The Child Emperor

The imperial concubine and the ministers all looked at the emperor expectantly. He had performed amazingly in front of Prince Qi's son. Both sides believed that the emperor would still make the right choice this time.

"Rong Chen dares to ask, Your Majesty knows what is going on with the year name?" A minister stepped forward and said.

This man is short in stature and is extremely inconspicuous among a group of officials. Han Ruzi remembers him. This is Xiao Sheng, the censor of Zuo Cha. The King of Donghai once said that Xiao Sheng is from the Cui family, but during the last court meeting, he had nothing to do with him. The other ministers condemned Cui Taifu's defeat together.

Xiao Sheng was not the Minister of Gu Ming, he was temporarily called to participate in politics because the right inspector Shi Shen Mingzhi went to the vassal states to announce the decree.

"Know a thing or two, Master Xiao, can you introduce me more."

Xiao Sheng glanced at the imperial concubine, and knelt down, "Emperors in all dynasties have year names, and the emperors of previous dynasties often have multiple year names. Every time there is a so-called auspiciousness from heaven, the year name will be changed, everyone. Chu Dingding, Taizu established a rule to choose the year name from the "Tao Te Ching", and each emperor had only one in his life. Folks often call emperors by year names. For example, Emperor Wu is called "Emperor Zhongmiao", and Emperor Huan is 'Emperor Xianghe' and Emperor Si are 'Emperor Gongcheng'. The two emperors share the same year name, which not only breaks the rules set by the Taizu, but also confuses the people of the world and does not know what to do."

"But the new emperor will usually continue to use the old name for a period of time?" Han Ruzi said.

The imperial concubine watched from the sidelines, her expression unchanged.

"It will be used until the first month of the next year at most, and sometimes it can be changed in the middle of the year." Xiao Sheng said these words in front of the empress dowager, he was very courageous, the other ministers did not say anything, but they seemed to support Zuo Chayu History's statement.

Han Ruzi nodded to the ministers to show that he understood, and nodded to the empress dowager to show that he was at ease.

Since he didn't know that he would encounter such a scene in advance, it was impossible for Han Ruzi to think carefully about what he was going to say next, so he had to slow down his speech and try to think as much as possible, "Sidi is my royal brother. Unfortunately, he died young. Shared sorrow, the title of the year of success should continue to be used until the first month of next year. It is only May now, and the empress dowager is still sad, the Kanto rebellion is not over, and all things are complicated. It is not appropriate to stir up troubles. Reconsideration."

The Empress Dowager's face became slightly stiff, Zuocha Censor Xiao Sheng was not satisfied, and wanted to fight again, Prime Minister Yin Wuhai said first: "Your Majesty's words are very true, the year name is not an urgent matter. Qi State rebelled, and the world was shaken , the Xiongnu in the north, the Baiyue in the south, the Qiang tribe in the west, and the feudal lords in the east are all in chaos, and it must be put down as soon as possible."

The topic turned back to the war, and the empress dowager did not insist on her own opinion, she retreated to the listening cabinet and never came out again.

In the evening, the imperial concubine came to the emperor's residence, turned away everyone, stared at the emperor for a long time, and said with a smile: "The empress dowager and I both misunderstood your majesty, your majesty is not an ordinary child."

"The empress dowager doesn't seem to treat me like a child." Han Ruzi was ready to start a debate with the empress dowager. He had some confidence in his mind. Get rid of the emperor who has just ascended the throne for no reason.

"Well, that's the queen mother's fault." The imperial concubine was not angry, "The ministers outside treat your majesty as an adult, and wish that your majesty would be in charge immediately."

In order not to cause trouble for any minister, Han Ruzi refused to answer.

"The minister is not simple. Your majesty and the queen mother hold power, but the minister has the ability to make the power look bad, especially the pens they hold in their hands. It doesn't matter what kind of person your majesty is, and it doesn't matter what kind of person the queen mother is. , put pen to paper, say what you are, and once your reputation is spread, it will be difficult to change it."

Han Ruzi still didn't speak.

"Sometimes I think, do the ministers really need a living emperor? In the past few years, three emperors have passed away, but the structure of the court has not changed much. When Emperor Huan was alive, he tried very hard to I made some changes, promoted some people, and demoted some people. But before I knew it, those who were relegated came back, and those who were promoted disappeared. They didn’t die, but it was difficult to appear in the memorial. Occasionally After asking, I found out that they have been sent to serve as officials outside Beijing, as for the reason, two words—practice.”

The imperial concubine seemed to have forgotten the existence of the emperor, her eyes narrowed, and her brows were slightly wrinkled, "There are too many conventions. It is said that the entire imperial court is run by conventions. It will play a role and quietly change the emperor's original meaning."

"The emperor is not always right, so it needs to be adjusted by convention." Han Ruzi knew very well that the so-called emperor is actually the queen mother, not him.

"It's okay to think so, but in this way, whose country is it? So I always suspect that the ministers don't need a living emperor. What they want is a tablet, an idol, who can't speak, and has no thoughts. Everything Convention is the master, and it is the minister who operates the convention."

The Empress Dowager stood up. She didn't come to teach the emperor a lesson, so she had no intention of wasting words, "Your Majesty, please rest. May 18th is an auspicious day, and the empress will enter the palace on that day."

Han Ruzi stood up in surprise, "But the chaos in Qi is not over yet."

"The empress dowager thinks that the appointment of a queen should not be related to the success or failure of Mrs. Cui. Since the appointment has been made, the sooner the wedding, the better. And this is not entirely the empress dowager's idea. The Ministry of Rites has been advancing this matter and is ready. This is also According to the practice, as long as there is no one to stop it, it will go on smoothly, there is no need for His Majesty to worry about it, everything will happen naturally."

