Chapter 592: The Battle for the Throne of Zhao State

The third year of Tiantong, the tenth day of the first lunar month, and the beginning of the new year, it should have been a happy day for thousands of families to celebrate together, but in the palace of Jinyang City, the capital of Zhao State, everyone did not have such joy on their faces, but were sad, because after the New Year, their emperor began to get sick.

Emperor Zhang Xian successfully took office in the 22nd year of Qianyuan, through the mutiny of Lang Meng, and was in full swing. He has been in power for less than ten years. However, under his leadership, Zhao State was gradually declining. Some people may say that the real decline of Zhao State was in the era of King Wei of Zhao, especially after Zhao Xin, the former Zhao State military god, passed away, and the prosperity of Zhao State was gone forever. However, it cannot be denied that when King Wei of Zhao was alive, Zhao State was still arrogant and arrogant.

After Zhang Xian succeeded to the throne, he was purged in the country due to his inappropriate position. A large number of capable ministers and generals were purged, greatly weakening the strength of Zhao. Although the battle of Changpingting and the battle to destroy Chu later recovered some decline, he still could not save the declining Zhao State, especially in the Battle of Central Plains three years ago, the defeat of Zhao State made Zhao State even worse.

But we can't blame Zhang Xian too much, because in Zhao State, although Zhang Xian was the monarch and the first emperor of Zhao State, because Zhuang Ping and Li Rubing in the court, Zhang Xian was unable to monopolize the power. Zhuang Ping and Li Rubing relied on their support to maintain military and political power. Many times, the emperor Zhang Xian was a decoration puppet.

After the defeat in the Central Plains, Zhang Xian fell ill in bed and did not improve. Now, the New Year has just passed, and news of Zhang Xian's critical illness has been reported, which has made the ministers in the court worried. Although Zhang Xian has been the king for almost ten years, he is less than forty years old. What's even more serious is that he is not sure if he launched a mutiny in Lang Meng in front of King Wei of Zhao and was retribution. Zhang Xian's offspring has always been very difficult. It was not until five years ago that he gave birth to a son again, but this son is less than five years old. If Zhang Xian really has something to do, would he expect a five-year-old child to support the situation in Zhao State?

In Jinyang and Chengqian Hall, a group of important officials of Zhao State led by Zhuang Ping and Li Rubing gathered together. They had just visited Zhang Xian on the bed and found that Zhang Xian's consciousness had become very blurred. According to the imperial physician, Zhang Xian might not be able to hold on for a few days, so he asked the ministers to plan as soon as possible. However, at this time, Zhang Xian was confused and not at all awake, and had no way to decide who succeeded the throne.

According to tradition, Zhang Xian had only one son. Even if Zhang Xian did not decide on an heir, according to the etiquette of the father and the son, the throne should be inherited by Zhang Xian's son Zhang Yuan. However, this heir was only five years old, which was inappropriate. Especially now, Zhao's strength is greatly damaged, and Deng in the south is eyeing him. Even if there is an ally of Qin, it is still not enough. Moreover, how credible the ally of Qin can be is still a question.

Chengqian Palace was the place where Zhao State held a court discussion. Now that Zhang Xian is not here, they are not able to discuss matters here. Instead, they came to the side hall next to them, and everyone sat in a row.

As the prime minister of a country and the head of all officials, Zhuang Ping asked the military's first person with a serious face, "I believe that the general has heard the words of the imperial physician. The day when His Majesty Dragon Emperor returns to heaven is probably not far away. The Great Zhao is in a turbulent autumn now. The long-term suspension of the throne is very unfavorable for Great Zhao. Although Your Majesty is still here, it is very inappropriate for us to discuss the heir to the throne at this time, but it is also a helpless move. It is better than being caught off guard at that time. I wonder what the general thinks about the ownership of the throne?"

Li Rubing was a general of the current dynasty and held military power. Without Li Rubing's support, it would be impossible for anyone to hold the throne firmly, so Zhuang Ping would ask Li Rubing what he meant immediately.

"What else can I think about? Your Majesty only has Prince Yuan, one descendant. As the saying goes, father dies and sons are inherited. If Your Majesty really returns to heaven, the throne should be inherited by Prince Yuan." Li Rubing expressed his support for Zhang Yuan without even thinking about it.

