good season

Chapter 73: Imperial Decree Arrives (Two Chapters Combined into One)

Beijing.

After Zhao Sheng received the news, he went home and told his father about it. Without saying a word, Zhao's father took a group of old friends from the Zhao family and went into the palace.

As soon as they arrived at the palace gate, they heard someone calling them from behind. They turned around and saw four or five old men from the royal family, holding their grandchildren and great-grandchildren in their arms.

So, when Emperor Yongjia summoned them, without waiting for Zhao's father and others to speak, these old men from the royal family forced their children to kowtow to the emperor.

"Hail, look at my little grandson, he is three years old this year, he can eat and drink, and when he is hungry he can find food by himself, he is very smart."

"Go away. Your son does nothing but eat. How can he be a prince? Your Majesty, please look at my grandson. He has thick eyebrows and big eyes. It's obvious that he takes after Grandpa Taizu."

"Old Fifth, how can you be so shameless? Are those thick eyebrows? Those are s-shaped eyebrows. Does the great grandfather look like this? That ugly fellow of yours is not even worthy of carrying shoes for my eldest grandson. Your Majesty, my eldest grandson is definitely the eldest grandson of the eldest son."

Emperor Yongjia felt dizzy and annoyed by the noise, but these old men were all his elders, and he usually portrayed himself as a benevolent, filial and virtuous monarch. Once he had put on airs, it would be difficult for him to put them down. Therefore, even though he wanted to kick these old guys out of the house immediately, he still had to pretend to be listening attentively.

After getting rid of all these old guys with great difficulty, Emperor Yongjia's good mood for the day was gone. He didn't even want to go to Concubine Qiao's place. He didn't turn over anyone's name card and slept in a small side room in the Qinzheng Hall that night.

But the matter was far from over. At the next morning court, more than a dozen censors from the Censorate jointly wrote a letter to the emperor, asking Zhao Tinghan to inherit the throne.

As soon as the censors finished speaking, Zhao Sheng stood up and sang a different tune from the censors: "Your Majesty, I have been to Liangdi and witnessed with my own eyes how weak the prince of Liang was. Although his condition is stable now, no one knows what will happen in the future. I beg Your Majesty to adopt a son from the royal family to inherit the bloodline of the prince of Liang."

After these words were spoken, the whole court fell silent.

The news that members of the royal family were vying to adopt a son for Zhao Tinghan had already spread throughout the court.

This is not news that came out of the palace, but every household in the royal family camp is talking about this matter. It is no longer a secret. It is estimated that within three days, everyone in the capital will know about it.

Of the four great Vajras of the Censorate, only three remain due to the untimely dismissal of Censor Jin.

The Censorate is full of talented people, and there are many censors who want to become one of the four great kings.

Therefore, there was no need for the three imperial censors Sun, Qian and Shi to show off their prowess. As soon as Zhao Sheng finished speaking, seven or eight imperial censors stood up, citing classics and refuting Zhao Sheng so much that he wished he could dig a hole and hide himself there.

The censors had only one topic for debate, and that was that Prince Liang was only nineteen years old, in the prime of his life. Even if his health was poor, it did not mean that he could not have children. The censors cited many examples in ancient and modern times of people who were weak in health but had children to carry on their family line, from kings and generals to peddlers and hawkers. Such examples were everywhere.

In the end, the censors won a great victory.

Just after the court session, a group of old men from the royal family came into the palace with their names handed in. Emperor Yongjia did not summon them, so these old men held their eldest grandson and waited outside the palace gate. They waited for a whole day.

The Mid-Autumn Festival had passed and the autumn wind in the capital had already turned chilly. Several of these people, young and old, fell ill that night.

It would be fine if it was the retired emperor who didn't care and they could only blame themselves for their bad luck. But Emperor Yongjia was not the retired emperor. He was a wise ruler!
When facing a wise ruler, of course one cannot grit one's teeth and swallow one's blood, hiding one's pain, as that would be disrespectful to the wise ruler.

The next morning, Emperor Yongjia learned about this before he went to the morning court. He had no choice but to send the imperial physician to diagnose the case and send medicinal materials to each family.
At today's morning court, the topic of debate still revolved around Liang's Crown Prince Zhao Tinghan, but Party A and Party B had changed from letting Zhao Tinghan give birth to a son himself and adopt him from the royal family to Zhao Tinghan giving birth to a son himself and adopting him from his younger brother Zhao Tingxuan.

There was another round of verbal sparring. This was a battlefield without the smoke of gunpowder, and Emperor Yongjia once again truly felt that at this moment, he was a sheep being roasted on the fire.

Because whether Zhao Tinghan gave birth to a son himself, or let Zhao Tingxuan give birth to a son, or adopted a son from the royal family, there was one prerequisite, that is, Zhao Tinghan inherited the throne!

These things happened after Zhao Tinghan inherited the throne.

