Zhu Youzhen led more than 100 people from Wang Mujiu and other special combat teams, accompanied by Zhang Wei and Huang Liji, and a group of ministers, through the Huangji Gate and came to the Huangji Palace.

The ministers were all crowded in the wide square outside the Imperial Palace, and it was black. They are all talking or arguing about something.

The arrival of Zhu Youzhen made them all stop the noise, and some people were ready to kneel.

Huang Liji grabbed Cui Chengxiu, who was about to kneel: "Master Cui, wait a minute, let's talk about it when we enter the hall." Then he said loudly to the ministers who were at a loss: "The new emperor has moved to the Imperial Palace, and I invite all my colleagues to visit the Imperial Palace." ”

Wang Mujiu and Li Jun hugged Zhu Youzhen and entered the Imperial Palace.

Zhu Youzhen has not officially ascended the throne yet, and he can't sit on the dragon chair for the time being, so Wei Zhongxian brought a slightly smaller mahogany chair and placed it near the left side of the dragon chair.

Zhu Youzhen sat down on the chair that symbolized the emperor, Wang Mujiu and Li Jun stood behind Zhu Youzhen with short knives on their waists and hips, and Wei Zhongxian held Buddha dust in his hand, and responded on the side.

Zhang Wei came out of the class and spoke: "Colleagues, the first emperor has gone to the immortal, please pay homage to the new emperor." ”

Some impatient ministers immediately began to kowtow, but Wei Zhongxian coughed, and everyone realized that something was wrong, and the ministers who were kowtowing had to get up in embarrassment.

Wei Zhongxian coughed again, as if he wanted to swallow the thick phlegm in his throat, trying to make his voice as thick as possible. The ministers waited uneasily.

Wei Zhongxian finally spoke up: "See the new emperor, bye!" ”

The ministers hurriedly knelt down.

"Bow down!"

"Two kowtows!"

"Three prostrations!"

The ministers bowed three times.

"Rise—goodbye!"

The ministers followed Wei Zhongxian's duck voice and completed the ceremony of three kneeling and nine knocking.

Kneeling three times and knocking nine times, the ministers recognized Zhu Youzhen. Zhu Youzhen, who was sitting on a mahogany chair, delivered his first message: "Ministers, the first emperor has ascended to bliss, please ask the Ministry of Rites to arrange the first emperor's 'Jiuyu' gift in time in accordance with the ancestral system and the actual situation of the Ming Dynasty." ”

Huang Liji, the first assistant of the cabinet and the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, came out of the class to play: "The new emperor, according to the ancestral system of the Ming Dynasty and the will of the queen's mother, the ceremony of the first emperor's 'nine yu' was held in several banquet halls for a total of 27 days. The minister immediately set about drafting a detailed plan. ”

Zhang Wei listed: "The new emperor, the first emperor's 'nine yu' gifts, for a long time, but the country can not be left without an owner for a day, pray for the new emperor to ascend the throne as soon as possible, and inherit the orthodoxy of the Ming Dynasty." ”

Zhang Wei's meaning is very clear, that is, the new emperor should complete the enthronement ceremony before the completion of the first emperor's 'Jiuyu' ceremony, so as not to have many dreams at night.

Before the ministers could react, Wei Zhongxian coughed again.

The members of the eunuch party looked at Wei Zhongxian, and didn't know what to say for a while, Zhu Youzhen was about to ascend the throne, which was irreversible, should they still oppose Zhu Youzhen's accession to the throne at this time?

Xue Fengxiang, the secretary of the Ministry of Industry, and Wang Yongguang, the secretary of the Ministry of War, changed their eyes at each other, and both fell to the ground: "The minister seconded the proposal!" ”

The other Donglin Party members immediately understood that Zhu Youxiao trusted Wei Zhongxian to the extreme, which caused the eunuch party to continue to grow bigger, and he had steadily suppressed the Donglin party. Now that the new emperor is in office, it is a good opportunity to show loyalty and regain power from the eunuchs.

Although Zhu Youzhen's political views were in contradiction with the Donglin Party, Zhu Youzhen and Wei Zhongxian were irreconcilable contradictions. The Donglin Party has always regarded itself as orthodox, and Zhu Youzhen is the heir of Zhu Youxiao's most descendant.

The Donglin Party knelt down one after another to support the initiative of the British Gong Zhang Wei. Especially at the back of the court, where the Donglin Party gathered, countless official hats were in close contact with the ground.

Wei Zhongxian was unmoved, he lowered his head and stared at the Buddha dust in his hand.

Zhu Youzhen raised his head to look at the sky, but the top beam of the Huangji Hall blocked his vision, and he could only see the top beam in the hall.

