Jiajing Chengming

Chapter 22: Persuading the Successor to Enter the Capital
Zhu Houcong was also secretly happy, because he knew that Yang Tinghe would lose in the first round of the ritual discussion!
Because that is how history unfolds. Zhu Houcong, who fights for power exactly according to the method of Jiajing in history, will naturally win the first round.

Of course, Zhu Houcong also knew why Jiajing won.

It is nothing more than that the historical Jiajing understood the eunuchs left behind by Zhengde, the Empress Dowager Zhang who enjoyed the emperor's favor during the Hongzhi period, and the late Emperor Zhu Houzhao who passed away not long ago, better than the self-righteous Yang Tinghe.

Therefore, the historical Jiajing knew that he would win if he persisted, and that he would get the support of the inner court and Zhang in the harem. He knew that no matter how powerful Yang Tinghe was, his alliance was essentially a loose framework and not solid and stable.

Zhu Houcong felt that the historical Jiajing was indeed gifted in understanding people's hearts.

then.

After Yuan Zonggao said this, Zhu Houcong said: "Since the Queen Mother and the Prime Minister have asked me to accept the advice today, I will immediately receive the letter in the hall and enter with the ceremony of the emperor!"

Yang Tinghe, Mao Cheng and others had no choice but to agree.

Next, representatives of the subjects, led by Duke of Wei Xu Pengju, began to present letters of persuasion.

"The great virtue received the mandate and took advantage of the time. The successor was able to shine before and benefit the future. It was because of the righteousness, sentiment and place of the land that all belonged to him. Therefore, people from inside and outside, near and far, all returned to him... We, the ministers, secretly thought that the spirits of the nine temples should not be neglected in one day, and the affairs of state should not be temporarily neglected for a day. Although it is in the dark, we should attach great importance to continuing the tradition. We request that the system of King Kang of Zhou be adopted, and the ceremony of Emperor Wen of Han be followed, and we should ascend the throne as soon as possible in accordance with public opinion."

After Duke Wei Xu Pengju finished reading the first letter, Zhu Houcong rejected the proposal as usual.

then.

Duke of Wei Xu Pengju then sent a second letter: "The great throne will be passed down to the successor, and the people are all happy and willing to follow the emperor's benevolence. Moreover, he is the closest relative of the heaven, and he has complied with the wise instruction of the holy ancestor. The elder brother will succeed the younger brother, and the heaven will give the people the final favor. This is the great plan of the country that the subjects sympathize with... I humbly hope that you will obey the will, suppress your grief, remember the great creation of your ancestors, and understand the heavy trust entrusted by the late emperor. Don't give up again to the south or the west. I deeply understand that one day or two will be a matter of great importance. I hope you will ascend to the throne as soon as possible to comfort the hopes of the people..."

Zhu Houcong then refused again according to the usual practice.

Duke of Wei Xu Pengju began his third memorial to persuade him to ascend the throne: "The throne is a great treasure that cannot be vacant for a day. The destiny of heaven is to unite all people and pay equal attention to the ancestors... I hope Your Highness will obey the teachings of our ancestors, follow the will of the people, suppress your impulses, and ascend the throne as soon as possible. Then the gods and people of heaven and earth will have something to rely on, and the rites, music, punishments and politics of ordinary people will be established from then on, so as to inherit the foundation laid by our ancestors for 150 years and usher in a peaceful rule in the universe for billions of years."

Zhu Houcong then agreed, saying that he dared not refuse and would reluctantly comply with the request. He also instructed the Ministry of Rites to ascend the throne on April 22 and to report to him with all the necessary ceremonies at that time.

Next, Zhu Houcong entered from the Daming Gate instead of the Dong'an Gate, and sent officials to report to the ancestral temple and the state.

During this period, when Zhu Houcong's elephant carriage began to slowly move towards the capital, the bureaucrats and scholars gathered outside the capital became excited. Many people began to clench their fists, or bite their fingers, or touch their pounding chests, and whispered to each other:

"I'm coming!"

"The Holy Son of Heaven has come to the capital of Gods. We are blessed!"

She was so sentimental that she couldn't help crying.

The sacred and benevolent emperor and the wise and capable prime minister indeed made them full of beautiful expectations for the future of the country, which moved them first.

At least for the bureaucrats and scholars, Yang Tinghe is now wise and capable.

Because Yang Tinghe made drastic changes to cut down on many redundant soldiers and generals, the status of civil servants and scholars was greatly improved. Even the eunuchs were suppressed by him so that they dared not provoke the literati and scholars. He also reduced court expenditures to benefit the people.

