"So, it was King Zhennan who made the move first?"
In the Palace of Qianqing, Hu Hui and Huaien stood at the bottom. Zhu Qiyu couldn't help but feel a headache when he looked at the pile of impeachment memorials handed over from the desk.
As the oldest prince in the Ming Dynasty, the death of King Min naturally attracted the attention of both the government and the public. Although in normal times, court officials were cautious in communicating with the clan, but at this time, as long as they are officials in Beijing, no matter how Regardless of their rank, they will basically find time to come to express their condolences. Even if they cannot come in, their sincerity must always be done.
This resulted in that when a conflict occurred outside Prince Min's Mansion, a large group of people inside and outside could clearly see it.
Within one afternoon, a large pile of memorials impeaching the clan for being domineering was handed to the imperial court. However, these imperial censors also had different opinions on this matter.
Some impeached King Xiang for causing trouble before his death and being disrespectful to his elders. Some impeached King Zhennan for being arrogant and domineering and openly leading his slaves to beat the royal prince. Of course, there were also some who scolded both sides at the same time, saying that the court should clean up the clan atmosphere as soon as possible.
And not only that, in addition to these memorials from the censors, Zhu Qiyu also received a report from Dongchang. In less than half a day, the incident had already spread among the folk teahouses.
However, the focus of the people's attention was obviously different from that of the officials in the court. This incident happened outside the Min Palace, so what King Xiang said in front of everyone naturally spread quickly.
For ordinary people, this kind of clan secrets and the drama of father and son competing for the throne are naturally talked about. Almost immediately, it became the topic of conversation after dinner in major restaurants and brothels.
In just this half-day, there are already seven or eight different versions of the rumor that have been circulated...
When two clans were involved, one of them was the brother of the late emperor. Mr. Hu seemed very cautious and carefully considered his words. After a moment, Fang said.
"Your Majesty, it is indeed the case. However, this cannot be blamed on King Zhennan for being impulsive. After all, at that time, Prince Xiang's words were indeed... not very appropriate."
This was said in a rather tactful way, and it seemed to be biased, but in fact, it did not express any attitude and just stated the situation.
However, it was difficult for Hu Xi to speak, but Zhu Qiyu did not take this into consideration and snorted softly.
"Not quite appropriate? I'm afraid it's more than that."
"Before the bones of the great uncle of King Min were cold, he ran to the gate of the palace and made nonsense words and insinuations. In the end, he even fought with the King of Zhennan. It was a disgrace to the Tian family!"
After hearing the emperor's words, Hu Hui lowered his head and couldn't help but secretly thought, Your Majesty, you are a bit too obvious in your bias.
He admitted that what King Xiang did was indeed a bit disgusting. King Lao Min had just died two days before he ran to the door of his house and showed off his power overtly and covertly. He said that King Zhennan had killed King Lao Min. This was No one can bear to change anyone.
However, this does not mean that King Zhennan did the right thing in this matter.
You know, attitude and tone cannot be used as evidence.
Even though Prince Xiang had a bad attitude and went to the gate of Prince Min's Mansion with a full guard of honors and called it worship, which was really a provocation, he still had a name after all!
You know, at that time outside Prince Min's Mansion, Prince Xiang kept talking, insisting that he was here to express his condolences to Prince Min's uncle as a junior member of the clan. On the contrary, Zhu Yincheng, young and energetic, bluntly said that he wanted to drive him away.
After describing the matter in detail, he could certainly understand Zhu Yinqi's actions, but if he really wanted to make sense, he couldn't explain it.
King Xiang insists on saying that he is there to express condolences. Even if others know that he is not, they cannot deny it.
As for the carriage ceremonial guard and his robes, this was obviously an irritation to Prince Zhennan and his son, but in detail, there was no violation of etiquette.
One thing that needs to be noted here is that the identity of King Xiang is different from that of other officials who came to express condolences. Others, even if they are as noble as Hu Hui, are also ministers.
According to the rules of the emperor's ancestors, all ministers must dismount their horses and sedans when meeting the king. Therefore, Hu Hui and others stopped the sedans outside the alley early, on the one hand, out of respect for the deceased, and on the other hand, it was also a matter of etiquette. requirements.
But it was different outside the alley. King Xiang was a member of the clan, a bloodline of the Zhu family, and a nobleman of Tianhuang. The ancestral training of Emperor Ming did not say that when two kings met, which one had to dismount and walk.
Therefore, if King Xiang wants to put on airs, he can only let him go. At most, he will secretly comment on his arrogance and rudeness.
As for the robes, the same is true. Indeed, as a junior member of the clan, King Xiang should wear mourning clothes for worship. It is very disrespectful to come in ordinary clothes.
However, if we really have to put it on the table and discuss the rules, only when the emperor dies should the whole world mourn and the government and the public should behave accordingly.
No matter how revered King Min is, he cannot overstep his authority to the point where the entire court, the clan, and the military are all in mourning.
