Chapter 351: The Emperor's Mindset... Checks and Balances
In fact, the backup plan he left behind was not just Zhao Zongquan.

When the emperor had no children, the first choice was actually the King of Shu, who not only had outstanding abilities but also considerable power. The second choice was Zhao Zongquan!
Now that he had his own son, he wanted to find a member of the royal family to assist his son, but the capable King of Shu was not within his consideration.

Because royal family members like the King of Shu were already capable of threatening his son's throne.

But Zhao Zongquan was different. He was just a training envoy of Yuzhou and had been relatively respectful and obedient over the years.

Since he had no foundation in the court, letting him come to Bian Jing to assist his son became the best choice.

At that time, it would not threaten his son's throne, and it would also be able to check and balance the Zhang family.

Thinking of this, the emperor called back the eunuch who was about to deliver his decree:
"Wait~, pass on my order and have Zhao Zongquan, the commander of the Yuzhou militia, return to the capital as quickly as possible!"

At this point, the emperor thought for a moment and said again:

"As for Duke Rong and the others, we will wait until Zhao Zongquan arrives and then summon them together."

······
British government.

Lin Hao put down the news coming back from the palace!
The moment the emperor sent someone to convey his order to Zhao Zongquan, Lin Hao had already received the news.

“Haha, interesting!”

Lin Hao had already discovered that the emperor was connected to Zhao Zongquan.

In the original plot, when the emperor was forced to abdicate by Prince Yan, he actually wrote a blood oath at the first opportunity, appointing Zhao Zongquan, a member of the royal family whom he had never met before, as the crown prince.

This was obviously abnormal. Logically, his first choice at that time would be to use the tiger talisman to mobilize the imperial guards in the city to quell the rebellion.

As a result, the emperor wrote a blood oath and traveled thousands of miles to Yuzhou to see Zhao Zongquan. He then asked Zhao Zongquan to come to Bian Jing with the tiger talisman and then asked the imperial guards to rescue him. It was a mysterious operation!

Therefore, Lin Hao has been exploring the relationship between the two, and sure enough, Lin Hao found out that Zhao Zongquan was the backup plan left by the emperor!

However, Lin Hao no longer cares about this. Now, almost all the people in the several camps stationed in the suburbs of Beijing are Lin Hao's men.

Moreover, he not only controls the entire Song Dynasty's intelligence network, but also secretly controls the Imperial City Bureau, an intelligence agency.

If Lin Hao wanted to rebel, let alone Zhao Zongquan, even if Zhao Kuangyin was resurrected, he would be powerless to save the situation.

However, if he rebelled directly, even if he succeeded, it would take him several years to conquer the entire Song Dynasty, and it would take several more years to heal the wounds of war after that.

Not only will it take too long, the war will also result in a large number of civilian casualties. Lin Hao believes that it is completely unnecessary!

Moreover, although Lin Hao had never been an emperor, he knew that governing a country was not an easy task.

The best way, naturally, is to take over the entire administrative system of the Song Dynasty.

However, the emperor began to be wary of him again, which was obviously not a good sign.

Fortunately, the emperor doesn’t have much time left, and it will only take a few days. As for Zhao Zongquan, who was asked by the emperor to check and balance him, Lin Hao is happy to see it happen!
After all, life is about struggle!
Sure enough, in the next few days, the emperor's health deteriorated and he was only holding on by his last breath!

Three days later!
The emperor attended a rare court meeting, and just after his ministers shouted "Long live the emperor" three times, it was not known whether it was because the ministers' voices were too loud or for some other reason.

Before the emperor could open his mouth to speak, he suddenly felt a tightness in his chest, followed by a spinning sensation, and he fainted on the dragon throne.

"Your Majesty~!" Then the ministers exclaimed.

The emperor was then sent back to the palace, and several imperial doctors treated him!

The court officials looked at each other and saw that the emperor was about to die, and the new emperor's ascension to the throne meant new opportunities.

Moreover, the new emperor was still a two-year-old child, which made the ministers in the court all thinking about their own little thoughts.

This time, the emperor was in a coma for a whole day and night before waking up, which was different from the last time when he was in a coma for a short time.

After the last coma, although I felt that I might not have much time left, I felt that I could still hold on for ten days or half a month. The reason I asked someone to take care of me was just in case!

But this time, the emperor actually saw the ancestors of the Zhao family waving to him in his dream again. He knew that the Zhao family did not have much time left!

"Doctor, how long can my body hold on?"

"This~!" The imperial physician stammered and couldn't make any sense. Finally, he managed to utter one sentence: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, may you live forever..."

In fact, the imperial physician had already sensed from the emperor's pulse that his vitality was fading at a very fast speed.

At this rate, he might not even last three days. After all, the emperor's body was already exhausted, but the imperial physician dared not say anything.

"Okay, you guys can leave now!" said the emperor weakly.

In fact, the emperor knew what was going on, so he had no intention of making things difficult for the imperial physician. He just waved his hand and asked him to leave.

Besides, now is not the time to worry about the imperial physician. The most important thing right now is that the orphan's entrustment cannot be delayed. He then asked the eunuch who was serving him:

"Has Zhao Zongquan of Yuzhou arrived yet?"

