Chapter 663 Succession (Additional updates, please subscribe)
"This is a good strategy..."
The King of Thailand's eyes lit up: "Maybe the prince is desperate tonight? Then I will really laugh to death..."
He almost did not hesitate to choose the strategy: "We will not move yet. In addition... immediately send people out to get information, including those in the palace, at any cost!"
"yes!"
Mr. Wu sighed inwardly and was about to leave when he heard the King of Thailand ask, "What's the next plan?"
"The worst option is to mobilize all the soldiers in the palace, ambush at the palace gate, surround and kill the prince, and then force him to abdicate..."
Mr. Wu sighed.
King Thailand shook his head like a broken wave drum: "My palace soldiers are even fewer than the Eastern Palace Guards. Besides, they may not dare to besiege the prince... Even if they kill the prince, they will definitely not dare to attack the palace... In the end, it will only benefit King Kang and his men..."
"If your majesty were still alive, with the prestige of the founding emperor, whoever rebelled would naturally die... But if he has passed away, there is still a glimmer of hope if we attack the palace with the help of the imperial concubine."
Mr. Wu added something in his mind, but did not say much. He looked deeply at the King of Thailand, bowed and left.
…
The Imperial Palace.
Shenwu Gate.
This gate is several meters high and majestic, and there are royal guards on top of the gate.
Those who attack a city should surround it with ten men, and even if the defenders have several thousand or even tens of thousands of people, they may not be able to capture it.
Fang Xing looked around silently and realized that with his lightness skills, he could barely flip over, but no one else could do it except himself.
"Mainly garrison here, and scatter some at other gates in the palace. They can't stop me..."
He stopped the procession and asked Eunuch Su to go and knock on the door.
This core palace gate guard must be the emperor's most trusted confidant, and will not be loyal to anyone else, especially the crown prince and the kings! In normal times, even with 10,000 people, it would be difficult to capture them.
Not to mention where in the capital city could one hide 10,000 soldiers?
I'm afraid that before the fighting starts for half a day, the imperial guards stationed in the suburbs will come to quell the rebellion.
Fang Xing came to follow the formal procedures, so he acted very calmly and let Eunuch Su negotiate.
The commander of Shenwu Gate, named Kou Feng, is a great general who is deeply loved by the emperor. The emperor even feels sorry that it is not a chaotic time now, otherwise he would have been a famous general.
He was naturally loyal to the emperor, but now that he knew roughly what had happened in the palace, he could only be loyal to whoever was in the emperor's position.
Eunuch Su came over with the Queen Mother's decree and the golden talisman. He didn't hesitate for long before he immediately ordered, "Open the door!"
The sound of armor dragging on the ground rang out , and two hundred Eastern Palace guards surrounded the prince and entered the Shenwu Gate.
"Zhao Hu, take two teams and guard this gate."
Fang Xing walked into the Shenwu Gate and gave the order directly.
"this……"
Kou Feng's eyes suddenly became deep.
"yes!"
Zhao Hu responded loudly and urged the Eastern Palace guards to go to Shenwu Gate for garrison.
"Eunuch Su, let's go!"
Fang Xing looked at Eunuch Su.
"Yes, Your Highness, please."
Eunuch Su bent his back even more. Even if the prince had guessed something, he actually dared to directly interfere with the palace defense. This move was so accurate, fast, cruel and vicious.
The point is...no one can really stop it.
Even after tonight, the outcome will be inevitable.
"You are still cautious even at this time. "
Kou Feng was sincerely convinced. He looked towards the harem with tears in his tiger eyes and said to himself, "Your Majesty... there will be a successor."
The nine-story palaces opened one after another.
As usual, Fang Xing left some guards at each door. When he arrived at the emperor's bedroom, there was not a single soldier around him except for a few eunuchs and palace maids.
"this……"
Eunuch Su was stunned when he saw this scene.
If this person is honest, why would there be a need to set up guards along the way? But why did he disregard his own safety when he got here? 'It's hard for father and son to have no suspicion... But the prince is indeed filial.'
Eunuch Su brought Fang Xing into the emperor's bedroom and saw many imperial doctors kneeling on the ground.
There was also an old woman with silver hair next to her, who was naturally the empress dowager.
"Grandmother."
Fang Xing stepped forward and shouted softly.
The grandmother seemed to have just cried, her eyes were red, and when she saw Fang Xing, she spoke in a dry voice: "Prince... your father had a sudden heart attack tonight and has passed away. All the ministers in the cabinet are on their way. You must be careful now."
"Father?!"
Fang Xing walked into the hall and burst into tears immediately.
The reason why he did not bring armor or soldiers was naturally because he had absolute confidence in his own strength.
What's more, it would not sound good if people spread the news that they broke into the emperor's bedroom with soldiers.
Now that I am the winner, I naturally have to be graceful and be mindful of any possible consequences.
Not long after, all the cabinet ministers arrived, all crying.
“Your Majesty, Your Majesty…”
The Prime Minister of the Cabinet was named Yuan Zhao, who was the emperor's strategist when he started his rebellion. When he saw the emperor passing away, he burst into tears.
No matter how much doubt there was in my heart at this moment, at least I was crying on the surface.
Next came the Second Prime Minister Gao Yang, the Minister of Personnel Sun Qiming and others.
"You are all important officials of the court. I am heartbroken right now, so I won't say much. The emperor died suddenly of a sudden illness. Now the affairs of state are in your hands. Yuan Zhao, what do you say?"
The Queen Mother looked at the Prime Minister.
