Rebirth of Zhu Di's son

Chapter 416 Western Marquis Zheng He and the Ming Dynasty Navigation Day

The 31st year of Qianxi reign, the second day of August.

A large white cloud is like a gauze, blown slowly by the autumn wind, floating from the top of a pine forest to the sky above Takarazhong Garden.

"Zheng He, are you 81 this year?"

Under the pavilion at the main entrance of Baozhong Garden, Zhu Gaoxu and Zheng He sat opposite each other around a stone table, with several servants and maids waiting on them.

"Your Majesty, I turned 83 last year."

Zheng He said in an old-fashioned manner.

Zhu Gaoxu smiled slightly and said, "Look at my memory."

He paused, turned his eyes to the woods in the distance, and said loudly: "Two months ago, after Wang Jinghong left, I ordered people to build this garden. A few days ago, when the garden was completed, I sent Wang Zhen to bury Wang Jinghong. He came to this garden and named it 'Taozhong Garden'."

At this point, Zhu Gaoxu withdrew his gaze, looked at Zheng He, and said, "Kang Ping has served me for more than 40 years, but I didn't bury him in this garden. Do you know why I did this?"

"Although Jinghong entered the palace during the Hongwu period, his time with Emperor Taizong was no shorter than that of his ministers. All the achievements he made in his life came from Emperor Taizong's trust."

Zheng He thought for a while and tried to say: "This place is located next to Changling. Your Majesty buried him here as a favor to him and as a recognition of his life's achievements."

"You're only half right."

Zhu Gaoxu did not mince words and said bluntly: "I asked the prince to issue a decree at court this morning. All eunuchs who have made great contributions to the country will be buried in Baozhong Garden after their death."

"Your Majesty is kind and I am deeply grateful!"

Zheng He quickly cupped his fists and cupped his hands.

Zhu Gaoxu noticed that the young eunuch next to him was also perked up after hearing this.

"Book of Rites·Tan ​​Gong" says: "In ancient times, there were tombs but not tombs."

"Dialect" says: "Any burial without a grave is called a tomb."

It can be seen that in ancient times, tombs did not have tombs. Only mounds of earth were built on the tombs to call them tombs.

"Tomb", a tall tomb.

There is a stipulation in the Han Code: "The height of the tombs of the marquises is four feet, and the height of the tombs varies from the Marquis of Guan Nei to the common people."

Since then, people with different titles and ranks in various dynasties have different cemetery heights.

Zhu Gaoxu's move was tantamount to treating a meritorious eunuch like Wang Jinghong with a marquis burial.

Zheng He's achievements are no less than Wang Jinghong's, so if he dies, he is also eligible to be buried in Baozhong Garden, which is equivalent to being buried beside Changling.

"Zheng He, you are different from Wang Jinghong. You are the number one in Yongle's voyage, and you are also a great contributor to completing a circumnavigation of the earth and bringing back immortal seeds from overseas. Your achievements cannot be compared to Wang Jinghong's."

Zhu Gaoxu held Zheng He's hands tightly and said, "I want to change your nationality to your nationality, restore your surname, and make you a first-class marquis based on merit."

"Your Majesty and Emperor Taizong have shown great kindness to me. I will never be able to repay you in this life. I can only continue to repay you in the next life."

Zheng He spoke with great excitement, and even stood up with force, pretending to kneel down.

Zhu Gaoxu glanced at the young eunuch next to him and motioned for him to help Zheng He, but Zheng He was stubborn and knelt down forcefully.

"Your Majesty wants to ennoble me, but the ancestral system cannot be violated, so I want to change my nationality to a civilian, so that I will no longer be a eunuch."

Zheng He tried his best to raise his voice and said: "But if you do this, if in the future there is a treacherous eunuch who tricks your Majesty into changing his nationality and becoming a marquis, and goes out to lead the military alone, wouldn't there be a risk of repeating the disaster of the eunuchs in the Tang Dynasty? I can't let Your Majesty bear this responsibility. It’s a shame, so I must never agree!”

Zhu Gaoxu also thought about this, but the imperial court had its own laws. In addition to the emperor, his concubines, and underage princes and grandsons, only eunuchs and maids could stay in the harem.

The eunuchs who were changed to civilian status were no longer eunuchs. Not only were they not qualified to stay in the palace, they were even less likely to accompany the emperor.

In this way, the possibility of traitors disrupting the government is greatly reduced.

However, what Zheng He said makes sense. If the eunuchs who were changed to civilian status and granted the title of marquis were sent to lead the army, relying on their relationship with the emperor, their official positions would naturally rise higher and higher, and their power would only grow.

If we want to avoid the recurrence of the eunuch disaster in the Tang Dynasty, we can only curb the power of eunuchs, even if they change their nationality to civilians.

This precedent cannot be set, otherwise there will be endless troubles.

Zhu Gaoxu couldn't help but feel scared when he thought of this. Travelers like him would suffer from confusion in old age, let alone Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, who was so talented and resourceful in history?

"Zheng He, what you said makes sense. I did not think carefully about the matter of changing my nationality. I will not mention it again in the future."

Zhu Gaoxu took advantage of the situation and said to the donkey down the slope: "The kings of future generations are not allowed to change their status for eunuchs. This is the rule I have set today, and no one can change it." "Your Majesty is wise."

