Zhou Zhao, who had just recovered from a serious illness, taught Zhu Houcong another lesson about "relying on his old age and selling his old age". Zhu Houcong did not stop thinking after asking Huang Jin to send him back.
Zhu Qingping on the side hesitated to speak.
She cannot talk too much about national affairs. As a female official beside the emperor, she can only do whatever His Majesty orders.
Then Zhu Houcong said: "Let's go to the palace garden for a walk."
It was not called the Royal Garden at this time. Zhu Houcong had just been thinking for a moment and suddenly realized that it had been almost half a year since he entered the palace, but he had never set foot in this small garden behind Kunning Palace.
This was partly because the feudal king had many problems to solve, and partly because he was driven by a sense of mission and thought about too many things to do during his time in the palace.
After ascending to the throne, he actually lived a much more social life than his original life as an accountant.
Every day, I actively learn about many texts, figures, and trends about the empire, or study ideological issues such as Neo-Confucianism and Psychology. Day after day, I ponder the human heart and the gains and losses of some of my actions.
"Are you always on tenterhooks around me?" Zhu Houcong suddenly asked Gao Zhong after crossing the Kunning Gate.
Gao Zhong knelt down immediately: "I only know how to do things with my heart. Your Majesty is merciful. I have never felt nervous."
But his actions said it all.
When a leader is diligent to a certain extent, the people below him are really nervous at all times, for fear that their mistakes will be found.
What's more, is it still at this time when the imperial power is up for grabs?
"That's good, let's get up." Zhu Houcong smiled lightly and looked at the palace garden at this time.
Although the memory is blurry, there are still many things that are different at this moment. Zhu Houcong couldn't tell what was different from the Imperial Garden he had visited before. At this moment, it was probably more secluded.
There aren't many people in the harem now.
Except for the Empress Dowager Zhang and the Xia family, as well as the Empress Dowager Shao, the Empress Dowager Jiang, and the two princesses, all the concubines of the previous emperors in the palace have been marginalized and will no longer set foot in the forbidden palace garden, which covers an area of more than 10,000 square meters.
Zhu Houcong walked slowly in the garden and suddenly said casually: "Let's change the name to Imperial Garden. The name Gonghouyuan lacks the royal atmosphere."
I'm afraid the name here will be changed in the future. No matter what, I still have a lot of time. Change it first so that there is no chance of being changed by others later.
After Gao Zhong received the decree, Zhu Houcong went all the way north and looked at a location next to the North Palace wall.
He had the impression that there should be many rockery rocks in this place, but now it is a palace higher than the palace wall.
"What's the name of this place?"
"Your Majesty, this is called the Flower Viewing Hall." Gao Zhong replied with a somewhat uneasy smile, "Although there are not many flowers and trees planted in the imperial garden, when you look at the Flower Viewing Hall, you can see that it is hidden among the big trees in the pavilion. It’s not interesting at all.”
"Go up and have a look."
So I climbed up to the Flower Viewing Hall. To the north, I can see the scenery outside the northern palace wall. To the south...
Zhu Houcong stood on the high platform and vaguely saw Xia supporting her at the side, while Queen Mother Zhang was walking slowly on the west side.
Think about it, as an emperor, looking at the imperial garden from this high place, I'm afraid that the "flowers" he sees are mainly the concubines who are trapped in the palace and can only come here to relax.
There are not many flowers in the imperial garden now.
Queen Mother Zhang and the others walked very slowly, and there were not many people around them.
Zhu Houcong seemed to be admiring the scenery, but in fact he was still thinking about what Zhou Zhao said.
He was able to ascend to the throne of God because Zhu Houzhao had no heirs.
Because he knew that the vassal kings were "waste" in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, Zhu Houcong really didn't pay attention to them.
But does an emperor really need to be very good and diligent? Although the feudal kings are useless, they are still very good mascots. As long as they have blood, some caring people can do something by supporting a certain vassal king.
From Zhu Houcong's level, there is now a lot of information that can be gathered together, and he also has knowledge that transcends the times.
What has never happened in history may happen because of some of your own operations now.
The vassal king is indeed the thread that can be held at the lowest cost: if someone is really dissatisfied with him, Zhu Houcong, they will have to find one of the current vassal kings to cooperate, otherwise it will be a pure rebellion in the stable period of the dynasty with the difficulty of hell. .
Zhu Houcong thought for a while and then said: "I see Empress Dowager Cishou and Empress Zhuang Su, so go over and say hello."
Queen Mother Zhang and Lady Xia were obviously surprised to see the emperor appear here. After all, they had never seen him here before.
"Aunt, the emperor's sister-in-law, please go to the pavilion over there and take a rest."
So the three of them sat down in the pavilion next to the rockery and small pond in the southwest corner of the Imperial Garden. Gao Zhong and Zhu Qingping naturally ordered the accompanying eunuchs and maids to bring tea and snacks from the food boxes.
Queen Mother Zhang switched to fake smile mode again, her face looking a little stiff.
