Chapter 579: Actually, it’s no big deal…
Although the Ministry of War and the court tried their best to block the news, since ancient times, the men at the imperial city were well-informed, and rumors spread everywhere in the capital, all saying that the sky had collapsed.
First, there were rumors that in the battle of Makinohara, 400,000 troops were destroyed, countless generals were killed, the elite troops of the Qin Dynasty were wiped out, and the empire was vulnerable.
For a while, people were in panic, and violent incidents of smashing, looting and robbing were constantly being staged.
Then there were rumors that Prince Cheng turned the tide and led 100,000 imperial guards to burn their boats. Finally, he defeated Yusheng Gong by taking advantage of the strong wind, and then galloped freely within Qi State, even surrounding Shangjing City.
With the continuous good news from the Ministry of War, the emotions of the people of Zhongdu flew from the bottom to the top again. People were celebrating happily, and many people even engraved the name of Prince Cheng on the tablets to worship it day and night. The city of Zhongdu was filled with a peaceful atmosphere.
But the fate of the Qin Dynasty was like a small boat sailing in the night. It was just sent to the sky and fell to the bottom of the valley again.
In October, news that was so bad that it could not be worse came through eight hundred miles of rapid succession - Your Majesty was captured, Hulao Pass was in urgent need, but my 200,000 main force in the Qin Dynasty was trapped in the Taihang Mountains and could not get out in less than three or five months!
The people in the capital were getting ups and downs several times, and their nerves were completely numb. They looked at the magnificent Forbidden City in a daze, wanting to see if these prodigal things could completely sink the big ship of Daqin?
Even if no one stood up to conquer, the people still had a vague consensus in their hearts - the court will be responsible for the matter to this point! Your Majesty will be responsible for the blame!
But now we have to rely on these people to get over this hurdle, right?
In the Great Qin Palace in the cold winter.
The empress and concubines in the harem cried in a ball, and the ministers were like ants on a hot pan, so anxious that they jumped but had no choice. Several senior officials who were usually choking each other had to get together and sigh. After shed a few tears for His Majesty the Emperor, they turned to the main topic of the meeting - Where can I start with all my thoughts?
Ginger is still the hottest, and Tian Minnong, the oldest qualified, stood up. He clearly pointed out the key points of the problem and is also the primary contradiction that must be resolved first at present:
How to deal with the emperor's problem?
Yes, it was a mess and I forgot about Mr. Zhaowu. This is indeed the most important issue at present.
If the soldiers are gone, you can be summoned again, and if the generals are gone, you can be promoted again... But the trouble of the emperor is too big.
Speaking of Mr. Zhaowu himself, a middle-aged man with a skinny bone, he couldn't buy a lot of money even if he sold it by pound, but his emperor's title is as heavy as Mount Tai!
That was the supreme head of the Qin Dynasty... According to the exact information, Mr. Zhaowu was just captured and not dead yet. In the words of civilized people, he was unable to perform his work functions for the time being.
It's worse than dying...
No record was left at this meeting of cabinet ministers, and the parties involved were so secretive that we and the people could not understand the attitudes of the cabinet masters. But judging from the development of the later events, the cabinet's final opinion should be: Let the captured emperor die.
Mr. Zhaowu, you're better dead. Anyway, this time you've lost all your ancestors' face. After you die, we can establish a new emperor. It's simple and convenient, and it's very cost-effective... By the way, Zhao Wujiu stepped up his attack on Qin and delivered the extorted documents to the cabinet's desk. The full text is as follows:
"The emperor and the emperor were in the camp, and the upper and lower levels were afraid of being frightened. However, the exhausted soldiers could not support the Heavenly Lord, and they were afraid that they would be a little lazy. They had no choice but to seek the country and allocate relevant fees of 6 million and one tael of official silver. Otherwise, we would do our best to support Your Majesty at the end of October."
The translation is: 'Your Majesty is currently visiting our military camp, but we are poor and cannot serve the emperor, so we have to ask for help from your country.' In the first half, we are quite polite, but in the second half, the rogue style suddenly appears: 'If you don't see six million and one taels of silver before the end of the month, it will be difficult for me to ensure the personal safety of your country.'
After the emperor's wives received the news, they took out the fine jewelry and collected a million taels of ounces and sent it to the cabinet, asking them to rescue His Majesty the Emperor.
But the old men in the cabinet refused to accept the blackmail from the kidnappers. The three cabinet masters, Tian Minnong, Qu Yanwu, and Wang Anting, had no selfish intentions. They were all wise elders who had experienced many ups and downs and had seen all the worldly loves, and naturally knew Zhao Wujiu's wishful thinking... Zhao Wujiu thought that this man was the emperor of the Qin Dynasty. In order to redeem him, Qin State would hand over all the wealth, but he would not return it to the Qin Dynasty.
This old man must have hoped to continuously obtain gold, silver and treasures from the Qin treasury, which can not only weaken the Qin State, but also supplement military use. Grandma, do you regard us as the money house you open? It's just a fucking dream of spring and autumn!
Even the emperor and Prince Zhe silently said that his attitude should be tougher... He even hoped that the kidnappers could win the votes.
Only Zhou Lianben, the Grand Secretary of Wuying Palace, stood on the side of the harem. Unfortunately, he had no foundation at all, and the reason why he was arrogant was just to use His Majesty the Emperor to pretend to be a tiger. Now everyone is planning to replace Emperor Zhaowu, but are you still afraid that he will be a slut?
