Jiajing Chengming

Chapter 41: Imperial Decree
April 25th, the 16th year of Zhengde.

The cabinet issued three edicts in succession in accordance with the order.

The first imperial edict decided to hold the palace examination on the Bingyin day of the following month, which was May 15th.

This year's palace examination was supposed to be held in March of the 16th year of Zhengde, but it was delayed until now because of the death of Emperor Zhengde. Now that the time has been set, it is naturally convenient for the candidates to prepare in advance, and those who live close to home can rush back home to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival.

The second imperial edict was to send an envoy to welcome his mother, Concubine Jiang, to Anlu.

The third imperial edict was an imperial decree to discuss the worship and honorific title of King Xingxian.

This third imperial edict was the important ritual discussion that Yang Tinghe and his group of upright officials were concerned about, and it was also the most important event that the scholars and officials in the world paid attention to.

After all, Confucianism advocates governing the country with rituals.

The emperor hopes to use courtesy to win the hearts of the people of the world and make them submit to his rule.

But Confucian scholars hope to use rituals to correct the king, limit the king's power and prevent the king from doing wrong. The extreme ones even want to control the king with rituals, making him their puppet and a tool for realizing their ambitions.

Therefore, whether courtesy should be shown above the monarch or below the monarch became a point of conflict between the monarch and the scholar-official class.

In any case, etiquette is indeed very important, whether for the emperor or the literati and officials of the world, or even for the entire ruling class.

Zhu Houcong knew that he could not delay this matter for long. He needed to bring his mother to the capital as soon as possible to determine her honorific title, and he also needed to determine his father's honorific title as soon as possible.

of course.

Zhu Houcong also personally hoped to meet Jiang as soon as possible and discuss the honorific titles of his parents in this life.

Therefore, on the fourth day after he ascended the throne, he agreed to let the cabinet issue these two edicts.

Because the cabinet only has the right to draft and hold secret meetings, but not the power of execution, the cabinet's edicts on the specific implementation of government affairs are usually sent directly to the relevant ministries and agencies for review and decision.

The matter of discussing rituals should naturally be reviewed by the Ministry of Rites.

The scholars and officials throughout the world attached great importance to the discussion of rituals. After all, it was related to the distribution of power and core interests.

Therefore, on the day after receiving the imperial edict, Minister of Rites Mao Cheng immediately reviewed all the cases in various dynasties regarding the discussion of rituals regarding the succession of sons of royal family to the throne, and he hardly slept all night.

He himself was moved by his own diligence in serving the king, and felt that he had lived up to the teachings of the sage and the grace and salary of His Majesty.

Simultaneously.

Mao Cheng hurried to see Yang Tinghe early in the morning to ask for advice.

In Mao Cheng's opinion, Yang Tinghe was the elder who truly had the support of the world and the respect of the emperor, and he was the person who truly mattered to him whether he could enter the cabinet. Therefore, he did not choose to consult the current cabinet chief Liang Chu first.

"Your Majesty should call Xiao Miao 'Huang Kao', your biological father 'Huang Shu Kao', and your biological mother 'Huang Shu Mu', just like the stories of the Han Dingtao King and the Song Pu King.

Yang Tinghe was also very excited when he learned that Zhu Houcong had asked the cabinet to issue an imperial edict requesting a discussion on rituals.

He has been eagerly waiting for this day.

After all, Yang Tinghe had failed in the first round of his attempt to make Zhu Houcong obey the etiquette he had determined.

So, he had long wanted to get back at the rim.

You know, as the leader of the clean stream, he also has to save face and needs to maintain his prestige among the conservatives by winning one political battle after another.

Because the entire conservative faction is a loose group, the degree of their unity is positively correlated with Yang Tinghe's personal power and prestige.

As long as Yang Tinghe's prestige weakens, the entire conservative faction will become more fragmented, and may even turn against Yang Tinghe directly.

Therefore, Yang Tinghe needs to get back at his old self.

After Mao Cheng's speech, Yang Tinghe could not wait to wave his hand and asked Yang Shen to pass to Mao Cheng the content about the rituals discussed when King Dingtao of Han and King Pu of Song succeeded to the throne.

"That's very good!"

"I and the Master have the same idea!"

Mao Cheng smiled happily after seeing it.

He would like to see Yang Tinghe hold this view.

Because Mao Cheng knew what kind of power and interest distribution principles were behind this proposition.

Mao Cheng, who was also a representative of the conservative landlord class, naturally wanted to see Zhu Houcong use the treasury to exempt the country from taxes and solve the difficult problems of the people's livelihood without reforming the system. "Your Majesty is kind and loves the people. You should take this opportunity to revive the country."

Yang Tinghe smiled and nodded and said something.

