blue shirt oath

Chapter 353: Death
Due to the prince's illness, the queen withdrew the edict to relegate Du Qingshan, and Du Qingshan continued to serve as the capital.

Five months passed in a blink of an eye, it was the end of the year, and the world was extremely cold. Song Guichen gave birth to a fat boy on this day.

Du Qingshan named the child: Qiyuan.

It means to start a new year.

In the first month of spring in 1022 AD, the Song Empire changed its Yuan from "Tianxi" to "Qianxing".

When the emperor became more and more ill, he cheered up and went up to Donghuamen to watch the lanterns in the cold wind.When he heard that Xiuzhou had been flooded since last autumn, and it has been a disaster to this day, he issued an edict as always: exempting the unpaid part of Xiuzhou's autumn tax to alleviate the disaster.

In February, the emperor boarded the Zhengyang Gate, amnesty the world, and rewarded all kinds of benefits. Since last year, all the rent and taxes owed by the common people in flood-stricken areas in various places have been recalled; Their rents, taxes and errands, and they are also loaned to them to encourage timely planting.

On Jiayin day in February, when the emperor was on his deathbed, the ministers came to visit him.

Through the curtain, one could vaguely see that the emperor was thin and sick in bed, unable to speak.

When all the ministers saw this, they couldn't help feeling sad and wiped away their tears secretly.

When the emperor saw the ministers, he stretched out his right hand tremblingly, tapped his chest, spread out five fingers, and then extended three fingers.

The ministers looked at each other, puzzled.

Secretly guessing that the emperor stretched out these eight fingers, could it be the Eighth Prince?

Coincidentally at this time, the Eighth Prince also entered the palace to visit the emperor's brother, and all the officials stood up and withdrew.

Now the emperor is seriously ill, and all the important officials in the court are staying in the inner hall of the palace, praying for the officials.

Therefore, all the ministers came to the side hall with their own thoughts, and whispered about the five fingers and three fingers that the emperor just extended.

Now the emperor is seriously ill, the prince is only over ten years old, and the eighth prince Yan Wang Zhao Yuanyan is now 39 years old. At that time, the eighth prince was handsome and handsome, and he was "strict and resolute", and now he is also the Yin of Kaifeng.
You must know that in the old system of the Five Dynasties, the crown prince generally served as the Yin of Kaifeng before he ascended the throne, and the current emperor was also the Yin of Kaifeng in the past.

But the emperor only gestured with such a number, did he allude to the Eighth Prince?If yes, what does it mean?Does it mean to beware of the Eighth Prince usurping the throne, or "brother end brother" and pass the throne to the Eighth Prince?

All the ministers have their own thoughts and secretly suspect.

Shen Zhizheng Li Di realized that all the officials were suspicious of the Eighth Prince, and the Eighth Prince had not yet come out in the emperor's palace, so he took the case and wrote a pen, stirred it in the water, and ordered someone to send it to the Eighth Prince.

When the Eighth Prince saw the black boiling water, he suspected that someone had poisoned him, he felt palpitated immediately, and thought to himself, "It seems that some of the ministers are suspicious of me, and it seems that I can't stay here for long."

So he bid farewell to the emperor and left the palace.

Even so, the ministers who prayed for the emperor in the side hall were still full of suspicion. Empress Liu found out about this, and immediately realized: no matter what the emperor meant, jealousy of flesh and blood is a dangerous signal.

She held the emperor's hand, and the emperor had fallen asleep at this time.

Empress Liu caressed her sweetheart's old face lovingly, and thought to herself: "My husband has spent his whole life suppressing the murderous aura of the world and summoning the harmony of the world. We should never play today's unpredictable card to arouse the suspicion of important officials."

She was determined to explain the matter to the ministers, so she summoned her personal servant: "It is passed down from the palace that the official's five fingers are stretched out, and three fingers are stretched out, which means that the disease will recede slightly in three to five days." Other than that Besides, nothing else."

After hearing this, the important minister believed what the queen said, and immediately resolved the confusion, and did not delve into it further.