Besides, under this situation, Zhang Yuan was Li Rubing's best choice. When Li Rubing helped Zhang Xian launch a mutiny, killing a large number of meritorious old ministers such as Zhang Chuan, Sima Chong, Mi Fang, and the deposed Prince Zhang Lin, the crown prince of King Wei of Zhao, had already offended a large number of nobles in the country. Moreover, in the great purge that year, a large number of royal members were implicated. Now, there are many people in the Zhao royal family who hate Li Rubing to the core. Therefore, although Li Rubing held military power, he became a thorn in the eyes of many people and was thorn in the flesh. Later, the merits of the battle of Changpingting and the destruction of Chu made Li Rubing temporarily stabilize his position. However, the Central Plains suffered a crushing defeat, which caused many voices to oppose Li Rubing in the court. Therefore, for his own status, Li Rubing could not let the throne fall into the hands of other royal families. On the contrary, the five-year-old Zhang Yuan was the best choice.

Zhang Yuan was only five years old and had no time to deal with the government. Once Zhang Yuan succeeded to the throne, Li Rubing, as the general of the dynasty, would naturally become the minister of the regent. If Zhang Yuan wanted to rule, he would have to wait until he was twenty years old. Even if he was earlier, he would have to be eighteen years old. There was still more than ten years left, which would be enough for Li Rubing to hold the power in the court.

Zhuang Ping also had the same idea as Li Rubing. Zhuang Ping was also one of the driving forces of the Lang Meng Incident back then. Those who hated Li Rubing also hated Zhuang Ping to the core, so Zhang Yuan was also Zhuang Ping's only choice. The reason why he wanted to ask Li Rubing the first to ask about Li Rubing was that he hoped that Li Rubing could stand with him. Only when they reached a consensus among the two top leaders of the military and political affairs reached a consensus, the others would not be able to make a fuss. Fortunately, Li Rubing did not disappoint him in the end.

But not everyone is in the same position as Li Rubing and Zhuang Ping. Although the power of Li Rubing and Zhuang Ping, the ministers in the court dare not speak out, but the members of the royal family are not afraid.

Over the years, the royal family has been very dissatisfied with Li Rubing and Zhuang Ping controlling the military and political power, and has opposed Li Rubing and Zhuang Ping many times in public, but Zhang Xian has limited ability and courage, so they have returned in a defeat every time, and were suppressed by Li Rubing and Zhuang Ping afterwards. How could they let Li Rubing and Zhuang Ping get what they want? You must know that once the five-year-old Zhang Yuan succeeded to the throne, the entire Zhao State will completely fall into the hands of Li Rubing and Zhuang Ping. How can the royal family agree?

"The general is wrong!" Zhang Ying, the general of Zhao State, said loudly: "Although Prince Yuan is His Majesty's only descendant, Prince Yuan is only five years old after all. Just now, the Prime Minister Zhuang said that the current Zhao is in trouble and needs a young and powerful emperor to maintain the situation. Prince Yuan is young and may be difficult to be competent. I think the Dai King is very suitable."

King Dai was Zhang Lin, the former crown prince of King Wei of Zhao. After the Lang Meng Incident, Zhang Xian did not take any harsh measures against Zhang Lin, but instead named him the Marquis of Jiuyuan. After he became emperor, he named him the King of Dai.

As soon as Zhang Ying said this, the expressions of Li Rubing and Zhuang Ping instantly became unnatural. They joined forces to help Zhang Xian snatch the throne from Zhang Lin. Now that Zhang Lin succeeds to the throne, wouldn’t it be a chance to avenge Zhang Lin?

"All nonsense!" Zhuang Ping immediately refuted Zhang Ying and said, "The King Dai is His Majesty's brother. From ancient times to the present, the throne inherited either by his father and son, or by his brother, but I have never heard of the elder brother succeeding the throne. Moreover, when the king participated in the Zhang Chuan and Mifang Rebellion, although His Majesty was magnanimous and had no worries, what qualifications did King Dai have to inherit the throne?"