Only then did Zheng He sit back on the chair with the help of the young eunuch.

"When I was more than ten years old, I followed Emperor Taizong. To put it bluntly, I can be regarded as half of Emperor Taizong's adopted son."

With a satisfied smile on his face, Zheng He said slowly: "I was born as a slave of Emperor Taizong, and I will be a slave until my death. After my death, I can be buried next to Emperor Taizong's Changling Tomb. I will have no regrets in this life."

When he said this, he closed his eyes and passed away with a smile.

"Zheng He? Zheng He?"

Seeing that Zheng He had not spoken for a long time, Zhu Gaoxu hurriedly shouted with concern.

The young eunuch stretched out his hand to check Zheng He's nose and found that he was no longer breathing.

So, he immediately stepped aside, knelt down and reported to Zhu Gaoxu: "Your Majesty, Zheng Sanbao, he drove Hexi to the west."

"No, he is not dead. Zheng He is not dead yet! Send the doctor to the doctor quickly!"

Zhu Gaoxu roared angrily: "Send to the imperial doctor quickly!"

People are born, old, sick and die, this is the way of heaven.

Zheng He's life was over, and even if the imperial doctor came, it would be of no avail.

In the end, Zhu Gaoxu could only accept the reality, just like he had to accept the death of Queen Li Yao and Prince Xiangwu Zhu Zhanyu.

A few days later, Zhu Gaoxu ordered people to bury Zheng He in Baozhong Garden, and built Zheng He's tomb next to Wang Jinghong's tomb.

He also decreed that Zheng He be posthumously granted the title of Marquis of Xiyang, and Wang Jinghong was granted the title of Marquis of Nanyang.

At the same time, he ordered people to dismantle the pavilion in Baozhong Garden and build a sacrificial hall on the original site of the pavilion, which enshrined the spiritual tablets of Zheng He and Wang Jinghong.

A few days later, Zhu Gaoxu issued an edict promulgating it to the world. The edict designated the day of Zheng He's first voyage to the West, that is, the seventh day of the sixth lunar month, as the Ming Dynasty Navigation Day.

It also stipulated that the Ming Emperor must go to Baozhong Garden in person to worship the Western Marquis Zheng He and the Nanyang Marquis Wang Jinghong on every sailing day in the future.

The power of this edict is no less powerful than when he asked Zhang Fu and Zhu Nengshi to control Mengdian and Menglao.

For a time, there was a lot of discussion between the government and the public, and they were roughly divided into two views.

The first view is that there was no objection to Zhu Gaoxu's previous decision to let Zhang Yu, Wang Zhen, Zhang Wu, Jian Yi, Xia Yuanji, and Yao Guangxiao share the palace of Emperor Taizong.

After all, the achievements of these six people are there.

Zhang Yu's son Zhang Fu used his military exploits to gain the hereditary and irreplaceable dukedom of Mengdian Province in Yongzhen. Wang Zhen's son Wang Tong conquered the extreme Western Hanzhou (Western and Central Asia) from the 24th to the 28th year of Qianxi. , South Asia) fought for the hereditary and irreplaceable county marquis title of Yongzhen Daluosi City.

Even though there was no viscount to remove Zhang Wu, Emperor Qianxi showed mercy and ordered a man to be selected from the younger generation of Zhang Wu's relatives to be adopted and worshiped in Zhang Wu's name.

The same was true for Yao Guangxiao. His nephew was appointed as a royal guard and worshiped him.

As for Jian Yi and Xia Yuanji, their achievements have blessed their descendants for hundreds of years. The Jian and Xia families are destined to become a family of eunuchs in the Ming Dynasty. As long as their descendants do not commit the crime of treason, they will definitely not be killed.

However, even if the two eunuchs Zheng He and Wang Jinghong had great achievements, they could only be granted the posthumous title of marquis. After all, marquisship was only a posthumous honor, but they were not qualified to accept the sacrifices of the Ming Emperor.

Since the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties, no emperor of any dynasty has offered sacrifices to eunuchs.

Therefore, they cannot accept it.

Another view is that Zheng He and Wang Jinghong are eligible to be named marquis by Emperor Qianxi based on their contributions. They can even accept Emperor Qianxi's posthumous title of Duke Zheng He.

This is because Zheng He brought back fairy seeds such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, and corn from overseas, which allowed too many people to survive.

Although these crops were introduced to the Ming Dynasty, their yields were greatly increased after decades of improvement and cultivation.

However, without Zheng He's will to brave the wind and waves and endure disasters to bring these crops back to the Ming Dynasty, how could the Ming Dynasty survive the snowstorms from last winter to this Spring Festival safely?

Therefore, it is completely reasonable and reasonable for Emperor Qianxi to establish the Ming Dynasty Navigation Day and stipulate that in the future, Zheng He and Wang Jinghong should be worshiped on the Navigation Day.

The Emperor of Ming Dynasty not only expressed his gratitude for the achievements of Zheng He and Wang Jinghong, but also represented the people's gratitude and memory for Zheng He and Wang Jinghong.

In short, Zhu Gaoxu didn't care about the discussions between the government and the public.

He is a time traveler. He knows that setting up the Ming Dynasty Navigation Day and worshiping Zheng He are of extremely great significance, so he must do it.

(End of this chapter)