Over the years, most of the pilgrimages on the 28th day of the lunar month have been on errands. The affairs of all the ministries have been dealt with, and they are waiting for the end of the court meeting, and they will all have a holiday.

However, the last court meeting in the seventeenth year of Yongle made this court meeting more important than ever because of the emergence of a rule of procedure.

In fact, there are many categories of court meetings in the Ming Dynasty, there are daily regular dynasties, that is, early dynasty, Zhengdan dynasty, noon dynasty, evening dynasty, Shuowang dynasty, etc., each kind of court meeting has different rituals.

During the period of Zhu Yuanzhang, the system of waiting at three o'clock and meeting at five o'clock was strictly followed. Many ministers who lived far away had to get up in the middle of the night, wait at the noon gate, and deliberate on time at five o'clock.

But Zhu Di was born rich and noble, although he is also a diligent emperor, but he can't stand the rule that he has to get up at four o'clock in the morning and have to discuss matters at five o'clock.

He changed the time of the early dynasty to seven o'clock in summer and eight o'clock in winter, so that he could not only sleep lazily, but also let the ministers rest well.

Moreover, when it was windy, rainy, and snowy, he was sympathetic to the officials and allowed officials below the fourth rank not to participate in the early dynasty.

Because of the hundred officials below the fourth rank, the court has no qualifications to speak, and most of them have to stand outside the main hall.

Although the Fengtian Hall is large, it can't accommodate more than 1,000 people at a time!

But on this day, although the snow stopped, the temperature was lower, but the civil and military officials were not too cold, and they were outside the Fengtian Hall on time one by one.

When Zhu Zhanji entered the courtyard, he was almost startled, he hadn't seen such a neat lineup for a few years.

Shaking his head slightly and smiling, he nodded lightly with Zhang Fu, who was standing at the head of the generals, and stood at the door of the main hall.

After him was Zhu Gaochi, who had difficulty moving, and Zhu Zhanji stood guard at the door, personally put him on the shelf, and put him on the seat.

He weighed more than two hundred catties, and the two sturdy eunuchs were tired and out of breath on weekdays, but Zhu Zhanji easily lifted him up alone.

Then the drums were playing, and in the shouts of the eunuchs, Zhu Di sat on the dragon chair under the escort of the cabinet scholars and the Hanlin scholars, as well as a group of chamberlains.

A few little eunuchs put two charcoal basins at his feet, and then retreated to the back.

After Zhu Di sat down, Honglu Temple sang "enter the class", and the ministers of civil and military affairs walked into the hall in two classes, left and right, each stood still, and performed a bow and three kowtows.

Zhu Di sat down safely, but Zhu Gaochi and Zhu Zhanji received a big gift and had to return the half-salute.

Then, it was time for the official recital.

Although today's topic has the Spring Festival holiday arrangement, duty and other trivial matters, but these procedural work took less than half an hour to deal with.

At this time, Wang Yan took two steps forward and shouted loudly: "If there is something to do, there is nothing to retreat." ”

Zhu Zhanji, who was facing the ministers, could clearly feel that everyone's morale was boosted, and the temperature in the entire hall seemed to be several degrees higher.

Jian Yi held Chao Wat with both hands, because he wanted to face the emperor, he took two steps horizontally to the middle, and then bowed down. "Your Majesty, the ministers have something to do."

"Play."

"When the minister hears and asks for the elder of the wood, he will consolidate his roots; Those who want to flow far will dredge their springs; Those who think about the safety of the country will accumulate their virtues. The source is not deep and looks far away, the roots are not solid and seek the length of the wood, the virtue is not thick and the peace of the country, although the minister is stupid, he knows that he can't, and the situation is clear? When the king is the weight of the artifact, the big one in the domain, he does not think of danger in peace, abstains from luxury and frugality, and cuts down the roots to seek Mu Mao, and wants to flow long. ……”

Zhu Zhanji was a little confused, this is just a thing, how can he make sense?

