The imperial concubine and the ministers all looked at the emperor expectantly. He once had an amazing performance in front of the prince of Qi, and both sides believed that the emperor would still make the right choice this time.
"Rong Chen dared to ask, does His Majesty know what happened to the era?" A minister stepped forward.
This man has a short stature and is extremely inconspicuous among a group of officials. Han Ruzi remembers him. This is Xiao Sheng, the censor of Zuo Cha. The King of the East Sea once said that Xiao Sheng is from the Cui family, but when the court discussed last time, he was with him. The other ministers rebuked Taifu Cui for his defeat.
Xiao Sheng was not a minister of order, but because Shen Mingzhi, the censor of the right patrol, went to the vassal state to announce the decree, he was temporarily called to participate in politics.
"I know a little about it, Sir Xiao, can you introduce it again?"
Xiao Sheng glanced at the imperial concubine, and the predecessor knelt down, "The emperors of all dynasties all had era names, and the emperors of the previous dynasties often had multiple era names. In the Dingding of Chu, Taizu set the rules and selected the era name from the "Tao Te Ching", and each emperor established only one in his life. The people often refer to the emperor by the era name. The 'Emperor of Xianghe' and the Emperor Si are the 'Emperor of Gongcheng'. The sharing of the same era name between the two emperors not only breaks the rules set by the Taizu, but also confuses the people of the world and doesn't know what to do."
"But the new emperor usually extends the old title for a while?" Han Ruzi said.
The queen concubine watched from the side, her expression unchanged.
"It will be used until the first month of the next year at most, and sometimes it can be changed in the middle of the year." Xiao Sheng said these words in front of the imperial concubine. He was very courageous. history's statement.
Han Ruzi nodded to the ministers, indicating that he understood, and nodded to the imperial concubine again, indicating that everything was at ease.
Since he did not know that such a scene would be encountered beforehand, it was impossible for Han Ruzi to think carefully about what he was going to say next, so he had to slow down and think as much as possible, "Si Di is the emperor's brother, unfortunately passed away young Common grief, the year of success should continue to be used until the first month of next year. It is only May, and the empress dowager has not disappeared, the rebellion in Kanto has not been settled, all things are complicated, and it is not appropriate to make trouble again, the year name is in December Reconsideration."
The imperial concubine's face was slightly stiff, and the censor of Zuo Cha, Xiao Sheng, was not satisfied, and wanted to fight again, but the prime minister Yin Wuxian said first: "Your Majesty said very much, the title of the year is not an urgent matter. The Xiongnu in the north, the Baiyue in the south, the Qiang race in the west, and the princes in the east are all in chaos, and they must be pacified as soon as possible.”
The topic then turned back to the war, and the concubine did not insist on her own opinion, she returned to the Cabinet of Ministers and never came out again.
In the evening, the imperial concubine came to the emperor's residence, screened everyone away, stared at the emperor for a while, and said with a smile, "The queen mother and I both misunderstood your majesty, majesty is not an ordinary child."
"The queen mother doesn't seem to treat me as a child." Han Ruzi was ready to have a debate with the queen concubine. He had a little idea in his heart. The queen mother has not yet completely subdued the ministers in the court, and she never dared to miss the chance. To get rid of the emperor who had just ascended the throne for no reason.
"Well, that's the queen mother's fault." The empress dowager was not angry, "The ministers outside treat your majesty as an adult, and wish that your majesty would be in charge immediately."
In order not to cause trouble for any of the ministers, Han Ruzi refused to answer.
"The minister is not simple. The majesty and the queen mother hold power, but the minister has the ability to make the power out of shape, especially the pen they hold. It doesn't matter what kind of person your majesty is, and what kind of person the queen mother is, even less important. , write down the words, say you are what you are, once the reputation spreads, it will be difficult to change it."
Han Ruzi still did not speak.
"Sometimes I think, do ministers really need a living emperor? In the past few years, three emperors have died, but the pattern of the court has not changed much. When Emperor Huan was alive, he tried very hard to Some changes were made, some people were promoted, and some people were demoted. But before you knew it, those who were demoted came back, and those who were promoted disappeared. They are not dead, but it is difficult to appear in the memorial, occasionally When I asked, I learned that they have been sent to serve as officials outside Beijing, and as for the reason, there are two words - practice."
The imperial concubine seemed to have forgotten the existence of the emperor, her eyes narrowed, her brows slightly wrinkled, "There are too many conventions. It is said that the entire imperial court is run by conventions. It will play a role, quietly changing the original meaning of the emperor."
"The emperor is not always correct, so it needs to be adjusted by convention." Han Ruzi knew very well that the so-called emperor now was actually the queen mother, not him.
"It's okay to think so, but then, who does Jiangshan belong to? So I always suspect that the ministers don't need a living emperor, they want a tablet, an idol, can't speak, and have no thoughts, everything is Routines call the shots, and it is the ministers who operate them."
The imperial concubine stood up. She didn't come to teach the emperor a lesson. She had no intention of saying too much, "Your Majesty, rest. May 18 is an auspicious day, and the queen will enter the palace on that day."
Han Ruzi stood up in surprise, "But the rebellion in Qi is not over yet."
"The queen mother felt that the establishment of the queen should not be related to the success or failure of Taifu Cui. Since the appointment has been made, the sooner the wedding, the better. And this is not all the queen mother's idea. The ministers of the Ministry of Rites have been advancing this matter and are ready. This is also As usual, as long as there is no one to stop it, it will proceed smoothly, and there is no need for Your Majesty to worry, everything will naturally follow."