Time seems to be frozen, there is no sound in the Imperial Palace, and in the entire court, there are only standing eunuchs and kneeling Donglin parties.

"The minister seconded the proposal!" A tall figure in the front row slowly knelt down, it was the first assistant Huang Liji.

Wei Zhongxian's eyebrows twitched slightly, still observing his Buddha dust.

Li Chunye glanced at Yan Mingtai who was standing beside him, and Yan Mingtai nodded slightly. "The ministers seconded it!" Li Chunye and Yan Mingtai both knelt down in front of the hall.

"The minister also seconded it!" Shi Fenglai felt much closer to Zhu Youzhen because of his meritorious support, and even Zhu Youzhen's eyes constantly looking at him were captured by him meticulously. Just now he was robbed of the limelight by Zhang Wei and Huang Liji in the Xinwang Mansion, and at this time he was lagging behind.

Wei Zhongxian finally raised his head and glanced at the eunuchs who were standing, and everyone's psychology shuddered, but those who were kneeling on the ground couldn't see his gaze at all.

The eunuchs, who were a little lower, were in a lower position, and they did not speak, but knelt on the ground, closed their eyes, and did not look at anything.

Now, in terms of numbers alone, the number of people kneeling on the ground has exceeded the number of people still standing.

Wei Zhongxian frowned, and there was already a clear difference between Zhu Youzhen's calm and breezy expression.

The court fell silent again.

Zhu Youzhen finally withdrew his gaze from the roof of the Imperial Palace, and glanced at the ministers, of course, those officials kneeling on the ground could not see Zhu Youzhen's gaze.

"The minister seconded the proposal!" Cui Chengxiu took advantage of Wei Zhongxian's gaze to leave him, quickly bowed, knelt down, and hid behind Huang Liji.

Cui Chengxiu's defection took away a large number of eunuchs, and the eunuch members standing in the court have become an absolute minority.

"Tell the new emperor, the old slave is dizzy, and he wants to go down and rest." Wei Zhongxian's voice was not loud, but it was as quiet as a court hall where no one was left, no less than the roar of a fighter jet.

"Father-in-law Wei seems to have a cold, don't pay attention to rest, I will send a doctor to show your father-in-law." Zhu Youzhen didn't get up, but just bowed to Wei Zhongxian and left the court.

"Plop!"

"Plop!"

Wei Zhongxian hadn't walked out of the court yet, and the remaining eunuch members broke out in a cold sweat one by one, and couldn't wait to kneel down under the hall, and in the entire hall, except for Wang Mujiu and Li Jun, there was no one standing.

The court unanimously approved Zhang Wei's construction, and the courtiers expressed their approval by kneeling, regardless of whether this approval was active or passive.

But no matter how suitable Zhu Youzhen is to be the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, no matter how eager Zhu Youzhen is to serve as the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, he must keep a vigil for Zhu Youxiao for seven days.

The cabinet, the Sixth Ministry, and the Qin Tianjian discussed that the first day of the ninth month was an auspicious day for the zodiac, and the time for Zhu You's wake-up for Zhu Youxiao had ended, which was the best moment for Zhu You's enthronement ceremony.

In the afternoon, Zhu Youxiao's body was transported to the Several Banquet Palace, and Zhu Youzhen also rushed to the Several Banquet Hall to guard Zhu Youxiao's spirit.

The soldiers of the three hundred special combat teams surrounded the halls of several feasts, and only the old people in the palace were serving Zhu Youzhen.

In the evening, the five members of the cabinet and the scholars of the six ministries came to the banquet hall, they were the most relied on ministers of the imperial court, and they had to first keep a vigil for Zhu Youxiao for the night.

In the hall of several feasts, sandalwood is swirling, monks are singing, and fairy music is singing.

Zhu Youzhen and the ministers bowed to Zhu Youxiao's body for the first time, indicating the official start of the wake.

After kneeling three times and knocking nine times, everyone sat on the futon with their eyes closed, like an old monk in meditation.

"The new emperor, I can't go out of the palace for a few days, what is there outside, I need to wait?" Huang Liji sat down with Zhu Youzhen and took the initiative to show favor to Zhu Youzhen.

"Yes, we are willing to serve the new emperor." Cui Chengxiu, Shi Fenglai and others were not to be left behind, they all turned their butts upside down and knelt in front of Zhu Youzhen to express their attitude.

The rest of the cabinet members and monks also knelt in front of Zhu Youzhen, waiting for Zhu Youzhen's dispatch.

In front of Zhu Youxiao's spirit, these important ministers of the Ming court knelt in front of Zhu Youzhen, and only Li Chunye, the secretary of the military department, remained motionless and sat on the futon.

Zhu Youzhen pointed to Zhu Youxiao's spiritual position, and everyone got up.

