Scattered snowflakes were falling on the eaves, and under a row of long verandas, people in green robes were hurriedly coming and going.
Although at that court meeting, the emperor said that the cabinet should have six people.
But now more than a month has passed, and there are still only two elders in the cabinet, Chen Xun and Gao Gu.
There were proposals to add cabinet ministers, but without exception, the emperor put them aside on the grounds that the matter was urgent and would be discussed later.
But this also has a benefit, that is, there are more people in Zhongshushe.
Although the emperor added the title of minister to all the ministers in the cabinet and made eloquent remarks, it became a practice, but this was to improve the status of the cabinet ministers in the court.
In fact, the bachelor's degree, which symbolizes the duties of the cabinet, still has the official title of the fifth rank, which has been established since the founding of the country.
In other words, the cabinet is a genuine fifth-grade yamen.
The emperor wanted to customize the cabinet, so the officials naturally did not dare to neglect it.
According to the configuration of the Zhengqipin Yamen, the main official must have at least one assistant second official.
The emperor's words came first, and all six members of the cabinet were assistant ministers. There was no difference in official positions, only the matters in charge were different.
Therefore, according to the system, the six assistant ministers are all official officials.
As a result, the cabinet is equipped with six Zhongshushe people.
In addition, there are four imperial ministers in the imperial imperial room on the west side of the cabinet, who are responsible for copying official documents such as imperial edicts, orders, registers and lists.
There are only two people in the cabinet now, so these ten people from Zhongshushe are naturally at the mercy of Chen Xun and Gao Gu.
Although there are many people assisting, they can only do small things such as copying and submitting. The real drafting of the votes has to be done by the cabinet ministers themselves.
Therefore, the workload of the two elders has only been slightly reduced.
In the small cubicle, Chen Xun raised his eyes and saw that the ink in the inkstone was almost gone. He was about to ask someone from the Zhongshu House outside to come and grind the ink, but he saw that it was already past noon.
Rubbing his sore eyes, Chen Xun straightened up and planned to go out for lunch.
As soon as he came out from behind the table and before he stepped out the door, he saw Takagu walking in, holding a memorial in his hand.
The cabinet does not care about food. Except for the occasional banquet given by the emperor, they basically bring lunch.
Seeing Gao Gu coming over, Chen Xun was stunned for a moment and then spoke.
"Shi Yong is here. I just want to go to dinner. A few days ago, a chef from Jiangsu and Zhejiang came to my house. He makes Huadiao Drunken Chicken very well. How about Shi Yong going with me?"
Gao Gu looked a little unnatural, waved his hand and said.
"Second Assistant, please wait a moment for dinner. This is the memorial from the Ministry of Rites that the Emperor has just approved. I am a little unsure, so I came here to discuss it with Second Assistant."
In fact, the current situation in the cabinet is somewhat delicate.
Ever since the last time the emperor ordered Chen Xun and Chen Xun to nominate cabinet ministers, the two people, who had been working together very well, had secretly developed a rift.
Although this kind of faint crack is difficult for outsiders to detect, it actually exists.
Especially when the status of the emperor in the cabinet was further promoted, this rift became more and more obvious.
These days, the two of them rarely dine together as before.
Chen Xunben was also polite and polite. He had already seen the memorial in Gao Gu's hand. He nodded, led Gao Gu to sit aside, took the memorial in his hand, and started reading.
As soon as he turned his head, Chen Xun frowned, looked at Gao Gu, and asked softly.
"Ministry of Etiquette?"
There are many affairs in the cabinet. Normally, if it is a major matter that is difficult to decide, either Gao Gu or Chen Xun will take the initiative to discuss it with the other party.
Chen Xun had never seen this memorial. Obviously, it was submitted directly to the emperor after Gao Gu drafted it.
This also means that it is not a major military matter and there is no need for two cabinet ministers to vote together.
What's more, if the Ministry of Rites is noble, what big things can happen?
Seeing Chen Xun looking at him doubtfully, Gao Gu smiled bitterly and said.
"Second Assistant, what this memorial says is not a big deal. This year is the year of His Majesty's accession to the throne. As usual, the vassal kings from all over the country submitted their lists and wanted to come to the capital for an audience. So the Ministry of Rites submitted a memorial, asking the vassal kings from all over the country to come to the capital on the New Year's Day. Go to Beijing to worship."
