Jingming

Chapter 412 Hand cramps when receiving gifts

Once the awards are confirmed, the heroes will have new identities and uniforms to congratulate the emperor on the Longevity Festival.

The benefits brought to the Ming Dynasty by regaining the lost territory have not been fully realized, but the scope of rewards based on merit is not limited to military commanders.

Although Zhang Fujing, Xia Yan, and Yang Shen were not promoted to nobility, they were all rewarded with titles and property.

The reward money for the officers must come from the national treasury, and the additional salary money for these titles, favors, and meritorious titles in the future will also come from the national treasury, but at the moment, the physical rewards for the famous civil servants and generals are coming from Zhu Houcong himself.

I took out a lot on that day, but the next day it was time to receive gifts.

It's the emperor's birthday, so these gifts are naturally for the emperor. It's not too much to enter the inner transport warehouse, right?

At dawn, Zhu Houcong still woke up from Kunning Palace.

When he returned to Beijing, Sun Jiao had passed away and was buried. Sun Ming was sad for a long time.

Although she has been a queen for many years, she will never miss other things because of this, but Zhu Houcong also knows that as the princes grow up, she is afraid that the pressure on her will increase.

Whether out of concern for her or for the stability of the harem, Zhu Houcong spent the most time with Sun Ming after returning to the Forbidden City after being separated from his concubines for nearly a year.

After washing up, all the concubines, princes and princesses came here to congratulate him.

The older children prepared their own gifts.

For the little ones, their mothers naturally help prepare.

Zhu Houcong took one look at it and sighed in his heart.

Perhaps due to the "physical fitness technique" he had advocated for many years in the harem, his more different requirements for raising children, or the temporarily stable order in the harem, very few of his children died in infancy.

Nowadays, only Concubine An suffered from dystocia, and among the other princes and daughters, there are only one son and two daughters who are relatively weak.

Now, Zhu Houcong has six princes.

Among them, the main palace gave birth to two sons.The eldest son Zhu Zaicheng has been canonized as the prince, and the second son Zhu Zaicheng was born in the eighth year of Jiajing. He is only four years old now and named Zhu Zaicheng.

The remaining four princes are respectively the eldest son of the emperor, the Yue King Zhu Zaiyu, who was born to the concubine Xian, and the fifth eldest son Zhu Zaiyi, who was born to the concubine Jing Zhang Qinghe in the ninth year of Jiajing.The third child, Zhu Zaiyuan, is seven years old, and his mother is Carolina. The youngest, the sixth child, Zhu Zaiyuan, was born to Tana, who was born in a rich family, at the end of the ninth year of Jiajing.Because of their birth, both of their mothers are currently only Zhaoyi.

In addition to sons, there are nine daughters.

It's a coincidence that after the incident of placing a concubine, Zhu Houcong actually had "both rain and dew" for a while, but among the five children born in the eight years of Jiajing, only Sun Ming still gave birth to a prince.

In the past two years, due to the imperial expedition to the north, there has been no good news in the palace. Only Wen Suyun is pregnant again, and she does not know whether her third child will be a boy or a girl.

Now fifteen children were kneeling on the ground to celebrate "birthday". Zhu Houcong couldn't help but complain in his heart: If this was not restrained at all, the scale would probably be two or three times bigger.

The problem with being in good health and having many women is that they are indeed very fertile.

Zhu Houcong looked at Agaru, who had just been elected to the palace by the Ordos tribe and was to be canonized as Jieyu today, and murmured in his heart that it would be nice to have some newcomers.

It's strange to say that after those people stayed in the palace, menstruation was getting closer and closer.

Zhu Houcong had never "drilled" into these before, how could he have known that this would be the case?If you keep this pace, by the time you are 60 or [-] years old, won't you have dozens or hundreds of children?

In the midst of random thoughts, he happily rewarded the children with some small items and asked about the expenses of each palace. Then he got up and went to say hello to the Empress Dowager Jiang.

Empress Dowager Chiang is already 57 and is showing her age.

Although she is now the Queen Mother, it does not mean that she will live a long life.

Zhu Houcong remembered that she seemed to be walking in front of Queen Mother Zhang.

