As the emperor's edict was issued, many clans came to the capital from all over the country to visit their disciples studying in the clan, and the ten princes' palaces gradually became lively.
"Uncle, here we are, my father and several other princes are waiting for you inside..."
Zhu Qiyong carefully led the white-haired old man in front of him to the outside of the courtyard and said respectfully.
The old man was wearing a bright red python robe made of gold. His figure was slightly stooped, but his face was still majestic. He stood in the distance and nodded gently without saying a word.
Logically speaking, Zhu Qiyong should have gone in immediately to report back, but he did not move immediately. Instead, he glanced at the young man standing behind the old man, who seemed a little embarrassed.
Seeing this situation, the old man frowned and his expression suddenly became majestic.
Therefore, Zhu Qiyong did not dare to delay immediately, cupped his hands, turned around and walked quickly into the courtyard.
Not long after, there was a noise inside, and a group of princes, also wearing royal robes, walked out in a hurry, bowed to the old man, and made a faint sound.
"I've met Uncle Zhou Wang!"
"Greetings to my uncle, King Zhou..."
"Brother Zhou Wang is well..."
The people who can live in the Ten Princes' Mansion are basically the clan kings. These people are respectful in front of the old man.
For no other reason than because the old man in front of him is the oldest person in the clan today, both in terms of age and seniority.
Zhou Wang Zhu Youjuan!
The grandson of Emperor Taizu is, in terms of seniority, the great-uncle of His Majesty today.
Since the death of the old Min King Zhu Chu, among the entire vassal kings, there was no longer a clan descended from the descendants of Emperor Taizu. Zhu Youjuan inherited the lineage of Emperor Taizu's fifth son Zhu Chu.
The only people who are more noble than the King of Zhou are the King of Qin and the King of Jin. However, the King of Qin is now the third generation and can be regarded as Zhu Youjuan's nephew, and the King of Jin is the fourth generation. In front of Zhu Youjuan,
They are all juniors.
Among the kings, such as the current Min King Zhu Huixun, Yi King Zhu Yongyi and other second-generation vassal kings are of the same generation as Zhu Youjuan, but they should also be called Brother Zhou Wang.
More importantly, unlike most clan kings with bad records, the reputation of the Zhou king line has always been very good. When Zhu Youjuan was young, he was taught by Emperor Taizu, and Xu was influenced by Emperor Taizu.
With his words and deeds, Zhu Youjuan is one of the few vassal kings who does not like extravagance and is cautious and self-disciplined. He has a very high reputation among the clans.
If not, he would not be able to deserve such respectful treatment from so many other clans who are also vassal kings.
Because the emperor's edict was issued too late and in the name of visiting the sect's disciples, not many vassal princes and clans actually came to Beijing.
Now in the palace of the ten princes, except for King Xiang Zhu Zhanyi and King Yi Zhu Yongyi who were already in the capital, the remaining ones are King Zhu Zhi of Qin, King Zhu Shi of Dai, King Zheng Zhu Zhanqi, King Ning Zhu Mianpei, and King Lu
Zhu Zhaohui.
Including Min King Zhu Huixuan, who almost settled in the capital because he served as the clan's order, the number of vassal kings in Beijing already accounts for about one-third of the total.
As for the county princes below, there were quite a few here, and there were more than a dozen of them in total. However, although they also lived in the Tenth Prince's Mansion, they did not appear on the current occasion.
Facing the King of Zhou, the other kings were naturally respectful, but, like Zhu Qiyong, they saluted the King of Zhou immediately when they came out.
However, after the salute, their eyes fell on the young people behind Zhu Youjuan intentionally or unintentionally, especially Xiang Wang Zhu Zhanzhen. Seeing this familiar figure, his face couldn't help but become a little ugly.
Zhu Youjuan naturally noticed this situation, turned sideways to reveal the young man behind him, and explained.
"The Crown Prince of the Min clan, Zhu Yinqi, the king of Zhennan, you should all have met at the banquet last year. The New Year is approaching recently, and the Zongxue is in the period of assessment. King Min is busy with things, so he has no time to come, so,
So I asked Yinqi to come over and talk with me, so I brought him over for our gathering today."
After saying that, he waved gently, and Zhu Yinqi, who was wearing the uniform of a prince, took two steps forward, held his hands in a salute, and said.
"Yinxi has met all the elders."
His attitude was neither humble nor arrogant, his tone was somewhat polite, and he was as gentle and courteous as ever.
However, the atmosphere of the scene was a bit cold.
