The first snow of the winter of the first year of Zhizhi came later than usual, the dry and cold air blew the earth, the sky became gloomy, and the tall walls of the imperial capital became even more dusty, like furniture that had not been scrubbed for many years, and was covered with dust.

On both sides of the Luoshui River, the mountains are full of dry branches, the verdant of the past has been replaced by bleak and gloomy, the mountain peaks have exposed his dry surface, the geese have already flown to the north, there are faint lead-gray dark clouds floating in the sky, the Changqing Canal Wharf is also much colder, the porters are bored to gather together to chat and play with dice, and they are laughing vigorously in ragged clothes, all to dispel the coldness of the river breeze.

White slips of paper fluttered under the eaves, the smell of incense and candles faintly lingered in the air, and the Taoist priests in the Fengtian Temple were still singing eulogies from ancient times, which were recorded in the Taoist canon and explained by respected sages, and were preached in this land for thousands of years.

The officials of the court and the central government prayed for the emperor on their respective occasions every day in accordance with the "Rites", and the etiquette regulations on the state funeral in the "Rites" are only 100 words, but the explanations of the sages of the past dynasties are dozens of times, and the great sages of thousands of years ago made a special annotation, and since then this annotation has become the standard followed by the dynasties, and the autumn products are based on this standard to appreciate the virtues of the scholars.

Taiding died, according to the "Rites", the Great Jin should be a national funeral, and the Son of Heaven should keep filial piety for 36 days. According to the "Rites", the father is mourned, and the son is filial piety for three years, but the Son of Heaven is very human and needs to govern the world, so the day is replaced by the month, and the day is taken as the month, and the three Chinese New Year's Eve and six months are the thirty-six days.

The emperor is the father of the subjects of the world, and the emperor ascends to heaven, and the subjects of the world should naturally keep filial piety, but because the Son of Heaven only keeps filial piety for 36 days, it is not difficult for the court to be the subjects of the world, and only keeps filial piety for 36 days.

During these 36 days, all the brothels in Qinglou were closed, and no matter the shishu or the courtesans and dancers in the family, they were not allowed to perform, otherwise it would be a great crime to bully the king; the restaurant was forbidden to sell alcohol, otherwise it would also be a bully to the king.

Of course, if you drink at home, the government doesn't see it, so it doesn't matter, but if you are denounced, the government will also punish the crime, especially the prince, if you commit any of them, it is a major crime, and the worst one will be lost to the title, and the light one will be reprimanded and the territory will be reduced.

Fengtian Temple is actually a royal Taoist temple, the emperor wants to hold a prayer ceremony, or make a wish, are held here, Fengtian Temple is on the edge of the imperial city, close to Chaoyang Gate, the Taoist temple is not very grand, but it has a long history, as if the imperial capital is still a small city when there is this Fengtian Temple.

The coffin of Emperor Taiding is parked on the main hall of Fengtian Temple, the lobby is divided into left and right sides, the Empress Dowager Pan Zhi leads Emperor Taiding's concubines on the right side, the hall is arranged into a white sea, the people who guard the spirit wear white linen clothes, the hall beams are floating with white cloth strips, the ever-bright lamp is used with white pillars, and the thick pillars are wrapped in white cloth strips.

It has been a few days since the wake was held, everyone was very tired, Emperor Zhizhi got up in front of the Empress Dowager Pan Zhi, and softly advised Pan Zhi to rest for a while, Pan Zhi got up obediently, and went out from the side door to the apse, where there is a special rest room, no one can keep it like this for thirty-six days, and the temple has already prepared these.

Pan Zhi's title of Empress Dowager was promulgated at the same time when the emperor ascended the throne two days ago, and it was the emperor's first holy decree. Although Pan Zhi is not the emperor's biological mother, she is the emperor's aunt, who loves the emperor very much, and is also the empress of the Taiding Emperor, so it is natural to become the empress dowager.

Pan Zhi is not very old, only in her thirties, before entering the palace is a famous beauty in the imperial capital, the former queen was seriously ill, once entered the palace to take care of, there are rumors in the palace that Emperor Taiding was at that time with her secret communication, the former queen only knew that after the queen, she pushed the boat down the river, and asked the emperor to set up a cousin after his death.

