In the Chonghua Hall, Zhu Qizhen looked indifferent, as if he did not realize at all what kind of shocking words he had just said.
Zhang Xi was kneeling on the ground, his expression uncertain, and he did not speak for a long time.
He never thought that the Supreme Emperor would suddenly say such words?
You know, in the new year, His Highness the Crown Prince has only turned five years old. For such a young child to say the word "immoral" is simply a joke.
It is not surprising that the Qianqing Palace wants to abolish the throne. After all, His Royal Highness is only a nephew, not a biological son, and the current Holy Emperor has a legitimate son born, so it is inevitable that he will have this idea.
But, why is the Supreme Emperor?
His Highness the Crown Prince is still so young, so he won't do anything wrong and make the Supreme Emperor displeased, so that it will be easier to reserve the throne?
What's more, to put it bluntly, how can such a major matter be decided by the Supreme Emperor?
So, what does the Supreme Emperor mean by this...
"Why, this is so difficult to say?"
While Zhang Min was thinking in his mind, he heard the voice of the Supreme Emperor again. However, unlike the calm tone just now, there was a hint of displeasure in the tone of this sentence.
This made Zhang Mian suddenly tremble, and the thoughts in his mind were spinning rapidly. He finally grasped something, but when the words came to his mouth, he swallowed them back. After hesitating again and again, he spoke cautiously.
"Your Majesty clearly knows that no one can comment on the matter of abolishing the establishment. However, when Your Majesty asked, I dared not refuse to answer. I thought that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was from the lineage of Emperor Xuanzong Zhang. Since he is the eldest son of Your Majesty, he should be in charge of the East Palace. Position, this is the family law of our ancestors and should not be touched lightly."
"But if one day Empress Duanjing comes out, it is natural to separate the inheritance of the lineage by distinguishing the legitimate concubines. If not, it may be suspected of disturbing the ancestral family law."
After saying this, Zhang Xi obviously felt that the Emperor's face had improved a little, but he was not very satisfied either.
I sighed secretly in my heart, but there were no new changes in my movements.
At that moment, Zhang Min had already figured out what answer the Emperor wanted, but he did not dare to give him this answer.
Again, what could possibly make the Emperor dissatisfied with His Highness as a young child now, so that he might even consider changing the throne?
The answer is that the Emperor's words actually do not mean His Highness the Crown Prince, but Zhang Shi.
To put it bluntly, what everyone relies on now is the future Crown Prince, and what the Emperor wants is obviously not this situation. What he wants is for the British Duke to surrender wholeheartedly to Nangong.
Although it can be said that the Supreme Emperor and the current Crown Prince are biological father and son, they can be said to have advanced and retreated together, but loyalty to the Crown Prince and loyalty to the Supreme Emperor are still different in the end.
Therefore, the Supreme Emperor's question was not intended to really shake the throne. He did not have the motivation or power now. The reason why he asked this question was just to get Zhang Min to express his position thoroughly.
Zhang Shi saw this clearly, but he did not have the determination to actually say these words.
Because this involved not only the Supreme Emperor and the Emperor, but also etiquette, law, and ethics. He relied on His Highness the Crown Prince. Even if he really needed to use means in the future, after all, he still had a glimmer of hope, and he could be regarded as supporting orthodoxy.
But if it is... then it is a real conspiracy. Of course it will be good if it succeeds, but once it fails, not only will the British government be in danger, but the honorary names of the ancestors of all generations will also be tarnished. This determination is really difficult for Zhang Shi.
So in the end, he could only choose a tricky answer. Starting from the moral order, the Ming Dynasty ancestral system had direct descendants and no direct descendants. The previous emperor was unwilling to appoint a prince until he personally conquered the country. There was a reason
, just hoping to wait for Queen Duanjing to give birth to her legitimate son.
After the Supreme Emperor returned to the capital, the situation in both the government and the public, inside and outside the palace, had changed drastically, but his relationship with Queen Duanjing was still the best.
At this moment, he moved Queen Duanjing out, just hoping that the Supreme Emperor would not care about his unclear answer.
Of course, although these words were not so thorough, the key point was still pointed out. Although he did not directly face the problem of the Supreme Emperor, if this ethical order is followed, it actually means that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's lineage
, still comes from the Supreme Emperor. Otherwise, once the Crown Prince is deposed, the so-called legitimate son of the Supreme Emperor will not be around...
Perhaps it was for this reason that although the Supreme Emperor was slightly displeased, he quickly took it back and said.
"Zhang Qing doesn't have to kneel all the time, just lie flat."
"According to the decree..."
Zhang Min then breathed a sigh of relief, stood up from the ground, and stood aside carefully.
