Why did the emperor rebel?

Chapter 204
Scattered snowflakes are falling on the eaves, and under a row of long corridors, there are people in green robes who come and go in a hurry.

Although at that court meeting, the emperor Jinkou Yuyan said that the cabinet was limited to six people.

But now more than a month has passed, and there are still only two elders, Chen Xun and Gao Gu, in the cabinet.

There were proposals to add cabinet ministers, but without exception, they were all put on hold by the emperor on the grounds that the matter was urgent and we would discuss it later.

But this is also beneficial, that is, there are more people in Zhongshushe.

Although the emperor added the title of minister to the ministers of the cabinet, and made good words, which formed a practice, it was to improve the status of the cabinet ministers in the court.

In fact, the bachelor, who symbolizes the official position of the cabinet, is still the official title of the fifth rank, which has been established since the founding of the country.

In other words, the cabinet is a five-rank yamen.

The emperor wants to customize for the cabinet, so the officials naturally dare not neglect.

According to the configuration of Zhengwupin Yamen, the Zhengtang official must have at least one assistant second official.

The emperor said first, the six members of the cabinet are all assistant ministers, there is no difference in official positions, only the things in charge are different.

Therefore, according to the system, the six assistant ministers are all upright officials.

In this way, the cabinet is equipped with six Zhongshu Scheeren.

In addition, on the west side of the cabinet, there is a imperial edict room with four occupants who are responsible for copying official documents such as edicts, edicts, and registers.

Now there are only two people in the cabinet, so the ten Zhongshushe people are naturally at the disposal of Chen Xun and Gao Gu.

Although there are many assistants, after all, they can only do some small things such as copying and submitting, and the real drafting has to be done by the cabinet ministers themselves.

Therefore, the workload of the two bosses is only slightly reduced.

In the small cubicle, Chen Xun looked up and saw that the inkstone in the inkstone was almost gone. He was about to call the Zhongshushe people from the outside to study the ink, but he saw that it was already past noon.

Rubbing his sore and swollen eye sockets, Chen Xun straightened up, planning to go out for lunch.

As soon as he turned around from behind the desk and before he stepped out the door, he saw Gao Gu stepping in with a memorial in his hand.

The cabinet doesn't care about food. Except for the occasional banquet given by the emperor, they basically bring their own lunch.

Seeing Gao Gu approaching, Chen Xun was stunned for a moment, and then opened his mouth.

"Shiyong is here, and the old man is going to have dinner. A few days ago, a cook from Jiangsu and Zhejiang came to the old man's house. The Huadiao Drunken Chicken is very good. How about going with the old man?"

Gao Gu looked a little unnatural, waved his hand, and said.

"Cifu, wait for the meal. This is just approved by the emperor. The memorial of the Ministry of Rituals, the old man is a little uncertain, so come here to discuss with Cifu."

In fact, the current situation in the cabinet is somewhat delicate.

Since the last time the emperor ordered Chen Xun and Chen Xun to elect cabinet ministers, the two who had cooperated with each other secretly developed a rift.

Although this kind of faint crack is difficult for outsiders to detect, it actually exists.

In particular, when the status of the cabinet was further promoted by the emperor, this kind of rift became more and more obvious.

These days, the two seldom dine together as before.

Chen Xunben was also polite, he had already seen the memorial in Gao Gu's hand, nodded, and led Gao Gu to sit aside, took the memorial in his hand, and read it.

As soon as he turned his head, Chen Xun frowned, looked at Gao Gu, and asked softly.

"Ministry of Rites?"

There are many affairs in the cabinet. Normally speaking, if it is a major issue that is difficult to decide, whether it is Gao Gu or Chen Xun, they will take the initiative to discuss with the other party.

Chen Xun had never seen this memorial before. Obviously, it was drafted by Gao Gupiao and submitted directly to the imperial court.

This also means that it is not a major military matter, and there is no need for two cabinet ministers to vote together.

What's more, the Ministry of Rites is noble, what big things can happen?
Seeing Chen Xun looking at him suspiciously, Gao Gu smiled wryly and said.

"Cifu, what this memorandum says is not a big deal. This year is the year of His Majesty's ascension to the throne. The vassal kings from all over the country handed in the registers as usual, and they want to go to Beijing to have an audience. So the Ministry of Rites played, and wanted the vassal kings from all over the country to come to Beijing on the New Year's Day. Enter Beijing to worship."

