Emperor of the Red Chamber

Chapter 96 Asking the Supreme Emperor to take back control of the government
After Prince Yizhi blamed Emperor Chengtai for the winter thunder, he then talked about why Emperor Chengtai was unworthy of his virtue, was mean and vicious, and brought disaster to the country and the people.

The main reason is that Emperor Chengtai's new policies made people angry and caused a lot of troubles. Many officials and gentry were dissatisfied, saying that Emperor Chengtai was a traitorous emperor because many people died...

At this time, Prince Yizhi suddenly took out another complaint and said loudly to Emperor Jing'an: "Father, Emperor Chengtai even abused his own prince Qingzhe. Even Qingzhe thought he was mean and vicious. I have a copy here." The complaint written by Qingzhe himself accuses his father of abusing him!"

As soon as these words came out, the whole palace was shocked, even Prince Hesu and the four kings with different surnames were shocked. They didn't know that Prince Yizhi had prepared this move.

This era pays great attention to filial piety, and the son does not complain about the father's fault.

And now, the prince Yuan Qingzhe actually wrote a handwritten complaint against his father?
Prince Yoshichi said loudly: "My son, I will read the complaint to my father right now."

Emperor Jing'an shouted: "Shut up!"

Prince Yoshichi didn't take it seriously and read the complaint loudly.

This complaint alleges that Emperor Chengtai imprisoned Yuan Qingzhe for five years. After he was released five years later, when he visited the palace for the first time, he kicked Yuan Qingzhe out of the palace and even out of Prince Yiqin's palace.
After hearing this, Emperor Jing'an glanced at Emperor Chengtai, who finally said, "Father, I would like to see if this so-called complaint was written by Qingzhe."

Emperor Jing'an nodded, and did not call the eunuch, but looked at Yuan Qingbai: "Qingbai, please bring it up!"

Everyone in the hall looked at Yuan Qingbai, asking Yuan Qingbai to submit Yuan Qingzhe's complaint, which was very meaningful...

Yuan Qingbai immediately stepped out of the queue, walked to Prince Yizhi, took the complaint, and presented it to Emperor Jing'an. Emperor Jing'an read it and handed it to Emperor Chengtai, who also read it.

This complaint is indeed Yuan Qingzhe's handwriting, and it also has Yuan Qingzhe's signature on it.

If Emperor Jing'an hadn't been there, Emperor Chengtai would have laughed angrily.

Emperor Chengtai was puzzled. No matter how stupid Yuan Qingzhe was, how could he be so stupid? He actually wrote such a complaint to help Prince Yoshizhi and make him, his father, step down, and he was charged with being unfilial!

the reason is:

Yuan Qingzhe was stupid, and he was extremely envious and jealous of Yuan Qingbai. He was disgusted with Emperor Chengtai, but he had a good impression of Prince Yizhi, whom he thought was amiable and powerful.

The day before yesterday, Prince Yizhi even used sweet words to fill Yuan Qingzhe with a meal of ecstasy soup.

Prince Yizhi told Yuan Qingzhe that he had made an agreement with Prince Hesu, the four kings of different surnames and others to unite all the princes and noble civil and military officials to overthrow Emperor Chengtai during the New Year's Day greetings and elect Yuan Qingzhe as emperor.

Prince Yoshichi also said that the four kings with different surnames jointly gave advice, and even the emperor had to listen to it.

Prince Yizhi also said that when Emperor Chengtai stepped down, Yuan Qingzhe, the eldest son of the emperor, would succeed according to the rules. The throne of the Great Zhou Dynasty could only be passed down from father to son, there would be no brothers or ancestral grandchildren, and Yuan Qingbai was just a maidservant. The concubine was born and was loved by Emperor Chengtai, the deposed emperor. The princes, nobles, civil and military officials would not let Yuan Qingbai succeed to the throne.

Prince Yizhi also said that the reason why Yuan Qingzhe was elected emperor was because Emperor Chengtai severely suppressed him, Prince Hesu, the four kings with different surnames, and others. As the emperor, Yuan Qingzhe could protect them and let Yuan Qing Zhe will then make them hereditary and irreplaceable princes.

