As soon as Zhu Biao put down his pen, Zhao Huaian came in and reported: "Sir, the Minister of Rites wants to see you."
Zhu Biao knew the truth, and soon the Minister of Rites went into the palace to pay homage. After getting up, he made it clear that he had come to the palace. It turned out that the tomb of Queen Ma's biological parents had been roughly built, and a monument should be erected to indicate it.
Moreover, the Queen's relatives and cousins, the Wu clan, also came to the capital on the orders of His Highness the Crown Prince. The Ministry of Rites has already made arrangements. After that, whether they are sent to the Holy Emperor or not, the Crown Prince has to make the final decision.
Zhu Biao heard this and praised: "I have worked hard to love you. It is rare for my mother, Queen Fengjia, to leave the palace. If I can take this opportunity to pay homage to King Xu's mausoleum in person, it will be a long-cherished wish. My father and I will feel at ease."
The Minister of Rites hurriedly said humbly: "It is not because of the merits of the ministers and others, but the empress and mother's virtues in the world have been praised by the people. The local people are fighting bravely to be the first, so King Xu's mausoleum can be completed so quickly."
Zhu Biao was a little worried after hearing this. It is true that Queen Ma's reputation for benevolence spread all over the world, but it is a bit exaggerated to say that the people worked hard because of this. I am afraid that the Ministry of Rites urged the local officials to force the people to work harder to complete the project so quickly. .
Zhu Biao knocked on the desk and said in a deep voice: "Even so, the people's rewards of food and money cannot be deducted. I will send someone to check this matter. My dear, you should also know that this is serious. If something goes wrong, your mother will be sad and your father will be sad." What will be the consequences of the emperor's anger?"
Lao Zhu never paid so much attention to the construction of his own mausoleum. Since the construction of King Xu's mausoleum, he has set a reward in the name of Queen Ma for the people who were called into service.
You must know that it is compulsory for the people to perform corvee service from the imperial court, and there has never been any compensation in money or food. Every household must have men as long as they have men of suitable age. The imperial court relied on corvée service to manage water canals, open rivers, and build roads.
The Minister of Rites obviously knew what he was doing, and replied: "Your Highness, please rest assured that there are no casualties among the serving people, and the money and grain designated by the emperor have been distributed according to the amount. I have sent several upright officials from the Ministry of Rites to supervise the distribution. I can be sure that there are no omissions." ."
"That's good. I love you, you are mature and prudent, and you deserve to be a loyal minister in the court. I should ask my father for merit on your behalf."
It is trustworthy that an official of the Ministry of Education is really serious about doing something well. Seeing him so committed, Zhu Biao's heart dropped. The early death of his maternal grandparents has always been a heartache for his mother. Zhu Biao could not change the matter, so he I can try my best to handle Ai Rong well.
After some polite greetings, the Minister of Rites was satisfied. He tried his best to suppress the money-grubbing fools below, not just to make this matter more beautiful and let these three supreme beings accept this love.
Don't think that he is following Hu Weiyong now, but that is just because the Huaixi Wuxuns are powerful, and they want to do something without having to have a good relationship with the prime minister promoted by the Wuxuns.
But he knew who was in charge in the world. The six ministries were under the control of Zhongshu Province. It was not wrong for him to obey the words of the prime minister, but he had to leave some backup.
In order to avoid being dehydrated in the future, there would be no chance to stand up and save the family. Although some words were not stated clearly, they, the ministers, were not stupid, and they had always controlled the distance they should keep.
"Does His Highness want to meet with some elders of the Wu family?"
The Wu family is the relative of Queen Ma's mother. They originally moved from the north to the south with Emperor Gaozong of the Song Dynasty during the chaos in the late Northern Song Dynasty. They first moved to Renzhi Township, Xiao County, and then to Xinfengli, Minzi Township. They were called the Fengshan Wu family. The ancestor was named Cheng. His third daughter married the Deng family in Zhengxiaozhuang, Suzhou, and gave birth to Zhu Biao's grandmother.
Zhu Biao had heard his mother talk about these things since he was a child. His grandfather had a violent temper and had few friends from the same clan in the countryside. Since then, Queen Ma has had more contacts with her mother's relatives and has been taken care of, especially her fourth uncle Wu Congshan and her sixth uncle. Wu Congzhen.
After the world was peaceful, Lao Zhu searched extensively for Queen Ma's relatives, and found them probably in the second year of Hongwu. According to Lao Zhu's temperament, he had to wait for the Wu family to be granted a prince to enhance the dignity of the queen.
However, Empress Ma took into account that there were so many military generals who had never received the title of Duke, and that her clansmen were able to enjoy high positions just because they were her relatives without meritorious service. This would inevitably cause discord among the people, so she firmly refused the matter.