The words are not finished, and the back is: "All the heads of 100 yuan, inherit the destiny of the sky, those who are good at the beginning are really complicated, and those who end are widowed." Is it easy to take, but difficult to keep? Cover in sorrow, and will be wholeheartedly waiting; Vested ambition, then indulge in pride. Wholeheartedly, then Wu and Yue are one; If you are proud, then your flesh and bones are the way. ……”

Zhu Zhanji wanted to shout: "Can you just talk about things?" ”

According to the standard of the recital, there is a paragraph at the end: "If you can see what you want, then you can think enough to abstain from self-discipline; If there will be something to do, then thinking and knowing will stop to appease people; Thinking of high danger, then thinking of humility and self-shepherding; If you are afraid of overflowing, you will think of the rivers and seas; Lepan tour, then think of three drives as a degree; If you are slack, you will be cautious and respect the end; If you are worried, you will think humbly to accept it; If you are afraid of slander and evil, you will think of righteousness and dethrone evil; If you add grace, you will think without a cause and enjoy the fallacy; If the punishment is reached, there is no indiscriminate punishment out of anger. In total, ten thoughts, nine virtues. If you can do it simply, and choose the good and follow it, the wise will do their best, the brave will do their best, the benevolent will spread their benefits, and the believers will be loyal. Use both civil and military, and rule by vertical arch. Why bother thinking hard and serving on behalf of the hundred divisions! ”

Zhu Zhanji, who was originally full of energy and wanted to watch a big show, was deflated, holding the song in his hand to discuss the matter, and he didn't say a word, and a bunch of came first.

Such a long passage actually means the same thing: the emperor has hundreds of officials, each performing his own duties.

This is to first take out today's rules of deliberation from the point of view and stabilize the position. In the future, your emperor wants to regret it, but there is no such good thing.

Zhu Di really didn't like this, and said: "I just want to know how you discuss this rule of deliberation today, this is not a feast, Jian Aiqing still don't talk nonsense, just talk about things!" ”

Jian Yi didn't hear it, and there was a lot of nonsense "............"

Zhu Zhanji couldn't wait to fly down and give him a kick to make him have a longer memory. After a lot of nonsense, there is only one meaning in it, that is, you are the emperor, it is your business to listen or not, I am a minister, and it is my duty to say it. ”

Zhu Zhanji glanced at Zhu Di sideways, and saw that he was really as he thought, looking constipated.

Ma Dan, this court discussion should have been changed a long time ago, and most of the day is listening to this nonsense,.

Zhu Di asked as if he had given up treatment: "Aiqing, how did you and the ministers decide?" ”

At this time, Jian Yicai took out a piece of music and handed it to the eunuch on the side of the steps, and then began to tout again......

Zhu Zhanji has automatically translated his words into the simplest sentences, and if he reads it for five minutes, it actually means that the emperor, you have finally thought about it, and our ministers are very happy, these days, we are as happy as the New Year.

This is all the grace of the emperor, our ministers dare not be sloppy, after careful deliberation, it was decided that the contemptible people will serve as the first speaker, and within five years, lead the ministers to work hard for the emperor.

Your Majesty, you can rest assured to play in the future, and we will take care of everything. When it is not done well, admit the punishment and have no complaints.

Finally after listening to this stinky and long grandmother's footcloth, Zhu Zhanji couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, such a simple thing, Nima has to talk about the big truth first, which means that this resolution is just, reasonable, and excellent.

Then he touted Zhu Di's words more than the words that really involved the rules of deliberation, and this kind of court discussion was really uncomfortable.

Thinking that he would sit in his position in the future, he felt that it was only right for him to come up with this set of rules of deliberation now.

Although Jian Yi got this position, he didn't know how many promises he made secretly and how many benefits he gave up.

Slowly, he will find that although this position is glorious, it is like sitting in a crater!

After the Yiyi was finished, Zhu Di was obviously fed up, and couldn't wait to ask, "Do you have any objections?" ”

The other ministers led by Xia Yuanji all leaned down and said in unison: "The ministers have no objections. ”

Zhu Di's question is not finished, this kind of policy-based rule formulation and determination needs to be asked three times in a row, and all the ministers agree, and this can be regarded as passing.

Of course, the second and third times did not require Zhu Di to ask in person, but Wang Yan did it for him.

Wang Yan asked twice, and the ministers replied twice in a row with no objections, and the matter was officially decided.

Zhu Di nodded at this time and said: "That is the case, on the sixth day of the first month, the court will discuss the details of the specific rules of procedure and the scope of the agenda. ”

Everyone should say yes in unison, but Jian Yi's eyes were a little puzzled, the rules of the agenda are okay to say, what is the scope of the agenda?

