Chapter 267 Rumors
Because the young emperor was not of royal blood, when the young emperor died and Rong Que ascended the throne, there was no need to even declare a national mourning during this process.
Seeing that the coronation ceremony was approaching , one day, Rong Que returned home from the palace after handling state affairs.
Thinking that Su Qingqing liked to eat the spicy chicken at the restaurant on Gulou Street, Rong Que specifically ordered the sedan chair to take a detour.
As night fell, the streets were brightly lit. It seemed that the turmoil in the court had no effect on the people's joy, and the streets and alleys were bustling with activity.
Rong Que sat in the sedan chair and closed his eyes to rest.
After Marquis Rong'an was released back to Qibei, Su Qingqing's 5,000 soldiers who stayed in Datong would go to Qibei for a stroll every few days, but Marquis Rong'an did not cause any big waves.
King Yu in Liaodong also had peace and tranquility.
But Rongque was still too tired to breathe.
This kind of explosive trouble is not the most exhausting. It is the tangled and confusing court affairs that are exhausting.
Since the founding of the Great Yan Dynasty, the entire court and the economy have relied on the dispatch of the imperial court and the merchants from all over the country.
Merchants from all over the country are bound to collude with local officials.
The bigger the businessman, the higher-ranking official he colludes with.
There is no distinction between parties fighting for the throne in the court now. After all, Rong Que has ascended the throne when he is still young and strong, and it is still early for him to abdicate.
But the court was divided into new factions.
The old nobles and the new poor.
The old nobles are the eight major families that have existed since the founding of the Great Yan Dynasty.
Among these eight families, only two served as officials in the court.
The family's surname is Xue, and that is Duke Xue.
In the early years, the second prince, the crown prince, and the third prince, three factions were fighting each other to the death, but Duke Xue had never participated in it. He had always been an idle and wealthy man.
However, when Rong Que returned to the capital this time, due to the major replacement of court officials, a lot of new people had to be recruited into the capital. Some people suggested promoting and selecting local officials, while others suggested directly recruiting new people recommended by the Imperial College.
The newcomers recommended by the Imperial College had no work experience and could only hold some minor positions.
However, official positions like Shangshu and Shilang still require sufficient experience.
But there were problems with local selection.
Rong Que asked Ming Lu to check the people who were nominated, and found that they were basically related to Duke Xue.
Duke Xue doesn't care who wins or loses in the court, as long as they don't block his Xue family's path to wealth.
The other family’s surname is Xu, and his name is Lord Xu, the Minister of Rites.
The family of Lord Xu’s wife has been in the grain business for generations, and their businesses are spread almost everywhere.
Although the Xu family did not nominate anyone for the promotion of officials this time, they strongly supported those of Duke Xue.
In other words, in Kyoto, there was a hidden force formed by the Eight Great Families. This force influenced the appointment and dismissal of important officials in the court and even affected the direction of the entire court, but they did not directly participate in party struggles.
In opposition to the Eight Great Masters were people like Jingzhao Yin Huang Zhaozhong, who came from humble backgrounds.
After Xiang Zheng, the post of Minister of War remained vacant, and Rongque gave the position directly to He Chao. He Chao was Rongque's man, and no one in the court had any objection. However, after He Chao took office, he found that it was very difficult for him, an official directly appointed by Rongque, to do his job.
The people under his command had no intention of disobeying his wishes, nor did they directly clash with him, but the series of instructions he issued could not be completed immediately by these people.
They dragged their feet and sifted through it.
He Chao lost his temper several times and even scolded someone for it and directly removed him from his official position, but there was no improvement.
The problem is that the affairs are too complicated to be handled in a short period of time.
He Chao told Rong Que about these things. If they only heard one or two things, they couldn't figure out anything. But as more and more things happened, Rong Que gradually figured out what was going on.
This is Duke Xue and the Minister of Rites putting pressure on him to fill official vacancies.
Rong Que prefers children from poor families, but Duke Xue and the Minister of Rites obviously will not allow this to happen.
In winter, there was a heavy snowfall in the south. The rare heavy snowfall caused a disaster. After the spring, disaster relief was delayed due to the war. After Rong Que took over the affairs of the court, he immediately asked people to discuss a good disaster relief plan.
However, among the six ministers, only the Minister of War He Chao was in a hurry. The Minister of Justice could barely be equated with He Chao. The other four ministers, especially the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Revenue, which were the main players in this incident, behaved in an outrageous manner.
The Ministry of Revenue just said it had no money.
The Ministry of Industry opened its mouth but no one was available.
Rong Que was leaning against the car wall with a frown on his face when he heard several voices of discussion coming from outside, sometimes far away and sometimes near.
"The Crown Prince is about to ascend the throne, but the military power is still in the hands of the Crown Princess. This is too funny. Isn't he afraid that one day he will anger the Crown Princess and she will overthrow him and dethrone him, and he will ascend the throne and become a female emperor?"
"Although it's disrespectful, it's true. Which emperor didn't have three palaces and six courtyards when he ascended the throne? Which queen would allow her man to hug other women? The Crown Princess is still young now. Wait a few years, she will be old and ugly, and new beauties will come to the palace. Do you think she won't be jealous?"
"When ordinary women are jealous, they will only harm their opponents. But our queen was born on the battlefield. If she is not happy, it is not impossible for her to lead the army to destroy the palace."
"Hey, what do you think? Could it be that the Crown Prince is just a puppet, and General Su is the real emperor behind the scenes? After all, there are so many soldiers of the Su family stationed there!"
"Don't talk nonsense. Those soldiers are all the Crown Prince's personal soldiers. They are just handed over to the Crown Princess for training. The Su family army has long been dispersed and there are not many people left. There are only a few alive."
"What nonsense is this? Even if these troops are all the prince's men, who wouldn't give a thumbs up when mentioning General Su during the march? To put it bluntly, the prince's throne was won by General Su. If it weren't for General Su, would he have been able to destroy Rong'an Marquis so quickly?
When the time comes, the Crown Prince's three palaces and six courtyards, if General Su is wronged, do you think these soldiers will protect General Su?"
"It's true what you said. Tsk, poor couples have many troubles. Even those of them who are in power may not have an easy life. I think this couple are wary of each other.
Not to mention that the Crown Prince is on guard against the Crown Princess, but you say that the Crown Princess isn't on guard against the Crown Prince?
Since ancient times, anyone who held military power had a good ending.
The Crown Princess' military power will have to be returned sooner or later. If she doesn't, I think she will end up with a bowl of poisoned wine."
As Rong Que listened, his eyes gradually opened. His eyes were dark and his face was ashen and ugly.
He is not a tyrant, and he will definitely not control the freedom of speech in the streets, not to mention what these people say...
Can he say it is not the truth?
This has been the case throughout all dynasties.
But he and Su Qingqing are different, they are different!
Rong Que once again couldn't help but think of the words he heard outside the door that day.