On the third day, the same thing happened. Fortunately, the next two days were not grand court meetings or new moon and full moon court meetings, so the number of officials participating in the debate was relatively less, otherwise Emperor Yongjia might have been irritated by their quarrels.

Even so, Emperor Yongjia still could not rest in peace. According to the news sent by the Embroidered Uniform Guard, people in the streets of the capital were talking about this matter. Moreover, the provincial examination had just passed, and many students had not left the capital yet. Those who passed the examination and were preparing to take part in the spring examination next year were busy reviewing their lessons. But this was only a small part after all. There were more who did not pass the examination. They were all very idle now, and were extremely unbalanced in their hearts. They did not think that their failure to pass the examination was because they were not as skilled as others, but they believed that it was a case of their talents being wasted. It was not that they did not do well in the exam, but that the examiners who marked the papers had a problem with their vision and missed these talented people.

Having suffered such a great injustice, of course I have to vent.

Therefore, scholars expressing their true thoughts can be seen everywhere in the streets, alleys, restaurants and teahouses.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard secretly copied the remarks of these scholars and sent them to Emperor Yongjia, who was so angry that he wanted to vomit blood.

So on a dark and windy night, more than a dozen scholars from other places who were stranded in the capital were arrested and thrown into the imperial prison.

"Brother Yang, have you heard about Brother Li and Brother Zhang?" A scholar found Yang Shengqiu.

Yang Shengqiu won the first place in the imperial examination and several ministers in the court extended olive branches to him, but Yang Shengqiu declined them all. He set his sights on higher places.

He shook his head: "I have been studying hard these days, and I haven't seen Brother Li and Brother Zhang for many days. What happened to them?"

The scholar looked around and lowered his voice: "Last night, they were taken away by the Jinyiwei."

Yang Shengqiu took a deep breath and said, "Jinyiwei? Have they said or done something wrong recently?"

The scholar sighed, "You must know that Brother Zhang has a wealthy family and he often invited everyone to his garden and banquets. This time, he booked the Golden Chrysanthemum Garden in the east of the city and held a chrysanthemum appreciation poetry gathering. He and Brother Li have always been good friends. When he held a poetry gathering, Brother Li would definitely run around to help him organize it. Unfortunately, I am not talented enough and did not get an invitation. Brother Yang is the champion of this exam, so I think he received an invitation, right?"

Yang Shengqiu: "I did receive an invitation, but my studies were more important, so I declined."

The scholar felt very regretful, and he didn't know whether he felt sorry that Yang Shengqiu received the invitation but did not go, or he felt sorry that Yang Shengqiu did not live in the imperial prison with Brother Zhang and Brother Li.

Yang Shengqiu asked, "But something went wrong at the poetry meeting?"

The scholar whispered, "There were several good poems produced at that poetry gathering, and they spread throughout the capital in less than a day. The people arrested by the Royal Guards this time, apart from Brother Zhang and Brother Li, the organizers of the poetry gathering, were the people who wrote those poems."

Yang Shengqiu understood that there must be something wrong with these poems. He secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Before coming to Beijing, Fang Daru had told him not to participate in poetry and literary gatherings organized by scholars. Now it seems that this is true.

The capital city is full of hidden talents, but it is also full of crises. If he wants to gain a foothold in the capital city, he must proceed step by step.

However, there are only a few young people who think like Yang Shengqiu. Most of them are full of passion and cynical about the world.

Among them, the scholar named Zhang who was arrested was known as the Little Mengchang. He was very popular among scholars and many poor scholars had received his financial support. Now that he was arrested by the Jinyiwei for no reason, some people raised their arms and shouted for him.

Dozens of scholars ran to the Jinyiwei Yamen and demanded that the Jinyiwei release Zhang Shusheng and other scholars.

They are not commoners, they all have merits. The Jinyiwei cannot drive them away like ordinary people, nor can they arrest them all. This is the capital city. Although the Jinyiwei can act according to their convenience, they cannot arrest so many people and put them all in the imperial prison.

The Jinyiwei had no choice but to call people from the Imperial College, who used both persuasion and intimidation to finally send these scholars away.

After this incident, the poems written by the arrested scholars once again spread throughout the capital.

Those who had not paid attention before have now finally seen clearly that these poems are all mocking the royal family's lack of an heir.

What rootless, what disconnected, in short, as long as you are not illiterate, you can tell at a glance that they are being sarcastic.

The old men of the royal family could no longer sit still. Even those who were recuperating at home were struggling to go to the Taimiao and bang their heads against each other to atone for their sins. The lineage of Prince Liang was going to be cut off. All of their relatives were at fault. They had failed to leave any descendants for Prince Liang. They were too ashamed to see their ancestors. They might as well go and bang their heads against each other to die.

Emperor Yongjia, why don't any of you actually kill yourself when you're crying and shouting?

Considering the previous incident of the crows giving warning, the people fell into panic. Now that King Liang was going to cover the retreat, would the crows give warning again?

