Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

Most of the important ministers in the cabinet subconsciously wanted to dissuade him.

But when the words came to his mouth, he suddenly didn't dare to say them again, but all looked at the prince.

If anyone steps forward to dissuade him at this time, wouldn't it be equivalent to preventing the crown prince from succeeding to the throne?

The ministers were very surprised. Why did he abdicate so smoothly?

Has His Majesty been threatened?

If so, Your Majesty, please blink and I will give you a moment of silence.

I can only mourn in silence.

The palace guards are in the hands of the prince, and the capital garrison obeys the prince's command. The tens of thousands of soldiers who have been recalled have not left yet.

Seeing everyone looking at him with particularly strange eyes, Ju Ming stood up and bowed: "The official is in good health and can live for another twenty years. There is no need to rush to abdicate and become the emperor."

Zhu Guoxiang was not happy when he heard it. What do you mean by "if you say less, you can live for twenty years"? I can live to be a hundred years old!

"If you can't speak, don't speak!" Zhu Guoxiang said angrily.

All the ministers quickly lowered their heads, fearing that the two men would get into trouble.

Zhu Guoxiang held his head high and said: "I have made up my mind and must abdicate."

"Please take back the official's orders!" Zhu Ming said.

This is a drama of "three requests and three resignations", but the identity has changed a bit, and it looks particularly weird.

To be precise, it should be three teachings and three words.

Since they are acting, the ministers have nothing to worry about.

Prime Minister Zhai Ruwen was the first to say: "The ignorant king of the former Song Dynasty made the people of the world miserable, and even the barbarians of the Jin Kingdom were killed outside the city of Tokyo. Your Majesty asked for orders for the people, raised righteous soldiers to fight against the tyranny, and won the hearts of the people in response to the destiny. For several years since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, the weather has been good. , Jiuzhou is rich, and all the people are happy. Even the ancient sage king can only manage the country and the people like this. Now that the Spring and Autumn Period is at the peak of your Majesty, how can you easily abdicate the throne and give way to a worthy person? For the sake of the country, the country, and the welfare of the people, please take back your life!"

"Your Majesty, please take back your order!"

All the ministers shouted in unison, and many people sincerely tried to dissuade him.

The emperor is so generous and kind. You'd better work harder for a few more years. His Royal Highness is too difficult to serve.

"I have decided to withdraw from the court!" Zhu Guoxiang walked away with a flick of his sleeves.

This is just a precaution for important ministers in the cabinet, and it cannot even be counted as a "please and resignation". It has to be proposed at a large court meeting where hundreds of officials gather.

…

The ministers bowed to bid farewell to the prince and left the council hall silently.

No one said anything the whole way, because this matter was too sensitive to be discussed outside.

From the cabinet office to the end of the day, the seven cabinet ministers pretended to be fine and went home as usual.

However, Zhai Ruwen sent someone out to invite the family of Xie Ke, the minister of Honglu Temple.

"I wonder why Prime Minister Zhai is summoned?" Xie Ke's family saluted and asked.

Zhai Ruwen said: "The official is about to abdicate."

The Xie Ke family was shocked: "Could it be that the prince can't wait..."

Zhai Ruwen shook his head: "It's not like that. The official's abdication to become emperor must be out of sincerity, and he may even have had such a plan for a long time."

The Xie Ke family said with emotion: "In the past dynasties, father and son have turned against each other, and brothers have killed each other for the sake of the throne. It is really a blessing for the world that the Holy Emperor has taken the initiative to abdicate. This is the noble legacy of ancient abdication."

"Your Majesty is generous and kind, and the Crown Prince is enterprising, so he is a wise king," Zhai Ruwen said worriedly, "But the Crown Prince is too eager to act, and it is better to have Your Majesty to suppress him. If Your Majesty abdicates, and the Crown Prince acts recklessly..."

The Xie Ke family asked: "The emperor has decided to abdicate, how can we stop him? Prime Minister Zhai summoned him, but what is the instruction?"

"No." Zhai Ruwen simply wanted to chat with an old friend.

Anyway, this matter is not afraid of being leaked. It is estimated that the emperor will formally and publicly raise it at the court meeting another day.

