Chapter 121 The person who acts as the government official
——
The Emperor, by the Mandate of Heaven, proclaims:
Since I ascended the throne, I have inherited the great achievements of my ancestors and, with the protection of heaven and earth, have been able to enjoy a prosperous era.
However, fate is unpredictable. I am now seriously ill and I am afraid that I will not live long.
I am deeply concerned about the country, the people, and the people, so I have chosen someone to inherit the throne to bring peace to the world.
Among my sons, Crown Prince Yan Shixu is both talented and virtuous, and I value him very much.
After my death, the Crown Prince inherited the throne, was proclaimed Emperor, and changed the reign title to "Kaiyuan".
My will is as follows:
Respect Heaven and follow the teachings of ancestors: The new emperor must follow the teachings of his ancestors, respect Heaven and follow the teachings of his ancestors, work diligently and love the people, so as to bring peace to the world.
Work diligently and love the people: The new emperor must care about the people of the world, be diligent in government affairs, sympathize with the people's suffering, open up channels for communication, and accept advice readily.
Strictly abide by the ancestral system: The new emperor must strictly abide by the ancestral system established by me to ensure the stability of the court.
General Amnesty: On the day of my death, a general amnesty will be declared throughout the country, prisoners will be given reduced sentences, and the orphans, the elderly and the weak will be given pensions.
After my death, when the mourning period is over, the new emperor will immediately ascend the throne and hold a ceremony of succession.
So ordered!
——
After the old Ming King finished reading, he handed the imperial edict to the prince.
The prince kowtowed to the person on the dragon couch to express his gratitude.
It is naturally impossible that this will was written by the emperor.
When the emperor was still somewhat lucid, the empress dowager asked him to write a will, but he refused to do so.
His feeble resistance was of no avail.
Because there are many talented people in the palace who can imitate the emperor's handwriting exactly.
For example...the prince.
The news of the emperor's death spread throughout the capital and several surrounding prefectures and counties the next day.
The whole country was in mourning.
The same is true for Qionghua Palace.
Everyone in the hall wore mourning clothes, and even the brightly colored ornaments were put away.
Wen Lier also changed Xiaoxiao into a plain outfit.
Soon, Nanny Zhong from the Cining Palace came over and took the child to the Yangxin Palace to mourn for his royal grandfather.
Wen Li'er also instructed the palace maids serving in her palace to forbid any chasing and playing.
Everyone murmured yes.
Inside the Fuyao Palace.
Xie Zhenrong was very annoyed.
After the emperor's death, everyone in the palace had to eat vegetarian food for three consecutive months.
It is called '100-day essence'.
She had always hated the incompetent emperor, but now she had to go to the Taiji Hall every day to pay tribute and mourn.
She also forced her son to eat vegetarian meals every day!
This really made her unhappy.
In fact, in order to maintain a good figure, Xie Zhenrong ate very little meat at every meal.
But since she became pregnant, for the sake of the baby in her belly, she would follow the doctor's instructions for every meal, combining meat and vegetables.
Now that this has been broken, she is extremely worried, fearing that her son will suffer from nutritional imbalance.
Nanny Zhuang tried to persuade her earnestly, but seeing that it didn't work, she could only secretly cook some meat for her.
Only then did Xie Zhenrong feel better.
…
That afternoon, Prince Lin Yan Shilin rushed back to the capital.
He ran two horses to death along the way, and he was exhausted and looked a little haggard.
Having not returned to Beijing for many years, he felt a little unfamiliar with everything in the palace.
When he saw his father's body, he was slightly stunned.
Is this old man with a haggard face really his father?
He looked at least thirty years older than when he saw him when he left Beijing.
In addition, it had become a cold corpse, which made it look even more creepy.
Yan Shixu patted his shoulder and said hoarsely, "Thank you for coming all the way back from Jizhou."
Yan Shilin shook his head and sighed, "It's not a big deal, but... I feel a little weird inside."
Yan Shixu understood his feelings very well.
After all, this pair of brothers are both disliked by their father.
Now that my father has passed away, it is normal to not know what mood to be in when attending the funeral.
Seeing Yan Shilin, Yan Shicheng and Yan Shiliang came forward and bowed to him: "Second brother."
Yan Shilin had no hostility towards his two royal brothers. Although they had not seen each other for many years, they occasionally exchanged one or two letters.
Thinking of the matter of Yang Guifei and seeing his two imperial brothers looking haggard and depressed, he didn't know how to comfort them.
After a long while, he just said: "If you want to walk around and relax, you can go to Jizhou to find me."
Yan Shicheng paused for a moment, then nodded heavily after a while.
"good."
Yan Shiliang was still young and had never left the capital.
When he heard his second brother talk about Jizhou, he curiously asked what it looked like there.
Yan Shilin rubbed his head and said softly, "You'll know when you get there. I'll take you around then."
"good."
As they were chatting, Lord Zhu from the Taichang Temple came to find them and was about to proceed with the next step of the funeral process that the parents and children should follow.
During the Dayan Dynasty, the period of mourning for parents by children was 27 months, but actually 25 months, spanning three years, which was called "three years of mourning."
As the heir to the throne, the crown prince is theoretically required to abide by this system.
But in fact, the prince must succeed to the throne as soon as possible to stabilize the court.
Therefore, according to the custom of mourning for new emperors in previous dynasties, days were replaced by months.
That is, one day represents one month, and the prince's mourning period is shortened to 27 days.
During these twenty-seven days, reliable ministers must be selected to run the government.
After thinking about it, Yan Shixu decided to ask the old Ming King and the Grand Tutor to temporarily take over the government.
The Queen Mother had a different opinion.
"Xu'er, your uncle is almost seventy years old. How can he have the energy to help you manage the government? In my opinion, let your uncle come."
Yan Shixu's expression froze slightly, but he quickly calmed down and asked tentatively:
"Grandmother, according to etiquette, upon the death of our father, the princes are required to mourn in the capital for seven days. If our uncle does not leave the capital for a long time, I am afraid it will cause dissatisfaction among the ministers in the court."
The Queen Mother shook her head. "It's alright. I'm here to suppress them. These are special times, and your ascension to the throne cannot go wrong. Your uncle has been incredibly intelligent since childhood, and he's one of us. With him in charge of government affairs, you can rest assured and keep vigil for your father."
Yan Shixu met the Empress Dowager's loving gaze, opened his mouth, and was speechless.
"Then I will follow the Empress Dowager's instructions. I will ask Uncle Yu to stay in the capital for a while longer."
Yongtai and Zhang Sicheng behind Yan Shixu looked at each other and saw the anxiety in each other's eyes.
We just sent away Yang Guifei, and now here comes Prince Yu with ulterior motives.
A month is neither long nor short.
If Prince Yu were to take control of the government, it would be impossible to prevent him from taking advantage of the opportunity to do something.
How could Your Highness agree to this?
The two of them winked at each other behind him, but didn't dare to say anything.
In the eyes of the Queen Mother, Prince Yu is a filial son who is worthy of trust.
But she didn't know how unwilling and dissatisfied Prince Yu was with her and the late emperor passing the throne to the emperor.
Yan Shixu's face was calm, but he sighed deeply in his heart.
What is coming will come sooner or later.
If the Empress Dowager is destined to be heartbroken again, it is better to take this opportunity to fall into the trap.
Wait until he thinks everything is under control, then counterattack him and try not to trigger a war.
Otherwise, only the people will suffer.
Yan Shixu had a rough plan in mind, so he called Yan Shilin, Luo Yunzhen and Su Muyang to discuss it secretly at night.
…
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
