The mysterious bird of destiny, the beginning of China

Chapter 217 The Republic of Divine Birds

"The humble position is here!"

A burly man in armor walked out and responded respectfully.

……

As the sacred bird called out, officials came out one after another. Under the gaze of the people of Chang'an below, the divine bird also looked at them.

In just a short time, there were already more than a dozen people below whom he called out.

Under everyone's gaze, Bai Zhi continued: "You are all ministers of the imperial court and the pillars of the Tang Dynasty. During the period when the new emperor is being elected, you will make decisions together on many matters of the Tang Dynasty! "

Hearing what Shenniao said, the dozens of people who were called out below all looked shocked. They had obviously guessed that Shenniao really planned not to elect a new emperor.

But they had no say in this matter.

If the divine bird is offended, I'm afraid...

"I'll obey!"

Seeing the dozen or so people below saluting respectfully, Bai Zhi looked at the remaining civil and military officials, and then warned:

"From now on, before the new emperor is elected, the officials below cannot shirk the decrees implemented by these dozen people, cannot deceive the superiors and deceive the subordinates, cannot be disobedient, and cannot disrespect the government orders. Anyone who violates them will be punished. , you will find out!!”

"We obey!"

The remaining civil and military officials were shocked when they heard the warning from the divine bird, and then responded respectfully without hesitation.

After warning the remaining people, Bai Zhi looked at the dozen or so people he called out again, and said the same: "You fifteen people are not allowed to use public tools for private use, you are not allowed to follow the law arbitrarily, and you are not allowed to have selfish motives. If you can't do it, , abdicate the throne as soon as possible and make way for someone more worthy, you will know later!!"

"We obey!"

Prime Minister Zhang Huazhong and others also responded quickly, saying that they would not dare to violate the words of the divine bird.

Normally, you don't have to listen to the emperor's words, but you don't dare not to listen to the divine bird's words.

After arranging these, Bai Zhi said again: "As for the big things that are really uncertain, you can go and ask Princess Yong'an for advice. If Princess Yong'an cannot decide the matter, then it will be decided by me!"

Bai Zhi took this job on himself without hesitation. Of course, as for important matters, he had the final say.

"Yes!!"

The people below heard this and didn't know where. Although a new emperor had not been elected at this time, there was a divine bird presiding over national affairs. I am afraid this was something that no emperor in the past had been able to obtain.

So after hearing this, everyone below no longer had worries in their hearts, and they were even full of curiosity and expectations about the future political affairs.

As the words of the divine bird reached everyone's ears, everyone below couldn't help talking, whispering, and talking with their heads down.

The common people on the square finally knew at this moment that the Divine Bird actually planned not to elect a new emperor, and there would even be no emperor within a period of time!

They could not imagine how the entire Tang Dynasty would function without the emperor.

However, all this is obviously not something they can worry about, but the civil and military officials above seem to be confident.

With the arrangements here, there are almost no major matters. As for the small matters, they can be arranged later, or power can be delegated to the fifteen people chosen by themselves.

"In this case, the abdication ceremony ends here!"

As Bai Zhi's words fell, the soldiers standing around the square quickly began to deal with order and arranged for the civilians on the square to walk out of the palace in an orderly manner.

As for the civil and military officials above, Princess Yong'an and Wu Zetian who had abdicated, they have not left. Today, the Tang Dynasty no longer has an emperor, and the operation of the entire court makes them a little overwhelmed, so they still need the guidance of the divine bird. .

As the people below left, Bai Zhi took Li Xinni, Wu Zetian and all the civil and military officials directly into the Weiyang Palace.

The Weiyang Palace is magnificent, with dragons and gold pillars standing on both sides, carved beams and painted buildings, majestic and majestic, showing its royal style.

But no one was sitting on the emperor's throne at the top. Wu Zetian and Li Xinni who followed Bai Zhi just stood on Danbi and stopped moving forward.

Seeing this, Bai Zhi flew up to the emperor's throne without hesitation, then stood on the throne, and then looked at the civil and military officials below again.

The civil and military officials below stood respectfully. They naturally noticed the movements of the divine bird, but no one objected. They did not feel that the behavior of the divine bird undermined the royal majesty, but rather represented the great royal majesty.

"You must all be very confused..."

