I am the prince of the Ming Dynasty, I don't give up

Chapter 288 Supervising the Country
The system of regents was quite mature in the Ming Dynasty. There had been many incidents of regents in the more than 100 years since the founding of the country.

The earliest case of regent was when Zhu Yuanzhang let the crown prince Zhu Biao act as regent so that he could familiarize himself with government affairs in advance and develop his governing skills.

Then came the Zhu Di period. As Zhu Di himself put most of his energy into conquering the Northern Yuan Dynasty, Zhu Gaochi, as the crown prince, began his decades-long career as regent. With the cooperation of the two father and son, one civil and one military, the Ming Dynasty entered a period known as the Yongle Era of Prosperity.

Then, Zhu Gaochi passed away. When Crown Prince Zhu Zhanji had not yet returned from Nanjing, the empress dowager ordered Prince Xiang Zhu Zhanji to be regent. After Zhu Zhanji ascended the throne, he personally led an army to attack Prince Han Zhu Gaoxu, and also ordered his younger brother Prince Xiang Zhu Zhanji to be regent.

Then came the famous Zhu Qizhen who led the army in person and ordered Zhu Qiuyu, who was still a prince at the time and had not yet become a fief, to act as regent.

The most recent incident of regent occurred a few years ago, when Zhu Houzhao went south to Qizhou and left an edict asking Yang Tinghe to be regent.

It can be said that Zhu Houzhao's decision to let Prince Jing serve as regent was both expected and reasonable.

It is reasonable because it is a long-standing precedent for princes to be regents. Zhu Houzhao has no crown prince, and there are no other princes in the capital. As the Prince of Jing, Zhu Houxuan is qualified to be regent. At least this point is impeccable.
It was said to be unexpected because Zhu Houxun's bloodline was too distant. In previous cases of regents, most of the people were close blood relatives of the emperor. It was the first time that a prince like Zhu Houxun, who was within the fifth degree of mourning, served as regent.

However, Zhu Houzhao had already set a precedent of having ministers regulate the country, so this move was not so surprising.

No matter from which angle you look at it, being regent is definitely an outward manifestation that the regent is trusted and valued by the king.

The relationship between Zhu Houzhao and Zhu Houxun is obvious to all, and everyone knows Zhu Houxun's ability, so he is also capable of being a regent.
The cabinet ministers were all dumbfounded when they saw the imperial edict. Although Zhu Houzhao often did some shocking things, being regent was an extraordinary thing.

As the chief minister of the cabinet, Liang Chu was both shocked and angry. He was shocked that Zhu Houzhao let Prince of Jing be the regent, and he was angry that Zhu Houzhao did not let him be the regent. Before, when Yang Tinghe was the chief minister, he was able to be the regent. But now he is the chief minister, and the regent has become Prince of Jing. From a certain perspective, doesn't this mean that he, Liang Chu, is not as good as Yang Tinghe?

It must be said that Liang Chu, who had been the Prime Minister for a few months, was a little cocky.
"Everyone, please discuss what we should do about this imperial edict?" Liang Chu quickly calmed down and looked at the other three cabinet members.

"This is a chaotic order and should be rejected," Mao Ji was the first to speak.

"This imperial edict is about the regent, not an ordinary government decree. Besides, there are already established precedents for princes to be regents. If we just reject it directly, what excuse can we use?" Jiang Mian also spoke up.

Liang Chu and Yang Yiqing also nodded slightly. This reason was very crucial.

"Just use the fact that Prince Jing is a distant relative as an excuse," Mao Ji said simply.

These words made the other three ministers look different.

"Although the bloodline of Prince Jing is relatively distant, he is also a genuine prince. Moreover, there is no provision that says that the regent cannot be a prince of a distant branch. Besides, the regent is just a regent," Jiang Mian retorted.

