"I have issued an edict that since the King of Chu is gone, there will be no unification of the country's affairs. When the prince grows up, he should be ordered to seize the title. You will gather for discussion and hear about it."
In the Ministry of Rites, Zhang Zilin read out the imperial edict, and then said: "According to established rules, the prince of Chu, Xian Rong, is temporarily in charge of the affairs of the government. The prince is in mourning for his father. It is customary to ask for the title until the end of the reign. Let's do it like this."
This was a common practice after Yingzong. When a vassal king passed away, the quasi-heir king had to serve the 27-seven-month mourning period for the late king before he could formally apply for a title. During this period, the emperor would grant the king the power to temporarily take charge of the affairs of the government so that he could manage his clan.
"Grand Uncle," a doctor from the Ministry of Rites said, "Speaking of the request for a title, the request for a title from the Liao Prince's Palace has arrived again. According to the rules, the mourning period for Prince Gong of Liao has expired, and the prince of Liao ascended the throne..."
Located in Jingzhou, Huguang, the sixth generation king of the Liao vassal Zhu Chongxiao passed away in the 16th year of Zhengde. His son Zhu Zhige had previously followed the old practice of mourning and temporarily taking charge of government affairs as the quasi-sir king. Now that the mourning period has expired, memorials for the crown prince Zhu Zhige of Liao Dynasty are constantly being sent to the Ministry of Rites.
The doctor from the Ministry of Rites asked anxiously.
Although there have been many things going on in the court in the past few months, the attack on the feudal lord is a major event after all, and if it is delayed, it will inevitably lead to other associations.
Zhang Zilin already has the answer: "Your Majesty has a decree, it's accurate."
The emperor already had an idea in his mind about the clan.
The issue of vassal king has been separated from the framework of the past. Why should this title be difficult again?
Speaking of which, this also made Yang Tinghe and others feel relieved: they finally did not continue to persecute the vassal king at this juncture.
After the death of King Chu, the emperor had orders to appease the feudal king. Show him kindness first, and if the feudal king still stubbornly acts recklessly during the subsequent clean-up of water conservancy and other new laws, then he will be slapped down without hesitation.
At the same time, the prince of Chu first became the heir apparent and was in mourning. He would not officially become the king of Chu for the next three years. Since the Crown Prince of Liao can successfully claim the title of King of Liao, the Crown Prince of Chu doesn't have to worry about anything.
It was already the end of May when the decree arrived in Huguang.
Zhu Xianrong put on his official uniform and could do so when receiving orders.
After receiving the order, he changed into mourning clothes again. The sadness on his face did not diminish, but he felt very unhappy in his heart.
At this special time, didn't the emperor have the grace to let him attack the king of Chu directly and appease the vassal king? So this year’s Longevity Festival, will King Si of Chu enter Beijing during his mourning period?
According to the rules, after the death of a feudal king, the spirit needs to be inactive for a long time. After seven or a hundred days, the coffin was moved, the ceremony was carried out, and the burial was carried out... How could Zhu Xianrong, the heir-to-be, not be present at so many occasions?
This time the decree did not mention this issue.
"The Prince of Liao has officially crowned the King of Liao." Facing Zhang Luo's uncle Zhu Rongchan, who was organizing his father's funeral, Zhu Xianrong's eyes were gloomy, "Now I am only the heir apparent, and any trivial matter during the funeral period may be used to make a fuss. But we can’t say that Your Majesty intends to undermine our Chu vassal!”
Zhu Rongchan said: "Don't worry! If the king of Liao attacks the vassal, it at least shows that your majesty is not willing to directly cut off the vassal for any reason at this time, causing turmoil in the clan. When the king of Liao attacks, we, the Chu vassal, will send people to congratulate us. As a rule, the new king attacks the vassal. We can ask for some grace and encourage the King of Liao to test it a few more times to see what His Majesty wants."
"How to test?"
