I studied in modern times

Chapter 791 Ripples
April 23th, the second year of Yuanyou ().

Due to the influence of the Zhang Dunli case, after Zhang Dunli's death, the Qingshou Palace announced that it would wear plain clothes and avoid the main hall to reflect on itself, and would no longer participate in daily court hearings.

In fact, what happened before and after Zhang Dunli's death made the Qingshou Palace terrified.

Not to mention anything else, just one thing - it started raining as soon as Zhang Dunli was convicted.

This made the people in Qingshou Palace speechless and extremely frightened.

In particular, the Empress Dowager herself was extremely superstitious, which exacerbated the anxiety and uneasiness in the Qingshou Palace.

As for how Zhao Xu knew?
The answer, of course, is that he has an undercover agent in Qingshou Palace!
"Everyone, Liang Congzheng said that since the traitor Zhang Dunli hanged himself, the Empress Dowager has been having nightmares and often wakes up in the middle of the night..." Feng Jing reported the news from the Qingshou Palace in a low voice.

Zhao Xu listened and looked at him calmly, the subtext naturally being to continue.

Feng Jing certainly understood this, so he continued in a low voice: "Liang Congzheng also said that there is some unrest inside and outside the Qingshou Palace..."

"Many female officials and eunuchs have privately begun to establish friendly relations with the Baoci Palace..."

Zhao Xu listened and was not surprised at all.

Because a similar thing happened in his previous life.

At that time, the Empress Dowager was not seriously ill, but after Zhao Xu's wedding, defectors began to appear inside and outside the Qingshou Palace.

As soon as the Empress Dowager fell ill, the entire inner court system established during the Yuanyou period collapsed in an instant.

Chen Yan could only try to seize power by cutting off the connection between the Qingshou Palace and the outer court through the Imperial City Administration and the Ministry of Internal Eunuchs.

however……

It was just his desperate struggle.

Because long before the Empress Dowager was bedridden and taking medicine, the Qingshou Palace system was already riddled with problems.

A large number of eunuchs and female officials have already jumped off the ship.

Either they sided with Zhao Xu or with Empress Dowager Xiang in Baoci Palace.

Liang Congzheng secretly pledged allegiance to Zhao Xu very early on.

So, when Chen Yan was racking his brains in the Qingshou Palace thinking about how to take control of the military power.

With the assistance of Liang Congzheng, Zhao Xu had secretly recalled Song Yongchen and Liu Weijian.

Through Song Yongchen and Liu Weijian, Zhao Xu was able to control the dragon guards and ensure his own safety.

Then, on this basis, Zhao Xu secretly summoned Miao Shou, deputy commander-in-chief of the Palace Front Department, Yao Lin, deputy commander-in-chief of the Imperial Guards' cavalry and infantry, and others, and obtained their loyalty.

Thus, the entire imperial city, inside and outside, was completely under his control.

The reason why it was not launched was that they were just waiting for the Empress Dowager in the Qingshou Palace to die.

Zhao Xu was already very patient at that time.

On the day when the Qingshou Palace was in mourning, Zhao Xu easily dismissed all of Chen Yan's assignments with a simple decree. Diao Cang, who had held great power in the Yuanyou era, fell quietly.

Before Zhao Xu took power, he died quietly in the inner court prison.

The prime minister in the outer court didn’t even know what was happening!
Of course, even if they knew, they were powerless to do anything and could only watch Zhao Xu summon Xifeng ministers back to the court from all over the country.

This is the human heart and also human nature.

It cannot be seen or touched, but it can influence the world and affect the rise and fall of a country.

As the saying goes, once you make great efforts, you will be exhausted again and again.

Now is the time when the Qingshou Palace needs the Empress Dowager to inspire people and boost morale.

Unfortunately, the Empress Dowager herself failed first.

Naturally, it’s no wonder that others want to jump ship.

Eunuchs, you still have a choice.

But the female officials had no choice but to go to Baoci Palace and make friends with it.