Zhai Ruwen said: "Where is Concubine Li..."

The Xie Ke family immediately interrupted: "I am a foreign minister and I don't know anything about the palace!"

Xie Ke's family is Zhao Mingcheng's aunt and cousin. He served as an official in the former Song Dynasty and became the acting Minister of the Ministry of Personnel.

In the new Ming Dynasty, he was first sent to the Hanlin Academy to compile books, and then sent to work as an official for several years. Because of last year's major case, there were vacancies in the six official positions, so the Xie Ke family was recalled to be the Minister of Honglu Temple.

Zhai Ruwen said: "I didn't ask anything. I just couldn't understand why the official wanted to abdicate."

Xie Kejia said: "Perhaps the officials just want to have more leisure time. The Ming Dynasty abolished Zhongshu's ministry and changed it to a cabinet system. The emperor has to deal with many government affairs every day. He is very tired and doesn't have much time to rest."

Zhai Ruwen wanted to say that the cabinet could also handle government affairs, and the emperor could be the hands-off shopkeeper.

But this cannot be said casually.

…

Qin Hui is also discussing with his wife.

"The emperor is about to abdicate!" Qin Hui closed the doors and windows.

Mrs. Wang was surprised: "The prince has forced the palace?"

Qin Hui shook his head: "In my opinion, he just doesn't want to be the emperor anymore. After he abdicates, he can go to the agriculture department to persuade the agriculture department to farm every day, and he can observe the astronomical stars every night. The official's interests are in these, and the throne is not important to him. "

"It's an anecdote for the ages." Wang couldn't believe it, but couldn't help but ask, "When the new monarch takes the throne, will there be any changes in the cabinet?"

Qin Hui said: "The changes should not be big. Last year's case has been changed. In addition, the cabinet ministers have retired, and the cabinet department has changed a lot of ministers."

With the successive changes in the center, Qin Hui could hardly distinguish between the factions.

The situation in the cabinet is also relatively complicated, and it probably looks like this:

Although Zhai Ruwen could not suppress the cabinet, he belonged to the prime minister after all, and many former officials of the Song Dynasty were headed by him.

Secondary Prime Minister Liu Yao was already on the throne, but after Zhang Gen retired, a large number of early Cong Long Wenchen attached themselves to this person.

Xiao Chu never took power, but he was very prestigious in the cabinet, and the six ministries and the Huan Kingdom echoed him. They belong to the "Spring and Autumn Period", a group of radical officials who want to restore the prosperity of the Han and Tang Dynasties. In the past two years, they have repeatedly instigated a new war with the Jin Kingdom. The military especially loves them!

Zhao Quan belongs to the practical group, and most of his cronies are in the Ministry of Industry. Qin Hui is now the Minister of the Ministry of Industry, but he has a group of Zhao Quan's team under him.

Zhang Shuye has no factional influence at all, but he is very close to the Privy Council and is a representative of the military in the cabinet.

Li Hanzhang and Qian Chen are full-fledged princelings!

Qin Hui said: "Today's seven cabinet ministers, no one can dominate the family. The same is true for the six ministers. The prince is good at balancing all parties. For us, the most trustworthy ones are the brothers of you and me. But it seems that your brothers I am disgusted by the prince and have never been able to serve as an official. My brothers have already made arrangements."

Wang said: "Wei Liangchen still doesn't want to get close to you?"

"Because of last year's case, he has become more cautious." Qin Hui said.

Wei Liangchen, the censor of Youdu, although his brother took bribes and perverted the law in his guise, they were not on the same household register. Moreover, the brothers were far apart and Wei Liangchen did not know.

Wei Liangchen was not only innocent, but was found to be a selfless and honest official.

He also had the power of Conglong, and as a student of Taixue, he sacrificed his life and called on the students of Taipei to avenge Zhu Ming's injustice. Later, he followed Ju Ming to manage Guizhou, and then followed Ju Ming to Jinzhou.

In such a big case last year, even his brother was guilty, and Wei Liangchen was only fined three months' salary.

Qin Hui wanted to hug this thigh because Wei Liangchen was his classmate and roommate!