"In the past, in order to avoid disaster, King Jian of Liao Dynasty moved to Jingzhou to concentrate on heirs and gave birth to more than 20 children. By the time of Hongzhi, there were hundreds of branch clans of Liao Fan. In the fifth year of Hongzhi, the queen of Songzi County did something. Did they ever break into Jingzhou Mansion and pay their annual salary without permission? Later, together with Yibin, they oppressed the people, robbed rich merchants and even the guards' money and food. After King Hui of Liao reported the matter, they even wanted to kill King Hui of Liao, and were finally imprisoned. The high wall of Fengyang has been destroyed. The Liao clan is in trouble, doesn’t the new King of Liao want to find a solution?"
It's about Hongzhi's past five years.
The fact that more and more clans were born and the life of the lower clan clan members became increasingly difficult was very prominent in Liao Fan.
Among the descendants of Prince Songzi, a son of the first Liao king, some of the clan brothers of the Liao king at that time were very dissatisfied that their annual salary could not be paid to them in time. Later, relying on their clan status to bully the market and rob people of their wealth, the King of Liao reported them for fear of trouble, but this did not solve the problem.
After it happened that the lower-level clan members of the Liao vassal were preparing to murder the King of Liao, the King of Liao was even more frightened and angry. After these people were arrested, although the King of Liao was afraid of the emperor, his anger towards his relatives was undisguised.
Although the clan members who planned to participate in the assassination had already been deprived of their titles and imprisoned in Fengyang High Wall, the King of Liao still decided to take revenge.
That night, he secretly sent people to the prison to attack those relatives who dared to plan to assassinate him. Over eighty people were killed overnight, and the scene was extremely bloody.
Regarding this matter, the civil servants sent to Jingzhou to handle the case turned a blind eye: more clan members dying and more internal conflicts would be a good thing for the court.
But coincidentally, not long after, the eldest son of the King of Liao and the son of the civil servant suddenly died suddenly, and the King of Liao also became seriously ill and died of pain two years later.
The eldest son died without any disease, and he himself died from gangrene. Naturally, it was said among the people that evil deeds come with evil consequences - after all, it is a sign of immorality to be so cruel to one's relatives and kill them all.
Now what Zhu Rongchan means is: The clan issue in the Liao Dynasty was so cruel more than 30 years ago, and it will only become more serious now.
However, the imperial court also took actions to clean up water conservancy and usurp the interests of the feudal king. It is also unclear what the clan policy will be in the future.
Should Zhu Zhige, the new king of Liao, face the problem of his own clan? Can you please ask for some grace to solve the Liao vassal issue that the court is also well aware of?
Liao Fan, who was "forced" so many clan members were ready to kill the prince more than thirty years ago, if he did not get a satisfactory answer, would he dare to be bold again in the current situation?
The current King of Liao, Zhu Zhige, was born in the year after the "Assassination of the King of Liao" incident, and is now thirty-two years old.
The title of King of Liao that he had been dreaming about for three years finally fell into place, and he became a real prince.
There were many questions before him now, but he only had one on his mind.
"Now that I am thirty-two years old, if I still cannot have any heirs, it is hard to say whether the King of Liao will be removed from his title in the future!"
The person Zhu Zhige spoke to was his wife, Princess Mao of Liao.
The two have been married for many years, but Zhu Zhige still has no children. And his princess, Mao, has a rather strong personality.
Now hearing Zhu Zhige ask this question with a hint of temptation, Mao nodded: "My father's mourning period has passed. Although he has experienced some twists and turns, since he has seized the throne, let's establish a secondary concubine."
"Then this king..." Zhu Zhige was overjoyed.
"I have already thought about this." Mao said with a straight face, "Although we want to reproduce children now, we cannot indulge in sexual desires. Firstly, the prince's health is not good, and secondly, at this critical moment, we, the Liao Fan, cannot teach anyone Take the handle. This time the concubine is the one who will be able to give birth to a child easily. I have already seen the daughter of the Deputy Qianhu of King Zuowei of Jingzhou."