The emperor accompanied Pan Zhi out, and when he arrived at the entrance of the courtyard of the rest room, Pan Zhi whispered to the emperor: "Your Majesty, you are also tired, go and rest, don't worry about me." ”

The emperor nodded: "Don't worry, the queen mother, it's nothing these days, I'm young and can withstand it." ”

"It's not good to be young, your father is too hardworking, first the Xianbei thieves made trouble, and then it was a flood and drought, your father and the emperor have not lived a few days of comfortable life in this life, the emperor, you are now in danger of the world, you don't need to bow down to everything, there are so many ministers in Shangshutai, leave it to them to deal with." ”

The emperor heard that he was slightly unhappy in his heart, after the death of Taiding, the prince and the monks of Shangshu listened to the edict in the Yawen Pavilion, in addition to the prince ascending the throne as the emperor, the Taiding Emperor also set up five auxiliary ministers on the grounds that the prince was young, namely the Taishi and Shangshu Ling Pan Lian, the Taiwei Pan Ji, the hussar general Qiuyun, the prime minister Gantang, and the prince Taibao Zuochen.

These five people were carefully selected by Emperor Taiding, Pan Lian and Pan Ji were relatives, and it was expected that they would not have any disagreement with the new monarch; Qiuyun was excellent in both military and political affairs, and had a high prestige in the army, and what was even more rare was that he had no ambition, and he and Pan Ji could control military power with their cooperation; although Gan Tang was sleek and sophisticated, he was good at government affairs, while Zuo Chen had a high prestige in Shilin.

With these five people in the center, it can ensure a smooth transition of imperial power into the hands of the new monarch, and as long as there are five or six years, the new monarch can control all power.

And during this transitional period, although there was no one in the center, the clan was strong locally.

The clan has strong power in the local area, so it is not worried about problems in the center, and if any of these five people dare to do something rebellious, the local clan can raise troops to fight.

Emperor Taiding told Xinjun his thoughts in detail, and Emperor Zhizhi was very happy at the time, but when the edict was announced, Emperor Zhizhi felt a little uncomfortable.

Auxiliary ministers are generally set up when the emperor is underage, but he is already twenty-two, twice supervising the country, and visiting the fortunate places on behalf of the Son of Heaven several times, and is very familiar with the government and politics, so there is no need to set up auxiliary ministers at all, but due to the busy funeral, he has not yet had the heart to deal with this matter.

At this moment, the Queen Mother reminded him with concern, but in his ears, there seemed to be a heavy drum, five auxiliary ministers, two of them were the Pan family, a shadow passed in his heart, and he nodded tiredly: "The queen mother said yes." ”

Pan Zhi sighed softly and turned to go in. The Emperor paused before turning to come out.

As soon as he walked to the door, Pan Lian and a young man had already hurried over, Zhizhi frowned, and the unhappiness just now remembered again.

Pan Lian stood up after giving the salute: "Your Majesty, King of Qi, King Qin, King Zhao, King Jinyang, King Chu, all of them are sparse and ask to enter Beijing to mourn the first emperor." ”

The emperor's brows furrowed even tighter, and he said unhappily: "Didn't you say it, they have to have this heart and set up an altar in the vassal country to pay respects, why do they have to enter Beijing?"

As he spoke, the Emperor walked towards another courtyard, where the Emperor's resting room was located, and which was also the place where the Emperor dealt with the affairs of the court during these thirty-six days.

The Tiger Ben Guard and the forbidden army have already taken over the guards around Fengtian Temple, the forbidden army is outside, the Hu Ben guard is inside, and the courtyard where the rest is resting, because the emperor stays more, has been thoroughly searched.

The emperor opened the curtain of the side room, the five auxiliary ministers and the sentence were inside, and the young man who followed behind Pan Lian also followed, Pan Lian frowned slightly when he saw this, but he didn't say anything, this young man's name is Pengzhu, he is the prince's confidant, he was originally a member of the prince's mansion, and his position is very low, but as soon as the prince ascended the throne, he issued an edict to let him be promoted to the middle secretary and the servant, and the petty official who never entered the stream was promoted to an important minister in the court.

