Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

The full text of Yang Jingchen's memorial was published in the internal reference, which undoubtedly showed the emperor's attitude.

In addition, during the Jiajing period, the hereditary titles of relatives outside the family were abolished and an imperial edict was issued. The ministers quoted the contents of the imperial edict and demanded the abolition of the titles of relatives outside the family.

All radical demands must be abolished, and the current hereditary titles of foreign relatives and marquises must also be abolished in order to comply with the imperial edict.

Conservatives believe that the existing titles of marquis and earl should be retained, but not passed down further.

It can be said that there was no dispute among the civil officials on abolishing the hereditary title system for relatives outside the family. They were united in their efforts to restrict relatives outside the family.

The controversy lies in whether to remove them immediately and whether to give face to these relatives.

The hidden dangers brought about by Zhou Kui's reckless behavior made the ministers feel that they had to suppress the foreign relatives and could no longer turn a blind eye.

Zhu Youjian was also worried that the reckless behavior of the imperial relatives would affect the reputation of the royal family. Moreover, such useless relatives could not be of any help to the royal family and were simply a burden.

So he quickly issued an edict, asking all ministers to hold a court meeting to determine the policy towards foreign relatives.

The results of the court meeting will be promulgated by imperial decree, and in the future the Congress will enact a bill or even write it into the etiquette law to ensure that the results of this court meeting can be implemented.

Even if later emperors wanted to grant hereditary titles to their relatives by marriage, they could not violate this order.

It cannot be like the result of the court deliberation in the eighth year of Jiajing, which was only implemented during the Jiajing and Longqing dynasties and was destroyed during the Wanli period.

The emperor's attitude aroused praise from his ministers, who generally praised the emperor for observing the rules of propriety.

This is also the reason why the current emperor is supported by his ministers even though he often makes reforms.

No matter what the etiquette and laws stipulated, they were all decided by the emperor and his ministers. The emperor never acted arbitrarily and ignored other people's suggestions on this point.

Of course, some people still criticized the reform measures that were implemented without court discussion. For example, many civil officials believed that the reform of the guards should be approved by court discussion.

However, this view is not mainstream, because military affairs usually involve confidential information. Especially for matters like the reform of the guards, if the civil officials were allowed to discuss and spread the news, the military officials would also talk to others, and the matter would get out of control.

Most civil servants supported the current reform measures of the garrisons, and they also trusted court ministers such as Yuan Keli.
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On February 22, a court meeting was held in the small meeting hall of the National Assembly, chaired by the Minister of Personnel Guo Yunhou, and all the ministers of the court except the Grand Secretaries.

The first item was whether to execute the imperial decree on relatives of the emperor's wife in the eighth year of Jiajing. The result was naturally unquestionable, and it was approved by all the ministers. The imperial decree of the eighth year of Jiajing would be reiterated, and the titles of relatives of the emperor's wife could only be for life.

The second item was newly proposed by the emperor, which was to treat the meritorious relatives who were willing to establish a fiefdom as a fiefdom, allowing them to inherit the title from generation to generation based on their merits in establishing a fiefdom and protecting the country.

This point is quite controversial, because such foreign relatives and vassal states would be very powerful. If they did evil, it would be more difficult for the court to restrict them.

Especially after the current emperor allowed hereditary positions to be converted into titles, all the officials realized the value of dukes, marquises, and earls. They worked hard to become viscounts and barons, so they were not willing to let their relatives become princes easily.

In the end, this proposal failed to pass the first time. It was only after Guo Yunhou added restrictions according to the emperor's instructions that it was barely agreed by more than half of the ministers with the strong support of the nobles.

The restriction is that the title of a relative by marriage will only be limited to earl, unless he has made great contributions, his title can be promoted.

The existing Marquis of Boping and Marquis of Xincheng will be demoted to earls.

Even if Marquis Wuqing is restored to his title in the future, without great achievements he can only obtain the title of Earl Wuqing.

At the same time, as a preferential treatment for relatives by marriage, those relatives by marriage who had been granted titles but were stripped of their titles during the Jiajing period were allowed to establish viscount territories and obtain the title of viscount.

This resolution will be written into an imperial edict and promulgated, and in the future it will also be included in the relevant royal etiquette and laws, which even the emperor cannot violate at will.