"This is a customary matter. Just to go through the motions. When I was drawing up the vote, I gave the opinion that the war would stop before the war. It was not appropriate for the vassal kings to leave their fiefdoms without permission. However, your Majesty rejected it."
"What?"
Chen Xun lowered his head, skipped the contents of the memorial and the draft, and went directly to the final mark of the ink pen, only to see what was written above.
"... According to the report of the Ministry of Rites, the clan kings and vassal kings are all my elders. I have not seen them for a long time and I miss them very much. For the sake of friendship between cousins, I ordered all clans, from the generals of the country to the county kings and above, to come to the capital to pay homage..."
After reading it, Chen Xun was also a little confused.
The vassal dynasty's royal court was a rule set by the Emperor Taizu.
Generally speaking, when a new monarch succeeds to the throne, or every three years, the prince and above the clan can go to the Hajj.
But in fact, after Taizong's calamity, the court became more and more strict on the clan princes, and this rule was basically abolished.
During the Yongle period, there would still be clans entering the capital every few years, but by the time of the First Emperor, there was basically no such thing.
So normally speaking, once the clan becomes a vassal, it means that they will never be able to return to the capital in this life.
So as Takatani said, this memorial from the Ministry of Rites is just a formality and a routine inquiry.
But who would have thought that the emperor would actually get it right for something that would be dismissed routinely?
It doesn't matter if it's just accurate, it's still a big deal.
Even according to Taizu's rules, the number of pilgrims only limited to the princes.
But His Majesty's imperial approval said, "All generals of the country and county princes and above will come to the capital to pay homage."
What is this concept?
According to the Ming Dynasty's clan feudal rules.
The prince is ennobled as a prince.
The prince's eldest son inherits the prince's throne, the remaining sons are granted the title of county prince, and the daughter is granted the title of princess, while the princess's subordinates are not granted the title.
The county king is not hereditary, and his sons are all granted the title of general of the town, his daughter is granted the title of county lord, his grandson is granted the title of general of auxiliary state, his granddaughter is granted the title of county prince, his great-grandson is granted the title of general of Fengguo, and his great-granddaughter is granted the title of county prince.
From the Ming Dynasty to the present, from Taizu to the present, it has been passed down to this place. In terms of seniority, it is the fifth generation.
In other words, even counting from the princes who were entrusted by Taizu, it has been passed down to five or six generations at most.
The emperor said that all the generals and above of Fengguo should enter the capital. Basically, it means that all the clans registered in the clan mansion must enter the capital.
Chen Xun understood why Gao Gu came, put down the memorial, and said.
"Since Taizu, clans have flourished in various places. Although I haven't checked, there are probably thousands of them. With such a large number of clans coming to Beijing, I'm afraid it will waste people and money, right?"
Takagu sighed and felt a headache.
God knows what the emperor's fault is, so he wants to summon so many clan members to the capital.
This Zhu Biao also said, "Long time no see, I miss you very much."
Mr. Gao Gu just wanted to ask.
Your Majesty, you have been growing up in the capital since childhood. When His Royal Highness Prince Xiang, who was the last to become a vassal, left the capital, you had just turned one year old. How could you miss him so much?
Of course, he was just complaining, and he wouldn't dare to question him face to face.
Takagu nodded and said.
"It's true. It's less than two months away from the New Year's Day, and we're still short of time."
"When vassal kings from all over the country enter the capital, they must use ceremonial guards. They must not harass them along the way and receive local hospitality."
"For such a large number of clan members to come to Beijing, the Ministry of Rites also needs to plan and arrange their accommodation and reception in advance. Not only is it very troublesome, but it also costs a lot of money."
"Now that the war is over, the national treasury is not sufficient. If such a commotion occurs, it will be even more unsustainable."
In fact, when he saw Zhu Pi, Gao Gu felt a pang of regret.
From the beginning, he should have directly sent the memorial to the palace himself and made clear his interests to the emperor on the spot.
Now that Zhu's approval has been issued, although there is no formal edict, it is not considered a real imperial edict and can still be discussed.
But to go to the emperor at this time, there is no doubt that it would be a bit refuting the emperor's face.
This is why Gao Gu came here to find Chen Xun.
"Second Assistant, after all, the emperor has been in the capital for a long time. Maybe he doesn't know the number of people in the clan in detail. How about you and I go to the palace together to explain our interests to the emperor and persuade his majesty to withdraw his decree?"
