The conflict between the emperor and the queen ended with the queen's compromise.
Although Kunning Palace kept the secret very closely, it was still spread among the harem.
After all, such a big palace was closed for an hour, the emperor left angrily, and the queen was depressed. Anyone who is not a fool can guess it.
However, this matter was very clear to the prince.
As the Queen's biological son, he had unimpeded access to Kunning and could not win over anyone more quickly. If there were some secret matters, it would be difficult for him to know about them, but he was aware of the conflict between the Emperor and the Queen.
"The door of Kunning Palace was closed at that time. Only a few vague words about the army and the prince could be heard. Because it involves you, I quickly sent the message..."
Beside him, the close eunuch poured tea for the prince and explained softly.
"Army?" The prince frowned. He felt that the tea in his hand was no longer fragrant.
For the prince, the army is too sensitive.
Even in the Ming Dynasty, the emperor was always at ease with the prince and had few worries, but this was just because the prince followed the rules.
In other words, the officials in the entire East Palace are basically acting on behalf of the imperial officials. For Zuo Zhanshi and other positions, the first thing people think about is loyalty to the emperor.
Moreover, in Confucian society, loyalty to the emperor and filial piety come first. Like in the Tang and Yuan Dynasties, the prince would rebel at every turn or even seize power. This was unimaginable in the Ming Dynasty.
Zhu Cunqu never thought about having an army. At most, he would install informants in the palace and send some of his subordinates to run business outside the palace. This is a normal thing.
"This is someone framed me——"
An idea immediately popped into Zhu Cunqu's mind.
In the three hundred years of the Ming Dynasty, there were only princes who died of illness and never deposed, but this was a new dynasty.
Although it carries the banner of the Ming Dynasty, everything has changed inside.
Anyone who studies history knows the difference between the Eastern Han Dynasty and the Western Han Dynasty.
Seeing the prince's pale face and dazed expression, the eunuch on the side was also shocked and couldn't help but said: "Your Highness, you are the Queen's son, you can go and pay your respects to the Queen -"
"That's right, I'm going to Kunning Palace."
The prince regained his composure and breathed a sigh of relief.
At this time, he also thought clearly. If the location of the East Palace was really involved, the Queen would probably send someone to inform him.
There is no news yet, I'm afraid it's just a minor matter.
Soon, someone suddenly said: "Your Highness, there is news from Kunning Palace. The Queen has summoned you -"
Hearing this, the prince was shocked. He turned his head in disbelief and looked at the eunuch beside him who had just spoken.
The latter was also shocked, and his face turned pale and bloodless.
"Let's go -" The prince packed up his robe, put on a fur coat, and walked slowly.
It took a full quarter of an hour, and when he was mentally prepared, he finally arrived at Kunning Palace.
I saw that Queen Sun Xueniang's eyes were slightly red, her hairpin was a little shaky, and she had no manners at all.
"Mother--"
The prince bowed solemnly.
"Child, come here quickly——"
Sun Xueniang held the prince's hand with indescribable affection: "You are only seventeen years old and you are getting married in the twelfth lunar month. Your father is so cruel..."
"Son, son—" Zhu Cunqu opened his lips, and an indescribable thirst coursed through his body.
It felt like all the words were stuck in my throat and I couldn't say anything.
Am I really going to be abolished?
Why?
I have never interfered with the military.
Is it wrong to make friends with a few distinguished people?
For a moment, the mentality that was originally prepared was completely thrown into chaos.
When the queen saw her son's face turning pale and looking like he was about to fall over, she immediately felt heartbroken: "If you don't want to go to the army, your mother and I will have to fight for it even if we risk our lives."
"Son, don't scare me!"
"What, join the army?"
Zhu Cunqu was shocked all over. These two words were like explosions, which shocked the queen.
"Yes, join the army." Sun Xueniang said long-windedly: "Your father always wants you to join the army. Where it is very painful, there is no place where the prince can stay."
"Besides, in the hundreds of years of the Ming Dynasty, there has never been a prince who went to the army."
"If you ask me, why not imitate Emperor Xuanzong and get you a young army? Isn't that considered joining the army?"
Hearing this, Zhu Cunqu didn't understand that all this was just his imagination.
He couldn't help but smile bitterly in his heart.
However, the queen mother was also shocked. She just went to the army. As for this, it made him feel very confused.
After clearing up his mood, his whole body regained its luster, and he said crisply: "Mother, I am just joining the army. My son has read all the books for so many years, why should he be afraid of hardship?"
After hearing this, the queen also felt a little relaxed.
