It was natural for Yang Song to hand over the throne to Yang Xian. When Yang Song announced the news at the court meeting at the end of April, it did not exceed the expectations of the ministers.

Although it was as expected, he still had to be persuaded to stay, especially the elderly officials who very much hoped that Yang Song could stay on the throne for a while longer.

In addition to being reluctant to leave Yang Song, this is also a matter of vital interest to the ministers.

Because if Yang Song can still stay on the throne, then these elderly officials will have an excuse to continue to serve when they are sixty years old.

Yang Zhong, who was previously in charge of the government department, is actually nearly seventy years old, but the reason why he can still stay in this position is not only the special nature of the government department, but also the reason why Yang Song did not say anything.

Under the Fu Pavilion, there are three departments: Fengchang Mansion, Zongzheng Mansion, and Zhi Neifu, which are respectively responsible for the nobility and honor management of the Xia Kingdom; the management of the royal family, clan, and internal treasury; and the management of state-owned assets/enterprises/institutions.

It is equivalent to half of an institution exclusive to the royal family, so if you want to have a competent official, you must be a member of the royal family.

But in the past, except for Yang Zhong, the great steward, no one in the royal family could serve. After all, Yang Song's heirs had not grown up yet.

And now, Yang Xian is about to inherit the throne. Yang Song has made good arrangements for the personnel of the palace. He arranged for his second son Yang Ming to be Yang Zhong's assistant for a long time, which is equivalent to Yang Zhong.

Ming is the "heir" of the palace.

Therefore, after Yang Song leaves the throne, a large number of "old people" in the court will also leave. In addition to the reason of age, isn't there also the saying "one emperor and one courtier".

Yang Xian has been the crown prince for so many years and has already cultivated his own team. Yang Song does not need to worry about the rest. Otherwise, what ability does Yang Xian have for this important task?

As for the specific time for the transfer of the throne, Yang Song decided to set the date of Yang Xian's accession to the throne on September 5, the thirteenth year of Qi Yuan, after many considerations.

This day is still several months away, so it is enough to prepare, and there will be no extraneous things. This time is not too long, not too short, just right.

…

On September 5th, taking the meaning of the Nine Five-Year Plan, the father and son Yang Song and Yang Xian held a ceremony to abdicate the throne and ascend the throne in Zhongjing City.

At the beginning of the ceremony, Yang Song, as an emperor, read out his last edict in front of all his subjects, announcing that he would abdicate the throne to Prince Yang Xian.

Then Yang Song personally presided over the coronation ceremony of the throne. After the coronation ceremony, Yang Song had nothing to do with him, because after that was Yang Xian's enthronement ceremony.

Yang Song retreated behind the scenes, and Yang Xian became the protagonist. The whole day was spent interacting with the new emperor Yang Xian and the ministers.

The whole process of the ceremony went smoothly. After a busy day, Yang Song changed from the previous emperor of the Great Xia Empire to the current emperor.

Yang Xian has since become a supreme emperor, and the entire Daxia Empire has been handed over to Yang Song.

In the evening, at the banquet hosted by the new emperor Yang Xian, Yang Song showed his face again, and the ministers called him "the Supreme Emperor".

Although the title of Supreme Emperor sounded good, by now Yang Song was far away from the center of government affairs, and only had the power to assist the new emperor.

Of course, this is only theoretical. In fact, the emperor including Yang Xian knew how influential Yang Song was. If Yang Song was dissatisfied, he could depose Yang Xian at any time without anyone objecting.

Yang Song also knew how influential he was, so after abdicating the throne, he basically lived in seclusion and did not have contact with foreign ministers outside the palace, in order to help Yang Xian consolidate his throne.

Later, after Yang Xian consolidated his position, no one needed to say much, and the older ministers in the court retired one after another.

The first person to bear the brunt was Yang Zhong of the palace. He was the first to retire, and Yang Ming, the second prince, served as the new head of the palace. Then there were several other princes who also held positions in the palace.

Of course, Yang Xian will not stop these high-ranking officials from becoming officials. This is part of the laws of the Xia Kingdom, and now it is just implemented according to the law.

In the same way, for those ministers who have not reached the age of sixty, even if Yang Xian wants them to leave, it will not be easy. At least they must have an excuse.

Moreover, Yang Xian also knew the value of these old ministers. At least their experience was not comparable to that of young people. It would be difficult for him to handle it if all the old ministers who followed Yang Song became officials.

But even so, Yang Xian also knew that the remaining veterans would not stay in their positions for a long time because of the age limit.

Fortunately, there is still a buffer period that allows Yang Xian to train a new group of important personnel, and there are quite a few of them in the Hanlin Academy.

The Hanlin Academy was originally a talent reserve for important officials to prepare for the replacement of old and new officials. Yang Xian did not have to worry about finding talents because Xia State had a complete system.

With the passage of time, there was a very big change in the Xia Kingdom's officialdom. Some foreign officials were transferred back, some officials from the capital were transferred out, and even more, a large number of veteran officials were appointed.

Among them, such as Xun Yu, Chang Sun Sheng, Li Jing, Liu Ji, Di Qing... these old people all became officials one after another.

The military cabinet was headed by Qi Jiguang, a later famous general, and the political cabinet was headed by Wei Dong, the Minister of Household Affairs. However, Wei Dong was a bit old, and he probably wouldn't be able to stay in this position for a few years.

.

Zhou Yi, who actually served as the governor of a state in Hecheng, returned to Zhongjing City to serve as the minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs...

Although there were great changes in the court, nothing happened to Yang Song. He had been living in the palace for a long time and had gained a lot of weight.

And as the old ministers retired, Yang Song had the opportunity to reunite with these old people, so there was no longer the boredom before.

After Liu Ji, Xun Yu, and Li Jing became officials, when they met Yang Song, they lost their previous restraint and became closer to each other.

A group of old people, or a group of extraordinary old people, gathered together to form a secret bank, attracting discussion from outsiders, and some even said it was the "senatorate" of the Xia Kingdom.

But no matter what outsiders say, when people like Yang Song get together, in addition to chatting all over the world, they get together to talk about the experiences they have struggled together and reminisce about their fleeting youth.

Yang Song and Yang Zhong talked about the past when they started their business in Tianqi City with three thousand soldiers and civilians, and then talked about the subsequent wars, proclaiming themselves king, and proclaiming themselves emperor...

In short, this group of old people had endless things to talk about together, as if everything in the outside world was far away from them yet yet so close.

While chatting, Yang Song remembered his previous idea of ​​seeing everything about Xia Kingdom, and told the others his thoughts.

Unexpectedly, when Yang Song said this, the others all became interested and expressed their willingness to go together.

But he was rejected by Yang Song. He didn't expect that there would be a large group of people following him now.

So Yang Song said it was up to everyone to see what they wanted. Of course, he had no objection to others traveling together, but he would no longer go with them.
Chapter completed!