Zhu Zhige was obedient and nodded in agreement.
This Mao was familiar with reading history and had a serious and decisive character. In the Liao Prince's Mansion, Zhu Zhige temporarily took charge of the affairs of the government as King Zhun Si. In fact, Mao was mainly in charge.
Now that she has become the official Princess of Liao, Mao's prestige in the palace will only become stronger.
No, she had already helped Zhu Zhige choose his second concubine. As for what the girl looked like, Zhu Zhige could only sigh in his heart.
Compared with Zhu Zhige who only cares about this matter at present, Mao has to think more about it.
She frowned and said: "There is no need to waste money and money on selecting a side chamber, just report it according to the rules. I, the Liao vassal clan, are eagerly waiting for the prince to ascend the throne. Now, there are so many interesting things in our branch. The families of those who hold the title of nobility are all looking forward to receiving gifts from the palace, and the prince also needs to use this gift to win over the hearts of the Liao vassal. When will the prince plan to call other clan members to the palace to congratulate him? "
"This...is the arrangement of the princess."
"What about the reward?"
"...Princess, it depends on which one you show respect to, and you will reward them more."
Those were the words that Mao was waiting for. After nodding, he added: "The prince's conferment ceremony and the first celebration ceremony are also going to be held."
Zhu Zhige's eyes lit up: "Do it!"
As a rule, every year on the first day of the new year, the winter solstice and the king's birthday, the officials of the royal palace and the civil and military officials of the attached yamen would come to the royal palace to congratulate him.
To the feudal lord, it was a status symbol. At that time, I really feel like I am being "worshipped".
It is indispensable to say at least one sentence: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, may you be prosperous and blessed."
It is neither the first day of the year nor the winter solstice or the king's birthday, but Zhu Zhige has just been crowned a prince and should officially show his face as a prince in front of Jingzhou civil and military officials.
In addition, the sealing ceremony is also a critical moment in life.
Mao just discussed all the big and small matters within the palace with him. She felt it was natural, and so did Zhu Zhige.
He was a little afraid of the Mao family, and Zhu Zhige did not dare to say much about the fact that he wanted to "indulge" and accept a few beauties but did not get any good looks from the Mao family.
When he arrived at his brother Zhu Zhichen, the prince of Guangyuan County, Zhu Zhige was very coveted when he saw his three beautiful concubines, Yue'e, Cui'er and Lanxiang.
"Brother Wang, we are preparing again today..."
Zhu Zhige nodded, and Zhu Zhichen grinned: "Now that you have become a prince, you must ask for more Lumi grace for the king's brother. The king's brother's house is in trouble!"
"That's natural, that's natural, take me quickly..."
Zhu Zhichen took him to a small courtyard. He could not share his beautiful concubines, but Zhu Zhichang collected many women in this courtyard for Zhu Zhige's lewd pleasure.
Otherwise, how could his health be so bad?
Although there is no shortage of women, Zhu Zhige is still more envious of Zhu Zhichen's uprightness and the beauty of all his concubines.
He began to enjoy his own happy life as a vassal king, and Zhu Zhichang closed the courtyard door for him with a smile.
Then, the smile on his face became weird.
Thirty-two years old and still childless, this brother Wang’s body is constantly being hollowed out like this. I don’t know how long he can survive.
It is not necessarily impossible for his younger brother to seize the position of King of Liao in the future.
Zhu Zhichen was thinking as he walked: His sister-in-law Wang is indeed not a simple person. Without her control, Zhu Zhige would have destroyed himself earlier.
I have to find a way to make her make a big mistake...
Mao is very busy.
To prepare the celebration gifts, you also have to arrange the congratulatory items. In addition, the Liao Fan clan had many things to deal with.
For example, among those who had planned to assassinate Zhu Zhige's grandfather, the two daughters of one of them came to her crying.
