Emperor Zhengde

Chapter 42 Prepare to attack
On October 14, the eighteenth year of the Hongzhi reign, it began to rain again in the capital city after two days of sunshine. The cold winter rain seemed to be mixed with ice crystals and hit people's faces, causing pain in their cheeks.

According to the etiquette of the Ministry of Rites, all officials had to kneel outside the Sishan Gate to mourn from the beginning of this day.

As a monarch, Zhu Houzhao did not need to kneel, but at this time, he received a memorial from Wang Yue, the seal holder of the Imperial Household Department: "Your Majesty, because the weather is cold and the ground is slippery, the three cabinet ministers have old illnesses and are old and weak, and they are afraid of catching a cold. Please do not kneel and cry for the deceased."

Zhu Houzhao wondered if these three ministers didn't even want to kneel, but he also guessed that these ministers might be testing whether he, the emperor, could give face to them.

So, on the surface, Zhu Houzhao nodded and said, "In that case, they will be allowed to stand and cry!"

At the time of Xu on the evening of October 15th, the eighteenth year of the Hongzhi reign, all the officials had been crying outside the Sishan Gate for nearly two days. According to the ceremony, tomorrow would be the day when the coffin of Emperor Xiaozong of the Ming Dynasty would be officially launched.

Therefore, at this time, the eunuch Wang Yue, who held the seal of the Imperial Household Department, went to Zhu Houzhao again and said, "Your Majesty, tomorrow is the day when the coffin of Emperor Xiaozong will be officially set off. The journey is long and the three ministers are physically exhausted. I am afraid that it will affect the appearance of the court. Therefore, I ask Your Majesty to allow the three ministers to take the carriage to the imperial mausoleum."

Zhu Houzhao smiled secretly in his heart, thinking that it seemed that he was regarded as a king who could be controlled by them. These ministers were starting to get ahead of themselves. They didn't want to kneel and cry outside the Sishan Gate, and now they didn't want to walk to the imperial mausoleum.

However, Zhu Houzhao still pretended to be childish and asked: "They can choose not to go! But what I want to ask is, Wang Daban, why do they want to ride in a car, but I can only ride a horse?"

"Your Majesty is young and strong, while the cabinet ministers are all old. Please be considerate of the old ministers," Wang Yue replied with a smile.

Zhu Houzhao thought that Wang Yue had completely become a lackey of the three elders, so he sighed helplessly: "Then let them take the car."

The next morning was the day when the coffin of Emperor Xiaozong was officially set off. From the Forbidden City to the Outer City, roadside spirit banners had already been set up on the central road. Soldiers in plain clothes and white cloth stretched for miles. Paper money was scattered everywhere like snowflakes. Amidst the mournful music and cries, countless monks and Taoists led the coffin of Emperor Xiaozong out of the city.

Zhu Houzhao, as a filial son, rode a horse and walked slowly in front. At that time, the Chief Minister Liu Jian, the Second Minister Li Dongyang, and the Third Minister also stepped on the backs of the soldiers and got on the plain carriage.

Most of the censors were students and old friends of the three cabinet ministers and they did not express any dissatisfaction.

But some officials were very angry about this, but they could do nothing about it.

Xu Jin, the Minister of War, almost wanted to bite his teeth to pieces, thinking: "These powerful officials have no regard for the dignity of the emperor! They didn't kneel down to mourn the death two days ago, and now they are riding in a car to send the coffin off. Do they really think the new emperor is ignorant and can be deceived?"

Minister of Personnel Ma Wensheng, supported by several young civil servants, coughed and pointed ahead: "How ridiculous! How ridiculous! This is absolutely ridiculous!"

Everyone knew why Ma Wensheng was angry but no one dared to speak.

For a moment, snowflakes fell like rice grains, shrouding the white coffin and the long white funeral procession in haziness, as if isolating them from the people outside the curtain, and as if the people outside the curtain could only see the last vague figure of Emperor Xiaozong left in the world, but could not clearly see his regrets after being emperor for eighteen years.

Some people were suppressing their cries, while others were roaring wildly. A great emperor who had revived the Ming Dynasty would eventually bid farewell to this world, but what people did not know was whether the young man riding on the white horse could hold up the Ming Empire, which was filled with countless traps under the haze.

The young man Zhu Houzhao riding on the white horse had a solemn look on his face as if a thousand-pound sword was hanging on his shoulders, and his lips were tightly pursed as if he wanted to say a thousand words, but everything turned into the sound of horse hooves and then fell into silence.

On October 19, the eighteenth year of the Hongzhi reign, Emperor Xiaozong of the Ming Dynasty was formally buried in Anling. Zhu Houzhao offered the last handful of soil to Emperor Xiaozong and carried the last step. When he finished the ceremony and came to visit the empress dowager, Empress Dowager Zhang was already crying like a tearful person.

