The first step of the great ritual discussion started with the civil official's memorial. The civil official wanted this first step to be the last step.
Mao Cheng, the Minister of Rites, and more than 60 civil servants in the court, headed by Mao Cheng, jointly submitted a memorial. Taking the example of King Dingtao and King Pu adopting their sons to Dazong and using this as the crown prince's succession, they believed that Zhu Si adopted Xiaozong to Dazong. Taking Xiaozong as "Huang Kao", King Xingxian was renamed "Huang Shu Kao, King Xingxian", and Princess Jiang was called "Huang Aunt, Princess Xingguo". When offering sacrifices to Zhu Youqi, the emperor should call himself "nephew emperor".
Considering that King Xing had only one son, Zhu Si, and Zhu Si adopted Dazong, King Xing would be "unable to succeed". The civil servants also considerately suggested that King Yi's second son, Chongren King Zhu Houxuan, should be the heir of King Xingxian, who would be responsible for the sacrifice of King Xing.
In order to ensure that the first step is the last step, civil servants even stated that "anyone who dissents is a traitor and should be killed."
It was simply to block all the ways for Zhu Si to pursue his parents.
Zhu Si argued with Mao Cheng in the court, but Mao Cheng was obviously used as a gunman, and the person behind the matter was naturally Yang Tinghe.
Although Zhu Si is the emperor now, he has no leading authority at all on the issue of rituals. In addition, a group of ministers kneeled down to show that this is the "legal system" that China has promoted since ancient times. Zhu Si knew that he had no ability to refute. I can only swallow my anger first.
But it made Zhu Si very angry.
…
…
Zhu Si suffered a great injustice.
Yang Tinghe was also in a bad mood.
Firstly, it was because of the new emperor's persistence on the issue of gifts, which made him feel that the young emperor was as smelly and hard as the stones in the pit.
Secondly, because these two days involved the memorial and criticism of Hong Kong, Zhu Siyi changed his style of relying on cabinet votes for the first ten days after he succeeded to the throne, and actually added a lot of personal opinions, and every one of them was The approvals all seemed to be aimed at the cabinet and the six ministries, which made Yang Tinghe very annoyed.
"...Jie Fu, Ti Yuan came to ask earlier and said that His Majesty had objections to the warehousing expenses and wanted to investigate the expenses of the Elephant Room and Leopard Room at the beginning of the year. Ti Yuan was very anxious."
Yang Tinghe went out to discuss matters with the Ministry of Industry, but before he could return to the cabinet, Jiang Mian, who was also a bachelor of the cabinet, hurried over to find him.
The "Ti Yuan" mentioned by Jiang Mian was Zheng Zongren, who held the title of Shangshu of the Ministry of Household Affairs and was in charge of the governor's duties in Cangchang.
In the Ming Dynasty, the Governor Cangchang was a very special official title, subordinate to the Ministry of Hubu but relatively independent. In the fifth year of Xuande, Emperor Xuanzong of the Ming Dynasty ordered Li Chang to supervise his affairs with the title of Shangshu of the Ministry of Hubu. With the title of Minister of Household Affairs, they are not responsible for the affairs of the Household Department, but are responsible for the management of the warehouse.
Zheng Zongren only held the title of "Minister of the Ministry of Hubu", but he was not the real Minister of the Ministry of Hubu, just like a bachelor who entered the cabinet would also hold the title of Minister of the Ministry of Rites or Minister of the Ministry of War.
Yang Tinghe frowned: "Didn't we allocate money and food from the inner government before? Didn't all the expenses of the elephant house and leopard house be wiped out at the beginning of the year?"
In the large accounts of the Ministry of Accounts and the Ministry of Industry in the Ming Dynasty, smoothing out was a very common method. It meant that there was obviously a deficit or balance, but an excuse was found to close it off. The final result was that the money could be used as extra money. Even if part of the schedule is corrupted, it is not a problem.
It’s just a way to deceive superiors and conceal inferiors!
Only a very small number of high-level officials know the secrets, and they can allocate them when needed urgently. If they are of no use, they will gradually go back to quell the deficit in the treasury over the years.