Isn't everything in the imperial court included in the rules of procedure?

He still wanted to ask for an understanding, but he heard Zhu Di say again: "Ladies and gentlemen, the year of Yihai has passed, and the year of Gengzi is approaching." During the Spring Festival, fireworks and firecrackers in the capital need to be guarded against, where is the commander of Tianfu Yin and the soldiers and horses of the five cities? ”

Ying Tianfu Yin is still Gu Zuo, although this person is not talented, but he can handle the intricate relationships of all parties in the first good place, and this ability to deal with things can be said to be the best in the capital.

Zhu Di originally admired his ability and wanted to mention him to the Shangshu of the Criminal Department to replace Wu Zhong, but he couldn't find anyone who could take over his position, so now he was given the title of Shangshu, but he still received Tianfu Yin's errand.

Together with the five commanders, he ascended the imperial road in the middle of the main hall and bowed to Zhu Di. "The minister is here."

"The security of the capital will be handed over to you and others, and we will step up our precautions during the Spring Festival, and we must not slack off."

"Obey ......"

Zhu Di nodded, hooked his hand, and Wang Yan came to Zhu Di's side with a bright yellow holy decree in his hand and opened the holy decree.

This decree is a summary of the year's work, and selectively mentions several major events that happened this year, including Zhu Zhanji's return from going to the West to earn a lot of gold and silver. However, the specific reward will not be carried out until next year, when all ministries have liquidated the harvest.

In addition, I encourage all the ministers to make persistent efforts in the coming year, and the seventeenth year of Yongle will be over.

From today until the sixth day of the new year, all yamen will have a holiday, but on the night of the Chinese New Year's Eve, there will be a ceremony to worship the ancestors in the sky.

Although there are only seven or eight days off, nominally the sixth day of the new year will be opened, but they still take turns on duty with each other. It was not until the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month that the year was over, and all officials officially went to work.

Although Jian Yi still had some doubts in his heart, he didn't take it seriously.

Now that the rules of deliberation have been established, how should the permanent court be conducted, and how should the great court be conducted. What kind of things need to be decided by the emperor, and what kind of things can be decided by the ministers themselves, these must be discussed.

Anyway, the general trend has been decided, and if there are any problems, let's wait until next year!

Unlike Jian Yi, who had calmed down, most of the Wenchen's hearts still couldn't calm down, although they were shivering in the cold wind, but their hearts were like a fire burning.

The emperor was able to allow them to make their own decisions, and this is a huge "progress"! They have more confidence in the future!

Jianyi's heart always has a feeling of unsteadiness, but I don't know where this feeling comes from.

In the past few days, for the position of speaker, he has made many verbal promises and promised a lot of personnel changes, I am afraid that these things have made him a little unsure......

When the officials returned to the yamen, they announced the good news, and then arranged for the seal to be sealed.

In the palace, Zhu Di looked at the pre-war preparation plan written by Zhu Zhanji and fell into deep thought.

This was different from any letter he had seen before, and it was completely different from what he was expecting to see Zhu Zhanji write a detailed preparation plan.

He made a detailed report on the military, political, economic, and military strength of the northwestern countries.

He also made a detailed understanding of the resumes of each senior general of the Ming Dynasty, and proved the character of this general and the advantages and disadvantages of fighting through various empirical evidence, living environment, and family environment.

He was quite satisfied with this aspect, and seeing this, he knew at a glance what kind of tasks each general could undertake.

But what Zhu Di wanted to see, such as Zhu Zhanji's planning for the march and battle, the planning of the march route, the arrangement of logistics and supplies, etc., did not give any opinions of his own.

Just when Zhu Di felt a little disappointed, he saw the bottom of the information, which was also this thing, which made Zhu Di fall into a strong shock.

The Balance of Power.

When he saw this title, Zhu Di still felt a little ridiculous, a young man in his early twenties, I am afraid that he has not even figured out what power is, and he will talk on paper.

But when he continued to watch, Zhu Di was completely attracted.

In this document, Zhan Ji made a detailed description and summary of the balance of power between civil officials, military generals, and eunuchs from the founding of the Ming Dynasty to the present.

He wrote about why his father killed the heroes in the first place, why his father used eunuchs to restrain military generals, and why his father knew that Confucianism was not credible, but he still wanted to reuse Wenchen.

