Ming Dynasty: Ask Zhu Yuanzhang to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 614 Seize power!

The personal maid immediately accepted the order.

Soon, everyone had gathered.

Gu Panjun's gaze slowly swept over them, her expression growing more dignified. She said, "Something has happened in the court, and I need to go out to deal with it. You all need to stay in Kunning Palace."

"Without my imperial decree, no one is allowed to go out, nor to transmit any messages to the outside world. Furthermore, no one is allowed to reveal even a fraction of what I did or said during my confinement in Kunning Palace."

"This includes when the emperor came to Kunning Palace and when he left, and even what I ate, played, and did in the palace. Nothing should be revealed to outsiders."

"The telegraph machine only receives and records telegrams; without the Empress's decree, no telegram may be sent out."

"Anyone who disobeys this order will be beaten to death immediately with sticks, and will not be spared lightly."

"If this causes significant negative consequences, not only will people be killed, but your family members outside will also be implicated and punished severely."

"Do you understand everything?"

The palace maids and eunuchs were immediately alarmed.

The Empress was a well-known "good person" in the harem, known for her kindness and compassion, and always treated her servants very well.

Even if they make a mistake, they are usually punished as leniently as possible.

Sometimes, when other concubines wanted to punish palace maids and eunuchs, the Empress would plead for them on their behalf.

They served the Empress in the Kunning Palace and had a deep understanding of this.

I felt that the Empress was never pretentious and was very kind and approachable.

Sometimes, when I'm with the Empress, I completely forget her status and just feel like she's a good friend.

Upon hearing the Empress speak such stern words and seeing her extremely dignified expression, everyone knew that something truly terrible had happened.

The empress did not display her power; she was naturally friendly and approachable.

But no matter what, she was always the Empress, the first person in the Ming Dynasty besides the Emperor.

If she truly wanted to display the Empress's authority, killing a palace maid or eunuch would be as simple as crushing an ant.

The Empress spoke so sternly that the palace maids and eunuchs knew this was no ordinary occasion.

"understand!"

The crowd answered in unison.

Gu Panjun glanced back at the two personal maids beside her and instructed, "When I am away, if someone comes to deliver my imperial edict, it must be delivered by these two maids in person, and they must hold a letter written by me personally and stamped with the Empress's seal as proof."

"People and evidence are both indispensable."

"Any imperial edicts delivered by anyone else, whether orally or otherwise, are false edicts and should be ignored by you."

"Any violation will be severely punished. Do you understand?"

"Understood!" the palace maids and eunuchs answered in unison once again.

Gu Panjun said no more, slowly walked down the steps, and led two maids out of the gate of Kunning Palace.

outside.

Several guards stood watch at the gate.

Upon seeing the Empress arrive in person, he immediately knelt down to pay his respects.

Gu Panjun didn't say anything and continued walking forward.

The head of the guards hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, you are still under confinement. According to His Majesty's decree, you are not allowed to leave Kunning Palace."

Upon hearing this, Gu Panjun, dressed in phoenix robes and with a dignified appearance, instantly turned cold.

"I have business to attend to today. I must meet with the Minister of State Affairs and the Minister of Military Affairs. This matter concerns the fate of the Ming Dynasty and the safety of the nation. Anyone who dares to obstruct me will be executed without mercy!"

The head of the guards, kneeling on the ground, trembled with shock.

He had been standing guard at the gate of Kunning Palace for a long time and had seen the Empress many times.

Because every time the emperor came to Kunning Palace, the empress would always see him off at the palace gate when he left.

In his memory, the empress not only had a stunningly beautiful face, but also a very good temperament.

No one has ever seen the Empress lose her temper, nor have they ever seen her scold people with a stern face.

But today... the head of the guards dared not say anything more, and remained kneeling on the ground, only lowering his head.

If the Empress were truly banished to the Cold Palace and the Emperor no longer wished to attend to her, then he would certainly dare to stop him.

But the head of the guards knew very well that the emperor and empress still had a very good relationship.

If he were to forcibly stop the Empress at this moment, he would be courting death.

While pondering, Gu Panjun gave another order: "Clear the way ahead to the Hall of Diligent Governance!"

"Yes!" the head guard replied instinctively.

He felt that the empress today was completely different from the one before.

The former empress seemed like a very pretty girl next door, making people feel very kind and friendly, and even giving them the urge to protect such a beautiful little girl.

Despite knowing that she was the empress, I could not feel any invisible pressure from her, the kind of power that comes with authority.

Today's empress, however, exudes an air of superiority, looking down upon all living beings.

