Chapter 175: The Grand Wedding

Now, His Majesty's grand wedding is the most important matter across the entire court, and in recent days various routine memorials have decreased considerably, leaving the Qianqing Palace quite peaceful for a time.

Although the court is embroiled in a host of troublesome and chaotic affairs, His Majesty's grand wedding is the single most important matter at present, and everything else must make way for it.

No matter who it is, no matter what the matter, all must yield to the most important joyous occasion of the imperial house.

In fact, the several things Zhu Youxiao had done had largely achieved their intended results, and he could now proceed to his grand wedding with peace of mind.

This period before the grand wedding counted as the most leisurely days Zhu Youxiao had enjoyed since crossing over.

On the side of the Grand Secretariat, although Chief Grand Secretary Han Kuang held the title, he no longer carried much standing.

Han Kuang had few people he could rely on. The Donglin Faction had been beaten to pieces, and there was also a Sun Chengzong sharing power with Han Kuang, so Han Kuang's authority as Chief Grand Secretary of the Grand Secretariat was not particularly weighty.

The Second Grand Secretary of the Grand Secretariat was Xu Guangqi, who likewise had a thin foundation and weak backing. This was also the reason Zhu Youxiao had not elevated Xu Guangqi to Chief Grand Secretary—letting him serve as Second Grand Secretary to develop for a while first. For Xu Guangqi at present, it was all about developing quietly and not taking reckless risks.

To let Xu Guangqi develop properly, Zhu Youxiao gave the position of Minister of Rites to Shen Tingyun, precisely so that Xu Guangqi and his people could cultivate talent well. At the same time, Yu Maohuai of the Censorate was also very close to Xu Guangqi, which meant they had also gained control of the mouthpiece.

As for how to wield this mouthpiece, Zhu Youxiao felt there was no need for him to intervene—Xu Guangqi and his people were far more adept at playing this game than he was, as if it came to them like a natural talent.

As for Sun Chengzong, he currently held the Ministry of War in his hands, along with the support of a portion of the former Donglin men, so his position was fairly stable. Should anything go wrong at the top, Sun Chengzong could even step in directly to take control of the situation.

The last Grand Secretary of the Grand Secretariat was Huang Kezuan, the Minister of Justice, who appeared rather weak by comparison, but he was the cleanest person in the Grand Secretariat—affiliated with no faction, and quite capable to boot. Zhu Youxiao had placed Huang Kezuan in the Grand Secretariat precisely to serve as a substitute.

Each of the four Grand Secretaries had their own strengths, each had their own weaknesses, and each had their own uses—this was the balance of power Zhu Youxiao had arranged.

Apart from the four Grand Secretaries, among the Six Ministers, the Minister of Rites had already been swapped by Zhu Youxiao for Shen Tingyun, the Minister of War for Sun Chengzong, the Minister of Revenue for Xu Guangqi, the Minister of Justice was Huang Kezuan, and the Minister of Works was Zhao Nanxing.

Zhu Youxiao could safely employ these men for the time being—at least there was no problem for now. For stabilizing the court situation, they were more than sufficient.

As for the last one, the Minister of Personnel, Zhou Jiamo currently occupied that position.

Zhou Jiamo was quite an interesting character, so to speak. From start to finish, he had not involved himself in this whole affair at all, as if none of it had anything to do with him, which rather surprised Zhu Youxiao.

It wasn't because of Zhou Jiamo's attitude toward the matter—there were plenty of court officials who stayed aloof and uninvolved, and he wasn't the only one. Although Zhou Jiamo was the Minister of Personnel, a position of great prominence, this was hardly anything strange.

What truly surprised Zhu Youxiao was that Zhou Jiamo had actually managed to hide himself away.

One must understand that Zhou Jiamo sat in the position of Minister of Personnel, yet throughout the entire affair, no one had managed to drag him into it. He simply stayed hidden there in that Minister of Personnel position—that was not something just anyone could pull off.

Zhu Youxiao had also looked into some of Zhou Jiamo's background and his past deeds.

Zhou Jiamo was a native of Tianmen, Hubei, a jinshi of the fifth year of Longqing. His first official post was Bureau Secretary in the Ministry of Revenue, after which he went to the provinces as a Prefect and climbed his way up step by step—from Prefect to Governor, and finally serving as Minister of Revenue and Minister of Works before being promoted to Minister of Personnel.

He was a man of considerable skill, because when Zhou Jiamo was elevated to Minister of Personnel, it was precisely the final years of Wanli, when the Qi, Zhe, and Chu factions were contending for power, and the Ministry of Personnel had no say in the appointment, removal, promotion, or demotion of officials. Yet when Zhou Jiamo took office, he still managed to select and appoint quite a few of his own people, at the very least reclaiming the power.

Zhu Youxiao found it hard to judge Zhou Jiamo's affiliation, unsure whether he was a member of the Donglin Faction.

However, before doing all these things back then, Zhu Youxiao had already made up his mind: if Zhou Jiamo didn't get dragged into this affair, so be it; if he did get dragged in, then he would have him removed.

As it turned out, Zhou Jiamo was a clever man—he truly had not gotten himself dragged in.

Still, Zhu Youxiao reckoned Zhou Jiamo wouldn't stay in the Minister of Personnel position for long, because there would be people who'd find ways to remove him.

None of the Grand Secretaries in the Grand Secretariat would let Zhou Jiamo continue as Minister of Personnel for much longer.

Whether it was Han Kuang, Xu Guangqi, or Sun Chengzong, if any of them wanted to plant their own people in the provinces, they needed someone in the Ministry of Personnel who had the final say.

With Zhou Jiamo sitting in that position now, he was essentially a roadblock. None of the Grand Secretariat members would be pleased—even Xu Guangqi was no exception.