However, the Eighth Prince did not dare to take up the post of Kaifeng Yin again, so he resigned himself the next day, and only wanted to be a wealthy and idle person.

In the past few months, the Eighth Prince has asked to resign several times, but the empress refused. This time, the empress agreed.

A few days later, the emperor died in Yanqing Hall.

After hearing the news of the emperor's death, Ding Wei, Wang Zeng, Feng Zheng, Cao Lili and other Zhongshu and Privy Councilors rushed to Yanqing Palace.The howling of a group of people echoed among the carved beams and painted buildings of the main hall, and could not be calmed down for a long time.

While the ministers were crying, Empress Liu sternly said from behind the curtain, "One day you will cry, and you will be punished!"

There are days of crying, now, let's listen to the big events!
This woman is unusual!All the ministers stopped crying for a while, and listened to Queen Liu's announcement.

Empress Liu ordered the deacon to announce the emperor's oral will, which was recorded by Wang Zeng.

"There are words in the edict: the crown prince ascends the throne." The deacon announced loudly, and the king once wrote down the record.

So Crown Prince Zhao Zhen ascended the throne in front of the coffin and officially became the fourth emperor of the Great Song Empire.

All the ministers paid homage to the new king.

The deacon announced again: "The edict has a word, the empress is the empress dowager, and concubine Yang Shu is the empress dowager."

Wang once heard this, and immediately put down his pen and said: "I have never heard the late emperor say this."

Empress Dowager Liu E remained silent, while Ding Wei said angrily: "Wang Shenzheng, are you going to modify the book making without authorization?"

Wang Zeng argued: "The crown prince practiced Zuo, and the promotion of the queen was established by etiquette. However, the sudden appointment of Concubine Yang Shu as the empress dowager was not discussed in the Zhongshu Zhengshitang. This matter will be discussed at a later date."

"Is there any reason for this? Concubine Yang Shu and the Empress Dowager are like sisters, and they have raised the emperor for more than ten years, and they have regarded the emperor as their own flesh and blood for many years. Isn't this credit enough to be an empress dowager?" Wang Zeng wanted to please the empress dowager, so he argued with Wang Zeng.

All the ministers took advantage of Ding Wei's power, and no one dared to publicly agree with Wang Zeng, but they all agreed with Ding Wei.

Wang Zeng swept the courtiers around, angry in his heart, but he didn't show it on his face. He cupped his hands and said to the Queen Mother Liu E solemnly:

"As the person who records the last emperor's edict, you should check whether the edict conforms to the etiquette. In order to avoid ridicule by later generations, the summons that are not in line with the etiquette should not be included in the edict. Now that the Queen Mother insists, although I compromise, I still keep it. Your opinion."

After all, he took notes and wrote down the edict.

The Empress Dowager remained calm, but silently looked at the ministers and listened to everyone's discussions.

Although Wang Zeng spoke harshly, she did not get angry. Instead, she secretly said that this is a trustworthy minister of the country. His integrity and independence, and his prudence in abiding by the law all moved the Queen Mother.

But Ding said that this "absolute obedience" gesture made the queen mother a little suspicious
The deacon continued to announce: "There are words in the edict, and the empress dowager will be punished by the empress dowager as well as the military and state affairs."

Both military and state affairs mean "military and state affairs".

Quan means "temporary agency".

After hearing this, Wang Zeng picked up a pen and drafted a book, and Ding Wei said again: "Wang participates in politics, can the word 'quan' be cancelled?"

Wang Zeng sneered: "The government order comes from the empress dowager in the middle palace, not the king. This matter is already the bad luck of the country. It is called 'Quan', and it can barely show the last resort of the monarch and ministers. Remove the word 'Quan'. Ding participates in politics." What's your intention?"

"Here, you—" Ding Wei, who was always eloquent, was so retorted by Wang Zeng that he couldn't say a word.

Wang Zeng said again: "Besides, the Empress Dowager's words are still in my ears, how can I change it without authorization?"

The queen mother secretly watched the confrontation between the two political advisers, and she looked up to Wang Zeng even more in her heart, but she was very unhappy with Ding Wei's slanderous flattery.

　It's all about getting it over with.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)