"This is a customary matter. Let's go through the motions. When the old man drafted the ticket, he gave the opinion that the war should stop, and it is not appropriate for the princes of various places to leave the fief. However, it was rejected by His Majesty."

"what?"

Chen Xun bowed his head, skipped the contents of the memorial and the proposal, and went directly to the last Zhubi imperial criticism, and saw that it was written.

"...As played by the Ministry of Rites, the clan and vassal kings are all my elders. I haven't seen them for a long time, and I miss them very much. For the sake of cousins ​​and relatives, I ordered all the clans, from the generals of Fengguo and the county monarchs, to come to Beijing to pay homage..."

After reading it, Chen Xun was also a little confused.

The vassal dynasty was a rule set by the Taizu.

Generally speaking, when a new king succeeds to the throne, or every three years, the royal family of the county king and above can enter the pilgrimage.

But in fact, after Taizong's death, the court's control over the clan princes became more stringent, and this rule was basically abolished.

During the Yongle period, there would still be cases of clans entering Beijing every few years, but in the period of the first emperor, it basically disappeared.

So normally, once the clan becomes a vassal, it means that they will never be able to return to the capital in this lifetime.

So as Gao Gu said, the memorial from the Ministry of Rites is just a formality and a routine inquiry.

But who would have thought that the Son of Heaven would approve such a routinely rejected matter?
If it's just accurate, it's fine, and it's worth adding two pounds.

Even according to Taizu's rules, the pilgrims are no more than county kings.

However, His Majesty's imperial seal reads, "The generals of Fengguo and the county monarchs and above all come to Beijing to pay homage."

What is this concept?
According to the rules of the imperial clan of the Ming Dynasty.

The prince is divided into princes.

The eldest son of the prince inherits the throne of the prince, the remaining sons are divided into county kings, and the daughter is named princess, but the princess is not named.

The eldest son of the county king inherits the throne of the county. The rest of the sons are all named generals of the town, his daughter is named the county head, his grandson is named the general of the auxiliary state, the granddaughter is named the county monarch, the great-grandson is named the general of Fengguo, and the great-granddaughter is named the county monarch.

From the Ming Dynasty to the present, from the Taizu to the present, and to the present, it is the fifth generation in terms of seniority.

In other words, even counting from the prince who was entrusted by Taizu at that time, it has been passed down for at most five or six generations.

The emperor said that all the generals of Fengguo and above would enter the capital, which basically means that all the clans registered in the clan's mansion must enter the capital.

Chen Xun understood why Gao Gu had come, put down the memorial, and said.

"Since the Taizu, the clans have multiplied and flourished in various places. Although I haven't checked it, there are about thousands of them. If such a large number of clans enters Beijing, I'm afraid it will waste people and money?"

Gao Gu sighed, also feeling a headache.

God knows where the emperor is wrong, to call so many clans to Beijing.

This Zhu Zhu also said "Long time no see, I miss you very much".

Mr. Gao Gu just wanted to ask.

Your Majesty, you grew up in the capital since you were a child, and when His Royal Highness King Xiang left the capital at the latest, you had just turned one year old, so why do you miss it so much?
Of course, it was nothing more than complaining, and he dared not ask him to question him face to face.

Nodding, Gao Gu said.

"That's true. It's less than two months away from the New Year's Eve, so time is tight."

"Villagers from all over the country have to use guards of honor when they enter Beijing, and they must be harassed along the way and entertained by the locals."

"With such a large number of clans coming to Beijing, the Ministry of Rituals also needs to plan in advance, arrange accommodation and reception matters. Not to mention it is very troublesome, and it also costs a lot of money."

"Now that the war is over, the national treasury is not sufficient. Such a commotion will make it even more unsustainable."

In fact, Gao Gu felt a burst of regret when he saw Zhu Pi.

From the very beginning, he should have directly sent the memorandum to the palace by himself, and told the emperor about his interests on the spot.

Now that the Zhu criticism has come down, although there is no formal edict, it is not considered a real imperial edict, and it can be discussed again.

But looking for the emperor at this time, there is no doubt that it would be a bit of a refutation of the emperor's face.

That's why Gao Gu came here to find Chen Xun.

"Cifu, after all, the emperor has been in the capital for a long time. Maybe he doesn't know the number of clan members in detail. Why don't you and I enter the palace together, state our interests to the emperor, and persuade His Majesty to withdraw his will?"

(End of this chapter)