Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Although he had doubts about the prince's growing power, Zhu Youjian still decided to grant him a fief.

This was necessary to strengthen the power of the crown prince under the feudal system, and also to make it easier for the crown prince to leave the palace in the future to understand the people's sentiments and exercise his abilities.

He had already decided that after the crown prince left the palace to give lectures, he would let him live in Zhuolu District for a period of time every year to observe the people's sentiments in Zhuolu District and understand how the local institutions of the Ming Dynasty operated.

Especially since Zhuolu District Council was the first council of the Ming Dynasty, the emperors of the Ming Dynasty had to learn how to deal with the council, collect taxes through the council, and check and balance the officials in the court.

Therefore, before the design of Zhuolu New City even started, it was facing a major change.

In the future, Zhuolu District will not only build an arsenal, but also, under the policy support of the imperial court, serve as the center of a series of confidentiality agencies.

Just as he planned Tongzhou into an industrial zone, it became a sub-center to share the functions of the capital.

"Industrial development will inevitably bring pollution."

"Especially when steam engines are used in the future, there will be a lot of smoke and soot."

"If we don't want Beijing to become a foggy city, we have to build factories farther away."

This is why he placed the exchange freight yard, vehicle workshop, arsenal, etc. in Tongzhou District.

As the location of Tongzhou Warehouse and an important material distribution center on the Grand Canal, Tongzhou District had long been planned by Zhu Youjian as an industrial center.

Zhuolu District has a different function, which is to mainly house institutions that are less concerned with economic benefits and more concerned with confidentiality.

The reason why Zhu Youjian chose it as the prince's fief was also to strengthen the loyalty of the people in Zhuolu District.

I believe that with the special treatment of the prince's fiefdom, the people of Zhuolu District will cooperate more actively in maintaining confidentiality and other aspects.

Zhu Youjian had no intention of keeping this matter secret. Not only did he let Zhang Wenyu and others spread the news in the outer court, but many palace servants in the inner court also knew that the prince who was to be enthroned would have a fief.

After learning about this, the female officials of Kunning Palace hurriedly congratulated Empress Zhou:
"Mother, I am so happy!"

"The Emperor not only wants to enthrone my brother as the crown prince, but also wants to grant him the Zhuolu District as his fiefdom."

"I heard that all taxes from Zhuolu District will go to the Crown Prince in the future."

Queen Zhou had never heard of this matter. The emperor had never leaked any information about it before, and she did not ask about the affairs of the court.

Now that I know the news, I feel both happy and sad.

The good news is that the prince's position will be more secure after he gets the fief, but the bad news is that the prince is too powerful, which is not good.

She had been taught "Zizhi Tongjian" by Chen Renxi, and knew that there were many princes in history who were deposed because they were too powerful.

Especially since the current emperor has the ambitions of Emperor Wu of Han and Emperor Taizong of Tang, it is even more difficult for the prince of such a wise monarch to continue to serve as the crown prince.

So, after serving the emperor that night, she dragged her tired body and said to him:

"Your Majesty, granting my brother a fiefdom is really too much of a favor!"

"I thought the whole world belonged to the royal family, so why should we grant individual fiefs?"

Zhu Youjian squinted his eyes and heard these words, feeling a little surprised.

Because he knew that the queen had always abided by the ancestral teachings and never interfered in state affairs.

They had never discussed these things in the palace before.

But thinking about the prince's affairs, he said:

"I have thought about this matter carefully. The prince must have a fief in the future."

"Otherwise, if the prince's brothers are given fiefs in the future and the prince has no power, how can he suppress them?"

"It's not enough to have only Zhuolu District. In the future, we will also have to add Dongning Island and other places."

This was another fiefdom chosen by Zhu Youjian for the prince.

As the crown prince of the Ming Dynasty, he should not only focus on the land, but also pay attention to the ocean.

Dongning Island was the place that Zhu Youjian prepared for the prince, and he even allowed him to command the troops on the island.

To him, it was unlikely that the troops on these islands could be used for a coup.

Even if the prince controlled all the Dongning soldiers, in his opinion, he did not understand the danger of the three guards of Zhuolu.

This idea was originally intended to limit the prince's military power in Zhuolu District. However, when Queen Zhou heard this, she became even more worried.

She said to the Emperor:

"Your Majesty has also granted Dongning Island to the Crown Prince. Do you want him to live on an island in the future?"

"I always feel uneasy in my heart."

"It is better to enthronize the prince according to the ancestral system, and not have any fiefdom."

This was the second time she raised an objection, and Zhu Youjian also took it seriously and asked:

"What is the Queen worried about?"

"Without fiefdom, it would be difficult for the prince to dominate over the vassal kings when he is the prince!"

Queen Zhou remained silent on this and did not think it was necessary for the crown prince to suppress the vassal kings.

