Chapter 28

The tenth day of the sixth lunar month.

Today is a grand day; the Great Ming Dynasty will welcome a new Emperor today—Zhu Yijun, who will be crowned and ascend the throne.

Before the sun had even risen, the entire Forbidden City seemed to come alive, brimming with vitality.

Countless palace attendants, armored guards, and ceremonial processions moved through the Imperial City.

In the sacrificial halls of every palace, offerings and incense had been prepared in advance.

At this moment, Zhu Yijun, dressed in mourning clothes, knelt before the spirit tablet of the late Emperor.

"My late Imperial Father, the Emperor, is above. I have received your final command and bear the heavy burden of the divine vessels."

"The civil and military officials, as well as the military and civilian elders, have joined in their petitions for me to ascend, repeating their requests until I could no longer refuse."

"Thus, I respectfully follow the final edict and humbly comply with the will of the people, and today, I ascend the throne as Emperor."

After speaking, he bowed once, twice, then a third time, and even a fourth.

After the four bows.

Zhu Yijun threw the memorial he held in his hands into the fire, where it ignited, sending wisps of blue smoke curling up above the late Emperor's spirit tablet.

Afterward, he turned to the two Empresses Dowager: "My mother, Empress Dowager Chen, is above; my mother, Empress Dowager Li, is above. Your son, the subject, ascends the throne as Emperor today."

Having spoken, he bowed four times again.

Empress Dowager Li was already teary-eyed, unable to speak.

It was Empress Dowager Chen who gently helped him up: "The ancestral temples and the nation are now entrusted to the Emperor."

Zhu Yijun held her hand and said in a deep voice: "I will keep it in mind."

Then, right there in the hall, female officials stepped forward to help him remove his mourning clothes and change into the imperial robes.

The black upper garment and yellow lower skirt, embroidered with the twelve symbols, fit Zhu Yijun for the first time.

The outer garment was woven with the sun, moon, stars, mountains, dragons, and flowery birds.

The inner skirt was embroidered with sacrificial vessels, aquatic weeds, flames, grains, and the axe and symbol patterns.

Empress Dowager Chen personally placed the imperial crown upon his head.

Round in the front and square in the back, with a black exterior and crimson lining, the twelve strings of beads obscured Zhu Yijun's face.

Empress Dowager Li fastened the jade-adorned leather belt for him: "After the Emperor finishes the sacrifices at the Fengxian, Hongxiao, and Shenxiao halls, go quickly to the Meridian Gate; the military, civilians, and officials are still waiting outside."

Having said this, she seemed unable to control her emotions, covered her face, and stepped back.

Zhu Yijun nodded.

He glanced at Empress Dowager Chen and Empress Dowager Li, then turned and walked out of the hall.

The accompanying eunuchs and ceremonial attendants followed him out.

Only the two Empresses Dowager and their respective head eunuchs remained in the hall.

Feng Bao supported Empress Dowager Li, accompanying her as she recited Buddhist scriptures.

Empress Dowager Chen suddenly spoke up: "Finally, the wish has been fulfilled; it is indeed time to repay the vows made to the Buddha."

After speaking, Empress Dowager Chen took three sticks of incense from Chen Suan and bowed to the late Emperor's spirit tablet.

Hearing this, Empress Dowager Li opened her eyes and looked at Empress Dowager Chen.

Back when Chen Hong served as the Director of Ceremonial, perhaps this older sister had developed a desire to compete for favor, repeatedly making things difficult for her.

There was a certain estrangement between the two, which was also the reason he had shown displeasure before his son yesterday.

Now that she spoke in a way that felt prickly, Empress Dowager Li only felt more uncomfortable.

But today was her son's ascension; she could not truly argue with Empress Dowager Chen, otherwise, any unpleasantness would cause her son to lose face.

Thinking of this, she suppressed the emotions in her heart—it was all in the past, after all; now that she had won completely, she should display the magnanimity of a victor.