Although that is God's will, no one wants to see so many crows.

Especially the old men of the royal family, they wanted to go to the palace and cry to Emperor Yongjia in person, but Emperor Yongjia refused to see them. This did not stop them, so they prepared their carriages, left the city, and headed straight for the Changshou Palace.

Now it was the emperor's turn to be annoyed. These old men had seriously affected his cultivation. He would have been able to become an immortal in three to five years, but now his cultivation had regressed for several years. He was afraid that he would have to wait another ten to eight years before he could fly to the ninth heaven and live a carefree life.

On this day, Emperor Yongjia received an oral instruction from the retired emperor, asking him not to delay any further as it was only a small matter of an imperial edict.

At this point, even without the emperor's oral order, Emperor Yongjia did not want to delay any longer.

On the ninth day of the ninth month, the Double Ninth Festival, an imperial edict broke the peace of Prince Liang's mansion.

"The Emperor, in compliance with the Will of Heaven, proclaims that the Crown Prince of Liang, Zhao Tinghan, has grown up, is honest and upright, benevolent, filial and friendly, and should be established in the order of succession to inherit the throne of the Prince."

With this imperial edict, Zhao Tinghan officially became the new ruler of Liang.

Along with this imperial edict, there was another imperial decree that Zhao Tinghan's younger brother Zhao Tingxuan, who was sixteen years old, was allowed to study at the Imperial Academy.

If the first imperial edict had already made Nie feel depressed, then the second imperial edict was like a bolt of lightning to him.

After Zhao Tinghan survived the Mid-Autumn Festival, Nie had thought that the emperor would let Zhao Tinghan inherit the throne. She also comforted herself that even if Zhao Tinghan became the King of Liang, he was still her son, and she was still the most noble woman in Liang.

But now Zhao Tinghan really inherited the throne. Before Nie had time to comfort herself again, she heard the news that shocked her so much that she almost exploded on the spot.

The emperor asked Zhao Tingxuan to study at the Imperial College!

What kind of study? It's obvious that they are sending him to the capital as a hostage!
Yes, yes, Zhao Tinghan is back. He has not yet married, and even if he gets married, it is impossible for him to give birth to a son immediately. And the young prince can only come to Beijing when he is five years old, otherwise he is too young and may die on the way.

Therefore, no matter whether Zhao Tinghan was his own son or an adopted son, it would take six or seven years before he could be sent to the capital as a hostage.

There is not only Zhao Tinghan but also Zhao Tingxuan in the Prince of Liang's Mansion.

Zhao Tinghan’s son is still unknown, but his younger brother Zhao Tingxuan is already sixteen years old!
After the establishment of the Dayong Dynasty, although the crown prince and his grandsons were always used as hostages, there were also precedents of uncles serving as hostages instead of nephews.

Two generations ago, after the King of Northern Yan ascended the throne, he had no children and had several daughters. In desperation, the King of Northern Yan had to send his younger brother to the capital as a hostage. That young man was a hostage in the capital for ten years. The King of Northern Yan finally had a son, but the nephew was too young. In desperation, the uncle lived in the capital for his nephew for another five years. After five years, the uncle was already in his thirties and was finally able to return to Northern Yan.

But it was bad luck for him. Only three years after he returned to Northern Yan, the King of Northern Yan died, and the eight-year-old prince came back to succeed to the throne and became the new King of Northern Yan.

The little King of Northern Yan was only eight years old and had no brothers, so the position of hostage fell to his uncle again.

Fortunately, my uncle was not idle when he was a hostage in the capital. He had three sons, and he chose one of them to go to the capital as a hostage.

Because of this precedent, there was no controversy when Emperor Yongjia sent Zhao Tingxuan to Beijing as a hostage.

But Nie had already fainted.

She had been corresponding with Concubine Qiao all the time. Could it be that she wrote too subtly and Concubine Qiao failed to understand her meaning and did not speak well of Zhao Tingxuan in front of the emperor?

Nie recalled every letter she had written to Concubine Qiao. The more she recalled, the more regretful she felt. For the sake of her son, what did it matter if she wrote something a little more explicit?

It was also Qiao Zhenzhu's fault. She was illiterate and too vulgar to see the deeper meaning between the lines.

Nie fell seriously ill, and this time she was really sick and not pretending.

However, at this moment, Concubine Qiao's letter arrived again.

In this letter, Imperial Concubine Qiao seemingly unintentionally talked about the past when the uncle of the Northern Yan King held his nephew as a hostage.

As she watched, Nie's eyes lit up.

Before this, she didn't know about this event that happened a hundred years ago.

It turned out that the eight-year-old prince contracted smallpox and died not long after he ascended the throne!
He had no biological brothers and was not married, so the throne fell to his uncle.

The uncle, who had been a hostage for fifteen years, inherited his nephew's throne and became the lord of Northern Yan when he was thirty-one years old.

The current lineage of the Northern Yan King are all his descendants.