Prince Yizhi also said that this is Yuan Qingzhe's only chance to become emperor, otherwise Yuan Qingzhe will not have a good life, and may be imprisoned by Emperor Chengtai again, or may be executed. Even if this is not the case, when Yuan Qingbai waits until Yuan Qingzhe will not be spared even if he succeeds to the throne.

In addition, Prince Yizhi knew that Yuan Qingzhe was greedy and used two beauties, Ruzhen and Ruyao, to seduce him.

Therefore, Yuan Qingzhe wrote a complaint on the spot against Emperor Chengtai for abusing him, and after writing it, he accepted the two beauties Ruzhen and Ruyao.

Afterwards, he actually regretted it, was really scared, and felt that it would be difficult to do, but the complaint had already been written.

Haha, I was deceived!

Although Emperor Chengtai was very angry at the moment, he was still calm. He said respectfully to Emperor Jing'an: "Father, I would like to order someone to bring Qingzhe and let him talk about the complaint in person."

Emperor Jing'an thought for a moment and nodded.

Emperor Chengtai immediately ordered the imperial guards to quickly bring Yuan Qingzhe to the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

Prince Yizhi secretly cursed Emperor Jing'an and Emperor Chengtai for unexpectedly bringing Yuan Qingzhe for questioning. Fortunately, he had taken precautions against this and warned Yuan Qingzhe that if this happened, Yuan Qingzhe must not be afraid of trouble. .

At this time, all the distinguished officials outside the palace were talking about it. They all knew that Prince Yoshichi was causing trouble in the palace, which was nothing less than causing chaos!
Among the distinguished officials outside the palace, they include the natal families of Yuan Qingbai's female family members, including Wang Ziteng, Jia She, Jia Zheng, Jia Zhen, Qin Ye and others.

Prince Yizhi didn't want to wait for Yuan Qingzhe. He knelt down and said loudly to Emperor Jing'an: "My father is still in good health. May you have many blessings and a long life. I beg your father to take over the government and depose Emperor Chengtai!"

These words resounded like thunder in the splendid Hall of Supreme Harmony, with its golden bricks and golden pillars.

It was as if the winter thunder the day before yesterday suddenly descended on the Hall of Supreme Harmony today.

Prince Hesu knelt down and said, "I also beg the Supreme Emperor to take back control of the government!"

The four princes of Beijing, Dongping, Nan'an, and Xining looked at each other, then knelt down together: "I second the proposal!"

At this time, the first-class Duke Ke Duo also came out and knelt down: "Old minister also seconded the proposal!"

Ke Duo, like Tang Chengyuan, was a trusted veteran of Emperor Jing'an and the uncle of Emperor Chengtai.

When Emperor Jing'an abdicated and became the Supreme Emperor, Ke Duo served as the Admiral of the Nine Sects and was granted the title of Taibao!
The Admiral of the Nine Gates is a second-grade military attache. It is a very important official position. He is in charge of the Third Patrol Battalion of the Nine Gate Infantry, with a strength of 30,000. He is mainly responsible for the guard and access control of Shenjing City.

However, in the third year of Chengtai, Emperor Chengtai dismissed Ke Duo's nine admirals and eliminated the Taibao. The reason was that Ke Duo formed a clique for personal gain, recruited power and accepted bribes, and exercised power.

However, Ke Duo is still the first-class Duke, and today he is congratulating him on New Year's Day, and he can be ranked in the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

Emperor Chengtai couldn't help but feel nervous now.

Prince Hesu is an old prince and a close cousin of Emperor Jing'an.

Ke Duo was once a trusted veteran of Emperor Jing'an, the uncle of Emperor Chengtai, and a first-class Duke.

The joint remonstrance of the four kings with different surnames, Beijing, Dongping, Nan'an, and Xining, is even more terrifying. This is the highlight of today.

The four kings with different surnames all made great contributions to the founding of the country. There was a system called "four kings discussing politics".

There is another saying: the four kings give advice together, and the emperor takes it seriously.

This means that if the four kings jointly advise on a certain matter, even the Emperor of Zhou should pay attention to it.

Taizu Taizu of the Great Zhou Dynasty also gave the four kings an iron elixir certificate, which is a gold medal for immunity from death. The iron elixir certificate said that as long as the four kings do not rebel, all sins will be avoided!

