With Li Zicheng leading his troops westward, the northwest region has been completely recovered.

The original Shaanxi political envoy was too large, and it was easy to create a situation of monopolizing the northwest. Li Xianzhong split Shaanxi into two, made Shaanxi independent, and established a new Gansu political envoy in the former Ningxia, Gansu and Qinghai parts.

Xiong Tingbi was transferred to the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, Chen Qiyu was appointed governor of Henan, and Zuo Liangyu was transferred to the governor of Shandong.

Lu Xiangsheng, the former governor of Shandong, was reappointed as the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang.

Now the territory of the Ming Dynasty is only Wusizang is not included in the control of the Hongguang Imperial Court, of course, the Yunnan-Guizhou region is not actually controlled at present.

In addition to the traditional territory of the Ming Dynasty, Li Xianzhong also occupied the vast territory of the Monan region and regained the Yinshan Hetao; In addition, it also occupied the three provinces of Pyongan, Hamgyong, and the Yellow Sea in Korea, as well as the Ryukyu Islands and the island of Taiwan, and restored Nurgandus!

In terms of territory alone, the Hongguang Dynasty was not inferior to other periods of the Ming Dynasty.

As for using Li Dingguo and Li Zicheng, it is also a helpless move.

Although Sichuan, Shaanxi and other places were recovered in one fell swoop, these areas were very remote, and the ruling power of the imperial court was not strong.

In addition, the transportation is inconvenient, and the transportation of supplies is very laborious, and it is difficult to support large-scale foreign conquests.

Li Xianzhong needs a certain amount of time to maintain stability and digest these areas.

Therefore, Li Xianzhong used Daxi and Dashun to kill the southwest and the Western Regions first, laying the foundation for his own complete conquest of these regions in the future.

After all, compared with expanding the territory, the ministers of the Hongguang Dynasty were more concerned about changing the dynasty.

Although there are successes to Li Xianzhong, there is no doubt that these people are his original shareholders.

If it is basically peaceful today, they naturally hope that Li Xianzhong will reign in the world as soon as possible, and they will be able to go to the next level.

Obviously, a lot of people can't hold it anymore.

However, no one thought that it was Yan Shenggong Kong Yintao who took the lead in writing to Zhu Yousong, the son of Hongguang.

Kong Yintao believes that Li Xianzhong, the king of Liaodong County, fought for the country, and it only took more than a year to make the world re-attached, which made great contributions to the imperial court.

If you don't crown the prince, it may be difficult to convince the public!

To be honest, Li Xianzhong was not prepared to be crowned prince and go through that set of empty heads.

Now whether it is the court, the cabinet or the governors of all parts of the world, he is his people, and the gentry and vassal kings who support the Ming Dynasty have already let him clean up.

Even if some people die very brightly, they can't set off too much storm.

According to his idea, after returning to Beijing, he directly asked Zhu Yousong to make a Zen concession, and his ascension to the throne would complete the change of dynasty.

Kong Yintao, this is purely taking off his pants and farting - this is an extra move!

But now that things have happened, he also has the mentality of watching the drama to see how things will develop.

After all, it will take two months for them to return to Beijing from the Northwest Class, which is enough for them to deal with these things.

Kong Yintao's sparseness can be described as a stone that stirs up a thousand waves!

Although Yan Shenggong's character is not very good, no one dares to ignore the influence of the Qufu Kong family.

Now the forces entrenched in various places have surrendered, Zhang Xianzhong died, and Li Zicheng fled to the Western Regions.

After the external contradiction is basically resolved, it will naturally become an internal contradiction.

Regarding Li Xianzhong's title of king, in fact, the ministers in the court have no objections!

After all, it was Hongguang Tianzi himself who first destroyed the ancestral system of the Ming Dynasty and named Li Xianzhong the king of Liaodong County.

With his current merits, it is logical to change from a county king to a prince.

Of course, due to different positions, the two sides also have their own plans for Li Xianzhong to be crowned king.

From the standpoint of Liaodong officials, it was not their goal to be crowned king, they hoped that Li Xianzhong would ascend the throne and directly change the dynasty.

In this way, in addition to their existing official rights, they also have an additional merit from the dragon.

After all, the old ministers of Liaodong have not yet been knighted.

Only Zuo Liangyu, who killed Chongzhen, and Gao Jie, who sacrificed Hanzhong and killed Zhang Xianzhong, were made earls.

