Do you know: I am the crown prince

Chapter 457 Crown Prince
This was not the first time Zhao Xing became a father, but when he heard Zhang Guifen's cries of pain coming from inside the house, he still walked around the hall worriedly.

Giving birth to a child, especially for the first time, was still full of dangers in ancient times when medical technology was not well developed.

Even though Old Lady He was already in there, as were some of the most powerful midwives in the world, Zhao Xing was still filled with worry.

"Your Majesty, the Emperor and the Empress Dowager are here." A eunuch hurried into the hall to report.

Zhao Xing didn't care to hear that and hurried out.

As soon as I walked out of the hall, I saw my father, the emperor, and my mother, the queen, arriving in a sedan chair.

When the sedan chair landed, Zhao Xing stepped forward and saluted, saying, "Your son greets his father, the emperor, and his mother, the empress!"

"How's it going? Is the baby born?" Queen Mother Cao asked anxiously.

Although Zhao Xing already had a son and a daughter, he did not have many offspring.

Moreover, the child born this time may very well be a legitimate son, which has a completely different meaning.

The Emperor Retired and Empress Dowager Cao rushed over upon hearing the news.

"Not yet, mother," Zhao Xing replied.

"Look how anxious you are. The more anxious you are, the more you need to calm down. Let's go in and wait together."

Seeing Zhao Xing's anxious look, the retired emperor gave him a few words of instruction and walked towards the main hall.

As soon as I entered the hall, I heard the crying of a baby and the cheering of the midwife coming from the inner room.

"It's born so soon? Is it a boy or a girl?" Queen Cao asked anxiously.

The retired emperor also wanted to ask, but in order to maintain his dignity and since Empress Cao had already spoken, he did not ask.

At this moment, the door of the inner room opened, and a palace maid came out, bowing and saying, "The Queen has given birth to a prince, and both mother and child are safe!"

Zhao Xing heaved a sigh of relief when he heard this, and laughed loudly, "Reward, everyone in Mingren Palace will have a big reward today!"

Queen Mother Cao was so happy that she wanted to go in and see her grandson, but the room was not cleaned up yet and she couldn't go in for the time being.

After everything was cleaned up, Queen Mother Cao went in happily to see her grandson.

Zhao Xing also wanted to go see Zhang Guifen and his son, but his father was not in a position to go, and he could not leave his father alone.

"When the eldest son is born, we must worship at the Taimiao and inform the ancestors." said the retired emperor.

Having a new baby is a happy event, and the eldest son is the future heir, so it is naturally more important. It is necessary to worship the ancestors and tell them the good news.

"My son understands."

Zhao Xing quickly instructed Sanshui to prepare the things needed for the worship.

"Has the Duke of England's Mansion been notified?" asked the Emperor.

Zhao Xing patted his forehead and said, "I am so happy that I haven't informed you yet."

After Zhao Xing finished speaking, he ordered someone to go to the Duke of Ying's mansion to report the good news.

"The birth of the eldest son is a great joyous event. It is not appropriate to kill too many people. It can also be regarded as accumulating blessings for the child." said the emperor.

When Zhao Xing heard this, he was about to speak, but the emperor held his hand back and said, "Listen to me."

"The disturbance you have caused this time is too big. I have also heard about what happened in the morning court today. I know that you have the aspiration to revive the Song Dynasty. In addition, this matter is indeed a bit difficult to back down, so I did not try to persuade you. But if you really want to execute those officials, it will inevitably cause a bigger disturbance. The birth of the eldest son this time is a good opportunity." said the emperor.

Zhao Xing fell silent after hearing this. He indeed had no intention of killing all the officials.

The purpose of stirring up this disturbance was also to establish his authority.

Since you want to establish your authority, you can't start well but end badly.

Whether it is to establish authority or to kill people, everything is done to achieve the goal.

His purpose was to shock everyone so that when he implemented some policies later, there would be less resistance. But as my father said, this was a good opportunity to calm the storm.

