Although the fire in the Prince's Mansion of the Sixteenth Prince's Mansion was like the collapse of the Mansion of King Feng Li Heng, there was no result, and in such a chaotic situation, no dragon son and phoenix grandson had the opportunity to formally contact Du Shiyi, but the established schedule could not be changed, and the election of the virtuous king was still held as scheduled.

On this day, Li Longji was still recuperating in the Xingqing Palace, but hundreds of officials had already gathered in the wide square in front of the diligent government affairs building. A temporary platform has been erected so that those below can see the voting process. The princes and grandsons who are eligible to run for election all stand on a high platform, as the parties and supervisors, and strictly guard against the occurrence of fraud. Among the officials below the fifth rank, there were still twenty people who were elected to scrutinize the votes on the high platform, and all of them held their heads high and solemn, looking proud.

Although he indicated his abstention, since it was Du Shiyi's proposal, of course he would not be present. Although this high platform is not equivalent to the throne of the Son of Heaven on the main floor of the diligent government affairs, the seat in the middle is still vacant, in order to show respect for the Son of Heaven, as the right minister, he only set up a simple seat on the east side, leisurely leaning on the armrest and looking at the nervous and tense faces, his heart is very happy.

That kind of pleasure is not the pleasure of promoting quasi-democratic elections in Datang, but a kind of pure pleasure of watching the excitement, or watching the farce. He hasn't gone out much in the past six days, hasn't seen many people, and doesn't care about anything at all, but he knows which princes and which emperors and grandsons have met and who they have, and according to these materials, he can roughly guess today's results.

The usurpation of the throne seems to be less difficult than the unification of force, but in fact it is not easy at all, because sitting on the throne does not mean sitting on the throne. In the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, which were divided for most of the time, and later the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, it was not uncommon to usurp the throne and seek the country, among which Yang Jian and Zhao Kuangyin were all successful models. In the period of great unification of the dynasty, this kind of thing basically only ended in failure, and the most famous example of failure was Wang Mang.

He Du Shiyi has been raising hope for so many years, accumulating strength for so many years, and now he is taking the work of quelling the rebellion, but if he rashly takes the last step, the probability of failure will still be as high as more than eighty percent. Therefore, his first priority now is to continue to spare no effort to attack the prestige of the royal family when the reputation of the Son of Heaven Li Longji has already become stinky!

When Pei Kuan first completely dismantled the simple wooden box and let the kings and the selected low-grade officials come up one by one to check whether there was any cheating, the smile on the corner of his mouth deepened. Everyone checked it carefully, tapping the sound to see if there was a mezzanine, judging whether the tenon joints were greasy, and then checking whether the voting gate was famous...... In short, everyone has to check for a while, and this simple single process alone takes up half an hour. If it weren't for the square in front of the diligent government affairs building, all the officials above the fifth rank would be seated, and many old ministers' legs would be almost unable to hold on!

However, those officials who are also not young, but whose official position is below the fifth rank, are not so lucky. Although some elderly people have back pain, such a grand event has never been held in ancient times, and even if it is said that they can sit on the floor and wait for the vote, most people still try to tiptoe to the high platform, hoping to see the officials who have the right to vote in the ballot box, and at the same time fantasize in their hearts how perfect it would be for them to have this right. If it weren't for the fact that Du Shiyi, who proposed to build yì, had too high prestige, and the inclusion of low-grade officials would also cause difficulties in counting votes, some people would have made a fuss.

Each ballot cannot be opened for viewing because it is anonymous, but there is a special person to touch and identify the mark on the back to ensure that no one fishes in troubled waters and sandwiches fake ballots between the real ballots. The first to vote was Pei Kuan himself, and as the second and third people took the stage, the surroundings gradually fell silent, and even the initial whispers were gone. Everyone is waiting for the final answer, everyone is looking forward to their ability to bet right, and the person they choose can ascend to the throne. At least, even if you choose the wrong one, you don't have to worry about being liquidated when you turn back, which is why few people oppose Pei Kuan's promotion of the charter.

And what is even hotter in mind and more blazing in the eyes is the princes and grandsons on the stage, everyone is holding their own ticket in their hands, and everyone knows that when the foreign officials finish voting, it will be the turn of Wu Wang Li Yi, Zong Zhengqing, to take the lead, and they will go to the final competition in these clans. Fengwang Li Heng glanced at the vote in his hand with some pride, if it was a real-name election, he would have to hesitate whether to be humble, but now since it was a secret ballot, he had no worries at all, and his name was circled openly on the ballot!

