Red radish charcoal is the best quality among charcoal fires. It has no smoke, makes a quiet sound when burning, and burns for a long time and is warm. Therefore, people from all over the palace are rushing to get it.
Although Zhu Qiyu transferred Shu Liang to be the governor of the capital, he did not take away the errands of the Xixin Department.
Since he was placed in an important position, he naturally served Jingyang Palace carefully and sent all the good things to Jingyang Palace first.
Nowadays, in the Nuan Pavilion, only red radish charcoal is burned.
However, even though the red radish charcoal is already a top-grade charcoal, the slight crackling sound of burning can still be clearly heard in the Nuan Pavilion at this moment.
Perhaps this matter was too heavy, and after Wu and Zhu Qiyu discussed it, neither of them spoke for a long time.
After a long while, Wu Shifang said: "Eunuch in the harem, since you have a plan in mind, the Ai family will listen to you, but if you really want to take action, you have to wait until after the canonization. Speaking of which, how did you do this matter?
Planned?"
Today's harem is still nominally in charge of Queen Qian. Of course, most of the time, Queen Mother Sun is in charge.
After Zhu Qiyu ascended the throne, the power of the harem should also be transferred accordingly. There is no objection to this, but the matter was rushed and there was no time to canonize the queen.
As the saying goes, if the name is not correct, the words will not be smooth, and if the canonization ceremony is not enough, the Wu family will not be able to let go and do things.
Zhu Qiyu also cheered up and said: "The Ministry of Rites has taken note of this matter, but my son is a little undecided and has to ask his mother and concubine."
After saying that, Zhu Qiyu ordered Xing'an who was standing beside him to come over. Xing'an understood and took out the prepared memorial from his sleeve and handed it over.
While Mrs. Wu was watching, Zhu Qiyu said: "What the Ministry of Rites means is that the empress dowager and empress should both have two palaces. The only thing is that the emperor's sister-in-law should be moved to Changle Palace and Kunning Palace should be given to Yun Niang."
In fact, compared with the complete court system of the Ming Dynasty, the harem system was simply a mess.
In fact, until now, the Ming Dynasty has not had a particularly clear harem rank.
And because Emperor Taizu restored the burial system, there was basically no such thing as a concubine in the Ming Dynasty.
When the late emperor died, he took almost everything with him, so naturally there was no need to make him a concubine...
So when you encounter the current situation, you can only rely on temporary changes.
Generally speaking, this time Zhu Qiyu ascended the throne in danger, and there were two problems with his status in the harem.
The first is what Queen Mother Sun should do, and the second is what Queen Qian should do.
If it were a normal succession of the throne, it goes without saying that Empress Dowager Sun would become the Empress Dowager, and Empress Qian would become the Empress Dowager.
But the problem is that the throne belongs to an abnormal inheritance, so problems arise.
The current Queen Mother and Empress are not the grandmother and mother of the new monarch, so theoretically they cannot take the throne. Since the new monarch takes the throne, his biological mother and princess must follow him to take the throne.
This is so awkward, and the so-called two palaces are combined.
The new monarch's aunt and biological mother are both revered as the empress dowager, and the new monarch's sister-in-law and concubine are both revered as the empress.
After Wu finished reading the memorial, he didn't show anything unusual. Instead, he looked at Zhu Qiyu with a smile and said.
"What you're saying is that you're not satisfied with this arrangement?"
Zhu Qiyu pondered for a moment, rarely able to open his mouth, and said.
"The mother and concubine clearly understand that it is good to be honored together, but the son feels that it may be difficult to distinguish them if they are both called the empress dowager and the empress, so the son wants to add the titles to facilitate separation."
Wu put down the memorial in her hand and said.
"So, you want to give the Sun family and Qian family honorific titles? Otherwise, with your temperament, you wouldn't be so hesitant."
Zhu Qiyu blushed and said.
"Nothing can be hidden from my mother and concubine. These days, even though my son has ascended the throne, the government and the public are still talking about it, saying that his clan is bullying the Queen Mother, so my son came up with this method. I don't know if it is feasible..."
In fact, this time's ascension to the throne seems to be welcomed by the public, but in fact, there are not without different voices from both the government and the public.
Zhu Qiyu's methods these days should be said to be a bit tougher. There are many discerning people in the government and the public. These days, there are already rumors that he is taking advantage of the situation and disrespecting his aunt.
Wu was calm and said.
"You just have to make your own decision on this matter. The Ai family has no objections, but I'm afraid the Sun family may not accept your favor."
Zhu Qiyu nodded and said.
"I don't expect the two parties to reconcile, but there are people in the outer court talking about it, and there must be an explanation. Since she wants to pretend to be the Holy Mother, her son is happy to cooperate. After all, the peace of the court is still the priority."
