Yan Song fell without warning. In the face of absolute force, no matter how many conspiracies were, it was useless. It can be said that from the moment he decided to be tough with Yang Cong, he was doomed to be defeated.

Yang Cong's experience of fighting in the south and north over the years is not fake. Most of the elite Ming army have a close relationship with him. In terms of force, no one in the court can match him.

Yan Song fell, and the battle for the power of the Ming Dynasty was settled. The Ming Dynasty was disturbed for so many days, and the new emperor was finally coming.

Needless to say, this new emperor is naturally Yang Cong’s closed disciple, King Yu Zhu Zai-ji.

However, this new emperor does not mean that he can sit on the dragon throne after ascending the throne. The process of ascending the throne is extremely complicated. What is the edict of succession, the throne ceremony, the sacrifice of heaven and earth, etc., the most important thing is that the new emperor must first set his own year name before ascending the throne.

In fact, this year's title was not proposed by the new emperor himself. According to the Ming Dynasty, whenever the new emperor ascended the throne, the old gentlemen from the Hanlin Academy would gather together to discuss and give a few nice names for the new emperor to choose.

I don’t know what these old Hanlins thought, but the recommended year names do indeed contain the word “Longqing”, and Zhu Zai Di is quite interested in this year’s name.

Longqing Longqing, what are you celebrating? Celebrating Jiajing’s death or Yan Song’s fall?

Yang Cong was quite unfamiliar with this year name because it was a bit too weird and had a flash in the pan. Let’s celebrate it solemnly and then it’s over!

He didn't want the disciples he had worked hard to cultivate to be emperor for a few years. He also wanted to assist Zhu Zaiji in establishing the eternal foundation of the Ming Dynasty.

So, with a big stroke, he changed "Longqing" directly to "Yongqing". It is better to celebrate forever than to celebrate for grand celebrations, right?

He is the top scholar, the sage, and the imperial teacher. Zhu Zai Di naturally dared not to sing a opposite tune with him. "Yongqing" is just "Yongqing". In fact, Zhu Zai Di just felt that the word "Qing" is more suitable. As for how to celebrate, he didn't care so much.

The new emperor's reign was decided like this, and the next step was the grand ceremony of ascension. After a few days of hard work, Zhu Zaiji finally entered the Qianqing Palace and became the twelfth emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

What should I do next?

To be honest, Zhu Zaiji was not at all confident. After all, he was just a teenager, so how could he know how to govern a huge empire?

Fortunately, he was not the willful person like Jiajing. On the contrary, he was very cautious. Even if he became emperor, he did not imitate his father to make trouble. After the throne ceremony, he dragged his tired body to summon his mentor Yang Cong and asked for advice on how to govern the country.

In the imperial study, after Yang Cong respectfully performed the ceremony of the king and his ministers, Zhu Zai-die ordered someone to take a chair and kindly asked Yang Cong to sit down.

Yang Cong was not polite either and sat on without saying a word.

This is not his arrogant, because he has this qualification. It is not new to the emperor to give thrones to court officials. Most emperors will give thrones to respected court officials in private. He is the teacher of the Assassin. He is the prestige of the court. Who can match it? It is natural to give a throne. No matter how pretentious he is, it is meaningless.

After the two of them exchanged a few more greetings, Zhu Zaiji finally couldn't help asking: "Master, what should I do next?"

Yang Cong smiled and looked at his disciples, then said kindly: "Your Majesty, do you have no idea?"

Zhu Zai Di said shyly: "Mr. I am still young, so I don't know how to govern the country. I also ask my teacher to teach you more, so I must study hard."

Yang Cong shook his head and smiled bitterly: "If it were someone else who said this, it would be a little bit irritating to be a teacher. Generally speaking, the words of the emperor are rich in meaning and need to be experienced by the ministers below. Your master, do you know that if you are a person who is a teacher, it is not a good thing. The general idea is that the power of the master is so great. You, the emperor, have to follow what the master says."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Zai Di couldn't help but say embarrassedly: "My teacher, this is not what I mean. I really don't know how to govern the country!"

Yang Cong nodded and said solemnly: "I know that the emperor does not mean this. I just want to tell the emperor that your identity is different and you cannot speak as casually as before. Being an emperor is a golden word. Every time you say a word, you must think twice. You cannot say childish words because of your youth, or say ignorant words because of lack of knowledge. These will all damage the majesty of being an emperor. Do you know?"

When Zhu Zaiji heard this, he pondered for a long time before he slowly said: "I understand."

Seeing this, Yang Cong nodded with relief and said, "Well, it's great, this is the only way to be an emperor. As for how to govern this country, the ministers think that the most important thing is to know people and make good use of it. For wise ministers who are loyal to the emperor and love the people, they must be promoted and appointed. For treacherous ministers who are corrupt and abused, they must be severely punished to serve as a warning. After all, the emperor has limited experience and cannot do everything himself. Therefore, how to control the court officials to help you govern the country well is the most important thing."

Zhu Zaiji pondered for a while, then nodded slowly and said, "I understand, my teacher, I will issue an order to promote you to the chief minister of the cabinet. What do you think?"

Yang Cong said a little amused and confused: "Your Majesty, I'm brave enough to say, you're a little too hasty to do this. There are rules in the officialdom, and the cabinet's chief minister cannot be raised immediately. At least you have to go to the cabinet to manage politics for a while before you can be promoted. As a teacher, who has never been to the cabinet, suddenly promoted to the cabinet's chief minister. Although the court officials can't say anything on the surface, they think in their hearts that you are a little too willful, yourselves."

Zhu Zaiji really didn't think about this. He pondered for a while before he said carefully: "Mr., what do you mean? Now, the only one who can serve as the chief minister of the cabinet is Zhang Bangqi?"

Yang Cong nodded and said seriously: "Yes, this is true according to the rules of the officialdom. However, the promotion and appointment of wise ministers are not the focus now. The focus is on punishing treacherous ministers. Yan Song's party must be completely eliminated. In this way, the court can return to the right track and the Ming Dynasty's officialdom will be completely renewed."

After saying that, he took out a list from his arms and presented it with both hands.

Zhu Zaiji took the list and looked at it, his brows frowned.

There are too many officials on this list, and all the dismissals and investigations are likely to cause an uproar!

He hesitated a little: "Mr., if so many officials are punished at once, will it cause shock to the government and the country?"

Yang Cong said firmly: "Your Majesty, you have to be cruel when you should. It is inevitable to punish so many officials at once. However, we cannot delay the storm because of worrying about the turmoil of the government and the people. These people are all people who harm the country and the people. One day later punishment will cause more losses to the Ming Dynasty."

When Zhu Zaiji heard this, he pondered for a while before gritting his teeth and nodding, "Okay, I understand."

The next day, in the morning court, Emperor Yongqing issued the first imperial edict to severely punish the rebel party led by Yan Song!

Yan Song, the former chief minister of the cabinet;

Yan Shifan, the Shaoqing of Taichang Temple;

Yang Shun, former governor of Jizhou;

Yan Maoqing, Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue in Nanjing;

Dali Qing Wanning;

Huguang Governor Zhang Yu;

Wait, wait, Yan Song's party officials were almost beaten up in one fell swoop.
Chapter completed!