Daming: I am the Crown Prince

Chapter 72 Ready
Although Zhu Yunhuan was cheated by his uncles, he was not angry. He thought it was just some harmless things and there was no need to care too much about it.

What he cares about most now is the enthronement ceremony that is about to begin.

Naturally, they were nervous and excited, even though everyone knew who the candidate for the crown prince would be. But without the enthronement ceremony, it was not a real settlement, and it was not legitimate.

Zhu Yunhuan no longer has the energy to take care of so many things, and his main focus is on the enthronement ceremony.

The title of the crown prince began in the Han Dynasty, and Emperor Ming began the ceremony of enthroning and appointing the crown prince. In the Tang Dynasty, the older person was enthroned in the throne, and the younger one was appointed by an envoy. The Song Dynasty only used enthroning. The Yuan Dynasty only used appointment by an envoy, regardless of age.

By the time of the Ming Dynasty, the rule was naturally established that the throne was inherited by the eldest son of the legitimate wife.

As for the Crown Prince, both are titles for the heir to the throne, and the origin of the name is similar to that of the Crown Prince, Crown Prince Uncle, etc.

In most cases in history, after the crown prince died, the crown prince's legitimate son was appointed as the crown prince's grandson. However, there are also cases where the crown prince is still alive and has not been deposed, and is named the crown prince.

This was a normal situation for Zhu Yunhuan, as he was enthroned as the Crown Prince only after the Crown Prince was gone.

Zhu Yunhuan began to fast, and the process of the enthronement ceremony had actually officially begun.

Chang Sheng was radiant, as he was to offer sacrifices to heaven and earth as a ritual officer. Qin Wang Zhu Chong was also not idle, as his task was to offer sacrifices to the ancestral temple.

Zhu Yourong was in high spirits, and he and Zhu Youling were carefully checking the musicians of the Jiaofangsi.

The first task of the Jiaofangsi was to play music during celebrations or to welcome distinguished guests. It was affiliated with the Ministry of Rites. There were many musicians and a variety of musical instruments handed down from generation to generation, which was a magnificent sight.

However, it must be admitted that some people in Jiaofangsi belonged to the government-run brothels. Many of them were wives and daughters of convicted officials, and some were purchased refugees.

Chang Lan said with some pride, "After all, we are the orthodox Chinese nation of ritual and music."

Zhu Yourong immediately said, "The ancient sage kings created music after they had achieved success in governing and stabilizing the country, so as to conform to the nature of heaven and earth, the feelings of all things, and the harmony of the gods and the will of the people. My great grandfather was keen on elegant music and determined the number of music and dance and the names of the songs he played."

These are all facts. If we start to pay attention to the sense of ritual, our ancestors had extremely strict requirements on these.

What kind of music to play on certain occasions and what steps to take in certain important ceremonies all require appropriate music to accompany them. This is the real "music".

Chang Lan continued, "In a few days, it will be time to play the song 'Flying Dragon Leading' first, which is the song played when His Majesty ascends the throne."

Zhu Yourong also understood this, but still said, "Grandfather Huang changed a lot of rules. I heard that this time he added the "Song of the Emperor Ming" and the "Song of the People's Music."

Chang Lan was so happy that she asked, "The Minister of Rites is now vacant, who will be the treasure officer?"

Zhu Youling immediately said proudly, "It is said that Duke Cao is in charge of the treasure, Duke Wei is the official in charge of the system, Duke Ying is the official in charge of the ceremonies, and my second and third uncles are the chief and deputy envoys."

Hearing her two granddaughters say this, Chang Lan couldn't hide the smile and pride on her face at all.

Such an enthronement ceremony and such an arrangement of officials are not necessarily of lower quality than when the crown prince was enthroned.

He appointed the two most distinguished princes as envoys and the three dukes with special status as officials. All of this was to demonstrate that Zhu Yunhuan's title as the crown prince was legitimate and popular.

In Wuying Hall, Old Zhu asked seriously, "Do you know all the etiquette matters now?"

"I see. The officials from the Ministry of Rites said so before, and I took note of it." Zhu Yunhuan answered seriously, "How can I not pay attention to such a big thing?"

"Attentive?" Old Zhu looked at Zhu Yunhuan and said with some emotion, "You are different from your father. Your father is very thoughtful. Not to mention the enthronement ceremony, even the grand court ceremony and the first day of the lunar year, he would go to see it in person two or three days in advance. You, on the other hand, let your two sisters go to see it. What can they understand?"

