Do You Know?: I, the Little Cabinet Elder, Regent of the World

He was well aware that this was something that several Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet had probably discussed long ago.

Otherwise, how could they be so neat and tidy?

A subject forcing his ruler to submit is a rare occurrence throughout history!

"Peng!"

Emperor Zhao Zhen threw the memorials on his desk to the ground as a way of venting his grief and anger.

This whole affair of officials forcing him to abdicate was something that had been planned for a long time, yet he hadn't gotten a single word of it!

All the civil and military officials bowed down in unison!

This scene filled him with both anger and fear.

There wasn't even a whisper of a coup attempt!

These people were all handpicked and promoted by him.

In particular, Fu Bi and Han Zhang, one entered the cabinet after fifteen years of service and the other after seventeen years of service, and they were promoted beyond the usual ranks countless times.

At this moment, however, they are the main force for forcing the emperor to abdicate!

Fu Bi disregarded everything else and said bluntly, "This old minister did not intend to hurt Your Majesty's feelings, but today I have no choice but to do so."

"Shut up!"

"In order to preserve Your Majesty's integrity in your later years, this old minister humbly requests Your Majesty to adopt a member of the imperial clan and examine his character."

"Disobedience!"

"Damn it!" Zhao Zhen was alarmed and pointed straight at it.

"Choose one from among them and establish him as his successor."

Fu Bi refused to back down and continued to state his views. Zhao Zhen was filled with grief and anger and repeatedly rebuked and tried to stop him, but Fu Bi did not stop.

Zhao Zhen was so angry that he walked down the jade steps, pointing at Fu Bi with full of rage, as if he was about to hit him.

"Bastard!"

"Shut up!"

"This is the very foundation of the nation, Your Majesty!"

After speaking, Fu Bi let out a mournful cry and slammed his fist on the ground.

Zhao Zhen walked to Fu Bi's side, looking at the kneeling officials, and felt a strange sense of desolation and sorrow. How could things have turned out this way?

"Retreat!"

"Retreat!"

Zhao Zhen sighed silently, as if he had aged several years in an instant, and his tone was somewhat helpless.

He really couldn't handle this situation.

There are only two solutions: either give birth to a prince or be adopted into the imperial family.

Apart from this, it is almost impossible to subdue the officials with words alone.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty!"

Seeing that Zhao Zhen was about to leave, Fu Bi suddenly became anxious.

The matter of adopting a member of the imperial family has been delayed again and again. Finally, the officials forced the emperor to abdicate. How could the matter not be resolved properly?

Fu Bi leaned forward slightly, reaching out to hold Zhao Zhen's dragon robe tightly, preventing him from leaving.

"you?"

When Zhao Zhen saw Fu Bi pulling at his dragon robe, he was taken aback, and his anxiety and unease intensified.

They've even pulled up the dragon robe?

"His Majesty!"

"Come on, come on!"

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty!"

"If the proposal to adopt a member of the imperial family can be finalized, I would be willing to be beaten twenty times!"

When Fu Bi saw a eunuch pulling him, he pulled his dragon robe even tighter. The chief eunuch, Li Qi, did not dare to use any real force, and the three of them remained in a stalemate.

"good good good good!"

Having no other choice, Zhao Zhen uttered those hurtful words: "Regarding the adoption of a member of the imperial clan, I will listen to you. You can choose who to adopt, and that will be fine."

"His Majesty."

Fu Bi was stunned for a moment, and his eyes immediately reddened.

It is rare in history for a monarch to utter two incisive and thought-provoking remarks in a single day.

That statement is incredibly damaging!

If not handled properly, he could even be labeled a "powerful minister".

His lifelong reputation was ruined in an instant.

Fu Bi sighed deeply, straightened his body, gently lifted the official hat on his head and placed it on the ground, pointing to himself with a full head of white hair and beard.

"Does Your Majesty suspect that this old minister is trying to curry favor with the crown prince? Your Majesty, look at my old bones, my hair, my beard. I'm over seventy years old, and I don't have a single child in my family. What selfish motives could I possibly have?"

"The safety of the nation rests on the shoulders of the imperial heir. In the past, how many calamities arose because policies were not formulated early enough, or were not implemented after being formulated! Your Majesty!"

After saying this, Fu Bi bowed his head and said no more.

"If you want an heir, then let's have an heir. If you want adoption, then let's have an adoption. So, someone has to be the emperor!"

"But my son is gone!"

"Who, who will give me back my son? Who can give me back my son?"

