Four hundred and fifty-eight chapters: gossip that is not gossip
In the Qianqing Palace.
Seeing Wynn's smiling face, Chen Yi suddenly understood why Wynn was so confident in saying that the Emperor was in a good mood just outside the palace.
Suddenly, even Yu Qian, who had always had a dark face, showed a smile.
They both stood up at the same time, cupped their hands and said.
"This is your Majesty's joy. The royal family's descendants are prosperous, which is really a blessing to the country."
However, despite what they said, the two elders were very happy, but neither of them looked too excited.
As they say, it is certainly worth being happy if the royal heirs are prosperous.
However, no matter how happy things are, they are not so exciting anymore. As early as two months ago, the news of the Queen's pregnancy came out, and everyone was already happy for a while.
Therefore, everyone can treat the concubine Guo, who was drafted into the palace just a few months ago, with a normal mind and is pregnant.
However, there are also benefits.
Looking at the Emperor's relaxed look, one can tell that after this news spreads, the government and the public's comments about the Emperor's greed for beauty will no longer hold water.
You know, since the emperor came to the throne for so long, his handling of politics has been highly praised. The only thing that has been criticized is the resumption of the draft to enrich the harem.
When the commotion was at its worst, rumors even circulated in the streets that the emperor was planning to lavish titles on him because of his lust for beauty.
Now, not long after the draft ended, good news came out about the selected Concubine Guo, which was enough to silence the mouths of these behind-the-scenes talkers.
As long as the heirs of the Tian family can prosper and the government is not wasted, even if the emperor accepts a few more concubines, both the government and the public will be happy to see the results.
In addition, there is another real benefit.
The emperor is always generous!
Last time the news of the Queen's pregnancy came out, many important officials in the court received rewards. It is said that Yu Shaobao received the most generous rewards, and this time must be no exception.
Even if it is not as generous as last time, there is still a reward to be received, which is definitely worth being happy about.
Looking at the stretched brows of the two people, Zhu Qiyu waved his hand and said.
"Speaking of this, I remembered that some time ago, there was an edict given to me, saying that the East Palace has been established, and the Supreme Emperor and my disciples should also be canonized accordingly. I was busy at the time, so I put the matter aside Already."
"Now that it's brought up, I would like to hear what you two gentlemen think about this matter?"
The smile on Shen Yi's face suddenly froze.
How could he think that the emperor told them this news purely because he wanted to share the joy?
The enfeoffment of kings is a rule set by Taizu. All princes of the Tian family will be granted the title of prince and serve as vassal to establish the country.
There is nothing to discuss. This has been the case for emperors throughout the ages.
However, under this premise, Taizu did not clearly specify when to confer the title.
Generally speaking, the canonization of the princesses of the Ming Dynasty is relatively casual. Because there is no feudal state, they can basically get the title at birth. Those who are later, around two years old, can also get the title.
But the prince is different. The prince has a fiefdom, so it is a very heavy reward, and the importance of canonization is higher.
Therefore, in actual operation, the principle of canonizing a prince follows the following.
Look at the prince!
The Ming Dynasty did not just canonize a prince every time he reached adulthood, but would gather a bunch of princes at one point in time and canonize them together.
The choice of this time point is generally related to the prince.
Specifically, it is the canonization of the crown prince, the emergence of the palace in the East Palace, the wedding in the East Palace, and the enthronement of the East Palace.
When these major events that are celebrated by the whole world happen, all the princes who have not been canonized can take advantage of it and get canonized.
One advantage of doing this is that it can subtly strengthen the status of the Prince of the East Palace and indirectly tell all the princes a fact.
That is, the titles, fiefs, and rewards they received all came from the emperor and the prince.
Therefore, it stands to reason that the canonization of the crown prince should indeed be accompanied by the canonization of other princes. After all, the whole world is celebrating.
This is a common practice, and although the Emperor today has only one prince, the Supreme Emperor has more than one son.
Including the Prince of the East Palace, four princes have been born to the Supreme Emperor.
Among them, the emperor's eldest son Zhu Jianshen, the emperor's second son Zhu Jianlun, and the emperor's third son Zhu Jianshi were all born before the Emperor's Northern Expedition. The youngest emperor's fourth son Zhu Jianchun was born in February this year.
Logically speaking, it was appropriate to be canonized, but at that time, everyone was busy preparing for war and resisting Oara, and even the prince was conferred in a hurry.
Moreover, at that time, there was a lot of commotion in the court, and the top priority was who would ascend the throne. Naturally, there was no time to worry about the prince's canonization.
