Why did the emperor rebel?

Chapter 1016
Following the emperor's decree, many clans came from all over the capital to visit the children who were studying in Zongxue, and the ten princes' mansion gradually became lively.

"Uncle, here we are. Father and several other princes are waiting for you inside..."

Zhu Qiyong carefully led the white-haired old man in front of him to the outside of the courtyard, and said respectfully.

The old man was dressed in a big red gold-woven python robe, his figure was slightly hunched, but his face was still majestic, and he nodded slightly while standing in the distance, without saying a word.

Logically speaking, Zhu Qiyong should have gone in and reported back immediately, but instead of moving immediately, he glanced at the young man standing behind the old man, as if he was a little embarrassed.

Seeing this situation, the old man frowned, and his face suddenly became majestic.

Therefore, Zhu Qiyong didn't dare to delay immediately, cupped his hands, turned around and walked quickly into the courtyard.

Not long after, there was a sound from inside, and a group of princes also wearing royal robes came out at a tight pace, bowing to the old man in salute, and there were sparse voices.

"Meet Uncle Zhou!"

"Greetings to Uncle King Zhou..."

"Brother Zhou Wang is well..."

Those who can live in the ten princes' mansions are basically clan and vassal princes, and these people are respectful in front of the old man.

Not for anything else, but because the old man in front of him, no matter his age or seniority, is the longest person in the clan today.

Zhou Wang Zhu Youxi!
The grandson of Emperor Taizu, in terms of seniority, is the uncle generation of His Majesty today.

Ever since the death of the old Min King Zhu Wei, among the entire vassal lords, there was no longer the clan of the Taizu Emperor's descendants, and Zhu Youxuan inherited the lineage of the Taizu Emperor's fifth son Zhu Wei.

Only King Qin and King Jin are more noble than King Zhou's lineage. However, King Qin is now three generations old, and he is regarded as Zhu Youxi's nephew, and King Jin is four generations old. They are all juniors.

Among the kings, the second-generation vassal kings such as the current Min King Zhu Huixun and the Yi King Zhu Yongyin are of the same generation as Zhu Youxuan, but they should also be called Zhou Wangxiong.

More importantly, unlike most of the clan and vassal kings who have a lot of bad records, Zhou Wang's lineage has always had a good reputation. When Zhu Youxi was young, he was taught by Emperor Taizu. According to his precepts and deeds, Zhu Youxuan was regarded as one of the vassal kings, who rarely disliked extravagance and was careful to be independent and self-disciplined. He had a very high reputation among the clans.

If it weren't for this, he wouldn't be able to afford so many clans who are also vassals to treat each other with such respect.

Since it was too late for the emperor's decree to be issued, and it was through visiting the names of the disciples of Zongxue, not many royal clans actually came to Beijing.

Now among the ten kings' mansions, apart from Xiang Wang Zhu Zhanqian and Yi Wang Zhu Yongyen who were already in the capital, the rest are Qin Wang Zhu Zhi, Dai Wang Zhu Shi, Zheng Wang Zhu Zhanxi, Ning Wang Zhu Mianpei, and Lu Wang. Zhu Zhaohui.

In addition to Zhu Huixun, king of Min who almost made his home in the capital because of serving as the patriarchal order, the number of vassal kings who came to Beijing has accounted for about one-third of the total.

As for the county kings below, there were quite a few who came, and there were more than a dozen of them in total. However, although they also lived in the ten princes' mansion, they did not appear on the current occasion.

Facing King Zhou, the other kings were naturally respectful, but, like Zhu Qiyong, although they saluted King Zhou the first time they came out.

However, after saluting, their eyes fell on the young people behind Zhu Youxuan intentionally or unintentionally, especially Xiang Wang Zhu Zhanqian. Seeing this familiar figure, his expression became a little ugly.

Zhu Youxuan naturally noticed this situation, turned sideways to reveal the young man behind him, and explained.

"Heir of the Min Dynasty, Zhennan King Zhu Yinyu, you should have seen it at the New Year's Eve banquet last year. The New Year's Eve is approaching, and Zongxue is in the middle of the assessment. The Min King is busy, so he has no time to come, so, So I asked Yin Xun to come over and talk to this king, and I have a small gathering today, and this king brought him here with me."

After finishing speaking, he beckoned lightly, so Zhu Yinji, who was dressed in the uniform of the county king, took two steps forward, cupped his hands in salute, and said.

"Yinji has met all the elders."

His attitude was neither humble nor overbearing, and his tone was somewhat polite, as gentle and polite as always.

