Chapter 42 Prepare to attack
On October 14, the 18th year of Hongzhi's reign, it began to rain again in the capital city after two days of clear skies. The cold winter rain seemed to be mixed with ice crystals and hit people's faces until they hurt.
According to the etiquette protocol of the Ministry of Etiquette, all officials will kneel down and cry outside Sishan's gate starting from this day.
As a king, Zhu Houzhao did not have to kneel, but at this time, he got a memorial from Wang Yue, the chief official of the Supervisor of Ceremonies: "Your Majesty, the weather is cold and the ground is slippery. The three cabinet ministers have old illnesses and are old and infirm. , I am afraid of catching cold, please don’t kneel down and cry.”
Zhu Houzhao wondered if these three elders didn't even want to kneel down, but he also guessed that these elders might be testing whether he, the emperor, could give some of their veterans face.
Therefore, on the surface, Zhu Houzhao nodded: "In this case, they are allowed to stand and cry!"
By the evening of the 15th day of October in the 18th year of Hongzhi, hundreds of officials had been crying outside Sishan Gate for nearly two days. According to the ceremony, tomorrow will be the official start of the Ming Dynasty Xiaozong's visit to the Zi Palace to honor the emperor.
Therefore, at this time, Wang Yue, the eunuch in charge of the ceremonial department, came to Zhu Houzhao again: "Your Majesty, tomorrow is the day when Emperor Xiaozong's Zi Palace officially departs. The journey is long and the three cabinet ministers are not physically strong, which may affect the appearance of the court. Therefore, I request The emperor has given permission for the three cabinet ministers to ride to the imperial mausoleum.”
Zhu Houzhao secretly smiled in his heart, thinking that he seemed to be regarded as a good king by them. These elders started to rub their noses and faces. He didn't want to kneel and cry outside the Sishan Gate. He didn't want to walk to the imperial mausoleum now. .
However, Zhu Houzhao still pretended to be childish and asked: "They don't have to go! However, what I want to ask is, Wang Daban, why they want to take a car, but I can only ride a horse?"
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"Your Majesty is young and strong, but all the cabinet ministers are old. Please be considerate of the senior ministers," Wang Yue replied with a smile.
Zhu Houzhao thought to himself that Wang Yue had completely become the bastard of the three elders, so he sighed helplessly: "Then let them ride in the car."
Early the next morning, it was the day when Emperor Xiaozong's Zi Palace officially opened. From the Forbidden City to the Outer City, roadside spiritual flags had already been set up along the central road. For miles, there were sergeants in plain clothes and white cloth. Paper money was sprinkled like snowflakes. Everywhere, in the midst of mourning, joy and crying, countless monks and Taoists led Emperor Xiaozong's Zi Gong out of the city.
As a dutiful son, Zhu Houzhao rode slowly at the front. At that time, Liu Jian, the first assistant to the cabinet, Li Dongyang, the second assistant to the cabinet, and the third assistant to the cabinet also stepped on the back of the sergeant and got into the plain carriage.
Most of the imperial censors were disciples of San Ge Lao, and Gu Jiu did not express dissatisfaction.
But some officials were very angry because of this, but there was nothing they could do.
Xu Jin, the Secretary of the Ministry of War, almost wanted to bite his copper teeth into pieces, and thought to himself: "These powerful ministers ignore the dignity of the emperor! They didn't kneel down to cry in the past two days, and now they even ride in a car to send the mourning. Do you really think that the new emperor's ignorance can be deceived?"< br>
Ma Wensheng, the Minister of Personnel, was supported by several young civil servants, coughing and pointing in front: "How can it be unreasonable! How can it be unreasonable! It is simply unreasonable!"
Everyone knew what Ma Wensheng was angry about but they didn't dare to say anything.
For a moment, snowflakes fell like grains of rice, shrouding the white Zi Palace and the long white funeral procession in haze, as if they were isolated from the people outside the curtain, and as if the people outside the curtain could only see I saw the last vague figure of Emperor Xiaozong left in the world, but I couldn't see clearly his regrets after eighteen years as emperor.
Some people are suppressing their cries, while others are roaring wantonly. A generation of ZTE emperors will eventually bid farewell to this world, but what people don’t know is whether the young man riding on the white horse can hold up the countless hidden things under the haze. The trapped Ming Empire.
The young man Zhu Houzhao, who was riding on a white horse, had serious eyebrows like a heavy sword hanging from a heavy weight, and his lips were pursed tightly as if he wanted to speak a thousand words, but everything turned into the clatter of horse hooves and fell into silence.
On October 19, the 18th year of Hongzhi, Emperor Xiaozong of the Ming Dynasty was officially buried in Anling. Zhu Houzhao presented the last handful of earth to Emperor Xiaozong and raised the last step. When he finished following the protocol and came to visit the Queen Mother , Queen Mother Zhang was already crying like a tear.
