Song Hongshen walked in calmly and calmly.
When Emperor Xuande saw him come in privately, he said coldly, "Did I summon you? Why are you so rude?"
Song Hongshen stood beside Shen Zhixiu and said, "Father, Lord Shen is the Prime Minister of the Cabinet and the pillar of the country. Father, you demoted him. Who do you plan to promote?"
Emperor Xuande said in a deep voice, "I think Zhang Zhongliang is not bad, but it's a bit of a waste of his talent to sit in the position of the Second Assistant Minister of the Cabinet."
During this period, the cabinet's deputy minister Zhang Zhongliang had close contacts with the Empress Chen's faction.
With the help of Concubine Chen, Zhang Zhongliang even often went to the palace to preach with the Taoists and discuss how to improve the art of alchemy.
The emperor now looks at Zhang Zhongliang much more kindly.
Song Hongshen scoffed at this. "Zhang Zhongliang? He himself doesn't know right from wrong and flatters the emperor. If he became the Prime Minister, who knows what the atmosphere in the court would be like."
Emperor Xuande looked at Song Hongshen in astonishment. Although the father and son had disagreements on political views before, at least Song Hongshen still respected him.
What's wrong with him today? He speaks sharply and in a bad tone.
Emperor Xuande had a bad feeling in his heart. He squinted his eyes and looked at Song Hongshen, "What are you going to do?"
"You are the Crown Prince, are you going to disobey my order? I say Shen Zhixiu is dismissed, who dares to question it?"
Seeing that Shen Zhixiu was still kneeling on the ground, Song Hongshen bent down and helped him up.
He said, "Lord Shen has made great contributions to the Great Zhou. Stand up."
Shen Zhixiu stood up and looked at Song Hongshen deeply.
The teacher and student naturally had some tacit understanding, and Song Hongshen nodded slightly.
Shen Zhixiu understood and stepped aside without saying anything.
Song Hongshen added, "Since your father dislikes government affairs and is devoted to spiritual cultivation, why not hand over the government affairs to your son?"
Emperor Xuande's heart finally died down.
"What are you going to do? You rebellious son, do you want to rebel?" Emperor Xuande shouted sternly.
The feeling that his rights and even his life were about to disappear made him panic.
Song Hongshen shook his head and said, "I will not rebel. I cannot kill my king or my father."
"I am here to advise the Emperor to write a letter of abdication."
"From now on, Father, you don't have to worry about state affairs. You can just focus on refining pills and practicing."
How could Emperor Xuande agree? In his opinion, Song Hongshen's move was no different from rebellion.
"Don't even think about it. I will not abdicate, nor will I let you succeed."
"Come here, take the prince away and lock him up first."
He gave an order, but no one came in from outside the door.
Song Hongshen continued to persuade him, "Father, please stop struggling. You will suffer the least loss if you abdicate."
"If I really force the palace to rebel, and accidentally hurt your favorite concubine or young son, it would be terrible."
"If we, father and son, discuss this, the court's losses can be minimized."
Emperor Xuande's expression changed again and again, knowing that Song Hongshen was threatening him.
Song Hongshen added, "Father, I have already ordered people to tidy up the palace at the foot of the West Mountain."
"In the future, Father can live there with his concubines, young son, and the Taoist priests from Taiqing Palace."
"Food, clothing, and other expenses are all the same as in the palace. If the emperor has any requests, just tell the people below."
Emperor Xuande knew that Song Hongshen was going to put him under house arrest.
"Should I thank you for not killing me?" he asked again with a sneer.
Song Hongshen sneered, "Logically speaking, I should indeed avenge my mother. But I don't want to do anything so treasonous."
When Emperor Xuande heard Song Hongshen mention the late queen, he became more energetic.
"I was kind to your mother. Her death was an accident."
"If you want to blame someone, you should blame Prince Zhongyi. If he hadn't taken your mother out of the palace, your mother would have been cared for by the palace physician and might not have died."
Song Hongshen looked as if he had just heard some ridiculous joke. "Do you still feel deeply attached to my mother?"
"But if you hadn't misunderstood her and humiliated her back then, how could she have left the palace?"
"For so many years, you have pretended to be deeply in love. Even when sleeping with women, you only sleep with those who look like my mother."
"But have you ever thought about whether your mother would feel disgusted if she were still alive and seeing this scene?"
"You are clearly obsessed with beauty, yet you insist on using my mother as an excuse."
For a moment, Emperor Xuande seemed deflated.
He listened to Song Hongshen's words in a daze. It was obvious that he loved Zi Ning the most.
Seeing that he refused to write, Song Hongshen directly ordered someone to take the written edict and stamp it in front of him.
So it doesn’t matter whether he agrees with this abdication or not.
After receiving the abdication edict, Song Hongshen ordered his guards, "Respectfully escort the retired emperor to the villa at the foot of the Western Hills. Do not make any mistakes."
"Yes, Your Highness."
After the men escorted Emperor Xuande and Eunuch Hu away, Song Hongshen said to Shen Zhixiu, "Teacher, I'll have to trouble you with the rest."
Shen Zhixiu nodded, "I will do my best."
The next step is to summon all civil and military officials into the palace. This is the most important step.
When the civil and military officials entered the Ganyang Hall, they all looked at each other in bewilderment, wondering what the purpose of this afternoon's court session was.
Shen Zhixiu stood at the head of the civil and military officials. After everyone was in place, he walked to the center of the hall and faced the ministers.
"The Emperor has issued an order."
As soon as this word was spoken, all the civil and military officials and the prince knelt on the ground.
Shen Zhixiu opened the imperial edict and read, "The Emperor, by the Mandate of Heaven, proclaims. I have reigned for over twenty years, relying on the blessings of our ancestors to ensure peace and prosperity for the nation and its people. The way of the great Dao is to make the world a common good. The foundation of a nation is to select the virtuous and capable. The Crown Prince possesses both virtue and talent, and is worthy of this great responsibility. I now decide to abdicate to the Crown Prince. I decree this!"
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