Reincarnation of the powerful minister

In the 17th year of Jinglong, in the autumn of Yiwei.

This day is September [-]th. According to the newly implemented court system, it is the day when the emperor comes to Fengtianmen to listen to the government. The civil and military officials came to wait outside the Meridian Gate early in the morning.

During the court meeting, many officials listened to the emperor with their ears upright, and some of them were bold enough to secretly look at the face of the emperor on the throne.Many people breathed a sigh of relief after finding that the Son of Heaven was full of energy and looked normal.

It’s no wonder that the officials are nervous, it’s really that the emperor has been a little abnormal in the past few months—first, he changed the daily unshakeable imperial gate to the third, sixth, and ninth day of every ten days, and then stopped from time to time towards.Compared with the previous day-to-day court, it can almost be regarded as slack, and it is worrying whether there is something wrong with the dragon body.

But judging from the news from the imperial hospital, the emperor didn't have any serious problems. At most, he liked to summon Chen Shiyu, a private doctor, to prescribe some fumigation and medicinal baths.

In this regard, some officials also went to Shushu to persuade and remonstrate, hoping that the emperor would resume the daily morning court.

When the memorial arrived at the cabinet, it was dismissed by Jiao Yang and was not submitted.

After Emperor Jinglong heard about it, he asked Jiao Yang in front of Jiao Yang: "After a woman gets married, she cooks and washes every day, stays around day and night, and occasionally sick and bedridden for several days, unable to do housework. Aunt Weng and her husband think she is lazy. Resignation. After a woman gets married, her ten fingers don’t touch the spring water. Occasionally, she cooks a meal on a whim, but Wenggu and her husband praise her for her virtue. What’s the reason?”

Jiao Yang heard it and said with a smile: "My lord, because of the low nature of human beings, they often don't know the blessings when they are in the blessings."

After the word "human nature is cheap" was spread, the officials of Shangshu were ashamed, and they went home and thought about it behind closed doors for half a month, ashamed to show their faces.

And this incident also became one of the symbolic events of Jiao Yang's obtaining the Sacred Heart.

Even Mr. Jiao Ge himself felt that because of the Queen Mother's patronage and Li Chengfeng's retirement, he gradually had the right to speak in front of the emperor and was gradually valued.

Jiao Yang even came up with the idea of ​​"not thinking about making progress". He felt that it was too radical to burn the fire of "Yi Chu" too vigorously when the holy will was not clear?

——If the emperor can promote him as the chief assistant and give him the power to call the wind and rain in the court, there is no need to rush to abolish the prince!

As soon as this idea was revealed, Wang Qianhe, who had always been dependent on him, changed his face: "At the beginning, the prince told me-'From now on, the two of us should join hands in the face of storms, and there must be no disagreement'. Now that I am still steadfast, why does the prince Rebellious?"

Jiao Yang was left speechless by his question.

Later, this conversation somehow reached the ears of the Queen Mother.The Empress Dowager once again had a secret meeting with Jiao Yang in Baiyi Nunnery outside the palace.

After Mr. Jiao Ge came out of Baiyi Nunnery, his complexion was a bit ugly, and it was more of a desperate decision.He scolded Wang Qianhe: "Why did the secret words between us reach the ears of the queen mother? You know the reason. But now I don't want to pursue you, just as you swore yourself, you have put your head It was sent to me. If you ever feel sorry for me again in the future, don’t blame me for forgetting the past and handing over your head!”

Wang Qianhe apologized again and again, stripping off his clothes to make amends and begging for forgiveness. He said that he accidentally slipped his tongue in front of the Queen Mother, and vowed that he would never do anything wrong to him again. .

What can Jiao Yang do? After all, he is the strongest comrade-in-arms in the trenches, so he can only choose to forgive him.

In the end, the two decided together that on the day of the court meeting on September [-]th, the emperor should be forced to make a statement, and the word "renegotiation" should no longer be perfunctory.

