The rise of the poor

Chapter 1981 Come Out, Secret Succession
Zhu Ping'an knew history. In fact, Emperor Jiajing did not need to worry about the issue of appointing a crown prince, because according to historical records, Prince Jing would die in a few years, and Emperor Jiajing would only have Prince Yu as his only son. It would be up to him to decide whether to appoint the crown prince or not. It would be useless to worry about who to choose now.

Moreover, Emperor Jiajing practiced Taoism and made elixirs. He wanted to live forever and rule the world for eternity. In his heart, he did not really want to establish a crown prince.

He didn't want any power to fall into the hands of others, and he had a strong desire to control this empire and the highest power.

In feudal society, the status of the prince was truly second only to the emperor. The prince's East Palace was a small court, and many ministers would approach the prince and place bets in advance in order to follow the emperor; the prince would also have his imperial guards, although the number of people was far less than that of the emperor, but sometimes a small number of people could do great things; when the emperor was unable to attend court for reasons such as going on a campaign, touring, or being seriously ill, the prince would appear as regent, and handle state affairs and government affairs on his behalf. In general, the emperor needed the prince to stabilize the inheritance of the country, but the prince would also share part of the imperial power, posing a threat to the imperial power.

In addition, given how superstitious Emperor Jiajing was about the proverb that two dragons cannot meet, in order to protect his only two princes, he did not want to appoint a crown prince.

He only has two sons now. If he appoints a crown prince and the proverb comes true, he will have no place to cry.

The reason why Emperor Jiajing considered appointing a crown prince was because he was forced to do so by objective reality.

The empire is so big and he is no longer young. If he delays in appointing a crown prince, his ministers will worry about the succession of the throne. If he dies without appointing a crown prince, the two princes will have their own supporters and will surely fight. The huge empire may split into the Warring States in an instant, with rivers of blood flowing, which is not good for the country.

Maybe it was also because he had been feeling a little unwell recently.

Therefore, Jiajing's question about establishing a crown prince is really a difficult proposition. It is wrong to establish one, and it is wrong not to establish one. It is even more wrong to establish someone, and no matter how you answer, it is wrong...

When I return to Beijing in the future, I will definitely meet the emperor. I think it is possible that Emperor Jiajing will really ask me this question.

You really need to prepare early.

If Emperor Jiajing asked me about the succession, how would I answer?
After seeing off Eunuch Wang and his party, Zhu Ping'an returned to his study and began to ponder this fatal question.

I can't tell Emperor Jiajing to stop worrying because in a few years, your youngest son, Prince Jing, will die, and Prince Yu will be the only one left. You won't have a choice, so you don't have to worry about who to choose, right?!
Then the charges of cursing the royal heir and witchcraft would be pinned on his own head, which would be enough to cause him to die seven or eight times.

If I were to ask which prince I would recommend to become the crown prince, it would undoubtedly be Prince Yu, based on emotion, reason and history.

But you can think so, but you can't say it out loud.

Zhu Ping'an sat in the study and pondered. Suddenly, an idea flashed in his mind and he thought of the secret system of appointing the crown prince in the Qing Dynasty of later generations.

Emperor Yongzheng, who experienced the Nine Dragon Battles and ultimately won, learned the lessons of his generation and previous generations' struggles for the throne among princes and concubines, endless infighting, fratricide and chaos caused by the appointment of a crown prince. He invented the secret system of appointing a crown prince and no longer publicly appointed a crown prince.

The specific method is: the emperor personally writes the name of the crown prince, writes two copies, seals one in a box and puts it behind the "Zhengda Guangming" plaque in the Qianqing Palace, and seals the other in a box and carries it with him, double insurance. After the emperor ascends to heaven, the ministers will take out the two boxes in public, open them in public, and after checking that they are correct, announce who will succeed him.

The biggest feature of the secret succession system is that the emperor has full authority to decide the candidate for the crown prince, thus strengthening the imperial power.

Another advantage is that the emperor can change the crown prince at any time without any adverse effects. He only needs to change the name in the box he carries with him and the name in the box behind the "Zhengda Guangming" plaque.

It can solve many hidden dangers related to the foundation of the country, break through the limitation of establishing the eldest son as the heir, and avoid the hidden danger of "the tree stands out in the forest" and the hidden danger of the crown prince's invisible power sharing. Hehe, if I don't publicly establish the crown prince, there will be no power sharing by the crown prince, and the ministers can't place bets in advance.
It can also avoid the tragedy of princes killing each other for the throne and concubines fighting openly and secretly for their own princes.

Anyway, Emperor Jiajing didn’t really want to establish a crown prince, he just wanted to reassure his subjects and stabilize the people’s hearts.

As long as the ministers were summoned and the secret system of appointing the crown prince was announced, and then the model was made, two boxes were made, two names were written on them, one box was placed behind the "Zhengda Guangming" plaque, and the other box was carried with the person, then the hearts of the ministers and the people would be settled, and those ministers would not have to complain anymore, and there would be no need to worry that Emperor Jiajing would die from swallowing elixirs while cultivating immortality, and there would be no one to inherit the throne causing a dispute over imperial power.

Even Emperor Jiajing was worried that the saying "two dragons never meet" would come true, so it was not a problem if there was no name written in the box.

Anyway, no one dared to verify the contents of the box.

Anyway, Emperor Jiajing could open the box and change the paper inside at any time. When he wanted to write his name, he would open the box and change the paper with his name on it. He could change his name at any time.

It's like killing a group of birds with one stone.

The more Zhu Ping'an thought about it, the more he felt that the Qing Dynasty's secret system of appointing the crown prince was tailor-made for Emperor Jiajing, who believed in "two dragons cannot meet", "cultivating immortals and refining elixirs", and "being greedy for power and loving power". It perfectly met Emperor Jiajing's actual needs.

Simply perfect.

If Emperor Jiajing asked me, I would take out this secret system of appointing the crown prince and give him a big surprise.

I continued to pack up the study. Only my handwritten manuscripts were left to be packed. After that, I could leave for Shaoxing tomorrow. Li Shu's due date was getting closer and closer. If I was going to Shaoxing, the sooner I left, the better.

"Brother Zhu, have a bowl of hot and sour soup to sober up and nourish your stomach." When Zhu Ping'an was packing up his books, Li Shu came over accompanied by Hua'er and Qin'er. Hua'er was holding a bowl of hot and sour appetizer soup in her little hand.

"Haha, thank you, Sister Li. Don't worry. I only drank a glass of wine at the beginning of the banquet today. The eunuch Wang who came to announce the decree is a good friend of the eunuch Feng Bao Feng whom I know. I told them that I am not good at drinking, and they were tactful enough not to urge me to drink." Zhu Ping'an smiled and took the hangover soup from Hua'er.

Although he didn't drink much, this bowl of hot and sour soup was still quite tempting. Zhu Ping'an finished it in just a few sips.

"Brother Zhu, have you finished cleaning up? Let Hua'er and Qin'er help you." Li Shu said with a smile when she saw Zhu Ping'an finished his hot and sour soup.

"These are the only manuscripts left. I just need to sort them out. Have you packed your things?" Zhu Ping'an asked.

"Everything has been packed, the boat and the car are ready, we can set off at any time." Li Shu smiled.

"Okay, then let's set off tomorrow. We'll walk slowly on the way and not rush." ​​Zhu Ping'an said.

"Yes, I'll listen to Brother Zhu in everything." Li Shu touched her belly and her eyes narrowed into crescents.

(End of this chapter)