Chapter 522: The Dispute over the Imperial Edict
Whether people admit it or not.

From today on, after what happened in front of Sishan’s gate, people can no longer say a word about the five people from four generations of the Yan family serving as officials in the court.

Because now.

The Yan family, with five people from four generations in the government, did not seize power, but was loyal and good.

Hai Rui, who held the highest moral ground in the Ming Dynasty, submitted his resignation.

When the previous emperor passed away and the new emperor ascended the throne, all officials resigned, and this rule must continue to be followed.

And it must be different from the past. Resignation should be submitted before the new monarch ascends the throne, rather than waiting until the new monarch has ascended the throne.

Although the officials were worried that if they submitted their resignation letters tomorrow, they would receive an imperial decree before they even got home from work, asking them to pack up and leave.

but.

Zhu Zaigui finally breathed a sigh of relief.

To prevent anyone from doing bad things again.

Zhu Zaigui almost immediately affirmed: "What Yuanfu said is very reasonable. Let's do it today."

Although I was anxious.

However, the heir who was about to ascend the throne still secretly kept some caution and limited the matter to today.

In this way, the Yan family will resign today, and when all the officials follow suit and resign tomorrow, he can completely control the resignations of all the officials in the court.

Either go or stay.

Won't it be up to you to decide at that time?

And the words "successor" appeared in front of Sishan's gate.

Everyone also knew that the incident concerning the Yan family that had arisen today because of Hai Rui was now over.

Li Chunfang hid the memorial that he was supposed to take out deep in the interlayer of his sleeve.

Then the old man Li stood up, clasped his fists, bowed and said, "Yesterday, the late emperor passed away. The coffin was made and moved to Fengxian Hall. According to the rules, today we should decide the late emperor's will and then announce it to the world and inform the subjects. I ask His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to move to Wenyuan Pavilion to decide the late emperor's will."

Gao Yi, the Minister of Rites, who was also present, followed suit and said, "According to the etiquette of our dynasty, the late emperor has passed away, and today we need to make a will to inform the world."

These are all the things that the palace and the court need to deal with recently.

In preparation for the death of the previous emperor and the ascension of the new emperor, the cabinet has ordered the suspension of some less important tasks in various departments and offices of the court.

Throughout the dynasties, funerals have always been given priority among state affairs.

Apart from the funeral, there is the ceremony of the monarch ascending the throne.

The emperor's last will is also included in this list.

But when Li Chunfang and Gao Yi finished speaking one after another.

Yan Song, who had been silent since submitting his resignation today, suddenly spoke: "According to the law, the Crown Prince is the heir to the throne of the Eastern Palace, and he should go to the Wenhua Palace to hold court and make decisions on all matters."

Gao Gong raised his eyebrows when he heard this.

Li Chunfang also looked at Yan Song, the only living Grand Tutor among the Three Dukes.

The officials present all nodded and lowered their heads, not daring to look at these real bigwigs in the court.

But listening to the conversation between these big guys, it is clear that conflicts have already arisen secretly.

I don’t know what the content of the late emperor’s last edict would be when it was announced to the world.

However, these are secret fights among the big guys and have nothing to do with ordinary officials like them.

The officials, who had already noticed the bad atmosphere, stopped crying, bowed and took their leave, returning to their offices.

After saying that the prince should go to Wenhua Palace, Yan Song glanced sideways at Gao Gong, the current Prime Minister.

"Wenhua Hall has always been the place where the Eastern Palace holds daily lectures. Now that the heir is about to ascend the throne, the court should also reopen the Imperial Lecture Hall and hold daily lectures for the Crown Prince to study. Everything is new, just like the new policy, why not start from today? What do you think, Prime Minister?"

Yan Song's tone and attitude at this moment were very good, just like the old but well-educated man at the entrance of the village, who patiently taught the younger generation.

Gao Gong's face twitched twice, ignoring Li Chunfang's veiled gaze, he looked at Zhu Zaigui, nodded and said, "Your Highness, the Grand Tutor's words about using the new are meant to show the new situation in the new dynasty, which is also appropriate."

Zhu Zaigui nodded: "In that case, let's go to Wenhua Hall."

After the prince spoke, Lu Fang immediately began to arrange people to rush to Wenhua Palace first.

Although the palace, especially places like Wenhua Hall, are cleaned every day by special people, when the previous emperor was alive, Wenhua Hall had not been used for lectures for decades. Now that the crown prince is going to be promoted to Wenhua Hall to take charge of affairs, it must be decorated.

Zhu Zaigui, Gao Gong and others also walked slowly.

Yan Song also glanced at his son and grandson.

Yan Shifan didn't say anything, just nodded.

Yan Shaoting supported the old man and walked towards Wenhua Hall.

The matter of negotiating the late emperor's will cannot be taken lightly.

It is well known to everyone.

Most of the emperor's edicts were not drafted by the emperor himself, but were written by his successors and ministers after his death.