So at the court meeting that day, after the report on the matters of the six parts was completed, Jiao Yang personally left the stage and took the lead in opening the critically boiling cauldron.

He reported: the cabinet has piled up too many memorials from officials appealing to Yi Chu, send them back, and hand them in again next time, it will not be a matter of going back and forth like this, please the emperor to make a decision.

Like a signal bomb rising into the sky, the "Yi Chu faction" was dispatched upon hearing the sound, citing scriptures one after another, explaining the truth, analyzing the pros and cons, and requesting the abolition of the prince Zhu Helin who "goes against the heavens and people's hearts", and replacing the second prince Zhu Hezhao as the prince.

Later, the "orthodox faction" stood up against each other, saying that this move violated the ancestral system and the ritual system. How can there be any reason why the eldest son is alive, but the youngest son?

The "Yi Chu School" said: Although the ancestral system is important, it should not be blindly guarded. Could it be that the princes who forced the palace to rebel against Liu Shao in the Southern Dynasty and Li Chengqian in the Tang Dynasty also followed the ancestral system?

The "orthodox" scolded: Your analogy is inappropriate, and your intentions are sinister!

"Yi Chu faction" retorted: You wait for the prince of the party, how can you be loyal to the emperor?

The "orthodox" said: Concubine Wei Zhao made a mistake and was demoted, and the son she gave birth to cannot be the prince.

The "Yi Chu faction" said: The Queen Mother personally raised and taught the second prince, which has nothing to do with Concubine Wei Zhao.Could it be that the influence of the Empress Dowager's holiness is not as good as that of her birth mother who was pregnant for nine months?

The "orthodox faction" dare not beat the queen mother's tiger's beard, so they can only change the starting point: a prince who is too young will arouse the worries of courtiers and common people, and make people suspicious and uneasy.

"Yi Chu faction" retorted: The emperor is still in the prime of life, and your theory of "minor country suspicion" is simply absurd and outrageous!The second prince is blessed by auspicious stars, and will grow up in a few years.Are you worrying about his youth now, are you cursing the second prince for not growing up?

When the two armies clashed here, the "Orthodox faction" was already weak, and the morale of the "Yi Chu faction" surged. They took advantage of the victory and pursued, kneeling down one by one to ask the emperor to speak.

Emperor Jing Long rubbed his aching forehead, showing exhaustion, and said after a while: "This matter is important, we will discuss it later. Retire."

How can the "Yi Chu Pai" allow him to "redeliberate"?

Jiao Yang and Wang Qianhe immediately knelt down and asked the emperor to make a decision - whether to abolish the prince or not, there must be an explanation.

Seeing that the two elders of the cabinet took the lead in kneeling, the rest of the civil and military officials knelt down one after another, beckoning the emperor to make a statement.

Things have evolved to this situation, as the emperor, if he doesn't say a word to express his attitude, he can't justify it.

Emperor Jinglong sighed and said, "I...have a severe headache, I hope you will understand me. Let's go back first."

The word "understand" is an unprecedented signal of weakness released by the emperor to the officials, and it is also like a booster, piercing into the blood vessels of the "Yi Chu faction".

A censor shouted loudly: "Since it is a big matter, it has been delayed again and again, when will it be resolved? I hope the emperor will make a decision soon, so as not to repeat the mistakes of the previous dynasty!"

The "former dynasty" here is a general term, referring to those emperors who failed to establish a prince in time, or were vacillating when establishing a prince, which eventually led to the evil consequences of the brothers of the Tian family fighting against the wall and the hearts of the court.

This remark is a big disrespect for the courtiers, and it seems to be forcing the emperor. Even Lan Xilan, who has experienced a lot of wind and rain, turned green when he heard it.

But it was the censor who spoke.The unique power of "admonishing and refuting, and using the power to judge the emperor" unique to the officials allows them to speak out in front of the imperial court.

Emperor Jing Long's face was extremely ugly, and he ordered Jin Yiwei to take thirty imperial court sticks for offending Long Yan, then he got up and left his seat, and walked away.