On October 20, Zhu Houzhao began to serve Emperor Xiaozong of the Ming Dynasty.
Then, from October 20th to 24th, Zhu Houzhao served Emperor Xiaozong of the Ming Dynasty from Chuyu to Jiuyu.
On October 25, the 18th year of Hongzhi, officials and people began to stop crying and offering sacrifices to Xiaozong to honor the emperor. Zhu Houzhao dismissed the court on this day and ordered his servants to offer sacrifices to him in the evening. Both Zhu Houzhao and the prince attended the event in their trousers and invited Emperor Xiaozong of the Ming Dynasty to enjoy the imperial ancestral temple as his nephew.
On October 26th, Zhu Houzhao completed the ceremony of inviting the god's nephew to the Ancestral Temple, and would take off his mourning clothes and return to the palace the next day, October 27th.
At dusk that day, Zhu Houzhao finally got rid of his fatigue and completed all the etiquette required by the Ministry of Rites of the Ming Dynasty without a trace of moisture. However, Zhu Houzhao felt even more tired than he had experienced a military training.
Seeing this, Liu Jin couldn't help but suggest: "Your Majesty, do you need to ask the maids to pat your shoulders? Your Majesty has been sleeping outside for the past few days. It's hard work, and you should relax. I dare you to let them carry you." A simple wooden bed is here, and if the emperor is willing, he can have fun doing what a man should do.”
Zhu Houzhao glared at Liu Jin: "Emperor Xiaozong has just been buried, how dare you, a bitch slave, instigate me to do that. Since I am the emperor of Ming Dynasty and the son of the late emperor, I should abide by the etiquette. Don't mention these things before the wedding. Gong'e will give in. They have returned to the palace, and now we don’t need to perform for them!”
When Liu Jin saw what Zhu Houzhao said, he had no choice but to say so.
"Come with me for a walk," Zhu Houzhao said and took Liu Jin outside. Suddenly he saw three old men walking inside in casual clothes deep in the curved fence opposite.
Zhu Houzhao glanced at Liu Jin and followed him. He hid outside the curved railing and saw that Liu Jian, Li Dongyang, and Xie Qian were hiding in a pavilion.
Zhu Houzhao walked over lightly, and when he saw a guard standing guard there, Zhu Houzhao walked over while holding on to the wall, picked up a potted plant and threw it at the guard's head, knocking him unconscious on the spot.
Zhu Houzhao continued to commit suicide and walked quietly to the outside of the water pavilion. He only heard the screams of women inside: "Master, you are still thinking of stealing at this time, and you are not afraid of the Lord being uneasy."
"I don't believe in those dirty and stinky men who control the world, aren't they all like this?"
Zhu Houzhao could only hear some filthy words in his ears. He couldn't help but become livid, and his heart became even more angry. He thought that now he knew what a sanctimonious hypocrite was.
"Is everything ready?" Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but asked Liu Jin again.
"Don't worry, Your Majesty! There will be no mistakes. Gu Dayong is being cautious, and the ministers have been practicing. When the time comes, they will definitely be executed as planned," Liu Jin replied.
……
At that time, Zhang Zhao, the eunuch in charge of the royal horse supervisor, was walking towards Zhu Houzhao, holding the hand of Wang Yue, the eunuch in charge of the official eunuch. Wang Yue couldn't help but ask Zhang Zhao: "You will return to the palace as soon as possible tonight. The rice has not been released. The cabinet intends to rectify Xu Jin, the minister of the Ministry of War, but it cannot cause a big mess. You, the internal officer who supervises the soldiers, must take good care of them and don't cause any trouble. "
"Ancestor, don't worry, but my son has discovered that although the emperor is cynical, he has been very silent for a few days. It's very different from before. My son always felt that something was going to happen."
Zhang Zhao, the eunuch in charge of the Royal Horse Supervisor, said.
Wang Yue, the eunuch in charge of the ceremony, sighed: "It seems that the emperor is dissatisfied with his inability to control the power of the court, but it doesn't matter. We naturally know the nature of our emperor best. Although he is naughty, he is He is also very kind like the late emperor. As long as you control the military power of the imperial soldiers, there will be no trouble, and the emperor will not cause any trouble. "
"What our ancestors said is that our fifteen-year-old prince is not expected to cause much trouble. Are the cabinet ministers in the foreign dynasty easy to deal with? In the worst case, what happened to the late emperor will happen again." Zhang Zhao After saying that, Wang Yue glared at him: "The late emperor's affairs only concern Zhang Yu and the cabinet. We don't know anything about it. Do you understand? Don't mention it randomly!"
"That's what our ancestors said!" Zhang Zhao hurriedly replied.
Thank you to book friends for the reward of 300 starting coins for mourning Wu Huaxia
(End of chapter)