Summoning the world to be one

Chapter 591
Chapter 592: The Battle for the Zhao Kingdom's Throne
In the third year of Tiantong, on the tenth day of the first lunar month, at the beginning of the new year, it was supposed to be a joyous day for thousands of families to celebrate together, but in the imperial palace of Jinyang City, the capital of Zhao Kingdom, there was no such joy on everyone's face, but one by one. His face was sad, because after entering the new year, their emperor began to be ill.

Emperor Zhang Xian came to power through the mutiny in Langmeng in the 22nd year of Qianyuan. He has been in power for less than ten years, but under his leadership, Zhao Guo has gradually declined. Some people say that the real decline of Zhao State was in the era of King Zhao Wei, especially after the death of the former Zhao Guojun God Zhao Xin, the prosperity of Zhao State was gone forever, but it cannot be denied that King Zhao Wei When he was alive, Zhao Guo was still the leader of the crowd.

After Zhang Xian succeeded to the throne, due to his improper position, he was purged on a large scale in the country, and a large number of capable ministers and famous generals were purged, which greatly weakened the strength of Zhao Guo. , but still can't save the declining Zhao country, especially in the Central Plains War three years ago, Zhao country's disastrous defeat made Zhao country worse.

But Zhang Xian cannot be blamed too much, because in Zhao State, although Zhang Xian is the monarch, he is also the first emperor of Zhao State, but because of Zhuang Ping in the court and Li Rubing in the army, Zhang Xian has never been able to monopolize However, Zhuang Ping and Li Rubing have always held the military and political power by virtue of their support. In many cases, the emperor Zhang Xian is just a puppet.

After the disastrous defeat in the Central Plains War, Zhang Xian fell ill in bed and never got better. Now just after the New Year, news of Zhang Xian's critical illness came out, which made all the ministers in the court worried. The king of the year, but he is not yet 40 years old, and what's more, I don't know if he launched a mutiny in front of the coffin of King Zhao Wei in Langmeng, and suffered retribution. Zhang Xian's heirs have always been very difficult , did not give birth to a son until five years ago, but this son is not yet five years old. If Zhang Xian really has an emergency, should he expect a five-year-old boy to support the situation of Zhao Guo?

In Jinyang, in Chengqian Palace, a group of Zhao Guozhong officials headed by Zhuang Ping and Li Rubing gathered together. They had just visited Zhang Xian on the sickbed, and found that Zhang Xian's consciousness had become very blurred, and according to the imperial physician, Zhang Xian probably won't be able to last for a few more days, so he asked the ministers to make plans as soon as possible, but at this time, Zhang Xian was in a daze, not awake at all, and had no way of deciding on a successor.

According to the tradition, Zhang Xian has only one son. Even if Zhang Xian didn't decide on an heir, according to the etiquette of father's death, the throne should be inherited by Zhang Xian's son, Zhang Yuan, but this heir is only five years old. What do you think? None of them are suitable, especially now that the strength of Zhao State is greatly weakened, and Deng State in the south is eyeing it. Even with Qin State as an ally, it is still not enough, and how credible Qin State's ally can be is still a question. .

Chengqian Palace was the place where Zhao Guo held court meetings. Now that Zhang Xian was not there, it was not easy for them to discuss matters here. Instead, they came to the side hall, and everyone sat in rows.

As the prime minister of a country and the head of hundreds of officials, Zhuang Ping asked No. 1 Li Rubing in the military with a serious face: "I believe the general has heard the words of the imperial physician. I am afraid that the day of your Majesty Long Yu's death is not far away. Dazhao is in troubled times, and the long-term vacancy of the throne is very unfavorable to Dazhao. Although His Majesty is still here, it is very inappropriate for me to discuss the heir to the throne at this time, but it is also a helpless move. It is better than being caught off guard when the time comes. I wonder what the general thinks about the ownership of the throne?"

Li Rubing was the great general of the dynasty, in charge of military power. Without Li Rubing's support, it would be impossible for anyone to secure the throne, so Zhuang Ping asked Li Rubing what he meant immediately.

"What else is there to consider? Your Majesty has only one heir, Prince Yuan. As the so-called father dies, it is a matter of course. If Your Majesty really dies, the throne should be inherited by Prince Yuan." Li Rubing didn't even think about it. If you think about it, you can express your support for Zhang Yuan.