Daqian established a cabinet to share the power of the prime minister of the previous dynasty, but the prime minister was also in a high position and had great power.
Yuan Zhao had the body of a minister, now at the advanced age of sixty-seven. He glanced across the hall with his cloudy old eyes and saw that the crown prince had a face full of sorrow, while a noble lady beside the empress dowager looked nervous.
He sighed in his heart, knowing that he had to put the overall situation first, otherwise the people of the world would suffer: "Does your majesty have a will?"
"No."
The imperial concubine beside the empress dowager struggled slightly in her heart, but was powerless.
Not just any imperial edict can be called a will. A real edict has requirements on the format, paper, and the person who records it.
After writing, you need to print it, make two copies, and keep them on file...
It would be difficult to forge it unless the emperor wrote the edict in blood, but the emperor fell so quickly that there was no time to forge it.
If you want to forge it at this time, you will be seeking death.
Unless the emperor had previously issued a will to replace the crown prince, no one could stop the crown prince from succeeding to the throne.
Even if there was a will before, the crown prince has not yet been deposed, which might be the beginning of a civil war that will split the empire.
Yuan Zhao felt relieved when he heard this, and bowed to Fang Xing again: "In this case, please come to the throne in front of the Crown Prince and inherit my Daqian country..."
"I...ah, I am so confused now..."
Fang Xing declined a few more times, but after being persuaded by the Queen Mother and the ministers, he reluctantly accepted the ministers' worship.
It was now late at night, Fang Xing first asked the Queen Mother to rest, and he summoned several important ministers.
"Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, and all ministers... You are all the pillars of our Daqian. Now, for this important matter, we still need to agree on the rules..."
Fang Xing spoke and then looked at Yuan Zhao.
These are the procedures. Yuan Zhao said naturally, "This is as it should be. First, there will be a court meeting tomorrow morning. The Queen Mother should be invited to the court to announce the emperor's death. Then the Crown Prince will be worshipped by all officials and his status will be determined... According to filial piety, when a father dies, the son mourns for three years. The emperor can use days instead of years or days instead of months..."
"What virtue and ability do I have to dare to use days instead of years like the ancient sage kings? I will just use days instead of months..."
Fang Xing waved his hand.
Yuan Zhao was startled: "If so, I will observe mourning for thirty-six days, and then officially ascend the throne and become emperor..."
"Well, I'll leave these matters to you."
Fang Xing thought for a moment and said, "My father is wise and brave, so he should be posthumously named 'Wu' and be called Emperor Taizu Wu... As for my reign title, I will call it 'Longchang'. There is no need to change it this year. I will change it next year..."
…
After all the commotion, the ministers walked out of the hall and saw that it was already dawn.
Yuan Zhao looked worried when he saw the second prime minister Gao Yang coming towards him.
The two of them looked around and found that the guards were standing very far away, so they greeted each other.
"Prime Minister, please take good care of yourself. The court will be in half an hour..."
"Shoukang..." Prime Minister Yuan Zhao called Gao Yang's name, seeming to be hesitant to speak.
The two looked at each other and shook their heads implicitly.
After exchanging some information, Gao Yang said goodbye and left.
Yuan Zhao was relieved: "The prince only arrived a little earlier than us... and he doesn't have the power to bribe the entire Imperial Hospital. So, it seems that your majesty... has really reached the end of his life?"
As soon as he thought of this, two lines of tears flowed down his cheeks again: "Your Majesty... Your Majesty..."
…
In the side hall.
Fang Xing is using a few slices of pastry.
The meals were all very exquisite and fragrant, but there was no soup or other food. This was obviously carefully considered so that he could be full and energetic without feeling embarrassed when he appeared at court for the first time.
'The outcome has been decided.'
Fang Xing sighed silently in his heart.
'But what comes next is the key!'
"I'm not taking over a mess, but there are hidden dangers..."
"The country has just been settled, but the people are still uneasy, the nobles are clinging together, and the civil officials are growing stronger..."
"In the harem, it's hard to say about the Empress Dowager, but the concubines are all very tough..."
No matter who the Empress Dowager supports, it does not affect her own status. She summoned the Crown Prince only to support the orthodoxy and stabilize the overall situation according to custom.
It is not certain that they are very close. If the new emperor offends the interests of the Empress Dowager in the future, he will suffer even more.
"The most important thing is, who are my friends? Oh, the emperor has no friends..."
Fang Xing thought about it silently. The emperor was the largest landlord in the country, so he should sit at the landlord's table. However, the emperor was also the largest slave owner in the world. All the people in the world were his slaves. Therefore, he needed to feed and clothe the slaves. How could he survive?
At the very least, slaves, as the property of their owners, should not be damaged too much.
"The most important thing is that I don't have the prestige of the founding emperor, and I can't suppress the arrogant soldiers and generals, the civil officials and the ruthless scholars who emerged from the mountains of corpses and seas of blood in the chaotic times..."
"If you think that you can kill whoever you want and do whatever you want as an emperor, then that's just sheer fantasy..."
"The sad thing is, with today's literacy rate, the foundation of my rule is the scholar-officials..."
"But there is a bright side too. The country has just been founded and there are too many deaths. The pie is huge..."
"As long as we reduce taxes and levies, restrict large landlords, support small landlords and self-employed farmers, and be a little more lenient with the people, and govern by inaction, the population and taxes will naturally increase. Perhaps we can even get a reputation of 'a prosperous era' in the history books of later generations?"
Just as Fang Xing was thinking, a soft voice sounded outside.
(End of this chapter)
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