Chapter 302 Ascending the Throne
Old Master Wang has been dead for probably eight or nine years.
When Zhao Xing was young, in addition to Hai Wenyou teaching him elementary education, the emperor would also ask the ministers of the court and the six officials to lecture him on scriptures.
When Old Master Wang was alive, he was the deputy prime minister and had taught him several times.
"Haha, let's all sit down and talk."
Empress Cao smiled and asked them to sit down, saying, "Fuer, Old Lady Wang came to the palace to ask for a favor from you."
"Old Master Wang has been kind to me in teaching me. As long as it does not violate the law, I can do it." Zhao Xing smiled at Old Lady Wang and said, "I wonder what favor Old Lady Wang wants to ask for?"
Old Madam Wang's face froze, but she still gritted her teeth, her eyes slightly red as she said, "It is a misfortune for our family. My two daughters are both in Bianjing. I came to Bianjing specially to visit them. But I learned that my eldest daughter killed several concubines in the mansion out of jealousy."
"The Wang family is deeply favored by the emperor, so naturally we cannot do anything to protect him. This time I entered the palace to report my daughter."
"I already know about this matter. Old Grand Tutor Wang is highly respected and I never thought that his daughter would do such a heinous thing. Don't worry, Madam Wang. Old Grand Tutor Wang is deceased, and I can't bear to see his reputation damaged, so I have already ordered that Lady Kang be imprisoned in the Ministry of Punishment." Zhao Xing said.
Upon hearing this, Old Lady Wang’s face turned pale and she opened her mouth, wanting to plead for her daughter, but she didn’t know how to start.
After receiving the letter from Madam Wang, she hurried to Bian Jing.
Old Lady Wang once wanted Sheng Hong to help cover it up, but Sheng Hong could not afford to affect his own future just to help Wang Kang.
In desperation, she could only sell her old face.
According to Old Lady Wang's idea, she pretended to be ignorant, first sacrificed her own relatives for the sake of justice, and then pleaded for her daughter.
But Zhao Xing didn't wait for her to plead for mercy, he told her the punishment and said that he did so to protect the reputation of Old Master Wang.
How could she plead for her daughter?
Not to mention, Zhao Xing is about to ascend the throne, and you must not joke.
But Zhao Xing said that he did this to protect the reputation of Old Master Wang, which made her speechless.
"On behalf of my late husband, I would like to thank Your Highness!" said Old Lady Wang in a dry voice.
Zhao Xing smiled secretly when he heard this, but said some words of comfort and concern.
Old Mrs. Wang responded with a few words with a forced smile, then took her leave.
"Fuer, Old Grand Tutor Wang deserves to be enshrined in the Imperial Ancestral Temple. Why are you doing this?" Queen Cao sighed.
She naturally realized that Old Lady Wang actually wanted to plead for her daughter, but she was interrupted by Zhao Xing.
In the eyes of Queen Cao, this kind of thing happens in almost every household and it is not a big deal, so she can show some mercy to the Wang family.
"Mother, it's not that I don't give the Wang family dignity. It's just that Mrs. Kang doesn't know how to restrain herself. She has harmed so many people over the years. It's because someone helps her to clean up the mess that she is fearless. If we let her go easily this time, she will not only not learn from it, but will become even more lawless." Zhao Xing said.
"You have a point. Never mind. I am too lazy to care about this matter. When you ascend the throne in a few days, your father and I will enjoy our retirement. Let the Crown Princess take care of these things." Queen Cao said.
“Your Majesty Mother and Your Majesty Father cannot just sit there and do nothing. Your son and the Crown Princess are still young, and we may not have thought through many things thoroughly. We need your guidance.” Zhao Xing said with a smile.
"I have taught the Crown Princess everything there is to teach about matters in the harem, and the Crown Princess is smart and learns quickly, so there is no need for me to worry about anything." Queen Cao said with a smile.
Zhao Xing chatted with Queen Cao for a while before taking his leave.
…………
Time flies, and it is early May in a blink of an eye. The day of coronation is getting closer and closer.
At the beginning of April, many people knelt outside the palace gate and petitioned Zhao Xing to ascend the throne.
All officials knelt in the palace to make requests.
Only then did Zhao Xing reluctantly agree to ascend the throne.
All of a sudden, the enthronement plan that was originally being prepared "in secret" was officially put on the table.
While the Song Dynasty was busy with the enthronement, Liao and Xia were also in unrest.
That time, the two sides launched surprise attacks on each other, and Yelu Yixin took advantage.