Once a word is spoken, none dare disobey.

The head of the guards quickly followed the orders and led the way.

Behind them, the Empress's pace quickened noticeably, and the head of the guards also unconsciously accelerated.

……

The distance from Kunning Palace to Qinzheng Hall is not far.

After all, Zhu Yunwen's idea was always to be a capable "tyrant," who could lead the Ming Dynasty to the top of the world and make the people live a good life with plenty of food and clothing, while also enjoying life and the happiness of being an emperor.

Instead of working like a slave all day long.

Therefore, the place where the government was governed and the court was held could not be too far from the inner palace.

Although the emperor was not present, many people were still working inside the Hall of Diligent Governance.

The reason is simple: according to the imperial system, many matters approved by the Political Affairs Department and the Military Affairs Department can be issued directly in the name of the Political Affairs Department and the Military Affairs Department, while others must be approved by the emperor.

However, the so-called approval of the emperor does not mean that the emperor himself carefully reviewed it and then personally wrote his approval.

Often, the approval process is just a formality.

The government affairs department and the military affairs department would submit the regulations. The emperor would glance at them, perhaps only looking at the title, and then have his close attendants affix their seals before sending them back. This was considered as the emperor's personal approval.

In real history, the cabinet's "drafts" would also be reviewed and approved by the eunuchs around the emperor, namely the Directorate of Ceremonial.

But Zhu Yunwen did not do so.

On the contrary, he strictly stipulated that no one other than himself, the emperor, could issue "red approvals" in the emperor's name.

Any imperial "red approval" must have been made in his own handwriting.

However, as a workaround, many matters that originally required imperial approval were now handled by affixing the emperor's seal to the military affairs department's handling opinions.

This also clearly tells those below which are the opinions of the Political Affairs Department and the Military Affairs Department.

Which of these were presented to the emperor and received his approval?

Which of these are the emperor's personal instructions?

Because imperial edicts were rarely written in person, they greatly enhanced the standing of officials. The reason is quite simple.

The emperor reviewed hundreds of memorials a day, writing comments on each one. Naturally, many officials were oblivious to the emperor's comments, or even completely indifferent to them.

However, if a department of the imperial court or a provincial government only receives a personal written instruction once every ten days or half a month, or even once every year or two or three years, then it will certainly be treated with the utmost care.

This, in effect, also enhanced the emperor's standing among his ministers.

At the same time, since the government affairs office and the military affairs office handle state affairs, it will not affect the normal operation of the central government in the slightest.

On the contrary, it will greatly improve the efficiency of handling various tasks.

For example, Zhu Yunwen clearly stipulated that any memorial submitted to the Political Affairs Department or the Military Affairs Department must be processed and completed on the same day, and must not be delayed until the next day.

In the past, even a workaholic like Lao Zhu couldn't guarantee that all the memorials he received each day would be processed, leaving no memorials unfinished for the next day.

After all, no matter how strong or hard-working Lao Zhu is, he is still just one person.

Moreover, there were always times when he was interrupted by other things and unable to handle government affairs.

However, the current political affairs department and military affairs department have a large number of people, so they can naturally ensure that all the memorials are processed every day.

Most of the time, even if Zhu Yunwen carefully read a memorial, he would not write any personal comments on it, but would verbally instruct the Political Affairs Department and the Military Affairs Department on how to handle it.

After all, many major military and political policies involve resource allocation and conflicts of interest; for every beneficiary, there is a loser.

Unless absolutely necessary, it is best for the emperor to remain uninvolved.

The wisest thing to do is to let the Minister of State and the Minister of Military Affairs bear the curses and insults from those who "suffer losses".

The emperor is always wise and powerful. If anything goes wrong, it can only be due to the mistakes of "treacherous officials"!
Even though the emperor is not in the capital at the moment, matters that require the imperial seal to be handled still require the seal to be affixed according to procedure.

The Hall of Diligent Governance had a special "secretary" to affix the imperial seal.

According to the rules set by Zhu Yunwen, an imperial seal was to be jointly kept by three people and stored in a cabinet, which could only be opened with three keys.

When affixing the seal, all three people must be present at the same time.

After affixing the seal, it must be registered, noting which document from the Political Affairs Department or the Military Affairs Department was affixed with the seal, and the names of the three individuals must be signed for future reference.

All documents delivered to the Hall of Diligent Governance were in triplicate.

One copy will be stored in the archives specifically for storing documents in the Hall of Diligent Governance, another copy will be stored in the archives of the Administrative Affairs Office, and only one copy needs to be distributed.