"Your Majesty, Zhao Zongquan arrived yesterday!"

"Good!" Upon hearing this, the emperor was immediately inspired, and then ordered: "Immediately summon Zhao Zongquan to the palace!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!" the eunuch said and left quickly.

Zhao Zongquan arrived soon. After Zhao Zongquan arrived, the emperor drove out all the people around him and then met with Zhao Zongquan alone.

Then the two of them chatted in the bedroom for more than an hour...!

During this period, no one knew what the emperor talked about with Zhao Zongquan.

After the emperor finished talking with Zhao Zongquan, he immediately asked the eunuch to notify Lin Hao, Han Zhang and others to come into the palace.

As soon as Lin Hao entered the emperor's study, he saw Zhao Zongquan serving the emperor!

To be honest, Lin Hao didn't have any good feelings towards this person.

In the original plot, the old emperor had no son. The reason why he let Zhao Zongquan inherit the throne was because he had no choice when Prince Yan and Prince Yong forced him to abdicate!
The old emperor hurriedly wrote a blood edict, appointing Zhao Zongquan, who was closest to Bian Jing and had some ability, as the crown prince!
But this involves the issue of how to address the emperor father and the emperor uncle after the adoption.

In the history of ancient Chinese dynasties, there were naturally more than one nephew who inherited the throne, but there were two times when the emperor's father's father was controversial and caused a lot of uproar, and even brought about great changes to the court.

One was the famous "Great Ceremony Debate" initiated by Emperor Jiajing of the Ming Dynasty, and the other was initiated by the successor of Emperor Renzong of Song Dynasty. Take Jiajing and Zhao Zongquan as an example. Both times, there are differences in the titles of "imperial father" and "imperial uncle", with both similarities and differences.

The same thing is that the two disputes between the emperors were not just a simple issue of title. In the final analysis, they were all struggles for power and control of the court.

There are many differences. Emperor Jiajing originally fought for power with the cabinet and took this opportunity to demote old ministers and powerful officials from the court to increase the influence of imperial power.

Zhao Zongquan's fight with the empress dowager ultimately ended up being a dispute between his father and uncle, because it concerned the emperor's personal rule and even how much autonomy he would have after taking power.

But the problem is that since Zhao Zongquan took over the position of crown prince and waited for the emperor to pass away, he successfully ascended the throne. There should be no controversy about this matter.

When the emperor passed the throne to Zhao Zongquan, the edict he wrote clearly stated that he was made the crown prince, and he also attended the emperor's final resting place.

Since Zhao Zongquan accepted this edict, he was adopted from the younger clan to the older clan and acknowledged the emperor as his father. Naturally, he recognized the emperor as his imperial father and his biological father as his imperial uncle. This is an irrefutable fact.

If he did not admit this, it would mean that Zhao Zongquan was unwilling to be the emperor's son, and that he refused the emperor's edict to pardon and appoint him as the crown prince.

If this is the case, the legitimacy of his succession to the throne will suffer a fatal blow!
Relatively speaking, Emperor Jiajing of the Ming Dynasty was much more tough than Zhao Zongquan. After arriving in Beijing, Emperor Jiajing stayed in the suburbs.

At that time, court officials were debating about what etiquette to use to welcome Zhu Houzhao, the crown prince of Prince Xingxian.

The then Minister of Rites Mao Cheng, based on Yang Tinghe's instructions, decided to use the ceremony for the crown prince's accession to the throne.

But Jiajing, who had not yet ascended the throne, refused to enter the city. He made it clear that he came to Kyoto to inherit the imperial lineage, not to succeed the royal heir.

He put up a lot of excuses on the issue of succession, but the cabinet ministers were ultimately unable to persuade him and had to accept it with a pinch of their noses!
This is a world of difference from the edict of succession issued by Zhao Zongquan. Emperor Jiajing received the edict in the suburbs before heading to the capital.

Even before the Great Ceremony Debate broke out, Emperor Jiajing, in order to make his position clear, wanted to welcome his biological mother to Beijing with the ceremony of an empress dowager.

If they did not agree, he even offered to resign the throne and return to Anlu with his mother to continue being a prince. His firm attitude was completely incomparable to the inconsistent Zhao Zongquan.

In comparison, Zhao Zongquan did not refuse when he accepted the edict of succession, and he did not even propose to confer the title of Supreme Emperor or even Empress Dowager at the beginning of his reign.

Only after he took control of the government and all the ministers in the court became his people thanks to Han Zhang's efforts, did he want to seize power from Cao Taihou and overturn the previous fait accompli. How despicable!

Let's get back to the point. Lin Hao, Han Zhang, and Fu Bi saluted the emperor at the same time and said:
"I will see you, Your Majesty!"

"No need to be polite!" The emperor waved his hand, and then said to Lin Hao and the others:
"I don't have much time left, and the prince is still young. After I pass away, I hope you will do your best to assist the young emperor..."

As the emperor spoke, Lin Hao gradually discovered that something was wrong, so Lin Hao once again used his skills to probe the emperor's thoughts.

