When Guo Xu entered the palace, he raised his head and looked at the sky.
I haven't taken my eyes off this autumn for a long time. It's always gloomy and full of desolation.
Someone tapped him on the shoulder: "Xiang Guo!"
Guo Xu turned around and twitched his lips: "It's Mr. Zhou!"
Mr. Zhou chuckled, leaned over and asked in a low voice: "Prime Minister Zhang suddenly wants to go to court, but what's going on?"
Guo Xu said nonchalantly: "What could possibly happen? That's not all."
That was what Mr. Zhou wanted to inquire about, so he asked: "I heard that King An's leg will not recover. Is this true?"
Guo Xu looked at him with a half-smile but said, "Is it true that Mr. Zhou doesn't know? In the past two days, many people have gone to Prince An's Mansion to inquire about news. I believe Mr. Zhou will not be left behind, right?"
Mr. Zhou laughed and complained to him: "What do you think this is? King An returned to Beijing and everything was going smoothly, but he broke his leg. He broke his leg. Can this leg be healed?
There are so many explanations that it really makes people confused.”
"hehe."
He didn't answer, so Mr. Zhou could only curse the old fox in his heart, and opened the skylight to speak frankly: "Xiang Guo, what exactly does your political hall stand for? Do you have an explanation? This will help the officials know what they are thinking."
Although the voice was muffled, several people nearby heard it and all raised their ears to listen carefully.
Who is Guo Xu? This old boy is the best at speculating. He had no background in his early years, so he was forced to use a major case to break the news. He got into the eyes of the emperor and rose to prominence. Later he was demoted to the northwest, thinking that he was done with it.
He was actually asked to take advantage of the battle in the northwest to make a comeback, achieve unprecedented feats for a civil servant since the founding of the People's Republic of China, and return to political office.
They have reason to believe that Guo Xu will never be absent from such an important moment that changes the day!
He will definitely take this opportunity to take himself one step further.
Officials like them, who have little background and limited sources of information, are confused about the current situation. Prime Minister Guo's actions are an important weather vane.
Whether you can stand on the right team or not is up to you, Mr. Guo!
Guo Xu glanced at him, showed a meaningful expression, and said: "What's there to ask? Don't you know it right away?"
"Hey, Prime Minister Guo, please pity Xiaguan! Xiaguan hasn't had a good night's sleep in the past few days..."
Guo Xu said calmly: "Don't think too much, the results will come soon."
He entered the main hall, found his place and stood there, looking at his nose and nose, looking at his heart, feeling calm.
When the official who was close to Mr. Zhou saw this, he came up to talk to Mr. Zhou: "What did Guo Xiangke say?"
"No, I didn't leak a word."
"Looking at him like this, he seems to be confident!"
"Isn't it? I'm probably standing in line again."
"I don't know if he will support Prince An or the fourth prince. I heard that he was the one who brought up the incident with the eldest prince. He seems to be helping Prince An eliminate future troubles."
"The way Prince An's legs look..."
"Maybe he knows something inside."
"Hey, Brother Zhou, what do you mean by us..."
Several people looked at each other with tacit expressions.
"Come on, come on, ah, King Fu is here!"
Zhang Tan carefully asked King Fu to sit down, turned to face the officials and spoke: "Everyone, I think you all know what is going on in the court today. Your Majesty is ill, and it is urgent to establish the throne, so we cannot delay it any longer."
The hall was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop, and everyone stared at Zhang Tan eagerly.
Should he establish King An or the fourth prince?
Zhang Tan continued: "...The Holy Spirit has just summoned me, and the decree has been issued." He looked at King Fu, the two exchanged glances, and raised his voice, "Please give me the decree!"
All the officials knelt down and kowtowed: "Long live my emperor, long live, long live."
Eunuch Liu came out holding the imperial edict and held it to the two of them.
Zhang Tan asked for instructions: "His Royal Highness Prince Fu?"
King Fu waved his hand: "I am just here to bear witness, Prime Minister Zhang can do it himself."
