The First Uncle of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 102: Sharing Worries Everywhere
It is said that the royal family of the Ming Dynasty was treated too well, and many people even said that it was the royal family of the Ming Dynasty that dragged down the Ming Dynasty's finances.

This makes sense to a certain extent, because the treatment of royal family members in the Ming Dynasty was unprecedentedly generous.

However, it would be an exaggeration to say that it was all the royal family's fault. After all, in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, many royal family members were only given a portion of the supplies and most of the money was given in treasure notes.

The so-called Baochao was equivalent to waste paper by the middle and late Ming Dynasty.

However, we have to admit that Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di should take the blame for the treatment of the Ming Dynasty royal family.

Zhu Yuanzhang loved his descendants, so he decided to give them extremely generous treatment from the beginning.

After Zhu Di seized the throne, in order to win over the royal family, he further improved their treatment. On the other hand, thinking of his own actions, he also strictly restricted the royal family, forbidding them to hold office or seek livelihood.

After Zhu Di, the so-called Ming Dynasty royal family was basically raised like pigs. During the reign of Zhu Yuanzhang, although many royal family princes committed crimes, many of them also helped govern the local areas and participated in military affairs.

Whether Ma Xun is biased or not is no longer important. What needs to be considered is the treatment of these royal family princes and vassal kings.

Even judging from the current situation, it is unlikely that these princes will be established in a short period of time, and there seems to be enough time to improve some systems in the process.

But Ma Xun is still worried that if he doesn't get off to a good start in the initial stages, it will be difficult to turn things around in the future.

Zhu Biao thought about it carefully and said, "Uncle, I think it's nothing that my brothers dress similarly to the crown prince. This is not just the case in my Ming Dynasty, it's also the case in other dynasties."

Simply speaking of the crown and robes, the emperor wore a crown with twelve tassels and twelve chapters, the crown prince and prince wore a crown with nine tassels and nine chapters, the crown prince wore an eight tassels and seven chapters, and the crown prince wore a seven tassels and five chapters.

This is not a big problem, because the rule set by the Ming Dynasty is that only members of the royal family can wear crowns and robes, while dukes and marquises do not need to wear crowns and robes. This is also somewhat different from some previous dynasties.

Ma Xun smiled and said, "These are no problem, except for the ceremony of the officials, etc., which need not be mentioned when the king is enthroned. But at other times, can we exempt them if possible?"

Zhu Biao said disapprovingly, "Uncle, my brothers are from the royal family after all."

"Of course we should pay our respects, but when the princes are in their fiefdoms, do we not need the officials to kneel down and pay our respects?" Ma Xun said directly, "The second brother and the others don't have any other thoughts, but what about the future princes?"

Ma Xun’s meaning was actually very simple. During important ceremonies and rituals, the princes were still princes after all, and the civil and military officials naturally had to show respect to them. There was nothing to dispute about this.

Ma Xun continued, "If in the future there are vassal kings in their fiefdoms who can be greeted by all officials at any time and can make friends with all officials, I think this is not a good idea, right?"

Ma Xiuying quickly said, "Little brother, you just like to think too badly of others."

Although this is what he said, Ma Xun's words also made Ma Xiuying and Zhu Biao feel a little worried.

After talking about the treatment and status of the prince, Ma Xun left decisively. Some things still needed to be considered by the royal family, so Ma Xun couldn't say much.

A temporary reminder is enough. After all, there are only some trends at present, and the problems are not really exposed.

Even Zhu Yuanzhang would constantly adjust and correct the treatment of princes, and he would also make timely corrections when problems were exposed during his reign.

Just as Ma Xun was about to leave the palace, a guard caught up with him and said, "My Lord, the Minister of Rites wants to see you."

This time Ma Xun couldn't get away. Although Tao Kai also wanted to get close to Ma Xun, he still cared more about his dignity and would not act fawningly like some people.

The so-called noble character is not possessed by all scholars.

Ma Xun arrived at the Ministry of Rites without any hurry. Tao Kai immediately led the left and right assistant ministers to pay their respects, "This subordinate greets the uncle of the emperor."

"No need to be so polite." Ma Xun sat down and said, "You asked me to come here. Is there something going on?"

Tao Kai did not hide it and said, "Uncle, this is the first time that the court has conferred a title of king. Although many of the rituals are based on the Tang and Song dynasties, there have been many modifications."

Ma Xun had no objection to this. It was the first time that the Ming Dynasty conferred titles on the kings, so it was obviously impossible to copy everything exactly. Some systems of the Tang and Song dynasties might not be suitable for the Ming Dynasty, and everyone knew this.

Let’s wait and see what Tao Kai and others are trying to keep secret.

Tao Kai continued, "Your Majesty should also know that the ceremony for enthroning a prince is the same as the ceremony for enthroning a crown prince. It's just that the time when the crown prince was enthroned was the time when the country was founded."

Ma Xun understood what Tao Kai meant. In fact, the ceremony of enthroning a prince seemed to be the same as the ceremony of enthroning a crown prince.

However, the enthronement of Zhu Biao as the crown prince was different. Zhu Yuanzhang enthroned him as the crown prince "in passing". This means that the ceremony of enthroning the prince actually needs to be "started from scratch".

Even if the systems of the Tang and Song dynasties were used as reference, combined with the previous ceremony of enthroning the crown prince, some minor modifications needed to be made to suit the characteristics of the Ming Dynasty.