Lan Xi took the opportunity to announce her "retirement from the court" and chased after Yu Jia.

On Fengtianmen Square, the courtiers who were still unsatisfied remained lingering.

The "Yi Chu faction" discussed and decided on the spot - this time we must not let it go like this, we must show some determination and perseverance to settle this matter.What's more, the emperor who has always been very assertive like Jinshang, has an ambiguous attitude towards this matter. It can be seen that deep down in his heart, he may not have the will to "abolish the prince", but he can't get past the hurdle of father-son separation.They have to help the emperor and pass this hurdle!

So, they rushed to the Jinshui Bridge in front of the Meridian Gate, stopped the courtiers who wanted to go home, and persuaded the courtiers to come back to gather; at the same time, they laid the censor who was bloody and bloody by the court rod under the steps of the square. , touching his body and crying loudly, grabbing the ground and shouting: "The official who is loyal and admonishes the king, why is he punished so severely!"

Led by Jiao Yang and Wang Qianhe, dozens of officials knelt together, weeping unceasingly, all tearing down their clothes, calling on the emperor to distinguish between good and evil, loyal and evil, and give them a clear answer.

I don't know if it was affected by this atmosphere, or some officials were vacillating or waiting to cast their bets. Seeing the momentum of the "Yi Chu faction" was like a rainbow, they worried that once the emperor was persuaded and decreed to abolish the prince, what would they do? Can't get it either.

Slowly, more and more officials joined the weeping and admonishing team. In the end, there were more than a hundred of them.

The officials cried and refused to leave. Jin Yiwei didn't get the emperor's order, so he didn't dare to use violence to drive him away. He could only persuade him to leave.

Kneeling and crying like this for an hour, many people cried hoarsely and almost collapsed.Some civil servants knelt down and climbed up the jade steps, and walked to the porch of Fengtianmen, begging the emperor to come forward to listen to the advice of his courtiers, not to close the door.

Other civil servants followed suit. The red marks on the jade steps were all stained with blood from worn out knees, and the red lacquer of Fengtianmen was scratched all over, all of which were blood stains left by fingernails.

The wailing and wailing of the ministers echoed over Fengtianmen Square, and even penetrated the red wall of the palace gate, reaching the ears of the emperor who was resting nearby the Wenhua Palace.

This is simply roasting the emperor on the fire.

If Su Yan was present, he would definitely jump out and scold them again: "The group is hysterical! A large-scale moral kidnapping!" But at this moment, he is far away in Nanjing.

The sundial went from Chen hour to Si hour, and the cries and admonitions in the square continued. The kneeling officials finally saw Lan Xi's figure walking out of the palace gate from a distance.

In a sense, the eunuch is the spokesperson of the emperor's will.The appearance of Lanxi made these "Easy Chu factions" see the dawn of victory.

Lan Xi stood not far from the crowd, and said in a sharp voice: "His Majesty's oral order—"Although the prince has made mistakes, the relationship between father and son is a human relationship. Why did you force me to come here? Let's all disperse! Three days later I will give you another answer.'"

The courtiers present pondered over the emperor's reply, and realized that the most important point of these words was not "the relationship between father and son is human relations", but "although the prince has made mistakes".

No matter how deep the former is, it will be exhausted due to suspicion, alienation and the force of the situation; while the latter is the thorn in the emperor's heart, no matter how small or thin, it will cause him more and more pain, and eventually he has to be removed.

The faces of the "Yi Chu Pai" who were full of tears showed excitement.

Someone asked in a low voice: "Since the emperor promised us to give us an answer in three days, why don't we... let's leave first?"

Jiao Yang and Wang Qianhe turned their heads at the same time, staring at the person who spoke.

The man froze and didn't dare to say another word.