It can even be said that the main reason why the ministers agreed that the titles of relatives by marriage could be converted into hereditary titles was to leave a loophole for the emperor.

If an emperor in the future insists on giving hereditary titles to his relatives, he must follow the rules and regulations and give them hereditary territories. Relatives who are unwilling to become vassals will naturally not be able to obtain hereditary titles.

The satisfied civil officials felt that they had made great efforts in this matter. They did not even care about the emperor's previous decision to reform the garrison. Their energy was attracted by this matter, and some officials of the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Justice beat the fallen dog and dug up various violations of the rules by the relatives and nobles.

The newspapers in the capital published a series of articles on this matter, focusing the attention of the people in the capital on this matter.

Compared with the large number of hereditary officials and military households, it is these nobles' affairs that make them enjoy communicating more.

Things like the Lady of the Earl of Boping and the Lady of the Earl of Xincheng going to the Zhou family mansion to curse in the streets, and the Jiulian Bodhisattva Temple saying that Zhou Kui was plagued by sins, etc., could all attract their attention.

The tension and solemnity that had almost led to a state of martial law seemed to be reversed in an instant.

The newspaper copying shops and the people in the capital suddenly became keen on the gossip about the aristocrats.

However, in this bustle, Zhu Youjian knew that this was just an appearance he created. The market and people's hearts in the capital had not fully recovered.

But it doesn’t matter. He will have a series of measures coming up that will make the people of the capital completely forget the previous atmosphere and immerse themselves in the prosperity.

After more than two years on the throne, he had mastered the art of creating a prosperous atmosphere. He was confident that the people of the Ming Dynasty would believe that the current era was a prosperous one, and that natural disasters and invasions were not worth mentioning!
Ambitious local personnel will also restrain their thoughts and dare not easily rebel in such a "prosperous era".
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The twenty-fifth day of the second lunar month and the third day of the third lunar month is Qingming Festival.

Empress Zhou led the imperial concubines and ladies in the harem to hold the Silkworm Ceremony, which had not been held for a long time in the Ming Dynasty, at the Xiancan Altar in the Western Garden.

Many concubines in the palace were envious of this, and even the ladies who knew little about the situation in the harem realized the emperor's favor for the current queen.

After the ceremony, she led the concubines and ladies out of the palace to attend the upcoming Beijing Fashion Festival.

This was a festival established by Zhu Youjian in imitation of the Chinese Traditional Clothing Day of later generations. It was connected with the Silkworm Wedding Ceremony and became a grand ceremony presided over by the Empress.

The winner of the fashion festival can also receive silk produced by the silkworms raised by the queen.

This year, as the Silkworm Relationship Ceremony was first held, cloth made from the Queen's yarn was used instead.

This festival took a long time to prepare. It started in the first year of Chongzhen, and was not held until two years later, when the tailors incorporated into the inner court set standards for various clothing industries according to Zhu Youjian's requirements and designed or restored clothing that he approved of.

Knowing how much the emperor valued this, the inner court weaving groups and clothing workshops were eagerly looking forward to this day, hoping that the clothes they designed and restored according to the emperor's requirements would be able to make a splash at the fashion festival.

They also prepared thousands of costumes to sell at the festival.

The fashion designers discovered by the Shangyijian from the tailor shops were also eager to try their hand, hoping that their designs would be recognized and even rewarded by the queen.

This fashion festival was held in the department store in Dengshi, which was the former location of the Rong government.

Not only is it close to the imperial city, but because of the lantern fair in the past two years, it can be said to be the most prosperous area in the capital.

The Lantern Market near Goulan Hutong has developed rapidly after the establishment of the red-light district and department stores. People in Dongcheng like to go shopping here the most.

The markets that Zhu Youjian planned to build, such as the Bell and Drum Tower Market and Zhushikou Market, were based on the template of today's Lantern Festival.

After Queen Zhou arrived here, she led the concubines and ladies to sit on a temporary platform. After skipping the complicated etiquette and just bowing, she immediately issued an imperial decree, announcing the official start of the Fashion Festival.

A group of carefully selected handsome men and beautiful women began to walk out in their costumes.

The first pair that appeared made everyone exclaim.

Because the man was wearing a python robe, which was very similar to the emperor's dragon robe.

The woman wore a phoenix crown and a red robe, which looked exactly like the attire of the queen sitting on the high platform. (End of this chapter)