Zhu Tian: Starting from the World of Zongwu

I understand. The commander-in-chief wants to go on a secret visit, mingle with the group, and see who are the ignorant ones.

The boss's hobby is really special. He wants to pretend to be a pig and eat the tiger!

Song Xuan was not aware that his random action would cause various associations in the eyes of the people below.

He had lived two lives, and this was his first time attending court, so naturally he wanted to go through the process properly.

After all, it’s the first time, so it always has some special meaning. Wouldn’t it be a waste of experience if I just went through the VIP channel?

After sending the captain of the guards away, Song Xuan turned around and found that the dozen or so people around him all had expressions of surprise or awe on their faces, and subconsciously kept a distance from him.

Obviously, everyone's first reaction to this unfamiliar but seemingly powerful Xuanyiwei official was to keep their distance.

Those ignorant acts of provocation and trouble-making never appeared at all.

Somehow, Song Xuan felt a little regretful.

Chapter 337: Are you worthy enough to compete with me for my son-in-law?

Tai Chi Hall.

This was the largest palace Song Xuan had ever seen, bar none.

Even with nearly three thousand officials attending court, this huge hall still seemed somewhat spacious and not crowded at all.

Song Xuan made a rough observation and found that the officials in the hall could be roughly divided into four types.

Civil officials, military officers, nobles, and high-ranking Xuanyiwei.

Each of them stands in a clear and organized manner, and is easily recognizable at a glance.

Speaking of which, Song Xuan had not yet officially taken up his post in the Xuanyi Guard, and he was not wearing the commander's robe, but the moment he entered the hall, two middle-aged men walked towards him.

The two men were tall, with stern faces, and wore black python robes. One of them had a strong aura of blood and evil.

"Sir, please go first!"

Song Xuan smiled and nodded.

The top leadership of the Xuanyi Guard consists of one commander, two deputy commanders, and four assistant commanders. Unless there are unexpected events, these two will be the deputy commanders.

According to what he said when he was bragging and chatting with Zhao Dezhu after returning to the imperial capital, these two deputy commanders were in charge of the Adjudication Department and the Law Enforcement Department respectively.

The deputy commander in charge of the law enforcement department is named Du Sanshan. He is from the Du family, a hereditary family of the Xuanyi Guard. He is in a high position and has great power. Even though Ye Tian is the commander, many things must be approved by him first.

As for the deputy commander in charge of the Judgment Department, his name is Ji Xiao. As you can see from his surname, he is a member of the royal family and was forcibly inserted by the emperor in order to divide the internal power of the Xuanyi Guard.

However, this man is also a tough character. In order to win the support of the people, he started from the grassroots level, solved countless cases, and was promoted to his current position of deputy commander based on his achievements.

According to the emperor's plan, after Ye Tian abdicated, he wanted to try to make Ji Xiao the successor.

But unfortunately, he still underestimated the power of the Xuanyiwei family. It would be fine if he just placed someone there on a normal day, and Ye Tian would turn a blind eye because of their childhood friendship, but even Ye Tian could not tolerate someone trying to get involved in the position of commander.

Due to various factors, Ye Tian chose to resign and replaced him with Song Xuan, a character he thought was more ruthless.

"grown ups!"

When the four commanding officers heard the noise, they hurried over to pay their respects. At the same time, the directors and deputy directors of the Adjudication Department, Inspection Department, and Law Enforcement Department also gathered one after another.

Among them are Zhao Dezhu, director of the Inspection Department, and his father-in-law, Lu Changhe, deputy director of the Law Enforcement Department.

This was considered a formal meeting between the high-ranking members of the Xuanyi Guard. Song Xuan greeted them one by one, then nodded with a smile and said, "The grand court meeting is about to begin. If there is anything, we can discuss it slowly in the yamen after the court meeting."

Several deputy commanders were the most enthusiastic and nodded and bowed immediately to express their intention to report to the commander as soon as the court was dismissed.

In the Xuanyi Guard formation, Song Xuan naturally stood in the first place, Ji Xiao smiled without comment and stood in the second place, and Du Sanshan stood in the third place.

This also shows the status of these two people within the Xuanyi Guard.

Although they are both deputy commanders, Ji Xiao's status is higher than Du Sanshan.

Behind them were the four deputy commanders, three directors and deputy directors, a dozen or so people scattered around. Compared with the civil and military officials and the group of nobles numbering nearly a thousand people, the number of high-ranking officials in the Xuanyiwei was almost negligible.

But although the number is small, no one dares to underestimate them.