Moreover, she could truly understand that her older sister, unable to bear children, would feel unbalanced seeing this scene.

Thus, Empress Dowager Li smiled slightly.

She said very magnanimously: "Sister, do not worry; Jun'er is a filial child, and you and I will always be able to rely on him in the future."

Mother and son are of one heart, flesh and blood connected; Empress Dowager Li could accept sharing a little grace with this legal mother who had lived in a separate palace for years.

Empress Dowager Chen, however, heard these words, turned her head to look at Empress Dowager Li, and for some reason, her gaze was somewhat complex—truly, the foolish have foolish luck.

Yet she heard Empress Dowager Li continuing to console her: "A few days ago, Jun'er told me that after he ascends the throne, Sister will no longer need to live in a separate palace."

"When the court deliberates in two days, we will let the Ministry of Rites discuss it; I will reside in the Cining Palace, and Sister will move to the Ciqing Palace."

Although the Ciqing Palace was the Eastern Palace, since the new Emperor was unmarried and had no children, there was naturally no rush to reserve it for a Crown Prince.

It was perfectly suitable for Empress Dowager Chen, as it was close to the Wenhua Hall, making it convenient for the Emperor to pay his respects after daily lectures and court deliberations.

Empress Dowager Chen still accepted this favor, bowing in thanks.

She sighed faintly: "Younger Sister truly has great fortune."

If not for her younger sister's simple and dull nature, her own mood right now would likely be even worse.

Empress Dowager Li couldn't help but smile with relief; her own son was indeed her great fortune.

"Alright, Sister, you should return to your palace to rest; it is inevitable that it will be crowded and noisy outside today, so as not to disturb you."

Her older sister was naturally frail, and having lived in a separate palace for years, which was cold and damp, her health was extremely poor, and she would fall ill if not careful.

Empress Dowager Chen nodded slightly, bowed, and led Chen Suan back to the separate palace.

After Empress Dowager Chen left, Empress Dowager Li looked at Feng Bao and said helplessly: "I don't know where this resentment of my older sister comes from?"

Clearly born into a scholar-official family, how could her bearing be inferior to her own, a farm girl?

Feng Bao's eyes flashed, and he consoled her: "This is a day of great joy; it is common for Empress Dowager Chen to be moved by emotions and feel sentimental."

Empress Dowager Li nodded slowly, then immediately cast it to the back of her mind.

Having been master and servant for many years, she had always trusted Feng Bao's words implicitly.

Afterward, she brought up another matter: "You say Gao Gong truly intends to make things difficult for us these few days?"

Feng Bao hurriedly said: "Yesterday, Gao Gong spoke in the Cabinet, saying he wanted to remove this servant from the position of Director of Ceremonial, so that Your Ladyship's edicts could not even leave the Forbidden City, to avoid the inner palace interfering in politics and 'the hen crowing at dawn'."

Empress Dowager Li snorted coldly, clearly angered.

Feng Bao saw this and felt relieved.

Gao Gong naturally had never said such things, but as long as Empress Dowager Li believed he had, that was enough.

He had always been one to deceive those above and delude those below.

When he first entered the Prince Yu's mansion, the eunuchs serving the Prince were already full, so he had specifically bribed his godfather heavily to be chosen to serve as a slave before the Li clan.

It was because he saw that the Li clan was soft-hearted and lacked schemes, making it most convenient for him to hoodwink her.

Now that the Li clan had become Empress Dowager, as long as Feng Bao maintained this influence, he could walk sideways through the inner court.

If this wasn't getting exactly what one wished for, what was?

Not to mention that Zhang Juzheng in the outer court was his ally.

Backed by the Empress Dowager, allied with the Cabinet, and holding the Directorate of Ceremonial in his hands, this formation—let alone the Emperor being underage.

Even if he were an adult, one would at least have to wait for either Zhang Juzheng or him, Feng Bao, to die before having a chance to rule personally!

As for the Emperor settling scores in the future? Ha, a eunuch who has already been feathered, why not enjoy himself for a decade or so while he still has life left, instead of learning from the civil officials to seek a good reputation in history?

