Chapter 59

The stipend Zhu Zhu Shenxuan receives monthly from the court could at least double!

The young eunuch before him held nothing back, but looked at Zhu Zhu Shenxuan and smiled, saying,

"His Majesty did not mention anything about travel expenses."

"The ministries of Revenue and Rites have been quite busy lately."

"But the matter of names is nearly settled; the dignitaries of the Ministry of Rites have spent these past few days solely busy assigning names to the dragon sons and grandsons of the princely fiefs. After the sacrifice to Heaven, His Majesty will formally bestow the names."

Hearing this, Zhu Zhu Shenxuan could not help but stare in astonishment.

Compared to the extra monthly grain rations,

these travel expenses were worth nothing at all!

Upon hearing this, the thirty princely lords present immediately broke into smiles they could not suppress.

"Haha, then this Prince shall, on behalf of the children of my household, thank His Majesty."

"Enough, enough; this Prince has not performed the sacrifice to Heaven in ages. Let us hurry to the Ministry of Rites to rehearse the rites, lest we show our ignorance before His Majesty!"

Only then did the assembled princely lords suddenly remember.

Not to mention having forgotten how to perform the sacrifice to Heaven, most of them were leaving the city for the first time in their lives.

They simply had no idea what rituals were required!

At dawn the next day,

all the cannons at the nine gates of the capital fired in unison.

Amidst the booming cannon fire,

the battle flag bearing the character "Ming" fluttered in the wind.

Around the Temple of Heaven, the yellow dragon flag symbolizing Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Youjian and thirty great banners of the princely households were planted all around the perimeter.

Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Youjian, clad in the Son of Heaven's ceremonial robes and wearing the twelve-tasseled crown, was followed closely by thirty princely lords of varying ages, who wore python robes and nine-tasseled crowns.

After three kneelings and nine prostrations, Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Youjian finished reciting the sacrificial text and personally threw it into the fire altar.

Suddenly, the face of Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Yuanzhang flashed in his mind.

Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Youjian took a deep breath and whispered,

"Ancestral Grandfather, your descendant, your descendant has done all this for the Great Ming... I beg your forgiveness..."

After the sacrifice was completed, Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Youjian himself proclaimed loudly,

"Present the Jade Registers!"

Wang Wang Wang Chengen rose and loudly recited the names Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Youjian had prepared for these imperial clansmen.

Carefully cut strips of paper were delivered into the hands of each imperial clansman.

This was the last thing Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Youjian could do for them.

As one name after another was called out,

the mouth of Zhu Zhu Shenxuan, the Prince of Jin, nearly twisted with joy.

These were not names for ordinary commoners.

Each one represented pure silver!

Just as the assembled princely lords were offering countless thanks, Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Youjian looked at the thirty princely lords before him and proclaimed loudly,

"The 'Ancestral Instructions of the August Ming' states:

'The August Ancestor established the various princely fiefs; what he sought and intended was that the world of the Zhu family be protected by the people of the Zhu family!'

'Now strong enemies knock at our borders, and Liaodong is stained with blood.'

'Though I am unworthy, having borne the Mandate of Heaven for several years, I intend to train an Imperial Clan Army of one hundred thousand to cross the pass and punish the enemy!'

'I hereby issue this edict: from this day forward, all able-bodied young men of our Zhu family shall be enrolled into the Feather Forest Guard of the Capital Camp to protect the world of the Zhu family!'"

As soon as these words were spoken, the entire Temple of Heaven instantly fell into a deathly silence.

Every princely lord's mouth could have fit an egg inside.

61, Sacrifice to Heaven!

Zhu Zhu Shenxuan looked at Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Youjian in disbelief.

He simply could not comprehend how a mouth, separated by a thousand li yet still speaking the Fengyang dialect, could utter such words.

"There is no precedent for this since ancient times!"

"The ancestral rules, the ancestral rules..."

Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Youjian stared fixedly at Zhu Zhu Shenxuan and said through gritted teeth,

"From this day forward, there is!"

"All precedents begin with our Great Ming Dynasty!"

Zhu Zhu Shenxuan looked excitedly at Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Youjian, about to offer a few rebuttals,

when the Embroidered Uniform Guards, who had been standing aside, instantly drew the Embroidered Spring Swords from their waists.

Looking at the steel blade in Luo Luo Yangxing's hand,

Zhu Zhu Shenxuan swallowed hard.

He could only lower his head and say,

"This subject obeys the imperial decree."

In any case, Zhu Zhu Shenxuan was the Prince of Jin.

Even if all the imperial clansmen were organized into an army, it would not fall to Zhu Zhu Shenxuan to go to the front lines himself.

So Zhu Zhu Shenxuan thought.

But those imperial clansmen below, upon hearing clearly the words from the Temple of Heaven,

immediately exploded in uproar.

Originally, I thought coming to the capital would be like a little trip, with the added bonus of fleecing the court a bit.

Who would have thought the court would uproot me completely, taking both person and roots!

"I don't want this name anymore! Can we go home now?!"

"Eldest Uncle, let us return to the residence!"

"I no longer bear the surname Zhu; from this day forward, I will never again be a Zhu..."

"..."

Soon, someone began shouting loudly toward the altar.

Hearing the commotion below the Temple of Heaven,

Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Youjian slowly closed his eyes.

No matter what,

these were his own blood relatives.

The imperial clansmen below had clearly noticed this as well.

Soon, the bolder ones began snatching weapons from the nearby Embroidered Uniform Guard.

However, at this moment, these imperial clansmen clearly had no say in the matter.

Soldiers of a feudal dynasty

have always been recruited by conscripting able-bodied men.

Commoners are conscripts.

These imperial clansmen are likewise conscripts.

It makes no difference who is seized...

Upon seeing the signal released by Wang Wang Wang Chengen,

Lan Yu gave the order, and three thousand martial eunuchs immediately donned armor and surged into the Temple of Heaven.

To be honest,

even Lan Yu was at a loss for words when he saw these martial eunuchs.

But after touring the great camp outside the capital, he was shocked to discover

that these martial eunuchs were, in fact, Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Youjian's last remaining reserve!

Before long, among the descendants of the Chu Prince's residence, one man spotted an opportunity, snatched the Embroidered Spring Blade from an Embroidered Uniform Guard's hand,

and immediately held the blade to his own chest, shouting loudly at the guard,

"I am a blood descendant of the Taizu; who dares harm me?!"

"If His Majesty will not let us return home, we will fight our way back! Even if we die, we shall die in our fiefdoms!"