Empress Dowager Zhang is still living in seclusion in Renshou Palace.At that time, she was driven to Xiyuan to "recuperate". Later, when it was completely designated as Huangming University, she was taken back to her former residence, Renshou Palace.Although she is still the eminent Empress Dowager Cishou, Renshou Palace is now a completely "forbidden place" in the palace.

The palace was filled with joy today, it was the Emperor's Longevity Festival, and the Renshou Palace was blessed with some delicacies.

The old eunuch Li Zhen from North Korea whom Jin Qi was thinking about is now the eunuch in charge of Renshou Palace.

Although he can hand out some letters, they must be reviewed by the Supervisor of Ceremonies, so how can he dare to say anything?
Now Queen Mother Zhang is still sitting in front of the Buddhist hall. Li Zhen asked her several times but got no reply, so she didn't bother to say anything more.

The grass in the courtyard was deep, but they, the eunuchs and maids, were too lazy to take care of it. They all just lazily basked in the sun and chatted.

The noise outside has nothing to do with them.

On the former side, although Fengtian Hall was renamed Guoyi Hall, Fengtian Gate was still called Fengtian Gate.

At this moment, everyone inside and outside Fengtianmen is also making preparations.

Yesterday was the military parade, today it is birthday celebrations.

There is no shortage of ceremonial guards and orchestras. At this moment, civil and military officials and foreign envoys are waiting outside the Meridian Gate.

The newly ennobled princes yesterday were extremely dazzling. Guo Xun, Li Quanli and Zhu Qi were all smiling from ear to ear, while Yan Chunsheng was more modest and cautious.

Those old ministers could be more reckless, but he, the young new prince, did not dare to be careless.

With great achievements, he should just take on more apprentices in the future, and according to the emperor's words, cultivate higher-quality Jingying soldiers.

Yes, Guo Xun, Li Quanli, and Zhu Qi can already start the pension mode in any of the five governorates.

Yan Chunsheng is not the only one in the special operations camp who has made meritorious deeds.Now the special operations battalion is being recuperated by another general who was awarded the title of earl for his merits, while Yan Chunsheng is going to the third battalion to train.

This round of adjustments is inevitable.

When the time came, first the four newly ennobled princes went to worship at the three altars of heaven, earth, and Sheji and the Taimiao Temple respectively, while the rest lined up outside the Meridian Gate to pay homage to the Hall of Heroes and the forest of steles on both sides - this was a newly added etiquette process. .

To the officials of the Ming Dynasty, the emperor constantly emphasized the significance of the Hall of Heroes and the Forest of Steles.After this battle, although there are no more people in the Hall of Heroes now, there will be four or so senior generals who died in the battle in the forest of steles on both sides.

As for the foreign envoys, they knew that the Emperor of Heaven had this method of using his reputation after death to win over the loyalty of his ministers.And these heroic deeds listed here also prove how many heroes emerged in the vast Ming Dynasty.

When we arrived, the bell tower in the distance rang ten times, and the Meridian Gate opened.

This is the official start of the meeting with the Emperor of Heaven and congratulations on the Longevity Festival.

Li held a relatively high position among the vassal envoys because the relationship between North Korea and the Ming Dynasty had always been relatively stable and strong.

After walking through the long doorway, he finally saw what the interior of the Emperor's palace looked like.

On both sides of the Neijinshui Bridge, the strict guards are not the focus of everyone's attention. The tall Fengtian Gate is majestic.

At this moment, first of all, the Ming Dynasty Three-Chen Flag held by the imperial guards inside and outside Fengtian Gate was too dazzling.

So many flags are not only the visual embellishment of this special day, but also convey the strength of the country and the dignity of the Son of Heaven.

Zhu Houcong is sitting on the throne in the National Assembly Hall. Today's process will be very long.

The longest among them is naturally the Dufufu of the Six Border Districts of the 16 provinces in the two capitals of the Ming Dynasty, many relatives of the vassal kings, important ministers of second rank and above, the ministers of the provincial Xiangxianyuan, and the vassal clans of the vassal states on the Longevity Festival of the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty. Individual congratulations and gifts.

Since the emperor ascended the throne, he has not paid much attention to the Longevity Festival. This is the only time to make a big deal about it, and it also has important internal and external purposes.

As the situation inside and outside the Ming Dynasty stabilized, both the courtiers within the Ming Dynasty and the envoys of the vassal states knew that this was an opportunity to establish an impression face to face with the emperor that would affect the next ten years or even longer.