After the empress dowager left, Han Ruzi went back to her room to rest, lay on the bed and thought for a while, and made a risky decision: she couldn't just give in like this, the empress dowager would definitely make more progress in the future, so she had to get in touch with the ministers to get their help.

This is not the same as the "Clothing Belt Edict" that the King of the East China Sea once suggested. At that time, he knew nothing about the ministers, and the ministers did not know anything about the new emperor. Asking for help rashly would only cause trouble. Facts proved that his judgment at the time was correct. Not only did the king of the East China Sea inform him, but Yuan Jiuding, the Minister of Rites who received the "secret edict", also took the initiative to hand over the note to the eunuch Yang Feng.

But now it is different, the emperor and the ministers have some understanding of each other, although not deep, it is enough to make the ministers believe that the emperor's actions are serious.

What would Yang Feng think? Han Ruzi shook his head in his heart, Yang Feng would definitely not agree with the emperor's actions, but Yang Fengyuan is in Kanto, and this eunuch hides too many secrets, who can guarantee that what he does is for the emperor's sake?

That's the idea, Han Ruzi fell asleep and practiced the method of reverse breathing silently.

It is easy to make a decision, but it is even more difficult to implement it. Such a thing as "clothes belt edict" is absolutely impossible. Han Ruzi hopes to have a face-to-face conversation with the ministers. The first difficulty is which minister to choose.

From the next day, Han Ruzi made full use of the time he stayed in the Palace of Qinzheng every morning to carefully observe the speech and behavior of each minister.

The prime minister, Yin Wuhai, was eliminated first. He was too old and tactful. He occasionally behaved in disagreement with the queen mother, but he never persisted to the end, so he was not worth relying on.

Han Xing, the military governor, was also excluded. As an elder of the clan, Han Xing was not interested in safeguarding the interests of the emperor.

Xiao Sheng, Zuocha Yushi, and Feng Ju, Minister of the Ministry of Officials, were eliminated one after another. The relationship between the former and the Cui family was unclear, and the latter was a guy with no ideas, who couldn't even do his own job well.

There are also some ministers who come to Qinzheng Palace to discuss in turn. Two of them are quite upright, but they don't show up often, and they have no possibility of contact with the emperor.

A few days later, Han Ruzi's eyes turned to those attendants.

The emperor's attendants are all noble children, and they will also be the future pillars of the court. They have no official positions yet, but their fathers and grandparents are all high-ranking officials.

After several days of observation, Han Ruzi chose Zhang Yanghao.

Zhang Yanghao's grandfather, Piyuanhou, had just returned to Beijing to recuperate from his injuries. Many officials went to visit him. Various signs showed that Piyuanhou was arrogant and had little contact with the Cui family and the Shangguan family. He had a high reputation in the court. Certain appeal.

Han Ruzi took a roundabout way to contact Zhang Yanghao, and practiced Baibuquan with his attendants every afternoon, and did not switch to Zhang Yanghao until the fifth day.

Zhang Yanghao's mood was much better than the previous few days, he danced vigorously with his fists, but he didn't dare to be presumptuous in front of the emperor, and he had spare hands everywhere.

The two had gone through three tricks, Zhang Yanghao was squeezed away before the emperor had time to show his friendly smile.

The king of Donghai had a gloomy face, and when Zhang Yanghao retreated awkwardly, he said in a low voice, "Congratulations, you are going to marry the queen in three days."

The emperor's wedding is coming soon, and the temper of the king of the East China Sea is getting worse and worse. Han Ruzi has long been used to it and doesn't care.

The king of the East China Sea danced his fists more urgently, "What can you think? When you encounter such a good thing, let's go with the flow."

Han Ruzi felt that the King of the East China Sea was unreasonable.

Meng Che came over and stared at the emperor and the king of the East China Sea. They kept their mouths shut and pretended to punch and kick.

On the other side, there were two attendants who made fakes real and wrestled into a ball. Meng Che went over to start a fight. The King of Donghai approached the emperor and said, "Why don't you show your strength to reject the maid? You firmly disagree, and the queen mother can't do anything about you."

"So you know!"

"No one in the Palace of Mercy Ning knows, everyone is just pretending to be confused. To be honest, have you tried it on the maid... just waiting to use it on my cousin!" The eyes of the East China Sea King were about to burst into flames. I have never endured it for such a long time in my life, and it is finally about to explode.

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Han Ruzi was glad that he didn't ask the king of the East China Sea for help, this guy was too impatient.

"I'm talking nonsense? You're doing nonsense, why don't you allow me to talk nonsense?" The King of the East China Sea jumped forward. Han Ruzi was already on guard and punched the King of the East China Sea in the stomach. The king yelled, but was not repulsed. He grabbed the emperor's neck with both hands and entangled them.

At first everyone thought that the emperor and the king of the East China Sea were brothers playing around, but after a while they realized that something was wrong, and they were all taken aback. Eight feet separated the two.

There are more people pulling Donghai King, which made him feel unfair, and he shouted angrily: "You are all traitors, you are all traitors! Wait for me..."

Someone gags his mouth.

The afternoon martial arts ended hastily, the emperor was sent back to the Palace of Compassion, and the King of the East China Sea was taken to nowhere.

Han Ruzi was so angry that he couldn't calm down for a long time after returning to his room. He circled back and forth, Zhang Youcai and Tong Qing'e followed behind, trying to change the emperor's clothes, but he couldn't find a chance.

Finally, Han Ruzi calmed down a little, and planned to take off his martial arts clothes, without the help of eunuchs and maids, he went to untie his belt, and reached out to find a small paper bag from inside.

Someone actually used the trick of "Secret Edict" on the emperor.

(seeking collection and recommendation)