From the time I received the imperial edict on March 27, a month has passed in the blink of an eye.
On April 1st, he paid homage to King Xingxian, and on April 2nd, he bid farewell to Princess Chiang. On April 21st, Sijun arrived in Liangxiang County, about 70 to 80 miles southwest of the capital.
Zhu Houcong was sitting in a large carriage decorated with ivory. This was the prince's ceremonial vehicle for long-distance travel, and it was called the Elephant Chariot.
The welcoming group came in a light carriage, and naturally did not drag a full guard of honor.
The overall height of the elephant chariot is one foot, one foot and six inches, its width is seven feet and nine inches, and its length is nearly two feet.
The compartment space on the car is only about 1.6 meters in length and height, and about 1.3 meters in width.
The red painted wooden boards, red flower carpets, red brocade mattresses, red curtains, and woven gold seats in the carriage are all distinguished and full of joy.
At the front of the carriage, Lu Song was on the left, taking on the responsibility of driving the car, and on his right was Lu Bing, who was acting as a passenger.
Now Lu Bing was there as a guard with a knife in his hand, and his little red face was extremely serious.
The cub Lu Bing went on a long trip for the first time, and he was excited and proud along the way.
What an honor it is to be the heir to the throne?
He now has the status of a "Jinyi Guardsman", that is, a reserve officer in the Jinyi Guards.
At this time, Zhu Houcong showed great kindness to his Lu family. Everyone along the way knew that Lu Bing was Zhu Houcong's younger brother. Now that the front and rear wings of the Yinghu Army are properly guarded, this "speeding" is actually given to such a twelve-year-old child.
"Your Highness, the Liangxiang County seat is ahead." Huang Jin walked to the side of the elephant carriage and reminded him.
The car is not moving very fast, it is about the same speed as a person walking.
Zhu Houcong raised the curtain in the elephant carriage and looked out curiously.
Cui Yuan, who was not far behind him, also rode a horse and came closer to introduce: "There are two major gateways in the capital. One is Tongzhou, the mouth of the waterway, and the other is Liangxiang, the throat of the land. Your Highness, once you get here, you can go there tomorrow. Entering the palace."
Cui Yuan is 43 years old and can be said to be the number one handsome man among the people Zhu Houcong has come into contact with.
I remember that Lao Qin once said that in order to prevent the risk of his relatives interfering in politics, Zhu Yuanzhang made rigid rules for his future descendants: whether they are princes or maids, they should choose good families for marriages rather than queens of meritorious officials or important ministers.
In addition to having to marry one or two people in order to stabilize the political power in the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, since the Yongle Dynasty when Zhu Di chose a handsome boy for his youngest sister, the rigid criterion for choosing a prince-in-law was to be handsome.
Cui Yuan is not only handsome, but also has high cultural literacy.
When Zhu Houcong heard his introduction, he smiled and nodded: "Thank you for your hard work, Prince Consort Cui. I heard Master Yuan say that Prince Consort Cui is well-known for his virtuous, intelligent and resourceful people, and I was deeply impressed along the way. Due to the ancestral training, Prince Consort Cui is not allowed to enter the court. I have become an official, but I will remember the merits of welcoming him."
"I dare not claim credit." Cui Yuan saluted on his horse, "It is my duty to handle the mission well."
"I heard that my younger brother Cui Yun is also very knowledgeable. Are you still preparing for the exam next year?"
Cui Yuandeng's heart suddenly moved and he lowered his head in agreement.
Zhu Houcong just smiled: "I hope I can be named on the gold list this time."
"Your Highness has high hopes, I... I will definitely teach my younger brother more."
How did Sijun notice that his younger brother was preparing for the next examination? If Cui Yuan could no longer understand the meaning of Zhu Houcong's words, he would be ashamed of his reputation for being smart.
Zhu Houcong added: "After I ascend the throne, I still have something to do to trouble the prince-in-law. My mother, concubine, and sisters will ask the prince-in-law to make another trip to welcome him to the capital."
"Your Majesty, if you have an order, don't dare to disobey it!"
Zhu Houcong nodded and looked at the gradually clear outline of the county in front of him: "We are finally here!"
…
Liangxiang is a very famous place, and there was a major event in the history of the Ming Dynasty.
It is said that when Renzong Zhu Gaochi died, Zhu Zhanji was still in Nanjing. His second uncle, King Zhu Gaoxu of Han, laid a dragnet along the way to intercept him, but Zhu Zhanji suddenly appeared in Liangxiang, accepted the imperial edict, and ascended the throne as Emperor Xuande.
Now Zhu Houcong has also arrived in Liangxiang under the imperial edict, and people who want to stop him in some aspects have also arrived.
An army of 3,000 people was stationed outside the city, and dozens of royal attachés lived in the Xichayuan in the north of the city. This was the residence of one of the patrol censors of Shuntian Prefecture.
When the escort army surrounded Sijun and passed by in a mighty manner, the people in Liangxiang County were shocked.