Unfortunately, Wei Liangchen never made friends with ministers and deliberately avoided relations with Qin Hui.

"Which of your classmates from Jinling are serving as officials?" Wang asked.

Qin Hui said: "Among my old friends in Jinling, Fan Tong has the highest official position. He has been promoted to the Provincial Councilor based on his political performance, and he is expected to be promoted to the Inspectorate soon."

Fan Tong was not only Qin Hui's old friend in Jinling, he was also a Jinshi in Ju Ming's class, and later passed the Hongci examination.

Historically, when Qin Hui wanted to get rid of generals such as Yue Fei, Fan Tong proposed a plan to remove the Privy Council and collectively remove a group of generals from military power.

Fan Tong is almost a replica of Qin Hui.

He has extremely high academic standards and strong ability to do things. In the end, he even competed with Qin Hui for power and wanted to kill Qin Hui and become prime minister himself. Qin Hui was extremely afraid of him and demoted Fan Tong to a local government, and did not allow Fan Tong to return to the court.

Fan Tong was promoted quickly in recent years because he was in the same class as the prince and had outstanding political achievements.

Wang said: "Is Fan Tong good at water conservancy?"

Qin Hui said: "He understands water conservancy, but he doesn't have much experience yet. If we let him be in charge of water conservancy, he can be entrusted with important tasks in a few years."

Wang suggested: "You can write to Fan Tong and ask him to develop more water conservancy projects in the local area. As the prince knows people well and is good at taking charge of people, he will be transferred to the Ministry of Industry, and he will become your subordinate. At that time, you can Transfer him to another place. You will be in charge of the internal affairs, and he will be in charge of the external affairs. They will cooperate with each other and achieve outstanding results."

"My lady is so smart!" Qin Hui was overjoyed.

Although he became the Minister of the Ministry of Industry, he had a group of Zhao Quan's team in his hands, and it was difficult to do anything he wanted to do.

If Fan Tong can be transferred to the Ministry of Industry, the two of them can work together to cultivate their power, do practical things together and improve their political performance, and it will be just around the corner to join the cabinet and become prime minister.

Mrs. Wang said: "If you want to pay homage to the prime minister, you must not forget the Wang family. My brothers are not good enough, but my nephews and grandnephews also have the seeds to study. After all, some of them will be admitted to the Jinshi. When the time comes, please help me more, Wang. His disciples and former officials are countless, and I will be your help in the future if I quote them."

"Don't worry, we won't forget the Wang family." Qin Hui reassured.

The Wang family does have many disciples and former officials. Now that Qin Hui has become the Minister of the Ministry of Industry, he has already taken the initiative to get closer.

With the help of the Wang family, Qin Hui can become even more powerful.

Otherwise, how could Qin Hui be afraid of his wife?

Before the fall of the Northern Song Dynasty, Qin Hui had a child with a maid because the Wang family was infertile.

Under normal circumstances, the Wang family should adopt this son and raise him as his own biological son. But she directly drove away the maid and the child, and adopted an illegitimate son of her brother.

The majestic traitor Qin Hui was still raising a son for the Wang family, and he was already fourteen years old.

This time and space is different, the power of the Wang family has been greatly reduced!

Especially after Qin Hui became Minister of the Ministry of Industry, he felt that the Wang family should cling to him instead of clinging to the Wang family.

There was no direct reason for falling out with his wife. It was purely because Qin Hui wanted to be an "upright official" and the Wang family had been sending him money!

On the pretext of going out to socialize, Qin Hui went out again after dinner.

He went to a private room in a restaurant to dine, but changed his clothes and sneaked away, taking a carriage to a remote courtyard.

"My husband is here!" A beautiful woman greeted him happily.

Qin Hui took the woman's hand and asked, "Is Da Lang crying?"

The woman smiled and said, "You are very well-behaved today."

The two held hands and entered the house. There was a baby lying in the cradle.

Qin Hui did not dare to take his wife and son home, fearing that his son would die inexplicably.

He plans to raise it up before making it public. If the Wang family dares to act recklessly, he will be divorced directly on the grounds of jealousy and childlessness!

Qin Hui lived a very tiring life and did not dare to raise his son openly.