Why did the emperor rebel?

Chapter 320
The next day was a sunny day.

Now that the weather is getting warmer, the fires in all the yamen are almost extinguished, but the cotton clothes have not been taken off yet.

Early in the morning, Yu Shiyue arrived at the cabinet, and the people from Zhongshushe outside came to report.

"Elder Ge, in another quarter of an hour, Mr. Shoufu will hold a cabinet meeting in the West Wing. Please come over."

This was something that was notified the day before yesterday, Yu Shiyue nodded, tidied up a bit, and then went out to the West Wing.

Before he entered the house, he saw Jiang Yuan and Zhang Min had arrived, and when Yu Shiyue came in, they also stood up to greet each other.

In the current cabinet, Gao Gu and Jiang Yuan are close, and Yu Shiyue is close to Zhang Min, so when entering the room, Yu Shiyue sat with Zhang Min as a matter of course.

The topic to be discussed today is the memorial to the emperor's draft by the Ministry of Rites.

Logically speaking, there is no room for discussion in this book. When Zhengdan is in power, the emperor's edicts are clearly written on the top, and the bottom line is done.

However, after the Ministry of Rites handed over the specific rules and regulations, the cabinet had disagreements on how to draft the proposal.

According to the latest code set by the emperor in the Zhengdan dynasty.

The emperor's harem is selected once every eight years. The big wedding draft is also the most grand first draft. It is widely distributed all over the world to enter the draft girls. One queen, one noble concubine, two concubines, and four concubines are selected. The number of talents is the same.

The subsequent drafts were on a smaller scale, and the scope was reduced from various prefectures to Gyeonggi, Jiangnan and other places. The selected female candidates were limited to concubines.

It was here that the cabinet had disagreements.

According to the meaning of the Ministry of Rites, although the Son of Heaven had been married before, the procedure of the draft was in accordance with the rules of the prince.

Therefore, this draft should refer to the rules of the first draft, widely select the best women in the world, and finally select the second concubine, the fourth concubine, and the fifth talent.

But Gao Gu, who was in charge of drafting the vote, thought it was inappropriate.

He feels that the world is exhausted now, and it is not appropriate to make too much noise about the draft, not to mention that there are queens and concubines in the palace.

If you refer to the rules of the first draft, then it is disrespectful to the queen and concubine, and the emperor already has heirs, so there is no need to be too urgent about the harem.

Therefore, he advocated that the two selections should be used normally, one concubine and four talents should be selected. At the same time, the scope of the selection should only be limited to the Gyeonggi area, and it should not be extravagant.

But this is not a trivial matter after all, the ceremonies of the Ministry of Rites were given by Mr. Hu Wei himself, so Gao Cifu went to find the first assistant Wang Ao, and they played together.

As a result, Mr. Wang didn't say yes or no, he just said to open a cabinet meeting, everyone discussed and discussed, and that's how the current cabinet meeting came about.

Just as Yu Shiyue sat down, a few more people came outside the door.

He took a quick look and found that one of them was Cifu Gaogu, but he didn't expect the other two.

The eunuch Cheng Jing, the supervisor of ceremonies, and Wang Wen, the heavenly official of the Ministry of officials.

Cheng Jing was lucky enough to say that the supervisor of ceremonies had close contacts with the cabinet, so it was common for him to come here, but Wang Wen was a rare visitor.

The newly-appointed boss of the Heavenly Official has not always had a particularly good relationship with the cabinet.

As for the reason, it was because the cabinet not only rarely saw Wang Wen's people, but also rarely saw his old man's memorials.

This is about the current process of the transfer of government affairs in the imperial court.

According to the normal procedure, there are three ways to send the memorial to the emperor.

The most common and normal way is to send it to the Secretary of the General Administration first, and then the Secretary of the General Administration to the Cabinet.

This is more than [-]% of the imperial court's way of handling government affairs today, but it mainly focuses on low-level officials below the third rank and local daily affairs.

Officials of the third rank and above, as well as Ke Dao Feng Xian, normally operate in the same way.

