Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 270 Don't Take the Bait

Chapter 270 Don't Take the Bait
January 16th, the first year of Jingwu

The year before last was Chongzhen, last year was Hongguang, and this year is Jingwu.

In the past two years, not only has the reign title changed frequently, but even the emperor has been changed every year. Just considering this situation, no matter which dynasty it is, it would have been a turbulent time. What's more, there is the Tartar who are like the Jin and Yuan dynasties. Putting these two aspects together, it can be said that the world of chaos has arrived.

Fortunately, there is still Your Majesty.

With this in mind, Huang Duanbo couldn't help but secretly glance at the dragon throne located at the innermost part of the Fengtian Hall.

Today is the first grand court meeting in the first year of the Jingwu reign, and also the first grand court meeting since the new emperor ascended the throne. When the morning glow first appeared, all the ministers were already dressed neatly and lined up in front of the Fengtian Hall according to their rank, as if they were reflected by the morning glow, forming a unique landscape.

To be honest, he, as the head of the Ceremonial Department, did not get many benefits in the new dynasty. Apart from the silver reward, the new emperor did not give him as much reward as the previous one.

Naturally, some people have many complaints about this, but in essence, Zhu Cilang obtained the throne through his bloodline and a series of great victories. There is really no need for him to buy people's hearts with titles and salaries like some people who came to power illegitimately.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Just when Huang Duanbo's mind was wandering, the sound of golden drums suddenly reached his ears. He then gathered his thoughts and turned to look in the northeast direction of the hall. Sure enough, he saw Zhu Cilang, dressed in a bright yellow dragon robe, slowly walking towards the dragon throne.

"Long live the emperor! Long live the emperor! Long, long live the emperor!"

The grand court meeting at the beginning of this year was different from usual ones. Not only were all the ministers allowed to wear court robes, but they were also required to perform the ritual of three kneelings and nine kowtows according to etiquette regulations.

After a few breaths, the ministers finished their ceremony, and when everyone stood solemnly on both sides of the hall, an eunuch came out holding a yellow scroll.

"Fengtian Chengyun Emperor, the imperial edict said:

A new year begins, and everything is renewed. I have been blessed by Heaven to govern the world. Since I came to power, I have worked hard day and night, and never dared to slack off for a single day. In the early spring of this year, a new year begins, and everything is renewed. I want to revitalize the government and boost people's livelihood, so as to show the majesty of our Ming Dynasty.

I have observed that the world has been in chaos for years and people's livelihood has been in decline. I am deeply distressed, so I have issued this edict in the hope of reviving my country and stabilizing the world.

From now on, the whole nation must do its utmost to restore people's livelihood. Officials of all prefectures, states, and counties must perform their duties conscientiously, work diligently, and love the people. Anyone who is found to be corrupt or derelict in his duties will be severely punished.

I hope that my officials and people all over the world will work together to achieve this.

After this decree is issued, it must be followed. If you have any objections, you can report them to the court.

Admire this. "

As the eunuch's loud voice died down, all the ministers in the hall knelt down again. After all the procedures were completed, Huang Duanbo breathed a sigh of relief.

As the head of the Ministry of Rites and Ceremonial Affairs, he naturally knew that His Majesty's edicts were mostly meant to cope with regulations.

It may sound a bit inappropriate to do this, but when he thought of the saying "If there is no policy that can be adopted by the whole country, there is no reason for the whole country to mobilize", he had to admit that what Your Majesty said was indeed reasonable.

However, the empty edict did not mean that today's court meeting was just a formality. When all the ministers stood up again and the eunuch put away the edict, Huang Duanbo's attention turned to the front row of the court officials.

"My Lords, if you have anything to say, please report it early. If you don't, please leave the court~~~."

"Your Majesty, I have something to ask."

As the eunuch finished speaking, Qian Qianyi, holding the imperial tablet, stood up. After seeing Zhu Cilang, who was sitting on the dragon throne, nodded slightly, he continued speaking.

"I have heard that the Queen is the mother of the world and a role model for all people. She inherits the righteousness of the Queen and governs the harem with virtue. The Queen's virtue is like spring rain that moistens everything, and the Queen's wisdom is like a bright lamp that guides the way.

Now that Your Majesty has ascended the throne, the harmony between yin and yang has been lost.

Therefore, I implore Your Majesty to select a virtuous and capable person to decide the position of Empress as soon as possible, so as to consolidate the foundation of the imperial family and reassure the people."

As soon as he finished speaking, Qian Qianyi bowed down.

The matter of establishing a queen is naturally extremely important, but the Ming Dynasty now has powerful enemies in the north and wars in the west. Even if we don't take these into consideration, the country is still in tatters and needs to be rebuilt.