Ma Xun took the initiative to ask, "Is this a little different from the previous ceremony?"

Tao Kai also replied, "Uncle, there is a seal when the crown prince is appointed. But if it is a prince's ceremony, the seal should not be used."

The golden book, of course, is the book. The treasure, that is the imperial seal. Seeing that Ma Xun was deep in thought, Tao Kai continued, "There is also the emperor's nephew, and His Majesty intends to confer the title of King of Jingjiang. Although I think it should be a silver seal plated with gold and silver, but His Majesty seems to disapprove."

Tao Kai and others were indeed in a difficult situation, as the princes were generally not given the imperial seal directly. Zhu Shouqian, the emperor's nephew, was about to be crowned as a king, but in theory he was a county prince.

But on the emperor's side, even though Zhu Shouqian seemed to be a prince, his treatment was still at the same level as that of a prince.

Ma Xun also began to think seriously, "So, we should first ask His Majesty for his opinion. You are the Minister of Rites, why didn't you go?"

Tao Kai said in embarrassment, "Uncle, I will report this to His Majesty, but His Majesty will not allow it."

Ma Xun encountered some difficult problems and hoped that Ma Xiuying and Zhu Biao would step forward so that he would not have to confront Zhu Yuanzhang.

People like Tao Kai are also smart. They know that if some things are not done well, they have to ask the king's uncle for help.

Ma Xun suddenly felt a headache. After all, the Ming Dynasty had just been established and many rituals were still not perfect.

In history, Zhu Yuanzhang also revised the ceremony of enthroning princes several times. Even whether these golden books and golden seals would be given or not was somewhat inconsistent.

Zhu Yuanzhang also had obsessive-compulsive disorder and liked to set rules for everything.

He decided on all the titles within the royal family, including the titles for the emperor and empress by the nephews and the titles for the emperor by the great-grandchildren.

Even with these seemingly detailed regulations, he would directly break the rules on some major issues and take the lead in not complying with them.

Ma Xun thought about it carefully and said, "I have made note of these things. I will go to talk to His Majesty tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. However, etiquette and other matters are the affairs of your Ministry of Rites after all. You can't push them onto a relative like me."

Tao Kai also knew that what he did was not right in this matter, and he quickly apologized, "Please forgive me, uncle. I really have no other choice."

Ma Xun didn't say anything more. He just took the task and just passed on the message.

In fact, as long as the ceremony of enthroning Zhu Chong and others was not too out of line, it would be fine. What really concerned Ma Xun was the future treatment of these royal princes, which was the key issue.

Now that they had finished talking about these things, Ma Xun decisively patted his butt and prepared to leave. He still didn't want to have much contact with people like Tao Kai.

People with different ideals cannot work together. If we disagree on some positions, there is no need to interact with each other too much. This is not about self-preservation, but simply about not being compatible.

After leaving the palace and returning home, Ma Xun can feed the donkey, enjoy the cool air, and take a nap to catch up on his sleep.

"Uncle!" Zhu Chong, Zhu Gang and Zhu Di came with Zhu Gang, "Uncle!"

Ma Xun suddenly woke up, "What's wrong? You don't want to study today?"

"Study. I've been studying in the main hall all morning." Zhu Chong complained, "Uncle called my brother over, but didn't call us over."

Zhu Gang also complained, "My brother loves to read, so we can't sit still. My uncle should find a reason for us not to listen to those great scholars lecturing on the classics in the main hall."

Ma Xun suddenly felt overwhelmed and asked quickly, "What are you guys doing here?"

Zhu Chong said quickly, "It was our father who asked us to come here. He had said before that we would let our uncle train the troops."

Ma Xun recalled for a moment and asked uncertainly, "Ceremony?"

Zhu Di nodded repeatedly and said, "Well, father asked us to urge uncle. Although there are imperial guards, it is time to have ceremonial guards. Uncle has led troops before, and father asked us to assist uncle in training the troops."

Ma Xun was really troubled now. "Look for Bao'er, he is a great general. If all else fails, look for Wenying, he knows more about military affairs than me."

Zhu Su smiled and said, "My cousin and sworn brother are busy with the affairs of the Grand Military Governor's Office and are busy."

There was no need for Ma Xun to do anything, Zhu Chong and Zhu Gang quickly joined forces to deal with Lao Wu. Zhu Di couldn't help shaking his head. Some things were better understood in the heart. Saying them in front of his uncle was asking for a beating!

"Your Majesty, do you mean to start training?" Ma Xun thought carefully and said, "Isn't Lao Wu a little young? He doesn't like military affairs. Why are you in such a hurry?"

Zhu Su broke free and said, "Uncle, I will follow you to be a medical officer. I read the Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine the night before yesterday, and I have already thought of many prescriptions!"

Ma Xun's scalp suddenly tingled, and he sternly warned, "Do you know how to mix medicines or do you know how to observe, smell, ask and palpate? How many books have you read, and you dare to prescribe medicine?"

This fifth brother is really interested in medicine. This has been his hobby since childhood.

But Ma Xun was a little puzzled. He wondered how much of Zhu Su's interest in medicine, which he had revealed so early, was influenced by him.

But now let’s think about the military training first. The honor guard and the like are secondary. The main thing is to accompany these princes in military training.

Now that you are crowned king, you must do the right thing!
(End of this chapter)