He also wrote about why he reactivated the Jinyi Guard and why he reused the eunuchs. And how should the royal family in the future master the balance between the Ming Dynasty's ministers, military generals, and eunuchs.

The development of Wenchen will become larger and larger with the prosperity of the Ming Dynasty, how to distinguish the relationship between Wenchen and Confucianism, and how to curb the increasingly urgent needs of Wenchen in politics.

What surprised Zhu Di even more was that he analyzed the possibility of maintaining a balance between the three ruling classes from a macro perspective, which Zhu Di, the emperor, had hardly imagined.

He knew what to do, but never really thought about why he did it. He knew that he wanted to support the eunuchs to help the generals suppress the civil ministers, but he never thought that because of the rise of the eunuchs, there would be such a great impact on politics, economy, culture, people's livelihood and other aspects.

Moreover, he also analyzed the impact of this western expedition on the Ming Dynasty at all levels from various angles. For example, the promotion of the economy, because of the impact of the expropriation of the people on society and agriculture, the impression of the Ming Dynasty on the countries of the world, and the promotion of the domestic civil class.

There are many problems in this, which he has never found and never seen clearly.

Only then did he realize that in many ways, his grandson was even stronger than himself, and he could see it more clearly than he could see.

The only thing he lacks now may be experience.

"Dog, go and call my grandson over."

But it was Li Qian who walked over. "Your Majesty, today is the third anniversary of Princess Yong'an's filial piety, and Eunuch Wang and His Royal Highness went to the Marquis of Guangping's mansion."

Zhu Di paused for a moment, and then remembered that he had sent Wang Yan and Zhan Ji to the Marquis of Guangping's mansion, thinking that his daughter had been gone for three years, Zhu Di couldn't help but sigh.

He sat for a long time before he recovered from his low mood and asked, "How did the Marquis of Guangping behave on his way to the West with Zhanji?" ”

Li Qian, as the chief eunuch of the capital governor, was in charge of the emperor's travels, supervised the whereabouts of other eunuchs, and issued surveys, and he did not know much about the prince of a prince's mansion.

However, this question did not need him to answer, and soon the eunuch Haishou, who had gone to the West with Zhu Zhanji, stood up. "Your Majesty, the Marquis of Guangping learned that the princess drove a crane during his stay in Star City with His Royal Highness, and since then he has coarse tea and light rice, and has not eaten meat. During the battle against Bengkulu, Sui Yulin Weixue provided complete information for the battle of the army, although he did not personally go into battle to kill the enemy, it is also remarkable.

During his stay in Nanzhou, he actively contacted the major nobles to find gold mines, hoping to lay the foundation for the family's development in Nanzhou. Presumably knowing that the princess drove the crane, his father had hated His Majesty, so he could only come out to plan for the family. ”

Zhu Di was silent for a while before he sighed: "He is a son, even if his father has been, he is also my grandson, how can I blame him?" Such a big Hou Mansion, can he personally plan it as a son of the world? Let him come over and see the driver in the second year of junior high school......"

In the fifteenth year of Yongle, as soon as Zhu Zhanji's fleet left, Princess Yongan died of illness. She is Zhu Di's eldest daughter, and she takes care of her younger siblings among the children, and she has the style of an eldest sister.

Although she is not the kind of person who is close to Zhu Di when she has nothing to do, she acts dignifiedly, and Zhu Di also attaches great importance to this eldest daughter.

She has always been in good health, but she went away with a little illness because of the tiredness of the New Year. And the concubine Yuan Rong ignored it, only cared about drinking and having fun, and was at fault.

Zhu Di was furious, and although he did not deprive him of the title of Marquis of Guangping, he stopped the Marquis of the Marquis Mansion.

Now that the Marquis of Guangping has returned, this son-in-law has returned, and her body has been put into the ground, and she is also full of filial piety.

He sent Wang Yan away, which can be regarded as giving the prince some face and restoring the fortune of the Marquis of Guangping.

At this time, Zhu Zhanji, the Marquis of Guangping and the nobles came to the Linggu Temple in the southeast of Zhongshan Mountain, invited the coffin that had been stored for three years, and buried it on a sunny hillside not far from the temple.