Being a eunuch is good; once dead, everything is finished, no body left intact, no descendants, and no concern for reputation. What is there to settle? At least he had enjoyed himself.

Now, just waiting to expel Gao Gong, he, Feng Bao, would be able to stand at the pinnacle of power in the Great Ming Dynasty!

At the same time, outside the Meridian Gate, the civil and military officials and military and civilian representatives waiting for the proclamation were already craning their necks in anticipation.

It was bustling yet orderly; everyone stood in line, from the court officials at the front, extending from the Meridian Gate all the way out, to the military and civilian representatives at the end, almost reaching the end of the Imperial City.

Zhang Siwei knelt outside the Meridian Gate, secretly staring at the back of Gao Gong, who was at the very front of the line.

Although changing ships at the last minute wasn't very honorable.

But as the Senior Zhang Gelao, Gao Gong was truly worth a good price.

Otherwise, why would they say Zhang Juzheng is a prodigy? For him to bypass Yang Bo and come directly to find him was simply a stroke of genius.

Yang Bo wouldn't sell out Gao Gong for the position of a Cabinet Minister, but he, Zhang Siwei, would!

He was a palace graduate from the thirty-second year of Jiajing, having been tempered for nineteen years; he was originally an imperial academy bachelor and had the seniority of a lecturer to the late Emperor.

Now serving as Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, a dignified third-rank official, he was only one step away from being a Cabinet Minister.

Now that the Cabinet position was right before his eyes, let alone selling out Gao Gong, even if he had to shave his head in the first lunar month, he wouldn't hesitate.

Just as Zhang Siwei was thinking this, he suddenly heard movement inside the Meridian Gate.

He looked up and saw the Directorate of Ceremonial's attending eunuch, Cao Xianyu, running out from the Meridian Gate, chanting and holding four volumes of imperial books high.

"There is an edict!"

"There is an edict!"

"There is an edict!"

As the officials bowed their heads to listen to the edict, Cao Xianyu strained his voice and said: "The Son of Heaven has ascended the throne; there is an imperial decree!"

"Order the Duke of Chen, Zhu Xizhong, to present the imperial books at the southern suburbs to announce the ascension to Heaven!"

Zhu Xizhong knelt to receive the imperial books and headed toward the southern suburbs.

"Order the Duke of Ying, Zhang Rong, to present the imperial books at the northern suburbs to announce the ascension to Earth!"

Zhang Rong left to carry out the edict.

"Order the Imperial Son-in-Law, Xu Congcheng, to present the imperial books at the Taimiao to announce the ascension to the ancestral temples!"

Xu Congcheng left to carry out the edict.

"Order the Marquis of Dingxi, Jiang You, to present the imperial books at the Altar of Land and Grain to announce the ascension to the nation!"

Jiang You left to carry out the edict.

The four nobles, each leading their ceremonial guards, left in a grand procession to announce the ascension on behalf of the Son of Heaven.

Among them, the Duke of Chen was the most prominent, responsible for the sacrifice to Heaven, making countless military nobles envious.

Unfortunately, no one knew that Zhu Xizhong, heading to the southern suburbs, wished he could throw this task away like a hot potato; whoever wanted it could take it.

These favors all had to be repaid!

Previously, he hadn't fully realized this, until the handwritten letter he received yesterday...

Having received the grace of the imperial family, it was time to sell his life for them.

The imperial family, the Cabinet, and the Directorate of Ceremonial—the three most powerful parties—were now locked in a struggle.

Regardless of who won or lost, just the aftermath would likely claim the lives of countless people and cause many to lose their official positions and titles.

It was feared that more than half of the Six Ministries and Nine Ministers would be replaced in the end.

Civil officials would mostly be dismissed, so those who would lose their lives were naturally only the unlucky eunuchs and nobles.

Zhu Xizhong's sorrowful expression wasn't an act.

