The Zhu Feng mentioned by Zhu Houzhao was the second son of Cheng Guogong Zhu Fu.
Zhu Feng made outstanding contributions in the battles at Zijingguan and Liangxiang in the second year of Zhengde. For a noble man like him, even if he did nothing, he would still receive a position. If he has made some merits now, he will be successful in the future. He must have inherited the title of Duke.
When the emperor saw someone who was still useful, he would naturally not be stingy about rewarding him. Zhu Feng was only twenty-six years old and served as deputy commander-in-chief in Datong.
His father Cheng Guogong performed well. After serving as a garrison in Nanjing for a period, he was transferred to the capital by Zhu Houzhao to take charge of the governor's office. The twelve regiments and camps in Beijing are all under his command.
It is equivalent to replacing the original British Duke Zhang Mao's position.
The Xunchen group is both good and bad, and we can only knock out a few and reuse a few.
In addition to the direct personal guard being led by the emperor himself, the leader of the 12th Regiment Battalion is also a sensitive position. It falls on Cheng Guogong, and there is no other way, even if he occupies a stable position.
You have to take one.
However, Zhu Houzhao was different from the previous emperors. In the past, when Zhang Mao led the Beijing camp, in reality, because the status of the nobles had greatly declined, most of the Beijing camp was in the hands of the Ministry of War. However, during the Zhengde period, the civil servants were no longer so strong, and the military power had long been The emperor took it away bit by bit. When it came to the people employed, he was more concerned about it and controlled it strictly.
Therefore, Duke Cheng Guo was more powerful than Duke Ying, who had been in charge of the capital for more than 20 years.
However, as the old saying goes, it is difficult for an upright official to stop family affairs.
Duke Cheng Guo originally believed that "after all hardships come happiness", he did not expect that in addition to his second son Zhu Feng, he also had an eldest son Zhu Lin.
Zhu Lin is not a good person. Historically, he was dismissed from the imperial guard for crimes. He requested to be promoted to a nobleman many times but was rejected. It was not until the fourth year of Jiajing that he succeeded in the imperial examination. As a result, he served for three or four years. He's dead again, probably weak.
In other words, because he was such a troublemaker, no one held the title of Duke Cheng for several years.
Now, seeing that his younger brother has made meritorious service in the war, and that his biological father's status in the Zhengde Dynasty has also risen, he feels arrogant on the one hand, and resentful and dissatisfied on the other.
He was causing trouble outside all day long, which gave Duke Cheng a headache.
The fourth year of Zhengde was almost at the end of the year, and the Great Court Meeting in the coming year was not far away. According to the usual practice, this would involve personnel adjustments, so people from all over the capital were obviously busy, not to mention that Wei Ningbo suddenly became active.
After a little inquiry, you will know what Wei Ningbo is doing.
Zhu Lin didn't feel ashamed, so he grabbed a few friends and went straight to Uncle Weining's house, asking Uncle Weining to recommend him by name.
This made Wang Xuan very difficult to deal with. Even if he wanted to refuse, he couldn't refuse the son of Duke Cheng. But if he wanted to agree, recommending such a person to the emperor was such a bad thing.
Helpless, he had to go to his sister and said, "Should I report this matter to the Emperor truthfully and ask the Emperor for a ruling?"
Wang Zhi immediately shook his head, "Of course not. The emperor has many things to do, so he wants to listen to you talk about such boring things? Besides, your report has also offended Duke Cheng. What's the difference from a direct rejection?"
"But I heard that Prince Chengguo is greedy for pleasure. The two great things in his life are gambling and beauties. Should I recommend such a person to Your Majesty?"
This is a problem.
"Your Majesty gives you the right to recommend to you to enhance the prestige of Wei Ning Bo's house among the nobles. However, if it is not done well, it can easily backfire on you. However, people like Zhu Lin can neither explain it to him nor make peace with him. The Duke has made it clear that it is really difficult to handle." Wang Zhi bit her lip lightly, she would be helpless even if she was caught in the middle of such a difficult matter.
"Second brother, don't worry, wait until I go to see His Majesty and get a feel for what's going on."
"good!"
There are actually big things going on in the palace recently.
Because Concubine Shu was about to give birth, Zhu Houzhao became increasingly nervous. And amidst this tension, news suddenly came out that Queen Xia had a happy pulse!
This makes this winter extra special, after all, the Queen's daughter is the legitimate son.
On the night of the second day of December, Concubine Shu suddenly began to have stomach pain.
The emperor woke him up in the middle of the night.
Outside the palace, heavy snow fell like goose feathers, and the wind blew hard, blowing on the face like a knife.
