Now that the crown prince has been sentenced to life imprisonment, people from top to bottom of the Ming Kingdom began to secretly pay attention to the situation in the court.

'Who will be the heir to the throne' has become the most urgent thing to know.

In the impression of civil and military officials, the second prince Zhu Jiong is docile and respectful, but he seems to be short of world vision, so everyone does not think that he is an ideal candidate for the throne. And the third prince Zhu Rui is literary and martial, has the world in mind, and fully possesses the mind and pattern of a politician, so it is quite suitable for polishing in this direction.

Emperor Zhu Zhi has also been thinking about this matter since his body recovered.

Many old ministers suggested that he promote the second prince to the successor to the throne, believing that this was in line with the ethics of 'order between the young and the old'. But there are also many courtiers who feel that governing a country is not a child's play, and they must choose competent people to truly benefit the people of the Ming Dynasty. The rivalry between the two factions soon took shape and intensified.

The second prince, Zhu Jiong, originally had no covetousness for the throne, but now under the persuasion of the ministers, he slowly had some thoughts.

Once a person has this idea, he will naturally take action, whether it is overt or covert, and Zhu Jiong is no exception.

Although he has a docile personality, he is not stupid at all, and he knows his strengths and weaknesses.

After seeing the fate of the crown prince with his own eyes, he didn't dare to make up his mind on the emperor anymore, and he decided to take the offensive route.

He is well aware of the truth that 'what the people want, what everyone wants', so he is not in a hurry at all on the surface.

Privately, however, he soon recruited a large number of capable ministers and generously entrusted them with important tasks.

Compared to him. The third prince behaved more calmly, and he even made it clear that he would never take the initiative to compete for the throne with the second brother.

As soon as he said this, Zhu Jiong's side suddenly relaxed a lot.

Emperor Zhu Zhi remained silent.

Three days later, the emperor suddenly announced in the court: "I have decided not to appoint a successor in advance, but the future king will still have to choose from my heirs." ”

There was a low voice of discussion in the court.

The Emperor raised his hand to signal everyone to be quiet, and the hum then subsided.

"Although the future king will certainly have to choose from among my sons, I have ten sons, which will inevitably lead to open and secret strife. To be fair. I decided to set up a special supervision body in charge of this matter, and the people of the agency would elect the successor through the comprehensive performance of the ten princes' votes, investigations, and meritorious contributions. The Emperor said loudly.

This method is much more democratic than the previous one, so the ministers nodded their heads after hearing this.

"Before I return to the West, the Inspectorate will conduct a comprehensive selection of these princes once a year. The results of the selection were announced at the end of December of that year. In principle, any prince should take an active part. However, if one or more of them are not at all interested in this selection, I will allow them to give up. The emperor said.

He knew that many of his sons had no interest in the throne.

Since he is not interested, it is impossible to govern the country well even if he has the opportunity to be an emperor, so he prefers to treat it democratically.

There was a faint sound of talking in the crowd.

The emperor let them talk to each other.

After about a quarter of an hour, the emperor said: "This inspection body will be established on the same day. The address is on the left side of Wenyuan Pavilion, Huiming Pavilion, and the head of the Cabinet University Shi Yan Yunpei is also in charge. ”

The expressions of the ministers suddenly changed.

The emperor handed over such a great power to Yan Yunpei, so wouldn't Yan Yunpei be equal to holding the lifeblood of the ten princes?

Some ministers were very envious, some were secretly jealous, and some showed expressions of waiting to see the excitement.

Yan Yunpei was called by the emperor to talk for a while yesterday, and when he learned of the emperor's decision, he waved his hand again and again: "Your Majesty, Weichen is old, I'm afraid I can't afford to bear such a big responsibility." ”

The emperor smiled and said, "Yan Aiqing, don't shirk, looking at the Ming Kingdom, I can't find anyone more suitable for this position than you." ”

"Your Majesty, this matter is related to the future and fate of the people of the Ming Kingdom, and the ministers are ...... in fear" Yan Yunpei wanted to speak and stopped.

This position seems to be beautiful, but behind it is closely related to the bloody wind, Yan Yunpei is worried that he will be killed because of this.

"Yan Aiqing, I understand your thoughts, don't worry, I will select fifty members to assist you, and I will also allocate thirty personal attendants. Considering your hardship, how about I give you a one-year term? ”

Since the emperor had already said this, Yan Yunpei didn't dare to shirk anymore, and hurriedly knelt down to thank him.

When he walked out of the emperor's study and looked at the magnificent palace, he couldn't help but feel a strong sense of responsibility.

It's okay, he asked himself to be politically correct and dedicated to the public, since he can have this opportunity, then do it well.

If it can really elect a long-awaited monarch for the Ming Kingdom, it will be regarded as having no regrets in this life.

When he returned to Chaoxingmen Yanfu, Yan Yunpei immediately sent someone to Changxingmen to ask Yan Jinxuan to come over to discuss matters.

Yan Jinxuan, who had just arrived home, rushed over without even taking a sip of tea.

Entering Chaoxing Gate, Yan Jinxuan went straight to Yan Dingpei's study.

Yan Yunpei sat at the desk reading a book, his expression quite serious.

"Daddy." Yan Jinxuan whispered at him.

Yan Yunpei hurriedly put down the book and said to him: "I know that you have always supported the three princes, but now that you have established an inspection body, it is impossible to estimate the influence in the future, so in this case, it is best not to express your support for him openly." ”

He didn't want him to be the target of public criticism, and at the same time, he wanted him to be safe and well.

Yan Jinxuan naturally knew what his father meant, he walked to the chair opposite his father's desk and sat down, and said softly: "I know that not only will I not express it clearly, but I will also pretend that I don't care about this matter at all. ”

Yan Yunpei nodded approvingly.

Then Yan Yunpei asked him: "Do you know Li He, who is an editor in the Hanlin Academy?" ”

Yan Jinxuan's expression froze, and he said slowly: "I've heard of it, but I don't have a relationship, what's wrong?" ”

Yan Jinxuan only knew that Li He was safe because he did not participate in the prince's incident and promptly cleared all his relations with the prince after the incident, and the rest of the things were not very clear.

"I heard that he wrote a letter of advice to the emperor yesterday afternoon, and the emperor was very happy when he saw it, and even announced that he would meet him." Yan Yunpei said.

In Yan Yunpei's opinion, a seven-rank official who has been in the company for less than a year actually dares to directly admonish the emperor, which is impressive enough in itself, and the emperor summoned him immediately after reading the admonition, which shows that the content of his article has moved the emperor.

This matter should be placed in the past, everyone may not be so nervous, but this is when the emperor is implementing new measures, so old foxes like Yan Yunpei, Zhang Qian, and Zhou Junpu can't help but be curious and vigilant.

Yan Jinxuan pondered for a moment and said, "I'll call someone to inquire tomorrow to see what the situation is." ”

"Well, since the entire situation in the Great Ming Kingdom is affected by the crown prince incident, now everyone in the civil and military affairs is in danger, try not to let him cause any trouble at this juncture." Yan Yunpei said in a low voice.

Yan Jinxuan nodded. (To be continued.) )

PS: Dear friends, the first shift is coming, and the second shift is about 11-12 o'clock in the evening. In the past few days, the author Jun has often been working outside, so he has to make a second guarantee. From tomorrow, we will strive to resume the third watch.