Although Zhu Yinqi was not squinting and had a smile on his face, everyone, intentionally or unintentionally, looked at King Xiang who was standing aside.
Although they were not in the capital before, the incident in front of Lao Min Wang's death was widely spread.
Because of this, King Xiang's reputation was greatly ruined. Later, news spread that he treated a group of sect disciples harshly, which caused the disciples of various mansions to write letters and complain, which completely ruined his reputation as a wise king.
Two pure.
There were even several vassal kings present who could not bear the entreaties of their descendants and submitted memorials or family letters to the emperor, requesting that King Xiang be removed from the post of clan order.
Of course, they were just beating the drum. King Xiang's reputation was so bad, his clan order was withdrawn, and he was later banned from the Ten Princes' Mansion, all of which were inseparable from King Min and his son.
Because of this, even now, the emperor has lifted King Xiang's restraint and asked him to go to Zongxue to help. However, King Xiang and King Min have never met each other. If they see each other coming from a distance, one of them must hide.
In the past, we were both disgusted with each other.
Today, a group of them got together, and the initiator was King Yi. It was said to be a small gathering for a banquet, but in fact, everyone had been talking about some things in private these days, and this time they came here for their own purposes.
The fact that King Min didn't come is of course not because they didn't send an invitation. Everyone is in the capital now, so they won't be so offended if they don't look up when they see each other.
However, it is true that they really did not want King Min to come, so they specially chose a day for the religious examination, and invited King Xiang first, so naturally King Min would not come.
However, what people didn't expect was that the old one didn't come, but the young one did.
Moreover, he came with the King of Zhou. The meaning of this is really worth thinking about.
Of course, the most important thing right now is to see Prince Xiang's reaction.
Because of what happened to the old Min King, the two families had completely become enemies. Now that they meet again, it can be said that enemies meet, and they are extremely jealous.
If this breaks out on the spot, we won’t be able to talk about anything...
Fortunately, although Prince Xiang's expression was not good-looking, he did not have any special reaction and acted as if he had not seen anything.
Seeing this situation, Zhou Wang Zhu Youjuan on the side glanced at everyone, didn't say much, wrapped himself in a cloak, and said.
"It's cold outside, let's go in and talk."
As a result, everyone reacted immediately. First, they each returned the greeting to Zhu Yinxi, and then dispersed, followed Zhu Youjuan into the flower hall, and sat down in the hall one by one.
However, while qualifying, a little accident happened.
As Tianhuang nobles and royal clan members, under normal circumstances, the group of people present must sit in the main seat no matter where they go.
However, now that everyone is a vassal king, there is naturally a hierarchy of seats. The King of Zhou is the oldest and older, so he naturally takes the seat.
Originally, going down, according to the seniority of each family, the two grandsons of the ancestors, King Lu and King Yi, sat down in order, and then further down, King Qin, King Ning, King Zheng, and King Xiang all belonged to
Peers, so they defecate according to their age.
The problem lies with Zhu Yinxi.
This small gathering was organized by King Yi, and the time was specially chosen. King Min had something to do with his studies and couldn't leave. King Dai was called into the palace for a talk, and the seats had naturally been arranged long ago.
This can be seen from the still-cooling tea in the flower hall. Before King Zhou came, these vassal kings had already talked for a while.
Originally, the position of King Zhou had been vacant for a long time, so there would be no problem due to the position.
However, Zhu Yinqi's sudden appearance made the scene a little embarrassing.
Logically speaking, regardless of Zhu Yinqi's status as a county prince or his seniority, he cannot sit in the upper seat. He should find a seat at the bottom.
But the problem is that in this flower hall, except for the younger King Ning Zhu Dianpei, the only one left is King Xiang.
If Zhu Yinxi is arranged until the end, it is almost equivalent to putting him and Prince Xiang together.
Considering the relationship between the two people, everyone was a little hesitant.
At this moment, King Zhou spoke. When everyone was surprised, he ordered someone to move a chair and place it next to him, so that Zhu Yinqi could sit down.
Facing everyone's surprised looks, Zhu Youjuan just said.
"Yinqi came here on behalf of his father, and he came with me. Just let him listen to our conversation next to me."
This is obviously against the rules, but if it is Zhu Huixuan himself who comes here, then with his status and seniority, he should naturally sit under the king of Zhou.
Even if it is a formal occasion, considering that he is in charge of the clan mansion, it is not too much to take the main seat.
