Jiajing Chengming

Chapter 20 Queen Mother, Yang Ting and he bullied you!

"Within the mind one knows that one is one with the world."

When Yang Tinghe came to hand in the book requesting the throne, he asked the eunuch in the secretariat to invite Wei Bin, and personally handed Wei Bin another book that he had prepared in his sleeve early in the morning.

Then, Yang Tinghe said this to Wei Bin with a smile.

Wei Bin took a look at the memorial and saw the name of the original petition impeaching him clearly written on it.

thus.

Wei Bin was shocked and stood there, looking at Yang Tinghe.

Looking at Yang Tinghe's cold eyes, Wei Bin felt a chill on his back, and said with a smile: "Please let me know, Prime Minister. We will try our best to do what we can."

"All the upright officials in the outer court want to fight for the throne for the Queen Mother, and ask the successor to inherit the throne of Emperor Xiaozong, recognize the Queen Mother as his mother, and change his name to the Emperor's uncle."

"The Prime Minister should repay the kindness of the two previous emperors and fight for the Empress Dowager with all his might. When asking for the Imperial Edict, he should order the successor to ascend the throne as the Crown Prince. Otherwise, he will be abandoned by the people of the world and follow in Liu Jin's footsteps."

There was a threat in Yang Tinghe's words.

Wei Bin didn't dare say much, just nodded.

Yang Tinghe then smiled grimly, and after receiving the imperial edict, he left Donghua Gate, holding the imperial edict with a smug look on his face and saying:
"Hurry up and ask Duke Wei and others to persuade the ministers to come forward, and go out of the city with me to welcome the emperor, and wait for the persuasion!"

"Yes!"

Soon, Yang Tinghe arrived at the hall.

Mao Cheng had been waiting for Yang Tinghe to come like he was looking forward to it.

As soon as Yang Tinghe arrived, he immediately came to greet him and said, "Yuan Fu, you are finally here. Although the heir is sincere, Yuan Zhongde is extremely treacherous and we can't resist him!"

Yang Tinghe waved his hand and said calmly, "Don't panic! Since ancient times, evil has never prevailed over good, and it is still the same today."

Yang Tinghe then strode towards the hall.

He wanted to let the young Zhu Houcong know that he was the person he should respect the most. Yuan Zonggao had been defeated by him in the Hanlin Academy in the past, and he would be defeated by him again now.

But when Yang Tinghe arrived at the palace gate and climbed the steps, he still glanced at the common people who were accompanying him and were growing as lush and wildly as weeds in the distance.

Yang Tinghe couldn't help but frown.

The first thing Zhu Houcong said when he saw Yang Tinghe was to ask Yang Tinghe how he felt when he saw these people.

"The Prime Minister must have seen the people accompanying the emperor, right?"

Yang Tinghe nodded, then cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty's benevolence is truly moving!"

After Yang Tinghe said this, Zhu Houcong walked towards his seat, smiled and waved his finger at Yang Tinghe: "Whether my benevolence can be achieved depends on the prime minister!"

Yang Tinghe bowed his head and replied: "I am ashamed!"

"Let's talk about entering the city first."

Zhu Houcong said one more sentence at this time, and sat upright on the chair, looking at Yang Tinghe with a serious look.

Yang Tinghe saluted and said yes, then bowed: "I would like to follow the etiquette prescribed by the ministers of rites, enter through the Dong'an Gate, reside in the Wenhua Hall, and ascend the throne on a chosen day."

Zhu Houcong frowned and moved his lips slightly.

No answer.

"If you enter through Dong'an Gate, you will still be treated as the Crown Prince. Where is this etiquette?"

Yuan Zonggao asked first at this time.

Yang Tinghe said: "The etiquette followed by the etiquette officials is the correct etiquette, and it is not for the heir to interfere with the court officials!"