Although what he said was praising Zhu Houcong, it also implied that since the current emperor was a good emperor, he should be allowed to make more sacrifices in his interests.

It's still the case that good people should be pointed at with guns and should make more sacrifices.

This, as Brother Xun said, is cannibalism under the guise of benevolence, righteousness and morality.

Mao Cheng then asked: "What if there are objections?"

Although Mao Cheng held the same opinion as Yang Tinghe, he had also experienced many ups and downs in the officialdom for many years. Naturally, he knew that the civil servants in the world were not united. He was afraid that before the emperor even expressed his disapproval, some of the civil servants on his side would jump out and sing a different tune, especially those reformists, who would definitely oppose Yang and the clean stream.

That's why Mao Cheng asked this question at this time.

"Be punished!"

Yang Tinghe's expression suddenly turned stern, and he spoke in an unquestionable tone.

“Is this too intense?”

Mao Cheng was a little hesitant.

He was relatively moderate among the conservatives and was not very willing to call for war and killing. Historically, when Jiajing asked him to change his mind and not insist on forcing him to recognize Emperor Xiaozong as his emperor father, he did not choose to force it anymore, but just said that he would resign from his post so that he would not have to embarrass His Majesty.

But Yang Tinghe had already lost a round, and he dreamed of winning back the lost ground. He was also anxious to establish greater prestige in the court. How could he be willing to fight gently? So he said at this time:
"If you don't do this, it won't be enough to intimidate the little guys!"

Yang Tinghe then smiled and said:
"Of course, I won't let you do this. You are a minister of etiquette, and you are not suitable to do this. When you go to discuss etiquette with the cabinet, you can tell the cabinet ministers that this is my opinion. Anyone who betrays the right etiquette should be regarded as the remnant of Jiang Bin, as a traitor and a villain!"

Mao Cheng nodded.

As long as he doesn't show up, he will naturally be willing.

then.

Mao Cheng came to the cabinet.

As the Minister of Rites, he had a badge that allowed him to enter and exit the Donghua Gate, and could come to the cabinet to ask for advice from the ministers, to help them better draft government affairs.

As soon as Mao Cheng arrived at the cabinet, he asked Liang Chu and other cabinet ministers for their opinions on the grand ceremony, and also informed Liang Chu and others of Yang Tinghe's intention.

"There's no rush for the big gift."

"It would be better to solve Qingtian's problem first."

Liang Chuze Mao Cheng spoke up after he finished speaking, and suddenly slammed the table and shouted at a secretary in charge of document registration in the cabinet:

"Have you sent the secret letter requesting an audience with the emperor? When Taifu Yang was in the cabinet, were you also so lazy? Do you take me, the Prime Minister, seriously?!"

After being scolded for no reason, the Secretary did not dare to talk back. He just said he would go to the secretariat to ask about it immediately.

Mao Cheng felt a little embarrassed and had to say goodbye and leave the cabinet.

However, he was surprised that Jiang Mian and Mao Ji did not say a word during the discussion. They just silently voted on the memorials and seemed to have little interest in the discussion.

After Mao Cheng left, Liang Chu got the secret letter from the Secretary of the Central Secretariat, which stated that Zhu Houcong had allowed him to meet the emperor at Qingning Palace.

The secret disclosure system was a privilege for cabinet ministers, a way that allowed them to bypass the Ministry of Public Administration and the Six Ministries and communicate secretly with the emperor directly through the Secretariat. Usually, if cabinet ministers wanted to meet the emperor secretly, they would submit a secret disclosure and request the emperor's consent to meet them in private.

After receiving the secret information, Liang Chu went to Qingning Palace.

"You are old, so from now on, every time you see me, you should be given a seat!"

Zhu Houcong was very satisfied that Liang Chu did not follow Yang Tinghe's example and would rather retire than preside over the reform and clearing of land, so he naturally showed him some favors to let him know that he, the emperor, would not turn a blind eye to anyone's loyalty.

Liang Chu was naturally moved. After all, being granted a seat in front of the emperor was rare in the Ming Dynasty because of the prevalence of Neo-Confucianism. Most emperors felt that it was only right for ministers to kneel and make reports, and granting a seat was no longer a courtesy that was unnecessary. However, the more this was the case, the more honorable it was for ministers to be granted a seat in front of the emperor.

Liang Chu therefore hurriedly thanked him, and after sitting on the hard stool, he felt quite comfortable.

then.

Liang Chu reported to Zhu Houcong truthfully, "Your Majesty, the Grand Master of the Imperial Clan came to the Cabinet to convey the opinion of Grand Tutor Yang, saying that those who do not support Your Majesty's recognition of the Xiao Temple as the ritual for the Emperor's father should be regarded as the remnants of Jiang Bin and as treacherous ministers and villains!"

(End of this chapter)