"Princess, your sins are not as bad as those of your descendants. This is a clan rule. My sister and I are both over thirty, so why can't you choose a guest of honor to marry us?"
Mao has a big head.
These two are both Zhu Zhige's cousins. After the sinner, the two county heads were over thirty and still unmarried. This was indeed something they should do for them.
However, Liao Fan had too many clansmen. If the two county heads choose Yibin, the court will immediately need another amount of Lumi.
After three years of mourning, the clan members of the Liao vassal had a backlog of things that required the King of Liao to report on their behalf.
Ask for rice, ask for favor, ask for name, ask for title... Knowing how sensitive Mao was in the past three years, how could he dare to let Liao Fan continue to "show his face" in front of the emperor? If His Majesty is angered, everything about the throne may go wrong!
But now that Zhu Zhige has officially sealed the deal, there is no reason to delay these matters any longer.
"I understand. I will report it to the prince and ask him to make a decision. Don't worry yet..."
Although she was actually making the decision on her behalf, on the surface, she still put Zhu Zhige's status above hers, and she didn't say enough.
She was so busy that she couldn't see Zhu Zhige helping. Envoys from Huguang vassals who came to attend the Liao King's attack ceremony also arrived in Jingzhou one after another.
These days, Zhu Zhige is not completely indifferent.
At least, immersed in the prince's feelings, he readily agreed to the requests of many clan members, and then secretly received many gifts from them, and even a pair of beauties they secretly donated.
The prince's happiness made him unable to extricate himself.
"Zhang Zhen, take these things to Zuo Changshi and ask him to help me draw up the memorial first."
Zhu Zhige wrote down all the things he had promised today, handed them to Zhang Zhen, the guard of the Royal Palace's Yiwei Department, and then hurried to a side courtyard outside the palace.
That pair of beauties haven't had enough of it yet.
Zhang Zhen was ready to rush to the side courtyard after finishing his work, but there was no need to rush, because the prince would definitely stay there for an hour or two.
So he took a trip back home. His son Zhang Wenming was still studying and preparing for another provincial examination next year.
Zhang Zhen first took a look at his father's physical condition.
The ancestors of the Zhang family were also hereditary to the Thousand Households, but Zhang Zhen's father was the second son and was not able to inherit the official position of the Thousand Households. After moving to Jiangling, Jingzhou, the Zhang family became just an ordinary military household.
Zhang Zhen's father stuttered and was nicknamed "Zhang Jianzi". However, "Zhang Jianzi" was enthusiastic and quick-hearted, and accumulated virtue throughout his life. His lifelong wish is for a big shot to come out of the Zhang family. For this reason, he named his three sons Yue, Zhen, and Zhu respectively. These are all heavy bronze weapons, which shows that "Zhang Jianzi" hopes that his descendants can honor their ancestors.
It's a pity that Zhang Zhen only got a palace guard. The boss and the third child are not promising either.
Although Zhang Zhen's son Zhang Wenming was already a scholar, he failed repeatedly. Now "Zhang Jianzi" has put his hope in his great-grandson.
"Tell Wen Wenming not to study too late at night and go to your wife's room more often!"
So Zhang Zhen went to order his son and then left the house.
Now the prince is worried about the heir. Since Zhang Wenming is married, he has to pay more attention to the heir.
Zhang Zhen didn't know how famous his future grandson would be throughout the ages.
Now, the little guard Zhang Zhen arrived at the side courtyard and saw that there was already a noise in the courtyard.
"How many things have happened in the palace, and the prince is hiding here to harm his body?" Mao was furious, "Also, at this time, how can you beg for favors so much and give land! Why didn't the prince first? Discuss it with me!"
There are some things she couldn't say here: Those officials in the royal palace were just hoping that the prince would arrange for them to report these things, so that the emperor would feel bad about the King of Liao and punish the King of Liao!
When she saw Zhang Zhen, her eyes immediately became dangerous.