Therefore, under normal circumstances, the rules for expressing condolences are actually similar to those for normal people.
In this case, as long as you don't wear bright red, which is obviously a provocative color, and wear regular clothes of other colors, it doesn't actually matter.
After all, in ordinary people's homes, it is impossible to pay homage to the deceased, and one has to prepare mourning clothes by oneself. In general, the host's house prepares the funeral clothes after arrival.
However, no one who could go to Prince Min's Mansion to express condolences lacked the money for a mourning dress. In order to show their respect, they basically changed into it when they got off the sedan chair far away.
However, if you use this reason to blame King Xiang... Again, King Xiang's identity is different after all. He is a member of the clan and cannot be restrained by the rules of ordinary ministers.
From this perspective, in fact, if we discuss it in detail, King Zhennan made a bigger mistake.
Under the emperor's feet, openly beating the prince, even if he himself is a member of the clan, this is a serious crime!
It is true that in terms of seniority, King Zhennan is one generation older than King Xiang. From a rational point of view, his actions are also understandable.
But it should be noted that this is not a reason to beat a prince.
The Tian family is different from ordinary small families. Not only does it have to talk about elders and young people, but also respect and inferiority. To say something disrespectful, if it is said that King Zhennan can be punished just because King Zhennan has a higher seniority, then King Xiang, as the king Uncle, my seniority is higher than that of the emperor, can't I punish the emperor?
The reason why King Min was able to ask the "Family Law" to punish King Xiang was not only because he was the only surviving descendant of Taizu and had the highest seniority, but more importantly, he also had the official title of clan order.
Apart from the emperor who held the Dagui, the only person in the entire dynasty who was qualified to punish a vassal king was the Zongren Ling, who was also set up for Taizu.
But it is obvious that King Zhennan does not meet this condition.
Even, in a strict sense, the King of Zhennan was just a county king, and he openly hit the prince with a stick. In detail, it can even be said to be the following crime!
Hu Hui believed that the emperor would understand this truth. Otherwise, the emperor would not ask if it was King Zhennan who made the move first.
After hesitating for a moment, Mr. Hu gritted his teeth and spoke anyway.
"Your Majesty, there is something wrong with both sides in this matter, but after all, it was King Zhennan who struck first. Although the circumstances are excusable, since the matter has reached such a level, in accordance with the wishes of the minister, it is better to turn it into a major issue and into a minor one. It’s good.”
"Have big things been turned into small things? How?"
The emperor was obviously a little unhappy, and there was a hint of questioning in his tone.
Sighing, Hu Xi thought for a while and said.
"Your Majesty, according to the ancestral system, once a vassal king becomes a vassal, he is not allowed to enter the capital unless he obeys an imperial edict. When Your Majesty ascended the throne, the whole world celebrated it and summoned all the vassal kings to the capital for an audience. It was suspected of exceeding the rules. However, the situation in the court was turbulent at that time, and the War of Oala It has just ended, and it is the time when the vassal kings from all over the country need to protect the Tian family, so I did not stop it."
"Subsequently, in order to change the customs of the clan and educate the children of the clan, His Majesty wanted to start religious studies and ordered Prince Min to stay in the capital and serve as the clan leader. This was also a sage move. However, it was just a matter of clan studies and there was no need to work for the two vassal princes. It's just that because Prince Min is old, the kings recommend him to assist him, so there are two vassal princes in charge of the capital at the same time."
"More later, Prince Min was seriously ill and asked for a marriage for the eldest grandson of Min Mansion. He received a special favor. Prince Zhennan brought the princess to Beijing to arrange the marriage. But now that the marriage has been concluded, Prince Min also... Prince Zhennan did not There is no reason to continue to stay in Beijing."
This was not stated clearly, but how could Zhu Qiyu not understand it.
The implication is simply to ask Zhennan King to leave the capital as soon as possible and put an end to the trouble!
It should be said that King Xiang's commotion really made King Zhennan passive. Moreover, there was another reason why Hu Hui asked King Zhennan to leave. Although he did not say it clearly, Zhu Qiyu naturally understood it.
Hu Xi said so much, in fact, he was reminding Zhu Qiyu that the fact that King Zhennan was still unwilling to leave the capital was arousing suspicion.
Although what King Xiang said outside the Min Mansion was nonsense, it was not groundless.
After returning, Hu Xi thought about it carefully. If he wanted to murder King Min, King Zhennan would definitely not have the courage. After all, he was in the capital, at the feet of the emperor.
Given the emperor's character, if he found out that King Zhennan was such a corrupt person, the emperor would deal with him first without anyone else taking action.
Especially after the original case, the identity of the prince of Zhennan Wang Min Mansion was as secure as a mountain, and there was no need to fight for this time.
However, if it is not for the position of King Min, then the fact that King Zhennan has been reluctant to leave the capital for so long can only mean that there is another reason.
Thinking about it again, for such a long time, the emperor has turned a blind eye to King Zhennan's plan to stay in the capital, so the real intention is actually very obvious.
