Chapter 597 The Son of Heaven's Little Pride [1 More]
Although there was no rule in the Ming Dynasty that one could not be granted a title without military merit, but obtaining a title was naturally not an easy task for the civil and military ministers.
Especially during the Taiping years, it was extremely difficult to be granted the title of marquis. However, in the Zhengde Dynasty, the princes were granted one after another. No matter who was granted the title of prince, they all had outstanding achievements and could not be commended unless they were granted the title of prince.
Even the civil servants who saw this with envy could not say anything.
Not to mention others, let’s talk about Duke Yang Yiqing of Jin and Duke Yangming of An. In the Ming Dynasty, apart from the few kings with different surnames granted by Taizu at the beginning of the founding of the Ming Dynasty, there has been no king since then. The highest title in the Ming Dynasty is Duke.
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It is said that princes have been rich and glorious for generations, but in fact there are only a few who can be named a duke. At least after Taizu, there were very few people who were named dukes.
The reason why Yang Yiqing and Wang Yangming are regarded as new nobles is because they are compared with Duke Ding, Duke Ying, and Duke Wei, who have inherited the shadow of their ancestors.
Honors can only be obtained on horseback. Compared with civil servants governing the world and military generals fighting on the battlefield, it is relatively easier to obtain meritorious service. This time Japan fell, the imperial court would not treat the soldiers who participated in it lightly.
Of course.
As figures walked into the majestic hall one after another, dozens of generals, all dressed in military uniforms, with a bit of the evil spirit of fighting on the battlefield, walked into the hall with their heads held high.
The leader was Zhai Luan, who succeeded Chu Yi as the army commander, followed by Lu Dazhu, Qi Jingtong, Yu Dayou and other famous generals.
Entering the main hall, all the soldiers bowed down to the emperor and shouted, "Long live the emperor!"
Zhu Houzhao was in a very good mood. He immediately sat up from the dragon chair and supported him with both hands: "Everyone, please get up without courtesy!"
When all the soldiers stood up, Zhu Houzhao glanced at the team of officials, and then nodded to Wang Zheng, the eunuch chief next to him.
Wang Zheng was one of Chu Yi's young eunuchs under Huang Shichen in the past. It can be said that he has risen to great heights with Chu Yi over the years, and now he has become the chief eunuch beside Zhu Houzhao.
Zhu Houzhao did not choose a new eunuch chief eunuch, so Wang Zheng, as the eunuch chief next to the emperor, was vaguely regarded as a candidate for the future chief eunuch eunuch, and he could definitely be said to be the most popular eunuch in the palace.
If an ordinary little eunuch suddenly ascended to a high position, he would have been inflated. However, Wang Zheng did not become arrogant at all because he became the eunuch chief beside the emperor. Instead, he became more and more cautious.
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After following Chu Yi for these years, Wang Zheng and others can say that they know Chu Yi's character best. What Chu Yi despises the most is that his subordinates become rampant as soon as they gain power.
Moreover, over the years, under Chu Yi's words and deeds, Wang Zheng and others have also been promoted step by step, but they did not suddenly take over the power and forget about it.
Wang Zheng bowed to the emperor and took out a bright yellow scroll. Suddenly all the eyes of the civil and military officials fell on the scroll. All fools knew that the scroll must be about the victory and return from the expedition to Japan.
A number of civil and military awards.
When Chu Yi insisted on leading an army across the ocean to conquer Japan, at that time no one in the civil and military dynasties would have thought that one day, Japan, which had been inherited for thousands of years, would be destroyed by the Ming Dynasty.
In everyone's opinion, Chu Yi sent more troops just to teach Japan a lesson. As a result, Japan was destroyed in less than two years, and now it has been included in the territory of the Ming Dynasty.
As a result, all the soldiers who accompanied Chu Yi on the expedition were all meritorious officials. It can be said that accompanying Chu Yi to Japan, no matter how rich the qualifications are, they are not enough.
Take a look at the generals in the palace. I wonder how many of these generals will be granted the title of marquis.
In the main hall, everyone was staring at the imperial edict in Wang Zheng's hand, as if they could see through the edict and see the content above it.
Chu Yi stood aside with a calm expression. Chu Yi had already learned from Zhu Houzhao about the rewards given to the generals.
Zhu Houzhao completely listened to Chu Yi's opinions on who should be granted the title of marquis and who should be granted the title of uncle. After all, no one knew better than Chu Yi who and what achievements were made by the soldiers who went out to Japan.
Wang Zheng slowly opened his mouth and said: "The emperor has been entrusted by heaven. The edict says that there are barbarian and small countries bullying our dynasty. Wu King Chu Yi leads the troops to promote the prestige of our Ming Dynasty, educate the foreign countries, and declare our Ming Dynasty's benevolence and righteousness. I will now reward Wu King Chu Yi with ten thousand taels of gold."