This is also to ensure that every document is traceable.

This will prevent people from shifting blame and arguing afterward.

It is worth mentioning that the emperor had more than one imperial seal.

The emperor possessed twenty-four imperial treasures, each unique.

Such as the Emperor's Seal of Heaven, the Emperor's Seal, the Seal of Imperial Decree, the Seal of Imperial Edict, etc.

As for which one to use, there are certain rules to follow.

For example, the sacrificial texts used in worshipping Heaven and Earth would definitely be stamped with the Emperor's Seal of Heaven.

But most of the time, it depends on the emperor's mood; he can put on whichever stamp he wants!
Any stamp on any of these stamps is legally valid.

When Zhu Yunwen went on an inspection tour to the north, he took several imperial seals with him, and left the rest in the Hall of Diligent Governance.

There is a large group of people here who are in charge of the imperial seal and affix the imperial seal to the memorials submitted by the government affairs department and the military affairs department.

In the past, when the emperor left the capital, he would always appoint someone to oversee the country.

But now that we have the telegraph, things are different.

For matters that required the Emperor's approval, the Political Affairs Department and the Military Affairs Department would send telegrams to inquire.

After the emperor replied, the contents of his reply and the memorial were submitted to the Hall of Diligent Governance.

In this way, the "secretaries" responsible for affixing the seals can affix them with confidence and boldness.

Today, the Hall of Diligent Governance is as busy as ever.

Just then, a voice came from the doorway: "Her Majesty the Empress has arrived!"

The entire audience was stunned.

No matter what, the Hall of Diligent Governance was where the emperor handled state affairs.

Even though the emperor is not in the capital now, he is still the heart of the empire's power.

According to the laws of the Ming Dynasty, the imperial harem was not allowed to interfere in government affairs.

Although the Empress is of noble status, she should not be here.

Not to mention, everyone knows that the Empress is confined to the palace.

Why did you suddenly appear here, and even come to the Hall of Diligent Governance?

Despite their astonishment, everyone quickly knelt down to greet them.

No matter what, the Empress is always the Empress, and they cannot provoke her.

Moreover, it is not surprising that the empress came to the front court.

For example, during major court ceremonies, the empress would come to the front court to receive the congratulations of the court officials together with the emperor.

The rule against the empress's interference in politics was established by Emperor Zhu.

Even when Zhu Yuanzhang was emperor, Empress Ma was quite involved in court affairs.

Every official in the Ming Dynasty knew that when Emperor Zhu was in a rage, they could secretly go to Empress Ma to persuade him.

Gu Panjun walked over step by step, her long phoenix robe trailing on the ground. The crowd kneeling to greet her immediately sensed something was amiss and held their breath.

Gu Panjun sat down behind the table above. This was where the emperor conducted his daily work and handled various memorials and documents. Although it was not the formal dragon throne, no one except the emperor dared to sit there normally.

But Gu Panjun was the Empress of the Ming Dynasty. The emperor and empress were one, and the empress was entitled to sit and stand alongside the emperor.

After sitting down, she spoke: "Immediately summon all ministers of state affairs and ministers of military affairs to come here to pay homage to me."

The eunuchs below dared not delay and hurriedly went to deliver the imperial edict.

The Office of Political Affairs and the Office of Military Affairs were located on either side of the Hall of Diligent Governance. Soon after, the ministers filed in.

"Greetings, Your Majesty the Empress!" The Ministers of State Affairs and the Ministers of Military Affairs bowed in unison.

Their faces were filled with confusion and surprise.

I don't understand why the Empress would suddenly violate His Majesty's confinement order, leave Kunning Palace, and come to this Qinzheng Hall.

Gu Panjun did not immediately answer their questions, but instead asked, "Has His Majesty issued any decrees today?"

Yang Shiqi stepped forward and said, "His Majesty has already sent over the prayer text for today's worship of the sage at the Confucian Temple in Qufu, and instructed the Ministry of State Affairs and the Ministry of Military Affairs to disseminate it throughout the country."

He had made preparations beforehand, and as he spoke, he presented the full text of the prayer.

A young eunuch quickly took it and handed it to Gu Panjun.

Gu Panjun took it, quickly scanned it, and looked up to ask, "Have you passed it on?"

Yang Shiqi cupped his hands and said, "Not yet. His Majesty's prayer mentioned several important matters, which need to be carefully planned and detailed regulations formulated before being issued together."

"To prevent officials at all levels from acting recklessly based on imperial decrees."

……

(End of this chapter)