On the morning of the first day of May in the eighth year of Wanli, Zhu Yijun hurried to his biological mother, the kind and holy Empress Dowager Li, to greet her and said she had something urgent to report without waiting for dawn.
Empress Dowager Li put on her clothes and got out of bed inexplicably, and summoned the emperor into the palace to ask why.
Zhu Yijun looked nervous. When he saw his mother, he immediately knelt down and kowtowed and replied: "Mother, my son dreamed of his father. The father blamed his son for being a royal king for nearly ten years, but he failed to see his father's mausoleum in person. It is extremely unfilial. I am extremely frightened and have come here to see my mother."
Empress Dowager Li was a very sincere believer in Buddhism. When she heard Zhu Yijun's words, she couldn't help but be shocked. All her sleepiness disappeared in fright. She sat upright and asked, "What else did your father say?" What?"
Zhu Yijun shook his head and said: "I didn't say anything else. My father just scolded my son for being unfilial. My son woke up with shock and came to see his mother immediately..."
Queen Mother Li couldn't sit still anymore, stood up, paced back and forth for a few times, and said: "No wonder the Ai family has always been a little uneasy lately... It is your father's death anniversary at the end of the month, so he is unhappy. Jun'er , this time on the anniversary of your father’s death, how did the court originally arrange it, and who was asked to pay homage on his behalf?”
Zhu Yijun thought for a moment and said, "It should be Gu'anbo."
Gu'anbo is Chen Jingxing, the father of Empress Dowager Rensheng. In terms of the Ming Dynasty's custom of offering sacrifices on behalf of Emperor Ming Dynasty, it is indeed very appropriate for him to offer sacrifices on behalf of Mu Zong. In the past few years, except for one time because of Chen Jingxing, the issue of offering sacrifices to Emperor Mu Zong's Zhaoling Mausoleum was Unless he was ill and couldn't make the trip, he would go there without exception.
But this time, Mrs. Li waved her hands decisively and said: "Let this matter go. Later, the Ai family will send someone to convey the decree to the cabinet and explain it to Mr. Guo." As she spoke, she looked at the sky and said to the people around her: "Give it to the Ai family. Take the carriage and go to Ciqing Palace. Emperor, you are coming too."
Zhu Yijun secretly rejoiced: My idea is absolutely brilliant! Not only can it create an opportunity for Yao'e to meet Hou Gongchen, who is traveling with pragmatically, but it can also pay homage to his father in person, killing two birds with one stone. It's wonderful!
Then I thought silently in my heart: Father, it is not because the sons and ministers deceived the mother and queen. This fact is for the good of Yao. You, the old man, have a spirit in heaven, so you will definitely not blame him, right?
Not long after, Empress Dowager Fengjia and Emperor Luanjia went to Ciqing Palace. About halfway through, Chen Hong, the eunuch in charge of the ceremony, ran over with sweat on his face, got in front of Empress Dowager Li Fengjia, and asked cautiously: "Your Majesty, Empress Dowager Your Majesty, what happened to disturb Yijia?"
Empress Dowager Li glanced at him and saw that he was sweating profusely from running. She said warmly: "The emperor dreamed of the late emperor. The late emperor blamed him for not offering sacrifices in person. The Ai family is going to discuss with Empress Dowager Rensheng. On the anniversary of the death of the late emperor Mu Zong this year, the emperor will personally offer sacrifices. Zhaoling."
Chen Hong said in surprise: "Didn't the Emperor pay homage to Zhaoling along with the empress dowagers of the two palaces this year?"
What he was talking about was that in February of this year, in accordance with the rules of the second year of Longqing, Zhu Yijun first visited Changling, and after completing the sacrifice, he paid homage to the empress dowagers of the two palaces, led the concubines to pay homage, and then visited Yongling, Zhao The mausoleum is like the Changling Mausoleum, and each mausoleum sends an official to offer sacrifices. Therefore, theoretically speaking, Zhu Yijun did pay homage to Zhaoling, and it was only more than three months.
But Empress Dowager Li waved her hand and said: "Spring Festival is Spring Festival, Death Anniversary is Death Anniversary. Each has its own rituals, how can they be confused?"
Chen Hong secretly thought that this matter had nothing to do with him. Since the Queen Mother asked the emperor to go up, then go ahead. Even if someone else had to suffer, it would be Chen Ju's misfortune. He, Chen Zhangyin, had no need to worry about others. So he stopped Talk too much.
When they arrived at Ciqing Palace, Queen Mother Li told the Queen Mother Chen about the matter. Queen Mother Chen didn't care. Anyway, the emperor was young, so he would make more trips if he needed to go there. Moreover, the Tianshou Mountain area had been dormant for many years. There was no danger nearby, so I agreed immediately.
