rough idea and was not very clear about the minor details.

Moreover, in conversations between teachers and students, teachers must be given a chance to perform, right?
Han Zhang nodded and pondered for a moment. "Among the three provinces and six ministries, the Secretariat is the most respected, and successive prime ministers have been in charge of the center. The remaining Shangshu Province and Menxia Province are undoubtedly much inferior."

Chu Hong nodded as if he understood, and watched quietly without saying anything.

"The six ministries are the institutions that actually implement government orders. Pang Ji was forcibly promoted by the Empress. He has very few students and former officials, and his influence is average. He is not even superior to the old Grand Tutor Wang who has passed away many years ago.

Fu Bi started his career in the Ministry of Personnel, which was the most important ministry in the country with great responsibilities and powers.

Wang Qinruo was a treacherous minister who rose through the ranks to become the Ministry of Justice. The Ministry of War was controlled by the nobles, and the current Minister of War was Ningyuan Marquis Gu Yankai, who was also one of the deputy envoys of the Privy Council.

The family of Lord Shen has been aristocratic for generations, and they have a hand in the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Works.

The Ministry of Revenue was the first department reformed by Fan Wencheng. After Fan Wencheng was dismissed from his post, the relationships in the Ministry became complicated. The current Minister of Revenue is Wang Qinruo's man, the Left Vice Minister is our man, and the Right Vice Minister is a person promoted by Prime Minister Fu Da.

The Ministry of Works has a lot of things to do and plenty of money, but the power of this ministry is not large. It is not easy to become a cabinet minister, and various forces are involved. The current Minister of Works was promoted by my teacher, and most of the senior officials of the Ministry of Works are also our people.

The Ministry of Rites is responsible for diplomacy, sacrifices, and education. It is relatively noble and has a close relationship with the Hanlin Academy. The Minister of Rites is a good friend of my teacher. "

Chu Hong nodded slightly. The relationships among the six departments were complicated, with both their own people and people from other forces everywhere.

However, one of the main powers lies in the hands of the Shangshu. Whoever controls the Shangshu position will basically have control of this department.

As of now, the Queen is of noble birth, Pang Ji was supported by Queen Cao, and is secretly despised by the literati, and his influence is extremely weak. Although Lord Shen is a scholar for generations, he is just so-so in the high-end situation. His foundation in the six ministries is a bit weak, and his influence is obviously not on the same level as that of Master Han.

On the contrary, Wang Qinruo, who had both the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Revenue under his control, was a treacherous official, but also a favored official.

Some of Han's teachers were from the Ministry of Works, the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Personnel, so the gap between the two sides was not very big.

As for Mr. Fu, the Ministry of Personnel is in charge of the assessment, selection and appointment of officials. His power and responsibilities are too great, and his influence is half a level higher than that of Mr. Han.

As for the above factions, except for the faction of Pang Ji, all of them were handed down since the founding of the country. Although they have experienced various changes, their foundations are deeper and deeper. The emerging factions either fail to stir up waves or are short-lived.
"It has been more than three years since the young prince passed away. The current emperor has no heir and the country has no crown prince. It is like losing a pillar! During the teacher's banquet, the deputy envoys of the Privy Council and the cabinet ministers gathered together once, and we also think that we should appoint an heir."

"But Your Majesty will not agree. Ordinary families are unwilling to give their property to their nephews, let alone the emperor. What they are giving up is the whole world!"

"Yes, we think so too, so we plan to spend some time with Your Majesty, at least to let Your Majesty know what the subjects think, to be prepared to appoint a crown prince, and then slowly give advice."

Chu Hong listened quietly, occasionally interjecting a word or two, and the master and disciple began to talk like this.
Hall of Wende

The starry sky was bright at night, but Zhao Zhen's mood was inexplicably bad.

"Qingyun, tell me what Fu Bi meant by his admonition today?"

The emperor's voice was light but very penetrating, and it was very clear in the empty and quiet Wende Hall.

If you listen carefully, there seems to be no emotion in the emperor's voice, but it makes people unable to help but associate it.

The old eunuch who had been quietly serving at the side of the hall stepped forward. He knew the rules of the palace very well. He said that the more you talk, the more mistakes you make. He did not speak nonsense. "I don't know the government affairs, so I dare not speak nonsense."

"Peng!"

"Fu Bi is the Prime Minister, the leader of all the civil and military officials. How dare he advise against establishing an heir? He actually dared to advise against establishing an heir!"

Emperor Renzong, who had always been gentle and kind, suddenly slammed the imperial desk, his face flushed, and he looked full of anger.