As the crown prince of the Ming Dynasty, his position can be said to be extremely stable.

The Ming emperors basically did not depose the crown prince. Only during the reign of Emperor Jingtai, he tried every means to depose the crown prince Zhu Jianru left by Emperor Yingzong. However, after Emperor Yingzong was restored to the throne, Zhu Jianru was renamed Zhu Jianshen and became the crown prince again.

This unsuccessful example further strengthened the stability of the crown prince's position in the Ming Dynasty. So much so that when the dispute over the foundation of the country came, the ministers confidently stood on the side of the crown prince to fight for the foundation of the country.

The current emperor has given up struggling on this point and directly formulated the "Ming Dynasty Succession Etiquette Law" to indicate that the emperor will also follow it.

Therefore, Queen Zhou was not worried at all that her son's position would be unstable after becoming the crown prince. Instead, she was worried that if the crown prince was too powerful, he would be disliked by the emperor in the future.

At that time, even if the emperor cannot depose the prince, it will affect the relationship between father and son.

She considered her words in her heart and said to the emperor:
"The prince is a subject in front of your majesty, but he is a king in front of other subjects."

"Since he is a monarch, why should he be compared with a vassal king?"

"I think the Crown Prince only needs to serve His Majesty wholeheartedly. If Your Majesty gives too much, it will affect the relationship."

This sentence was so straightforward that Zhu Youjian realized that the Queen had the same concerns as he did.

He patted the queen's body with deep emotion and said:

"With the Queen teaching the Prince, what do I have to worry about?"

"Don't worry, I will not give the military power of Zhuolu District to the Crown Prince, and I will not allow outsiders to alienate the relationship between the royal family."

"If the prince wants to command the army, let him go to Dongning Island."

"The Dongning soldiers trained by Huo Weihua and others are already quite powerful."

"In the future, I will transfer Mr. Chen over there and have him help the Crown Prince manage the Dongning Guard."

Empress Zhou was in charge of the affairs of the harem, so she certainly knew where Dongning Island was. A large part of the expenses in the palace were provided by the Dongning Group.

She only needed to use her brain to realize that the Dongning soldiers on the island could not possibly threaten the emperor.

In this way, no matter how powerful the prince is, the emperor will not feel taboo. Thinking about the fact that the emperor is now wantonly enfeoffing vassal kings, if the prince has no strength, he may not be able to suppress the vassal kings, so she smiled and said:
"With your Majesty's words, I feel relieved."

"I only hope that Your Majesty will keep this in mind and not give the Crown Prince any more power."

Zhu Youjian nodded, deeply delighted that his queen was so wise.

The harem was not allowed to interfere in government affairs, which was the ancestral precept left by Taizu. Empress Zhou followed this very well and basically never made a comment on government affairs.

Even the women's official office he set up outside the palace, Empress Zhou rarely interfered with it because it was an affair outside the palace. She only occasionally sent them to summon relatives and ladies of high rank.

From this point of view alone, Empress Zhou can be considered virtuous among all the empresses in the Ming Dynasty.

What made Zhu Youjian even more satisfied was that Empress Zhou obeyed his orders and practiced frugality in the palace. This greatly reduced the expenses in the palace, which was also one of the reasons why Zhu Youjian dared to use gold and silver for disaster relief.

Now, after hearing Queen Zhou's opinion on the prince's fiefdom, Zhu Youjian felt even more that his queen was not without any opinions on state affairs, but was restraining herself and adhering to the ancestral precept of not interfering in government affairs.

This made him feel even more pity for the queen, as he felt that having her in charge of the harem alone was not enough to fully utilize her abilities.

So he thought about the tasks of the first lady in future generations and decided to let Queen Zhou participate in more activities as a model for future queens.

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He said to Queen Zhou:

"During the reign of Emperor Jiajing, the silkworm ceremony was restored, but it was later stopped."

"I am going to rectify the sacrificial rites this time and intend to restore the Silkworm Ceremony, which will be presided over by the Queen."

This is one of the most important ceremonial events that the queen can preside over, and it is also an opportunity to show her affinity to the people of the world.

Although Empress Zhou no longer cared much about such ceremonial activities after experiencing the emperor's congratulations, she was still happy about the emperor's concern.

After hearing the emperor nagging at her about giving more rewards to ministers' families and caring more about the women of the royal family, she suddenly remembered something and asked:
"Your Majesty allows the royal family men to establish fiefs, but what about the royal family women?"

"These days, many princesses and county ladies have come to the palace to inquire about this."

Zhu Youjian really thought about this and said:
"The princess's salary is 2,000 dan, the same as that of a county prince."

"The rank of a consort in the imperial court is usually after a duke, a marquis, or even before an earl."