The current emperor attaches great importance to education.
The prince began his enlightenment at the age of five. He formally went to school at the age of seven, received his first name, and then began a career of studying hard for four hours a day.
It's just sitting and reading. On weekdays, there are also horse riding, archery, musketry, swimming and other sports, which can be said to make these little guys miserable.
Moreover, there is only one holiday every ten days, and it is extremely hard work from morning to night.
Especially in the summer, a group of princes were tanned, which made the entire harem feel distressed.
"It seems that the hardship for you in studying is no less difficult than joining the army."
The queen shook her head slightly, and regained her grace and dignity in the blink of an eye: "It's just that the emperor asked you to remain anonymous and start from an ordinary team leader. Do you have any ideas?"
"My child just obeys orders." The prince showed a smile: "It's just a good time to make some friends and gain more knowledge in the military, so that my father will not become too scrupulous in the future and will not know everything about it."
"Since you have this intention, I feel relieved."
The Queen spoke softly, and then talked about the East Palace affairs:
"You are getting married in the twelfth lunar month. During these two months, you should restrain your thoughts a little and use all your energy on the Crown Princess."
"Let me tell you, the most important thing in the East Palace right now is the Crown Princess, and the most important thing for you is to give birth to a legitimate son."
"Princess Qin has given birth to a son. Princess Qi married her this summer. She was pregnant after hearing the letter two days ago."
"As the prince, you cannot fall behind."
Zhu Cunqu naturally responded with his mouth full.
In fact, as a prince, how could he become a monk while marrying a concubine?
He took in three or five concubines, all of which were beautiful, but none of them were pregnant.
This was ordered by the Queen herself.
As long as the Crown Princess does not give birth to an imperial grandson, no concubine grandson is allowed to be born.
Obviously, this is a plan for the future stability of the palace. This is a precautionary measure.
The prince also agreed.
He was still young, in good health, and had no worries about heirs, so he naturally wanted to have a stable harem.
After leaving Kunning Palace, the prince felt refreshed and felt the air became sweeter.
However, the thought of joining the army in a few days gave him a headache.
However, joining the army will have to be postponed to next year.
At present, the most important thing in the entire palace is the arrival of the Crown Princess.
As the future mother of the entire world, it is related to the imperial court and the future of the Ming Dynasty, which attracts the attention of both the government and the public.
The emperor and empress were naturally concerned for no reason.
In order to choose a concubine for the prince, he struggled for more than a year, and finally he chose Zeng Ying's daughter, the sixteen-year-old legitimate daughter Zeng Yu, whose nickname was Zhi'er.
In addition to having a down-to-earth and generous personality, he also inherited Zeng Ying's appearance, making him a first-rate presence among the noble group.
Zeng Ying, a hero of the Ming Dynasty's Zhongxing Dynasty, Marquis of Dongchang, minister in Mongolia, with the title of second grade.
Now, the family has been working hard in the Tuxie Tuhan tribe for several years. Making their daughter a concubine is also an incentive.
For the emperor, the reason for choosing Zeng Ying was simple - politics.
Among the noble groups, the one with the greatest record is the Shaanxi Group, that is, the Qin Army group, which is mainly composed of Sun Chuanting's Qin Army.
Obviously, the Queen Sun Xueniang is his daughter, and the prince has natural appeal.
However, in addition to the Qin Army Group, there are also the Sichuan Army Group and the Jiangjun Army Group, but both are incompetent and cannot defeat the Qin Army together.
After all, who made the emperor a Shaanxi native?
Even today's Kang State was founded by a group of Shaanxi people.
Among the Sichuan generals group, Zeng Ying was the most outstanding. He was upright and knew how to advance and retreat. He also worked hard to manage Mobei and fought against the Manchus.
The most important thing is that her daughter is not only of the right age, but also has a good personality and is very beautiful, so she becomes the crown princess without any hesitation.
As for the prince's thoughts, he, the groom, has no say at all.
For this world-famous wedding, the Ministry of Household Affairs and Internal Revenue each allocated 500,000 yuan, totaling 1 million silver dollars, as preparation funds for the entire wedding.
This money seems to be a lot, equivalent to the Qin Dynasty's consumption of wars for one year, but in fact it can only be said to be just enough.
Because the prince's wedding is not just a simple wedding, but a major event for the entire government, the Ming Dynasty, and the surrounding countries.
Korea, Japan, Kang State, Uizang (Koshote Khanate), Siam and other vassal states must present gifts. In addition, there are no less than a thousand envoys from foreign countries, including Britain, Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands.
people.
