Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 201 The Princess and the Prince Consort

Zhu Youjian was not surprised at all when someone was eyeing the positions of the Minister of Justice and the Censors of the Left and Right Governments.

After the Jiuqing's status was improved by him, he could almost compete with the cabinet bachelor. It's strange that no one is eyeing these three positions, but it's normal for someone to be.

Among the nine ministers today, the Minister of Civil Affairs, Wen Tiren, and the Minister of War, Yuan Keli, have just been appointed and are unlikely to be replaced in the near future.

After Xue Fengxiang, the Minister of Industry and Industry, joined the emperor, his position became stable.

Although Guo Yunhou, the Minister of Household Affairs, is about to leave office, the emperor has chosen Bi Ziyan to take over. Coupled with the millions in unpaid wages from Jiubian, it is impossible for anyone who is not sure of solving this problem to pursue this position.

Therefore, among the six ministers, the one that the ministers can compete for is the minister of punishment, which has been vacant since Xue Zhen was captured.

Then there are the left and right censors of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, who are also vacant.

Lu Tunan, the general envoy, and Zhang Jiude, the minister of Dali Temple, also belong to the Jiuqing, but their voice is very small and their positions are relatively stable. No one makes arbitrary decisions.

Therefore, among the ten positions of Jiuqing, only these three can compete for it. Now that academicians have been replenished and Nanjing officials and local governors have been appointed, these are the only three high-ranking positions that ministers can compete for.

Especially after Zhu Youjian set up an establishment office in the Ministry of Personnel and made it clear that he would not appoint officials beyond the establishment at will, the competition for these three positions became more intense——

Those in the court who want to be the ninth minister and those in the opposition who want to revolt are all eyeing them.

Su Maoxiang focused on the Minister of Justice, which seemed normal to Zhu Youjian. It is a good thing for officials to be motivated, and Zhu Youjian understands this very well.

It's just that Zhu Youjian does not plan to appoint these three positions before the restructuring of the Three Laws Division is completed. He had previously appointed Yuan Keli to co-manage the Three Laws Division and promote the restructuring of the Three Laws Division, so naturally he would not undermine Yuan Keli at this time.

So Zhu Youjian asked Wang Wenzheng to send a message, instructing the Jin Yiwei to keep an eye on Su Maoxiang and pay attention to his small movements so as not to affect the restructuring of the Three Laws Division.

This matter has something to do with Weiwei Temple, Jinyiwei should pay attention to it.

After the arrangement was made, Zhu Youjian no longer took this little matter to heart. He took out a memorial and asked the eunuchs around him:

"Wang Yuanshan, who was formerly a member of the Jinyi Guard and was responsible for thousands of households, defended his brother Wang An's grievances and begged for gifts."

"What do you think about this?"

This matter is relatively sensitive because it involves Wang Tiqian. Wang An's death was mainly planned by Wei Zhongxian and Huo Weihua. Wang Tiqian also participated in it and obtained the position of Chief of Ceremonies.

Now that Wang An's brother has been redressed, what does Wang Tigan think?

The other eunuchs were silent, and Wang Tiqian could only answer by himself:

"Everything belonging to the ministers in the palace belongs to His Majesty. Where did the private wealth come from?"

"It makes no sense at all for Wang Yuanshan to want to be reinstated and obtain his brother's confiscated assets."

"Your Majesty can expel him back to his hometown and prevent him from hiding in the capital and causing trouble."

This sentence makes sense, because he dedicated all his family property to the emperor some time ago, and his current property is all given by the emperor.

Wang An, a eunuch, only had one meter per month and one stone, as well as a reward from the emperor. How much legal income could he have? All that was confiscated were incriminating evidence and of course could not be returned.

Zhu Youjian thought for a moment and did not follow Wang Tigan's suggestion. Because this seems too heartless and inconsiderate of the hard work of the ministers. So he ordered:
"Wang An was harmed by Wei Ni. He has made meritorious service in serving his father and brother. He should be given kindness and deserved praise. This matter should be handled by Gao Shiming and Liu Ruoyu."

"As for his property, since it belongs to Tan Mo, of course it should not be returned."

"But Wang An has made meritorious deeds in the past, so he should be the one to thank his brother and nephew."

"Pass an edict to appoint Wang Yuanshan as the guardian of Dongning to guard thousands of households, and ask him to do his best. He will be hereditary in the future."

It was still necessary to give Dongning a guard official position and let Wang Yuanshan go overseas to develop.

The surrounding eunuchs listened to the emperor's handling and praised the emperor for his wisdom.

Wang An's property had been confiscated a long time ago. Now he doesn't know where it is, and it is impossible to return it to his family.

