At most, he might have liked to take a few concubines and play hide-and-seek naked in the back garden.
Even so, there was no large-scale selection of women for the imperial concubine selection; instead, they secretly recruited women from respectable families to enter the palace.
However, Zhou Heng was definitely not a wise ruler.
He reigned for twenty years and accomplished almost nothing. He obeyed the ministers' orders and listened to the Empress Dowager's commands.
Therefore, Emperor Zhou Heng had very little authority and little say in his reign.
If you had to describe Zhou Heng in one sentence, it would be mediocre, extremely mediocre.
If the Great Zhou Dynasty were in its golden age, then an emperor like Zhou Heng, who had no temper, might still be hailed as a wise ruler.
Unfortunately, we live in a chaotic world, and for a monarch or emperor, mediocrity is a mistake.
Looking around, Yang Cheng saw several of the strongest forces in the current court.
The Qingliu faction was led by Zhang Xiren.
This old man was a veteran of three reigns and also the crown prince's teacher, holding a highly respected position.
His official robes were covered in patches, not out of deliberate frugality, but because he only had one set of casual clothes to change into besides his official robes.
Opposite Zhang Xiren was Cai Yan, the Grand Tutor of the current dynasty.
He was the most powerful minister in the Great Zhou Dynasty and a trusted advisor entrusted by the late emperor. It is said that he was highly valued by the Empress Dowager.
However, he was corrupt and abused his power, so his reputation in the court and among the people was not good.
The other was a middle-aged man who looked to be in his early fifties, wearing a python robe, and exuding an arrogant and domineering air.
He is the current emperor's uncle, the Eighth Prince Zhou Bingzhi, and the Empress Dowager's favorite youngest son.
It is said that when Zhou Heng's grandfather was choosing a successor, he was torn between passing the throne to his favorite youngest son or to Zhou Heng's father.
In the end, Zhou Heng's grandfather decided to pass the throne to Zhou Heng's father. After all, the principle of primogeniture was the national policy of the Great Zhou Dynasty. Even though the Empress Dowager opposed it, the throne still ended up in the hands of Zhou Heng's father.
However, Zhou Heng's father was unlucky. He died of illness after only a few years on the throne. At that time, Zhou Heng was still a teenager, while the Eighth Prince was already in his prime.
The Eighth Prince thought that the throne should surely be his turn at this point, but he was met with unanimous opposition from the court, who criticized him for passing the throne to his brother and for violating the proper rites.
In the end, the Eighth Prince failed to ascend the throne and could only watch as Zhou Heng took the throne, while he himself had to bow to him.
In short, after looking around, Yang Cheng realized that the Great Zhou Dynasty was not only in chaos on the outside, but also internally.
"The envoy of the Golden Horde has been summoned to an audience."
As one eunuch shouted in a shrill voice, another eunuch outside the palace gate shouted out the last syllable of the word, repeating the cycle until it reached the palace gate.
A moment later, eight envoys from the Golden Horde, along with three Tibetan monks, slowly entered the main hall.
The first envoy was probably in his thirties, but the wind and sand on the steppe were strong, so the people of the Golden Horde looked older than he did. The envoy looked like he was in his forties.
"The envoy of the Kingdom of Radiant Eternal Sun pays respects to His Majesty the Emperor of Great Zhou."
The Golden Horde envoy did not kneel, but merely placed his left hand on his chest in a slight bow, which caused the faces of many ministers present to darken simultaneously.
The Golden Horde also had a kneeling ceremony, but the envoy only performed a gesture of respect by placing his hand on his chest, clearly showing his contempt for the Great Zhou.
Moreover, the Golden Horde claimed to be a glorious and eternally shining nation, meaning that the sun sets on the top of the Great Khan's Golden Horde and its glory will never fade.
This country's name is extremely arrogant and conceited. It was one thing for them to call it that in the past, but today they actually brought it to the Great Zhou Imperial Palace. This is simply an insult to the Great Zhou!
Zhang Xiren immediately snorted coldly: "Ignorant barbarians, they don't know any manners!"
The Golden Horde envoy smiled and looked at Zhang Xiren: "Scholar Zhang, what you said is strange. Are all barbarians ignorant?"
I have studied the Four Books and Five Classics since childhood and can be considered to have a basic understanding of literature. Does being born on the grasslands make me an ignorant barbarian?
Zhang Xiren said coldly, "Since you have only a basic understanding of literature, why were you so disrespectful when you met with the Emperor of Great Zhou in my main hall?"
The envoy from the Golden Horde shook his head and said, "Grand Scholar, you are mistaken. Who compiled this set of rites? It was you people from the Central Plains. However, my Khanate also has its own set of rites."
Your envoys from the Great Zhou have never observed the etiquette of our Khanate when they have met with our Great Khan. Why do you insist that we observe the etiquette of the Great Zhou today?
Scholar Zhang is a man of immense learning; surely he doesn't even know the saying, "Do not do to others what you would not have them do to you"?
Seeing a rugged, weathered man, with a refined and gentle demeanor, calmly silence the dignified Grand Secretary Zhang Xiren, was an incredibly bizarre scene.
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