The civil officials of the Ming Dynasty were still quite temperamental, and the early dynasty was canceled, and if the emperor himself could not be seen, it would be played every day, and accusation, criticism and even scolding became the only theme.

Shoufu Wang Jiaping knew that Zhu Yijun was dissatisfied with everyone's persecution, so he avoided it, but the matter of "establishing a prince" was very important, and Wang Jiaping also thought that it should be determined immediately, so he personally went out and talked with the emperor several times, but failed to convince the other party.

Once again, the situation is deadlocked.

How to break the game? Wang Jiaping thought of a person, Zhong Nan, the right attendant of the military department.

In fact, Wang Jiaping and Zhong Nan are also old acquaintances. When Shen Shixing was still the first assistant and Shi Xing was still the secretary of the Ministry of War, the four cabinet ministers and the three bigwigs of the Ministry of War met Zhong Nan, who was still the deputy chief soldier of Jizhou, in the emperor's imperial study. It was also that tongue battle with Zhong Nan that made Wang Jiaping have a deep impression of this posterity.

Zhong Mansion, backyard, Wang Jiaping and Zhong Nan sat opposite each other.

"It seems that Zhong Shilang's health is almost better, young is good!" Wang Jiaping made a move.

"My illness is good and bad, and today I may have seen Wang Ge come here, so I have some energy." Zhong Nan's lie came casually.

"Huh...... Zhong Shilang is really good at laughing! Wang Jiaping knew that Zhong Nan was shirking, and he also opened the skylight and said brightly, "Presumably Zhong Shilang also knows that the recent disturbances in the court are not hidden, the old man came today to ask Zhong Shilang." ”

"Elder Wang Ge has tormented me, if even you can't do something, I am just a right servant of the military department, how can I do it!" Zhong Nan was most afraid that the old man would put a low posture in front of him, because in this way, it would be difficult for him to refuse the other party's request.

"Zhong Shilang doesn't need to depreciate himself, you have to do this thing!" Wang Jiaping made up his mind to let Zhong Nan take over.

"If it's official business, Elder Wang Ge can wait for a few days, and after my body recovers, I will definitely go to the cabinet to ask Elder Wang Ge for instructions." Zhong Nan could probably guess what Wang Jiaping was doing here, but about the matter of "establishing the prince", he had already made up his mind and would never mix it indiscriminately.

Wang Jiaping saw that Zhong Nan blocked his words all of a sudden, and he was not discouraged, thought about it, and decided to simply go straight in, "Zhong Shilang, the old man is not beating around the bush with you, and now the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty are arguing about the matter of 'establishing a prince'." Zhong Shilang, as an important minister of the imperial court, and a saint, should persuade the emperor to let the emperor's eldest son clarify his identity as soon as possible, lest people with ulterior motives destroy the foundation of my Ming Dynasty for hundreds of years. ”

The other party said so solemnly, Zhong Nan can't change his attitude, but his Tai Chi kung fu is not covered, "Wang Ge Lao said yes, but since the emperor has already said it, he will give everyone a satisfactory explanation after the year, so we might as well wait until the new year." ”

"Zhong Shilang has not been in Beijing for a long time, so he must not know the previous situation." Wang Jiaping sighed, "This is not the first time that the emperor has waited so perfunctorily, and he has said it for a while before, or after a year, but none of them have been honored." ”

Zhong Nan didn't expect Zhu Yijun to be such a scoundrel, and he said "Chrysostom Yuyan", he is good, as the king of a country, but he often breaks his promise, no wonder a group of ministers don't believe in his promise.

"If that's the case, there's nothing I can do!" Zhong Nan spread out his hands and said helplessly.

"The emperor's trust in Zhong Shilang is obvious to all, so the old man believes that as long as Zhong Shilang tries his best to persuade him, maybe the emperor will change his mind?"

"Elder Wang Ge, you are the first assistant today, if even you persuade the emperor not to move, what is the use of me going." Zhong Nan still refused.

Wang Jiaping and Zhong Nan didn't have any friendship, and seeing that the other party refused to accept the offer, he had no choice. Wang Jiaping knew that he couldn't force the other party too much, so he retreated and said, "Since Zhong Shilang doesn't want to express his stance on the matter of 'establishing a prince', the old man doesn't force it. It's just that the emperor hasn't had an early dynasty for more than half a month, and if it continues like this, it will be difficult for the government to operate, and the old man hopes that Zhong Shilang can persuade the emperor to reopen the early dynasty immediately. This matter must not embarrass Zhong Shilang, you can't refuse anymore! ”

The words have come to this, can Zhong Nan still say yes or no? What's more, the latter request is also decent, and Zhong Nan should not refuse it. As soon as he thought of this, Zhong Nan agreed, "Tomorrow I will enter the palace to ask to see the emperor and try my best to persuade him, as for whether it will be successful or not, the lower officials dare not guarantee it!" ”

"As long as Zhong Shilang does his best, the result must not be too bad. The old man thanked Zhong Shilang first! Wang Jiaping bowed his hand.

"Wang Ge's old words are heavy!" Zhong Nan also got up and returned the salute.

Now that the matter has been discussed, Wang Jiaping said goodbye and left, and Zhong Nan didn't do much to stay.

The next day, Zhong Nan went to the palace early, intending to ask to see Zhu Yijun. Not only him, but other officials, large and small, lined up to wait for the audience.

