Chapter 64

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

The little Eunuch before him held nothing back, looking at Zhu Zhu Shenxuan and smiling as he said,

"I have not heard Your Majesty mention the matter of travel expenses."

"The offices of the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Rites have all been quite busy lately."

"But the matter of names is nearly settled; the lords of the Ministry of Rites have spent these past few days solely on naming the Long Zilongsun of the vassal states. After the Heaven Sacrifice, Your Majesty will formally bestow the names."

Hearing this, Zhu Zhu Shenxuan could not help but pause in surprise.

Compared to the vast amount of grain added each month,

these travel expenses are nothing but a hammer!

Hearing this, the thirty vassal kings present immediately grinned so widely their mouths could not close.

"Haha, then this Prince shall here thank Your Majesty on behalf of the children of my Wang Fu."

"Enough, enough; this Prince has not performed the Heaven Sacrifice in a long time. Let us hurry to the Ministry of Rites to rehearse the rites, lest we show cowardice before Your Majesty!"

Only then did the assembled vassal kings suddenly remember.

Let alone forgetting how to perform the Heaven Sacrifice, most of them were leaving the city for the first time in their lives.

They simply did not know what rites existed!

At dawn the next day.

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

Amidst the booming cannon fire,

the war banner bearing the character "Ming" fluttered in the wind.

Around the Temple of Heaven, the yellow dragon banner symbolizing Zhu Youjian and the thirty great banners of the vassal Wang Fu were planted all around the Temple of Heaven.

Zhu Youjian wore the Son of Heaven's ceremonial robe, topped with a twelve-tassel crown, while behind him the thirty vassal kings of varying ages wore python robes and nine-tassel crowns, following closely behind Zhu Youjian.

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

The face of Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly appeared in his mind.

Zhu Youjian took a deep breath and said in a low voice,

"Ancestor Grandfather, your son, your son did this all for Great Ming... I beg your forgiveness..."

After the sacrifice was completed, Zhu Youjian personally raised his voice and said,

"Present the Jade Genealogy!"

Wang Chengen rose and loudly recited the names Zhu Youjian had prepared for these royal descendants.

Carefully cut strips of paper were handed into the hands of each royal descendant.

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

As each name was called out,

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

These were not the names of ordinary commoner families.

These were all piles of silver!

Just as the vassal kings were thanking him profusely, Zhu Youjian looked at the thirty Princes of the Blood before him and said loudly,

"The 'Ancestral Instructions of the Imperial Ming' states,"

"The Taizu established the various vassal states with the aim of securing the Zhu family's world, to be protected by the Zhu family!"

"Now, powerful enemies knock at the borders, and Liaodong is stained with blood."

"I, though unworthy, have borne the Mandate of Heaven for several years, and wish to train a royal army of one hundred thousand to march beyond the passes and punish the enemy!"

"I hereby issue an edict: from this day forward, all robust young men of my Zhu family shall be enrolled in the Imperial Camp's Yulin Guard to protect the Zhu family's world!"

Upon hearing these words, the entire Temple of Heaven instantly fell into a dead silence.

Every vassal king's mouth was wide enough to swallow an egg.

61, Heaven Sacrifice!

Zhu Zhu Shenxuan looked at Zhu Youjian in disbelief.

He simply could not fathom that words like these could come from a mouth speaking the Fengyang dialect, even though it was separated by a thousand li.

"There has never been such a precedent since ancient times!"

"Ancestral rules, ancestral rules..."

Zhu Youjian stared fixedly at Zhu Shenxuan, gritting his teeth as he said,

"From this day forward, there is!"

"All precedents begin with our Great Ming Dynasty!"

Zhu Zhu Shenxuan looked at Zhu Youjian excitedly, about to offer a few words of rebuttal.

The Embroidered Uniform Guards standing nearby instantly drew the embroidered spring swords from their waists.

Seeing the steel blade in Luo Luo Yangxing's hand,

Zhu Zhu Shenxuan swallowed a huge mouthful of saliva.

He could only lower his head and say,

"Your subject obeys the edict."

Regardless, Zhu Zhu Shenxuan was a Prince of the Blood.

Even if all royal descendants were enrolled and trained as an army, it would not fall to Zhu Zhu Shenxuan to take the field personally.

That was what Zhu Zhu Shenxuan thought.

But the royal descendants below, upon hearing the words clearly from the Temple of Heaven,

instantly exploded into chaos.

Originally, I thought coming to Jingcheng was just for a trip, to casually fleece the court.

Who would have thought the court would fleece me, root and branch, right away!

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

"Uncle, let's return to the Wang Fu!"

"I am not surnamed Zhu anymore; I will never be surnamed Zhu again..."

"..."

Soon, someone began shouting loudly toward the altar.

Hearing the commotion beneath the Temple of Heaven.

Zhu Youjian slowly closed his eyes.

No matter what.

These are my own blood relatives!

And the imperial clan members below clearly sensed this as well.

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

But at this moment, these imperial clan members clearly had no say in the matter.

Soldiers of a feudal dynasty.

Have always relied on conscripting commoners.

The common people are the conscripts.

These imperial clan members are likewise conscripts.

Who you grab is who you grab...

Seeing the signal released by Wang Chengen.

Lan Yu gave the order, and three thousand Martial Eunuchs immediately surged into the Temple of Heaven clad in armor.

To be honest.

When Lan Yu saw these Martial Eunuchs, he was also quite speechless.

But after Lan Yu toured the main camp in the Jingcheng suburbs, he was shocked to discover.

That these Martial Eunuchs were actually Zhu Youjian's last remaining assets!

Before long, among the Chu Wang Fu members, one person seized the opportunity and snatched the Embroidered Spring Blade from an Embroidered Uniform Guard's hand.

He immediately held the blade against his chest, aimed at the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and shouted loudly:

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

"If Your Majesty will not let us go home, we will kill our way back! Even if we die, we will die in our fiefdom!"