Zhou Lianben's voice was quickly submerged in opposition. Finally, the cabinet ministers decided to burn the extortion letter and not give a single son! Whether it is abuse or tearing up the votes, they are all casual!!
Alas, sometimes the emperor's life is not worth much...
Since he decided to ignore Emperor Zhaowu's life and death, he had to quickly deprive him of his emperor's identity and cancel his household registration. What if Zhao Wujiu was chewing it and put him back to cause trouble, everyone here would still have to worry about it?
In fact, the solution is very simple, and another one is to establish it! The right to speak can be controlled by the princes and nobles in Zhongdu, the prime ministers, and the most important queen.
We people say you are the emperor, then you are, no, it is; if you are not the emperor, then you are not, no, it is not.
Yes, yes, or not, it's just so cruel! As cruel as ever.
The policy has been decided, so who will take on this important task?
The first one to be considered is naturally His Highness, the Crown Prince, and the Crown Prince. Who else should he do?
In the eyes of the ministers, the only possible candidate is Qin Ting.
So, the cabinet ministers wrote letters asking the prince to ascend the throne immediately. Of course, they would not treat His Majesty Zhaowu unfairly, and would be promoted to the top and respect him as the Supreme Emperor.
The Supreme Emperor, the Supreme Emperor, sounds very grand, but he is just an expired emperor.
The Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager had no objection. After all, the Prince was their legitimate grandson and his son, so he immediately agreed.
But unexpectedly, the prince refused and said, "I am sick and unable to do it." He didn't want to do this decent and glamorous and affordable job in the world.
The ministers have seen this trick of "being a bitch and having a archway" for too many times. Whenever the new king ascended the throne, they are all happy, but they keep panic and rejecting on their faces, as if they are so troubled. But if you believe it, he will... hate you for the rest of your life.
This is the "persuading advancement" system with great Chinese characteristics.
So the ministers submitted another statement and said, "You are the most powerful, you must do it!" and so on. The prince refused again, saying that he was: "No talent and no virtue, and cannot take responsibility."
The ministers thought to themselves, it seemed that they would have to do it again. Then they submitted a statement for the third time and said, "You must be the one. If you don't do it, we will sit in front of your house together..."
It’s only a matter of three things. If you give enough face, you should be willing, right?
The ministers said that, and knelt outside the prince's mansion, waiting for His Royal Highness to come out, invite them from the ground, and politely blame them. Everyone happily went to Taimiao to pay homage to their ancestors, and then they could go back to the Golden Palace to work.
Everyone thought that the prince would not refuse, because he had never refused for a thousand years. Therefore, the five great ministers, six ministries and nine ministers, and officials above the third rank in Beijing, regardless of the cold weather and the hard ground, all knelt here... The merit of supporting him is no greater than this.
But after waiting for more than half an hour, the door was still open. Many old men were already stinging their knees and were indecently miserable. They scolded the prince who was fake and cleared in their hearts.
Near noon, the lacquered gate of the Prince's Mansion was not opened, but the door next to it opened a crack, and the eunuch in charge of the Prince's Mansion came out.
The old men thought to themselves: "Why is the eunuch coming out? It's not up to the right courtesy..." But I felt so uncomfortable when I knelt down. I don't care what he came out, so I'll help us up first.
But the eunuch looked depressed, and when he saw the ministers, he didn't smile. Instead, he opened his mouth and cried: "Your Highness the Crown Prince... is hanging!"
The ministers were stunned. It took a long time for someone to struggle and surrounded the old eunuch. The crowd said excitedly: "We want to see the prince!"
The old eunuch wiped his tears and said, "The prince is still alive and dead, you can see a ball."
Tian Minnong grabbed the old eunuch's clothes and roared angrily: "National affairs are greater than the sky, even if they are fainted!"
"Yes, at worst, we can carry the prince to ascend the throne!" Wang Anting responded in a deep voice.
"Get out of the way!" The gentle ministers who were usually gentle seemed to suddenly become rude and unwilling savages. They pushed the old eunuch away and rushed into the prince's mansion.
The ministers have very clear ideas. We don’t need you to make any decisions. We just need you to replace the current emperor, so it doesn’t matter whether you are fainting or not, as long as you can breathe!
A group of ministers of the Beast Sect rushed into the mansion, but they were a little stupid. This place was too big and there was a yard. Who knows where the prince was hiding?
"You can't go in..." The old eunuch screamed and chased after him, grabbed Wang Anting's clothes tightly, and stuffed something into his hand.
Wang Anting's heart moved, and he threw away the old eunuch who was still screaming, and while walking forward, he unfolded the things in his hand. It was a small note with six small words written on it: "The prince is in Shuxiang Pavilion."
"The prince is in Shuxiang Pavilion!" Wang Anting shouted and led the emperors to the backyard.
When they arrived at the gate of the Shuxiang Pavilion, there was another group of East Palace guards guarding him. The people shouted, "Don't get close!" But they kept signaling everyone with their eyes: "Go over quickly..."
The masters naturally understood it and trembled over the "blocking" of the guards. The guards shouted: "Don't get closer anymore! Otherwise, I'm so polite!" But they watched the ministers pass through the defense line with a smile.
Chapter completed!