, Thousands of hectares of fertile land..."
Chu Yi took a step forward, saluted the emperor and said: "My lord, please accept the order and thank me!"
Regarding Chu Yi's reward, Zhu Houzhao actually wanted a heavy reward, but he was rejected by Chu Yi. He is now the king of one word, and has reached the peak of his title. It can be said that there is no way forward. As for saying
Chu Yi finally resigned from the official position, so how could he accept it again? Even if it was gold and silver fields, Chu Yi only accepted it after considering the rewards of the soldiers who accompanied him on the expedition. Otherwise, Chu Yi would not accept the official position again.
There is no interest in gold and silver at all. Not to mention ten thousand taels of gold, even if it were dozens or hundreds of times more, Chu Yi wouldn't care.
Many officials looked at Chu Yi. The emperor only rewarded Chu Yi with gold, silver and acres of land, but did not give Chu Yi any other rewards. Naturally, the civil and military ministers knew that Chu Yi's current status had reached the point where he had no title, so
Not really surprised.
But what Wang Zheng read out next was not Zhai Luan, the commander-in-chief of the three armies, but Lu Dazhu. Lu Dazhu himself was stunned and stepped forward to listen.
"Specially, Lu Dazhu was granted the title of Duke Xiangwu. He will be hereditary and will retire with the country!"
The expressions of all the ministers changed after hearing this, and they looked at Lu Dazhu with a dull expression in astonishment. Obviously, the emperor's edict to Lu Dazhu not only shocked the civil and military officials of the court, but even Lu Dazhu himself was also very surprised.
Lu Dazhu indeed had outstanding meritorious service and had already been granted the title of Marquis before. Normally, with such great meritorious service, it would not be impossible for him to be granted the title of Duke.
It's just that the position of Duke is extraordinary. There are only a few Dukes granted in the Ming Dynasty. Previously, there were Yang Yiqing and Wang Yangming.
This time, Lu Dazhu was granted the title of Duke, which really surprised everyone. A few years ago, Lu Dazhu was just an ordinary general in the Ming army, but in just a few years,
Lu Dazhu rose through the ranks, from a general to one of the few Dukes of the Ming Dynasty.
If you look at Lu Dazhu's promotion path alone, it is simply a legend.
It can only be said that Lu Dazhu was lucky enough to meet Chu Yi and Zhu Houzhao, a pair of martial monarchs and ministers. They also happened to catch up with several battles. Lu Dazhu's merits were sufficient, as he almost never failed in every battle.
The most important thing is that the promotion of Lu Dazhu to Duke Xiangwu was actually Chu Yi's suggestion. Lu Dazhu himself was loyal to the emperor, and now he has been greatly favored by the emperor and has been granted the title of Duke of the Kingdom. It can be said that if there is real loyalty value,
If so, it is impossible to say that Lu Dazhu's loyalty to the emperor will definitely soar to the full value.
Lu Dazhu is a fierce general in the army. He is not only the bravest of the three armies, but also brave and resourceful. He can be called a generation of generals. He is a foreigner who has practiced kung fu to the realm of transformation, even against innate level experts.
, it’s not like he doesn’t have the strength to fight.
Generals such as Han Kun, Lu Dazhu, and Yu Dayou were the white jade pillars chosen by Chu Yi for the emperor to serve as the pillars of the Ming Dynasty for decades to come.
With these generals here, unless Zhu Houzhao seeks his own death, even if something goes wrong, the Ming Dynasty will be preserved forever.
After Lu Dazhu was Zhai Luan. Zhai Luan, with a calm look on his face, stepped forward and listened respectfully.
"We hereby confer Zhai Luan the title of Marquis of Wenyi..."
Zhai Luan was granted the title Marquis Wenyi, but no one had any objections. Although Zhai Luan was the commander-in-chief of the three armies, it was not impossible to be granted the title of Duke of the country even like Lu Dazhu because of his contribution to the destruction of the country. However, Zhai Luan said to a certain extent that
It is the inheritance of Chu Yi’s legacy.
Most of Japan was conquered by Chu Yi. Even if Zhai Luan later mobilized troops to completely occupy Japan, it was still the foundation laid by Chu Yi.
In the eyes of the world, Zhai Luan is just like Xiao Gui and Cao Sui. Everything is done according to Chu Yi's arrangements. Under that situation, if anyone is in Zhai Luan's position, as long as he behaves well,
Then we can capture Japan.
Therefore, Zhai Luan's meritorious service is not as great as imagined. It is precisely for this reason that when Zhu Houzhao decided to reward meritorious ministers, he designated Zhai Luan as a marquis.
Zhai Luan's eyes flashed with joy, and he quickly stepped forward and bowed to Zhu Houzhao: "I accept the order and thank you!"