I was afraid that someone would make a fuss out of this, so even though I worried about him day and night, I still insisted on not letting the elders of the Wu family come to Beijing to visit me. I only sent people to send clothes made by my own hands and some money and food during the holidays.
It is precisely for this reason that both civil servants and military officials were extremely convinced of Queen Ma. Even though it was difficult to see her after the founding of the country, she still strictly ordered the wives of the family to treat her as their own mother if they came to the palace to see the queen.
Some noble marquises had many concubines after they attained high positions. It was inevitable that they would dislike their original wives because they were old and beautiful. It was Empress Ma who sent her attendants to their mansions to scold them, so that they would not ruin their wives by doting on concubines.
Now that the overall situation has been decided, Empress Ma rarely has the opportunity to leave the palace, so Zhu Biao has made his own decisions. It is not good for Empress Ma or Lao Zhu to do this kind of thing. It would be unavoidable to go back on the idea of pursuing the title, and Zhu Biao will do it. Others can't say anything. Is it possible that they still want to condemn the prince's pure filial piety?
Zhu Biao thought for a while and said: "Today is a bit rushed. It is not the etiquette of meeting the elders. Liu Jin, you can go there on my behalf. Tomorrow the palace will host a banquet in Wuying Hall to entertain the elders of the mother clan."
"promise."
After Liu Jin accepted the promise, he bowed slightly towards the Minister of Rites and then stepped out. The Minister of Rites also nodded sideways, which was not a sign of fear given his status.
"Did I draft the inscription?"
Zhu Biao nodded and said: "The general inscription should be drawn up by the Ministry of Rites, but my father has already prepared the memorial inscription, and another stone tablet should be erected to record it."
Zhu Biao stood up and found a memorial text from the bookshelf that had been written a long time ago. I'm afraid it must have been two or three years ago. It should have been prepared when the order was given to build King Xu's mausoleum.
"I am just a king who started his own business in ancient times. He must have a virtuous queen as his internal help to achieve great things together. When the world is at peace, he must respect his aunt and repay his virtue. But my father and mother actually gave birth to a virtuous daughter, who is in the middle palace. Since I posthumously named my maternal uncle King Xu and my maternal aunt as Mrs. Wang, since the king had no heirs, I established a temple as the capital's chief minister and offered sacrifices to him every year.
However, judging from the classics, it is not based on etiquette. I also thought that my soul would travel to my hometown where I was born, so I built a tomb in the temple for you to worship in the Spring and Autumn Period. We have chosen an auspicious time to send ceremonial officials to enshrine the Lord An in the new temple. His character is so impressive that we can learn from it here. "
Zhu Biao handed it into the hands of the Minister of Rites and ordered: "The inscription must be drafted as soon as possible. It is best to arrange it before the Holy Emperor goes to offer sacrifices."
The Minister of Rites bowed and took it and solemnly responded: "I respectfully follow His Highness's order."
After carefully collecting the memorial inscription written by the Holy Emperor, he looked at Zhu Biao's chin and said, "Suzhou is not far from Beijing. Does Your Highness intend to go to accompany him in person to offer sacrifices?"
Zhu Biao shook his head and said: "I am responsible for supervising the country and bearing the great responsibility of the country. How can I leave the capital so easily and wait for the grand ceremony in person in the future?"
"It's a humble minister who made a mistake. Please forgive me, Your Majesty."
"It doesn't matter, there is some truth in what the minister said. It is necessary to have descendants and grandchildren to accompany the sacrifice to appease the soul. However, my grandfather, King Xu, Magong has no heirs to inherit the inheritance, so I cannot leave the capital, and the emperor's grandson is too young."
The Minister of Rites opened his mouth to say something but swallowed it back. After Zhu Biao thought for a moment, he knew what he was thinking. Queen Ma was the daughter-in-law of the Zhu family, and all children born from concubines and concubines should also belong to Queen Ma.
Zhu Biao frowned with some dissatisfaction, and the Minister of Rites bent his waist deeper, but he didn't say anything, so Zhu Biao naturally couldn't say anything, so he just pretended that it didn't happen.
"Go down, dear, and you must do this properly."
"No, Wei Chen is resigning."
Zhao Huai'an walked a few steps and then went back to the palace to serve Zhu Biao a new cup of tea: "Sir, the Crown Princess heard that the Wu clan had arrived, so she also asked Fugui to take some rewards from the palace in the east palace and send them to him."
Zhu Biao was not surprised and just said: "Arrange someone to go over there to see these and see who will follow to give gifts."
This matter is not a secret matter, and the place arranged by the Ministry of Rites is definitely not too shabby. Anyone who is interested will know it after a little inquiry. Naturally, they will not be reluctant to do some scene work, but Zhu Biao still thinks about it. Who is so sensitive to information?
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