Moreover, under such circumstances, Zhang Yuan was Li Rubing's best choice. Back then, Li Rubing assisted Zhang Xian in launching a mutiny, punished Zhang Chuan, Sima Chong, Mi Fang and many other veterans with meritorious service, and abolished Zhao Weiwang's prince Zhang Lin. , has already offended a large number of aristocratic families in the country, and a large number of royal family members were also implicated in the great purges of the year. Nowadays, there are not a few people who hate Li Rubing in the royal family of Zhao State, so although Li Rubing is in charge Military power, but it has become a thorn in the side of many people, a thorn in the flesh. Later, the meritorious service of Changping Pavilion and the destruction of Chu allowed Li Rubing to temporarily stabilize his position, but the disastrous defeat in the Central Plains caused many voices against Li Rubing in the court. Regarding his status, Li Rubing couldn't let the throne fall into the hands of other clans, but the five-year-old Zhang Yuan was the best choice.

Zhang Yuan is only five years old, young and inactive, and has no ability to handle government affairs at all. Once Zhang Yuan succeeds to the throne, Li Rubing, who is the general of the dynasty, will naturally become the auxiliary minister. Zhang Yuan needs to wait until he is crowned to be in charge of the government. At the age of 20, even if it was earlier, he could still get it. There are still more than ten years, which is enough for Li Rubing to hold the power in the court.

Zhuang Ping also had the same idea as Li Rubing. Zhuang Ping was also one of the driving forces behind the change of Lang Meng. People who hated Li Rubing also hated Zhuang Ping, so Zhang Yuan was also Zhuang Ping's only choice. The reason why he asked first What Li Rubing meant was that he hoped that Li Rubing could stand with him. As long as the two top military and political leaders reached a consensus, then the others would be unable to turn the world around. Fortunately, Li Rubing did not disappoint him in the end.

But not everyone was of one mind with Li Rubing and Zhuang Ping. Although the court ministers dared not speak out because of the power of Li Rubing and Zhuang Ping, the members of the royal family were not afraid.

For so many years, people in the royal family were very dissatisfied with Li Rubing and Zhuang Ping's control of military and political power, and opposed Li Rubing and Zhuang Ping in public many times, but Zhang Xian's ability and courage were limited, which made them fail every time. They were suppressed by Li Rubing and Zhuang Ping afterwards, how could they allow Li Rubing and Zhuang Ping to fulfill their wish now?You must know that once the five-year-old Zhang Yuan is allowed to succeed, the entire Zhao country will completely fall into the hands of Li Rubing and Zhuang Ping. How can the royal family agree to this?

"The general's words are wrong!" Zhao Guozong and Zhang Ying said loudly: "Even though Prince Yuan is His Majesty's only heir, Prince Yuan is only five years old after all, as Prime Minister Zhuang said just now, the current Zhao is troubled. A young and powerful emperor is needed to maintain the situation, and Prince Yuan is young and may not be able to do it, but I think it is very suitable to replace the king."

The king of Dai was Zhang Lin, the prince of King Wei of Zhao in the past. After the change of Langmeng, Zhang Xian did not deal with Zhang Lin's cruelty. Instead, he was named Marquis of Jiuyuan. .

As soon as Zhang Ying said this, the expressions of Li Rubing and Zhuang Ping instantly became unnatural. It was they who joined forces to help Zhang Xian snatch the throne from Zhang Lin. Now let Zhang Lin take the throne, wouldn't it? Give Zhang Lin a chance to take revenge?
"It's nonsense!" Zhuang Ping immediately retorted Zhang Ying and said, "The Dai Wang is the brother of His Majesty. From ancient times to the present, the inheritance of the throne is either inherited from father to son, or from brother to brother, but I have never heard of it. As for the successor, besides, when the king participated in the chaos of Zhang Chuan and Mi Fan, although His Majesty is magnanimous and doesn't care about it, what qualifications does the king have to inherit the throne?"

What Zhuang Ping said made Zhang Ying a little speechless. Indeed, it has never happened since ancient times that an elder brother inherited the position of a younger brother. , but Zhao Guo's official statement has already settled the chaos, and it is indeed inappropriate for Zhang Lin, a former rebel, to succeed him.

