Jingming

Chapter 13 What does the Ministry of Rites mean? (for collection)

Since receiving the edict on March 27, a month has passed in the blink of an eye.

Sacrifice King Xingxian on April 21, and bid farewell to Princess Jiang on April [-]. On April [-], the successor arrived at Liangxiang County, about [-] to [-] miles southwest of the capital.

Zhu Houcong was sitting in a large carriage decorated with ivory at this moment. This was the vehicle used by the prince's guard of honor for long-distance travel, and it was called an elephant.

The welcome group came with a light car and a simple car, so naturally they didn't come here with a full guard of honor.

The overall height of the elephant rod is one foot, one foot and six inches, the width is seven feet and nine inches, and the length is nearly two feet.

The compartment space on the car is only about 1.6 meters in length and height, and about 1.3 meters in width.

The red lacquered wooden boards, red flower carpets, red brocade mats, red curtains, and gold-woven quilts in the compartment are all distinguished and full of joy.

In front of the carriage, Lu Song was on the left and was in charge of the driver, while the driver on his right was Lu Bing.

Now Lu Bing was standing there with a knife in his hand, his little red face was very serious.

The cub Lu Bing traveled far for the first time, and he was excited and proud along the way.

What kind of honor is it to be the heir to the throne?

He now has the status of a "Jinyiwei Sheren", that is, a reserve officer in Jinyiwei.

This was Zhu Houcong's special kindness to his Lu family. Everyone knew that Lu Bing was Zhu Houcong's breast brother along the way.Now that the front and rear wings of the escorting army are properly guarded, this "carriage" was actually given to such a 12-year-old child to do it.

"Your Highness, Liangxiang County is ahead." Huang Jin walked to Xiang Ren and reminded him aloud.

The car is not fast, which is comparable to the normal speed of people walking.

Zhu Houcong raised the curtain of the car in the elephant, and looked out curiously.

Cui Yuan, who was not far behind, also rode over on a horse and introduced a bit: "There are two major gates in the capital, one is Tongzhou at the mouth of the waterway, and the other is Liangxiang, the throat of the land road. Your Highness, when you arrive here, you can start tomorrow." Entering the palace."

Cui Yuan is 43 years old now, and he can be said to be the most handsome among the people Zhu Houcong has come into contact with.

I remember that Lao Qin once said that in order to prevent the risk of foreign relatives meddling in politics, Zhu Yuanzhang made rigid rules for future descendants: whether it is a prince or a court lady, the choice of marriage is a good folk family rather than a meritorious minister.

Except that in the early days of the founding of the country, in order to stabilize the political power, he had to marry one or two, and since Zhu Di in the Yongle Dynasty chose a handsome guy for his youngest sister, the rigid standard for choosing a son-in-law captain is to be handsome.

Cui Yuan is not only handsome, but also has a high cultural quality.

When Zhu Houcong heard his introduction, he smiled and nodded: "It's hard work, Concubine Cui. I heard from Master Yuan that Concubine Cui is well-known, wise, and resourceful. I have become an official, but I will remember the merit of welcoming him in my heart."

"I don't dare to claim merit." Cui Yuan saluted immediately, "It's my duty to manage the assignment well."

"I heard that your younger brother Cui Yun's knowledge is also very good, is he still concentrating on preparing for the next year's exam?"

Cui Yuan's heart skipped a beat, and he bowed his head in agreement.

Zhu Houcong just smiled: "I hope this time I can be named on the gold list."

"His Royal Highness has high hopes, I...must give a lot of encouragement to my younger brother."

Where did Sijun notice that his younger brother was preparing for the next exam?If Cui Yuan couldn't understand what Zhu Houcong said, he would be ashamed of his reputation for being smart.

Zhu Houcong said again: "After ascending the throne, I still have something to trouble my son-in-law. My mother, concubine and sisters will ask my son-in-law to make another trip to welcome them to Beijing."

"Your Highness has an order, so don't dare not obey!"

Zhu Houcong nodded and looked at the gradually clear outline of the county town in front of him: "It's finally here!"

……

Liangxiang is a very famous place, and there was a big event in the history of the Ming Dynasty.

It is said that when Renzong Zhu Gaochi died, Zhu Zhanji was still in Nanjing.His second uncle Han Wang Zhu Gaoxu set up a network of heaven and earth to intercept him along the way, but Zhu Zhanji suddenly flashed to Liangxiang to accept the imperial edict and became Emperor Xuande.

Now Zhu Houcong also went to Liangxiang according to the edict, and those who want to stop him in some ways have also arrived.

The 3000 escort officers and soldiers were stationed outside the city. Dozens of royal entourages lived in the Xichayuan in the north of the city.

When the escorting army surrounded the successor and drove past in a mighty manner, the common people in Liangxiang County were all shocked.

The new emperor is about to ascend the throne, and the magistrate of Liangxiang has made a lot of trouble.

