Good son-in-law of the Ming Dynasty

The one who spoke was the most powerful woman in the Ming Dynasty, the benevolent Empress Dowager Zhang who listened to the government behind the curtain.

Hearing Zhengde say this about his sister in front of outsiders, Queen Mother Zhang was annoyed.

Zhengde smiled, and signaled Liu Jin and the others to stand outside the hall and wait, "What the queen mother said is true." Then he walked towards the hall. ,

Zhang Yong also knew that Taikang's matter involved the royal family, so he didn't dare to stay in it, so he hurried out, saw the emperor, and said in a low voice: "Your Majesty, the secret book of Su Mu and His Highness Taikang is on the Queen Mother's desk. .”

"understood."

The emperor strode into the hall, and there was no third person inside, only the empress dowager's low cry was heard.

Zhengde looked intently, and the Queen Mother was holding Taikang's copy in her hand.

Zhengde: "The Queen Mother hasn't read it yet?"

Empress Dowager Zhang cried in a low voice: "Taikang has been away for half a year, and there is no news. This time, I suddenly submitted a report, and I feel a little timid. I am afraid that I will see something bad."

"Queen Mother, what are you afraid of? She is too healthy. This little girl is weird. If she doesn't harm others, she will be Amitabha." It's secret, just look at it.

Empress Dowager Zhang said angrily: "Your Majesty, did you say that about your sister? Since the death of the first emperor, Ai's family has long been ashamed, and she is just a survivor. Now, I count on you two brothers and sisters to live, otherwise, it would have been a long time ago." I went with the late emperor."

When Emperor Hongzhi was mentioned, the Empress Dowager shed more tears.

Emperor Zhengde was a bastard: "Don't cry, Queen Mother, I really don't dare to read the letter, I will read it for you."

After all, she is a woman. After hearing the news of her long-lost daughter, Queen Mother Zhang, who had seemed strong a while ago, suddenly weakened.

"Okay, Your Majesty, please help the Ai family to read it. If you have good news, just tell me to listen to it... otherwise, just..."

"Don't worry, Queen Mother, it must be good news." Emperor Zhengde comforted Queen Mother Zhang, opened the seal casually, glanced at it, and said with a smile: "It's really good news, Taikang said, she wrote this scripture Come here to pay your respects to the Empress Dowager, and apologize by the way. She said that she made a fool of herself before, but now she knows she was wrong. If the Empress Dowager forgives her, you will return to the palace immediately."

Speaking of this, Emperor Zhengde clicked his tongue: "This is the sun coming out from the west, and this wild girl has a time to admit her mistake sincerely."

Hearing that Taikang was coming back, Empress Dowager Zhang had a face full of joy, and said with tears in her eyes: "Did you say that about your sister? Just come back, just come back, I don't blame her."

Zhengde didn't take it seriously, and said again: "Taikang said that the reason why she came back this time is mainly because she wants to go back to the palace for the New Year."

Empress Dowager Zhang: "After all, it is good for a family to celebrate the New Year together. The Ai family is counting on His Majesty and Taikang to live. After the New Year is over and His Majesty gets married, I will return the government to Long Live, and the family will live a good life. Tianjia, In fact, it is no different from ordinary people.”

Zhengde said with a smile: "Where did she expect this? It was said in the letter that I will get married after the Chinese New Year. She came back this time to join in the excitement. This little girl likes excitement the most."

Just talking, the emperor was not in a hurry to read the letter.

Speaking of future marriages, Emperor Zhengde didn't really care about it.For him, marriage is just a ceremony, and he is not good at women, so he has an indifferent attitude. Anyway, he will marry whoever Queen Mother Zhang tells him to marry.

Speaking of this now, he was rather curious, and asked: "Queen Mother, who is my future queen and where is she?"

Empress Dowager Zhang was bitter: "Your Majesty still remembers this. I'm afraid the team welcoming the relatives has already reached the end of the land, and they will return to the capital after the next year."

"It's a long way to go back to the capital after a year!" Zhengde sighed.

The emperor's marriage is the biggest state affairs today, and Queen Mother Zhang didn't care to wipe her tears.After all, this matter is related to the emperor's personal administration and the future court situation. As long as the emperor gets married, according to the legal system, she can no longer interfere in politics.But looking at Zhengde's young face, Queen Mother Zhang was still very worried, and felt that this matter should be clearly explained to the emperor.