In such a happy event, there are a large number of rewards for the Beijing camp, frontier troops, officials, generals, nobles, etc.
Not to mention anything else, there are about 200,000 people in the Beijing camp, so there must be some food and wine.
The reward for everyone together is at least three to five million.
After Lin Lin's calculations, he found that he could only spend about 200,000 yuan on the wedding.
With such a large amount of money, all civil and military officials felt that it was a little short, but when they turned around, they felt that Qin's consumption was too much.
Double standards are too serious.
But there is no way, the distinction between concubine and concubine, the position of prince, in the eyes of some people, is not comparable to that of the ten kings of Qin.
Entering December, the first day of the twelfth lunar month, several carriages entered the capital quietly.
Immediately, the government and the public immediately discovered that the middle gate of the former Duke of Feng's Mansion was wide open, and all the family members from the eldest son and below went out to greet him.
Now, everyone understood that the former chief assistant Zhao Shu was back.
When he returned, his legs were healthy and strong. When he returned, he was already holding on to the crutches and trembling.
His beard and hair are all white, and age spots are creeping up. If he wasn't still in high spirits, who would have known that he was the former chief minister of the Ming Dynasty, a powerful minister who had controlled the Ming Dynasty's cabinet for more than ten years?
"Dad——" The eldest son helped Zhao Shu, feeling a little sad.
"Why are you crying?" Zhao Shu scolded lightly: "I can go back to my hometown and show my filial piety, and I feel relieved."
The eldest son sighed.
Of course he understood that the reason why his father was like this was just because of his long years of hard work and hard work, which resulted in a deficit.
Not to mention anything else, the emperor was in charge of his family when he was on an expedition to the west and north. It could be said that he stayed up all night long. How could he not be at a loss?
Although the Duke of Feng's Mansion is not listed among the ten major Dukes, its power has not declined much. As long as the Queen is still there and the Prince is still there, it is guaranteed.
After all, everyone knows that Zhao Shu is the matchmaker between the emperor and the empress, and he is also the first person to protect the prince.
As soon as he sat down, Zhao Shu sighed: "Daizhou has been stable in recent years. When I was a child, I heard the news of the Tatar invasion in successive years. I either killed a few people or robbed a village."
"It's better now, the Monan area is stable, and the Tatars can get close to each other."
"When I returned to my hometown, my fellow villagers didn't say much about building bridges and paving roads. Instead, they praised the world for peace and no Tartar invaders. I have not worked in vain in my life."
Suddenly, a servant came to report that the prince was here.
This time the middle door opened wide again.
Prince Zhu Cunqu said with joy on his face: "Mr. Zhao, you are finally back."
"How dare I not attend the wedding of His Highness the Crown Prince?"
Zhao Shu showed a smile, which was obviously from the heart and heart-warming:
"Although I have never met a girl from the Zeng family, I know Zeng Ying. She is a calm person, has general knowledge, and has read a lot. Her daughter must not be too bad."
"The crown prince chosen by my father and mother must be the best." The prince said calmly.
Immediately, he looked confused.
The eldest son and the servants on the side retreated knowingly.
"Mr. Zhao, my father asked me to join the army, what do you think I should do?"
The prince inquired, with expectation on his face.
At this time, he urgently needed guidance.
"Joining the army is to train Your Highness!"
Zhao Shu sighed softly: "Your Majesty always has many wonderful ideas, and you must learn to accept them."
"Your Highness, you can only accept it, and you must accept it happily. This will only benefit you, not harm."
"The Beijing Camp has been established for more than 20 years from Shaanxi to Hubei and now to Beijing. There are many accumulated shortcomings inside. It is a good thing for Your Highness to go and find out."
"The capital city is invincible, so how can it still have disadvantages?"
The prince was puzzled.
"How can there be an ever-lasting army in the world? If there was a powerful force like that of Taizu, why was there the defeat of Annan? The defeat of Tumubao?"
Zhao Shu shook his head: "Only by going deep into it can you understand it carefully. This is your mission, Prince."
Zhu Cunqu didn't realize it, and his whole body felt energetic.
…
At this time, in Mobei, Kulun City.
After defeating Tushetu Khan, supporting his youngest son to succeed him as Khan, and sending him to a temple for training, Zeng Ying took control of the entire Tushetu Khan tribe.
The number of troops under his command exceeded 50,000, and the herdsmen under his control exceeded 60,000. It can be said that he is very powerful.
At this time, news from the capital arrived, making Zeng Ying overjoyed:
“My Zeng family is so rich that it’s hard to stop them!”