Zhuang Ping's words made Zhang Ying speechless. Indeed, the elder brother inherited his younger brother's position from ancient times to the present. Moreover, although everyone knew what the Lang Meng Incident was like back then, the official statement of Zhao State had already been in chaos, and it was indeed inappropriate to let Zhang Lin, the former rebellious succession.

However, the royal family would not give up so easily. Another important royal minister, Zhang An, said: "It is indeed inappropriate for King Dai to succeed to the throne, but the son of King Dai is also over teenage. We can adopt him to Your Majesty as his descendants and inherit the throne. In this way, it will not violate the etiquette of the father and the son who succeeded him."

Hearing Zhang An's words, Li Rubing and Zhuang Ping looked at each other helplessly. Indeed, there was no problem with this approach. Adopting Zhang Lin's son to Zhang Xian and inheriting the throne did not violate etiquette and law, and also avoided the situation of suspicion of the young master. However, this was not conducive to Li Rubing and the other two, but they could not provide any reason to object.

Zhuang Ping said helplessly: "This matter is of great importance and cannot be decided in just a few words. Moreover, Your Majesty is still here, so let's discuss it later." At this point, Zhuang Ping had to adopt the tactic of delay.

"Okay, let's do it!" Seeing that Zhuang Ping was planning to delay time, the people in the royal family were of course unwilling to do so, but at this time, Li Rubing spoke, and then glanced at everyone with fierce eyes.

This immediately shocked everyone. After all, the master looked at him, the most powerful boss in Zhao State, who was in charge of hundreds of thousands of troops.

After the meeting ended, Zhuang Ping immediately invited Li Rubing to his mansion.

After shutting down all the servants, Zhuang Ping said to Li Rubing: "General, in this situation, you must stand on the same front as me. The throne must not fall into the hands of the Dai Wang lineage, otherwise you and I will die without a burial place."

Li Rubing nodded cautiously and said, "This matter will naturally be understood, but the royal family is very opposed, and Prince Yuan is here at the age of this situation. It is too difficult to push him to the throne under such circumstances, unless His Majesty wakes up now and leaves a will." Of course, he knew what it means to them once Zhang Lin's lineage inherits the throne, but he also needs to worry about the ideas of the royal family. After all, they are just foreign ministers. If the throne is decided by one word, I am afraid that the entire Zhao State will regard them as traitors.

Zhuang Ping thought for a while and said, "It may be difficult for His Majesty to leave a will. However, although His Majesty cannot leave a will, there is still someone who can decide the ownership of the throne."

"Who?" Li Rubing asked hurriedly.

Zhuang Ping said: "That's the Queen Mother Song!"

"Empress Song?" Li Rubing suddenly came to his senses. There was an empress dowager in Zhao State, and this empress dowager was the main palace of King Wei of Zhao. After the Lang Meng Incident, it was precisely because of the support of Empress Dowager Song that they could kill Zhang Chuan, Sima Chong, Mi Fang and others for plotting rebellion and executed them. It can be said that Empress Dowager Song's status in Zhao State was second only to Emperor Zhang Xian. Although after the Lang Meng Incident, Empress Dowager Song had always lived in the deep palace and did not care about worldly affairs, if Empress Dowager Song clearly stated that she supported Zhang Yuan's succession, even without Zhang Yuan's will, they could push Zhang Yuan to the throne.

"But will Empress Dowager Song support us? You must know what happened back then, Empress Dowager Song was very dissatisfied with us. Is it possible to want her to support us now?" Li Rubing said with some doubts.

During the Lang Meng Incident, although the Empress Dowager Song finally issued an edict to charge Zhang Chuan and others for rebellion, it was only taken by the strength of Li Rubing and others, and was not voluntarily. Moreover, after that incident, Empress Dowager Song was very dissatisfied with Li Rubing, the mastermind of the Lang Meng Incident, Li Rubing and Zhuang Ping. Can Empress Dowager Song support them?

Zhuang Ping said: "There is nothing impossible. When Empress Dowager Song was able to support us for the overall situation, and now he can support us again for the overall situation. You must know that the general holds hundreds of thousands of elite troops in Da Zhao."

Li Rubing nodded understandingly. Back then, they could use their strength to force Empress Dowager Song to compromise. Today, they could use the same trick again and make Empress Dowager Song support them. It was not too difficult.
Chapter completed!