When Hunjun begins to make elixirs

Chapter 3 The situation in the study room

Sejong spent four years quelling the rebellion, revoking the fiefdoms of all vassal kings in the North in one fell swoop, and further reducing the power of vassal kings in other regions, making them nominal.

It seems like a happy ending, but another disaster is slowly brewing.

From Taizu to Gaozong, although the imperial power could not dominate, it still steadily suppressed the power of the prime minister.From Ruizong to Xizong, the two declined and the other increased, and they were generally in a state of balance.

However, in Sejong's later years, the power of the prime minister had become a presence that could influence the emperor's heir creation.The Hu family has three prime ministers.There is a folk proverb: "In the Li family's dynasty, the Hu family's officials have thrown themselves in front of the prime minister's door. Today they are still poor people, but they will not be able to climb high buildings tomorrow." Moreover, behind the Hu family stood a group of military generals and nobles who won the war by suppressing the rebellion. It has long been impossible to lose control of local real power.

Faced with the out-of-control situation, Sejong tried his best to make up for it. First, he reused eunuchs, added the inner court's ceremonial supervisor, and divided the power of Zhongshu. The eunuch who held the seal was also called the internal minister by hundreds of officials. At the same time, he set up supervisory eunuchs in various places.

The second is to recruit Qingliu to become a bachelor in Wenyuan Pavilion and serve as the emperor's staff.

On the basis of the original Jinwu Guard, the Divine Machine Manufacturing Office was set up. On the surface, it recruited strange people from the folk to create mysterious items. In fact, the Divine Machine Guards under it were intelligence supervisors.

There is a folk proverb: "The sun holds King Wu, and the bright moon guards me."

Man's calculation is not as good as God's calculation, but Shizong's efforts were defeated by his predecessor's father.

The late emperor was weak and unable to deal with the complicated affairs of the court and the heavy government affairs. He reigned for 11 years and was incompetent. He favored traitors and was superstitious about alchemy. He hoped that he could live longer. As a result, the coffin was closed earlier than anyone else.

The predecessor was the fifth son of the late emperor's concubine. He had a third brother who was the prince, so he could not take the throne.Unexpectedly, God's will plays a trick on people. The late emperor died one day, and the prince died the next day. It was very strange.

A country cannot live without a king for a day.The late emperor had five sons in total. Hu Minde and others chose to skip the eldest prince, second prince, and fourth prince, and elected his predecessor, who was only 13 years old at the time, had a cowardly personality, and was as frail and sick as his father, to succeed him. The purpose is self-evident.

Hu Minde acted more domineeringly than the previous two prime ministers of the Hu family. It seemed that he had accumulated power over three generations, and he was no longer satisfied with the position of prime minister "under one person and above ten thousand people."

Facing Hu Minde's questioning, Li Shun restrained the expression on his face, and his sharp eyes fell on him: "What? I can't even interfere with military and national affairs?"

Hu Minde obviously did not expect that the emperor would say such heart-wrenching words, and the information contained in it made him alert.However, it is impossible to be cowardly. He lowered his eyes a little and did not look at her: "Why did the emperor say this? I also consider it for the sake of the imperial court."

This was ambiguous. Only he knew whether he was answering Li Shun or talking about a recommendation.

The sudden tense situation made the other people present feel puzzled. Why did the emperor, who had been so amiable just now, change his face?

At the same time, he also quickly thought about the sects in it. They were all elites among the people. Who was the emperor's complaint directed at? Anyone with ears could hear the signal it represented.

Zhou Qing stepped forward again and stood side by side with Hu Minde: "Your Majesty, Prime Minister Hu is also promoting talents for the country."

Li Shun snorted coldly: "I think he is not suitable!"

Hu Minde's face suddenly became ashen as water: "The Emperor thinks it is inappropriate? Then name a suitable person and let all the colleagues here listen to it!"

"Hu Xiang's words are a bit too much!"

Zhao Zhongxiao on the side finally spoke, and his originally cloudy eyes burst out with a penetrating look: "Let's not talk about what you are doing for now! You are all well-educated people, so there is no need for me to remind you of the ways of a monarch and his ministers. Mr. Hu, Your father, your grandfather, and the two old prime ministers would not have dared to be so disrespectful to the emperor."