Jiang Mian sighed: "But there is a backlog of memorials from the Chief Envoy of Henan Province, which mentioned that at the beginning of the year, wood and stone materials were all moved north along the canal, and did not intersect with the accounts of Henan Yellow River Hegong. This conflicted with the memorial of Henan Governor Hegong.
, Your Majesty then issued an order to inquire whether all the warehouses have been returned to the warehouse. This matter is strange... They are all old accounts, but I don’t know who exposed them!"
Having said this, not only was Jiang Mian anxious, but Yang Tinghe also looked solemn.
Didn't the emperor say that he attached great importance to sacrifices, so he immediately said that he wanted to build the Ancestral Temple and the Temple of Heaven? The imperial court used the excuse that the Ministry of Revenue had no money and could not afford to repair it, and then asked Zhu Si to take money from the inner government to repair it. This was tantamount to destroying the emperor.
The private treasury is under control.
This matter was supposed to be seamless. After all, in the view of the cabinet, the accounts of tens of thousands of taels of stone and wood at the beginning of the year had been smoothed out and there would be no mistakes. Who would have expected that the Chief Envoy of Henan would actually mention this in his daily memorial to praise his virtues?
He actually wanted to claim credit for helping the emperor transport stones and timber, but he didn't expect that Emperor Zhengde was already dead. This memorandum asking for credit instead became evidence that the stones and timber were not used in Henan's river construction at all, but were transported to the capital.
So much so that even Yang Tinghe didn't know that someone was stabbing Lou Zi down there.
Yang Tinghe said: "This matter can be big or small. Who is Zhu Pi?"
The implication is that whose handwriting is on the approved memorandum, the emperor's handwriting is completely different from that of Wei Bin and others, and the handwriting of the new Zhang Zuo is also easy to identify.
"It's His Majesty's imperial approval."
Jiang Mian replied.
This gave Yang Tinghe a headache.
Originally, even if the matter was exposed by others and many things were not related to each other, there was no fear that an emperor who had just ascended the throne and knew nothing would understand the secret. Who would have thought that now it was the emperor himself who exposed the matter, and then the matter was really like that of Yang Tinghe.
As the saying goes, “It can be big or small.”
Jiang Mian was a little worried: "If we trace it, many of Hegong's accounts in the past few years will not match up. I'm afraid..."
Yang Tinghe frowned: "I will investigate according to His Majesty's instructions. If you find out what it looks like, just report it to me. We will discuss this matter at the court meeting."
Since the matter could be "big or small", Yang Tinghe felt that he had a lot of room for maneuver. When he went to the court to discuss the matter, he said that the money spent did not match many transportation matters, or because there was a gap in information...
…Anyway, I can put it off.
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When the great ceremony came to an end in the court, Zhu Si sent Zhang Zuo to inform Zhu Hao on the same day.
Zhang Zuo's eyes were bloodshot and he looked very tired: "Mr. Zhu, you'd better think of a way earlier so that His Majesty can enter and leave the palace safely. This way... it also saves the people below from running back and forth, right?"
Tang Yin smiled and asked: "Eunuch Zhang, can't you bear this little hard work?"
"No, Mr. Tang, you don't know how diligent His Majesty is lately. He stays up very late every day reviewing memorials, and the note given by Mr. Zhu must be read clearly before going to court. If His Majesty can see you two in person, he can
Save a lot of trouble.”
Zhang Zuo was obviously looking for an excuse because he felt he was too tired and his body couldn't bear it if he persisted for a long time.
Zhu Hao said: "Your Majesty wants to leave the palace. It is too difficult to go through Donghua Gate. Ministers usually go through Donghua Gate when entering the palace. It is better to go in and out through Xihua Gate. In addition, set up an official office outside Xi'an Gate. It doesn't need to be too far. Every time."
When His Majesty leaves the palace next time, let Commander Zhu personally lead the troops to escort him, so there won't be any big problem."
"When Your Majesty leaves the palace, you need to ask the royal guards to accompany him? Is it... that the goal is too big?" Zhang Zuo had some doubts.