Peng Zhu put the song in his hand on the bookcase beside the emperor, the emperor flipped through a few books at random, then threw the song aside, looked up at Pan Lian and asked, "You guys talk about it, you all have to come to Beijing." ”

Pan Lian replied without hesitation: "The minister thinks that the vassal states are far from the imperial capital, and the filial piety is kept on the 36th, and the first emperor will return to the blessed land after the 36th, and they can't catch up. ”

The prince didn't speak, Pan Ji nodded in agreement: "The vassal kings entered Beijing, the movement was too big, how many vassal kings from all over the country, who would go back or not, it was hard to say, these hundreds of vassal kings, plus the guards of the Yi Cong, there were tens of thousands of people to the imperial capital at once, inappropriate, inappropriate." ”

Gan Tang also nodded: "What Taishi Taiwei said is very true, it is very inappropriate for all the vassal kings to return to Beijing, so let them set up an altar in the vassal country to pay tribute." ”

"According to the etiquette system, the father dies and the son runs, the ancient rites, when they are allowed to run into the capital, the people of the world cannot criticize Your Majesty," Zuo Chen is very old, with white beard, white eyebrows and white hair, and said with a straight look: "If someone has the idea of non-part during this period, the people of the world should punish him." ”

Pan Lian and Pan Ji frowned at the same time, and secretly said in their hearts, is this Zuochen stupid to read, is this a matter of mourning? These vassal kings entered Beijing, each brought hundreds or thousands of guards, and several vassal kings colluded together, and they could immediately cause chaos in Beijing.

Besides, even if no one makes trouble, if these vassal kings don't stay, they will immediately become hidden dangers, and there is only a reason to be a thief for a thousand days in this world, how can there be a reason to prevent thieves for a thousand days.

"What does Qiu Qing mean?" the emperor asked, looking at Qiu Yun, who had not spoken.

Qiuyun has already made a conclusion, and said slowly: "It's not appropriate to let them come, this dynasty rules the world with filial piety, don't let them come, and trap Your Majesty in unfilial piety, so it's not appropriate, the minister means, let one or two as representatives, others, Your Majesty can invent an edict, tell the world, the first emperor understands their filial piety, however, this road is tiring, quite hard, Your Majesty sympathizes with them, can set up an altar in the vassal country to pay tribute." ”

This is exhaustive and impeccable, but Qiuyun is not finished, and added: "Recently, it has been reported that the thieves of this world meeting are ready to move again, and they want to take advantage of the national mourning to stir up chaos. ”

The Brotherhood of the World, has several times to raise troops to rebel, the court has repeatedly attacked, cracked many important figures in the Brotherhood, to the twelfth year, the Great Jin and Xianbei War at the critical juncture, the Brotherhood of the World Brotherhood in Xuzhou to rebel; Taiding nine years, the Brotherhood raised troops again, this time the court has put down the Xianbei rebellion, pulled out its hand, strangled with all its might, and captured the head of the Brotherhood.

Since then, the Brotherhood has gone underground and is still intensifying its activities, and the new Brotherhood leader is very mysterious, and no one has seen him in the rivers and lakes, and until now, the court has not known his name and true face.

The emperor nodded slightly after hearing this, Pan Lian nodded yes, the emperor was about to agree, but Peng Zhu suddenly interjected: "Lord Qiu is too worried, the brotherhood is not small, Taiding twelve are in chaos, most of them are exterminated, and the remaining remnants of the bandits are uneasy, that is worthy of the world's vigilance, Your Majesty, the minister thinks that the key to the world lies in the homeless, Yongzhou homeless people gather, Jizhou Qingzhou, the same homeless people are very heavy, and the state is in drought this year, the homeless people are in disaster, and the local officials are now ordered to step up the solution, and the implementation will be supervised by the vassal kings, so as to comfort the spirit of the first emperor in the sky." In addition, His Majesty issued an edict that during the state funeral, the garrisons in various places were not allowed to be transferred, and all transfers must be ordered by the Grand Lieutenant or by His Majesty's edict. ”

The emperor understood now, Qiuyun's suggestion asked the vassal king to pay more attention, but the vassal king could use this to gather troops, and the danger was greater, while Pengzhu's suggestion was better, not only divided the vassal king's momentum, forced them to solve the problem of the vaspers, how to solve the problem of the vaspers, only relief, so these vassal kings could only take out food from the treasury, which weakened the power of the vassal kings.

Relief to the homeless, the garrison was forbidden to move, and the vassal kings were stuck to death with two simple words.