The requirements for this knighthood are really high.

Not only to make military achievements, but also to kill the emperor!

Li Xianzhong also hinted on different occasions that once the new dynasty is established, he will reward them for their meritorious deeds.

Although the king could not satisfy their political demands, it was also a step in the process of Zen concession.

Since beating Wang Mang and usurping the Han Dynasty, Chan Rang has become a means for powerful ministers to change the dynasty.

Generally, they can't escape these steps, first to seal the prince or the king, then fake the festival, add nine tin, and finally force the emperor to concede.

Yan Mingtai, the first assistant who stayed in Beijing, discussed with Li Sanshunyi, the second assistant, that since these steps were inevitable, they simply put them in place in one step.

The current Ming court has long been under the control of the prince, and there is no need to directly abolish Zhu Yousong and usurp the throne.

If Li Xianzhong wants to usurp the throne, he can directly claim the emperor in Liaodong.

Then the next step must be to go through the process of Zen relinquishment.

From the Jin Dynasty onwards, the "False Jieyue" became the highest-ranking royal authorization method. With the power of "fake festival", not only can you kill soldiers who violate military orders at will, but you can also go on the expedition instead of the monarch, and have the power to kill the generals.

Now that Li Xianzhong is directly involved in politics, his power has surpassed that of "fake festivals", so naturally there is no need to engage in this anymore.

The gift of nine tin is the nine kinds of ritual instruments given by the emperor to the princes and ministers with special honors, and it is the expression of the highest courtesy.

The nine kinds of special gifts are: chariots and horses, clothes, Lexian, Zhuhu, Nama, tiger ben, axes, bows and arrows, and bamboo mustaches.

The Son of Heaven often commends his courtiers with ceremonial rewards, and the rewards are divided into three, six, nine and so on, and "nine" has the highest meaning in China, so Jiuxi is the emperor's highest honor reward for his courtiers.

Although these things are imaginary, they are still essential as an important step in the process of Zen teaching.

Therefore, the plan drawn up by the cabinet is to crown Li Xianzhong as the king of Liao, seal Liaodong, add nine tin, and appoint Li Xianzhong, the king of Liao, as the regent to lead all court affairs!

In this way, there is only one emperor between Li Xianzhong and Zhu Yousong.

So when Yan Mingtai made these requests, he hesitated.

If he agrees to this, he will be the end of his heaven.

He looked eagerly at the Manchu Dynasty civil and military, hoping that someone would stand up and oppose it.

But now whether it is a cabinet scholar, Liubu Shangshu or Jinyiwei are all Li Xianzhong's people, what can he, the nominal emperor, do?

But soon some people jumped out against it.

Zhan Shi Huang Daozhou, the young man of Zhan Shifu, said: "Li Xianzhong, the king of Liaodong County, has merit with the state, and it is okay to crown the king of Liao, but the prince's actual sealing of Liaodong is tantamount to splitting the soil and sealing the king." ”

"During the conquest of the king of Liaodong, in order to facilitate command, it is expedient to exercise the right to arbitrarily exercise the opportunity."

"If it has been pacified today, the king of Liaodong County should return to His Majesty. The king of Liaodong can lead the cabinet, but the regent is really against the way of the courtiers. ”

"Therefore, the minister Huang Daozhou suggested that the feudal Liaodong should be changed to the food yi Liaodong; The king of Liaodong can govern in the name of Shoufu, but it is not appropriate to act as a regent! lest people in the world misunderstand that the king of Liaodong County has the intention of rebellion, I believe that the prince himself will not agree! ”

Huang Daozhou's words made Yan Mingtai, the first assistant of the cabinet, lose face.

Not only did he reject the cabinet's proposal, but he also wanted Li Xianzhong to directly replace himself as the first assistant of the cabinet, and this Huang Daozhou really dared to say it.

However, at this time, he ended up with Zodiac Zhou by himself, which was really a loss of identity.

Qian Qianyi on the side understood that it was true that he was the leader of the Donglin Party, but now he had completely boarded Li Xianzhong's thief ship.

In the face of reality, the Donglin Party also had to adjust its political policy, from controlling the situation in the DPRK to supporting Li Xianzhong and occupying a place in the court.

Therefore, the Donglin Party also split into two factions, one faction followed Qian Qianyi to support Li Xianzhong.