"If he is really to be promoted as the crown prince, does he have to kneel before the late emperor's coffin and call him father? Or does he have to kneel before the queen mother instead of being promoted as the queen dowager?"

Yuan Zonggao sneered and asked about Yang Tinghe again, and then shouted: "The will clearly states that the younger brother will inherit the throne after the elder brother's death. How can you say that the son inherits the father's career?!"

Yang Tinghe directly addressed Zhu Houcong, saying, "Advancing as the crown prince does not mean advancing as the son of the late emperor, but rather inheriting the lineage of the filial temple, and furthermore, it is the succession of the elder brother to the younger brother. This is also the Empress Dowager's intention, and it is an ancient ritual recognized by both China and foreigners. The Empress Dowager's decree will arrive shortly."

After hearing this, Yuan Zonggao's face darkened: "Empress Dowager can't mess up the etiquette!"

……

"Your Majesty, I just went to see Yang Tinghe."

Forbidden City.

After being threatened by Yang Tinghe, Wei Bin came to Queen Mother Zhang and reported his whereabouts to her truthfully.

Zhang smiled faintly: "So what did he tell you?"

"Not only did Yang Tinghe bully the late emperor for having no children, he also bullied the empress dowager for being an elderly widow!"

Wei Bin started crying first.

Wei Bin, the chief of the Imperial Household Department, had taken advantage of the political alliance between Yang Tinghe and Zhu Houcong during the period after the death of Emperor Zhengde before Zhu Houcong came to Beijing, and replaced the eunuchs in key positions in the inner court with his own people.

The other eunuchs from the Imperial Household Department who were with him naturally started crying too. Among them, Wang Yue, the Imperial Household Department's Chief Supervisor of the Eastern Depot, echoed him, saying, "Yes, Queen Mother! Yang Tinghe is trying to push you into a dead end!"

Zhang had never seen such a strong wind or heavy rain in her life, and she was frightened on the spot.

In addition, Yang Tinghe had not shown much respect to her as the empress dowager before.

Therefore, Zhang hurriedly asked: "How did Yang Tinghe bully me?"

"He wants me to force the Queen Mother to become enemies with the heir, and to be their scapegoat!"

Wei Bin started to complain with tears streaming down his face.

Zhang has always been easily provoked, and Wei Bin and others know this characteristic of her best, so they said so.

Now Zhang's brows were really furrowed, and she asked, "How did he force you?" "He asked me to use the bait of letting you continue to be the emperor's mother to force you to issue an imperial decree to let the heir inherit the throne, so that you can become the evil person!"

Wei Bin replied.

After hearing this, Zhang murmured to herself, "Inheriting Xiaomiao's heir means recognizing my mother?"

then.

Zhang turned around and looked at Wei Bin: "How are you bullying me?"

"Queen Dowager, think carefully. If the heir really accepts this ceremony and becomes the emperor, he will only vent his hatred for not being able to recognize his biological parents on you, and even on the two uncles of the emperor."

"And the world will belong to the heir sooner or later, and you can't always protect the two uncles of the emperor."

"So, rather than continue to have the false reputation of being the emperor's mother, Queen Mother, you might as well fulfill the heir's wish and do him a favor, letting him know that it is not Zhang who has been targeting him!"

Wei Bin carefully analyzed the situation for Empress Dowager Zhang.

Wang Yue also said: "Yes, Queen Mother, since the heir has refused to enter the city as the crown prince, it means that he is unwilling. In this case, we cannot force the two uncles to be in danger!"

Since the Hongzhi period, everyone in the world knew that Zhang's favorite was not her own son Zhengde, but her two younger brothers.

Because Zhang doted on his two younger brothers the most, Hongzhi, who was the most obedient to the civil officials, was often forced by Zhang to be very indulgent towards his two brothers-in-law.

Therefore, Wei Bin and Wang Yue's decision to ask Zhang to consider the future of their two younger brothers was undoubtedly exactly what they wanted.