Sitting in the elephant seat and watching the common people kneeling on both sides of the street outside through the gap in the curtains, Zhu Houcong looked very emotional.

Zhu Houcong didn't know how many civilian husbands were recruited from various places along the way, not only to ensure his safe entry to Beijing, but also to let him feel the loyalty and submission of the officials and people under his rule.

There have always been people dissuading the emperor from going on tour. In addition to the inconvenience of many things and the confusion of the place, another main reason is the cost.

All the way through various places, the roads have been leveled and cleaned in advance.

Now is the busy time of spring plowing and farming, and Zhu Houcong didn't know how many people he disturbed along the way.

When staying in each place, local officials will come to the posthouse or station to pay a visit at noon and evening.

Zhu Houcong will meet again, but people become a little numb after that: so many people are in a hurry, how many can you remember?
With these in mind, the convoy finally arrived at the place where they will stay tonight.

As soon as they moved their bodies, Liang Chu, Mao Cheng and others arrived at this temporary residence, which is called the Xingdian.

"Your Highness, Yang Yingkui, a member of the Ministry of Rituals, has come to submit a note on the ceremony of entering the city tomorrow."

Yuanwailang is an official from the fifth rank.

Currently in the Ministry of Rites, Mao Cheng is the boss, the second rank.There are two servants on the left and right under it, and the rest are Lang Zhong, Yuanwai Lang, and the principal who handle specific duties.

Mao Cheng respectfully said to Zhu Houcong: "Tomorrow, His Highness will enter the city, and the Ministry of Rites is making preparations. The minister left Beijing in a hurry that day. His Highness's entry into the city, the palace, and the enthronement were all planned by the officials of the Ministry of Rites during this time. Yang Yingkui The leader came, I wonder if His Highness will meet you?"

With Mao Cheng, the head of the Ministry of Rites, here, the person who delivered the official documents would naturally hand it over to Mao Cheng first.

Zhu Houcong smiled and nodded.

It is not easy to be the first among the hundreds of officials in the capital to go out of the city for dozens of miles, which is also considered a second-level achievement.

Since Mao Cheng mentioned it, it must be his confidant.

Zhu Houcong saw this Yang Yingkui, and asked about it, knowing that he was a Jinshi in the sixth year of Zhengde. Jinshi at the age of 25, now 35 years old, is the golden age of career advancement.From the sixth position of the fifth rank, the future is bright.

"Is everything ready in the city and the palace?" Zhu Houcong asked with a smile, "Mr. Yang, please show me the note first."

Mao Cheng nodded with a smile, and asked him to hand it over to Si Jun, just to support him in front of Si Jun.With the impression, it will be faster to promote later.

This time, with the success of welcoming him, Mao Cheng, who was only one step away from entering the cabinet, was already thinking about it.

After finishing the grand enthronement ceremony of the new king, and then Emperor Zhengde discussing the posthumous title of the temple and the funeral ceremony, after so much credit and hard work, it's time to join the cabinet, right?
Mao Cheng was in a happy mood, when he heard Zhu Houcong asked in a puzzled and strange way: "Why did you let me enter the palace through Dong'anmen and accept the advice from the Shangjian in the Wenhua Palace? Isn't this the etiquette for the crown prince to ascend the throne?"

"Your Highness...what's wrong?" Mao Cheng didn't react for a while.

Among the crowd, Xie Changjie's heart jumped suddenly: Didn't it be agreed that he would ascend to the throne first and "give a try"?

For so many days, the officials of the royal family were restrained to forget the disputes about succession and succession that day. What is the reason for that?
He couldn't help but look at Zhu Houcong, and then at Yuan Zonggao who had already joined him.

The old guy was looking at Mao Cheng and Liang Chu calmly.

A thought flashed in Xie Changjie's mind: Your Highness can't trust me after all... They have obviously colluded!
Zhu Houcong put away his smiling face.

Along the way, he was easy-going, eager to learn, and modest, and became more and more harmonious with Liang Chu and others after the reward of "old things for the imperial court".

Now that his face suddenly darkened like this, the feeling of modesty and politeness of the younger generation disappeared.

Liang Chu and Mao Cheng couldn't help but think of the feeling when they met him for the first time: a kind of abnormal calm beyond their age.

They don't know how many times they have seen the eyes of young people.

All the way to the outskirts of Beijing with such great fanfare, the city is already preparing for the grand ceremony of his enthronement in the palace tomorrow, and Zhu Houcong finally got something to make use of.

He casually shook the instrument note in his hand, and his voice revealed the puzzlement and anger in depression: "The edict is for me to inherit the emperor's throne, not for me to be the prince. Elder Liang Ge, Shangshu Mao, and the Ministry of Rites treat me as a Crown Prince, what do you mean?"

Yang Yingkui, who was still very happy just now, suddenly felt cold all over his body.

What a big deal!

(End of this chapter)