The clan’s order!
It is certainly not possible to say that King Min was killed by King Zhennan, but it is quite possible to say that King Zhennan was waiting for King Min to pass away so that he could take over the position of Zong Renling.
Therefore, from another perspective, the purpose of King Xiang throwing out such a ridiculous reason may not necessarily be to convince everyone. Perhaps what he really wants is to use the most exaggerated way to cause the government and the public to express disapproval of King Zhennan. He has been reluctant to leave the capital's attention for a long time.
After all, if King Zhennan does not exist, then King Xiang should be the next candidate for Zongrenling. Even with King Zhennan, King Xiang still has an advantage in the position of Zongrenling. of.
In terms of ability, King Xiang was recommended by all the kings to assist King Min in managing the religious affairs, which in itself can well explain his status among the kings. In terms of kinship, he was the emperor's uncle and was more suitable for taking charge of the clan affairs. He was the only one with slight flaws. , that is, his seniority is not the highest.
However, although there are no descendants of Taizu in the court, there are still descendants of Renmiao. If we talk about seniority alone, the king of the branch county, King Zhennan, cannot be counted.
Of course, these are all external factors. To put it bluntly, the position of Zongrenling is to manage the clan affairs for the emperor who holds the big gui. Therefore, no matter how many factors there are, it all depends on the emperor's will in the end.
And this is exactly what King Xiang lacks the most!
Therefore, it was only natural that King Xiang wanted to drive away King Zhennan.
It should be said that the current situation is precisely in favor of King Xiang. Zhu Qiyu also understands this, but...
Zhu Qiyu asked with a somewhat ugly expression.
"So, the method the eldest uncle gave me is to drive King Zhennan out of the capital when King Min is newly mourned?"
This was obviously a rhetorical question. If he really nodded to answer, then only a certain Shaobao would dare to do so.
Mr. Hu obviously did not have a surname of Yu, so it was obviously impossible for him to just nod his head in such a dull manner. In fact, just when he said those words, the eldest uncle had already quickly thought of a countermeasure in his mind, and just waited for the emperor to asked the question.
"Your Majesty, if something like this happens, if the King of Zhennan is not punished, the government and the public may have material objections, and it will be difficult to calm down the public discussion. Therefore, I think that I can order the King of Zhennan to return the spirit of King Min to Min, and as for Xiangxiang Your Majesty, if you cause trouble in front of King Min’s spirit and fight with the clan, you need to be punished. I believe that I should remove you from the post of King Xiang Zuo’s clan member and order him to return to the vassal territory and meditate on his mistakes.”
"As for the various religious affairs and religious studies in the capital, I think they can be left to the Ministry of Rites and the Hanlin Academy for guidance and assessment, and there is no need for the vassal king to keep them in the capital!"
There was silence in the hall. Zhu Qiyu raised his head and glanced at Hu Bi, slightly surprised.
This old fox is really... ruthless!
Sure enough, Hu Miao is still Hu Miao. When he is not involved, he will sit back and watch leisurely. However, since he cannot escape, then he will get a piece of meat by himself.
You know, whether it is King Min, King Xiang, King Zhennan, or even Zhu Yinqi, according to convention, they should not stay in the capital. However, because of the Zongxue matter, the Zongren order was re-appointed. This gave them the opportunity to stay in the capital.
However, it should be noted that the establishment of the Zong Ren Ling not only manages religious studies, but also interferes with many daily religious affairs, and this part originally belonged to the power of the Ministry of Rites.
All the kings were there at that time. In order to successfully establish the sect, the Ministry of Rites made concessions. Hu Hui never said anything more and just pretended that there was no such thing.
But who would have thought that, taking this opportunity, he would come back again.
King Zhennan and King Xiang are both at fault, right? In this case, no one should stay in the capital. Aren't the two of them competing for the sect's order? If this is the case, then no one should be the sect's order, and it should be the same as before. Likewise, wouldn't everyone be happy if we set up a dummy clan mansion and handed over the clan affairs to the Ministry of Rites?
It should be said that Hu Hui proposed this method at this time, with three words: steady, accurate and ruthless!
He knew clearly that the emperor was unwilling to hand over the position of Zongren Ling to King Xiang. At the same time, it was indeed King Zhennan who was at fault in this matter. Once the mess got bigger, it would be of no benefit to anyone.
More importantly, from the time when the emperor wanted to establish a sect during the Zhengdan Banquet, Hu Hui knew that the emperor wanted to curb the power and influence of the sects.
The position of Zong Renling was actually the result of mutual compromise. If this is the case, then why worry about which vassal king should be handed over?
Since such a thing has happened, then we might as well take this opportunity to return the control of the clan to the Ministry of Rites. This will fundamentally solve the problem of clan orders, and it will also be in line with the emperor's desire to further control the clan. General direction!
It should be said that after these words came out, even Zhu Qiyu couldn't help but feel a little moved, and began to seriously consider whether the method Hu Hui said was appropriate...
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