Lao Li went out to inspect and came back to close the doors and windows, and then told us the ins and outs: "Today, the saint has nine princes, which can be described as a flourishing heir, but the emperor has been on the throne for more than 20 years, and the matter of electing the prince has not been resolved. The Manchu ministers of civil and military affairs had huge differences in the selection of the crown prince, and in order not to split the country, the emperor had been postponing the election of the crown prince. ”

"Isn't it okay to choose the eldest son of the emperor as the crown prince?" Although I don't know much about the rules of establishing princes in history, I also understand that the vast majority of dynasties in ancient China followed the principle of establishing the eldest and not the young.

"This problem lies in the definition of the emperor's eldest son," Lao Li continued: "The emperor still lived in the East Palace back then, and before the wedding, the palace maid Liu gave birth to a son for the emperor, named Yuan Zhize, who was the eldest son. Later, the emperor followed the will of the Empress Dowager Xiao and married his cousin Empress Xiao, and a year later, Empress Xiao also gave birth to a son named Yuan Zhixun, who was the emperor's son-in-law. ”

When Lao Li said this, I suddenly remembered that in addition to the rule of establishing the elder but not the young, there is also a principle of establishing a descendant and not a concubine. Although Yuan Zhize is said to be an elder brother, he is a concubine after all, which makes him one level lower than Yuan Zhixun in terms of status.

At that time, Xiao's relatives held great power in the court, and Empress Xiao's brothers were in high positions, and the ministers of the court were worried that the election of Yuan Zhixun would make Dacheng repeat the mistake of the later Han relatives' interference in politics, so they strongly supported the election of Yuan Zhize, whose biological mother had no background, as the crown prince. After listening to the opinions of the hundred officials, the emperor was also ready to canonize Yuan Zhize as the crown prince, but at this moment, Empress Xiao suddenly made a move to persuade all the Xiao children who served in the court to abandon their official positions and go to the wilderness, in order to show that they did not have the intention of usurping the government in the court, and suddenly put the emperor in a situation where he had no choice. Seeing that the dispute between the government and the opposition intensified, the emperor immediately made a decision and announced that he would not establish an heir for the time being, and the dispute temporarily subsided. ”

"The emperor wants to examine the abilities of the two first, and then choose the best among them. "I thought about it and came up with my opinion.

Miss is really smart, Lao Li glanced at me appreciatively, and then said: Now that the two princes are growing up, although they both have the posture of emperors, they are clearly divided in terms of personal preferences. Yuan Zhize's martial arts are strong, coupled with his familiarity with the art of war, and he is well versed in the way of using soldiers, so he is a general who is not born in the world. At the age of fifteen, he went to Xianbei with the army, and at the age of twenty, he was named the king of Hanzhong, controlling the troops and horses of the northwest to resist Qiang and Xianbei; Yuan Zhixun was the opposite, diligent in political strategy, and had the talent to stabilize the country and secure the country. At the age of eighteen, he served as the assassin of Yanzhou, and in less than three years, he was the emperor of Yanzhou, and was later named the Marquis of Guannei by the emperor.

"It's the same prince, why is one crowned the king, and the other is only a marquis? Could it be that the emperor doesn't like that Yuan Zhixun, and deliberately makes him a little lower in the title?" My guess was rejected by Lao Li: "The other eight princes of the emperor have all been crowned kings, and only Yuan Zhixun has not been crowned king." It is said that it was Empress Xiao who admonished the emperor and politely rejected the emperor's proposal to make him the king of Chen Liu, and instead asked the emperor to make him the marquis of Guannei. ”

"This mother is a little weird, she doesn't want to put the throne, but she wants her son to be a marquis. ”

"Alas, at that time, everyone in the world thought that Empress Xiao took the initiative to show weakness to the king of Hanzhong and give up the competition for the throne, but everyone realized afterwards that this was quite a clever move. "How smart? I don't feel it at all.

"This pass, in fact, refers to the area of Gyeonggi Luoyang, according to the regulations, this area can only be a marquis, not a prince. Although Yuan Zhixun said that he was one level lower than the brothers in the title, compared with his brothers who had already served in other places, he had a great advantage of staying in the capital. ”

After a little bit of Lao Li's dialing, I suddenly woke up to the fact that in the past, when the prince became an adult, in order to avoid trouble, the princes would be divided into other places, and only the prince could stay in the capital. Empress Xiao sacrificed the prince she could have obtained, so that Yuan Zhixun could act as a prince in the name of a marquis, so as to be in a favorable position in the competition for the throne. "This woman is really scheming. "I am impressed by Empress Xiao's foresight.

Although Yuan Zhixun is closer to the emperor geographically, Yuan Zhize, who is out of the town and other counties, is not without any advantages, and the most elite iron cavalry troops in Dacheng are gathered in the northwest, all of which are dispatched by Yuan Zhize, the king of Hanzhong. And Yuan Zhiyu, the king of Chengdu in the southwest of the town, is also Yuan Zhize's sworn friend, if there is a change in Beijing, I am afraid that everyone will be afraid of the hundreds of thousands of elite soldiers under these two princes. "After listening to Lao Li's explanation, I finally understood that the same prince, the King of Hanzhong, the King of Chengdu and the Marquis of Guannei are incompatible, but after thinking about it, it is precisely because these two factions are fighting for the throne, otherwise I wouldn't be a dead end today?

"In the past, I only knew about practice, and I didn't know much about the disputes in the world, but after listening to Brother Li's explanation today, I realized that the world is as sinister as the rivers and lakes. Yuan Zhao is obviously not deeply involved in the world, and after listening to Lao Li's words today, he couldn't help but sigh.

"Seeing that the emperor is getting aging, if he can't solve the problem of establishing a prince, I'm afraid Dacheng will face another catastrophe. Lao Li suddenly remembered something, turned his head and asked me, "Miss, did the King of Hanzhong really want you to leave Luoyang as soon as possible?" I nodded.

"Then you better hit the road as soon as possible, lest you stay in the land of right and wrong and cause any more trouble. Lao Li suggested.

I've long since lost interest in this city full of power struggles, and I almost lost my life here, of course, the sooner you flash the better. Early the next morning, Yuan Zhao and I went out of the city gate and headed south. After walking a distance, I turned around and accidentally caught a glimpse of a dark cloud hanging over the capital of the empire, Luoyang will have heavy rain today......