Afterwards, Yelu Chongyuan retaliated and ordered the people hiding in the city to assassinate Yelu Yixin and his confidants.
Although Yelu Yixin was fine, many of his confidants died.
A big reason why Yelu Yixin was able to control power in the city was because Yelu Chongyuan had troops outside the city.
In fact, after the sudden death of the Liao emperor, the forces originally loyal to the Liao emperor were divided into three factions.
On one side is Yelu Yixin, on the other side are Empress Dowager Xiao and the young emperor, and the last side is the neutral party.
Yelu Chongyuan's army was approaching, and in order to resist him, Empress Xiao joined forces with Yelu Yixin. Yelu Yixin lost several of his confidants at once, greatly reducing his strength.
Then Yelu Chongyuan made a decision that surprised everyone - to withdraw his troops.
Yelu Chongyuan had no choice but to retreat. If his son had not lost those 50,000 elite soldiers, he would not have chosen to retreat.
The 50,000 soldiers were used to guard against Yelu Yixin's transfer of troops from the border.
Although he could send more troops to defend the city, the troops he had would not be enough to capture Shangjing City.
If one is not careful, there is a danger of destruction.
Therefore, Yelu Chongyuan could only withdraw his troops temporarily, hoping that Yelu Yixin and Empress Dowager Xiao would fight each other.
He could seize the time to occupy some cities and recruit soldiers.
Yelu Chongyuan actually knew that it was difficult to assassinate Yelu Yixin. In fact, his target from the beginning was Yelu Yixin's confidants.
Yelu Yixin's power was greatly reduced and he could no longer maintain balance.
As soon as he retreated, Empress Dowager Xiao would definitely take action against Yelu Yixin.
When they become in internal chaos, that will be a good time for him to send troops.
Yelu Chongyuan’s plan was indeed a good one. Even though Empress Dowager Xiao knew his purpose, she had no choice but to take action against Yelu Yixin.
After the death of the Liao emperor, Yelu Yixin also revealed his ambitions and had been trying to win over neutral generals during this period.
If she doesn't take action now, even if Yelu Chongyuan is destroyed in the future, she and her son will become Yelu Yixin's puppets.
The outcome is not much better.
Originally, Yelu Chongyuan's plan had a high chance of success.
But the bad thing was Yelu Chongyuan’s words.
When Yelu Chongyuan was retreating, he insisted on running outside the city and shouting that as long as Empress Dowager Xiao was willing to surrender, he could let her continue to be the queen after he ascended the throne.
Empress Dowager Xiao was the niece-in-law of Yelu Chongyuan, but this kind of thing was not a big deal in the Liao Kingdom.
Among nomadic peoples, a son will inherit his father's position and will also inherit any women other than his biological mother.
If Yelu Chongyuan became emperor, it would be completely in line with the Liao Dynasty's etiquette and laws to marry Empress Xiao as his queen.
However, Empress Dowager Xiao felt that this was a great humiliation and hated Yelu Chongyuan to death.
When a woman is angry, she is completely unreasonable.
In order to appease Yelu Yixin, Empress Dowager Xiao directly appointed him as regent.
He promised that as long as Yelu Chongyuan was destroyed, half of the Liao territory would be given to him as a fiefdom.
It is unknown whether Empress Dowager Xiao did this on purpose or was really angry about Yelu Chongyuan's offensive words.
After Yelu Yixin became the regent, he was busy trying to win over those nobles and provincial governors who were still neutral.
For a time, Yelu Chongyuan and Yelu Yixin were expanding their power everywhere.
On the Western Xia side, after Li Liangzuo learned that the Song Dynasty was unwilling to send troops, he gave up the idea of sending troops to the Liao Kingdom and began to move troops to the plateau.
The plateau was inhabited by Tibetans, but after the Tibetans split, the various tribes were not strong enough to fight against each other.
How could they be a match for Xixia?
In just half a month, the Western Xia army destroyed several tribes on the plateau.
The various tribes on the plateau were forced to put aside their hatred and unite to resist the attack of Western Xia.
Even so, they were defeated.
As for the Song Dynasty, preparations for the construction of the Great Wall began after the New Year. After the spring plowing was over, they began to recruit laborers to transport stones and various materials for the construction of the Great Wall from all over the country to the north.
At this time, construction has been in full swing.
Zhao Xing began fasting in May in preparation for his ascension to the throne.
As the days passed, Zhao Xing became busier and busier.
Soon, it was May 15th, the day when Zhao Xing ascended the throne.
(End of this chapter)