Do You Know?: I, the Little Cabinet Elder, Regent of the World

"What's wrong?" Han Zhang realized the possible situation and quickly asked.

"My lord!"

The eunuch in purple robes looked anxious and quickly explained, "His Majesty is coughing up blood and has summoned the Grand Chancellor to the palace for a talk."

"To enter the palace for a talk?"

Han Zhang's expression changed slightly, and his heart sank: "Did you only summon me, or..."

"The Duke of England, along with several other cabinet ministers, have all been summoned," the purple-robed eunuch replied.

They were all summoned!

Han Zhang understood and nodded silently.

This day is about to change!

Funing Hall.

The gilded candlelight burned brightly and slowly.

The Imperial Guards were stationed one every five steps and one every ten steps, carrying long spears, with standard-issue swords at their waists, and wearing gleaming armor.

This is a top-tier elite force!

"vomit!"

On the sandalwood dragon bed, Zhao Zhen stretched out, his hair disheveled, his back hunched and heaving, gagging incessantly.

Fresh blood dripped from its mouth from time to time, staining the water basin and startling the viewer.

Led by Han Zhang, six Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet, including Zhang Sheng, Wu Chong, Zeng Gongliang, Ouyang Xiu, and Wang Yaochen, stood respectfully in succession.

Duke Zhang Fu of England, dressed in armor and carrying a sword, looked solemn.

Besides the few figures at the top of power, several younger members of the imperial family were also summoned.

Empress Cao sat reclining on the dragon throne, attending to her stroke sufferer.

The coughing up of blood lasted for about an incense stick's time. Zhao Zhen tried rinsing his mouth, but he couldn't get it clean no matter what he did, so he had no choice but to let it be.

The deep red bloodstains added to the solemnity.

"call."

Zhao Zhen took a deep breath, his hands trembled slightly, and his face was covered in cold sweat, as if even breathing was extremely difficult.

He was panting heavily, his intake was insufficient to cover his output, and he seemed about to die at any moment.

"His Majesty."

Empress Cao blew on the spoonful of Chinese medicine, held a small bowl of soup in one hand and a wooden spoon in the other, and fed the medicine little by little.

A small bowl of herbal medicine that an ordinary person could easily swallow in two gulps took a full fifteen minutes to finish feeding.

The flickering candlelight cast a heavy shadow over the heart.

There was silence for a moment, except for Zhao Zhen's faint breathing and a slight smell of blood.

quite a while.

Zhao Zhen's breathing became much more steady. He leaned against the dragon bed, his eyelids drooping.

Looking up, one could vaguely see beads of sweat dripping down, almost soaking his dragon robe.

"Zhigui."

With a soft call, he was on his last breath.

"Your Majesty," Han Zhang hurriedly bowed.

"I can't take it anymore."

With just one sentence, the remaining five Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet, the Duke of England, and several members of the royal family all bowed down.

The members of the imperial family all bowed their heads, their faces respectful and their demeanor tense. They dared not look directly at the old emperor and instead stared at the blue bricks on the ground.

Entrusting one's children to another on one's deathbed is destined to be a verdict!

The treatment of victors and losers is destined to be vastly different.

The victor reigns supreme, while the loser is destined to languish and depend on others.

"Your Majesty, may you live ten thousand years! Why do you say such a thing?" Empress Cao's face was filled with sorrow, and her eyes were red.

As the empress, she truly did not want the old emperor to die.

The new emperor and the old emperor were not related by blood.

While officials have the opportunity to serve two dynasties, it's not the same for relatives of the empress.

A new emperor brings a new court; what business is it of the new emperor if the former emperor's maternal relatives are involved?

Once the new emperor ascends the throne, the former emperor's maternal relatives are destined to find themselves in an awkward position.

"Life and death are preordained; how can human power control them?"

Zhao Zhen sighed and looked at the head of all officials: "Zhi Gui."

Han Zhang's eyes were slightly red, and his voice choked with emotion: "Your Majesty."

Zhao Zhen lowered his hand and pointed weakly downwards; "This child has the bearing of the Taizu Emperor and will be my imperial grandson."

In a single sentence, the choice of heir apparent was revealed.

Several members of the imperial clan who had been bowing their heads raised their heads in unison.

really!

Zhao Ceying!

Chapter 165 The Emperor Dies!

Crown Prince, Zhao Ceying!

For a moment, the group was filled with mixed feelings and had differing thoughts.

For Zhao Ceying, there was a mixture of joy and sadness.

From the day Jiang Zhao returned to his hometown to care for his ailing father, the Emperor explained the matter of establishing an heir to the throne to him.

Therefore, he already knew that he was the crown prince.

However, knowing it in private is one thing, but making a real deathbed announcement is quite another.

It would be a lie to say I wasn't happy.

Along with the joy was a touch of sadness.

I have been caring for the sick for over a year. Humans are not plants or trees; how can they be without feelings?