Since the establishment of the Ming Tomb, the entire southern foot of Zhongshan has become a treasure place for all dignitaries and nobles who want to enter the earth. However, this place was requisitioned by the royal family, from the west of Linggu Temple to the Purple Mountain, and other nobles were not allowed to be buried here.

This small area east of Linggu Temple has become an inch of land, and without any identity, it is impossible to grab a family cemetery here.

Although Yuan Rong, the Marquis of Guangping, hated Zhu Di, his family had won a mountain forest many years ago, and his father, Yuan Hong, the founding general of the People's Republic of China, was buried here.

Linggu Temple is built in the Southern Liang period, is one of the three major temples of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang once personally inscribed: the world's first Zen forest.

Although the Ming Dynasty has suppressed Buddhism today, it has not been affected much.

Zhu Zhanji never entered the temple on weekdays, but this time he also came in for the sake of his eldest aunt.

The person has been dead for three years, and if Yuan Zhen hadn't gone to sea, he would have been full of filial piety in the first few months. Therefore, although everyone looked solemn, there was not much sadness.

Including Yuan Zhen, he has already come out, and he is now more concerned about the development of Nanzhou.

After returning to the Guangping Marquis Mansion from Zhongshan, Zhu Zhanji and Wang Yan were invited to the table, because Zhu Zhanji, the grandson, arrived, almost all the clans and nobles came, and even the civil officials who were not very close to each other also sent people to give four-color and eight-color gifts.

Zhu Zhanji hardly ate anything at this meal, and kept socializing, answering about the arrangements for the development of Nanzhou.

Zhu Di has not revealed his tone in this matter, so although Zhu Zhanji reassured them in front of the clan, he has another attitude in the face of the nobles.

In the evening, Zhu Zhanji was about to return to the palace, and Yuan Rong, Yuan Zhen and his son sent them out in person. At the gate of the Marquis of Guangping's mansion, Yuan Rong shook Zhu Zhanji to the ground and said: "Your Highness, Rong has been absurd since he was a child, and he has made a lot of trouble, but he thinks that he has always loved Princess Yong'an. Now His Majesty blames Rong for the princess's affairs, and without his protection, Rong's former enemies will inevitably fall into the ground.

Zhen'er, I don't worry about him, with you and Your Majesty taking care of him, everyone can bully him, but Rong has other heirs, and I don't want to see them bow their heads and behave as people. Therefore, in the matter of Nanzhou, I also ask His Highness, no matter how much land there is or how little land there is, Rong is willing to keep a piece of heaven and earth for His Highness. ”

Yuan Rong's father was the founding general of the People's Republic of China, and he was competitive since he was a child, and he offended many powerful people when he was young. Even Zhu Gaosui, the king of Zhao, was once beaten by him as a brother-in-law.

In particular, Xicheng commanded the envoy to the table, this Mengyuan serf-born commander made the envoy ride a horse through the horse gate, Yuan Rong because he did not get off the horse, he beat the platform almost to death, and it took several months to recover from his injuries.

In the past, Zhu Di took care of him, and no one dared to worry about him. But Zhu Di is annoyed with him now, and even Yulu has stopped, and in recent years, the Marquis of Guangping has encountered more and more difficulties.

Therefore, he is different from other nobles, the other nobles all let their second son or concubine go to Nanzhou, but he is ready to go over in person, and only leave Yuan Zhen and the other three sisters who were born with Princess Yongan in Daming.

Although there is only one of his sisters-in-law, Yuan Zhen has six sons-in-law, all of whom have been practicing martial arts since childhood and learning the art of war.

Zhu Zhanji saw that there was no one else, so he thought about it and said: "My uncle's family is all heroes, and it is a bit embarrassing to go to Nanzhou. I intend to let you and my second uncle go to Xizhou, which is no worse than Nanzhou, but there are more natives. ”

He paused for a moment, looked at Yuan Zhen, and saw that Yuan Zhen nodded lightly, he immediately hugged his fists and said, "Since the King of Han ...... Gao Xu is also going to Xizhou, so I will be a companion with him, drink together, and kill the enemy together, which is even faster. ”

"Don't publicize this matter for the time being, even if you want to go, you have to wait for another two years, and you will have to wait for the emperor's grandfather to return from the western expedition, and at that time, the soldiers will be abundant......"

Yuan Rong hugged his fist again. "Rong represents the fifty-seven members of the Marquis of Guangping, thank you, Your Highness!"