"So my original plan was to allow the prince consort to be granted the title of earl, which could only be passed on to the descendants born by the princess."

This was when he sent Xu Xianchun on a diplomatic mission to the West and allowed him to join the delegation as an earl.

However, this title is obviously too high, because there are only more than 30 earls in the entire Ming Dynasty.

After hearing this, Queen Zhou said:

"The title of Earl is a bit high. It's fine for the princess to be treated as an Earl, but why should the Prince Consort be treated as an Earl?"

"Your Majesty said that was your previous thought. Has it changed now?"

Zhu Youjian nodded and said:
"There are indeed changes. The Lifanyuan suggested that the title of the prince consort should start from Viscount."

"Only by making great achievements can one be promoted to earl, or even a higher title."

"The groom of a county lady starts as a baron, the groom of a county lady is knighted, and the grooms of a county lady, county lady, or township lady can only obtain hereditary titles if they have made meritorious contributions."

This was the suggestion made by the Lifanyuan after the rank of prince was downgraded to that of earl and the rank of general was downgraded to that of baron.

Compared with men of royal family with the same title and salary, they are generally one level lower.

After hearing this, Queen Zhou finally had a clear idea in her mind and knew how to respond when a woman from the royal family entered the palace again in the future.

At the same time, she also made a suggestion that Zhu Youjian did not expect:

"The prince was demoted to a county earl, and some people in the royal family are very resentful."

"I think that since Your Majesty is from the royal family, you should serve as a model."

"We can confer the title of prince on the princes other than the crown prince, so that the princes will not feel resentful."

This was a method she came up with to reduce the threat posed to the crown prince by those princes who were granted fiefdoms.

If those princes are not even princes, what qualifications do they have to threaten the crown prince's position?
Zhu Youjian was a little surprised when he first heard this, but after thinking about it carefully, he thought it was a good idea.

The lowering of the prince's title not only reduced the threat to the crown prince, but also made the title of the Ming Dynasty more precious.

Even the princes could only be given the title of prince of a county, so it was not an injustice for the sons of the princes of the vassal states to be given the title of earl of a county.

Even Zhu Youjian thought that the title of a Prince was too high. In the future, when he had many children, there might not be enough places to grant them.

So he kissed the queen joyfully and said:

"The title of Prince is still too high. I think we should start from Duke of the County."

"The title of a prince born to an ordinary concubine starts from Duke of a County, then rises to Prince of a County, and then to Prince of a Reign."

"The legitimate sons born to the queen are all princes, and the princes born to the Imperial Noble Consort and the four concubines of Noble, Virtuous, Virtuous, and Sage can be princes."

The initial titles of the sons of the concubines in the harem were determined according to their ranks.

When the queen heard this, she was naturally very happy, because it meant that her son's status was higher than that of other princes.

In particular, the setting of the Imperial Noble Consort and the Four Concubines being higher than other concubines will make the women in the harem keep a close eye on these concubine positions.

As the queen, she only needs to keep an eye on the four concubines, especially the Imperial Noble Consort who was promoted from Noble Consort.

This would naturally save her a lot of energy as she wouldn't have to be on guard against all the favored women in the harem.

For example, the emperor's favorite concubines, Li Fei Tian and Chen Fei Hai Lanzhu, did not need to be paid attention to at all. Because they were not even the fourth concubines, and their status was lower than that of Shu Fei Yuan.

As for Concubine Zhao, who was sent as tribute from Korea, there is no need to mention it. Queen Zhou never took her seriously.

As far as the current harem is concerned, no one can threaten her position.

This made her feel more at ease about the prince obtaining a fiefdom.
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However, although the queen was relieved, the outer court was not reassured.

After the emperor leaked the news that he would allocate a fiefdom to the prince, many ministers in the court became worried about it.

It is true that they stood on the side of the prince to fight for the country, but they were also worried about the prince's growing power.

Because if the emperor feels threatened and asks his ministers to take sides between the emperor and the prince, they will also have a headache and not know how to deal with it.

As subjects, loyalty to the emperor and father is a matter of course. But when facing two emperors, they feel embarrassed.

They were even more embarrassed when the two kings came into conflict.

So they still hoped that the prince could remain a subject and hide himself before becoming emperor.

Many officials therefore cited classics and wrote petitions to oppose the enfeoffment of fiefs for the crown prince, and even asked the cabinet chief Han Yu to take the lead in rejecting the emperor's proposal.

This made Han Yu feel difficult because he was in charge of the enthronement of the crown prince.

Before, he thought that this was a ready-made merit that could leave a legacy for the Han family and be rewarded by the prince after he ascended the throne.

But if he rejected the emperor's proposal to grant the prince a fief, would the prince be grateful or resentful towards him when he grew up?

This made him very hesitant when facing this matter. (End of this chapter)