The Ming Dynasty did not revolutionize

Chapter 199 Some People Are Going Crazy

Fei Chun and other Wu officials would not object to the old emperor going to Shuntian Prefecture, and would even welcome it.

Therefore, Fei Chun was only defending King Wu and did not want the old emperor to be angry because of Zhu Jianxuan's behavior, but he did not mention what the old emperor said about going to Shuntian Prefecture.

So after considering it, the old emperor really decided to make a trip to Shuntian Prefecture.

Now that the old capital has been recovered, especially the place where our ancestors' mausoleums are located, it is only natural to go and take a look.

So after the old emperor gave Fei Chun a lecture, he ordered the preparations for the northern tour to begin the next morning.
However, the attitudes of other officials in the Ming court were completely opposite to those of Wu officials like Fei Chun. They were highly unanimous in opposing the old emperor's northern tour.

The reasons given verbally were that the North had just been pacified and the situation was not yet completely stable, so it might be dangerous to go at this time.

Some officials seemed very excited and, in a rare move, they knelt down and begged the old emperor not to go on a northern tour.

Some people also took the opportunity to jump out and publicly impeach the King of Wu for usurping power.

Mainly, as a vassal king, he occupied Shuntian Prefecture, as a vassal king, he went to worship his ancestors' tombs, and as a vassal king, he dealt with the Qing chieftains on his own.

By the way, a lot of character and moral issues were added based on hearsay.

Then some people asked the emperor to issue an order to take back the northern land and order the King of Wu to come to Beijing for trial.

In the end, some people even directly accused the old emperor of indulging the King of Wu.

The entire court was in chaos, and this group of ministers seemed to have suddenly gone crazy.

The prince stood in the front row, trying hard to control his expression and not let himself show surprise.

The old emperor was a little surprised by these people's reactions, but he soon understood why they were in this state and knew what these officials were thinking.

In addition, the old emperor is now seventy years old. In recent years, he no longer cares about the self-restraint of not showing his emotions. He just cursed:

"A bunch of bastards! You are disrespectful to your king and father, and you are trying to alienate the flesh and blood of the royal family!"

Then, he waved his hand and gave an order in a defensive manner, to imprison those ministers who suddenly stood up to impeach the King of Wu, especially those who accused the emperor of connivance.

As soon as the old emperor shouted out his order, all the ministers in the court immediately knelt down and shouted at the emperor to revoke his order.

The old emperor had an impulse for a moment and wanted to continue scolding the guards to drag these people out.

But in the end he held back, stood up and left the hall.

The ministers present all looked at the crown prince. The crown prince did not express anything and turned around and left the Wuying Palace.

The prince has been the crown prince for so many years and is very clear about the current situation.

Now is the point in time when the court ministers are most supportive of him, and most of them are willing to become princes directly.

The last thing the traditional professional bureaucrats in the central court want to see is unexpected changes, especially changes that are out of their control and will affect them.

For changes that cannot be avoided, try to formulate complete rules as much as possible to form stable or even rigid processes.

For example, the transfer of supreme power, that is, the succession to the throne.

The status, identity, power and succession method of the crown prince are all completely determined.

In particular, Zhu Jiancan served as the crown prince for decades and existed as the public and legitimate heir for decades.

This generation of bureaucrats had already determined this when they passed the imperial examinations and began to serve as officials.

The bureaucrats had long been accustomed to this and were mentally prepared and expecting him to succeed the throne after the old emperor's death.

Most officials hope to see the crown prince, who has existed for decades, directly inherit the throne after the old emperor's death.

Among all the ways of power inheritance, it also has the least impact on the court pattern and power structure.

Even if the officials in the court now have no special relationship with the prince, they usually do not have obvious direct conflicts.

After the crown prince ascends the throne, even if they do not make exceptional promotions, they basically do not have to consider the issue of liquidation.

The key is not to be kicked out of the Ming central court circle for no reason.

Most bureaucrats cannot accept the change of reserves.

Changing the reserve can basically be considered a coup.

Replacing a successor means changing the entire planned future development strategy.

The future power structure that most people have already recognized and accepted, as well as all basically established core interpersonal relationship networks, will all be broken down and replaced with a new one.

Among all forms of succession, choosing a monarch of a foreign kingdom to succeed the throne has the greatest impact.

It's much worse than those situations where several sons fight for the throne.

If several princes in the capital were to fight for the throne, the ministers of the court still had the possibility of successfully taking sides.

If you succeed in winning the throne, you will be able to rise to great heights.

However, the King of Wu was the king of a large vassal state, and Wu had a complete bureaucratic system that could directly replace the current central court.

The King of Wu might not completely lack the support of existing court officials, but court officials were definitely marginal figures in the Wu court.

Even if they wanted to follow, they had no chance and they had no connections at all.