On October 20th, Zhu Houzhao began to offer the first memorial service to Emperor Xiaozong Jing of the Ming Dynasty.

Then, from October 20th to 24th, Zhu Houzhao offered the first to ninth funeral rites for Emperor Xiaozong of the Ming Dynasty.

On October 25, the 18th year of the Hongzhi reign, officials and civilians stopped mourning and offering sacrifices to Emperor Xiaozong Jing. Zhu Houzhao stopped attending court on that day and ordered the eunuchs to offer sacrifices with sacrificial animals and wine in the evening. Zhu Houzhao and the princes all wore mourning clothes to participate, and asked the spirit tablet of Emperor Xiaozong Jing of the Ming Dynasty to be enshrined in the Imperial Ancestral Temple.

On October 26, Zhu Houzhao completed the ceremony of inviting the spirit tablets to be enshrined in the Taimiao, and would take off his mourning clothes and return to the palace on the next day, October 27.

At dusk that day, Zhu Houzhao finally got rid of his fatigue and completed all the etiquette required by the Ministry of Rites of the Ming Dynasty without getting a drop of water. However, Zhu Houzhao felt more tired than when he had gone through military training.

Seeing this, Liu Jin couldn't help but suggest, "Your Majesty, do you need the palace maids to give you a shoulder massage? Your Majesty has been sleeping outside in the open air these days, which is very tiring. It's time to relax. I dared to ask them to bring a simple wooden bed. If Your Majesty is willing, you can have some fun as a man should."

Zhu Houzhao glared at Liu Jin and said, "Emperor Xiaozong has just been buried, and you, a slave, dared to instigate me to do that. Now that I am the Emperor of Ming Dynasty and the son of the previous emperor, I should observe etiquette. Don't mention these things before the wedding. Let all the maids go back to the palace. We don't need to perform for them now!"

When Liu Jin heard what Zhu Houzhao said, he had no choice but to agree.

"Come for a walk with me," Zhu Houzhao said as he took Liu Jin outside. Suddenly, he saw three old men in casual clothes walking inside from the deep of the curved railing opposite.

Zhu Houzhao glanced at Liu Jin and followed him. He hid outside the curved railing and saw that the three cabinet ministers Liu Jian, Li Dongyang and Xie Qian had hidden in a water pavilion.

Zhu Houzhao walked over quietly and saw a guard standing guard there. He walked around the wall, picked up a potted plant and smashed it on the guard's head, knocking him unconscious on the spot.

Zhu Houzhao continued to walk lightly to the outside of the waterside pavilion, only to hear the woman's moaning inside: "Master, you are still thinking about having sex at this time, aren't you afraid that the Lord God will be disturbed?"

"A gentleman does not talk about strange things, supernatural powers, or gods. I don't believe in those things. The dirty Tang and stinky Han, those who control the world, are all like this, aren't they?"

Zhu Houzhao heard only filthy words and his face turned pale. He became even more angry and thought to himself that he finally knew what a hypocritical person was.

"Is everything ready?" Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but ask Liu Jin again.

"Don't worry, Your Majesty! There will be no mistakes. Gu Dayong is a very cautious person, and the eunuchs have been training all the time. We will definitely be able to execute it according to the plan when the time comes," Liu Jin replied.

……

At that time, Zhang Zhao, the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Stables, was walking towards Zhu Houzhao with Wang Yue, the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department, holding his hand. Wang Yue could not help but ask Zhang Zhao, "You should return to the palace as soon as possible tonight. The rice rations of the regiments and the imperial guards have not been paid. The cabinet intends to reorganize the Minister of War Xu Jin, but there must not be any major chaos. You, the eunuch in charge of the imperial guards, must keep an eye on them and not let any chaos happen."

"Grandfather, don't worry. However, I have noticed that although the emperor is cynical, he has been very silent in the past few days. He is very different from before. I always feel that something is going to happen."

Said Zhang Zhao, the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Stables.

Wang Yue, the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department, sighed, "It seems that the emperor is dissatisfied with his inability to control the power of the court. But it doesn't matter. We know the character of our emperor best. Although he is stubborn, he is also very kind like the late emperor. As long as you control the power of the imperial guards and there is no chaos, the emperor will not be able to cause any trouble."

"What our ancestors said is true. We don't think our fifteen-year-old emperor can cause much trouble. Are those cabinet ministers in the outer court easy to deal with? At most, the incident of the late emperor will happen again." After Zhang Zhao finished speaking, Wang Yue glared at him and said, "The incident of the late emperor is only the business of Zhang Yu and the cabinet. We know nothing about it. Do you understand? Don't mention it casually!"

"Our ancestors are right!" Zhang Zhao replied quickly.

Thanks to the book friend Dao Wu Hua Xia for the 300 starting coins reward

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(End of this chapter)