Great Han Empire

Chapter 738
When the emperor died, only the eldest princess and the queen were by his side.

Jinyang Palace was as usual, very quiet.

Master Xiangkai and Master Huatuo walked into Shangshutai under the guard of Habayashi Lang Zhao Hu and thirty Habayashi guards.

In an elegant study room at Shangshutai, the three Shanggongs stood up to greet them.

Master Hua Tuo shook his head sadly, and sighed softly, "Your Majesty is very young and should be saved."

After the general returned to Jinyang a few days ago, Master Hua Tuo once again asked for a craniotomy, and described in detail how he had saved several lives by using the craniotomy.The general hesitated for a long time.If the emperor can be saved, the crisis facing Hebei can be easily resolved.But treating people is not fighting. Fighting can be dangerous, but treating people is not good, especially in today's world.If the Son of Heaven died intact, outsiders would not believe that the Son of Heaven died of illness, but the court ministers believed it.Now I opened the emperor's head, the emperor is dead, who killed the emperor if I didn't kill him?The general refused.

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Zhao Qi glanced at Hua Tuo, and asked in a low voice, "How are the eldest princess and the queen?"

"The eldest princess blamed herself very much, and cried to death while holding her majesty. The queen is afraid that the child in her belly is already nine months old, and she is afraid of crying the child to death, so she can barely restrain her emotions." Xiang Kai said, "The imperial physician order Lord Huang has been guarding the palace, the three adults can rest assured."

"Is the child okay?" Zhao Qi asked again.

"The current situation is stable." Hua Tuo cupped his hands and said, "It's about the fate of the country. Brother Gongji and I should do our best."

"It's not about trying our best, but we must ensure the safety of the child." Liu He said solemnly, "The hope of the great man's revival lies in the hands of the two masters."

"If it's a princess..." Xiang Kai stroked his white beard, said a few words softly, and stopped.If the child in the queen's womb is a princess, then it has nothing to do with the big man Zhongxing.

"Master, you, Master Xu Shao, Master Cai Yong, and Master Zheng Xuan are all well-known "Yi" masters today. They are familiar with celestial phenomena, know the heavens and the earth, can't you see it at all?" Liu He pointed to the gray sky outside the house. Sky, asked helplessly, "There are no signs in the sky?"

Xiang Kai shook his head, "There is no sign. It's better for the three adults to make plans early."

Liu He clapped the case and said dejectedly: "There is no celestial phenomenon, there are no signs. It is a celestial phenomenon and a sign. Hebei is in danger, and the great man is in danger."

The atmosphere in the room became tense, and everyone felt heavy, bowing their heads in silence.

"How long is it until the child is born?" Li Hong coughed lightly and looked at Master Hua Tuo.

"Maybe ten days, maybe one month." Hua Tuo said, "It's a matter of course and destiny. I can't give you the exact time, but I can be sure of one thing. This child will be born at the latest. It will be born around the fifteenth day of the first lunar month."

Li Hong, Zhao Qi, and Liu He looked at each other in blank dismay.What Hua Tuo said was equivalent to not saying it.Is this also a master medical craftsman?If it wasn't for Xiang Kai, Zhao Qi and others who respected him like a god, Li Hong would even suspect that there was something wrong with his level.

"More than a month?" Zhao Qi frowned and thought for a long time, "The two masters have to help us with one thing, to protect His Majesty's body properly as soon as possible."

"Protect His Majesty's remains?" Xiang Kai asked hesitantly, "Are you going to..."

"This is the only way." Zhao Qi smiled wryly, "Keep the mourning secret and wait for the child to be born."

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In the Shangshu room, there are nine Shangqing, two Zhuqing (Jinwu, Jiangzuo Dajiang), three important ministers (Shang Shuling, Yushi Zhongcheng, Sili Xiaowei), and the left and right servants of the Shangshutai, Zhu Mu and Tian Chou, a total of ten. The six ministers sat on both sides solemnly.Behind the first table in the middle is the special seat for the eldest princess, where there is an exquisite bearded chair.

Seeing the three Shanggongs coming in, all the officials stood up and saluted.

"At present, there are three urgent matters to be resolved." Zhao Qi waved his hand and signaled everyone to sit down.

One is about the emperor.We have to prepare with both hands for the matter of the emperor's order.If the child in the queen's womb is a prince, then he will inherit the imperial line and become the son of heaven after birth.If it is a princess, then the succession of the imperial lineage will be very troublesome.We must make good preparations for this. Within one month, we must select a suitable candidate from the descendants of the royal families in various parts of Hebei to inherit the Datong, and we must immediately bring him to Jinyang.

