The Queen Mother lowered the curtain to set the overall situation

Zhao Kuo finally ascended the throne

The next day, Han Yanxuan came earlier, Peng Zishou and Jiawang Zhao Kuan were dressed in filial piety clothes, and came in one after the other, and soon after, they saw Guan Li again, and hurriedly ran to him, Guan Li whispered to him: It's all ready.

After a while, Zhao Ruyu also came, Han Yanxuan nodded to him, and Zhao Ruyu glanced at him. At this time, Guan Li and others hung a bead curtain next to the dragon chair in the main hall, and the empress dowager sat in the back.

This is the 26th day after the death of Xiaozong, and it is called the Tsunami Sacrifice Ceremony. The royal family and the princes and ministers should attend, in the middle is the coffin of the Daxing Emperor Xiaozong, everyone salutes in turn, after the end, take off the mourning clothes, the coffin of the Daxing Emperor will leave the main hall and be sent to the cemetery.

Zhao Ruyu looked around, everyone who should have come, except for the emperor and queen, came. He nodded to Yang Wenduan, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites.

Yang Wenduan read aloud the sacrificial text, summarized the life of Emperor Xiaozong, praised him as the lord of Zhongxing, sincere and filial, never forgot the shame of his ancestors, and strived to recover the lost land, and then, all the princes and nobles, civil and military officials kowtowed to Emperor Daxing. In less than an hour, the ritual of the sacrifice ended.

Zhao Ruyu, who knew the Privy Council, came out, stood beside the coffin of Emperor Daxing, faced the bead curtain, and said loudly:

The Empress Dowager, Weichen Zhao Ruyu has a few things to report, please decide.

Behind the bead curtain, the voice of the Empress Dowager came: If there is something, Zhao Zhiyuan said, everyone will discuss it together.

Due to illness, the emperor has not been able to mourn, let alone go to court. A huge country cannot be without a king for a day. The ministers asked the emperor, and His Majesty personally wrote instructions to establish King Jia as the crown prince, and then there was the imperial book: it has been a long time, and he wants to retire. The ministers asked for instructions again, but the emperor suddenly fainted, and so far he has not been able to see things, and many governments urgently need the emperor to decide, where to go, please make it clear to the empress dowager.

Empress Dowager Wu replied: Since the emperor has made a fate, he is willing to abdicate and establish King Jia as the emperor, and the prefect will naturally act in accordance with the holy decree.

Zhao Ruyu said again: The matter is very important, it will spread to the world and go down in history, and it cannot be without command, and the empress dowager is also invited to be the master.

The Queen Mother said: Yes, the palace will hang the curtain today, and the matter will be done on the spot.

Zhao Ruyu then took out the edict of enthronement drafted by the scholars of the Hanlin Academy and the Zhongshu Sheren from his sleeve, and Guan Li came over and handed it to the Queen Mother.

The queen mother picked up the edict and wrote: "The emperor is ill, so far he has not been able to mourn, there has been a royal pen, he wants to retire from leisure, the prince Jiawang can expand the emperor's throne, respect the emperor as the emperor of the Taishang, and the queen as the queen of the Taishang." ”

After reading it, he said, "Just do it." "Let the chamberlain put her tooth stamp on the edict.

Zhao Ruyu started again: From now on, the ministers should obey the arrangements of the new emperor. It's just that I'm afraid that there will be a misunderstanding between the father and son of the two palaces, and these all depend on the queen mother's idea to mediate from it. If the Emperor Taishang overheard about this, had doubts, and affected his dragon body, it would not be good. For this reason, the minister requested that Yang Shunqing, the inner palace know, to raise the Taishang Palace, take care of the Taishang Emperor, and coordinate the affairs of the father and son of the two palaces.

The Queen Mother said: Zhao Zhiyuan was quite thoughtful. It was to summon the chamberlain Yang Shunqing to the curtain and give instructions in person. Then let Zhao Ruyu preside over the new emperor's enthronement ceremony.

After the edict was read, Zhao Kuan, the king of Jia, was invited to ascend the main hall, sit on the dragon chair, and accept the worship of hundreds of officials.