However, the royal family will not give up so easily. Zhang An, another important official of the royal family, said: "It is really inappropriate to succeed the king, but the son of the king is more than ten years old. I can adopt him to your majesty later." As an heir, inheriting the great position, in this way, it will not violate the etiquette of father's death and son's succession."

Hearing Zhang An's words, Li Rubing and Zhuang Ping looked at each other helplessly. Indeed, there is nothing wrong with this approach. Adopting Zhang Lin's son to Zhang Xian and inheriting the throne did not violate the rules of etiquette, and also avoided the suspicion of the Lord Shaoguo. However, this is not conducive to Li Rubing and the two of them, but they can't come up with any reason to object.

Zhuang Ping said helplessly: "This matter is of great importance, it cannot be decided in a few words, and now that His Majesty is still here, let's discuss it another day." Now that the matter is up to now, Zhuang Ping has no choice but to adopt delaying tactics.

"Okay, that's it!" Seeing that Zhuang Ping was planning to delay the time, the members of the clan were of course unwilling, but at this moment, Li Rubing opened his mouth, and then scanned everyone with a fierce look.

This moment stunned everyone, after all, the Lord of the Eyes is the most powerful boss in the Zhao Kingdom, commanding an army of hundreds of thousands.

After finishing the discussion, Zhuang Ping immediately invited Li Rubing to his residence.

After dismissing all the servants, Zhuang Ping said to Li Rubing: "General, in this situation, you have to stand on the same side as the truth, the throne must not fall into the hands of Dai Wang's lineage, otherwise you and I will die for nothing." A place of burial."

Li Rubing nodded solemnly, and said: "I will naturally understand this matter, but the clan's opposition is very loud, and Prince Yuan is at this age, it is too difficult to push him to the throne under this situation , unless His Majesty wakes up now and leaves a will." Of course he knows what it means to them once Zhang Lin's lineage inherits the throne, but he also needs to be wary of the clan's thoughts, after all, they are only foreign ministers. The ownership of the throne, I am afraid that people in the whole Zhao country will regard them as rebellious officials and thieves.

Zhuang Ping thought for a while, and said: "In the current situation of Your Majesty, it may be difficult to leave a will, but although your Majesty cannot leave a will, there is still one person who can decide the ownership of the throne."

"Who is it?" Li Rubing asked quickly.

Zhuang Ping said: "That is the Empress Dowager Song!"

"Empress Dowager Song?" Li Rubing suddenly came to his senses. Zhao Guo also had a queen mother, and this queen mother was the main palace of King Zhao Wei. To convict Zhang Chuan, Sima Chong, Mi Fang and others of treason and execute them. It can be said that the status of the Empress Dowager Song in the State of Zhao is second only to the emperor Zhang Xian. Living in the deep palace, they don't care about world affairs, but if the Empress Dowager Song clearly supports Zhang Yuan's succession, they can push Zhang Yuan to the throne even without Zhang Yuan's will.

"But will the Empress Dowager Song support us? You know what happened back then. The Empress Dowager Song was very dissatisfied with us. Is it possible to ask her to support us now?" Li Rubing said suspiciously.

In the change of Langmeng back then, although the Empress Dowager Song finally issued an edict to convict Zhang Chuan and others of treason, it was only due to the strength of Li Rubing and others, and it was not voluntary. Li Rubing and Zhuang Ping, the masterminds of Meng Zhibian, were very dissatisfied. Can Queen Mother Song support them?

Zhuang Ping said: "Nothing is impossible. The Empress Dowager Song was able to support us for the overall situation back then, and now she can support us again for the overall situation. You must know that the general holds hundreds of thousands of elites from the Great Zhao in his hands."

Li Rubing nodded knowingly. Back then, they could rely on their strength to force the Queen Mother to compromise. Today they can do the same trick again and get the Queen Mother to support them. It is not too difficult to imagine.

"Okay, in order to avoid long nights and dreams, let's go to the palace to see the Empress Dowager Song. Today, she must support Prince Yuan's succession to the throne. If not, don't blame the general for being cruel." Li Rubing gritted his teeth and said, with a fierce look in his eyes. , he has never been a pedantic and foolish and loyal person, otherwise he would not have supported Zhang Xian in order to take the position of general. If the Queen Mother Song was stubborn, it is really hard to say what Li Rubing would do.

(End of this chapter)