But now that the dust has settled, it's only natural that someone would bring it up.
However, this is just a small official in those places, and they don't know how high the sky is.
When it comes to Chen Yi and Yu Qian, an important official in the imperial court, it is too late to hide from such a sensitive matter. Who dares to get involved.
You know, if there is another emperor, canonizing a prince is an inevitable matter.
However, today's Tian family has an awkward relationship, so this matter has become much more sensitive.
For the heirs of the Supreme Emperor, canonization is just a canonization, and it does not affect the overall situation.
The problem is how to place the eldest son of His Majesty the Emperor.
From a ceremonial point of view, since the East Palace has been established, it is natural for him to be canonized normally.
However, the current Donggong is not the heir of His Majesty.
No matter how loudly the courtiers shouted slogans about etiquette, they knew deep down in their hearts that the emperor had not yet moved the Eastern Palace.
This matter actually had a subtle conflict before the emperor ascended the throne, and was finally resolved satisfactorily with the emperor's concession.
However, once the proposal to canonize the scholars was brought to the court, this contradiction would reappear.
Once you canonize the disciples, it is equivalent to completely determining the status of monarch and ministers.
No one knows what the emperor was thinking about this matter.
Now that the imperial court has just stabilized a bit, if there is another conflict between the monarch and his ministers because of this matter, the impact on the imperial court will be huge.
Of course, this is all for later.
Now that the duel is being played in private, the tone of the emperor's inquiry is just a casual conversation, and it is not that serious.
But instead, Shen Yi felt in a dilemma and didn't know what to do.
After thinking about it, Shen Yi decided...
Look at Yu Qian!
Therefore, Shen Shangshu looked expectantly at Yu Shaobao on the side, hoping that he would be the first to speak out and be the first to take the lead.
Feeling Chen Yi's gaze, Yu Qian glared at him lightly and said immediately.
"Your Majesty, the canonization of the disciples is in accordance with the etiquette and law, and is the name of the emperor and his ministers. Now that the East Palace has been established, the country is already in peace, and the disciples should be canonized in accordance with the rules."
"However, the crown prince has been established for several months. Now that we are discussing the canonization of various princes, we have lost the intention of universal celebration for him."
"What's more, the Supreme Emperor and His Majesty's sons are still young. Even if they are enthroned, they should continue to be raised in the palace. According to my wishes, it may be better to wait a few years until the East Palace leaves the pavilion to study, and then they can be enthroned together."
After saying that, Yu Qian glanced at Shen Yi with some disgust and snorted softly.
"Moreover, the canonization ceremony is onerous and expensive. Now, the Ministry of Household Affairs may not have so much silver balance to support it."
Ignoring Yu Qian's teasing towards him, Shen Shangshu gave him a "you're awesome" look, and then said.
"Your Majesty, I think what Yu Shangshu said is very true. Nowadays, the country's government affairs are heavy and there are many things to be done. The princes in the palace are still young, so the canonization matter can be postponed."
Having said that, Chen Yi looked at the emperor secretly, still a little unsure in his heart as to what the emperor's reaction would be.
Fortunately, the emperor was not angry, he just glared at him and said.
"Mr. Shen, the Minister of Household Affairs, is very relaxed about his job. He always says he will slow down when things happen. I don't know how empty my treasury is."
Although these words were meant to blame, there was no blame in his tone.
Chen Yi secretly breathed a sigh of relief, his face turned red, and he said, "If Your Majesty is interested, I will take Your Majesty to the warehouse to have a look. We can indeed escape the mice..."
The atmosphere in the palace was relaxed, but in Zhu Qiyu's heart, he couldn't help but sigh secretly.
Yu Qian's words seem to focus on suspending the canonization, but in fact the focus is on the first sentence.
If the etiquette and laws are followed, the country will be at peace.
After all, he is a principled person. Even though he approves of the lord in his heart, he is still opposed to things like changing the crown prince and destabilizing the country.
However, it only took a moment before Zhu Qiyu put his thoughts away.
It's still early to talk about this now. He was just planning to test it out and had no intention of actually doing anything.
Sitting up straight, Zhu Qiyu suppressed his smile, looked at the two ministers below, and said, "It's getting late. I summoned these two gentlemen because I have something serious to say."
As he said that, Zhu Qiyu cast his gaze on Shen Yi, but to his surprise, he didn't ask about Jiubian, but asked.
"Shang Shu Shen, a few days ago, I ordered you to take charge of the border trade. How is the progress now?"