Chapter 299 July Court

The 211th year, the 556th year of the empire, and the 11th year of the 19th year of Emperor Huiwu, was the most stormy month for the Tianlong Empire, which had been established for more than 500 years. This month, also known as the Black July, was also the beginning of this month. The unified dynasty that existed in this eastern continent began to move towards chaos, division, and completely destruction.

After Situ Tuo collapsed, the eunuch Hu De rushed to the court and attracted the Duke of the Three Kingdoms and the Five Pavilion Ministers to inform the news that Situ Tuo was dead. The few people were shocked and quickly ordered the lockdown of the imperial city. The five Pavilion Ministers continued to take over government affairs as before, and the Duke of the Three Kingdoms also took over the imperial guards again.

However, the Dragon Talisman of the Imperial Army was missing, but fortunately, the three major powers were full of old officials, especially the Duke of Wei, who was in charge of Shengtian Academy for more than 20 years, and has repeatedly served as the commander of the imperial army to fight against the Northern Hu. Many generals have served under his command.

In addition, although Situ Tuo wanted to take back military and political power, he only mentioned it in the Xiaochao discussion. He originally wanted to formally propose it in today's Dao, but he didn't want to die just one night. The emperor, who was healthy and blushing yesterday, passed away. This is really incredible.

The news that the emperor wanted to take back military and political power was only circulated, and it did not pass the dynasty. It was the only good news among the many bad news. They were able to continue to control the imperial military and political affairs in the name of protecting the country.

After the imperial city was over for a day, some news could not be hidden, such as the princes, but this was enough to give them time to operate. The concubines who served on that day were naturally detained and asked, and the Tianling Alchemist was also arrested, especially the loss of the Dragon Talisman, which made everyone feel a bit conspiring.

In the days that followed, although all officials were released, they were all banned. How could such news be banned? The market rumor flew everywhere in the sky within a few days, but only the news of His Majesty's disillusionment again was released in the palace. Although rumors were everywhere, because the imperial power had been scattered in the hands of the cabinet and the Duke of the Three Kingdoms before, there was no chaos in the palace. The troops of various imperial guards were strictly prohibited from leaving the base, and everything was still calm.

However, who will take charge of the heir to the throne has become a topic that cannot be avoided. Situ Tuo suddenly passed away, and even the previous heir edict was said to have been burned a few days ago. Even the eunuch Hu De did not know the content, and the heir to the throne was difficult to decide, which undoubtedly increased the turmoil in the imperial capital.

Situ Tuo had twenty-three sons and six daughters in his life. The eldest son was forty-six years old. He was in his prime, but the youngest was still in his infancy. According to the order in which the empire inherited the throne, only those who made contributions to the prince on the battlefield were qualified to compete for the throne. If this was excluded, only six people were qualified to compete for the throne.

The eldest prince Situ Nan, the third prince Situ Yun, the fourth prince Situ Zhengfeng, the fifth prince Situ Feng, the sixth prince Situ Hao and the ninth prince Situ Ming. Among the sixth princes, the most hopeful prince is the eldest prince, the third prince, the sixth prince and the ninth prince.

Although the mother of the fourth prince Situ Zhengfeng, Zheng Lanfei, was an imperial concubine, was once a noble family background and beautiful, her family did not support Situ Tuo back then. However, Situ Tuo was greedy for the beauty of one of the four beauties of the imperial capital, and was fresh in the palace. After a while, she forgot it. Although the Zheng family has not weakened in recent years, they have not made much achievements in the court. The whole family moved out of the imperial capital, which is extremely low-key, for fear that Situ Tuo would be in a bad mood that day, and remembered that they liquidated the Zheng family.

The chances of the fourth prince Situ Zhengfeng fighting for the throne are quite small, but it cannot be said that there is no such thing as the fifth prince Situ Feng. Situ Feng's mother is just a palace maid who was lucky after Situ Tuo got drunk and had no family background at all. Even though Situ Feng was very successful, that position could not be obtained by just working hard.

The remaining four princes, Situ Nan, are the oldest prince, who have been the prince for 19 years. They were the first to open the house and recruit talents. The mother is one of the four noble concubines, and their mother's family is the Ximen family of the four great families. The only thing that is almost the case is that this person is not popular enough and is regarded as the most powerful competitor to the throne.