Zhai Luan had never thought about making him a Duke, it was too far away, so when Lu Dazhu was made a Duke, Zhai Luan was only envious, but he didn't feel any jealousy at all.
All the generals were either made earls or viscounts. Among them, Yu Dayou, who was only sixteen years old, was granted the title of earl.
I'm afraid I can't find a few of these sixteen-year-old Earls even after looking through the history books, and I don't know how many people are envious of them.
It's a pity that the civil and military ministers in the dynasty could not think of any reason to prevent the appearance of such a young earl except for envy.
Yu Dayou's meritorious deeds are recorded in detail one by one. If he didn't have enough foundation and background, it would not be unusual to be awarded the title of Marquis just based on the meritorious service he has accomplished.
After about an hour, the rewards for meritorious soldiers were completely stopped. The Ming Dynasty suddenly gave birth to dozens of nobles, which greatly strengthened the power of the nobles.
Judging from the current situation in the court, there is quite a tendency for military generals to overwhelm civil servants. This is not a good thing for a dynasty if either party is too strong.
Fortunately, if the honors of the Ming Dynasty are calculated from Zhengde, the honors before Emperor Zhengde belong to the old school, while the honors conferred by Zhu Houzhao during his reign can be regarded as the new school.
The Wuxun clan is also divided into two factions, the old and the new, and these two factions naturally cannot deal with each other.
This is not surprising. In the eyes of veteran martial arts masters such as Ding Guogong, Ying Gong, and Wei Guogong, the new Dukes like Yang Yiqing, Wang Yangming, and Lu Dazhu are simply not as good as their family's profound heritage and long inheritance. They feel that they are a group of
They were just lucky ministers who gained power in one day, so they looked down upon people like Yang Yiqing and Wang Yangming.
Similarly, Wang Yangming, Yang Yiqing and others also looked down upon the old nobles like Wei Guogong and Ying Gong who rested on the merits of their ancestors.
Wang Yangming and the others would naturally be sincerely convinced if they had obtained the title with their own swords and spears. However, the British Duke and Wei Guogong were just the shadow of their ancestors, so Wang Yangming and the others naturally looked down upon them.
As a result, the new sect feels that the old sect has no ability and can only rest on its laurels, while the old sect feels that the new sect is just a group of lucky ministers with no foundation. Everyone, you look down on me and I look down on you. This makes the Wu Xun lineage divided into two factions.
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In this way, the Wuxun family, which seems to have skyrocketed in strength, actually does not seriously threaten the balance of the civil and military situation in the court. Otherwise, both Chu Yi and Zhu Houzhao must carefully consider whether to reduce the Wuxun family.
of power.
Just when everyone had different thoughts and was waiting to leave the court, Chu Yi, who seldom spoke, suddenly stepped forward and saluted the emperor: "Your Majesty, the Qintian Supervisor is here, and I would like to ask the Supervisor to determine an auspicious day for the fleet to go to sea.
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Zhu Houzhao's plan was to delay it for one day. He thought that Chu Yi had forgotten by not speaking, but he never thought that when he was about to announce his resignation, Chu Yi mentioned the matter.
Taking a deep breath, Zhu Houzhao nodded towards Chu Yi, and then said to Qin Tian Supervisor Zheng Lin Ruoshi: "Qing family, I wonder when the nearest auspicious day is?"
Lin Ruoshi had been praying in his heart that Chu Yi and the Emperor would ignore him, but as soon as Chu Yi spoke, Lin Ruoshi was panicked.
"I...I have met with Your Majesty and His Highness King Wu!"
That is to say, Lin Ruoshi had long thought that there would be such a situation, so he stepped forward and saluted the emperor and Chu Yi, and then tried hard to keep himself calm. Under Chu Yi's water-like eyes, Lin Ruoshi
But there was a feeling that Chu Yi had seen through it.
It was as if Chu Yi had seen through all the little thoughts in his heart.
Zhu Houzhao, who was sitting on the dragon chair, was also staring at Lin Ruoshi. He had personally summoned Lin Ruoshi before and told Lin Ruoshi to deduce the auspicious date to three months later. Therefore, Zhu Houzhao felt a little complacent in his heart.
looked at Chu Yi.
Chu Yi didn't know that Zhu Houzhao was full of contentment at this moment. Under his gaze, Lin Ruoshi's forehead was covered with fine beads of sweat in the blink of an eye. It can be seen how much pressure he was sandwiched between the emperor and Chu Yi.
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Gritting his teeth suddenly, Lin Ruoshi said to the Emperor Zhu Houzhao: "Your Majesty, I have already calculated that if His Highness King Wu wants to sail to the West, the best time will be one month later."
Zhu Houzhao was expecting Lin Ruoshi to say that the auspicious day would be in three months, but he opened his eyes wide and looked at Lin Ruoshi with his head drooped and trembling in disbelief and thought to himself: "How dare he?