The new emperor is about to ascend the throne, and the magistrate of Liangxiang has made the situation quite big.
Sitting in the elephant chariot, looking out through the cracks in the curtains at the people kneeling on both sides of the street, Zhu Houcong looked quite emotional.
Zhu Houcong didn't know how many civilians were recruited from various places along the way, not only to ensure his safe entry into Beijing, but also to make him feel the loyalty and surrender of the officials and people under his rule.
There have always been people who dissuaded the emperor from going on tours. In addition to being inconvenient and causing chaos in the place, another main reason is the cost.
All the roads we passed through were smoothed and swept in advance.
Now is the busy time for spring plowing and farming, and Zhu Houcong doesn't know how many people he has disturbed along the way.
When staying in each place, local officials will come to the post house or station to pay a visit at noon or evening.
Zhu Houcong also met him, but when he got there, people became a little numb: With so many people in a hurry, how many can they remember?
With these thoughts in mind, the team finally arrived at the place where they will stay tonight.
As soon as they moved their bodies, Liang Chu, Mao Cheng and others arrived at the temporary residence, called the Xingdian.
"Your Highness, Yang Yingkui, a member of the Ministry of Etiquette, has come to present the ceremony for entering the city tomorrow."
Yuanwailang is an official of the fifth rank.
Currently, in the Ministry of Rites, Mao Cheng is the boss and the second rank. There are two ministers on the left and right under him, and the rest are the ministers, ministers, and principals with specific duties.
Mao Cheng said respectfully to Zhu Houcong: "Tomorrow His Highness will enter the city, and everyone in the Ministry of Rites is making preparations. I left the capital in a hurry that day, and all the ceremonies for Your Highness's entry into the city, palace and enthronement were drawn up by the officials of the Ministry of Rites during this period. Yang Yingkui The envoy is here, I wonder if His Highness can meet him?"
With Mao Cheng, the boss of the Ministry of Rites, here, naturally the person delivering the official document should be handed over to Mao Cheng first.
Zhu Houcong smiled and nodded.
It is naturally not easy to be the first among the hundreds of officials in the capital to leave the city for dozens of miles. This can be regarded as a second-level contribution to the establishment.
Since Mao Cheng mentioned it, he must be his confidant.
Zhu Houcong saw Yang Yingkui and asked about it and found out that he was a Jinshi in the sixth year of Zhengde. The 25-year-old Jinshi is now 35 years old, which is the golden period for career advancement. From the fifth grade to the sixth ministry position, the future is bright.
"Are the cities and palaces ready?" Zhu Houcong asked with a smile, "Executive member Yang, please show me the ritual notes first."
Mao Cheng nodded with a smile and asked him to hand it over to Si Jun himself, just to support him in front of Si Jun. With the impression, it will be faster to be promoted later.
This time, with the success of welcoming him, Mao Cheng, who was only one step away from entering the cabinet, was already thinking about the future.
The new emperor's enthronement ceremony was successfully organized, and then Emperor Zhengde discussed the temple name, posthumous title, and funeral ceremony. After so much credit and hard work, it's time to join the cabinet, right?
Mao Cheng was in a happy mood when he heard Zhu Houcong ask suspiciously and strangely: "Why are you asking me to enter the palace from Dong'an Gate and accept the letter in the Wenhua Hall to persuade me to enter? Isn't this the etiquette for the crown prince to ascend the throne?"
"Your Highness...what's wrong?" Mao Cheng didn't react for a moment.
Among the crowd, Xie Changjie suddenly had a sudden thought in his heart: Didn't we agree that we would ascend the throne smoothly first and "sit on the fire and taste the courage"?
What is the purpose of restraining the palace officials for so many days and forgetting about the dispute about the successor and succession that day?
He couldn't help but look at Zhu Houcong, and then at Yuan Zonggao, who had already joined them.
The old guy was looking at Mao Cheng and Liang Chu with a calm expression.
A thought flashed through Xie Changjie's mind: His Highness cannot trust me after all... They have obviously colluded!
Zhu Houcong put away his smile.
Along the way, he was easy-going, studious, and humble, and he became more and more harmonious with Liang Chu and others after they were rewarded with "old things for the emperor."
Now that his face suddenly turned gloomy like this, the humble and polite feeling of a young junior disappeared.
Liang Chu and Mao Cheng couldn't help but think of how they felt when they met him for the first time: an unusual calmness beyond their years.
They didn't know how many times they had seen the young man's eyes.
Arriving all the way to the outskirts of Beijing with such fanfare, the city was already preparing for the grand ceremony of his entering the palace and enthroning tomorrow. Zhu Houcong finally got something that he could use as an excuse.
He shook the instrument in his hand casually, and his voice revealed the repressed confusion and anger: "The imperial edict asked me to inherit the throne of the emperor, not to be the prince. Mr. Liang Ge, Mao Shangshu, and the Ministry of Rites regarded me as Crown Prince, what do you mean?"
Yang Yingkui, who was still very happy just now, suddenly felt cold all over his body.
Something big happened!
