Zhou Zhao, who had just recovered from a serious illness, taught Zhu Houcong another lesson about "relying on his old age and selling off 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 yet 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.
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, it's still a time when 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 vague, there are still many things that are different at this moment. Zhu Houcong can't say exactly what is different from the Imperial Garden he once visited. As far as this moment is concerned, it is 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 and the Empress Dowager Jiang, the two princesses, all the concubines of the previous emperors in the palace have been marginalized and will no longer set foot in this forbidden palace garden that 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. I changed it first to prevent the 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 here?"
"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 it hidden among the big trees in the pavilion.
The time is also interesting."
"Go up and have a look."
So I climbed up to the Flower Viewing Hall. To the north, you can see the scenery outside the northern palace wall. To the south...
Zhu Houcong stood on the high platform and vaguely saw Mrs. Xia supporting her at the side, and Empress Dowager Zhang walking slowly on the west side.
Think about it, as an emperor, looking at the imperial garden from this high place, I am afraid that the "flowers" I see 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 the emperor really need to be very good and diligent? Although the vassal kings are useless, they are also very good mascots. As long as they have blood, some caring people can do something by supporting a certain vassal king.
Standing at Zhu Houcong's level, there is now quite 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."
Empress Dowager Zhang and Lady Xia were obviously surprised when they saw the emperor appearing 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 have 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: "Previously, Yuan Jinsheng used the holy will to pre-select ladies outside the palace, which was really too eager. Since I have made a promise to the Queen Mother and the Emperor's Sister-in-law, I have always remembered this.
thing."
Yuan Jinsheng was mentioned, but the adoption was confirmed again in the second half of the sentence. The hearts of Empress Dowager Zhang and Mrs. Xia were different.
Zhu Houcong said with a smile: "As for the adoption, it must be done so that there will be no disputes between the legitimate mother and the biological mother in the future. I originally thought of getting married to each other, but later I found out that the emperor's sister-in-law had two sisters. One was married to Wei Guogong, and the other was married 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 who is adopted into 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 did not answer the question and listened quietly to what the emperor wanted to say.
"Although I proposed a way to have both ends at the same time, 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 wife."
"...What do you mean by Your Majesty?" Queen Mother Zhang looked at him with great vigor.
"The first method is to wait." Zhu Houcong smiled at Xia, "After the wedding next year, if the legitimate son or the eldest son is adopted, I am afraid that the officials will stop it. Therefore, I am afraid that it will be at least the third son, and even the fourth son.
Further back."
Thinking about the difficulty of having an heir to the royal family, Xia's face paled slightly. Not to mention that he would be a prince when he was born, if all of them did not die young, the third and fourth princes would probably be born in a few years.
"The second method is to choose the youngest son from the clan right now." Zhu Houcong looked at the Queen Mother Zhang, "Check the clan roster in the clan's mansion, 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 the aunt and the emperor's wife think the second method is better?"
Empress Dowager Zhang said meaningfully: "After His Majesty's letter 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 highest-status woman in the palace, so the palace walls are becoming more and more like prison walls.
"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 that he should not be too suspicious of Yang Tinghe, as that would form a vicious cycle. Historically, although Yang Tinghe had some contacts with Prince Ning, he was later promoted to official position by Jiajing with great gifts, and his sons were exiled, and he never planned anything.
.
The incident in Guangdong and Guangxi was just Yang Tinghe's last ditch attempt to get 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 and steward 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 Duke Yansheng is actually the daughter of Li Dongyang.
Li Dongyang, who once impeached the Zhang brothers, has no objection to this marriage?
With the brains of the Zhang brothers, how could they have such a big structure? 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 level of 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. Isn't the protagonist in it Zhu Di, the "successor of the feudal lord"?
Returning to Qianqing Palace, Zhu Houcong looked south from a distance.
Have all the six people in Wenyuan Pavilion been awed 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 its subsequent duties will only be to inspect the enemy's secret spies and rebels who may spread to the Ming Dynasty. Correspondingly, there is an outer factory, which has now been spread. Towards Nanyang.
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 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 was a completely new field. 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 inside the original Dongchang Yamen, north of Donghua Gate.
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 original intention of selecting from good families as set by Taizu..."
He didn't say it clearly, he just said that it was too political.
In fact, what everyone thinks is weird is: 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 let’s pre-select Shu people from Guangdong and Jiangnan. There is no doubt that this is to appease some people’s hearts or to divide them.
Do those who are not substantial enough need to be comforted? Can those who are substantial enough still be called ordinary good families?
What about future risks to relatives?
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 being unmatched is even greater. Families with a certain foundation may have a better understanding of the general situation. They only need to use systems to prevent relatives from causing trouble during 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. Would it take a long time to discuss it?
"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 considering the current situation, some people will say that the emperor's brother is getting married soon after his death. Is there anything worthy of consideration in terms of etiquette?"
"Previously, a minister pretended to pre-select a lady, and Yan Guan even impeached him." Wang Qiong stared at him deeply, "I thought it would be better to wait until next year. Your Majesty has this intention today, and I feel 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 talk about 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 would select an adoptive heir for Emperor Zhengde, and they would also pre-select ladies in the southeast and Guangdong, all of which were aimed at the current mystery.