Jiao Yang got up and cupped his hands towards Lan Xi: "It's not that the ministers are ignorant of etiquette and disrespectful to the emperor. It is precisely because they are loyal to the emperor and worry about the country that they desperately hope that the emperor will not be deceived by the villains and make a decision as soon as possible. The emperor has always been decisive. Only this matter is dragging its feet, so I don't mind waiting for another three days, I'm afraid the emperor will hesitate again because of this."

Lan Xi shook his whisk, sighed and said, "The emperor is also in a difficult situation."

Jiao Yang said: "I won't say anything else, please, Eunuch Lan, ask the emperor for me—since you can't make up your mind, should you issue an edict immediately to call the prince back to court?"

Lan Xi changed her face slightly.

This subtle expression was captured by Jiao Yang and others, and it was even more confirmed: the emperor was indeed unwilling to call the prince back to the court, just because there was still a trace of the father-son relationship in the past, and he couldn't bear to abandon it for a while.

"Thank you sir." Jiao Yang bowed and cupped his hands, saying in a low profile.

Lan Xi returned the salute, turned around and left.

So the ministers continued to kneel, turning the long needle of the sundial from si to noon, and still insisted on refusing to disperse.

With a team of servants, Lan Xi reappeared on the outer corridor of Fengtianmen, holding a wooden plate in her hand.He walked up to Jiao Yang and Wang Qianhe, and handed them the stacked silk books on the plate.

Jiao Yang and Wang Qianhe opened the silk book and saw that it was blank.

"The emperor said that he couldn't read through so many memorials requesting Yi Chu, and he couldn't bear to read them. Therefore, my lords should write an article in a concise and concise manner, so as to persuade other ministers in the court and the people of the world, so as not to be in trouble. At that time, the government and the public criticized it. In addition, all the adults who insist on easy storage are invited to sign this book to show the aspirations of the people, and I am not going to do it alone."

This is... let them draft an edict to abolish the crown prince!Jiao Yang's eyes lit up - from this we can see, what does the emperor care about most?It's not the relationship between father and son, nor the wishes of the courtiers, but his almost perfect reputation!

Just like Li Chengfeng asked to resign six times before the emperor let him go, right now we need such an admonishment to prove that the emperor is still kind and lenient, and it is the prince who is really against the destiny and people's hearts, which caused the anger of heaven and the people. The end of being deposed!

At this moment, Jiao Ge was like enlightened, completely understanding the emperor's intentions.

He took the pen and ink from the servant's hand and said loudly, "I'll write!"

Born in the Imperial Academy of Jiaoyang, his diction is eloquent and eloquent, and his writing is eloquent. He immediately created an impeccable article. It is not so much a petition as a call to arms. , There is no evil as great as "the abyss."

In the end, he blew his ink proudly and signed his name in the first place below.

The silk book was placed on the case, and the officials lined up to sign. Some signed immediately without hesitation; My colleagues scolded me like dogs and didn't dare to look back.

After the signing was finally completed, Lan Xi counted the number of people, 97 people in total.

He carefully put the silk book into his sleeve, and shook the fly whisk with a half-smile: "Our family will send it to the emperor, my lords, just wait for the good news!"

All the ministers bowed their hands to express their gratitude.

In the Wenhua Hall, Emperor Jinglong sat in front of a desk, looking at the deep scratches on the desk.

In the light coming in from the window, he tilted his head, discerning the blurred handwriting in the mottled notches, and read softly: "Troublesome... long-winded... hungry..."

Lan Xi walked in lightly.

Emperor Jing Long asked without raising his head, "Is this the desk where He Lin sits every day?"

Lan Xi replied, "Young Master sat there."

"This child, he doesn't study well, and he complains a lot in class." Emperor Jing Long shook his head, stretched out his hand and said, "Bring it to me."

Lan Xi pulled out the silk book from her sleeve, lowered her head, and handed it over respectfully.

Emperor Jing Long put the silk script on the prince's desk, unfolded it slowly, read every word carefully, and finally his eyes fell on the densely packed signatures at the end of the text.

"...Call Shen Qi over here." He instructed Lan Xi with an unusually calm tone.