Zhu Qiyu was actually aware of the movements in the outer court, and there were signs that the Empress Dowager Sun was behind the scenes.
Her plan is nothing more than to create an image of someone who is concerned about national affairs and has the overall situation in mind, and by the way, it contrasts with Zhu Qiyu's preoccupation.
In this case, he simply held her up high and showed all the officials in the government and the public to see how much he, the new king, "respected" his aunt.
Since Mr. Wu had no objection, the matter was settled as such.
Since Jingyang Palace was the Wu family's palace after all, it was not easy for him to stay, so he went back to Qianqing Palace to rest.
A night of silence.
The next day, the Ministry of Rites accepted the order and acted very quickly.
Zhu Qiyu's proposal does not violate etiquette and law, and it is a matter for the harem. Since the emperor has no objection, the Ministry of Rites certainly has no objection.
After the morning court, Hu Cong, the Minister of Rites, held a ministry meeting with the cabinet and drafted the honorary title that day.
The empress dowager Sun is honored as the Cisheng empress dowager, and the virtuous concubine Wu is the empress dowager.
The emperor's sister-in-law Qian was honored as Empress Duanjing, Wang, the main concubine of King Xi, was named empress, and Hang, the concubine, was conferred as noble concubine.
Zhu Qiyu was dealing with memorials in the palace when he heard Cheng Jing coming to report.
"Your Majesty, the news about the title given to you this morning has been spread in the outer court. When the ministers went to collect the memorial, they heard many ministers talking about it. They all said that your Majesty understands justice, observes etiquette, and sets an example for the world.
"
After Zhu Qiyu heard this, he smiled and said nothing, but he couldn't help but sigh in his heart.
From such a simple thing, it can be seen that the courtiers actually still have some grudge against him as the emperor.
But due to the situation, I can't say much.
Otherwise, he would not be so praised just because he gave in a little bit.
As the saying goes, it is too easy to be too strong, and the courtiers do not want their monarch to be a ruthless and unjust monarch who regards etiquette and order as nothing.
He doesn't do this kind of thing, and the courtiers won't say it outright due to the situation, but what he thinks in his heart only needs to be tried.
If he wants to truly take control of the government, he still has a long way to go...
On the other side, Empress Dowager Sun of Cining Palace heard the news and was also shocked and asked Wang Qin who came to report.
"Are you sure you are not giving honorific titles to Wu and his princess, but to the Aijia family and the queen?"
You know, although the title has no practical use, those who have the title always have a slightly higher status.
Why did Zhu Qiyu, who had been pressing her so hard these days, suddenly change his temper?
Wang Qin had just been transferred to Cining Palace, and just when he wanted to perform well in front of Queen Mother Sun, he heard this and said.
"Back to the Holy Mother, it is indeed true. It is said that the elders in the outer court this morning all praised the emperor, saying that he is magnanimous, sensible and benevolent."
Queen Mother Sun looked a little unhappy, snorted softly and said.
"Now that he has got what he wants, he naturally has to pretend to be a benevolent king and let his subordinates obey him. This is just an invitation to buy people's hearts."
Wang Qin thought for a while and said: "What the Holy Mother said is true. Eunuch Jin also sent news that the army seems to have made some changes these days. It is probably for this reason that the emperor had to give in."
Hearing this, Queen Mother Sun frowned slightly and asked, "What else did Jin Ying tell you?"
Since Zhu Qiyu ascended the throne, according to previous instructions, Jin Ying rarely came to Cining Palace. If there was any news, it would be delivered by Wang Qin.
Wang Qin said: "Eunuch Jin said that the military reports from the Ministry of War have been coming in very densely these days. It seems that the war will start soon. So he suggested to the Holy Mother to be patient for the time being and not to conflict with the emperor again, so as not to really cause trouble.
What's going on?"
Empress Dowager Sun turned her attention to the imperial edict that Wang Qin had just brought over. What was written on it was the matter of conferring the honorary title.
Wrinkling her eyebrows, Queen Mother Sun finally nodded: "Since he intends to reconcile, and the overall situation is current, the Ai family will not care about him for the time being. It will not be too late to discuss everything after the war."
As soon as he finished speaking, two chamberlains came in from outside and reported hurriedly.
"Holy Mother, the Queen Mother of Jingyang Palace just sent people to various palaces and took away many palace maids and eunuchs. She said that the matter was illegal and would be punished according to the inner court law..."
"boom!"
The two young eunuchs who reported the report quietly raised their heads, only to see the Cisheng Empress Dowager suddenly stand up, her face turning red.
Under her feet was a broken tea cup.
The green tea flowed down the steps and soaked the thick carpet...