"who--"

Zhao Zhen knew why his subjects had forced him to abdicate. Overwhelmed with grief, he staggered and collapsed to the ground, sobbing and crying out in sorrow.

In an instant, all the officials bowed their heads, and the king wept bitterly!

Jiang Zhao watched this scene and sighed inwardly.

In this coup attempt, the six Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet truly had no selfish motives.

It was purely for the sake of the country and its people!

pity.

Jiang Zhao let out a long breath.

There must be an opportunity to ease the current discord between the emperor and his ministers.

Coincidentally, the method of secretly designating an heir has this effect.

No rush, let Zhao Zhen panic a bit.

Put it on the table again in a few days!

Chapter 58 The Secret Law of Establishing an Heir Apparent! (5k)

As dusk settled, the cicadas' chirping faded away.

Jiang Mansion, Study.

Jiang Zhao held the teacup, took a sip, and silently weighed his options.

After the officials' advice, the emperor and his ministers were temporarily at an impasse.

When a minister tries to persuade the emperor to establish an heir, even grabbing the emperor's robes to prevent him from leaving, the emperor would never back down an inch.

On the one hand, everyone has a sense of luck, and the emperor is no exception.

Instinctively, the emperor was destined to reject the practice of adopting members of the imperial clan.

The late Emperor Zhenzong also faced the same problem of his imperial heir dying young.

Finally, at the age of forty-two, he became an official.

This is not the somewhat ethereal legend recorded in Sima Qian's "Records of the Grand Historian: The Hereditary House of Confucius" that "He had an illicit affair with a woman of the Yan family and gave birth to Confucius."

The late emperor had a son at the age of forty-two, which is a true fact.

And it came true in the case of the officials.

The emperor himself was the "son" in "having a son in his later years".

With such a precedent, it's no wonder that officials were hoping for a chance to have a child.

Furthermore, for the emperor, if he adopted a member of the imperial clan but then had an heir, the situation would inevitably become somewhat complicated.

Even adopted members of the imperial family are still princes, and princes with the right to inherit the throne.

If this situation were to actually occur, how to deal with the adopted members of the royal family would be a difficult problem.

Secondly, once a childless emperor adopts a member of the imperial clan, his position will gradually become awkward.

Throughout history, emperors and their own sons have often fought for power, and there have even been instances of patricide.

As for adopted members of the imperial family and emperors, there's even less to say.

Even without taking an extreme view, the crown prince would still take away the emperor's power.

This is why emperors often favored a particular prince.

The purpose was to pit the favored prince against the crown prince, while the emperor remained high above, acting as the referee.

Now, they are not biological father and son. If the imperial family is adopted, the imperial family is in its prime and the emperor is old and frail. Where will the emperor, who has no son, be placed?

Over time, one will inevitably gain at the expense of the other.

It would be better if the emperor died early, then perhaps there would be a loving father and filial son.

But if the emperor doesn't die young, the outcome will either be a forced early death or abdication between the emperor and his ministers.

It's impossible to expect members of the imperial family to have a conscience and resist the temptation of the throne!

Therefore, the government will never back down.

If a coup succeeds once, there may be a next time.

This time, the coup was to force the adoption of a member of the imperial family; the next coup might be to force the abdication of the emperor.

Emperor Zhao Zhen would never agree to establish an heir according to the demands of his subjects.

At least, not during this time period.

Even if the Grand Chancellor were to force him to abdicate, he would still try to delay as long as possible.

Once a legitimate heir is established, his position as emperor will become merely nominal.

In fact, rather than making a member of the imperial clan the prince, he would prefer to see the Prince of Yan and the Prince of Yong fighting openly and secretly.

At least there will be a check and balance.

Even as emperor, he still played the role of referee.

This is also how Emperor Zhao Zhen would have handled the situation in the original storyline.

It was delayed again and again, desperately delayed, for nearly ten years.

Only when it became unbearable to delay any longer did they finally establish the Prince of Yong as the crown prince, which led to the palace coup.

Similarly, if the emperor's words are laced with veiled criticism, the prime minister and chief minister would no longer be able to offer advice "while holding the emperor's robe."

If one remonstrance by a hundred officials proves ineffective, several more attempts will likely be equally fruitless.

The emperor was a special figure.

To a certain extent, the emperor could act as shamelessly as possible.

An official can utter one hurtful word, and he can utter two or three hurtful words.

It's one thing for a single remonstrance to elicit a harsh rebuke from the emperor, but if every remonstrance forces the emperor to utter such hurtful words, then that is pure disobedience and insubordination.

Even historical records will document it clearly.