As for the Yin Guan Wang Yuanshan wanted, the emperor also gave it to him. As long as he goes to Dongningwei and works hard, he will naturally gain wealth.

The emperor's handling of this matter not only took care of Wang Tiqian's feelings, but also did not treat Wang An's family harshly. They, the ministers, naturally applauded this——

No one can guarantee that he will always be in power, and he may be in trouble at some point. The emperor was so kind to Wang An's family, and he would not treat them harshly.

Dongning Wei is far away overseas, which seems to be a hard job. But they all know that the hereditary official position of Dongningwei may be converted into a title, and Wang Yuanshan, who is now a member of the Qian family, may become a baron. At that time, he will be a lord with a fiefdom and can inherit the wealth of the family. Wang Yuanshan should be satisfied with such a kindness.

Even Wang Tiqian was not dissatisfied. It was good for him to fight for power with Wang An, but he did not want to affect his family. Otherwise, Wang Yuanshan would have been dealt with by him long ago, and how could he be wandering around the capital.

After all, he and Wang An were both eunuchs from Northern Zhili and part of this group. Many families in Beizhili relied on this to turn themselves around.
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After dealing with Wang An's matter, there is one more matter in the palace that needs Zhu Youjian to deal with——

That is Princess Le'an's marriage, which needs to go ahead.

This matter had been decided for a long time, but it was interrupted because of the death of Emperor Tianqi. At this time, Emperor Tianqi's funeral has passed, and the process must of course continue again.

Princess Zhu Huiti of Le'an is the sister of Zhu Youjian and the daughter of Emperor Guangzong Taichang and Concubine Li Kang. This Concubine Li Kang is the protagonist of the palace transfer case, Li Xuanshi, known as the Empress of the West.

This person had looked after Emperor Tianqi and Zhu Youjian for several years and took very poor care of them, and was related to the death of Emperor Tianqi's mother.

So after Emperor Tianqi ascended to the throne, Zhu Youjian was transferred to Concubine Li Zhuang, the empress of Dongli, who was killed by Xu Yingyuan three years ago.

Concubine Li Kang is still alive and well. Although Zhu Youjian is very unkind to her, he will not take his anger out on his sister. Naturally, he was very concerned about his sister's marriage and asked Wang Tigan:
"How about Consort Gong Yonggu?"

"What is this person's character like?"

Wang Tiqian replied:
"Gong Yonggu is good at reading and talented."

"The character is naturally good."

Zhu Youjian was a little interested and asked:
"How old is Gong Yonggu this year?"

"What have you read?"

Wang Tiqian said: "Gong Yonggu is fourteen years old this year, two years younger than Princess Le'an."

"The books I read are naturally the Four Books and Five Classics."

This age is really too young, and Zhu Youjian can't use it even if he wants to. Moreover, people nowadays count their ages as false, which means that if Gong Yonggu is counted as one year old, he is only thirteen years old——

How could Zhu Youjian employ such a child?

Thinking about the fact that the consorts of the other two sisters are also not very old, Zhu Youjian said:
"Since Gong Yonggu loves to learn, let him study in Taixue or Wushu."

"The same goes for the consorts of Princess Ningde and Princess Suiping. They both asked them to study and will be awarded Zongzheng Temple positions based on their performance."

"Also, how is the Princess Mansion managed? How many rank officials are there?"

Wang Tiqian replied:
"The princess's residence has a Central Envoy Department, which includes a chief minister and a deputy minister. They are all miscellaneous and have no rank."

"Usually there is one member of the envoy and dozens of envoys."

Zhu Youjian thought about what he had heard about Princess Shouning and the consort Ran Xingrang being bullied by the housekeeper and eunuchs, and said:

"The people around the princess will be completely managed by the princess from now on."

"If the princess is not satisfied, let her tell the queen and change it in time."

"Now that the three princesses are getting married, let's rotate the people around them. Tomorrow, let the queen summon the three princesses, and ask each princess to report at least one-third of the personnel list, and exchange it with the other two princesses."

"What happened to Princess Shouning cannot happen again and makes people laugh."

The surrounding eunuchs were awe-inspiring, knowing that the emperor valued the princess. If you want to bully the princess in the future, be careful of being punished by the emperor.

After increasing the princess's power to handle affairs in the palace, Zhu Youjian thought about appointing a prince-in-law and said:

"Ten sister died in infancy and didn't even have a name. I missed her so much that I asked the Ministry of Rites and Zongzheng Temple to designate titles for her and her mother."

"You think, which prince-in-law is more talented and knowledgeable, and can work with the Ministry of Rites to designate a title?"

"Please tell me about the situation of the princess and the consort."