The purpose was only to use the deceased emperor's mouth to say what was going to be done.

It's simply the living making a fuss about the dead.

Therefore, before Jiajing passed away, he only decided on the new policy and took a group of people with him. He probably wanted to take them to the underworld to continue the relationship between the emperor and his subjects. He did not write a will in advance and leave it to Lu Fang and others to keep, so that they could take it out and make it public.

Therefore, how to draft a will often becomes a point of contention.

Although generally speaking, the norms of the edict are to simply summarize the emperor's life, comment on the emperor's merits and demerits, and then determine the candidate for the new emperor in the edict, and finally make some arrangements for the court, and that's it.

But the article here is very long and convoluted, and it is not something that ordinary people can understand.

Logically, the imperial edict should have been decided today by Crown Prince Zhu Zaigui and the cabinet, and had nothing to do with Yan Song who had already retired.

But he insisted on being present. He was the only civil servant in the Ming Dynasty who received the titles of Three Dukes and Grand Tutor while he was still alive.

Even if he does not work in the court, who can really think that this grand master does not exist?
Not to mention what happened at Sishanmen today.

The Yan family is the most loyal family in this dynasty.

Gao Gong and others didn't know what to say.

Everyone passed through Guiji Gate and Huiji Gate with their own thoughts and arrived at Wenhua Hall.

Cross the palace gate and enter the Wenhua Hall.

Although it is called a hall, Wenhua Hall is actually a complex of buildings.

The main hall is located in the middle, with east and west side rooms on both sides in front, and another library at the back, which contains countless official and folk books from all dynasties, up to one million volumes.

Also because of the large collection of books in Wenhua Hall, there have been many incidents over the years where officials have stolen books and smuggled them out, and sold those rare and ancient books for money.

Of the 100% of the books in Wenhua Hall, only about 50% to 60% remain today.

Enter the main hall in front.

Lu Fang had already brought people to decorate the hall.

Zhu Zaigui sat in the upper seat.

Gao Gong and others surrounded in front.

Li Chunfang looked around and then signaled to the Minister of Rites Gao Yi.

"Your Highness, the Cabinet and the Ministry of Rites have discussed and drafted an imperial edict, which will be presented to Your Highness for your review. Please read it and make your decision."

After Li Chunfang finished speaking, Gao Yi walked forward and took out a question book from his sleeve.

"Your Highness, please read it." Zhu Zaigui took the edict drafted by the cabinet and the Ministry of Rites and placed it on the table to read it.

Because the function of Wenhua Hall has always been the place where the emperor and the East Palace hold lectures and occasionally attend to official business, the tables in the hall are not high, which is in line with the appearance of sitting and discussing.

Gao Yi presented the draft of his will.

The nine ministers from the six ministries and five temples present gathered around to watch. Just by lowering their heads slightly, they could clearly see the first draft of the edict prepared by the Cabinet and the Ministry of Rites.

A group of people looked down and gradually there was more noise.

After all, it is the will of the late emperor, and its content must be able to stand the test of history, and different parties will have different opinions.

"Who drafted this will?"

Just as everyone was hesitating about how to evaluate this draft will, Yan Shaoting frowned and asked with a gloomy face.

His sudden shout immediately attracted everyone's attention.

Li Chunfang immediately turned around and looked at Yan Shaoting, who was the tallest among the people present, and then frowned and said, "Of course, it was drafted jointly by the Cabinet and the Ministry of Rites."

He frowned and looked at Yan Shaoting, wondering what tricks this guy was going to play next.

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Yan Shaoting nodded and moved his eyes away from Li Chunfang.

This made Li Chunfang think that nothing would happen.

But it only took the blink of an eye.

Yan Shaoting looked at Gao Gong and said, "May I ask Yuanfu, according to what Lord Li said, this draft of the late emperor's will was jointly drafted by the Cabinet and the Ministry of Rites. Yuanfu is the chief minister of the Cabinet, sitting in the center and in charge of the court. Can I say that this draft of the will was authorized or approved by Yuanfu?"

"Of course not!"

Gao Gong blurted out the answer almost without thinking.

God knows what Yan Shaoting is up to by suddenly asking about the will. But no matter what, he should clear himself first.

Just after Gao Gong blurted out this, Li Chunfang immediately looked at him.

Gao Gong said, "The late emperor passed away yesterday. It happened suddenly. This draft of the will was drafted by the cabinet and the Ministry of Rites in a hurry. Since it is a draft, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince needs to read it and point out any inappropriateness. Then the cabinet and the Ministry of Rites can make further revisions."

He could not say that he had nothing to do with it, nor could he say who was the main author. Therefore, he could only let the Cabinet and the Ministry of Rites bear the responsibility together.

Yuan Wei and Zhao Zhenji remained silent.

Zhu Zaigui also looked up at Yan Shaoting.