Zhu Houcong's words moved the hearts of two middle-aged and elderly women: "Yuan Jinsheng was too eager to pre-select ladies outside the palace under the pretext of holy will. I have made a promise to the queen mother and the emperor's sister-in-law, but I have always remembered this. thing."
Yuan Jinsheng was mentioned, but the adoption was confirmed again in the second half of the sentence. Queen Mother Zhang and Xia had different feelings.
Zhu Houcong said with a smile: "As for the adoption, we have to make sure that there will be no disputes between the legitimate mother and the biological mother in the future. I originally thought of getting married, but later I found out that the emperor's sister-in-law had two sisters, one married to Wei Guogong, and the other to Wei Guogong. Son of Shouning Hou."
Seeing that he had really thought about this issue seriously, Xia couldn't help but feel a little moved.
If she really takes her sister as a concubine and gives birth to a child and adopts it in her name, then she will still have the status of an aunt and can move around.
But Empress Dowager Zhang didn't think so. Was the emperor's words implying that the Zhang family now had a relationship with the empress dowager and empress in the palace, as well as a relationship with top ministers outside the palace through marriage?
She now knew that her brain was much worse than the emperor's, so she didn't answer and listened quietly to what the emperor wanted to say.
"Although I proposed a way to achieve both ends that day, many ministers later expressed their dissatisfaction, thinking that if the arrangements were not made properly in the future, there might be major disputes." Zhu Houcong sighed, "Now that the funeral ceremony of the emperor's brother has been completed, I I have been thinking about this matter these days. I met here by chance today, and I would like to seek the opinions of my aunt and the emperor's sister-in-law."
"...What do you mean by your majesty? Please give me your instructions." Empress Dowager Zhang looked at him with great vigor.
"The first method is to wait." Zhu Houcong smiled at Mrs. Further back.”
Thinking about the difficulty of the royal heir, Xia's face paled slightly. Not to mention being a prince when he is born, if all of them survive, the third and fourth princes will probably be a few years away.
"The second method is to choose the youngest son from the sect now." Zhu Houcong looked at the Queen Mother Zhang, "Check the kinship list in the sect's house, decide on a suitable child, go through the ceremony, and the name will be decided. Come down. This method is quick, but after the adoption, I am afraid that the prince will have to be conferred in advance and the vassal will be established as soon as possible. "
After Zhu Houcong finished speaking, he looked at them.
Empress Dowager Zhang forced a smile: "I have also discussed this matter with Empress Zhuang Su. After all, those who have to be crowned kings and vassals are all of the Zhu family's blood. It is really not appropriate to cause more trouble to Your Majesty."
"So, both aunt and the emperor's wife think the second method is better?"
Empress Dowager Zhang said meaningfully: "After His Majesty's note of thanks arrived that day, Academician Chiang Kai-shek made clear the hidden dangers. With Your Majesty's blood and blood, I'm afraid there will always be disputes in the future, so that's fine."
Zhu Houcong didn't know if it was because he kept running over to greet her every day, which made Empress Dowager Zhang more and more intolerable.
She is no longer the woman with the highest status in the palace, so the palace wall becomes more and more like a prison wall.
"In that case, I will tell you and start making preparations for this matter." Zhu Houcong laughed, "Find a good candidate first, and then discuss where to establish the vassal."
After chatting for a few more words, Zhu Houcong began to walk back.
He knew not to be too suspicious of Yang Tinghe, as that would form a vicious cycle. In history, although Yang Tinghe had some contacts with Prince Ning, he was later forced to become an official by Jiajing with great rituals, his son was exiled, and he never planned anything.
The matter in Guangdong and Guangxi was just Yang Tinghe's last ditch effort, wanting Zhu Houcong to see the actual situation in the Ming Dynasty.
But because of Zhu Houcong's emphasis on the ocean, and because of the guidance of some secret hands, this matter has had a chain reaction after all.
One of the key figures is Fang Muxian, the master butler of Shouning Hou Zhang Heling whom Wang Zuo found out.
His shadow is behind the Zhang family's business and many of the Zhang family's current decisions.
Now, in addition to Xu Pengju, the Zhang family, in addition to Zhu Houzhao's father-in-law Xia Jia, later became in-laws with the former cabinet minister Li Dongyang.
If Zhu Houcong remembers correctly, the Zhang family will marry the Kong family in the future, and Zhang Yanling's daughter will marry the next generation of Duke Yansheng. The mother of Yan Shenggong was Li Dongyang's daughter.
Li Dongyang, who once impeached the Zhang brothers, has no objection to this marriage?
With the minds of the Zhang family brothers, how could they have such a big plan? With their status as relatives of the country, how could they allow literary giants like Li Dongyang and the Kong family to form such a relationship with them?
And this Fang Muxian, after Wang Zuo's many investigations, actually seemed to have some vague relationship with Fang Xiaoru back then.
However, recently, Zhu Zhishan's "Wild Notes", which has been written for several years, has been discussed by more and more people in Jiangnan. The protagonist among them is Zhu Di, the "King Successor"?
Returning to Qianqing Palace, Zhu Houcong looked south from a distance.