Zhu Houzhao ordered someone to light a lantern, and then put on his cloak and went over. His ears were red from the cold. He also knew that it was useless for him to come, but what man could still sleep at such a time?
Concubine Shu screamed heart-breakingly inside, and Po Wen seemed to have no other words to say except "use your strength." A few hours later, it was still like this at dawn, and Zhu Houzhao was no longer calm.
Concubine Jing stayed with him all night, and now she held his hand and said, "Don't worry, Your Majesty, Concubine Shu has been taking her pulse since she became pregnant, and she will be fine until today."
Concubine Jing was the original Dr. Kui'er.
Because she was not born in a talent show, she had the tallest figure, which was very suitable for the emperor.
"Youzhi."
"My slave is here."
"It's almost dawn, please go out with a message. I won't go to court today. Unless it's urgent, don't send a note to the palace."
"yes."
There is a hint of fish belly white in the sky, and the red Forbidden City becomes white because of a layer of snow.
Zhu Houzhao stood at the door and rubbed his hands in the heat, "In this weather, the wind and snow are still unabated..."
Before he finished speaking, there was a sudden scream from the main hall.
Concubine Jing stood up and said, "Give birth!"
"How is Concubine Shu? How is my Concubine Shu? Concubine Jing, go and have a look. Why is there no sound?"
"yes."
The emperor didn't ask whether he was a prince or a princess, he first asked the concubine Shu. That's why she entered the palace without hesitation. The emperor is such a man.
Wen Po over there also took the child out, surrounded her and said, "Congratulations, Your Majesty, it's a beautiful little princess."
"Okay, okay, come on, let's watch and enjoy!"
The newborn's face was wrinkled and unattractive, but Zhu Houzhao still had a sense of intimacy because he was connected by blood. No matter how difficult it was, he sown repeatedly and finally had a son and a daughter.
After teasing him for a while, he gave the child to the wet nurse and then went into the main hall.
Concubine Jing was also there. After taking her pulse, she replied: "Sister Concubine Shu was exhausted and fainted from exhaustion. But it's nothing serious."
"Thank God." Zhu Houzhao took a closer look. There was no ruddy color on his beautiful face, and he was completely pale. The sweat on his forehead had been wiped dry, but his wet hair told him that this must be a big crime.
"In the future, Concubine Jing will also have to experience this. Are you afraid?"
Concubine Jing blushed a little, "I, my concubine, originally wanted to give birth to children for the emperor."
Zhu Houzhao stroked her face, feeling tired after being nervous.
It was always a great joy to have a new princess in the Tian family. It happened to be completely dawn, and under the emperor's instructions, the harem was decorated with lanterns and colors to celebrate.
Queen Xia and the other concubines were all here, and a group of women were playing with the newborn baby. The chatter was actually quite lively.
After Concubine Shu woke up later, although it was obvious that she liked children very much, she was somewhat concerned about the gender issue.
When the emperor was being gentle with him by the bedside, Concubine Shu lowered her eyebrows and said, "I failed to give birth to a prince for you. I failed to live up to my expectations. Please punish me."
Zhu Houzhao lowered his head and said in his ear: "I want to punish you! How many days have you not slept with me? After your confinement is over, I will punish you to use the posture you least want to do."
Because there were other concubines in the room, Concubine Shu was confused for a moment, and then she became very embarrassed, which made Zhu Houzhao laugh.
Probably because she was pregnant, Queen Xia seemed to like her child very much because she saw that the child's maternal instincts were strong and that it was a daughter, which was no threat to her. "This is your majesty's eldest princess, has your majesty decided on a name?" "
"Not really, but the eldest princess is different. I have already asked the learned people from the Ministry of Rites to go there."
"You have to have a nickname you can call."
"A nickname? Concubine Shu, what do you think it's called?"
"I listen to your Majesty."
Zhu Houzhao was not in a hurry. He called Zaihe and Zaiyi, who could already walk, over, pointed and said: "She will be your sister from now on. As a brother, you must always protect her. Do you know? I actually have an extravagant wish. I just hope that you can live in harmony as brothers and sisters."
He didn't want Zhengde to provide future generations with the script of palace struggle against prince.
As the number of heirs increased, he actually had to face this problem.
"Your Majesty, how can you call it extravagant hope?" Concubine Jing was bolder and pointed it out directly.
Zhu Houzhao smiled and said nothing.
In the afternoon, the minister did not give him a free day in the true sense. You Zhi came to report that he was the Duke of the country and wanted to see him.
"Dong Cheng?"
"yes."
Duke Cheng Guo will usually be fine.
Zhu Houzhao thought for a moment, clapped his hands and left the harem, "Explain it."
