Scattered snowflakes were falling on the eaves, and under a row of long verandas, people in green robes were hurriedly coming and going.
Although at that court meeting, the emperor made a eloquent statement, saying that the cabinet should have a maximum size of six people.
But now more than a month has passed, and there are still only two elders in the cabinet, Chen Xun and Gao Gu.
There were proposals to add cabinet ministers, but without exception, the emperor put them aside on the grounds that the matter was urgent and would be discussed later.
But this also has a benefit, that is, there are more people in Zhongshushe.
Although the emperor gave the title of minister to all the ministers in the cabinet and made eloquent remarks, which became a convention, it was only to improve the status of the cabinet ministers in the court.
In fact, the bachelor's degree, which symbolizes the official position of the cabinet, still has the official title of the fifth rank, which has been established since the founding of the People's Republic of China.
In other words, the cabinet is a yamen of the fifth rank.
The emperor wanted to customize the cabinet, so the officials naturally did not dare to neglect it.
According to the configuration of the Zhengqipin Yamen, the Zhengtang official must have at least one Zuoerguan.
The emperor has spoken first, and all six members of the cabinet are assistant ministers. There is no difference in official positions, only the matters in charge are different.
So according to the system, the six assistant ministers are all main officials.
In this way, the cabinet is equipped with six Zhongshushe people.
In addition, there are four imperial ministers in the imperial imperial room on the west side of the cabinet, who are responsible for copying imperial edicts, orders, registers and other official documents.
There are only two people in the cabinet now, so these ten people in the middle school are naturally at the mercy of Chen Xun and Gao Gu.
Although there are many assistants, they can only do small things such as copying and submitting. The actual drafting of votes has to be done by the cabinet ministers themselves.
Therefore, the workload of the two elders has only been slightly reduced.
In the small cubicle, Chen Xun raised his eyes and saw that the ink in the inkstone was almost gone. He was about to call someone from the Zhongshu House outside to grind the ink, but he saw that it was already past noon.
Rubbing his sore eyes, Chen Xun straightened up and planned to go out for lunch.
As soon as he turned around from behind the table and before he stepped out the door, he saw Gao Gu walking in, holding a memorial in his hand.
The cabinet does not care about food. Except for the occasional banquet given by the emperor, they basically bring their own lunch.
Seeing Gao Gu coming over, Chen Xun was stunned for a moment, and then he spoke.
“Shi Yong is here, and I just want to have a meal. A few days ago, a chef from Jiangsu and Zhejiang came to my house. He makes Huadiao Drunken Chicken very well. How about Shi Yong going with me?”
Gao Gu looked a little unnatural, waved his hand and said.
"Ci Fu, please wait a moment for dinner. This is a memorial from the Ministry of Rites that the emperor has just approved. I am a little unsure, so I came over to discuss it with Ci Fu."
In fact, the current situation in the cabinet is somewhat delicate.
Since the last time the emperor ordered Chen Xun and Chen Xun to nominate cabinet ministers, the two people, who had been working together very well, had secretly developed a rift.
Although this kind of faint crack is difficult for outsiders to notice, it actually exists.
Especially, when the status of the emperor in the cabinet was further promoted, this rift became more and more obvious.
These days, the two of them rarely dine together as before.
Chen Xunben was also polite. He had already seen the memorial in Gao Gu's hand. He nodded, led Gao Gu to sit aside, took the memorial in his hand, and started reading.
As soon as he turned his head, Chen Xun frowned, looked at Gao Gu, and asked softly.
“Ministry of Rites?”
There are many affairs in the cabinet. Normally, if it is a major matter that is difficult to decide, either Gao Gu or Chen Xun will take the initiative to discuss it with the other party.
Chen Xun has never seen this memorial. Apparently, it was submitted directly to the emperor after Gao Gu drafted it.
This also means that it is not a major military matter and there is no need for two cabinet ministers to vote together.
What's more, if the Ministry of Rites is pure and noble, what big things can happen?
Seeing Chen Xun looking at him doubtfully, Gao Gu smiled bitterly and said.
"Second Assistant, what this memorial says is not a big deal. This year is the year of His Majesty's accession to the throne. As usual, the vassal kings from all over the country submitted their lists and wanted to come to Beijing for an audience. So the Ministry of Rites submitted a memorial, asking the vassal kings from all over the country to come to Beijing during the New Year.
Go to Beijing to worship."