In the fourteenth year of Zhengtong, the struggle was just as intense; wasn't the Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard impressive? He was beaten to death by civil officials right in front of the regent in the main hall!

He truly didn't want to wade into these muddy waters; placing a small bet to gain some favor from the new Emperor, enough to be slightly looked after in the future, would be enough.

Alas, Jiang Keqian came to his door yesterday and presented the Emperor's handwritten letter, making it impossible for him to stay out of it any longer.

The new Emperor not only ordered him to fully mobilize the Embroidered Uniform Guard to keep a close watch on the Cabinet and the Eastern Depot.

He also summoned his younger brother, Zhu Xixiao, into the Qianqing Palace to serve as a personal guard.

And ordered him to "cooperate at any time."

Although it was just a private letter, the wording was extremely earnest and polite, but the tone was firm; Zhu Xizhong had absolutely no room to refuse and could only accept it entirely.

He naturally knew what had happened in the past few days.

Jiang Keqian's mouth was tight, but the Embroidered Uniform Guards under him were, after all, transferred by him, the Commander.

The movements of Gao Gong's dealings with court officials, Zhang Juzheng's secret meetings with the Jin Party, and the new Emperor's secret actions—Zhu Xizhong knew them all.

It was precisely because he knew that he felt the situation was dangerous.

Zhu Xizhong only hated that he, as Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, had read too many books and was too well-informed about the stories of the nation.

This was what made him fearful and uneasy, wishing he could die suddenly while in office.

Otherwise? What could he do?

Whether ignoring the new Emperor or leaning toward the Directorate of Ceremonial or Gao Gong, he would be held in resentment by the new Emperor; who knows, in a few years, he might be executed along with his entire family by the adult Emperor.

As for standing with the Emperor and acting as his vanguard? Then he would inevitably be held in resentment by the civil officials!

The previous Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, Lu Bing, was a playmate of the Shizong Emperor and even had the grace of saving the Shizong Emperor's life in a fire; Zhu Xizhong still remembered clearly what his ending was.

After Lu Bing died, the Shizong Emperor specifically ordered people to "protect his family," but what was the result? As soon as the Shizong Emperor was gone, the civil officials immediately launched a counterattack.

The voices calling for the settling of scores with Lu Bing were incessant in the court, and the most intense among them, the Censor Zhang Shouyue, actually memorialized to have his family property confiscated, his corpse desecrated, and his relatives arrested and interrogated.

What was even more ridiculous was that the late Emperor actually didn't resist, betrayed his own father's will, and really confiscated Lu Bing's family property.

No matter which choice he made, Zhu Xizhong couldn't see any hope of breaking the deadlock; now caught in the vortex, he seemed to be able only to watch helplessly as the Duke of Chen's mansion headed toward a decline.

Unless... the new Emperor on the throne could win while still being someone who valued friendship and wouldn't "cook the hound after the hare is caught."

Furthermore, he also had to be stronger than the late Emperor, able to suppress the civil officials and avoid counterattacks.

Oh right, he also had to live long enough to outlast all the civil officials the Duke's mansion had offended.

Thinking about it, Zhu Xizhong smiled helplessly himself.

It really is, a life of nine deaths.

The Fengxian, Hongxiao, and Shenxiao halls were for the Emperors and Empresses not enshrined in the Nine Temples.

For example, his two mothers now, their spirit tablets could only be returned to these three halls after their deaths.

As for the sacrificial process, it was very simple, and there were no extra spectators, all watching from afar outside the hall.

Zhu Yijun, according to the imperial text and sacrificial rites, burned incense to announce to his ancestors, and after the rites were completed, bowed three times and left.

This completed the ritual of announcing to the ancestral spirits.

Just as Zhu Yijun came out of the Shenxiao Hall, Jiang Keqian stepped forward to meet him.

"Your Majesty, the censors recommended by Zhang Gelao Gao—after my investigation, only two can be used."

Zhu Yijun was somewhat surprised, thought for a moment, and nodded: "Very well, two are enough."