"The future queen's surname is Xia, from Shangyuan."

"Shangyuan, isn't it in Nanjing? It's so far away!" Emperor Zhengde sighed.

Empress Dowager Zhang: "Your Majesty will be in charge after the wedding. The background of the future empress is very important. After all, the empress will inherit the throne after giving birth to a prince. Therefore, the choice of this empress must be accepted by all the officials. Otherwise, there will inevitably be many troubles in the future."

Zhengde was a little annoyed: "Who I marry to be the queen depends on the faces of the ministers. This emperor is really boring."

"It really depends on the faces of the ministers. In the Tang Dynasty, the reason why Changsun was able to be Taizong's queen was not because she stood behind the Guanlong family, standing behind Changsun Wuji and other clans. Of course, my dynasty does not pay attention to family status. They have replaced the position of the aristocratic family, and they are the biggest power in the court." Empress Dowager Zhang said slowly: "The Xia family is the queen, it was proposed by Li Dongyang, and the cabinet nodded."

"Mr. Li Ge is really troublesome." Zhengde felt disgusted when he heard it, and continued to look down at the letter while talking to the Queen Mother.

"Speaking of which, Li Dongyang and the Xia family still have some connections." Empress Dowager Zhang said: "The Xia family is the daughter of Xia Ru, a famous scholar in the Shang Yuan Dynasty, and Xia Ru is the son of Xia Xuan, the Shaoqing of the Taichang Temple in Nanjing."

"Xia Xuan, I've never heard of it."

"Xia Xuan is the son of Xia Yuanji."

"Xia Yuanji, this person's name is somewhat familiar to me."

"Your Majesty, you don't even know about Xia Yuanji." Empress Dowager Zhang said angrily, "Xia Yuanji is from Xiangyin, Hunan Province. From Hongwu to Xuande, he was a high-ranking official in the five dynasties, and he served in the household department for nearly ten years. Shangshu. Xuande died of illness in five years, and was given to the Grand Master as a posthumous posthumous Zhongjing."

Empress Dowager Zhang continued: "When Xia Ru was engraving the "Xia Zhongjing Official Collection" written by his grandfather Yuan Ji, Li Dongyang also wrote a poem, one of which said: "A thousand miles of clear sky, a crane flies, wild clouds and streams of snow avoid the brilliance." ', it can be seen that the relationship between the two families is very close. With the support of Elder Li Ge, the Xia family is also a member of the civil official group, and the election of her family's daughter as queen will naturally be praised by all officials."

Speaking of this, the Empress Dowager patiently said to the emperor: "Your Majesty, after you take charge in the future, you must respect the virtuous and gentlemen. If this is the case, my Ming Dynasty will naturally be stable."

Anyway, in a word: If you want to secure your position as the emperor, you must have a good relationship with the civil servants.

The Empress Dowager spoke for a long time, then suddenly sighed: "Civilian officials, the Ai family also chose the Empress for Your Majesty. But the emperor's wedding and the ceremony required for the emperor's personal administration are huge, and the Ministry of Households refuses to pay out the money. "

Zhengde laughed and said: "The queen mother just told me to respect the old ministers, but these civil servants talked about the truth, but when they saw the truth, they all shrank. They made a marriage for me, but they refused to pay. Not to mention the time to take advantage of it, but when you really want to share the worries for my heavenly family, where did you go?"

When the Empress Dowager Zhang heard the emperor's rebuttal, she was about to teach her a lesson, but when she got to her mouth, she became frustrated: "Your Majesty needs at least 100 million taels of silver for this big wedding, and the Ministry of Households is only willing to pay 20 taels. Your Majesty's inner nuns only have [-] taels of silver left." Wan, this amount of money is only enough for the emperor and the queen's crowns, clothes, jade and jewelry. The Ai family doesn't know where to get the rest."

Zhengde was reading the letter, when he heard what Empress Dowager Zhang said, he suddenly slapped his thigh: "Su Mu has done a good job, this Taikang is also impressive to me!"

Empress Dowager Zhang said angrily: "Your Majesty, the Ai family is talking to you about something serious!"

"Business, business." Zhengde laughed brightly, "You don't have to worry, Empress Dowager, isn't there a gap of 70 taels, I will pay it myself."