The third prince Situ Yun was slightly older, but at that time, his mother was also one of the four noble concubines. His mother's family was the Zuo Yuhou family, one of the nine marquises. The Zuo Yu family controlled the Phoenix Legion of Youzhou, and this power cannot be underestimated.

The sixth prince Situ Hao was twenty-six years old and was young and strong, but he was less than two years old. It was too late to open the palace. However, Situ Hao's mother was also the four great concubines. Her mother's family was the Tang family in Yangzhou, and the Tang family was a thousand-year-old family. Although it was not as good as before in the Tianlong Dynasty, today was not as good as before, but the Tang family and the Nangong family have always been in the same spirit, so the Nangong family also favored the Sixth Prince, so their competitiveness was not bad.

The ninth prince Situ Ming, 22 years old, is the youngest middle-aged prince. His military achievements have been a lot of water. However, Situ Ming's mother was the empress of the empire, Dongfang Wenqian, and Situ Ming's brother, the second prince, died in the past because Situ Tuo fought for the throne.

Situ Tuo respects the queen the most, and the Dongfang family is firmly ranked first among the four major families and has extraordinary power. If Situ Tuo was seven or eight years later, no, it would be less suspense to fight for the throne for only three or five years. But now, the ninth prince Situ Ming is the youngest and the shortest one in the establishment of a mansion. Although he has a big backer, it is quite difficult to get to power in this situation.

But no matter what, no one would give up if there was only a glimmer of hope among the six princes, so when they knew the news of Situ Tuo's death, the six princes moved at the same time, that is, when the battle between the several princes was in full swing and began to intensify.

The news that the eldest prince Situ Nan was poisoned and died almost gave the imperial capital another frost. The eldest prince Situ Nan was the prince who had the most chance to ascend the throne. After all, Situ Nan had the most resources after many years of establishment of the mansion, and the Ximen family shook the flag and shouted, and the voice was very high.

Situ Nan was suddenly poisoned, but it seemed to be a fuse, which made the subsequent battle for the throne become fierce. Naturally, the Ximen family could not have no reaction. If this despicable method of poisoning the prince of the empire, if it is found out, no matter who is implicated, it will cause a storm.

So for a short time, the battle for the throne became quiet. No matter who did this, the finger must have pointed at the other five princes who had the chance to rise to power, otherwise it would be difficult to die, at this time.

The temporary tranquility is just a prelude to the coming of a storm. Because Situ Nan was poisoned and the absence of a heir to the throne was doomed to be extremely tragic.

However, just as the imperial capital was covered with clouds and heavy rain was about to come, unfavorable news came one after another, including the gathering of Hu *** on the grassland, and the seven golden tribes on the grassland jointly convened warriors.

After several small court meetings, on July 27, the grand court meeting was held with the three major kings, the head of the cabinet, the five princes participated, and the officials were present.

In the huge political hall in the past, the nine-dragon golden seat was empty, and under the imperial stairs, there were seats for three major dukes. According to the imperial law, the Dukes of the Three Kingdoms will automatically become the minister of the state, leading the military and political affairs after the emperor of the Empire collapsed, and stabilize the overall situation with the five ministers of the cabinet.

Wei Guang, Duke Wei Guang of Wei, is naturally the most experienced and strongest among the three major Dukes. Therefore, this court meeting was chaired by Wei Guang. After all officials, princes and ministers entered the court one after another, Wei Guang stood up and said: "All the ministers and colleagues have summoned everyone to hold this court meeting this morning because our great emperor, His Majesty, died of an old illness last night and died of untreated!"

"This news is painful for the Empire, but I hope you can cheer up. Today, the dynasty has five major events to discuss together!"

"The first thing is the great national mourning of Your Majesty, the second thing is the auxiliary state, the military and political affairs, the third thing is the heir to the throne, the fourth thing is the matter of the Northern Hu going south and invading our empire, and the fifth thing is the matter of Prince Nan Zheng being poisoned! Let's discuss it!"

After Wei Guang finished speaking, the following was quiet and silent. After a while, someone began to talk quietly. Although everyone had heard of these things for a long time and didn’t know how much they thought about when they were at home and how to deal with them, when they were really facing them, everyone felt heavy. After all, so many big things happened one after another, it was a summer of trouble!

"According to the laws of the ancestors of the empire, the great affairs of the country can be fully handed over to the inner court's ritual supervisor and the outer court's rituals' rituals' rituals' rituals and the outer court's rituals' rituals' rituals. Everything is followed by old rules and acts according to the steps!" One person suggested, and the ministers had no doubts. After all, this was a case, so what could there be any doubts.