When the young and handsome King Jia heard this, his head shook like a rattle, and he hurriedly waved his hand, "I can't help it, I can't help it." With that, he raised his feet and left, Han Yanxuan was by his side and grabbed him.

Guan Li also came over with another chamberlain, took out the dragon robe, and prepared to put it on for the emperor.

Kejia King Zhao Kuo was unwilling, and said in his mouth: "I can't do it, I am afraid that this king will bear the name of unfilial piety." ”

Zhao Ruyu persuaded: "His Royal Highness King Jia, Weichen thinks that the Son of Heaven should take the peace and security of the country as filial piety, and now the people inside and outside the court are disturbed, in case of an incident, where will the emperor be placed?" ”

Jiawang Zhao Kuo still ignored it when he heard it, and did not stop. The entire hall, except for the coffin of Xiaozong in the middle, was full of ministers, and they couldn't run out, so they had to run around the pillar.

This scene is very interesting, the prince Jiawang has been crowned a new emperor, but he himself is unwilling, and he plays hide and seek with the ministers in the main hall, while the ministers of the Manchu Dynasty and the attendants around them are at a loss, and no one dares to do it at will.

At this time, the Empress Dowager once again showed the majesty of her royal elders: "King Jia, you stop for me." Han Yanxuan, you bring him over. ”

Jiawang Zhao Kuo stopped running, Han Yanxuan hugged him, walked behind the curtain, the Empress Dowager hugged Jiawang Zhao Kuo with one hand, and held the dragon robe made by Guan Li in the other, Jiawang Zhao Kuo was still struggling, and shouted in his mouth: "Grandma, the minister can't do it!" ”

The Empress Dowager looked serious: "Obedient, Grandma said to do it, put it on." ”

Guan Li and Han Yanxuan took off their filial piety clothes together and put on dragon robes for the emperor. After dressing, the Empress Dowager looked left and right, and couldn't help but feel sad.

"Child, when your grandfather put on the dragon robe, the grandmother saw it with her own eyes, and later saw your grandfather and your father wearing the dragon robe and sitting on the dragon chair, and now the grandmother will put the dragon robe on for you with her own hands, you have to pass on the Zhao family from generation to generation."

After that, the grandparents hugged each other and cried bitterly.

After a while, the Empress Dowager wiped away her tears, and saw another great-grandson, Xu Guogong Zhao Lu, not far away, as if she was thinking, so she beckoned him to come over, "Child, it is rumored that you are going to be set up, but everything must be orderly, King Jia is older than you, don't worry, he does it, you will do it." Then, he said softly to the emperor: "Official, go to the court." ”

Han Yanxuan and Guan Li hugged the emperor Zhao Kuan and walked into the main hall and sat on the dragon chair.

Zhao Ruyu walked out of the ranks, led hundreds of officials, and saluted the new emperor. The civil and military officials put down the wat board in their hands, knelt on the main hall and danced, chanting in unison:

Long live the emperor, long live, long live.

Zhao Kuo's first experience, I don't know what to do.

Guan Li approached and prompted, and then shouted: Everyone loves Qing.

The hundred officials shouted again: Thank you, Your Majesty. Fang just got up.

Zhao Ruyu asked the emperor to instruct, and the emperor's mind seemed to be stuffed with paste, and he didn't know what to say, so he announced his retirement from the dynasty with Guan Li.

The emperor walked up to the Empress Dowager and asked the Empress Dowager if she had anything to instruct. The Empress Dowager said to Han Yanxuan: Pass on my message and appoint Han Shi, the wife of Chongguo, as the queen. He also said to the emperor: The official family can send someone to call Liuzheng back, this prime minister is still good.

Emperor Zhao Kuo replied: I will obey the decree of my grandmother.

Subsequently, the emperor sent the empress dowager back to Cifu Palace.

In the second half of the night, the Empress Dowager asked Zhang Zongyin to pass the message: remove the bead curtain from the north.

Since the Yingzong Dynasty of the Great Song Dynasty, it is not uncommon for the Queen Mother to come to the dynasty and listen to the government. When Empress Dowager Liu was a teenager in Yingzong, she had listened to politics for 11 years. And this removal of the curtain means that the Empress Dowager Wu will live in the harem from now on and will no longer care about any court politics.