The Heavens: From Knowing Whether You Rule the World

Chapter 32 The fallen emperor!
The sky was dark and the cold wind was blowing.

The ministers who had been waiting to attend court early were quietly chatting with each other at the palace gate. From time to time, an official would come forward or step back to greet his friends.

"Eh? This colleague looks unfamiliar. Is he a newcomer to Beijing?"

A fifth-rank official in front of Sheng Hong greeted him kindly.

"My name is Sheng Hong, the former Tongpan of Yangzhou. I was just promoted to Bianjing a few days ago."

"Sheng? Brother, are you the father-in-law of Chu Shidu?"

"Exactly."

"Oh, Brother Sheng has just been promoted to Bianjing. If you have anything you want to know, just ask me. Oh, by the way, I forgot to introduce myself. I am Yang Xiu, and I work in the Ministry of Works."

When the official surnamed Yang heard that Sheng Hong was Chu Hong's father-in-law, he immediately became enthusiastic. Sheng Hong was also a good communicator, and the two of them became more and more excited as they talked.
Chu Hong, wearing a scarlet robe and an ivory tablet, quietly exchanged glances with Zheng Jun, the Minister of Rites, and nodded slightly. He glanced slightly behind him and saw his father-in-law Sheng Hong looking around cautiously, looking at everything with a fresh and excited look, so he quickly walked towards Sheng Hong.

Under normal circumstances, Sheng Hong's curious look around would be nothing, but today was different.

"Father-in-law, please try to speak as little as possible in the court today."

"Ah? Don't worry, dear son-in-law!"

Before Sheng Hong could react, he saw his son-in-law leaving. He immediately felt confused and became more cautious.

"this?"

Yang Xiu was also a little confused. What was going on?
Chu Hong quickly returned to the front and breathed a sigh of relief, because there was a high-end game today... no, the peak game!
Well. The legs of fifth-rank officials are trembling, the third-rank bosses are terrified, the cabinet ministers can only play supporting roles, and the prime minister has to be the main force!
Sitting on the throne, the old emperor Zhao Zhen folded his sleeves, placed his wide sleeves on his legs, and looked at his ministers with slightly squinted eyes.

"Recently, reports came in from Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Hunan that locust plagues were discovered in some places. If a locust plague really spreads, the land will be barren for thousands of miles, and there will be no harvest! Are there any people from Jiangsu and Zhejiang?"

Although he said that, Zhao Zhen clearly looked at the unfamiliar faces behind him.

Sheng Hong, who has always adhered to the doctrine of the mean, also knew that this was an opportunity to show himself. He adhered to the doctrine of the mean, but he was not so foolish as to only be low-key and moderate. He had to show himself when necessary, so he stood up immediately.

Of course, this was also because he was the only official from the Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas who was promoted to Bian Jing and qualified to attend court during this period.

"Your Highness, the new Minister of the Secretariat, Ren Shenghong, arrived in Beijing from Yangzhou a few days ago."

"I know you, Chu Qing's Yue family, a good handwriting."

Zhao Zhen's eyes lit up slightly. There were too many officials in the world and he didn't really know many of them. But he was indeed deeply impressed by Sheng Hong. His beautiful handwriting made him remember it for decades. Chu Hong, the tutor and Sheng Hong's son-in-law, made his impression of Sheng Hong even deeper.

Sheng Hong was delighted that the emperor actually remembered him. This was a great thing!

Just as Sheng Hong was about to speak, Han Zhang in the first row suddenly interrupted and said, "I have seen several locust plagues before. As long as we raise more ducks and egrets to eat them when they are still larvae, they will not become a big problem."

"Your Majesty, I have something else to report."

Zhao Zhen's eyes darkened, and his tone was no longer gentle, full of impatience, "Today we are only discussing the matter of locusts, please don't make any unnecessary trouble."

Hearing such a warning tone, any ordinary person would have retreated long ago, but this person was Han Zhang, and the emperor was Zhao Zhen.

Han Zhang had no intention of retreating, and followed Zhao Zhen's words, "Your Majesty, everything in the world has its own branches and roots. Where do they come from? It's nothing but reproduction and succession."

Zhao Zhen stopped and lowered his head slightly. "If it's something internal, you can report it in the study."

"Your Majesty, the day before yesterday I asked to see you in your study, and you talked about history books with me. The day before that, you talked about painting with me in your study. I was so anxious that I didn't care about my appearance!"

This is the Prime Minister Fu Bi, and Han Zhang is merely cooperating with him.

"It takes ten years to grow a tree, and a hundred years to raise a person. Your Majesty should adopt a son from the royal family as soon as possible!"

This is Han Zhang, and he looks very determined.

Zhao Zhen looked at Han Zhang and Fu Bi, who had no intention of giving in, and slowly stood up from the dragon throne. He had been given several opportunities, but they still didn't give in. How could this not be considered as resisting the king?
His somewhat tired eyes suddenly became sharp, like an old tiger, who, despite his age, still had the majesty of a king.

"Are you trying to force the emperor to abdicate?"

These were heart-piercing words. Zhao Zhen had always had a gentle personality, but he looked very angry and furious to the extreme.

"boom!"

