Chapter 7: Filial Piety to the Two Palaces

Because of the late Emperor's passing, there were many miscellaneous matters today, and it was almost noon when the court discussion ended.

After all, he was a half-grown child, and even though Zhu Zhu Yijun tried hard to keep his spirits up, he was inevitably a bit listless.

Fortunately, since he was presiding over the court today, there were no daily lectures.

"Your Highness, I will send the memorial with the ticket-draft to the two palaces."

Feng Bao signaled with his eyes to the two little eunuchs behind him who were holding the memorials.

According to the regulations established at the beginning of the founding, official memorials were generally sent to the imperial front through the eunuchs at Huiji Gate or the Office of Transmission, and some were transferred to the Grand Secretariat for discussion.

After there was a result, it was copied and sent to the various ministries and offices.

But the convention throughout Chinese history was that personnel eroded the system, became a new system, and were eroded by new personnel, repeating the cycle.

The Prime Minister was like this, the Three Departments were like this, and the Censors, Grand Coordinators, and even the minor clerks in the county towns were all unable to escape this path.

The Grand Secretariat, naturally, was no exception.

After two hundred years of evolution to this day, the power of the Grand Secretariat had effectively expanded several times over.

Especially after the Shizong Emperor Jiajing Emperor didn't attend court for more than twenty years, and the late Emperor indulged in the inner palace and entrusted all government affairs, the new precedents had long been established.

Not to mention anything else, the form of sending memorials to the imperial front first and then copying them to the Grand Secretariat had already become sending them to the Grand Secretariat for ticket-drafting first, and then presenting them to the Emperor for review.

Even more extreme was that now, even if the Emperor issued an edict, if it wasn't drafted by the Grand Secretariat, it was illegal in terms of procedure.

This was the so-called "Central Edict," which was a chaotic order.

Just like today, the memorials discussed in the court, the Grand Secretariat would draft a preliminary opinion on the spot, also called a ticket-draft, and then transfer it to the Ceremonial Secretariat to be sent to the two palaces for instructions.

If the two palaces thought it was okay, it would be approved in red by the Ceremonial Secretariat and then executed. If they thought it wasn't, they would let the Ceremonial Secretariat send it back for the Grand Secretariat to re-discuss.

Of course, there were exceptions; if the two palaces didn't want to discuss this matter, they would keep it in the palace, which was the so-called "leaving it in the middle without issuing it," and this matter would be shelved without discussion.

The power to handle memorials originally belonged to the Emperor, but now that the two palaces were supervising the state, they temporarily took over the questioning.

"Big Companion, go ahead." Zhu Zhu Yijun nodded.

Feng Bao bowed and retreated.

Zhu Zhu Yijun looked at the old eunuch's retreating back, his eyes slightly cold.

He knew that the two palaces didn't understand the twists and turns in the memorials, and didn't have the political prestige to reject the Grand Secretariat's ticket-draft.

For the opinions of all parties, the two palaces basically could only "follow the trend," or remain non-committal, and the autonomy of red approval would fall to the Ceremonial Secretariat.

It eventually became the Grand Secretariat holding the proposal power, and the Ceremonial Secretariat holding the veto power.

And this Big Companion of his naturally walked to the pinnacle of power, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the Chief Grand Secretary.

It would be better if this kind of thing didn't happen.

Thinking this way, he turned his head and ordered lightly: "Let's go, return to Ciqing Palace."

……

Returning to Ciqing Palace.

It was just time for lunch.

Because of the late Emperor's mourning period, today's lunch was a bit bland.

Fortunately, the variety was rich and the taste was excellent, and Zhu Zhu Yijun ate very seriously.

He was at the age of growing his body, so he naturally had to replenish his nutrition well, otherwise, if he passed away at thirty-something like the late Emperor, that would be bad.

Just after tasting a dish, Zhu Zhu Yijun frowned and pointed at it to the eunuch.

"Tell the Imperial Kitchen, this dish is too sweet, don't serve it again in the future."

It wasn't that he didn't like sweets, but in the modern era, after the Emperor Wanli Emperor's tomb was excavated, the examination of his remains showed a mouth full of cavities.

Even having to rely on opium for pain relief, his later years must have been painful.

Since he had accepted this identity, he naturally had to be careful and take good care of his oral health.

Zhu Zhu Yijun finished eating, cleaned his teeth carefully, and then lay back on the bed to rest under the service of the palace maids.

Returning to the Eastern Palace didn't mean that today's work was finished.

After the nap, he still needed to go to pay respects to Empress Chen and Imperial Consort Li.

Since ancient times, only a filial son in the imperial family could survive; these were all essential things.

Besides paying respects, he also had to strive to influence state affairs through Imperial Consort Li.

He had to pick a person who suited his heart for the position of Director of the Ceremonial Secretariat that he had pried from Feng Bao's hands.

