Daming: I am the Crown Prince

Chapter 71 Uncles Who Are Not Easy to Mess With

Old Zhu is exhausted. Too many things have happened in the past few months, but most of the time he has no time to be sad because he still needs to make decisions on major issues in the world.

Civil and military officials were also having a hard time. In recent months, they had been extremely cautious, fearing that they would accidentally anger the emperor and bring about a disaster. They were also worried that they would inexplicably stand on the wrong side and be purged.

For officials in the Ministry of Rites and other government offices, there were even more things to do.

In the past few months, we have been preparing for the prince's funeral. It was also during the prince's funeral that we discovered that many of the rules set at the beginning of the founding of the country were not comprehensive and complete enough, so now we have to consider repairing them.

However, they obviously did not have time to resolve the matter immediately, because the ceremony of enthroning the Crown Prince was about to begin.

Although there had been a crown prince enthronement ceremony before, it was held almost at the same time as the emperor's enthronement ceremony.

This also means that the ceremony of enthroning the crown prince is of great significance. This is the first time that the Ming Dynasty officially held a ceremony to enthronize the crown prince. It is somewhat different from the previous Hongwu Emperor who offered sacrifices to heaven and earth to ascend the throne and then enthroned the empress and the crown prince at the same time.

In theory, both the crown prince and the crown prince's grandson are heirs to the throne, so all they need to do is follow the ceremony for enthroning the crown prince.

It was only at this time that many people discovered with embarrassment that the rules set by the emperor before were still imperfect.

Some great scholars and officials from the Ministry of Rites began to look through history books again, looking for a blueprint for the ceremony of enthroning the crown prince in the Tang and Song dynasties. They all knew that after it was sent to the emperor, there would definitely be some modifications to make it more in line with the characteristics of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Yunhuan carefully watched the ceremonial procedures of the enthronement ceremony presented to him and memorized them in his mind.

How many times to kowtow and what to say are all set rules, and there is no room for freedom.

Zhang Fusheng stepped forward cautiously and said, "Your Highness, His Royal Highness the Prince of Qin and his men are waiting outside the palace."

Zhu Yunhuan suddenly had a headache. He hadn't even become the crown prince yet, but his uncles were already worried about him. "You can't stop them. It's so ugly!"

Zhang Fusheng immediately pleaded guilty, "I know my crime!"

It must be Zhang Fusheng's fault. He was the one who blocked Zhu Chong and others from the Wenhua Hall. Zhu Yunhuan, the grandson of the emperor, would definitely not do anything to hurt the feelings of the royal family, especially since he got along well with his uncles.

Six or seven uncles came in a swarm, and Zhu Yunhuan suddenly felt overwhelmed.

Zhu Chong saluted carelessly and then said, "Nephew, do you really have to wait for us to kowtow to you before you can go back?"

"Uncle, this matter is really not my turn to make the decision." Zhu Yunhuan said with a sad face, "You all know my situation. I am like a quail in front of my grandfather. How dare you say anything?"

Zhu Gang said directly, "You? I've seen you talk back a lot, and we are just like quails. You talked back, and you can still have a meal with the old man."

Zhu Yunhuan directly shifted the blame to someone else. "It's hard to say whether Second Uncle can go back first, but Third Uncle must not leave in a hurry. There are still many things that Third Uncle needs to do. Grandfather Huang said a few days ago that Third Uncle has to handle the border affairs."

Zhu Gang immediately felt the envious and jealous gazes of his brothers and couldn't help but grit his teeth.

It's not that easy to take advantage of this nephew!
Zhu Chong was in a bad mood. He felt very aggrieved as the King of Qin. When his elder brother was around, he was the target. Although he was suppressed from time to time, at least he was allowed to do something.

But now that the eldest brother is gone, he, the King of Qin, is the first to be suppressed, and it is obvious that he has to support the third brother.

The purpose of supporting the third brother is naturally to restrain the King of Qin!

Zhu Di changed the subject at this time and asked, "Nephew, when we go back next month, can we bring our boy back with us?"

Zhu Chong immediately said, "That's right. Yun Wen will be going to Hangzhou next month. There is no reason for your cousins ​​to study in the Daben Hall."

"Uncle, I can't bear to leave my brother Shang Bing." Zhu Yunhuan said with a smile, "Their situations are different from Yunwen's. You all know this. They are both princes, so it's better for them to stay in the capital for a few more years. It just so happens that our grandfather is not young anymore, and we, the younger generation, should be filial to him."