Under such circumstances, according to Qian Qianyi's original idea, the matter of establishing a queen should be postponed for three or two months before being put on the agenda.

By then, the Tusi rebellion in Yunnan would have been quelled, and the situation in Sichuan and Guizhou would be more stable with the appointment of Fan Yiheng as the person in charge. For example, although the situation in Jiangxi and Fujian would not be completely smooth, it would gradually become clear.

Once I have freed up my hands from these matters, I can not only arrange the emperor's marriage according to my ability, but also remain calm and not let sudden bad news spoil the mood of the emperor and his ministers.

But who would have thought that such a thing would happen a few years ago.

In order to clear himself of suspicion, even though he didn't think this was a good opportunity to hold a wedding, he had to take the initiative to put it on the agenda.

"I second the proposal!"

As Qian Qianyi finished speaking, the huge Fengtian Hall was filled with people bowing. After seeing this situation, Zhu Cilang, who was sitting on the dragon throne, seemed a little embarrassed.

"According to my original intention, I wanted to keep the throne vacant before returning to the capital. Now the enemy has not been defeated and there is a war in the southwest, and you are asking me to establish a queen."

"Your Majesty, in the past, Taizu also had the help of Empress Ma to drive out the Mongols and restore China. Now there are foreign races in the north of the Ming Dynasty. Isn't it similar to the situation back then? If Your Majesty can follow their example, it will be a hundred benefits and no harm to the great cause of the Ming Dynasty's revival."

"I hope Your Majesty will follow the example of Taizu."

It was not known whether it was due to the pressure from the court officials or because Qian Qianyi's reasons were too sufficient, but when he finished speaking and the officials bowed again, Zhu Cilang, who had been determined, hesitated.

"What you said is not unreasonable, but there is no suitable candidate. What can you do?"

"Your Majesty, Xu, the only daughter of Duke Wei, comes from a distinguished family. She is good at poetry and calligraphy, and is also proficient in playing the zither, chess, calligraphy and painting.

He has a gentle temperament, dignified conduct, manages household affairs at home, and displays imperial power outside.

In the past, during the war, she had risked her life to go to Hangzhou to deliver messages. She was truly loyal and a perfect match for the Ming imperial family. "I'm afraid the sex scene is about to begin.

Just as Qian Qianyi finished his recommendation, Zhu Cilang, who had been paying attention to the reactions of the court officials, became more careful.

Years ago, Zhu Cilang had obtained some seemingly plausible information through Wang Fuping. Although he later ordered the Jinyiwei to keep an eye on the two officials of the Ministry of Rites, they still did not find anything unusual after so many days.

Under such circumstances, not only him, but even Wang Fuping had some doubts about the reliability of this information. However, after several verifications, he sent informants to use it to defraud money.

However, Zhu Cilang was not one to hesitate. Since he could not find out anything by secretly investigating, he would just make it clear and see if anyone would come forward. It was better to establish a queen as soon as possible, and taking advantage of this opportunity to decide the master of the harem could save him a lot of energy.

"Your Majesty, I, Ren Daoming, the Censor of the Supervisory Office, think that what Mr. Qian said is inappropriate."

"I love you, but it doesn't matter."

"Your Majesty, since the day when Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty regained his throne, every dynasty has had its share of harem meddling in government affairs and weak sons and strong mothers. However, Emperor Chengzu was extremely wise and established the rule for future generations to have daughters from ordinary families as empresses. This is how our dynasty has avoided this disaster." As he spoke, Ren Daoming straightened his bent body slightly. After noticing that the attention of the entire court was on him, he continued, "Now, Lord Qian has used false words to make Your Majesty appoint the daughter of a noble as empress. He is truly worthy of death!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Qian Qianyi, who was still kneeling on the ground, put his official hat on the ground. Xu Yinjue, who was standing aside, also knelt down in the center of the hall with a helpless look on his face.

He originally thought that marrying his daughter into the palace would bring disaster to the Xu family, but who would have thought that as soon as someone mentioned it, the storm would hit an innocent person like him.

In this situation, how could he not feel helpless and aggrieved?

"My dear ministers, there is no need to be like this. I have never blamed anyone for words." Seeing that Qian and Xu had to pretend to resign because of such accusations, Zhu Cilang, who was sitting on the dragon throne, naturally had to appease them. Later, he saw that although the two were still kneeling on the ground, they at least put on their official hats again, so he said to the ministers in the hall: "Do you have any other candidates?"

He knew very well that no matter the people hiding in the dark wanted to reach into the harem or simply did not want to see him tie the nobles to his chariot, sabotaging the enthronement of Xu Shaoyue as queen was only the first step. He would have to find a way to get someone into his palace to truly complete the mission.

