Jiajing Chengming

Chapter 8 My Son Will Become the Emperor
March of the sixteenth year of the Zhengde reign, Ji Mao (thirty).

Duke Dingguo Xu Guangzuo, Grand Secretary Liang Chu, eunuch Gu Dayong and other ministers who came to welcome the emperor finally arrived in Anlu.

The governor of Huguang, Qin Jin, the deputy envoy, Wang Yu, and other local civil servants had already come to the official post station to greet him, and sent someone on express horse to the palace to inform him of the matter.

At the same time, Gu Dayong did not rest in the official inn for long before he immediately rushed to the palace, ready to instruct the people in the palace on how to welcome the envoys and how to listen to the announcement.

After all, Zhu Houcong was going to be brought to Beijing to become emperor, so the whole process had to be rigorous and polite.

Soon, Gu Dayong met Zhu Houcong in Zhongzhengzhai of Prince Xing's Mansion.

Seeing Zhu Houcong in front of him, Gu Dayong felt that he was full of heroism and had a demeanor as bright as the moon and the wind!

Be his new master!
However, Gu Dayong couldn't help but think of the young Zhengde, the old master he grew up with and who also ascended the throne at the same age.

In Gu Dayong's view, Zhengde at that time was also full of vitality, with eyes as bright as stars and a radiant appearance like clouds.

Gu Dayong even couldn't help but transfer his feelings for Zhengde to Zhu Houcong, and had the illusion that he was reborn on the eve of Zhengde's accession to the throne. After seeing Zhu Houcong, he immediately knelt down with his eyes burning.

"Your servant Gu Dayong pays homage to the Crown Prince!"

then.

Gu Dayong didn't know whether he was excited or sad, but he choked with tears in his eyes and said, "My Lord, the Emperor has passed away, wuwu!"

"Why did my brother leave like this?"

Zhu Houcong also immediately burst into tears and wiped his tears.

"Please accept my condolences, Prince!"

"The late emperor has issued a will to pass the throne to you, so I, following the Empress Dowager's order, have come with Duke Dingguo, Elder Liang, and Minister Mao to welcome the prince to the capital to ascend the throne."

Gu Dayong came to comfort Zhu Houcong.

After Gu Dayong said this, Yuan Zonggao, Huang Jin and others around Zhu Houcong were all excited.

Because they are now even more certain that what Wang Yu said is actually true, and their prince is really going to be the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

When they thought of the tolerance and kindness shown by their prince in the past, they all hoped that their prince would bring greater grace to them when he became emperor in the future.

They would no doubt like to believe now that their best days are still ahead.

Zhu Houcong wanted to pretend to be humble and courteous, so as to continue to establish his polite and modest personality, so he said weakly: "I am of little talent and virtue, how can I take over my brother's throne."

Gu Dayong continued to persuade him, "Although the Crown Prince is indifferent and humble, please put the country first, obey the Queen Mother's order, and ascend the throne as soon as possible so that China and the outside world will have a master!"

"Since it is the order of my brother and the empress dowager, I have no choice but to obey. Moreover, you are advising me on this matter with the country as the basis. Then please discuss the matter with Mr. Yuan, the chief historian of the palace. I will do my best to obey your order, but I am afraid that I will disappoint my brother and the empress dowager."

After Zhu Houcong finished speaking, he asked Huang Jin to help him back to Qingyun Palace, and asked Yuan Zonggao to take Gu Dayong to rest.

Yuan Zonggao invited Gu Dayong to his office as the Chief Secretary and ordered people to replace the white curtains and white lanterns in the palace to hold a funeral for the late emperor. He also asked Gu Dayong about the specific details of the late emperor's death and enthronement.

Gu Dayong, on the other hand, tells us everything he knows.

Because he knew that although he was saying these to Yuan Zonggao, he was actually reporting to Zhu Houcong the details of the death of Emperor Zhengde and the enthronement of Zhu Houcong as emperor.

of course.

Gu Dayong still made some appropriate embellishments in his narration of the process from the death of Emperor Zhengde to the confirmation of the enthronement of Zhu Houcong, and added many good words for himself and Wei Bin in the process of supporting Zhu Houcong.

Gu Dayong did this naturally to repay Wei Bin for giving him the opportunity to welcome the new king.

For eunuchs like Gu Dayong, there is only one cloud above their heads, and that is the emperor.

Therefore, whether they can gain more favor from the emperor is very important to them, and it will directly affect their life, property, power and status.

Therefore, Gu Dayong was very clear about how important the opportunity Wei Bin gave him was.

Even though Gu Dayong had embellished it appropriately, Yuan Zonggao still guessed the current situation in the capital from the information provided by Gu Dayong. However, this made Yuan Zonggao frown, and he said to himself with deep emotion: "The prince's road to becoming an emperor will probably be extremely difficult from the beginning!"

to this end.