The Xuanyi Guards do not govern the country, but they are a sharp sword hanging over the heads of civil and military officials, and others cannot help but take them seriously.

Therefore, when Song Xuan, a strange and young new face, stood at the head of the Xuanyi Guard team, he quickly caused quite a stir in the hall.

Inside the hall, whispers suddenly arose.

"That young man is Song Xuan?"

Someone said with a smug tone, "It should be him. He beat my son when he was young. I met him once."

"Hey, this can be considered as a chance encounter. You're lucky, bro."

"It was rumored before that the commander of the Xuanyi Guard would be replaced by the eldest son of the Song family. I didn't expect it to be true."

"There's no smoke without fire. The Xuanyi Guards haven't come out to deny this rumor for so long, so it's basically true. Today it's confirmed."

"I wonder how Commander Song will govern. If he continues to kill people at will like he did in the local area, then our lives will be difficult."

"Who knows? Go back and keep your family in check. A new official is bound to make three big moves. If you end up getting burned, don't blame me for not warning you."

In the military officer queue, Marquis Changqing Liu Changqing stood in the fifth position, staring at Song Xuan eagerly.

Before, the youngest son had his leg broken by him and went to the Song family with a generous gift to apologize, but unfortunately, Song Xuan was not there that day. Although the head of the Song family, Song Yuanshan, came forward, he also said that the feud between the two families was over.

But he really regretted not meeting Song Xuan.

Today was the first time he met the eldest son of the Song family. Putting aside other things, his appearance and temperament alone made him extremely satisfied.

If a young man like this could become my son-in-law... forget it, my daughter is not worthy of him.

It is said that the Song family and the Lu family have already accepted the betrothal gift and are discussing the marriage. Although Liu Changqing is in a high position and has great power, he still does not have the courage to provoke the Lu family, the Xuanyiwei family that has been waiting for three hundred years.

In competing with the Lu family for a son-in-law, even if Liu Changqing was buried at night, no one would dare to say a word the next day.

Retracting his gaze, Liu Changqing pondered that although his daughter was beautiful and had good aptitude in martial arts, she could not compare with the eldest daughter of the Lu family. He did not dare to hope for her to be the main wife. He just wondered if Song Xuan had any plans to take a concubine in the near future.

I think Song Xuan would not refuse to let his daughter, the legitimate daughter of the marquis's mansion, become someone's concubine.

This is it. If it gets out, it will make Changqing Hou lose face. With the stubborn temper of those imperial censors in the Censorate, they will definitely impeach him in the court for currying favor with the powerful and selling his daughter for fame.

How shameless it is for the legitimate daughter of a powerful marquis to become someone's concubine!

In the court, a group of civil and military officials had different thoughts, especially some nobles who only had titles but no real power, who looked at Song Xuan with eager eyes.

Song Xuan is too young, and being young means that he will be in power for a long time in the future. He will be in the position of commander for at least twenty to thirty years. If you can make friends with him, two generations of your family will benefit from it.

Song Xuan stood calmly at the front of the queue, seemingly resting with his eyes closed.

However, Lu Changhe, after glancing at those eager eyes, couldn't help but feel his face turn cold and snorted.

You want to snatch my son-in-law from me, but don’t you see what kind of person you are?

At this time, in the back hall, the emperor, dressed in a black dragon robe, slowly walked into the front hall surrounded by a group of eunuchs and palace maids, and then sat on the dragon throne with a somewhat wooden expression.

"Go up!"

The chief eunuch Cao Zhengchun stretched out his voice. His voice was not loud, but it could be heard clearly throughout the entire hall.

"Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you!"

There is no such thing as "Long live the emperor" or kneeling.

All civil and military officials bowed in greeting.

The Great Zhou was very relaxed about kneeling. Officials below the rank of Xiantian were required to kneel except for major events such as the emperor's enthronement or death, as well as ceremonies to offer sacrifices to heaven. At other times, during normal court sessions, officials only needed to bow and there was no need to kneel.

Chapter 338 If you have any needs, how about letting me handle it?

Song Xuan still felt that bowing was very humane.

As for him, he stood there motionless, without any reaction.

He didn't move, and the high-ranking Xuanyi Guards behind him didn't move either, not even clasping their hands or bowing.

The civil and military officials were not surprised by this and had long been accustomed to it.

It is said that these high-ranking Xuanyiwei are all masters of martial arts. Being able to come to court is already a face-giving to the emperor. As for whether they want to salute or not, it depends purely on their mood.

After the ceremony, the emperor looked at Cao Zhengchun woodenly and said, "Shall we begin?"