"This is a customary matter. Just a formality. When I was drawing up the vote, I gave the opinion that the war would stop before the war, and that the vassal kings should not leave their fiefdoms without permission. However, your majesty rejected it."
"What?"
Chen Xun lowered his head, skipped the contents of the previous memorials and drafts, and went directly to the last part of the imperial review in Zhubi, only to see what was written above.
“...The Ministry of Rites reported that the clan kings and vassal kings are all my elders. I have not seen them for a long time and miss them very much. For the sake of friendship between cousins, I ordered all clan members, from the generals of the country to the county kings and above, to come to the capital to pay homage..."
After reading it, Chen Xun was also a little confused.
The court dynasty is the rules set by Taizu.
Generally speaking, when a new king succeeds to the throne, or every three years, the prince of the county and above can go to the court to see him.
But in fact, after Taizong's calamity, the imperial court became more and more strict on the control of the royal family princes, and this rule was basically abolished.
During the Yongle period, there would still be clans entering the capital every few years, but by the time of the First Emperor, there was basically no such thing.
So normally speaking, once the clan becomes a vassal, it means that they will never be able to return to the capital in this life.
So as Takagu said, this memorial from the Ministry of Rites is just a formality and a routine inquiry.
But who would have thought that the emperor would actually do something that would be dismissed in such a routine?
It doesn’t matter if it’s just accurate, it’s still more than enough.
Even according to Taizu’s rules, the number of pilgrims only limited to the king.
But His Majesty’s imperial approval says, “All the generals of Fengguo and county princes and above will come to Beijing to pay homage.”
What is this concept?
According to the Ming Dynasty's clan feudal rules.
The prince is ennobled as a prince.
The prince's eldest son inherits the prince's throne, the remaining sons are granted the title of county prince, and the daughter is granted the title of princess, while the princess's subordinates are not granted the title.
The county king is not hereditary, his sons are all granted the title of general of the town, his daughter is granted the title of county lord, his grandson is granted the title of general of auxiliary state, his granddaughter is granted the title of county prince, his great-grandson is granted the title of general of Fengguo, and his great-granddaughter is granted the title of county prince.
From the Ming Dynasty to the present, from Taizu to the present, it has been passed down to this present day. In terms of generation, it is the fifth generation.
In other words, even counting the princes who were enfeoffed at the time of Taizu, it has been passed down to five or six generations at most.
The emperor said that all the generals and above should enter the capital. Basically, it means that all the clans registered in the clan mansion must enter the capital.
Chen Xun understood why Gao Gu had come, put down the memorial, and said.
“Since Taizu, clans have flourished in various places. Although I haven’t checked, there are probably thousands of them. With such a large number of clans coming to Beijing, I’m afraid it will waste people and money, right?”
Takagu sighed and also felt a headache.
God knows what the emperor’s fault was in calling so many clan members to the capital.
This Zhu Biao also said, "Long time no see, I miss you very much."
Sir Gao Gu just wanted to ask.
Your Majesty, you have been growing up in the capital since childhood. When His Royal Highness King Xiang, who was the last to become a vassal, left the capital, you had just turned one year old. How could you miss him so much?
Of course, it’s just a matter of grumbling. He wouldn’t dare to question him face to face.
He nodded, Gao Gu said.
“It’s true. It’s less than two months before the Chinese New Year, and I’m still short of time.”
"When vassal kings from various places enter the capital, they must use ceremonial guards. They must not disturb them along the way and receive local hospitality."
“For such a large number of clan members to come to Beijing, the Ministry of Rites also needs to plan and arrange their accommodation and reception in advance, which is very troublesome and also costs a lot of money.”
“Now that the war has stopped, the national treasury is not sufficient. If such a commotion occurs, it will be even more unsustainable.”
In fact, when he saw Zhu Pi, Gao Gu felt a pang of regret.
From the beginning, he should have sent the memorial directly to the palace himself and made his interests clear to the emperor on the spot.
Now that Zhu's approval has been issued, although there is no formal edict, it is not considered a real imperial edict and can still be discussed.
But to go to the Emperor at this time is undoubtedly a bit of a disgrace to the Emperor.
This is also the reason why Gao Gu came here to find Chen Xun.
“Second Assistant, after all, the emperor has been in the capital for a long time, and maybe he doesn’t know the number of members of the clan in detail. How about you and I go to the palace together, state our interests to the emperor, and persuade your majesty to withdraw his decree?”
This chapter has been completed!