But they are different from low-level officials in that they have the right to participate in the early dynasty.

Therefore, sometimes, for some reason, it may be that they do not want to reveal their intentions in advance, or they want to make a big splash. In short, these officials sometimes play directly in the morning.

The advantage of this method is that it is fast, and it can be sent directly to the imperial court without any procedures. If there is not much controversy, the emperor can approve it on the spot.

There is also a third type, that is, direct performance. As the name suggests, it does not pass through other departments or the early court, and the officials themselves send it directly to the emperor.

This way of playing has more restrictions, and is generally used for military affairs or major court affairs.

Theoretically speaking, only the Six Departments and Seven Ministers are qualified to do so. In some special occasions, some servants will also choose to play directly, but it is rare.

These three forms are all formal procedures, and the bosses will choose according to the authority and the emergency of the matter.

But in general, most of the elders choose the first option. Although it is a bit slow, it is appropriate after all. Only a few times, when it involves some content that is inconvenient to submit to the Secretary of General Affairs, they choose the latter two.

But this new lord Tianguan is different. His old man's memorials are either sent directly to the palace, or they are played in the early morning, and then the emperor directly approves them.

Anyway, it is rarely handed over to the cabinet.

To some extent, this is ignoring the cabinet. Therefore, most of the cabinet ministers are not interested in this old man.

But in the end it was a heavenly official from the Ministry of Officials, who came to the cabinet, and everyone got up immediately, smiling, and stood up to greet him.

After each took their seats, Cheng Jing explained.

"Today, Lord Tianguan has something to present to His Majesty, but unfortunately, His Majesty went back to the harem to talk with the Empress Dowager, and he couldn't get away for a while."

"Our family thought that it would not be good to ask Lord Tianguan to wait. It happened that there was a cabinet meeting in the cabinet. Our family calculated that if there is a result here, we have to report to His Majesty."

"So, I came to the cabinet with Lord Tianguan. After this is over, our family will bring Lord Shoufu and Lord Tianguan into the palace together."

A group of cabinet ministers looked a little unnatural.

The cabinet did not receive any memorials from the Ministry of Officials, that is to say, this time, the elder of the Heavenly Official, is playing directly again.

The atmosphere was a little cold, and after a while, Takaya Tsujisuke took the initiative to ask.

"I'm waiting here today to discuss the matter of the talent show in the Ministry of Rites. I don't know why the Lord Tianguan entered the palace?"

Wang Wen glanced at the few cabinet ministers present, but he also didn't have a good impression of them.

The so-called bill plan is nothing more than a detailed description of the general situation and basic judgment of the memorial, so that it can be judged when it is submitted to the emperor.

In Wang Wen's view, the greatest role of the bill is to help the emperor solve the complicated but not particularly urgent matters submitted by those places.

But these cabinet ministers sometimes stretch their hands too long.

Take the draft memorials in the Ministry of Rites as an example, this note was written by Hu Yi, the grand uncle of the Ministry of Rites, after discussions with the officials of the Ministry of Rites.

This matter is supposed to be in the hands of the Ministry of Rites, and the cabinet vote is to be submitted, but there is still some kind of cabinet discussion.

If something is really inappropriate, it is natural that it should be discussed in the early court, the lower court, and all officials, civil and military, to discuss it together.

But now the cabinet insists on calling a few cabinet ministers to discuss together, so that after discussing with them, it can make a decision.

This is why Wang Wen doesn't like to send memorials to the cabinet. In his opinion, all the cabinet can handle are the trivial matters of local and low-level officials.

The real military and state affairs should be jointly decided by the emperor and the six ministries, and the cabinet is at most for consultation.

However, the cabinet discussion held by the cabinet seemed to be like the six ministries asking the cabinet for instructions, which made Wang Wen very uncomfortable, so he basically ignored the cabinet when the Ministry of officials responded to government affairs.

But Gao Gu was the second assistant after all, so he couldn't help but answer when asked face to face.

