Emperor Zhengde

Chapter 57: The Wedding Next Year
When you first take power, everything is about to happen!
Zhu Houzhao knew that he would be busier than ever in the future, but now he knew that there were thousands of things waiting for him to do but he didn't know where to start.

Zhu Houzhao decided to calm himself down for a while. Suddenly feeling a little confused, he stood for half an hour in the winter, gazing at the deep red walls of the Forbidden City in silence.

However, before Zhu Houzhao could rest for long, Gao Feng, who was in charge of the palace defense, came jogging over.

Just like Zhu Houzhao who executed three censors with a wave of his hand when he first came to power, now Gao Feng and other new eunuchs who have become the chief eunuchs in the inner court are also very energetic. They even jog while reporting matters, for fear of delaying important matters.

"Your Majesty, the former Jinyiwei Commander Mou Bin is kneeling outside the Meridian Gate holding the head of Lu Qi, the adopted son of Lu He, the former East Factory Supervisor, and he is asking for forgiveness from Your Majesty!"

After Gao Feng finished speaking, Zhu Houzhao sneered unhappily: "What crime did Mou Bin plead guilty to? I personally ordered him to put Zhang Zhao in prison, but he let Zhang Zhao escape from prison in the blink of an eye, and almost caused Zhang Zhao to break into the palace with his soldiers and kill me!"

Gao Feng smiled awkwardly: "Your Majesty is right. Based on this point, Mou Bin really deserves his punishment. But I heard him say that he also seemed to have been wronged. It was Lu Qi who falsely conveyed the imperial edict, and he was confused for a moment and let the traitor Zhang Zhao go!"

Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but smile: "What's so confusing? He just wanted to take advantage of the situation. What's more, he only offered Lu Qi's head. It's obvious that he didn't want Lu Qi to say too much!"

As he said that, Zhu Houzhao looked at Gu Dayong who was standing beside him and said, "Come here!"

According to records, in order to avoid the phenomenon of one of the "Eight Tigers" becoming dominant and to balance them out, Zhu Houzhao did not favor one over the other. Even for tasks such as serving by his side and having close contact with the emperor, he let the "Eight Tigers" take turns on duty.

Today it is Gu Dayong, the eunuch in charge of the Western Factory, who is the chief eunuch of the Imperial Household Department.

The Western Factory was an institution established during the Chenghua period, but was later abolished. Now that Zhu Houzhao has appointed Gu Dayong as the commander-in-chief of the Western Factory, it is natural that he intends to re-establish the Western Factory.

Gu Dayong saw Zhu Houzhao calling him and hurried over: "What does the emperor want?"

"Go and pass on the order to Guo Rong, and have him bring all the officials above the general flag of the Jinyiwei Northern Pacification Division to the outside of the Meridian Gate!"

After Zhu Houzhao finished speaking, he turned around and climbed the stairs back to the Cining Palace. He had not yet moved to the Qianqing Palace, so he was still living in the Cining Palace temporarily.

Noon had arrived, the sun was getting warmer, and the indoor fire added a bit of warmth. Zhu Houzhao asked the palace maid to take off his outer robe and cloak. He put on only a thin dress and took out a tangerine from the agate plate to eat.

The juicy oranges were thick and sweet, and they quenched his thirst. Zhu Houzhao ate two before he stopped. At this time, the Empress Dowager Zhang appeared here with the help of a female official. She smiled naturally and said to Zhu Houzhao, "My son has not slept all night and went to Fengtian Gate to attend government affairs this morning. Isn't that enough?"

"I have enough food, but I am very hungry. These sisters just stand by and don't bring me food. I can only eat tangerines to fill my stomach," Zhu Houzhao said with a smile. The pretty female official Ruyi beside him was frightened and fell to the ground: "Your Majesty, spare me. Your Majesty Ruyi is hungry."

"Get up, I was just joking, go to the imperial kitchen and serve the food!"

After Zhu Houzhao finished speaking, he personally helped Empress Dowager Zhang to sit in the main seat. Empress Dowager Zhang looked obviously much more relaxed than usual. Zhu Houzhao could guess that his mother should have known that he had successfully taken control of the inner court, otherwise she would not be in such a good mood.

"I thought you had grown up and become sensible, but you are still so naughty! From today on, the burden on you will be even heavier. I just want to ask you, are you ready to be a good emperor?"

Empress Dowager Zhang has obviously changed her tone. Before, she only hoped that Zhu Houzhao would be happy and not be a good emperor. Now, her words also reveal her support for Zhu Houzhao to be a good emperor, and she also asked Zhu Houzhao if he was ready.