Otherwise, he wouldn't even have a person he could use.

Today, dealing with a little eunuch required Feng Bao's consent, which made him feel like a bone in his throat.

In this situation, let alone governing alone, if someone was desperate, he wouldn't even know how he died.

Lying on the bed, Zhu Zhu Yijun slowly closed his eyes.

His thoughts, however, didn't stop, and he thought about what he saw in the hall today.

This Great Ming Dynasty was truly riddled with holes.

Three Xuan-Da had signs of separatism, and the central army had clearly lost its deterrent power.

Huguang dared to humiliate the imperial envoy, and the annexation and collusion of local powerful families must have reached a shocking degree.

Not to mention the court discussion, there were also the Japanese pirates invading the Southeast, and the spring taxes being late to be collected, which could be called a mess.

Now that the late Emperor had passed away, everything had to be stable, and the center could only endure for the sake of the country and retreat again and again.

But anyone with a discerning eye could see that it had reached the point where reform was necessary.

No wonder the few people in the Grand Secretariat didn't trust him, the new Emperor, and were frantically grabbing power; I'm afraid it was to suppress all parties and lead the reform.

Thinking and thinking, Zhu Zhu Yijun fell into a deep sleep.

……

Waking up from his nap, the fatigue in his head was finally swept away, and he felt refreshed.

Zhu Zhu Yijun stretched greatly.

He ordered the palace maid: "Prepare for me to go to the two palaces to pay respects."

He now had two mothers: his biological mother, Imperial Consort Li, and his mother in terms of clan law, Empress Chen.

In fact, his predecessor rarely took the initiative to pay respects to Empress Chen, as she wasn't his biological mother and their relationship was limited.

Furthermore, this Empress Chen had no children all her life, was not favored by the late Emperor, and even lived in a separate palace all year round.

Without power or affection, his predecessor naturally went less.

But now that he wanted to establish the persona of a filial son, he naturally had to be filial to the two palaces, not missing a single one.

So he went to Empress Chen first.

As a result, when Zhu Zhu Yijun arrived outside the hall, he was blocked by the female official.

"Your Highness, the Empress is overly grieved and hasn't rested for two or three days. The imperial physician used medicine, and she just fell asleep." The female official said respectfully.

Zhu Zhu Yijun was helpless.

He couldn't force someone to wake up to pay respects to him.

Finally, he could only pay his respects to Empress Chen from outside the palace, doing enough etiquette, and turned to leave.

And then went straight to Imperial Consort Li's place.

On Imperial Consort Li's side, he came often, and the palace maids and eunuchs knew he was coming at this time, so they led him in directly.

When Zhu Zhu Yijun arrived, Imperial Consort Li was flipping through a memorial.

Imperial Consort Li was in casual clothes in her bedroom, but it couldn't hide her beauty.

Being able to be chosen by the late Emperor as a palace maid and entering the harem, besides her appearance, there was no second reason; now she was only twenty-eight or twenty-nine, just the age when her beauty didn't fade.

Zhu Zhu Yijun called out lightly: "Your son asks Mother if you are well."

Seeing that her own son had come, Imperial Consort Li closed the memorial.

She twisted her shoulders and neck, and smiled: "If you were as promising as you are today, I'm afraid I could live to be a hundred."

Imperial Consort Li was actually in control of the harem, and the hearts of the people were attached; everything that happened inside and outside Zhao Wenhua Hall was reported by eunuchs and palace maids in the first instance.

The naughty son who was restless in the past was unexpectedly decent today.

She had heard that when the court was dismissed, many officials praised her son in public for having the appearance of a monarch, which made her savor it for a long time.

Zhu Zhu Yijun naturally knew what to say to make women happy: "It's thanks to Mother's earnest teaching that I didn't lose face for Mother today."

Imperial Consort Li gently helped him up, the smile on her face even wider.

After ordering the palace maids to serve some snacks, she turned back to look at her son: "I heard that you caused some trouble in front of the hall?"

——

Note 1: After the Grand Secretariat system was established, they could only wait for the Emperor to choose a portion of the memorials to send over before they could draft tickets. Later, to improve administrative efficiency, there was a convention that officials should copy a copy of the memorial to the Grand Secretariat when submitting it, but it was only to let the Grand Secretariat understand its content in advance and could not be handled directly. But later, the power of the Grand Secretariat was strengthened, and by the time of Muzong, when government affairs were entrusted to Gao Gong, I checked the Veritable Records at this time, and the memorials were already sent to the Grand Secretariat first, and then presented to the Emperor after ticket-drafting. As for the later Zhang Zhang Juzheng period, the Grand Secretariat was even more decisive, and showing it to the Emperor Wanli Emperor was more as a "governance textbook."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 8 =====

(End of Chapter)