Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

"The prince's outside family will become his weak spot!"

Zhu Youjian, who learned of what Zhou Kui had done, could not help but sigh.

Not to mention Zhou Kui's historical reputation, what he is doing now is totally inappropriate.

Since the new ministers headed by Han Yu took office, they have formulated inheritance etiquette in accordance with Zhu Youjian's statement on the inheritance system.

And since September last year, the proposal to make the eldest son of the emperor, Zhu Cilang, the crown prince has been put forward.

Zhu Youjian agreed with this and ordered officials to follow the previous system and procedures to prepare to decide on the title of crown prince when the eldest son turned one year old in February this year.

Zhou Kui jumped out for money at this time, which was simply stupid and he had no sense of the overall situation.

If someone used this incident as a target to stir up people's concerns that the crown prince would not be able to control his family, even the matter of appointing a crown prince might encounter setbacks, and Queen Zhou would also be implicated.

So Zhu Youjian privately expressed his feelings to Gao Shiming, the seal holder of the Imperial Household Department, and instructed him to arrange Fang Zhenghua to tell the Queen about his attitude.

And let Gao Shiming go to Zhou's house to warn Zhou Kui.

When Queen Zhou learned the emperor's attitude from Fang Zhenghua, she was so angry that she almost cried.

As the empress who gave birth to the eldest son, her position in the palace was unquestionable. The emperor also always respected her and entrusted almost all the affairs of the harem concubines to her.

She could even intervene in matters outside the palace. She could contact some officials' wives through the women's office and communicate with them.

Not to mention that the emperor set up a music festival specifically for her, which became a major event in the capital.

Everyone praised the harmony between the emperor and empress, saying it was a blessing for the Ming Dynasty.

Unexpectedly, due to her mother's family's greed, she was almost humiliated. Not only did she fail to get the shares, but the emperor even worried that the prince might not be able to control his in-laws in the future.

This made her grit her teeth and say:

"Did the Emperor really say that?"

"Anything else?"

Fang Zhenghua was so frightened by the queen's cold tone that he was speechless for a moment.

But he had to answer the Queen's question, so he could only say carefully:

"The Emperor has nothing else to say, but Eunuch Gao thinks that the Zhou family should be restrained."

"Your Majesty's maternal family, the Xinle Earl Liu family, is not as popular as the Zhou family in the capital."

"It's still like this before the title was conferred, and I'm afraid it will be even more difficult to control after the title is conferred."

"The Emperor is worried that the Zhou family will become another Zhang family."

Queen Zhou knew exactly who this Zhang family was referring to.

After the emperor ascended the throne, he used Empress Zhang and the Zhang family of Emperor Hongzhi as negative examples, believing that the Zhang family was the most evil-doing foreign relatives in the Ming Dynasty. He told the concubines in the harem not to learn from the Zhang family and not to be arrogant because of their favor.

Of course, the Zhou family is not as advanced as the Zhang family now, but if they are not restrained, they may become the Zhang family.

Zhou Kui had not yet been conferred a title, but he had dared to violate the emperor's rules and demand treatment that was only available to nobles with fiefs. If he really succeeded, who knows how many more violations of laws and regulations he would commit in the future?

It is not impossible that in the future he will be imprisoned and sentenced to death like Zhang Yanling and Zhang Heling.

It is even possible that the emperor would deal with them in advance in order to avoid leaving hidden dangers for the prince.

Thinking of this possibility, Queen Zhou even felt a little frightened.

She knew that the current emperor was definitely capable of doing such a thing. Didn’t he see that the Wuqing Marquis Li family was sent overseas?

They were the maternal family of Empress Dowager Li Xiaoding, the most powerful maternal relative in the Ming Dynasty in the past few decades.

In addition, her son was about to become the crown prince, so she would not allow any setbacks. After Fang Zhenghua left, she sent a maid to notify the female officials and invite her mother to the palace to see him.

At this time, in the Zhou Mansion, after Gao Shiming left, Zhou Kui was so angry that his face turned blue and he smashed a teacup.

He never expected that just asking for a few shares would lead to a warning from Gao Shiming, the head of the Imperial Household Department.

This made him extremely angry:
"What is the emperor thinking? Why doesn't he arrange the benefits for his family?"

"My Zhou family's daughter even gave birth to a prince, so isn't that worth anything?"

The emperor was blamed for being stingy and mean, and for being unkind to the Zhou family.

Some of his wife and sons were nervous, while others were equally angry, but no one tried to persuade them.

The arrival of Gao Shiming, the internal minister, frightened some people in the Zhou family.

Not to mention that the Zhou family has not been conferred a title yet, even if they are conferred a title in the future and Zhu Cilang is made the crown prince, the Zhou family still has to be respectful to Gao Shiming, the internal minister.

