The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 721 Funeral
Emperor Guangde issued an edict to exile Pu Gang, commander of the Eighth Corps, shocking the court and the public.

Although Liu Kan had previously dismissed some of the retired emperor's old ministers, the civil and military officials were mentally prepared for this kind of behavior of getting rid of the donkey after it has served its purpose. However, dismissing the chief officer of a corps and exiling him to Sakhalin Island was too sensational.

In early August, a number of Da Qi officials living in Nanjing presented letters.

These former ministers of the retired emperor, either claiming illness or expressing their inability to adapt to the "leopard changes" of the new dynasty, all resigned from Emperor Guangde at the same time.

Emperor Guangde approved all resignations.

There wasn't even a polite attempt to keep him.

Only Lu Xiangsheng, Ge Yewen and a few others were still struggling to hold on. These old ministers of the previous dynasty hoped to use their own strength to stop the implementation of Emperor Guangde's "New Deal".

On August 15, the sixth year of Guangde, the Mid-Autumn Festival, Emperor Guangde Liu Kan entertained his confidants at a banquet in Wenhua Hall.

During the banquet, the emperor received an urgent memorial from Chen Zizhuang, the governor of Fujian. Liu Kan had to temporarily leave the table to read it. He had originally thought that it was Guangdong bandits invading Fujian Province, but he never expected that this shrewd and capable minister of the previous emperor's time would follow the example of his colleagues and resign to him:

"I am old and sickly. It's been three months now, and my vitality is getting weaker and weaker. I need help to lie down and get up."

He begged the court to allow him to "early return to his hometown alive."

After reading it, Emperor Guangde threw the memorial to the ground and flew into a rage:
"Chen Qiutao is over forty years old and in the prime of his life. How can he be old and sick? He wants to emulate Sun Chuanting!"

In order to oppose the new policies of the retired emperor, Sun Chuanting once used tinnitus and deafness as an excuse to beg to return home.

Fortunately, Sun Chuanting's son Sun Shirui was far away from the emperor at that time and did not hear the emperor say bad things about his father.

Li Juying, the chief eunuch of the imperial palace, picked up the memorial sent from Fuzhou and asked tentatively:

"Your Majesty, Chen Zizhuang, relying on his remote location in Fuzhou, dared to blatantly deceive the court and Your Majesty. He used the excuse of old age and illness as an excuse. In my opinion, he is clearly dissatisfied with the new policies and is using his seniority to cause trouble! He must be severely punished!"

Liu Kan stared at the eunuch for a while:

"You are the one who is trying to stir up trouble! There are many people in the government and the country who oppose the new policy. Do you think you can harm me?"

Li Juying quickly knelt down and slapped herself left and right.

"Your Majesty, calm down! I have no such intentions. I am just your dog. I will bite whoever you tell me to bite! If you tell me to die, I will die."

Li Juying slapped herself so hard that her cheeks soon swelled up like pimples.

Liu Kan shouted in a low voice, signaling Eunuch Li to stop slapping him.

"alright,"

Li Juying continued without stopping.

"All right!"

Liu Kan waved his hand to let Li Juying get up.

Seeing that Emperor Guangde was angry, Eunuch Li stood up nervously.

"I know you are loyal, but the situation is critical now. Many people outside do not obey me, and many people still use the feathers of the emperor as a token of authority. You must be careful in what you do. Don't forget what happened to Dongfang Zhu. If you get too cocky, you will die sooner or later."

Li Juying nodded repeatedly.

"Father's funeral should be held now. It cannot be postponed any further. It will be held in December of this year. You should take my imperial edict and go north as soon as possible to inform my old ministers. I miss them and ask them to make preparations and come to Nanjing as soon as possible."

Li Juying bowed and was about to leave to prepare.

"Not now. The banquet has just begun. You entertain these close ministers and leave tomorrow."

Li Juying was overjoyed and said quickly, "I'll go right away, right away."

The chief minister of the cabinet Kang Jingxiu, the vice minister of rites Kang Guangxu, the vice minister of the ministry of war Mao Chengdou, the commander of the Wucheng Bingmasi Mao Yan, the governor of Huguang Shen Mo, the chief officer of the First Corps Wang Jin, the minister of revenue Yuan Shu, as well as ministers such as Qi Ming and Sun Shirui, gathered together to attend the family banquet of Emperor Guangde.

