Starting in Saarhu, it is a bit difficult to make a comeback.

Chapter 231 Li Xianzhong is granted the title of Prince (please subscribe for monthly tickets)

As Li Zicheng led his troops to the west, the northwest region had been completely recovered.

The original Shaanxi Chief Envoy's territory was too large, which easily led to the situation of dominating the northwest. Li Xianzhong split Shaanxi into two, made Shaanxi independent, and established the new Gansu Chief Envoy Department in the former Ningxia, Gansu and Qinghai parts.

Xiong Tingbi was transferred to the governorship of Shaanxi and Gansu, Chen Qiyu was appointed the governor of Henan, and Zuo Liangyu was transferred to the governorship of Shandong.

Lu Xiangsheng, the former governor of Shandong, was appointed governor of Fujian and Zhejiang.

Today, only Uzang is not under the control of the Hongguang court in the Ming Dynasty. Of course, there is no actual control in the Yunnan-Guizhou region.

In addition to the traditional territory of the Ming Dynasty, Li Xianzhong also occupied the vast territory of the Monan region and regained the Yinshan Hetao; in addition, he also occupied the Ping'an, Xianjing, and Yellow Sea roads in North Korea, as well as the Ryukyu Islands and Taiwan Island, and brought the Nuer Gandusi has been restored!

In terms of territory alone, the Hongguang Dynasty was not inferior to other periods of the Ming Dynasty.

As for using Li Dingguo and Li Zicheng, it is also a helpless move.

Although Sichuan, Shaanxi and other places were recovered in one fell swoop, these areas were very remote and the imperial court's ruling power was not strong.

Coupled with the inconvenient transportation, transporting supplies was very laborious and difficult to support large-scale foreign campaigns.

Li Xianzhong needs a certain amount of time to maintain stability and digest these areas.

Therefore, Li Xianzhong used Daxi and Dashun to attack the Southwest and Western Regions first, laying the foundation for his complete conquest of these areas in the future.

After all, the ministers of the Hongguang Dynasty were more concerned about changing dynasties than expanding their territory.

Although they joined Li Xianzhong one after another, there is no doubt that these people are all his original shareholders.

Now that the world is basically at peace, they naturally hope that Li Xianzhong will rule the world as soon as possible so that they can reach a higher level.

Obviously many people can no longer hold themselves back.

However, no one expected that it was Yanshenggong Kong Yantao who was the first to write to Emperor Hongguang Zhu Yousong.

Kong Yantao believed that Li Xianzhong, the king of Liaodong County, fought for the country and made the whole country return to his country in just over a year, which was a great contribution to the court.

It might be difficult to convince the public if you don’t add the title of Prince!

To be honest, Li Xianzhong had no intention of adding the title of prince and going through such a vain process.

Now, the palace, the cabinet, and the governors all over the world are all his people. He has almost cleared up the gentry and vassal forces who supported the Ming Dynasty.

Even if some people die to support the Ming Dynasty, they will not cause too much trouble.

According to his idea, after returning to the capital, he would directly ask Zhu Yousong to make an abdication, and he would complete the dynasty change by ascending the throne.

Kong Yantao was just taking off his pants and farting - it was unnecessary!

But now that things have happened, he just has the mentality of watching a show to see where things will develop.

After all, it will take two months for him to return to Beijing from his northwest class, which is enough time for them to deal with these things.

The sparseness of Kong Yin peach can be said to stir up a thousand waves with one stone!

Although Yan Shenggong's character was not very good, no one dared to ignore the influence of the Kong family in Qufu.

Now all the forces entrenched in various places have surrendered, Zhang Xianzhong died, and Li Zicheng fled to the Western Regions.

After the external conflicts are basically resolved, internal conflicts naturally arise.

In fact, the ministers in the court had no objections to Li Xianzhong's appointment as king!

After all, it was Emperor Hongguang himself who first destroyed the ancestral system of the Ming Dynasty and made Li Xianzhong the king of Liaodong.

With his current achievements, it is logical for him to transform from a county king to a prince.

Of course, due to different positions, both sides also had their own plans for conferring the title of king on Li Xianzhong.

From the standpoint of Liaodong officials, their goal was not to be crowned king. They wanted Li Xianzhong to ascend the throne and directly change the dynasty.

In this way, in addition to their existing official rights, they also have the merit of serving the dragon.

After all, none of Liaodong's old ministers have been knighted yet.

