Fenghou

Chapter 837
At the same time when Chen Qing purged the officialdom in Bashu on a large scale, the coffin of the Supreme Emperor finally arrived in Lin'an. The emperor Zhao Gou, dressed in filial clothing, led all the civil and military officials to greet him at the dock. When the coffin was carried out of the big ship, Zhao Gou and all the civil and military officials fell to the ground and mourn cry.

Zhao Gou helped the coffin in person, sent the coffin of his father to the temple for deposit, and ordered the whole country to mourn in silence for seven days. Three days later, the court held a grand ceremony to bury the coffin of the Supreme Emperor in Yonggu Mausoleum, and established the temple name Huizong.

For the late emperor Zhao Huan who was unable to accompany him due to illness, Zhao Gou generously respected him again as Emperor Xiaociyuan, and named him the elder brother of the Emperor Jian Guo, which is equivalent to enjoying the treatment of the emperor, but the specific job is to supervise the country. God knows how to be imprisoned in the country.

The former prince Zhao Chen was also named King Ning.

It was easier for Zhao Gou to deal with this nephew. After all, after cleaning up the old ones, the younger ones were easier. Lao Tzu was demoted from the emperor to the supervisor of the country, so the son can continue to be the prince?
Of course, these canonizations are just Zhao Gou's own words. If Zhao Huan himself does not accept it and refuses to announce his abdication, then the above canonizations are not legal.

So the key is for Zhao Huan to express his acceptance. How to get his brother to accept it is indeed a headache for Zhao Gou.

In fact, Zhao Gou’s biggest headache was Chen Qing. On the pier, Zhao Ding stood in front of the coffin and read out the emperor’s last decree. Encourage the world's heroes to work hard to become stronger, and those who welcome back the two emperors can be crowned princes in recognition of their great contributions to the country.

Hearing the last sentence, Zhao Gou was furious. Damn it, Zhao Ding didn't leak this news to himself in advance, and even read it publicly, so that all civil and military officials in the Manchu Dynasty knew the will of the Supreme Emperor.

Of course, we can’t blame Zhao Ding. The Supreme Emperor’s will is sealed and can only be opened after checking the seal on the spot. It is basically true, but the last sentence is clearly added later. How could Jin Guo allow such a will to exist? ?
Can Zhao Gou deny it?He couldn't deny that this was the Supreme Emperor's last decree. It was read publicly in front of the Supreme Emperor's coffin. The late emperor could prove that, as the late emperor, no one would suspect that the will was false.

Only Zhao Gou knew that his father was the king of the county at most, how could he be the prince, it was obviously tailored for him by Chen Qing.

In fact, Zhao Gou also had some guesses in his heart. This was probably Chen Qing's condition. If he made him a prince, his brother Zhao Huan would announce his abdication.

But what if that's not the case?
As if swallowing a dead mouse, Zhao Gou was forced to kowtow in front of the emperor's coffin to accept the will.

Three days later, Zhao Gou had no choice but to hold his nose and issued an decree, which greatly commended Chen Qing's great contribution to welcoming back the second emperor, but he didn't mention how to reward Chen Qing. Wang Zhijue.

Zhao Gou's meaning is also very clear, it is okay to be a prince, but there are conditions, please come to Lai'an to negotiate.

Xie Qian completed the escort mission and returned to his home in Lin'an City. He took half a month's leave and wanted to take a good rest.

At night, Xie Qian was telling his two sons about Jingzhao's situation. At this time, the housekeeper hurried in and whispered something in his ear. Xie Qian was startled, "Really!"

"Yes, it is indeed him."

"Please come to the guest room quickly, I will come right away!"

Xie Qian never thought that Prime Minister Qin Hui would come to visit him, which made him flustered.

Xie Qian stood there in a daze for a long while, and after being reminded by his son, he came back to his senses and hurried to the guest room in the atrium.

Qin Hui was already sitting in the VIP hall drinking tea.

Xie Qian hurriedly stepped forward, bowed and saluted, and said, "I don't know that my husband is coming, so I am far away from welcoming you. Please forgive me!"

Qin Hui put down the teacup, and said with a smirk: "I won't give you the truth, I came here with the official's secret decree, do you want to see the official's secret decree?"

"Understood dare not!"

Of course, Qin Hui didn't have any secret orders. He knew that the emperor was very dissatisfied with Zhao Ding because of the Supreme Emperor's edict, so he wanted to take this opportunity to get rid of Zhao Ding.

In fact, Qin Hui had already laid a trap for Zhao Ding, that is, Wu Miao, the governor of Hezhou, and He Qiangong, the governor of Changzhou, went to Jingzhao to visit Zhao Ding, and then Li Jinxiao rebelled, so Qin Hui could impeach Zhao Ding and order Shu officials to rebel.

