Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 336 Ding You
Northern Zhili, Fengrun County, post station.

Yuan Chonghuan was sitting in the guest room, concentrating on thinking. On the desk in front of him was an imperial edict he had just received.

He was supposed to be stationed on the Liaodong front, but he appeared in Fengrun. It was not because Yuan Chonghuan left his post without permission, but because of a special reason.

Ten days ago, Yuan Chonghuan suddenly received news that his father had passed away in his hometown, so he returned to his hometown to mourn. According to the rules of the Ming Dynasty, officials who lost their parents had to leave their posts and observe mourning for three years, which was called Dingyou. After three years, they would be reinstated according to the rules.

This rule was set by Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang, and all officials must abide by it, no matter how high your position is. So when Yuan Chonghuan received the news of his father's death, he immediately arranged his official duties, temporarily handed over the matters in his hands to others, and submitted a memorial of mourning to the court. Then he took his brother Yuan Chongyu and several servants to return home to mourn.

Who would have thought that just as he arrived in Fengrun County, the imperial edict arrived. It was an imperial edict to deprive Yuan Chonghuan of his affection. The edict first praised Yuan Chonghuan's filial piety, and then explained that the country was in need of people, and Yuan Chonghuan, as a garrison commander who was fighting against the Later Jin Dynasty on the border, could not be absent from Ningyuan City. Therefore, the imperial court put national affairs first and deprived him of his affection, asking him to return to Ningyuan as soon as possible.

"Brother! Brother!"

Yuan Chonghuan's eyes stayed on the edict for a long time. Suddenly, Yuan Chongyu's voice came from outside. After coming to his senses, Yuan Chonghuan slowly said, "Come in."

In a blink of an eye, Yuan Chongyu pushed the door open excitedly. Seeing Yuan Chonghuan still sitting there, he couldn't help but ask, "Brother, why are you still sitting there? Why don't we go back quickly?"

"Go back?" Looking at his anxious third brother, Yuan Chonghuan asked, "Where to go back?"

"Where else could it be? Of course, back to Ningyuan." Yuan Chongyu blurted out without thinking.

"Go back to Ningyuan? What are you going back to Ningyuan for?"

"Brother, are you confused? The imperial court has issued an order to take away your love, so are you not going back to Ningyuan?"

"Stupid!" Yuan Chonghuan glared at him. What nonsense was his third brother talking about? Was it time to go back to Ningyuan?

"Brother, do you really want to go back to your hometown to observe three years of mourning instead of returning to Ningyuan?" Yuan Chongyu asked in surprise. He looked at his brother. As a younger brother, he knew Yuan Chonghuan very well and naturally knew what his brother was thinking.

Yuan Chonghuan was a third-class Jinshi in the 47th year of the Wanli reign. In the 48th year of the Wanli reign, he became the magistrate of Shaowu. Two years later, he was transferred to the capital due to his excellent performance in the assessment. He then joined the Ministry of War as a principal. Later, due to the disastrous defeat of Xiong Tingbi and Wang Huazhen in Liaodong, the situation in Liaodong changed drastically. Sun Chengzong was appointed as the commander-in-chief of Ji-Liao and presided over the Liaodong war situation. Yuan Chonghuan was recommended to be transferred from the capital to Shanhaiguan as a military supervisor, thus starting his extraordinary life stage.

In the past few years, Yuan Chonghuan relied on his own abilities and the support of Sun Chengzong, and also got a connection with eunuch Wei Zhongxian some time ago. He was promoted continuously in a short period of time. Now he is the right councilor of Shandong Provincial Administration, and concurrently the assistant censor of the Censorate, and serves as the Ningyuan Military Preparations Commissioner, with full responsibility for Ningyuan's military affairs.

He was promoted from a seventh-rank county magistrate to a third-rank county magistrate in less than five years. Such a speed of promotion is beyond reach and is simply like riding a rocket.

Now is the time when Yuan Chonghuan is full of vigor and energy, ready to show his talents, but his father has passed away. According to the rules of the court, Yuan Chonghuan has no choice but to return to his hometown to observe mourning and fulfill his filial piety. But is Yuan Chonghuan really willing to do so? The answer is obvious.

According to the rules, officials can be reinstated after three years of mourning, but in reality, it is difficult for most officials to be reinstated after three years of mourning, because once you have mourned, your original position will not be vacant. It will be replaced by someone else. You can't ask the incumbent to make way for you after the mourning period, right? They are doing a good job, so you remove their position and give it to you? This is simply impossible.

Therefore, after the mourning period is over, you have to wait in line for the specific official position. If you are lucky, you will be given a position equal to your previous one. If you are unlucky, you will have to wait for a position if there is no vacancy, or you will be appointed to an unpopular government office. This will completely break the rhythm of your original career, and it will be extremely difficult to have the same power as before the mourning period.

Besides, people in the officialdom are often forgotten once you leave. Three years is neither a long nor a short time. You have been away from the center of power for three years, and when you come back, everything has changed and people have changed. Who will recognize you?

But even so, the court system is there, you can't not mourn, the only way to change this dilemma is for the emperor to issue an edict to deprive the emperor of his personal feelings. The so-called deprivation of personal feelings means that the emperor, in the name of the court, requires the mourning officials to put state affairs first, deprive of personal feelings, and mourn on duty instead of returning to their hometowns. In this way, they don't have to resign and can still serve the country in their original positions.

Yuan Chongyu was Yuan Chonghuan's younger brother. Although he was not an official, he did not want Yuan Chonghuan to be in mourning.