However, Zhu Yijun brought up another matter, saying that although the late emperor only scolded him for being unfilial, he thought that King Lu and several imperial sisters had not been able to pay homage to Zhaoling, and he hoped that the queen mothers of the two palaces would consider the filial piety of their younger brothers and sisters. , and allowed them to go with him.
This made the empress dowagers of the two palaces somewhat hesitant, because generally speaking, only the emperor could offer sacrifices in the imperial tombs of the Ming Dynasty. If the emperor had something to do, he could only be sacrificed by nobles or ministers on his behalf, and the vassal king could not follow suit. He just went to pay homage casually, let alone the princess.
However, the two queen mothers were both Emperor Mu Zong’s former bedfellows. They knew that Emperor Mu Zong was a man who attached great importance to family ties. Since he had “made a dream” to accuse the emperor of being unfilial and refused to pay homage to the anniversary of his death in person, how could he know that his spirit in heaven would not also want to see him? King Lu and his daughters?
Therefore, the emperor's words made the two empress dowagers hesitate. In the end, it was the empress dowager Chen who spoke and asked the emperor to go to the Wenhua Palace to summon Mr. Guo Ge to pay respects. If Mr. Guo Ge thought it was okay to go, the emperor would take his younger brothers and sisters with him. ; If Mr. Guo Ge thinks it is inappropriate, then the emperor can only go alone.
Zhu Yijun then took the order to go to the Wenhua Hall and invite Guo Pu, who had just arrived on duty at the cabinet, to the Wenhua Hall to ask for a courtesy.
Guo Pu originally wanted to say, "The son has no words, strange powers, and chaos." How could he have a dream and go there himself?
But then I thought about it, the emperor personally paid tribute to the late emperor on the anniversary of his death, which was also a manifestation of filial piety and could not be generalized. The reason why most emperors would not go in person is because the old Zhu family has a long list of royal tombs in Tianshou Mountain, but There were many kinds of sacrifices in the Ming Dynasty. If every emperor had to attend the various sacrifices in person, then the emperor would not have to do anything else. It would probably be too much to just travel between the capital and Tianshou Mountain all year round.
But in the final analysis, there is nothing wrong with the emperor personally offering sacrifices to his father.
Guo Pu was also confused about whether King Lu and the princesses could go along. In Guo Pu's view, it didn't matter if the princesses went to pay homage to Mu Zong. They just went and it didn't matter much.
The key is King Lu. The Ming Dynasty’s attitude towards the vassal kings not only inherited Zhu Yuanzhang’s idea of a benevolent and honorable raising, but also inherited Zhu Di’s strict monitoring policy, so in the end it turned into raising pigs. Raising pigs is no better than raising cattle and sheep. There is no such thing as stocking.
Even if you raise cattle and sheep in a pen, you can sometimes let them out to graze. But raising pigs is different. They are kept in pig pens every day and gain weight. Do you want to let them out? Dreaming.
So Guo Pu finally said: "The emperor's worries are already known to the old ministers. However, the country has its own laws and regulations. Since His Highness King Lu is underage, it is not suitable for him to leave the capital at will."
Zhu Yijun's heart tightened and he quickly asked: "Who are the princesses..."
"I'm not unreasonable." Guo Pu glanced at the nervous emperor and felt a little confused, but he continued according to his own thoughts: "The princesses should not go there, but since the two palaces The Empress Dowager feels that this matter is important, so it is not impossible to be accommodating."
In fact, Guo Pu knew that the empress dowager of the two palaces and even King Lu had no problem in the past, let alone the princess? But after all, Guo Pu is the chief minister of Gu Ming. Some things can be followed the wishes of the two palaces, but some things are absolutely not allowed. .
In his opinion, not allowing King Lu to go was a matter of principle because he adhered to the dynasty's rules; not allowing the princess to go was a bit too disregardful of the actual situation. After all, the princess was also the daughter of the late emperor, so what was the point of going to pay homage to her father? Unjustifiable?
Of course, the key is that the princess cannot threaten the throne. So on this issue, the empress dowagers of the two palaces can be given some face.
Zhu Yijun was relieved when he heard what he said, but just as he was about to speak, he saw Guo Pu continue: "But the sixth princess is only ten years old, and the seventh princess is only nine years old. I thought it would be inconvenient for her to travel far away. "
It didn't matter, Zhu Yijun didn't want to take care of the kindergarten. If it weren't for taking the third princess alone, it would easily arouse the suspicion of the government and the public. He wished he could just take Zhu Yao'e alone. Now that Guo Pu has taken the sixth princess and the seventh princess alone, Zhu Yijun couldn't wish for it.
At that moment, the emperor said happily: "Mr. Guo has thought it over, so I will take my third sister, fourth sister and fifth sister to pay homage to the late emperor's death."