Even if everyone is only given a minute or two to submit a congratulatory form, say a few words, and have officials from the Ministry of Etiquette sing out the list of congratulatory gifts they have given, the total time required is not short.

Zhu Houcong only said a few words of politeness or encouragement in a friendly manner, and then enjoyed the joy of "hand cramps after receiving gifts".

In the name of a birthday, it is not shabby to receive a gift after spending a lot of money on the war.

After receiving it, I will inject more capital into the Huangming Assets Bureau and buy more treasury bonds. This is called concentrating financial resources to do big things.

As the ceremony came to an end, Liu Long suddenly hurried up to Zhang Zuo and whispered a few words, and then Zhang Zuo presented the memorial he handed over to the imperial case.

Zhu Houcong glanced at him doubtfully, and while listening to the praises of the Prince of Johor kneeling below, he opened it and took a look.

Upon seeing this, he frowned and then nodded.

So just when everyone thought that the congratulatory session was over and the banquet could finally begin, they heard the roll call: "Sultan Mansu'er of the Turpan Khanate sent his son Shah Khan to congratulate His Majesty the Ming Emperor on a long life!"

Zhang Fujing, Xia Yan, Tang Shunzhi and others were stunned for a moment. The Turpan Khanate was not on the previous list.

After Mansuer came to the throne in the 17th year of Hongzhi, Turpan first destroyed Hami and then invaded Suzhou repeatedly. The relationship with the Ming Dynasty was very unharmonious.

Although they also said they would surrender to the Ming Dynasty, they did not accept the Ming Dynasty to set up a propaganda embassy.

Although six years after Jiajing, there was no more blatant invasion of Suzhou, but even if the news of the Ming Dynasty's return to power spread at the end of last year, Turpan has not conveyed a new attitude in such a long time.

Why did you suddenly send your son to the capital now?And looking at it, it looks like it was a temporary arrangement and came all the way.

Tang Shunzhi and Xia Yan looked at each other: If there were changes in the Western Region, there would be no urgent report from the border to Beijing.

In fact, as long as they arrive at the Qinggan border, they will first rush to report to the capital, and then guard them all the way to the capital.

Where did they come from now?
Doubts lingered in their minds, but since the emperor had nodded, they did nothing on the occasion.

Outside the main hall, two people actually came in. The person in front was young, and the person in the back was older, but they both looked tired.

"His Majesty the Great Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Sultan Mansu'er, Lord of Turpan, congratulates you on your birthday. Your name is known to everyone in the north and south of the Tianshan Mountains. On the orders of my father, Khan, I bring you the treasures and horses of Turpan..."

The words were relayed by the old man at the back, so they brought a fluent interpreter in advance.

After Zhu Houcong waited for the officials of the Ministry of Rites to finish reading the congratulatory gifts they presented, he spoke: "I heard that you were running at starry night, crossing deserts and grasslands, so that you could rush to the capital today. It has been a hard journey, and Mansu'er is very determined." He I accepted the gift."

The message conveyed in the emperor's words moved Xia Yan and Tang Shunzhi's hearts.

Xingye galloped across deserts and grasslands, but Daming didn't know it beforehand. In order to avoid trouble and rush for time, they went all the way from Turpan around Yinshan Mountain and Dashawobei.

I just arrived in the capital today, probably from the vicinity of Duoyanbu, which is the closest to the capital.

The Xuanning Border Zone has just been established, and the truly tight defense line is still the border wall.

It can only be said that the emergency reports from the border were almost at the same speed as them. The emperor should have received specific information, which made the people over there make the decision to let them go without authorization.

Not only because the birthday celebration was special, but also because Shah Khan must have brought enough sincerity and important information.

I answer!

For many important officials in the imperial court, this answer came to their minds.

The ceremony proceeds step by step, followed by the banquet.

Those who can stay in the Fengtian Palace are the vassal kings, princes, counselors and envoys of the vassal state.

Zhu Houcong didn't mean to be in a hurry, so Shahan, whose eyes were clearly filled with anxiety, could only sit down for now.

Today, Gunbilik is still dressed up, and An Le Gong's dance is not the only show, but it seems to be a temperament after drunkenness - he proposed it on his own initiative, so in the eyes of people like Shah Khan and Jin Qi, he is the loser. Extreme fear of the winner, just to survive.

