King Xiang of the Red Chamber

Chapter 794 Family Banquet
Wang Pei'an's advice continued from the Qianqing Palace to the Qianyou Gate, and he was finally forced to stop because the inner court was further inside.

After getting rid of Wang Pei'an, Zhu Jinghong thought of Song Renzong, who was once held back by Bao Zheng and was not allowed to leave. The latter even spit on the emperor's face.

Although Wang Pei'an did not "revolt against his superiors" like Bao Zheng, he was already an outlier among the court officials. No one dared to be disrespectful to the emperor like he did, not even the most powerful prime minister.

As for Bao Zheng, Song Renzong was a soft-hearted person and chose to be tolerant. Although Zhu Jinghong was strong, he did not mind Wang Pei'an.

He didn't even have the chance to care, because he was noticed as soon as he walked out of the Qianqing Gate, and then the news reached the ears of those who were paying attention.

He had only been walking alone for a short while when his brothers, uncles, nephews and nieces came to pay their respects to him in a timely manner.

The first to arrive were the Zhu Jingchun brothers. It was not because they ran faster, but because everyone understood the situation and would not be so tactless as to steal the limelight from the two brothers.

After them came the Prince of Zhongshun Zhu Xiantan, the fifth prince of Yunyang Zhu Jingze, the seventh prince of Xingshan Zhu Jingzhi and others.

Within the palace walls, the crowd surrounded the emperor, talking and laughing all the way, and these princes and generals were very good at flattering him.

Zhu Jinghong didn't say much during the whole process. He just listened to everyone with a faint smile on his face, making it hard to tell what he was thinking.

"The Sichuan Provincial Procuratorate reported to the court recently that the Shu vassal state arbitrarily seized young and strong women and forced them to marry. Have you heard of this?"

When Zhu Jinghong suddenly brought up this matter, everyone present actually knew something about it. After all, as members of the royal family, they were usually bored and naturally knew a lot about the internal affairs of the royal family.

The Shu vassal state had been passed down from Emperor Taizu for more than three hundred years. Under the system of descending ranks to inherit titles, the person with the highest title now is General Zhu Jinzhi.

Although he was only thirty years old, he was the grandfather of Emperor Zhu Jinghong.

Compared with the royal family after Emperor Taizu, the royal family who were previously granted titles outside the capital had a higher degree of freedom, but it was much more difficult for them to inherit the title.

Even though the Shu Clan had been passed down for more than three hundred years and had flourished, it was in vain. Now there were only about thirty people who inherited the title, and the rest were all commoners and had to make a living on their own. It was even worse than the Yan Clan that was previously governed by Zhu Jinghong.

The matter he mentioned just now was a memorial submitted at the beginning of the twelfth lunar month. Zhu Jinghong asked the Zongzhengfu to deal with it on the same day, but there has been no result until now.

Previously, Emperor Zhengtong appointed the Sixth Brother as the Chief of the Imperial Clan, in charge of rewards and punishments for members of the imperial clan, but specific matters were still handled by two clan members. Later, the Sixth Brother was imprisoned but it did not affect the operation of the Imperial Clan Bureau.

Although everyone present knew something about what the emperor mentioned at this moment, they did not dare to give any answers because they did not understand the emperor's intention.

Seeing that everyone was silent, Zhu Jinghong asked again: "The clan office has been investigating for so long, and there is still no news?"

The left and right clan members who manage clan affairs are two generals of higher seniority who are now squeezed out to the periphery by a group of princes.

Hearing the emperor's question, the two men hurriedly squeezed into the core, then knelt down and pleaded guilty: "We have failed in our duty, please punish us, Your Majesty!"

Both of them are white-haired old guys with the character "Xin" in their name. They are the sons of Emperor Taizu's half-brothers and are cousins ​​of the late Emperor Taizong Zhu Xinkan.

Although they were only generals guarding the country, they were in charge of the clan affairs office. Even an old prince like Zhu Xiantan did not dare to be disrespectful to these two elders.

But at this moment, the two old men were trembling as they pleaded guilty, without any of their usual dignity and poise.

"You two are the elders of the clan. You have been in charge of clan affairs for many years. You have made great contributions... There is no need to punish you. Otherwise, people will accuse me of being harsh."

"But clan affairs are important matters and must be handled strictly. Now that you two are old... can you still handle it properly and thoroughly?"

The emperor's two sentences made his meaning very clear, and the two old generals from the royal family understood it.

But for them, the job of managing the clan affairs was a lucrative position that was hard to give up, and it was simply unacceptable for them to give it up.

One of them was about to raise his head to save his face, but was stopped by the person next to him. The latter replied, "Your Majesty is wise and wise. We are old and can no longer handle such heavy responsibilities. We wanted to retire, but Your Majesty has only been on the throne for a short time and the clan affairs are complicated. We dare not give up so suddenly!"

"Now that your majesty has questioned me, I have realized that I made a mistake and ended up missing out on important matters... Therefore, I request to resign and hope that your majesty will punish me!"

Being able to be in charge of clan affairs for so many years, these old guys have a high level of political ability, and what they say is not only smooth but also reasonable.