Therefore, when preparing for the showdown at today's grand court meeting, he had already roughly guessed how each party would act.

"Your Majesty, in my humble opinion, although the matter of selecting a queen cannot be delayed, it cannot be neglected or perfunctory. I ask Your Majesty to select concubines from all over the country to fill the harem, and then choose the best one among them to be the head of the harem."

After hearing what Ren Daoming said, Zhu Cilang's brows furrowed tightly.

He was not sure whether Ren Daoming had other intentions or was simply expressing his opinion based on his duties, but he was very sure that Hongguang's reputation was gradually ruined because of the selection of concubines.

Of course, there are problems with Hongguang himself, but it is undeniable that without the instigation of certain forces, how could ordinary people know whether the emperor was wise or incompetent?
"My Ming Dynasty has just gone through war, and all places are in ruins. If I were to select concubines at this time."

Having said this, Zhu Cilang let out a long note. He seemed to be somewhat tempted by this suggestion, but he also seemed to have some doubts in his heart. If a few more people came out to persuade him, he might not be able to resist the advice of the ministers and would just go with the flow and agree to this matter.

But what disappointed him was that after he acted like this, no one in the crowded Fengtian Hall spoke out to persuade him. So he could only wait for a few breaths and then said with regret: "I think there is no one else suitable to be my queen among the civil and military officials in the court, so I will agree to the suggestion of Lord Qian."

"Your Majesty, this is not possible. Making the daughter of a nobleman your empress is a recipe for disaster, Your Majesty!"

"Alas, although your words are not completely unreasonable, no one in the court agrees with you. Under such circumstances, how can I follow your words?"

Zhu Cilang said this with a helpless look on his face, then raised his hand and pressed his eye sockets, but when the wide sleeves separated him from the ministers, his expression suddenly turned gloomy.

He set up this plan in order to lure out all those in the court who had similar ideas.

No matter how many of these people have evil intentions and how many truly feel that something is wrong, as long as some clues are revealed in this court meeting, those who really need to be dealt with will be identified in due time.

But who would have thought that he gained nothing from the two previous leaders, and today he only brought out one who seemed to have a bit of a brain problem.

Under such circumstances, he began to wonder if some of his words had attracted the attention of certain people. Afterwards, he could not help but carefully examine his actions during this period.

A few years ago, I went to the Ministry of Works to see how Li Yongmao was gathering craftsmen from various government offices. Although the discussion involved some people who detained craftsmen under various names, no matter how Zhu Cilang recalled it, he did not find that it involved the queen election.

Probably not here.

Thinking of this, Zhu Cilang began to recall the past.

During the New Year holidays, most of the time he was dealing with various princes. Normally, it would be easiest to talk about marriage when dealing with relatives, but that bunch of people were only thinking about asking for the silver owed to them over the years, and Zhu Cilang just played dumb and laughed it off, but no one really mentioned his marriage.

Where else could it be?
Another option was eliminated, and Zhu Cilang didn't know whether to be happy or worried. After he carefully recalled the process of inspecting the camp north of the city and the river defense outside the city, there was only one place left.

Ministry of Punishment.

Coincidentally, that day, he went to the new workshop of the Ministry of Works in the outer city according to his recent habit. When he returned to the palace, he happened to meet Ruan Dacheng who was about to enter the palace.

Earlier, he had assigned the task of investigating the wealthy and powerful families in the Suzhou and Songjiang areas who had taken the opportunity to annex the land of the common people to the Ministry of Justice, and Ruan Dacheng lived up to expectations and found some clues through various channels.

Therefore, he planned to report all these things to Zhu Cilang one by one, and also planned to go and investigate the case personally.

Afterwards, Zhu Cilang, who had long been anxious about being surrounded by the palace, followed him to the Ministry of Justice.

Although he had been in the Ministry of Justice for a long time, at that time he was just listening to Ruan Dacheng describing the clues he had found and his ideas for investigating the case, and there was absolutely no mention of anything related to the establishment of a queen.

So what could have gone wrong?

Jinyiwei?
Eunuch?

After recalling his experiences during this period, Zhu Cilang not only did not discover anything, but also fell into a state of self-doubt.

Is it that I am not suited to these conspiracies? Or is it that the other party is too alert?
Thinking of this, he put on that rather helpless expression again. When he put his hands down and let the court officials see his face clearly again, it was no different from before.

"Mr. Qian."

"The minister is here."

"After today's court meeting, please report your proposal to the Queen Mother."

We don’t have time to discuss European affairs in detail, but if we do some research on Europe before and after Kosovo, we will find that as long as the conditions are right, European unification is not a fantasy.

One more thing, to keep Europe in its current state, the three major countries have put in a lot of effort.

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(End of this chapter)