Otherwise, you might suffer a loss at any time and be tricked by the eunuchs in the inner court.

The title of Internal Minister is not given for nothing, but he truly possesses power equivalent to that of a prime minister.

Even Zhou Kui, beneath his unruly appearance, was actually a little afraid.

That's why after Gao Shiming left, he smashed the teacup to hide his guilty conscience.

At this time, the female official sent by Queen Zhou also arrived and asked my mother Bu to enter the palace, saying that there was something to discuss.

This made Zhou Kui feel like he had found a backer, and he loudly instructed Bu:

"Go to the palace and tell my daughter that she must get the shares."

"Otherwise, my Zhou family will be laughed at by others, and even the queen will be looked down upon."

The ladies in the palace all looked askance when they heard this, not understanding why Zhou Kui wanted to embarrass the queen:

Could it be that in Zhou Kui's heart, the Queen's face was only worth a little bit of money, and she didn't even care about the matter of enthroning the Crown Prince?

This made her feel that she should tell the Queen about this matter, so that the Queen would not be unable to save face due to family ties.

If this affects the status of the Queen and the Crown Prince, these female officials will also be implicated.

Empress Zhou, who was in the palace, couldn't stop crying when she heard what the female official had told her, as well as what Bu had told her, "The prince is not worth even a share." She was sad about her own situation:
Not to mention that she was walking on thin ice in the palace, she was also doing her best, fearing that the emperor would be bewitched by some seductive women.

Otherwise, why would she take the initiative to select ladies for the emperor, or even keep them by his side as concubines?

He didn't expect that since he hadn't made any mistakes in the palace and his mother's family, who he relied on, gave him a severe embarrassment when their son was about to be named the crown prince.

This made Queen Zhou feel wronged, and she couldn't help crying to her mother:

"Is it possible that in a father's heart, his daughter's reputation is only worth a few shares?"

"He even completely ignored the matter of enthroning the crown prince?"

Mrs. Bu was just a woman in the inner chamber and had no knowledge.

Hearing his daughter crying to him in grievance, he became a little panicked:

"What should I do?"

"Or we don't want the shares anymore."

"It's about your father. How should I tell him about this?"

As Zhou Kui's second wife, Bu's status in the Zhou family was not high. Even if her daughter became the queen, she would not dare to disobey Zhou Kui at home. Seeing her mother like this, Queen Zhou knew that she could not be relied on. She forced herself to hold back her tears and said with a hard heart:

"My mother told me the truth when she got home."

"Don't ask your daughter for such things as begging for grace in the future."

"The Zhou family should also do less work in the future to avoid mistakes."

"We should learn from the events of Wuqinghou Li's family."

Warn the Zhou family not to cause trouble, otherwise they might be sent overseas by the emperor.

Bu was shocked and knew that the emperor was serious about it, otherwise he would not have sent Gao Shiming to the Zhou family to warn them and asked the empress to come forward.

After hearing what his wife brought back home, Zhou Kui no longer had the courage to get angry.

Having just enjoyed two years of wealth and prosperity, he definitely did not want to be sent overseas by the emperor like Marquis Wuqing.

This forced him to restrain himself and plan to stay quiet for a while.
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In the palace, after Zhu Youjian learned that Queen Zhou was crying because of her family's anger, he hurried over to comfort her.

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When the concubines in the palace found out about this, they were all extremely disappointed.

They originally thought that since the emperor disliked the Zhou family, the queen's favor would naturally be affected.

Unexpectedly, the emperor treated the queen exactly the same as before, and was even more doting than they thought.

The ripples that had arisen secretly in the palace because of this incident soon subsided.

Even Queen Zhou started preparing for pregnancy and planned to have a second child.

After giving birth to the eldest son last year, Empress Zhou wanted to have a second child, but the emperor dissuaded her from doing so and told her to rest for a year and take good care of the eldest son.

Now, a year has passed, the eldest prince Zhu Cilang has grown up and is about to be named the crown prince.

In order to prevent him from being assassinated, Empress Zhou persuaded the emperor to agree to give birth to a second child.

Let those who covet the position of crown prince know that even if they harm the eldest son, there is still the second son waiting.

According to the inheritance etiquette set by the emperor, illegitimate sons have no chance until all the legitimate sons die.

In order to distract the empress and let her focus completely on her own child, Zhu Youjian naturally agreed and started trying to have a baby with the empress again.

He also wanted to have more sons and pass on the territory he would conquer in the future.
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Outside the palace, because of Zhu Youjian's low-key handling, the matter was not brought to the court.

However, some rumors still spread, and many nobles in the capital knew that the Zhou family had lost face in front of the emperor.

Many people also knew the emperor’s attitude towards the Zhou family, which was to strictly control them.