However, the atmosphere of the scene was a bit cold.

Although Zhu Yinyan didn't look sideways and had a smile on his face, everyone, intentionally or not, still looked at King Xiang at the side.

Although they were not in the capital before, the incident before the death of the old King Min was widely circulated.

Because of this, King Xiang's reputation was bad, and later, news spread that he had treated a group of sect disciples harshly, causing the disciples of each mansion to write letters and complain, which completely ruined his reputation as a virtuous king Two clean.

There were even a few vassal kings present who could not bear the begging of their younger generations, and submitted memorials to the emperor or wrote family letters, requesting that King Xiang be removed from the position of patriarchal order.

Of course, they were just beating side drums. King Xiang's reputation was ruined, his patriarchal order was revoked, and even later he was banned from ten princes' residences, all of which were inseparable from King Min and his son.

Because of this, even now, the emperor released King Xiang's restraint and asked him to go to Zongxue to help, but King Xiang and King Min never met face to face, and when they saw each other approaching from a distance, one of them was bound to hide. In the past, it was considered disgusting to see each other.

The group of them got together today, the initiator was King Yi, and it was said to the public that it was a small gathering and feast, but in fact, everyone has talked about some things in private these days, and this time they came here for their own purposes.

King Min didn't come, of course it wasn't that they didn't send out invitations, everyone is in the capital now, people who bow their heads and don't see them up, so they wouldn't be so offended.

However, it is true that they did not want King Min to come, so they deliberately picked a day for the Zongxue assessment, and invited King Xiang first, so naturally King Min would not come.

However, what people didn't expect was that the old one didn't come, but the young one did.

Moreover, he still came with Zhou Wang, the meaning in the middle is really worth thinking about.

Of course, the most important thing right now is to see King Xiang's reaction.

Because of the matter of the old King Min, the two families have completely formed an enmity, and now they meet again, it can be said that enemies meet, and they are extremely jealous.

If this happens on the spot, don't even think about talking about it...

Fortunately, although King Xiang's complexion was not good-looking, he didn't have any special reaction, as if he didn't see anything.

Seeing this situation, Zhou King Zhu Youxi glanced at the crowd, and said without saying anything, wrapping the cloak around his body.

"It's cold outside, let's go in and talk."

As a result, everyone reacted immediately, first they each returned their salutes to Zhu Yinxuan, and then dispersed one after another, followed Zhu Youxuan into the flower hall, and sat down in the hall one by one.

However, while qualifying, a small accident happened.

As aristocrats and royal family members, under normal circumstances, the group of people present would take the lead no matter where they went.

However, everyone is a vassal king now, so naturally there are masters and times. Zhou Wang is the oldest and older, so naturally he is the superior.

Originally going on down, it should be according to the seniority of each family, the two great-grandchildren of King Lu and King Yi sat down in order, and then went down, King Qin, King Ning, King Zheng, and King Xiang all belonged to the family. Peers, so, defecate according to age.

The problem lies with Zhu Yinxuan.

This small gathering was organized by King Yi, and the time was specially chosen. King Min couldn't leave because he had something to do in Zongxue, and King Dai was called into the palace to have a talk, so the seats had naturally been arranged long ago.

This point can be seen from the uncooled tea in the flower hall. Before King Zhou came, these feudal lords had already talked for a while.

Originally, the position of King Zhou had been vacated long ago, so there would be no problem because of his ranking.

However, the sudden appearance of Zhu Yinxuan made the scene a little awkward.

Logically speaking, no matter Zhu Yinyu's status as the county king or his seniority, he couldn't sit in the top seat, so he should find a seat at the bottom.

But the problem is that in this flower hall, except for King Ning Zhu Mianpei who is younger, the rest is King Xiang.

If Zhu Yinyu was arranged at the end, it would almost be like putting him and King Xiang together.

Considering the relationship between the two, everyone hesitated.

At this time, King Zhou spoke up, and when everyone was surprised, he ordered someone to move a chair, put it next to him, and asked Zhu Yinyu to sit down.

Facing everyone's astonished eyes, Zhu Youxuan only said.

"Yin Xun came here for his father, and he came with me, so let him sit next to me and listen to our conversation."

This is obviously against the rules, but if it is said that Zhu Huixun came here, then, with his identity and seniority, he should naturally sit at the head of King Zhou.

Even, if it is on a formal occasion, considering that he is in charge of the clan's mansion, it is not too much to take the chair.