We agreed to leave the palace secretly, but why did we end up having a big battle at the end?
Zhu Hao shook his head and said: "If there are fewer escorts, your majesty cannot be guaranteed to be absolutely safe when leaving the palace. You have to abide by basic etiquette, but you cannot put your majesty in danger, and let the residence of Yuan Shilang be closer to that side."
Damn it, if a minister really learns about it, Your Majesty will say that he is here to discuss state affairs with Minister Yuan."
Zhang Zuo's eyes widened, he seemed to be pushing Yuan Zonggao out as a spearman again!
Although he and Yuan Zonggao were now on the same page, Zhang Zuo felt relieved when he thought about being able to cheat Yuan Zonggao secretly.
You, Lao Yuan, have suppressed me to death in the past two years. Now that His Majesty is leaving the palace, if the ministers find out about it, they must find an excuse. If you are not to be made the scapegoat, who will be the scapegoat?
Do you want to tell the world that Your Majesty left the palace to seek advice from his former classmate and friend Zhu Hao?
"Okay, okay, then we will tell His Majesty when we get back home."
Zhang Zuodao, "As for discussing the great ceremony..."
Zhu Hao smiled and said, "Don't worry. His Majesty's accession to the throne is short. This matter can be settled as time goes by. Why not consider bribing Mr. Yang Ge and Mao Shangshu with heavy sums of money first."
"Ah? Does this... work?"
Zhang Zuo didn't expect that Zhu Hao would use such "dirty" tricks.
The emperor bribed his ministers?
Or directly bribe the instigators Yang Tinghe and Mao Cheng?
This definitely won’t work!
Zhu Hao said: "The plan is not about success, but about sincerity. This will also let Mr. Yang Ge and Mao Shangshu know how determined His Majesty's intentions are. If you don't tell them in such a gentle way, do you have to confront each other tit for tat in the court every time? Give each other a warning.
You won’t break your face at the steps.”
Zhang Zuo suddenly said: "Yes, yes, a large bribe is a sign of your Majesty's sincerity. If you really want to succeed, you will have to let Mr. Yang Ge and Mao Shangshu relent. If they really relent, what does it mean to give them more gold, silver, and silk? Mr. Zhu
He understands people's hearts and admires them."
…
…
Zhang Zuo immediately went back to report.
Tang Yin looked at Zhang Zuo's leaving figure, shook his head and sighed: "No matter what you say now, he will say you are right. I don't know whether it is His Majesty who calls the shots in the court now, or you."
Zhu Hao's face turned solemn: "Don't talk nonsense."
Tang Yin said with a smile: "It's just bribing the ministers... You can't think of this idea. It has no effect. It only makes people laugh. Aren't you afraid of bringing shame to His Majesty?"
Zhu Hao said: "It is not a good thing for Your Majesty to be too strong. I am trying to create a tolerable and people-friendly image for Your Majesty. Doing things must be purposeful. Sometimes it is not necessarily for the sake of success. It can also achieve other effects."
Zhu Hao was embarrassed to say that I was just teaching Zhu Si how to do things according to history.
After the first great ceremony in history was rejected, Emperor Jiajing tried to persuade Mao Cheng and others by bribing them. Although it failed in the end, Mao Cheng and others still made certain changes, or felt that the emperor had used
To the extreme of bribery, it is not good for the ministers to make the emperor lose face.
The emperor was disgraced, and the person who should be worried was not Zhu Hao, but the people who made the emperor lose face, namely Mao Cheng and other bribed parties.
The emperor is going to work hard enough to give you money to make you accommodating, but you still have the nerve to stick to it? Who is the king and who is the minister? Do you still want to be an official in the future?
"In the past few days, I have been helping His Majesty review the memorials. The strategy and rhetoric are a bit radical. I guess Your Majesty will be tested in court. I hope Your Majesty will really read the list I made, otherwise Mr. Yang Ge and others will suddenly attack.
Yan can’t stand it even more.”
Zhu Hao smiled.
Like a bystander, watching the fire from the other side.