Guangzong Yaoming

Chapter 66: There is a gap between the Prime Minister and the Assistant Minister
Shen Yikuan had been thinking about it for ten days before he figured out when he started to go wrong.

From the end of June to the end of September now, although Shen Shixing and Wang Xijue came too quickly, it has been long enough.

But the main problem is that it happened too quickly.

Looking back now, it was probably the withdrawal of the good policies of the mine supervisor and tax collector and the re-employment of Shen Shixing and Wang Xijue into the cabinet that caused problems in Shen Yiquan's thinking.

But Shen Yikuan started making mistakes from the time when the successor emperor was praying for rain. He piled a large number of memorials into the palace too early, trying to highlight the importance of the cabinet and his own hard work.

Although Zhao Zhigao's resignation was "granted", the emperor and the successor did not immediately add cabinet members from the incumbent officials, but instead prepared to re-employ Shen Shixing and Wang Xijue.

He had actually been the "sole prime minister" for a long time. During this special period of time, he ignored the issue that the imperial power was at its most vulnerable, and thought too much about the future cabinet affairs.

On the one hand, there is the huge political reputation that has been accumulated by the country's stable foundation and the abolition of the mining tax and malpractices; on the other hand, there is the huge pressure of two experienced old prime ministers who are about to return to the court, and whether the people outside the so-called Zhejiang Party in the court will unite.

Shen Yikuan was too eager to consolidate his position during this period, and the successor seemed to have no strong opinions and was willing to follow advice.

But after the enthronement ceremony, he used the excuse that the rituals and imperial edicts had not been finalized and delayed the successor's coronation ceremony in order to try to guide the successor to agree to Yu Jideng entering the cabinet and Xiao Daheng becoming the Minister of Rites. What kind of behavior of a powerful official was this?
The fact that many of the planned "good policies" could not be included in the enthronement edict has prevented Shen Yikuan from taking the initiative as the "Four Elders assisting in the administration" of the new dynasty.

Because of the implicit trend of Zhang Juzheng's problem and because Tian Le stood up and wanted to unite more people by preventing the implementation of new policies, many ministers submitted memorials to point out the harm of sending internal officials abroad.

If it were under normal circumstances, there would naturally be no problem. The Cabinet, the Six Ministries, and the Departments of Certification should all make the emperor understand that the current "ancestral system" should not be changed.

But now is not an ordinary time. The imperial power has made concessions and taken the initiative to eliminate corruption and show favoritism. It is a special moment when the emperor is seriously ill and the successor has not yet ascended the throne.

After calming down and sorting out his thoughts, Shen Yikuan came to the Ciqing Palace for the eleventh time to ask for an audience.

"Lord Shen, didn't His Highness say that the three judicial departments have not yet found out the results of the Shanhaiguan uprising, so everything can wait. The ceremony has been decided, so just prepare carefully."

"I have troubled you to present this to Eunuch Tian. I would like to ask for my remains to be buried. I feel ashamed for not handling all matters properly."

"Why is Lord Shen doing this? This is already the fifth resignation letter." Tian Yi received it in his hand, but his expression did not comment.

Shen Yikuan didn't say anything else. He kowtowed deeply outside the Ciqing Palace before leaving.

Tian Yi looked at his back, entered Ciqing Palace, met Zhu Changluo, and recounted his story.

"Put it aside." Zhu Changluo didn't even look at them. "Shen Shixing and Wang Xijue, they should have arrived in Tongzhou?"

"Yes. Chongjiu sent someone there and started on the journey at full speed."

Zhu Changluo nodded: "Okay. Is the situation outside the palace becoming increasingly uneasy?"

"Of course." Tian Yi said, "Your Highness has acted out of character, and people are indeed uneasy right now."

Zhu Changluo put down his pen and stood up.

"That's good. After the two princes of Shen arrived in Beijing, I was able to take charge of state affairs again, and the wise officials in the court knew how to deal with themselves. Of the four cabinet ministers, one is seriously ill and can't recover, and three are over 70 years old. There is a vast world for us to do a lot in the future. Why should we blindly rely on the powerful Zhejiang Party?"

"I think Shen Yi Guan is sincere in his request this time."

"But we can't let him go easily." Zhu Changluo sneered, "In these precious three months, what has he done for the benefit of the country? When the situation is good, he only wants to consolidate his power, and when the situation is bad, he wants to escape easily to preserve his reputation? If this is the only regret he has, I will not be satisfied! Besides, he may not be retreating to advance."

At this moment, Shen Yikuan was sitting alone in the cabinet again. Shen Shixing and Wang Xijue got off the boat at Tongzhou Wharf, and the carriage to welcome them was already prepared.

Many officials and gentry who were waiting there were astonished to see the two old prime ministers being hurriedly put into the carriage, as if the capital was anxiously waiting for them to rescue the emperor.

Don’t you even have time to meet them briefly?