However, Zhu Yinyu was just a county king after all, and he was still a junior, so it was obviously inappropriate for him to sit next to King Zhou over Lu King and Yi King.

However, compared with the question of whether it conforms to the rules, the kings present are more concerned about why the King of Zhou did this.

The question of location is big or small.

The flower hall is such a big place, it doesn't matter where you sit, but the location itself actually represents the status and the right to speak.

Just like now, this small gathering was organized by King Yi, who invited all feudal lords to come.

However, after the king of Zhou arrived, he took over the organizational power as a matter of course. This is the difference in status, and no one felt that it was wrong.

You must know that among the kings, King Zhou has always been famous for his simplicity and observance of etiquette. He is generous and simple, but he also values ​​etiquette.

Therefore, it is impossible for him to be unclear about the order of the positions. However, on this occasion, he still let Zhu Yinyu sit next to him, which is more likely to represent an attitude.

Zhu Yinxuan didn't have this weight, but Zhu Huixun did.

Let's take a look at what King Zhou said just now, Zhu Yinyu came here on behalf of his father, the implication is that the coming of the King of Zhennan is equivalent to the coming of King Min.

In this way, Zhu Yinyu came here, maybe she just brought such a pair of ears with her...

Everyone looked at each other. Although they didn't say much, there was already a bit of hesitation in their eyes.

Things seem to be a little different from what they imagined...

However, the matter has come to this point, and I have to speak if I have to bite the bullet, and I looked at each other, Yi Wangdao.

"Brother Zhou, I heard that Your Majesty has been talking to Brother Wang for a long time. I don't know, but you mentioned the fact that officials from all over the country oppressed the clan because of the army?"

Yes, this is the first thing these people get together.

In other words, this is actually the biggest reason why so many princes rushed to the capital this time.

There are actually more than 20 vassal kings in the Ming Dynasty, and there are seven or eight of them in this flower hall. If it is true that they are here to visit the juniors of Zongxue, it is not impossible, but the time is so urgent, especially when there is Zheng Wang, Ning Wang, a vassal king who is far away from the capital, must have other plans when he comes here.

As for the reason, it is also very simple.

The hearts of these feudal lords are on fire!

King Yi picked his head, and the atmosphere in the hall gradually became active, Zheng Wang said.

"That's right, Uncle, under the banner of Your Majesty, these officials of the imperial court are doing something wrong in our fief, conniving at the petty officials to plunder usurpation. My fief is clearly the land bestowed by the late emperor, but he is talking nonsense , It was abruptly rowed into the military field."

"Not only that, but the guardian of my palace went to guard the farm, and was injured by the servants. Such things simply don't put us in the eyes of the clan and vassals. How can your majesty's holiness be deceived by such villains? ?”

"Uncle King Zhou, you must wait for me and expose the actions of these officials to His Majesty!"

Zheng Fan and Yi Fan are adjacent. Yu Qian came out of Beijing this time to preside over the rectification of the army. The first stop was Yi Fan. Taking advantage of Yi Wang's absence, the tough Qingzhang took back most of Yi Fan's land, and then he dispatched The officials, with Yi Fan as the center, also plowed several surrounding feudal states.

Among them, Zheng Fan suffered the heaviest loss. To put it bluntly, King Zheng came to Beijing this time purely to ask for an explanation.

Coincidentally, like him, there is Ning Fan.

After tidying up Yifan and several surrounding feudal states, Yu Qian then went all the way south, passing through Xiangfan, Liaofan, and after a short stay in Minfan, he turned north to Ningfan.

Unlike Zheng Fan who only dispatched officials, Ning Fan was shot by Yu Qian himself. During the process, there was even a fight with weapons.

After listening to King Zheng's words, King Ning obviously recalled some bad memories, and said with a cold snort.

"Yu Qian is arrogant and domineering, and the hypocrisy seems to be true. Uncle, you should have heard that when he was in Ningfan this time, I treated him with courtesy, but he was extremely arrogant. The clan is a court moth."

"I asked him to come to the government to discuss it over and over again, but he refused repeatedly. That's fine, my land has been officially registered with the government, and the sale and purchase are well documented, but Yu Qian, How dare you forcibly take it away, saying that the source is not correct."

"What's more, he took the yamen servants directly and robbed my farm in person. How is such an act any different from the crime?"

"If the imperial court is controlled by such treacherous ministers, there will be great disasters."

"Uncle King Zhou, for the sake of the Ming Dynasty, we must urge Your Majesty not to be bewitched by this generation of treacherous ministers, to make them do anything wrong and mess up our country!"

(End of this chapter)