Today's four kings with different surnames are all third generation. Among the four, only the Prince of Beijing County serves as the minister of political affairs, and the other three kings have no power to discuss political affairs.

Before Emperor Chengtai ascended the throne, when he was responsible for checking the deficit, the hero with a different surname took advantage of the Xining County Prince and forced the Xining County Prince to compensate for the deficit of more than 200,000 taels of silver.

After Emperor Chengtai ascended the throne, he even suppressed the four kings with different surnames. Although the king of Beijing County served as the minister of political affairs, his presence was getting less and less.

The four kings with different surnames all had guilty consciences. They all committed crimes by relying on the iron book of alchemy, and they were all worried that once Emperor Jing'an died, Emperor Chengtai would not care much about Taizu's iron book of alchemy and would punish them severely. Moreover, the four kings with different surnames are not hereditary. The princes of Beijing County only have four generations of princes, and the princes of Dongping, Nan'an, and Xining only have three generations.

Another important reason why the four kings with different surnames conspired with Prince Yizhi to overthrow Emperor Chengtai is that they wanted to compete for hereditary power and to gain great power and wealth!
The four kings with different surnames believe that after Emperor Chengtai was overthrown, even if the next emperor of the Zhou Dynasty is not Prince Yizhi, he may be the original twelfth prince or Yuan Qingliang. If these two people ascend to the throne, they will both get hereditary replacement and get Great power and wealth.

At this time, Prince Yizhi said loudly to Emperor Jing'an again: "Father, when I, the great ancestor of Zhou Dynasty, said that the four kings should remonstrate together, the emperor would respect it! Even though my father today does not care about the death remonstrance of his son, he still thinks of the four kings' remonstrance. Please advise me and ask my father to take over the government again!"

Tang Chengyuan felt embarrassed. He wanted to come out to support Emperor Chengtai. However, Prince Yizhi and others urged Emperor Jing'an to take over the government. If he came out to support Emperor Chengtai at this time, Emperor Jing'an might be dissatisfied.

Why, you, Tang Chengyuan, have become Emperor Chengtai’s loyal confidant?
Among the people in the palace, Tang Chengyuan was not the only one who felt this dilemma, including Yuan Qingbai.

Emperor Jing'an looked gloomy and asked Emperor Chengtai, "What do you want to say?"

Emperor Chengtai said: "When I return to my father, I have something to say in my heart. I just want to wait until Qingzhe comes and then ask him why he wants to write a complaint and ask my father to grant it."

Emperor Jing'an nodded.

As a result, an extremely strange scene appeared inside and outside the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

It was supposed to be a New Year's Day greeting, but it was suddenly interrupted by a public remonstrance launched by Prince Yoshichi.

At this time, Emperor Jing'an and Emperor Chengtai were sitting in the Hall of Supreme Harmony. Prince Yizhi, Prince Hesu, the four kings with different surnames, and Ke Duo were all kneeling. Hundreds of princes, nobles, civil and military officials were standing inside and outside the hall. …

It seems that so many people are waiting for Yuan Qingzhe's arrival.

I don’t know if this is Yuan Qingzhe’s honor or Yuan Qingzhe’s funnyness?

This weirdness lasted for a full two-quarters of an hour.

Two quarters of an hour later, Yuan Qingzhe was brought to the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

He had a guilty conscience and was uneasy.

When he was suddenly found by the palace guards and learned that Emperor Chengtai had summoned him to the Hall of Supreme Harmony, he felt even more guilty and frightened.

When he came to the Hall of Supreme Harmony and was in such a grand and solemn occasion, he felt guilty and scared.

He crouched and tiptoed into the palace, and found Prince Yoshichi and others kneeling. He subconsciously thought that Prince Yoshichi had failed.

Facing Emperor Jing'an and Emperor Chengtai above, Yuan Qingzhe knelt down with a pop and said tremblingly: "Son... my grandson kowtows to the emperor's grandfather Jin An, and the son kowtows to his father Jin'an!"

Emperor Chengtai frowned, stared at Yuan Qingzhe, and raised the complaint: "Did you write this?"

Yuan Qingzhe immediately fell to the ground in fright, his face turned earth-colored, and he hesitated: "No... no, yes... Uncle Wu asked me to write it."

