My uncle is Zhu Di

Chapter 160 Ennoblement
Xie Jin and others were worried because Zhu Di insisted on promoting the Ming Daily. They, as cabinet members, were of low rank, had little say and power.

The cabinet was first established by Zhu Di. In the beginning, the rank of cabinet members was very low and they only assisted the emperor in handling memorials and divided the power of the six ministers. It was not until the Jiajing period that the power of the cabinet began to grow.

Today, the power of the court is still mainly in the hands of the six ministries and nine departments.

After Zhu Gaochi had made all the arrangements, he went back to the Imperial Study to deal with memorials. It was not until the afternoon that the imperial edicts and reward items for Xu Huizu and Xu Qin were ready.

Zhu Gaochi and Zhu Di did not want to wait for fear of any further complications, so Zhu Gaochi took the imperial edict and went to confer the reward.

After Zhu Gaochi brought people from the Ministry of Rites to Xu's house, Xu Qin opened the door wide. Xu Qin and his family stood outside the door to greet them. When they saw Zhu Gaochi and others coming, they naturally saluted.

After Zhu Gaochi came down, he looked at Xu Qin with a smile and asked, "Are you anxious? The officials in the court are still a little slow in doing things, but fortunately, they have finally done it."

"Well! Your father is really unreliable. He told me to get up early yesterday. I got up very early today and arrived late." Xu Qin said to Zhu Gaochi with a smile.

Zhu Gaochi smiled and said, "There is nothing we can do. The Ministry of Rites cannot prepare for this."

"Cousin, are you pretending to be ignorant? I just don't believe it. You don't know that Xia Yuanji came to talk to me early in the morning, and I didn't agree to him." Xu Qin smiled and winked at Zhu Gaochi.

"Hehe, anyway, it's enough for you to know it yourself. Let's go in. My uncle and the others are here, right?" Zhu Gaochi said with a smile, without elaborating.

"Yes, but my father is still not ready to come out. You can handle it yourself." Xu Qin said. Xu Huizu did not plan to accept the imperial edict. He thought that the Duke of Wei was not awarded by Zhu Di, but by Zhu Di's father. Now Zhu Di just came back. He would not go to accept the imperial edict, and let Xu Qin do it on his behalf.

Soon, Zhu Gaochi and his party arrived at the front yard of Xu's mansion. Zhu Gaochi found that the incense table and everything were already prepared. Zhu Gaochi looked at the Minister of Rites and asked, "Can we read the imperial edict directly?"

"Of course!" Zheng Ci nodded. Originally, reading the imperial edict just had to wait until the incense table was set up. Now that the Xu family was ready, there was naturally no need to wait any longer.

Soon, Zhu Gaochi prepared to read the imperial edict. Xu Qin, Li, and the people from the Xu residence all knelt in the front yard. Seeing that everyone was kneeling, Zhu Gaochi began to read the imperial edict restoring Xu Huizu's title of Duke of Wei. All the things that had been confiscated before were returned to Xu Huizu, including the Duke of Wei's mansion.

After Zhu Gaochi finished reading the imperial edict, Xu Qin received the edict on his behalf. After receiving the edict, it was time to receive those things, and Xu Qin was also required to receive them. There were too few people in the Xu Mansion, so Xu Qin could only hand those things over to his mother and aunt first, leaving his hands free to receive the red seal and iron certificate, the rewarded land deeds, etc.

Just as Xu Huizu's affairs were settled, Zhu Gaochi once again took out the imperial edict and called on Xu Qin to receive it.

When Xu Qin heard this, he thought, is there really something going on with him? How can he be made a baron? Then Zhu Gaochi began to read it out, and Xu Qin understood that both of his family's titles could be passed down, and both were sealed with red books and iron certificates.

As for the content of the imperial edict, it was nothing more than an attempt to exaggerate Xu Qin's contributions. However, Xu Qin only had the credit of organizing the overseas expedition last year to be written about. Other contributions could not be written in the imperial edict. Some things could not be made known to the world yet.

When the people in the Xu Mansion heard that Xu Qin was also conferred the title of Earl, they were extremely happy, especially Li and the others. They had thought that today was the day when Xu Huizu's title was restored, but they did not expect that Xu Qin could also be conferred the title of Earl.

After Xu Qin expressed his gratitude, he went through the process of receiving the imperial edict and the red-lettered iron certificate. He did not get up until he had received everything.

"Cousin, and all the adults, please, please come in and sit down!" Xu Qin smiled at Zhu Gaochi and the others. He was so happy. He was given a title, and he was also an earl. Although it might not be of any use, it was still a symbol of status, wasn't it?

"Well. Everyone, would you like to go in and have a cup of wedding tea?" Zhu Gaochi said to the officials from the Ministry of Rites with a smile.

"It should be so. We should also congratulate Duke Wei and Earl of Haozhou." Zheng Ci said to Zhu Gaochi with a smile.

"Come in!" Xu Qin said with a smile, and then led them to the living room. At this moment, Xu Huizu was already sitting in the living room. He had just heard the contents of the imperial edict being read outside and was very excited. His son was now an earl.

When Zhu Gaochi arrived in the living room, he first greeted Xu Huizu. Normally, it was Xu Huizu who should have paid his respects to Zhu Gaochi, as Zhu Gaochi was the crown prince. However, Xu Huizu did not recognize Zhu Di as the emperor. So when the title of Duke of Wei was just restored, Xu Huizu did not go to receive the decree, but asked Xu Qin to do so.