Only Zuo Liangyu, who killed Chongzhen, and Gao Jie, who sacrificed himself to Hanzhong and killed Zhang Xianzhong, were made count.

The requirements for this knighthood are indeed quite high.

Not only must he achieve military exploits, but he must also kill the emperor!

Li Xianzhong also hinted on different occasions that once the new dynasty is established, they will be rewarded for their merits.

Although the title of king cannot satisfy their political demands, it is still a step in the abdication process.

Since Wang Mang usurped the Han Dynasty, abdication has become a means for powerful officials to change dynasties.

Generally speaking, one cannot escape these steps. First, he can be granted the title of Duke or King, then he can make a fake axe, add Jiuxi, and finally force the emperor to abdicate.

Yan Mingtai, the first assistant who stayed in the capital, discussed with Li Sanshun, the second assistant. Since these steps were unavoidable, they should simply do it in one step.

The current Ming Dynasty court has long been under the control of the prince, and there is no need to directly depose Zhu Yousong and usurp the throne.

If Li Xianzhong wanted to usurp the throne, he could directly proclaim himself emperor in Liaodong.

Then the next step is definitely to go through the process of giving in.

Starting from the Jin Dynasty, the "False Festival Yue" became the highest-level method of authorizing the king. With the power of "False Festival Yue", not only can he kill soldiers who violate military orders at will, but he can also go on expeditions on behalf of the monarch and have the power to kill festival generals.

Nowadays, Li Xianzhong is equivalent to being directly involved in politics, and his power has exceeded that of the "fake festival yue". Naturally, there is no need to engage in this anymore.

The Nine-Xi Ceremony is a set of nine ritual utensils given by the emperor to princes and ministers with special honors. It is the expression of the highest courtesy.

The nine kinds of special gifts are: chariots and horses, clothes, Lexian, Zhuhu, Nabi, Huben, ax and ax, bows and arrows, and hoe.

The emperor often commends his ministers with ceremonial rewards, and the rewards are divided into three, six, and nine grades. "Nine" has the highest meaning in China, so Jiuxi is the highest honor reward given by the emperor to his ministers.

Although these things are imaginary, they are still essential as an important step in the abdication process.

Therefore, the plan drawn up by the cabinet is to confer Li Xianzhong as the King of Liao, seal Liaodong, add Jiuxi, and appoint Li Xianzhong, the King of Liao, as the regent to take charge of all court affairs!

In this way, the only difference between Li Xianzhong and Zhu Yousong was the title of emperor.

So when Yan Mingtai made these requests, he hesitated.

If he agrees to this, his role as emperor will come to an end.

He looked eagerly at the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty, hoping that someone would stand up and oppose it.

But now, whether he is the cabinet scholar, the six ministers or the imperial guards, they are all Li Xianzhong's people. What can he do as a nominal emperor?

But someone soon jumped out to object.

Huang Daozhou, the young master of Zhan Shi Mansion, said: "Li Xianzhong, the prince of Liaodong County, has made great contributions to the country, so it is okay to be granted the title of King of Liao. However, the prince's actual title to Liaodong is tantamount to breaking the earth and granting him the title of king."

"In order to facilitate the command during the Liaodong County Prince's campaign, it was an expedient measure to exercise arbitrary power based on the situation."

"Now that the world has been pacified, the Liaodong County Prince should return power to Your Majesty. The Liaodong County Prince can lead the cabinet, but the regent is really against the rules of a minister."

"Therefore, Huang Daozhou suggested that the title of Liaodong be changed to the city of Liaodong. The prince of Liaodong can govern in the name of the chief minister, but it is not appropriate to act as a regent! In order to prevent the world from misunderstanding that the prince of Liaodong has treason, I believe that the prince himself will not Agreed!"

Huang Daozhou's words disgraced Yan Mingtai, the chief minister of the cabinet.

Not only did he reject the cabinet's proposal, but he also asked Li Xianzhong to directly replace him as the chief minister of the cabinet. This Huang Daozhou really dared to say so.

But at this time, it was really beneath his status for him to end up fighting with Zodiac Zhou.

Qian Qianyi on the side understood it. It was true that he was the leader of the Donglin Party, but now he had completely joined Li Xianzhong's pirate ship.

Facing the reality, the Donglin Party had to adjust its political policy, from controlling the court situation to supporting Li Xianzhong and occupying a place in the court.