The emperor is not something you can see if you want to, first the eunuchs outside did not pass it on, so they screened out some of them; Even if someone goes to report to the emperor, Zhu Yijun must be willing to see you, otherwise you can only wait to die or break through - these two methods can only be used by first-class important ministers to be effective, otherwise death can only be exchanged for death, and what you get in exchange for breaking in is immediate death.

Fortunately, Zhong Nan belonged to the type of eunuchs who were willing to pass on the message, and the emperor was willing to see him, and after waiting for a few minutes, Wang Zhong walked over to him happily, "Lord Shilang, the emperor announced that you are here!" ”

"There is a prince of Lao!" Zhong Nan thanked him, and then went to the imperial study with Wang Zhong in the envy of everyone.

"I knew they were going to lobby you!" As soon as they met, Zhu Yijun opened his mouth to say this.

Zhong Nan understood the meaning of the emperor's words, he could only smile bitterly, "Your Majesty, I also have to be in love!" Wang Ge Lao personally came to the door and asked me to be a lobbyist, and I couldn't help but give this face. ”

"Hmph, I expected Wang Jiaping to come to you." Zhu Yijun's tone was not much unpleasant, "Say, how are you going to help them lobby me?" ”

"Your Majesty, 'establishing a prince' is your family matter, and you can do whatever you want. I'm here today for something else. ”

Zhu Yijun was somewhat surprised, he originally thought that Zhong Nan would be like Wang Jiaping and a group of others, and persuaded him to immediately appoint Zhu Changxun as the crown prince, but he didn't know that the other party was quite principled in this matter - if he didn't stand in line, he wouldn't stand in line.

"What else is there besides the matter of Lichu?" Zhu Yijun was puzzled.

"That's the case, Your Majesty, I saw that you couldn't bear the hardships of the early dynasty, so I thought of a compromise solution, which will not delay political affairs and reduce your hard work." Zhong Nandao understood what he meant.

"That's a good idea!" Zhu Yijun was interested.

Zhong Nan then said his own suggestion: In fact, there is nothing new, it is to learn from some political systems in later generations, and fix the early dynasty three times a month, and at other times except for special circumstances, there is no need for the early dynasty. As for the government affairs on weekdays, they are still "drafted" by the cabinet, decided by the emperor, and "approved red" by the celebrant and supervisor.

"Drafting" means that the cabinet approves the minister's recital on behalf of the emperor, first writes the proposed proposal on the ticket, attaches it to the recital, and submits it to the emperor for ruling. As for "approving red", it originally meant that the emperor used red letters to give instructions on "votes". Due to the fact that there were too many twists and turns, according to the regulations, the emperor only wrote a few copies, and most of the "red approvals" were written by the celebrant eunuchs according to the emperor's wishes.

Zhu Yijun has no objection to Zhong Nan's suggestion, he is already a little tired of those old men, and it is of course best to meet less.

As for whether there will be ministers who oppose it?

Needless to say, of course it will! Now that the five-day morning court has been widely criticized by the officials, and then it is reduced to the frequency of the early morning court in the tenth day, needless to say, it will definitely be scolded.

However, the cabinet and the six ministries and other important ministers should not hold objections, it is better to go to court early in the morning than not to go to court early, right?

In fact, Zhong Nan has always had little affection for the formalist early dynasty, can only the early dynasty prove the emperor's dedication? Many things are decided below before they get to the top of the morning; If it's really an important event, can't it still be played?

"Your Majesty, although it is said that the early dynasty will not affect the operation of the country, there are many major events that still need you to make up your mind!" Zhong Nan kindly reminded, "Otherwise, if something goes wrong at that time, I will definitely be scolded as a sinner for the ages!" ”

"That's nature!" The two looked at each other and smiled.

Zhang Whale on the side sighed secretly in his heart: The emperor's mood has not been very good recently, and only Zhong Shilang can make him happy.

"Zhong Nan," Zhu Yijun paused for a moment, and then suddenly asked, "Who do you think is more suitable to inherit the great cause, Chang Luo or Chang Xun?" ”

Zhong Nan didn't expect the emperor to suddenly ask this question, probably because he wanted to ask the most authentic answer when he was unprepared. It's just that in the original time and space, Zhong Nan had been doing sales work for so long, how could he be stumped by such a small question, he pretended to think about it, and then replied solemnly: "Your Majesty, didn't I just say that this is your family matter, not to mention that the two princes are both dragons and phoenixes among people, where am I qualified to evaluate." ”

"You're alert!" Zhu Yijun saw that Zhong Nan was unwilling to answer positively, so he gave up.

……

On the first day of June, the early dynasty.

Since the important ministers greeted the subordinates of their respective factions in advance, neither the Yanguan nor other officials went too far to find the emperor unhappy. What they think is that the days will be long in the future, and there will be opportunities.

The emperor's side is better, but Zhong Nan's side is a little sad.

In the early days, some officials impeached Zhong Nan, saying that he was "bewitching the king with evil words". Fortunately, Wang Jiaping and Cao Weiying stopped them - the bigwigs all knew that if it weren't for Zhong Nan's persuasion, it was estimated that the emperor would have to hide in the harem for a while. Compared to the two, the current result is a little better.

In this way, the court seems to have returned to its former peace.