There is another problem here.According to the law of the Han Dynasty, if the emperor dies without heirs, the succession of the imperial line shall be decided by the ministers of the prime minister in consultation with the officials of the foreign court, and then presented to the empress dowager.The empress dowager did not have much interference in the succession of the imperial line.In order to prevent foreign relatives from interfering in politics, Emperor Gaozu and Emperor Sejo had very strict laws and regulations.Although many empress dowagers later disobeyed the law and monopolized power, causing endless disasters for relatives and relatives, the law of the great man has not been changed.

Is the succession of the imperial line to be decided by the empress dowager according to the usual practice, or by the foreign court officials themselves according to the law of the Han Dynasty?
The second is the matter of authority.According to the law of the Han Dynasty, the emperor died and the empress became the empress dowager. Before the new emperor was a minor, the state affairs were all in charge of the ministers and officials of the foreign court.However, since Emperor Xiaowu, due to the weight of the Shangshutai, the officials of the inner court and the middle court are in charge of the power, and the assistant ministers are all relatives who lead the affairs of the minister, so the empress dowager often holds the power and dominates everything. Completely squeezed out the center of power.

After the new emperor succeeds to the throne, who will hold the power?
The third is the issue of preparations for war.After the death of the emperor, we and Yuan Shao suddenly stood in the same position, that is to rebuild the imperial line.The key reason why Yuan Shao's proposition of rebuilding the imperial line failed repeatedly was the existence of the current emperor.Now that the biggest obstacle is gone, Yuan Shao will soon rebuild the imperial line.

We have discussed this issue many times in the past. I believe everyone is very clear about it. This is also the main reason why we have always insisted on King Qin.Who wants to watch the big man split?Who wants to watch the flames of war burn this country?But with the death of the emperor, the last thing we want to see has become a reality.

There are two emperors in the world, and the choices of states and counties in various places will directly determine the fate of the great man. In this case, who will they choose?
What happened in Jinyang in the past few months, all the states and counties probably have got the news.In the eyes of outsiders, this is a premeditated massacre by the general using the power of the eldest princess to eradicate dissidents. The sudden death of the emperor undoubtedly further confirms this guess. After a lot of publicity, the general and Hebei became the target of public criticism.

The death of the emperor and the succession of the new emperor, these two things must be announced to the world before the end of the first month of next year, and a bloody battle may follow.Hebei was hit by a disaster the year before last, and its vitality was seriously injured. Although we recruited a sufficient number of troops after implementing the recruit system, we did not have enough wealth to support an army of more than 20 to continue fighting.Of course, this battle must be fought.In order to defeat the rebellion and defend Hebei, we need to work together from top to bottom.

Another reason for the court to announce the change of the imperial line before the end of the first month is to delay the war until after the spring harvest in May next year.It will take at least three to four months from when Yuan Shao and others receive the news to when they join forces to form an alliance and gather troops. Deploy armies.

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The main tasks of the imperial court next year are to rebuild the imperial line, defeat the rebellion, stabilize Hebei, and strive to go south to the Central Plains to fight the rebellion in two or three years, and strive to rejuvenate the great Han as soon as possible.

Under this consensus, the ministers began to discuss countermeasures for the three issues raised by Mr. Zhao Qi.

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Emperor Guangwu had eleven princes. Except for Liu Zhuang, the son of Empress Guanglie, who inherited the grand line, nine of the other ten sons were crowned kings and one was named a duke.

Currently there are only two in Hebei.One is the descendant of Liu Qiang, King Gong of the East China Sea, who was born to Empress Guo. The current admonishment doctor Liu Wan is his sixth-generation grandson, the former Tai Fu Liu Yu is his sixth-generation grandson, and today's Da Sikong Liu He is his seventh-generation descendant. Sun.One was also born to Empress Guo, after Liu Yan, the king of Zhongshan Jian, whose fifth grandson, Liu Jie, died because he had no heirs, so the king's title was canceled and the country was eliminated.There are no suitable candidates for these two descendants.

Emperor Xiaoming Liu Zhuangchuan was located in Emperor Xiaozhang, and Emperor Xiaozhang had two sons who were crowned kings in Hebei.One is Qinghe Xiaowang Liu Qing, whose son is Emperor Xiaoan.One is Hejian Xiaowang Liu Kai, his grandson is Emperor Xiaohuan, and the great-grandson of his other son is Emperor Xiaoling.These two families have no direct descendants since the current emperor passed away.

Emperor Xiaozhang also had a great-grandson named Liu Hong, who was named King Xiao of Bohai.The son of King Xiao of Bohai was the well-known Emperor Xiaozhi Liu Zuan. He had only been emperor for more than a year. He was poisoned for calling General Liang Yi a "dominant general". He was nine years old when he died.Among the great-grandsons of King Xiao of Bohai, there is a nine-year-old eldest grandson Liu Yu who is very intelligent and can be a candidate to inherit the great line.

Zongzheng Xu Shao recommended this son.When he served as the prefect of Bohai County in Jizhou three years ago, he was very impressed with this child.

Naturally, the ministers had no objection to the person Xu Shao recommended.