Prince Yoshichi: "..."

Emperor Chengtai said in a deep voice: "What did your fifth uncle say to you? You actually wrote such a thing!"

Yuan Qingzhe glanced at Prince Yizhi and didn't know how to respond.

Emperor Chengtai said in a deep voice: "I imprisoned you in the first place because you were young and insolent and acted imprudently. This year, I expelled you from the palace and the palace because of your indulgence and imprudent behavior. I hope that you will not only fail to realize that you are It's such a big mistake that you still write something like this, accusing me of mistreating you?"

Yuan Qingzhe was horrified: "What is written above is not my son's original intention, it was all written by Uncle Wu who asked him to write it!"

Emperor Chengtai said in a deep voice: "What a stupid thing, why don't you call me here as it is? What on earth did your fifth uncle say to you!"

"Fifth uncle said... said... my son didn't remember... my son realized his mistake..." Yuan Qingzhe trembled and cried in fright. Even though he was stupid and afraid of Emperor Chengtai, he did not dare to speak out. What Prince Zhi said to fool him meant that he wanted to overthrow Emperor Chengtai and become emperor. He knew that this was a capital crime!

Emperor Chengtai stood up, bowed to Emperor Jing'an, and then said solemnly to all the princes and nobles in the palace, as well as to the hundreds of noble officials outside the palace:

"Thanks to the grace of my father, I am able to become the Emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty, and I can rely on the Holy Power of the Supreme Emperor to promote the New Deal."

"Since I practiced Zuo, I have been lazy all day and night, and worried and diligent at night. I often sleep for no more than two or three hours."

"What am I doing? To continue the prosperous Great Zhou Dynasty created by the Supreme Emperor! Chengtai, Chengtai, is to ensure a peaceful country and a peaceful people!"

"My new policy is for the purpose of enriching the country and strengthening the military, rectifying the government, and severely punishing corruption. In the final analysis, it is also for the peace of the country and the people!"

"My heart can be learned by heaven and earth, and can be seen by the sun and moon!"

"Prince Yoshichi has always been selfish, making trouble, confusing officials, and disrupting my new policy!"

"Today, he is even more selfish and liaising with others. During the New Year's Day Congratulations Ceremony, he wants the Supreme Emperor to depose me. This is not only bullying me, but also coercing the Supreme Emperor. He is bullying the Supreme Emperor!"

"Prince Hesu, Prince Beijing, Prince Dongping, Prince Nan'an, Prince Xining, and Ke Duo, you all are admonishing me today, not only because you are guilty of committing crimes and breaking the law, but also because you are seeking fame and wealth. !”

"If I are deposed today, will you then jointly remonstrate and elect a new emperor who is willing to despise the imperial court and covet fame, wealth and honor?"

"How can you hide this idea from the Supreme Emperor? How can you hide it from me?"

"Prince Yoshichi actually instigated my prince to be unfilial. His poisonous heart is truly outrageous!"

After saying these words loudly, Emperor Chengtai faced Emperor Jing'an and said respectfully and politely: "My son has always been loyal and filial to my father. It was like this before, it is like this now, and it will be like this in the future!"

"If the father thinks that the emperor of the past three years has been incompetent, and asks the father to depose the emperor, the son must strictly abide by the imperial decree of the father!"

After hearing this, Emperor Jing'an looked at Emperor Chengtai with his deep eyes, then at the people in the palace, at the outside, and then at Yuan Qingbai...

In the Hall of Supreme Harmony, it was as quiet as death.

Yuan Qingbai couldn't help but sigh in his heart: "Awesome, he is worthy of being the cold-faced king in the past, and now Emperor Chengtai! Oh, how can Prince Yizhi defeat him!"

However, if Emperor Jing'an wanted to take over the government again, and Prince Yizhi gave him a good opportunity today, Emperor Chengtai would probably not resist.

In fact, Emperor Jing'an still controls a lot of power to this day, especially the military power.

It all depends on how the grey-haired Emperor Jing'an chooses...

　There are people like Yuan Qingzhe, both in history and in reality.

　　Why Prince Yizhi brought Yuan Qingzhe in will be explained in the next chapter.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)