The reason is very simple. Yuan Chongyu had been living a very comfortable life as an aide to Yuan Chonghuan in the past few years. It was good to lean on a big tree for shade. Since Yuan Chonghuan went to Liaodong, Yuan Chongyu went to his brother Yuan Chonghuan. Taking advantage of Yuan Chonghuan's status and power, he started smuggling business in Liaodong. In name, he was helping his brother to raise military pay, but in fact most of the money he earned went into his own pocket. In just over a year, except for the part he used to honor his brother, Yuan Chongyu personally made a lot of money and ate a lot of greasy food.

Once Yuan Chonghuan was in mourning, the business road that had just been opened would be completely gone, and those businesses would not be able to be done. Without business, where would Yuan Chongyu go to make all the money? You have to know that the Yuan family is just an ordinary family, and Yuan Chongyu himself is not rich, but with the help of his brother, the money he earned in this year is more than he could earn in his entire life. Seeing that he was just at the peak of his career, suddenly his financial path was cut off. How could Yuan Chongyu not be upset?

All the way from Ningyuan to Fengrun County, Yuan Chongyu was in a very low mood. This low mood was not because his father had died, but because his father died at a really bad time.

His father died at this time, not earlier. Isn't this embarrassing for the Yuan brothers? His eldest brother Yuan Chonghuan resigned from his post due to mourning, and his financial resources were completely cut off. Who knows if there will be such an opportunity in three years? Father, father, can't you think about your sons? Wouldn't it be better to endure a few more years?
Just when he was feeling depressed, the imperial court suddenly issued an order to deprive him of his love. Upon learning about this, Yuan Chongyu was so excited that he danced with joy.

With the decree of the emperor's will, Yuan Chonghuan no longer had to return to his hometown to observe mourning, and his younger brother could continue to follow his elder brother back to Ningyuan and continue to rely on Yuan Chonghuan's power to do his business.

Just like that, right after the angel left, Yuan Chongyu couldn't help but come to find his elder brother Yuan Chonghuan. According to his thinking, since the decree had been issued, why didn't he pack up and go back as soon as possible? He didn't care about the war, but the smuggling business over there. Time waits for no one, and if he delays for one more day, all the money will be lost.

"Idiot! Get out!" Yuan Chonghuan was immediately furious when he saw his younger brother. Yuan Chongyu's words almost made him angry. At this time, he was still thinking about the smuggling business?
"Brother, you...?" Yuan Chongyu came here excitedly, but was scolded by Yuan Chonghuan before he could say a few words. He was stunned.

"Get out!" Yuan Chonghuan pointed towards the door with an angry expression.

Yes, the imperial court issued an order to seize the love, but did Yuan Chonghuan return to Ningyuan according to the order? If he did so, it would be strange if he, Yuan Chonghuan, was not ridiculed by the world.

As a scholar, a senior civil servant, and the main person in charge of the Liaodong front, Yuan Chonghuan's vision was not as narrow as Yuan Chongyu's. If he gave up mourning and returned to Ningyuan just because of a decree of love, wouldn't he be seen as a person who was greedy for power and disregarded filial piety in the eyes of the world?
Even if Yuan Chonghuan really wanted to return to Ningyuan, he couldn't do this, right? The necessary three requests and three refusal procedures must not be forgotten. Now it was only the first imperial edict. Yuan Chonghuan had to firmly refuse, showing his filial piety of returning to his hometown to mourn, and then wait for the emperor to send another edict. After several requests, he reluctantly agreed. In this way, he could preserve his reputation and let the world see his helplessness in facing national and family affairs. Not only would his reputation not be damaged, but it could be further improved.

Yuan Chongyu had no idea of ​​Yuan Chonghuan's thoughts, but it was not his fault. After all, Yuan Chongyu was not an official and did not understand the twists and turns involved.

Seeing his elder brother suddenly get so angry, Yuan Chongyu thought he had said something wrong. He was so scared that he didn't dare to ask any more questions and walked out.

After Yuan Chongyu left, Yuan Chonghuan looked at the edict again, thought about it, picked up his pen and wrote a memorial to the emperor refusing the deprivation of his love, and then asked someone to deliver the memorial to the capital.

After sending the memorial, Yuan Chonghuan did not leave the post station, but stayed there temporarily. He estimated the time, it would only take a few days for the memorial to be sent to the capital and for the capital to reply. If he continued to go south now, he might miss the next imperial decree, which would be counterproductive.

It would be better to stay in Fengrun County and wait for a few days to ensure that he could receive the next imperial edict in time. In order to find a reason to stay, Yuan Chonghuan invited a doctor to treat him on the grounds that he was too sad and caught a cold. He lay in the house to recuperate and lived in the post station with a legitimate reason.

Yuan Chonghuan's guess was absolutely correct. A few days later, the second edict arrived. This edict was still a love-rejection edict, more sincere and heartfelt than the previous one, and still rejected Yuan Chonghuan's reasons.

Along with this imperial edict, there was also a private letter from Wei Zhongxian to Yuan Chonghuan. After receiving the imperial edict, Yuan Chonghuan returned to the house and opened Wei Zhongxian's letter. After reading the contents of the letter, Yuan Chonghuan was completely relieved. He wrote another resignation memorial with confidence, once again begging the emperor to withdraw the imperial edict. After sending this memorial away, Yuan Chonghuan waited expectantly for the emperor's final edict.

(End of this chapter)