The three of them understood Jiang Mian's implication. Being a regent is just a temporary position. He is not the heir to the emperor. There is no need to be so strict about bloodline. Didn't Yang Tinghe also serve as regent before? No one brought up bloodline at that time.
"Have you forgotten about Emperor Jing?" Mao Ji said angrily. Emperor Jing was Zhu Qiyu. The restored Emperor Yingzong of the Ming Dynasty stripped him of his imperial title and gave him the posthumous title of "Prince of Yingli". He was buried in the Jingtai Mausoleum in the Western Hills of Beijing with the ceremony of a prince. During the reign of Emperor Xianzong of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Jianshen, he was recognized as an emperor and given the posthumous title of "Emperor Gongren Kangding Jing". At this time, he did not have the temple name of Daizong. He had to wait until the reign of Emperor Hongguang of the Southern Ming Dynasty to be given the temple name.

Originally, being a prince regent was a very simple matter. It meant that members of the Zhu family would help look after state affairs when the emperor went on a tour or led an army in person. The representative figure was Prince Xiang Zhu Zhanji.

But after the Battle of Tumu, when Prince Regent Zhu Qiyu was pushed to the throne, the role of Prince Regent changed. No matter how many hidden secrets there were, the result was there.
"The situation today is very different from that of the past, and who among those present is Yu Shaobao?" Jiang Mian continued.

Mao Ji was speechless for a moment. If one wanted to become an emperor like Zhu Qiyu, one had to have the right time, right place and right people. But Prince of Jing had none of them.

Even if a situation like the Battle of Tumu Fortress occurred now, without the support of civil officials, even if Zhu Houxuan was the only prince in Beijing, he would not be able to ascend the throne. The civil officials would choose a prince with a close bloodline from other places to come to Beijing to inherit the throne.

Zhu Houxuan's status as a distant relative also meant that he would not receive support from the civil officials, because it was not in accordance with etiquette.
Even though Zhu Houchun made the Royal Group flourish in the capital, from the traditional perspective, Zhu Houchun did not have deep roots in the capital. No matter how big the Royal Group was, without military power it was just a fat sheep to be slaughtered.

Just as the ministers were having a heated discussion, the culprit Zhu Houzhao had already arrived at Juyongguan, accompanied by 10,000 new troops.

History changed here. In history, Zhu Houzhao waited until August of the twelfth year of Zhengde before he slipped out of the capital and arrived at Juyongguan.

Zhu Houzhao's current situation is much better than in real history. First of all, the Qianqing Palace was not burned down. The burning of the Qianqing Palace was a big event, so big that Zhu Houzhao issued a self-criticism edict for it.

The civil servants could blame Zhu Houzhao for various problems from the perspective of warnings from heaven.

Then, Zhu Houzhao regained the hearts of the people. Although the low-priced salt had not yet been sold nationwide, it could be said to be a very remarkable achievement in civil administration, and even the most demanding civil servants could not find any fault with it.

Finally, there is the New Army. The 5-strong New Army represents the military force that Zhu Houzhao actually controls, and this military force is not at all constrained by civil servants. Most importantly, the soldiers of the New Army are extremely supportive of Zhu Houzhao. Zhu Houzhao feels extremely at ease when he is in the New Army and is surrounded by the respectful gazes of the New Army.

All this gave Zhu Houzhao great confidence.

In fact, this tour was entirely instigated by Jiang Bin. Several years ago, he had described the various scenery outside the Great Wall in front of Zhu Houzhao, which had already made Zhu Houzhao itching to go.

The previous incident of the anti-arrow silk clothes in the new army made Jiang Bin feel a little scared. He was afraid of losing Zhu Houzhao's trust because of this, so he stayed in the Leopard Room during this period of time, accompanying Zhu Houzhao. In order to win Zhu Houzhao's favor, he increased his efforts to instigate.

Zhu Houzhao was feeling upset about things happening in the capital, so he hit it off right away...

I was busy with chores at home yesterday, so I can only write one chapter now. I will post it first, and I will try to make up for the rest today.
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(End of this chapter)