In an instant, all the officials above the third rank who had discussed the matter in advance in the front rows bowed down, and the officials of the fourth and fifth ranks who were a little further back and had been trembling uncontrollably soon followed suit. Some officials who did not know whether they should bow down also chose to follow the crowd in bowing.

"Tart!"

Sheng Hong was a little slow, and obviously had not adapted to the rhythm of the court in Bianjing. He knelt much slower, and in his panic, the tablet slipped out of his hand and fell about one meter in front of him.

Sheng Hong was extremely panicked and subconsciously looked towards Chu Hong, but saw Chu Hong shaking his head slightly, indicating that he should just follow his attitude.

In this way, Sheng Hong's already confused mind finally became much clearer.

Sheng Hong had never seen such a scene before, and he was no longer relaxed at this moment. He had always believed that the court was the place where all the major events in the world were decided, and he had certain expectations in his mind.

But he really didn't expect that today was only the first day of court and there would be such a scene.

My God, this is forcing the emperor to abdicate, it's a matter of life and death! "Your Majesty, please calm down. These are the shallow views of our ministers. Your Majesty lost his youngest son, and your majesty is sad, and your ministers are sad too. Your Majesty is sad about your youngest son, and your ministers are sad about the whole world. Please, Your Majesty, adopt a member of the royal family, examine his character, and select one from among them to be your successor."

Faced with such heart-piercing words, Fu Bi did not back down at all. He had no descendants, so there was nothing to be afraid of.

"Are you guys going to tear each other apart? And you're saying you're not forcing me to abdicate?"

"I have lost my son, but I am still trying to hold court to govern the country. You bastards who have no respect for the emperor or father actually threaten me in this palace! Ugh!"

Zhao Zhen was really too angry. Looking at their united appearance, it seemed that they had probably discussed this long ago, right?
It is rare in ancient and modern times for a minister to force his king!

"Peng!"

Zhao Zhen smashed the jade cup to vent his dissatisfaction and anger.

"I didn't want to hurt your majesty's feelings, but today I have to hurt your majesty's feelings."

"Shut up!"

Fu Bi refused to give in and kept stating his views. Zhao Zhen was extremely angry and kept scolding and trying to stop him, but Fu Bi did not stop.

"In order to protect your majesty's integrity in his later years, I beg your majesty to adopt a royal family member and examine his character."

"Disobedience!"

"Bastard!"

"Choose from among them and make him your successor"

Zhao Zhen walked down the jade steps while scolding, pointing at Fu Bi with anger, as if he was going to hit him.

"Bastard!"

"Shut up!"

"This is... the foundation of the country! Your Majesty!"

Walking to Fu Bi's side, Zhao Zhen took a deep look at the kneeling ministers. He felt inexplicably depressed and sad. How could things turn out like this?

"Retreat!"

"Retreat!"

Zhao Zhen sighed silently, and in an instant he seemed to age a few years, and there was even some helplessness in his tone.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty"

The emperor was about to leave, and Fu Bi suddenly became anxious. More than a year had passed, and things had been delayed for almost an hour. The emperor had been mentally prepared, so how could he not get things done today?
Fu Bi leaned forward slightly, holding onto Zhao Zhen's dragon robe tightly and not letting Zhao Zhen leave.

"you?"

When Zhao Zhen saw Fu Bi pulling the dragon robe, he was stunned and his irritability became even worse.

"His Majesty!"

"Come on, come on!"

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, Your Majesty!"

"If the decision to adopt the royal family can be made, I will be willing to be beaten twenty times!"

When Fu Bi saw the eunuchs coming to pull him, he pulled the dragon robe tighter. The eunuchs did not dare to use too much strength and there was a stalemate at that moment.

"Okay, okay, okay. Regarding the matter of adopting a royal family member, I will listen to you. Whoever you decide to make the throne will be made the heir, okay?"

Zhao Zhen felt extremely sad, angry and furious.

"His Majesty."

Fu Bi's eyes instantly turned red, and his hands, which were originally tightly holding the dragon robe, loosened. Now that the emperor had no son, Prince Yan and Prince Yong were competing for the throne, Zhao Zhen's words were too cruel.

Immediately, Fu Bi straightened his body, gently lifted the official hat on his head and placed it on the ground, pointing at his own head full of white hair and beard.

"Your Majesty, are you suspicious of an old minister seeking favor from the crown prince? Your Majesty, look at my old bones, my hair, my beard. I am already over seventy years old and I don't have a child at home. What selfish motives could I have?"

"The safety of the world depends on the succession of the emperor. In the past, many disasters and chaos were caused by the failure to make a plan early or to make a decision without making a decision! Your Majesty!"

After Fu Bi finished speaking, he bowed his head and stopped talking. His white beard inexplicably acquired a peculiar temperament - the spirit of a scholar!
"You said to establish an heir, then I will establish one. You said to adopt someone, then I will adopt someone. No matter what, someone has to be the emperor, but my son is gone!"

"Who, who can give me my son? Who can give me my son? Who?"

Zhao Zhen staggered up the jade steps and collapsed to the ground, his sobbing voice full of reluctance and powerlessness.

(End of this chapter)