In return for his understanding of the situation, the Emperor of Heaven rewarded him with three treasure tickets.A total of 170 taels of silver, which is a lot, but not neat.Gunbilik bent down and held three treasure tickets to express his gratitude. He felt that the busts of the three heroes of the Ming Dynasty were very heavy.

But the emperor's words were very kind: "Since all the tribes in Ordos have surrendered, I hope Anle Gong will tell the people to put aside their past grievances and live in peace and contentment in the Ming Dynasty. I have issued an edict and canonized Agala as Jieyu, and she will be the queen from now on. family."

"I would like to express my gratitude to His Majesty the Emperor and the great Bogda Chechen Khan for his kindness. I will definitely inform all the tribes. From me to Jieyu, every subject of the tribes will serve Your Majesty respectfully."

Zhu Houcong smiled and nodded: "You dance very well. I'll give you some wine and have another drink."

Gunbilik sighed inwardly.

What else could it be?I sold a dance and got 170 taels of silver. My life will be more comfortable in the following days.

Only by truly reassuring the Ming Emperor could he become a prince of a foreign vassal with a real salary.

But Gombrick wasn't sure he would live to see that day.

There has been a back and forth, before it was just about receiving gifts.Now at the banquet stage, when the envoys of the vassal states got up and went out to congratulate them on their birthdays and toast again, they were more or less rewarded by the emperor.

Envoys with experience expressed their feelings: Today's emperor is too stingy.

In their memories, when they came to pay tribute in the past, or when their ancestors came over, they would always get more rewards in return.

But now?

It's a small amount of new money from the Ming Dynasty, and some paintings and calligraphy.

The feeling of meaning.

But there was nothing they could do, and they tried their best to stay awake at the same time, because things in the afternoon were more important.

After the banquet, the emperor would receive the envoys from each vassal state one by one and talk to them about the subsequent "bilateral relations" - this was written in the official arrangement document given to them in advance by officials from the Ming Dynasty's Ministry of Rites and Foreign Affairs.

The first place on the list is North Korea, and the last place is Turpan.

Zhu Houcong moved to the State Palace, and other envoys saw Jin Qi and Li Xian being led back, but they still stayed in the main hall and waited.

Except for the Minister of State Zhang Bi and the Minister of Rites and Foreign Affairs Liu Long who were accompanying them here, they clearly saw the envoy from Turpan being invited out of the main hall and heading to the southwest.Those who left in advance in that direction were their Prime Minister, Minister of State, General Staff of the Military Affairs Council, Governor of Hetao, and Governor of Qinggan.

In the State Palace, Zhu Houcong did not play tricks, and his first words made Jin Qi tremble.

"Since we know that the Weihua, Lanzi, and Qiantong islands in the Yalu River are all places of the upper state, why do we still appeal to the people of Liaodong not to live on the islands?"

"His Majesty the Emperor has clearly learned that first, in the fourth year of Jiajing, Nan Gun, the leader of the country's political affairs, made a slanderous report to the country, and then it was Zheng Guangbi, the leader of the country's government last year. Both of them were sycophants. Now Zheng Guangbi has been expelled from the imperial court. The islands in the Yalu River Since this is the territory of the superior country, how can I, my king, dare to make such wild claims as to argue with the superior country over the territory and ask for a ban on the residence of the superior country’s soldiers and civilians?”

Li couldn't help but lower his head.

It is because of the interests of the Shilin faction in North Korea that they are worried that "the family will be harmed forever."

Isn’t it true that this matter cannot be petitioned to ask Heaven to show mercy? Isn’t it just a few islands?
But after yesterday's military parade, Jin Qi was asked this question by the Emperor of Heaven, and he immediately expressed his attitude and gave up this hope.

Zhu Houcong nodded lightly: "Since Li Yi understands the truth, I feel relieved."

Jin Qi only had one important thing in mind, and asked tentatively: "Since the founding of the Joseon Dynasty, it has always been respectful to the Ming Dynasty. Since I have received the approval of His Majesty Emperor Ruizhong, I have often been concerned about the mistakes of my ancestor Taizu over the years. Now the four dynasties Now that the situation is stable and the court is in full swing, I have ordered my foreign ministers to report to your majesty. Does the Ming Dynasty have any plans to renovate the ceremony to rectify the lineage of Taizu?"

