The people standing at the main entrance of the palace seemed to have gathered here as if they had already had a tacit understanding.

In fact, these officials and nobles were very surprised by the sudden appearance of the two princesses.

Among them, almost more than ninety percent of them have surrendered to the Hu people.

The reason why they stood here and waited so early in the morning was to welcome Ning Zhiyuan, the new master.

I hope that this general of the Northwest can see that they take the initiative to surrender, let them go, and no longer pursue their crimes of surrendering to the enemy.

However, what they didn't expect was that while they were waiting, Princess Qingping and Princess Chunfang, who had disappeared before the Hu people entered the city, would suddenly come here and join their team without saying a word.

This suddenly made a group of officials and nobles shocked and frightened.

They didn't know what the two Highnesses would do next.

If they annoyed Ning Gong, wouldn't they have to suffer along with them?

Just when the officials and nobles were worried, Ning Zhiyuan and the others finally came.

After seeing the two princesses, Ning Zhiyuan quickly dismounted, and of course the others did the same, and followed him to this side.

"Chen Ning Zhiyuan sees the two princesses, His Royal Highness, His Royal Highness, Chitose Chitose, Chitose Chitose." When he walked in front of the eldest princess of Qingping and the princess Chunfang, Ning Zhiyuan's courtiers knelt down respectfully and saluted. The others who followed him did the same.

"Ning Gong, please get up, don't be polite." How dare the eldest princess of Qingping let him make such a big salute, and quickly asked the concubine Yi'an Bo Qiu Junhai to help him up.

After Ning Zhiyuan got up, he said sincerely: "I heard that the two highnesses were missing before, and the minister was very worried, and he was about to send people to search around.

Now seeing that the two highnesses are safe and sound, the minister is finally relieved. ”

The eldest princess of Qingping said politely: "Thank you Ning Gong for your concern." In fact, when the city was broken, Princess Chunfang happened to be a guest at the palace's house.

After learning the news, the Hongu family and Princess Chunfang had to hide in the secret room in the mansion.

Fortunately, God had mercy on us, and when the Hu people entered the city, they did not find our hiding place, which allowed us to avoid a catastrophe. ”

"I see, this is the blessing of the two highnesses."

Hearing the answer between the two, the officials and nobles standing behind couldn't help but be suspicious.

Could it be that the two princesses disappeared before because they hid in the secret room to avoid the search of the Hu people?

But could it really be that coincidental?

"The two highnesses are princesses, so it's right to sit in front of the hall and be greeted by your subordinates.

Now let the two highnesses stand here and wait, it is the minister's fault, and ask the highness to surrender the crime. ”

"Duke Ning, this palace and Princess Chunfang specially led hundreds of officials to wait here today, because they wanted to ask Duke Ning for something."

"Your Highness has something to order, how dare the minister disobey."

The eldest princess of Qingping said with a sad face: "Duke Ning is my loyal minister of Great Wei and the pillar of the country.

For many years, the Ning family has guarded the northwest, and has resisted Hu Lu outside the customs for more than a hundred years, which is the real loyal home of the Great Wei.

However, the puppet emperor Zhao Yufeng and the Xie traitors and others were so mad that they actually launched a mutiny, committing a heinous crime of common anger of people and gods.

Fortunately, at such a critical juncture, the Ning family was still loyal to the first emperor and did not succumb to the traitorous ministers of the pseudo-emperor, which preserved a pure land for the first emperor.

But who would have thought that my Great Wei Royal would not be able to escape the catastrophe after all.

Now, except for the palace and Princess Chunfang, my Zhao royal family has been slaughtered by the Hu people, and there is not one out of ten.

The Great Wei Dynasty has actually existed in name only.

Although this palace is a woman, she also knows the truth that the country cannot be without a king for a day.

Especially now that the world is in turmoil and the people are struggling to make a living, it is even more necessary for a promising monarch to reorganize the society and put things right.

The only one who can take on this great task is Ning Gong.

For this reason, the palace implores Ning Gong to succeed to the throne at such a time of crisis, preside over the overall situation, and return peace to the people of the world. ”

After speaking, the eldest princess of Qingping solemnly knelt down and made a big gift to Ning Zhi that would only appear when she met the emperor.

"Chunfang also implored Duke Ning to succeed him as the unification, preside over the overall situation, and return peace to the people of the world." Princess Chunfang, who had been silent, also knelt down at this time and said respectfully.

When the officials and nobles standing behind saw the two princesses say this, they were immediately overjoyed, and they knelt down and shouted loudly: "I implore Duke Ning to succeed to the throne and preside over the overall situation." ”

These sounds are not only getting more and more neat, but also louder and louder, repeating themselves at the gates of the palace.

Ning Zhiyuan said with a frightened face: "The two highnesses please hurry up, where can the ministers afford such a big gift from the two highnesses, please get up, please get up!" ”

The eldest princess of Qingping said firmly: "If Duke Ning refuses to agree, this palace will not get up."