Obviously, he didn't need the old eunuch to say anything.

"Your Majesty, please calm down! Your Majesty, please calm down!"

In an instant, all the eunuchs and guards in the Wende Hall bowed respectfully, lowering their heads and not daring to speak.

"Humph! My child has only been dead for less than three years, and the Prime Minister is already advising me to appoint a successor. Great! Great! That's great!"

"Confucius' father was seventy when he gave birth to Confucius. Does that old man Fu Bi think that I can't have another child?"

"Peng!"

Zhao Zhen slammed the imperial desk hard again, showing both anger and resentment.

He was angry at Fu Bi's proposal to establish an heir, angry at Fu Bi's lack of understanding of himself, and angry at the injustice of heaven.

He actually knew that it was unlikely that he would have a prince, but deep down he was unwilling to accept that.

In his early years, he had several sons and daughters, but none of the princes grew up, and the eldest prince died three years ago.

Zhao Zhen was very puzzled and resented the injustice of heaven.

Why, why can't I survive?
In the early years, several princes did not grow up, and rumors gradually spread. The subjects all over the world could not help but feel uneasy and worried, fearing that the candlelight and axe shadow incident would happen again.

To this end, at the suggestion of the then Prime Minister Lu Yijian, he summoned several royal family members into the palace to train them in order to allay the worries of his ministers.

Facts have proved that after those royal family members were trained, they did calm the hearts of the ministers, and everything seemed to be moving in a good direction.

However, according to Zhao Zhen's idea, those royal family members were only there to quell the instability in the court. The real heir to the throne must be his own son, and those royal family members could only be his assistants at most.

This was actually the usual practice of the Zhou Dynasty. The royal family members who were summoned and trained would be important aids to the new emperor in the future. In fact, they were only trained in the same way as princes, and no one had ever thought of letting those people succeed to the throne.

This is also the reason why among the several "heirs" trained by Zhao Zhen there was Zhao Zongquan, a descendant of Taizu.

In the past, the candlelight and axe shadow of Taizu and Taizong caused some special political risks in the Great Zhou Dynasty. Zhao Zhen chose a descendant of Taizu to cultivate, mainly because he hoped to treat Taizu's bloodline well and let Taizu's descendants at least have the position of prince, so as to gradually dilute this influence.

In Zhao Zhen's heart, he never thought of passing the throne to these specially trained royal family members.
However, things did not go as planned. Since the birth of the little prince eleven years ago, he actually had no more princes!

Eleven years!

That would have been fine, but who would have thought that the child lived to the age of eight in good health, only to die suddenly?

Isn’t this just a joke from heaven?

A country without a crown prince is like losing its pillars.

Zhao Zhen had also reached the age of 50. Throughout history, there had been hundreds of emperors, but only a handful lived to be over 60 years old. Naturally, the hearts of his ministers were in turmoil.

Moreover, it is extremely difficult to have another prince at such an age.

In other words, it is very likely that the current emperor really has no descendants, and the throne will be passed on to a side branch.

As a result, the few royal family members who were summoned to the palace for training naturally had some thoughts that they did not have in earlier years.

Among them, of the five royal family members who entered the palace for training in the early years, one died early, two were conferred the title of princes, namely Prince Yong and Prince Yan, one is the Grand Clan Leader of the dynasty, and the other is Zhao Zongquan, a descendant of Taizu. He is cautious and has no roots in Bianliang. He is currently serving as a militia commander in Yuzhou and has long since withdrawn from the royal family dispute.

From this perspective, the throne was basically being fought over between Prince Yong and Prince Yan. Many ministers who could no longer hold back gradually began to want to take sides, and the issue of establishing a successor was gradually mentioned secretly by the ministers.

However, since this matter involved the struggle for the throne, no one dared to speak rashly.

Therefore, the matter of establishing an heir was a unique tacit understanding between the monarch and his subjects, and no one mentioned it.

However, this time, the Prime Minister Fu Bi brought up the matter again, and no one came forward to refute it.
This means that this was something that all civil and military officials tacitly approved.

Zhao Zhen felt very sad and under great pressure. The civil and military officials were unanimous in their approval. This had never happened since the founding of the country, right?
A bunch of bastards who have no king or father!

Brothers, the current plan is to have about a hundred "Knowing Your Destiny" scrolls. The "Knowing Your Destiny" scrolls do not have extraordinary strength and need to be detailed, so there is really no other way.

Then, “Little Minister” will definitely appear before the product is put on the shelves, so don’t worry!

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(End of this chapter)