These censors were naturally not meant to be used as vanguards.

Yesterday, when he heard that Zhang Siwei was colluding with Zhang Juzheng, he immediately had a plan in mind.

He was now playing the role of a balancer, wishing for Gao Gong and Feng Bao to both suffer.

Since Gao Gong was historically defeated, he naturally had to help out a little.

This Jin Party traitor was just right to be entangled, so that the damage from a backstab wouldn't be too strong, and it wouldn't alert Feng Bao.

After the censors impeached them, Yang Bo and Zhang Siwei would always have to confess their crimes and request dismissal.

Binding their hands and feet for a while would be enough.

As for how he convinced Gao Yi... there was no need to tell Gao Yi about impeaching the Jin Party.

He only said that he heard some court officials were corrupt and derelict in their duties, and asked Gao Yi to recommend a few loyal and patriotic censors to investigate thoroughly for him.

Selecting people naturally involved digging through their resumes until they were shredded, finding out when they wet their pants, before picking a few pure scholars whose minds were filled with the Three Bonds and Five Constants.

Even then, after the Embroidered Uniform Guard sent people to test them and listened to their conversations for a day, only two were left who could be used.

And as for the evidence of Zhang Siwei and Yang Bo's crimes, their backsides were truly not clean at all.

When Zhu Xixiao showed him the foundation of the Embroidered Uniform Guard yesterday, his mouth had gone dry from talking.

In the end, he picked two crimes of moderate severity, ready to give them to the censors when the time came.

Only by balancing things like this could they fight back and forth.

Except for feeling a bit guilty about bullying honest people.

After all, when Gao Yi finds out later that he was impeached to impeach the Jin Party under Gao Gong, he would likely feel wronged for a while—but he couldn't blame the Emperor, right? The Emperor had read the Four Books and Five Classics and hated corrupt officials indiscriminately; the teacher couldn't teach him to cover for them, right?

At this time, Jiang Keqian spoke again: "Your Majesty, Zhang Gelao Gao said that he has been overworked recently and is unwell, so after Your Majesty ascends the throne, he wants to take a few days of leave."

Zhu Yijun was stunned: "Leave?"

There were only three people in the Cabinet, and one had to go to inspect the imperial tombs; taking leave at this time?

After a moment of thought, he realized it was mostly Gao Gong's instruction.

Gao Gong was being too headstrong; he was Gao Yi's patron, and the two had a very good private relationship. At a time when they were about to do something big, he actually let Gao Yi stay out of it?

If it weren't for Gao Gong's personality, he probably wouldn't have lost so miserably in history, right?

But it was just as well; everything they were doing was hidden from Gao Yi.

As an honest man with a clean record, it was indeed inconvenient for him to get involved in too much right and wrong; only then would it be easy to come out and clean up the mess after the dust settled.

As for the pure scholars behind him, let them be driven by the Emperor for a while!

Thinking this, Zhu Yijun nodded and gave an instruction: "You send people to keep an eye on it; ensure that I can contact Zhang Gelao Gao at any time."

Jiang Keqian stepped back.

Zhu Yijun summoned the ritual official: "I have finished sacrificing to the ancestral spirits."

The ritual official understood, and the time drum set up by the Imperial Observatory earlier sounded for the first time.

Outside the hall, the Guard Command had already arranged the ceremonial procession, followed by armored guards, each holding flags and ceremonial equipment; a five-carriage vehicle was parked outside the hall, and two ceremonial attendants stood on either side holding the memorial case.

Zhang Hong hurriedly supported Zhu Yijun as he stepped steadily onto the five-carriage vehicle, then shouted at the top of his lungs: "Clear the way!"

Immediately, bells rang and drums sounded, armor rattled, and the procession moved forward in a grand manner.

In front, hundreds of people sprinkled water, cleared the road, and unfurled flags, while ceremonial music played on both sides, dragging out a long procession.

Zhang Hong then chanted again: "To the Meridian Gate!"