But today Qin Hui just received an urgent report from Bashu, Li Jinxiao's rebellion has been extinguished by Chen Qing, and Chen Qing is purging the pro-court officials in Bashu prefectures, which means Chen Qing officially tore up the power separation agreement signed with the court.

Only then did Qin Hui realize that the consequences of this incident were too serious. The key was that the Son of Heaven knew that he had a connection with Li Jinxiao. Once this matter fermented, the Son of Heaven could easily guess that he was the one who encouraged Li Jinxiao and others to rebel.

I must stay out of this matter completely, and I can no longer use this trap to impeach Zhao Ding.

He used the emperor's secret decree to bribe Jie Qian.

"General Xie also saw it. On that day, Mr. Zhao read the emperor's last edict. The last sentence of the edict made the officials tremble with anger. No matter whether the edict is true or not, Mr. Zhao should communicate with the officials first, instead of reading it directly. The family is very dissatisfied with Mr. Zhao, and has already decided to dismiss him, General Xie, you are recommended by Mr. Zhao, once he is dismissed, what will happen to you, think about it?"

Xie Qian sighed and bowed his head in silence, how could he not know!He will also be demoted, and his official career will be over.

Qin Hui said earnestly again: "Now you have a chance. The officials can't use the emperor's edict to dismiss you, so you need an excuse. The officials want you to stand up, or you can provide evidence. In return, you will be a privy secretary." According to the decree, Jiasan official Zhongsan doctor, from a military general to a civil official, is still a fifth-rank general, and this opportunity is only once."

Xie Qian is currently serving as the Commander of the Palace, which is not the same as that of Chen Qing and Yue Fei. The Commander of the Palace is only a dispatcher and has no actual military power. When it is his turn to be on duty, he will receive a An army patrolling Ouchi, this kind of dispatcher can easily be cancelled, and his actual rank is the fourteenth rank of Youwu doctor, the sixth rank.

The sixth rank of a general is far from the fifth rank of a civil official, and their status is completely different. How could Xie Qian not be moved.

Xie Qian raised his head and said, "Mr. Zhao took a bribe from Chen Qing."

Qin Hui was overjoyed and asked anxiously, "What bribe?"

"A string of very expensive white jade Buddha beads, and a precious sword. It is the royal sword in the Supreme Emperor's collection. It is called Qingyue. This matter is absolutely true."

Qin Hui was trembling with excitement, he never expected that Zhao Ding would be here today, this was suspected of colluding with Chen Qing, the emperor would believe that Zhao Ding also participated in the concocting of the imperial edict.

All of these can be ignored, and the charge of accepting bribes from local warlords is enough to dismiss the prime minister.

"You write a letter of report now. I, Qin Hui, always keep my word. I will definitely guarantee you to be a privy secretary and join Zhongsan doctor."

"Thank you Xianggong for cultivating, I will write now!"

Xie Qian immediately wrote a report letter and handed it to Qin Hui, who hurried away with the letter.

Xie Qian was sitting in the VIP hall as if in a dream. At this moment, his wife Mrs. Zhang came over to clean up the teacup and said in a low voice, "It's not good for you to expose Mr. Zhao!"

Xie Qian immediately glared at her, "I told you, you are not allowed to eavesdrop on my conversation with the guests."

"I didn't eavesdrop. You speak so loudly. Of course I can hear you in the hall. Besides, I just remind you kindly."

"Women know what a fart. If I don't write this letter, once Zhao Ding is dismissed, I will be unlucky and you will have to go to the street to beg for food."

His wife, Mrs. Zhang, said again after a while: "What if Mr. Qin's words don't count?"

"Don't worry, everyone is watching! I wrote a report letter. If there is no benefit, who will dare to work for Qin Hui in the future?"

Mrs. Zhang wanted to say this, but in this way, everyone would know that you betrayed Enxiang, but she never said this.

The next day, Qin Hui used Jie Qian's report letter as evidence to impeach Zhao Ding for accepting bribes from local generals in private.

Sure enough, when Zhao Ding was forced to admit that he had indeed accepted the white jade beads and the famous sword Qingyue presented by Chen Qing, but he also defended himself that he had already written a report, but he hadn't had time to submit it yet.

How could the emperor Zhao Gou listen to his defense? He already believed that Zhao Ding and Chen Qing had colluded and deliberately read the emperor's last edict publicly, which caused him to fall into extreme passivity.

Zhao Gou immediately decreed that Zhao Ding was dismissed from the position of Xiangguo and demoted to know Quanzhou affairs.

A month later, Chen Qing's memorial on the suspension of the decentralization of power on Sichuan Road was sent to Lin'an. In a rage, Zhao Gou deposed Lv Qingshan again and demoted him to Shaoxing county lieutenant.

(End of this chapter)