"Filial piety?" Zhu Chong said very unhappily, "How many times can your royal grandfather look at Shang Bing?" Zhu Gang coughed and reminded, "Second brother, it will be bad if this word gets out."

Zhu Chong immediately stopped his attack. He was certainly not afraid that Old Zhu would kill him. But now in Yingtian Prefecture, it would not be worth it to get beaten up.

Zhu Chong looked at Zhu Yunhuan and said seriously, "We all know how to kowtow. It's only a matter of time. We will kowtow. You are the crown prince. Although we are your elders, we are still your subjects."

Zhu Yunhuan said politely, "Second uncle, you are too kind. Even if you and your uncles come back to Beijing, I still have to show respect to my family. After all, I am the younger generation."

"Let's be frank. If anything happens, you have to let us come back." Zhu Chong said to Zhu Yunhuan in a very serious tone, "We only have a few dozen guards with us. You can't stop us!"

Zhu Yunxun said hurriedly, "Not really, not really, Second Uncle, don't think too much about it."

Zhu Gang did not give in and continued, "To put it nicely, we are elders. We have only been able to put on airs in the past two years because your royal grandfather is still around. It's hard to say what will happen in the future. We have to make some things clear. You can forgive us for what happened in the past, but we have to come back if there is something in the future. No matter how bad we are, we can't act like human beings and let others point fingers at us."

Zhu Yunxun's scalp tingled, and he said, "Second Uncle, Third Uncle, if that were the case, I would be the one being stabbed in the back!"

Suddenly Zhu Yunhu realized that he was still naive and was deceived by his second and third uncles.

These powerful princes of the royal family came here to ask for a guarantee from Zhu Yunhuan.

It seemed to mean that since Zhu was no longer around, they could not be stopped from returning to Beijing to attend the funeral. In fact, it was a promise in person that the princes would not be held accountable for the mistakes they had made in the past.

Zhu Chong and his friends left with great satisfaction. Their nephew was kind and good to the family. Now that he had made a promise in front of so many princes, the past was over.

If Zhu Yunhuan settled the score after the event, it would be shameless and the princes of the royal family would curse him to death in private.

The more Zhu Yunhuan thought about it, the more depressed he became. He had never dared to look down on his uncles, but he still fell into the trap by accident.

Comfort yourself, it’s not a big deal, I have promised it before, it’s just that this time it’s more serious and formal.

What happened in Wenhua Hall naturally reached Zhu Yuanzhang's ears very quickly. Zhang Fusheng, Zhu Zhong, and Jiang Li were all Zhu Yuanzhang's men, and they were just working under Zhu Yunhuan temporarily.

Perhaps their most important task was to report Zhu Yunhuan's every word to Zhu.

Seeing Zhu Yunhuan's weak look, Old Zhu joked, "Do you know that being an emperor is not easy? It's fine if you're playing tricks on the civil and military officials, but your own family is still playing tricks on you in a roundabout way."

"I'll find a reason to deal with Shang Bing later." Zhu Yunhuan deliberately said nonsense, "I can't afford to offend my second uncle and third uncle, but I can still provoke Shang Bing and Ji Hui. They couldn't beat me in the first place, and now they dare not fight me."

Old Zhu didn't care about these jokes and said, "You did one good thing today, which is to push your third uncle out. Whether he likes it or not, he and your second uncle shouldn't get close to each other in the future."

Old Zhu continued, "I'll talk to your fourth and fifth uncles later. Your second uncle is a very important person, and your third uncle alone can't do it."

"I'm afraid that my second uncle will be angry again when he goes back." Zhu Yunhuan said worriedly, "My second uncle is such a smart man, how could he not see that my grandfather is planning to suppress him."

Old Zhu glanced at Zhu Yunhuan and said expressionlessly, "Then you should do it. We can protect you when we are here. If we are gone, will you let them bully you? You can only rely on yourself at that time. Will there be anyone else to protect you?"

Zhu Yunhuan could only nod. Since he was the crown prince, he had to manage this special group of royal family well.

It seems that not only is it difficult to be an emperor, it is also very difficult to be a crown prince.

Various state affairs need to be dealt with, and the interests of the royal family, nobles, landlords, and the people must also be taken into account.

(End of this chapter)