"I have never forgotten my father's earnest teachings. Don't worry, my mother. Our royal family will get better and better, and the Ming Dynasty will also get better and better!"

Zhu Houzhao said with a smile.

Empress Dowager Zhang nodded with great satisfaction and said with a smile: "You will be married next year!"

Zhu Houzhao was a little surprised. He didn't expect Empress Dowager Zhang to bring up this matter suddenly. He thought that all parents in the world are the same. They are always concerned about these things. "Mother, the child is only fifteen. It's a little too early to talk about this matter."

Zhu Houzhao indeed felt that it was too early. If it were in later times, he would still be a junior high school student. Not to mention getting married, even having a relationship would be opposed by his parents and teachers. Moreover, he could not accept the thought of getting married next year and marrying a 14 or 15-year-old girl as his queen.

"It's not early! If your father hadn't passed away suddenly, you would have been married this year. Your mother doesn't want anything else now. She just wants to have a little grandson to accompany her, so that the second half of her life will be more interesting." Empress Dowager Zhang laughed as she spoke, and it seemed that she had already begun to imagine the scene of countless grandsons calling her grandmother.

Zhu Houzhao knew that he could not go against the etiquette of the era, so he could only say: "In this case, I will do the same as my father and only appoint one queen. This will save both money and trouble!"

"No! Your father only married me and many civil officials have been talking about me for being jealous and affecting the succession of the emperor. Now you only enthrone one queen. Do you also want your queen to be accused of being unvirtuous and jealous in the future? At least, I don't want my daughter-in-law to suffer such grievances in the future!"

Empress Dowager Zhang seemed to be very decisive on this matter and would not allow Zhu Houzhao to refute her.

Zhu Houzhao could not object to this. He thought that his mother must know that the civil officials outside had some complaints about her. However, Zhu Houzhao did not dwell on this issue and just smiled and said, "Then we can only appoint three first, one queen and two concubines. No more. The child is still young and needs to take care of his health, right?"

"Okay, then three!" In the eyes of Empress Dowager Zhang, Zhu Houzhao was always her only beloved child, so naturally there was nothing for her to insist on.

Zhu Houzhao also knew that it was inevitable that he would marry a group of girls aged fourteen or fifteen next year, but now he could only try to reduce the number as much as possible. This would prevent many girls from growing old alone in the palace and also prevent his inner court and harem from being too noisy in the future.

However, although they were all young girls of fourteen or fifteen years old, they would all become his women in the future, so Zhu Houzhao had to choose one, and he said, "Mother, I want to change the rules. According to the previous rules, you choose three people for me. This time, I want to choose by myself, and choose the one I like. Otherwise, if you choose someone I don't like, wouldn't it delay the girl and me?"

"Okay, whatever you say! You can make your own choice when the time comes, and I won't interfere," Empress Dowager Zhang laughed, holding Zhu Houzhao in her arms and stroking him.

Zhu Houzhao therefore saw that the Shangqin maid Ruyi was also laughing secretly, so he joked: "Sister Ruyi, what are you laughing at? Do you also want to be my concubine?"

"The slaves dare not!"

Ruyi obeyed with shame and a little fear on her face. Realizing that she had indeed lost her composure just now, she quickly crawled on the ground.

Empress Dowager Zhang was not angry with her personal maid Ruyi. She just smiled and said to Zhu Houzhao: "If you really like Ruyi, I will give her to you."

"How dare I take away my mother's love!"

Zhu Houzhao asked Ruyi to get up and explained that he was joking.

Ruyi finally felt relieved, thinking that she was lucky to have escaped, but she also felt a little disappointed.

Zhu Houzhao immediately returned to business and said to Empress Dowager Zhang, "Mother, when the political situation stabilizes, I will ask the Ministry of Rites to give you a title of honor! Then you will be the most honorable woman in the Ming Dynasty!"

"The titles are nothing but empty reputations. There is no need for you to fight with the officials for them. Your mother just hopes that you are well."

Empress Dowager Zhang obviously knew that some civil officials were unwilling to give him the title of emperor. Although she smiled and said it didn't matter, Zhu Houzhao could see the disappointment in her eyes.

Zhu Houzhao said: "Mother, this is not just an empty title, it concerns the dignity of my father, the dignity of my mother, and my dignity. If I can't even give you the title, how can I rule over all the officials!"

"In that case, your majesty will not interfere. It's rare that you are so filial!" Empress Dowager Zhang smiled.

Thanks to the book friend CD World for the reward of 100 Qidian coins, and thank you to the book friend 20170520204405693 Qidian coins for the reward


(End of this chapter)