Chapter 185: The State Father and the Imperial Household Office

"Your Majesty, the Emperor is coming!" The young palace maid attending her reported the news with a beaming smile.

Because the Emperor coming to the Empress's quarters was a good thing for the Empress, it was only natural that someone would be delighted and rush over to deliver the happy tidings.

Empress Zhang was in the middle of reading a book. Hearing that the Emperor had arrived, she quickly set the book down.

Naturally, Empress Zhang was overjoyed at Zhu Youxiao's arrival. She was quite satisfied with her life in the palace.

First of all, the Emperor was a very good man—rather handsome, treated her well enough, and spoke with great gentleness. At the thought, Empress Zhang's cheeks flushed like peach blossoms, and little stars sparkled in her eyes.

Secondly, the Emperor was always thinking of her, his Empress. When he suspended construction within the palace, he had made sure to include her in the decision—Empress Zhang naturally understood this was the Emperor's goodwill.

Now the Emperor had even publicly praised her at court. The benefits of that went without saying, so Empress Zhang felt all the more grateful to Zhu Youxiao.

Hearing that Zhu Youxiao had arrived, she promptly led her attendants out with a smile to greet him.

Seeing Empress Zhang emerge and begin to bow in reverence, Zhu Youxiao reached out and supported her by the arm.

Taking Empress Zhang's hand and looking into her gentle, clear eyes, Zhu Youxiao said with a smile: "Baozhu, why must you be so formal? We are husband and wife, one body. I will be coming by often from now on—no need to make such a fuss every time."

As he spoke, Zhu Youxiao reached out and wrapped an arm around Empress Zhang's waist.

A faint blush drifted across Empress Zhang's face, yet she still leaned her body closer into Zhu Youxiao's embrace.

"When Your Majesty came, your consort was so delighted in her heart that she simply ran out on her own." Empress Zhang tilted her head, looking at Zhu Youxiao with a playful smile.

There was a hint of mischief on Empress Zhang's face, and combined with her lovely features, it was truly a pleasure to behold.

Zhu Youxiao could not help but sigh—indeed, being beautiful meant one could do as one pleased.

Leading Empress Zhang into the palace, Zhu Youxiao spoke: "I came today because there is a matter I wish to discuss with Baozhu. You should already know about what happened earlier, right?

"Your Majesty, your consort has already heard." Empress Zhang nodded and said softly: "Your Majesty treats your consort so well—what is your consort to do in return?"

Zhu Youxiao embraced Empress Zhang and set her upon his lap, saying: "We are husband and wife, one body. Is it not only right that I treat you well? And should Baozhu not also treat me well? So from now on, do not say such things."

"Then your consort will work hard to bear Your Majesty a prince as soon as possible." Empress Zhang lowered her head and said with a red face, her voice so low it was barely audible.

Bear a son?

A question mark formed in Zhu Youxiao's mind. But he was still a baby himself—still, looking at Baozhu's expectant eyes, he could not bring himself to refuse her. It was just that Baozhu was still young; he would need to be careful.

"That would naturally be for the best." Zhu Youxiao said with a hearty laugh.

"I came today because there is a matter I wish to discuss with the Empress. What has the State Father been busy with these days?" Zhu Youxiao looked at Empress Zhang and asked.

Hearing Zhu Youxiao ask this, Empress Zhang felt a pang of tension in her heart—this was about her father.

Though she did not know what the Emperor intended, both common folk and Empress Zhang alike knew that catching the Emperor's attention was not necessarily a good thing.

Because once the Emperor fixed his attention on someone, half the time it meant promotion and wealth, and the other half meant the execution of the entire household. Even if it were not execution of the whole clan, at the very least it would be military exile.

"Your Majesty, has my father done something improper?" Empress Zhang asked cautiously, then added with some urgency: "Your Majesty, if my father truly has done something wrong, I beg Your Majesty to show leniency. Punishment is certainly necessary, but I beg Your Majesty not to be too severe."

Seeing Empress Zhang's aggrieved expression, Zhu Youxiao reached out and pulled her close, comforting her: "Enough—he hasn't done anything wrong. It's good news. There is a matter I wish to have the State Father handle."

So it wasn't something bad after all.

But Empress Zhang was still very worried, because if her father did work for the Emperor, it might well displease certain people.

Another crucial matter was—could her father actually do the job well?

If her father could not handle it properly, that too might displease the Emperor.

With herself in the palace, she could guarantee her family wealth, honor, and safety. There was no need for her father to get mixed up in such affairs.

Even in the future, her own son would become Emperor, and she would be Empress Dowager, still able to protect her family. One could say that ever since their family produced her as Empress, two or even three generations would enjoy inexhaustible wealth and glory—there was simply no need for them to take any risks.

Now that the Emperor wanted her father to take on a task, Empress Zhang's instinctive reaction was to refuse—but she also knew she could not voice that.

"May I ask what Your Majesty wishes my father to do?" Empress Zhang asked cautiously once more, a hint of worry in her eyes.

In her heart, she truly did not know how to refuse the Emperor. Perhaps she could say her father lacked the ability?

"Here's the matter—earlier we suspended construction in the palace, and you also said we should cut palace expenses. So I had people look into it, and it turned out there's no small amount of shady dealing in this palace. The purchasing staff skimmed from every level—of the palace's many expenditures, a good half went into those people's own pockets."