So after thinking for a moment, Wang Wen said lightly.

"This year is the year of the Jingcha. The Ministry of Officials has drawn up a preliminary commentary on the Jingcha. The matter is of great importance. I need to discuss it with the emperor."

Well, after saying this, the faces of a group of cabinet ministers became even more ugly.

The cabinet didn't even know about such a big matter as Jingcha, and the boss couldn't hold back his face.

The scene cooled down for a while, and everyone was thinking about each other, but they stopped talking.

After a while, a figure appeared outside the house again, and the Chief Assistant Wang Ao was belated.

When Wang Ao entered the room, everyone stood up to greet him.

But the difference is that other ministers stepped forward to greet them, but Wang Wen and Cheng Jing stood in place and cupped their hands.

After returning the salute to everyone, Wang Ao saw that there were two more people in the room, so he quickly stepped forward and saluted Wang Wen and Cheng Jing as well.

Then, Cheng Jing explained what he just said.

"...Our family and Lord Tianguan are just here to watch the excitement. Lord Shoufu doesn't need to care about us, just preside over the cabinet meeting normally."

Therefore, Wang Ao cupped his hands again, and everyone took their seats.

Then, Gao Gu got up and said.

"The memorial of the Ministry of Rites has already been copied for everyone to read yesterday, so I won't go into details here, and just state the conclusion. The old man thinks that the Ministry of Rites' memorandum is inappropriate, and that the imperial court will end the war. It should not be so extravagant."

"What's more, Your Majesty is not a person who is obsessed with beauty. There are already queens and concubines in the palace, and His Majesty also has heirs. Such a large-scale draft at this time will damage His Majesty's morality. It is better to change it to the Gyeonggi area and conduct it on a small scale. The choice is."

After the words fell, Yu Shiyue shook his head, raised objections, and said.

"The reason for the general election, the Ministry of Rites has clearly stated in the memorial, it is to make up for the lack of selection by His Majesty back then, and also to implement the harem system stipulated in the Imperial Edict of His Majesty Zhengdan."

"What's more, the selection is to enrich the harem and extend the emperor's heirs. This is a major event. Now the princes in the palace are young and weak. The Supreme Emperor is in the north, and there is only one prince under His Majesty's knees, and he is weak and sick. It is said that he just fell seriously ill a few days ago. "

"Even if it is for the stability of the country, this draft cannot be ignored."

Gao Gu frowned and didn't speak.

It should be said that what Yu Shiyue said made sense.

Historically, the emperor's harem was not simply the emperor's family affairs, but a national event.

The harem is peaceful and the offspring are prosperous, so the country is stable. This is why the courtiers did not oppose the draft too fiercely.

The impeachment of a few censors was laughed at by the high-level officials.

It's not that there are no princes in the current palace. Before the Supreme Emperor's Northern Expedition, he left behind three heirs, and today's son already has a concubine's eldest son.

But the problem is that these princes are too young.

Although it is said that the death rate of the royal family's heirs is not high these years, it is not without it. No one can guarantee that these little babies can grow up safely.

Therefore, if the Son of Heaven wants to be drafted, there are not many people below who dare to object.

Although it is said that the position of the Eastern Palace is still held by Zhu Jianshen, the son of the Supreme Emperor, the more so, the more sensitive this matter is.

People with a little bit of political vision, or even a little bit of wink, dare not impeach this matter indiscriminately.

After all, even if His Majesty's prince cannot inherit the throne in the future, in the end, Zong Yi from the lineage of King Yun must be inherited by someone.

If someone really dares to say with great fanfare, Your Majesty, your child will not be able to inherit the throne anyway. It doesn't matter whether he is or not, the emperor will immediately send him to prison for the rest of his life.

What's more, only people dared to discuss in private, and no one dared to speak out even if they questioned whether the emperor had evil intentions and plotted against the East Palace.

After all, blood inheritance is the most important thing in the hearts of everyone in the world.

So when Yu Shiyue brought up this reason, Gao Gu really couldn't refute it.