Yan Shaoting snorted coldly: "The late emperor passed away only yesterday, and today's edict is intended to discredit him!"

Gao Gong and others' faces changed immediately.

The crime of discrediting the late emperor is not something that can be taken lightly.

Yan Song sat on a stool nearby and looked at Yan Shaoting: "Don't say anything careless! The Cabinet and the Ministry of Rites have always followed the rules. How could they bring discredit to the late emperor?"

Gao Gong immediately cast a grateful look towards the old Grand Tutor.

Yan Shifan snorted twice.

"Grandmaster, you are wrong this time. It is the prince's guest who is right."

He responded.

Yan Shifan walked up to Zhu Zaigui in front of everyone, bowed, and then picked up the drafted edict.

Holding the edict in his hand, Yan Shifan showed it to everyone and pointed at it with his finger.

"We are all intelligent people. We are not fools and can understand how this draft of the will is written."

Yan Shifan pointed his finger heavily at a line of text.

"Look at this!"

"Look at this!"

"What kind of words is this written by their cabinet?"

"What does it mean: Originally, we were supposed to respect heaven and serve the people, but now, due to many illnesses, we have been seeking longevity, which has led to wicked people taking advantage of the opportunity to falsely pray for us. On this day, civil engineering is carried out every year, but sacrifices to suburban temples are not carried out in person, and the ritual of Ming lectures has been abandoned for a long time. This is not only against the established constitution, but also against the original intention?"

Yan Shifan snorted coldly and glared at several people in the cabinet.

He also turned around and glanced at his son, which clearly meant that the next step in the fight was up to him.

Yan Shaoting smiled and said, "May I ask you, Prime Minister, did the late emperor practice Taoism in order to seek immortality? When the late emperor passed away, he held my hand and said that there is no one who can live forever. Since the late emperor knew that there is no one who can live forever, why did he seek immortality?"

Gao Gong's face was tense and he glanced sideways at Li Chunfang. It was obvious that these words were written by Li Ge Lao.

Li Chunfang also had an unhappy expression on his face.

Before the late emperor passed away, he took Yan Shaoting aside and said a lot of things to him. Now Yan Shaoting can say whatever he wants.

Yan Shaoting simply glanced at them calmly, and then continued, "May I ask the Cabinet and the Ministry of Rites, who does this sentence, which allowed the traitors to take advantage of the opportunity, refer to? Is it us who are present today, or the officials and ministers who have been punished by the late emperor, such as Xu Jie?"

He knew that this sentence probably referred to the Yan family and the Yan Party. If nothing had changed, then this sentence was correct.

but.

The Yan family is different now.

Li Chunfang clenched his teeth. This sentence was indeed intended to hint at the Yan family.

Now that he was being questioned in person by Yan Shaoting, he could only bite the bullet and say, "Of course Xu Jie is among them, and of course there are also people like Yan Maoqing, the former Imperial Censor of Lianghuai Salt!"

Yan Shaoting glanced at Lao Li and said "oh".

Just as Li Chunfang was thinking about how to continue dealing with the situation.

Yan Shaoting smiled and said, "Since Lord Li said so, I think when we go back and redraft the late emperor's will, Lord Li can write it and directly change the word traitor to Xu Yan and other traitors."

Li Chunfang's eyes suddenly widened, and he clenched his hands into fists under his sleeves.

Yan Shaoting thought this was going too far!

He actually wanted to nail Xu Jie to the top of the list of traitors in the late emperor's will.

Once it was really drafted like this and finally announced to the world, when the will was passed to Leizhou, I am afraid that Xu Jie would die immediately after seeing it.

This was pushing Xu Jie to death, and was also forcing all civil and military officials in the world to completely distance themselves from Xu Jie.

Li Chunfang immediately argued: "How can the late emperor's will directly mention someone else's name?"

Yan Shaoting narrowed his eyes: "But why can't I do that?"

"There is no such rule! And there is no such example!" Li Chunfang argued with his eyes wide open.

Yan Shaoting took a step forward, silently stared at Li Chunfang for a moment, and then smiled faintly: "There must always be a first example! Since the late emperor was taken advantage of by a traitor, then it should be clearly stated who it was, so that people in the world and future generations can see it clearly! Otherwise, wouldn't it be that the word "traitor" will ruin the reputation of all officials in the court? Or does Lord Li have other intentions?"

Li Chunfang was choked.

Who could have made him really have a hidden agenda? He wanted to use the will to secretly attack the Yan family.

Seeing that Li Chunfang was silent, Yan Shaoting snorted.

But did his doubts about this will end there?

He took the drafted edict from Yan Shifan and placed it back in front of Crown Prince Zhu Zaigui.

Then Yan Shaoting showed reluctance and anger on his face.

"Your Highness, I don't know who drafted this will, but the content here is really..."

"This is too much of an insult to the late emperor!"

…………

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(End of this chapter)