However, Zhu Gaochi was not surprised by his uncle's behavior. It was not the first time. Besides, this was a matter between him and his father and had nothing to do with him, so it was not a matter of disrespect.

"The boss is here. Come, sit down. Our house is bustling today with so many officials here. Come on, serve the tea." Xu Huizu greeted them with a smile. After Xu Qin put away the imperial edict and the red seal and iron certificate, he also helped Xu Huizu greet those ministers, mainly Xu Huizu.

After Xu Huizu exchanged pleasantries with the ministers of rites, Zhu Gaochi smiled and said to Xu Huizu, "Uncle, my father will summon the Five Military Commands and the nobles in Beijing to go to the palace to discuss things this afternoon. My father told me to say hello to my uncle in advance. My uncle is still under house arrest and it is inconvenient for him to go out. And Shajiabao has just been conferred a title and has not yet thanked the emperor, so you don't have to go this afternoon. Besides, Shajiabao also knows what we are discussing. In addition, my father also told me that Shajiabao has to prepare a dinner party. After all, he has been conferred a title, and the nobles in Beijing will probably come to visit the palace soon. It would be unreasonable not to invite them."

"Okay, just leave these matters to Sakya Bao. It's not convenient for me to go out, so let Sakya Bao go to the palace to express gratitude on my behalf tomorrow." Xu Huizu nodded with a smile.

Zhu Gaochi was very happy when he heard this. Xu Huizu's words meant that the relationship between him and his father had begun to ease. If it could be completely eased, it would be even better. His uncle was very good at fighting. His father even said that if there was a chance in the future, he would let his uncle lead the army to fight, and then his father would feel much more relaxed.

After a brief exchange of greetings, Zhu Gaochi led the officials away. Of course, the Xu family also prepared a lot of reward money. The Xu family was not short of money, so the reward money was very generous.

As soon as Zhu Gaochi and his men left, Xu Qin's grandmother, Xie, and his second aunt and fourth aunt all came. This was a great happy event for the Xu family.

Before Mrs. Xie could express her feelings, people came over to give gifts. They were all nobles in the capital. They had also realized that Xu Huizu's branch was about to become prosperous again. There was nothing they could do, as he had a good son.

Today, not only did the Xu family regain the title of Duke of Wei, but Xu Qin was also conferred the title of Earl.

Therefore, those nobles sent two gifts, and then Xu Huizu's old subordinates also sent two gifts. Many people wanted to come and ask to see Xu Huizu in person, but they were all rejected by Xu Huizu. The gifts could be left, but people were not allowed to come in.

Even so, those old subordinates were very moved. Before, they came to Xu Mansion to give gifts but couldn't get in because Xu Mansion didn't accept those gifts. But now they accepted them, which meant that Xu Mansion was slowly beginning to enter the core layer of power in the court.

Today, Xu Qin was held by his grandmother and Li and never let go. Both of them were very satisfied with him.

"Bao'er, now that you have been conferred the title, you must do your job well. You are not allowed to go out and fight. His Majesty will definitely assign you a task. My Bao'er is so capable, there will definitely be no problem." Xie said happily, holding Xu Qin's hand.

"Well, what a pity. My Mu family wrote to us before, asking if Sakya Bao is married." Fourth Aunt said with a smile.

"It's okay. The eldest lady of Duke Cheng's Mansion is not bad either." Xie said with a smile.

"That's right. The eldest daughter of the Chengguo Mansion is so lucky. Not only will Sakya Bao inherit the title of Duke of Wei in the future, but there is also a Earl of Haozhou who can inherit the title." Fourth Aunt continued with a smile.

Xu Qin didn't dare to say anything. With them around, he just had to behave himself. Whatever they said was what he had to do.

In the evening, Xu Qin had just finished his meal and was about to write a memorial about the Trade Bureau in his study when a head popped out from the study door. Xu Qin looked closely and found that it was Xu Jingchang.

"Xu Jingchang, why are you back?" When Xu Qin saw it was him, he immediately stood up and stared at Xu Jingchang fiercely. At this time, Xu Jingchang should be in the Imperial College.

"Hehe, brother, His Majesty has summoned us this afternoon to go to the Qianqing Palace to discuss things. Don't forget that I am the governor-general of the Central Military Governor's Office." Xu Jingchang came in and said with a proud smile.

"Oh, yes!" Xu Qin heard it and realized that Xu Jingchang needed to attend such a meeting.

"Hehe. Congratulations, big brother. I just went to find uncle and told him about it." Xu Jingchang came in with a smile and said in a flattering manner.

"Well, okay, we still have to go to the Imperial College early tomorrow morning, right?" Xu Qin nodded and asked.

"Brother!" Xu Jingchang looked at Xu Qin with a flattering expression.

Xu Qin looked at Xu Jingchang very warily and asked, "What do you want to do?"

"Hey, brother, I want to go to the Trade Bureau. I can be your deputy, okay? I don't want to go to school. Can you let me go to the Trade Bureau? His Majesty has said that you will be the person in charge, and you can decide the salary. Brother, you can decide more." Xu Jingchang said to Xu Qin in a flattering manner.

Xu Qin frowned and stared at Xu Jingchang.

"Brother, I don't want to study. I really don't want to study. Brother, please let me out. I don't want to go to the Imperial College anymore." Xu Jingchang immediately looked at Xu Qin with a pleading look on his face.

(End of this chapter)