"Lord Huang, I can't leave the hall now, the outside affairs depend on you, please Lord Huang and you will work with the British Duke to plan the 'Nine Yu' gift of the first emperor."

"Yes, the new emperor. The ministers must arrange the 'Nine Yu' gifts of the first emperor as soon as possible. Huang Li replied with a low bow: "For the new emperor's enthronement ceremony, the minister will also arrange for the implementation as soon as possible." ”

Zhu Youzhen nodded in the candlelight, "As for the important ministers, during the funeral of the first emperor and the closing of the court, do their own work, treat the officials in various places with all their hearts, and do not disappoint the great trust of the court and the people of the Ming Dynasty." ”

"We will obey the new emperor's instructions." Everyone answered in unison, but Zhu Youzhen didn't know how many of these answers were as eloquent as the Sanskrit of monks in this mourning hall.

At 12 o'clock in the evening, Zhu Youzhen led the ministers to kneel three times and bow nine times to Zhu Youxiao's spiritual seat.

After prostrating, the crowd returned to the futon again.

Cui Chengxiu quietly moved to Zhu Youzhen's side: "It's already the second half of the night, and the new emperor still has many days to keep the spirit, so it's better to go down and rest, and continue to keep the spirit in the coming day." ”

Zhu Youzhen shook his head slowly.

The Ming Dynasty governs the country with filial piety, and Zhu Youzhen guards the soul of Zhu Youxiao as a younger brother, which is the embodiment of filial piety.

The straight road was in full swing, the sky was already bright, and Zhu Youzhen led his ministers to kneel down to worship Zhu Youxiao's dead for the third time. After this prostration, the one-night vigil ended. Except for Zhu Youzhen, the ministers had to leave the hall for several feasts.

Zhu Youzhen shook hands with them one by one and said goodbye: "I'll leave it to you for the outside business." ”

The ministers were so excited that they couldn't speak, and in the end, Cui Chengxiu, on behalf of the ministers, thanked Zhu Youzhen for his entrustment: "The new emperor can rest assured, the ministers will not disappoint the new emperor." ”

After the ministers left, Zhu Youzhen recruited Xu Yingyuan and Wang Mujiu.

"Ying Yuan, immediately go to Kunning Palace secretly, meet the queen, and ask for the truth."

"Yes, the new emperor." His master is about to become the emperor, and Xu Yingyuan is also very energetic when he does things.

"Mu Jiu, send someone to the palace to report the safety of the queen." Zhu Youzhen changed his words, "At the same time, maintain close contact with the Four Martial Arts Battalions, and we cannot interrupt it for a moment. ”

"Don't worry, the new emperor will do it."

Xu Yingyuan and Wang Mujiu are gone, Zhu Youzhen came to the apse, he wants to sleep well.

This sleep refers to sleeping for three or four hours, and when Zhu Youzhen woke up, it was already noon, and Xu Yingyuan had already returned.

"Ying Yuan, what did the queen say?"

"Back to the new emperor, the queen said that the new emperor must do two things, one is to win over the ministers; The second is that tea and meals should be provided by the Xinwang Mansion to avoid trouble. ”

Zhu Youzhen smiled bitterly, Wei Zhongxian has not made any moves until now, does he really dare to poison Xinjun? If he wanted to assassinate, I'm afraid he would have done it a long time ago, and in any case, the assassination of the prince is much lighter than the assassination of the emperor. However, Zhang Yan's caution is not wrong, "Just do what the queen said!" ”

In the evening, the general high-ranking officials of the Beijing Division came to hold a vigil for Zhu Youxiao.

When he left in the morning, Zhu Youzhen shook hands with them one by one and said goodbye.

On the evening of the third day, Empress Zhang Yan led all the concubines of Zhu Youxiao with and without titles to come to guard the spirit of Zhu Youxiao.

Zhu Youzhen's eyes slowly found Zhang Yan in the crowd: white clothes and white pants, wearing black gauze, and jute on her head. Zhang Yan lowered her head, not knowing that Zhu Youzhen was peeking at her.

Zhu Youxiao's concubines and Zhu Youzhen knelt in front of Zhu Youxiao's spirit across the screen.

Starting from the fourth day, all the officials in Beijing who failed to keep a vigil for Zhu Youxiao came to offer incense to Zhu Youxiao one after another, plus representatives sent by officials from all over the world, and the incense activities will continue until the end of 'Jiuyu'.

Zhu Youzhen returned the salute on behalf of the clan. Because he is the heir emperor, he can't kneel, but just bow his head. Zhang Yan and others returned the salute behind the screen.

At the end of the seven-day vigil, Zhu Youzhen will leave the hall for several feasts, and Zhu Youxiao's concubines will take turns to return the salute to the officials who came to offer incense.