Don't worry, brother, I will make all arrangements... In fact, the Cabinet Office and the Generalissimo's Office have already made some arrangements! "
Zhu Cibing's ability to do things is still very strong. As the chief minister of the cabinet, he is an entrepreneur, educator, and diplomat. When he was studying in Taixue, he was already managing his own industry...10 The properties on several streets need to be rented! What a huge industry! Later, he devoted himself to diplomacy and education. He brought back Princess Nisha from India and dedicated it to his eldest brother. He also founded Jinling Women's University, which was a pioneer in women's education in the Ming Dynasty! This is an educator who can erect a bronze statue on a university campus!
Such a person, of course, is very considerate of the problem. He has long thought that during the mourning period of the Ming Dynasty, the Roman Empire, the Indian Dashun Empire, and the Rakshasa Kingdom would definitely take the opportunity to launch an attack, and the Indian Great Soviet Khanate might also Will cause some trouble.
So after Zhu Cibing became the chief minister of the cabinet, he began to formulate plans with the Generalissimo's Office... There were more than one plan, including one for Emperor Chongzhen's grand burial, and some for Zhu Cixi to organize and send!
"Has the budget been arranged?" Zhu Cixiang asked again.
"It has been arranged..." Zhu Cibing said, "It has been arranged a long time ago! When our father turned 70, the Cabinet Office prepared a budget to add to the national funeral reserve fund. At the beginning, 2 million taels of silver were prepared. Now we have prepared It’s 4 million taels!”
"Four million?" Zhu Cixiang was stunned, "Why so many? Are prices rising?"
"No..." Zhu Cibing said, "It is rare for this person to be in his 70s! This national funeral reserve fund is prepared for this... person who is over 70 years old!"
This doesn’t sound right! For who is over 70? Zhu Cixiang frowned, and he understood it as soon as he thought about it.
4 million in funeral expenses, the Supreme Emperor, the Supreme Empress, the Emperor, the Empress... 1 million per person! One million of them was used to bury Zhu Cixi himself!
He was only in his early 70s, and the cabinet was already preparing funeral expenses for him...Whose bad idea was this? It must be Prince Luck!
How could Emperor Zhu's thoughts be concealed from Zhu Cibing? The chief minister of the royal family immediately explained: "Brother, this proposal to prepare funeral expenses for the emperor, empress, emperor and empress who are over 70 years old was made by you at the meeting between the two governments. It was proposed... At that time, you said that the emperor was old and liked women, so you asked the cabinet to make preparations in advance, set a funeral standard, compile some budgets, and said that you should try to be as frugal as possible. Later you also said... ..”
"Okay, okay, I remember it!" Zhu Cixiang waved his hand, interrupting Zhu Cibing. It was indeed him who proposed this matter, and he also proposed the cost standard of 1 million. But he was only in his fifties when he proposed it. He didn't expect that he would be over 70 so soon... Why is the life of an emperor so short?
"Brother," Zhu Cibing said again, "the third brother and his family will arrive at Laoshan tomorrow. Do you want to go and greet him?"
Prince Zhu has long ceased to be the overlord of Western Chu. Instead, he lives in Beijing and does not hold any official position. He just enjoys peace and happiness and takes care of his mule and horse business.
Of course, his years of struggle are not in vain. The current overlord of Western Chu is his son - this position will be held by him and Zhu Cixuan's descendants in turns for many years to come.
In addition, the other two sons of the third prince Zhu also each have a mobile vassal town - so the mobile vassal town refers to the Jiedushi group that constantly rotates between vassals. This "vassal transfer system" is a bit like the Japanese Tokugawa shogunate's method of tossing subordinate feudal lords, turning the feudal lords into potted plants and letting them move between vassals to avoid taking root in one place.
However, the "transfer system" of the Ming Dynasty was more reasonable than the "transfer system" of the Tokugawa shogunate in Japan, and it was also more like a system that could be implemented for a long time. Basically, each town was divided into thousands of households that could be moved to the feudal lord group and those that could not be moved. Among them, the feudal lord group, that is, the Jiedushi of each town is a bit like a "vassal town contractor" and will move collectively between various feudal towns. Their term of office in each feudal town is usually five to ten years.
During this period, they need to appease thousands of families of local snakes who will not move, cope with various assessments from the court, and sometimes even send troops to fight!