Hu Minde also realized that he had lost his sense of proportion. Seeing that no one around him spoke up for him, he could only suppress his anger: "I am temporarily impatient. Please forgive me, Your Majesty."

Li Shun was very satisfied with Zhao Zhongxiao's reaction. Jiang was still old and spicy. He made his attitude clear and he expressed it immediately.Li Shun did not accept Hu Minde's apology. He turned to Zhao Zhongxiao and said, "What are your opinions on the candidate for the governor of Zhili?" Zhao Zhongxiao said lightly: "The old slave thinks that Zhou Shilang has the virtues and talents and is a good candidate. , but in recent years, the Ministry of War has a lot of affairs, and Zhou Shilang is indispensable to worry about, so we should choose another talented person."

Are you trying to pick peaches?

Hu Minde glared at Zhao Zhongxiao, a castrate with incomplete penises also wanted to snatch food from his tiger's mouth?However, he had just offended the emperor, so he could not speak again, so he gave Zhou Qing a look.

Zhou Qing understood: "What Eunuch Zhao said is wrong! The imperial court has a system, and it cannot function without someone? Besides, the six ministries also have ministers in charge. Can't they not function without a minister?"

Zhao Zhongxiao snorted coldly: "Prime Minister Zhou is so impatient, could it be because Zhou Guangzheng is your cousin? Aren't you afraid that others will say you are nepotistic!"

Zhou Qing's face turned red as if someone stepped on his little tail. He jumped up and cursed: "You fart, you don't avoid relatives when you promote virtuous people! Taizu's decree: 'Eunuchs are not allowed to participate in politics', what qualifications do you have to criticize me!" "

Li Shun finally opened his eyes to the false court and conspiracies.In the real court, all kinds of hats are flying everywhere.

"All right!"

Hu Minde interrupted the bickering between the two and took the opportunity to speak: "How can you be so rude in the court! Eunuch Zhao is the chief minister of ceremonies appointed by Emperor Sejong, why are you taking out Taizu's order! Since Eunuch Zhao recommended me If you have any objections, please ask your father-in-law to propose a choice, compare the two, and let the emperor judge which one is better and which one is worse, and then make a decision."

Hu Minde is confident that most of the powerful officials in the court today are his followers.Except for some little people who are not on the stage, Zhao Zhongxiao also controls the Jinwu Guards, Shenji Guards, and some local guard eunuchs.

How could the dignified Governor-General of Zhili let those eagle dogs and eunuchs do it!

The old castrated dog usually relies on the imperial power to barely fight against him. Does he really think of himself as a person?

Hu Minde looked at Zhao Zhongxiao with a sneer, as if to say: "You want to compete with me for power? You are not qualified like a castrated dog!"

Zhao Zhongxiao sneered in response and said directly: "Your Majesty, I just had someone in mind."

Li Shun asked curiously: "Who?"

"Master Liu Zheng."

"What?" Hu Minde's face changed drastically. He couldn't believe his ears and confirmed again: "Eunuch Zhao is not joking?"

Zhao Zhongxiao raised his chin, with a half-smile on his face: "I don't dare to joke about national affairs."

Hu Minde clenched his fists, really afraid of what might happen!All along, what he was most worried about was the alliance between Zhao Zhongxiao and Liu Zheng. Fortunately, in the past, those Qingliu who were self-righteous and looked down on Zhao Zhongxiao's eunuchs were suppressed by the two of them.

Regardless of how severely these Qingliu scholars were suppressed by the imperial court, the power behind them was considerable. If the Xungui Group represented the north, then they represented the south.

The Dayin Dynasty was divided into northern and southern factions to recruit scholars, and the officials in the central and central Dynasty were naturally divided into northern and southern factions.Before King Sejong, the number of officials in the capital was almost the same as that of southerners and northerners. After the Three Kings Rebellion, with the rise of the Xungui Group, northern scholars relied on them and received a large number of promotions. Officials from various ministries accounted for [-]%.

Scholars in the south had long complained, and Dayin was already on the verge of splitting.

(End of this chapter)