From the fifth watch on the first day of the Lunar New Year, Prince Zhu Houzhao's time no longer belongs to him. Every process and every word spoken during the court meeting and banquet ceremony has been decided in advance.
This is not a place or occasion to show off one's wits. After the harem, the queen meets the wife, nor is it a time when Zhu Houzhao can have an imaginary love with a young lady from the palace.
Don't look blindly. Even if you can tell whether these beautiful and beautiful women are married or waiting for marriage, you may not be able to turn around and find out that they are related to you if you turn around and find love. Love, that is not what Zhu Houzhao wants.
So don't have any illusions, just say what you should say to your ministers, and don't go to Wenhua Hall when you should appear in Fengtian Hall. Everything will pass peacefully. This is also what people say is a good sign. Something happened at that time, which made it even worse for Emperor Hongzhi to breathe heavily.
But it’s not like there’s no time to relax at all.
Zhu Houzhao would watch musicians invited from outside perform in the palace. When he had a lot of time, he would organize some eunuchs to perform Cuju in the palace, but it was nothing interesting. He didn't kick, he could only watch. When he did, everyone stood and watched him kick, not even daring to touch a corner of their clothes.
Fortunately, although things were uneventful, the affairs in the palace were not chaotic. When the prince was found with unresolved matters, he was given instructions on what to do. Emperor Hongzhi was pleased when the news reached his ears.
Zhu Houzhao also considered leaving the palace, but he canceled it in order to reduce the emperor's worries. Besides, it would not sound good if the news spread. It is not good for you to go out for an outing outside the palace while your father is ill.
If there is anything different from the prescribed actions in etiquette, it is that Zhu Houzhao wrote a letter to Wang Hao. It was nothing serious, just telling him that the palace was a little boring. How are you doing outside the palace?
Li Dongyang happened to be a guest in his house and saw this scene.
Although Mr. Li Ge was a very popular minister, his personal fate was very tragic.
The eldest son Li Zhaoxian was smart since he was a child, but he died at the age of twenty-seven. It must have been because he was under too much pressure and was studying. He fell ill in the examination room at the age of eighteen and died just before taking the examination. The second son was only ten years old, and the third son was even younger and died at the age of one. Therefore, Li Dongyang has a sentence in "Crying Children" in Volume 5 of "Huailutang Poetry Manuscript": A child is dissatisfied with his life, so he has a lifelong period.
He also had three daughters, but most of them died during the Chenghua period.
To this day, he has not been able to give birth to a child at this age, only an adopted son from a brother in the clan.
So when it comes to the Chinese New Year, Li Dongyang, who is prominent in public, looks sad.
Historically, after Zhengde succeeded to the throne, two elders, Liu and Xie, returned to their hometowns to serve as officials. Only Li Dongyang stayed. Later generations have interpreted a lot from various angles. I wonder if you have ever thought that Li Dongyang was not in the court, but only after returning to his hometown. It's a wasteland.
Because it was a letter from the palace, even if Li Dongyang was here, Wang Hao would ask him to wait for a while before reading it. But when I saw it, I felt weird. ….
Li Dongyang asked: "Is something wrong?"
"No." Wang Hao shook his head. He couldn't talk to others about the letter the prince gave him, especially the tone in it was like a friend to a friend. Others might show off, but he wouldn't, "Mr. Xi Ya said before , the prince intends to formulate a plan, I don’t know what the specific plan is?"
Li Dongyang saw that he didn't have anything to say, so he didn't ask any more questions. He said, "The prince's intention should be to cover everything. Every government office in Beijing should have one. The Heavenly Official also knows that the prince cares about one thing. You never know when a note will announce someone's entry into the palace. So what Mr. Liu Ge said is that the cabinet should discuss it with various ministries first, so as not to be caught off guard after the official opening."
"As far as the Ministry of Personnel is concerned, it is the plan for the eighteenth year of Hongzhi, and a goal for the next three or even five years. His Royal Highness will definitely ask about it when the time comes, so I was wondering if we should draw up something first?"
After hearing this, Wang Hao couldn't help but shake his head and smile softly,
Then he apologized and said, "Mr. Xi Ya, please forgive me, I was laughing at something else. When the prince was still young and studying, he made a great ambition to revitalize the Ming Dynasty. When I heard this, I felt happy and excited in my heart. Unexpectedly, just a few years later, His Highness even asked us people to think about business during the Chinese New Year. From this, we can expect a prosperous age."
A prosperous age can be expected... Maybe many people are thinking this way,
Emperor Hongzhi never showed up during the Zhengdan Festival this year.
Although with the current power of the East Palace, the court cannot be in chaos. However, various speculations are unavoidable. Officials in the court, big and small, should be ready to replace someone with the title of emperor.
Wang Hao's words made Li Dongyang feel like this.
The prince's talents are obviously better than those of the current emperor. This is a consensus among people.
Some people in the court were impetuous because of this incident, while others were actually holding back their energy, waiting for the Holy King to come to the court and rise to the forefront.
No one dares to say it, but everyone thinks so.
"Lu Shumao's reputation has been discredited. Now no one in the government or the government wants to make a fool of himself." Li Dongyang came closer and said, "The cabinet even less wants to do it. Their juniors can still be so shameless, but we people can't afford it."
That's true.
Wang Hao thought about it carefully and said, "Mr. Xi Ya, if we have to make a plan for the Ministry of Personnel matters in three to five years, I think there is a question that can be put to the test."