Of course, a group of unqualified Thousand and Hundred Households must be relieved of their official positions, and suitable successors must be found. The Thousand and Hundred Households below Jiezhen are divided into hereditary and non-hereditary ones. The former is the feudal lord of the separatist party! In the ten towns of Heilongjiang, Andong, Anxi, Beiting, Uszang, Sichuanbian, Yunnan, Jinou, Xiyang, and Dongning, which are beyond the reach of the imperial court, there are now a large number of hereditary thousands and hundreds of households!
In Anbei, Beiping, Shuofang, Daning, Hexi, Pingman (Pingman General's Mansion, in charge of the Tusi Guards in Huguang and Guizhou), Pingnan (Pingnan General's Mansion, in charge of the Tusi Guards in Guangxi), etc. There are a large number of non-hereditary thousands and hundreds of households on the town's territory - these thousands and hundreds of households are also locals who serve as local officials. But they are not hereditary, nor are they appointed for life. Instead, they are selected by the Jiedushi from among the military attaches in the areas under their jurisdiction. They can be re-elected, but they cannot serve for life, let alone hereditary.
In short, regardless of whether it is hereditary or not, it is difficult to deal with the thousands or hundreds of households below Jiezhen, and it is equally difficult to fool the Generalissimo's Mansion and the Ministry of War above.
Therefore, the job of the governor of the feudal town is not easy to do. It is easy to mess up. If you mess up, you will be replaced! Once the commander-in-chief is taken over, all the officials below the commander-in-chief will be laid off.
However, Zhu Cijiong's two sons can do their job well as Jiedushi. Because they are not only extremely capable, but they are also great feudal lords themselves - the two brothers have many hereditary households in Beiting and Anbei, and they can obtain reliable retainers, so their influence is relatively large.
Zhu Cijiong did not go to Beijing with his two sons who served as military envoys. After learning about the death of his father, Emperor Chongzhen, he immediately put on linen mourning clothes, left Beijing, and went south to attend the funeral under the starry night. The only people who followed him south were his younger son Zhu Hekui, who was still studying in Beijing.
The father and son, with more than a dozen followers, each equipped with three broken-eared horses, rode all the way. In less than seven days, they arrived at Laoshan Hot Spring Town, which was already immersed in sorrow.
Zhu Cihong, Zhu Cibing, Zhu Hexing and other royal dignitaries in Yingtian also put on their mourning clothes and greeted the original Zhu San outside the North Gate of Hot Spring Town.
The Beiguan of Hot Spring Town is a bastion, guarding the backside of the increasingly larger Hot Spring Town. Hot Spring Town now also has a city wall, but its defensive value is not high. It mainly relies on the four walls of Beiguan, Xiguan, Dongguan and Nanguan. Guancheng provides certain defensive functions.
At the same time, these four Guancheng are also the bases of Zhu Cixiang's Guards and Young Guards. The Guards who originally wore black military uniforms are now wearing linen clothes over their clothes. Around Beiguan, there are layers of vigilance.
"Boss, how is our mother? She is 90 years old this year. Will she be too sad to lose her father?"
The speaker was the filial son Zhu Cijiong. He was one year younger than Zhu Cihong, but he looked much younger... as if he was in his 60s!
After the two brothers hugged each other and cried a few times, they walked side by side and started talking as they walked.
"Mom is fine...90 years old can be considered a funeral. Moreover, our father passed away peacefully, and there are no more food, drinks, and singing and dancing to entertain us." Zhu Cixiang said, "What a blessed person!"
"You are indeed blessed!" Zhu Cijiong nodded, "Why don't the temple name be called Fuzong! Our father seems to have had this idea before he was alive."
"Fu Zong... that's okay!" Zhu Cixiang turned around and asked Zhu Cibing, "Lao Liu, have you decided on our father's posthumous name?"
"I have thought about it," Zhu Cibing said, "Let's call Shaotian Zhiming Fengheng, Yu Dahongwen Yuren Gangdun Renmao Xiaoxian Emperor. Shaotian is inheriting the destiny, and knowing the destiny means knowing that the destiny is on the emperor's body, so he resolutely abdicated and Fengheng Yu University... Needless to say, educating people through education means giving birth to sons, and sons can do anything! Dun Renmao Xiao means to make up the number of words. Showing the emperor does not mean showing off one's morality, but means showing one's nobility. Brother, you Is this posthumous title okay?"