This year's family banquet was extremely sumptuous:

Steamed lamb, steamed bear paw, steamed deer tail, roast duck, roast chicken, roast goose, braised pork, braised duck, sauced chicken, bacon, pine flower tripe, dried meat, sausage, assorted Su plate, smoked chicken belly, steamed eight-treasure pig, glutinous rice stuffed duck, jarred pheasant, jarred quail, and braised assorted items.

Braised goose, pheasant, rabbit breast, vegetable python, whitebait, steamed hash ants, braised shredded duck, braised duck kidney, braised duck strips, mixed shredded duck...

There are a total of 108 dishes.

Because the imperial chefs who cooked the dishes included Han, Manchu, Mongolian and Korean people, this Mid-Autumn Festival banquet was historically called the "Manchu, Han, Mongolian and Korean Banquet."

When all the dishes were served, all the ministers were shocked.

Although the daily diet and daily life of these new nobles in the Guangde Dynasty were not very simple, the luxury of the emperor's family banquets far exceeded their imagination.

"My dear ministers, today there is no distinction between ruler and subject, no respect for superiors and inferiors. Let us feast and drink to our heart's content until we are drunk!"

After Emperor Guangde finished speaking, he began to pick up the dishes. However, the ministers were still a little uneasy. The chopsticks they held were like fire pokers, and they let go after just a touch.

Emperor Guangde winked at Li Juying, and Eunuch Li laughed out loud:

"Ministers and governors, are you dissatisfied with Your Majesty's hospitality? Is it because the food is not good enough or is it not to your liking? Please forgive me, a eunuch, for being rude."

"Come, come, come, today I will perform a three-person show for you all."

As he said this, he picked up the plate of roast suckling pig in front of him and stuffed it into his mouth without saying a word.

Everyone was amused by Eunuch Li and burst into laughter.

The ministers toasted each other for a while, and after three rounds of wine and five dishes, Emperor Guangde raised his glass and said to everyone:
"Dear ladies,"

The ministers, knowing the emperor had something to say, put down their chopsticks. "The reforms haven't been successful yet. You, my dear ministers, must continue to work hard! I've dealt with that troublemaker Pu Gang, but there are still many who oppose the new policies, both north and south of the Great Qi. You must stay true to your original aspirations and forge ahead. You must not slack off even a little!"

Kang Jingzheng was about to speak, but Emperor Guangde waved his hand, asking the minister to be patient and wait for him to finish.

"The new policies are more than just personnel adjustments throughout the Great Qi, nor are they simply the disbanding of a few legions and the elimination of a few troublemakers. More importantly, they involve a change in the ownership of Great Qi's land, factories, and mines. Next, my dear ministers, the focus of government affairs will shift from external conquests to the restoration of people's livelihoods. The Qi Dynasty's Land System will be abolished, allowing some people to become wealthy first through legal means. The wealthy will then help those in need, ultimately achieving shared prosperity. Poverty is not the norm in Great Qi, and we cannot allow everyone to be poor. Therefore, we must proactively close those factories, mines, and military garrisons that are running at a loss and transfer them to capable individuals at reasonable prices."

To put it bluntly, Emperor Guangde’s so-called new policy (in the economic field) was to resell state-owned assets at low prices. Although this was not Liu Kan’s original intention, it was foreseeable that things would develop in the worst direction.

It is not just a few mines and military settlements that are running at a loss.

The Great Qi under the control of Emperor Guangde was on the brink of economic collapse.

Whether selling factories and mines and mortgaging the garrisons can prolong the life of the empire is not the point. Doing so will certainly make the civil officials and garrison officials involved rich people and accumulate their first pot of gold...
Kang Jingxiu swore solemnly, "Your Majesty, please rest assured. As long as the new policy is not implemented, we will not sleep peacefully. We will go through fire and water for Your Majesty, and we will not hesitate!"