Xu Guangqi urgently needed to expand his own power base. Even if he didn't want to do it himself, the people under him would want to, so they needed to place their own men in the provinces—and to do that, they naturally needed to get Zhou Jiamo removed.

Under such circumstances, unless Zhou Jiamo chose to throw in his lot with one of the Grand Secretariat members, it would be very difficult for him to hold his ground.

Zhu Youxiao didn't intervene much in this—it was normal ministerial infighting among court officials, and it wouldn't be proper for him to stick his hand in further.

Now Zhu Youxiao could sit securely on his fishing perch and watch his ministers squabble among themselves.

Eliminating such infighting was essentially impossible, because wherever there are people, there is the jianghu, and wherever there is the jianghu, there is conflict.

As long as people exist, conflict is inevitable—everyone has their own thoughts, and everyone has things they want to do.

When no one can convince the other, the only option is to knock the other down; and if the other keeps shouting from the ground, then the only option is to finish him off.

So Zhu Youxiao had no intention of intervening—he could prepare for his wedding in peace, and after the wedding, he could set about doing the things he wanted to do.

At the very least, the people at court were all fairly capable and wouldn't hold him back. Even if some matters posed difficulties, applying pressure from the top down would make things much simpler.

If you don't perform well, I can replace you—being the Emperor up top is just that awesome.

As long as he could keep the Grand Secretaries and the Six Ministers in check, they could do the pressing down from there.

Pressing down level by level—that was the bureaucratic system. As Emperor, he couldn't reach down to the provinces himself; his arms weren't that long.

The imperial wedding rites were truly exceedingly elaborate, to the point that even Zhu Youxiao found them somewhat painful.

Still, they had to be carried out with meticulous precision, because this represented respect for the Empress. Zhu Youxiao had no desire to see his harem descend into chaos, so he needed to establish the Empress's authority at this time.

When an emperor's inner palace had an Empress of high authority, there would basically be no trouble.

Because no one would dare challenge the Empress's position. It was only when the Emperor lost fairness—failing to uphold the Empress's authority and instead doting on other consorts, or favoring other eunuchs—that chaos would erupt in the palace.

Once chaos erupted in the palace, a very bad situation would arise: infighting in the harem.

Once the harem began its infighting, anything could happen, so Zhu Youxiao absolutely would not allow his harem to fall into disorder.

His killing of Madam Ke earlier was precisely for this reason.

In the original history, the harem struggle between Empress Zhang and Madam Ke was nothing more than a contest for dominance over the harem—fighting over who got to whisper in Zhu Youxiao's ear.

Everyone knows how powerful a woman's pillow talk can be with a man, let alone pillow talk directed at an Emperor.

So when some said Empress Zhang's child had been disposed of by Madam Ke, Zhu Youxiao tended to believe it on this point.

Because there was nothing wrong with Empress Zhang's body, and there was nothing wrong with Zhu Youxiao's body either—so pregnancy was naturally a real possibility, and the facts proved that Zhu Youxiao had indeed fathered several children.

So why would the child have been disposed of by Madam Ke?

Because once Empress Zhang gave birth to a child, that child would be the Crown Prince, and the mother would be honored through her son.

At that point, what would Madam Ke have to contend with Empress Zhang? So Madam Ke dared not let Empress Zhang deliver that child.

And so a whole series of messy affairs unfolded in the harem, all revolving around the power struggle between Madam Ke and Empress Zhang.

The reason Zhu Youxiao had killed Madam Ke the moment he crossed over was precisely because he didn't want her stirring up trouble in his harem.

Whether the things recorded about Madam Ke in history were true or false, Zhu Youxiao didn't want to take any risk at all, so he simply had Madam Ke killed outright.

"Your Majesty, the time is nearly upon us." Chen Hong came before Zhu Youxiao and spoke respectfully.

Zhu Youxiao glanced at the ceremonial robes he was wearing and nodded lightly. It was indeed about time—he needed to set off.

The wedding had already progressed through several steps, and this one was crucial; he couldn't afford to delay.

Earlier, his ministers had already gone to the Ancestral Temple to pay homage to Heaven and Earth, and the three rites of betrothal inquiry, betrothal gifts, and date announcement had all been performed. Today was the day of the formal grand wedding.

Zhu Youxiao needed to don his ceremonial crown and robes and take his seat, while civil and military officials needed to wear their court attire to perform the rites. Then the principal and deputy envoys of the grand wedding would go to receive the bride—that is, Empress Zhang.

The reception process was equally elaborate, with numerous rules governing both the route of travel and the various ceremonies. However, Zhu Youxiao did not need to participate in this part; he could wait inside the palace.

After the bride was brought back, the imperial edict conferring the title of Empress would be issued, followed by the investiture ceremonies.

Once the investiture ceremonies were complete, Zhu Youxiao would change into his ceremonial dragon robes, and the Empress would change into her formal attire. Then they would go to the Hall of Ancestral Worship to pay homage at the Emperor's ancestral temple. Only after that could they return to the palace.

After returning to the palace, they still had to perform the nuptial cup ceremony.

Throughout this day, Zhu Youxiao had to change clothes several times. This wasn't like modern times where you could just take off a suit—even just those rounds of changing clothes had worn him out considerably.

The nuptial cup wine wasn't simply a matter of drinking one cup and being done with it; it was a ritual in itself, and only then came entering the bridal chamber.

You think it's over once you enter the bridal chamber?

Not at all—there was more to come. The entire wedding ceremony lasted a full five days, which could be said to be a great challenge to the Emperor's mental and physical stamina.

After a full day of bustling activity, as night fell, Zhu Youxiao finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Finally, they had arrived at the eagerly anticipated bridal chamber segment.