Chapter 53 Disappointed Cabinet Ministers
At dawn on October 28, the 18th year of Hongzhi's reign, the morning light was dim.
A squeak!
The door of Cining Palace suddenly opened.
Zhu Houzhao, Emperor Zhengde of the Ming Dynasty, walked out of it.
At this time, Liu Jin, the chief official of the Supervisor of Ceremonies, and other ministers were already prostrate on the ground, waiting outside the hall.
Zhu Houzhao smiled solemnly and just faced the morning glow and headed towards Fengtian Gate. Today was the time for the consolation ceremony and it was also the first day for him to take off his mourning clothes.
But for Zhu Houzhao, what is more important is that from today on, all the inner court is his own, and he has begun to truly control the power of the court.
Although Zhu Houzhao is only fifteen years old now, although he is still a teenager, he can still show the aura of an emperor, solemn and domineering after wearing the black winged crown, light colored clothes and black rhinoceros horn belt.
Zhu Houzhao pursed his lips, folded his sleeves in front of his abdomen, and moved forward lightly, neither urgent nor slow.
At this moment, he only felt extremely excited. He knew that he would make all the civil servants stunned later, and would also make the entire Ming Dynasty truly realize the existence of his imperial dignity.
Liu Jin and other new imperial eunuchs were equally excited and felt fresh. This was the first time for them to become the top eunuchs of the empire. They were as energetic as the emperor Zhu Houzhao in front of them, and their brows and eyes were full of vitality.
Liu Jin shouted: "Your Majesty, come to court!"
The drums and music are roaring, and the whips are sounding one after another.
……
And at this time.
The officials also wore light-colored clothes, black gauze hats, and black horn belts, and came to Fengtianmen.
Today's ceremony was mainly for consolation ceremonies, so everyone gathered at Fengtian Gate to mark the official end of Emperor Hongzhi's mourning period.
The three elders of the cabinet also got up very early that day. They all knew about the large number of troops entering the palace last night, so they started discussing it early in the morning.
Before entering the palace, Liu Jian, the chief minister of the cabinet, sneered and asked Li Dongyang and Xie Qian: "Do you think that after entering the palace later, will the white curtains in the palace have been removed or not?" br>
According to the rules, starting from today, the funeral of Emperor Xiaozong ends, and the white curtains and other frivolous things will naturally be removed. When Liu Jian asked this, he naturally felt that Zhu Houzhao might have been killed, so he asked.
Li Dongyang also laughed: "I'm afraid it has been removed, otherwise we would have received the news of Zhu Houzhao's death last night!"
Liu Jian nodded.
Xie Qian sighed with some dissatisfaction: "Zhu Houzhao was given an advantage. Remembering how he slapped Mr. Ge yesterday and forced me to eat filthy food, it was really unbearable!" < br>
Liu Jian felt the same when he heard what Xie Qian said. He gritted his teeth and said, "If the late emperor had not only had one son, I would really want him to die at the age of fifteen!"
"Shou Kui and Yu Qiao should just endure it. He Zhu Houzhao is still the king after all. But as long as Liu Jin and other eunuchs are removed, he Zhu Houzhao will now have no arms. We and Wang Yue will naturally be able to control him. Then the court will still be the same We have the final say. At worst, we will let Zhu Houzhao apologize to the two elders, which can be regarded as showing sympathy to the elders!”
Li Dongyang also started talking at this time, with a proud smile on his lips, and began to imagine the scene when Zhu Houzhao was at the mercy of civil servants like himself. At this time, Liu Jian also agreed with Li Dongyang's words: "What Bin Zhi said is reasonable. It is best for him to let Zhu Houzhao issue a self-incriminating edict when the time comes. This will also be good for him!"
The elders of the three cabinet ministers nodded in agreement and came to Fengtianmen with confidence.
But when the three cabinet ministers and a group of civil servants entered Fengtian Gate, they saw Liu Jin standing outside Fengtian Gate!
Liu Jian, the chief assistant of the cabinet, was dumbfounded on the spot. He stood there dumbfounded as if he had been slapped with a sap. He murmured in his heart, secretly wondering how Liu Jin could stand on top of the sweet-scented osmanthus. Shouldn't he be executed?
The elephant wat in the hand of Li Dongyang, the second assistant to the cabinet, fell directly to the ground with a slapping sound. His lips trembled and he was very surprised.
How is this possible, what is going on, this is impossible!
Shouldn't Wang Yue, the eunuch in charge of the ceremony, should have killed Liu Jin? Even if it didn't end like this, Zhu Houzhao would have died suddenly or was seriously ill!
Even then, Liu Jin should not be alive. At least the responsibility for Zhu Houzhao's sudden death must be borne by Liu Jin. In short, it is impossible for Liu Jin to stand in front of him at this time!
Xie Qian, the third assistant to the cabinet, also looked at Li Dongyang and Liu Jian in disbelief, and secretly thought that Liu Jin was not dead! This shows that there is a reason! For a moment, Xie Qian couldn't help but asked excitedly:
"Why is Liu Jin standing here! What qualifications does he, a eunuch from the Bell and Drum Division, have to stand here! The Prime Minister is here!"
Zhu Houzhao had not yet appeared, and the ceremony had not officially begun. Liu Jin, who had come first, walked down personally and came to Xie Qian:
"So that Mr. Xie knows that our family is now the chief official of the Imperial Court, and is the chief official of the inner court. Naturally, it is necessary to listen to the announcement in front of the emperor. As for Wang Yue, a traitor who tried to seek power and usurp the throne, he has been detained! Yes! Didn’t you disappoint Mr. Xie?”
Liu Jin walked down, smiled slightly as he spoke, and then returned to Fengtianmen.
Zhu Houzhao also appeared in the palace at this time. After Guo Rong shouted: "Your Majesty has arrived," the officials began to salute.
Zhu Houzhao glanced at the civil and military officials below, especially the civil and military group standing in the left class.
Although these civil servants are still the same as before, and there are basically no big changes, Zhu Houzhao now has enough confidence to fight against them, because he has taken control of the inner court and also won the hearts of the military attache group before.
Now, Zhu Houzhao could scan the scholar-bureaucrats kneeling in front of him with a scornful gaze!
"Everyone is safe!"
Zhu Houzhao shouted seriously, and then looked at the three elders of the cabinet when the civil servants stood up to thank them.
Zhu Houzhao found that Liu Jian, the chief minister of the cabinet, looked down with disappointment. He stood aside numbly and sluggishly. Zhu Houzhao could guess that the chief minister of the cabinet had probably guessed that his ambition to control himself as the emperor had been shattered!
Li Dongyang, the second assistant to the cabinet, sighed softly, even still lost in thought, shaking his head from time to time.
Zhu Houzhao smiled softly, feeling sincerely happy in his heart. He thought to himself that these old foxes would never think that he would be so rude.
Xie Qian, the third assistant to the cabinet, still looked dissatisfied, but immediately sighed and glanced at the other civil servants from the corner of his eye. It was obvious that he wanted to rely on other officials to restore the situation where his civil servant group would lose.
(End of chapter)