"So it wasn't that I was spending too much—it was that they were taking it all back to their own homes. Can you blame me for being angry?" Zhu Youxiao said with a grim face: "So I'm thinking of cleaning house with them and taking back all the money they embezzled."

Empress Zhang furrowed her brows slightly, a trace of worry on her face, and asked hesitantly: "Your Majesty wishes my father to handle this?"

Zhu Youxiao nodded.

Seeing Zhu Youxiao nod, Empress Zhang's heart began to flutter with panic.

What her father was really made of, Empress Zhang knew all too well. This kind of matter was definitely not something her father could manage—and more importantly, it would offend far too many people. The gain simply would not justify the loss.

Looking at Zhu Youxiao, Empress Zhang said with a wry smile: "Your Majesty thinks too highly of my father. How could he possibly do this!"

As for Empress Zhang's father, Zhu Youxiao naturally knew all about him.

Her father was named Zhang Guoji. He had bought himself a Directorate student position with money, counting as a man of letters. However, Zhang Guoji's ability in the imperial examinations was rather lacking, and all these years he had achieved nothing.

In the original history, the Tianqi Emperor had never thought much of his State Father—this was evident from the fact that he never granted Zhang Guoji any noble rank.

By all rights, an emperor's father-in-law would basically receive at least a count's title—the lowest rank of nobility in the Great Ming. If favored, one might even be made a marquis, like the two brothers-in-law of the Hongzhi Emperor. And those were merely brothers-in-law, not fathers-in-law.

Yet while the Tianqi Emperor lived, he never once granted Zhang Guoji a noble title.

Later, in the sixth year of Tianqi, Zhang Guoji went to request a title himself, and the Tianqi Emperor still refused him.

It was not until the seventeenth year of Chongzhen that Zhang Guoji, having donated a sum of money to the Chongzhen Emperor, was finally enfeoffed as Count of Taikang.

Folk accounts used this to prove that Zhang Guoji was out of favor. And why did Zhang Guoji fail to gain the Tianqi Emperor's trust? Because Zhu Youxiao and Empress Zhang did not get along well. Why did they not get along? Because Empress Zhang was not Zhang Guoji's biological daughter—and behind that lay a whole mess of other complications.

There was, however, another account claiming that this Count of Taikang title had actually been granted as early as the second year of Tianqi, only that no records survived.

Zhu Youxiao knew this in his heart, and given the reliability of Ming dynasty history, he did not take the matter too seriously.

Besides, this time Zhu Youxiao had no real intention of making his father-in-law do anything substantial. Putting Zhang Guoji there was nothing more than setting up a figurehead—there were others who would actually do the real work.

Reaching out to pat Empress Zhang, Zhu Youxiao said with a gentle smile: "Rest assured, I have my own arrangements. He is my State Father—how could I harm him? I have already sent down the order for them to draft a noble title for the State Father as soon as possible. Everything due to him will be given."

"Your consort thanks Your Majesty." Empress Zhang said hurriedly, with gratitude.

"Enough—this is what you deserve, and I understand it all in my heart. Now let me tell you about what I want to do." Zhu Youxiao said with a smile: "I want to establish a separate government office dedicated to managing all major and minor affairs within the imperial palace—things like clothing, storage, ritual, construction, agricultural estates, animal husbandry, guards and attendants, and the harvesting of mountain and river resources."

"This way, it can be kept separate from the various offices of the court. Then the imperial household will be the imperial household, and the court will be the court—neither interfering with the other, so as to avoid problems arising. With such an office, the palace will also be more convenient to manage, and at the same time, corruption will be less likely to occur."

That last bit about corruption being less likely to occur was, in truth, Zhu Youxiao talking nonsense.

No matter what kind of government office, corruption is unavoidable.

This isn't a problem with the office itself, but a problem with people. It can only be restricted and investigated through institutions; it cannot be fundamentally eradicated.

Besides, the purpose of establishing the Imperial Household Department isn't for that either. Zhu Youxiao wanted an Imperial Household Department for a very simple reason — to strip out everything related to the imperial household into a separate entity, to consolidate all the resources and power he could mobilize, so that those things wouldn't become too entangled with the court, allowing him to use this office freely to do what he wanted.

Of course, the public rationale couldn't be stated that way. As for what needed to be said, he had already told the Empress the reasons above; they could also be spread externally, and the channels for dissemination had already been chosen — one was the Empress's father, Zhang Guoji, and the other was the senior eunuch of the palace, Wang An.

The Empress's reputation as a virtuous consort would spread widely now, and Zhang Guoji would certainly come into many people's sights as well.

Many people would try to influence Empress Zhang through Zhang Guoji, and thereby influence the Emperor himself. For some, this kind of maneuver wasn't particularly difficult. Especially after he had shown favor toward Zhang Guoji and affection for Empress Zhang, this situation would become especially pronounced.

As for Wang An, with his involvement, this trend would intensify further, and more people would gather around Wang An and Zhang Guoji. At that point, he would know exactly who was trying to stir up trouble, and when the time came to close the net, he could sweep them all up in one stroke.

He could use them to build the Imperial Household Department, because they would support it vigorously — this was a method that killed two birds with one stone.