The ministers all shouted: "We will go through fire and water without hesitation!"

~~~~
On the eighth day of the eleventh month of the sixth year of Guangde, the late emperor Liu Zhaosun was finally buried.

The filial son Liu Kan was always busy fighting with his ministers and eliminating those forces that obstructed the new policies. Therefore, the construction of the tomb of the retired emperor was not put on the agenda for a long time.

Jinling originally had no aura of dominance. Within a radius of a hundred miles, the few Feng Shui sites had long been occupied by the former Ming emperor.

The funeral of the late emperor could no longer be postponed. In desperation, Liu Kan secretly ordered Jiang Liuer to lead people to secretly dig out the coffin of the former Ming Dynasty founder Zhu Yuanzhang from the Xiaoling Mausoleum.

Then the tomb where Zhu Yuanzhang was buried was completely renovated and transformed into the tomb of the retired emperor of the Great Qi Dynasty.

As the saying goes, as long as you are not embarrassed, others will be embarrassed.

Not only did the ministers not offer any advice to Emperor Guangde on such a mad act, many Hanlin Academy members even wrote memorials praising the emperor as "the purest and most filial" who was even better than Yao and Shun.

In any case, Liu Kan's actions were truly earth-shattering and awe-inspiring.

Regardless of whether it is earth-shattering or not, it is certain to make ghosts and gods cry.

What is certain is that once the news gets passed down and reaches the ears of the Ming Emperor, it will inevitably make Zhu Yuanzhang silent and Ming Sizong Zhu Youjian cry.

She cried and lamented why she hadn't been able to kill the evil villain Liu Zhaosun.

Emperor Guangde was a filial son by nature. While arranging Jiang Liuer to dig the tomb, he comforted himself that this was just the cenotaph of the retired emperor, and there was nothing wrong with being hasty and perfunctory. When he found his father's true body in the future, he would definitely build a grand imperial mausoleum for him - even bigger than the Mausoleum of Qin Emperor.

In other words, until now, Liu Kan has not found Liu Zhaosun's body, but only found some of his father's belongings for burial.

Two days before the emperor was buried in his cenotaph, two palace maids who had served him for a long time, Dujuan and Amber, both hanged themselves in the Cining Palace.

Emperor Guangde felt pity for the two daughters and ordered them to be buried with the retired emperor.

~~~~
On the eighth day of October, Emperor Guangde led all the officials in formal attire to Longsheng Pass to bid farewell.

The ministers cried all the way from Kunning Palace to the imperial mausoleum, kneeling and worshipping all the way, and changing different clothes in different places.

One hundred and twenty-eight imperial guards carried the huge golden nanmu coffin containing the retired emperor's armor and weapons through the capital, and almost all the people of Nanjing went to the streets to watch.

The late emperor's coffin left the city through the Daming Gate, Emperor Guangde and officials above the fourth rank followed the coffin out of the Cheng'en Gate, and officials below the fourth rank left the city through the Wensheng Gate.

In every place they pass through, women of the fourth rank and below, and elders of the military and civilian ranks must offer sacrifices along the way.

The group walked and stopped crying, and finally arrived at the Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum.

After the Yu ceremony, Emperor Guangde continued to kowtow four times, offered silk and wine, and finally read the prayer. After reading it, he continued to pay his respects, followed by the second offering (the second offering of wine) and the final offering (the third offering of wine), and finally kowtowed four more times.

……

Finally, the ministers escorted Emperor Guangde back to the capital.

On his way back to the capital, all the officials wore gauze clothes to greet him outside the city, and the accompanying officials set up a tent (a resting place) for Prince Xin outside the capital.

The spirit tablet (the deceased emperor's spirit tablet) goes first, followed by the officials.

When the ancestral tablet arrived near the Meridian Gate, the extremely exhausted Liu Kan personally greeted it and invited it into the Jiyan Hall to perform the "soul-calming ceremony".

Supported by Li Juying and Jiang Liuer, he kowtowed four times with all his might, then offered wine, read the prayer, and kowtowed four more times.

After kneeling four times, Emperor Guangde was about to stand up when his legs suddenly went weak and he fainted.

Eunuch Li was so frightened that his face turned pale. He pinched Liu Kan's Ren Zhong point and made him drink medicine before he finally woke him up.

Emperor Guangde looked around at the white mourning clothes around him, beads of sweat oozing from his forehead, and he was still frightened.

"What a terrible dream!"

"I dreamed that my father came back to life, crawled out of the earth, and wanted to strangle me to death..."

Li Juying didn't dare to make a sound.

Until Emperor Guangde asked him.

"Is the emperor buried?"

"Buried, buried," Eunuch Li replied repeatedly.

"All right, it's buried now. Come! Help me up, I want to drink!"

Emperor Guangde wiped the non-existent tears from the corners of his eyes and a relieved smile appeared on his face.

(End of this chapter)