More importantly, Yang Tinghe established the foundation of the country, so that the succession of the Ming Dynasty throne did not fall into chaos due to the extinction of Emperor Zhengde, and it proceeded smoothly. He also selected a benevolent emperor for them.

As recorded in history, at this time both the government and the people praised the emperor as sacred and his achievements in court harmony.

Therefore, when Zhu Houcong entered the Daming Gate and Yang Tinghe and other ministers followed him in, the bureaucrats and scholars were all very excited.

"With a sage ruler entering the court and good advisers in charge, the country will be in great order!"

Yang Shen, a great talent who became famous in later generations for his poem "Linjiangxian", was also in a teahouse at this time. He looked proudly at Zhu Houcong's imperial procession and his father Yang Tinghe standing solemnly before the emperor, and his face was filled with smiles.

In particular, after hearing what the scholar who was here with him said, Yang Shen nodded in agreement, and was extremely happy in his heart. Especially when he thought that his father was the "good assistant" mentioned by the scholar, he was even more proud.

Even many common people were influenced by it, even if they didn't understand it, and they were full of expectations and excitement. "Excuse me, sir, how is the new emperor?"

When a tea boy came to Yang Shen to refill tea for him, he couldn't help but ask a question because of the atmosphere at the time.

Yang Shen, who usually didn't pay much attention to these ordinary people, answered in a very approachable manner: "Of course it is a good emperor, and he will restore the Hongzhi Restoration!"

The tea boy had no idea what the Hongzhi Restoration meant, but he also became happy after hearing the first half of Yang Shen's sentence.

Although he was young, he knew that the previous Emperor Zhengde was not a decent person, and many civil servants like Wenquxing were always worried about this. Now even the civil servants said that this emperor was good, so he thought he must be a good person and would make life easier for ordinary people like him.

Moreover, he himself had heard that when the new emperor came to Beijing to become emperor, many people followed him to the capital, which showed that he was popular among the people.

to this end.

The tea boy could not help but look outside, and he saw from afar that outside the dense crowd of people, the new emperor sitting in the luxurious carriage looked indeed handsome and his eyes were bright.

This made him couldn't help but smile knowingly.

At this time, Zhu Houcong indeed carried many people's beautiful expectations for the future. They all hoped and were willing to believe that Zhu Houcong could give them a peaceful and prosperous era.

The bureaucrats were willing to believe that Zhu Houcong was a wise and benevolent ruler who maintained the status quo like Emperor Xiaozong of the Ming Dynasty.

The peddlers and hawkers were willing to believe that he would be a good emperor who would keep people like them from going hungry.

I believe that he will be a holy emperor who will reduce disasters in the world and be blessed by God.

I believe he will usher in a new era.

Even Yang Tinghe.

He now also believes that he has chosen a good ruler for the world.

Although Zhu Houcong did not get what he wished, he decided to enter the throne with the ceremony of crown prince.

But he knew that it was because the empress dowager and eunuchs in the inner court betrayed him, and were instigated by favored ministers like Yuan Zonggao. He himself was not brave enough and did not firmly block the new emperor's path to becoming Emperor Xiaozong's heir when drafting the will, which gave the treacherous ministers and villains the opportunity to take advantage of the situation.

He was still full of expectations for Zhu Houcong.

The only thing he regretted about Zhu Houcong was that Zhu Houcong loved the people too much! He loved the people even more than Emperor Xiaozong did in his time, which gave him a big problem.

He had to find a way to immediately solve the resettlement problem of more than 200,000 refugees after cutting more than 100,000 military academies.

When Yang Tinghe thought of this problem, he hated even more Yuan Zonggao and other radical villains who sang against him and wanted to lead the emperor down the path of reform.

Because he knew that without Yuan Zonggao's assistance, Zhu Houcong would never have been able to successfully bring so many refugees into Beijing.

And now, when he saw the heir to the throne was about to enter the Daming Gate and enter the city with the ceremony of an emperor, and not according to the wishes of people like him, his hatred naturally became stronger, and his whole face looked very ugly.

Yang Shen also noticed that the emperor was heading towards Daming Gate, and he frowned: "How could this happen?"

He knew that his father and other upright officials in the court wanted the successor emperor to enter the city with the ceremony of the crown prince so that he could succeed Emperor Xiaozong, and they only recognized the ceremony set by the upright civil officials.

But now that he had entered the Ming Gate, he knew that his father and the entire group of upright civil servants' initial plan to make the emperor obey the rituals they had set had not succeeded.

This means that the power of his father and the entire group of clean civil servants behind him did not achieve the ideal effect of completely controlling the emperor!
Yang Shen gritted his teeth and immediately returned home from another city gate. He decided to ask his father what kind of unexpected situation had occurred.

(End of this chapter)