Traveling through Tianlong: Starting from the Zhenlong chess game

Chapter 566 Contradictory Heart
In the past, Yu Wenzhi once said, "Since we are born, we must die. Why not become emperor for one day?"

Men may be able to resist the temptation of money and beauty, but it is difficult for anyone to resist the temptation of power, even if he is a monarch who only enjoys the benefits of power and does not fulfill his obligations.

Therefore, Zhao Mu felt very conflicted. Although this was just a parallel universe independent of his own time and space, this parallel universe was real to him now. He was also somewhat tempted to be able to make further progress for the emperor and reach the pinnacle of his life.

But he was conflicted in two points. The first was that he was still thinking about Cheoljong. Cheoljong had treated him well, and although he was mean and shameless, he had not yet gone to the point of repaying kindness with hatred. Now that Cheoljong was in the palace and his life or death was unknown, he was busy proclaiming himself emperor, which was somewhat unfair to him.

And one thing that surprised Zhao Mu was that the life span of Zhezong in this time and space seemed to be a little shorter. When Zhao Mu first met Zhezong, he was still a young emperor of fifteen or sixteen years old. Now the two have been king and minister for many years, and Zhezong is only in his early twenties.

Although Zhao Mu was not very good at history, he clearly remembered that Zhezong lived to be 25 years old. Even if the ancients used the lunar age as the lunar calendar, Zhezong should have lived to be 3 or 2 years old. Why did it become like this now? Could it be that his appearance changed his original destiny, making him worry more about state affairs and shortening his original lifespan?

The second point is that Zhao Mu wanted to enjoy the wealth brought by power, but did not want to meddle in the affairs of the people. Although Zhao Mu was greedy and lustful, he was not without a heart. He knew that if the ruler was not virtuous, the people would suffer. He could be a heroic ruler who expanded the territory, but he could not be a wise ruler who governed the country.

If he bullied men and women, it would only harm one or two people. Even if he captured all the royal women of the Western Region Uighurs for his own pleasure, it would only ruin the Uighur king's family. But if he couldn't sit on the dragon throne properly, how many people would die?

Zhao Mu now ruled the former land of Western Xia, with a population of no more than one million. The territory under his jurisdiction was no more than one state. He could ride a fast horse from east to west in a few days. He felt bored governing such a small place with such a small population. Not to mention the millions of people in the Central Plains.

Moreover, according to the goal he set before, he would build a "huge country" that was no less large than the prosperous Tang Dynasty, but he had no confidence in governing it well. He did not want such things as exchanging children for food and leaving thousands of miles of land barren to happen during his reign.

Therefore, Zhao Mu is now caught in a dilemma.

After much thought, Zhao Musi decided that it would be better to rescue Zhezong first.

Since Zhezong was seriously ill, he happened to know two of the best doctors, his senior brother Su Xinghe and his nephew Xue Muhua.

However, Zhao Mu now blames Zhezong a little bit, and also blames himself for not being careful enough. He and Zhezong have been together for such a long time, but he didn't find out that Zhezong was seriously ill. And Zhezong was also a "bastard" who didn't tell him that he was seriously ill.

Zhao Mu can only pray to God for protection and help Zhezong survive this disaster safely.

That day, Zhao Mu summoned Long Xuan, Hong Luan, Fang Shisan, Hu Yanjin and others to discuss countermeasures.

Long Xuan interrogated Eunuch Liu and others, and also asked them about the current situation in Bianjing City.

First of all, Zhezong is not dead yet, but he is now seriously ill and can only lie on the bed. Although Queen Dowager Xiang had the intention of rebellion and planned to support Prince Dan to ascend the throne, she did not treat Zhezong cruelly. She treated Zhezong's illness and provided him with food, clothing and other expenses. It was just because Zhezong wanted to pass the throne to Zhao Mu, which violated their core interests, so they had to take the initiative.

However, the left and right attendants of Zhezong had been completely sidelined by Empress Dowager Xiang, and all of them were replaced by her people. At present, only Concubine Liu and Empress Meng were taking care of Zhezong.

In the court, Fan Chunren, Lu Dafang and others who had been dismissed by Zhezong were reinstated with the help of Sima Guang and Empress Dowager Xiang.

Zhang Dun, Zeng Bu and others promoted by Zhezong were all dismissed from office or transferred to other places. And Zhang Dun, like in history, opposed Prince Duan's regency and opposed Prince Duan's appointment as the heir. Because of this, he was beaten with 20 canes on his back.

As for the military commanders, the loyal and filial king, General Yang, and other generals who had followed Zhao Mu in the expedition were all sent home to retire. At present, the military power in the capital was held by the young prince, the Grand Commandant. All the affairs of the court had to be reviewed by the "regent prince" Prince Duan before they could be implemented.

It can be said that this palace coup in the capital was completely controlled by the forces headed by Empress Dowager Xiang and the civil service group headed by Sima Guang.

The only omission was that Zhezong gave Zhao Mu the edict of succession, the emperor's seal, the authoritative "Golden Casket" of the Song Dynasty's inheritance law, and the imperial seal that Fang Shisan risked his life to bring out in advance.

Now that the emperor has no seal, Prince Duan and others can only appoint and dismiss personnel in the six ministries of the court, but they cannot replace the external officials in the prefectures and roads.

Because the appointment and removal of officials at the prefecture and provincial level required not only a letter of transfer from the Ministry of Personnel, but also an imperial decree from the emperor. Without the imperial seal, the transfer of local prefectures and prefects was invalid. They had no power to appoint and remove officials, from prefects to generals at the pass.

Moreover, Prince Duan and others did not make public the loss of the emperor's seal. Although they could command the officials of the prefectures and the pass, they could not appoint or dismiss them. They also replaced these officials with their own people.

Zong Longxuan told everyone the intelligence he had obtained: "That's it. What should we do now?"

Hongluan said at this time: "Xuan, you won't be fooled by that old eunuch again this time, will you?"

Cong Longxuan replied, "I just didn't investigate last time. I didn't expect such a big thing to happen in the capital. And no one can lie under the torture of Cong Longwei."

Fang Shisan also said at this time: "That's right, I think Eunuch Liu should not have lied. Although His Majesty is seriously ill, he is not at the end of his life. It's just that His Majesty asked me to summon the prince back to the court to succeed the throne, but it was exposed, so he had no choice but to let us escape with the imperial seal."

Zhao Mu was relieved after hearing this and said, "Your Majesty is safe and sound for now, that's good. If the Queen Mother Xiang abuses Your Majesty madly, I will never forgive them."

Hu Yanjin said at this time: "Okay, let's talk about how to deal with the current situation first."

Then everyone looked at Zhao Mu.

Zhao Mu saw everyone's gaze and asked, "Why are you looking at me? I came to discuss with you because I couldn't make up my mind. I opened the box that His Majesty gave me before he left, and inside it was the golden box and the edict of succession. It's better not to let those outside know about this matter for now. Let's talk about your own opinions first, and how we should proceed at this stage."

Cong Longxuan said: "What are you thinking about? Since His Majesty has decided to pass the throne to you, then you will be the next king of the Song Dynasty."

After saying that, Zong Longxuan immediately knelt on the ground and shouted: "Your Majesty, your servant Leng Ningxiang pays respect to you!"

(End of this chapter)