"Appreciate further details."
"Redundant officials."
In fact, the problem of redundant officials, like many problems, became more and more serious with the decline of the feudal dynasty. To a certain extent, it was also an inevitable product of the dominance of imperial power. Because the emperor did not trust officials, it was inevitable that one person would When someone is working, another person is watching him work, and then another person is sent to watch the person who is monitoring other people's work.
Just like the chief envoy, the inspector-general, and the commander-in-chief, these are officials at the provincial level. However, because the emperor did not trust them very much, he created governors. The governors were not fixed at the beginning. In fact, the emperor sent someone to inspect a place. Later, it was discovered that the demand was great, so the governor was fixed.
Later, governors were created based on actual needs. The governors had too much power and the emperor was worried about it, so he sent out eunuchs to guard it.
Therefore, the separation of powers at the provincial level in the Ming Dynasty was not the three envoys originally envisioned by Zhu Yuanzhang, but the governor, governor and guarding eunuch. ….
In addition, the Ming Dynasty also had the system of Enyin, which meant that important officials in the imperial court could be eligible for one of their sons to obtain an official position and receive a salary. At first, this was to win over the official group, but after more than a hundred years, in fact, the support system Many people were unemployed.
Of course, there are also officials. Starting from the Chenghua period, the emperor appointed officials at will according to his wishes. The number and cost were minor issues. This mainly hurt the scholars who took the imperial examination. They studied hard and worked hard to death. , in the end it is better to please the emperor.
As soon as Wang Hao said these two words, Li Dongyang nodded in agreement, but also frowned, "The problem of passing on officials is not a big deal. Your Highness has always put state affairs first. But if you want to abolish officials in other places, , it’s really a big deal.”
"Isn't this what Mr. Xi Ya said about the three-year or five-year period? I thought that as long as a part of the calculation is reduced every year, it is still a good governance. The Ministry of Personnel has one kind of good governance, and other yamen also have some. The little adds up to a big thing. Why worry that the imperial court is not prosperous?"
"Okay! Then let's raise this issue." Li Dongyang slapped his thigh and breathed a sigh of relief in his heart. "His Royal Highness already talked to the cabinet that day. He said that we can't just put it aside because the issue is too big and involves too many things. If we continue like this, it will only become more difficult in the future.”
Wang Hao imagined the scene of the prince saying these words, "Mr. Xi Ya, we must also seize the opportunity. His Highness has the courage and means, and what is even more commendable is that he has the patience to slowly solve the problem. He must meet Master Ming, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so we must cherish it."
How rare this is, both of them are veterans of the Chenghua and Hongzhi dynasties, so they can understand it firsthand. If those in power do not advocate promoting the solution of these problems, if they miss it, within a few generations, the Ming Dynasty will be full of wars.
Scenes like those at Wang Hao's house also happened in the houses of important ministers in Beijing. After all, Liu Jian and Xie Qian didn't have time to spare either.
With.
After Li Dongyang left, Wang Hao read the letter the prince gave him again, and his heart became even heavier.
Of course, Zhu Houzhao would not write letters to people for no reason. Different people have different methods. When facing Yang Yiqing, he must show him the bottom line, and when facing Wang Hao, he must show kindness. The more kindness he shows, the greater the pressure he will feel. When faced with the choice, The less likely it is to object easily.
This big court meeting after the opening of the Yamen will inevitably raise some profound questions, and Zhu Houzhao also needs the unconditional support of these ministers.
Life is full of politics, which Zhu Houzhao cannot avoid.
Time flies so fast, the Lantern Festival passes in the blink of an eye. On the nineteenth day of the first lunar month, a lantern in the East Palace approached the prince's chamber at night and woke up his highness.
Zhu Houzhao stood up with his eyes sore and swollen, and asked: "Father, is there anyone going to report it?"
The eunuch didn't care about the coldness on the ground. He held up his hands and said with a trembling voice, "I haven't heard back from Your Highness yet."
Zhu Houzhao sighed. He had asked for the Qingning Palace matter before. Seeing that the emperor was not doing well, many eunuchs had actually taken the prince's words first and did not dare to disobey him in the slightest.
However, the previous concealment was for the emperor's health, but it was obviously inappropriate to hide it at the last moment.
He sighed and said, "Send someone to report it."
For several months, many people were afraid that something would happen. Unexpectedly, the news did not come, but the bad news about Qingning Palace came. The Empress Dowager Zhou lasted a few months longer than in history, but she died suddenly when Emperor Hongzhi was seriously ill. It is not known what impact it will have.
The eighteenth year of Hongzhi really started from nothing.
At this time, Liu Jin, Qiu Yun and others arrived. They hurriedly changed the prince's clothes. Qiu Yun also took an embroidered bag and said, "Your Highness, here are cut ginseng. Hold a few more pieces in your mouth!"
The prince has been working hard these days during the Chinese New Year, but now he has not had time to repair himself, and something bad has happened again. This is a critical moment and a challenge. I don’t know if the prince can survive this.
"Okay." Zhu Houzhao patted his cheek and ordered, "Open the palace door!"
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I took a nap at noon and overslept, so the update is an hour late, sorry.
It's hard to tell if I'll update tomorrow. I'll look at my status and I'll update one chapter if I can. It's so top-heavy...
96.
royal hired cat