The Zhou family’s unreasonable demands can be completely ignored.

In this regard, the court officials who heard the news praised the emperor's handling of the matter. This not only avoided causing trouble, but also restrained the behavior of some nobles.

Some officials were even extremely hostile to the relatives of the emperor's mother, believing that they should not be granted titles at all. They planned to prevent Zhou Kui from being granted a title after the crown prince was enthroned, and to remove the titles of the relatives of the emperor's mother according to the system established during the Jiajing period.

It can be said that a bigger storm is brewing. The relatives of the Chongzhen Emperor will face a disaster.

Tian Hongyu, the father of Concubine Tian, ​​who was completely unaware of this, felt both gloating and regretful after learning about the Zhou family's experience. He sighed that this incident was too minor and could not affect the status of Empress Zhou and the Crown Prince:
"The Emperor still dotes on the Empress too much. Even if my daughter is favored, her chances of becoming Empress are slim."

"If the Tian family wants to be rich, they have to find other ways."

Thinking of the favored concubines in the palace, most of them were granted hereditary titles in their families.

Needless to say, those concubines on the grassland, all those favored by the emperor, had a hereditary title of knight in their families.

If she gave birth to a prince, she might even be promoted to baron.

The tribute girls sent from Korea were treated the same as the concubines from the grassland.

The most favored Concubine Zhao was conferred the title of Viscount even though she had no children.

Tian Hongyu used to look down upon the vassal nobles of these vassal states.

But after the emperor gave special treatment to the fiefdom nobles this time, he became somewhat envious of these people.

Because these vassal nobles with fiefs were also allowed to purchase part of the shares.

This made Tian Hongyu regret his decision so much that he almost turned green with regret. He hated himself for not asking the emperor to become a nobleman earlier.

As someone who once promoted maritime trade in Tianjin, he knew very well how profitable maritime trade could be. It could be said that holding shares in the Ming Shipping Group was a sure win.

If he had converted his family's hereditary position into a title of nobility earlier, he would now be a landed noble and enjoy the same preferential treatment.

Even because of the favor of Princess Tian in the palace, there is a great possibility that she will be granted the title of Viscount.

This level of title is only one level lower than earl.

Moreover, if one makes meritorious contributions when establishing a fiefdom overseas, there is even a chance to become an earl.

This made him deeply regret that he had been greedy for the prosperity of the capital and had not become a nobleman earlier:

"If I had known that the emperor was so strict with his relatives, why would I have stayed in the capital?"

"Leave Beijing as soon as possible and be more comfortable overseas."

Thinking about his additional title of second-rank deputy governor, Tian Hongyu felt a little disgusted.

Because the current emperor pays very little salary to those of them who only have honorary titles, only one tenth of the number of stones.

The monthly salary of a second-rank military governor is 61 dan, which is 6 yuan and 10 cents after the dan is changed to yuan.

This is an improvement compared to before, because the monthly salary he received the year before was actually less than five taels of silver.

Such a salary was less than when he was a guerrilla general. So much so that he could not help complaining last year and asked the emperor to grant him land.

However, this request was undoubtedly rejected by the emperor. He could only rely on his previous savings and try to exchange his status for money.

However, compared with Zhou Kui, who used to make a living by fortune-telling, this former guerrilla general is now in a far inferior position, and his income is naturally not enough.

Anyone with a discerning eye could see that Queen Zhou's position was very stable and the other concubines had no chance at all.

No matter how favored Concubine Tian was, it would be useless without a son. Even if she gave birth to a son in the future, there would be no chance of her succeeding to the throne under the system of primogeniture.

Therefore, Tian Hongyu's mood has become increasingly cold this year. He originally planned to stir up trouble by relying on his daughter's favor, but now his thoughts have faded.

Now I am more concerned about the Tian family and want to bring prosperity to the Tian family for generations.

With this mentality, Tian Hongyu began to submit petitions again, requesting that his hereditary position be converted into a title of nobility.

When Yuan You, the Concubine's father, heard about this, he also made the same request, intending to convert the honorary title of Zheng Qian Hu into a hereditary title.

These foreign relatives seemed to have smelled the wind, and many of them began to want to become landed nobles and plan for the family to be rich and prosperous for generations.

After receiving these memorials during the Chinese New Year, Zhu Youjian prepared to add fuel to the fire and push more people to go overseas to establish fiefdoms.

For this reason, Liu Xiaozu, the earl of Xinle, and Gong Yonggu, the son-in-law of the emperor, who were both highly valued by him, also submitted their requests in accordance with his instructions, preparing to go overseas to open up vassal states and become fiefdom nobles after the New Year.

Zhu Youjian also sent a message to the nobles and relatives in the capital to prepare a gathering on the tenth day of the first lunar month. (End of this chapter)