“…Nonsense.”

"This is really nonsense!"

The two of them were riding in a rather large carriage, and now they were sitting in the carriage facing each other, shaking their heads together.

After all, we all started from Suzhou. Although the departure times were not synchronized, they became synchronized as we walked along the canal.

Having been away from the court for many years, the two had no major grudges in the past. Instead, they had a strong friendship as fellow townsmen and classmates.

They took the same imperial examination, with Wang Xijue being the first place winner and Shen Shixing being the second place winner; they then took part in the palace examination together, with Shen Shixing being the first place winner and Wang Xijue being the second place winner.

So along the way, they naturally had to exchange their views on the court.

Which of the two old prime ministers didn't have many students? There was no shortage of news along the way. Moreover, the successor king sent someone over, in the name of respecting the elders, but in fact he told them some things that shocked them.

Now Shen Shixing just sighed, and Wang Xijue, who had an even worse temper, was no longer polite.

"The foundation of the country has been established, and the grand ceremony is the top priority! Now that the tax collector has been removed, he, Shen Jianwu, has been praised by the government and the people! Humph, just because you suspect two old bones like you, you have created so many troubles, causing the king and his subjects to be jealous of each other!"

"Ah..." Shen Shixing continued to sigh, "Zhao Rumai has been seriously ill for several years, and the cabinet is suddenly going to be lively. You and I have both served as prime ministers. I can understand his concerns..."

"I don't understand why you don't know the difference between the important and the unimportant!" Wang Xijue also bowed to him while sitting, "Rumo, the court situation has come to this point, and you and I can no longer have other aspirations like we did on the road."

"Brother Yuan Yu is right...it's just that the public sentiment is overwhelming..."

Shen Shixing, who was 66 years old, and Wang Xijue, who was 67 years old, arrived in the capital, exchanging their views on the current situation.

Without stopping for a moment, he went to ask for a visit to the seriously ill emperor.

In front of the Meridian Gate, two old ministers were in tears, looking extremely loyal, which formed a sharp contrast with those guys who were "bullying the successor to the throne".

Then it was the heir who came to greet them personally.

"Your Highness!"

"Mr. Ge!"

Shen Shixing and Wang Xijue were indeed very sad. When they met the eldest prince, he was just a child.

Now he has grown up and is ready to become the new emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

How could the two not be moved when the successor emperor personally came to the Meridian Gate to greet them?

"Your Majesty, how are you? I have been worried all the way."

"My father is still not getting better, and I am grieving day and night." Zhu Changluo wiped his eyes with his sleeves, "My two elders, please follow me. I know that you have entered the city, and my father and grandmother are looking forward to it."

In the cabinet far away, Shen Yi Guan listened with mixed feelings as someone told him that the heir to the throne personally went to the Cining Palace to welcome Shen Shixing and Wang Xijue.

Shen Yikuan could not see anyone, but when the two old prime ministers arrived, everyone saw them.

Is the difference between closeness and distance so great?

A good hand of cards was played so badly.

In the Cining Palace, the emperor and his ministers were extremely jealous when they met, and Zhu Yijun really cried.

But he didn't show anything else but cry in front of them.

What else can you do? What else do you want to do?
The two of them held their hands, knowing that they couldn't move their hands, but they didn't show anything.

Just keep asking him to take good care of himself and I will definitely help that guy.

No one really cares whether the emperor can still issue an imperial edict.

Shen Shixing and Wang Xijue are more experienced old foxes than Shen Yikuan. How could they not know what is primary and what is secondary?

But there was something that surprised them even more.

After Shen Shixing and Wang Xijue visited the seriously ill emperor and arrived at the main hall of the Cining Palace, Empress Dowager Li sat behind the curtain and said, "Prince, Elder Shen and Elder Wang are both prudent and old ministers. Why is the emperor so seriously ill? You can tell them."

Zhu Changluo was startled for a moment, and asked anxiously, "Grandmother, can you really tell me about that?"

"…It was indeed a misfortune for our family, but how could we know that there was no back-up plan, or internal and external collusion? At that time, the incident was minimized, and only a few minor officials were punished. Who would have thought that the officials' pressure would become more and more intense, and even forced the emperor to withdraw all the external and internal officials! Now that Elder Shen and Elder Wang have returned to the court, they should know what happened and how difficult the situation was!"

Shen Shixing's voice trembled: "Empress Dowager... Is there any other reason behind His Majesty's illness?"

In fact, they all guessed that there must be something behind it, otherwise why would the third prince be sent to Fengyang?

That's why they said that Shen Yiquan was making trouble and wanted to do so many things during this period of time.

But now Empress Dowager Li is saying that there was something behind the emperor's first stroke? Was it not just that Zheng's persistence after the first stroke caused the emperor to have a second stroke?
The Empress Dowager was just about to say that there was a great traitor in the court!
(End of this chapter)