Zhang Tan just showed off, took the imperial edict, unfolded it and read: "The imperial edict says that the fourth son of the emperor, Jiang Zhao, is appointed as the heir apparent. I admire this."
The emperor is seriously ill, so he doesn't pay so much attention to it. This imperial edict is just one sentence.
After Zhang Tan finished reading, two chamberlains came forward and unfolded it to face the ministers, allowing them to see clearly the seal on it and confirm its authenticity.
This result was beyond the expectations of the officials.
Not to mention the past two years, they watched how the emperor cultivated King An. They said that King An had a leg injury. The news spread was specious. They never said that King An was really lame, which made people think that King An's throne was still secure.
of.
Sure enough, someone stood up and asked: "Mr. Zhang, is this really the will of the Holy One?"
Zhang Tan raised his eyelids: "Can the truth be faked? Isn't it? King Blessed is there to witness it."
Seeing Prince Fu nodding, all the ministers basically believed it.
But some people are dissatisfied with this result.
The fourth prince is only eleven, and his mother is a low-ranking concubine. If he ascends the throne, wouldn't Zhang Tan, as prime minister, be able to dominate the world with one hand?
"It's not a matter of suspicion, but it's a matter of national importance, so we have to be cautious. As far as I know, the Holy One has been ill for several days, fainted several times, and has become mentally confused. I'm afraid he lacked thinking when making a decision at this time."
As soon as these words came out, many people nodded.
The fourth prince cannot be allowed to ascend the throne, otherwise those who cannot deal with Zhang Tan will never get ahead again.
Zhang Tan glanced at the ministers with lightning eyes and said coldly: "Are you trying to resist the decree?"
"How can this be called resisting the decree? We all know that the Holy Emperor is ill, and there is no way to deal with government affairs. But Prime Minister Zhang said that the Holy Emperor needs to rest for his illness, and we are not allowed to visit him. In the past few days, only Prime Minister Zhang has been in and out of the palace. Who knows?
Didn't you say something to make the Holy One make an inappropriate decision?"
Zhang Tan sneered: "Then what do you want to do?"
"Since the Holy One cannot make a decision, as ministers, we naturally have to share the worries for the King. Once we have made a decision on who to appoint as the heir apparent, it will not be too late to report to the Holy One."
There is no need for Zhang Tan to argue in person. Officials from his side have already come out and reprimanded: "Absurd! There is a holy decree here and King Fu testifies. What's suspicious? You have ulterior motives and are threatening the king with public opinion!"
"Master Gao, what are you talking about? Are we suspecting your Majesty? Gentleman, I, Liang Yi, will make it clear here that I am suspecting Mr. Zhang Xiang! Since Your Majesty has been ill, have you summoned anyone else? Come on, come on.
Go, go, there is only Zhang Xiang. This situation makes people suspicious!"
"Then why don't you go in and ask your Majesty now?" The officials on Zhang Tan's side were confident.
Lord Liang Yiliang also remained calm: "Is it useful to ask now? It is said that we are hijacking the will of the public. In my opinion, it is Prime Minister Zhang who is hijacking the will of the Holy One! The Holy One has been ill these days. Who knows what Prime Minister Zhang said?
In other words, His Majesty’s mind is no longer clear enough, and it is inevitable that he will be deceived by others. Otherwise, let’s ask His Royal Highness King Fu, is His Majesty really completely awake? Did His Majesty really say word for word that he appointed the fourth prince as his heir apparent?”
All the ministers turned their attention to King Fu.
Zhang Tan sneered in his heart.
What did they think King Fu would say? As Zongzheng, he was just a show-stopper. He had never said a word in decades.
This old guy is very knowledgeable!
But Prince Fu touched his increasingly thinning beard and hesitated: "This... I am old, my eyesight is deaf, and I can't hear clearly. If I think about it carefully, the words of the Crown Prince seem to have been relayed by Prime Minister Zhang."