Bai Zhi looked at the civil and military officials below, and then said slowly: "As the saying goes, a country cannot live without a king for a day. Why doesn't the Divine Bird elect a new emperor today?"

Bai Zhi asked himself and answered, "Of course this has my own deep meaning."

Bai Zhi did not explain too much, "But you don't have to worry, the new emperor will eventually be elected, and it will still be for ten years. After ten years, I will naturally elect a new emperor."

Everyone below listened to the words of the divine bird and breathed a sigh of relief. Although there was no emperor presiding over the government in the past ten years, there was a divine bird.

In their opinion, the divine bird is more majestic than the emperor!

Seeing that everyone below was silent, Bai Zhi nodded slightly and then continued:

"From now on, the fifteen people selected by me will form the cabinet. Many national affairs will be discussed by the cabinet before the final decision is made. Among the cabinet, the prime minister is the leader!"

"The prime minister has the final decision-making power, but he cannot violate the majority opinion of the cabinet!"

"Do you understand?"

"Sir, you understand!"

Fifteen people headed by the prime minister quickly came out and responded respectfully.

"Of course, I will watch your every move on weekdays, which can be regarded as a kind of supervision."

Bai Zhi's tone was solemn and he said: "But don't worry too much, as long as you don't do anything harmful to the world, I won't attack you!"

"Don't dare..."

As these words fell, everyone below couldn't help but turn pale, and it seemed that thin sweat could be seen on their foreheads.

They were already at the pinnacle of power in the Tang Dynasty. They held great power and could influence the government of the Tang Dynasty with every word and deed. But when they heard the words of the divine bird, they were still as frightened as ordinary people.

Seeing their reactions, Bai Zhi knew that the effect had been achieved, and he would no longer knock anymore, and then looked at everyone, "If you have any doubts in your heart, you can speak freely at this time, and I will answer them one by one!"

After saying this, Bai Zhi stopped talking and waited quietly for the people below to ask questions.

The civil and military officials below could not help but lower their heads and started talking, exchanging their understandings of how to proceed in the future.

Li Xinni, who was standing aside, also frowned slightly. She was a smart person, and from just now to now, she gradually noticed something in the arrangement of the divine bird.

So she looked at the divine bird above, and then asked: "Is it possible that the divine bird did this intentionally not to elect the emperor?"

Wu Zetian on the side was even more shocked. After being the emperor for ten years, she naturally understood the power struggle in the court better, and after hearing all the arrangements of the divine bird, her understanding became more thorough.

"Does the Divine Bird intend to dethrone the emperor forever?"

It’s no wonder Wu Zetian thought so. Whether it was the Divine Bird forming a cabinet or not electing an emperor for the time being, it seemed to be a new way of running the country.

But if a country does not have an emperor, who will the people of the world be loyal to? Wu Zetian realized something in her heart, but then more doubts emerged, making her silent.

"Oh, why do you think so?"

When Bai Zhi heard Li Xinni's words, he looked at Li Xinni in surprise. At the same time, he was also a little surprised in his heart. He was surprised at Li Xinni's intelligence. He didn't expect that he could see some clues so quickly.

Yes, what Bai Zhi did at this time was to reform the national political system in accordance with later generations, but it was also an attempt.

After all, thousands of years later, many experiments have been carried out, and there is only one path suitable for the Chinese nation.

But now, after all, it was more than 1000 years ago. Different productivity will naturally lead to different operating methods.

It can be regarded as an experiment by Bai Zhi.

Before that, she allowed Wu Zetian to successfully ascend the throne as emperor, which subtly changed the concept of today's people. After all, there is already a woman as emperor. After that, even if there is no emperor, the entire country will be just like this and can run smoothly.

Of course, Bai Zhi also knew in his heart that the most important thing was the existence of the divine bird himself.

In the previous ten years, Wu Zetian became the empress, not least because she had this divine bird to endorse her. In the next ten years, there will be no emperor in the Tang Dynasty, because of the existence of this divine bird!

But in any case, it does not prevent him from experimenting like this, which can be regarded as providing some experience for future generations.

"Because from the previous arrangements of the Divine Bird, it seems that all this is not simple. For example, this cabinet is even more exquisite..."

Li Xinni's words gradually weakened, and she thought of something again.

Shen Niao once said before that the cabinet is headed by the prime minister, who has the power to make decisions, but the actions of the prime minister cannot go against the will of the majority of the people in the cabinet...