Zhu Yunhuan had his own ideas, "Grandfather, I also wanted to go and see it with my own eyes. There must be no mistakes in these matters. It's just that I'm too busy and I really don't have the time. Having said that, if the Jinyiwei and the Ministry of Rites can make mistakes in these matters, some people's careers as officials must be over." Hearing what Zhu Yunhuan said, Old Zhu did not refute it. It was indeed true.

"It's too late this year. Let your elder sister marry next year." Old Zhu spoke directly and said, "What do you think?"

"No, next year is too early." Zhu Yunhuan said directly, "She has been taking care of me all these years and is timid. Fifteen or sixteen is too early, it has to be at least seventeen or eighteen."

Old Zhu glared at Zhu Yunhuan and said, "Okay, if you don't marry next year, you can marry the year after next. It's settled."

Zhu Yunhuan's face flushed red, but he couldn't refute it. In this era, not to mention seventeen or eighteen, there are thirteen or fourteen girls who are married.

According to the Ming Dynasty Code, the marriage age for men and women is sixteen years old for men and fourteen years old for women.

Zhu Yunhuan thought for a moment and said, "Then I will look carefully for someone who is worthy of my elder sister."

Old Zhu relaxed a little and said, "Okay, we can only look for someone in a noble family, and it can only be a prince. You look for it first, and once you find one, you can't act on your own. We have to agree to it before it works."

Old Zhu then brought up something, "Your second brother is going to be a vassal, what will he do?"

"He should not be in a hurry, he should study first. It is not a good thing for a young man to indulge in pleasure, not to mention that he is depressed now." Zhu Yunhuan said, "But he certainly can't just find a princess who is from a scholarly family, right?"

Old Zhu laughed and said, "That's good. Find him a woman from a noble family. He will feel uneasy, and the noble family will also feel angry. Find him a woman who is well-educated and well-mannered, who will be worthy of him."

In Mr. Zhu's eyes, his son and daughter are the best, and the same goes for his grandsons and granddaughters.

It doesn't exist that his descendants are not worthy of others. It's just that other people's descendants are trying to get ahead of others.

"After thinking about it, I feel sorry for your aunt." Old Zhu suddenly sighed and said, "Your uncles are all from noble families, at least the families of commanders. Your aunts also married into noble families. Only your aunt married into a commoner family."

Princess Anqing, the legitimate daughter of Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma, is the only princess in the Ming Dynasty who married a commoner so far.

It was not that Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma disliked Princess Anqing, but it was because of her special status. Marrying her as the emperor's legitimate daughter was also based on political considerations. It was also an attempt to win over and curry favor with the scholar class.

Zhu Yunhuan secretly kept this in mind and decided to keep this matter in mind, but he must not let Ouyang Lun become the only imperial consort to be executed in the history of the Ming Dynasty!
If there are any bad signs, I will nip them in the bud to prevent them from happening!

After Lao Zhu sat down, he asked, "What about you? You are going to have a child when you are 18 years old. Have you decided which family to marry?"

"From a noble family, where else could it be?" Zhu Yunhuan, who was forced to give birth, was very speechless, but still said, "Even if I was known as a playboy in the past, I still didn't know which of the noble women was beautiful and had good character. That would be too dissolute."

Old Zhu laughed and said, "Don't your two female Zhuges often go to see the wives of nobles? Don't you like any of them?"

"They all think that those women are not good enough for me. I guess I feel the same way." Zhu Yunhuan said narcissistically, "Look, it would be best if I can find someone who shares the same ideals with me in the future. But it doesn't matter if I can't find one. It's enough to save face and give me a child."

Old Zhu sighed again. His grandson was good in every way except that he saw some things too clearly. Sometimes he thought that this child was so calm and rational that it was scary.

He is good to his family, but cruel to himself!
Thinking of this, Old Zhu felt distressed and said, "You are our grandson, the crown prince. What kind of woman can be worthy of you? Go and find one yourself. It would be best if you find one that you like."

"Can I still have the same support and care for each other as my grandfather and grandmother? Can I still be childhood sweethearts like my father and mother?" Zhu Yunhuan was used to being single, and said, "Anyway, I'm not in a hurry. I'll just find a better Crown Prince Consort, one with a good family background and who knows the rules, and who can give me a son and not teach him the wrong way."

Seeing that Old Zhu was getting anxious, Zhu Yunhuan quickly said, "If it doesn't work, I can take more concubines, and then I can give birth to a dozen or twenty sons, that should be ok, right?"

Old Zhu nodded with satisfaction. His grandson was smart! He knew the rules when he should know them, and enjoyed himself when he should have fun. That was the right thing to do!
(End of this chapter)