Therefore, the Donglin Party members also split into two factions. One faction followed Qian Qianyi and supported Li Xianzhong.

Others went to official positions and criticized Li Xianzhong and the Hongguang court among the people.

As the Minister of Rites, it was impossible for him not to express his position at this time. Qian Qianyi said: "In addition to conquering the world, the prince of Liaodong also proposed the 'Hongguang New Deal'."

"My Ming Dynasty is able to achieve today's grand occasion. Your Majesty has made the most of the contribution. No amount of reward can be exaggerated. In order not to destroy the great situation today, Your Majesty will certainly not have any objections to His Majesty's involvement in politics!"

"Qian Qianyi, Minister of Rites, thinks there is nothing wrong with the cabinet's proposal!"

Qian Qianyi kicked the ball back to Zhu Yousong again. If your Majesty does not want to name this regent, please say so yourself.

Qian Qianyi actually represented the southern gentry.

Afterwards, the Liaodong officials represented by Li Sanshun, the northern gentry represented by Feng Quan, and the noble forces represented by Zhang Weixian and Zhu Chunchen all stood up to support Qian Qianyi's remarks.

Except for the support of a few censors, almost no one dared to echo Huang Daozhou's remarks!

These people spoke softly, and naturally they could not give Zhu Yousong the confidence.

He had no choice but to use dragging tactics, thinking that this matter was of great importance, and he had to listen to the thoughts of the Liaodong County Prince himself, so he should not act too hastily.

Although the ministers continued to put pressure on Zhu Yousong, saying that the reward for the Liaodong County King could not be delayed, so as not to chill the loyal ministers.

But after all, they were in the court, and they couldn't look too ugly, so they gave Zhu Yousong three days.

As soon as Zhu Yousong returned to Qianqing Palace, Queen Mother Zhang Yan was already waiting for her here.

Zhang Yan is the queen of Tianqi Emperor Zhu Youxiao, and her relationship with Zhu Yousong is actually very distant.

But after all, he, the Hongguang Emperor, was confirmed by Zhang Yan, and Li Xianzhong gave Zhang Yan a high status.

Nowadays, the real head of the entire harem is Zhang Yan, and Zhu Yousong's Queen Chen does not dare to speak loudly in front of Zhang Yan.

Although very reluctant, Zhu Yousong still paid his respects to the Queen Mother Zhang Yan!

Zhang Yan got straight to the point and said, "I heard that the previous dynasty invited the Liaodong County Prince to be crowned a prince. What do you think of this matter?"

Zhu Yousong didn't know that Zhang Yan was already Li Xianzhong's best friend. After all, the Queen Mother was also a member of the royal family.

He said: "I am also very embarrassed about this matter. I have no objection to giving Li Xianzhong the title of prince. But the cabinet wants to grant Liaodong the title of prince at the same time and make him regent. I don't agree with it!"

Zhang Yan said: "Originally, a woman from the Ai family shouldn't have anything to do with matters involving the court."

"But this matter is of great importance. The Ai family is afraid that His Majesty will be confused!"

"Let me ask you, in His Majesty's eyes, does Liaodong belong to Li Xianzhong or His Majesty? Do the civil and military affairs in Liaodong listen to Your Majesty or to Li Xianzhong?"

Zhang Yan's question was very pointed. Zhu Yousong said: "Although I don't want to admit it, this Liaodong has long belonged to Li Xianzhong, and Liaodong will not listen to me at all!"

Zhang Yan nodded with satisfaction and said: "Actually, your Majesty knows very well that whether Liaodong is sealed or not is Li Xianzhong's. In this case, what is the loss if your Majesty gives Li Xianzhong something that originally belonged to Li Xianzhong?"

"As for the regent, the same is true. Whether he has the title of 'regent' or not, the civil and military officials of the entire dynasty will listen to Li Xianzhong."

"If Li Xianzhong is willing to accept the fiefdom of Liaodong and be a regent with peace of mind, Your Majesty should feel lucky!"

After saying this, Zhang Yan left Qianqing Palace.

Zhu Yousong actually had no choice. What he worried about was that after obtaining these, Li Xianzhong would make further progress and usurp the Ming Dynasty.

But he overlooked one thing. These things were not decided by him, but by Li Xianzhong himself.

If I didn't give Li Xianzhong such treatment, I'm afraid the civil and military officials in the entire dynasty would not let it go.

Instead, he turned out to be mean and unkind to Li Xianzhong, giving him an excuse to depose him.