Yuan Zonggao decided to take advantage of the time when Zhu Houcong's family was having dinner to tell Zhu Houcong about his concerns.

He and Zhu Houcong now share the same fate, so naturally he does not want to see Zhu Houcong suffer a great loss on the road to becoming an emperor.

At this time, Zhu Houcong was having dinner with his mother, Princess Jiang.

Although Zhu Houcong came from later generations, Jiang had raised him from a crying baby to a well-mannered teenager over the past fourteen years with great difficulty. Especially when he was sick, Jiang would personally stay up all night to take care of him.

This made Zhu Houcong, who rarely received maternal love as a left-behind child in later generations, doubly moved. Psychologically, he even regarded Jiang as his mother. What's more, he was Jiang's son in this life.

Therefore, Zhu Houcong would often come to have meals with Jiang.

Now that he was about to receive the imperial edict from Zhengde asking him to come to Beijing to succeed the throne, he naturally had to tell Jiang about it, so he accompanied Jiang for dinner.

Jiang was also very happy when she knew her son was really going to be the emperor. After asking the palace maid to put Zhu Houcong's favorite dish in front of him, she smiled and said, "In this case, doesn't it mean that we can all go to Beijing to see your grandmother?"

The Jiang family is a descendant of military merit, but not the top military merit, but the middle military merit. His great-grandfather Jiang Wang was transferred to the capital camp for merit and became the deputy commander. His great-grandfather Jiang Yan, grandfather Jiang Mingshan, and father Jiang Xing all inherited the same position. His brother Jiang Bin was transferred to the capital for merit and became the deputy commander. All the clan members lived in the capital.

Therefore, before being chosen as the princess, Jiang had been growing up in the capital, so naturally she had feelings for the capital.

For her, returning to Beijing is equivalent to returning to her parents' home.

This was the first time for Jiang, who could not easily return to Beijing because she was a princess of a vassal state, to have the opportunity to return to her natal family, and she was returning to Beijing when her son was about to become the emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

This was naturally a particularly happy thing for the Jiang family.

She was even looking forward to seeing the envious expressions on the faces of her former friends when they saw her, the empress dowager.

In Jiang's view, since her son became emperor, she should naturally become the empress dowager.

Zhu Houcong also smiled and said: "I know that mother misses grandma, so please rest assured, mother, when I come to Beijing to ascend the throne, the first thing I will do is to ask someone to pick you up and reunite with grandma's family."

After hearing this, Jiang became even more delighted, and even her eyes filled with tears. She looked forward to the day when she would return to her parents' home in Beijing as the Empress Dowager.

"Sir, in my humble opinion, according to the information provided by Eunuch Gu, the power of the court is now completely controlled by Yang Xindu (Yang Tinghe)!"

"The head of the Imperial Household Department Wei Bin may have surrendered to Yang Tinghe. The only cabinet minister who could check him, Liang Gelao, was sent by Yang Tinghe to welcome the new emperor. Even if the Ministry of Personnel has Wang Jinxi (Wang Qiong), I'm afraid he will be alone and powerless."

"In this case, during this period between the death of the late emperor and the arrival of the Crown Prince in Beijing, I am afraid that Yang Xindu will have no one to influence his politics. From the inner court to the outer court, everyone will become his party!"

"And in this case, Yang Xindu and others who advocate the old system of Hongzhi will probably use their power to force the prince to recognize Xiaomiao as his father and the current queen mother as his mother, and change the name of the princess to aunt."

But not for long.

Yuan Zonggao came to the place where Zhu Houcong and his mother, Princess Jiang, lived.

Zhu Houcong and Jiang have always respected Yuan Zonggao as the chief historian.

After the death of Prince Xingxian, Jiang and Zhu Houcong, the widow and weak son, were able to successfully survive the most difficult period thanks to the help of Yuan Zonggao, and were not blackmailed too harshly by some corrupt officials in power. Zhu Houcong was also successfully recognized by the court and was made the crown prince of Prince Xing's Palace.

Therefore, when Yuan Zonggao arrived, Jiang took the initiative to have someone prepare a table for Yuan Zonggao and let Yuan Zonggao have dinner with him.

At this time, Yuan Zonggao reported to Zhu Houcong with a serious face what might happen in the capital, and explained to Zhu Houcong what he thought would happen next.

Zhu Houcong remained relatively calm after hearing what Yuan Zonggao said, but Jiang was stunned.

then.

Jiang looked at Yuan Zonggao with a nervous and disappointed expression:
"Mr. Yuan, what you mean is that once my Cong'er becomes emperor, he will no longer recognize me as his mother?"

(End of this chapter)