For the remaining four members of the royal family, this was undoubtedly a chilling thought.

Even though they had predicted that they couldn't win.

But when the results were actually announced, things were quite different.

The Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet exchanged glances, clearly having all anticipated this, and were not surprised.

In the past, if there were predictions, one might have to take sides.

Now, thanks to the secret succession law, the Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet sit on their high platforms, no longer needing to take sides, and naturally no longer worried about failure.

"Emperor Taizu conquered eighty-one states with his dragon-patterned staff, then donned the yellow robe and established the empire."

Zhao Zhen sighed, "It's a pity that the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun were never expanded, and the Western Xia, Liao, and Jiaozhi never submitted to the Zhou dynasty. In terms of territory, the Great Zhou is truly incomparable to the Tang, Sui, and Han dynasties."

More than ten people remained silent, not daring to utter a sound.

The territory is too narrow, a fact that is tacitly avoided by everyone from top to bottom.

To put it nicely, that's called being introspective and striving for self-improvement.

To put it bluntly, that's called being content with a small corner of the world!

The fact that there were few frontier poems during a golden age of literary culture says it all.

Both Emperor Taizong and Emperor Zhenzong tacitly avoided discussing territorial matters.

If it weren't for the fact that he had unexpectedly acquired the martial skill of "opening up the borders of Xihe," the emperor would most likely not have mentioned the issue of the size of the territory.

"I have allowed the people to rest for thirty years, and in my old age I have expanded the borders."

Zhao Zhen glanced at the scribe recording the emperor's daily activities and slowly said, "Alas, Heaven is blind, allowing me to die young."

Otherwise, even in my twilight years, I would have to personally lead the army! Now, my health is failing, so I can only choose a descendant with strong martial spirit to carry on my legacy.”

“Ce Ying is a man of great martial virtue.”

"You all, assist him!" Zhao Zhen instructed.

After speaking several sentences, Zhao Zhen was out of breath, sweating profusely and panting heavily.

"Your Majesty, rest assured, we will do our utmost to assist His Highness the Crown Prince," Han Zhang quickly replied.

Several Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet and the Duke of England nodded in succession, their expressions respectful.

In fact, there has never been a shortage of officials in the imperial court who resisted the Northern Expedition.

The reason for this is quite simple.

No benefit!

The large-scale northern expedition consumed a great deal of financial and material resources, yet yielded no benefit whatsoever; it was almost a complete waste of money.

This repeated itself several times, naturally causing people to resist the Northern Expedition.

However, since Jiang Zhao expanded the border, the voices of opposition have weakened considerably.

Expanding the perimeter is a true way to "enlarge the plate".

Even if the team that expands the borders gets the lion's share, the rest of the team can still get plenty of soup and broth.

Expanding into the frontier is not impossible!

Having given all the necessary instructions, Zhao Zhen nodded and waved his hand, saying, "Everyone, go out now."

There's not much to entrust with the care of an orphan.

The Crown Prince Zhao Ceying is already twenty-eight years old and is not a child who cannot take care of himself.

The so-called entrustment of a son to Zhuge Liang was more about letting several important ministers know the candidate for the crown prince so that they could support the crown prince to ascend the throne smoothly, rather than "Liu Bei entrusting his son to Zhuge Liang".

More than ten people stood up, bowed, and withdrew.

Just as Zhao Ceying was about to get up, Zhao Zhen ordered, "Ceying, stay."

As he spoke, he looked at Empress Cao, who was attending to him, and said, "Your Majesty, you may also leave."

Therefore, he naturally needed to speak privately with the Crown Prince and give him some instructions.

Empress Cao rose respectfully and couldn't help but call out, "Your Majesty."

His expression was one of deep sorrow, a complex mix of emotions.

As empress, she still hoped that the emperor would leave her some power in order to maintain the glory of the Cao family.

Unfortunately, Zhao Zhen did not respond.

The Empress, reluctant to leave, slowly walked out.

“Once I am gone, the new emperor will ascend the throne, but he will certainly be unable to win people’s hearts and will not have enough power in his hands.”

Zhao Zhen analyzed: "Entrusting the young emperor to the six Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet may allow them to check and balance each other, but it also means that the political situation will be chaotic. I have already taught him how to regain power. Remember to focus on breaking the checks and balances."

Besides facilitating the smooth ascension of the new emperor, another function of entrusting the young emperor to a regent was to create infighting and checks and balances among the regent ministers.

What the new emperor needs to do is to break the balance of power at the right opportunity, gradually reclaim his authority, and form a new system of checks and balances.

Zhao Ceying nodded repeatedly.

In that year or so, he learned quite a bit about political maneuvering and tactics.

In terms of methods, he might only be of average quality, but by relying on his status as the emperor, he was able to achieve different results.

"Jiang Zichuan of Huaizuo is truly a first-rate wise minister. He is capable of governing the country and bringing peace to the world through civil administration, and he can also conquer the world on horseback through military prowess."