He didn't know whether Li Xianzhong was Huo Guang or Wang Mang; but he couldn't force Li Xianzhong to become Dong Zhuo!

After thinking about this clearly, Zhu Yousong was relieved.

On November 11 of the second year of Hongguang, Zhu Yousong issued an edict to confer Li Xianzhong, the king of Liaodong County, as the King of Liao, and granted him the land of Liaodong. He also appointed Li Xianzhong as regent, prime minister with military and political power, and was awarded Jiuxi!

After Huang Daozhou heard this imperial edict, he was so angry that he almost vomited blood. He cursed Li Xianzhong as a rebellious minister and a traitor, and then took leave!

The other ministers are celebrating with their crowns, and now the prince is only one step away from the Ninth Five Supreme Being.

After the prince returns to Beijing in triumph, they can continue their efforts and make Zhu Yousong the Zen throne.

But surprisingly, Li Xianzhong himself rejected the canonization.

Generally, when the emperor ennobles ministers with such important official positions, they will symbolically decline. This is also the norm!

No one took it too seriously, after all, everyone understood this process.

However, the reason for Li Xianzhong's refusal is very intriguing.

First he refused the fief.

Nowadays, all the vassal kings in the world have returned to their fields, each of them only retains 1 acres, but he has to seal off the entire Liaodong.

This obviously violated the purpose of the "Hongguang New Deal" not to annex land, and he did not accept the actual seal.

By doing this, he also told everyone that there would be no real seal in Ming Dynasty in the future.

This move is really incomprehensible.

Li Xianzhong refused to be crowned king by other countries. Did he really want to be a loyal minister of the Ming Dynasty?

Since ancient times, if powerful officials do not ascend the throne themselves, they will not end well.

Li Xianzhong will never be Huo Guang.

When the cabinet was confused about Li Xianzhong's intentions, Mao Yuanyi said: "I understand what the prince means. The prince is actually not satisfied with the title Liao!"

Li Xianzhong was born as a general in Liaodong, so it was natural for him to be named King of Liao. He had never refused the title of "King of Liaodong" before.

Mao Yuanyi said: "Have you ever thought that if the prince accepts the title of "King of Liao", after accepting the abdication, the title of the new dynasty will become 'Liao'!"

According to convention, once you accept the abdication of the previous dynasty, you must recognize the previous dynasty as orthodox, and generally the title given by the previous dynasty will be used as the country's title.

For example, Cao Pi was the king of Wei in the Han Dynasty, so the country was named Wei; Yang Jian was the duke of the Later Zhou Dynasty, so the country was named Sui; Zhao Kuangyin was the governor of Songzhou, so the country was named Song!

Zhu Yuanzhang's King of Wu was originally granted the title by the Han and Song regimes. If he recognized that the Han and Song Dynasties were orthodox, then the country's title should be Wu rather than Ming.

Obviously Zhu Yuanzhang believed that he had captured the world from Meng Yuan, so he refused to use "Wu" as his country's name, and that was how Ming Dynasty came to be.

At the same time, this also recognized that the Yuan Dynasty was an orthodox dynasty.

Liao, as the name of the country, has some problems.

Because the dynasty "Liao" had appeared before, the legitimacy of Liao has always been questioned.

Although Li Xianzhong was abdicating, he was actually seeking to usurp the throne.

The original legitimacy is easily questioned, and using such a controversial country name as "Liao" makes the country even more unjust.

Li Xianzhong would naturally not be satisfied.

In addition, "Liao" is not the name of the Central Plains regime and cannot represent a unified dynasty.

After Mao Yuanyi's prompting, everyone immediately knew what the problem was.

This time they chose not the title of king but the title of country.

In this way, the King of Liao is indeed inappropriate.

The title of the country is usually chosen from the Seven Heroes of the Warring States Period or the previous dynasties.

The previous unified dynasty must be ruled out.

Of course, no one would choose a weak South Korea. Who would use "Han" as the country's name?

Among the remaining country names, the regional nature is relatively strong. Chu generally refers to the Huguang area, Qi represents Shandong, and Qin represents Guanzhong.

Only Yan and Zhao could represent the north, and in the end they chose Yan!

On November 20, the second year of Hongguang's reign, Li Xianzhong was canonized as King of Yan and given nine tins.

Later, King Yan Li Xianzhong was appointed regent by Hongguang Emperor Zhu Yousong to lead the government!

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(End of this chapter)