For Zhang, being Zhu Houcong's mother in terms of legal significance was indeed not as important as ensuring the prosperity and wealth of her two younger brothers.

After all, Zhu Houcong was already fifteen years old and could rule the country.

Even if she forced herself to become Zhu Houcong's mother, she could not interfere in the affairs of the court. At most, she could ask the emperor to treat her more courteously according to etiquette and law. However, she would offend the emperor, so it had little practical significance.

"Yang Tinghe, this old villain, really bullied my son for being childless, and now he bullies me, a lonely widow, for not understanding the benefits of this!"

Zhang couldn't help but grit her teeth and speak with her eyes wide open.

However, when she mentioned her son, she also thought of Zhengde, and even more so of the five words Zhengde left for her before his death.

Now she finally understood why her son left those five words for her.

"My son is really smart. He knows how to trip up Yang Tinghe again, so he reminded me to follow the prince."

Zhang then looked at Wei Bin and Wang Yue: "In your opinion, what should I do?"

"The Queen Mother can issue an imperial decree to urge the court officials to immediately persuade the emperor to ascend the throne without choosing a date, instead of following Yang's wishes at this time and forcing the heir to violate the rites before ascending the throne."

Wei Bin replied.

"Leave it to you. After all, you are good servants left behind by my son."

Empress Dowager Zhang waved her hand.

Wei Bin and Wang Yue kowtowed and left.

As soon as Wei Bin came out, he sighed and said to his godson Wang Yue: "This time our family has really offended Yang Tinghe!"

"Then why does Godfather still do this?"

Wang Yue asked.

The other eunuchs in the Imperial Household Department also looked over.

Wei Bin casually waved his hands and said, "You should all know what the new master said about not treating the old people of Zhengde harshly, right?"

"Know!"

"And those of us who are old in the palace have only had one family, and the head of this family is the emperor!"

"When there is no emperor, we can go with the civil officials or military generals to choose a new master, but once the new master is chosen, we are like dogs that have been locked by the neck and have acknowledged their master. If we let our master down, we will die without a burial place."

"Besides, Yang Tinghe can even ruthlessly abandon his father, his father, and his students who have done him great favors. Is such a person worth our disloyalty to our new master for him?"

"If he really wants to clean up the land and reform the system for the sake of the Ming Dynasty and the people of the world, we respect him as a man and can stand by him for the sake of the master's cause. But since everyone is doing this for themselves, why should we cooperate with him?

"Of course!"

"My family has offended Yang Tinghe. After the new master ascends the throne, he needs to build momentum and win over the people. He also needs to replace the people he brought with him in the Imperial Household Department. Therefore, my family is destined to be liquidated."

"But now we have chosen to be loyal only to the new master. At least this will let the new master know that we old people in the palace are still reliable. Even if he wants to deal with us, he will still be willing to use those of you who have not yet come up."

"In short, our family chose to offend Yang Tinghe for your sake!"

"I hope that you will still be favored by the new master in the future, and you will be able to speak well of us in front of the new master and show mercy to our men."

"But I didn't expect the Queen Mother to be so understanding this time. I guess the late Emperor gave her some instructions before he passed away, right?"

When Wei Bin said this, his eyes turned red, and he looked at his godsons in front of him: "Anyway, whether my godfather can keep his life in the future depends on you!"

Wang Yue hurriedly knelt down, choking with sobs, and said, "Godfather has good intentions. The new master will know that Godfather is a good person, and his sons will also be grateful for his great kindness!"

"Go and draft the imperial edict."

"Our new master is still waiting!"

Wei Bin said this with a kind smile.

"Yes!"

Wang Yue and others agreed.

But at this time, before leaving, Wang Yue took the initiative to report to Wei Bin: "Godfather, the East Factory has a secret report that a new scholar named Zhang Cong is talking about reform in the suburbs of Beijing. What do you think the East Factory should do?"

(End of this chapter)