Feng Jing observed Zhao Xu's expression and continued to report: "I heard from people in the inner court that the Empress Dowager had written to the Grand Madam of Wu Chu State some time ago... Today, the Grand Madam of Wu Chu State has issued an order to prohibit the discussion of state affairs, and ordered that anyone of the Xiang family in the capital who dares to criticize state affairs will be expelled from the clan from now on!" Zhao Xu finally spoke up after hearing this: "The Grand Madam is really a man of great righteousness, and she has passed on the kindness of the leaking spring to me!"

The Lady Tai of Wu Chuguo was Zhang, the biological mother of Empress Dowager Xiang.

Last month, after the emperor enshrined Zhao Xu's father, he followed the custom and promoted her from the Grand Lady of Qin and Lu to the Grand Lady of Wu and Chu.

The Empress Dowager's biological mother, Zhang, was promoted from the Grand Lady of Han and Zhao to the Grand Lady of Qin and Han.

There are differences in the amount of food, fiefdom, and bath money added to each person.

At the same time, the Empress Dowager and Empress Dowager Xiang’s three generations of ancestors, grandmothers, and great-grandmothers were all posthumously honored.

Even Zhao Xu's cousins ​​were blessed with this favor.

For example, the little daughter of Prince Yang Zhao Ju, who was still babbling, was named a princess.

Naturally, Zhao Xu's younger brother and sister also received rewards.

While talking to Feng Jing, Guo Zhongxiao came before Zhao Xu and bowed respectfully, saying, "Your Majesty, I am here to deliver the newly arranged audience with the ministers this month in compliance with the Majesty's order!"

As he spoke, he took out a prepared seal and presented it respectfully.

This is also the ripple of the Zhang Dunli case.

Affected by the Zhang Dunli case, the audience date for Cui Taifu and others who had been confirmed to enter the palace to attend the court had to be postponed.

Afterwards, in order to avoid gossip, the Empress Dowager wore plain clothes and stayed in the main hall, and no longer participated in the morning court sessions.

If the Grand Empress Dowager did not participate, then Empress Dowager Xiang certainly could not participate either, otherwise it would be an overstepping of her authority.

Therefore, the only person who could attend the court to listen to government affairs became Zhao Xu.

Zhao Xu liked to sleep in, and even on the day of the imperial lecture, he would sleep until 2:15 am (7:00 am) before getting up.

I usually sleep until 8 o'clock.

He certainly has a point - he's still young and needs plenty of sleep to develop.

As a result, the morning court sessions became a mere formality.

However, there was no emperor or empress dowager at the morning court, which was normal in the Song Dynasty.

In the late Renmiao era, the Renmiao was usually on standby in the palace.

Even when he was in better health, he was still busy having children - until the last moment of his life, he never gave up his efforts to have a healthy heir.

During the Yingmiao era, this emperor, who reigned for four years, was unable to govern for two and a half years due to cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.

Zhao Xu's father, the emperor, was also absent for a long time in the seventh year of Yuanfeng.

So small problem.

However, it was a necessary procedure for maintaining the normal operation of the country for civil officials above the rank of capital official and military officials above the rank of ambassador to meet the emperor after returning to the court.

Because if they cannot meet with the emperor, the dismissal process will be stuck.

What’s even more terrible is that once this group of people is stuck, the people behind them will also be stuck, causing a traffic jam and paralyzing the normal national ruling order.

Therefore, even in Yingmiao's later years, when he was paralyzed in bed due to a stroke, the prime minister would bring the ministers to the court to pay their respects to Yingmiao's sickbed in the Funing Hall.

Now, the Empress Dowager refused to attend court because Zhang Dunli wore plain clothes and avoided the main hall.

Empress Dowager Xiang did not dare to attend court without the presence of the Grand Empress Dowager.

But the official's normal audience process must continue.

Therefore, we can only make compromises.

The result of this expedient was that an imperial edict was issued to the empress dowager, ordering the Dutang and the Tongjiansi to rearrange the audience shifts, and then choose a time when Zhao Xu was free to allow the officials who should meet the emperor to meet in a group - usually they just bowed from a distance, and that was considered the end of the process.

There is no doubt that Empress Dowager Xiang was actually intentionally taking advantage of this opportunity to strengthen the imperial power.

The audience ceremony, which was originally scheduled for the morning court session, was moved to the time Zhao Xu wanted.

(End of this chapter)