It was Wang Tiqian who answered first, and replied:

"Princess Shouyang passed away in the 18th year of Wanli's reign. Her consort, Hou Gongchen, once played an active role in the debate on the origin of the country. Now she is the palm-printer of the Zongren Mansion and Minister of the Zongzheng Temple."

"Wan Wei, the consort of the eldest princess of Ruian, is now the young minister of Zongzheng Temple."

"Princess Yanqing married Wang Bing in the fifteenth year of Wanli. He once participated in political affairs and tried to save the censor Liu Guangfu, but angered Master Wanli and was dismissed. Master Taichang only returned to office after he became the emperor."

When Zhu Youjian heard this, he paid attention to Wang Bing and asked:

"How is Wang Bing's learning?"

"Does he associate with many civil servants?"

Wang Tigan said:

"Wang Bing is good at calligraphy and painting, and he should have contacts with some literati."

Zhu Youjian nodded slightly and said:
"Since he can interact with literati, let him serve as the Prime Minister of Zongzheng Temple, set up a seal verification office, and be responsible for the canonization of clan members and relatives."

"He was also asked to work out the titles of the concubines and princesses in the harem together with the Ministry of Rites."

"Where are the other princes-in-law?"

Wang Tigan said:

"The eldest princess of Rongchang, the consort, was extremely filial to her mother. In the forty-fourth year of Wanli, her mother passed away due to illness."

"The eldest princess of Shouning, Prince Consort Ran Xingrang, is a mature and reliable person. Master Wanli and Concubine Zheng selected her together."

This man Zhu Youjian knew that he was so honest that he was bullied by the eunuch. Zhu Youjian said:
"Ran Xing asked Lao Cheng to be prudent and let him serve as the Prime Minister of Zongzheng Temple. He established the Zongxue Department to be responsible for Zongxue in various places and cultivate talents for the clan."

"Let the three consorts Liu Youfu, Qi Chanyuan, and Gong Yonggu also help. As the principals of Zongzheng Temple, they can practice in the Zongxue Department after studying."

After some calculations, I found that the Prince Consort didn't have many talents, so it would be good if he could maintain Zongzheng Temple.

Even out of concern about the abilities of Wang Bing and Ran Xingrang, Zhu Youjian appointed two Imperial Academy editors, Wang Tingyuan and Wang Xigun, to serve as directors of Zongzheng Temple to help them.

The current prince-in-law is really useless. If we want useful talents, we can only train three young people, Liu Youfu, Qi Chanyuan, and Gong Yonggu.

　"Wanli Yehuobian" [The Prince Consort is Under Control]:
　　When the princess descended, she sent an old palace official to take charge of the affairs of the palace, named the housekeeper. No matter how much you despise your consort like a slave, your master's actions will always be controlled by you. After choosing a minister, he must donate tens of thousands of gold to live in the palace, and bribe both internal and external parties, so that he can talk about the beauty of marriage.

　　Today, Princess Yongning, my sister from the same birth, married Liang Bangrui. Unexpectedly, her husband-in-law died of depression due to insufficient money, and the princess lived in a concubine, still a virgin.

　　Now, in the autumn of Renzi, my beloved daughter Princess Shouyang (Princess Shouning) is the daughter of Concubine Zheng, so I choose Ran Xing to give way to her. We have been together for a long time, and on the eve of the moon, the princess announces her husband.

　　The housekeeper's mother-in-law, named Liang Yingnu, had a drink with her husband, the eunuch Zhao Jinchao, but she was not as good as Zhenbai. Yingnu was furious and tried to help her while she was drunk.

　　The princess was so sad and angry that she didn't want to live. The next morning, she ran to her mother and concubine, but she didn't know that Ying's daughter had already become jealous.

　　When Ran Jun entered the court, he drank heavily with the eunuchs last night and gathered dozens of his party. The soldiers ran into the inner court with their clothes ruined and their flesh and blood in a mess. They walked out of the Chang'an Gate wildly.

　　Ran Penghui returned to his residence and was about to start clearing the grass again. A strict decree was issued, and he was very scolded. He stripped the python jade and sent it to the Guoxue Provincial Department for three months, but he was not given any more. The princess also endured and returned alone.

　　That Liang Yingnu only got back the difference. If a group of internal officials beats the consort, don't ask.

　　"History of Ming Dynasty":
　　Yang He, also known as Xiuling, was born in Wuling... He was promoted to censor for forty years... At that time, Ran Xingrang, the son-in-law of Shouning, was beaten and humiliated by Liang Yingnu, the head of the palace, and Peng Jinchao, an internal official. The princess failed to perform three times, and Xingrang was crowned. Went to Chang'an Gate, so He talked about it.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)