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Fighting wars is the business of the generals and the generals in northern Xinjiang. Money, food, armaments, and recruiting civilians are the affairs of the court. As long as everyone has a clear division of labor and work together, even if the battle cannot be won, it will definitely not be a problem to keep Hebei, so in this matter At that time, the ministers mainly discussed their respective division of labor, especially after the edict was promulgated, the affairs of envoys to various states and counties.

Although everyone can guess the development of the future situation now, no one wants to give up the strategy of joint confrontation.As long as Tian Kai, Liu Bei and Yuan Shu can be persuaded, or one of them, it is hard to say whether the battle will be fought next year. Even if it does, Hebei has a great chance of winning.

Another purpose of the mission is to delay the start of the war.According to Li Hong, the ideal time to start the war is from June to July.With enough time for half a year to prepare, Hebei can completely defeat the rebel coalition forces, fix the front line on the Yellow River line, and ensure the stability and security of Hebei.

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The next question to discuss is a headache.Who has the final say on the succession of the imperial line?Who will be in charge of the authority of the great man?Who is the imperial power that should have been controlled by the emperor?

The opinions of the ministers are very clear. They strictly abide by the laws of the Han Dynasty. In the case of the death of the emperor and no heir has been established, the succession of the imperial line should be jointly decided by the ministers and the empress dowager. But this is tantamount to recognizing the empress dowager. It is something that the ministers do not want to see to control the imperial power before the emperor is in power.The downfall of the Great Han Dynasty began when the Empress Dowager was in power. If you want to completely separate the harem from the imperial power, it seems that you have to amend the law.

The proposal to amend the law was immediately opposed by some ministers, because in this way, the ministers of foreign courts monopolized the power, which would easily cause power ministers to cause disaster for the country.The reason why the Great Han Law was formulated in this way was that the imperial power and prime minister power had to be separated in order to achieve power checks and balances.

Taichang Xunyou believes that the empress dowager's rule of power is actually the cause of the downfall of the great man. The real reason is that the empress dowager lives deep in the inner palace and cannot sit with the ministers to discuss matters every day. Therefore, the imperial power is trusted by the empress dowager's relatives and eunuchs stolen.Then, because most of the assistant prime ministers were in charge of the ministers for their relatives, the relatives were able to control part of the ministerial power owned by the Shangshutai. As a result, the relatives monopolized the power and brought disaster to the country and the people.The little emperor grew up, and in order to regain the imperial power controlled by his relatives, he appointed eunuchs from the inner dynasty to kill his relatives, so that the eunuchs were able to hold power in the hands of the emperor.

Foreign relatives and eunuchs intervening in politics, Shangshutai's weight, imperial power is getting bigger and bigger, and the power of the prime minister is severely deprived, which is the main reason for the defeat of the Han Dynasty.In other words, there are no mistakes in the provisions of the Han law, but the mistakes lie in the establishment of the official system.Mistakes in the official system led to an imbalance between imperial power and prime minister power, giving foreign relatives and eunuchs the opportunity to intervene in politics.

Xun You believes that the bureaucratic system will continue to be revised, the power of Shangshutai must be weakened, and the possibility of foreign relatives and eunuchs interfering in politics must be eliminated from the bureaucratic system.

However, Liu He went on to raise an unavoidable conundrum.The empress dowager is so young, she doesn't understand political affairs, and she doesn't have officials she trusts. She doesn't rely on her relatives and eunuchs around her. How can she give orders?In addition, the consequences of the revision of the official system are obviously unfavorable to the Empress Dowager, and she will not agree to the revision.

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In the evening, the Eldest Princess, who had regained her composure, was invited to the Shangshutai, and her opinion must be heard on this biggest problem.

"Bring this Liu Yu to Jinyang immediately." After a long silence, the eldest princess said the first sentence.

"I will still be in charge of the Shangshu affairs on my behalf, and I will be in charge of the Shangshutai. I will coordinate between the inner palace and the outer court." This is the second sentence of the eldest princess.

"Don't revise the official system for the time being. After the world is settled, let's talk about revising the official system." This was the third sentence of the eldest princess.

The ministers sat quietly below, with different expressions.

"If you agree, we will leave today." The eldest princess stood up.

"Your Highness, the revision of the official system is related to the great cause of Zhongxing..." Kong Rong, a master craftsman, suddenly knelt down and played, "I think..."

"Don't say anything. Zhongxing's great cause requires concerted efforts, but I have given all the power to you, can you work together? Why is the prison in Tingwei's Mansion overcrowded a few days ago? Go back and think about it yourself." The eldest princess walk away.

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On December 26, the queen gave birth.Princess Yang'an went to the palace to accompany her daughter.

On the evening of the 26th, the queen had a dystocia, and both mother and child were in danger.

On the morning of the 27th, the queen gave birth to a son, but she died of excessive blood loss.

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(End of this chapter)