Since the kings voted according to the eldest and youngest, Li Heng, the twenty-sixth ranked Feng King, naturally fell behind. After the vote of Li Rui, the thirty prince of Liangwang, he was the only two imperial grandsons who participated - Li Li, the king of Heiqing, and Li Li, the king of Nanyang. One of the two represents the lineage of King Qing, and the other represents the lineage of Li Heng, the prince of Yisu. It's just that these two cousins, who also lost their fathers, are like fire and water, and they ignore each other.

When the long voting process finally ended, two officials who were specially selected from Honglu Temple and had particularly loud voices came forward to sing their votes in public. At this time, the already silent square was even more silent, only the names of the princes and grandsons floated in the air. There is no need to count from above, many officials have already pinched their fingers and silently calculated.

"One vote for the king of Nanyang!"

"One vote for the King of the Plains!"

"One vote for King Feng!"

One by one, the loud voices drilled into everyone's ears, making the hearts of more than 1,000 people tickle all the times. But with the calculation, some people gradually felt that something was not good, the officials above the fifth grade, plus the clans with the right to vote, a total of more than 100 people, less than 200, but now in the blink of an eye, dozens of votes have been reported, and the few people who can get the most votes are still pitiful Baba did not break through ten votes, including Li Li, the second son of Li Hengshu, the prince of Yisu, who was regarded as the most popular before! On the contrary, it is Li Shen, the king of the plains born to the abolished crown prince Li Ying and the abolished crown princess Xue, as another candidate whose name is not on the ballot, he actually has a full nine votes under his name!

But if it goes on like this, not to mention that one candidate breaks through half, it is difficult to break through even a quarter!

Du Shiyi saw that the faces of the clans on the stage were pale, and she had the urge to laugh in her heart. Those who can remain quiet, that is, cautious people like Li Xuan, King Ying, Li Shen, King of the Plains, who don't care just to stir up the situation, as for Li Hui, King of Feng, Li Qi, King of Yi, and Li Li, King of Nanyang, some clenched their fists, some had blue muscles on their foreheads, some kept wiping sweat, and some looked around for support. When he found that Pei Kuan was looking at him, his eyes were quite complicated, he beckoned to Azler beside him. Azler lowered his body and listened to the two instructions, and immediately got up and walked towards Pei Kuan.

"Pei Xiangguo don't worry, his father-in-law said that if there is really no result, he will naturally be responsible for the end."

Since Du Shiyi said this, Pei Kuan's heart was slightly relieved. He didn't speak, just bowed slightly to Azler. Seeing that he retreated to Du Shiyi's side and stood still, he thought of the various incidents that had been made by these clans recently, and in addition to embarrassment and annoyance, he also had an extremely subtle feeling in his heart. He is also a person who has been up and down for so many years, his eyesight is naturally vicious, Du Shiyi seems to have only made one move after he came back, and the other is that he has set the charter for this recommendation, but he is also faintly aware that with the help of this seemingly fair skin, all the bulls, ghosts, snakes and gods in the clan jumped up and down, but what was the result?

The common people almost watched a monkey show, and the royal prestige was simply gone!

In all fairness, this kind of thing has always been just the most ideal situation, even in the period when Yao and Song were prime ministers at the beginning of the Kaiyuan Dynasty, the imperial power was also supreme, Li Longji did not rely on personal likes and dislikes to decide personnel, and even judged life and death, not to mention Tianbao in the late Kaiyuan Dynasty, even he lived in fear of precariousness all the time. If he was still the pure minister who dared to disobey Wang Mao Zhong back then, he would have died without a place to bury. Even if Li Longji was really forced to abdicate this time, the new monarch was able to ascend the throne under the recommendation of the ministers, and achieved a good story, but what about the new monarch after he ascended the throne? Will these important ministers gradually be removed piece by piece as stumbling blocks, or even branded with all kinds of ridiculous crimes, and finally purged?

In this case, if Du Shiyi can limit the monarch's power, his best way is to watch from the sidelines and make a force quietly, instead of piercing this layer of window paper!

When the voting on the stage ended, a whiteboard was nervously reviewing the votes of all the candidates, and the officials in the audience who had been listening with their ears pricked up had already counted the votes of several popular candidates. Even if Li Li, the king of Nanyang, who has a very high voice, has his mother-in-law, Princess Yisu, personally running for him, many people in the Dou family are waving their flags and shouting, but they still have only twenty-four votes; Fengwang Li Heng didn't know if the image of the mad dog was too deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, or if he didn't have a door, which made many bigwigs disdainful in their hearts, but in the end it was just a pity for the twelve votes; Li Pu, the king of Yi, coerced the promise of the Son of Heaven Chrysostom and received twenty-nine votes; The dark horse killed in the slash, the son-in-law of the abolished prince Li Ying and the abolished princess Xue, because his younger brother inherited the lineage of King Qing, he actually slashed a full thirty votes, and even one more vote than King Yi!