If he had given in under normal circumstances, those officials would have thought that he had to compromise because he could not withstand the pressure, and they would only become more demanding in the future.

Now, using the birth of the eldest son as an excuse can not only maintain the deterrent effect, but also prevent those officials from making trouble.

After all, it was obvious that Zhao Xing intended to kill someone this time, and the fact that the butcher knife did not fall was a victory for the officials.

Of course, the death penalty can be avoided, but living crimes are difficult to pardon. Only in this way can it have a deterrent effect and will not be regarded by those officials as deliberately making excuses to compromise.

"Your Majesty is wise. I am far inferior to you." Zhao Xing bowed and said with a smile.

"Come on."

The emperor glared at his son and said, "It's not a good thing to be tough all the time. Of course, it's not a good idea to compromise easily like I did before. I said I won't interfere in government affairs. How to do it specifically is up to you."

"Thank you for your teachings, father. I understand." Zhao Xing said seriously.

After about an incense stick of time, the Duke and Duchess of England arrived.

The Duke of Ying should have gone north after the New Year, but the weather in the north was slow to warm up, and there was no sign that the Liao Kingdom had mobilized troops against Yelu Chongyuan, so Zhao Xing did not let him go in a hurry.

The most important thing is that Yelu Chongyuan has not responded to his conditions yet.

After discussing with the court officials, Zhao Xing came up with a guess.

Yelu Chongyuan was obviously gambling that the Song Dynasty would not sit idly by and watch him perish.

After all, he had not asked the Song Dynasty for help before, but the Song Dynasty sent troops anyway.

Since the Song Dynasty did not agree to join forces to destroy the Liao Dynasty, Yelu Chongyuan was naturally unwilling to agree to the Song Dynasty's harsh conditions.

If the Duke of Yingguo does not go to the north, there will be no one in charge in the north. Once the Liao Kingdom launches an attack on Yelu Chongyuan, the Song Dynasty will not be able to send troops in time.

Now it depends on which side loses patience first.

After the Duke of England and his wife exchanged greetings, Zhao Xing had someone lead the Duke of England's wife into the inner room.

"Fu'er sent you to guard the north. You have worked so hard." The emperor sighed as he looked at the old-faced Duke of England.

"Your Majesty, please forgive me for my mistakes. It is not tiring for me to serve Your Majesty and the Song Dynasty. I am just afraid that I am too old and will delay Your Majesty's work." said the Duke of England.

"Duke Yingguo is not only strong and healthy, but also mature and prudent. I feel at ease with you in charge of the north. Now that the weather is gradually warming up, you can set off after I enthrone the crown prince." Zhao Xing said with a smile.

"Appoint a crown prince?" The Duke of England was stunned when he heard this.

Although the system of primogeniture has been in place since ancient times, in reality the royal family has never made any explicit provisions.

Otherwise, in all dynasties, there would not be a situation where the crown prince had already been decided while other princes were still competing for the throne.

This was the case with Li Shimin and Li Jiancheng in the early Tang Dynasty, and Li Shimin’s sons Li Chengqian and Li Tai.

Li Longji was not the eldest son, and was named the crown prince when he had an older brother.

Although it was his older brother who proposed it, if the system of primogeniture inheritance was strictly regulated, there would naturally be conservative people who would stand up to uphold the etiquette.

In fact, it was the Ming Dynasty that strictly stipulated the system of primogeniture.

After Zhu Yuanzhang ascended the throne, he established a rule that the eldest legitimate son must be the crown prince.

It was because of this rule that the Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty fought with court officials for more than ten years over the issue of establishing a crown prince. He even avoided attending court to avoid the pressure from his officials, but finally had to compromise.

Before the Ming Dynasty, although the system of primogeniture was the mainstream, there were no strict regulations.

Therefore, the emperor would rarely appoint a crown prince very early.

"Yes, I plan to hold a ceremony to enthrone Yong'er as the crown prince when he is one month old!" Zhao Xing said.

(End of this chapter)