Speaking of which, both parties were already well aware of the purpose of today's visit. To put it bluntly, Zhang Xi's so-called "no matter the cost" also included that once the emperor really changed the throne, he would use force to force the emperor to go to the palace.
It is precisely for this reason that even if Zhang Mian made up his mind, he would be very cautious when speaking. Now that his intention of coming was confirmed, if nothing unexpected happened, the Supreme Emperor should ask about the specific preparations and plans next.
After all, this is not a trivial matter. If you really have this idea, it cannot be completed in one or two days. You need to prepare in advance.
And this is obviously impossible for the current Supreme Emperor himself, so this is the purpose of Zhang Min's visit.
However, what surprised him again was that the Emperor didn't seem to be very interested in the conversation just now. On the contrary, he asked again immediately.
"Zhang Qing, you just said that Xu Youzhen discussed these matters with you?"
Why does this come back to Xu Youzhen?
Zhang Xi was in a daze for a while, but he did not dare to delay and nodded.
"Your Majesty, it is indeed true."
Then, he saw a strange color flash across the face of the Supreme Emperor and said.
"In that case, he is a loyal minister. If there is an opportunity in a few days, I will ask Jiang An and Meng Jun to help. You arrange for him to come to the palace and I will meet him personally."
Hearing this, Zhang Min was a little hesitant, but after hesitating for a moment, he still nodded and agreed.
Since Xu Youzhen was the first to bring up such matters, it was appropriate for the Emperor to see him.
However, the meaning of these words is that the summons must be secretly summoned. Otherwise, Jiang An and Meng Jun's help will not be needed. This is a bit troublesome. After all, Xu Youzhen's identity is a civil servant, and it will be more difficult for him to enter Nangong.
bigger.
However, at this moment, he naturally couldn't say anything more.
After reporting the matter, Zhang Shi was about to leave, but before leaving, the Supreme Emperor suddenly spoke:
"A few days ago, there were some eunuchs and maids in my palace who did not do their job well, which angered the queen and kept them in the Nangong. The queen looked at them as an eyesore, but it was just a trivial matter and it was not enough to kill them with a stick. Today Zhang Qing
When they come, take them back to the mansion to serve them."
Hearing this, Zhang Xi's figure froze slightly, but in the end, he still cupped his hands and said.
"I obey the decree..."
Then, a smile appeared on the face of the Supreme Emperor and he said.
"Back off."
Seeing Zhang Xi's figure disappear into the night, Zhu Qizhen tapped his right hand gently on the table in front of him, his expression inexplicable, and he didn't know what he was thinking.
A cup of steaming fragrant tea was placed at hand, and then a gentle voice sounded, saying.
"Your Majesty, the matter of Mr. Zhang entering the palace today cannot be concealed. The person you rewarded him will definitely be closely monitored. Even if you ask Xu Xueshi to come to see you, the news will definitely leak out...
"
"I know, it's only interesting if it's leaked out."
Zhu Qizhen didn't know what he thought of. A smile appeared at the corner of his mouth, but it passed away briefly. Then he looked at the woman beside him and asked.
"Qimuge, what do you think of what Zhang Xi just said?"
The woman's expression was calm, she bowed her knees and said:
"I only know that Your Majesty is the monarch of the Ming Dynasty. Whether it is the throne or the throne, it should be yours. No matter what you want to do, I am willing to follow you."
Zhu Qizhen turned his head and looked at her quietly, his eyes narrowed slightly, but in the end, he didn't say much...
March passed by in a hurry, and the weather gradually became warmer. The elders finally no longer had to go to court in the cold spring, and they all put on light robes.
It seemed that there were too many things accumulated in these days, so several major things were finalized in one morning meeting.
The first is the big plan of the Ministry of Personnel. As the top priority of the imperial court, this time the Ministry of Punishment is involved. Many of these matters need to be coordinated. Therefore, it took several months just to sort out the regulations. Fortunately, in the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Punishment and the Capital
Thanks to the joint efforts of the Procuratorate and the Procuratorate, the results were finally achieved this morning. It is initially expected that starting in May, imperial envoys will be dispatched to various places to assess the performance of local officials.
This point is quite different from the usual big plans. You know, because there are so many officials from various places, although big plans often last for half a year or even a year, they are still too busy, so they are usually reported by each place.
Over the years, the records of the supervisory censors from various places and the comments of Shangguan were comprehensively evaluated. They did not improvise and sent censors to local areas on a large scale. However, they never thought that this time it would be the other way around, and the censors would draw conclusions based on
The evaluation conclusion is mainly based on the evaluation results, supplemented by the archives of previous years.