Others are Zhishi, who criticized Li Xianzhong and the Hongguang court among the people.

As the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, at this time, it is impossible for him not to express his position.

Qian Qianyi said: "In addition to conquering the world, the king of Liaodong County also proposed the 'Hongguang New Deal'. ”

"I can have today's grand occasion, the prince has made great contributions, and it must not be too much to reward him. In order not to destroy the current good situation, His Majesty will definitely have no objections to the prince's involvement in politics! ”

"Qian Qianyi, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites and Rites, thinks that there is nothing wrong with the cabinet's proposal!"

Qian Qianyi kicked the ball back to Zhu Yousong again, if Your Majesty doesn't want to seal this regent, please say it yourself.

Qian Qianyi actually represents the southern gentry.

After that, the Liaodong officials represented by Li Sanshun and the northern gentry represented by Feng Quan, together with the noble forces represented by Zhang Weixian and Zhu Chunchen, stood on the platform to support Qian Qianyi's remarks.

And except for a few imperial historians who support Huang Daozhou's remarks, almost no one dares to echo them!

These people are soft-spoken, so naturally they can't give Zhu Yousong confidence.

He had no choice but to use the procrastination trick, thinking that this matter was very important, and he had to listen to the thoughts of the king of Liaodong himself, and it was not appropriate to rush it.

Although the ministers continued to put pressure on Zhu Yousong, saying that the reward for the king of Liaodong County could not be delayed, so as not to chill the loyal ministers.

But after all, it was above the court, and they couldn't look too ugly, so they still gave Zhu Yousong 3 days.

As soon as Zhu Yousong returned to the Qianqing Palace, the Empress Dowager Zhang Yan was already waiting for her here.

Zhang Yan is the empress of Emperor Zhu Youxiao of the Apocalypse, and her relationship with Zhu Yousong is actually very far away.

But after all, he was confirmed by Zhang Yan, the Hongguang Emperor, and Li Xianzhong gave Zhang Yan a high status.

Now the real head of the entire harem is Zhang Yan, and Zhu Yousong's Empress Chen doesn't dare to speak loudly in front of Zhang Yan.

Although very reluctant, Zhu Yousong still asked the Queen Mother Zhang Yan to say goodbye!

Zhang Yan said directly to the point: "I heard that the previous dynasty asked the king of Liaodong County to be crowned the prince, what does Your Majesty think of this matter?" ”

Zhu Yousong didn't know that Zhang Yan was already Li Xianzhong's best friend, after all, the Queen Mother was also a royal person.

He said: "I am also very embarrassed about this matter, and I have no opinion on giving Li Xianzhong the title of prince." But the cabinet wants to give Liaodong the title at the same time, and make him the regent, I dare not agree! ”

Zhang Yan said: "Originally, the affairs of the court should not be asked by a woman from the mourning family. ”

"But this matter is very important, and the mourning family is afraid that His Majesty will be confused!"

"Let me ask you, in the eyes of Your Majesty, this Liaodong is Li Xianzhong's or Your Majesty's; Did the civil and military forces in Liaodong listen to His Majesty or Li Xianzhong? ”

Zhang Yan's question was very acute, and Zhu Yousong said: "Although I don't want to admit it, this Liaodong has long been Li Xianzhong's, and Liaodong won't listen to me at all!" ”

Zhang Yan nodded with satisfaction and said, "Actually, Your Majesty knows very well in his heart that whether Liaodong is sealed or not is Li Xianzhong's. In this case, what does Your Majesty have to lose by giving Li Xianzhong what was originally Li Xianzhong? ”

"As for the regent, the same is true, whether there is this name of 'regent', the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty all listen to Li Xianzhong."

"If Li Xianzhong is willing to accept the fiefdom of Liaodong and be a regent with peace of mind, Your Majesty should feel lucky!"

After saying this, Zhang Yan left the Qianqing Palace.

Zhu Yousong actually has no choice, what he is worried about is that Li Xianzhong will further gain an inch after getting these and usurp the Ming Dynasty.

But he ignored one point, these things were not something he could decide, but Li Xianzhong decided by himself.

If he didn't give Li Xianzhong these treatments, I am afraid that the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty would not give up.

Instead, he became mean and unkind to Li Xianzhong, giving him an excuse to depose himself.

Whether Li Xianzhong is Huo Guang or Wang Mang, he doesn't know; But he can't force Li Xianzhong to become Dong Zhuo!