"These are not urgent, but you have to keep an eye on the affairs of the Shu Clan and deal with them as soon as possible to calm the people's grievances!"

"In addition, we must strictly control the foreign vassals from now on. We must never allow anything harmful to the people to happen again!"

It seemed inhumane to dismiss the two men on the spot, so Zhu Jinghong did not make a decision. However, as long as they knew what was good for them, the two men would step down.

Zhu Jinghong already has replacement candidates for this, namely Zhu Jingchun and Zhu Jinghao.

This incident was just a small episode, but it also foreshadowed that during the Qiansheng period, the management of the royal family would be stricter, and many distant branches of the royal family would be deposed.

Everyone chatted for a while, and then gradually dispersed according to the emperor's will. They should wait for the emperor to arrive in Chonghua Palace.

Not only them, but all the royal family members in Kunning Palace also left one after another an hour before the banquet started. Only the imperial concubines stayed for a while and then went back to the palace to prepare.

Today is a family dinner. Zhu Jinghong is wearing the emperor's regular clothes, which makes him look relatively easy-going. The same goes for Baochai and other concubines.

When they arrived at Kunning Palace, everyone had left and Baochai had finished changing her clothes.

The two of them sat in the main seats in the main hall. Zhu Jinghong first talked about Wang Pei'an, and there was a hint of teasing in his words.

"Such loyal ministers are rare. Your Majesty, you can joke with him in private, but please do not let other ministers know. Otherwise, it will chill the hearts of loyal and upright people!"

"If you hadn't taught me, I really wouldn't have known this!" Zhu Jinghong joked.

Caressing her bulging belly, Baochai smiled and said, "While your Majesty is in a good mood, I have something to show you!"

"what?"

When Zhu Jinghong asked, Baochai had already winked at Ying'er, who then fetched a booklet from the inner hall, which looked similar to the petition books from various ministries and agencies.

After taking it and handing it to Zhu Jinghong, Baochai introduced: "This is the summary of the palace's expenses since this year. Your Majesty, please take a look!"

Zhu Jinghong flipped through the front page. The categories were basically purchasing, rewards, ceremonies, etc. He felt bored after reading a few pages.

So he turned directly to the last few pages, and sure enough, there was a summary at the end.

At this time, Baochai also spoke up, "The Shanggong Bureau has compiled a summary of the palace's expenses in the 20th year of Zhengtong, totaling 2.2 million taels of silver, an overspending of 300,000 taels compared to last year. 1.3 million taels were used for various rewards, 500,000 taels were used for the late emperor's funeral, and the remaining 400,000 taels were used for palace expenses!"

The largest number of rewards are from the royal family to civil and military officials in Beijing. There are many types of rewards and the expenses are huge throughout the year.

After reading it, Zhu Jinghong looked up and asked, "The funeral of the late emperor cost 500,000 taels, but the overspending was only 300,000 taels?"

The money for the funeral was extra. Logically, the overspending should have been 500,000 yuan, but it was only 300,000 yuan, which shows that savings were made in other places.

Baochai replied, "Don't worry, you haven't been poor in other places. It's just that the court hasn't been at war for the past year, so it hasn't sent so many rewards!"

Rewards for combatants were mainly distributed by the imperial court, but they would also be rewarded again by the palace, which was a bit like the emperor’s personal reward.

There has been basically no war in the past year, which has not only saved a lot of military expenses, but also reduced a lot of rewards from the imperial court.

Seeing that Zhu Jinghong didn't say anything, Baochai continued, "The last expenses of this year have been recorded, and the budget for next year must be determined. It's up to you to decide how much to set!"

Only after setting the budget can you make a rough plan, otherwise it will be difficult to do the next things.

"What was the highest amount in the past?" Zhu Jinghong asked. "In the 17th year of Zhengtong, a total of 3.5 million taels were spent. The overspending was mainly used to reward meritorious soldiers in the northwest!"

The war was over in the 16th year of the Zhengtong reign, and rewards for meritorious service were given in the 17th year, so overspending was inevitable.

After nodding slightly, Zhu Jinghong said, "Then let's temporarily set it at three million taels. I think next year... I'm afraid there will be some changes!"

Baochai also realized this, but she didn't ask any more questions. She wouldn't ask unless the emperor asked it himself.

"In that case... then I'll ask the Shang Palace Bureau to draft a draft?"

As an inner court agency, the Shanggong Bureau is the Queen's most important secretarial team, and all these external affairs are handled by them.

Zhu Jinghong smiled and said, "Three million taels, the people in the Ministry of Revenue will definitely complain again, and clamor for more money from the treasury!"

Baochai also laughed and said, "This world belongs to your Majesty, I don't know why they are so anxious!"

"This is the biggest deception in the world!" Zhu Jinghong sighed.

At this moment, his emotion did not require anyone to comfort him, so Baochai just listened quietly.

When the hall was quiet, a palace maid suddenly came in and reported that Princess Jing'an wanted to see her.

"Third sister?"

After muttering this, Zhu Jinghong said to the queen beside him: "In the past, after someone reported it, she would enter the palace without waiting for a reply!"