Are all the six people in Wenyuan Pavilion subdued by his "wise and divine martial arts"?
Farther to the southeast, who have unspeakable thoughts, or are they being taken advantage of by certain people?
What new changes will be brought about by choosing a person from the vassal clan as Zhu Houzhao's stepson?
"Call Zhang Boring."
…
The East Police Factory was changed to the Internal Police Factory. The reason why Yang Ting and others agreed was because of a major change.
The original Dongchang was supervised by eunuchs, who had the authority to arrest subjects directly without going through the Three Laws Division.
The current inner factory, after the transition is completed, will only be commanded by military generals Xunchen, and their subsequent duties will only be to inspect the enemy's secret spies and rebels who may spread to the Ming Dynasty. Correspondingly, there is also an outsourced factory, which has now spread to Southeast Asia.
The factory guards, who have always existed like a shadow all day long, at least lacked a clear authority and authority to make the courtiers uneasy.
So now the mastermind behind the Southeast Mystery Bureau is already a major case that the inner factory can definitely handle.
Zhang Bor actually didn't understand how to operate such an internal guard. Although Zhu Houcong was not a professional, he had many insights for future generations.
In addition, his internal funds are temporarily sufficient.
Zhang Bor stayed in the Dongnuan Pavilion of Qianqing Palace for more than two hours.
When he left, his face was very solemn.
For him, this is new territory. But from the emperor's previous secret instructions and the amount of silver allocated to him, he knew that this might be an important case for His Majesty to stabilize the imperial power.
Internal factories must have new channels and new ways to obtain information.
All the original Dongchang fans were called back. No outsiders knew what was going on in the original Dongchang Yamen north of Donghuamen.
At the national policy meeting, it was naturally a safe move to select someone from the clan to adopt Zhu Houzhao's name, and to make him a king and a vassal as soon as possible.
The matter was handed over to the Ministry of Rites and the Zongren Mansion.
"Now that the funeral ceremony of the emperor's brother has been completed, the first year of Jiajing is approaching, and I am already sixteen years old." Zhu Houcong said on the throne, "Zhang Fu respectfully invites me to start preliminarily selecting ladies in Guangdong, and use this to propagate Guangdong next year. Do you think it is okay? ?Can Southeast also start early?”
I don't know why, but everyone looked at him with complicated eyes.
"Is it inappropriate?" Zhu Houcong asked.
Yan Song coughed: "The country's foundation is important, and it should be. But your majesty, if you select such a draft, wouldn't it be too early to decide on the candidate? In this case, I might lose the Taizu's original intention of selecting from good families..."
He didn't say it clearly, he just said that it was too political.
In fact, the things that everyone thinks are weird include: Are you a hot-blooded young man? You finally started to miss women, and you opened your mouth just to cooperate with political actions?
Now we will first pre-select Shu people from Guangdong and Jiangnan. There is no doubt that this will calm some people's hearts or divide them.
Does it not weigh enough and needs to be appeased? If it is of sufficient weight, can it still be called an ordinary good family?
What about the risk to relatives in the future?
Zhu Houcong thought for a while and then said: "I think that to prevent foreign relatives from interfering in politics, we still have to rely on the management system of foreign relatives, rather than just selecting people with shallow foundations from the source. Once you become a foreign relative, you will suddenly enjoy glory and honor, and your virtue will be great." The harm of incompatible talents is even greater. Families with a certain foundation may be more aware of the general situation. They only need to use the system to prevent relatives from causing trouble in the current dynasty or when the old and new dynasties change."
The ministers in the royal study came to their muscle memory. They felt that this was another big topic involving a wide range of things. Will it take a long time to discuss?
"Your Majesty, why not follow the instructions of our ancestors and select a draft? Now that the funeral ceremony of the late emperor has been completed, in order to consolidate the foundation of the country, the draft is imminent. However, if we pre-select ladies at this time, I am afraid that some people in the world will talk about it." Wang Qiong suddenly said something .
"Discussion?" Zhu Houcong looked at him, thought for a moment and then said, "But given the current situation, some people will say that the emperor's brother is getting married shortly after his death. Is there anything worthy of consideration in terms of etiquette?"
"Previously, a minister pretended to pre-select a lady, and the official also impeached him." Wang Qiong stared at him deeply, "I think it is better to wait until next year. Your Majesty has this intention today, and I am at ease, knowing that your Majesty has this in mind event."
Zhu Houcong laughed: "Of course I have this matter in my mind. As for the discussion on this matter, I brought it up now just to see who would discuss it. The emperor's brother chose me to succeed him because he had no heirs. Isn't the foundation of the country the top priority at the moment? As for the pre-selection of ladies, it is only limited to Guangdong, South Zhili, Zhejiang, and Fujian. Therefore, those who discuss it are either superficial and pedantic, or they have other ideas. Do you think so?"
Yang Tinghe and others were very worried: the clan members selected an adopted son to be adopted by Emperor Zhengde, and they also pre-selected ladies in Southeast and Guangdong, all of which were aimed at the current mystery.
Who will jump out to discuss it?