There are fifteen people in the cabinet, and it is impossible for all fifteen people to work together, so the power of the prime minister is limited to a certain extent.

Maintaining a kind of subtlety in the cabinet will allow the entire country to operate normally.

Not to mention that there is a divine bird suppressing it further up, so there will be no surprises in the cabinet in a short time.

"What you are thinking is right."

Bai Zhi admitted it directly, and he would not hide it from Li Xinni.

After all, Li Xinni refused to be emperor in front of all the civil and military officials and the people of Chang'an City, so what else did she care about?

"..."

After hearing Bai Zhi's admission, Li Xinni didn't say much and remained silent.

Next, the civil and military officials above the court came out one after another to ask some questions, and Bai Zhi also answered them one by one.

Time passed slowly. The abdication ceremony started in the morning and ended at noon. They then entered Weiyang Palace to discuss political affairs. It was already the end of noon.

Li Xinni immediately asked the people in the palace to prepare lunch and held a banquet directly in the palace, allowing all the civil and military officials of the dynasty to dine directly in the palace.

There was no emperor at this time, and the civil and military officials of the dynasty did not have too many restrictions. After the banquet, the prime minister suddenly came out again, looked at the sacred bird above, and asked respectfully:

"Although there is no emperor in the Tang Dynasty at this time, it cannot be without an era name. In this way, we can distinguish the time and ask the divine bird to give it an era name!"

"Year number..."

The so-called New Year's Eve is just a timekeeping method introduced after the emperor ascended the throne in order to facilitate timekeeping and distinguish time.

The first was Liu Che, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.

When the empress was on the throne, the reign name was Xuanniao!

Today, it is still the tenth year of Xuanniao.

Thinking of this, Bai Zhi also felt that he should choose a reign name. After all, in the next ten years, I am afraid that he will leave a mark in the history books, and in the next ten years, he will also become a person for future generations. In the millennium, A piece of history that will always be admired in time.

After a moment of silence, Bai Zhi said slowly:

"In this case, the name of the year will be 'Republic of Divine Birds'!"

A four-character year number!

Even the prime minister who took out the reign name was a little surprised. He didn't expect that the divine bird actually took a four-character reign name.

"The Republic of Divine Birds..."

Everyone at the banquet had these four words echoing in their hearts, and understood their profound meaning.

Of course, there is no need to say more about the word "Sacred Bird", but the word "Republic" behind it is extraordinary!

At this time, everyone heard the word republic for the first time.

Therefore, most people did not know the meaning of republic. Bai Zhi naturally knew this, so he took the initiative to explain to everyone:

"The so-called republic means implementing administrative orders based on the will of the people, and no longer implementing administrative orders based on the will of the former emperor."

Having said this, Bai Zhi thought of something else and looked at everyone, "The most important thing about the Republic is the cabinet!"

"The people in the cabinet are all elected by the officials in the court, and the prime minister at the head of the cabinet is elected by the people in the cabinet. This is a republic!"

After Bai Zhi finished speaking, everyone fell silent again.

They savored Bai Zhi's words carefully and marveled at the subtlety of the word "republic"!

Everyone can't help but start to look forward to the next ten years of the Bird Republic!

Even Wu Zetian and Li Xinni on the side were a little lost, sighing at the wisdom of the magical bird, they could even think of the "republic" way of managing the country!

……

As the news from the palace spread, everyone in Chang'an City knew about the emperor's abdication today and the entire process of the emperor's abdication.

"I never thought that the divine bird would actually come to the Empress's abdication ceremony..."

Someone did not enter the palace to watch the abdication ceremony, which was obviously very regretful.

"Although the empress has abdicated, there is no emperor in the Tang Dynasty today!"

Someone knew what happened in the palace and they said in disbelief.

"There is no emperor in the Tang Dynasty? Who will the people of the Tang Dynasty be loyal to?"

"Without the emperor, how will the many affairs of the court be carried out?"

"Why is there no emperor? Hasn't the empress been elected?"

"I remember that there are many middle-aged talents in the Li clan today, not to mention that the original emperor did not pass away..."

"..."

The people in the city were discussing the affairs in the palace enthusiastically and expressing their opinions.

Of course, some people know the whole process:

"The entire abdication ceremony was presided over by the divine bird!"

"What?! The Divine Bird hosted it?!"

(End of this chapter)