After the imperial concubine left, Han Ruzi went back to her room to rest, lay on the bed for a while, and made a risky decision: you can't just give in like this, the queen mother will definitely make progress in the future, so she must get in touch with the ministers and get their help.
This is not the same as the "clothing edict" that the King of the East Sea once suggested. At that time, he knew nothing about the minister, and the minister did not understand the new emperor. Rushing for help would only cause trouble. Facts have proved that his judgment at that time was correct. Not only did the King of the East Sea inform him, but Yuan Jiuding, the Minister of Rites who received the "secret edict", also took the initiative to hand over a note to the eunuch Yang Feng.
But things are different now. The emperor and the minister have some understanding of each other. Although it is not deep, it is enough to make the minister believe that the emperor's actions are serious.
What will Yang Feng think? Han Ruzi shook his head in his heart, Yang Feng would definitely not agree with the emperor's actions, but Yang Feng is far away in Kanto, and this eunuch hides too many secrets, who can guarantee that what he does is for the emperor's sake
The idea was settled like this, Han Ruzi fell asleep steadily, and silently practiced the reverse breathing method.
It is easy to make a decision, but it is even more difficult to implement it. This kind of thing is absolutely impossible. Han Ruzi hopes to have a face-to-face conversation with the minister. The first difficulty is which minister to choose.
From the second day onwards, Han Ruzi made full use of the little time he spent in Qinzheng Hall every morning to carefully observe the words and behaviors of each minister.
Prime Minister Yin Wuxian was first ruled out. He was too old, too slick, occasionally acting out of line with the Queen Mother, but never persevering to the end and not worth relying on.
Han Xing, the military governor, was also excluded. As the elder of the clan, Han Xing was not interested in safeguarding the interests of the emperor.
Zuo Cha Censor Xiao Sheng and Minister of Officials Feng Ju were excluded one after another. The former's relationship with the Cui family was unclear, while the latter was a clueless guy who couldn't even handle his own affairs well.
There are also some ministers who come to Qinzheng Hall to discuss in turn, two of them are quite honest, but they don't show up often, and there is no possibility of any contact with the emperor.
A few days later, Han Ruzi's eyes turned to the attendants.
The emperor's attendants are all noble children and future pillars of the imperial court. They do not have official positions for the time being, but their fathers and grandfathers are all high-ranking officials.
After several days of observation, Han Ruzi chose Zhang Yanghao.
Zhang Yanghao's grandfather, Marquis Piyuan, had just returned to Beijing to recuperate from an injury. Many officials visited him. Various signs showed that Marquis Piyuan was arrogant and had few contacts with Cui and Shangguan. He had a high reputation in the court. certain appeal.
Han Ruzi approached Zhang Yanghao by roundabout means, and asked his attendants to practice Hundred Step Boxing every afternoon, and it was not until the fifth day that he changed to Zhang Yanghao.
Zhang Yanghao's mood was much better than a few days ago, his fist danced like a tiger, but he didn't dare to be arrogant in front of the emperor, and he had spare hands everywhere.
The two talents passed three tricks, and before the emperor could show a friendly smile, Zhang Yanghao was pushed away.
The King of the East Sea had a gloomy face, and when Zhang Yanghao backed away embarrassedly, he whispered, "Congratulations, you will marry the queen in three days."
The emperor's wedding is imminent, and the East Sea King's temper is getting worse and worse. Han Ruzi has long been used to it and doesn't care. While blocking the Donghai King's soft arm, he said, "You understand my thoughts."
The East Sea King's fist danced more urgently, "What can you think? When you encounter such a good thing, let's go with the flow."
Han Ruzi felt that the King of the East Sea was simply unreasonable.
Meng Che came over and stared at the emperor and the East Sea King. The two closed their mouths and pretended to punch and kick.
On the other side, there were two attendants who made the fakes come true, and scuffled into a ball. Meng Che went over to fight, and the King of the East Sea approached the emperor and said, "Why don't you show the strength of your rejection of the maid? You firmly disagree, the Queen Mother can't do anything about you."
"So you know!"
"Who in the Cining Palace doesn't know, everyone is just pretending to be confused. To be honest, have you tried it on the palace maid... Just waiting to use it on my cousin!" I've never held back for so long, and it's finally going to explode.
"What nonsense are you talking about." Han Ruzi was glad that he didn't ask the East Sea King for help, this guy was really too impatient.
"I'm talking nonsense? You're doing nonsense, so you're not allowed to talk nonsense?" The King of the East China Sea fit and rushed forward. Han Ruzi had been on guard and punched the King of the East China Sea in the stomach. The move was the right one. The king screamed, but was not repelled, and both hands were entangled with the emperor's neck.
At first, everyone thought that the emperor and the King of Donghai were brothers playing with each other. After a while, they found out that something was wrong, and they were all surprised. Meng Che jumped to fight with two steps, and did not dare to use too much force. Eight feet separated the two.
There were more people pulling the East Sea King, which made him feel unfair, and shouted angrily: "You are all traitors, all traitors! Wait for me..."
Someone gagged his mouth.
At the end of the afternoon martial arts hastily, the emperor was sent back to the Cining Palace, and the King of the East Sea was taken to an unknown location.
Han Ruzi felt very angry and couldn't calm down for a long time after returning to the room. He circled back and forth, Zhang Youcai and Tong Qing'e following behind, trying to change the emperor's clothes, but never found a chance.
Finally, Han Ruzi calmed down a little, and planned to take off his clothes when he was practicing martial arts. He didn't want the help of the eunuch and the palace maid. He went to untie the belt by himself, and reached out and felt a small paper bag from the inside.
Someone actually used the trick of "Mission" on the emperor.