The succession of Ning Gong as the unification is not only in accordance with the will of heaven, but also the blessing of all the people.

Please also ask Ning Gong for the sake of the people of the world and don't push it back. ”

Those officials and nobles who were eager to atone for their sins were all human spirits, where were they willing to let go of such a good Conglong Gong, and hurriedly shouted in unison with a thick neck and a louder voice: "I implore Duke Ning to succeed him as the unification and preside over the overall situation." ”

In this overwhelming shout, Ning Zhiyuan finally looked embarrassed: "The two highnesses should get up first." This matter is very important, and the minister thinks that it needs to be considered in the long run, and he also asks the two highnesses to consider it before making a decision. ”

Only then did the eldest princess of Qingping relent: "Since Ning Gong has doubts, this palace is not good to force you."

Okay, then ask Ning Gong to think carefully before making a decision. After speaking, she slowly stood up with Princess Chunfang.

Seeing this, the others also stood up.

Everyone present knew that the matter was already in place and unstoppable.

If Ning Zhiyuan really wanted to refuse, he would never say anything like thinking about it before making a decision.

Ning Zhiyuan is not taking over the position now, just to give everyone time to go through the process.

As for what the process is?

That, of course, is going to play a big show.

You must know that the Ning family took the world from the Zhao family, and Ning Zhiyuan himself was a courtier of Emperor Jing'an.

If the male of the Zhao royal family is still alive, Ning Zhiyuan's doing so is tantamount to rebellion and usurpation, and he will definitely leave a very disgraceful reputation in the history books in the future.

Fortunately, the male of the Zhao royal family has died, and the person who proposed to let Ning Zhiyuan succeed him is none other than the only two remaining princesses of the Zhao royal family.

This kind of matter was personally proposed by the princess of the Zhao royal family, so it was not a usurpation, but another form of "Zen position".

In this way, the legitimacy of the Ning family's succession to the unification has been officially established, and it may become a "beautiful talk" that will be passed down for centuries in the future.

But since it's acting, you have to play a full set.

If Ning Zhiyuan directly agreed to the request of the two princesses to take over the throne, he would likely be criticized for being rude and rude and ugly in the future.

Therefore, he needs to play this good show of resignation and three concessions, and finally sit on the dragon chair "reluctantly", so that he can be more straightforward.

Isn't that hypocritical, one might say?

It's hypocritical, but it's etiquette, and it's the process to follow.

Especially when it comes to major events such as the change of dynasty, there are some things that should be done or still done.

For another example, the first thing Ning Zhiyuan did after entering the palace was to worship Emperor Jing'an as a courtier.

In front of the spiritual seat of Emperor Jing'an, Ning Zhiyuan, who came to pay tribute, cried so much that it was tear-jerking.

When he cried, the other Great Wei officials and nobles naturally couldn't stand still, and they also hurriedly cried.

For a while, the entire mourning hall was crying loudly and full of sadness, and those who didn't know thought that Emperor Jing'an had just passed away.

Chi Fei, who knelt behind the crowd and could only hide his face and howl, but couldn't squeeze out a tear at all, found out that his father-in-law Ning Zhiyuan's acting skills were also first-class.

Seeing him crying like this, I don't know how deep and righteous the relationship between Emperor Jing'an and Ning Zhiyuan is between the monarchs and ministers, and the monarchs and ministers trust each other.

However, Chi Fei and the others knew very well that when the Imperial City mutinied, the first person who wanted to attack the Ning family was not An Guogong, but Emperor Jing'an himself.

Therefore, it is impossible for Ning Zhiyuan to have any good impression of Emperor Jing'an, who wants to put his family to death, and now he is completely acting.

But it was such a crying scene performed in front of the public, which deepened Ning Zhiyuan's status as a loyal minister, which was a bit of black humor.

There may only be two princesses present, especially Princess Chunfang, who cried from the bottom of her heart, after all, the other party was her biological father.

This crying scene was played for more than an hour before it was over, and then it was time to get down to business.

Under the joint recommendation of the two princesses and hundreds of civil and military officials, Ning Zhiyuan became the acting minister of state affairs, in charge of all military and political affairs.

With this identity, Ning Zhiyuan can be said to be a legitimate monopoly of power, and he is already half an emperor.

As for the question of where to live, with Ning Zhiyuan's shrewdness, of course he would not swagger into the palace now.

After all, he is still only a courtier, how can there be any reason for a courtier to live in the palace.

So in the name of facilitating the office, he lived in the official office of the governor of the five armies, and officially acted as the official government with the official office as the place of office.

Soon after taking office, he issued several decrees.

First, starting today, a curfew will be imposed and all nighttime activities will be prohibited to prevent any spies from taking advantage of the opportunity to cause chaos.

The second is to send people to redirect hundreds of thousands of people who have fled from Xinjing back and properly resettle them.