As for the other kings, Li Qi, the king of Sheng who has a low eye, like other kings, did not break through the single digits of votes at all. The cautious Ying Wang Li Jian also won 20 votes because of his slight literary name and low-key personality.

When this result was announced by Zuo Prime Minister Pei Kuan himself, although the officials below had already received the corresponding news, they were still in an uproar. There was no result in this election, and people already had such a premonition in the process, but the votes were so scattered that even the sect with the most votes was not even one-fifth of the entire number of voters!

"The virtuous king who is not a descendant or a long-term is really not easy to promote!"

Du Shiyi muttered softly, and then stood up. He sat there and relaxed just now when everyone was nervous, and now when it was a mess, of course he, the initiator, should stand up. At this moment, he came to Pei Kuan's side, and seeing that he immediately gave up his position to himself, he stood in the center of the high platform and glanced at the ministers who were pressed by the black head. Gradually, the noise of the discussion below became quieter and quieter, and the crowd finally calmed down.

"In the past, when His Majesty Ruizong was in power, there was a controversy because of the establishment of the crown prince, and finally the dispute over the national capital was resolved on the grounds of governing the chaos and establishing the virtuous king and the establishment of the heir. Now His Majesty is recuperating in Xingqing Palace, the two princes before and after, one is abolished, the other is violent, and the remaining kings, neither the grandson nor the long, and once lived in the sixteen princes' mansions, most of the people have a temperament that no one knows, so there is no one to be long, and I can only hold the intention of promoting the virtuous king. It's just that I didn't expect that not only did not one person have more than half of the votes today, but no one even got more than one-fifth of the votes, which is really amazing. But even so, there was still a competition for the four people with the highest votes. ”

Du Shiyi paused, and then said with a smile: "Since it was fair from the beginning, then you might as well be fair to the end." Next, the final candidate was further selected from the King Yi, King Ying, King Nanyang, and King of the Plains with the highest votes. But if someone gets more than half of the votes, the event is decided. If it is still the same as this time, the top two votes will be re-elected, and there will definitely be more than half of the people in the end! This is the fairest, what do you think? ”

After a moment of commotion, the ministers below looked at me, and most of them felt that Du Shiyi's construction was very reasonable. Although some people clamored that the establishment of the East Palace was a matter for the Son of Heaven and should be decided by Li Long's words, he was immediately suppressed by the voices of the people around him who agreed with Du Shiyi's construction. If Du Shiyi relied on Yiyantang to manipulate the candidates for the East Palace, the Qingliu would definitely attack in groups, but this time it was for them to decide the candidates, Du Shiyi was only a spectator and supervisor, and many people felt as if they had returned to the era of the ancient Yao Shun's election system, and a sense of sacredness arose.

Besides, the establishment of a prince is a state affair, and it should not be decided by the Son of Heaven in the first place, especially now that all the princes of the clan are not grandchildren!

Pei Kuan saw that Du Shiyi threw out such a plan, and his head obviously agreed, he didn't wait for the people in the clan to raise objections, and immediately said: "Then according to Du Xiangguo's proposal, three days later, push it again!" ”

"Today's results, I should also inform His Majesty, and I will go for a trip myself."

Du Shiyi said lightly, seeing that Pei Kuan had no objections, and the other important ministers were obviously not interested in flattering the Son of Heaven, who was now completely isolated, he bowed his head and left the nearly 1,000 people who had not dispersed here, and only turned around and left with Azler. After leaving the square in front of the diligent government building like a vegetable market, after going around to the dragon pool, passing through the Daming Gate, bypassing the Datong Palace, and finally came to the front yard of the Xingqing Palace, he saw that his young son Du Youlin, who had never seen him since he came back, was personally guarding here, and the rest of the guards were all flying dragon riders.

"Xiangguo!"

In front of others, Du Shiyi knew that the title of son was meant to indicate public before private. He nodded slightly, and then asked, "I'll report on today's affairs in the main building." Is 陛xià still awake? ”

"Your Majesty has been able to wake up for an hour or two every day these days, and the imperial doctor is here at this time, and he has just come out to eat and drink, and he should still be awake." When Du Youlin saw his father's relaxed face, he knew that the recommendation must be as Du Shiyi wished. He respectfully moved out of the way, and at the same time added in a low voice, "Grandpa, the imperial doctor said that His Majesty should not survive for two days." ”