The prince of Fenyang County and others had all left, but the five cabinet elders were not allowed to leave the palace and went to the cabinet to discuss matters together.
The cabinet is located in the palace next to the Yiqing Palace. Daqi has a vast territory, and there are many state affairs every day. Memorials sent from various places and memorials from officials in the capital must first go through the cabinet.
The elders should read the memorials one by one and leave their own opinions on the memorials. Select the more important ones and submit them to the Holy Saint. This is also to reduce the burden on the emperor.
Otherwise, the emperor would not be able to review the mountain of memorials even if he did not eat or sleep for twelve hours.
Today is the first court meeting of the new year. According to the usual practice in previous years, court affairs at the beginning of the new year are relatively easy. However, with such a commotion today, the cabinet is destined to be unable to calm down.
Eunuch Wei brought the imperial edict.
The five elders transcribed the contents of the imperial edict and then began to discuss the matter.
The relationship between the cabinet and the emperor has always been delicate. If the king is weak or stupid, it is not difficult for the cabinet to evade the emperor's imperial power.
If the emperor is strong and shrewd, he can suppress the cabinet.
In the first few years after Sheng Hong ascended the throne, he relied heavily on the cabinet and was very polite to several cabinet elders. However, as time passed, the emperor's control over the officials in the court gradually increased, and most of the Qi army was included in it.
Under control, several pavilion elders had no choice but to bow their heads when facing the emperor.
Take today's matter as an example. When the emperor was angry, the cabinet did not dare not accept the imperial edict. Since it accepted the imperial edict, it had to discuss and resolve the matter within a month.
Otherwise, the position of the elder of the pavilion will be the end...
The elders were unhappy, and each of them was suffocating. After discussing for a while, no one wanted to say anything.
After a moment of silence, Mr. Fang Ge complained: "The Emperor is good at everything, but he is too henpecked."
In Mr. Fang Ge's view, the emperor must have had the intention to change the law because of the Queen's instigation behind his back.
If a woman can establish a female household, the next step should be for women to inherit the family business! What is going on?
Mr. Zhao Ge frowned and reminded in a low voice: "Mr. Fang Ge, be careful what you say."
If these words were to reach the ears of the emperor, Fang Ge would definitely be in trouble given the extent of his love for the queen. Furthermore, Queen Xie was not a light-hearted person.
Mr. Fang Ge snorted again and lowered his voice: "Can't we tell the truth anymore? Who doesn't know how powerful Queen Xie is? Queen Xie is the only one in the emperor's harem. This kind of thing has never happened in the previous dynasty."
Isn't it?
When Emperor Jianwen was still alive, he favored the queen alone. However, he did not delay having a concubine and giving birth to a prince. When he came to Shenghong, he was so stunned by Queen Xie that he even ignored the heirs. He also had to change the law. What the hell?
What is your intention?
Could it be that you want to...
A vague and frightening thought was spinning in the minds of several pavilion elders.
But no one said anything.
Mr. Yan Ge cleared his throat: "Forget it, don't talk nonsense. As ministers, you and I should not talk too much about the harem. Let's think carefully about how to amend the law!"
The first and second assistants didn't say anything, just nodded slightly.
…
The Great Court Meeting on this day is destined to be recorded in the history of Daqi.
The fierce opposition of hundreds of officials failed to shake the emperor's determination to amend the law.
Several cabinet elders were the first to cease their activities and were detained in the cabinet... No, they took the initiative to go to the cabinet to discuss matters. From this day on, all the cabinet elders stayed in the palace so that the emperor could call for inquiries at any time.
The emperor's vigorous and resolute methods not only shocked the cabinet, but also shocked the ministers.
After the initial fierce opposition, the civil and military officials began to gradually change their tone. For example, "Actually, if you think about it carefully, it is not a bad thing for a woman to establish a female household."
"Your Majesty, this is for the sake of all the people, and also for the common people of Daqi!"
"In the yin and yang of heaven and earth, where there are men, there are women. Men and women each account for half. Women have been men's vassals for thousands of years. Now it is a benevolent and benevolent act of the emperor to be able to raise a female household and raise a female household!"
"As a man, I can't even have this kind of heart."
Public opinion began to tilt towards the emperor's side.
Of course, there are also die-hards who continue to file memorials to oppose changes to the law.
When several cabinet ministers saw such memorials, they would not stop them, and soon they were piled up in front of the emperor's imperial court.
The emperor's tough attitude was also completely unexpected.
Such memorials were all dismissed. The emperor's inscriptions were also included in the memorials. The words were short and powerful, such as "narrow-minded" and "unable to adapt". Two censors who spoke fiercely were directly dismissed from the position of censors.
The official position was filled by a young and loyal Xinke Jinshi.
There were also several officials from the six ministries who opposed fiercely, but they were also dismissed from their posts by the emperor. There was never a shortage of people in the officialdom. When someone was dismissed from an official here, there were people there who started to work hard to seize the vacant positions.
This is also the largest number of dismissals since the emperor ascended the throne. It makes all the ministers clearly understand what the power of the emperor is!
The opposition gradually subsided.
Being an official is not easy!
After studying hard for more than ten years, or even more than twenty years, I was admitted to the imperial examination and became an official. After many years in the officialdom, I got the official position I have today. Because I opposed the emperor's changes to the law, he was dismissed from office and kicked out of the court.
Damn, it’s really not worth it.
If someone comes from a strong family background, it would be better. Once an official from a poor family loses his official position, the entire family will lose their support.
After thinking about it, it really doesn't make sense.
The trick of killing chickens to scare monkeys will always work.
If it doesn't work, it only means that the chickens are not killed enough and ruthlessly.
Within half a month, the emperor dismissed eight officials one after another. Among them, the lowest official position was the sixth-rank censor. The highest official position was the fourth-rank doctor of the Ministry of Rites.
The opposition in the DPRK was finally completely suppressed by the emperor.
…
There was such a big commotion in the court, and naturally everyone in the harem was shocked.
The first to bear the brunt were the concubines who had "recovered from illness". Concubine Xian, Concubine Jing, immediately reported illness. When Concubine Duan saw that everyone was sick, she was panicked and had no choice but to report illness as well.
Concubine Mei was not in a hurry to get sick, nor did she have the courage to question Xie Mingxi anymore. She asked Sheng Hong worriedly in private: "Ah Hong, I heard that you dismissed eight officials one after another. The five cabinet ministers have also been kept in the palace.
, I haven’t been able to leave the palace and return home for half a month. What on earth are you going to do?"
Sheng Hong looked quite indifferent: "Didn't my mother and concubine already know this? I want to change the law so that women can also establish female households."
Concubine Mei choked for a moment and became a little anxious: "Why should a woman set up a female household? Isn't this nonsense? Those who have not given birth to a son will not leave their family property to their nephews. Are they going to be taken away by the married women?"