"The second thing can also be done according to the laws of the ancestors. Moreover, before His Majesty's death, he had entrusted military affairs to the three dukes and entrusted government affairs to the cabinet to make decisions. As long as the customs are conferred the title of minister of the three major dukes and the auxiliary states of the Dukes and Guards of the Three Major States, they will work together with the cabinet to deal with the government affairs until the new emperor ascends the throne!" Everyone still had no doubts, everything was a practice.

Two of the five things were taken, but the remaining three were extremely difficult problems. This was the highlight. The ministers below did not dare to speak here. No matter whether they were right or wrong, it was not good. So everyone kept silent and waited for the people above to speak.

After a while, Wei Guang finally coughed and said, "Your Majesty suddenly passed away, the throne was hanging in the air, and the Hu people in the north had already made a big move south again. It can be said that the empire is in a time of crisis, and we have no time to delay here. According to the situation from the north, the Hu people can be regarded as a large-scale invasion of the south this time!"

"There are seven grasslands that are connected to the east, and the golden tribes of the south are connected to the desert, the Gobi in the west, and the golden tribes of the east, middle and west are all integrated into several ways. Although there is no specific situation to send back, this time the Northern Hu and the South invasion is the largest in the empire in five hundred years!"

"Your Majesty suddenly passed away, but he did not leave an edict for the heir to the throne. Now the five princes have the potential to inherit the throne, but we cannot decide how to choose. Since the Holy Ancestor, our Tianlong Empire has established a country with martial arts. The descendants of the royal family of all dynasties will not be granted the title of king without military merit, and the prince will not be allowed to inherit the throne!"

"In order to avoid the empire's disaster caused Xiao Wall because the throne was not decided, and it will delay the defense of the Hu people's invasion in the south. Therefore, after our discussion, this time, the most meritorious person will be able to ascend the throne. I wonder if the five princes have any doubts about this matter!"

Obviously, this scene is all decided, and several princes also know that it will be difficult to achieve a result if they continue to fight like this. Moreover, they are still fighting in the south while Hu *** is invading the south. If the empire loses its strength, it will not be good news for them.

"We agree!" The five princes nodded together, without any doubt.

"Since that's the case, the five major events and four of the court's discussions today have passed. The last one is that the eldest prince Situ Nan was poisoned. After some verification, there is further progress. At this time of crisis in the empire, this matter will be put on hold for the time being!"

Although the people of the Ximen family below were dissatisfied, they had no choice. After all, the people were dead, and the three major Dukes, together with the other families, have put pressure on them and given great benefits, the Ximen family had to put the overall situation first.

The subsequent court meeting naturally focused on sending troops to defend against the invasion of the Northern Hu and the Southern Invasion. The fifth prince generals were generals, and each led his personal guards to go to war. The third prince Situ Yun, the fourth prince Situ Zhengfeng, the sixth prince Situ Hao was about to leave Youzhou, the fifth prince Situ Feng ran to Liangzhou, and the ninth prince Situ Ming went to Yunzhou.

From this distribution, we can actually see the advantages and disadvantages between the princes. The fifth prince Situ Feng is the most inferior in power and strength, and is the least optimistic, so he was arranged in Liangzhou, northwest. Liangzhou is vast and sparsely populated, with a desert and Gobi, a harsh environment, and logistics supply is the most difficult, and obviously the conditions are the worst.

The Youzhou Road has always been the main channel for the Southern Hu to move south. The north is the endless grassland, and it is also the place where the empire and the Northern Hu have always fought each other. In the future, the situation will definitely be the most difficult. Arranging three princes to meet the enemy from here is also a fair competition.

The three routes are undoubtedly the most superior conditions in the northeast Yunzhou. The one who is good at fighting on the grassland is undoubtedly the Hu people in Dayue Lake, the Golden Plain. They fought with the empire for several years, and their combat effectiveness is the most powerful. Although there are swamped Hu people in the maze swamp, the road has been dull for three hundred years and there has been no major war.

The Hu people must be a partial division here, and their troops will not be too strong. Then they go to Yuntian Fortress, which is closest to Yunzhou and has the shortest supply, so this road is the easiest way to achieve success, and Situ Ming's ability to compete for this road is also the result of the operation of the Dongfang family.
Chapter completed!