After thinking about these things clearly, Zhu Yousong was also relieved.

On November 11 of the second year of Hongguang, Zhu Yousong issued a decree to canonize Li Xianzhong, the king of Liaodong County, as the king of Liaodong and the fief of Liaodong; And appointed Li Xianzhong as the regent, the prime minister of military and political power, and gave Jiuxi!

After hearing this holy decree, Huang Daozhou was almost so angry that he vomited blood, scolded Li Xianzhong for being a chaotic minister and thief, and then took leave!

And the other ministers are celebrating each other, and now the prince is one step away from the Ninety-Five Supreme.

After the prince returns to Beijing in triumph, they can make persistent efforts to let Zhu Yousong take the throne.

However, surprisingly, Li Xianzhong himself refused this canonization.

Generally, when the emperor canonizes ministers to such an important official position, they will symbolically resign, which is also a common practice!

Everyone didn't take it too seriously, after all, everyone understands this process.

However, Li Xianzhong's reason for refusing is very intriguing.

First of all, he rejected the fief.

For example, today's vassal kings have returned to Zhuangtian, and each person only retains 10,000 mu, but he has to seal the entire Liaodong.

This is obviously contrary to the purpose of the "Hongguang New Deal" not to annex land, and he does not accept the actual seal.

He also did this to tell everyone that there would be no real seal in the future.

This move is really incomprehensible.

Li Xianzhong refused to be crowned king of the land, did he really want to be a loyal minister of the Ming Dynasty?

Since ancient times, if the ministers did not ascend the throne themselves, they would not end well.

Li Xianzhong will never be Huo Guang.

When the cabinet was in a fog about Li Xianzhong's intentions, Mao Yuanyi said: "I understand what the prince meant, the prince is actually dissatisfied with the title of Liao!" ”

Li Xianzhong was born in Liaodong Jiangmen, and it is natural for him to be named the king of Liao, and he did not refuse the title of "King of Liaodong County" before.

Mao Yuanyi said: "Have you ever thought that if the prince accepts the title of "King of Liao", after accepting Chan, the name of the new dynasty will become "Liao"! ”

According to the custom, once you accept the Zen concession of the previous dynasty, you must recognize the previous dynasty as orthodox, and generally use the title given by the previous dynasty as the national name.

For example, Cao Pi is the king of Wei of the Han Dynasty, so the country is called Wei; Yang Jian was the Duke of Sui Guo of the Later Zhou Dynasty, so the country name was Sui; Zhao Kuangyin is the envoy of the Song Zhou Festival, so the country name Song!

Zhu Yuanzhang's King Wu was originally sealed by the Han and Song regimes, and if he recognized that Han and Song were orthodox, then the country name should be Wu instead of Ming.

Obviously, Zhu Yuanzhang thought that he had seized the world from Meng Yuan, so he refused to use "Wu" as the national name, and only then did he have the Ming Dynasty.

At the same time, it also recognized that the Yuan Dynasty was an orthodox dynasty.

Liao has some problems as a country name.

Because of the previous emergence of the "Liao" dynasty, the legitimacy of Liao has always been questioned.

Although Li Xianzhong is engaged in Zen concession, he is actually seeking to usurp the throne.

Originally, the legitimacy was easy to be questioned, and the use of such a controversial country name as "Liao" made it even more unorthodox.

Li Xianzhong is naturally not satisfied.

In addition, "Liao" is not the name of the Central Plains regime when it is heard, and it cannot represent the great unified dynasty.

After Mao Yuanyi's little push, everyone immediately knew what the problem was.

This time, they chose not the name of the king, but the name of the country.

In this way, the King of Liao is indeed inappropriate.

The country name is generally selected from the Seven Heroes of the Warring States Period or the former dynasties.

Definitely exclude the previous Great Unification Dynasty country name.

Of course, no one will choose weak Korea, who will use "Han" as the country name?

Among the remaining country names, the regionality is still relatively strong, Chu generally takes the border Huguang region, Qi represents Shandong, and Qin represents Guanzhong.

Only Yan Zhao could represent the north, and in the end they chose Yan!

On November 20 of the second year of Hongguang, Li Xianzhong was canonized as the king of Yan and given nine tin.

Later, Li Xianzhong, the king of Yan, was appointed as the regent by the Hongguang Emperor Zhu Yousong to lead the government!

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(End of chapter)