All the officials were stunned. What should we start with?

Cao Zhengchun took out an imperial edict and read it aloud: "Qian Dao governs the heavens, and civilization controls the calendar; the great treasure is called the throne, and the emperor occupies the highest position..."

Crown Prince Xuanfeng, gifted with divine power, possesses profound wisdom and cunning...

Now the throne of the Son of Heaven is passed to Ji Xuanfeng. The relevant departments shall prepare the ceremonies and confer it upon him in due time. All the dukes and ministers, the governors and the chief officials in the four directions, down to the scholars and the people, should all pay respect to him and show my will.

Government is about adapting to change, and rituals are about following the right path; benefiting the people is about serving the people, and upholding justice. If rules and regulations are inconvenient to the times, they should be amended as circumstances dictate, without hesitation... Announce them throughout the land, so that everyone will know them."

Cao Zhengchun read for a long time, and the hall below was silent. All the civil and military nobles were stunned.

The emperor who valued power more than his life would actually issue an edict to pass on the throne?

Many people find it hard to believe what this means, and some already have guesses in their minds.

Without waiting for any reaction from the civil and military officials, Ji Xuanfeng, dressed in a black imperial robe, walked into the court from the side of the hall and came before the emperor in the spotlight of everyone.

"My son Xuanfeng, you have the potential to be an emperor. I will leave this world to you!"

Ji Xuanfeng took the emperor's seal and said in a deep voice: "Don't worry, father. As long as I am here, the Great Zhou will always be here!"

The emperor nodded, looked around at the important officials in the hall, and slowly said, "We have been emperor and minister for a long time. I bid you farewell. I hope you will not disappoint me and assist the new emperor well."

As he spoke, the emperor walked out with a hunched back, surrounded by a group of eunuchs and palace maids.

"His Majesty!"

At this moment, the Prime Minister of the Cabinet suddenly spoke.

He smoothed his sleeves, knelt on the ground, and kowtowed respectfully, "Your Majesty, I respectfully bid you farewell!"

As he knelt, many civil and military officials knelt and kowtowed, "Your Majesty, we respectfully bid you farewell!"

The father was loving and the son was filial, the emperor and his ministers were in harmony. The scene was very touching for a while. Some people even cried out loud, and bid farewell to the old emperor with eyes full of reluctance.

Song Xuan watched coldly.

It can be seen that the emperor still has great prestige in the hearts of these ministers.

Many ministers have long been accustomed to the emperor's temperament and style of doing things. Now that the emperor has been replaced, many people are uneasy.

The emperor paused, and there was a hint of struggle in his eyes. The consciousness controlled by Ji Xuanfeng was resisting violently at this moment.

But the gap in strength was too big. Ji Xuanfeng suppressed him with the power of his soul. How could an ordinary innate emperor contend with him? After a brief struggle, the emperor took another step and completely disappeared from everyone's sight.

The old emperor leaves and the new emperor ascends the throne.

At this moment, Song Xuan, who had not reacted until now, stepped out from the crowd and saluted while the ministers were still recovering from the emperor's abdication.

"The country cannot be without a ruler for a single day. Your Majesty, please ascend the throne immediately!"

The Xuanyi Guards were nominally the emperor's personal army.

A new emperor appoints new ministers. Song Xuan and Ji Xuanfeng are now in a cooperative relationship, so it is natural for him to express his attitude first.

The Xuanyiwei were the military pillar of the Great Zhou Empire. In a sense, the attitude of the Xuanyiwei commander represented the will of the entire Xuanyiwei system.

As soon as he made this statement, all the ministers understood what was going on.

It seems that the Xuanyiwei family and the royal servants reached an agreement and selected a new emperor.

Whether the emperor is sincere or unwilling, the result is already determined and cannot be changed.

After Song Xuan's statement, no matter how stupid the ministers were, they knew which side to take.

Even the critics in the Censorate, who were always willing to criticize everything, now knelt down obediently to welcome the new emperor to the throne.

"Your Majesty, we welcome you to the throne!"

Ji Xuanfeng, dressed in a black dragon robe, smiled obscurely at Song Xuan, then sat back on the dragon throne, looking down at the civil and military officials below.

"As requested by you, my dear ministers, the coronation ceremony will be kept simple and will begin today!"

As he spoke, he nodded to Cao Zhengchun.

For Ji Xuanfeng, the position of the emperor is just a job and an experience in the worldly affairs, as he said before.

He was too lazy to waste time preparing for another grand ceremony, so he just started the formalities while all the civil and military officials were present.