If the King of Wu became the emperor directly now, all the officials in the entire central court would be released, and there would be no place for them in the future new court.

Almost everyone falls directly from the center of power to the very edge.

There was no possibility for them to become the victorious party. At the same time, the King of Wu had made great contributions, and his reputation among the people was equally huge. He was also the son of the emperor and the queen.

Everyone knew that the old emperor liked the King of Wu.

Most officials also felt that the current old emperor could be replaced at any time.

The King of Wu's succession to the throne will not cause unrest among the people and the grassroots, only the central court officials like them will be abandoned.

They cannot accept this fact, this reality that is very likely to happen soon, so much so that many people have become a little crazy.

They were like wild beasts that had been cornered.

Many officials knew that it was impossible to succeed, but they still frantically impeached the King of Wu, and some even directly accused the emperor.

When they learned that the old emperor wanted to go to Shuntian Prefecture, a place completely controlled by the King of Wu, they were worried that the emperor would immediately announce a change of crown prince when he arrived in Shuntian Prefecture, and they instinctively opposed it.

Now almost all the major officials of the Ming Dynasty’s central court are members of the prince’s party.

Therefore, the prince knew that even if he called on these ministers to join him in rebellion, there might be a large number of them willing to follow him.

It’s not that they have any advantages, but that they feel desperate about the current situation.

Precisely because of this, even if the prince knew that the vast majority of officials in the court supported him, he should not attempt a coup or rebellion.

Because these officials are now powerless to change the situation and cannot change the things they are most worried about.

It was useless to fight on the frontal battlefield. King Wu's Northern Expedition Army defeated the Qing Dynasty in just one year, which was something the imperial army could not have done.

Therefore, the imperial army was obviously no match for the King of Wu's Northern Expedition Army.

Moreover, when the King of Wu was preparing for the Northern Expedition, there were only five or six million people in Australia, and the size of the army was very limited.

Now that they had gained a population of more than 100 million in the north, a large number of garrisons were quickly established in the process of the Northern Expedition, and the size of the army expanded rapidly.

The combat capability of the army under King Wu's command is definitely stronger than when they faced the Qing Dynasty at the beginning of the year.

The probability of the imperial army winning is very low.

Even if someone went crazy and wanted to assassinate him, he would not have the chance to see the King of Wu. Even if the King of Wu was disobeying the order, he would definitely not come to Yingtian Prefecture.

After the King of Wu successfully conquered the north, his popularity among the people was at its peak. If the imperial court went to war with the King of Wu over the reduction of the power of the princes, the people would most likely support the King of Wu.

The prince himself was also in despair about the current situation, or rather, he had been in despair for a long time.

Now he only hopes that he can succeed to the throne normally. Because of their past brotherly love, his younger brother will not take the initiative to rebel against him.

It was impossible for him to encourage the emperor to punish the King of Wu like those ministers, nor was it possible for him to win over anyone to join him in a coup, as that would be forcing the King of Wu to rebel quickly.

After the prince returned to Chunhe Hall, all the heads of the Eastern Palace officials, led by Qi Xu, the prince's secretary, arrived.

Qi Xu reminded the prince with some determination:

"Your Highness, this may be your last chance..."

The prince was somewhat puzzled:

"What last chance?"

Qi Xu immediately said:
"Your Highness should be very clear about the character of the current emperor, right?
"I encountered something like this in the palace today? How could I let it go?
"If it was in the past, it would be fine, but His Majesty would not be able to dismiss all the officials in the court.

“But now the King of Wu’s army is in the Central Plains, and the King of Wu has also recovered Shuntian Prefecture.

"If we fire them all, there will be others who can take their place."

The prince's expression suddenly fell.

The prince only thought about the court officials and his good brother, and neglected his father.

This is because the authorities are confused.

But after thinking about this, the prince immediately had another worry.

This bunch of ministers... and even these subordinates of mine, are trying to put me on the fire.

They don't like the emperor to change the crown prince and don't want their future prospects to be lost.

It was natural for them to support him as the crown prince, and it was also natural for him to be the target they wanted to push forward.

If it were in the past, it would be fine. I should rely on their power to consolidate my position and prevent my father from suppressing me too much.

But now that he had Shuntian Prefecture and the King of Wu, if he joined them in fighting against his father, it would just give his father an excuse.

The prince found that he had to make a decision and he only had two options left.

Either stand on the side of all the ministers and try to directly gain control of the Ming central court through abnormal means, and then confront the King of Wu in the north.

Either stand on the side of the emperor, distance yourself from these ministers who have gradually gone crazy, and then wait for the emperor's final decision.

I hope that my father will, for the sake of family affection, finally suppress his urge to change the crown prince and leave the throne to me.

The success probability of the former is infinitely close to zero, and the latter is close to delusion.

The prince couldn't make up his mind for a moment.

(End of this chapter)