Seeing Gao Gu's embarrassment, Jiang Yuan, who was recruited into the cabinet by him, pondered for a moment and opened his mouth to help him, said.

"It's definitely not negligent, but the drafts all over the world are really too noisy, not to mention that the fourth concubine is the most important, second only to the empress, the imperial concubine and the noble concubine, who are the same as the prince's concubine, if it is not for the wedding ceremony, there is nothing to do. Choose lightly."

"If you are worried that there will be no one in the harem and your offspring will wither, you should choose more talented people."

This is also a way.

However, after a short pause, Zhang Min hesitated.

"What Elder Jiang Ge said is indeed reasonable, but it has been stated in the memorial of the Ministry of Rites that His Majesty will allocate money to the internal treasury for this draft. Uncle Da Zong and His Majesty had discussed about the draft."

"What's more, His Majesty's Zhengdan edict has written the number of people who were elected at the wedding, but there are not enough people in the palace now. If we obstruct it, His Majesty may be displeased."

Everyone was a little pondering, at this moment, Wang Ao spoke.

"The difference between us and others is nothing more than the fact that the commotion is too loud, which will cause the world to discuss. In this case, we may as well make concessions. We should choose seats. The number of people remains the same, but the area is reduced to within the capital. What do you think?"

Yu Shiyue nodded: "Yes!"

Zhang Min and Yu Shiyue kept walking closer, and they had no objections, and nodded in the same way.

Gao Gu wanted to continue talking, but after glancing at Wang Ao, he didn't speak.

Therefore, the entire cabinet has reached a consensus.

Wang Ao took out the playbook, and wrote the proposal on the spot, and the cabinet meeting was over.

Everyone got up, took their leave, and then returned to their public houses to continue handling government affairs.

At the same time, Wang Ao also stood up and cupped his hands.

"Eunuch Cheng, lord Tianguan, the matter here is over, why not go into the palace together, how about giving a performance to His Majesty?"

Cheng Jing nodded with a smile, but Wang Wen was in a daze. It wasn't until Cheng Jing poked him secretly that he woke up like a dream, got up and nodded.

So, the three of them walked towards the Wenhua Palace hand in hand.

Speaking of staying in the harem was originally an excuse for Wang Wen to attend the cabinet meeting, and Zhu Qiyu stayed in the Wenhua Palace all the time.

So when these people arrived outside the hall, they were summoned within a short time after the internal servants passed on the news.

Wang Wen's position is important, according to the smooth, he should be the first to report, it just so happens that Wang Ao also wants to hear about the arrangements for Jingcha.

But to his disappointment, Wang Wen stood where he was, without saying a word, as if nothing happened when he came here.

The Son of Heaven also passed Wang Wen and asked him directly.

"The chief assistant is here, but the memorial note from the Ministry of Rites has been drawn up?"

So Wang Ao had no choice but to nod, and handed over the playbook.

Zhu Qiyu glanced at it roughly, and after thinking for a while, he picked up the ink brush, wrote the words "to be disposed of according to the cabinet vote", and passed it to Cheng Jing who was beside him.

The reason why the draft is held in various state capitals is to find something for these clans to do.

But now, Zong Xue's affairs are on the right track, and there is really no need to make such a fuss.

"The matter will be dealt with according to the cabinet's instructions. The chief assistant is busy, so let's step down."

After dealing with the memorial, Zhu Qiyu sent Wang Ao out without any hassle.

Wang Ao was also winking, and he could tell when he saw it that the emperor didn't want him to stay longer, so he bowed and left.

When Wang Ao came out of the palace gate, Zhu Qiyu turned his gaze back to Wang Wen who had been silent all this time, and asked.

"Sir, after listening to a cabinet discussion, how do you feel?"

Hearing the emperor's question, Wang Wen's expression was a bit complicated. After pondering for a while, Fang sighed and said.

"Wang Ao is not simple, the cabinet, the future is limitless."

　The two chapters are combined, today is only one chapter, see you tomorrow~~~
　　
　
(End of this chapter)