However, after all, Zhu Yinqi was only a county king, and he was also a junior. It was obviously inappropriate for him to sit next to the King of Zhou over King Lu and King Yi.
However, compared to the question of whether it was in compliance with the rules or not, the kings present were more concerned about why King Zhou did this.
The issue of location is big or small.
The flower hall is such a big place, it doesn't really matter where you sit, but the location itself actually represents status and the right to speak.
Just like now, this small gathering was organized by King Yi and invited all the vassal kings to come.
However, when King Zhou arrived, he took over the organizational power as a matter of course. This was the difference in status, and no one felt it was inappropriate.
You must know that the King of Zhou has always been famous for his simplicity and observance of etiquette among other kings. He was a generous and simple man, but he also valued etiquette.
Therefore, it is impossible for him to be unclear about the order of positions. However, in this situation, he still let Zhu Yinxi sit next to him. It is more likely that it represents an attitude.
Zhu Yinqi does not have this weight, but Zhu Huixun does.
Let's take another look at what King Zhou just said. Zhu Yinqi came here on behalf of his father. The implication is that the coming of King Zhennan is equivalent to the coming of King Min.
Speaking of which, Zhu Yinqi might not have just brought such a pair of ears when he came here...
Everyone looked at each other, and although they didn't say much, there was already a hint of hesitation in their eyes.
Things seem to be a little different from what they imagined...
However, now that the matter has come to this, I have to bite the bullet and speak. After looking at each other, King Yi said.
"Brother King Zhou, I heard that Your Majesty had a long conversation with Brother Wang. I wonder if he mentioned the matter of officials from various places oppressing the clan due to military garrison?"
Yes, this is the first thing they do when they get together.
In other words, this is actually the biggest reason why so many vassal kings rushed to the capital this time.
There are actually only about twenty vassal kings in the Ming Dynasty, and there are seven or eight in this flower hall. If they are really here to visit the descendants of the sect, it is not impossible, but time is so urgent, especially when there are
If the vassal kings like King Zheng and King Ning, who are far away from the capital, come here, they must have other agendas.
As for the reason, it is also very simple.
These feudal kings are holding fire in their hearts!
King Yi raised his head, and the atmosphere in the hall gradually became lively, King Zheng said.
"Yes, uncle, under the banner of His Majesty, this group of court officials are doing whatever they want in our fiefdom and allowing the petty officials to plunder. My fiefdom is clearly a land gift from the late emperor, but he talks nonsense about it.
, and was forced into a military field."
"Not only that, my royal guard went to guard the farm, but he was injured by the government servants. This kind of thing simply does not put us and other clan princes in the eyes. How can your majesty's saintliness be deceived by such villains?
?”
"Uncle King Zhou, you must wait for me and expose the behavior of these officials to His Majesty!"
Zheng Fan and Yi Fan are adjacent to each other. This time Yu Qian came out of the capital to preside over the rectification of the army. The first stop he stopped was Yi Fan. Taking advantage of King Yi's absence, Qing Zhang took back most of Yi Fan's fields with force, and then he sent
Officials, with Yifan as the center, also plowed several surrounding vassal states.
Among them, Zheng Fan suffered the heaviest losses. To be blunt, Prince Zheng came to Beijing this time simply to ask for an explanation.
Coincidentally, just like him, there is Ning Fan.
After taking care of Yifan and several surrounding vassal states, Yu Qian then headed south, passing through Xiangfan and Liaofan. After stopping for a while in Minfan, he turned north to Ningfan.
Unlike Zheng Fan who only dispatched officials, Ning Fan took action personally from Yu Qian, and in the process, a fight almost broke out.
After listening to King Zheng's words, King Ning obviously remembered some bad memories, snorted coldly and said.
"Yu Qian is arrogant and domineering, and he is very fake. Uncle, you must have heard that when he was in Ningfan this time, I treated him with great courtesy, but he was extremely arrogant and treated us as equals.
The clan is a worm in the imperial court."
"I asked him to come over to the government to discuss it over and over again, but he refused repeatedly. That's fine. My fields were clearly registered with the government, and the sales were well documented. But Yu Qian,
How dare you take it away by force and say the source is incorrect."
"What's more, he took the government servants directly to rob my farm in person. How is this behavior any different from committing a crime?"
"If the imperial court is controlled by such treacherous ministers, great disaster will surely occur."
"Uncle King Zhou, for the sake of the Ming Dynasty, we must also urge your majesty not to be bewitched by this generation of treacherous ministers and make them do whatever they want and disrupt our country!"