As soon as Zhu Biao put down his pen, Zhao Huaian came in and reported: "Sir, the Minister of Rites wants to see you."
Zhu Biao knew the truth, and soon the Minister of Rites went into the palace to pay homage. After getting up, he made it clear that he had come to express his intention. It turned out that the tomb of Queen Ma's biological parents had been roughly built, and a monument should be erected to indicate it.
Moreover, the Queen's relatives and cousins, the Wu clan, also came to the capital on the orders of His Highness the Crown Prince. The Ministry of Rites has already arranged the arrangements. After that, whether they are sent to the Holy Emperor or not, the Crown Prince has to make the final decision.
Zhu Biao heard this and praised: "I have worked hard to love you. It is rare for my mother, Queen Fengjia, to leave the palace. If I can take this opportunity to pay homage to King Xu's mausoleum in person, it will be a long-cherished wish. My father and I will feel at ease."
The Minister of Rites hurriedly said humbly: "It is not because of the merits of the ministers and others, but the virtues of the empress and mother have been praised by the people. The local people are fighting bravely to be the first, so King Xu's mausoleum can be completed so quickly."
Zhu Biao was a little worried after hearing this. It is true that Queen Ma's reputation for benevolence spread all over the world, but it is a bit exaggerated to say that the people worked hard because of this. I am afraid that the Ministry of Rites urged local officials to force the people to work harder to complete the project so quickly.
.
Zhu Biao knocked on the desk and said in a deep voice: "Even so, the people's rewards of food and money cannot be deducted. I will send someone to check this matter. Your beloved should also know that this is serious. If something goes wrong, your mother will be sad and your father will be sad."
What will be the consequences of the emperor's anger?"
Even Lao Zhu never paid so much attention to the construction of his own mausoleum. Since the construction of King Xu's mausoleum, he had set a monetary reward for the people who were called into service in the name of Queen Ma.
You must know that it is compulsory for the people to perform corvee service from the imperial court, and there has never been any reward in money or food. Every household must have men of suitable age, and the imperial government relied on corvée service to manage water canals, open rivers, and build roads.
The Minister of Rites obviously knew what he was doing and replied: "Your Highness, please rest assured that there are no casualties among the serving people, and the money and grain designated by the emperor have been distributed according to the amount. I have sent several upright officials from the Ministry of Rites to supervise the distribution. I can be sure that there are no omissions."
.”
"That's good. I love you, you are mature and prudent, and you deserve to be a loyal minister in the court. I should ask my father for merit for you."
A Shangshutang official is trustworthy if he really wants to do something well. Seeing him so committed, Zhu Biao's heart dropped. The early death of his maternal grandparents has always been a heartache for his mother. Zhu Biao could not change this, so he
I can try my best to handle the situation well.
After some courtesy, the Minister of Rites was satisfied. He tried his best to suppress the money-grubbing fools below, not just to make the matter more beautiful and let these three supreme beings accept this love.
Don't think that he is following Hu Weiyong now, but that is just because the Huaixi Wu Xun is so powerful, and they want to do something without having to have a good relationship with the prime minister promoted by the Wu Xun.
But he knew who was in charge in the world. The six ministries were under the control of Zhongshu Province. It was not wrong for him to obey the words of the prime minister, but he had to leave some backup.
In order to avoid being stripped of water in the future, there would be no chance to stand up and save the family. Although some words were not stated clearly, they, the ministers, were not stupid, and the distance they should keep was always well controlled.
"Does His Highness want to meet with some elders of the Wu family?"
The Wu family is the relative of Queen Ma's mother. They originally moved from the north to the south with Emperor Gaozong of the Song Dynasty during the chaos in the late Northern Song Dynasty. They first moved to Renzhi Township, Xiao County, and then to Xinfengli, Minzi Township. They were called the Fengshan Wu family.
The ancestor was named Cheng, and his third daughter married the Deng family in Zhengxiaozhuang, Suzhou, and gave birth to Zhu Biao's grandmother.
Zhu Biao had heard his mother talk about this since he was a child. His grandfather had a violent temper and had no good friends with his fellow villagers. Since then, Queen Ma has had more contacts with her mother's relatives and has been taken care of, especially her fourth uncle Wu Congshan and her sixth uncle.
Wu Congzhen.
After the world was peaceful, Lao Zhu searched extensively for Queen Ma's relatives, and found them probably in the second year of Hongwu. According to Lao Zhu's temperament, he had to wait for the Wu family to be granted a prince to enhance the dignity of the queen.
However, Empress Ma took into account that there were so many military generals who had never received the title of Duke, and that her clansmen were able to enjoy high positions without meritorious service just because they were her relatives. This would inevitably cause discord among the people, so she firmly refused the matter.