The third is to restore order in the city as soon as possible, and regularly distribute porridge at multiple locations every day to calm the people's minds.

The fourth is to question the guilty ministers who killed the Zhao royal family.

The first three decrees are easy to say, but the last one really frightened most of the officials and nobles.

After all, in order to save their lives, most of them surrendered to the Hu people, and were even forced to participate in the execution of the Zhao royal family.

They didn't expect Ning Zhiyuan to be so ruthless, and he didn't play cards according to the rules at all.

This head had just elected him as the Minister of Prison, and then he turned his head and began to arrest people and ask for crimes, how could anyone do this, he was simply a madman.

However, before they could beg Ning Zhiyuan for mercy in person, the officers and soldiers of the Northwest Army had already begun to arrest people.

For a time, a large number of dignitaries and nobles living in the inner city wailed and screamed, and a large number of officials and nobles were imprisoned awaiting trial.

At this time when everyone was in danger, someone soon discovered that most of the criminals arrested by the Northwest Army were officials and nobles who had colluded with the Xie family.

In addition, the Sun and Ma families, who had long colluded with the Hu people, became the first families involved to be taken away. Not only were people taken away, but even their homes were raided by the Northwest Army.

Only those officials and nobles who did not have a deep relationship with the Xie family and did not collude with the Hu people would not be taken away even if they participated in the execution.

At this moment, those officials and nobles who were spared from prison breathed a sigh of relief.

It seems that Ning Zhiyuan is not the kind of master who wants to kill them all.

The Ning family did this just to settle accounts and eradicate dissidents after the autumn.

For a while, many officials and nobles who were not taken away began to congratulate themselves on their lack of deep relationship with the Xie family, so they escaped.

But even so, more than half of the officials and nobles were imprisoned, and many of them were court officials of the third rank or above and famous families.

After all, since Emperor Shuntian Zhao Yufeng ascended the throne, the Xie family, which is in power and in the opposition, in order to consolidate its power, will naturally leave important positions to people who are willing to take refuge in them, so there are so many big officials and nobles who collude with them.

For all the people who came to plead with him, Ning Zhiyuan didn't see anything.

He was originally going to kill a group of high-ranking Beijing officials, so that the new policy of his little son-in-law could be implemented throughout the country.

Now it is time to take this opportunity to squeeze out all kinds of poisonous villains from the Xie family's reign, so as not to leave future troubles.

The so-called once a son of heaven and a courtier, now that he is in power, does he still want to keep these guys with evil intentions to engage in all kinds of conspiracies and tricks around him?

Don't think that supporting him as the successor to the throne will be able to get anything from the dragon.

Fart, he Ning Zhiyuan can sit in this position today, not by these wall grasses at both ends of the rat's head.

After this round of purge, almost two-thirds of the officials and nobles in the entire Xinjing have been lost, which is even more exaggerated than the tragic battle for succession decades ago.

Ning Zhiyuan's return to the horse pistol can be described as thunderous and amazing.

After this battle, everyone clearly realized that Ning Zhiyuan, the quasi-emperor, was not a master to be messed with.

The ruthlessness of his methods and the decisiveness of his killing are better than that of Xie Mingshun, the Duke of Anguo.

As soon as there are fewer officials in this court, there will naturally be more vacant seats. Especially the official positions above the third grade have been vacated a lot.

However, Ning Zhiyuan did not take the opportunity to desperately stuff his henchmen into these fat shortages, but instead let these official positions hang in the air.

It's not that Ning Zhiyuan doesn't want to stuff people, but the time has not yet come.

Long before deciding to enter Beijing, Ning Zhiyuan had already discussed this issue with Chi Fei, Zhang Wenxuan and others.

After deliberation, the last few people came to the conclusion that it is better to have less than to have more.

If the generals of the Northwest Army are rashly used to fill the vacancy now, then the army will immediately lack manpower.

Moreover, since ancient times, the civil and military families have been separated, and most of Ning Zhiyuan's subordinates are military generals, and there are very few civil officials.

Let these old coarse people who only know how to fight wars do the work of civilian officials, not to mention whether they can continue to do it, and all kinds of problems will definitely arise in the long run.

Therefore, the best thing to do is to take a preference for the vacant positions.

If you don't find the right talent, you'd rather leave these positions empty for the time being than give them to someone else.

Of course, with so many officials missing all of a sudden, the entire imperial court will definitely be overstretched in terms of handling political affairs, but Ning Zhiyuan is not worried.

Now the entire Xinjing City is under the military control of the Northwest Army, and everything should be simplified.

In the words of the youngest son-in-law, Chi Fei, this is called a wartime government.

Since it is a wartime government, it does not need to be perfect at all, as long as it can maintain local stability.

Therefore, Ning Zhiyuan does not expect the imperial court to operate normally as before, but only needs to be able to maintain the most basic operation with the current manpower.

As for the future, I'll talk about that later.