The emperor seemed to want him to serve as the Three-Commissioner rather than the Privy Councilor who was in charge of military and political affairs.

Originally, Lin Hao thought that the emperor was almost exhausted, so he wanted to control the emperor to revise the appointment, but then he thought that serving as the Three-Division Envoy would not be a bad idea.

You have to know that most of the military power is under the control of Lin Hao or the Zhang family, and the important positions that should be placed have already been filled with people. Even if you serve as the Privy Councilor, it will not be of greater help to you.

Instead, Lin Hao was put in control of the Three Commissioners, in charge of the three institutions of Salt and Iron, the Ministry of Revenue, and the Ministry of Finance, which allowed him to arrange more people.

Therefore, there is definitely great potential in this matter, so Lin Hao stopped making trouble and let the Three Officials' Envoys fall on his head!
Sure enough, the emperor announced the latest appointments. Han Zhang continued to serve as prime minister, Lin Hao was appointed as the Three-Division Envoy, Fu Bi was appointed as the Privy Envoy, and Zhao Zongquan was named King of Pu and commander of the Palace Front Division.

The emperor planned to let the four of them assist the young emperor, and obviously wanted them to check and balance each other.

Lin Hao was not surprised that the emperor appointed him as the Three-Division Envoy instead of the Privy Councilor who was in charge of military and political affairs. After all, Lin Hao had long known that the emperor was wary of the Zhang family!

But everything else is fine, except for the fact that Zhao Zongquan is the commander of the Palace Front Division. Lin Hao is not quite satisfied with this. Isn't it obvious that he doesn't trust him?
The emperor actually didn't trust him, a loyal minister who had worked hard and made great contributions!
But Lin Hao didn't care. Before, the emperor's confidant was in charge of the Palace Front Department, but he was unable to stop the rebellion of Prince Yan and Prince Yong!
"Your Majesty, I will not let you down. I will do my best to assist the Crown Prince and serve the Song Dynasty until my death..."

After receiving the imperial edict, the four people naturally had to express their loyalty to the emperor. After all, nice words don't cost money.

The next day.

At the court meeting, the emperor hurriedly announced the appointments of Lin Hao and three others, and then went to meet his ancestors.

After the emperor passed away, the ministers in the court burst into tears!
Then the young new emperor ascended the throne. By the time this series of events was completed, more than a month had passed.

However, the new emperor was only a two-year-old child, so it was impossible for him to attend court to handle government affairs. Naturally, the empress dowager had to come out and rule the country from behind the curtain.

However, according to the emperor's will, there were actually two people who were ruling the country from behind the curtain. One was the new emperor's stepmother, Empress Cao, and the other was the new emperor's biological mother, Concubine Yi.

Then, in the Song Dynasty, there appeared the strange spectacle of two Empress Dowagers ruling the country from behind the curtain!

However, Lin Hao understood it clearly. It had to be said that the emperor had not been the emperor for nothing in the past few decades, and he had mastered the art of balance.

The two queen dowagers, two kings, and two civil officials checked and balanced each other, but the three parties were also not of one mind. This effectively prevented powerful ministers from usurping the throne.

In the harem, the two Empress Dowagers fought for power to prevent the situation where the foreign relatives became powerful. For the sake of his son, the emperor exhausted all his energy to pave the way for the new emperor!

In just less than a month, the situation in the court changed dramatically, which was dizzying.

First, Prince Yan and Prince Yong rebelled, but Lin Hao planned it in advance, and both princes died under the knife of Uncle Chen, and became stepping stones for Lin Hao to ascend the throne of the king.

Unfortunately, the fief of the Prince of Yan was in the Liao Kingdom. Lin Hao guessed what the old emperor was planning. It was nothing more than a trick of driving a tiger to swallow a wolf!
Then the old emperor passed away, the new emperor ascended the throne, and the four regent ministers fought for power openly and secretly. The most excessive among them was Prince of Yan Lin Hao.

Because Lin Hao took advantage of the rebellion of Prince Yong and Prince Yan to start eliminating dissidents in the court.

However, what outsiders don’t know is that this matter was actually condoned by the other three people, including Zhao Zongquan.

Because of the actions of Lin Hao and the other three people, more seats were left vacant in the court.

Of course, the four of them arranged their own people to fill these vacant positions.

Among them, Lin Hao got a little more places than others, followed by Mr. Han and Mr. Fu.

The one with the least was naturally Zhao Zongquan, who had the weakest foundation, but he also took this opportunity to arrange for his son to enter the court.

In addition, there were more than a dozen trusted confidants who served as officers in the Palace Front Office and several large camps!

The main reason is that Zhao Zongquan's foundation is too shallow and he does not have sufficient talent reserves. Even the people he can currently recruit are all those he gathered when the old emperor gave him some advice!
Even Lin Hao is better than him in this regard. After all, Lin Hao has already started to reserve talents!

Although the two Empress Dowagers were behind the government, they chose to turn a blind eye to all this in order to win over the four regents and consolidate their own power and status.

But now the people in the court are in panic, and everyone feels in danger!

(End of this chapter)