Baochai smiled and said, "Third sister has grown up and is now a mother. How can she be as free as before?"

After saying this, Baochai ordered, "Please invite the princess into the palace!"

After a few breaths, Zhu Yunsheng entered the hall and met his brother.

When he came closer, Zhu Yunsheng did not rush to salute, but asked first: "Thirteenth brother, how are you these days?"

Zhu Jinghong was calm and replied, "Everything is fine. How is my third sister?"

Hearing his brother's greetings, Zhu Yunsheng could no longer hold back his guilt, and then knelt on the ground and said, "Thirteenth brother, I didn't know my limits that day, and I spoke frivolously... I hurt your feelings, and I really deserve to die!"

"I dare not ask for forgiveness, brother, but I ask that you do not let your grief and anger damage your state of mind or even injure your dragon body because of my fault. If so, I will never forgive you even if I die a thousand times!"

Zhu Jinghong thought that his younger sister was still holding a grudge, but he didn't expect her to admit her mistake in person.

So he looked at Baochai beside him, wondering what she had done.

Baochai seemed unaware and said to Zhu Jinghong, "I have admitted my fault to you. You must say something whether I forgive you or not!"

Seeing Baochai's behavior, Zhu Jinghong knew that they had used some tricks, and guessed that they might have told the truth to Zhu Yunsheng.

After sighing, Zhu Jinghong said, "Sheng'er, get up... I have never blamed you!"

Zhu Jinghong did not blame her, which made Zhu Yunsheng feel even more guilty. She still knelt and replied, "Brother, you said you don't blame me, and I believe you, but I dare not forgive myself!"

"Sheng'er, why are you doing this? Get up quickly!" Baochai advised.

Seeing that Zhu Yunsheng still couldn't get up, Baochai took the initiative to get up and support him.

She was pregnant now, so how could Zhu Yunsheng dare to ask her to support him, so he got up very consciously.

Holding Zhu Yunsheng's shoulders, Baochai looked at Zhu Jinghong who was sitting in his original position and said, "There are misunderstandings between brothers and sisters, just talk it out, after all, we are a family!"

Zhu Jinghong also replied: "That's right, so why blame others or not?"

"I knew I was wrong since I returned home that day, but I didn't confess my crime in the past because of my face. I wanted to come here to apologize today, but Sister Lin and Xiangyun told me some things, which made me feel extremely ashamed!"

"Brother had his own difficulties and hardships, and he had no choice. I knew nothing about it that day, but I spoke harshly to him. It was really..."

Even though he was forgiven, Zhu Yunsheng couldn't help but blame himself and kept talking non-stop.

Zhu Jinghong couldn't help but say some words to comfort them, and only then did the brother and sister reconcile.

After a brief conversation, Zhu Yunsheng left the hall. Next, she had to go to Chonghua Hall and wait.

After she left, Daiyu and Xiangyun entered the hall, each with happy looks on their faces.

After the two of them greeted each other, Baochai said, "Your Majesty, this is all thanks to the two sisters. How will you reward them?"

"All matters concerning the inner court are decided by the Queen. How dare I overstep my authority as to how to bestow rewards?" Zhu Jinghong replied with a smile.

"From what His Majesty said, it seems that we have no chance of getting our reward. Sister Yun... our service was in vain this time!"

Hearing Daiyu say this, Xiangyun looked indignant and came to Zhu Jinghong and said, "I have heard that your majesty is clear about rewards and punishments, but now it seems... the rumors may not be true!"

Zhu Jinghong smiled even more. There were really not many people in the world who could talk to him like this.

Walking to Xiangyun's side, Daiyu pretended to pull her away and said, "Forget it, Sister Yun... He is the emperor, we have to give him some face. Thunder, lightning, rain and dew are all grace from the emperor!"

Baochai then said, "If you two continue to make up stories like this, I'm afraid you'll arouse the emperor's wrath!"

Daiyu walked up to Zhu Jinghong, leaned forward slightly and asked, "Your Majesty, are you going to punish us?"

"Exactly!"

After saying these two words, Zhu Jinghong pulled her into his arms and then started to beat her in the same way. After a few hits, Daiyu began to beg for mercy.

Xiangyun pleaded for mercy on the surface, but in fact she wanted to rescue Daiyu, but she got herself involved as well.

The three of them played together, right on Baochai's phoenix throne, while the latter smiled the whole time.

It was at this time that the concubines in the harem also arrived one after another, which made Zhu Jinghong stop using his magical powers.

The concubines will go with Zhu Jinghong later, so they have to go to Kunning Palace and wait first.

Also coming with them were Zhu Jinghong’s children, including the eldest son Zhu Muzhen.

There were five sons and five daughters, a total of ten people, big and small. Zhu Jinghong asked a few questions to each of them, and even tested the older ones on their knowledge.

When the time came, Zhu Jinghong led his concubines and children to Chonghua Palace under the moonlight.

Zhu Jinghong felt much better after the rift between him and his sister was resolved, and he even drank a few more glasses at the banquet.

Therefore, he, the emperor brother, informed the two little followers in advance about the next arrangements for them.

(End of this chapter)