"Re-revise the Hui Dian?" Zhu Houcong laughed, "The Hui Dian must be re-revised. I have implemented new laws and major changes in the official system. The current situation is very different from what is stated in the Hui Dian. However, the new laws of the Ming Dynasty are often changed and always new. Although some people I have asked you to revise the memorial, but I haven’t decided yet so early.”

How could Jin Qi dare to persuade the emperor to do this immediately? All he wanted was the attitude of the new emperor.

"Foreign ministers are daring. I wonder if your majesty can grant my country's request and issue an explicit edict to appease my king?"

"The clan line is indeed an important matter, and Li Yi cares about this matter out of filial piety." Zhu Houcong smiled and nodded, but then the conversation changed, "I heard that the North Korean diplomatic envoy came and Li Yi's harem was restless. Last year Another big event happened, which led to the death of the eldest son of the concubine. In the past, Li Yi pretended to be the Lord of Yanshan and asked to resign. Now there is a great disaster in the clan's ethics. Li Yi hopes that I will issue a decree to authenticate the clan, but there is another Hidden secret?"

Li's heart was shocked, and Jin Qi broke out in cold sweat: "Return to... Your Majesty, since I know that the Korean lineage recorded in the Supreme Court's canons is wrong, I cannot leave false accusations in the Celestial's canons. The deposed Fucheng Lord is watching the throne, first of all The crime of burning rats and cursing the king and his son with words is really unforgivable. In addition to the anger, the king had no choice but to clarify the canonical punishment in order to calm the internal and external affairs..."

Zhu Houcong raised the corners of his mouth and refused to comment.

In the silence, the atmosphere was very strange, and Jin Qi's heart was beating fast.

Then, I heard Emperor Tianming speak: "Are you Li Yi's second son?"

"...I am none other than Li, the second son of a concubine. His despicable name is an insult to the Holy Spirit."

"Li Chenggui is also your ancestor, and you also came to petition me to revise the ceremony to correct the fallacy of the Korean clan lineage?"

Li had to kneel down and said, "I beg your Majesty the Emperor for permission."

"Your filial piety is commendable. I see that you behave well and speak in an extraordinary way. I am also quite curious about the scenery of North Korea. Can you tell me a little bit about it?"

Jin Qi stared blankly at the Ming Emperor who seemed to be interested in Li, and after asking questions, he seemed to appreciate him more and more.

At the end, Zhu Houcong actually sighed: "Although I don't know what Li Yi's prince is like, but just seeing that he raised a son like you, I think Lord Fucheng is really bringing his own disaster. Anyway, seeing as you go there in person When the Ming Dynasty comes to ask for this matter, I will send you a clear edict for the sake of your filial piety. If the "Da Ming Huidian" is scheduled to be re-edited, this time it will definitely correct your mistakes in the Korean lineage."

Li was very frightened, but at this moment he had to kneel down to thank him.

Jin Qi is here!
After all, was it because his performance was appreciated by the Ming Emperor that he completed this mission?

He is the second son, and he does not need this appreciation from the emperor of tomorrow.After he goes back, can Mr. Jin An give him good things to eat?

However, Zhu Houcong continued to deepen his fear: "Although you have no chance of being king of Korea, I think you are quite talented. The Ming Dynasty's trade with Korea is quite different from paying tribute in the past. If you are not in a hurry to go back, you can stay here Let’s spend a few months in the capital studying the regulations of Ming Dynasty’s border markets, and then go back to North Korea to teach them how to handle trade matters better. For the sake of mutual benefit, we can’t just keep doing what we did in the past and not understand what goods Ming Dynasty really needs.”

"...the foreign minister takes the order..."

Li was extremely anxious. Do you still dare to go back?

Do you think too highly of me?If you appreciate me so much, the remnants of the Shilin faction will continue to come together. You are trying to kill me!

But no matter what, at least he doesn't have to go back with Jin Qi first.

Li made up his mind to find ways to use these few months to stay in Ming Dynasty.

At this time, Zhu Houcong asked Jin Qi again: "In the past, Japan competed for tribute and harmed the people of the Ming Dynasty. I ordered it to cut off its tribute. In recent years, there have been a lot of Japanese goods sold by you North Korea in the border market. Could it be that they are now Is it through you that I can help you?"

(End of this chapter)