I was still afraid that someone would make a fuss out of this, so even though I worried about him day and night, I still insisted on not letting the elders of the Wu family come to Beijing to visit me. I only sent people to send clothes made by my own hands and some money and food during the holidays.
It is precisely for this reason that both civil servants and military officials have great faith in Empress Ma. Even though it was difficult to see her after the founding of the country, they still strictly ordered the wives of the family to treat her as their own mother if they came to the palace to see the empress.
Some noble marquises had many concubines after they attained high positions, and it was inevitable that they would dislike their original wives because they were old and beautiful. It was Empress Ma who sent her attendants to their mansions to scold them, so that they would not ruin their wives by favoring concubines.
Now that the overall situation has been decided, Empress Ma rarely has the opportunity to leave the palace, so Zhu Biao has taken matters into his own hands. It is not good for Empress Ma or Lao Zhu to do this kind of thing. It would be unavoidable to regret the pursuit of the title, and Zhu Biao will do it.
Others can't say anything. Is it possible that they still want to condemn the prince's pure filial piety?
Zhu Biao thought for a while and said: "Today is a bit rushed. It is not the etiquette of meeting elders. Liu Jin, please go and visit on my behalf. Tomorrow the palace will hold a banquet in Wuying Hall to entertain the elders of the mother clan."
"promise."
After Liu Jin accepted the promise, he bowed slightly towards the Minister of Rites and then withdrew. The Minister of Rites also nodded sideways. Given his status, he was not intimidated.
"Did we draft the inscription?"
Zhu Biao nodded and said: "The general inscription should be drawn up by the Ministry of Rites, but my father has already prepared the sacrificial inscription, so another stone tablet should be erected to record it."
Zhu Biao stood up and found a memorial text from the bookshelf that had been written long ago. I'm afraid it must have been two or three years ago. It should have been prepared when the order was given to build King Xu's mausoleum.
"I am just a king who started his own business in ancient times. He must have a virtuous queen as his internal help, and together we can achieve great things. When the world is at peace, we must respect the aunt's family to repay his virtue. But my father and mother actually gave birth to a virtuous daughter, and she is in the middle palace.
Since I posthumously named my maternal uncle King Xu and my maternal aunt as Mrs. Wang, since the king had no heirs, I established a temple as the capital's chief minister and offered sacrifices to him every year.
However, the classics are not based on etiquette. I also remember that the soul will travel to the hometown where one is born, so the tomb was built in the temple for the Spring and Autumn Period to be worshiped. I chose an auspicious time and sent the ceremony officer to enshrine the god in the new temple, so that his spirit would be clear.
, here’s the lesson.”
Zhu Biao handed it into the hands of the Minister of Rites and ordered: "The inscription must be drafted as soon as possible. It is best to arrange it before the Holy Emperor goes to offer sacrifices."
The Minister of Rites bowed and took it and solemnly responded: "I respectfully follow His Highness's order."
After carefully collecting the memorial inscription written by the Holy Emperor, he looked at Zhu Biao's chin and said, "Suzhou is not far from Beijing. Is Your Highness interested in going to accompany him in person to offer sacrifices?"
Zhu Biao shook his head and said: "I am responsible for supervising the country and bearing the great responsibility of the country. How can I leave the capital so easily and wait for the grand ceremony in person in the future?"
"It's a humble minister who made a mistake. Please forgive me, Your Majesty."
"It doesn't matter, there is some truth in what the minister said. It is necessary to have descendants and grandchildren to accompany the sacrifice to appease the soul. However, my grandfather, King Xu, Magong, has no heirs to inherit the inheritance, so I cannot leave the capital, and the emperor's grandson is too young."
The Minister of Rites opened his mouth to say something but swallowed it back. After Zhu Biao thought for a moment, he realized what he was thinking. Empress Ma was the daughter-in-law of the Zhu family, and all children born from concubines and concubines should also belong to Empress Ma.
Zhu Biao frowned with some dissatisfaction, and the Minister of Rites bent his waist deeper, but he didn't say anything, so Zhu Biao naturally couldn't say anything, so he just pretended that it didn't happen.
"Go down, dear, and you must do this properly."
"Promise, Wei Chen is resigning."
Zhao Huai'an walked a few steps and then went back to the palace to serve Zhu Biao a new cup of tea: "Sir, when the Crown Princess heard that the Wu clan had arrived, she also asked Fugui to take some rewards from the palace in the East Palace and send them to her."
Zhu Biao was not surprised and just said: "Arrange someone to go over there to see these and see who will follow to give gifts."
This matter is not a secret matter, and the place arranged by the Ministry of Rites is definitely not too shabby. Anyone who is interested will know it after a little inquiry. Naturally, they will not be reluctant to do some stage work, but Zhu Biao still thinks about it.