I don’t know how this Lord Tianguan of the Ministry of Personnel agreed. When the memorial was just read out, many people secretly looked at Wang Tianguan of the Ministry of Personnel, but they saw that this old gentleman had no expression on his face and could not tell anything.
.
Therefore, many people can only speculate privately, maybe because the Ministry of Punishment is involved, or maybe Chen Zongxian has suddenly become more powerful this time, but in any case, this time the plan may be different from usual.
At least, the Science and Road officials of the Metropolitan Procuratorate will have to fill another wave of vacancies this time. Unexpectedly, the first to benefit from this plan is the Metropolitan Procuratorate...
Following closely behind was the Ministry of Revenue. Shen Shangshu hurriedly hurried and finally managed to complete the emperor's instructions.
"...According to the latest official documents from various places, so far, Changping warehouses in Nanzhili, Henan, Shandong, Shaanxi, Zhejiang and other places have been filled with 80% of the grain in accordance with the imperial order, and at least 50% of the food in other places has been filled.
.”
"In accordance with His Majesty's decree, I have responsibilities for the officials in the areas that have not yet been completed, and ordered them to complete the work within a deadline, and report every two days. It is expected that most places can be completed before May, but eight state capitals, including Qingzhou, Lintao, and Jiezhou, have not yet completed the work.
Due to the bad harvest caused by last year's disaster, there is also a shortage of food among the people. If the requisition is forced, local food prices may rise sharply. Therefore, in these eight prefectures, I sincerely request your majesty's permission to not limit the number of regular warehouses."
When these words came out, the ministers present all looked at him sideways, saying that Minister Shen of the Ministry of Revenue, although he usually looked unassuming, was really good at getting things done.
There are at least hundreds of changping warehouses in various states and capitals across the country. If nothing else, the amount of grain stored in most of them is about 20% to 30%. There are even some places where the grain storage capacity is about 20% to 30%.
It is empty. This is not only due to the war in the past two years, but also related to officials from various places and old accounts from the past. The situation is extremely complicated.
However, from the time the emperor issued the decree to the present, it took only a few months to straighten out the situation in Changpingcang in various places and fulfill most of the emperor's requirements.
It is difficult for anyone to come out.
However, what the courtiers did not expect was that even so, the emperor still seemed not satisfied. After reading the detailed memorial, he frowned and said.
"This matter cannot be ignored. Although Qingzhou and other places suffered disasters last year, Changpingcang is a life-saving system prepared for famine years. It cannot be ignored. If these prefectures are really in trouble, the Ministry of Household Affairs will coordinate and provide regular assistance from other places.
In any case, the grain stored in each place should not be less than 60% when the warehouse is unloaded and grain is transported."
Ah this...
Shen Shangshu sighed silently in his heart. If he could coordinate, why would he go to the emperor to ask for this scolding?
You must know that the emperor's decree was urgent and the orders were urgent. Therefore, it was impossible to complete it so quickly just relying on local officials. The reason why the current results were achieved was because of Shen Yi's hard work and the use of various means.
means.
This includes, but is not limited to, coordinating and balancing grain reserves among various regions, allocating silver from the national treasury, purchasing large quantities at low prices from places with plenty of food, and then quickly escorting them to places with food shortages, and even using his personal relationships to provide money to local governments.
The governor wrote a letter urging them to complete it as soon as possible.
Even during this process, he unconscionably withheld tens of thousands of loads of grain that several vassal princes had promised to dedicate to the emperor before leaving the capital. He almost risked his life to accomplish this, but
nowadays……
Looking up at the emperor's expression, Shen Shangshu swallowed the words that were on his lips. He knew very well why the emperor was so eager. It was because of Qin Tianjian's previous 'prophecy', although he had always been doubtful about this matter.
, However, he had a vague hunch that at least His Majesty would treat it as a reality. If it was delayed because of him, the wrath of thunder would not be so easy to bear.
Therefore, no matter how helpless he was, Shen Yi could only step forward and speak.
"I obey the decree..."
After the Ministry of Revenue withdrew, everyone's eyes immediately moved to Yu Qian, the Secretary of the Ministry of War. Since the last time he impeached Song Wenyi in the court, this person in Shaobao has always kept a low profile.
It is said that during these days, according to the decree, preparations have been made for the rectification of the military government. Compared with the two incidents just now, the rectification of the military government is the thing that the government and the public are most concerned about now.
If nothing else goes wrong, Yu Shaobao will submit the memorial to the court this morning. With the submission of this memorial, the final person in charge will definitely be finalized.
But I don’t know if there will be any trouble on your side...
This chapter has been completed!